The Mech Touch

Ves almost wanted to faint when he heard how much money his wife had spent during her visit to Vulit.

517 million MTA credits!

It hadn't been too long ago when the entire Larkinson Clan struggled to earn over 10,000 MTA credits.

The entire expeditionary fleet at that time was burning through at least 5000 MTA credits on an annual basis just to maintain its operations!

Even though his circumstances had improved drastically since the start of the Age of Dawn, that did not mean that Ves was eager to open up his wallet and spend like there was no tomorrow!

The numbers continually ran through his mind as if they were weights.

His expressions changed multiple times as he thought about how much of a burden his wife's extravagant spending imposed on his finances.

The worst part about all of this was that Gloriana did not even see anything wrong with this behavior!

"You are not adapting quickly enough to our new situation." Gloriana admonished him. "We are no longer the second-raters of before. Both of us have worked hard to elevate our clan and promote to first-raters. From the moment you returned from the Survivalist conference as an honorary member of the Red Association, you have already completed this transformation. It may take time for your mech design skills to catch up to this level, but you have effectively entered first-class society in advance."

"What is your point, Gloriana?"

"You have become the latest star in high society. Your recent actions and accomplishments have attracted the interest of many Terrans, Rubarthans, mechers and fleeters. All of these elites have an enormous amount of wealth at their disposal, and they show that in the way they dress and the friends they cultivate. Right now, both of us have resided on New Constantinople VIII for months, yet we hardly went out to shop and purchase clothing and other articles that reflect our new status."

"It's unnecessary and premature." Ves responded with a frown. "Until our income has reached the required standard, it is way too soon to spend money on all of that expensive crap. Besides, a lot of the stuff in those luxury shops are way too overpriced. What practical difference does it make if my outfit is made by a second-class or first-class fashion house? Sure, the materials and the refinement of the latter are definitely superior, but they are just smart clothing in the end! Aside from being tougher and offering more conveniences, their main function is just to cover up our bodies. There is no need for us to spend millions of MTA credits on them, especially at this junction!"

His wife shook her head as if she was a mother who was confronting a stubborn child.

"You are being too short-sighted, Ves. You need to grasp the right opportunities. Good impressions are vital to navigating first-class communities. Our goal is to integrate into them. The best way to do that is to play by their rules. Do you know how much first-raters look down on lesser humans? It is much more difficult for us to gain acceptance from other first-raters if we continually present ourselves as second-raters! The way we think, the way we dress and the way we treat ourselves are all repulsive to every first-rater that we have interacted with! The least we can do is to adapt to the local culture and give them one less reason to ridicule us behind our backs."

Though Gloriana made a reasonable argument, it all sounded like an attempt to excuse her profligate behavior.

"I can understand your point, but your spending level crosses the line." Ves spoke. "I don't object to taking on debt. I know enough about business and finance that increasing our leverage can lead to much greater returns in the future. The problem I have is that your behavior likely won't yield the fantastic returns that you imagine. The reason why so many first-raters respect me and value my friendship these days is because of the concrete benefits that I can provide to them. That is the real reason why we are qualified to consort with the top of red humanity."

"That may be true, but if you continue to dress and act like a pauper, then far too many people will never take you seriously!"

"I bet that if I wore dirty rags taken from a random third-class rural settlement, people such as Jovy Armalon and the Impresario Prince would still be glad to work with me! However, if I am unable to exercise enough financial discipline and pile up so much debt that I cannot even meet the interest payments anymore, I have no doubt my 'friends' will turn into sharks and devour me whole!"

His wife sighed. "I do not disagree with you, but we cannot continually rely on your breakthrough successes to maintain the prestige of our clan. What if you have lost your brilliance one day? What if you are attacked by a cosmopolitan assassin and become braindead? Anything can happen that can cause our clan to lose its most important pillar. If that happens, it will be up to me and the rest to support the current status of our clan. By that time, it becomes more important to blend in and abide by the rules than ever. If my children and I can present ourselves as wealthy first-raters, it becomes much easier to maintain the respect and awe of our existing relations."

Ves pressed his lips into a line. "You are putting way too much emphasis on external appearances. Profit is the true driving force of our society. I don't think the Terrans and the Rubarthans care a single fart about our fashion budget. They care about whether they can still get their living mechs and other products from us. From the moment we can no longer supply those goods, that is when our clan is truly in trouble."

The two were completely different people in this regard. Both of them came from very different backgrounds and could not agree on this matter.

Ves let out a tired sigh. "Ugh. How can you buy so much expensive crap in Vulit? Isn't it supposed to be a second-class hub? These products are way too overpriced!"

