The Mech Touch

Gloriana did not hit the brakes. The mech designers had all put so much effort into the Disruptor Project that their exhaustion was starting to affect their productivity. However, their demanding overseer did not see the need to give the assistant and lead designers a reprieve.

"Mech design is not just a job to us that we can set aside as soon as our shift is over." She began. "Mech design is our life. It doesn't matter whether you are eating, showering or sleeping. A capable and ambitious mech designer should never cease to think about designing a mech. You can take a vacation afterwards but for now it is more important for us to sustain our current momentum. The Disruptor Project is on the right track and it will likely remain that way as long as we maintain our current approach!"

Ves frowned at her announcement. "We don't have to take a break, but you have to lower the intensity of our work schedule. We have already put our all into completing the initial iteration within sixty days. If you expect us to be able to keep up at the same pace, I think you'll be sorely disappointed."

Gloriana directed a challenging glare at him. She crossed her arms over her spotless white lab coat. 

"Hmm? Were you saying anything? I didn't hear anything that will bring our design project forward." 

"Be real, Gloriana! While Journeymen like us can sustain this intensity for a longer stretch of time, look at our subordinates! Even those who had already received their cranial implants are looking frazzled."

"I am quite aware of their state." She harrumphed. "They need to be pushed. While you prefer to throw them into dangerous situations, I believe it is better to challenge their desire to achieve a greater result. Mech designers will break. I have no doubt about that. This just proves that they don't have what it takes to assist us in our work. It would be better for them to make way for more qualified assistants. With our prestige, it won't be difficult for us to pull in another batch of Apprentices."

Ves shook his head. "It's not that simple! Your attitude is completely wrong! In my opinion, we should treat our subordinates with greater care. Your approach smacks of exploitation. Abusing them is not the right call!"

"I don't see it that way." Gloriana shook her head. "Isn't our clan all about overcoming adversity? There are times where we need to treat our people with a softer touch, but during a crucial moment like this, such a meek approach will only make us complacent and squander our potential. For once, believe in my judgement. I think that many of our assistants are a lot more resilient than you think. The hellish pace they sustained up to now has led to a lot of growth. We can't stop when the true test is yet to come. It will be difficult for them to pass it, but as long as they succeed…"

She essentially set up a baptism of fire. Those who persisted and met her high expectations would definitely improve by leaps and bounds compared to their old selves.

If any of the mech designers possess spiritual potential, then this harsh experience might allow them to take a substantial step towards becoming a Journeyman.

While Ves did not necessarily object to this, he didn't think it was appropriate. He favored long-term stability in the Design Department. If any of the mech designers wanted to make substantial progress, then they had to take the initiative to seek their own challenges. Their fate should be in their own hands as opposed to being treated as sacrificial pawns in order to fuel Gloriana's ambitions.

The married couple argued a bit more about this topic but failed to come to a consensus. His arguments failed to gain any purchase and Gloriana was too focused on her immediate goals to worry about the longer-term consequences of her decisions.

She huffed and sat down in order to pet Clixie. "If we want to make it to Master or Star Designer, we can't settle for comfort. We need to seek every advantage that we can get and work hard to design the best mechs that we can deliver when we are still young. Just imagine all of the benefits that we can get if we complete a groundbreaking expert mech design when we haven't advanced to Senior or reached the age of forty yet. Our upcoming accomplishments will serve as our defining successes that will instantly make us stand out from the competition in the Red Ocean. Aren't you seeking to build up a coalition centered around your design philosophy? Then you all should recognize that I am making the right decisions."

She made a good point. The wellbeing of mech designers who didn't possess the fortitude to keep up with their grueling work was not important compared to his ambitions.

From a rational perspective, sacrificing some if not all of the assistants in order to accomplish a lifetime achievement was absolutely a bargain!

Ves just felt that he would be losing something if he agreed with his wife. He couldn't really explain why, but he felt the Larkinson Clan shouldn't be so cutthroat. Though the rank and abilities of the members of his design teams were low, they were still his clansmen instead of ordinary employees.

He leaned forward and tried to convey his seriousness as best as possible.

"I'm not letting you go through with this punishing work schedule, Gloriana. If necessary, I will yank back the authority that I have placed in your hands. Part of being in charge is that you must take your responsibilities seriously. Our projects are important, but our people are important as well. I won't allow you to break this principle."

"Why not?!" Gloriana grew angry. "Do you know what is at stake?"

"Miaow!" Clixie also issued a challenge to Ves.

Despite facing an angry wife and her cat, Ves did not relent.

"Our assistants are not disposable, Gloriana!" He stepped forward. "They are brothers and sisters and deserve to be treated as such! You're being unreasonable by presenting a false dichotomy. We can deliver an impressive expert mech design without becoming slave drivers. I believe that the best mechs don't have to be designed under heavy pressure. There are more ways to draw out the best in every worker. As long as we motivate them and encourage them in a more positive fashion, I can promise you that the results will not disappoint your hopes!"

