The Mech Touch

Human civilization in the Milky Way Galaxy occupied a vast amount of territory.

Half the galaxy encompassed a huge amount of star systems, of which only a fraction was occupied by humans,

Even so, this still amounted to an astronomical amount of planets that were populated by millions if not billions of people each!

The enormous territories occupied by humans made it so that central authorities such as the Mech Trade Association and the Common Fleet Alliance lacked the numbers to properly enforce their authority on every single star system and planet. Space was too big. If people truly wanted to avoid the Big Two's enforcers, they could simply travel to an out-of-the-way star system that was devoid of any permanent human occupation and play with Auto Heretics all of the time!

In fact, most people did not really bother to uproot their entire lives so that they could travel to a star system where the mechers and the fleeters were unlikely to show up one day.

They just stayed on their home planets and piloted their Auto Heretics in places such as underground mech arenas, remote lands and many other forms of private property. As long as the Big Two, the Guardians of Peace and any local authorities that cooperated with them did not hold much sway on a planet, then the locals were pretty much free to purchase and pilot their Auto Heretics without much fear of getting punished!

Even though most people still believed in the power of the MTA and CFA, they no longer respected them as much as before!

This loss of respect was extremely damaging to the Big Two because they could no longer dictate the rules anymore!

While the Big Two still held a lot of sway in most developed states and star systems, their influence continued to degrade in the poorer and more remote regions!

It couldn't be helped. Carmine mechs had become so desirable that trying to prohibit their use directly went against the will of most people.

Third-raters especially embraced them due to their long-term alienation towards the distant first-raters and their overwhelming desire to uplift themselves by any means possible.

For the first time in centuries, third-class norms were able to slightly rise above their space peasant origins and gain the power to fight and protect themselves!

The rush of power of piloting an Auto Heretic Version C might not amount to much in an absolute sense, but it caused many third-raters to gain an inflated sense of འ ་ ་ ་

Strength and confidence.

While there were usually MTA branches on each of the planets where these violations. occurred, the mechers who worked over there knew better than to act high-handed.

There were already examples where the regional managers tried to confiscate the illegal Auto Heretics from their owners!

In most cases, these attempts provoked violent reactions as the Carmine mech pilots always refused to become separated from their bonded partners!

The Blood Pact almost always caused the humans to develop unreasonably close relationships with their machines.

From the perspective of the MTA, it was perverse to see so many individuals succumb to the fallacy that the huge lump of metal was their friend, relative and maybe even another part of themselves!

As such, taking away their Carmine mechs was just as bad as taking away their spouses or their children.

Not only did the ensuing scuffles result in a lot of tragedies, but they also incensed the rest of the population of a planet!

MTA branches had already fallen, either as a direct consequence of overly repressive actions, or due to the preemptive measures taken by multiple conspirators who decided to combine their forces.

The rapid loss of control and reputation of the Mech Trade Association subsequently produced a lot of ripple effects that rapidly changed society in many parts of human space.

The new Carmine mech pilots gained more courage because of this. They became more daring in their defiance towards the Big Two, thereby causing the old order to crumble even faster!

While that did not mean they all became criminals who gleefully began to employ weapons of mass destruction against each other, it was clear that their willingness to abide by the order of the Big Two had dropped to the lowest point in centuries! Fueled by both eager Carmine mech pilots and many different interest groups that had a bone to pick with the Big Two, a negative feedback loop had formed.

It was clear that the MTA and the CFA needed to change their approach, or else the current situation across the Milky Way would continue to spiral down to an unacceptable degree!

A lot of contentious discussions within the halls of the MTA, the CFA and the Guardians of Peace.

"We cannot let this stand. We must hire more personnel and expand our forces in order to properly enforce our rules onto the regions of space that are flagrantly making a mockery of us and our rules. Don't these space peasants understand that we ŗÀΝŎΒƐᶊ

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Are trying our best to protect them from their own mistakes?! We must reinvigorate our efforts to educate these ignorant fools and make sure to strengthen our control over all of the states."

"Pff, you drones from the Guidance Faction have always wanted to take control over all of the states. Do you even recognize how impossible it is to realize your fantasies? We do not have the funds, manpower and assets to control every single region of space claimed by our race! Besides, even if we do, your heavy-handed approach will only be met with greater resistance. Why did you think we allowed the states to exist? It is because our Association must maintain a layer of separation between ourselves and the space peasants. As soon as we take over the states, there is no one for the citizens to blame for their own suffering and misfortunes than us! If your goal is to turn us into tyrants, then congratulations, your plan will surely make that come true! It will only be a matter of time before a coalition that claims to fight for justice will rise up and try to overthrow our benevolent rule!"

