The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

Ves held a lot of expectations towards his upcoming meeting with the Terrans, but any deal he made with them was ultimately secondary to his own works.

The Fey Fianna, the Supremo Project and the Transcendent Punisher Mark III were only the first of many living mechs that Ves intended to design during the new mech generation.

Many more previously successful mech lines deserved to be turned into more modern hyper mechs.

When Ves entered the main design studio of Diandi Base, he stood in front of a lot of new faces.

The 25 Journeymen Mech Designers who agreed to join the Larkinson Clan all looked eager and motivated to start their new careers.

Hundreds of assistant mech designers stood further in the rear. Many of them had been brought over from the expeditionary fleet, but Alexa had also recruited a batch of other talented Apprentice Mech Designers that were more than happy to work for the Larkinsons in exchange for an opportunity to complete a leap in class.

Alexa Streon and Gloriana Wodin-Larkinson stood on opposite sides of the patriarch of the Larkinson Clan.

The former Terran consciously stepped backward in order to avoid the association that she was competing with Gloriana.

Nonetheless, Gloriana openly frowned at Alexa. Her intuition told her that the younger woman had become closer to Ves in the last month. The two had become a lot more comfortable in each other's presence.

Not only that, but Gloriana also sensed other clues about Alexa that put the mother on edge.

Fortunately, she was professional enough to keep her temper in check and focus on the more immediate priority.

"Welcome to the Larkinson Clan." Ves greeted the new arrivals. "Here, you will begin your new journey as a Larkinson. Each of you have been thoroughly vetted and tested, so I have no doubt that you will be able to find your place in my Design Department. I cannot promise you that you will be able to remain in the Premier Branch on a permanent basis, but I can promise you that each of you will have a fair shot at earning an EdNet quota. We will track every contribution you make."

No one doubted Ves' words. His credibility was high, and they had already heard from numerous other Larkinsons how well the Larkinson Clan treated its lead designers.

Ves continued his speech. "The harder you work, the more Larkinson merits you can earn, yet grunt labor can only get you so far. The faster you improve, the sooner you can undertake greater responsibilities, allowing you to earn more merits per project. One of the most surefire ways to advance your position in my Design Department is to come up with ingenious design solutions that provide clear benefits to our products. I did not hire you for your solid design skills and extensive knowledge base alone. I hired you because I see the seed of greatness in you all. The more you are able to break out of your shells and attain brilliance, the more our clan will go all-out to support your ambitions. The only requirement is that you succeed!"

To be honest, Ves did not expect many of his new Journeymen to stand out in the next few years.

The probability of achieving critical success was too low. Even if the foundation of all of these former direct disciples was a lot better on average, their usefulness may never exceed a certain threshold if they lacked the ambition and determination to conduct more radical research.

Ves did not have much respect for mech designers who played it safe. Even if they were able to advance to the rank of Master Mech Designer, their design solutions were probably so marginal that hardly any customer could appreciate the differences.

The second-class Journeymen gathered before him were all clever enough to understand Ves' underlying message. The Design Department set up a structure where playing it safe and making steady contributions was not the best way to earn the most Larkinson merits.

The Living Mech Corporation did not have an invincible market position. Its old product lines were losing popularity at a much faster rate than the product lines of bigger and more reputable companies such as SKL Mech Industries.

The LMC had always relied on product differentiation to catch up to the competition. Now that the Larkinsons had begun to compete across the entire second-class mech market of red humanity, Ves could no longer shoulder his growing responsibilities alone.

He needed the help of many more lead designers!

However, Ves admittedly did not look forward to managing each of them in person. This was why he had decisively thrown the ball at his wife.

Unlike him, Gloriana was more than eager to take charge of all of the personnel in the Design Department.

She took a step forward at this time, causing everyone's attention to switch to the well-dressed woman.

Ves had chosen to go to work while wearing a new first-class patriarch uniform. It had been customized by an engineering team led by a master tailor from Vulit. Their combined efforts resulted in a work that might not have turned into a masterwork, but came awfully close to reaching that level of quality.

Much of the reason why his outfit cost so much was due to its exceptional materials and expansive amounts of miniaturized tech.

Though the extra comfort and amenities most certainly made a difference in his daily life, he was already fine with wearing his previous outfits.

Gloriana did not think so, however. The way she dressed and presented herself was indicative of that. She had chosen to wear a red patterned suit over a white lab coat that not only offered excellent protection against accidents, but also made her look bigger and more imposing!

"Do not think you have become Larkinsons just because you have adopted our family name." She spoke to the crowd. "Before you are ready to take part in design projects centered around upgrading our existing Larkinson models, you must first learn how our current living mechs work. More importantly, you must also familiarize yourself with the Larkinsons who pilot all of the mechs designed in-house. It is not wise to send you on an extended work visit to our famous expeditionary fleet, so you will roam through our ships in virtual reality instead. The Larkinsons over there may only be able to talk to physical projections of yourselves, but that should be sufficient for you to develop better relations with your fellow clansmen."

This was anything but ideal, but it was the best they could do under the circumstances.

Gloriana proceeded to explain what she had in mind once the new Journeymen completed their acclimation process.

"Once you have a clear understanding of our mechs as well as how they are being used by our own troops, you will be put in charge over one or several concurrent upgrade projects. We plan to extend a large amount of trust to you all by putting a number of you in charge of individual projects. However, my husband will also be involved in order to ensure that the living mechs retain their most important qualities. He will not be able to allocate much time for each and every upgrade process, but he can ensure that the next iterations of our existing mech models will not regress as living mechs."

No matter how much Ves limited his involvement in all of the upgrade projects, it was still a massive burden for him to keep up with them all, especially if they were being worked on at the same time.

