The Mech Touch

Of course, Ves understood quite well that the main reason why the woman took the initiative to present herself in the best possible light was because of the value of her conversation partners.

Gloriana may be just a Journeyman Mech Designer, but her design philosophy had a lot of potential. There was no harm in spending a relatively modest amount of effort in order to obtain a huge future payout.

Unlike his wife, Ves had already realized a portion of his immense potential. With fantastic mechs such as the Dullahan Project and the Phobos serving as the most up-to-date representatives of his design capabilities, not even the stuffy and arrogant first-raters dared to claim they could design mechs with similar functions!

The best they could do was to lean on their own strengths to design mechs that outperformed the latest two Larkinson expert mechs, but that was not really a victory as their own works could not possibly replicate anything comparable to the Carmine System and the Geist System.

Just as Ves predicted, the 70-ish year old Senior Meeh Designer soon shifted the conversation to his latest design applications.

"According to the design schematics and our current scans, there is much about the Phobos that still eludes our understanding." The female mecher primarily spoke to Ves. "As the lead designer of this special project, you should be able to provide additional clarification so that we have a better understanding of where the strength of your Phobos lies and how you managed to turn it into a masterwork mech."

Though Professor Cavendish did not sound too insistent, she clearly expected to receive a substantive answer.

Ves did not really want to reveal too much about the Phobos, but it was not wise to defy the Mech Trade Association too openly.

Since he couldn't reject this request, he may as well embrace the opposite approach and build up as much goodwill with the Mech Supremacists as possible.

After all, if Ves wanted to popularize the Carmine System and the Blood Pact across the entirety of human space one day, he needed the support of as many factions and groups as possible.

"I am sure you have already managed to figure out the obvious stuff." Ves casually answered. "The selection of resonating exotics, active stealth system and so on present a pretty clear package of how our new expert stealth mech is supposed to function in the field. What is not as clear is that it contains a lot of hidden design elements that cannot be recorded through conventional sensors. They are core extensions of my design philosophy."

Professor Cavendish had clearly done her homework, so she did not question this statement. "It is usually not that difficult to detect the psionic energy that you have invested in your living mechs, but the Phobos is an anomaly as I find it difficult to read it. This is a remarkable feat and one that is highly suited for a stealth mech."

"The Phobos would have been a failed product if you were able to detect that there is anything special about it." Ves smirked. "I put special attention into making it as undetectable to those with special senses as possible. One of my goals is to make it as effective at assassinating opposing expert mechs as possible. I believe that I have made good strides into fulfilling this goal. What is even better is that it will only improve upon this aspect over time."

That caught Cavendish's attention. "Truly? Have you already formed a plan to upgrade this design feature?"

Ves shook his head. "I do not necessarily need to do anything. Have you forgotten about the defining trait of my living mechs? The Phobos will automatically grow and develop its psionic properties over time. My machine has plenty of room for growth and will continue to develop the traits that best accommodate the mission profile."

Reading and hearing about it was one thing, but having it told was another.

Professor Cavendish looked at the Phobos with much more respect, especially now that she could deduce that the expert mech's metaphysical qualities played a massive role.

"How assured are you that it can assassinate an opposing expert mech?"

Neither Ves nor Gloriana knew the answer.

"We don't know. We have never put the Phobos to the test." Ves told her. "Much of this is new to us and we have employed a lot of new experimental tech into the design. However, our expectations are already high."

"I see We shall he patient and wait for further results There is one aspect of your Phobos that we would like you to comment upon. The 'Geist System' apparently occupies a high place of importance to your expert mech. However, it is a profoundly odd and seemingly illogical addition to your expert mech. Can you please explain in your own words how it enhanced the effectiveness of your expert stealth mech?"

The MTA Senior finally addressed the elephant in the room. Ves struggled to decide what he should say and how much he should reveal.

The mechers should have already been able to figure out a lot of secrets by themselves, but it was still different from spoon feeding them the answers.

"The Geist System is a product of multiple disciplines coming together to bridge the gap between psionic manifestations and material outcomes." Ves spoke up. "To put it as simple as possible, it is a crude and highly experimental attempt to leverage the special ability of expert pilots to distort reality with their willpower in a more structural and mechanical fashion."

"In other words, your Geist System is an attempt to weaponize willpower."

"That is about right. The exact mechanics are difficult to explain as they pertain to theories that require you to make a lot of assumptions, many of which may be counterintuitive to you. I have worked closely with both Cormaunt Hempkamp and Master Benedict Cortez to develop the structural parts and systems that are necessary to better extract the power of not one, but two expert pilots."

The mention of 'two expert pilots' caused Professor Cavendish's lips to twitch. She knew exactly what Ves was alluding to but was afraid to say out loud.

