The Mech Touch

Ever since the exploration team exited the research lab that housed Project Cain, Dr. Avalon Perris had become a lot more subdued.

She no longer maintained a curious and wondrous demeanor to all of the experiments taking place around her. She saw everything in a different light now that she had been confronted by one of the skeletons in the Supreme Sage's closet.

Ves felt that Dr. Perris was too naive. From what he had encountered after interacting with many different biotech experts, the knowledge they accumulated over the course of their careers always had a darker side to them. There was great potential in what they could do with their acquired expertise, but the most promising of them always demanded a sacrifice in some form or another.

The temptation to perform forbidden research grew stronger as the scientists grew older. The prospect of exhausting their mortality was so great that the normal values they held no longer mattered as much.

If this could happen to a Senior or Master of the Life Research Organization, then the Supreme Sage was definitely not immune to these considerations!

Ves had already entered the pinnacle lab with the expectation that he would stumble upon some shameful deeds. It was unfortunate that the citizens of the LRA were so inured by state propaganda that they never considered the possibility that their greatest leader possessed a darker side!

"Stop moping." He told her as they moved to another research lab. "The Supreme Sage is not a god, nor a saint. He's a human just like you. Everyone is flawed, and someone who has lived for several centuries like him has accumulated a lot of sins. That doesn't diminish any of his accomplishments. The contributions he made to the LRA and its citizens are all real."

Dr. Perris frowned behind her faceplate. "I can't get over it, sir. Project Cain is so opposite of what scientists should be engaging in. The LRA is very firm about that and has always cracked down on those who break the rules. If biotechnology can ever enter the mainstream, then it is vital that those who represented it put their best face forward. If the Supreme sage's deeds become known, then the LRA's cause will suffer an immense setback!"

Ves huffed. "You don't have to worry about that. The LRA is a massive state with lots of people who don't want to see that happen. Even if someone leaks the news on the galactic net, the story will gain no traction because it is too outrageous to be true. Not even providing hard evidence will change anything because any electric file can be falsified. Besides, even if the LRA and the local biotech industry incur a lot of damage, it's none of our business. Don't forget your new identity. As a member of the Larkinson Clan, you should put our interests first. It makes no sense for us to sacrifice ourselves for the good of a foreign state."

That reminder caused her to fall silent. Obviously, she still identified herself with her former state. Though it was easy enough to change the citizenship in her record, it was a lot harder for her to erase all of the affection and emotional attachment she acquired during her upbringing!

From what Ves had experienced, he found that biomech designers and other biotech experts were especially bad when it came to adjusting to their new loyalties! The LRA clearly invested more attention in instilling loyalty into their heads.

Ves didn't waste too much time on Dr. Perris. Once she shut up, he gleefully entered another research lab and began to access the terminal.

"Let's see what the Supreme Sage was up to in this lab."

As long as any research project he encountered during his exploration was relevant to him, he had no qualms of copying all of data in order to make use of it all! While Ves did not possess the expertise to make use of it all, he could simply hand his bounty over to Dr. Ranya Wodin and his fast-growing collection of biotech experts.

"Damn, it doesn't look as if I can get something useful here." He spoke after he figured out what the Supreme Sage was studying in this lab.

As far as he could determine, the Supreme Sage sought to develop a means to relieve extreme pressure and density for heavy organic machines. This was an important requirement for Special Project 'U'.

The subsequent labs he visited were also related to Special Project 'U' in one form or another.

One research project sought to develop an enhanced version of high-density blood.

Another research project sought to develop an efficient way to lighten the mass of large organic products.

The most peculiar project he encountered in the last half hour was a way to accelerate regenation by supplying lots of raw and dense nutrients regardless of the quality and composition.

When Dr. Perris encountered Project Ammit, she finally dropped her apprehension and revulsion towards the Supreme Sage's research activities.

Compared to Project Cain, Project Ammit was a lot more innocuous. The Supreme Sage saw no need to cross any lines in order to develop a specific means of to increase the self-repair function of a specific organic machine.

"This… this is fascinating!" Dr. Perris practically had stars in her eyes after studying the valuable research data. "The progress I have made in the study of high-speed regeneration is practically child's play compared to what the Supreme Sage has accumulated. One of the greatest problems that I'm grappling with is developing a viable means to fuel the regeneration process in the field. According to the results of Project Ammit, the Supreme Sage refined a very easy means to enable regeneration without being too picky about the input materials."

The nuances and implications of Project Ammit were great. Ves and Dr. Perris didn't have the time to delve too deeply in this project.

Dr. Perris already began to correlate what she learned with her existing knowledge. She began to see her chosen specialty and research direction from an expanded perspective. She realized that she had overlooked way too many variables that the Supreme Sage meticulously took into account.

