The Mech Touch

Despite the novelty of Blinky's design network and its profound effects, the expert mech was far from complete.

The first couple of days flew by in an optimistic frenzy. The mech designers were all full of energy and eager to complete their first actual expert mech while benefiting from an unprecedented state of mind.

The closest equivalent to the special condition induced by the design network was the rare instances where Ves and Gloriana entered into a rare inspired state.

Those powerful and precious moments were something that every mech designer sought but few ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Every mech designer and every creator who entered into an inspired state was able to surpass their previous limits and perform their craft at a level that was previously unattainable to them. Many created their finest works when all of the stars lined up for them during these lifetime events.

The mech industry had expended a lot of effort into trying to reproduce this supercreative condition, but yielded very little results. Every drug or other method of influencing someone's mind only caused the test subjects to enjoy different artificial highs. No matter how good these people felt, the pleasure that coursed through their minds and bodies was always hollow and lacking in substance.

Ves knew from personal experience that a true inspired state went far beyond a purely physiological reaction induced by a complex cocktail of chemicals. The real version affected someone regardless of their physical state because it was mainly a mental and spiritual phenomenon related to creativity.

On the surface, the special state that Blinky's design network was able to induce sounded remarkably similar to that. However, the cause and effects were considerably different. Creativity had nothing to do with the times when Ves and the others were able to share their talents. The principal reason why they felt so good and improved their output was because they were able to leverage the abilities of other mech designers to come up with better solutions and approaches.

In other words, they were mostly borrowing the strength of others as opposed to drawing out more strengths from themselves. While they were able to absorb and internalize a small proportion of the abilities they borrowed from the other participants in the network, this ultimately did not represent an evolution of their own methods.

"It's a pity." Ves briefly sighed. "For a moment, I thought I found a way to artificially induce an inspired state."

He felt tempted to drag over the Statue of Transcendence and see whether it could help with inducing an inspired state on demand, but he quickly rejected this monumentally dangerous idea!

"I shouldn't dream too much and just get on with my work." He muttered.

Despite the benefits brought about by Blinky, Ves and Gloriana were nonetheless disappointed that they never even came close to becoming affected by an inspired state.

This was the key to creating a high-quality mech. As long as one of them entered this mystical state, it was practically guaranteed that they would be able to produce a masterwork mech.

During a rare moment of downtime where the Journeymen enjoyed a quick lunch, Ves and Gloriana shared their thoughts on the matter.

"I think we all underestimated how difficult it is to fabricate an expert mech." Gloriana explained. "In the times when Blinky isn't available, all of us are struggling to complete a lot of difficult tasks. Our lack of experience and technical fluency in what we are doing is causing us to stop and think too many times. It would have been better if we were able to make continuous progress without stopping along the way because we became stumped by a problem that we have never encountered."

Ves nodded in agreement. "I think you're onto something. Inspired states never come about to those who do not possess enough technical ability and fluency. We all need to become sufficiently competent to fabricate a good mech. If we were working on a regular mech, then I think our chances of entering into an inspired state is much higher. Our masteries in the relevant fields are high enough that it is unlikely that we would crash into a wall during the fabrication run. It's unfortunate that this is not the case at the moment."

Expert mechs were ultimately higher-level products that should really be made by Seniors or higher. All of the Journeymen had to work past their regular limits in order to meet all of the demands of constructing such a potent machine.

Everyone owed a lot to Gloriana at the moment. If she didn't take it upon herself to fabricate the most technically-challenging components and subcomponents, it was very likely that this run would end in failure!

Perhaps Gloriana's affinity towards these challenges was why Master Willix allowed the Journeymen of the Design Department to create the expert mech by themselves. His wife was the only one in the team who was qualified to assume this essential responsibility.

If Ves tried to shoulder this burden alone, he had little confidence that the end product would match the design. The most likely outcome was that he would screw something up and try to fix it by kludging together a lot of messy, improved solutions.

While that did not necessarily translate into a defective mech, the performance of whatever abomination he brought to life would definitely be questionable.

In any case, because everyone depended so much on Gloriana to carry them to success, the burden on her shoulders was taking a heavier and heavier toll on her mental state.

"I don't know if I'll be able to last five whole days." She softly said. "We haven't slept at all and the only times when we enjoy any breaks is when we have to eat. We don't even have to visit the bathroom anymore as our smart clothing takes care of that."

Technology can solve many trivial problems including the need to visit the bathroom. Of course, many humans were unaccustomed to dealing with their bodily waste in this manner. Most stuck to the traditional method of dealing with it unless it was an emergency and there were no better options.

"We're making decent progress, though. I don't think we should be disappointed with what we have."

