The Mech Touch

Chapter 6588 The Dehumanization of the MTA

"It is human nature for the strong among us to take measures to consolidate their power base." Veronica told Master Willix. "What is happening in the Age of Mechs has happened in the Age of Conquest and prior periods of human history as well. All empires eventually fall. Even if the Big Two doesn't get toppled by the conspiracy hatched by the Oblivion Gate Consortium, other factors will eventually get the job done"

"You may be correct, but I do not want to leave this matter to chance." Willix expressed her resolve. "One of the problems with this age is that many of our most powerful leaders are blatantly not human anymore. They have become existences that rival that of gods, which means their life spans are completely different. It should not be too much of a problem for them to live for longer than modern human history. If that happens, more and more of our people will become accustomed to being ruled by a fixed group of gods whose authorities have become unshakeable. That is not a sign of a healthy human society. If our existing order cannot induce our existing leaders to pass on their positions of power to the next generations, then we must give the disenfranchised masses the power to fight to regain their own rights."

"Even at the cost of a huge amount of bloodshed?"

"As long as the conflict can be controlled to an extent, then the total extinction of the human race is off the table. I can reluctantly accept this outcome if the alternatives are worse. It is better to attempt to detonate this contradiction earlier rather than later. Now that an opportunity has arisen due to the confluence of multiple favorable developments, I am willing to lend my aid to this cause."

"Do you think that humans will end up in a worse position if the status quo continues to hold for a couple more centuries?" Veronica asked.

"Yes. That is exactly what I think based on my understanding of our current society. The longer the masses are being trained to revere their betters, the less willing they are to challenge their leaders. The only possibility that a conflict may break out is if the powerful leaders of opposing camps have fallen out and have begun to wage open warfare against each other. This is a worse outcome because the longer passage of time has put more human lives in danger. A war between two top human power blocs may also be cataclysmic enough to sunder planets and ruin star systems."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Ah. I think I get your argument. The human suffering in a straightforward fight between two human power blocs can easily spin out of control if the fighting grows more intense. Ordinary people have no power to resist at all. This is different when a huge amount of smaller fights and wars occur across the Milky Way. A lot of people will still get killed, but it is much less likely that people on one side will escalate too far and engage in mass slaughter and widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure. Since most of the petty wars are started by random people whose egos became

overinflated after becoming Carmine mech pilots, they would become much more prone to starting fights getting dragged into them. That was not an excuse to commit genocide, though.

From this perspective, it should at least be possible to keep the damage of the Rule Breaker Project contained to an extent.

Of course, there were a lot of questionable assumptions about this future speculation that could very well disappoint Master Willix. The warring along with the intervention of increasingly more human and alien powers might cause the wars to rapidly spin out. of control!

This was not Veronica's problem. The Mech Trade Association had long claimed ultimate dominion over mechs, so it must undertake this responsibility as well.

When the mechers would try and fail to maintain the crumbling order, that was when the Big Two's precious hegemony came under genuine threat for the first time in several centuries.

This was when it became possible to reshape the human order. The MTA's longstanding dominance may come to an end, and the masses may finally turn away from the leaders that they looked up to for so long.

It was quite brave for Master Willix to openly aspire to plot the downfall of her own organization in order to build up a better future for the humans of the Milky Way. "Aren't you afraid that we will get set back in almost every way at the end of all of the fighting?" Veronica asked. "Instead of being ruled by two large but stable overlords, human space might fracture into hundreds if not thousands of petty kingdoms. Each of them no longer answers to any higher authority. Since most of them are led by individual strongmen, they are more easily provoked into wars for all kinds of reasons. More and more humans will fight against each other, but without the suppression of the Big Two, there is no one able to keep them in line aside from their rival neighboring kingdoms."

"Such an outcome is plausible, but it is still better outcome than letting too much power concentrate under a single stagnant regime." The Master Mech Designer argued. "As unfortunate as it sounds to expose humans to greater conflict, it is exactly because so many of them are trying to kill each other that their upward mobility has improved. They have greater chances to earn merit in combat, prove their competence and rise up the ranks. A kingdom or society that does not reward their hardworking subjects will most likely fall due to being ruled by incompetents. If this cleansing process can happen in every layer of our civilization, then we can purify the rot that has tainted our order and reignite the vitality of the human race."

It sounded as if Master Willix was a strong believer in the infamous Societal Revival Theory, but Veronica was not fully convinced that a rational mech designer like herself was so easily willing to embrace this radical course of action.