"Not for the mechers and the fleeters." Gloriana responded with a grin. "I visited the second-class shopping streets at first, but I quickly became dissatisfied with the products on offer. I decided to transfer to a different planet in the star system that is mainly occupied by the mechers. The luxury shopping streets and malls over there are much more fitting to our new circumstances. I have taken the liberty to completely replace both of our wardrobes as well as that of our children. Furthermore, I have bought a spate of first-class luxury items to further project our success. I also bought first-class toys in order to help our children adopt the mindset of a first-rater before it is too late. I will not have our offspring present themselves as inferior second-raters any longer!"

His wife had an obsession with status. Though Ves found it important as well, their cultural norms were too different!

As a former direct descendant of the Wodin Dynasty, Gloriana grew up in a relatively harsh and demanding environment where every Hexer constantly expected the women around them to demonstrate their supremacy over boys.

They were women, so they were superior!

There was no virtue in restraint in Hexer society. The strong hierarchy and sharp divisions among the Hexers had made it more important than ever for them to show their precise status through their outward appearances.

This was an alien mindset to Ves!

Though Ves was willing to invest considerable sums into making himself look good, he always had maintained a sense of proportion when it came to this. An extravagant coat worth a million MTA credits was not as valuable as an entire mech division as far as he was concerned!

Ves lowered his head in pain. "Show me what you bought. Let's start with the handbags since they are the most useless."

"Handbags are not useless! They are essential accessories, especially to women such as myself!"

Gloriana proceeded to project the appearances of all of her new handbags.

Naturally, the amount of money she spent on them caused them to be a lot more remarkable than their second-class counterparts.

"Each of the new handbags are products of innovation. They are all embedded with high-grade hyper materials that can bestow a range of useful functions, such as blocking strong winds or purifying the air of undesirable scents. Each of them are no cheaper than 20 million MTA credits, and I have bought 6 in total. I have already retired my old collection of handbags because they are no different from trash bags in my eyes!"

Her previous set of expensive handbags were not bad at all! They were perfectly serviceable as containers, and they were all made with precious materials such as puelmer leather!

Ves sighed yet again. "What is done is done. I really don't want to see you spend this money again."

"Why not? We have become even wealthier than before! As soon as I heard about the alliance you forged with the Rubarthans, I knew that we have become much richer than before! Spending hundreds of millions of MTA credits should no longer be a burden to you. The dividends that you can earn from owning a fifth of Isthmus Manufacturing can increase our line of credit by one or maybe two orders of magnitude."

"ENOUGH! WE ARE NOT TAKING ON MORE DEBT!" Ves insisted! "If I had the cash, I would have paid off the 517 million MTA credits that we owe to Yem-Tar immediately! Unfortunately, the next dividend payment isn't happening anytime soon, which means that we will have to pay off millions of MTA credits in interest payments in the meantime!"

"That is no longer a burden to the current state of our clan."

"That is not true! Our clan is expanding in scope with each passing day. There are many places that need a lot of money in order to bring them to our level. The Larkinson Biotech Institute, the T Institute and the Premier Branch are just a few of the places that need an astronomical amount of investment to bring them up to first-class standards. All of the millions of MTA credits that we spend on interest payments means less money for more productive investments."

"I do not understand why you treat our debt as if it is a dangerous burden." Gloriana frowned. "As I have mentioned before, we can fully meet the interest payments, if not in the present time, then in the future. Yem-Tar is primarily owned by the mechers, so our bank will not make it difficult for us if we have temporarily run out of liquidity."

"You fool! That just means we have given the mechers a lot of leverage! They will insist that we do stuff for them in order to repay our debt!"

"We can always spend the many MTA merits that we have earned so far."

"That is even more wasteful!"

Ves could not stand the thought of squandering lots of money on servicing debt. It might be a little more acceptable if Gloriana spent much of the 517 million MTA credits on more useful goods such as the Ice Fire Rock, but that was not the case!

He eventually decided to pay the debt as soon as the clan received its first dividend payment.

Together with the money earned from selling all of the production licenses for his new Fey Fianna models, he should be able to get rid of this burden as soon as possible.

He hated the fact that he could not spend all of that money on more practical investments.

The latest assassination attempt caused him to prioritize his security a lot more. He intended to upgrade the defensive facilities of Diandi Base and acquire expensive materials to upgrade his Unending Regalia.

All of those plans had to be delayed due to this unexpected circumstance!

Though Ves could have chosen to go in the opposite direction and increase his leverage, he felt it was completely unnecessary for him to do so at this time.