The Mech Touch

As the two figures sleeping on the bed just started to awaken from their slumber, the door to the chamber unexpectedly slid open!

Three different munchkins wearing cute and colorful pajamas stormed inside and ran straight to the bed!

The three kids climbed onto the soft and bouncy surface and began to jump on it in unison!

"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

"The ceremony is starting in a few hours!"

"I love you, mama! I love you, papa!"

"Meow…" Lucky tiredly floated inside the room.

"Miaow." Clixie looked more enthusiastic as she looked forward to witnessing a grand show.

The two girls and boy jumped so much that Ves and Gloriana had no choice but to rouse from their slumber and calm their overexcited children.

"Quiet down, my darlings." Gloriana said as she embraced both her daughters at once. "The main show starts at noon local time. We still have more than enough hours to do our makeup and dress in the custom ensembles that I have commissioned for you all. Each of you will look so pretty!"

As his wife continued to talk about the upcoming founding ceremony as if it would become a joyous occasion where she could show off her offspring, Ves maintained a more sober mood.

He held his youngest child in his arms and cuddled with him for a moment. Marvaine looked so small and delicate that Ves could not bear the thought of seeing any harm befall his only son!

"Today is an eventful day, Marvaine. While I want you to have fun, don't get distracted by all of the shiny and impressive looking mechs. There is more to this ceremony than what is obvious on the surface."

His pajama-clad son tilted his head in confusion.

"What are you talking about, papa?"

He sighed. "I will explain it to you when you are older. For now, make sure that no matter what happens later today, make sure to stick close to me. I will always keep you safe."

Now that they had risen from their beds, Ves and Gloriana along with their children proceeded to prepare for the day.

An elaborate team of bots, cosmeticians, tailors and other beauty experts did their best to elevate the appearances of their subjects as much as possible.

Each of them looked more dignified, professional and beautiful than any previous points in their lives!

Though Ves did not see much of a difference to be honest, his wife constantly gushed how gorgeous she and the others had become.

She bent down and touched Aurelia's shoulders. "You are so pretty now! Do not let anyone tell you that you are ugly. I can already see that you will be able to wrap any boy around your finger once you have grown into a big girl."

"Hihihi!" Aurelia giggled. "I already have boys wrapped on my finger, mama."

During breakfast, Ves decided that the time was right to give his children an unexpected but welcome surprise.

He clapped his hands, which not only caused his wife and children to quiet down, but also caused a trio of bots to float into the dining room.

"I know that none of your birthdays have arrived just yet, but I decided to give each of you a birthday present."

"Ohh? What is it, papa?! Is it a new toy?!"

As the children all lit up when they heard the word 'present', the bots that each carried a decoratively wrapped box stopped close to them. The shiny wrappings were just begging to get torn!

As the present boxes tempted the kids into action, Gloriana threw a puzzled look at her husband.

"What are you doing, Ves? We haven't talked about giving them any presents."

"I know. I am sorry about that, honey, but I had to take care of this on short notice. The presents that I have ordered for them have only arrived late last night."

Meanwhile, Aurelia, Andraste and Marvaine all wanted to receive their presents so badly that they found it difficult to control themselves as they had been taught by their mother.

Gloriana let out an exasperated sigh. "Very well, children. You can open your presents now, but be sure to control yourselves!"

"Yes, mama!"

Andraste promptly ignored her mother's advice and tore at the paper like a cat that went crazy!

Once she threw away the wrapping and opened the composite box, her eyes displayed confusion as she pulled out a small metal belt-like contraption.

Aurelia and Marvaine looked similarly perplexed as they obtained identical gifts.

"What is this, papa? Is this a comm?"

"No, honey." Gloriana replied as she studied the advanced devices with increasing consternation. "They are not communication devices. They are personal shield generators, similar to the ones your parents always wear."

"Huh? But these are smaller!"

Ves smiled. "That is right. These are copies of the Rison GK-22, a first-class compact transphasic shield generator that I have carefully selected from the catalog of the MTA. Compared to the shield generators that we are currently using, these ones make use of phasewater to generate significantly stronger protection in a much smaller form factor. You will hardly notice the weight at all once you have worn them for a while."

He moved forward, took the shield generators and clasped them onto their bodies one-by-one, replacing their older second-class models while he was at it. The nature of their designs allowed them to function as belts if necessary, but Ves preferred to keep them underneath a layer of clothing to avoid drawing attention to the advanced technology.

His wife meanwhile looked increasingly more suspicious as she crossed her arms.

"Ves…?"

"Yes, my dear?"

"How much did it cost for you to exchange these first-class shield generators from the MTA?"