His wife didn't expect his opposition towards her harsh stance to be so fervent. She frowned as she realized that she was truly demanding a bit too much from him. As someone who valued family highly, Ves was being truly serious about reining her in. If she continued to push him on this point, he would keep digging in because his principles were at stake.

Ves softened his tone. "Gloriana, I know you are eager for quick success, but this isn't the way to go about it. Our success must also be sustainable. Otherwise, our accomplishments will be tarnished by the sins we committed to push us past our limits."

"Since when did you start to care about your sins?" Gloriana sulked and hugged Clixie in order to gain some comfort.

"I care when they affect and shape how we design mechs in the future. When we design our subsequent mechs, I don't want to become a presence to be feared among my workforce. This is not a healthy state that we can maintain across decades or centuries. I would much prefer it if other mech designers love to work for us and freely give their all to us on their own accord."

Different people had different ideas on how to command people. Gloriana was the kind of person who thought poorly of those beneath her. Mech designers who weren't as good as her were lazier, sloppier, less motivated and less competent.

These assumptions about her workforce drove her to take a forceful approach. If she wasn't hounding her workers all of the time, they would have never been able to show much productivity during the preceding sixty days!

The performance of the Design Department vindicated her approach as far as she was concerned.

Ves on the other hand thought that every person had the capacity to show greater ability and exceed their limits. As someone who directly or indirectly assisted numerous people in breaking through to expert candidate, expert pilot and Journeyman, he always held faint expectations that the people who looked average today all had the potential to turn into heroes the next day!

He also believed that people were capable of becoming better in other ways. Former radicals and extremists such as the Swordmaidens, Penitent Sisters, Spiritus Sancti and so on had all moved closer to the mainstream and become more moderate when they joined the Larkinson Clan.

Sure, the influence of Goldie and the Larkinson Network played a key role in enabling this transformation, but that just illustrated that Ves possessed greater advantages when adopting this approach.

As long as he made clever use of Blinky's design network, Ves was confident he could meet Gloriana's demands without treating his fellow clansmen like crap.

"Look, we're not in a hurry." Ves raised his palm. "The Larkinson Clan is our client, and I happen to be in charge of it. The only reasons to keep up this brutal pace is to sustain our momentum and to get more work done in less time. While I value those priorities, I care about other priorities even more."

"What do you want, exactly?"

"Give my approach a chance. Give our mech designers the rest they need and deserve. Even I need a moment to slow down and recharge. Once we have received sufficient rest, you can go ahead and increase our pace again. No one can work at 100 percent capacity every day of the week. I truly believe that we can get much more done if we use gentler means to push our design teams."

Gloriana paused for a moment but eventually sighed. "Fine. Have it your way, then. I'll agree to stretch out the schedule that I have planned, but mainly because the optimization work we're about to engage in relies heavily on processing power. We all need sufficient data in order to make progress and the supply of it is not dependent on how many hours our mech designers are stuck in the design lab."

She made a good point. Since his clan could not bear the waste of testing an early prototype, the Design Department was forced to rely on the Spirit of Bentheim's AI core as well as additional processors in order to crunch a huge amount of numbers.

It took a substantial amount of time to run something as complicated as expert mechs through its paces in a virtual setting. The gaps between mathematical models and reality produced inaccuracies that had to be identified and compensated for, and that already amounted to a lot of work as well.

"Let's just get on with it." Gloriana harrumphed as she went back to petting Clixie.

"Miaow." The furry cat ignored Ves.

Ves didn't take his wife's sulking seriously. He knew he scored an essential victory.

The question was whether it was worth it to hold on to his honor and principles this time. When he swept his gaze towards the group of assistants, he did not spot a lot of talents with promise. Those with spiritual potential were still the exception rather than the rule, so the development potential of the rest was not good.

"Is this true, though?"

Ves had been working on bestowing or activating spiritual potential in people for some time now. If he succeeded in coming up with a successful approach, he might have the opportunity to transform each and every hard-working, loyal assistant.

"This isn't a wise course of action."

It would be way too conspicuous to nurture so many Journeymen in a short amount of time. The mech designers themselves might not actually deserve a gift either.

However, as someone who valued both loyalty and family, Ves felt bad for denying his diligent and useful assistants an ultimate reward.

"I need to do more for my clan and my people." He vowed. "I can't just take advantage of them all the time."

Though he originally set up the clan to foster a group of dedicated lackeys, it had become something greater to him. Perhaps he had taken too many doses of his own medicine, but he did not feel he was on the wrong path.

"Strengthening my clan and people will eventually feed back to me." He muttered and raised his fist. "We can all grow stronger as long as we are in it together!"