The Mech Touch

testors don ’t agree. ”

”So what do you suggest we do? ”

”Nothing. ”

”Nothing? ”

”It ’s not wise to engage the protestors directly.
We ’ll be forced to fight on their terms if we open up a dialogue. ” Gavin clarified.
”Therefore, it ’s best to leave them alone and work behind the scenes.
We should let our supporters and our allies do the dirty work of pushing back this protest movement. ”

Now that Ves thought about it, this was his original plan.
His initial plan was to make his mech design indispensable to the states.
As long as the people in power needed his mechs, they would inevitably support his business efforts.

There was no way the Bright Republic would allow its own citizens to ruin a mech it appreciated!

However, even if Ves believed the government and other supporters would back him up, there was no way they single-handedly impose their viewpoints on everybody.

Ves crossed his arms while furrowing his brows.
”It ’s difficult to allay people ’s fears towards my mechs.
The fear and stigma against brainwashing is deeply rooted in every human ’s mind.
I can ’t help it that my mechs strays uncomfortably close towards brainwashing.
Even the MTA has acknowledged that my mechs are capable of affecting other people ’s minds. ”

That wasn ’t necessarily bad in itself.
Anything could influence a person ’s mind.
For example, if Ves wanted to make people react strongly to him, then he could just strip off all his clothes and parade his naked body in front of the protestors and the press!

Of course, such an act was clearly more explainable.
The difficulty that he and the LMC faced was that they didn ’t really have a good explanation of how his mechs were able to influence people ’s mentalities.

His mechs didn ’t release any smells or pheromones.

His mechs didn ’t transmit subliminal flashes of light that induced certain moods or behaviors on people.

His mechs didn ’t remotely interface with every bystander in the vicinity.

Settled science couldn ’t come up with a solid explanation for the unique phenomenon surrounding his mechs.

Mech designers and many other experts all came up with their own theories.
Ves definitely believed that a number of them managed to get close to the truth and guess that psionics may be involved.

As much as a part of him wanted him to step forward and confront the protestors with what they were doing, Ves merely scoffed and turned around.

”Let ’s go, Benny.
These ignorant people aren ’t worth my time. ”

Gavin followed alongside him.
”For a moment, I thought you wanted to lash out at the protestors. ”

”I considered it, but I wouldn ’t gain anything aside from venting my frustration.
As a mech designer, I ’ve been taught to let my work speak for themselves.
I still believe that is the right approach here.
Once the sandmen are battering the Bright Republic in earnest, I ’ll watch closely to see how many people still object to my Desolate Soldiers and all of its variants. ”

Ves didn ’t consider himself to be on the same level as the idlers who apparently had enough time on their hands to picket the entrance of the Mech Nursery all day.

Where was their sense of duty?

A devious idea came to mind.

”Benny, please instruct the Living Sentinels to place some Desolate Soldiers in the vicinity of the protestors. ”

”They won ’t like that, boss. ”

”I don ’t care.
If they step back, I want a Desolate Soldier to step forward.
Do that until we succeed in chasing them away from our premises. ”

It looked bad if protestors continued to picket in front of the Mech Nursery.
Once they had been driven away, the journalists would quickly cease to broadcast their footage, because protesting in front of nothing did not make for a good news segment.

Once Ves entered his headquarters and entered his main office, he sat down on his comfortable chair and began his work day.

Since Gloriana was still busy with examining William Urbesh, Ves still had to wait until the late afternoon to enact his spiritual treatment plan.

The wait was killing him.
He was so eager to begin his experiment that he barely paid attention to the matters that came up to him today.

The only instance where he paid more attention was when Crindon visited his office for a private meeting.

After making sure that jamming was in place, Crindon finally spoke.

”I ’ve performed a preliminary investigation on the LMC.
While I ’ve only studied the upper management of the company so far, I ’ve already identified around thirty moles in our headquarters. ”

While Ves knew that not every employee was clean, hearing that thirty of them were sneakily passing off information about Ves and the company to others was a heavy blow.

”Who are these moles reporting to, Crindon? ”

”Some of them are working on behalf of Flashlight and Spotlight.
Others appear to be transmitting internal data to competing mech companies.
However, I haven ’t been able to determine the ultimate recipient in over half of the cases.
The people and organizations involved are too careful to slip such a thing. ”

Ves grabbed Lucky and passed his pet over to Crindon.

”Meow? ”

”Try and investigate with Lucky ’s help.
He possesses a powerful CFA hacking system. ”

”This will help, but not as much as you think.
Spies are exceedingly careful about exposing their networks and systems. ” Crindon said as he held Lucky in his arms.
”I ’ll see what I can do, though.
What do you want to do to the informers that we have identified? ”

Ves shrugged.
”Keep the ones who are working for the government, but find a way to kick out the rest. ”

”It may be prudent to keep known spies around, if only to track what data they are interested in passing along. ”

”You can determine the best course of action for yourself.
I trust in your judgement. ”

”Thank you, sir.
I ’ll do my best to minimize the damage they can do. ”

In truth, Ves couldn ’t be bothered with addressing this problem either.
He knew that no matter how many spies and informers they exposed and removed from the company, others would inevitably take their place.

Some enemies simply couldn ’t be beaten in a straight fight!

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