The Mech Touch (Web Novel)-Chapter 6903 Hijack Implant

6903 Hijack Implant

The mutated tree was the centerpiece of the courtyard, but the Devosans had decorated the center of their garden with more minor wonders.

The kids ran off to play and talk with the other children. Gloriana sought out a group of Terran mech designers and began to exchange information about superdimensional technology.

Ves meanwhile chose to observe the exhibits together with Master Laila Rebecca Devos.

While the mutated tree was the centerpiece of the garden retreat, the Terrans had added plenty of other interesting works.

One of them was a sculpture of a brave soldier that was made of hyper materials that were attuned to different emotions.

When Ves approached, it sought to read his mood. The statue seemed to sense his amusement, which caused it to drop its intimidating warclub and pick up a glass of beer before toasting it in his direction.

"How remarkable."

He could tell that the sculpture did not incorporate any electronics in the slightest. It was just a solid mass of hyper materials chosen for their sensitivity to different emotions and their malleability under specific circumstances.

The sculptor had combined the different hyper materials together and somehow imbued them with spiritual programming that instructed them to behave in different ways depending on the input they received.

This was pure hyper technology and E-technology. It showcased the ingenuity of a Terran artist and also proved the viability of creating machines that completely got rid of any dependency on electrical circuits, whether conventional or archetech.

"There is a proposal to design a mech that relies on the same methods used to create this sculpture." Master Laila Devos commented. "You should be able to deduce the reasons why such a 'mech' can be useful. In a more optimistic era, our ancient clan would not have any qualms about issuing the funding needed to explore such an interesting idea. Even if a full hyper mech is so weak that it is thoroughly uncompetitive, we are always vigilant towards new technological paradigms that can help us break past the limits of current technology."

Ves observed the statue with increasing curiosity. It must have picked up his altered mood, as it had begun to pick up a nearby flower and examine it as if it was the most fascinating object in the cosmos.

Ves and Blinky paid even closer attention to the hyper sculpture than before. They confirmed that this was not the work of any electronics or an external device. The statue completely relied on the manipulation of E energy to interpret information and react to it, all without using anything relating to conventional technology.

He had a feeling he could replicate this statue without the use of modern production equipment.

He just needed the bare minimum to shape different metals and hammer them together.

The real secret rested in the spiritual programming of the hyper object.

Ves needed to imprint it with a thorough set of instructions and parameters and make sure it stuck.

Of course, Ves was a different artist from the one that produced this particular sculpture. He was much more inclined to simply turn his creation alive and allow it to make its own decisions based on a set of guidelines.

"Thank you for showing me this." He spoke. "This work, though relatively simple in construction, has opened my eyes to what E-technology is capable of. I never imagined putting it to use in this way."

"You are not the only individual who has taken to E-technology like a duck to water. Far outside of your little base, there are many innovators and visionaries who have embraced the new technologies and learned how to realize their ideas based on what we have access to. We may not have the ability to make our creations alive, but we can make them useful in our own ways."

The underlying message here was that the Terrans possessed the ability to innovate as well.

Ves may have been able to shock the public by introducing groundbreaking innovations such as Carmine mechs, but he was still a single mech designer.

Follow current novels on ƒreewebηoveℓ.com.

Red humanity had many more brilliant minds in its midst.

The Terran Alliance claimed many of them in their ranks.

While the Red Association most definitely sought to poach these geniuses, prodigies and late bloomers within their own ranks, the Terrans were proud and did not surrender to the mechers often.

"I have never thought that I am the only person that can forcefully drag the mech industry forward." Ves explained himself. "I am very much cognizant that my unusual specialization allows me to spot and realize possibilities that were not available to us anymore. That does not mean that I am blind to others who have made contributions of their own. For example, the First Sword Mark III could never become a full superdimensional mech without the cooperation of the Mech Supremacist Faction. The powerful seed that we exchanged from your ancient clan is not a treasure that we could have grown in our own labs."

His humility was not false, as evidenced by the sculpture's reaction. It had carefully put down the flower and lowered its posture while adopting a servile expression.

The Terran Master looked satisfied with this response. "Good. I was afraid that your rapid successes may have overinflated your sense of self-importance. That is not to say that your confidence is misplaced. You have given all of us a much better chance of resisting the native aliens with your contributions to red humanity. Your kinship networks alone have rooted out the scourge of cosmopolitans in most of our important institutions. If not for the signs that the human traitors are already in the process of developing countermeasures against detection, we may be able to keep this pest outside of our ranks longer."

18:34

The Terran Master looked satisfied with this response. "Good. I was afraid that your rapid successes may have overinflated your sense of self-importance. That is not to say that your confidence is misplaced. You have given all of us a much better chance of resisting the native aliens with your contributions to red humanity. Your kinship networks alone have rooted out the scourge of cosmopolitans in most of our important institutions. If not for the signs that the human traitors are already in the process of developing countermeasures against detection, we may be able to keep this pest outside of our ranks longer."

Wait, what?

"Have the cosmopolitans already managed to find a way to defeat our kinship networks?" Ves asked with a frown.

