5768 The Case for Convergence
Ves actually started to feel grateful towards the opposition for putting him on the spot.
Ever since he ford his design philosophy, he never allocated too much ti and attention on why he bothered to design living chs in the first place. It was only when his critics started to challenge him in a way that forced him to offer a response that he fleshed out the aspects of his rationale that he had previously neglected.
The divergence model ntioned by Master Cantor happened to serve as the perfect target dummy for Ves. He could beat it up in any way he liked in order to make his point.
The simple visuals he used to illustrate his point only hamred ho his ssage. Pretty much all of the people who listened to his counterargunt began to view the divergence model in a less flattering light than before.
Ves gestured towards Lieutenant-Commander Astrid Jason, who was sitting further apart than the rest of the speakers.
The woman did not retreat from the session entirely after she had been prohibited from speaking for the rest of the day. She had already made her point. She wanted to witness how well her revelation managed to undermine Ves' argunts.
Unfortunately for her, the information she shared to the public had beco one of the best weapons for Ves to launch his counterattack!
"In order to further recognize how the divergence model has been coddling us for over four centuries, let us consider the information disclosed by the speaker from the Fifth Enforcent Fleet. Her initial revelations are correct. Cultivators exist, and they are able to wield great and unusual powers. However, I have already explained to you all that all high-ranking ch pilots and ch designers are cultivators by definition. We are simply more advanced and modernized than the more ancient and flawed varieties. Let us combine these facts with the one of the stated purposes of the chers, which is to develop better technologies to stimulate personal human developnt. They liked to contrast their goal with that of the fleeters, who want humans to change as little as possible and rely entirely on technology to do all of the heavy lifting. Doesn't that sound familiar?"
There was no need for Ves to ntion the obvious similarities. The ironic smile on his face already made it clear that he thought that the divergence model aligned far more with the Red Fleet than it should.
"The main point I want to make by ntioning all of this is that the Red Association is an organization that is mainly centered around cultivators. It may not be obvious on the surface, but if you study the MTA and RA's rules, history, notable leaders and more, you will realize that the chers have done everything they could to promote the ergence of as many god pilots as possible. There is nothing wrong with this goal in my opinion. God pilots are the strongest individual combatants to ever exist. Their ironclad principles and their strong willpower makes them virtually incorruptible. They are living proof that cultivators, or at least the limited selection of approved variations, are beneficial to human civilization."
There was practically no one outside of the Red Fleet who dared to oppose the existence of god pilots. Operation Night Jazz had further cented the crucial role that god pilots played in holding back the powerful leaders of the Red Cabal!
Ves gestured his arm towards the familiar projection that showed a ch being piloted by a human.
"Now let us think how this ties to the divergence model. The goal of the Red Association has never been to wrap human ch pilots with the strongest possible technologies imaginable. That makes the organization no different from the Red Fleet. The real purpose has always been to promote the developnt and evolution of the ch pilot."
The projected ch began to explode in power as it simulated the apotheosis of the ch pilot.
"Once the soldier becos an expert pilot, he has transcended his mortal limitations and taken his first true step into cultivation. The journey to ace pilot and eventually god pilot is long, dangerous and challenging, so much so that the vast majority of pilots never make it to the end. Yet as long as a handful of people can cross the ultimate barrier and ascend to godhood as a pilot of a powerful machine, it is all worth it in the end."
This was the dream of almost every ch pilot. That did not necessarily an that these soldiers and warriors had the guts, courage, discipline and conviction to throw themselves into this exceedingly difficult trajectory, but it was rightly celebrated as the most celebrated aspiration of their profession!
Ves turned away from the guests and faced the opposition.
"Master Cantor. Earlier, I gave you the courtesy of answering your questions. I expect you to do the sa, even if the subject is related to true chs."
The old ch Supremacist maintained a neutral expression as she attracted a lot of attention once again.
"You may ask, but you are not guaranteed to receive an answer. I have an obligation to remain silent if you demand any answer that relates to information that I am not permitted to divulge."
Ves already expected such a response so he quickly moved forward.
"Alright. Let ask you this. Are pilot breakthroughs desirable to the Red Association?"
"They are." Master Cantor had no problem with this question. "Our principles have always been to leverage human technology to facilitate human developnt in a controlled manner. The fact that the ch Trade Association has been able to produce over a hundred god pilots is proof of our success."
"Okay. Do true chs promote or inhibit this goal?"
This ti, the old woman did not offer a reply. She simply remained silent, making it clear that the question had touched into forbidden territory.
Ves began to smirk. She had fallen for his trap. A silent opponent was a defenseless opponent. He could think of several ways to exploit her current behavior!
"Let give you my guess if you are unwilling to offer clarification. It is well-known that ch pilots are much more likely to trigger breakthroughs when they are emotionally stimulated. The stronger their emotions, the greater the probability that they can exceed their limits. They must be completely invested in the battle. They must experience the pressure of death, the fear of loss, the hope of victory and the love for their fellow comrades. Any experienced ch pilots will attest to this. Given how emotions play such an imnse role for the evolutionary developnt of ch pilots, why do you insist on stuffing them into these so-called 'true chs' that are explicitly designed to leverage their emotionless logic engines as a source of strength?"
