What was real, and what was fake?

To Marcus Pelle, the difference was a matter of perspective.

Perhaps one person found an imitation mech that precisely copied an authentic mech design to be real, while others insisted that it would always remain a fake.

A lot of arguments could be made about what was fake and what was real, but Pelle did not stop at this point. Instead, he took a step further and came up with a surprising principle.

"If what is real and what is fake is in question, why not play around with this ambiguity?"

This was where Pelle's interpretation of surrealism came into play. The mech designer manipulated the sensors of his mechs into blended truths and untruths, thereby causing mech pilots on long deployment to become plagued by strange sensory outputs.

This wasn't as straightforward as turning every asteroid into a floating dog or something. Instead, Pelle tweaked the sensors and the filters in a way that caused them to transfer more junk data to the minds of the mech pilot.

Garbage that ordinarily got filtered out before they transferred through the neural interface essentially got a free pass, though still within reasonable limits that prevented mech pilots from getting overloaded.

The result was that mech pilots would become subject to strange but fascinating illusions.

Perhaps one minute the environment looked blue-shifted all of a sudden. In the next minute they perceived the smell of rotten eggs from a distant starship. After that they spot something ridiculously funny from a distant glow!

"What is the point of messing with the perception of mech pilots to this extent?" Ves frowned as he repeated his question.

"The goal is to stave off the creeping sense of boredom and isolation without causing mech pilots to lose situational awareness. It may surprise you to hear this, but my solution has actually turned out to be effective. Instead of becoming distracted by watching irrelevant action dramas, they instead place their attention more fully on the environment for many hours at a time!"

The theories Marcus Pelle developed relied on very strange assumptions. Ves found it difficult to follow the other mech designer's train of thought.

He understood some of the gist of it, but his perspective on mech design simply diverged too much from that of Pelle's to accept what he heard.

In the end, his gains from this exchange did not amount to much. Ves did develop some interesting insights about the nature of truth and falsehood and how it could be manipulated to achieve certain goals.

When he thought about it, Ves already engaged in something similar by turning the imaginary into reality.

The images he created into mind became capable of affecting reality when infused with spiritual energy.

The mechs he designed influenced the mentalities of both mech pilots and observers through unusual means.

Ves always had the sense that anything pertaining to spirituality possessed both a real and imaginary quality. It followed fewer rules than more mundane forms of matter and energy. As long as someone grew strong enough, they became capable of breaking more and more rules, allowing them to achieve a myriad of extraordinary feats!

During the meeting, Marcus Pelle successfully managed to claw back some of the initiative he lost, but Ves didn't mind. Though Pelle probably believed he successfully confused Ves by babbling on about surrealism, the man had no idea what kind of help he'd been!

As Ves finally departed Pelle's headquarters, he entered in a thoughtful mood. As his armored shuttle took off to his other appointment for the day, he reflected on his understanding of his spiritual techniques.

"Pelle and I both have something in common."

They both manipulated their mech pilots with elements of fantasy. While Pelle resorted to technological means by messing with the sensors of his mechs, Ves utilized spiritual means to manipulate the interaction between mech pilots and their mechs.

The comparison made him feel a little uncomfortable, because how far was he allowed to go before he crossed a line?

His recent actions, such as intimidating Marcus Pelle with his overcoat and developing a radical mech like the Devil Tiger, both pushed his manipulation abilities to a new extreme.

In both instances, Ves got caught up with the rush of possibilities that opened up when he utilized his new spiritual techniques.

"Just because I can, doesn't mean I should." He whispered to himself.

Ves recognized he'd been indulging himself a little too much. The temptations of the path of life lured him into a direction that compelled him to perform increasingly more radical actions!

The unusual and frankly unethical methods that Marcus Pelle developed in order to keep the users of his mechs awake and alert repelled Ves to an extent.

Mech pilots didn't get the full story and were subjected to strange surreal illusions without their consent or control. It reminded Ves to how neural interface specialists such as Old Man Terrence surreptitiously manipulated the neural interfaces of his mechs.

In all of these cases, the mech designers all treated their customers as test subjects!

"Maybe this perspective is much more widespread than I initially thought." Ves mused.

In most cases, the mech designers harbored good intentions, but that did not necessarily make it right.

His Devil Tiger project especially crossed a lot of lines he really shouldn't. It was fine though, since it was just a one-off experiment. He would never dare to introduce such enormous dangers to his commercial mechs!

"Not all mech pilots are my test subjects! Only some of them are!"

A temptation always existed to push the boundaries with every mech he designed. With how frequently he came up with innovative new techniques, he always had to try his best not to get caught up too much in his excitement.

Admittedly, this was a lot harder than he thought sometimes. He always believed his new inventions worked and hated the thought of restraining himself due to an abundance of caution.

