The Mech Touch

The Voiken siblings presented an interesting offer to Ves. It was one that he did not see coming.

He directed a deep look at Sara and Dulo. The pair of Journeymen he picked up recently had performed well enough since they joined the Larkinson Clan.

This was exactly as he expected as he initially met the pair in one of the design tournaments back in Chance Bay. No one took part in these spectacles if they weren't confident in their design abilities!

Even though Sara and Dulo possessed a lot of entanglement with the family they originally came from, Ves did not seriously worry about the possibility of them acting as spies or traitors.

The Larkinson Network's ability to influence spiritually powerful individuals such as Journeymen may be limited, but it at least served as an adequate early warning network. If Goldie never saw a problem with them, then the Voiken siblings were probably alright.

In fact, Ves felt he did not need to rely on a crutch like the Larkinson Network these days. The inclusive, open and welcoming culture of the Larkinson Clan did an excellent job at integrating different newcomers who came from every corner of human space.

Ever since the Voiken siblings entered the Larkinson Clan, they became completely immersed in its culture and its people. Ves entrusted them with a lot of responsibilities and they embraced the challenges they needed to overcome and the rewards that they had earned through their efforts.

Hardly any other organization was willing to grant a newly-joined Journeyman the position of lead designer!

It was almost unheard of for a design studio to allow Journeymen, especially younger and less experienced ones, to contribute or even lead an expert mech design project!

These conditions could only be found in a young organization like the Larkinson Clan that happened to be led by a Journeyman himself.

The Voiken siblings had long thanked themselves for making the risky decision to join a young but fast-growing clan!

Given how well the Larkinsons had treated Sara and Dulo Voiken, Ves believed that they should know well enough to remember their current allegiances.

However, humans were still humans. Ves did not assume that Sara and Dulo had forgotten all of the love and affection they held towards their relatives. The Voiken Family would always have a place in their heart, and that meant that their judgment was compromised on this matter.

This was why Ves did not even bother to quiz Sara or Dulo any further about their old family.

Rather than develop a tainted impression of the Voiken Family by listening to biased opinions, he preferred to make his own judgment. This was also why he immediately wanted to talk to the Voiken who wanted to collaborate with him all of a sudden.

He briefly considered whether he should hold this conversation in private, one look at Gloriana told him that he wouldn't be able to get out. She wanted to listen in and make sure that he did not botch the negotiation.

After a few more seconds of thinking, he shrugged and made the call.

A few minutes passed as Ves first had to go through a secretary before he could reach the Senior in question. People at this level had busy schedules and generally didn't want to be disturbed by random calls from random strangers.

Ves and the other mech designers patiently waited in the meeting room until the central projection finally displayed a new figure.

Professor Taigen Herman Voiken was a dignified Senior Mech Designer who looked more at home in a boardroom than a design lab at first glance.

With his austere blue suit, his neatly-groomed brown beard and a pair of eyes that looked deceptively gentle, the leader of the Voiken Family in the Red Ocean truly did look like he had just come out of an important business meeting.

The man peered at the eight Journeymen who were gathered around the table. He briefly nodded at Sara and Dulo before settling his gaze at the leader of the Larkinson Clan.

"Patriarch Ves Larkinson. I have read and heard much about you. I believe you know who I am, so I think we can skip the introductions and get straight to business. Voiken Industries is interested in cooperating with your Living Mech Corporation on a line of law enforcement mechs."

"Not a single mech design, but an entire line of them? How many variants are we talking about here?" Ves curiously asked.

"I cannot give you an exact figure, patriarch, but you can expect us to develop at least dozens of them. All but one are merely variations of a single base model. It is this original design that we truly need to work on. Once it is complete, I will design the remaining variants myself as I understand the market for law enforcement mechs the best."

This was the strategy adopted by mech designers and mech companies who were highly optimistic about the potential of their mech models. The bigger companies who captured most of the market share always released a lot of variants in order to milk as much sales as possible!

Though Ves had yet to adopt this strategy himself, he had reached the point where he was ready to compete against market leaders who adopted the same approach.

"Your ambitions aren't small." Ves commented. "I think you have made the right decision to seek a partnership with me. Since you have studied me and my work, you should already know how much my glows can affect people in different ways. I can definitely see how a combination of my glows and your law enforcement mechs can become a hot market in the market. However… there is only one mech designer available who can impart a glow onto a mech design, but there are thousands of mech designers that are just as good at designing law enforcement in the Red Ocean. Please convince me why I must collaborate with you in particular?"

From the moment Dulo Voiken introduced this potential collaboration opportunity to him, Ves immediately recognized that he had the upper hand in this deal.

