The Mech Touch

The plan that Ves came up sounded very dumb, especially to the Larkinsons born in the Bright Republic.

Their strong secularist upbringing caused them to develop an instinctive revulsion for anything related to religion and superstition.

Idolatry was an extension of that. Even if it did not come in an overt religious coat, the extreme worship and veneration of objects and people was a kind of behavior that Brighters had learned to be wary of at all times!

It was one thing to be a fan of people like expert pilots. These hero-like figures fought hard and overcame unimaginable hurdles in order to become larger than life.

Yet to turn your brains off and accept anything dubious or harmful just because it came from the object you admired was another thing!

Excessive worship of high-ranking mech pilots led to warped societies such as Vicious Mountain's Garlen Empire. Strong as it may be, the tragedy of the Cross Clan taught Ves and many Larkinsons that letting expert pilots be in charge was as primitive as allowing the strongest caveman to be in charge of an ancient tribe!

It may have made some sense back in the primordial era of humanity, but modern states were much larger, more complex and more intertwined with technology and other systems.

Brighters like Ves always learned that the ideal human should discard as much superstition, bias and prejudice as possible and instead engage in critical thinking. A bit of scepticism was always reasonable, but being contrarian to the point of becoming a conspiracy theorist who only adhered to unfalsifiable theories was yet another form of bias.

It was not that easy for anyone to remain enlightened in a society where many different interest groups sought to persuade people to their viewpoints. Family, friends, the media, the local sports club, schools, the government and even the Big Two all sought to convert people to their particular pet causes, and they weren't above playing dirty to gain support.

The Life Research Association was actually supposed to be an enlightened state. Ruled by a cabal of highly intelligent scientists who rose through the ranks by proving their worth through achieving actual research results, the state was the closest thing to a technocracy that Ves had ever encountered.

Yet for all their smarts, the biotech researchers themselves were prone to the same faults that enlightened states were supposed to suppress!

Their partiality towards biotechnology was so strong that a lot of Lifers simply couldn't comprehend why the rest of the galaxy didn't follow suit!

The ultralifers happened to be the most extreme among them. Though not overtly religious in nature, their overly-passionate defense of anything related to biotechnology and the LRA pretty much meant they were indistinguishable from cultists like the ones from the True Ylvaine Dynasty and Spiritus Sancti.

That gave Ves a rather bright idea.

Why not give the fanatics what they wanted?

Though the scheme cooked up by Ves sounded so stupid that anyone with a decent brain would have been able to see through it right away, he felt there was actually a decent chance of success this time.

Everything he had observed about the ultralifers suggested that they were the kind of extremists who were true believers rather than hypocritical opportunists.

In other words, they walked the walk the walk and were actually sincere about their extreme devotion towards biotechnology.

It didn't matter if there were a handful of enlightened sceptics among their ranks. As long as they were in the minority, the peer pressure from the rest of the crowd would ensure that the naysayers followed along. If not, then the deviants would inevitably get pushed out of the group instead of having their warnings respected!

This was one of the most poisonous aspects of cults. The lack of internal dissent and the high pressure towards conformity even if the prevailing consensus was wrong resulted in a strong bubble where 2 + 2 = 5 and green was red.

This gave him an even greater confidence in his ploy.

"If these guys are as stubborn about the greatness of biotechnology as Gloriana is about the superiority of Hexers, then I can definitely hoodwink these stupid ultralifers!"

His abundant personal experience with Gloriana's strong biases gave him ample knowledge how to approach the ultralifers.

The most important factor that Ves had to take into account was to set up the right narrative. Ves had to manipulate the circumstances in a way that played to all of his target audience's biases without inserting any discordant elements.

For example, Ves' identity absolutely couldn't be associated with the statues that Ves intended to use. This was not too difficult as only the Larkinsons who recently joined the clan were aware of the Aspects of Lufa.

Ves had made sure to keep their existence a secret and ordered every Larkinson to stay quiet about them. While this was not a completely foolproof way of keeping his latest invention unknown, he doubted that the ultralifers were up to date.

"Let's just try. Even if they know, they might get too dazzled by my work to question any further."

The main reason why Ves was able to persuade everyone to try out his plan was because no one could come up with any better. In any case, it only took a day or two to put together some new statues and see whether the ultralifers were truly gullible as he predicted.

If his guess was wrong, then the Larkinsons would just try out something else.

Just as Ves was about to convene a work crew by calling Dr. Robert Swindell along with a number of other biomech technicians, he suddenly gained a bit of inspiration.

"Why settle for an inanimate statue when I can do more with a moving sculpture?"

If he was able to create a simple bot covered with organic matter, he could use that to manipulate the ultralifers to an even greater degree!

