The Mech Touch

"I have to say, boss, you're positively glowing." Gavin smirked at Ves as they started their daily briefing. "Did you finally graduate from a boy to a man?"

Ves, with half of his mind lingering on the unforgettable night, snapped back. "What are you talking about? I've always been a man!"

"Hehe.. I'm not so sure about that. I think you definitely 'leveled up' since yesterday, though. You look twice as confident as before!"

"Is it that obvious?" Ves groaned.

"The rumors are already spreading throughout the entire fleet! It doesn't help that Gloriana may have said some words that confirm some of the stories. Did your physical augmentations really allow you to…"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Ves slammed his palm against his desk, startling Lucky who was dozing off not far away! "Let's keep my private life separate from my professional life, okay?! I expect everyone to be PROFESSIONAL on the job, okay? You can say whatever you want within reason when you are off the clock, but no funny business during work hours, is that clear?"

Gavin awkwardly coughed. "About that. This policy is rather harder to enforce than you think. When your work and your home is in the same place, people tend to get rather.. cozy. People need to loosen up every now and then, especially when they can't go to a park or head downtown to have some fun. The situation in the fleet is rather steady so far, but the moment you try to instill military discipline among your ranks, I think the mood will quickly tank."

That was a very clever diversion. Ves worried about this problem as well. "How bad is the discipline problem?"

"It's under control. Right now, cohesion among your Larkinsons and workers is high, and morale is rising especially now that it looks like every worker in the fleet is about to get inducted in the Larkinson Clan!"

Gavin was positively grinning when he said those last words!

"Are you that eager to become a Larkinson?" Ves threw a suspicious glance at his assistant.

"I've been working for you since the start back when we were just starting off at Cloudy Curtain. I have been through almost all of your travels and adventures and while I'm not comfortable with how you attract so much danger, I have to say that I feel more fulfilled than I would have ever been if I worked for a regular company. Everyone who has stuck by you thinks the same! We really believe you are bigger than the Komodo Star Sector. All of us have made up our minds. The chance to be a part of your clan is something that we have all dreamt of but never dared to voice out loud!"

The assistant sounded like an advocate of Calabast's proposal.

"How popular is the proposal?"

"You can hardly find any Brighter, Ylvainan or other people who want to refuse this option! The Larkinson name is worth its weight in exotics. The reputation of the original Larkinson Family and the rising trajectory of your Larkinson Clan holds an immense attraction to those who don't share your last name. Of course, the opportunity to become an insider and receive the same generous treatment as a trueblood Larkinson is already immensely attractive."

"I'm told that this is not entirely the case. Wasn't there talk of instituting a class system?"

Gavin dropped his smirk a bit. "That's one of the most controversial topics that is still up in the air. A lot of the current Larkinson clansmen are very reluctant about expanding the clan. While the older and wiser among you see the necessity in expanding the clan, they're also the most stubborn about dividing the clan between trueblood Larkinsons and 'external' Larkinsons."

"You sound like you disapprove."

"It's not as much of an integration as we all hope for. It's hard not to feel disappointed if this comes into being. This kind of half-hearted solution is like paying lip service to the intention of including outsiders in the clan. Will the people who weren't born a Larkinson still be able to integrate in the clan when the trueblood clansmen constantly lord over their superiority?"

This sounded like an incredibly thorny problem. There were no perfect solutions at hand. Either the Larkinsons could embrace the outsiders as equals and risk losing control of the clan, or they could maintain an artificial class system that allowed the minority of trueblood Larkinsons to maintain primacy over the others.

Regardless of which solution the Larkinson Clan chose, at least one of the two groups would become dissatisfied. Ves worried that the discontent might become severe enough to tear his new and relatively fragile clan asunder!

"I have an appointment soon with Ovrin and Raymond, right? I'll discuss this issue with the two elders and see if we can keep the outrage to a minimum."

"Whatever you choose, I hope you will do justice for us little guys. We have contributed much if not more than your fellow Larkinsons to your efforts. Remember the days when you wanted nothing to do with the Larkinson Family?"

"Those days are long gone."

"Are they?" Gavin questioned. "Sure, you've attracted a large following of Larkinsons, but they mostly joined later on when you became a Journeyman and showed that you had great potential. Back when you were an Apprentice, your family demanded a fourth of the shares of the LMC for a relatively small sum of money considering your company's future potential."

"What's your point?"

"While I am not trying to say that some of your relatives such as Commander Melkor and Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson haven't been essential, the fact that you share the same blood as them is largely incidental. Their level of contributions don't match the assistance that many of your other relatives have provided. In fact, the fact that there are still a lot of clansmen who want to leave as soon as we reach the Sentinel Kingdom is a sign that many of your fellow Larkinsons aren't as loyal as some of us who have been with you for years!"

How could Ves not see what Gavin was doing? His executive assistant constantly tried to persuade him into accepting outsiders into the clan without treating them differently from any other Larkinson.

To be honest, Gavin made a very persuasive argument. Ves half-suspected that he didn't really come up with it to begin with. It sounded like something Calabast or James would come up with. The logic was hard to deny.