It couldn't be helped. The LMC's customers had shown a lot of patience, but they were not willing to wait forever in order to obtain adequate hyper mech versions of their existing products.

"I expect each of you to work hard and do your best to completely refresh all of our current mech models to the latest generation." Gloriana spoke with greater force. "We must complete all of the necessary upgrades within 2 years! Each upgraded mech must be no worse than the Fey Fianna in terms of qualities, resource utilization and cost efficiency. If each of you are the geniuses that we think you are, then this should be a guaranteed outcome. Do not fail in your assignments!"

After that, Gloriana began to explain more detailed rules. She also addressed every new recruit in person.

Ves turned around and walked away. There was no need for him to stick around while his wife established her authority.

He had a more pressing matter to deal with at the moment.

As Ves entered a smaller and more secure design room, Alexa Streon arrived shortly afterwards and thoughtfully closed the door.

"Are you sure you are ready?" He asked as he faced his latest protege. "This is a life-changing decision. Once you have settled on your design philosophy, you can no longer change your mind. Your base will be set. The most you can do to alter the expression of your work is to make radical detours, but that obviously has its limits."

The young woman who had always dressed herself in high-quality professional wear took a deep breath before she gave a measured response.

"I have already made my choice during our stay in Bortele. I have spent the entire return trip to New Constantinople questioning my judgment and considering the alternatives. I have not wavered in my decision. I am absolutely certain that I have found my direction."

Ves could hear and sense her strong convention. She had truly made a careful choice.

"That is good. It is not a disaster if you end up making a bad choice. What is fatal to mech designers such as ourselves is regretting the decisions you have already made. I believe that any design philosophy can produce groundbreaking works as long as you work hard enough. That said, a more optimal starting point can save you decades if not centuries of struggle. What is the design philosophy that you have chosen for yourself?"

This was the big moment that both of them had been waiting for. Alexa swelled with pride as she explained her reasoning.

"As you know, I originally sought you out because I became inspired by your living mechs. It had always been my dream and my ambition to design a mech comparable to the Ouroboros. My grandfather always gushes about his unique machine, and has always expressed his regret that he is unable to find its original maker. I want to be the mech designer who improves his machine. I am cognizant that my chances of doing so are slim and that you may be able to do a better job, but I will still work hard in order to service the needs of the next generation of mechs and mech pilots."

That was a healthy mindset. If Alexa wanted to gain the qualifications to upgrade the Ouroboros herself, then she needed to work hard for at least 50 to too years in order to become powerful enough to work on such an important project.

That took way too long!

Red humanity needed to go all-out into strengthening itself in the next half-century. It was impossible for Alexa to put her selfish needs over the survival of their entire civilization.

"lam highly encouraged by your mindset. Your dedication to the people we serve is an admirable quality. Now what is the design philosophy that you have chosen to settle upon?"

Alexa did not open her mouth right away, but took the time to summon her companion spirit.

"Myah~! Myah~!"

Maia appeared and started to fly a few circles around the young lady before settling on her shoulder. The predominantly white spiritual ragdoll cat looked particularly energetic at this hour.

"Every living mech is born in a workshop or a factory." She started to explain. "When they are complete, they eventually get shipped to their buyers where they are promptly being put to use without too much regard for their own feelings. Do not misunderstand. I do not think that living mechs are being mistreated, but you have to admit that they are not receiving the sort of systematic guidance and nurturing that humans such as ourselves direct towards our children. As a father, you should be well aware of the value of upbringing."

Ves narrowed his eyes. He already started to have an inkling of what Alexa was working towards.

"Goon."

"Living mechs have turned from products into living, sentient beings that are already capable of forming their own societies. The issue is that their unusual creation leaves them without the complete family structures that constitute most proper societies. Every mech is made in a factory. They do not have any fathers or mothers, and they cannot exercise any form of procreation. The closest thing to a parent they have is you, but you are more of a distant ancestor than anything. These are severe shortcomings in my view. If the Ouroboros received proper nurturing from any parents, it may not have held back my grandfather as much."

That was not entirely certain, but Ves understood Alexa's general sentiment. The Ouroboros indeed got stuck in a bottleneck due to the many deficiencies that remained unaddressed for a century.

"Then..."

Alexa began to smile. "Your suspicions are correct. What I aim to accomplish is to create a new paradigm of living mechs that brings them closer to naturally evolved organic life! Procreation lies at the center of my new design philosophy. Simply put, I want to create a mechanism for existing living mechs to get together and donate a part of their power and possibly their knowledge into a special seed. This seed can be retrieved by humans and be sent to a mech factory to form the basis of a new living mech that essentially represents the child of the previous two living machines!"

"What?!"

Ves had never thought about this before! Who would be so silly to create an actual procreation mechanism for his living mechs?!

Alexa did not care for his astonishment. She continued to channel more passion as she elaborated on her idea and ambition!

"As long as the new offspring can serve in the same unit as its parents, the young living mech can undergo much more rapid growth by receiving proper guidance and nurturing from its parent mechs. Over time, entire living mech families and dynasties may form around inheritances that have accumulated over multiple generations, enabling them to develop into more powerful and unique directions that perfectly addresses one of the fatal weaknesses of your design philosophy. Your living mechs always require a large amount of time to grow into their power. My design philosophy seeks to compress this growth period so that every young living mech can grow into maturity in a fraction of the time!"

This was a ground-breaking model of living mechs that could ignite a lot of controversy if Alexa shared it with the wrong people!

Ves never expected that his disciple would have the guts to develop his living mechs in this dangerous direction!

If she succeeded in realizing her vision, then living mechs would take a massive step forward into becoming a self-sustaining sentient race.

Anyone who paranoid about AIs taking over would definitely suffer a heart attack if they saw Alexa's idea come to life!