The Mech Touch

While the striker mech project underwent its third round of iteration, the Hexer mech project also made a lot of progress.

As long as he wasn't distracted by clan affairs, he achieved a lot of progress. The support-oriented knight mech became more complete after every session.

Both Ves and Gloriana cuddled together after pulling their minds out of another exhausting mental design session.

Linking their implants together and designing their mechs under accelerated time perception was very productive, but also very straining.

Their mental and spiritual strength didn't play a role in this aspect. Only the physical resilience of their brains determined how far they could push this mode of mech design!

This was why Gloriana always ended up better off after they completed a session. While Ves was stuffed with genetic and biological augmentations, their effects were mostly scattered or leaned more in the direction of enhancing his physical attributes.

Gloriana on the other hand enjoyed more modest augmentations planned by her mother Constance.

Unlike the haphazard improvements applied to Ves, his girlfriend mainly received upgrades that focused on improving her cognitive functions!

The only physical augmentations she received mostly pertained to improving her health, enhancing her beauty, increasing her resilience to diseases and certain other matters pertaining exclusively to women.

As a result, she was much more suited to become a mech designer like Ves. This had always been something of a pet peeve of his. If Dr. Jutland didn't go crazy on his body, he would have lived his life as a normal mech designer!

On the other hand, if he didn't possess the Jutland organ, then he would have died by now!

If Ves had to choose between death and life as a suboptimal mech designer, he would definitely settle on the latter!

"Are you satisfied with our work so far, Ves?" Gloriana asked.

A projection of their current progress spun in front them. The landbound knight mech looked quite hefty, but its formidable appearance was partially an illusion.

Much of the bulk inside was made up of energy cells, heat sinks and energy transmission systems. All of that capacity could have been allocated towards improving the defensive aspects of his mech.

If Ves had a choice, he would have outfitted his mech with an energy shielding system, but that was a bit too expensive and impractical for their current budget!

Besides, male Hexer mechs were rarely equipped with shields.

"I know what you are thinking about." She said as she leaned her head against his shoulder. "Just forget about it, Ves. Women in our state always hog the best assets for themselves. Mech-grade energy shield modules are quite expensive, so the Hex Army has to allocate them wisely. They are much more needed in our female mechs as they are expected to brave a lot of danger. A lot more women would have died by now in the Komodo War if their mechs lack these crucial shields!"

While Ves acknowledged the logic behind this decision, he still thought it was rather upside down to deny a knight mech more defensive tools.

Still, an energy shield wasn't as important as the extensive energy reserves and energy transmission systems they managed to stuff inside the frame of their mech.

This ensured that their mech would not only be able to support the efforts of female mechs during the beginning of their assaults, but also prolong their utility by siphoning energy from fallen mechs and other energy sources!

"This mech is best suited to operate in urban and developed environments." Ves remarked. "While I designed its extra appendages to pierce through the open cavities or weak points of a wreck, they can also dig into the power network of a building to recharge its energy cells. As long as the city has an intact power grid or enough backup power, our knight mech can keep supplying a continuous amount of energy to the rest of its squad!"

Gloriana nodded, causing her hair to brush against his clothes. "That sounds very useful. A lot of the fighting so far takes place in fortified, highly-urbanized planets. The Komodo War won't budge any further before either side makes it through all of the defenses that they prepared in the centuries leading up to this struggle."

The war slowed down but the casualties continued to mount. No matter how the Coalition and the Hegemony tried to tout their successes on the galactic net, Ves saw precious little movement on the map. The lines budged in either direction at a glacial pace, yet the greater states continued to pour more mechs into these disputed war zones!

This would be a good time for a supportive knight mech optimized for urban combat to make its entry. Sadly, Ves and Gloriana still required more time to finalize their mech design. They hadn't even tested the first prototype up to this point!

Fortunately, it looked as if the stalemate would probably persist for at least a year if nothing drastic happened. That left plenty of time for the Hexers to try out his revolutionary new mech and deploy it on a wider scale!

Gloriana stirred again. "I'm not so sure about the development of its divine nature, though. We're obviously making a mech for male mech pilots. Sometimes, I get the feeling we are doing a huge disservice by attempting to instill it with a female proto-god."

To be honest, this fact bothered him as well. If he had a choice, he would have rather paired his upcoming design spirit with a female mech, but beggars couldn't be choosers.

"The gender of the mech doesn't have to correlate with the gender of its design spirit. The relationship between the two can be as close or as loose as we like. For example, the Aurora Titan is clearly a masculine mech design, but I linked it with Qilanxo without any issue. The Bright Warrior is vaguely male in its configurations, but it also meshes well with the Golden Cat."

"Those are non-Hexer designs, Ves. I can understand why you chose not to pay attention to the gender of the mechs and their proto-gods, but this is different. Gender matters a lot."

