The Mech Touch

However, it was hard for a stranger who was not too familiar with the impact of living mechs to appreciate these assets.

Success among Journeyman Mech Designers translated into owning lots of production lines, employing a lot of workers and selling lots of mechs to customers.

This was why the visit to the Hammerworks swayed Beatrice Hendrix's impression of the Larkinson Clan a lot more than her previous visit to the Ascension Gallery!

Though Ves initially remained ignorant of these considerations, now that he recognized what his fellow mech designer truly paid attention to, he brought her to a couple of other places that could make a clear visual impression to the defensive specialist.

For example, he brought her down to a few underground mech hangar bays which currently held the inactive expert mechs of the Larkinson Clan.

The few masterwork expert mechs that Beatrice was lucky enough to see up close prompted her to genuinely express her admiration of his skills.

"Your Everchanger and Minerva are both exquisitely designed and built." She sighed. "I cannot even begin to understand how you were able to craft them so well at the Journeyman level. I understand much better now why you are being celebrated as the best Journeyman of our generation in our current zone. Not even those prodigious first-class mech designers from the upper zones are able to replicate your feats in craftsmanship."

Ves smiled with pride. "I appreciate your kind words. I won't lie to you. There are special circumstances and reasons that occasionally enabled us to fabricate our masterwork mechs when it is practically unheard of for Journeymen to be able to do so. If you join our clan and do a good job in our Design Department, you will get pulled into our fabrication runs sooner or later. You may have the privilege of finding out for yourself."

Beatrice Hendrix looked as if she wanted to say that it wouldn't take long for her to be in the workshop when that happened, but she prudently kept her mouth shut in order to avoid weakening her bargaining power.

"Can you tell me how easy it is to fabricate masterwork mechs at your current stage?"

Ves shrugged. "That is difficult to say. It gets easier the more you make them. Each successful attempt is an invaluable learning experience to mech designers such as ourselves. This is why the first time is the most crucial instance. As long as you learn what it takes at least once, you will have the qualifications to recreate the circumstances by yourself again. We can help you with that. I am not the only Journeyman with masterwork certificates in our clan. I helped others such as Ketis and my wife gather a bunch of them as well. They are not too far behind in their ability to create masterworks."

The woman looked impressed. He could already tell that her enthusiasm has grown yet again. Hardly any mech designer could resist the allure of making their own masterwork mechs!

"That is interesting to hear, patriarch, but I did not receive a clear answer to my last question. As far as I know, you and your people haven't made any masterwork mechs as of late. The Mars should be your last successful attempt, and that was a collaborative project that you completed over five years ago. Did you lose your touch in the following years?"

That was a rather rude question, but Ves did not mind her tone.

"While I love all of my mech designs, I am more invested in some than many others. I have worked on many updates, revisions and variants in the time that I have spent in Davute. While this is all important work, it is hard for me to get excited for retreads of my existing products. Only new and innovative products can fire up my passion and encourage me to exceed my limits. I am far from reaching the stage where I can fabricate a masterwork mech as long as I put an earnest effort into it. Hopefully, I will be able to go through that again in the near future as I have a couple of really interesting design projects in the works."

It surprised her that he wasn't as obsessed with chasing after masterwork mechs despite all of his earlier successes. She thought that he would try to reproduce as many of them as possible so that he could stand out even more as a Journeyman!

Though Ves thought about this many times, he felt that he would become too much like Gloriana if he constantly chased after a certain kind of perfection.

That did not exactly align with his goals and his ambition. His design philosophy centered around mutual growth.

His purpose was not to create the most perfect mech in its current form.

It was to create a living product that could persistently grow and adapt to its mech pilot.

He threw a deep look at Beatrice Hendrix.

Her specialization reminded him of the Devil Tiger that he developed a long time ago. Having witnessed it evolve to a massive extent during his last visit to the Nyxian Gap, he always wanted to design more mechs that could self-evolve their physical forms.

The only way to really do so was to employ smart metal as the principal materials of his mechs, but that was not very economical or efficient, especially in the early stage.

Though modular armor systems were substantially different from smart metal armor systems such as ASMAS, they did share a few commonalities that might enable him to take a few steps forwards.

Of course, it was better for him to keep those ideas to himself. He first needed to make sure that Beatrice Hendrix actually joined his clan before he could think about possible collaboration ideas!

