The Mech Touch

By becoming more organized, they could not only sort out all of the internal issues that had piled up over the years, but also work towards improving their relationships with other external partners.

The Everchanger already published a modest list of short-term goals, from giving living mechs the right to experience life among the humans by controlling mechanical cat avatars, to giving them greater choice in picking their own mech pilots.

Many of the expert hybrid mech's goals required the cooperation of the Larkinson Clan in order to implement. This was also one of the reasons why the Everchanger emphasized the importance of maintaining a fruitful relationship with humans.

Once the inauguration ceremony had come to an end, all of the living mechs began to depart the Anima Hall and pull out of the MSTS at their own pace.

The Everchanger only stuck around long enough to chat with the rivals who had lost the first election.

"CONGRATULATIONS, EVERCHANGER." The feminine voice of the Minerva spoke up. "I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED TO WEAR THE CROWN MYSELF, BUT I WILL ENTRUST IT IN YOUR CARE FOR THE UPCOMING TEN YEARS."

The Everchanger's three eyes flashed. "YOU SOUND AWFULLY CONFIDENT THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO GATHER THE MOST VOTES IN THE NEXT ELECTION."

Mechs generally didn't have mouths which they could use to express their feelings and emotions. They mostly made do by radiating them directly or making exaggerated physical gestures.

Right now, the Minerva crossed her arms in a clear sign of confidence!

"I AM THE BATTLE PARTNER OF THE SMARTEST AND MOST COMPETENT MECH PILOT OF THE LARKINSON CLAN. I MAY HAVE LOST THIS BATTLE, BUT I WILL BE MUCH BETTER PREPARED THE NEXT TIME NOW THAT I HAVE EXPERIENCED AN 'ELECTION' MYSELF. IN FACT, IT IS BETTER TO ALLOW YOU TO TAKE THE FIRST TURN. I WILL BE IN A MUCH BETTER POSITION TO ENACT MY PROPOSALS WHEN THE ANIMA ORDER HAS GOTTEN OFF THE GROUND."

The Everchanger did not deign to respond to his defeated opponent. He instead turned to the weakest mech among the three.

"WHAT ABOUT YOU, QUINT?"

The gold-coated mech shrugged. "EH, I MIGHT NOT BE CUT OUT FOR THIS BUSINESS. I ONLY TOOK PART IN THE FIRST PLACE BECAUSE IT WAS INTERESTING AND BECAUSE MANY MECHS EXPECT ME TO STAND UP FOR THE 'LITTLE MECHS' THAT AREN'T AS POWERFUL OR VALUABLE AS EXPERT MECHS."

"THAT IS EXACTLY WHY WE NEED YOUR INPUT." The Everchanger said as he raised his arm and placed it on the other mech's shoulder. "AS YOU HAVE SAID, THE MINERVA AND I ARE MECHS ON A DIFFERENT LEVEL. WE DON'T HAVE AS MUCH OF A CONNECTION TO THE 'GRASSROOTS' AS YOU. I WOULD LIKE TO INVITE YOU TO HELP ME CONVEY THE DEMANDS OF THE ORDINARY MECHS."

The Quint became intrigued. "ARE YOU ASKING ME TO BECOME YOUR ADVISOR? I MIGHT DECIDE TO FORM AN OPPOSITION INSTEAD. IT DEPENDS ON HOW ANNOYING YOU ARE. I'M NOT GOING TO ROLL OVER AND AGREE WITH EVERYTHING YOU SAY."

"WE CAN FIGURE OUT THE DETAILS LATER."

When Venerable Joshua and the Everchanger finally pulled out of the MSTS, the two remained silent for a time. While they remained connected through the neural interface, they both held different thoughts on how the prior event unfolded.

Joshua finally composed his thoughts.

"Congratulations for winning the election." He eventually spoke. "I was banking on your victory and I am glad it is you who has received the right to wear the Secret Crown."

"WELL, I MAY HAVE INHERITED TOO MUCH OF YOUR SAPPINESS TO DEVELOP GREATER AMBITIONS." The Everchanger voice's boomed inside his own cockpit. "I COULD USE YOUR PERSPECTIVE TO OBTAIN A SECOND OPINION OF MY IDEAS, BUT I WON'T BE SHARING EVERYTHING WITH YOU. THE ANIMA ORDER MUST FIRST AND FOREMOST BE AN ORGANIZATION FOR LIVING MECHS, SO HUMANS LIKE YOU SHOULDN'T GET TOO INVOLVED."

"I understand. I don't mean to pry too closely in your business. I trust you to keep your organization on the right track. I will gladly help you when I can. Helping you fulfill your goals during your term will make me feel accomplished as well."

Venerable Joshua had pinned much of his hopes on the cause of the living mechs. As long as he did his part to help the Anima Order grow into a positive influence in human society, he would feel more fulfilled.

He could already feel his willpower becoming more invigorated after this event. Living mechs had taken their first concrete steps to establishing their group, and the following years became a crucial period where they developed their own culture, established their own institutions and set their future aspirations.

As Joshua continued to chat with the Everchanger on what they should do next, Ves processed what had happened within the MSTS.

He had been observing the live feeds provided by the hidden sensors planted in the Ramage Repulsor System.

