The Mech Touch

Every expert pilot went on a rotation to the recruitment offices. Their tolerance for entertaining strangers was only so much. It was not a lie to say they did their duty in a begrudging manner.

Even Venerable Joshua found the job to be tedious. He would much rather spend his time on training his skills, piloting his Valkyrie Prime and spend time among his fellow clansmen.

However, he also happened to be the most popular and effective recruiting mascot out of the Larkinson mech pilots!

His friendly demeanor and approachability quickly cemented him as the most ideal expert pilot to meet.

This was why he found himself surrounded by mech pilots and other people. They asked all kinds of serious and not-so-serious questions. More personnel stepped into place in order to maintain order and prevent Joshua from getting mobbed.

Still, the job was rewarding. He met plenty of skilled and talented mech pilots that the Larkinsons would love to have. If he could help win them over, then his clan would gain another elite mech pilot!

"You're so charming." A Lifer mech pilot sighed. "Would you like to go out on a date?"

Joshua did not look amused. "I have a girlfriend, miss. Please do not mistake me as available."

The eyes of several female mech pilots lit up as they clung to Joshua's every word!

"You're not married, then? Great! We should hang out! I can give you a much greater time than anyone."

"Hey! I was here first! Get in line, you cow!"

"Pff! I'm prettier than you. Venerable Joshua Larkinson deserves to be with the best. Second-hand goods like you should tumble off. I hear that the Glory Seekers have a boy who is single. Maybe you should look over there!"

"Oh, you did not just say that. Do you dare to repeat your words in the dueling arena?"

"Who says I don't dare?! Tell us the time and place so that Venerable Joshua can decide who of us is more deserving of his attention!"

Venerable Joshua may be an expert pilot, but he looked completely helpless at this moment. What was it with all of these women?

Regardless, expert pilots like Joshua definitely had a good effect on the recruitment effort. Thousands of applicants were already being put through the pipeline.

Since it appeared that the Larkinsons would have plenty of people to choose from, the recruiting personnel decided to conduct rigorous examinations meant to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Just because the applicants were Lifers or citizens of other second-rate states didn't mean they were suitable for the Larkinson Clan!

Some of them possessed problematic beliefs.

"The Anti-Matter God shall annihilate our reality!"

Others weren't competent enough.

"You are making a serious mistake! I only failed to pass my final courses because I wasn't rich enough to afford any intelligence-boosting augments. If you provide me with a decent cranial implant, I will definitely catch up to the likes of your patriarch! I'm a genius!"

There were also plenty of people who had to be turned away because they were too attached to local powers.

"I don't see how my previous job as a senior marketing executive of Trifold Life Machines disqualifies me from joining your clan. I spent fifty years running one marketing operation after another. I have helped TLM release over 150 different mech models to the market, many of which have gone on to generate a substantial amount of profit."

While it was hard to resist the urge to recruit these talented and experienced professionals, the instructions from Ves were very clear. The recruiters had to be wary about hiring former senior personnel who dedicated a significant portion of their lives to another company or institution.

Just like before, the Larkinson Clan still maintained its preference for hiring younger and more impressionable talents!

They didn't have to be too skilled or competent. As long as they amply exceeded the minimum requirements, the recruiters began to consider other aspects such as personality traits and cultural views.

While the Larkinson Clan was quite open and accommodating towards different views, there was a limit to everything.

What hampered the recruitment effort a bit was that Lifers were substantially different from people who lived elsewhere in the galaxy.

Their preference for biotechnology made it rather difficult for them to get accustomed to living in an environment that was almost entirely mechanical.

"Your clan doesn't field a single biomech?"

"Correct."

"Will that change?"

"I cannot say."

"Then why are you Larkinsons even bothering to recruit on this planet in the first place?"

Most Lifer mech pilots had to be turned away when they heard that the Larkinson Clan had no intentions to field biomechs. Other Lifer personnel either left on their own accord or had to be pushed away because the examiners judged that they would not be able to cope with living in an environment devoid of biotech.

Only less than twenty percent were deemed tolerant or open-minded enough to adjust to living on a metal starship.

While that was not exactly a high ratio, the huge crowds the expert pilots were pulling in every day meant that the recruiters still needed to do a lot of work.

Besides, it wasn't the Lifers they were after. It was the foreigners.

As an open port system, Prosperous Hill attracted personalities from all over Majestic Teal. Sworders, Harmons, Fire Worshippers, Telvers and many other foreign-born people heard about the Larkinson Clan and visited to see what the fuss was about.

Certain divisions in the clan soon developed their own preferences.

For example, it was a given that the Swordmaidens eagerly tried to woo citizens of the Heavensword Association.

The LMC's Design Department which had been tasked with recruiting lots of new assistants began to pay more attention to the Telvers.

