The Mech Touch

Chapter 7594 Symbiosis or Dominance

When Ves came back, his first priority was to check on the condition of the Riot Mark III.

The powerful yet unstable machine had massively deviated from its previous pattern. This concerned Ves a lot because he couldn't properly model the D-mech's future behavior. Who knew what kind of shenanigans it would pull off going forward.

Soon after he entered the mech workshop where the Riot Mark III had recently been brought, he sighed in relief at the sight of a seemingly calm and dormant mech.

Its latest mutations had reverted, but only partially. This signified that the current relationship between the mech pilot and her demon still remained fairly cordial.

As Ves extended his senses, he could feel the distinct absence of danger and chaos.

The Middle Demon had voluntarily reined in his madness and aggression for the time being. He behaved remarkably calm and controlled for a being of his nature.

Ves did not expect this circumstance to last, though. Demons were inherently hostile towards living beings. Just because this particular entity could be rational did not necessarily mean he was willing to work honestly for humans.

Already, Ves could sense a small undercurrent from his D-mech. The machine remained a contested battleground where two sides sought to obtain complete control over it. Neither side could truly rest unless one of them got eliminated.

Ves stepped closer at a slightly slower pace than usual. Even with his bandages and adjusted uniform, his left shoulder still hurt like hell. Making fast and abrupt movements only exacerbated the pain.

The thought of needing to endure this injury for at least several months sounded like torture to him. He would definitely have difficulties concentrating on his work during this period.

"Saint Orfan." He called up at the seemingly dormant machine, making sure to appear as harmless as possible. "Are you still awake?"

Despite the fact that the Riot Mark III had been secured in a custom-fitted cage of superdimensional alloy braces, the machine may still be able to overpower its restraints and break out if it wished!

Naturally, the tier 3 Destroyer spear was nowhere to be seen. The crew had already taken the dangerous weapon away and placed it back in its specialized storage container.

"I AM… STILL AWAKE." Her voice transmitted from the restrained D-mech out loud. "I SUPPOSE YOU HAVE… QUESTIONS."

"You sound like you need a long break."

"I DO. I WILL REST AS SOON AS YOU ARE DONE."

"Then I will keep this short." Ves said as he immediately adjusted his plan. "First, are you okay? You and your machine have experienced drastic changes, and you took a great risk at the end of the battle."

"I'M FINE. THINGS COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER, BUT I AM… NOT IN DANGER."

"That is good to hear." Ves briefly smiled. "I am aware that you may feel… slighted by the fact that I did not consult your opinion before I forged a deal with the Prophet's Bane. I apologize for that. I did not see any other choice at the time."

"...I UNDERSTAND. I AM NOT HAPPY WITH IT, BUT… I SUPPOSE IT IS MY OWN FAULT FOR BEING WEAK. I DO NOT BLAME YOU FOR MY OWN FAILINGS. IF MY MENTALITY WAS NOT WEAK TO THE POINT A SINGLE ALIEN WITCH MANAGED TO MAKE ME LOSE CONTROL, THEN I HAVE NOT EARNED THE QUALIFICATIONS TO NEGOTIATE WITH YOU. IT MAKES SENSE FOR YOU TO SPEAK TO THE DEMON INSTEAD. JUST KNOW THAT I WILL NOT LET THIS HAPPEN A SECOND TIME. I WILL FIGHT BACK HARDER NEXT TIME IN ORDER TO ENSURE HE WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO SPEAK ON BEHALF OF US BOTH."

Ves relaxed a bit further after hearing that. His fears about Rosa Orfan's mental state turned out to be overblown. The female champion was not as weak or fragile as he thought. She still maintained the quintessential attitude of an ace pilot. Her willpower had not collapsed or regressed. All of these were good indications that she remained sober and in control.

"So now that stuff has changed, how do you describe your relationship with the Prophet's Bane?"

Several seconds passed by before Rosa offered a lame response. "I… HAVE NO WORDS. MY OPINIONS ON HIM HAS CHANGED, BUT NOT TOO MUCH. HE IS STILL A PARASITE WHO DREAMS OF DEVOURING MY SOUL. JUST BECAUSE HE CAN BE POLITE AND WITHOUT HIS GREED DOES NOT MEAN THAT I CAN SEE EYE-TO-EYE WITH HIM. HE ALREADY OCCUPIES SO MUCH OF MY SOUL ALREADY THAT I AM DESPERATE TO WIN IT BACK."

"I see. So both of you will revert to the old status quo?"