Between the Larkinsons and the Voikens, only the former possessed an unique advantage!

This meant that Ves was in control of a seller's market. Those who desired his design solutions had no choice but to appeal to him and no one else! This was the benefit of holding a monopoly on a good or service!

It was just that Ves and his clan previously weren't large and accomplished enough to attract figures like Professor Taigen Voiken.

However, after designing and releasing dozens of mechs, Ves had amply proven the value and utility of his design philosophy!

Other mech designers with good vision should definitely be able to see the great potential of combining forces with Ves!

There was little concern that collaborations wouldn't yield the desired results. Ves already had a history of collaborating with both Larkinson and third party mech designers.

Most notably, Ves and his fellow Larkinsons had successfully worked together to develop a bunch of powerful expert mechs with highly competent professionals such as Professor Benedict Cortez and Master Moira Willix!

The designs of those fantastic expert mechs might not be publicly available, but the MTA always maintained records of many different mechs where they registered basic information on all of the different works.

This was why Ves was not afraid that others would doubt his competence. There was no opportunity for someone like Professor Taigen to devalue the worth of living mechs and glows, not when there was so much proof that his products were so effective!

This also put the Voiken Senior in a difficult negotiating position. The man initially wanted to take advantage of his superior rank in the profession in order to raise his negotiating position, but Ves straightforwardly popped that bubble when he described his accurate analysis of their respective positions.

However, it would take a lot more than that to faze a 140-year old Senior. Professor Taigen was not only an experienced mech designer, he also conducted a lot of business deals with all kinds of parties over his career.

"It is true that Voiken Industries is not the only seller of law enforcement mechs. However, there are multiple reasons why it is more favorable to partner with us rather than another competitor. We are new to this market and are able to start fresh. Our offerings are not yet fixed, which means that you can offer a generous amount of input on the design of our collaborative mech designs. If you partner with a more established partner, they will not be able to give you so much leeway."

This was not the strongest argument that Ves had heard, but he could see how this could be favorable to him. It was far from enough to convince him, though.

"I assume you are not acquainted with other mech designers who are active in the market for law enforcement mechs. It will be much more difficult for you to approach them for business opportunities. We are different because we know from Sara and Dulo that you are a competent and trustworthy collaboration partner. Their presence also gives us much greater reassurance that you will cooperate sincerely with us and vice versa. This is a great advantage, Patriarch Larkinson. In the distant past, the only method to build this bond of trust was to arrange a marriage."

The Senior from the Voiken Family had a point. The presence of Sara and Dulo in the Larkinson Clan served as a natural bridge between the Larkinsons and the Voikens. Neither groups were total strangers to each other, so the chances that either of them would screw each other over were much lower!

"Furthermore, do not underestimate how well we can operate in this special market. There are many clients that have specific demands for their machines. Some must be able to endure greater gravity than normal. Others must be equipped with additional ranged weapons. There must also be swifter variants that must be fast enough to chase after light mechs. The requirements for law enforcement mechs are even more specific because they bear heavy responsibilities. It is customary for clients to make additional requests which require specific adjustments."

"I have heard about that." Ves replied.

"Then you must know that partnering up with us can save you a great amount of convenience." Professor Taigen steadily replied. "We have been working in this market for many decades. We know how to build relationships with law enforcement agencies. We also have a mature structure in place where experienced design teams are ready to make the necessary modifications to our mech designs to satisfy our clients."

This was a different layer of the mech market. The buyers of law enforcement mechs were always official institutions. They always bought mechs in large amounts, but their requirements were always a lot higher as well.

Mech companies that wanted to cater to their needs not only had to offer a good variety of off-the-rack models, but also had design teams on hand to modify their existing mech designs on the spot in order to fulfill additional requests!

While Ves was confident that the LMC could conduct business like this in the future, the Design Department was not ready to operate like this! The need to respond to specific client requests on a frequent basis would impose a lot of burdens on every lead designer and design team.

Rather than letting his mech company take on a burden that it was not ready for, Ves might as well leave this troublesome chore to Voiken Industries.

Still, Ves remained unconvinced.

"Your last reasoning sounds nice, but we could probably contact a hundred other mech companies that could offer the same services. I'm sorry, professor, but you haven't given me any compelling reasons to cooperate with you. My time is valuable and I don't lend out my unique design solutions to anyone. I believe that even if my fellow Larkinson and I design just a single law enforcement mech, it can instantly capture a lot of market share by virtue of its ability to pacify people with its glow. If you want to maintain my interest, then you better step up your game."

Even though Professor Taigen maintained a polite smile throughout the conversation, inwardly his thoughts towards Ves must be a lot less pleasant!