The Mech Touch

Ves, Gloriana, Ketis and Juliet all discussed the merits of hiring either Pellier and Coslone or the Voiken siblings.

Both duos had the potential to add a lot of benefits to the Larkinson Clan.

Pellier and Coslone both possessed the same specialty, but were also the direct disciples of a notable Master Mech Designer. That provided them with a thorough foundation and a clear trajectory towards success. If the two women joined the Larkinson Clan, then they could immediately start with increasing the offensive strength of every melee mech design!

Sara and Dulo Voiken were also interesting prospects.

Sara was the real treasure as she possessed a specialty that could amplify the defenses of any mech, but particularly those with greater mass and thicker armor. Her physical negation specialty might not offer that much solutions against energy weapons, but it was still useful in certain contexts such as conventional melee combat and fighting against forces that had taken a liking for kinetic weapons.

As for Dulo Voiken, the man would probably get overshadowed by Ketis most of the time. That did not mean he was useless, though. The Larkinson Clan already fielded a prominent spear-wielding mech model and Ves already planned to design at least one lancer mech for the Larkinson Army. Obtaining the services of a mech designer who was passionate about mechs that fought with long polearms would doubtlessly bring those mechs to the next level!

"The question is which pair should we recruit first?" He asked himself.

He had brought in his fellow Larkinson mech designers into the decision making process so that he could gain a clearer answer, but the problem was that the three women couldn't make up their minds either!

The applicants were all attractive in their own way. Sure, they also brought along their own baggage, but none of it sounded particularly concerning to them. What mattered more was how the new Journeymen could expand the repertoire of the Design Department and shoulder a greater burden.

As the Larkinson mech designers continued to swap arguments, Gloriana turned around in her seat and checked up on her happy little baby.

"You're so cute, hihi!" She giggled.

"Gaaa…gaagaawuuu…"

Aurelia wiggled her body around a bit as both Lucky and Clixie played with the baby. The playful cats teasingly dangled their tails above the girl's head.

"Wuuu…"

The baby tried to use her tiny little arms to reach out to one tail, but then the other. Poor Aurelia couldn't make up her mind which one she wanted to grab first.

"Ooaaa!"

At a certain point, she decided to eschew choices entirely and grabbed onto both tails!

"Meow!"

"Miaow!"

Though Aurelia soon lost her grip due to the lack of strength and coordination of her limbs, her mother became inspired by the silly sight.

Gloriana turned back to the other Larkinson mech designers and cleared her throat.

"Why don't we hire all four Journeymen at once?" She proposed.

That caused the discussion to come to an abrupt halt. Gloriana smirked now that she managed to grab everyone's attention.

"Each of the applicants that we have interviewed today are young, talented, competent and willing to become a part of us. Why must we force ourselves to limit our recruitment to just two of them? Wouldn't recruiting four be even better in this case?"

"It's not that simple, Gloriana." Ves gently replied. "You know how important the Design Department is to us. Right now, everything is operating well because we're all Larkinsons who have been with the clan for a long time. Each of us trusts each other and I have no qualms entrusting crucial mech design projects to the three of you. This is a great arrangement that should be maintained as much as possible."

"What does this have to do with recruiting the newcomers?"

"I was getting to that. Imagine what will happen should we add outsiders into the mix. Remember that these aren't mech designers who used to be Apprentices in our clan but found a way to advance to Journeymen. They are already high-ranking mech designers who have solidified much of their own views and all come from other influences. They currently possess no existing ties to the Larkinson Clan, but once we bring them into the fold, we have to open up to them and reveal a lot of secrets in order to make sure they can do their jobs. Do you think that everything will go fine and that they will smoothly integrate into our clan?"

"They're all sincere about joining the clan as far as I'm aware." Ketis mentioned.

"That is my judgment as well, but people's minds can change. I have seen that happen more times than I can count. The reality of becoming a part of our clan might not fully sink into their minds until they start living on a completely new ship and become surrounded by a completely different culture. What if they fail to integrate into our clan? What if they gain buyer's remorse? What if they can't tolerate the dangers that we typically encounter during our travels?"

These questions all generated a bit of doubt. The members of the Larkinson Clan had already encountered one form of duplicity or another. They had learned that they could only truly put their trust in their fellow brothers and sisters.

"So you're saying that you're too afraid of recruiting the wrong Journeymen so you're settling with just two this time?"

Ves nodded. "It is the safer bet from an organizational perspective. Look at it in this way. If two brand new Journeymen enter our Design Department, then all four of us can guide and keep an eye on the new recruits. If we double the number of new entrants, it is much harder for us to keep track of the state and mood of all four newcomers. This increases the odds that one of them might go astray. We can't afford to blow up one of the most critical departments of our clan."

