Chapter 7619: Lobbying

“I understand your frustrations, Ves. I truly do.” Jovy earnestly said as he continued to sit behind his desk while finishing his cup of tea. “You have been an exemplary contributor to red humanity. It is not an exaggeration to state that you are one of the principal leaders who have shaped the direction of our civilization in this new and dangerous age. You have already earned a prominent place in the history books. Yet even you must abide by the rules.”

Naturally, Ves did not like that last sentence.

“I thought that becoming a high-tier galactic citizen was supposed to exempt me from these rules. I have already done so much to earn the trust of most leaders. I have an existing stake in the stability and prosperity of our society. My clan is supplying much of the superdimensional matter that is being used by others to construct superdimensional mechs. I find it absurd that you suggest that I should subject myself to a regime that prevents me from building more superdimensional mechs unless I have acquired the corresponding ’tokens’ that amount to nothing more than an artificial currency created for the sole purpose to set up a highly profitable racket for the Red Association.”

He knew how the game was played. The Red Fleet definitely squeezed a lot of benefits from third parties who sought to acquire the tokens necessary to build and field their own warships!

There was nothing functional about these tokens. Ves should know because he owned a handful of them himself! He distinctly remembered that he obtained them through a combination of exchanges and rewards.

In other words, the Red Fleet effectively milked him by replacing real compensation with a couple of extremely cheap metal ornaments!

While Ves acknowledged that the true value in the tokens lay on their associated permissions, the fact of the matter was that it was all artificially constructed!

To put it in a different way, the Red Fleet effectively created value out of nothing!

Now, it seemed that the Red Association had become so jealous of the other superorganization’s earnings that the mechers decided to create their own scam!

“We trust you, Ves, but even the brightest paragons have their dark sides. You should know that better than most people. Past compliance does not determine future submission. People change. The greater the temptation, the greater the probability of violation. After the debacle involving the takeover of Bridgehead One by one of our former leaders, our Survivalist Faction has become much more critical of problems that have a chance of spiraling completely out of control.”

The Polymath’s treasonous and outrageous actions had massive consequences for the Survivalist Faction.

The latter not only suffered a massive credibility loss, but also suffered a crisis in confidence!

Although the Survivalists managed to keep their turmoil quiet and stabilize their ranks, their standing had dropped significantly within the complicated factional hierarchy of the Assocation.

“Wait.” Ves suddenly made a realization. “This scheme that you have described… did it originate from the Survivalist Faction?”

“Not exclusively, but I have to admit that many of my colleagues have already become invested in it.” Jovy plainly said. “There is already a strong consensus within the Survivalist Faction that the proliferation of superdimensional mechs must be curtailed. The more conservative members of other factions are also in favor of this idea. They may differ with each other when it comes to the details, but they have a common desire to regulate what they see as a highly unstable element in our small and fragile society. They think that all red humans are all standing on a pane of glass. It only takes a single wrong move from a superdimensional mech to shatter the entire surface and cause all of us to plunge into the abyss.”

What a melodramatic analogy!

Ves seriously doubted that red humanity’s situation has become so precarious that a single bad incident could cause all of human civilization to collapse.

“What about the Transhumanists? I doubt this faction is as eager to impose so much regulation on a new source of power.”

Jovy responded with an amused expression. “You are correct in that, but that is far from the complete story. It is true that the majority of the core members of the Transhumanist Faction is opposed to this proposal. However, are outnumbered by those that do. Even if this debate is still taking place, the naysayers cannot stop the rest from believing that our common Association must do its job and make our society safer through regulation and control.”

The discussion centered around a core activity of the Red Association. Ves could see how that could easily turn into a matter of principle and belief.

The Red Association had suffered a number of losses in recent years. Its prestige had diminished, causing many people to lose the respect they used to hold for the Mech Trade Association.

“What about the Evolution Witch?” Ves suddenly remembered that they had yet to go over the stances of the people at the top. “What about the Xenotechnician? Neither of them seem like the sort of individuals who are in favor of increasing regulation.”

Jovy nodded. “True. Yet they have yet to voice their opinions. That is a powerful signal in itself. On the one hand, they show due respect to the current process and the people who are advocating for different stances. If the god pilots spoke out immediately, the entire debate would recenter around our leaders, making it much more difficult to keep the debate pure. On the other hand, it also shows that our god pilots and Star Designers are not overly invested in this matter. Perhaps they are already in favor of the principle, or perhaps one of them may be opposed, but unwilling to invest political capital to fight against a consensus that already seems inevitable.”

