The Mech Touch

Chapter 6497 Do You Dare Accept The Evolution Witch's Favor?

Ves gave Ketis a crash course in E-technology over the galactic net.

He was not able to devote too much time on these tutoring sessions, but he made sure to give the swordmaster plenty of reading material and homework in order to help her get accustomed to using her new theories.

There was not much he could convey to her under the current circumstances. This was why Ves kept everything simple and stripped out any superfluous steps.

He should have taught her E-technology years ago, but he had become so busy after the Great Severing that he had neglected this particular obligation.

The good news was that Ketis already comprehended a part of the basics of E-technology. She had to be able to master at least this much in order to imbue her characteristic swordsman mechs with her swordsmanship styles.

After verifying where she stood in this field, Ves understood that he needed to broaden her skillset. She could invest more time in deepening her existing skills and applications in her own time. What he needed to do right now was to broaden her horizons by giving her a lot of new tools and theories.

By expanding her theoretical framework, Ketis would be able to figure out how to piece different fundamental building blocks into more advanced amalgamations that could be used to solve more complex problems.

That was all Ves sought to do in the next few days. He did not want to be greedy and eat up too much of his time.

Ketis had ultimately chosen to go her own way instead of inheriting his design philosophy. There was no need for Ves to bestow her his entire heritage of specializations. She wouldn't be able to digest it because she lacked the passion and interest for his more profound works.

All he needed to do was to give her a broad primer on E-technology so that she could paint her canvasses in her own distinct style.

The MSTS already carried a strong flavor of Ves and Vulcan. They exercised their creativity and added the functions they believed were important.

However, their perspectives could only encompass so many features. A substantially different mech designer such as Ketis might be able to recognize gaps and develop new functions that Ves could have never imagined.

In fact, if this little experiment yielded successful results, Ves even thought about giving Alexa administrator access to the MSTS as well and see what she could do with it. As a highly educated first-class mech designer, her outlook on mechs was substantially different. He looked forward to seeing what she might add to the MSTS on her own

initiative.

In any case, Ves continued to teach and tutor Ketis about the basic aspects of E-technology that the latter had not already learned or fully comprehended.

Since E-technology was still a very new discipline, there was not much ground to cover. Ves also lacked a strong enough foundation to be able to effectively teach the vaguer and more esoteric concepts.

While Ves made a conscious effort to make his teachings simple enough for a mech designer like Ketis, the woman clearly needed more time to fully digest what he taught. "This is all I can spare to you at this time." Ves said in an apologetic tone. "You should review the study material that I have transmitted to you in your own time. They contain a combination of standard theories compiled by the Red Collective and additional notes that convey my personal understanding. The latter is what makes my work unique, but don't lean too hard on it. You have reached the stage in your career where you need to innovate rather than imitate."

The physical projection of Ketis nodded in understanding even as she petted Lucky's back. "I know. I am not a Novice or Apprentice anymore. I think I need to spend a couple more weeks completing my homework. Once I am done, I already have a good idea on how I want to apply my skills."

"Oh? Would you like to share your proposal?"

"Not yet. I am not confident I can implement it in your MSTS. I don't want to introduce a promising idea to you, only to come back later and tell you I can't get it to work."

"Suit yourself, then."

The pair talked a bit more about how Ketis should access the MSTS and what she needed to pay attention to when she began to work on the underlying programming and logic engines.

"The MSTS is entirely based on E energy, but it has become so much more after years of exposure to a lot of mech pilots. While there is definitely an element of mysticism going on, the programming is based on modern standards, so you don't have to be afraid of getting lost in all kinds of obtuse descriptions."

Ketis smiled at that. "This is good to hear. If the logic of the MSTS is at least somewhat understandable, I should be able to wrangle it with my own programming capabilities. Thank you again for teaching me your personal insights on E-technology. Your take on this new field is much different from others. It will be difficult for me to make my own mark, but I will try my best."

After giving Ketis a few more tips, the two eventually ended their last remote teaching session.

"Meow!"

Lucky lost his comfortable perch when the connection cut off. The cat could only float in the air and gaze at Ves before snobbishly turning his head around.

"Meow meow meow."

Ves rolled his eyes at his cat, but did not bother to waste his time on this matter. He had a lot of work to do due to his new responsibilities, and he preferred to complete as much of it as possible before the Bluejay Fleet finally returned to New Constantinople. As he dealt with various issues, he received a strange offer out of the blue. Normally, his personal assistant threw away every proposal that turned out to be junk for one reason or another.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The amount of people trying to scam Ves or take advantage of him was astronomical. If not for the expansion of his staff, it would have taken forever to sort through all of the incoming messages that were not immediately labeled as spam.

