The Mech Touch

Chapter 7026 Hugo Fournier

While Ves continued to work on the Riot Mark III Project and the Arboreal Project, he assumed that he would not have anything to do with the ongoing negotiations.

Perhaps Ketis might get involved due to her status as the holder of the Heavensword, which everyone mistakenly assumed was the only available tool that could create a portal into the Blue Dimension.

Perhaps the Cybernetic Empire might still seek Ves out due to his many groundbreaking works.

He did not think that was likely, though. The Polymath and billions of Cybers had spent more than 5 decades on increasing their scientific understanding on many phenomena. They also used that time to invent all kinds of new and improved tech.

Ves would be a fool if he thought that the Cybers had ignored his body of work.

He wouldn't be surprised if the Cybernetic Empress not only managed to figure out how to design a genuine living mech, but also crack the secret to producing her own kinship networks and companion spirits.

As long as she had enough time on her hands, the Polymath was capable of reverse engineering nearly any form of technology!

Perhaps the Xenotechnician was a lot better than her at deciphering incomprehensible alien tech, but the Polymath's unmatched broad knowledge base made her among the most suitable mech designers to reverse engineer Class IX design philosophies like that of Ves.

The only question was whether other Cybers aside from their empress managed to learn how to devise their own living mechs, and how many of them had accumulated during the time their empire quietly developed in a time-accelerated bubble of space.

He didn't expect to be able to find out the answer so soon.

The new matriarch of the Larkinson Clan dropped by his design lab unannounced.

Ves frowned and paused his work on the Riot Mark III Project to face his latest visitor.

"Casella. I would love to greet you properly, but you interrupted me when I was just getting into my groove. My mood certainly doesn't appreciate you coming here without giving me prior notice."

"Meow."

Unlike Ves, a certain gem cat that was lounging nearby did not react so negatively to her appearance.

Lucky jumped from his perched and floated over to the matriarch, who promptly held his body in her arms and began to stroke his plated head.

"Meow~"

"I did not want to interrupt you like this, but I did not want to delay this matter."

"What is going on?" Ves questioned.

It had to be important to make Casella care so much.

"As you know, our clan has been negotiating an agreement with the Cybernetic Empire. During the talks, you came up as a person of interest to them. There are many reasons why the Cybers are eager to learn from you and establish a closer cooperation agreement with you. During our round of negotiations, the Cybers have agreed to make substantial land concessions in order to gain an opportunity to talk to you and extend an offer to you… directly."

"Did you sell me out?" Ves suspiciously asked.

"Absolutely not! Do not misunderstand, sir. The Cybernetic Empire could have contacted you directly through other channels. The Cybers have instead chosen to make their intentions known to the clan, which shows they are taking this matter seriously. I believe that they have offered enough sincerity to hear them out, Ves."

He looked carefully at Casella, but did not think she had changed so much that she was willing to sell him out to put the clan ahead.

"...Fine." Ves said. "My patience is at a limit. If the Cyber cannot maintain my interest, then I will be gone."

"I think that the Cybers should be more than capable of earning your interest based on what little they have exposed to me so far. The Cybernetic Empire is founded and kept together by relying on more than the benefits of wielding advanced technology. Its members, of which there are many, are strong believers in the Polymath's work. They are quite… colorful."

The Saint Commander was right. The Cybers were indeed fascinating individuals. Ves got to learn that first-hand after he agreed to entertain the request and communicate with a member of the new superpower.

This was how he came to face a physical projection of a cybernetic human individual.

The man did not hide his eagerness when he was finally able to meet with Ves!

"Professor Ves Larkinson. It is a great honor for me to be able to greet you. I cannot tell you how many times I have envisioned this meeting. Your work is endlessly admired among my colleagues. They all wish to greet you in person and tell you how much you have inspired them to seek life in other machines, but our wise superiors have recognized that overwhelming you by presenting so many strangers to you is counterproductive. After a lengthy period of negotiations and so on, I shall be the first and only Cyber to speak with you on matters relating to official business."

"..."

Ves and Lucky remained silent as the Cyber initially flooded the pair with words.

"What is your name?"

"Hugo. My name is Hugo Fournier. I chose my surname myself."

"Oh? Is that a common cultural practice within the Cybernetic Empire?"

"Yes, but only among those who are born without surnames that truly belong to us. You see, I am a batch human. I was born in one of the multiple large incubation chambers of my home system 36 years ago from my perspective."

That certainly caught Ves' attention!

Ves did not believe he had ever met or spoken to a batch human before.

In fact, if this Hugo fellow did not mention it, Ves would have assumed Hugo was a fairly normal human who was born from two parents under relatively normal circumstances.

Ves began to examine the Cyber's projection properly.

What stood out was his complete cybernetic conversion. His body had clearly been converted into a humanoid package that consisted of high-quality cybernetics. The fusion between man and machine was so extensive that Ves could not even begin to imagine how Hugo experienced his life.