"How much of your story comprises of your original beliefs, and how much of it is actually ex post rationalization?"

The design lab grew tense as Veronica directly questioned Master Willix's motives. The two stared at each other for almost a minute.

In the end, they implicitly agreed to move past this awkward moment. Veronica slowly learned more and more about Master Willix's life within the MTA.

"Do not be mistaken about the members of the MTA" The older mech designer said. "We may belong to one of the most powerful organizations in the Milky Way, but we are all under constant pressure to outperform our peers and rivals within the Association. Unless you retire or voluntarily withdraw from this rat race, you are expected to study for long hours, design mechs to the point of cutting your sleeping schedule and be able to complete spontaneous missions and assignments with perfection."

"Isn't that good?" The Cyborg Cat asked. "Even if it doesn't sound pleasant for people like you, this will ensure that only the most competent and hard-working individuals will rise up the ranks. The MTA is probably better run than everything else." "I am not expressing too much regret for all of the difficulties that I needed to overcome in order to become a rational Master Mech Designer. Enduring so much pressure is a reliable means to draw out the potential of my colleagues and I. What I find troubling is that we are being educated and pushed into work so heavily that we rarely find enough time in our busy schedules to live as actual humans. We rarely take vacations. We do not partake in too many hobbies or leisure activities. Many of us do not even bother to develop intimate relations with others."

"What? Are you being serious?"

"Very much so, Veronica. If we feel the need to start a family and reproduce, we simply use an automated matching service and agree to donate our genetic material. The MTA will take care of the rest. We can even choose whether we are willing to sacrifice our precious time on raising or visiting our children. If not, we can leave the child rearing to the professional caretakers of the MTA while we spend our time designing mechs or mastering new knowledge."

That sounded far too inhuman to Veronica. The MTA was filled with workaholics, so much so that many of its mech designers and other hardworking personnel even choose to give up the precious time to experience the joy of raising their own

children!

This was a sacrifice that Ves and Gloriana were deeply unwilling to make. They chose

to raise three children so far and did not regret their decisions.

Their work was important, but their families were no less vital to their lives.

The former gave them purpose while the latter warmed their hearts.

Perhaps it was the lack of heart that caused the MTA to develop into such an efficient but ruthless superorganization. It only saw people as numbers because it did not have enough leaders who experienced genuine love and affection in their stressful lives.

Veronica took a good look at Master Willix.

"Did you... grow up like this as well?"

Master Willix responded with a mild smile. "Not precisely, but.... close enough. It is one of the reasons why I am well disposed towards the rational mech design approach. I can easily detach myself from my emotions and maintain a neutral mindset. Even so, there are times when I think about whether I have made a mistake by declining the opportunity to find love and become a mother."

"It is not too late, Master. You are what, 180 or so years old? You still have a couple more centuries to go. That is more than enough time to find a spouse you can live with and raise a few lovely children. As a parent myself, I can tell you that there is nothing that can give you more satisfaction than receiving the earnest love of a son or daughter. There is nothing rational about love, and that is exactly what makes it so wonderful. Only when you break your mind from the cage of your own rationality will you be able to appreciate the joys of life."

The Master Mech Designer did not appear too receptive to this suggestion.

"I have passed the stage of my life cycle where I have a need to express my maternal

instinct. For better or worse, I am married to my work. I will not deviate from my plan until I have finally broken past the final barrier and successfully advance to the rank of Star Designer. This is my overarching imperative. I cannot stop now that I have caught a strong opportunity to transcend the existing boundaries of human technology. After I have completed my ultimate life's mission, I may consider other pursuits, but I fear that I have lost so much of my humanity that procreation no longer holds the same

meaning anymore."

Veronica lifted her paw to scratch her head. If that was the case, why not cherish her remaining years as a human and become a mother the old-fashioned way?

"It sounds to me that the MTA, which professes itself to be a superorganization that stands up for humans, has become far too dehumanized over the centuries. That sounds incredibly ironic to me. The constant competition and the incessant drive to do better has led to a warped culture where mechers such as yourselves no longer know what it means to be human anymore. I think your Association would have been in a much healthier state if most if its members actually bothered to start their own families and raise their children in person."

"You may very well be correct, Veronica. This is ultimately a dream that cannot be realized. The MTA is too set in its ways to introduce such a radical change."