Even her understanding of existing variables had changed after getting enlightened by the Supreme Sage's knowledge. Her nascent design philosophy experienced major shifts as she became flooded with brand-new insights.

Though the comprehensiveness and rigor of her newly-developed theoretical framework was doubtlessly better than her old framework, Ves wasn't sure that was a good development. Low-ranking mech designers weren't expected to get in touch with all of this high-level knowledge from the beginning.

In fact, knowing too much might become a hindrance to their quest to advance to Journeyman. Apprentices needed to develop an inquisitive mind and develop a strong willingness to plunge into the unknown and perform original research.

No Apprentice ever managed to advance to Journeyman by relying purely on acquired knowledge!

Still, Ves didn't to remind Dr. Perris. Every mech designer was different and it was not impossible for her to find another promising research direction in light of what she learned.

After exiting the seventh research lab, the exploration team reached the end of a floor.

"Hmmm." Ves paused for a moment. "The teleportation portal should have brought us to the lowest floor of the pinnacle lab. It's pretty much certain that this underground facility has multiple floors. According to standard practice, the less important projects are all situated in the periphery while the most critical ones should be situated in the center of the middle floors. What do you think, Dr. Perris?"

The woman slowly nodded. "That is true, mostly. In order to guard against the risk of tunneling breaches, labs like these always concentrate the most vital activities at the center. This way, no matter in which direction people enter the research facility, they always have to pass through several different barriers before they can access the heart of the site."

All signs so far suggested that the Supreme Sage was not someone who broke convention for fun. As long as a rule made sense, the deceased leader had no reason to do anything differently.

"If this is the case, then the lab that houses Special Project 'V' ought to be in the center as well."

They knew their destination now, roughly. While they still hadn't obtained a map, Ves felt a lot more reassured that he wasn't totally dependent on the living gem for directions anymore.

Though the Supreme Comprehension gem constantly urged Ves to travel in specific directions, he always felt a bit afraid where he might end up if he blindly followed its instructions.

If a situation arouse where Ves might be forced to get rid of the gem, then he wanted to make sure he would be able to navigate the pinnacle lab without any external guidance!

"Let's find a way up. There has to be a stairs or elevator here somewhere."

There were still plenty of rooms on this floor that were not devoted to research. Some rooms serviced a lot of maintenance beetles. Other rooms were geared towards maintaining a constant environment.

Ves even managed to stumble upon a luxurious bedroom of sorts. Though it never showed any signs of use, he found a large virtual library of science-related books and articles. Many of them touched upon high technology and were not accessible on the galactic net!

Naturally, Ves helped himself to all of these virtual books. Since he had already anticipated that he would be plundering a lot of data from the pinnacle lab, he had made sure to prepare a large number of data chips to hold all of the virtual loot.

Though he did not bring enough storage media to steal everything he encountered, he had more than enough to take away the essence of entire research projects!

Eventually, the exploration team failed to find a way to move to the next floor. Ves had to rely on the guidance of his mysterious gem once again. It led him to an apparently empty wall. Once the gem bumped against its surface, a secret entrance opened up that led to a short-range teleportation portal.

Ves frowned at the sight. "This is too extravagant!"

After a brief examination, Ves was able to ascertain that the range of the teleportation portal should not exceed 50 meters. Though stairs or elevators were much more cost-effective, using teleporters was much more secure. It was easier to isolate a floor or track those who passed through the portals.

Before Ves and Dr. Perris passed through the short-ranged teleporter, Nitaa ordered an honor guard to scout the other side first.

Ves calmly waited for the guard to scope out the other side and return to tell them that everything was fine.

Much to his surprise, the honor guard returned in a battle-ready posture! The armored soldier held his heavy assault rifle as if he was ready to pull the trigger!

"Sir, I have detected signs of active fighting taking place!"

"What?!"

The honor guard didn't stick around for long, so he didn't have much details to share. The only reason why he came to this conclusion was because his suit registered distant sounds of active weapon discharge.

As Ves briefly listened to the amplified audio recording, he distinctly recognized the sounds of kinetic impacts and exploding warheads.

All of them sounded fairly light. Ves already determined they came from small arms fire. So far, he did not hear any sounds that suggested that there were mechs fighting in the distance. The scale of mech-grade weapons was so greater that the sounds they made were inherently deeper and more guttural compared to their infantry-grade counterparts.

It was like the difference between the cry of a house cat and the roar of a lion!

Ves relaxed a bit. He did not have much solutions against mechs, but as long as the others in the pinnacle lab were wielding infantry weapons, he and his team could handle them if they turned out to be hostile.

Still, the presence of other humans in this restricted lab completely changed the nature of his exploration.

"Who are they? How did they enter this lab? Are their goals the same as mine?"

If the latter turned out to be the case, then Ves would have a very big problem in his hands!