The Mech Touch

Ves always equated teaching to indoctrination.

As long as a teacher commanded attention and maintained the illusion that he knew what he was talking about, he could shovel all kinds of nonsense into the minds of his unwitting pupils!

He had the entire auditorium eating from the palm of his hand. His unwavering confidence, his imposing attire, his impressive record and his deliberative verbal manipulations all caused him to come across an authority figure!

He momentarily indulged in his successful attempt at entrancing the auditorium filled with thousands of enraptured students. He had the feeling he could abuse his power over them to a much greater extent!

Of course, Ves would never pull off something so egregious at a friendly venue. The professors sitting at the front still maintained sufficient awareness. They would never allow him to indoctrinate the Rawlings students with impunity.

The contract he signed with Rawlings already laid out what he was permitted to say or not. He abided by a lot of limitations and surrendered many other rights as well.

Yet the reason he gave so much ground on so many terms for his guest lecture was because he pursued a very specific aim!

He wanted to gain the permission to talk about something very specific! Though Rawlings almost canceled his guest lecture due to this demand, Professor Nxi eventually allowed it as long as Ves did not go overboard!

Seeing that he sufficiently primed his audience, he began to make his appeal.

\"Speaking of employment opportunities, let me tell you what my mech company has to offer.\"

He snapped his fingers, causing the central projection to come alive again. The logo of the LMC hovered majestically over his head. The projection then switched to various depictions of his original mech models.

Though their projection forms failed to convey the full might of their auras, a pale shadow of it still went through. Ves gradually raised the spiritual barrier over his overcoat in order to reduce Zeigra’s overpowering aura.

At least a few of the more sensitive people in the crowd sensed a hint of the charm in the mechs projected in the auditorium. Their interest in the LMC visibly increased!

\"The Living Mech Corporation is a young but successful mech company based in the Bright Republic. I founded it in the belief that there is demand for mechs that are more than just commodities. Our motto reflects my design philosophy.\"

The main projection shifted to footage of Jannzi’s amazing performance during the product reveal of his Aurora Titan! As her dazzling performance and the Shield of Samar’s flickering of forced resonance played out in its full, edited glory, his iconic phrase faded into view.

Living Mechs. Partners for Life.

\"Our mechs are designed to put the needs of the mech pilot central. I believe that the best mechs are those that enable their users to bring out the utmost of their piloting ability in the cockpit!\"

The projection shifted to depicting scenes of archival battle footage. The crowd began to be subjected to snapshots of battles where his Blackbeaks, Crystal Lords and Aurora Titans played the leading role in the engagements.

Each instance, his mechs played a pivotal role in the battles!

Ves smiled. \"If you want to become a part of our team and help us propagate our vision for mechs, then consider applying to the LMC. You’ll be working directly under me in a new, exciting environment, away from the boundaries and strictures of the Sentinel Kingdom!\"

He had to be careful not to criticize the Sentinel Kingdom. The Sentinels possess a lot of pride in their state, and for good reason! Sentinel wasn’t the strongest third-rate state in the Komodo Star Sector for nothing!

\"What I said earlier applies here as well. As long as you possess some value, I won’t be parsimonious with you. Not only will you have the opportunity to benefit from my wisdom and guidance, but you will also have access to our growing internal library of textbooks and other learning resources. I have no use for mech designers who can only count to ten. The greater your abilities, the more rewarding it is for you to work in our design team!\"

A student at the back of the auditorium stood up and raised her hand. \"Mr. Larkinson, what if we decide to part ways?\"

\"You’re free to go. It’s as simple as that.\" Ves casually waved his hand as if it was no big deal. \"I do have to add that you’ll have to abide by the industry-standard conventions regarding trade secrets and sharing a portion of the proceeds of your earnings when you leave my employment.\"

A lot of people frowned when they heard the latter term again. No one wanted to add on an extra tax to their future earnings!

Ves crossed his arms. \"I know that passing on a portion of your earnings to your former employer doesn’t sound very pleasant, but all of these terms are negotiable. In truth, I don’t want your money. The main reason why this industry standard is in place is because I really don’t want you to go. If you are worth it, I will do my best to offer you incentives to stay in my design team.\"

\"What kind of incentives are you talking about?\"

\"It could be anything. If you take my advice seriously and prioritize your progression, then I’m very willing to mentor you! Don’t think lightly of this opportunity! I’ve already mentored a young mech designer before and she has shaped up to become a very talented mech designer with a bright future ahead of her! If you are willing to trust me to guide your development, I promise you that you’ll be in the right hands!\"

A lot of students started to rouse from their enthrallment. Almost no one seriously desired to work for Ves. Leaving their friends, families and the Sentinel Kingdom behind to work for a foreigner in a very foreign state did not appeal to most Rawlings students.

