The Mech Touch

Chapter 7145: To Share Or Not To Share

Ves let his alter ego claim his childish victory.

He may call himself the Dark Apostle or the Dark Idiot all he wanted so long as he made concessions of his own in return.

As Ves’ true body remained in a kneeled and shackled position, the newly renamed Dark Apostle looked inordinately proud for having everyone recognize his chosen moniker.

Given that he was in a good mood right now, Ves decided to strike while the iron was hot and voice his key proposal.

"We do not need to be enemies with each other." Ves spoke through Blinky’s manifestation. "Look, I know that neither of us like each other. In fact, I would be more than happy if I can get rid of you, and I believe that you harbor the same intentions. That is not going to happen, though. For better or worse, we are stuck as one body sharing at least two distinct versions of ourselves. Rather than complain about it, I would rather do something productive like forming a mutually beneficial arrangement."

The Dark Apostle sneered. "Why should I cooperate with you? I hate you. I despise your weakness. I loathe your continued insistence on sympathizing with these mortals. At least the woman known as the Polymath has the right idea. Humans are incapable of ruling themselves, so they need a guiding hand, and who better to undertake this responsibility than gods? The Cybernetic Empress is a god in all but name. I admire how extensively she has taken control over the richest star system in this dwarf galaxy. She is proof that even a mech designer can become a qualified god. Why couldn’t you be more like your idol?"

"She is not my idol!" Ves defended himself, causing Blinky’s fur to puff up! "I respect and admire her knowledge and her many innovations, but that is the extent of my respect for her. When it comes to statecraft and other stuff, she is a horrible person. The Polymath has strayed from the goals and intentions that mech designers hold sacred. We are not talking about her today. We are talking about ourselves. We need to form a resolution that both of us can accept."

"You talk about ’us’ as if we can truly become a team." The Dark Apostle frowned. "That will never happen. Just as you think of me as a usurper, I think of you as a stubborn vestige that has refused to make way for the superior version, namely myself. Everything you do goes against my views. I can imagine that the same applies to you as well. Any deal we make will end up in a situation where the two of us counteract each other."

"That doesn’t necessarily have to be the case, Dark Apostle." Ves responded while referring to his alter ego by his preferred name rather than the one that reminded him of his human side. "Look, I have been thinking about this a bit more. Time is precious to me. The more time I give up on other stuff, the less I am able to contribute to society. However, so long as giving up a few hours of my time per week can keep you happy and productive, I am... open to letting you out and control my body so long as you behave. You will have to agree to strict monitoring. Mechs that are especially equipped to neutralize your ability to do anything harmful will shadow you everywhere. However, as long as you don’t do anything stupid and stay away from my own business, I can tolerate your existence."

The human phase lord raised his eyebrow. "For all of your complaints that you do not resemble the Polymath in the slightest, I know you crave control. You bear a great hatred for factors that are outside of your control. In your eyes, I am one of them. I can do anything while I am in control of ’your’ body. Are you truly willing to let me out and do with this body as I will?"

Blinky shook his head. "Do not misrepresent my words. I have told you that you will be given a set of hour rules to follow. The members of the Bluejay Fleet will accompany you and watch your every move in case you step out of line. You are not given a carte blanche. Threaten my people, and they will put you back in the shackles that currently restrain you, understand?"

The human phase lord scowled after hearing all of those restrictions. It galled him to be bossed around by weak and pathetic mortal humans. From his perspective, everything was upside down! The weak ruled over the powerful!

Unfortunately, the Dark Apostle did not get to have a say over how society should be run.

Human civilization was too big and strong for him to overturn it all at once.

Outside of exceptions such as the Polymath, regular humans still ruled large parts of human society.

Fortunately, everything could change.

The Dark Apostle recognized that this might not be the right time to assert all of his rights. Too few years had passed since the start of the Age of Dawn. Many changes needed a lot more time to work their way across red humanity.

The better strategy would be for him to remain patient and promote incremental changes to society.

In order to do that, he had to play along with these weak mortals and make the best use out of his ’parole time’ or whatever.

A calculating expression appeared on his face as he contemplated his new game plan.

While he preferred to solve this problem directly and through violence, his disadvantages were so severe that he had little choice but to follow the current arrangements.

That did not mean he was willing to roll over and accept every condition that these weaklings imposed on him. He was a phase lord, no, an Ascended Giant. He had his own pride, just like all of the other Ascended Giants.

"Give me 40 hours of the week to train and do my thing.

"40 hours?! That is way too much!"

