The Mech Touch

As his first Advanced Manual Superfab Operation came to an end, Ves gained a good understanding of the state of his students.

Few of them were as bad or unpracticed as Klaus Robar-Fulton.

The average proficiencies displayed by all of the Terran mech design students fully satisfied Ves. He was confident in his ability to transform each of them into part-time artists who knew how to elevate their mechs into good quality works rather than standard fare.

Ves found rather perplexing that the wealthy Terrans did not prioritize good craftsmanship so much, at least when it came to mechs.

He expected a society that was mainly dominated by long-lasting clans and organization to pursue quality over quantity.

However, as materializers continued to penetrate more and more aspects of their industries, there were fewer opportunities for notable artisans to practice their crafts and earn renown for their artistic skills.

The traditional art scene was doing well. Wealthy Terrans were still willing to pay millions of MTA credits to obtain a transcendent piece of art to decorate their opulent mansions.

It was not that important for mechs to display any remarkable artistic expression from its maker. The Terrans mainly wanted these complicated and important war machines to function exactly according to their theoretical specifications. They did not want their machines to exhibit any anomalies as their sheer complexity meant that a lot more factors could go wrong than normal.

Ves did not fully agree with this mindset, but then again he was not a Terran.

For now, he just hoped that this batch of too students would one day be able to go out and express their craftsmanship without restraint. The mech industry could definitely benefit from having a little more personality.

As the first class of this course came to an end, Ves ended this session by assigning homework to all of his students.

"Each of you have the foundation to turn a superfab into a tool that can be used to express your art and vision. There is still a long way to go before you can consistently elevate the quality of your work. If you cannot elevate the quality of your work to a point where you can justify the additional time and effort spent into its production, then your craftsmanship is still not up to par."

A superfab had been relegated to a niche production method to the Terrans. Much of their industrial infrastructure was based on the use of expensive materializers. This meant that it was hard for any mech designer to justify the decision to go back into the past and resort to a less efficient method of mech fabrication.

Ves did not know whether all of his students could improve to the point of being able to turn their craftsmanship into a selling point, but he was willing to do his best to make this happen!

"Now 1 am sure that you are wondering how you can improve your craftsmanship since it is not up to par. There are many ways to do that, but my personal suggestion is to start out small and slowly work your way up to turning your mechs into art."

His highly accurate physical projection approached Alexa and lifted up the masterwork mech figurine.

"I believe that each of you are capable of fabricating a small facsimile mech like this. Compared to a full-sized machine, it only takes a fraction of the time to produce a work of this size. What 1 want you to do before our next practical class is to take your time in an available workshop and craft your own mech figurine. Do your best to incorporate the lessons that I have taught to you today."

This homework assignment triggered various reactions from the crowd. The students were not accustomed to spending their time on such an activity. They were learning to become mech designers, not toy makers!

"My assistant should have already transmitted a document that sets the requirements and restrictions of this assignment." Ves continued. "You will be granted permission to draw from a stock of ordinary materials without cost. You are also expected to complete your own works with the use of manual tools and superfabs at lower automation settings. Don't try to cheat. It is the height of foolishness to present a work that is not your own in front of a masterwork mech designer. Any questions?"

One Terran immediately raised his arm. "Professor, are we expected to create a functional mech figurine? Must it be realistic enough to fly around and fire actual weapons?"

Ves shook his head. "That is not necessary. You can use my own model as a reference to the degree of realism that you should pursue. Just focus on creating a small-scale visual representation of a real mech design. It's the look that matters. You should simplify the internals and the functional parts as much as you think is adequate and within your skillset. You will have to use your own judgment." "What mech designs are we permitted to adapt for this assignment?"

"Any first-class multipurpose mech design will do." Ves shrugged. "Each of you have spent at least four solid years learning how to design such a machine. I am sure that you have designed a couple of basic designs in your previous courses or in your free time perhaps. It doesn't matter if your prior work is inferior in terms of performance or refinement. What matters is that it is a genuine representation of your work and vision. If you do not have a mech design of your own for whatever reason, you can contact my assistant."

Ves wanted these students to start with their own designs because it would be easier for them to express their own personality through their craft. Not only that, but the resulting mech figurines would be able to tell him a lot more about the skills and other traits of his students.

After answering a few more questions, Ves dismissed the students.