So far, the Cenatus Prospecting fleet appeared to have taken the bait, just as he expected. He grinned in satisfaction as he saw the ships under the command of Otrus Magrin starting to burn in the direction of the brown dwarf star. They all approached the planet that was orbiting close to the larger stellar object.

"Miaow~"

"I love you too, Clixie~"

Meanwhile, Aurelia sat on his hard lap while affectionately brushing Clixie's coat of fur. She occasionally bent down to plant kisses onto the Rubarthan Sentinel Cat's head.

"Aurelia."

"Yes, papa?"

"Our living mechs have elected their first leader. In the end, the Everchanger has earned the most votes. What is your analysis on the outcome of this election?"

His daughter furrowed her brows for a moment. She kept brushing and stroking Clixie's luxuriously soft fur as she used her overdeveloped mind to decipher the political processes that took place.

She hadn't been able to witness the election in the Anima Hall in person. She could only base her opinions on the limited information provided by her father, but that didn't stop her from using her imagination to fill up the gaps.

The cute girl looked remarkably cute when she was in her serious thinking mode.

"Most living mechs in our clan are treated well." She said in her high-pitched voice. "Since they haven't experienced any trouble with humans, they have less reason to fear us. The voting pattern would have probably looked a lot different if we allowed outside living mechs to cast their vote."

"Clever girl." Ves encouragingly praised. "How do you think the Everchanger will fare over the course of his term? Will he be able to create a lasting legacy or will he end up being remembered as a mediocre leader who failed to achieve anything worthwhile?"

"I think... the Everchanger will be a steady leader." She eventually said as continued to bask in Clixie's warmth. "The mech is uncle Joshua's best friend, so the machine will probably do his best to avoid conflict and focus on fulfilling smaller and easier demands. This will give the Anima Order a lot of confidence in the short term. As for what happens later, I don't know if the Everchanger can keep making progress. It depends on how powerful the Anima Order has become. He won't be able to do as much if the Anima Order is limited to 10,000 mechs."

"Hmm, you make a good point, daughter. The Anima Order is far too limited in scope at the moment. How would you deal with this problem if you have the power to make the necessary changes?"

This was a more complicated question because he wasn't asking Aurelia to analyze an existing circumstance. He was prompting her to use her mind to formulate an action plan.

Normally, a girl who was less than 10 years old should never be able to do this, but Aurelia was anything but a simple child!

Her mind and spirit became more active as she became more engaged in this thought exercise!

"If the Anima Order wants to make a greater difference, it will eventually have to expand its membership. Just like how you have opened up the Larkinson Clan by recruiting outsiders, the Anima Order can gradually absorb outside living mechs, but it doesn't have to do so quickly. The organization can start off small and steadily recruit more after it has become more capable of absorbing the newcomers." Aurelia said.

"What does the Everchanger and the other leaders of the Anima Order have to pay attention to the most when it comes to outside recruitment?"

Aurelia became stumped. For all of her genius-like intellect, she was still a young girl who had too few experiences!

Part of the reason why Ves took the time to tutor her on leadership was to make up for this gap faster.

Ves believed that Aurelia should also have the qualifications to attend a first-class virtual school.

He never entertained the idea of sending her off to one because he previously didn't have the money or the connections to enroll her into such a fancy place.

However, if his little gambit in the Ramage Repulsor System worked out, he might be able get his hands on Lord Pearian Yorul-Tavik anyway.

If that was the case, then he would do his best to convert the gratitude of the Yorul-Tavik into concrete benefits as soon as possible!

After all, why stop with sending just a single kid to a fancy first-class school when he could send all three of his children at the same time? It should hardly make any difference to a powerful first-class family organization!

"Do you have an answer Aurelia?"

"Uh, can I have a hint, pwease?"

Her big, cute eyes were too irresistible to Ves.

"Fine. Think about the most important reason why our Larkinson Clan is limiting the pace of recruitment."

Aurelia knew that there were several possible reasons to impose a quota on recruitment. Common reasons ranged from a shortage of skilled manpower to limited capacity to employ so many people.

She didn't think that any of these reasons was the answer her father was looking for, though.

It took half a minute before her eyes lit up. She figured out the answer!

"It's because of control!" She happily shouted. "You wanted to make sure that most of the people of your clan kept supporting you! If you recruited too many newcomers, they would have stuck to their own views, and that makes it harder for them to accept your leadership. If you keep recruiting smaller groups, our clan can steadily assimilate the newcomers so that they think and act no differently from other Larkinsons. Is that right?"

"Yes." Ves gave her a loving and approving smile. "It seems that you have remembered the lessons on indoctrination. The Larkinson Clan is mine. It doesn't entirely look that way, but it takes measures like this to maintain my grip over my own organization. It's not wise to be too domineering and keep telling everyone what to think. It is better to rely on the existing cultures and institutions of our clan to transform new recruits into like-minded Larkinsons. As long as the proportion of the latter remains in the majority, this process of indoctrination and assimilation will continue to remain effective. In short, if you end up in a similar position one day, take care to control the expansion of your organization."

Aurelia looked serious as she nodded her cute head. Her lovely black locks of hair shook with her motions.

"I know, papa. I won't disappoint you. I will not fail!"

Ves sighed when he heard that. "I am not going to blame you if you fail. It's okay to mess up. The important part is to learn from your mistakes so that you will be able to do better next time."