Even if a proposal made by a third party sounded rather dubious, as long as it seemed legitimate enough and satisfied the interests of the Larkinson Clan, Ves was not entirely opposed to signing an agreement, but only if there were strong guarantees in place. Ves almost froze when he read through the letter. He looked up at Gavin with a certain degree of unease and trepidation.

"Is this legitimate?"

"Yes. The proposal is sent straight to Professor Vector Loban, who promptly verified its authenticity before transferring the documents to myself in person. The codes and other markers match. The contents of the files are authentic. The seal of the god pilot can be faked, but absolutely no one dares to commit such a suicidal act."

Impersonating a god pilot in any way was a dead sentence in a society that revered them as gods in human form!

Now that Ves gained a bit of reassurance, he quickly skimmed through the letter for the fifth time in order to make sure he had not missed anything critical.

"The Evolution Witch... is actually willing to 'reward' me by personally helping Saint Isobel Kotin heal and reconstruct her body in advance?"

"That is what is offered in the letter, boss. The lack of any timeframe makes it unclear how long it will take for our most heavily injured high-ranking mech pilot to regain her body and fighting capabilities, but I estimate it may take two years or less. That is a much more favorable time frame for us than the 5 years projected by the Larkinson Biotech Institute. No offensive, Ves, but if I had to choose between the original plan and the Evolution Witch's proposal, I would go for the latter 100 percent of the time." Ves had a different take on this matter. He knew what the Evolution Witch was truly like. That woman never did any charity and always had an ulterior motive in mind. Had the god pilot embedded a trap in this seemingly innocent and sincere-sounding

proposal?

Was there a greater plot behind this seemingly simple process?

Was she intending to poach Saint Isobel Kotin under his nose?!

His paranoia refused to accept the most obvious outcome that Divine Lucie Miyazaki casually found out about Isobel's situation and gave her charity.

While Ves struggled to find an answer, Gavin applied his logical reasoning to the

situation.

"It is highly unlikely that the Evolution Witch is willing to betray your trust and compromise Saint Isobel. You should get a verbal promise from her just to be certain. It is not an insult to make this reasonable demand."

"Still..." Ves gnashed his teeth. "The LBI formed a 5-year plan. One of them involved buying out a first-class genetics research institution. The next step is to develop a cybernetic body so that Isobel can come back better and stronger. The plan may be slow, but it should have been steady and comfortable. If the Evolution Witch can rebuild Saint Isobel's body in a short timeframe, then I cannot responsibly ignore this offer." Gavin shook his head in disbelief. "Have you considered that the Evolution Witch is helping you gain a strong protector and alien killer out of the goodness of her heart, as well as a genuine appreciation for an up-and-coming ace pilot? Perhaps she believes that we cannot afford to let every injured Saint languish in their recovery pods and wants to restore them to their peak conditions as soon as possible. The current state of the Red War is precarious. Any ace pilot that can be brought back to the battlefield will make us a little more secure."

"Depending on how long the treatment lasts, there is a significant chance that we won't have an ace mech ready for her." Ves grumbled. "My wife and I planned to take our time on the Promethea Mark II Project. If we can expect Isobel Kotin to return healthy and eager to pilot a powerful new machine, she may have to wait half a year or longer just to

obtain her coveted machine."

That was anything but optimal.

His wife might adore the opportunity to participate in the design of a powerful ace

mech, but she would definitely grow angry at the disruptions of her schedule for the

upcoming year!

"Do not decide this matter on your own." Gavin urgently advised his superior. "Think about it. Share it with your friends and colleagues that you can trust to remain discreet. Gather their feedback and decide what must be done to Saint Isobel Kotin."

Was Ves' need to control the variables strong enough to resist the incredible convenience of leaving Isobel's body with the leader of the RA Transhumanist Faction!

Who knew how adventurous the Human Biodisaster could be. She probably could not wait to conduct live experiments!

The two choices offered an extreme contrast with each other.

One of them offered a steady and low-risk way of restoring and improving Saint. Isobel. Ves would always hold the initiative and had no obligation to share it with others.

The other one offered great convenience and speed, yet there was too much of a risk

that Isobel would get compromised along the way.

Ves genuinely suffered a dilemma. Both options had their own pros and cons. Once he added them all up, their scores roughly remained equal to each other!

This certainly did not help Ves make up his mind whether he should take the Evolution

Witch at face value, or assume that her offer turned out to be another poisoned chalice.

Hours passed by without any resolution.

"Aaaaaarggggh! This too difficult!"

Ves practically wanted to tear his hair out! This dilemma was driving him nuts!