The Mech Touch



Big news spread throughout the upper circles of Davute!

"The Larkinson Clan has announced that its patriarch has just advanced to the rank of Senior Mech Designer!"

"How is that possible?! Isn't he supposed to be a third-class bumpkin?! How in the cosmos is he able to become a Senior faster than all of the professors at the Davute University of Technology?!"

"Hah! I knew he was a genius. He didn't break the Polymath's record, but he's not that much worse either. Don't underestimate the potential of a mech designer who earned seven masterwork certificates in the Journeyman stage!"

"This is good news. The stronger he becomes, the more he can assist our colonial federation in our impending war against the Karlachs."

"How likely do you think he will attain Master?"

"Damn, the Living Mech Corporation is already hard to deal with due to their living mechs, and that is when its principal designer is just a Journeyman. Now that he has become a senior, the Larkinsons are bound to win over a greater share of the mech market than before!"

"He's improving too quickly! Not even our worst contingency plans have accounted for this exaggerated promotion speed. What if he becomes a Master before his centennial birthday?"

As the most prominent and high-profile mech designer of the younger generation in the Krakatoa Middle Zone, the announcement of his unexpectedly quick advancement turned into a major topic of discussion!

Initially, the storm spread throughout the political circles of Davute. The Larkinson Clan and its patriarch had abundantly established its prestige in the newly-founded colonial state, so any major change among the Larkinsons could potentially impact a lot of Davutans.

However, Ves and his fellow Larkinsons had also become heroes and household names throughout Davute, so an event that normally did not attract much attention suddenly blew up and turned into prime gossip material!

The young colonial state had never witnessed such an absurdity. Although Journeymen promoting to Senior was not an common event, it was not worth highlighting outside of the mech community.

Normally, only the friends, colleagues, competitors, business partners and customers of the mech designer reacted to such an occurrence as it directly affected their lives.

The fact that the news of Ves' advancement not only elicited a huge reaction from every corner in Davute, but also produced ripple effects in Karlach and far beyond was a sign that his influence had spread far and wide!

As a citizen of Davute, Tristan Wesseling received the news pretty early. The Larkinsons had not deigned to hide this massive development, and instead publicized it through all of their channels!

Tristan had a habit of closely following any news related to the Larkinson Clan, but even he found it difficult to accept the claim.

"Ves became a Senior? This soon?"

This was almost incomprehensible to Tristan. As a direct disciple of Master Katzenberg, he learned what it took to make this transition.

However, knowing was one thing. Pulling it off was another.

A mech designer not only had to study a lot, but combine what he learned with successful research to invent original new design applications.

Most talented and particularly clever mech designers could pull this off as long as they were capable of stepping out the prior work of their predecessors.

What Journeymen truly struggled with was the need to make a profound mental shift. Just saying a bunch of high-minded words was not enough. Mech designers needed to draw from the context of their environment and find an overarching reason to justify the need to pursue a greater goal.

Just as how expert pilots used their conviction to compel themselves to push beyond their limits, Journeymen needed to light a fire that was hot enough to burn down the barriers that restricted their rise!

If that was not enough, mech designers also had to make a major impact on people's lives through their work!

It was not enough to become a celebrity or abuse their authority. They needed to touch people's lives by relying solely on the spread of their works.

This could be done in two different ways.

A Journeyman could arm lots of people and groups with mass-market models that inevitably proliferated on a wider scale.

A Journeyman could also take the elite route and focus on servicing a smaller group of elites whose activities affected a lot of people.

A lot of younger mech designers struggled to satisfy this condition. Most weren't qualified to become the lead designers of major mech design projects. They could only play an assisting or contributing role.

Doing this enabled them to produce at least some impact on people's lives, but the credit they received was much less, which inevitably delayed their advancement.

What was special about Ves was that he had to worry the least about this particular requirement!

As for a more normal mech designer such as Tristan, this was one of the most difficult hurdles that he could overcome at this stage in his career.

It didn't help that he had left the familiar Friday Coalition and all of his connections over there behind in order to start anew in the Colonial Federation of Davute.

This was also why many mech designers did not wish to emigrate from their old and familiar states even if they received better opportunities elsewhere.

If they did not have the confidence to expand their business in a new environment, they were better off sticking to their old haunts!

For a moment, Tristan questioned whether he had made the right decision to leave the Friday Coalition behind.

Master Katzenberg could have opened a lot of doors for him, but here in Davute he was pretty much on his own. It would take many years for him to catch up to Ves' current stage.

"I'm roughly just as old as Ves, but when it comes to this, I am way too far behind." Tristan sighed in regret.

The friend he made back in the Komodo Star Sector was already taking off like a rocket.

Tristan knew that his friend had practically started from nothing, but managed to build a clan that became so powerful that it was already capable of forcing the colonial government to compromise!

