The Mech Touch

After seven days of constant and diligent work, the Minerva Project reached completion!

What was more, it had become a masterwork mech!

As soon as Commander Casella Ingvar symbolically baptized the expert command mech with her blood, everyone already understood that something remarkable was about to happen.

Every mech pilot and mech designer in the workshop looked reverently at the completed Minerva Project as it began to undergo a mysterious transformation.

Ves, Gloriana, Juliet, Sara and their external consultant Professor Benedict had managed to accomplish the unlikely and succeeded in creating another masterwork out of an expert mech!

This outcome completely shocked the only Senior Mech Designer who took part in this project. Not only did this remarkable outcome defy all of the odds, he had actually played an integral part in making it possible!

"I did this… for a mech I did not play a leading role…"

The Minerva Project was first and foremost a Larkinson mech, so the older man had to hold himself back. He was unable to apply as many of his unique design solutions to the mech design as he wished, so he initially did not care as much about the project as he should.

Much of that had changed at the end of the project. The inspiration he gained from working alongside the likes of Ves and sharing the joys and expectations of the younger Larkinson mech designers over the course of the fabrication run had completely changed his mentality towards his work.

The Minerva Project became more than a commission to him. It became a point of pride and a work that he genuinely wanted to succeed.

"Since when did I care so much?"

Through the influences passed on by the design network, Professor Benedict had gradually opened himself up to the feelings of the other mech designers.

They wanted Commander Casella to do well. They wanted the Minerva Project to become another champion mech that could protect their fellow clansmen. They wanted their work to become a masterwork mech because they assumed it was possible for them to attain this goal.

Before he knew it, Benedict had turned into a reflection of his younger self. It was surprising how much a bunch of Journeymen had caused him to adjust to them. The opposite usually took place!Pa nda

Novel As each of the mech designers became fascinated by the subtle transformation of the Minerva Project, Professor Benedict temporarily threw aside his distractions and immersed himself in what he could gain from his observations.

"Amazing…"

The Senior felt as if he reacquainted himself with the magic of delivering an excellent mech. How long had it been since he felt so accomplished and fulfilled about his product?

Seeing Commander Casella Ingvar bloom with joy made him happier. He had completed his purpose and delivered the best possible mech to his client. Even though he had done this many times over the decades he was active as a mech designer, he rarely if ever interacted with his clients directly in recent times.

This experience was a reminder of how keeping in touch with his customers could give his work more meaning.

ᴾᵃⁿᵈᵃ ⁿᵒᵛᵉˡ "I shouldn't have looked down on any of them. Their skills might not be as good as mine, but their confidence is crucial."

His diligence and his decision to be more accepting of the attitudes of the Larkinson mech designers paid off. Professor Benedict derived numerous little lessons from the masterwork transformation that provided him with a little more confidence in his ability to advance to Master.

At the very least, Professor Benedict could already think of a few ways to improve the performance of his upcoming Mars Project!

Even if he didn't derive any clear lessons from the Minerva Project's ascension to a masterwork mech, just the increase in his mech affinity was a valuable gift.

When Professor Benedict closed his eyes, he could feel the powerful mech a bit more clearly than before. He knew that he could gain an even better understanding of a mech even if he did not employ a scanner.

"How useful."

Mech affinity was a vague subject even for a Senior of his stature. It was an inherent quality that every qualified mech designer possessed, yet it was not a trait that could clearly be measured or defined.

There were certain people that used mech affinity as an indicator for talent in mech design, but this was far from the only variable that determined one's success in the mech industry.

There were brilliant mech designers who started off with low affinities but worked themselves up through hard work and thinking outside the box.

There were also mech designers who easily advanced to Senior by relying on their raw talent and excellent affinity, only to hit a wall that prevented them from getting an easy ride to Master.

At that point, it was no longer enough to rely so heavily on intuition and feelings to design better mechs! Mech designers needed to go outside their comfort zone where the most obvious answers weren't the best anymore.

As far as Professor Benedict knew, mech affinity was not an essential trait and could easily be substituted with knowledge and experience.

It was nice to have, though.

With all of the satisfaction he derived from making a brilliant masterwork mech after such a long time, the fact that his affinity and intuitive understanding of mechs became better was a sweet reward.