Ves did not have a strong background in cybernetics. He was unable to fathom why anyone would want to replace his flesh and organs with artificial machinery to such an extreme extent.

"A batch human, huh?" Ves lightly spoke. "Does this mean that you grew up without traditional parents?"

Hugo nodded. He did not look offended by this line of questioning. "That is correct. The Cybernetic Empire assigns professional caretakers to the creches where batch humans such as myself are growing up. We are all grown with this in mind, so we have never felt bothered by the fact batch humans such as myself are unable to grow up in what you natural humans consider a 'real family'."

"I image that all of the other individuals in your 'batch' can be considered your brothers and sisters."

"That is correct, professor. While we do not have fathers and mothers per se, we all consider our Imperial Majesty to be our mother in spirit as well as body. She has not made it a secret that every batch human grown within our empire have inherited at least a fraction of her blessed genes."

!!!

Ves almost sputtered when he heard this! The Polymath certainly liked to produce a big layout!

"Doesn't that make the Polymath your literal mother?!"

Hugo grinned. "We batch humans believe this to be the case. Her Imperial Majesty may not have raised us as the mothers of natural humans, but the extensive care and attention she put into her batch human project shows that she cares for us all. I am one of the few batch humans that has received her personal attention and grace during my life, but I do not consider myself to be more deserving of her love than any other batch human."

The white-haired and goateed cybernetic life form actually looked wistful as he voiced his earnest thoughts. Hugo had not replaced his organic body parts with machines to the point where he literally became as dull as a machine.

His emotional range remained rich and his personality still retained its youthful human vitality!

"Fascinating." Ves commented. "How did you end up in a position to be the first Cyer to converse with me on behalf of your empire?"

The Cyber smiled with pride. His artificial blue eyes glowed a little brighter as well.

"Let me complete my introduction, professor. I am Hugo Fournier, a Journeyman Mech Designer. As a deep admirer of your work, I have worked hard to develop a design philosophy that is derived from yours. With great effort, I have managed to reach my current rank by committing to a Class IX design philosophy in Distributed Intelligence Living Mechs."

"You can design living mechs?!"

"I do." Hugo smiled. "I would love to show you my designs to you, but I am currently prohibited from doing so unless your clan has concluded an agreement with our empire. For now, I can tell you that my living mechs may not be as expressive as yours, but they possess their own merits that you have never witnessed before."

The name of his design philosophy already conveyed a lot of information.

As far as Ves knew, distributed intelligence was related to AIs. It described how a multitude of lesser AIs could combine their strengths to form a much much powerful gestalt intelligence that was far greater than the sum of its parts!

Such a phenomenon was quite powerful in the AI sector, so much so that a lot of safeguards had to be implemented to prevent these gestalt intelligences from going out of control and unintentionally seeking to eradicate humans!

Ves had never thought of applying such a concept to living mechs. Now that he thought about it, he realized that these so-called distributed intelligence living mechs actually had a lot of potential!

Hugo Fournier was absolutely a genius for being able to come up with this idea and making it viable enough to become a Journeyman.

"Is this why you have been assigned to be the first Cyber to speak with me?" Ves asked.

"Yes, but that is hardly the only criteria." Hugo admitted. "My introduction is not done yet. Let me tell you who I work for. I am a member of the Living Machine Tower. You may not understand the significance of this, but only the best mech designers or engineers who specialize in living mechs, living warships or living versions of technological objects can enter this prestigious establishment."

"Did the Polymath create a dedicated research institution that is entirely derived from my design philosophy?!"

"Yes and more." Hugo smiled wider. "There are Thirteen Towers in total. They are more than simple research institutions. Each of them comprise of centrally organized sectors based on a broad field. They encompass the R&D institutions, the factories, the educational facilities and anything else that is directly related to a technological specialization. During the Time of Isolation, each of our prestigious towers has grown to the point where they employ tens of millions or hundreds of millions of us. Everyone in my particular tower wishes to introduce you to our work, and hope that you will become proud with what we have managed to invent without your direct input."

"..."

Ves became completely speechless after he heard all of that. He never imagined that the Polymath had set up an entire sector that was solely dedicated to deciphering, imitating and surpassing his work on living mechs and other living products!

He hadn't even become a Master Mech Designer yet, which meant that eager fans such as Hugo Fournier had to learn how to design living mechs the hard way!

The fact that there were way more mech designers than Hugo in the Cybernetic Empire frankly horrified Ves.

How extensively did the Cybernetic Empire destroy his stranglehold on living mechs?

How much progress had they made in replicating his higher order living mechs?

Were they able to produce second order living mechs? What about third order living mechs?

More importantly, were they capable of designing their own Carmine mechs?

Ves deeply wanted to know the answers to these questions!