The Mech Touch

Now that Ves had ended his main presentation, he took a short break before holding a question-and-answer session in a more personal setting.

Hundreds of journalists along with many other VIPs gathered inside Phoca Arena's largest hall reserved for press conferences.

The energy among the crowd was electric. Journalists and mech insiders were still buzzing with excitement from what they had witnessed up to today.

Though not everyone appeared to be taken in by all of the hype, the general consensus among the gathered professionals was that the Fey Fianna may have earned its place in the mech history books!

People wanted more. The information that Ves presented so far only explained his latest commercial work to a shallow degree.

The exhibition matches and other demonstrations revealed a lot more details about the performance of the two main editions of the Fey Fianna, but that generated even more questions among the experts!

Hence the need for a Q&A session. These obsessive journalists and mech nerds would not rest unless they gained all of the clarifications they needed to soothe their restless curiosity!

Before Ves went up the podium, he briefly conferred with Gavin and Alexa on what he should and should not say.

"The public reaction so far had been overwhelmingly positive." Gavin spoke in a satisfied tone. "That means that you can take it easy, boss. The worst thing you can do is to put your foot in your mouth. What you need to do at this point is to consolidate our gains and prevent any accidental losses. Saying nothing is sometimes better than saying anything, do you understand?"

"I get it. We should play it safe. Alexa, have our people detected any challengers among the VIPs?"

"There are dozens of potential candidates who have the reason and the motivation to challenge the Fey Fianna." The former Terran mech designer replied. "The exceedingly high publicity surrounding your latest work has shifted the dynamics surrounding this matter. The probability that mech designers intend to challenge your Fey Fianna with drone mechs of their own has dropped. The technological and design differences between our latest product and any direct competitors have become insurmountable at this point of time. None of the existing drone mech manufacturers are willing to make a direct comparison that can turn this speculative idea into a concrete fact."

That made a lot of sense. It was what Ves would do if he was in their place. There were still other ways for established mech companies to stem the bleeding and retain as much of their existing customer base as possible. They just had to draw attention away from these painful comparisons!

"If our Fey Fianna stands to dominate the market for second-class drone mechs, then why should we still fear challenges?"

"Drone mechs occupy a smaller niche in the mech market, so hardly anyone invests their full resources into them, sir. In the first year of the Age of Dawn, SKL Mech Industries and many other well-established mech companies have devoted much of their effort into designing better versions of their top sellers. The quality and performance of their latest rifleman mechs, swordsman mechs, light skirmishers and so on are much better than the general standard. Many of them may still be in the prototype stage, but have already made so many gains that they can compete against our Fey Fianna. These are the potential threats we need to be prepared to meet."

Gavin agreed with the younger mech designer. "This is an excellent way for rival mech companies to obtain a large amount of free publicity. The risks are great. Losing will damage their reputation and destroy much of the hype around their new product. Winning can give their upcoming products a massive boost. They might even steal our thunder if they crush our Fey Fiannas in a fight."

Ves furrowed his brows. The temptation for rival companies to challenge his new mech was high. It might be a little shameless for them to earn publicity during another mech company's product reveal, but these sorts of challenges were not uncommon in the mech industry!

Mech designers needed to stand behind their work. As long as the matchup was not so obviously lopsided, then they were expected to prove the combat worthiness of their own mechs.

Although Ves felt that he had nothing more to prove due to the obvious strength and superiority of the Fey Fianna, his honor and his obligation as a mech designer prevented him from refusing every challenge.

That did not prohibit him from gaming the system, though.

Ves continued to pet Lucky who had been lounging in his arms for a while now. The lazy gem cat paid little attention to all of the excitement happening all around.

"Meow..."

"Properly speaking, the Fey Fianna should only accept challenges from other drone mechs." He said. "I should have much more leeway if rivals want to force the Fey Fianna into matchups against other mech types."

Drone mechs were not omnipotent, though it had made a close impression of it during the demonstrations. They were subject to clear counters that could easily tear them apart under the right circumstances.

After a few more exchanges, the time had come for Ves to address the representatives of the mech industry more directly.

He still wore his overly dramatic and multilayered outfit, but he wore his clothing with so much confidence that it did not look awkward in the slightest.

As Ves stopped behind the podium stand, he briefly swept his gaze across the thousand-or-so people.

The journalists among them were easy to spot. They were all accompanied by their own recorder bots and possessed weak to non-existent extraordinary power.

It was the ones with greater strength that Ves was wary of. There were plenty of Master Mech Designers and other figures with strong demeanors who may or may not intend to issue a challenge.

