The Mech Touch

Ves glanced carefully at this new MTA dignitary.

No MTA Master was average. The knowledge, wealth and privileges they had access to inevitably put them at a much higher height than native Master Mech Designers.

Not only did they possess a much broader base of knowledge, they also controlled many of the levers of power that affected the lives of countless humans.

After all, an organization that called itself the Mech Trade Association must give a lot of respect to the professionals that knew the most about mechs!

So far, his impression of Master Bouderon wasn't that bad. Despite his middle-aged appearance, the man conveyed the impression that he was at least two centuries old.

Though he looked a little odd and understated due to his bald head, thin body and rather plain brown suit under an ordinary-looking white lab coat, Ves knew that he would be a fool to underestimate this new mech designer who likely stood at an equal height to Master Willix.

The clearest sign that Ves should never take this new Master lightly was that the powerful spirituality radiating from Bouderon's head!

Compared to the likes of Master Willix, Master Olson and many other comparable mech designers, Bouderin's spiritual development was considerably more ahead!

Ves didn't even need to rely on his spiritual perception to ascertain this. Just standing in the same room as this figure was enough for him to feel as if Master Bouderin was the greatest authority on mechs that he had met up to this point!

This was a bigshot, that was for sure. Ves quietly reminded himself to be on his best behavior.

His increasing familiarity with Master Willix gradually caused him to behave like his true self in front of her, but that didn't mean he could treat any respected MTA Master as his buddy!

Since Master Bouderon possessed the final word on the outcome of the Larkinson Clan's inspection process, Ves had an even greater incentive to stay on the man's good side!

The presence of Jovy Armalon was a good sign. The younger mech designer could at least put in a good word and mediate any potential conflicts that might arise.

After introducing himself, Master Bouderon turned around and gazed at the latest two masterwork mechs of the Larkinson Clan.

"I must say that your Larkinson Clan has caught my attention." He spoke as he studied the two expert mechs. "If Master Willix did not vouch for the veracity of your record, I would have thought it was fabricated. Just the fact that you are able to make not just one, but several masterwork expert mechs as Journeymen from the galactic rim is too improbable. Yet seeing your work with my own eyes leaves me with no doubt that you are truly the creators of these two masterworks."

Truly knowledgeable and experienced mech designers did not require any further proof. They could easily use a combination of their senses, their intuition and their expertise to determine which mech designers were responsible for designing and making different mechs.

All four Journeymen of the Larkinson Clan had showed up in the workshop, which allowed Master Bouderon to directly confirm that no other powerful mech designer had lent a hand in the making of the masterwork expert mechs.

There had been cases in the past where so-called 'geniuses' tried to claim that they made a fantastic work, only for the MTA to discover that they attributed the work of Seniors or Masters to themselves.

Though Willix already told Bouderin that Ves Larkinson and his team were the real deal, he had to see everything for himself.

Master Bouderin became pleasantly surprised by what he saw. Now that he confirmed that he wasn't wasting his time, his attitude minutely softened in front of the interesting Journeymen.

"Please describe your two masterworks in your own words and from the standpoint of your own design philosophies. Skip the basics."

"Yes, sir."

The Larkinson mech designers spoke in turn about the Shield of Samar and the Everchanger.

Ves wasn't sure what exactly Master Bouderon wanted to hear, so his spiel lasted for fifteen minutes. He only spoke about his design philosophy in general terms, but tried to convey enough information to make it sound as if he was sincere, but not enough for him to give away his true secrets.

As he spoke, Jovy Armalon listened with rapt attention, no doubt deriving plenty of inspiration from hearing the approaches of other capable mech designers.

Gloriana and the other women had their turn as well. Ketis and Juliet spoke considerably less as their contributions to the last two expert mech design projects were not as comprehensive.

All this while, Master Bouderon never faced the young mech designers. Instead, he clasped his hands behind his back and continued to observe the two masterwork expert mechs and supervised his personnel.

Silence followed after Ketis finished describing the work she had done to the sword and the mechanical systems designed to optimize the melee fighting capabilities of the two expert mechs.

"Hm." Master Bouderon eventually nodded. "Master Willix has made it easier for your team to develop these expert mechs, but she is not responsible for turning them into masterworks. It is completely to your credit that they have reached greater potential and have risen from mediocrity. Journeymen or not, you have provided greater help to expert pilots than most Seniors and even Masters can provide. For all of their expertise and experience, the goal of designing mechs is to assist mech pilots, not develop the strongest machines."

Ves, Gloriana, Juliet and Ketis felt quite gratified to hear that. They became more proud as they basked in the praise of an impressive Master. A man of Bouderon's status had no need to bend or distort the truth in front of a bunch of brats, which made his opinion even more credible.

Still, Bouderon was not here to flatter the Larkinson mech designers.

"For second-class expert mechs, both your Shield of Samar and your Everchanger are adequate. However, the design choices that you have made and the features that you have implemented in your expert mechs are slightly too conservative in certain aspects. Given the budget, tech, resources and assistance you were working with, a more skilled mech designer can apply numerous solutions that can substantially improve the effective performance of your machines."

