The Mech Touch

The Larkinson Clan was about to bring four new Journeyman Mech Designers into the fold!

Although this kind of news was not that significant to many people, it came as a bombshell to the Larkinsons!

The status of mech designers and particularly Journeymen had always been high in the clan. Everyone knew they owed much of their success to Ves. Not only that, but Gloriana, Ketis and Juliet also contributed enormously to the clan by contributing to various important design projects.

The great success of the expert mech design projects was solid proof that the Larkinson Clan's Journeymen were all highly effective and capable of outputting strong mech designs despite their relative youth!

To hear that the number of Journeymen in the clan had practically doubled overnight was a massive shock to many clansmen for that reason!

Did it mean that they would be getting new Larkinson mechs twice as fast as before?

Would their much-beloved mech roster soon receive an enormous upgrade?

Will the new Journeymen begin to run the clan just like their patriarch?

All of these questions and more circulated throughout all of the clansmen who were just wrapping up their stay in Vulit.

"A lot of rumors are flying about right now." Calabast said as she paid a personal visit to Ves. "No one knows what will change now that you have recruited those four mech designers and what the implications are for our clan."

"I'll make an official announcement soon once the four newcomers are formally inducted in our clan." Ves replied. "We won't change all that much. We're only bringing in the new Journeymen to help us design our mechs. Nothing more. There is no power-sharing arrangement and their remuneration is set by our existing payment systems. As long as they do a good enough job, it won't be difficult for them to become Exemplars. That will entitle them to receive dividends equivalent to a 1 percent ownership stake in the LMC."

The Exemplar Plan finally became relevant again. Ves was glad that he had set it up beforehand. It would have been a lot more awkward if he couldn't explain this ready-made system to the new recruits.

Although the Exemplar Plan was not as good as obtaining an actual stake in the LMC, the four newcomers all accepted the arrangement, if only reluctantly.

Ordinary mech companies always awarded a considerable amount of shares to high-ranking mech designers. The Larkinson Clan and the LMC went against the industry norm on this matter and scared away a lot of promising mech designers as a result.

Ves didn't care about that. Being able to bring in four capable Journeymen who managed to perform quite well in the Wild Brawl Bowl fully met his needs!

Of course, Ves did not set out to exploit his fellow Journeymen for his own gain. Working for the Larkinson Clan as a mech designer was rewarding in many other ways. That was one of the main reasons why the new recruits applied to join even knowing that they wouldn't gain any ownership stake in a lucrative mech company.

Although no one knew whether the Larkinson Clan would truly be able to satisfy the hopes and expectations of the new additions, for now there was plenty of goodwill from both sides.

Everyone wanted this to work. At least, that was what Ves hoped.

In order to make sure that he hadn't recruited the wrong mech designers, he had already asked the Black Cats to perform thorough background checks on the four new Journeymen.

"We're still in the process of collecting intelligence about the subjects you wanted to investigate." Calabast explained at first. "Our information gathering process is hampered by the fact that the mech designers you've recruited don't have much of a history in the Red Ocean. They are all recent entrants just like us. All of their history is based in the Milky Way. Most of our intelligence on the subjects are based on records, news articles, database entries and other sources that are on the galactic net."

"What about primary sources?"

She shrugged. "We've managed to bribe or persuade a few people to tell tales about the subjects. We managed to gain a deeper insight into who we are dealing with after questioning numerous people such as old classmates, former teachers, close acquaintances and so on. These sources may not be reliable considering they are hundreds of thousands of light-years away from us, but they have managed to corroborate a number of our own findings."

"I see."

From what it sounded like, Ves could have performed his own investigation by putting all of the names into a search machine on the galactic net. The only troublesome matter was that he needed to figure out whether the information that he was gathering was accurate and reliable. This was a job that the Black Cats excelled at doing.

"For what it's worth, none of the new recruits form an acute threat to our clan." Calabast assured Ves. "That said, we have managed to uncover a couple of interesting details about all of them that you should know. While they are a matter of concern, I wouldn't go as far to say that they are cause for alarm."

This should be good. Ves made himself comfortable in his seat. "Please tell."

"Well, let's begin with Janassa Pellier and Tifi Coslone, the former apprentices of Master Deliz Corenay. Formally, their relationship as teacher and students has ended, and not in a usual fashion. I'm sure you know the customs more than I do, but from what I have found out, the two did not part in an amicable fashion."

Ves raised his eyebrow when he heard that. This sounded a bit familiar to him. A teacher-student relationship between two different mech designers usually ended when both sides came to an agreement.

If only one side took the initiative to end this sacred and important relationship, then that was usually a sign of trouble!

For example, Master Carmin Olson decisively cut ties with Ves after he somehow got in bed with the Hexers.

Hearing that Janassa and Tifi might be fellow rejects prompted him to view the pair in a different light.

