The Mech Touch

Ves wanted his hero mech to make a bold statement, so he wanted to pair it with an attention-grabbing name.

"It should be a name that encapsulates its duality as well as its ownership to both me and Axelar."

This was the first custom mech that he designed that was truly spiritually connected to both himself and its intended mech pilot. Ves broke new ground with this mech design, and would model his subsequent custom design approach from the lessons he learned from this brief but insightful experience.

"It’s only right commemorate my first real custom mech with a memorable name."

Playing on both the symbolism behind its conceptual and visual design, Ves came up with a fitting moniker for his remarkable hero mech design.

"Let’s call it the Ouroboros!"

Ves said those words aloud through Axelar’s body, which instantly alarmed Benny!

"Master Axelar, I would highly caution you to avoid adopting such a name for your mech! A name like the Ouroboros might offend the sensibilities of a number of religious factions!"

"I don’t care! This is a mech that encompassese both creation and destruction! Like a serpent eating its own tail, it is a mech that personifies duality!"

The excuses that Ves made Axelar say sounded a bit too high-minded for him to come up with on his own. Fortunately Benny merely mistook it as the usual nonsense that Axelar expressed when his mood swung in an extreme direction.

In fact, the style of the mech that ’Axelar’ just designed should have been beyond him! The technical and artistic aspects of the Ouroboros far surpassed the previous mechs that Axelar designed with the help of the auto designer!

If Benny possessed at least half of the training of a mech designer, he would immediately notice the abnormal discrepancy in design style. Not only that, but the bodyguard would be able to recognize that the Ouroboros was a product from a genuine mech designer instead of a layman!

It was a good thing that even in the Terran Confederation, no human was omnipotent. Benny might be a great bodyguard, personal attendant, minder, gatekeeper and household manager, but that left very little time for him to study the inner workings of mechs. His knowledge towards mech only extended up to learning how to cope with them in a combat situation!

As long as Ves was able to fool Benny and the rest of his staff, it didn’t matter whether other people recognized that the Ouroboros hadn’t actually been designed by the real Axelar. By the time people started asking questions, Ves would hopefully be long gone from this time and place.

He was starting to miss his old life. Even if the Komodo Star Sector was a backwater village compared to the fantastic splendor of the Radiant Pulsar Star Sector, there was no place like home.

"The Terran Confederation is a fantastic place to live, but I don’t belong here." Ves mentally sighed.

He appreciated the System for letting him experience what life was like in the Terran Confederation. Even though Axelar was anything but a common Terran, what he observed so far revealed a society that was obsessed with abundance, decadence and technological supremacy.

The nature of conflict was very different in the galactic center. With the absence of external enemies, the powers of the Radiant Pulsar Star Sector instead played a delicate game against themselves. The restricted wars between the ancient clans resembled elaborate, large-scale mech games rather than a total war where states unleashed the full might of their war potential.

"Everything is so fake and artificial here."

The Terrans were some of the most materialistic humans Ves had ever seen! With the wealth and power at their disposal, they could indulge in their fancies to a much greater extreme.

All of the easy living did not do people like Axelar any good. If this exceptional mech pilot genuinely applied himself, he stood a decent chance at advancing to expert pilot just like Venerable Foster! Yet his overly-indulgent clan never pushed this wastrel to make something out of his life!

Did that mean that the New Rubarth Empire was better than the Greater Terran United Confederation?

"I shouldn’t come to a hasty conclusion. I’ve only witnessed what life is like from only one part of the Terran Confederation. A first-rate superstate is much bigger than what I’ve glimpsed up until now!"

In any case, Ves was ready to wrap up his preparations for the upcoming duel. After he bestowed his two-headed mech design with a name, he prepared to infuse his spiritually-charged image into the Ouroboros.

"It’s time to take up your new home."

He always looked forward to this moment. Each design he infused with life was like giving birth to another child.

"I’m no different from a mother!"

This time, the spiritual imprints embedded into the fused image of the base model and the human myth made him the mother and Axelar the father.

The child that resulted from their spiritual union possessed an active connection to them both. This mattered a lot because when the image finally took its place as the design spirit of the Ouroboros, Ves still felt an active connection to it whenever he looked at its depiction!

"Axelar must be feeling the same."

The junkie’s weak consciousness paused in its attempt to dislodge Ves’ consciousness from maintain control over Axelar’s body. Even this dummy had noticed something.

Now that he finally completed the design, he sent out a command to materialize it into existence. While Ves would rather prefer to fabricate it through a more manual process, he could hardly do so without arousing a lot of suspicion from Benny.

Practically every mech in the Terran Confederation was made with materialization technology. Only eccentrics and vintage lovers went back to working with 3D printers and other outdated production equipment.

Axelar may be a conceited individual, but even he wouldn’t dare to mess around with error-prone equipment when materialization technology was both faster and more convenient.