"Only 5,000,000 MTA merits each. I would have liked to go for a more expensive one that can resist greater hits, but it will eat too much in my budget if I have to buy three of them at once."

His wife immediately grew still when she learned how much Ves had spent on these goods. Her eyes narrowed in a dangerous manner.

"You refused to contribute 60 million MTA merits to an essential upgrade to my design capabilities, but you did not hesitate to spend a quarter of that sum on protection that is largely redundant? They already have the shield generators that we bought for them a few years prior!"

"Hey, I would do anything for our children! Those merits are mine to spend, and I chose to buy protection that better reflects their value. Any enemies that are determined to mess with us will most certainly employ a heavy arsenal to take us all out at once. It is better to minimize the risks and upgrade to a proper first-class shield generator while we still can. Besides, the new Rison GK-22 is modern enough to satisfy our children's security needs for a long time. I will replace these kid products with larger and more higher-capacity versions once they grow up and are ready to attend university."

His wife looked as if she still couldn't get over the fact that Ves spent his merits on anything aside from her precious first-class cranial implant.

The only reason why she hadn't blown up yet was because she did not want to disrupt what should have been a joyous day for their children.

"We will speak later about this." She leaned forward and hissed into his ear. "I will not tolerate any more delays on this matter. If you are willing to spend 15 million MTA merits, you can keep your account open long enough to spend an additional 60 million MTA merits."

"Later."

It didn't matter to Ves. If the found ceremony unfolded as he and Calabast guessed, then he bet that Gloriana would no longer be in the right state of mind to follow up on this matter!

That little realization dampened his mood a bit. Though he had ensured that his children would not have to fear from any casual attacks, a determined mech could still power through the first-class energy shields through brute force!

Ves mainly equipped his children with the Rison GK-22 shield generators in order to increase their buffer and buy time for actual rescue to arrive.

Once the friendly Larkinson mechs in the vicinity came close enough to deploy their defenses, Block L should be in the clear.

After they finished their breakfast, the little family along with their cats boarded their armored shuttle.

The vehicle did not have to travel too far in order to reach its destination. The VIP seating areas were all located in the Government District where the security levels were the highest.

As the seat of power of the colony and the colonial state, it was only natural to make the announcement at this location.

All of the beautiful and well-designed government buildings looked even more impressive today as the Davutans covered their walls with vertically striped white-and-blue banners.

Occasionally, a wall displayed different symbols and colors. Each of them represented the organizations and individuals who had made significant contributions to the Davute Project.

Ves could even spot a red banner bearing a golden cat head adorning the structure that housed Davute's Ministry of Justice.

"Interesting choice."

He figured that the Davutans probably chose to hang the banner of the Larkinson Clan on this building as tribute to the bestselling Pacifier model.

Ves could see plenty of copies of this popular law enforcement model in the surroundings. No Planetary Guard force had made greater use of this odd but highly effective mech model than this colony!

After all, Davute was one of the home planets of the Pacifier model. Multiple mech manufacturing complexes owned by the LMC and other companies who licensed the design churned out copies of the mech day and night.

Ves felt a little more reassured when he saw how much Davute trusted the Pacifiers to keep the peace and control the crowd. Their calming glows should play a major role in quelling any full-blown panic and help with suppressing any hostile parties.

As the shuttle touched down at the designated landing pad, Ves and his family moved out and followed an attendant to a reception plaza where many other important figures had gathered.

A few groups moved into the indoor reception areas in order to sit down and get served.

His wife used this opportunity to drag her children to the acquaintances that she had made over the last few years and show off her children.

Before Lucky and Clixie followed suit, Ves bent down and touched both of their heads.

"I want you to stick close to my kids today, okay? No matter what, you stay with them, keep them together and make sure that they can always rely on you. I will try and do the same, but if I am not available for whatever reason, I am counting on you two to pick up the slack."

"Meow." Lucky sounded serious this time.

"Miaow?" Clixie on the other hand did not know why Ves was being more serious than usual.

The organic wasn't stupid, though. When she saw how Ves and Lucky behaved, she grew more vigilant as well.

As a genuine Rubarthan Sentinel Cat, her entire purpose in life was to protect the individuals that she was accompanying! Aurelia as well as Andraste and Marvaine all fell into the scope of Clixie's responsibilities.

This sense of purpose injected a jolt of strength into her body and caused the cat to become several times more alert than before!

"Miaow miaow miaow!"

Ves grinned and rubbed her head a few more times. "Thanks. I knew I could count on you. Now go and make sure they remain safe and accounted for. I need to catch up to a number of people."