"So this is the superfab that cost you 5 million MTA merits to procure." The woman said as she stared up at the incredibly high tech production machine. "It seems… overkill for a second-class Journeyman Mech Designer. Why did you choose to spend so much for this AP-VEX model? I think you should have been able to get by with utilizing a more economic superfab model that costs around 100,000 to 500,000 MTA merits, especially when you only make infrequent use of it. This superfab looks as if you have hardly used it ever since it arrived in your hands."

Ves shook his head. "It has to be a production machine as good as the AP-VEX. Don't get me wrong. The alternatives that you have described can satisfy my needs for a few years or so, but that puts me in a position where I have to replace it with a higher-end model in order to work with stronger and more volatile first-class materials. Rather than go through all of this trouble, I decided to just skip ahead and buy a superfab that can last me at least a decade before I can replace it with a superior model."

"A decade? How are you able to earn so many merits?!"

"Hahaha!" He grinned at her. "There are plenty of opportunities to earn MTA merits as long as you understand what the MTA needs and have a few friends over there that can vouch for you. I just earned 8 million MTA merits a short time ago, did you know that? My clan and I had the strength and expertise to deal with a little problem that harmed Davute. I am sure you have heard about it in the news."

Beatrice nodded. "Not many mech designers can speak about the MTA in such a familiar tone. You truly have a good relationship with the mechers."

"They value my original research as well as my pioneering activities in the deep frontier. Not everyone can succeed in those activities, but my clan and I happen to excel at both. I do not think there is a comparable pioneering organization in the neighborhood that can equal us in this aspect. This is also one of the principal reasons why we are able to grow so fast. I won't deceive you by saying that what we are doing is safe and sustainable. We frequently take risks that can scare away ordinary mech designers, but that is why they are ordinary in the first place."

"You are describing the reaction of normal mech designers." She responded.

Ves sneered. "And that is why there are so many Journeymen out there with great potential, but never managed to realize it. Do you remember all of those older Journeymen who we competed against in the Twin Weapons Tournament? While I can understand that it takes a bit of time to build up steam for a portion of them, those who are over a century old are really wasting their time. I think you should be able to understand that if mech designers such as us want to get ahead, we need to step outside of our comfort zone and proactively seek progress."

She nodded. Both of them were talented mech designers who pushed themselves harder than most of their peers. Their methods and approaches may be radically different, but they were still highly accomplished in their respective fields.

They continued to chat as Ves led his guest away from his private workshop. They exchanged their views on a number of topics and gained a better understanding of each other's opinions and stances on different matters.

Soon, the visit came to an end. Ves had led her all the way back to the landing zone where her shuttle had already warmed up its engine.

"I am truly awed by what you have shown me today." Beatrice said as she turned to address him. "You and your clan are utterly unique among your kind. I can say that with a 100 percent guarantee. While you have shown me great promise and progress in many areas, you have also shown me that you live a dangerous life."

"The Red Ocean is filled with danger, Beatrice. Confronting that is the price of chasing after your dreams. That doesn't mean that this life is every mech designer who traveled to this dwarf galaxy, but I figure that since you took the trouble to get all the way out here, you might as well go all the way. Why enter the new frontier only to go back to a pattern of life that is more reminiscent of your routine in the old galaxy? If that is all you wanted to do, then you may as well turn around and go back to the Milky Way. Human society over there is much better suited for mech designers who seek to progress in a stable environment."

She did not have much to say about that. Beatrice Hendrix was not familiar with the lifestyle of Ves and his fellow Larkinsons. She clearly hadn't made up her mind whether she wanted to embrace this kind of life as well!

She was tempted, though. That was incredibly obvious to Ves. Few mech designers could remain indifferent to all of the amazing and expensive proof of progress that he had shown today.

"I need more time to conduct more research and weigh my choices properly." Beatrice Hendrix ultimately told him. "I would not want to make a hasty decision regarding my entry into your clan due to all of the elevated risks and dangers that you have mentioned."

"That is understandable. Please take your time, but it would be helpful if you can give your definite answer within the week. I have already presented you with an elaborate preview of what it is like to live and work in our clan. If you still can't make up your mind after all of this, then perhaps you lack the decisiveness that we seek from a member of the Larkinson Clan."

Beatrice gave him one last look before she turned around and entered her shuttle.

She gave him her answer three days later.

"I accept."