He felt both fearful and excited at the prospect. He still found it difficult to decide whether he should proactively embrace these challenges or try to avoid them as much as possible in order lower the risks.

After all, there was not much more that he could gain after the Fey Fianna already attracted a lot of positive interest.

"Good afternoon, my esteemed guests. Now that we have introduced our new Fey Fianna mech line to you all, I am sure that you are brimming with questions. I am willing to spend a few hours here to answer them so long as they remain on topic. Please do not use this Q&A session to ask any irrelevant questions. You will be silenced and removed without exception. Now, let's begin."

A lot of hands went up into the air. Ves made use of a randomizer to select the people who would have an opportunity to address him directly.

"Who are you, sir?"

"Nevander Emmerich of the Monthly Mech Report. Let me say that it is an honor to ask the first question to a renowned tier 3 galactic citizen such as yourself." The slender teal-haired man respectfully said before he quickly went on to business. "As far as my question is concerned, it is clear that your new Fey Fianna models will capture a large share of the market for second-class drone mechs. Do you have any intention of adapting your work for the first-class or third-class market?"

That was a tricky question, and one that related a lot to the business strategy of the LMC.

Ves did not hide his frown as he issued a calm reply. "The Fey Fianna is conceived as both a second-class mech and a quasi-first-class mech from the onset. Since it is an innovative mech that introduces several radical new technological applications, we will need to observe our products while they are being put to use. Once we have a better understanding of how our Fey Fianna operates in diverse circumstances, we will be able to make more informed decisions about whether to expand its class range."

That was not a good enough answer to the reporter.

"Can you give us any informal indications of what you have in mind? As a former third-rater, does it not make sense for you to give back to the original community you came from and grant your fellow third-raters the benefit of piloting a more appropriate variation of your Fey Fianna?"

"The Living Mech Corporation is driven by rational decision-making. Our mech company will be glad to adapt the Fey Fianna line to the third-class mech market if it is viable and practical enough. For now, there is not enough evidence to support such a move."

The randomizer picked another reporter before the man from the Monthly Mech Report could badger Ves once more.

"Elza Godark of the Davute Star Telegraph. As a former resident of Davute, you have established a deep and special relationship with the Colonial Federation of Davute. You have already accepted several commissions to design exclusive mechs for our colonial state. Will a more exclusive and powerful variant of the Fey Fianna be included in those special commissions?"

What a devious question. This was pretty much a propaganda attempt from Davute.

"Any information related to mech commissions is confidential. It is not proper for any mech designer to divulge private contracts and agreements with clients. If Davute sees fit to share details on any possible agreements or transactions with my clan and I, your colonial state is welcome to disclose them on its own accord."

A first-rater finally received the opportunity to ask a question.

"Icarus Hallweather of the Rubarth Daily. How widely will the Fey Fianna be distributed? Will it be available for sale in every middle zone?"

"That is what we are attempting to accomplish." Ves steadily replied. "Our mech company has a sufficient presence in the middle zones of the Red Ocean Union, but we are still in the process of establishing new company branches in both the Terran Alliance and the Rubarthan Pact. In the meantime, we are actively looking to cooperate with local mech manufacturers to produce Fey Fiannas to meet the market demand in the immediate regions."

"Thank you for your clarification, professor. Do you have any intentions of selling a first-class adaptation of the Fey Fianna in either the Rubarthan Pact, the Red Ocean Union or both?"

Ves twitched his lips. What was up with journalists and pushing political agendas?

"As I have stated earlier, it is too premature for the Living Mech Corporation to consider adapting the Fey Fianna to any first-class market. Drone mechs have a very different positioning in the first-class mech community. We may have to convert it into a fully-fledged multipurpose mech in order to fully satisfy the needs of first-raters. This is a major undertaking that our company is not ready for. If this changes, then we will try our best to sell our new first-class mechs in every upper zone unless we are hindered from doing so by the polities in question."

"Do you think your first-class adaptation of the Fey Fianna will receive a friendlier and more enthusiastic welcome from the Rubarthan mech market as opposed to elsewhere? Our mech community is much more open-minded and willing to experiment with new and experimental products. I am afraid that your upcoming mech will not be received well in a staid and stagnant mech market where many customers are accustomed to buying the latest editions of mech lines that have largely remained the same since the beginning of the Age of Mechs. You should consider whether-"

Ves loudly coughed even as he transmitted a certain command. The annoying Rubarthan reporter immediately lost the ability to transmit sound from his mouth.

A few seconds later, the floor beneath his feet turned into a hole, causing him to quickly drop out of sight.

Nobody exhibited any surprise that this had happened. No press conference or Q&A session proceeded without at least one journalist trying to cross the line.

"Next."