The Mech Touch novel Chapter 7434

Chapter 7434: Preservation and Adaptation

The banquet provided a sublime sensory experience for the attendees.

Terran actors portrayed the heroes of their long and storied histories.

Visionary leaders came to life and reenacted the feats that allowed their ancient clans to thrive across the ages.

The best musicians of the Terran Alliance proudly showcased the evolution of their art. They weaved their heartfelt emotions into their instruments, enabling them to make sounds that literally moved both hearts and minds.

Dancers and other artists flexed bodies and created unique works on stage. Each of them had made many attainments in terms of qi cultivation, enabling them to create performances that were utterly magical.

Many people were impressed. The Age of Dawn had only lasted for a few years, so displays of this caliber had yet to appear en masse.

Throughout the acts, Ves tried to ascertain the deeper intentions of the showrunners.

The Terrans were clearly building up to something big. The more emphasis they put in their history and heritage, the more obvious it was that they sought to surmount their past.

This looked dangerous. He knew the Terrans well enough that they were driven by pride first and foremost. If they wanted to exceed their past selves, then they needed to pull off a stunt of unsurpassed scale.

Wasn’t this gathering supposed to be about introducing the Arboreal Project to the public? How did an event centered around presenting his new Woodsap mechs turn into a potentially epoch-changing affair?

The worst part about all of this was that the Terrans deliberately chose to keep him in the dark!

None of their people had come to give him a heads up. Even now when he was only half an hour away from learning the truth, the Terrans still treated him the same as any other uninvolved bystander!

A slim hand pressed against the top of his own hand.

"Relax, Ves." His wife leaned over and whispered. "Every perceptive gaze can see that you are overly tense. You need to school your expression and display a measure of control. You are one of the few tier 2 galactic citizens in attendance. You represent the people of red humanity."

She was right. Ves took a deep breath and forced himself to let go of his frustrations.

"Thank you, honey. I... am just having a bad time. The treatment that I received from the Terrans reminded me of the old days. You know I despise how much people above heads try to control me or compel me to take action without my consent. No matter how well-meaning the Terrans may be, they have crossed a line by hijacking the Arboreal Project to advance another agenda."

His wife looked sympathetic, but still tried to rein him in. "I do not disagree, but this is not time to express your dissatisfaction. Let us wait until the Terrans are done before you bring up your dispute with them behind closed doors. Personally, I do not think the Terrans are deliberately trying to insult you or mistreat you. They are careful and thorough. They cannot possibly disregard the impact of their decisions on you. If they chose to keep you in the dark, then they have strong justifications for their reasons."

Ves could think of one of them on the top of his head. He already received a warning about how the Terrans sought to avoid spreading any culpability towards himself.

This did not reassure him all that much.

As the performances grew more muted, Ves turned around and addressed the highest-ranking Terran that sat at the same table.

Master Laila Rebecca Devos coolly raised her wineglass towards him before taking a small sip.

"All will be revealed, Ves. Be patient. You should already understand that there is a difference between being helpful and being responsible. It is in your best interest if the public at large puts you in the former category. If I tell you too much, then you will be put in the second category, which is much worse."

He let out a tired breath when he heard this familiar argument. "I don’t object to your logic, but... if this is how you treat allies and friends like me, then this will be the last time I collaborate with the Terrans."

His frustration had grown too much for him to let this pass over his head without incident. He needed to draw a line in the sand and make it clear that he would not allow the Terrans to exploit him in this manner!

The Terran Master Mech Designer looked contrite. She made it clear that she did not try to deny responsibility.

"I believe that you will thank us for keeping you at arm’s length by the time this day has passed. Trust me, you do not want to become embroiled in our internal affairs for the coming years."

Ves readily believed this claim, but that was not an excuse to let the Terrans off lightly!

"I expect compensation." he replied. "I don’t know how much, but it should definitely be substantial enough to make all of the hardship and subsequent misunderstandings worthwhile."

