The Mech Touch

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As Ves described Chief Nyquist to her, the mech captain smirked and crossed her arms.

”I know why he trips your suspicions.
You ’ve got good instincts, Ves. ”

”Please enlighten me.
From what I ’ve learned, there ’s nothing too suspicious about his background. ”

Melinda raised a finger.
”There is one point you ’ve neglected in your investigation.
Two points, actually.
The first one is his youth.
Where was he born? Where was he raised? Which friends did he have, and is he still in touch with them? The second point is that these kinds of records only center around a single individual.
What about his family? His record might be clean, but what about his father? What about his mother? Maybe he has a sibling who is also a delinquent. ”

Ves widened his eyes.
”I didn ’t realize all of that! ”

”A single record alone isn ’t useful enough in catching the bad guys.
It ’s only a starting point where you can jump off into other directions.
Right now, I don ’t know the exact reason why this Nyquist trips you to this extent, but in cases like these it ’s always worth following up on his background. ”

Ves looked at Melinda with a pleading expression.
”I ’d like to ask a favor of you.
I ’m not as experienced in investigating someone ’s background as the Planetary Guard.
Can you look into his life for me? I ’ll owe you one. ”

She frowned.
”It ’s highly improper to investigate a random citizen without cause.
If you think I can abuse my authority within the Planetary Guard, you ’re completely mistaken.
I ’ll have to file a report and receive permission from my superiors before I can embark on an action like that.
I can ’t just tell them that I want to investigate an upstanding citizen of the Republic as a favor. ”

He forgot himself.
Not every institution of the Bright Republic was susceptible to bribes and influence.
At the very least, Melinda was completely incorruptible!

”Isn ’t there anything you can do? ”

”Not without cause, Ves.
That ’s the law. ”

He dropped his request as he saw the futility in attempting to convince Melinda to bend the rules for him.
He belatedly realized that a straight-laced Larkinson like Melinda adhered to her training as a Larkinson to always serve with honesty and integrity!

Ves happened to miss this kind of training, and so had never been indoctrinated in these values.

That was probably a huge oversight on the part of the Larkinsons.

The problem was that Ves influenced so many people these last few years that he began to develop a cynical view of society.
He thought he could get anyone to bend or break the rules as long as he paid a sufficiently attractive bribe!

Vse had trouble adjusting to the current situation.
After spending so much time with people who believed the ends justified the means or those who tolerated any kind of misdeeds as long as they got a result, interacting with someone who was actually honest messed him up quite a bit!

It was as if he spent so much time with liars, cheats and low lives that he forgot how normal people functioned!

Ves shook his head.
He couldn ’t deal with this problem right now.
He decided to change his tack.
”Is there anything else you can do to give me a hand? ”

Melinda thought for a moment.
”I can give you advice and my opinion on some matters, but that ’s the extent of the help I can give you.
As a member of the Planetary Guard, there are many rules that dictate my behavior.
While we are charged with ensuring public safety on Bentheim, we also have to respect the individual rights of our citizens. ”

”I understand. ” He replied, though he couldn ’t quite mask his disappointment.

”What ’s the matter with you, Ves? How come you care so much about this investigation? From what it sounds like, the Mech Corps just wants you far away from the fighting.
There ’s no need to poke around at the KNG.
We ’ve never received any complaints about them or tied them to anything that crosses the line. ”

How could he open up to Melinda? Besides the inherent insecurity of this venue, he also couldn ’t let her know about his many sketchy deeds.

”It ’s hard to describe. ” He said a little lamely for lack of anything better to say.
”The war has been rather hard on me.
I can ’t tell you anything about what I ’ve been through, but sometimes I wonder how many dangers the galaxy still holds. ”

”If there ’s anything you want to lay off your chest, just know that I ’m here for you, Ves.
That ’s what family is for.
Us Larkinsons always have each other ’s backs. ”

He couldn ’t tell her about the secrets he learned at Aeon Corona VII.

The origin of the MTA and CFA.
The hidden influence of the Five Scrolls Compact on humanity ’s history.
The existence of Sigrund and the hybrid AI-alien entity ’s escape into the wider galaxy.

All of this was just a sample of the many revelations that burdened his mind and that he could never reveal without suffering the consequences.

Of all the secrets he just thought about, the continued uncertainty about Sigrund continued loom over his mind.
Keeping to their current accord was tenuous at best.
It could never last forever.
Either the AI would expose Ves as a Holy Son, or Ves would expose Sigrund as an escaped sentient AI.

The moment one grew strong enough to disregard the consequences of exposure was the time the other one ’s secrets came out.
Ves needed to hurry up and grow stronger as a mech designer and a man of influence if he wanted to survive the inevitable storm that followed!

The worst part about this lingering uncertainty that Ves had no clue when Sigrund grew strong enough to bear the consequences of exposing Ves! It could be a year, a decade or maybe even a century.

However, there was no doubt in his mind that a sentient AI possessed an extremely remarkable capacity for growth.
The longer Sigrund accumulated his power, the more frightening he became!

So Ves turned to Melinda and gave her a brittle smile.
”I ’m doing fine.
There ’s nothing for you to be concerned about. ”