The Mech Touch

The big day had come. Ves and Gloriana were about to fabricate the first production model of their very first collaborative Hexer mech design.

This mech was very significant for multiple reasons.

It was the first mech that was aimed towards Hexers.

It was Ves' first true second-class product.

It was his first mech whose complexity and difficulty significantly exceeded that of his prior products!

All of these factors and more meant that Ves was under a lot of pressure to perform. When he woke up in the morning, his mood was good but not fantastic.

That was not a good sign. A normal demeanor was not conducive to entering an inspired mood!

Would serendipity be deprived from him once again?

Perhaps the only consolidation was the enthusiasm shown by Gloriana. She practically bounced on her feet as they traveled to the newly-constructed underground workshop.

In order to meet Calabast's demands for absolute security, the Black Cats dug and built the underground structure from scratch. Each and every single tool and production equipment that the pair intended to use in the fabrication attempt had already been vetted at least three times over.

When the pair of mech designers entered the restricted workshop with their cats, no one else was present aside from Calabast and some bodyguards of the Glory Battalion.

"For security purposes, it's best that I remain present for the entire duration of this run." She explained.

Ves frowned. "It will take at least three to four days to make our mech."

"I'm aware, kid. I have already taken the proper medication. Staying awake for entire weeks isn't unusual in my line of business. Besides, my optimized genes already make sure I can make do with much less sleep."

During the Aeon Corona Mission, Calabast outranked Ves. She managed to receive one more round of gene optimization treatment than himself!

Ves still felt glum about this difference. CFA-grade gene optimization treatments were unobtainable to him in ordinary circumstances. This was bad because the treatments were designed to be applied in succession.

Even if he advanced to Master one day, it was impossible for him to knock on the CFA doors and request another round of treatment!

Well, that was a problem for later.

"Do what you want, but don't get in the way."

"Very polite, kid."

"You can stop calling me kid, you know."

"Grow up first."

Ves proceeded to ignore Calabast and moved on to the statue of the Superior Mother.

Lucky and Clixie had arrived at the feet of the giant statue.

"Meow."

"Miaow?"

"Meow meow."

"Miaow!"

It seemed that Lucky was already introducing his mother to Gloriana's cat.

As for Gloriana, she prostrated to the statue just a short distance away! Ves immediately grimaced at the sight.

Ves never worshipped spiritual entities, let alone the ones he brought to life! As their creator, it was silly for him to look up to them. He was basically the equivalent of a parent who changed their diapers!

Most of the time, Gloriana adopted the same mindset. In Hexer culture, gods were not necessarily respected if they were male.

However, the Superior Mother was different. Not only was she female, she also embodied some of the ideal traits that Hexers valued.

The fact that Gloriana half-mistook the Superior Mother as Cynthia Larkinson was an even greater reason for her to bend her knees to the statue!

The sight frankly disgusted Ves. If she wasn't his lover, he would have stormed over and kicked her in the butt until she stood upright again!

As it was, he allowed her to indulge in her fancy, not just to get it out of her system, but to make sure that she was at her best.

"Alright." She spoke after she finally finished her prayer session. "I'm ready! Before we start, have you already decided on the name for our mech."

"I did." Ves nodded. "Our knight mech is designed to accompany a squad of offensive female Hexer mechs and support them as best as possible. The combination of defense and resupply capabilities make it very useful for high-intensity battles and sustained assaults. It's not a mech that does well on its own. Considering its pronounced support role, I've decided upon naming our design the Blessed Squire."

The Blessed Squire!

Gloriana widened her eyes as soon as she heard the name that Ves had decided upon! There was something compelling about the label.

"Why call it a squire, and why is it blessed?"

"It's very simple. A squire used to be someone who attends to the duties of a knight. Think of cleaning the gear, helping the knight dress in his armor, caring for the horses and so on. They're not just servants, but instead noble born teenagers who are expected to become knights themselves."

"So they're knights, but not really." She said. "I think that somewhat aptly fits with our mech design. Compared to well-rounded knight mechs, our design is lacking in several aspects, most notably offense."

Ves nodded. "Therefore, calling it a squire fits."

"I suspect that you also chose this word because it is a disarming way to describe a knight mech, isn't that right?"

He smiled. "You know me too well. It's as deadly as a proper knight."

Hexers were very insistent that mechs piloted by boys should never be good enough to threaten mechs piloted by women!

Though Ves wasn't worried that his Blessed Squire posed an actual threat to a high-quality Hexer mech, truth and perception was not the same.

If the Hexers felt threatened by the design because he was one of its lead designers, then it would be very hard to overcome their prejudices!

As for calling it Blessed, Gloriana did not have to ask.

The mech design was literally blessed by the Superior Mother! This was a great honor and privilege that fully justified the use of this term! No other Hexer mech design could make the same boast!