"Have you found the reason?" Ves asked his intelligence director.

"We think we do. According to multiple sources, Janassa and Tifi may have decided to quit their former positions and run away to another galaxy because they disagreed with Master Corenay's arrangements. Supposedly, their Master insisted that they develop their design philosophies according to her own intentions."

"I take it that Janassa and Tifi vehemently disagreed with their new instructions."

Calabast nodded. "I assume so. It would explain how the two Journeymen quit and left in such a rushed and hasty manner. They left behind their complete network of family, friends, subordinates, colleagues and so on. While they managed to liquidate many assets, they still left behind their workshops and several other properties. They had to travel to a gate system by booking last-minute tickets on a large commercial passenger liner. After they arrived at a gate system, the pair chose not to apply to any pioneering organizations, but instead spent a large proportion of their own funds to get a ride to the Red Ocean."

None of this sounded too alarming to Ves. As a mech designer, he fully understood why Janassa and Tifi did not want to let another person dictate how they should progress their own design philosophies.

Passion could never be forced!

However, it was strange that a Master Mech Designer would even force such an issue. Such a person should know better than to force Journeymen to abandon their own dreams and ambitions.

"Do you know what Master Corenay wanted from Janassa and Tifi and why she insisted on taking this course of action?"

The spymaster shook her head. "You'd have to ask the pair of Journeymen yourself. No one knows what Master Corenay and her former disciples said to each other. It all happened behind closed doors. All we know is that an argument did happen and that the two Journeymen angrily left the star system within a day. I believe they are currently estranged from their former Master."

Calabast wasn't able to provide any other juicy intelligence on Janassa and Tifi. She did find out that the pair of Journeymen applied to join a number of other organizations, but either got rejected or changed their minds when they weren't happy with the conditions they received.

The Larkinson Clan was just one of several pioneering organizations that they applied to join.

This indicated that the two Journeymen who originated from the Ochre Mirim Star Sector had plenty of opportunities but waited until now because they were quite picky.

It made sense that Janassa and Tifi had numerous offers. They already showed their talents in the Wild Brawl Bowl. Even if they failed to reach the final round, their work already provided potential employers with a good preview of what they could gain.

"Is there anything else I should know about Janassa and Tifi?" He asked.

"We've collected other intelligence that aren't important enough for me to mention here. We will put it all in a report for you to peruse."

"Tell me about the Voikens, then. Are there any skeletons in their closet?"

"We have not managed to find any skeletons in Sara Voiken and Dulo Voiken's closet, but… their family is a different matter."

"Oh?"

"The Voiken Family is a large organization that has built up a significant amount of influence in the Uplifting Note Star Sector in the galactic rim of the Milky Way. Do you think that any group of this size and power is completely clean and spotless?"

"No." Ves answered. "It's hard for me to imagine a family of mech designers doing anything too egregious, though. If their sins are limited to sabotaging the competition, then that is hardly worth my time."

"It's more than that. The Voiken Family consists of hundreds of Seniors and Journeymen, but it is led by only a single Master who is over three centuries old. Let us concentrate on his age for a moment. He was born in a different time from us. Humanity was still in the process of rebuilding everything that it had destroyed at the end of the last age."

"I know that."

"Well, think about this. Master Barnard Solas Voiken rose up from that special time and managed to advance to his current rank when he was around 150 years old. Although human civilization had already changed by then, the humans who were born much earlier did not quite keep up with the times. It is much harder for the older generation to adopt new norms and ideas."

Ves began to narrow his eyes. "What are you leading up to, Calabast?"

Seeing that he was losing his patience, Calabast went straight to the point.

"I'm trying to build context around Master Voiken so that you can understand why he has become a prominent associate of the Preserving Order Faction of the MTA."

"Preserving Order?!"

Ves recalled what Master Bouderon once said about this faction within the Mech Trade Association.

The preserving Order Faction stood for the preserving of the current order, which in essence meant freezing as much of humanity's current state in time as possible.

The Preservers hated change because they saw danger in anything new! Resuming the conquest of the Milky Way, invading the Red Ocean and introducing phasewater to the public were just some of the high-level policy decisions that they vehemently opposed!

The Preserving Order Faction used to be the dominant faction of the MTA at the start of the Age of Mechs, so it shouldn't have been too much of a surprise that a Master who grew up around that time became one of their associates.

The problem was that most of humanity had long decided to move on again. Those who insisted on staying still were mostly stubborn old fools who just wanted to avoid every possible risk so they could have absolute assurance that their cozy lives remained intact!

Hearing that the founder and most powerful member of the Voiken Family was an associate of this outdated faction caused Ves to grow concerned.

"If the patriarch of the Voiken Family is a Preserver, then what about its other members? How closely do the younger generations adhere to their leader's views?" Ves asked.

Calabast smirked… "That is a good question."