The Mech Touch

The establishment of security zones immediately divided human civilization in the Milky Way!

Of course, people were no stranger to division. They had a long history of dividing people by placing labels onto them. First-raters and space peasants. Big Two and the subjugated. People from the galactic center and the folk from the galactic rim. Potentate and norm. Carmine mech pilot and professional mech pilot.

Now, the Big Two introduced the humans of the Milky Way to a new category of division. This one divided people by the area in which they lived!

Many people discovered to their dismay or satisfaction that they suddenly lived in a Safe Zone, Risk Zone or Free Zone!

What stood out to many people was that Safe Zones weren't as large as many people thought.

The regions of space that the Big Two was able to ensure a high degree of control mostly amounted to numerous first-rate states and second-rate states in the galactic center.

Further away in the galactic rim, the Big Two could only guarantee their protection in the safe zones centered around capital star systems, port systems and highly industrialised star systems.

As for the galactic rim? The Big Two could hardly protect anyone aside from their own strongholds!

The MTA had taken the initiative to shut down many branches and withdraw to the sector headquarters located in every star sector.

There, they no longer did anything but observe the chaos unfolding around them while defending their only remaining presence in far-flung star sectors.

Even with the help of the Galactic Gate Network, it was too difficult for the mechers and the fleeters to send reinforcements to many places.

Therefore, the isolated enclaves left in the Free Zones that were under the control of the Big Two maintained a complete defensive and isolationist posture!

The forces stationed over there not only had to learn to become more self-sufficient, but also refrain from going on expeditions unless the need was too great.

In other words, unless the alien empires, the Cosmopolitan Movement, the Five Scrolls Compact or any other powerful enemy force overtly tried to take over and establish their own dominion, the mechers and the fleeters would not make a move!

The consequences were massive and countless. Many people, especially the ones who lived on a planet that fell under a Risk Zone or Free Zone, grew a lot more uncertain about the future.

Everyone felt the economic consequences. The long-term stability and the limited scope of warfare and other incidents throughout human space had long fostered a prosperous business environment.

Now that many companies concluded that doing business in the riskier markets was no longer as easy as before, they all adjusted their strategies.

They soon began to cease their expansion plans, lower their commitment to every business venture that came under risk and in a few cases outright pulled out of dangerous regions of space entirely!

The mass readjustments caused many markets to grow unstable. The stock markets went deep into the red while many people lost their jobs.

This exacerbated the loss of stability in the Free Zones and certain Risk Zones as a lot of unemployed people blamed their recent misfortunes on the actions of the Big Two as opposed to the introduction of the Auto Heretic!

The MTA and CFA became incredibly maligned by the people who felt abandoned by the snooty first-raters. Public opinion on the Big Two dropped even further. It became so bad that insulting the mechers and the fleeters had become a new norm!

As the weeks passed by, many people quickly adjusted to the new status quo.

The changes happened the fastest in the galactic rim. The Big Two had retreated from much of it, only maintaining their enclaves as Safe Zones and the biggest and most developed star systems as Risk Zones.

This meant that the galactic rim had effectively devolved into frontiers where law and order had taken a huge backseat!

Many residents of the Free Zones felt very mixed about their new designations.

A lot of people, mostly those with the money and the connections to acquire their own Auto Heretics, welcomed the newly gained freedom to pilot their Carmine mechs in the open.

No longer did they have to fear that the mechers or the Guardians of Peace would swoop in and confiscate their Carmine mechs by force.

Other people began to miss the stability guaranteed by the Big Two. They might not think this way at first, but after the very obvious withdrawal of the MTA and the CFA, people began to grow a lot more fearful about their future and the future of their state! Ŕã₦Ö฿ĚS

One of the Free Zones where the mood was especially tense and mixed was the Yeina Star Cluster.

Professor Ves Larkinson had become a household name in this region of space once again.

Even though he had already departed to the Red Ocean, many of his living mechs still persisted in the hands of old customers!

Due to the Yeina Star Cluster's remote location, historic low importance and the lingering influence of Professor Larkinson and the Living Mech Corporation, many of the states in this region had been among the most enthusiastic adopters of the Auto Heretic mech line!

Even if living mechs had been relegated to curiosities, display models and collection pieces, many people still thought fondly of the products designed by Ves Larkinson.

When they learned that Professor Larkinson not only introduced a brand new living mech, but also happened to upstage all of the mechers and arrogant first-raters by smashing the genetic aptitude tyranny, the people of the Yeina Star Cluster embraced Carmine mechs with great enthusiasm!

The Komodo Star Sector was no exception to this rule!

The Friday Coalition had won the Komodo War and largely eradicated the influence of the Hexadric Hegemony and Professor Larkinson.

Due to the strong influence of the Fridaymen, the Komodo Star Sector had initially become one of the rare places within the Yeina Star Clusters where the local and regional authorities strongly repelled the use of Auto Heretic mechs.