One of the Telver hopefuls attracted enough attention to schedule a meeting with Miles Tovar.

With Ketis gone with a detachment of elite Swordmaidens, Miles Tovar was the only assistant mech designer left who was senior enough to make decisions on behalf of the Design Department.

"Mr. Arkan, is it? Normally, we do not recruit mech designers who used to work for a military organization, but your profile is interesting enough to give you a chance."

Richard Arkan held himself with a straight back and a confident demeanor. He looked like a natural fit for the Braves.

"I dedicated my life to the Telva Association." He replied honestly. "I only found out later that the Telva Association did not want me. I was told to leave by no uncertain terms."

"It would help if you describe the circ.u.mstances of your involuntary departure."

"Let's just say that I got in a disagreement with some rivals within the research institution I was working for. My adversaries had powerful enemies. Rather than taking my views seriously, they decided it was best to push me out so that I wouldn't.. 'disrupt' the harmony of the research group."

"I see."

This wasn't the first time that Miles Tovar encountered such a case. Majestic Tealers apparently possessed a fondness of exiling and driving away those who stood in their way. While this happened in every star sector, he found it strange that it was at least five times more prevalent in this region.

The relative lack of wars and open conflict also resulted in different treatment. Without huge conflicts to vent people's grievances towards each other, citizens needed another way to get rid of their rivals and competitors. While outright killing people was too barbaric most of the time, there was no harm in kicking them out of a state.

As Richard Arkan elaborated on his story, the other mech designer gained a better sense of what happened to Arkan.

As a former member of the Tovar Family, Miles was not blind to internal struggles. Good friends might turn into archenemies if they chased after the same promotion opportunities. Even brothers would point their fangs at each other if they had to compete for a single lucrative chance!

After Miles discreetly checked the lie detection suite for any irregularities, he became a bit more reassured that Richard was telling the truth.

While there were ways to fool lie detection systems, that was not his problem. The Black Cats were more than capable enough to catch any irregularities. New recruits also had to gain the approval of a living mech that embodied the clan such as the Bright Warrior in order to become true Larkinsons. That was the moment where even the most competent spies and saboteurs fell through!

After inquiring about Richard's background, Miles moved on to the applicant's skills.

"We don't see many mech designers like you around here. Your specialization is quite remarkable. Many colleagues would love to be in your place."

"Thank you." Richard responded. "I merely inherited my know-how from my father. It is also how I gained my certificate from the MTA. I have worked hard to build up my theoretical knowledge so that I could participate in the more important military mech design projections of the Telva Association."

"How much practical design experience do you possess?"

"I have not designed a lot of mech designs by myself. I have mostly worked in a design team after my graduation. I am quite accustomed to designing mechs in a team environment, but I am eager to design my own mechs at some point."

Miles nodded in understanding. Many assistants were in the same position.

He began to ask the most important question. "Have you ever designed your own neural interface?"

Richard smiled back. "I have only designed a few rudimentary neural interfaces for practice, but I have participated in the development of over half-a-dozen advanced neural interfaces. One of them even includes a custom neural interface that is tailored to an expert pilot. I cannot share any more details with you. Even if they exiled me, I am still bound by confidentiality agreements."

"We have no interest in stealing the secrets of another state." Miles quickly said. "Just to be clear, can you explain your design philosophy?"

"Certainly." The applicant replied. "Officially, I have formed a Class VIII design philosophy, though I am still in the process of fine-tuning it. I specialize in deep immersion neural interfaces. This is a rather delicate and dangerous research direction as the neural interfaces that I am fond of can inflict substantially more brain damage if anything goes wrong."

"Why would you specialize in something so dangerous?"

"Because it is the future of high-end mech design!" Richard Arkan insisted! "While neural interfaces that are limited to shallow immersion are very safe, they don't bind mech pilots to mechs as deeply as they are capable of. Too many mech designers and neural interface specialists are too scared to go deeper and explore the limits of what neural interfaces can do. My insistence on pushing the boundaries was what turned my former colleagues against me! If they weren't so short-sighted and protective of their own cozy positions, they should have embraced my proposals!"

"I… see…"

Miles Tovar could see now why Richard Arkan was driven away from his state. While the Design Department urgently needed a neural interface specialist, he wasn't quite sure whether the man sitting in front of him was the right choice.

"Just for curiosity, what is your aim? What goal do you wish to accomplish?"

"I want to accomplish an immersion that is so deep that the borders between man and machine are gone! I want to see a future where mech pilots essentially possess two bodies, their organic one and their mech one. When mech pilots are able to disassociate themselves from their organic bodies and put their all into controlling a mech, then I believe that mechs will become something entirely different!"

"...That is.. quite an ambition."