It didn’t take a long time for the Ouroboros to be materialized into existence. When Ves viewed the mech as it was being loaded into the cargo bay of Axelar’s personal starship, he experienced a deep sense of belonging to the mech!

He donated a part of his Spirituality into its design! This was a very significant action. Ves realized that it somewhat resembled the process of forming his design seed!

There was something very remarkable about a mech that carried his own imprint!

If Ves already perceived this much about his own creation, then what about Axelar, who was its spiritual father?

"Hopefully he’ll be able to roll with it and use it to its advantage." Ves mentally muttered.

Axelar’s body, Benny and a considerable amount of staff all boarded the starship which lifted off into space. An entire space lane had been cleared for Axelar’s passage to the Cube Arena.

The Tyon System became incredibly active right now. News of the unexpected challenge issued by Axelar Streon towards the Haspel Asps spread like wildfire in the Radiant Pulsar Star Sector!

Many enthusiasts who could travel to the Cube Arena fast enough to witness the duel all hopped into a starship and arrived at the Tyon System in droves!

The arena operators took full advantage of the situation and jacked up their prices! Even then, they still sold out all of their seats within minutes!

The participants of the upcoming duel were all entitled to a share of the proceeds, with the winner taking the lion’s share. When Ves thought of how much T-dollars Axelar stood to gain if he won, he regretted that he couldn’t take any of it back.

Axelar was nothing without Ves and would have continued to waste his life away!

As the private starship arrived in one of the Cube Arena’s private hangar bays, the staff moved the Ouroboros deeper into the arena. Benny made sure to assign a crack team of reliable guards to keep an eye on the Ouroboros and prevent anyone from tampering with the mech.

The upcoming duel affected the reputation of the Streon Clan. Many enemies and rivals would love to tarnish their name by sabotaging Axelar’s dueling mech!

"Master Axelar? This way, if you’ll please. The mech duel will start in an hour."

Before the duel commenced, the Cuba Arena needed to perform an extensive examination of Axelar’s physical condition. Even if it meant disappointing the entire star sector, they couldn’t allow Axelar to step into the arena space if he wasn’t sound in mind and body!

Ves knew that it was time for his consciousness to step back from Axelar’s body and allow its rightful owner to return to his own body.

With a mental heave, Ves moved his consciousness out of the spot it previously occupied in Axelar’s mental space.

The original core consciousness immediately moved in to resume its natural space. It formed a seamless connection with the rest of Axelar’s mind and body, showing that the reintegration process was a success!

Axelar’s consciousness was back in control!

He woke up confused and disoriented. What had happened to him? Where was this place? Why was his mind unusually clear? Where were his stimulants?

Benny spoke up from the side. "Master Axelar, the first physical examination will begin in a few minutes. Please move out of your hover chair and enter the pod the next room."

"Wueh?"

"Please, this isn’t the time to doze off. Your impending mech duel against the team leader of the Haspel Asps will start in less than an hour! More than ten million citizens from the Tyon System and the neighboring systems are waiting to see whether you can preserve the honor of our star system."

"Huh?"

"I know that you are in a lethargic condition ever since you swore off from using recreational stimulants for the rest of your life, but you need to push through the psychological withdrawal symptoms you must be going through."

"What?! You got rid of my entire stash of stimulants?! That was at least twenty years worth of doses! And you sold my supplier as well?!"

Benny frowned with worry. "I did so on your orders. Don’t you remember?"

"How the hell would I ever remember issuing such insane orders?! I would never forswear my drugs even in my most psychedelic highs! Tell me that this isn’t true! If this is a nasty prank of your Benny, then it isn’t funny!"

"This is no joke, Master Axelar." Benny said with a firm and serious voice. "Regardless of the irregularities in your conduct ever since you decided to stop taking stimulants, you’ve already made a couple of public commitments. To uphold the dignity of your clan, you have no choice but to fulfill your promises."

Axelar threw a stumped and unknowing look towards his bodyguard. "Please refresh my memory, Benny. What did my insane, sober self commit to in public? Nothing too bad, I hope?"

"You made two very bold promises. First, you challenged the the team leader Haspel Asps in a mech duel that is about to start soon. Second, you announced that you will be participating in the next run of the Trail of Tears elite training program!"

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! The Trail of Tears!? Me?! That isn’t me?! I would never put myself through that hell!"

"It’s too late, Axelar. You can’t pull back after announcing your intention to enter the Trail of Tears in front of a live broadcast!"

Axelar was devastated. He held his head and started to moan like a child. How could he possibly volunteer for the Trail of Tears? He was out of his mind to jump into that infamous training program! One in four mech pilots died in every batch! Many of the rest either broke or became mentally disabled!

At this time, a doctor entered the room. "Master Axelar? The first examination will begin soon. Please follow me to the first inspection machine. We’ll be running a very fine check of your body to make sure you are in the most optimal state to perform for the masses!"

Axelar was already eyeing the exits. He wanted nothing to do with this insane challenge!

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