The Mech Touch

5988 Professional Ethics

Everyone was confused.

No one understood why Ves chose to conduct such an insane ritual!

Although he had already built up a reputation for being obtuse, irrational and outright crazy at times, his actions today far exceeded his usual pattern!

On the surface, his decisions conformed to an underlying logic.

He dimmed the light levels of the mech workshop in order to set the right mood and produce a more conducive environment for a mech aligned with the shadow element.

Blinky pumped additional shadow energy into the mech workshop to further saturate the materials and soon-to-be-

fabricated archemetal parts.

He conducted a small ritual that ostensibly sharpened Ves and Gloriana work focus.

He also forced Tusa to swallow a small but already deadly portion of Ves' phasewater-infused blood, with the intent to temper the expert pilot's willpower and increase his tolerance towards dangerous spatial phenomenon!

On paper, none of these actions sounded detrimental, but the reality was quite different!

Ves had becan outright devil by forcing all of these weird and dangerous conditions onto everyone!

At the very least, Ves had crossed a very dangerous ethical line today, so much so that the observing mech designers couldn't believe that their idol could be so unscrupulous!

"Miss Alexa, are you sure that the professor is of the right mind?" One of the Journeymen contacted Ves' deputy for a second opinion. "Mech designers exist to serve mech pilots. According to this principle, we must never purposely cause harm or put our clients and customers at a clear disadvantage. Even if the professor's intentions for Tusa are benign, the ends do not justify the means, especially when the latter is outright lethal to any human!"

None of the high-ranking mech designers of the Larkinson Clan were stupid. The worst of them comprised elite graduates of renowned second-class mech design universities. The best of them were genuine first-class mech designers!

Each of them took mandatory courses on the ethics and morality of their work. They had received thorough training on the scenarios where they learned how far they could go in putting mech pilots at risk in order to achieve a better outcome.

Mech piloting was an inherently dangerous occupation. It was impossible to coddle mech pilots to the greatest possible extent. All soldiers had to accept the fact that their duties might not allow them to cback from the battlefield alive. Their mechs may not strictly be their allies anymore, as the very act of piloting them might cause their lives to be cut short a lot sooner than if they stayed away from the battlefield.

One of the most important factors that mech designers needed to take into account was duty.

The inherent dangers that mech pilots had to bear over the course of piloting their machines had to be weighed against the expectations of their obligations to their employer, their state or their civilization as a whole.

It was through these considerations that mech designers were able to justify actions that arguably put mech pilots at greater risk of losing their lives than usual.

For example, mech designers could justify the development of cheap and inferior mechs that arguably put mech pilots in much greater danger than usual. There were plenty of mitigating factors that justified their use, such as limited resources or granting opportunities for mech pilots with inferior genetic aptitude.

Another case was the design and use of light mechs. Compared to medium mechs, light mechs were obviously smaller and weaker. Centuries worth of statistics also showed that light mechs tended to get wrecked a lot more frequently than the mechs that belonged to other weight classes.

If that was not enough, light mechs usually offered less protection to their cockpits, which meant that their mech pilots had a significantly greater chance of losing their lives over the course of their service!

Yet mech designers still found enough excuses to justify the continued development of light mechs. They were excellent at scouting, they were much more suitable for flanking roles and the importance of superior mobility sometimes trumped every other parameter.

Mech pilots themselves also did not reject the existence of light mechs. Each pilot who chose to take the high-risk option of piloting light mechs had years to weigh their decisions during their academy days.

Their teachers and instructors always explained the pros and cons of piloting light mechs to an exhaustive degree.

Compared to other weight classes, light mechs were indeed a lot more fragile than other machines, but they possessed a completely different appeal that could not be replicated by more massive mechs.

The constant adrenaline rush, the ability to choose when to advance and retreat, the extremely high skill ceiling of most light mechs and the satisfaction of the weak overcoming the strong all attracted a certain range of mech pilots.

Light mech pilots tended to be braver and more prone to making risky decisions than other mech pilots.

They rarely possessed the smartest minds, but they were always quick on their feet.

Each veteran light mech pilot developed their own means to survive while enduring the elevated risks of piloting mechs that could break after getting struck by a couple of substantial attacks.

Those that failed to do so either died, retired early or changed their specializations so that they could pilot heavier machines!

In short, light mech pilots willingly tolerated a lot more danger than normal. This granted mech designers greater allowances to subject their customers to risks so long as their intentions remained honest.

Of course, there was a limit to everything. Mech designers could not break every rule just because they believed that doing so would benefit their target audience in the end.

Most mech designers immediately judged that what Ves had done to Tusa clearly crossed the line!

He was an expert pilot, one that had managed to approach the peak of his rank at a remarkably fast pace!

