The Mech Touch

　　Once the Thorn Project reached completion, Dulo chose to fabricate the mech by himself.

　　"You and your wife have already fabricated your new works by yourselves." Dulo Voiken explained. "There is no reason for me to skip this challenge. I may not possess an impressive collection of masterwork certificates like you, but I have sufficient practice in making my own mechs. The Thorn Project is not that complicated compared to our other mech designs. It is well within my competence to fabricate a good copy."

　　"I'm not worried about that, Dulo. What I am actually concerned about is whether you can properly fabricate living mechs. They're different from other mechs in that you need to apply a specific mindset and approach in your fabrication run to preserve the living quality of the Thorn Project."

　　Ves briefly filled Dulo in on what he needed to do. The other man listened seriously and agreed to try out what he heard.

　　"It is not that difficult to alter my approach. I will try my best to adopt your methods."

　　"Good. That's all I ask. I can easily tell the difference between a mech where people have made an earnest effort to give them life and a mech that is in awful shape due to lack of effort. I hate to impose my design philosophy on you, but I want you to respect your work as if it is actually alive."

　　"I don't have any problems believing in your methods. Your mech designs have proven time and time again that there is truly substance to their living qualities." Dulo quickly reassured the patriarch.

　　"Good. I'll leave the task of fabricating the mech up to you. Do your best and make sure you perform well enough to earn the respect of your fellow Journeymen."

　　Before Ves left Dulo's work site, the recently-joined Journeyman asked one more question.

　　"Sir, I heard from different circles that our clan is still having a lot of problems securing large batches of raw materials."

　　"That's right. The demand for raw materials is incredibly high. There is no hope of obtaining what we need from the open market. The only viable way for us to solve this problem is to get in through the back door. In order to do that, we need to ally or befriend a resource provider."

　　"I… may have an idea about that, sir."

　　Ves directed a sharp glance at Dulo. "Hm? Do you have any useful connections?"

　　"Not me, but… I think we can obtain limited support if we call upon the help of the Voiken Family."

　　The Voiken Family. Sara and Dulo Voiken grew up in that powerful and prosperous mech designer dynasty.

　　Although the two Journeymen officially renounced their ties to the Voiken Family, it was impossible for them to completely cut themselves off from their own relatives.

　　The Black Cats constantly monitored the exchange of messages between the siblings in their original family.

　　Though it was not entirely possible to catch coded messages, the Black Cats did not see any signs that Sara and Dulo were passing on sensitive information back to the Voiken Family.

　　As long as the communications didn't compromise the Larkinson Clan, it was fine for the two to stay in touch with their more favored relatives.

　　Ves thought that these were just social calls. If it turned out that the talks were more substantial, then that might come in handy at this time.

　　He grew more intrigued. "Tell me more. What scheme do you have in mind?"

　　"I haven't come up with anything solid, sir. What I do know is that the Voiken Family is making preparations to dispatch a number of its members to the Red Ocean."

　　"What? Are you serious?"

　　"It's still in the planning stages, but the initiative already has the tentative blessing of the founder."

　　This did not align with what Ves learned about the Voikens.

　　"Isn't your family notoriously conservative, risk-averse and hostile towards change? According to what I've learned, Master Barnard Solas Voiken is an associate of the Preserving Order Faction, which opposes the opening of the Red Ocean. Why is your family suddenly reaching into the new frontier?"

　　Dulo smirked. "I'm not certain about this, but I have heard that the Preservers may have softened their stance. While they are desperate to cling to stability, the rest of the MTA isn't interested in freezing time. If the Preservers keep to their stubborn stance, they'll remain stagnant in the old galaxy while many of the other major factions obtain a lot of wealth, resources and influence in the Red Ocean."

　　The Preserving Order Faction may sincerely believe that it was best to keep humanity in the Milky Way, but now that the milk had already spilled, it was nearly impossible to convince everyone else to reverse their course.

　　The Red Ocean was filled with opportunity! Not just the pioneers, but also the competing elements within the MTA sought to improve their position by taking advantage of the ongoing trend!

　　Ves still looked skeptical, though. "I don't see the point in reversing course. Not only will the Preservers look like hypocrites, they'll also be arriving too late. The other major factions already enjoy a considerable head-start."

　　"I don't disagree with you, but I know the Preservers better than you. While many of them truly believe in the cause, there are other members who are… not as solid. I think the Preserving Order Faction has begun to fracture from within. You have the older diehards who are still haunted by the memories of the Age of Conquest and the difficult circumstances that followed. You also have the younger members and associates who aren't traumatized and can think about their situations in a less biased manner. It is the group that is probably making their move at this time."