The Fridaymen did not trust any living mech designed by Professor Larkinson and tried to stamp them out whenever possible.

However, the Fridaymen underestimated the effectiveness of their enforcement measures.

The Friday Coalition may have won the war, but they had lost a huge amount of manpower and resources in the process.

The Fridaymen had already begun to rebuild, but much of their manpower and assets were tied up in the reconstruction and reorganization of the vast territories that used to be governed by the Hexadric Hegemony.

What was worse was that the Fridaymen also lost much of their investments in the Red Ocean after the Great Severing. The Friday Coalition's economy took an enormous hit and was still trying to recover before the Carmine Revolution took everyone by surprise.

As a result, the Fridaymen were unable to patrol all of the star systems claimed by third-rate states in the rest of the star sector!

Carmine mechs popped up like weeds in the periphery of the Komodo Star Sector and many other low populated star systems.

Even if the Fridaymen organized many patrol fleets and tried to roam around and crack down on the Auto Heretics in an attempt to deter others from adopting the latest living mechs, they suffered the same problems as the MTA!

Not only did they fail to lower the insanely high demand for Carmine mechs, but they also made themselves incredibly unpopular by attempting to take away the toys from all of those mech enthusiasts!

The problem became so bad that even the Fridaymen themselves began to get their hands on Auto Heretics in defiance of the coalition partners that opposed their existence.

With the Big Two having ceased all attempts to enforce their rules and remove the annoying Carmine mechs from people's hands in the Free Zones, many Fridaymen secretly did whatever they could to become Carmine mech pilots and take pleasure in their new machines!

These events and more had caused a lot of consternation among the leaders of the different coalition partners.

Groups such as the Carnegie Group and the Vermeer Group advocated for a more conciliatory stance towards the existence of Carmine mechs.

Other groups such as the Gauge Dynasty and the Konsu Clan opposed the use of any living mechs within the Komodo Star Sector!

What complicated the matter even further was that opinions became divided within the coalition partners themselves.

One of the many people who became troubled by the latest events was a former friend of the now-legendary senior mech designer who had become recognized as the Father of Living Mechs.

"Daddy, was Larkinson as amazing as he was in the past?"

"He was, Priscilla. I never really appreciated it back then, but he already managed to stand out as a mech designer who made a habit of challenging the status quo. If I remained loyal to him… then I would have benefited much more from his rise to greatness."

"Do you regret leaving him, father?"

"I don't. We all make good choices and bad choices in our lifetimes. Letting hindsight determine whether we have made the right choices is a short-sighted way to look back on ourselves. We are all defined by our choices. No matter whether they are good or bad, they have shaped us who we are today. I made my lot in life by defecting to the Friday Coalition. Perhaps I would have become a better mech designer if I remained at the side of my old friend Ves, but I wouldn't have met your mother and have a pair of lovely girls like you if that was the case. My love for you all trumps my desire to leech off my old friend."

Carlos Shaw had made peace with his past. He had already spent enough years looking back and agonizing over all of the right or wrong choices he had made.

He eventually realized that his successes and failures defined him. Every experience was a learning opportunity. So long as he accepted this truth, he came confident he could become a better person going forward.

His life became much better after he changed to a more positive and accepting mindset. He had done his best to forget about his life as a Brighter and embrace his new life as a Fridayman.

For whatever reason, he began to hook up and marry with Alejandra Gauge, a branch member of the powerful Gauge Dynasty.

While Carlos suspected that Alejandra only took interest in him due to his value as a former friend and employee of the infamous Ves Larkinson, he liked to believe that this was only one of the reasons why she took an interest in himself.

Whatever the case, the two became happily married and had two kids. Owing to his promotion to a Journeyman Mech Designer and the support of the Gauge Dynasty, both of his children enjoyed a good start on life as designer babies.

Right now, his lovely Priscilla was eagerly finishing her breakfast while his wife Alejandra made sure to feed their baby Mirial with a bottle filled with a special nutrient solution.

"I will be staying late at work." Carlos mentioned to his wife. "My mentor wants to keep me there in order to continue our study of the Auto Heretic mechs and to question me about my time with Ves."

The woman furrowed her brows. "You have already made repeated accounts about your past with him. The MTA and the Friday Coalition have extracted everything you know about your former friend."

"I know, but I still have to go through the process just to satisfy the curiosity of newcomers who have taken an interest in my case. Besides, it is not all that bad. My relationship with Master Huron has gotten closer due to my old friend's revenge plan. Everytime something related to Ves takes place, the Master becomes obsessed with my old friend and his works. I happen to benefit from his habit."

Yep. That was right. Due to their common association with Ves Larkinson, Carlos had managed to get hired by Master Huron!

Right now, Carlos had become a proud employee of Huron Interworks in the Warsaw Giant System.

Exlor

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