There was no need to subject such a 'talented' and proven expert pilot to any elevated risks.

As long as Tusa continued to serve his duty in a steady manner for a couple of decades, he would eventually temper himself to the point where he could break through to the rank of ace pilot sooner or later.

A high-tier expert pilot who was in his forties had a lot more breakthrough opportunities than another expert pilot who was over a century old!

Younger mech pilots were more malleable and still had room to grow. Tusa's future was already bright, so there was very little reason to boost his chances further by resorting to extrmethods.

This was why no one understood Ves' actions.

Not even Alexa could justify an act as extras stuffing phasewater down Tusa's throat!

A brief internal war raged within her mind. Her professional ethics clashed against her loyalty and belief in her mentor.

This conflict did not last long. Her eyes firmed up as she offered an unambiguous response.

"Professor Larkinson is the most innovative and successful Senior Mech Designer that has ever arisen. None of the Star Designers who we celebrate up to this day can match his accomplishments at this stage. He has made more contributions and saved more people with his works than anyone else in a comparable position. That has earned him a great amount of leeway. At the very least, unless his unorthodox actions have produced permanent material harm to Venerable Tusa, the professor has earned the benefit of your doubt."

"That is not how this is supposed to work, miss." The Journeyman did not mindlessly agree with Alexa's argument. "The very act of gambling with the life of a high-tier expert pilot is already a violation in itself. Regardless of whether the outcultimately favors Venerable Tusa or not, the mere possibility of endangering the life of a protected class of people according to the rules of the Red Association should be reported straight away. The mechers may be able to treat Tusa straight away once they bring him back to their advanced medical facilities."

Alexa frowned at that. "If your conscience compels you to report a possible violation, then you are free to do so, but do not expect a response. The Red Association will not respond as you expect, especially during this changing climate."

"What do you mean, miss?"

"Professor Ves Larkinson is an honorary member of the Red Association. He is no longer a subject. He has earned enough recognition from the Association to beca member of this powerful institution. One of the dirty secrets of the mech industry is that the mechers often go easy on each other. As the people who enforce the rules, there are times where they believe they are above the rules."

"..."

"The professor is also a tier 3 galactic citizen, though it could be argued that his actual contributions should have elevated him to a tier 2 galactic citizen." Alexa added. "Have you forgotten how far that sets him apart from the rest of us? You are only barely a galactic citizen. A low-tier galactic citizen cannot shake the foundation of a tier 3 galactic citizen unless the latter egregiously violates a taboo. Similar as before, high-

tier galactic citizens are no longer strictly subject to the rules anymore. They are the individuals who make the rules. Every high-tier galactic citizen has amply proven themselves to the point where the institutions of our society are willing to extend him greater allowances."

"So nothing will happen to Professor Larkinson even if he ends up killing Venerable Tusa?"

"I did not say that." Alexa sharply responded. "The professor has taken a calculated risk. If his bet pays off, then he is entitled to reap all of the rewards. If his bet turns against him, then he must take responsibility for his failures. This is a rule that he cannot escape from. The mechers will not incarcerate him, but they will impose other sanctions on him, such as depriving him of his allowances and subjecting him to stricter monitoring. He will also have to account himself to his own clan. He has fostered an organization where every member treats each other as family. What he has done is as bad as killing his own brother. He cannot keep his position as patriarch in that case."

That sounded extremely serious!

"This doesn't make any sense if that is the case! How could Professor Larkinson be so reckless as to put his relationship with the Red Association and his leadership of the Larkinson Clan at risk? This is such an unreasonably lopsided tradeoff that no normal mech designer would choose to go through with such an ill-conceived experiment. His actions do not even conform to the scientific method!"

Alexa ruefully smiled. "That is what separates Professor Larkinson from the rest of us. He is a genius, but he is also a madman. What prevents the mech community from condemning him as a war criminal is his ability to succeed in his calculated risks. He is not as reckless as he appears. He might not seem meticulous, but he invests enough tand effort into estimating his chances of success before he takes on a substantial risk. If Professor Larkinson has built up enough confidence to feed Venerable Tusa with his blood, then there are enough reasons to be confident about the expert pilot's ability to cope with his situation. Even if Tusa cannot withstand exposure to phasewater any longer, he can still be saved before he suffers a fatal injury."

It was the belief that Ves and the Larkinson Clan had implemented enough safeguards that no one ultimately tried to stand up and put a stop to this mad experiment.

That did not change the fact that a lot of mech designers did not approve of this radical action!

Their opinions of Ves no longer becas admiring as before.

As the recent hires gradually realized that their new employer was not as heroic and upstanding as they thought, the mech designers began to feel a lot more ambivalent about working for the Larkinson Clan.