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He had little choice but to approach the MTA and hope that the mechers had cooked up a solution. Out of all of the people in human space, there were none who were more invested in developing a solution than the ones who relied on mechs to make a living!

"Let\'s see whether the MTA is willing to divulge its true capabilities to me this time."

Once Ves took the initiative to contact the Association, he did not simply activate his comm and contact one of the MTA Masters he was acquainted with. All he would accomplish was get into a conversation with an impatient secretary who would tell him that the Master was too busy to entertain a mere Journeyman.

Ves sent a brief message that conveyed his request to hold a sensitive conversation with Master Dervidian.

Once he received an approval, he had to take a shuttle ride to the local MTA branch headquarters that was based in Davute VII.

Even though the facility was still new and rather understaffed, the mechers had already taken into account that Davute would likely become a major trade hub and possibly the political heart of a future state.

Therefore, the MTA invested in a major fortified compound that was located in the heart of the Commercial District.

The choice of location was quite deliberate. Instead of basing its headquarters in the elite and wealthy Austere District, the MTA chose a more accessible location that emphasized its commercial nature.

After all, the MTA was first and foremost a trade association, so why not establish a strong presence next to many commercial enterprises that were active in the mech industry?

Despite the fact that the branch headquarters also served as a military base that protected Kotor City and the rest of Davute VII against alien incursions, large parts of the compound was open to the public.

Hundreds if not thousands of mech designers, mech pilots and workers employed by many different mech companies visited the MTA branch every day for various reasons.

Ves just happened to be one of the many outsiders who dropped by in order to make use of one of the MTA\'s many services.

A bot greeted him upon arrival and led him deeper into one of the large structures.

He soon had to leave his bodyguards behind and go through several thorough security checks before he could get any further.

He had no concerns that he would get in trouble at this stage. He already anticipated that he would be checked from top to bottom so he left all of his more dangerous and unusual equipment at home.

He didn\'t even dare to bring his Hammer of Brilliance for fear that the MTA would confiscate it because they treated it as an actual weapon!

It took twenty minutes for Ves to finally get through this ordeal and enter an ultra-high security communication chamber.

After reaching the center, he waited until the chamber\'s sophisticated communication system established a secure channel with Master Dervidian.

As usual, the Master looked as if he had been in the middle of an engaging research project. It must be quite annoying for him to take a break from his schedule in order to take a call.

"Mr. Larkinson. It has been some time since we have last spoken in person. Are you here to report your research progress?"

"Yes." Ves answered even if that wasn\'t his primary intention. "I have achieved additional progress in two major projects. First, I have refined the Mental Simulation Training System to the point where it can simulate all of our expert mechs at much greater accuracy than before. Our expert pilots have experienced fewer glitches and have become a lot more satisfied with what they can gain out of the simulation sessions. Though the fidelity of the improved simulation program is still not enough to fully portray battles between different expert mechs, it is only a matter of time before we can remedy this shortcoming."

He wasn\'t stupid. If he immediately issued his request to Master Derividian from the beginning, he would make a bad impression.

It was better to show his value first and remind the Master that he could provide more value over time.

This was why he patiently spent the next half hour on explaining the ins and outs of the MSTS and what he had in store in the future.

Ves didn\'t actually spend much time tinkering with the MSTS. He was far too swamped with design projects to debug and expand this complicated spiritual training program.

Fortunately, Vulcan was more than competent enough to do all the work. The MSTS was mostly the incarnation\'s work to begin with so there was no better spiritual entity that could improve this important training system.

It was quite handy to have an incarnation of himself. No matter how hard Vulcan worked, Ves himself did not feel burdened at all! This was despite the fact that Vulcan was actually himself in another form!

After Ves meticulously explained and exaggerated the gains he made with regards to his MSTS,  he began to report on the progress he had made in various other research projects.

The T Institute may not have been in operation for long, but with the help of the researchers that the Aducs had sent to staff its departments, the research groups already started to produce intermittent results.

Though none of the gains sounded groundbreaking, they still showed that the T institute had a lot of potential!

As Ves continued to tell his audience about both his major and minor research gains, a part of him felt as if he was a subordinate reporting all of his actions to his immediate boss.

He did not like this impression. Officially, Ves was only cooperating with the Transhumanists. He did not agree to become their vassal or lackey.

However, as long as he needed anything from the Transhumanist Faction, it was better for him to play nice with these mechers.

There was little harm in divulging much of his research results. He figured the mecher had already bugged all of his labs and workshops so they already had a good guess of what Ves and his research teams had accomplished as of late.

Ves was also careful to hide his truly sensitive ideas and research initiatives. He had been working on numerous powerful applications that could provide his clan with a major advantage on the battlefield, but might cause a lot of disruption if exposed.

Whether Master Dervidian knew about this or not did not matter. Ves had already been more forthcoming than most researchers in this position.

Master Dervidian conveyed ample appreciation for the status update.