That was hard to accept for certain mech designers such as Gloriana. She had worked hard to maximize the performance of both designs. Bouderon's critique therefore hit her quite hard.

The Master merely directed his sights towards the Shield of Samar.

"I find it interesting that you have proceeded with developing an expert mech that is based on one of the most quintessential defensive mech types without seeking the assistance of a peer who specializes in defensive solutions."

Gloriana immediately looked as if she had lost her wind. She hugged Aurelia a little tighter, though fortunately her movement did not disturb her baby's gentle rest.

Bouderin flickered his eyes towards the Everchanger. "This hero mech's versatility and combat power from both a distance and at close range is respectable, but its endurance and staying power leaves much to be desired. That limits its usability in many scenarios, which goes against its overall design concept."

What could Ves say about that? There was really no way that he could stuff more energy cells in a slim design that was already bloated with numerous different functions.

Fortunately, Bouderin wasn't interested in clubbing the Journeymen over their heads with his critique. His main purpose was to temper the satisfaction of the Journeymen and prevent them from developing a dangerous amount of overconfidence.

Once he was done with saying what needed to be said about the masterwork expert mechs, he finally turned around and made a gesture.

"Let us relocate to a more private compartment so that we can discuss matters of import."

Ves briefly bowed. "This way, sir."

He led his fellow mech designers as well as Jovy and Master Bouderon to a meeting chamber inside the private workshop hall. Although the decor and facilities looked rather bare and completely inadequate to host the great person that had visited the Larkinson Clan today, Ves did not want to waste the time of his guests by moving all the way to the more formal and stately-looking conference rooms located in the upper decks.

They were all mech designers here, so they were all accustomed to working inside more utilitarian places.

When everyone took their seats, Master Bouderon asked a surprising question.

"Do you know why Master Willix has called upon me to evaluate your latest masterworks and handle your case?"

"…"

Bouderin didn't expect the Larkinson mech designers to know the answer, so he quickly answered his own question.

"Both of us are members of the same faction within the Mech Trade Association. Willix has mentioned that none of you should be familiar with our faction or any of the other major factions within the Association, but that is not an issue."

"How so?" Ves cautiously asked.

"Although we do not usually involve natives such as yourselves in our power struggles, you have demonstrated a repeated capability to fabricate masterwork mechs at the Journeyman level. Not only that, but three of your verified masterworks are expert mechs, which makes us much more worth our attention. As you may have guessed, our faction is willing to associate with your group, and most particularly you, Ves Larkinson."

Ves did not look surprised. Willix had already given several hints to that effect, but she always played coy and did not appear to be in a hurry.

Master Bouderon was different. The man was more decisive and did not see the need to take a roundabout approach.

"With your potential and accomplishments, certain factions within our Association will approach you sooner or later." Bouderin explained. "This is not a rare occurrence. Every mech designer who has become a Master or shows enough promise is qualified to play a role, however marginal, in the decision-making process of the MTA."

This sounded quite important and impressed the Larkinson Journeymen. Gloriana looked especially keen to enter this higher circle.

Ves had questions, though.

"Is this faction of yours comparable to the Rim Guardians?"

"Not quite." Master Bouderon shook his head. "The Rim Guardians are a fraternity of our Association's Compliance Department. They are associated with several major factions but they are not equivalent to them. Factions like ours don't maintain too much structure. Members can come and go and mostly consist of fellow Masters and other high-ranked personnel. We exist to form a united front and advance our common goals within the highest levels of power in the MTA."

Ves still didn't have a good idea what Bouderon actually meant, but he didn't want to look as if he was stupid.

"I see. Can… you tell us more about these factions? None of us have ever heard of them before."

Bouderon smiled. "That is not a surprise. We do not wish to expose too much of our internal conflicts to outsiders. It is unavoidable that organizations as large and powerful as ours are split by many competing interests. The lack of a single leader figure has exacerbated our differences as the highest decisions are determined by our Galactic Mech Council."

That meant that every major decision had to pass through to a vote! Different factions had to vie for the favor of other factions in order to earn support for their proposals.

This resulted in a huge moderating effect as extreme proposals got rejected while tamer ones that earned a broad consensus went into effect.

Assuming that no political faction was able to hold a majority in the powerful Galactic Mech Council, everyone had to resort to horse trading in order to further their own agendas!

Ves personally thought that it wasn't bad if the MTA publicized all of this politicking and dealmaking. It would make the Association a lot more transparent and understandable.

He understood why the mechers wanted to keep this dirty business under wraps, though. Much of the MTA's ability to remain in power was based on people's perception of it. The MTA always earned a lot of respect and support due to its neutrality and lack of political bias.

It wasn't a big problem if only a select number of elite indigeous humans came in touch with the real face of the Association, but the rest of the space peasants must continue to hold the belief that the MTA was invincible and without flaws!