The Mech Touch

Ves spent more time in the design lab, and he was happy about that.

His wife became happy at his increased commitment as well.

Important matters such as the acquisition of new capital ships, the production of Larkinson mechs, the ideological training of the former members of the Purnesse Family, the development of a high-level diplomatic strategy and so on did not require his input for the time being.

Now that the Design Department progressed the Disruptor Project and all of the other ones to the main design phases, the main design lab had become a lot more frenetic.

The mech designers no longer spent most of their time on looking up information or discussing various options to add to the mech designs. Now that they set firm and clear directions for all of the design projects, they were no longer running around aimlessly.

The draft designs all gave them clear ideas of what they were working towards. Gloriana in cooperation with Master Willix and the other Journeymen had already settled all of the major design choices.

Just like with the Disruptor Project, the incorporation of resonating exotics was relatively straightforward and predictable. With a Master Mech Designer solving all of the truly difficult problems related to integrating the materials into a mech design and allowing an expert pilot to resonate with them in an effective manner, the rest merely had to address the more mundane issues.

Of course, expert mechs were still in a league of their own, so Ves had to contend with many new problems that he had never tackled before.

"It's a lot more difficult than I thought to combine high-performance components." He said as he sat next to his wife while she was fiddling with the Bulwark Project. "They are like violent beasts that can easily go out of control if they aren't properly contained."

"Then just put more effort into containing them, Ves. This is not an insurmountable problem." She spoke as she refined the next iteration of the Shield of Samar.

"I can do that, but then I'll stuff the designs with too many structural components that don't provide any significant performance boosts aside from toughening up the internals.

Gloriana briefly paused and turned to Ves. "Did you come here to complain about this difficulty? You're not the only one who is grappling with this issue, you know. I have to work hard to search for solutions as well when I have to do the same."

"I thought you were good at this sort of work."

"I am." She confidently replied. "That also means that I have set higher expectations for myself. There is always a better balance. You just have to be good enough to grasp it. I hope you don't expect me to do all of the heavy lifting this time. I have to oversee so many different projects that I'll be stuck here forever if you skip too much work. I expect more from you this time."

Ves briefly soured, but he did not stay upset for long. What his wife was asking was more than fair. Since he used to lead all of the mech design projects, he understood the pressure she was enduring. Anything he could do to help would allow the projects to proceed much smoother.

After Gloriana finally became satisfied with the implementation of a shield generator, she waved her hand, causing the partial mech design to disappear.

She called up the current iteration of the Disruptor Project in its place. At this stage, the design was mostly illusionary as the draft outlines dominated the projection.

The Miracle Couple intended to change that fairly soon.

"Since we chose to prioritize Venerable Tusa's future expert over the other ones, we should aim to make its design feature complete in two months."

Ves almost jumped into the air!

"Two months?! That's too fast!"

"We're dealing with a light mech here." Gloriana crossed her arms. "What are you afraid of? The total volume of the Disruptor Project is small enough that it is doable to complete the first iteration within the timespan that I have given."

"Sixty days is still cutting it close! Light mech or not, the fact that we are dealing with an expert mech is still a huge factor. While you're right that the smaller volume means less work for us, it also means that we are packing more powerful components in a very slim frame and with precious little buffer for us to work with. It is going to take a lot of effort to integrate all of those powerful expert mech-grade components without causing them to interact with each other in an undesirable fashion."

Matters such as heat management and power transmission became a lot harder to deal with when there was much less room to work with. Even if the smaller components of a light mech were less powerful, this reduction did not keep up with the drop in capacity in relation to a medium mech.

Gloriana huffed and turned her back to him. "I am tired of your constant delays, Ves. Even if you have good reasons to stay away from the design lab, the rhythm of our design work has never been quite right since we embarked on the current round of design projects. You were never like this when you were still in charge."

"Our clan was a lot simpler back then. It has grown a lot larger and stronger, but it hasn't reached maturity yet. We're dealing with a lot of growing pains."

"Well, whatever it is, most of that ends here." Gloriana declared. "In sixty days, we're completing the first iteration of the Disruptor Project no matter what. It has to be functionally complete to the point where we can fabricate an actual prototype based on the work we have managed to accomplish."

"What if we fall short of this ambitious goal of yours?" Ves cautiously asked.

The stare he got in return clearly conveyed an ominous message.

She sighed. "It's for your own good, Ves. If I don't increase the pressure on you, who knows whether you will let yourself get pulled away from the design lab again. You need to be more disciplined at least for the next two months. As long as you can meet my expectations and make it through for the next sixty days, you can be just as productive for the rest of the year."