"..."
"I may be wrong on this, but my educated guess is that true chs contradict one of the central principles of your own organization. Rather than strengthen their ch pilots, they freeze their developnt instead. It becos exponentially more difficult for humans to break through while their emotions are deliberately muted, blocked, dampened or interfered with by their own true chs. Perhaps it is worthwhile for ch pilots to sacrifice their long-term developnt in exchange for instant protection against looming threats of a different nature, but is this truly what the ch industry aspires to make?"
"..."
"Let's face it. A true ch is just a fancier suit of combat armor. It can protect people from a greater variety of threats, but it does nothing to promote the developnt of ch pilots. While there are situations where the availability of true chs can contain the threat posed by cultivators, it is not a true solution. It is not as if you can permanently keep ch pilots within the cockpits of their true chs. Once these individuals shut down their machines and hop outside, they revert to their normal human selves, and beco just as vulnerable to taphysical attacks as before. Don't you agree, Master Cantor?"
"..."
Ves smirked wider. "Ordinary chs are hardly better. While it is true that ch pilots are able to break through when piloting the chs that we have used during the Age of chs, in my opinion these breakthroughs took place in spite of the divergence model, not because of it. The deliberate effort to keep chs and humans as far apart from each other as possible is decent if there is no better alternative, but that is not the case anymore."
He turned away from his silent opponent and began to replace the previous projected images with one that depicted a ch pilot and a Fey Fianna.
The Fey Fianna was his strongest bestseller at the mont. Its value proposition was amazing and its utility had expanded a lot after the release of a lot of useful fey.
Many Fey Fiannas had also evolved into third order living chs as of late, so it was the machine that the public recognized the most as the subject of the public inquiry.
"Let explain to you all why my convergence model is better. First, the ch is alive, which ans that it can grow in a similar fashion to a cultivator like its own ch pilot. That ans when the two different elents work together, they derive the sa degree of growth from their experiences. The ch will be able to keep up with the growth of the ch pilot, thereby making it less likely that the forr will hold back the latter. While there are no obvious statistics that living chs have produced a greater proportion of breakthroughs when compared to normal chs, I believe that this is because not enough ti has passed for third order living chs to show their actual worth. You should wait a few years. I strongly believe that the pilots of third order living chs will be able to break through at a distinctly higher rate!"
If this claim was true, then living chs would definitely be able to beat true chs in popularity!
"I object!" Master Cantor could not remain silent at this ti.
Planetary Governor Rod rgan-Castelaus nodded towards the speaker of the opposition. Even the moderator thought that Ves had gone too far.
"You may offer a brief rebuttal."
"Thank you, governor. I would like to inform the public that Professor Larkinson's latest statent is an unsubstantiated claim that has no proof or strong theories behind it. Neither theory nor empirical data can add substance to his spurious claim. The public must remain vigilant of claims made without sufficient backing. Science is based on facts, not guesses. The inventor of living chs may be right, or he may be wrong, but in the absence of any solid argunts, it would be wise to disregard his latest statents and maintain a skeptical mindset."
Ves snorted at her rebuttal. "That's rich coming from you. The Red Association claims to uphold the principle that technology must promote human developnt, yet you cling to an inferior theory like the divergence model as if it is the center of your religion. My convergence model may be a lot newer and not quite tested, but it has at least been able to maintain parity. You are also wrong about one of your claims, Master Cantor. I do have a solid theory that explains why living chs are much more capable of promoting the developnt of their ch pilots. It is just not a theory that can be found in any contemporary science textbook."
This must be good. Everyone who paid attention to the public broadcast deeply wanted to know about this mysterious new theory.
"My mother, yes the one that was once a part of a group of really powerful individuals who ruled from the shadows, once taught about cultivation. To be more specific, she taught about how people can cultivate by deeply bonding and using a powerful object. This is called artifact cultivation, though I am sure that there are other terms for it as well. The point is that people can grow stronger in mysterious ways if they leverage the strength of their bonded artifact as a source of growth."
None of this was new anymore to Ves, but his casual revelation excited and intrigued a lot of ignorant people!
"Now I am sure you can predict where I am going with this. The convergence model is based on the rules and chanisms of artifact cultivation. While a normal ch pilot will not be able to derive much growth from a ch that remains weak and stagnant all of the ti, one of my custors will always be able to make faster progress when piloting a living ch that also grows over ti! This is why I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that once the pilots of my third order living chs have fought for a while, they will break through at significantly higher rates! That is because they are practicing artifact cultivation much more effectively than the pilots of other chs!"
The moderator gave Ves a stern stare for repeating the sa spurious claim, but it didn't matter.
Even if Ves was unable to deliver any hard proof, his narrative and logic was so strong that people were more than willing to embrace this theory, if only to satisfy their long-cherished hope of breaking through one day!
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