Ves did not worry about adding a religious overtone to his mech design. He refrained from doing so to his other mech designs in order to exclude as little markets as possible.

The Hexadric Hegemony was not completely religious but neither fully secularist either. It was a mix of both. According to Gloriana, most Hexers leaned in one or the other direction.

What truly mattered was the level of tolerance shown to Hexers with different outlooks. Religious Hexers such as Gloriana did not arouse disgust from secularist Hexers like Calabast and vice versa. Secularist Hexers were all somewhat familiar with the principles of hexism.

This meant that adding a religious label to his mech design was not a difficult choice. The name as well as the glow would definitely appeal to the religious-minded Hexers, while the secularists would merely shrug their shoulders.

Naming their mech design was a very significant event. To Ves and Gloriana, the name of the mech design they worked so hard to realize provided them with a direction on how to fabricate its first production model.

The mech was a squire, so it had to be made with an auxiliary role in mind.

The mech was blessed, so it had to be exemplary in order to reflect the Superior Mother's majesty!

Ves gazed up at the head of the marble-like statue. His mother's imperious visage looked straight ahead. The strong glow and holiness exuded by the statue had a very profound effect on his mind!

Previously, Ves never designed a mech while experiencing its full glow at the beginning. Though he was able to channel his design spirits by concentrating on the designs in question, it put a lot of strain on his mind.

Now that he was about to work next to a spiritual totem that already exuded the exact same glow he intended to impart onto his mech, he no longer had to strain his mind as much.

Instead, it was the opposite! With an external source of the Superior Mother's acting on his mind, he could get in tune with the design spirit much easier now. This allowed Ves to direct more of his attention on his work.

Even better, Gloriana received similar benefits! Though her approach differed that from his own, experiencing the Superior Mother's glow instead of trying to imagine it was much better!

Both of them noticed the difference as soon as they initiated the fabrication run. Gloriana's passion and drive immediately skyrocketed, causing her to become hyperactive and hyperattentive towards her work!

"Don't worry, Mrs. Larkinson, I will make sure to produce a mech worthy of your stature!"

Though Ves felt like vomiting when he heard that, he recognized that it was best if Gloriana maintained her current delusion.

This was because the output she generated when she was in her current mood was astounding! She quickly overtook Ves in terms of speed, fluency, consistency and quality when fabricating parts.

As soon as Ves realized his girlfriend was overshadowing him, he automatically pulled back and allowed her to take the lead.

In previous fabrication runs, they mostly divided their work equally. Ves boasted a pretty high affinity for mechs and his Assembly Skills and Sub-Skills were very good for a Journeyman. He had always been confident that he could match his girlfriend as long as he had mastered all of the tools and equipment at hand.

However, it was different today. Ves realized that this fabrication run might produce an exceptional result, but not because of him. With the statue of the Superior Mother looming over the entire secure workshop, Gloriana worked as if she had become a vessel of the will of a Supreme!

Ves continuously diminished his own role until he was relegated to acting as her squire.

He managed the supply of materials and inspected the finished parts. He controlled the bots so that they would always be available whenever Gloriana had need of them. He warmed up all of the specialized production machines that she needed to operate next in order to produce the many specialized parts of the Blessed Squire.

At some moments, Ves felt the urge to scratch his head and question what he was doing. How come their first attempt at fabricating a Hexer mech caused him to adopt the role of a meek male Hexer?

He felt as if his pride as man was being impugned upon! He had contributed just as much to the Blessed Squire as Gloriana, if not more!

Yet.. compared to pride, what was the worth of potentially producing another masterwork?

Though Ves still figured that it was unrealistic to expect this session to succeed, the hope was there, unlike the time where he fabricated the Doom Guard.

Back then, neither Ves nor Gloriana received any inspiration.

From a logical standpoint, the benefit of potentially producing another masterwork mech or at least coming close to it outweighed the benefit of preserving his pride.

An increased mech affinity.

A radiant lottery ticket.

Increasing his stature among the Hexers.

Boosting the prominence of his Blessed Squire design.

Solidifying his reputation as a legitimate masterwork mech designer.

Compared to all of these gains, he could regain his pride later if need be! Compared to the many rewards he stood to gain from producing a masterwork, he would readily serve as Gloriana's squire for a couple of days!

With the Superior Mother extending her glow towards Gloriana, she worked like an angel who channeled the touch of a goddess. As the hours went by, she showed no signs of stopping. Instead, the quality of her parts continued to improve!

She even performed some difficult techniques that caused Ves to sigh in admiration. It took a lot of guts to take so many risks in order to elevate the quality of a part, yet she did so with remarkable ease!

Several days passed by. Due to the measures that both of them had already took, they only needed to take some brief breaks in order to visit the bathroom and fill up their stomachs. Gloriana raced through these chores as fast as possible in order to retain her momentum.

She was on a roll, and she knew it! There was no way she could stop at this point!