Ves always thrived by pursuing his passions! Yet surrendering to them also made him prone to warping his judgement! The ideas he came up with sounded very frightening to him when he recalled them afterwards!

In cases like these, Gavin's recent words reminded him of a solution against this judgement problem.

"I should stop designing mechs alone." He muttered.

He remembered the times he designed his mech alongside the likes of Professor Ventag and Ketis. Each time they discussed their collaborative works, they constantly conducted small professional exchanges as they shared some of their own insights and perspectives.

Ves also had to rein himself in and ground himself to reality each time he wanted to explain or justify his design choices.

He sighed. "When I get home, I should really intensify my efforts to expand my design team."

In the following hour, he met up with another Journeyman on Reinz I. Sadly, Ves gained much less out of this exchange. Their design philosophies diverged even further than he expected.

Nonetheless, Ves was already happy with his gains from his first exchange, so he didn't mind his lack of results this time.

In any case, he became more practised with manipulating the aura of the Pride of Dusk's overcoat. It hardly took any effort for him to dial its intimidation effect up or down.

He also managed to find a sweet spot that lowered the intensity of its aura to the level where he commanded respect without arousing too much fear and suspicion.

"Let's leave this boring planet and be on our way to our next destination." Ves spoke at the end of the day.

Once he and his escort returned to their ships, the fleet quickly entered FTL travel and headed to a special destination.

This time, the fleet headed to one of the port systems of the Sentinel Kingdom!

Just like the Bentheim System, the Cinach System served as a major trade nexus in the surrounding region. A lot of visitors and trade goods passed through Cinach, causing a wealth of money to flow in the pockets of the noble houses that divvied up the planets of the system.

Ves aimed to complete multiple tasks in the Cinach System.

Its abundant shipyards meant he could finally send his Barracuda to a drydock.

Its expansive industries and trade channels meant that he'd be able to get in touch with both the Sentinel Peacekeeper Association and the Circle of Mota. If neither of these clubs offered what he wanted, then he could always divert to the other underground organizations that operated in the underbelly of the Cinach System.

"Every port system hosts a lively underground economy. If Cinach is anything like Bentheim, then there's an abundance of gangs operating beneath the surface."

Even so, the Sentinel Kingdom acted a lot more strictly against any organizations with connections to pirates. The Circle of Mota's presence in Cinach was extremely sensitive and prone to frequent relocations. If Lady Miralix hadn't vouched for him, he would have never been able to get his foot in the door with the secretive and elusive trading platform!

Just before the fleet emerged in the Cinach System, Nitaa requested a private meeting with Ves. Her grave face caused him to raise his vigilance.

"What's the matter, Nitaa?"

"I've performed some research and got in touch with some of my former comrades. What I've learned is distressing. It's likely that the Five Scrolls Compact maintains a presence in Cinach through yet another splinter organization."

Ves paused for a moment. "Do you think it's the Circle of Mota?"

"It's possible." She tentatively nodded. "I haven't been able to determine for sure, but it sounds like something that they would facilitate. Most splinters serve as conduits for information and intel. If they're really involved with the Circle of Mota, then the Compact also gains a clandestine trade channel that they can use to obtain valuable resources without leaving any obvious trails."

Both of them grew grave as they processed the possibilities. While Ves was a bit annoyed that Nitaa hadn't been able to confirm whether the Circle of Mota acted as a front for the Compact, he'd have to be a lot more careful with his identity while he was present.

Ves had the feeling that he might be entering a lion's den if he visited one of their temporary trading sites!

The Compact already controlled an even larger black market organization in the form of the Angel's Wing Foundation! This made him feel that his fears were justified in this case.

Still, just because the Compact had their tentacles on them both did not deter him from doing business with them when it suited him. In any case, as long as he did not give away any clues that he possessed the System, then it was fine for him to transact with the lackeys of the Compact.

"Is there a chance that a main member of the Compact is present in the Circle of Mota?"

"The chances of that are low." Nitaa replied. "The brothers and sisters of the Compact are very hesitant about visiting highly-populated systems. I don't think you'll have anything to fear on that front."

They briefly discussed the precautions they had to take to keep Ves safe. Once they finished going over their plans concerning their visit to the Circle, Ves asked another question.

"Have you heard anything about what the Compact is doing these days? Have they made any moves recently?"

Her face scrunched up in worry. "I did receive some hints that the Compact has become more active starting a few months ago. The Order of Fl'xix back in the Kinner Tribe has begun to make some secret preparations. For what, I'm not sure."

"Could it be the Ruined Temple?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so. Their envoys should still be years away from arrival. From what I can read between the lines, the Order of Fl'xix may have received a warning for something that might occur in the near future."

All of this sounded disconcerting to Ves. Something that worried the Five Scrolls Compact should definitely be something that concerned him as well!