"Remember that I will be away on a conference for the next week. This should give you plenty of time to craft a fairly realistic mech figurine of your own. The better you are able to express your own creativity, the closer you are to elevating your craftsmanship to a degree where you can pass this course. Your subsequent assignments will only become more and more difficult, so do your best to get off on a good start."

This was probably the most difficult course out of the three that Ves currently taught. He was willing to be more tolerant in the other courses that he taught, but this one was truly geared towards the more advanced students.

Each of these kids were only a few steps away from graduation. If they could not measure up to his raised standards, then they probably did not deserve to complete their studies so soon!

Once the students exited the mech workshop so that they could catch up to their next classes, Alexa returned after carefully storing away the masterwork mech figurine.

"Would you like us to send back this treasure now that it has served its purpose?"

Ves shook his head. "Don't bother. Just keep it around so that 1 can make use of it again in front of another batch of students. It may seem valuable to you, but if I really wanted to, I can probably make another small masterwork if 1 truly put effort into making one." "Has your craftsmanship become that good?"

"Hehe, I have a lot of tricks up my sleeve. My craftsmanship has improved by a massive extent compared to when I was still a Journeyman. It's a shame that I can't display my latest masterwork expert mech to you due to security reasons. I am sure that an Apprentice such as yourself would be able to appreciate its craftsmanship."

The young assistant genuinely looked regretful for missing such an opportunity.

The two proceeded to discuss their plans for the next two weeks.

The conference held by the Survivalist Faction loomed big over their heads. Ves would remain out of contact entirely for the duration of this event, which meant that Alexa Striker had to become responsible for handling any issues brought up by the students who enrolled in his courses.

Ves made sure to provide Alexa with enough documentation and explanations to represent him in his absence.

It helped a lot that she was apparently a skilled Apprentice Mech Designer with a decent amount of work experience.

"The Eden Institute of Business & Technology maintains high standards." She explained to Ves. "Mech designers who work in the academic sector normally have an extensive grasp of theory."

"I see. It is good that you are so proficient in the basics. You don't need to do your best to ask every single question. My lesson content is not too difficult so far, so if these fellows cannot work out their solutions within the limits that I have set, then they deserve to fail."

Alexa smiled at that but did not comment on it any further.

She instead chose to talk about a different topic.

"How good is your relationship with the Red Association?"

"Pretty good, I think." He said. "I have a working relationship with two of its factions. I'm not sure what the other mechers think of me, but I have done far more to contribute towards humanity than most other mech designers. I earned that tier 6 citizenship."

"Do you expect to improve your cooperation with the Survivalists and the Red Association even more during this upcoming conference?"

Ves grinned and nodded. "That is what I am hoping for. I am preparing to present a lot of unique works of mine that may attract their interest. The Survivalists are most certainly planning to make big moves. 1 hope that my contributions, however meager they may be, might become a part of their action plan to save red humanity from extinction."

Ordinary second-class Seniors would never be daring enough to make this claim, but Ves was different. He had already done it before back when he was a Journeyman.

Now that he had advanced to Senior and received a crash course on cultivation science from his mother, he had become much better equipped to develop new solutions that could drastically improve people's lives!

"I wish you good luck. Professor Larkinson." Alexa Striker wished him well before adding a warning. "I hope that you will maintain a healthy degree of skepticism towards their claims and offers. The Red Association is no longer able to protect the territories that it is obliged to protect under its own mandate. As the war between red humanity and the native aliens continues to escalate, the mechers will not hesitate to abandon entire zones and pull back their defensive lines in order to preserve their own core assets and personnel to the best possible extent. They will become less generous in other areas as well. The time where the Mech Trade Association can be relied upon to keep the peace in human space has passed."

To be honest, Ves had lost his confidence in the MTA's ability and willingness to protect human space a long time ago. The entire Sand War was an enormous tragedy that should have never happened if the mechers were actually serious at doing their jobs!

He knew what Alexa was trying to do. She was playing the role of a good little Terran.

"I am not that easy to hoodwink." Ves reassured her. "Don't forget that I am teaching an entirely course about this subject. While it is true that I am seeking greater cooperation with the Red Association, I am also doing my best to minimize my obligations. I am not a mecher and I would like that to remain this way. I don't agree with all of the decisions that the mechers have made, and that will not change once I attend the upcoming conference."

Ves pursued cooperation rather than subservience.