"I am asking for no more than the hours that a normal person spends on sleep... if they are not consumed by work and study. You already squander at least several hours a day on maintaining a normal sleep cycle as if you are still human, which you are very much not. You know as well as I do that your need for sleep is mostly a self-imposed one at this point. For whatever reason, you depend on the daily sleep cycle to maintain a vestige of your fading humanity. My proposal will not change. You will still be allowed to go to sleep. I just happen to regain control of the body that you have usurped from me and lead the Ascended Giants. You should feel grateful that I am still leaving you with most of the hours of the week."

The Dark Apostle already recognized that Ves would never accept a demand that would give him control over what he considered his own true body for a longer period of time.

Even if they acted as separate people, they still shared the same body and brain, after all. They both had a good understanding of each other’s views and opinions.

Just as the human phase lord knew that Ves would not tolerate any heavier demands, Ves also recognized that the Dark Apostle’s bottom line was not too flexible.

"30 hours."

"Hell no. 40 hours or the deal is off. I will not allow you to treat me like a mental order that is allowed to run its course for a few hours a day. I am an Ascended Giant. I deserve respect."

They went back and forth a few times, but the Dark Apostle dug his heels, willing to bet that his harsh demand would eventually get accepted.

Ves and the collies needed his cooperation. Their alternatives for handling the Phase Lord Department were all worse.

They slowly arrived at a middle ground that both of them could reluctantly accept.

"I will give you your damn 40 hours, but aside from subjecting you to strict monitoring from the Bluejay Fleet, you will not do anything to impersonate me or meddle into my affairs. You will especially stay away from my family. At the same time, I will try to leave the Phase Lord Department alone as much as possible and let you lead it, but only as long as your orders and intentions are reasonable. The Red Collective must be allowed to put their own men into the department in order to monitor its operations and ensure that it will continue its original mandate, which is to protect red humanity."

"...I agree with most of your demands, but I do not agree with letting you keep me from my family. They may still be weak and vulnerable mortals, but they are still mine as well as yours.

"Hell no! I will not subject them to the confusion of dealing with the two of us! Do not touch my wife, and especially do not touch my children! They are mere humans anyway. There is no reason for you to build up a relationship with them. My wife and children are off-limits, do you understand? I will make sure that the forces of the Bluejay Fleet will shackle you and deprive you of your control over our true body if you ever step over the line."

"...At least let me get in touch with Andraste. Out of all of our children, she has the greatest potential to become a god without peer. She only needs guidance and motivation."

Blinky looked really angry at this time. "Rejected! When I tell you to stay away from my family, I mean all of them, including Andraste! She will never follow your footsteps!"

Faced with all of this opposition, the Dark Apostle finally chose to take a step back, but not in a direction that Ves and the others had anticipated.

An unsettling grin suddenly appeared on the true body’s face. "If you insist on keeping ’your’ family to yourself, then it is only fair to give me the opportunity to start my own family."

"..."

Blinky appeared completely speechless. Ves almost couldn’t believe what he just heard.

"Are you for real?"

"Completely. Do you want my cooperation? Fine. You want me to refrain from breaking the pathetic mortals around me? Fine. You want to keep me away from your precious wife and children? Fine. I will do all of that as long as you accept my needs as well. There are female phase lords among the Ascended Giants, though not as many as I wish. Regardless, let me approach them and start a relationship with one of them... or maybe more. Let me marry them and see if we can have children of our own. Give me this right, and I will abide by the terms you have mentioned as honestly as possible. After all, why should I violate them and risk losing my access to my own family?"

What a clever bastard. Ves understood what the Dark Apostle was after.

The right to start a relationship with a... hopefully female phase lord would give Ves and the Red Collective greater leverage.

His ’wife’ and any ’children’ that they may have — though Ves had never heard of the possibility of two phase lords being able to procreate naturally — could be used to guarantee the Dark Apostle’s good behavior.

It was a stable and reliable means of keeping this arrogant alter ego in check, but only if he genuinely cared about his family.

Ves would be able to tell. After all, the Dark Apostle was his other personality and occupied the same body.

This was a surprisingly elegant means to build up trust between the different parties. The Dark Apostle adapted quickly to reality and proposed a solution that ensured that he would continue to enjoy limited freedom 40 hours a week for a long time.

It was pretty much the best outcome he could aim for when anything better would get shot down in an instant.

While Ves could see how this could work from a purely logical perspective, his emotions were in turmoil.

He couldn’t quite accept a reality where the Dark Apostle would use his time allowance to spend time with another lover!