In addition, citizens of the Sentinel Kingdom had to pass through a lot of bureaucratic hurdles in order to gain permission to work abroad. Though Ves could smooth over most of the hurdles, there was no way that the Sentinel Kingdom would allow him to poach the most promising new Sentinel mech designers.

Even so, Ves still wanted to cast his hook and see what kind of fish he could manage to reel in. Though most of the students here still required a few years of study to graduate, this was exactly why he wanted to make his offer at this time.

Most students were still available! By the time a class of students graduated, his competitors would have already snapped the talents up! Only middling performers who failed to attract the interests of the recruiters on the campus were still available.

While Ves figured he could surreptitiously augment their performance by sneaking some Attribute Candies in their diet, that was way too dangerous.

If his entire design team suddenly turned to geniuses when they came under his care, then he would doubtlessly attract a lot of unwelcome attention!

In addition, the awry separation of Carlos from the LMC soured Ves to the idea of investing his valuable Attribute Candies to other people under his employ.

While he was willing to hand them out to the people he could depend upon, the circle of people he could trust was depressingly small. Aside from his family and his Kinner bondsmen, there were not a lot of people left who he was willing to empower with this incredibly valuable reward.

Even if the Attribute Candies only cost a few thousand DP each, their actual value in the Komodo Star Sector was priceless!

No. If his subordinates wanted to augment their attributes, then Ves would pay for genetic treatments. Although this method of augmentation always came with personality changes and other unpleasant side effects, it was the prevailing norm within the industry and high society.

An interested student raised her hand.

\"Sir, what are your policies on self-designed mechs? Will you allow us to publish our own designs.\"

\"I have different accommodations for that. Unlike other employers, I won’t completely prohibit you from publishing your own mech designs that you have developed in your own time. However, I do have some conditions...\"

He patiently began to answer some of the common questions from the interested students. Though only a tiny fraction of his audience were interested to begin with, this still amounted to dozens of future mech designers!

Ves happily engaged with the audience and tried to present himself and the LMC as an exciting alternative to the existing employment opportunities in the Sentinel Kingdom.

Rawlings graduates never had to struggle too much to obtain respectable employment. However, the accommodations he made were very generous. Only a small number of mech companies could match the rewards he had to offer.

\"With respect, Mr. Larkinson, while all of this sounds great, what do you want in return?\" Someone asked. \"Besides doing our jobs.\"

Ah. Someone finally caught up that Ves wasn’t being so generous without cause. The entire reason why he threw in such juicy bait was because he insisted on a very important demand!

\"Nothing comes for free.\" He responded, hammering home the lesson. \"In exchange for all of the generosity that the LMC is willing to provide, you will have to agree to fixed employment terms, for example five or ten years. This isn’t that unusual in the mech industry and many MTA-enforced contracts include such clauses. You are still free to quit, but you’ll have to pay a heavy penalty if you quit before your term ends. I don’t want all of my mech designers to quit abruptly. When you sign up to the LMC, you’re in it for at least an entire tour. No less.\"

Though this demand was one of the more stringent ones in a mech designer employment contract, it wasn’t a big deal if Ves abided by his promises to assist in the training and development of his subordinates.

\"Is that all, sir?\"

Ves shook his head. \"There is also something else. I’ll be splitting up my subordinate mech designers in two distinct groups. One group is subject to less stringent restrictions but also won’t receive as much guidance and investment from me. Another group is open to those who are willing to stick with my company and I will receive a lot more benefits! However, the biggest price you’ll have to pay is to promise to stick with me regardless where I go! If I relocate to the Hexadric Hegemony for any reason, you’ll have to go with me! If I move to an entirely different star sector, you’ll be obliged to follow me around!\"

Ves needed to cultivate a team of dedicated mech designers! In preparation for his grand expedition, he wanted to bring at least a basic team of mech designers who he could trust and who were willing to stick with him through thick and thin!

While he could just as easily coordinate his design projects with design teams based at the Mech Nursery, Ves did not wish to perform his most delicate design work via remote.

Though the grand expedition was still around a decade away, Ves had to lay the groundwork right away.

The sooner he formed a dedicated team of mech designers who were willing to uproot their entire families and accompany him on his grand expedition, the more productive the team would be. Trying to set up a team of loyalist mech designers on the go was a lot more troublesome and would inevitably lead to a huge reduction in his productivity at the start of the expedition!

As Ves elaborated on the terms and threw some hints on what he had in store, interest from most of the students plummeted.

Mech designers were inherently resistant to restrictions! If they were willing to abide by a humongous amount of rules and regulations, then they might as well join the military, which was a much better employer compared to Ves!

Only a handful of mech designers still expressed interest in the offer.

To Ves, that was enough!