Gloriana essentially employed a management trick where she made a difficult demand more achievable by setting a smaller sub-goal.

She also wished for him to find a working formula for himself that he could depend upon to complete the other mech design projects.

How could Ves say no, especially when he had already disappointed her so many times?

"I will do my best. No, I will live up to your expectations this time. These projects are important to all of us. I have long dreamt about realizing my first expert mech design. I can't squander this unique opportunity."

Ves belatedly reminded himself how critical it was for him to propagate his design philosophy to mechs that were more worthy to become alive.

Each of the projects they were working on had the potential to evolve into a legendary machine like the Ouroboros one day. Even though there was no guarantee that the expert pilots would retain the same basic model for at least a century, it was still a prospect that sounded very attractive to him. The Shield of Samar was already on this trajectory and Ves didn't mind adding more to the list.

With just sixty days to go, the Miracle Couple no longer wasted any time. They studied the expert light mech design for a time before beginning to work on specific modules and sections.

Though their relationship had turned a bit rocky lately, much of their disagreements and differences in opinion faded once they got to work.

The two had collaborated with each other so often that it had practically become second nature to them. The fact that each of them carried their spouse's spiritual fragments made it easy for them to achieve a basic level of synergy.

Ves missed this. Though their cooperation had not yet returned to the best level that the couple had achieved in the past, just getting back in the groove did wonders to his productivity.

A few days passed in the same pattern. Ves not only worked together with Gloriana on the same challenges, but also did some work on his own or discussed various problems with the other Journeymen contributing to the design projects.

Since Juliet Stameros possessed the only mobility-oriented specialty among the lead designers, her input was essential to the quick completion of the Disruptor Project.

So much of the expert light skirmisher revolved around enhancing its speed, acceleration, agility and maneuverability. The Disruptor Project's emphasis on multi-directional evasion meant that it had to incorporate a lot of boosters across her hull.

Though Juliet was good at positioning the modules where they could provide the greatest benefit to the expert mech, their presence also weakened the armor and structure around these surface elements.

This was where Gloriana could mitigate the damage. Through the use of general solutions such as using grids to specific solutions that were specific to each individual case, she made a lot of progress in maintaining the overall strength of the frame.

Ves either assisted her or worked on the general aspects of the mech design. He performed broad work on the mechanical and electrical systems, fleshing them to the point where they should work but holding off on refining and optimizing them until Gloriana gave her seal of approval.

Ketis occasionally dropped by to give them an update on the progress of the knives she assumed responsibility over.

"Bissonat is really interesting to me." She explained to him during a brief meeting. "I haven't been able to see it in action yet, but so far I think that it will have great effects when paired with my design philosophy."

Ves looked intrigued. "Do you think the added cutting power provided by Bissonat will overlap or synergize with your design philosophy?"

"I hope the latter will happen, but I don't think it is likely. Resonating exotics that are complemented by design philosophies usually don't lead to such an exaggerated effect. I'm still happy that I am able to work with a material that can make the result that I am looking for even better."

As Ves and Ketis continued to discuss this topic, Lucky stared vigilantly at the floating and seemingly autonomous greatsword that was floating a short distance away.

"Meow…" Lucky began to imagine what it would be like to take a bite out of Bloodsinger.

Swish swish. The sheathed weapon exaggeratingly swung back and forth.

"Meow?"

Swish!

Instead of entering into a fight or something, Sharpie suddenly proposed to do something else.

The weapon lifted up its tip so that its blade went horizontal. The gem cat cautiously flew over and set his feet onto the surface of the scabbard.

Bloodsinger subsequently began to fly forth with its feline passenger. Though Lucky first doubted whether he could keep his footing on the moving blade, he found a way to make himself stay in place by using his gravitic capabilities to press him down on his ride.

Soon enough, the two 'pets' began to fly above the heads of the two Journeymen at increasing speeds!

"Meeeeooow!"

Swish!

Who said that cats and swords couldn't get along? Unlike Lucky's contentious relationship with Blinky, the gem cat soon developed a friendship with Sharpie.

The two began to fly so fast that Bloodsinger soon exhibited difficulty in shifting its direction.

"Hey, cut that out before you cut into the bulkhead or worse, cut off someone's head!"

The two pets quickly ended their fun. Lucky flew back down in order to settle on Ketis' lap while Bloodsinger took up its usual position a short distance behind its owner's back.