"I do not expect you to invent any groundbreaking new solutions every year. I am already satisfied that you have achieved notable progress in your existing research progress. Stagnation is death to innovators such as us. No matter how little you have accomplished in a given month or year, as long as you put in the effort, you will keep moving forward. I hope to hear that you have made more substantial progress in the next few years."

"I will try my best to meet your expectations, sir." Ves humbly replied as he deliberately adopted a lower posture. "By the way, can I ask you a question to you? It is not related to my current research, but it is still a subject that is rather dear to my heart as of late."

Master Dervidian immediately noticed that the topic that Ves wanted to bring up was of great importance.

Since the older man was in a good mood, he was willing to indulge the young but brilliant mech designer.

"Ask your question, Mr. Larkinson."

"I will be honest. I have a baby daughter who we intend to raise into a mech pilot…"

Ves quickly but honestly conveyed his situation as a father who was concerned about the future of her daughter and potentially his future children.

Though he understood that it was inappropriate to bring up a personal matter to someone as important as Master Dervidian, Ves had decided to be shameless and convey his selfish thoughts anyway.

The Master Mech Designer did not look that surprised after Ves had presented his case.

"Hehehe." The mecher chuckled. "You are far from the only parent who feels this way. We even have a name for this condition. We call it genetic aptitude angst. I have heard thousands of similar requests from many different people who suffer from the same affliction. They all seem to believe that our faction is able to resolve their concerns. I cannot tell you how many times I have to disappoint them. Our technology, while advanced, has not progressed to the point where we have cracked the secret to genetic aptitude."

Ves felt crushed. Though it may be possible that Master Dervidian wasn\'t being truthful or that he wasn\'t important enough to get in touch with this kind of secret, it was highly likely that he was speaking the truth.

"So the MTA truly cannot provide any help on this matter?"

Just as Ves thought about ending this call and give up on his quest to find a solution, the man on the other side of the communication channel suddenly activated a silent command.

The secure communication chamber suddenly beeped out an alarm and began to activate additional systems.

The air buzzed with energy as powerful localized jamming systems came to life!

"Ah!"

Ves also felt as if he had been kicked in the head as the strange interference forcibly neutralized his cranial implant, causing him to abruptly lose access to his digitized cognitive functions!

More security measures came to life as additional signal-blocking panels materialized into form. They reinforced the walls and made it even harder for outsiders to eavesdrop on the current conversation!

Though Master Dervidian hadn\'t said anything as this transformation was taking place, Ves had a growing feeling that he was about to get his mind blown in the next few minutes!

Now that the communication chamber became significantly more secure, a document projected in front of his face.

"What is this, Master?"

"It is a non-disclosure agreement." Dervidian answered. "I am aware that you have signed dozens of such agreements before, but this is different. I urge you to read through it carefully and decide whether it is worth the price to hear more."

The more Master Dervidian made a big deal out of this affair, the more Ves wanted to sign the NDA on the spot!

Of course, Ves did no such thing. He followed his instructions as a good boy and carefully read through the lengthy document even though much of the language was dense and almost indecipherable.

There was not much new or different about the NDA. The only truly serious changes were related to leaks.

The punishment for divulging any information that Ves was about to obtain in this conversation was severe!

If he ever violated the NDA, then not just himself, but his entire family and organization would get wiped off the map!

There was no ambiguity about the MTA\'s determination to punish Ves and suppress any leaks.

No matter how far he ran away, the mechers would never give up on the chase!

This was clearly different from how the MTA usually acted around other fugitives such as the former Skull Architect.

Given how much importance the MTA placed on this particular secret, how could Ves possibly say no to this offer?

He never expected that issuing a long-shot request to an important figure of the Transhumanist Faction would actually get a positive response, and one of such great magnitude that it had its own special super-NDA!

Ves signed the contract as soon as he could feasibly do so. The projection quickly disappeared, leaving him filled with anticipation as he waited for the next step.

"It seems that you have made your choice." Master Dervidian said in a serious tone. "Do not forget your commitment. What I am about to divulge is highly classified. Ordinarily, a tier 6 galactic citizen and senior contributor of restricted technology such as yourself should not be qualified to come into contact with this secret, but we both know that your true standing within our faction is significantly higher than that. In light of the major contributions that you have made to us and the rest of the mech community, I have made the executive decision to initiate you into the small circle of people who are aware of this possibility."

"Thank you, Master. I am honored by the trust and appreciation that you have given me. I will make sure to report additional research gains to you in our next communication session."

"Excellent." Dervidian smiled in a more personable manner before he turned serious again. "Let me start with what I have said a moment earlier. I was not lying that our technology has not progressed to the point where we can impart genetic aptitude upon people. However, that does not necessarily mean that we have no solution to the problem."

Ves grew confused. "I don\'t understand. First you tell me you don\'t have the ability to address this issue. Then you tell me you do have a way of meeting this demand."

"That is not correct, Mr Larkinson. Let me explain…"