The Mech Touch

The product reveal had finally ended.

Ves and his fellow collaborators completed their presentations and stuck around long enough to answer enough relevant questions to satisfy the curiosity of most people.

There was little point in answering further questions, as the public would be able to learn the properties of the Yellow Jackets and the Jacket Commanders themselves by handling them in person.

Once Ves answered the final question, he announced that the exhibition hall would remain open for the remainder of the week.

During this period, the Larkinson Clan and the Red Association would continue to demonstrate the performance of the different mechs of the Swarm Project. They even gave opportunities for guests to trial the Jacket Commanders or purchase a Yellow Jacket on the spot before piloting it on location.

Suffice to say, so many people applied for these activities that all of the slots of every day filled up within a single minute!

Many people on La Reine groaned as they saw their opportunity to purchase and try out a Yellow Jacket with the least amount of delay slip out of their grasp.

Other people had no choice but to order the Yellow Jackets from the mech companies that had just begun to produce them. The need for secrecy had prevented them from building up a stockpile of readily available Carmine mechs, so the waiting lists instantly ballooned.

The good news was that a lot of third-party manufacturers had already smelled the money and began to retool their production lines. The bad news was that it would still take around a month for production to ramp up and Carmine mechs to ship to all of the right places.

As the Carmine Revolution continued to keep the attendees engaged well after the speakers had finished their presentations, Ves and the others finally left everyone's sights.

They soon gathered at a restaurant on one of the upper floors of the Palace of Mechanical Marvels. They enjoyed a well-deserved meal as they congratulated each other for holding a successful product reveal.

"This has been the best product reveal that I have participated in by far." Lord Richard Brownstone said after a toast. "I do not think I will be able to attract the attention of so many people in the future myself, but… at least I know what it is like. You have changed my life forever, Ves. My ancestor, my siblings and my teachers all want to have a piece of me. I have never felt so wanted in my life. My work has finally found meaning in the first and possibly best Carmine mech to exist."

"I think it is a bit too exaggerated to evaluate the Yellow Jacket designs so highly." Ves cautiously said. "They are still rush jobs. We have made many imperfect compromises, and they are not exactly powerful in the conventional sense. I have much more impressive Carmine mechs in mind that will blow the Yellow Jackets out of the water. That is not to say that the work we have brought into reality is bad. There is always a place for budget mechs in the mech market. It is just not a work that I am particularly proud of. The Yellow Jackets only give customers a taste of what I can do with living mechs."

Ves felt incredibly constrained by the limited budget and scope of the Yellow Jacket designs. He had to hold back a lot of powerful features due to lack of space, lack of budget and the need to prioritize simplicity over fancy features.

This was why he could not wait to get back to the design lab and start a Carmine mech design project with higher goals in mind. A more expensive mech could accommodate a lot more awesome stuff!

"What will you do now that we have concluded our collaboration?" Ves asked Richard as he started to cut into his exotic steak that originated from a mutated beast. Eating human-sized meals was completely useless to him, but it did not hurt to pretend as if he enjoyed the experience. "Now that we revealed what we have been working on in the past half year, there is no need to keep you close and isolated anymore. If you want, you may stay with us and work as a mech designer in the LMC."

Richard Brownstone seriously considered this offer. After working alongside Ves for months, he possessed a certain understanding of the relatively young but incredibly ambitious mech designer.

"The Design Department of your mech company heavily prefers to absorb young and talented Apprentices and Journeymen. I am a Senior Mech Designer who already passed those stages years ago. I won't be able to integrate into your workforce and work for you as readily as your other recruits. Besides, I would also have to join your clan, which is unacceptable to me. I am a Brownstone. As great of an opportunity it is to join your clan and take advantage of your rise, I truly cannot abandon the Brownstone Principality and the Rubarthan Pact. It would have been more acceptable if you allowed me to retain my loyalty to them, but you never make any exceptions in this regard."

Ves slowly nodded. "That is true. The work we do is quite sensitive, so I prefer not to deal with double loyalties in my Design Department. If you cannot put the interests of the Larkinson Clan above the interests of other groups, then we do not have to explore this option further. I feel it is regrettable to lose access to an offensive specialist such as yourself. You do good work, and your kinetic weapons can be very useful to our clan."

The Rubarthan mech designer shrugged. "Your clan is doing well. Your Design Department is lacking in Seniors and Masters, but that has never stopped you before. Your talent pool is quite impressive for a clan of your size. It is much better for you in the long run if you recruit younger mech designers and raise them to your standards. That way, you do not have to be too concerned about loyalties either."

"That is my existing developing strategy, but it takes a lot of time to produce results."

