Ves already knew how Hexers treated men in their society.
It was actually a mistake to call them man-haters.
Hexers didn't hate men. They just considered them inferior.
It was not a contradiction for female Hexers to adore male gender but simultaneously treat them as lessers.
In fact, if Hexers treated men like slaves or abused them on a daily basis, the Big Two would not tolerate their conduct!
The basic rights of humans had to be respected. Just because the Hexers only treated half of its population like dirt did not mean it could get away with such rampant abuse!
The Hexers therefore propagated an alternate vision on how human civilization should be run. They ran the Hegemony like a model that other states should adopt.
Both men and women had a place in their society. Women deserved to be in charge and occupied all of the upper level positions.
Even if female Hexers weren't good at anything, they still had the right to boss around males in the workplace!
As for the boys, they were continually treated as juveniles at best or pets at worst.
They received much fewer opportunities than women and had to work a lot harder to get anywhere.
This strangely led to the phenomena where the rare male successes became incredibly successful in their chosen vocations!
Male expert pilots were one of the rare species of boys who earned genuine respect from female Hexers!
Male high-ranking mech designers also existed in the Hegemony's vast mech community. Each of them gained some appreciation and were treated better than other boys.
Of course, just because they were better than most women in their professions did not mean they deserved equal treatment.
Every male expert pilot had to answer to a female officer! This was because Hexers regarded them as powerful brutes that had to be controlled lest they run rabid!
Boys were still boys. As long as they were given free reign, the boys would surely give in to their worst impulses!
Male Journeymen and Seniors received similar treatment. While the Hegemony did not block boys from excelling in this career, they were not allowed to design and publish mechs on their own.
Each of them had to work with a female mech designer!
The best a male mech designer could hope for was to become a spouse of a female mech designer.
Those who weren't as lucky could only serve as a minor contributor or assistant to a bossy female mech designer.
This was the reality of being born a male in Hexer society.
"Don't you see the absurdity of devoting yourself to your Hexer girlfriend?" Aisling persistently prodded him. "Open your eyes and look beyond her pretty face! Behind her is an awful state that heavily discriminates on men like you! If Hexers like Gloriana have their way, they would strip you of your dignity and tear down your pride until you become nothing more than a human-shaped puppy!"
Ves did not attempt to debate her points. In order to resist her persuasion, he took a page out of Ghanso's playbook and defaulted to his Larkinson stubbornness.
"I am committed to Gloriana. I never break my commitments. To change my mind is to betray the promises I've made to her! I will never stab her in the back!"
Aisling threw a perplexed look at him. She didn't understand how someone so brilliant in mech design could be so stupid when it came to women!
"Do you enjoy being treated this way, Ves?"
"..."
"The Friday Coalition can offer you so much more! As long as you stick with me, I can give you a new status in our state! As Master Huron's direct disciple, no one will hinder me from settling you in the Warsaw Giant System and giving you an opportunity to participate in my design projects. So long as we achieve some success in our collaborations, my Master will definitely put his full weight behind our partnership!"
"I have already cut ties with the Friday Coalition." Ves flatly remarked.
"That's not entirely correct. You merely cut ties with Master Olson and the Leemar Institute of Technology. At most, you're blacklisted by the Vermeer Group and the Carnegie Group. Our Gauge Dynasty never pays attention to what they do. We are better!"
Ves shrugged. "That sounds nice, but I have no desire to restore my relations with the Friday Coalition. Gloriana will never tolerate me if I reconcile with your state!"
Aisling grew angry and momentarily lost control!
"Gloriana Gloriana Gloriana! Everything is about Gloriana to you! Don't you realize that she has got you wrapped around her fingers? The moment she met you at Centerpoint, she ceaselessly tried to trap you in her web! The two of you were never made to be together! A proud mech designer like you deserves better!"
Obviously, this conversation went nowhere. After enduring a long tirade, Aisling finally sent him back to his quarters.
During his time in captivity, only Patricia talked to him without an agenda.
Sadly, Patricia rarely appeared in his presence.
Ves suspected that Aisling was wary that he would fall for Patricia, and thereby kept her away!
However, Ves always became more mellow and receptive after talking to Patricia. This was something he deliberately did to encourage his host to keep giving him opportunities to talk to his old classmate.
Though Ves firmly regarded Patricia as an enemy, he did not hold any personal animosity against her. She was merely performing her duty to her new state. As a citizen of the Friday Coalition, it was impossible for her to remain a bystander in the war between the Coalition and the Hegemony!
The only doubt about Patricia's assignment was what the Fridaymen were doing in the Bright Republic in the first place.
Ves faintly suspected that the Scarlet Rose was sent to the Bright Republic for another, more clandestine mission. Why did the Coalition dispatch a young and talented Journeyman to perform a seemingly-routine monitoring mission when they could have easily dispatched a diplomat or a spy?
The fact that the Coalition explicitly sent mech designers to the Bright Republic meant that their mission probably had something to do with mechs!
Of course, Ves kept all of his guesses to himself. He didn't care about their prior missions.
Instead of worrying about irrelevant issues, he would much rather work on his escape attempt!
Ever since he confirmed that Lucky followed him aboard the Scarlet Rose while remaining completely hidden and intangible, Ves believed he had the capital to turn the tables on his host!
In order to reverse his current circumstances, Ves had to stay patient and make ample preparations. Taking over a mobile supply frigate by himself was not very simple!
Even if he had the help of a team of commandos, he would still fail in his attempt to wrest control of the Scarlet Rose!
To succeed, he had to mitigate or circumvent every security measure in place. Ves therefore dispatched Lucky on a scouting mission and secretly scan each and every compartment and component.
This was extremely tedious for Lucky. To keep his presence hidden, Ves ordered his pet to resort to passive scanners only. This meant that Lucky had to crawl through every single section of the ship, all the while remaining out of sight!