The Mech Touch

ntic? ”

She frowned a bit at that.
”Won ’t you get in trouble with the Flagrant Vandals for reproducing one of their signature designs? ”

”Oh, It ’s fine.
The mini model isn ’t a replica of the Hellcat.
I don ’t even have complete access to its design specifications.
You can say it ’s my own spin on its concept.
The miniature is cosmetically similar to the Hellcat, but its internals looks completely differently.
If it is scaled up to full size, its specs won ’t be as good as the real deal. ”

The woman traced the surface of the tiny mech with her fingers.
”There ’s something strange about this gift of yours.
It ’s like the model is warm to the touch without actually feeling my hands getting hotter.
It ’s like you ’ve added in its air of pride and aggression! Why do I feel it ’s not just a toy? ”

”That ’s because the model is a carrier of my own design philosophy. ” Ves sent her an enigmatic smile.
”If you can study it, you might be able to glimpse what makes it so special. ”

Ves had struggled hard to come up with a gift that Iris would appreciate.
He settled on handcrafting his own miniature mech according to his own style.
This wouldn ’t be just a normal miniature, but one which exhibited a trace of X-Factor.
Accomplishing that wasn ’t difficult for Ves, especially with his level of Spirituality.

As for choosing which design he wanted to adapt, he considered choosing his own designs such as the Blackbeak or the Crystal Lord, but eventually rejected those choices because they weren ’t associated with the Flagrant Vandals.

Only the Inheritor light skirmisher and the Hellcat hybrid knight deserved to be used.
Of the two, Ves was heavily partial towards the Inheritor, but its status as a cheap, disposable mech to the Vandals could be seen as disrespectful to the recipient.
He didn ’t want to give Iris the wrong impression.

The Hellcat was much more appropriate to be adapted because the spaceborn design enjoyed a very high status with the Vandals.
The mech ’s archetype also allowed Ves to incorporate the lessons he learned from working with other hybrid knights designs such as the Caesar Augustus and the Marc Antony.

The only complication he faced was when he tried to create a miniature flight system.
Ves had been forced to fudge a lot of things in order to get it to work without shooting the miniature into the ceiling.

”If you connect the miniature with your comm, you can control it from there.
Try out its flight system. ”

Iris followed his instructions and keyed the miniature Hellcat to her comm.
Like operating a toy, she activated the mech and made it over their table.
She laughed as she played with the little mech.

”I haven ’t played with dolls since I was a kid! ”

Several minutes later, Iris had her fill and switched the little mech off.
She carefully put the machine back into the gift box it came with before setting it aside.

”So how is my gift? ”

”It ’s more than I expected, Ves.
It ’s surprisingly symbolic, in a way.
I ’m sorry to say that I haven ’t prepared a gift of my own for you. ”

”That ’s okay. ”

”No, I insist.
Since you ’ve given me such a personal gift, I won ’t feel easy until I pass you something of my own. ”

”Take your time with it, Iris.
There ’s still time before we enter the Reinald Republic. ”

She nodded at that.
”It ’s true that I ’ll have to say goodbye to you and the Vandals when we get there.
The VRF still needs me back home, and I can ’t forsake my family.
Don ’t worry though, I ’m pretty sure we ’ll meet again. ”

”Why is that? ”

”It ’s.
A.
Seeecret. ” She replied with a wink.

At first, Ves thought she only said that in a perfunctory manner, but evidently she knew something that he didn ’t.
Would they truly see each other again someday?

Perhaps after a couple of decades or so.
Ves threw his speculation to the back of his mind.

”It ’s getting late.
Let ’s retire for the night. ”

The pair wished each other goodnight and returned to their separate cabins.
Ves sighed as he changed his clothes and slipped into his bunk.
He almost couldn ’t believe their escape from Vesian space had reached the endpoint.
The border to the Reinald Republic was only a stellar stone ’s throw away.

He wondered what would happen next once they reached another foreign state.
Reinald was a very different locale from the Bright Republic.
Whereas his home state was a little boring, the Reinald Republic was full of life and excitement.

”At least, that ’s what all the promotions are saying. ”

The Reinald Republic was known as one of the liveliest states in the Frozen Leaf Alliance.
Though the state wasn ’t very large or endowed with an abundant amount of exotics, it had become a nexus of sorts of different foreign influences.

As a small state, the Reinald Republic actively courted other states.
Besides the neighboring Vesia Kingdom, Reinald managed to forge diplomatic and commercial bonds with almost every other third-rate state in the star sector.

Their location wasn ’t very central.
In fact, it was actually a little troublesome to reach Reinald because there weren ’t any port systems in the vicinity.

To some people, this was an advantage.
The Reinald Republic played host to many ventures of dubious legality.
Thieves and gangs mingled with suspected pirates in Reinald ’s extensive grey and black markets.
Whenever someone needed to get their hands on something dirty, they took a trip to Reinald.

For some reason, the MTA hadn ’t cracked down on all of the shady dealings that took place there.
Some believed that the MTA tacitly contented to such trades as long as it wasn ’t too excessive.
If the MTA decided to stomp on Reinald ’s illegal markets, the problem would only go somewhere else.
In the thousands of years since humanity expanded into space, crime and piracy always accompanied their rise.

”Even the MTA can ’t do everything. ”