"We can discuss that in greater detail after the end of the gala." The Terran Master conceded. "I can promise you that we will not let you depart without obtaining enough satisfaction. We still wish to cooperate with you on the Arboreal Project and other endeavors."

This sounded substantial enough to count. The Terran Alliance would lose too much credibility if it did not do enough to make up for its unilateral decisions.

Ves believed that the Master was sincere, but that did not mean he felt good about it. He eventually let out a dissatisfied breath.

"Fine. It better be worth it, then." He said.

When a variety of exquisite desserts landed on the banquet tables, Ves faintly enjoyed the sweetness and the bark-like texture of his tree-shaped cake.

He was impressed by the chefs employed by the Terrans.

The male Terran spoke first.

"We are the inheritors of the first humans who traversed interstellar space. We are the descendants of the Terran Empire. We are the children of the Greater Terran United Confederation. We are the founders and the protectors of the Terran Alliance. Throughout multiple millenia, we have conquered countless alien empires, only to stumble due to the treachery of our fellow humans. We have slain enough aliens to create entire stars out of their combined mass, yet we have also lost countless planets due to jealous rivals. Yet we still stand despite the loss of our escape route. The native aliens sought to break our spirit but cut off our ability to return to Old Earth. They have only strengthened our resolve, because we have survived far more challenges than our enemies can imagine."

The atmosphere grew more solemn as the unusually tall hooded female spoke next.

"To be a Terran is to be a part of a long line of people who still remember their roots. Despite our growing genetic and physiological mutations, our hearts always unite us under a single banner, the Terran banner. Under the uniting force of our history and traditions, we have preserved the oldest continuity of our civilization. We are the oldest and most authentic inheritors of our ancestral home planet. We survived not just because we are strong, but because we possess the ability to discern what must be preserved. Our stories, our values and our pride has long served us well."

"Yet now that we have entered a new age, the Terran Alliance is lit by a brand new galaxy, one that heralds our destruction due to its brightness yet brings us hope in its warming embrace! We are no longer residing in a galaxy where the old rules maintained the status quo. For better or worse, the Red Ocean has brought many changes, both for good and for ill. If the Terran people fail to adapt to this bright new wind, we shall falter and collapse before we know it. The Terrans must evolve if we are to thrive in the Age of Dawn."

The female speaker raised a shadowed object with both of her hands. The deep folds of her robes shifted with her gesture.

At the same time, the shape of multiple vaguely humanoid mechs slowly rose up from the floor just in front of the shadowed Gaia Trees.

The latest prototypes of the Arboreal Project appeared in front of the masses for the first time.

"The Age of Mechs has passed, but we have absorbed its legacy. Mechs have not only retained their relevance in the new age, but possess new uses due to the poisoned gift of E energy radiation. Faced with the new possibilities available to us, we have chosen the opposite of cowardice. Not all traditions are equal. The Terran people have endured since the Age of Stars because we have learned to achieve a balance between preservation and adaptation. Now is the time for the latter. Instead of mindlessly clinging to our old and lifeless machines, we have chosen to embrace a new paradigm of mechs and our relations to them. We have done more than develop a new line of biomechs. We have created a new order among organic machines and the mortal flesh that combine with them. We have... redefined what it means to be a Terran."

Upon those words, a dozen spotlights lit up the spaces in front of the two tall and shadowed figures.

Twelve Terran individuals slowly rose up from the lit spaces.

Each of them stood proud and with their eyes set forward.

The bright lights shining from above clearly illuminated their forms. Each of them wore the distinctive biomechanical piloting suits specifically designed to help with interfacing with Woodsap mechs.

They also looked a little bit... off. Not too much, but just enough to set off alarm bells inside people’s heads.

All twelve of the Woodsap mech pilots possessed asymmetrical proportions, as if they had been born wrong or grew up misshapen.

The sight repulsed plenty of attendees. Even if the deformities did not look as extreme as the initial batch of test subjects, the perfectionist Terrans were highly sensitive towards any deviations from the acceptable norm!

Were these people supposed to be the new breed of Terran people?