　　That was an interesting theory, and one that sounded highly plausible to Ves. It must be incredibly frustrating for the more open-minded members of the Preserving Order Faction to see their rivals thrive while they themselves kept falling further and further behind!

　　However, that didn't mean that this had anything to do with the Larkinson Clan.

　　"All of this sounds interesting, but what does this have to do with us?" Ves asked. "I mean, my clan and I stand out as innovators and drivers for change. Nothing we've done so far aligns with the Preservers. Perhaps there is a chance that we can cooperate with the elements of your former family, but it is so powerful that I'm sure that your relatives can find better partners."

　　"You'd be surprised." Dulo Voiken replied. "While I cannot say anything solid, I think it isn't as difficult to gain the cooperation of the Voiken Family as you think."

　　"Why so?"

　　"First, there are few native allies in the Red Ocean. The Preservers and everyone who they are close to are still mostly stuck in the old galaxy. The Voikens need friends and partners in the Red Ocean in order to ease their way into this dwarf galaxy."

　　"Again, if they want friends in the Red Ocean, they can bribe anyone around here. Your family is led by an old and experienced Master Mech Designer. You can easily befriend more powerful pioneers."

　　"Not necessary. Earlier, I told you about a schism between the older and younger generation. Right now, the family patriarch still hasn't lightened his stance. Master Barnard Voiken still believes that everyone should stay put in the old galaxy. The… rebels, if you can call them that, are heading into the Red Ocean without too much support from the main family. They are much worse off than you think and can truly use a hand."

　　Ves rubbed his smooth-shaven chin. "I see what you're driving towards. We can try and seek cooperation with other powers, but to be honest I'm not optimistic about that. Our clan is too weak and the people who we want to get close to can already find better partners. In comparison, the rebels from your Voiken Family are much worse off. Beggars can't be choosers. They'll be lucky to find any willing partner! The thing is… what can the Voikens do for the Larkinson Clan? I mean, they don't have a foundation in the Red Ocean so I doubt they can supply us with raw materials."

　　This was a good question, but Dulo still saw advantages to cooperating with the relatives of his old family.

　　"Give them a bit of time. The situation will definitely change in five to ten years. In the meantime, the Voikens can provide funding, training, advanced technological goods and other forms of support. The Voikens also have a higher chance of entering into a partnership with a material supplier. Once that happens, if my old relatives can introduce us to their new partner, we will have a shortcut to our problem."

　　All of this sounded nice, but Ves felt this was a bit too much.

　　"Are you telling me that we should turn them into the fourth partner of the Golden Skull Alliance?"

　　Dulo shook his head. "No. They won't accept that. They won't bow to us. I think they are open to fair trades, though. We will need to hold more talks to know for certain. If you wish, I can call them right away. I'll be able to tell you what they need and what they can offer."

　　"Go ahead, then."

　　Though Ves still remained skeptical about this potential arrangement, he gave Dulo a chance to see whether he could create an opening.

　　Dulo spoke with someone for a couple of minutes. Once he was done, he turned back to Ves with a slightly optimistic expression.

　　"The relatives I've talked to are open to at least a temporary form of cooperation."

　　"What do they want?"

　　"They aren't interested in founding a colony in the Red Ocean. They instead want to set up a mech business in this new market."

　　"You're telling me they want to become a competitor. What makes you think there is a basis of cooperation between us?" Ves raised his eyebrow.

　　"Compared to the giants in the Red Ocean, we are hardly qualified competitors. Both of our groups are small fry. Instead of competing against each other, it makes much more sense to cooperate with each other. If we can find enough common ground, we can form a collective or consortium where we share resources, connections and market access with each other. This is especially helpful if we can rope in additional business partners. Though our clan and the Voikens will still focus on their own business ventures, by forming a united front, we can increase our bargaining power and make the other organizations in the Red Ocean take us seriously."

　　This was quite a bold idea! The suggestion went far beyond Ves' expectations. Even though he didn't think it was easy to form a collective, the potential of it sounded attractive enough to give it a chance.

　　"I like your idea, but there are way too many issues that need to be resolved. I don't have the time to handle this matter in person. Go take your proposal to Minister Shederin Purnesse. If he sees merit in setting up a collective, then he will offer his full support."

　　It would be extremely hard to bind different mech businesses together. Yet if they could actually pull it off, it would be a viable way for lots of smaller players to gain the bargaining power of a larger player!

　　Of course, the Larkinsons and the Voikens hardly constituted a collective. They needed to rope in more business partners in order to make a difference.

　　"This is an uphill struggle."

　　The biggest problem was uniting a lot of disparate organizations together when they all possessed different backgrounds, goals and ideals. Ves wasn't sure whether they could even get this idea off the ground!