A short moment of silence ensued as the other three Journeymen thought over his argument. What he just said was based on well-established management theory and applied to any form of organization.

The dynamic of a group always changed whenever a newcomer arrived. If not a lot of people joined at a time, then it was easy for the existing group members to assimilate their colleagues into the existing structure.

However, if the amount of entrants became too much, then it wasn't certain whether this assimilation process would go smoothly! Someone who was lazy would find it much easier to get away with skipping work if the organization was already overwhelmed with integrating many other new recruits.

"I don't think the risk is as big as you imagine." Ketis claimed. "Those mech designers aren't potential bombs in the making. They are all eager to design mechs, just like us. As long as we give them a chance to do their work, who cares if they approach their work a little differently from what we are used to? Maybe their approach is even better than ours!"

Gloriana nodded in agreement. "Stop being such a scaredy cat, Ves. Didn't you complain to me a hundred times about how we're swamped with work and how we never have enough time to complete our workload? It was your idea to design at least 21 new clan-exclusive mechs for the Larkinson Army. I do not see any way to complete all of those projects in the short term if we are still short-handed. The more lead designers we can add to the Design Department, the better. We can still handle any problem that arises from differences in opinion."

Even Juliet agreed with the two women. "People can't hide much in the Larkinson Clan. If they become our new colleagues, we will be working alongside each other on a daily basis in design labs where everything is tracked. If you are truly concerned about keeping track of the four new Journeymen, why don't you ask the Black Cats to help with monitoring their activities?"

"Hmmm…"

The arguments sounded quite reasonable to Ves. The more he thought about his decision, the more he felt that they did not weigh as heavy as he thought.

Though he still harbored great concerns about the loyalty and commitment of the applicants, perhaps it was time for him to set his paranoia aside and make a gamble.

Though the chance of something going wrong was greater if he recruited both pairs of Journeymen at once, he was not without support in this matter. The three other Larkinson mech designers could assist with integrating the newcomers and there were other institutions in the clan that could help with this burden.

"Okay." He said as he came to a decision. "I'll call back the applicants."

He sent a quick signal to them that prompted the four applicants to return to the chamber that had been turned into an interview room.

Miss Janassa Pellier, Miss Tifi Coslone, Miss Sara Voiken and Mr. Dulo Voiken all took their seats as they awaited the verdict of the Larkinson Clan.

Ves gazed at each of them. "Before I begin to announce our decision, I want to remind you that joining our clan is not the same as joining a regular company. We are not looking to recruit employees or retainers. We are looking to expand our family. Signing up to the Larkinson Clan means forsaking all of your former allegiances and adopting a new family name. While we won't insist that you cut all of your ties to your current families and friends, we expect you to always be loyal to the Larkinson Clan first. We will never tolerate any action that seeks to benefit your old family or organization at the expense of the clan. Have I made myself clear?"

All four applicants nodded.

"We already read the rules. We know what we are signing up for." Janassa Pellier said. "Your terms are reasonable."

"We believe in your clan."

"While we can join other organizations, none of them offer as much design autonomy and room for us to develop ourselves as yours."

Ves could see that the Journeymen were all smart and sober enough to understand the consequences of their own choices. They had not made their decisions on impulse.

Of course, he could never say for sure whether they had been thorough enough in weighing all of the variables. Perhaps they overlooked a few factors when they decided to take this leap.

At this point, he just had to take them all at their word. He truly hoped that none of them were in over their heads.

"Alright, since you understand the massive implications of your actions, then let me tell you that all four of you have passed our test."

That caused the two pairs of Journeymen to blink and look confused. They initially thought that they were competing against each other.

To hear that the Larkinson Clan had changed its mind was quite an abrupt turn of events, but not an unwelcome one. The four applicants all relaxed now that they understood they did not have to go through any more twists and turns to join an upstart clan with great potential!

"We are in?" Dulo Voiken asked as if he needed confirmation.

"Yes, you're in." Ves offered them all a welcoming smile. "We still need to go through all of the paperwork and complete all of the necessary ceremonies. If nothing goes wrong, then all eight of us will soon become colleagues and comrades by the time we depart from Vulit. It's a massive change for all of us, so we might not get everything right at once. I hope you will understand should any problems arise in the future. Our clan is still young so we are still figuring out how to handle a lot of matters."

"We understand, Patriarch Larkinson."

"You can just call me Ves." He said. "I'm not sure what it is like in your old organizations, but we're not that big on formality in the Larkinson Clan. We're family, after all… I hope you can keep that in mind once you formally become our kin."