"Then let us form a compromise and formalize our current approach. There are regions of space where we can enforce our rule without problem. There are also other regions of space where we cannot fully guarantee the safety and protection of every space peasant against the dangers of Carmine mechs. Then there are regions of space where we have already given up on enforcing our rules concerning the use of the Auto

Heretics and their many variants."

"What... what are you suggesting?"

"We must retrench ourselves in the first region, seek to build up our infrastructure and defenses in the second region and leave the third region alone until we are ready to bring it back into the fold. My ultimate proposal is to formally divide human space into Safe Zones where the safety of most humans can be guaranteed, Risk Zones where humans must be more on guard against the threat of violators, and Free Zones where we have graciously allowed the space peasants to make their own bed so that they can lie on it. If all goes well, the latter will descend into widespread anarchy, but we can afford this loss."

"Are you mad? That will only encourage all of the rebels and criminals! If we do anything to confirm that we have lost control over the so-called Free Zones, then our legitimacy will suffer a permanent blow! We will never be able to retake these lost territories because the population rightfully believe that we have abandoned them and left them to fend for themselves!"

"Then what would you have us do instead? We are incurring far more damage to our reputation and prestige by maintaining the fiction that we are still in control over our entire society! Wake up! Maintaining my partition will allow us to contain most of the violence and instability to the Free Zones which are the least valuable territories to us. People who desire to go against our will and become Carmine mech pilots will leave the Safe Zones and Risk Zones to emigrate to the Free Zones, thereby improving the security levels of the former two. At the same time, the Free Zones will become so dangerous that they shall serve as proof that our rules and regulations have merit." The proposal to partition human space into different 'security zones' provoked a lot of controversy, but also attracted a lot of supporters.

The Galactic Mech Council and the Grand Admiralty debated over this contentious subject for more than a week behind cosed doors before they finally published a joint

Statement.

The proposal had passed!

"From today onwards, the territories of human civilization in this galaxy shall be partitioned into Safe Zones, Risk Zones and Free Zones. Each may encompass parts of the regions claimed by first-rate states, second-rate states and third-rate states. The institution of security zones is not a purely administrative measure. It has real consequences to the rule of law, the degree of enforcement and the amount of leeway we grant to the people who reside in them. We strongly advise those who believe that they live in the wrong security zones to relocate to other security zones where they can enjoy all of the protection or freedom they desire."

Many people throughout the galaxy reacted with shock, happiness as well as dismay when the Big Two unveiled a new galactic map that divided all of the human territories

In different security zones!

The Big Two had made very few mistakes when drawing this map. They had largely translated the actual situation in those star systems into an officially recognized set of

Boundaries.

Many people still thought it was strange for the Big Two to refer to the most dangerous and risk-prone regions as 'Free Zones!

"Do not think that you will be able to live in a paradise if you live in Free Zones. They

Are called this way because we recognize that a part of our galactic population desires to live without rules they consider excessive or undesirable. Freedom is a double-edged sword at best, and a euphemism for anarchy at worst. You may not believe us at first, but it will soon become obvious that we are correct when your homes are being crushed by the feet of unrestrained Carmine mechs and when piracy and barbarism has taken precedence over the rule of law."

"The Mech Trade Association and the Common Fleet Alliance is of the opinion that people without restraint will ultimately cause disasters for themselves and the people around them, but we recognize that many of you are not convinced of this. We are therefore willing to give the largely unconvinced people of the Free Zones the opportunity to live in their desired freedom. Do not forget that you are responsible for

Your own decisions. If a number of you end up developing and deploying weapons of mass destruction against each other, then do not expect us to save you and offer our aid. This is the consequence of rejecting our well-intentioned rules."

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. We are convinced that this will take place in every Free Zone. If you wish to avoid the mass murders, the

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Reckless deployment of illegal weapons and the other abuses that are about to occur, then you should do your best to move to the Safe Zones where you can return to a society where order and peace is being preserved. Thank you for listening." The creation of security zones stabilized the rapidly changing situation across human

Space. They increased the security levels of all Safe Zones, caused the Risk Zones to become the next battlegrounds between the Carmine Revolutionaries and the Guardians of Peace and also turned the Free Zones into magnets for wannabe Carmine mech pilots! While the Big Two succeeded in stabilizing their own areas of control, they also showed a lot of weakness by acknowledging their widespread loss of influence! Their enemies became emboldened as a result. They took advantage of the changes and accelerated their plans to plot the demise of the faltering hegemons of human

Civilization!

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