"Not yet, but we know they are working on it. Their solution is not perfect and heavily limits their infiltration attempts. As far as we know, they have attempted to kidnap loyal workers before temparing with their cranial implants. In one case, we found a cranial implant that has secretly turned into a hijacking module. When the unsuspecting individual receives an encrypted data feed, a controller can knock the compromised individual unconscious, take over the body and pilot it by remote. The cosmopolitans can also make this measure more secure by removing the reliance on signal transmissions by installing an AI that is programmed to perform different missions, as we have discovered in three other victims. Since their minds and souls are technically untouched, the kinship network is not immediately able to discover that anything is amiss."

That was an incredibly devious but apparently effective means of compromising loyal people!

"Did it work?"

"Partially." Master Laila Devos honestly replied. "The kinship network did not detect the moment the compromised individuals began to act suspiciously, but our conventional monitoring system immediately flagged the abnormalities and alerted security. Due to their sensitive identities and locations, the programming of our monitoring system is highly sensitive to abnormal behavior. The officers on site ascertained relatively quickly that the original individuals have been hijacked and that they are not acting on their own accord."

Although the incidents ended well, that was because other security systems had covered for the failure of the kinship network.

Ves grew incredibly concerned. He had always put a lot of faith in the infallibility of his kinship networks. To hear that the Cosmopolitan Movement had made so much strides in exploiting a vulnerability damaged his confidence in his work.

Every kinship became vulnerable, including his own Larkinson Network.

Even if the Golden Cat was able to multitask remarkably well, it was impossible for her to keep an eye on millions of different Larkinsons at the same time. They also deserved to enjoy their measure of privacy.

All of this meant that the cosmopolitans had a possibility of infiltrating the Larkinson Clan.

Even if the compromised individuals only had a short window of opportunity to steal confidential data or commit hasty acts of sabotage before other security systems detected any impropriety, it still represented a lot of danger!

His fears grew so much that the hyper sculpture quickly reflected his mindstate. It openly hunched its body while adopting an expression of absolute terror.

Ves was starting to get annoying at how it reflected his emotions so well.

He wordlessly turned around and moved away from the stupid statue. He stopped when he reached a vivid orange plant that not only gave off a pleasant scent, but also happened to float in mid-air.

Its roots branched out into nothing, yet the plant was able to survive and thrive anyway.

Was it sustaining itself by absorbing E energy and air alone?

That shouldn't have been possible unless… it had turned into a mutated plant.

It was so small, though. Ves found it difficult to believe that such a small and modest plant had crossed the extraordinary threshold, yet maintained its current stable form.

Was this the work of the mysterious gardeners?

Ves began to develop a greater desire to learn about them and find out what they were capable of. Nurturing plants was important, especially since many of them could be used to produce special elixirs that could advance an individual's cultivation.

"This plant is a small natural wonder." Master Laila spoke with a tone of appreciation. "Our scientists have derived useful insights and data from it. Whether they can convert that into anything useful remains to be seen, but as long as they study enough mutated exoflora, they will slowly be able to introduce derivative products that can benefit a large number of people. This mutated plant is one of the reasons why we must fight to retain our possession of as many planets as possible."

"Oh?"

"Most of our attempts to induce mutations into exofauna and exoflora on space stations and starships have failed. For whatever reasons, organisms can only undergo semi-controlled but extremely powerful mutations when they reside on planets. They possess unidentified qualities that can nurture and bless the individuals who are made from their minerals and have grown up on their surfaces. This is the strongest proof that we have gathered to date that a planet directly influences the growth and evolution of organisms that reside within its atmosphere."

There was only one reason why a Terran would speak so passionately about the relationship between planets and organisms.

"Old Earth is located in a different galactic neighborhood." Ves pointed out. "Besides, even if we still resided in the old galaxy, you Terrans are notorious for heavily limiting the amount of visitors and temporary residents that are allowed to land on the planet that has birthed our race. The overwhelming majority of humans have grown up on different planets."

"That is true, Professor Larkinson, and we do not begrudge those who have never had the pleasure of setting foot on Old Earth. It is still a gift that can help any human. I cherish my memory of doing so for the rest of my life. When I finally had to leave the original Sol System, I came back with renewed energy and determination. This is the effect that a planet can have on humans in the Age of Mechs. Although we have not yet gathered any conclusive proof, I believe that the effects are even greater now that we have entered the Age of Dawn. Exobeasts and exoplants are able to grow stronger and develop their sapience. Intelligent species such as our own human race cannot remain unaffected."

Ves was not sure whether that was true. He held little interest in the topic. Even if living on a planet provided certain benefits, he heavily disliked the downside of being pinned down in a single static location!

He would rather stay safe on a starship that could travel anywhere. What he just heard from Master Laila Devos did not change his stance in the slightest.

Thank you for reading my work. If you wish to support The Mech Touch, please vote with your golden tickets!

Purchase Privilege for The Mech Touch! Read a varying amount of chapters ahead of regular readers while enjoying a 99% discount on unlocking new chapters!

Join The Mech Touch's unofficial Discord server: https://discord.gg/APB5KCU

Exlor