They both looked at the neatly-sorted array of parts that they had just produced. None of the ones laid out on the deck fell below Gloriana's standards, though the mech designers were forced to scrap and try again whenever they slipped up in some fashion.

Other than that, the mech designers managed to keep up with the schedule and avoid any major problems that threatened to break the current pattern.

Everyone soon went back to work to complete the long and extensive fabrication phase. With Blinky lending a hand at regular intervals, every mech designer became more and more adept at taking advantage of the options that the design network enabled.

Finally, almost four days went by until they completed the last part. They only slightly ran behind schedule at the end despite having to fabricate less components due to the smaller size of the Disruptor Project. Some of the parts turned out to be so difficult to make that even Gloriana had to slow down and employ a great degree of caution in order to avoid a worse outcome.

"We're ready to assemble the mech." She announced with a slightly weary voice. "I know we're all tired, but we have one more day to go. We have already left the hardest part behind us. Just don't grow too inattentive. The Disruptor Project is an exquisite puzzle and not a single piece must end up in the wrong place."

Everyone nodded. They all understood the challenges better after they encountered numerous difficult problems in the previous days.

Soon enough, the Disruptor Project started to take on a concrete form. The internal frame or skeleton went up first in order to provide a base for the components that filled it up and covered it all in a thin but resilient protective shell.

Without any of the mech designers noticing it, Venerable Tusa quietly entered the workshop. He became fascinated at how the four mech designers all worked together to create his personal new machine.

"These four are truly impressive. Our clan is lucky to have them." He softly said.

"Meow."

"Miaow."

Both Lucky and Clixie nodded.

"How powerful do you think it will be once it is complete? Will I be able to win against a Crosser expert mech? Will I be able to put up a good fight against Patriarch Reginald Cross?"

"Meow!"

"Miaow miaow."

Venerable Tusa smiled wryly. "Hmm, maybe I'm just dreaming. A hybrid mech is almost as difficult to fight against as a striker mech for light skirmishers like mine."

The Disruptor Project could perform many different roles. It didn't necessarily have to be the strongest duelist, though it would definitely help the Larkinson Clan if it could put up a good fight against an expert mech.

Yet despite listening to so many explanations, Tusa still didn't have a good idea of how powerful his machine would actually turn out. No one dared to say for certain how the true resonance element would empower his mech beyond its technical parameters.

The expert pilot watched on as the mech gained more definition. A host of bots, lifting cranes and individual mech designers crawled all over the surface of the incomplete work as it kept gaining parts and definition.

The more it approached completion, the more it came to life. Tusa could clearly feel the birth of something indescribably warm and close to him as the light mech soon began to take on its slim and slender shape.

The light skirmisher was designed and built exclusively for his own use. This had profound effects, one of which was that the expert pilot gained an immediate connection and affinity for the powerful machine in question.

The Disruptor Project was calling to him. The mech was already beckoning for Venerable Tusa to come closer and use it for its intended purpose.

Tusa stayed put. The mech was not done until Gloriana said so and he did not want to interrupt the tired but highly-motivated mech designers in their current business.

"We're almost done! We just need to fit the last pieces together and verify whether our construction is sound."

Assembling the expert mech was easier than fabricating the parts. As long as the quality of the latter was good enough, they should be able to fit in with each other without too many major issues.

Of course, the mech designers didn't settle for average. They either tried to employ the highest precision they could manage or made very minute tweaks on the fly depending on the circumstances.

However, everything must come to an end.

After almost five whole days, Gloriana solemnly affixed a golden plate into the cockpit of the expert light skirmisher. When she exited the cockpit, she slowly floated down to her other three colleagues and turned around to behold their collective work.

Though they had grown so tired that they wanted to collapse into a soft bed right away, they forced themselves to stand upright in order to inspect their completed work and appreciate what they had managed to create.

"We did it." Juliet softly whispered. "We actually managed to complete our first expert mech."

"It's so unique and alive. I can't wait to see it come to life and utilize its unique abilities." Ketis smiled in anticipation.

"The mech is more than just alive." Ves stated as he threw a glance at Venerable Tusa. "It is intricately tied to the expert pilot that is meant to use this powerful machine. The two are already acquainted with each other."

Gloriana remained quiet for a moment. Both pride and disappointment surged in her mind.

She was proud of successfully concluding a challenging process that ordinary Journeymen had little chance to pull off due to lack of technical ability.

She was disappointed because the quality of the expert mech was merely good. The distance to masterwork was a little bit too far and even Lucky's gems wouldn't be able to make up for the shortfall.

She sighed and let her darker feelings pass. "This is a good first attempt. I expect better next time we do this. Now that we know what it is like to fabricate an expert mech, we must become a lot better prepared next time!"