"YES, BUT NOT TODAY, OR EVEN TOMORROW. MAYBE AFTER WE HAVE RETURNED TO HUMAN SPACE. RIGHT NOW, NEITHER OF US SEE ANY POINT IN FIGHTING AGAINST EACH OTHER WHEN A POWERFUL PHASE WHALE OR DEATHBORN LORD COULD COME AND KILL US BOTH. WE HAVE MADE PROGRESS ON THIS ISSUE AT THE VERY LEAST."

That sounded like a genuinely positive development!

Though it was far too unrealistic for Saint Orfan and the Prophet's Bane to completely reconcile with each other, this would still be the best possible result from Ves' perspective.

His design philosophy was Mutual Growth in Adversity.

That did not mean he wanted to subject his clients to permanent suffering.

What he truly wanted to see was two initially hostile partners work out their differences over the course of many battles and form a permanent union of sorts.

In other words, he wanted them to choose symbiosis over domination!

Situations where one side outright devoured the other without giving the latter any chance to survive was far from Ves' ideal outcome!

A part of him still felt regretful about the time where Patriarch Reginald Cross did not appreciate his good intentions and turned his living mech into a lifeless vessel!

Although the leader of the Cross Clan had imprinted himself so strongly on the Mars that the ace hybrid mech had practically become his second skin, Ves only saw a huge amount of lost potential.

A solitary individual could never generate as much synergy as two equal partners!

Ves hoped that the Riot could follow a more promising route.

Achieving true symbiosis was by far the hardest route to traverse, but he genuinely believed that it would lead to the best possible growth for both Rosa Orfan and the Prophet's Bane!

Of course, Ves was not stupid enough to voice his hopes aloud. Neither of the two were willing to entertain any notion of permanent cooperation at this early stage. They still dreamt of completely eliminating their 'adversary' so that they could take complete possession of everything!

"By the way, I wanted to ask you a question about what happened at the end. I clearly saw you throw the tier 3 Destroyer spear at the massive green crystal. Under normal circumstances, the Destroyer weapon should have been blown apart or flung in a random direction at high speed. Neither of these outcomes happened. Instead, the spear 'magically' reappeared in the Riot's grip. I have checked the footage taken from my raiment multiple times. It failed to record any transition. The weapon just blinked into your machine's hand all of a sudden."

"I CAN'T EXPLAIN IT PROPERLY." Rosa Orfan sounded less certain. "AT THE TIME, MY INTUITION FAINTLY TOLD ME THAT IF I THREW MY SPEAR, I COULD GET IT BACK REGARDLESS OF WHAT HAPPENED. I DID NOT EXPECT IT TO RETURN TO MY MECH WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING. IF I HAVE TO EXPLAIN IT… MY WILLPOWER AT THE TIME WAS A LOT STRONGER, WAY WAY STRONGER."

Ves nodded. "That is right. Somehow, your resonance strength when completely unburdened by your own demon has surpassed 400 laveres. That is extremely impressive given how little time has passed since your breakthrough. It can take decades for many ace pilots to achieve the same kind of progress, though most of them admittedly spend much of it in times of peace. Still, even if you factor in all of the fighting as of late, your progress is still the fastest among your cohort of Larkinson ace pilots. Not even Tusa or Dise can come close to you in terms of raw willpower."

A sense of pride and satisfaction emanated from the D-mech. "I RESPECT MY COLLEAGUES, BUT NONE OF THEM HAVE BEEN FORCED TO ENDURE THE TORMENT OF BEING SHACKLED TO THIS DEMONIC MACHINE. I HAVE WORKED HARDER THAN ANY OTHER SAINT TO STRENGTHEN MY WILLPOWER. EVEN THEN, MY PROGRESS STILL WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH, OR ELSE I WOULDN'T HAVE LOST CONTROL IN THE FIRST PLACE."

She still felt a lot of blame for that personal failure. She would probably beat herself up over her disappointing showing numerous times in the following weeks.

That was not good. Ves needed the Riot Mark III at its strongest, and that would only happen if Saint Orfan remained sharp and motivated.

"Everyone stumbles." He tried to reassure the downtrodden ace pilot. "Even I have experienced numerous failures over the years. You can never completely prevent these bad incidents. What you do have control over is how you can do better next time. Now that the deathborn lord has taught you a brutal lesson about your mental vulnerability, I expect you to mitigate such accidents as best as possible. Does my request sound reasonable?"

"I… ALREADY PLANNED TO FIX THIS PROBLEM MYSELF. AS I HAVE SAID, I NEVER WANT TO LOSE CONTROL LIKE THAT AGAIN. YOU HAVE SEEN ME AT MY WORST. I AM HOPING THAT I CAN DROWN THIS AWFUL IMPRESSION WITH MUCH MORE IMPRESSIVE SHOWINGS IN THE FUTURE. I FINALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT DISE MEANS WHENEVER SHE LECTURES OTHERS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF MAINTAINING CONTROL."