As a mech designer, designing and creating bots was a simple matter for him. The complexity was at least an order of magnitude simpler, especially when Ves did not need to incorporate many of the features that normal bots possessed.

His demands were not great!

"I need to get access to a workshop!"

Fortunately, his airfleet included an imported transport vehicle that happened to incorporate a mobile workshop that centered around conventional technology. This happened to be one of his most useful spoils during his raiding runs.

It took Ves less than two hours to come up with a very basic design for the bot that was meant to serve as the inner half of his statues.

The humanoid design had to be able to move, maintain its balance, carry its own weight, respond to his commands, ignore everyone else's commands and… that was it, essentially.

It didn't need to sustain any damage.

It didn't need to carry any weapons.

It didn't need to draw a lot of power.

It didn't need to incorporate a cockpit so that it could be piloted by a human.

It only had to look pretty and move like a doll!

Ves didn't even bother to add any speakers to the rudimentary design. If his statues started speaking, then there was a significant chance that his target audience would see through his ruse.

"It's better to be vague and rely on body language to convey my meaning." Ves hummed as he tweaked his projected design. "If I keep the statues open to interpretations, then the ultralifers will rely on their imagination to fill up the gaps. This is a much better way to ensure I won't break my narrative."

Fabricating the mechanical internal frame took a lot more time, but that was mainly because of the lack of powerful production equipment. The overwhelming majority of production sites and production equipment in this area were geared towards biotechnology.

At least that made the next step easier. When Ves started working with Dr. Swindell to cover his metallic skeletons with flesh, they made use of higher-quality synthesized tissue that was a bit more durable and pretty than the low-quality tissue that covered his original four statues.

Just like before, Ves decided to make a batch of four moving statues. In fact, one of them should already be able to do the job, but he decided to make duplicates to ensure there were spares if the ultralifers initially mistook them for threats and blasted them apart.

At the end of the production run, Ves and his crew of biomech technicians looked admiringly at their handiwork.

In the final moments, the crew had to maintain a healthy distance from the end products and perform the final work by remote and with the help of bots.

This was because the four simple bots all exuded the same glow as the Aspect of Tranquility!

"You know, sir, when I first learned of your plan, I thought it had no chance of working." Dr. Swindell said.

"Do you still think that way?"

"Seeing those four organic bots together makes my spine shiver. If I didn't participate in their making, I would have become tempted to see them as gifts from a god."

Ves smirked. "That's exactly the point. I hope the ultralifers don't think too hard on where they came from. They don't have to think. They only need to obey."

After a bit of preparation, the Larkinsons sneakily transported the organic bots close to the entrance of the ultralifer underground fortification.

They flew it over most of the way, but put the animated statues on the ground and have them walk over for the final stretch.

Ves was already aware that the ultralifers planted numerous sensors and listening devices in the vicinity, so the ultralifers must have picked up on the activity happening above their heads.

Fortunately, the base defenders didn't immediately muster out to shoot his new creations down. It helped that he had made a deliberate effort to make them seem as harmless as possible. Not only did they possess very low energy signatures, but they also lacked the organic and metallic materials that were usually associated with combat mechs.

Without the size, power and weapons of a mech, Ves hoped that his animated statues looked both harmless and attractive enough to lure a mouse.

"C'mon. Do something." Ves whispered as he observed the live feed.

It took half an hour before a side entrance opened up. A squad of very familiar-looking armored infantry soldiers stepped out and cautiously marched towards the four statues.

Ves had made sure to spread them out a bit. The squad remained cautious though and decided to circle around in order to approach the statue on the left while maintaining their distance from the rest.

As they approached the edge of the effective range of the angelic bot's glow, they halted.

They must have felt something remarkable about the statue. After reporting back to their superiors inside their base, one of them experimentally took a few steps forward.

That soldier gradually lost all of his thoughts and emotions. He automatically relaxed and holstered his weapon as he walked close enough to make his conscious mind completely tranquil!

This was the critical moment. Ves became highly alert and already gripped his controls. If the ultralifers regarded his creations to be a threat, then there was a large chance his plan would go bust!

Yet as the affected soldier's combat armor transmitted all of its telemetry back to his sergeant as well as the leaders monitoring the situation from afar, the ultralifers recognized that their comrade wasn't in immediate danger.

In fact, the soldier should have calmed and entered into a very relaxed state. It was similar to meditation, but not precisely since the man completely blanked out, which was essentially impossible to achieve under normal circumstances!

As time continued to pass, nothing much happened, but Ves became more and more hopeful.

Once the entrance opened up again in order to let out a team of field scientists, he knew his new creations managed to hook the ultralifers!

"Yes!" Ves grinned and punched his fist into the air! "Come closer, my children. Don't be shy. I have candy."