"That is why many families lay plans that do not bear fruit until the next generation arrives."

They chatted a bit more. Since Richard had no intention of sticking around, he intended to travel back to the Brownstone Principality fairly soon.

"Just because I have decided to return to the Rubarthan Pact does not mean I no longer wish to remain in contact with you." Richard said to Ves. "I welcome any opportunity for me to provide you with consultation and collaborations in the future. I am also well-connected in the regional mech community of my superstate. Feel free to contact me anytime if you need anything done in the Rubarthan Pact."

"I will keep that in mind." Ves nodded at Richard before turning to another collaborator. "What about you, Lady Romanda? Will you return to the Devos Ancient Clan or are you willing to stick around and join my clan?"

"My situation is… special. I informed you about it before, do you remember?" Romanda asked with a critical voice.

Ves certainly did not forget that Romanda was a 'moderate' and 'reasonable' cosmopolitan.

That did not deter him from hiring her. She held far too much value for him to let go with ease.

"I think we still have a lot of room for cooperation. The Biodome that you have designed for the Yellow Jacket can be applied to many other kinds of Carmine mechs. Are you willing to collaborate with us as a guest designer, or are you willing to join my clan outright?"

As a woman with multiple loyalties and a belief in a dream rejected by nearly everyone, Romanda did not quite fit into society.

She spent enough time among the Larkinsons to grow envious at how much they regarded each other as family. They lacked the strong hierarchy and stiff etiquette that was the norm in the Terran ancient clans.

Yet… just like Richard, she did not want to abandon her ancient clan.

"I cannot bring myself to give up my heritage as a Devosian." Romanda answered Ves. "I will return to my ancient clan after this is all over. I am not opposed to designing Biodomes to your other Carmine mechs. That is the greatest value that they can provide, and I am not stupid enough to ignore the advantages to me if I continue to cooperate with you on this matter. Eventually, my Biodomes will become permanently associated with your Carmine mechs."

Ves was not sure how he would handle Romanda if she actually joined his clan, but he was secretly glad that she remained committed to the Devos Ancient Clan.

"That is fine. You do not have to be a member of my clan or become my employee in order to work together."

"I am actually looking forward to designing a non-organic version of the Biodome. Trying to blend my ultra-large cockpits with biotechnology has been an interesting experience to say the least, but I still prefer to develop the cockpits so that I can understand and improve myself."

"That is fair, Romanda. Have you thought about how to present your time on our collaboration with the Devos Ancient Clan and other interested parties?"

One of those parties included the Cosmopolitan Movement.

"I will not divulge too much information, Ves. I can promise you that. I will have to spend much time contacting different people, but the 'friends' that I am familiar with are not pedantic. They will all approve of what I have done. It would be better if we stayed in contact with each other. That will make my story more believable.

"Hmm."

Ves was not quite sure what Romanda would do once she was able to hold a proper talk with the cosmopolitans she was aligned with. This represented a huge security risk, but Ves oculd not bring himself to care.

He soon turned his attention to Jovy and Vector.

"The two of you will be sticking around, I suppose. You are my liaisons, after all. Are you open to collaborations in the near future?"

Jovy shook his head. "It may not look like it, but we have a life outside of communicating with you. We spend most of our time on improving our design skills, conducting experimental research and designing good virtual mechs that can impress a discerning audience. I must study a large amount of knowledge in order to become a first-class Master Mech Designer according to the standards of the Red Association. I do not want to fall too far far behind."

"My motivations are similar." Vector Loban said next. "We may appear superior to other mech designers, but Jovy and I have reached this height by working hard and outcompeting other rivals of the same generation. I cannot afford to split my time too much. I am willing to collaborate on large projects that are worth my time, but not imediately. I still need to enjoy my vacation."

The message was clear. Neither RA mech designers were available to collaborate during this sensitive period of time.

That was fine. Ves could always look for talents within his clan or seek out other third party mech designers that he could get in bed with. Now that he had become the Father of Carmine Mechs, it should be easier than ever to recruit young and talented mech designers!

Yernstall was a pretty good place to recruit good mech designers, so Ves reminded himself not to miss this opportunity as he tried to remain productive all day.

"Maybe it is best that the two of you do not interfere too much in my work." Ves accepted the explanations. "I do not want anyone accusing me of acting as a puppet of the Red Association. Maintaining a bit of separation will do us both good."

"I am glad you understand, Ves." Jovy said. "Besides, we truly have many assignments of our own. Neither of us want to give up on our own careers as mech designers. My design philosophy only truly becomes powerful when I become a Master."

"I look forward to seeing what you can do. Hopefully I won't have to wait too long.."

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