"Let's end this topic for now. I won't make up my mind until I talk to some of the Larkinson elders." Ves dismissively waved his hand. "What's next on the agenda?"

"Well, it's about our financial situation. You see, with our best-selling product line no longer being sold in Coalition-aligned space, our monthly income has dropped, but is still more than enough to pay for the upkeep of our sprawling fleet and company assets. Now that we took in the Penitent Sisters, that has changed."

Ves frowned. "How bad is it? Will we be running out of money quickly?"

"Don't get me wrong, boss. The Penitent Sisters, despite their ugly origins, have made us feel a lot safer. The problem is their strength comes at a considerable cost. Second-class outfits are completely different from third-class outfits. The cost to maintain our original lineup of ships and mechs is only a fraction of the cost to keep the highly-advanced hardware of the Penitent Sisters running! Their fuel is more expensive, the energy they consume is astronomically higher, the materials needed to build replacement parts is prohibitive, the salaries owed to the Sisters is enough to employ an army of third-class mech pilots and worst of all, the costs will only rise as time goes by. According to the Accounting Department, if the current trend persists, we'll run out of money in fifteen months!"

Fifteen months. That didn't sound so bad. "There's plenty of time to remedy this problem."

"This is a big problem!" Gavin threw up his hands. "Fifteen months may be a long time, but our margin of error is not as big as it seems! Even if your striker mech project ends up a commercial success, it's still a third-class mech! We will need to sell a huge amount of copies in order to cover all of the upkeep of the Penitent Sisters! If the sales of your next commercial product falls short of this high bar, then we'll still be drowning in a couple of years!"

"I'll just design another commercial mech, then." Ves shrugged. "Gloriana and I work faster and more productively ever since I got my new implant. If necessary, I'll design a commercial second-class mech in order to generate the revenue we need to pay for all of our expenses."

"I hope you keep this priority in mind. None of us want your endeavor to crash because you haven't been paying attention to our growing expenses. Don't forget that you will have to earn even more money in order to prepare your expeditionary fleet. I doubt we would be able to make it in the Red Ocean with our shabby light carriers."

"You've made your point." Ves said dryly. "When it comes down to it, I can still borrow money from somewhere. The Wodin Dynasty is probably flush with cash."

Gavin smiled sharply at Ves. "Do you want to owe more favors to the Hexers?"

"..Not really."

His debt to DIVA and the inclusion of the Penitent Sisters reminded Ves that he was getting way too involved with the Hegemony! Though he couldn't help it on account of his girlfriend, Ves couldn't wait to repay what he owed and leave the Komodo Star Sector as fast as possible!

They soon turned to the last topic on the agenda.

"You recently instructed us to explore the option of recruiting additional mech designers. While the conditions you've set are very harsh, interest in joining your design teams is still high! In fact, every time we present the option, a lot of mech designers, young and old, are very enthusiastic about working under a rising superstar in the mech industry!"

"I see. My fame has finally reached this level."

"Even though you're known as an eccentric and volatile Journeyman who gets into a lot of trouble, your design talent is undeniable. A lot of Novices, Apprentices and even your fellow Journeymen are interested in working for you. They all hope to learn some of the secrets of your success."

Ves crossed his arms. "Let me guess. They just want to stick with me for a decade or so before leaving to set up their own business with the lessons they learned from me? I already told you that I'm not interested in those who aren't committed to my ventures."

"While that is certainly the case for many mech designers, there are thousands of professionals in the Sentinel Kingdom who have shown a lot of willingness to abide by the restrictive contract you've insisted upon! Many of these mech designers are quite good!"

"That remains to be seen. Try and register all of the applicants. Filter out the ones who aren't suitable as much as possible. When we reach the Sentinel Kingdom, I'll interview the ones who are left on the list in person. I'm looking to double the number of design teams, so that means I want to come away with at least twelve more assistant mech designers."

"Got it, boss." Gavin made a note in his data pad. "Our men in Sentinel will make sure to give you plenty of choice without wasting your time with unqualified applicants. What priorities should they look out for in a potential new recruit?"

"Loyalty comes first. My mech designers must be trustworthy and reliable. It is best that they do not have any loyalties to any prior employers or other groups. Experience is not a necessity for that reason. Ideally, the mech designers should be young so I can get a lot of use out of them before they reach their expiration dates. Ideally, they should be talented or possess a lot of potential, but I don't want anyone greedy or arrogant. If they can't accept being subordinate to me, then they're applying for the wrong job."

His assistant nodded again and again. "That's a hefty set of priorities. I don't think there will be a lot of applicants left if you insist on all of these requirements."

"While I am in need of more assistants in the design lab, it's not too urgent. We can always recruit suitable mech designers elsewhere."

Trust was hard to come by. Ves did not believe that every applicant would be as committed to him as his current roster of mech designers.

That was okay. The galaxy was filled with mech designers. Ves just had to keep his doors open long enough to meet his growing design needs!