This was something Ves hadn't fully considered. Unlike her, he didn't think about the significance of something gender all the time.

"How do you think the Hexers will react to our end product?"

"That's the scary part. I don't know." She paused for a moment. "From what I understand, you are trying to create a motherly proto-god for our mech design, right?"

He nodded. "The design spirit derived from the Idol of the Superior Mother and.. other ingredients.. will be unquestionably female. She'll likely act like a nurturing mother to the mech pilot and a fierce guardian against opponents."

That wasn't all. He still wanted to give the design spirit more dimensions by imparting it with the different meanings of the six phases of existence, but that was a work in progress.

Just because he could break some spiritual fragments and merge them back together didn't mean he always got what he wanted. He still needed to guide the entire process and make sure it didn't go off the rails.

The last thing he wanted to do was to create an abomination and waste all of the ingredients he used!

The spiritual residue from the Idol of the Superior Mother was irreplaceable to Ves. He only had one shot to create the right design spirit, so he had to make sure to exert enough control over the process.

Gloriana would be lending her help as well, and each time she did so, she exhausted herself. It would take at least a month before she could do something like this again!

"I'm actually rather reluctant to proceed." She said. "I'm afraid my peers back in the Hegemony will tear me apart with their criticism for designing something that may be deemed heretical!"

Though Ves could sense that Gloriana truly feared this outcome, he was a lot more nonchalant about this issue.

"So what if a bunch of close-minded Hexers think our product is heresy? As long as you stay with me and accompany me on my travels, you won't have to bother yourself with those useless women. As long as our mech fulfills its purpose and swings the war in our favor, what does it matter if it offends someone's sensibilities?"

"But Ves! Those people are my friends! My colleagues! Maybe even my family!"

He placed his arm around her shoulder. "You're not entirely a Hexer anymore. It's okay to take some liberties. In mech design, we shouldn't let societal constraints hinder us if it gets in the way of designing the mechs of our dreams."

"Hmph! I'm still a Hexer!" She resisted. "You may not care for my state, but I still do. Any trouble I incur will also reflect on my mother and the rest of the Wodin Dynasty. I don't want to bring them any trouble."

Urgh. That was a good point. Gloriana essentially faced the same situation as Ves when he landed on the bad side of the Friday Coalition.

As a result of his conflict with the Fridaymen, they went after his family.

Now, Gloriana risked something similar, but from her very own state this time!

Even so.. Ves was very reluctant to alter his design because of external pressure! He was convinced that his current vision was the best one they should pursue! He was not willing to neuter his design just so he wouldn't step on the toes of some rabid female supremacists!

"Gloriana, it's really bad if we change the direction of our mech design project at this advanced state. We would have to throw out at least thirty percent of our work if we change our mind. Let's just keep building up our mech design until it's finished and decide from there. As long as we confirm its performance and the value it can bring to the Hegemony, I'm certain that you'll change your mind!"

"If you say so. I'm willing to give it a shot, but only because of you. If my co-designer was anyone else, I would have long pulled the plug on this project!"

Ves believed it wouldn't come to that. Only he possessed a complete picture of the vision of this mech. The design spirit he had in mind for this mech would be so profound that he was convinced that he could sway every Hexer into supporting his product!

As the two enjoyed their loving moment, his hand that was resting on her shoulder gradually swept lower and lower. Just as it started to inch towards a more sensitive part of her body, it soon bumped into an obstacle!

"Miaow miaow miaow!"

Clixie angrily woke up from her doze and climbed up to Gloriana's chest to block the intruder!

"Uhm, Gloriana, could you please move your cat away?" He pleaded.

"No."

"Why not?"

"We're at work, Ves!" She replied in an exasperated tone! "Aren't you the one who said that we should always stay professional while we are at our workplace?"

"I did? Wow, I must have been very stupid back then."

She giggled. "I think you're quite cute, Ves."

"So about your cat.."

"No. This is not the time."

"What about tonight?" Ves hopefully asked.

"You only get a reward if you've been good." Gloriana stated with a tone of finality. "Right now, it seems you've been quite naughty so far, so it looks like you won't be getting your fun tonight!"

She pushed herself away from her side and stood up. She continued to hug Clixie as she started to head towards the exit.

"Ves.. I really hope your plan works out for our Hexer mech design. If not, I'll be the first to punish you! I won't tolerate any attempt at mocking my beliefs!"

He innocently threw up his hands. "It's not like that! My mech will truly pay tribute to the greatness of Hexer culture and the truths of hexism, I swear!"

"Really?"

"I am the most honest mech designer in the galaxy! Have I ever broken my principles?"

Gloriana looked suspiciously at him, and so did her cat!

"Miaow!"