Ves snorted. “Inevitable? Really? As far as I know, the jurisdiction of the Red Association only encompasses the territories of the Red Ocean Union. It no longer holds power in the territories of the Terran Alliance and the Rubarthan Pact. Both colonial star empires did not take the risk of declaring independence just to let the mechers regulate their own machines.”

“Naive.”

“What?!”

“I called you naive.” Jovy assertively said. “The diplomatic relationships between the RA and the TA as well as the RP are highly complex. It is true that the latter have initiated a break with the former. It is also true that the latter view the former with both hostility and suspicion. However, we are all red humans, and we all share a common front against the aliens. The reality is that even if the Red Association has lost all former authority in the territories of those rebellious superstates, they still retain much of the regulating framework towards mechs.”

What he said was essentially true. When the Terran Alliance and the Rubarthan Pact declared their independence, they kicked out most of the mechers, but did not throw away all of the rules and regulations that had been enforced for multiple centuries.

In fact, the Terrans and the Rubarthans simply allocated those responsibilities to their own people and institutions!

As far as the common folk were concerned, they hardly gained any advantages from the transition. They still had to abide by many of the same rules and customs that the mechers had tried to hammer into their society for so many generations.

The real liberation came at the top. The Terran ancient clans and the Rubarthan princes no longer had to subject themselves to the authority of the mechers anymore. They themselves turned into the highest authorities of their respective territories. This meant that they could easily decide which rules no longer applied to them anymore!

“There is a difference in the application of rules towards different groups.” Ves pointed out. “The military organizations that are directly subordinate to the ancient clans and principalities have long abolished most of your pedantic rules and regulations. They have little to no desire to cripple one of their most important military arms just to satisfy a hostile party’s vanity for control.”

Jovy shook his head. “Your perspective on the matter is too narrow, Ves. What you have described is true, but it is not complete. The Terrans and Rubarthans may have cast us out, but that only means that they have inherited the fears and burdens that we have left behind. They themselves have come to fear the damage that people and mechs can do if left to their own devices. There can be no order without rules. Since the Terrans and the Rubarthans have chosen to stand alone, they have much more to lose if they lose stability. It is due to these common concerns that initial talks between our representatives and theirs has already produced optimistic results.”

“…”

Ves needed to parse those words.

After a bit of thinking, he gradually understood what took place.

“Are you saying… that the Terrans and the Rubarthans actually think this token stuff is a good idea and want to implement it for themselves?!”

“Correct.” Jovy nodded. “The RA ideally wishes to take sole charge of this new program, but the Terrans and the Rubarthans are probably unwilling to surrender control. No matter. As long as they agree to incorporate and enforce the same set of rules, the outcome will remain the same. The production and use of superdimensional mechs will no longer remain as unbridled as before. Many details still remain in contention. Our Association ideally wishes to unify the system of tokens so that it is equally valid and recognized in all jurisdictions. However, the ongoing negotiations makes it clear that we may not be able to achieve this without making many concessions.”

“…”

For a moment, Ves struggled to believe that the Terrans and the Rubarthans would truly play along with the mechers on this issue.

Yet he had no cause to doubt the logic behind this sequence of events.

He understood that all of the involved parties simply possessed enough shared interests to set aside their animosity and cooperate across borders.

True leaders and visionaries did not choose to stop cooperating with each other just because it was awkward or unprincipled.

Interests mattered above all. The power of superdimensional mechs was too great for them to enact their own separate regimes.

Ves bent his head in defeat. “Okay. I understand. It seems that this has already become an unstoppable trend.”

“Nobody is stopping you from using your voice to rally the opposition against this proposal.” Jovy said with a smile. “As the most influential mech designer of your generation, you can genuinely sway the opinions of trillions of people. If you truly believe that superdimensional mechs should not be subject to stricter oversight, then it is within your power to do so. As a tier 2 galactic citizen, you are certainly eligible to join the panel and participate in the formal debates.”

That sounded like a good idea. Ves wouldn’t be able to change anything if he just sat aside and let other people do the talking. If he wanted to safeguard his own interests, then he had to become more proactive and engage in the politicking that he usually despised!

“However…” The RA Senior curled his lips higher. “I have been tasked by multiple superiors to convince you to… align your opinion with theirs. The Red Association and the other powers can enact this common-sense policy considerably faster and with much less contention if you hold back your opposition. If you are willing to be sensible and play along, then we can grant you certain privileges. Not only will you be able to help decide some of the details of our new policy, but we will also bestow you with a precious minor favor. You should know how coveted that is. Many people have worked much harder and made many more contributions just to be able to earn a minor favor from a god pilot or a Star Designer. We are willing to grant you one that is valid for any of our esteemed leaders just by agreeing to cooperate. What is your response, Ves?”

“…Are you bribing me. Jovy?”

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