"You do not need to be concerned, Mr. Larkinson. We are not looking to find fault in your use of components for your Geist System. The origins of its key component is clearly known to us. Master Toqueman Huron has originally received approval from another department of our Association to explore a restricted field of research. The fact that you have claimed one of the products of his research as your spoils and utilized it in your own project is not an issue from our perspective. This behavior only becomes problematic if you lack sufficient justification."

Though her answer sounded a bit confusing to Ves, he understood that she was willing to give him a pass.

This was a huge relief!

Ves was afraid that the MTA would object to the Geist System and attempt to take back the skull of the Fridayman expert pilot that Ves originally extracted from the powerful plasma sword that the Golden Skull Alliance originally claimed in the Battle of Pima Prime.

Of course, Ves was not naive enough to assume that everyone who acted this way would receive the same degree of leniency from the mechers.

Ves only received this much leeway because he showed sufficient value. He could clearly read from Professor Cavendish that she wanted to build a better relationship with him. This would make it much easier for them to establish more substantial forms of cooperation in the future.

Though Ves tried to keep his descriptions a little vague, there was no way to hide the existence of the Geist System's fiends.

He and his clan would definitely deploy the Phobos against an enemy eventually, so the MTA with its extensive spying capabilities should clearly be able to record the damage wrought by the fiends!

Nonetheless, it was a bit hard for Cavendish to accept the premise that the Geist System could sabotage an entire facility or starship by relying on metaphysically empowered 'ghosts'.

"It is difficult for most mech designers to accept your descriptions at face value, but you have been known to realize all manner of new and highly unusual manifestations, from companion spirits to battle formations." The MTA Senior spoke. "It is also undeniable that your Phobos has become a masterwork mech, and one that has attained this level of craftsmanship by virtue of its exceptional metaphysical properties."

Ves raised his eyebrow. "So you are essentially saying that you are confident the Geist System will work effectively because the Phobos is a masterwork mech?"

"As a rule, masterwork mechs cannot take shape at the beginning if they contain any severely flawed, malfunctioning or non-functional parts. They may incur damage that may result in such cases, but that is only applicable after their initial creation. Before they have undergone their masterwork transformations, they must be holistically complete and functional according to the standards of the mech design and the intentions of the mech designers."

Both Ves and Gloriana looked a bit surprised! This was another valuable piece of information! Not only did it confirm a few of their prior theories and conjectures, but it also gave them additional insight on what it took to turn a mech into a masterwork!

Ves began to suspect that Professor Cavendish absorbed a lot of information about masterwork mechs.

It made sense for her to study much of what the Mech Trade Association knew about masterworks if she undertook the responsibility to inspect newly created masterwork mechs.

Ves tried to pump additional information from her. Any casual remark about masterwork mechs could easily be worth hundreds of thousands MTA credits if sold through other channels!

"I think it is clear that a lot of masterwork mechs have become so exquisite because they are extremely well constructed. How often does it happen that a masterwork mech comes about due to other reasons?"

Professor Cavendish smirked. "It happens more often than you think, especially at the higher end of the mech industry. You will learn the reason why that is the case when you advance to Master Mech Designer. Every mech designer that has realized a design philosophy will become exposed to the deeper rules that make up our reality. There are many greater forces that have yet to be fully tapped by our industry. You can interpret this as gaining access to additional resources that you can leverage to empower your mechs. This is where Master Benedict Cortez can generate additional energy through his Endex System, for example."

Both Ves and Gloriana looked thoughtful. They both had their own suspicions and ideas on the nature of these additional variables.

"So these Masters are able to produce masterwork mechs not because their basic craftsmanship is good, but because they impart their work with elements that empower them through different channels?" Ves asked.

"That is not always the case, but it is prevalent enough. If the Phobos is an accurate representation of your design style, then you should fall in the same category, Mr. Larkinson."

Ves blinked. It was a bit difficult for him to accept that he was a part of the crowd rather than the exception to the rule.

It made him feel... less special.

His wife began to look upset. "Does that mean that your Association does not agree with my approach of trying to perfect the physical properties of my mechs?"

"That is not the case, madame. Your approach is simply more difficult to yield successes. It is also much less compatible with the use of materialization technology, so it has fallen out of favor among many first-class mech designers. However, if you are able to excel in this area, then you shall be able to make substantial contributions to our mech community because not enough mech designers have produced any comparable results."

Cavendish's answer restored Gloriana's self-esteem. She was special! She was on the right track! Her work was just as valuable as that of her husband, if not more!

"Thank you for your clarification. I will be sure to share my results with you and your faction as long as I am ready to present my completed works."