A mech designer who was able to do all of that was unlikely to fare any worse in his main vocation. Tristan could only admit that Ves existed on a different orbit than himself.

The announcement did not depress him for long, though.

Every mech designer was different. Some progressed faster than others, but that did not mean the slower ones were worthless.

As a student of Master Katzenberg, Tristan possessed enough confidence in his ability to develop his own valuable design solutions.

He also did not think that he would remain muddle-headed for too long. It might take a few decades, but sooner or later Tristan would lose the mentality of a Journeyman and begin to think like a Senior.

That would be the point where he would make his breakthrough.

"Once I become a Master, I will be able to talk with you on a more equal footing, Ves." Tristan spoke as determination burned in his eyes.

He already started to adjust his plans for his design studio and his own career. He decided to drop a few peripheral business activities and start investing more in his original mech designs.

Even if the current market environment was stupendously competitive, Tristan knew that he couldn't stay timid anymore. He needed to take more risks, apply for further loans and set up a mech factory.

There was no better time to invest in mech production as the upcoming war would definitely cause the demand for mechs to skyrocket!

Even if the major players such as the Living Mech Corporation and much larger companies captured the lion's share of the market, a smaller player like Wesseling Design Services should still be able to squeeze between the cracks.

Elsewhere, the Government District located in the center of Kotor City had undergone substantial changes since the tumultuous founding ceremony.

In the span of half a year, the central plaza had turned from a prestigious parade ground into an enclosed military fortification.

Thousands of military mechs were permanently stationed here. At least one active ace mech was also present at all times because a Saint Kingdom was needed to maintain total control over the passage leading in and out of the recently discovered pocket space.

The government had made substantial progress in exploring the abandoned alien prison. It had even begun to convert the facility into a strategic base and research facility.

Skyline Palace still hovered high in the sky, but it had moved its resting position so that it no longer loomed right on top of the newly built military fortification.

Each time President Yenames Clive approached the window in his grand office and looked down on the site of the former central plaza, he became reminded by the key individuals who secured this enormous gain for Davute.

"So Ves Larkinson has advanced to Senior." The leader of the colonial federation spoke.

"The news has not been confirmed, but our intelligence analysts believe that it is fully credible." His chief of staff dutifully spoke. "It comes straight from the official channels of the Larkinson Clan, and the Larkinsons have no reason to spread a falsehood that can be disproved with contemptuous ease. Our intelligence sources have already confirmed that Ves Larkinson and his collaborators have just completed their most important expert mech design project to date. That has likely been the catalyst that triggered the breakthrough."

Yenames looked as if he couldn't decide whether to celebrate or brood over this development.

"Ves Larkinson has already shown both promise and results while he was just a Journeyman.  Now that he has become a Senior, he will become even more effective as a mech designer, but that will likely make him twice or thrice as insufferable."

The Larkinson Clan already had an outsized impact on his colonial federation. It could not be treated as a regular political faction at all. President Yenames Clive keenly understood that he had lost even more leverage now that Ves Larkinson had demonstrated his talent and ability in such a dramatic fashion.

"Winning the war comes first, sir." Reina Kernsk gently reminded the troubled federal president. "The promotion of Patriarch Ves Larkinson will improve our military outlook. It is much more reassuring to our troops and stakeholders if our commissioned mechs are chiefly designed by a Senior rather than a Journeyman. The probability that the Larkinson Patriarch will meet all of the demanding requirements we have set for our military mechs is much greater."

Yenames tentatively nodded. He recognized the unique design abilities of Ves in the past, and his early promotion to Senior only raised his expectations of what he was able to whip up in the following years.

Almost a decade in the past, Ves Larkinson had famously empowered the Hex Army with his unique and surprisingly effective Hexer mech designs. He did so while he was still two ranks away from the Fridayman Masters he competed against at the time!

In the present time, Ves Larkinson had made so much progress that his mech designs had become much stronger and more effective than before. With his helpful advancement to Senior, he was only a single step behind the Karlach Master Mech Designers that he would have to defeat this time!

"Perhaps you make a good point, Reina." Yenames Clive admitted. "We will not be able to exert too much direct influence on him much longer, but we can still make do with the side branch of his clan. Inform our military staff to raise the priority on the Larkinson Clan. Order more products from the LMC. Raise the access level of General Ark Larkinson. Do whatever it takes to build more goodwill among the Larkinsons that remain behind."

Reina Kernsk's expression turned pensive. "We can do that, but if we are not careful enough, we may end up raising a powerful lion within our territory. Our power and authority over Davute will dilute even further as a result."

Yenames shrugged. "As you have already said, winning the war comes first. I do not mind it if I have to make more concessions as long as the lion fights on our behalf."

"If you say so, sir."