"We finally succeeded again! It's about time you stopped holding me back!" Gloriana exclaimed as the results validated her supreme confidence in her skills and fueled her conceit even further. "I'm about to receive my sixth masterwork certificate! Sixth!"

The others were happy about their work as well. Each of them had contributed a little bit towards turning the Minerva Project into a more powerful mech.

"It's not just a masterwork mech. It's also a third-order living mech." Ves uttered as he became engrossed with exploring the newborn mech's expanded personality.

Of all of the mech designers that took part in this run, Sara Voiken obtained the most benefits, especially given how little she brought to the table.

With no masterwork certificates under her belt, it was undeniable that she hadn't played a decisive role. Yet her excellent teamwork and the euphoria she brought after getting hit by a hammer played a helpful role in getting them closer.

To be honest, Professor Benedict hadn't imagined that the Minerva Project could go this far even at the very end. The parts the mech designers fabricated were good in quality but were not particularly exceptional aside from their greater uniformity and cohesion.

The assembly phase proceeded fairly well as well, but no one had shown a lot of brilliance during the last two days.

It was only when the Minerva Project was in its final hours that Benedict had an inkling that it might turn into a remarkable machine. Even then, the odds shouldn't have been that good!

When Professor Benedict looked back on how they all spent the last seven days, he formed a tentative conclusion.

"Emotions make all of the difference."

An older mech designer like himself had grown steadier over the years. While this was good in maintaining a consistent level of performance, it had also made it difficult for him to exceed his previous performance levels.

It was only when the Larkinson mech designers infected him with their youthful confidence that he had broken his own pattern.

He derived a great lesson from this experience!

"The power of youth is more useful than I expected!"

He should have collaborated more with younger mech designers if this was one of the benefits he could receive. It was harder for him to maintain his drive and passion towards improving his craft by himself. The erosion of years kept pushing him into taking it easy, but he resisted this urge as best he could.

This was why this experience affected him so much. He reinvigorated his passion in mech design by getting affected by the power of youth!

"I should collaborate more often with younger and less experienced mech designers!"

Professor Benedict recognized that it was likely difficult to replicate all of the boosts he received during this fabrication run. The absence of a design network was a major hindrance to replicating the incredible degree of coordination that he and the Larkinsons displayed.

However, plenty of mech designers were able to achieve success without resorting to such a trick. The Senior was highly confident in his ability to find his own way to derive strength from the power of youth in the future.

"Maybe it is time for me to go back to mentoring the younger generation of mech designers again."

He had mentored up-and-coming mech designers that displayed talent in the past. However, back then he never realized that he could lean on their youthful vigor and ignorance to rejuvenate his own attitude towards mech design.

The gains didn't outweigh the costs to him back then.  He thought differently, now.

As Professor Benedict turned his attention back to deciphering how their design team had succeeded in turning the Minerva Project into a masterwork mech, he recalled the impressive degree of confidence that the Larkinson mech designers displayed.

"Confidence is the key here." He hypothesized.

Earlier, he thought that Gloriana was foolish for assuming that she could make a masterwork mech just because she assumed that she would succeed.

No other Journeyman could be so conceited, yet Gloriana thought in the depths of her heart that she could do better than many Seniors and Masters!

The fact that her absurd attitude did not drag the Minerva Project down was surprising to Benedict.

It caused him to question his own assumptions towards making mechs. Was it truly right to maintain a more sober and skeptical attitude towards his work?

"Overestimating one's capabilities is not desirable… unless it stimulates us into rising up to the occasion!"

There was a name for this type of phenomenon.

If Professor Benedict's analysis of the situation was correct, then the truth did not necessarily matter.

This was because Gloriana and her fellow mech designers engaged in their own self-fulfilling prophecy!

They strongly believed in their ideal outcome and used it as a target for them to work towards. Although their target was insanely difficult to reach, their assumption that they could reach it caused them to work hard to meet their inflated expectations!

This eventually caused them to put in far more effort and emotion into their work, which ultimately caused their 'prophecy' to come true!

"The wonders of youth."

Gloriana actually taught Professor Benedict a valuable lesson with her display of fanaticism and conceit.

Though the Senior Mech Designer did not regard her personality traits highly, their ability to warp her expectations was immensely high!

This was a classical case of making the improbable happen by believing in it hard enough.

The difference here was that the difficulty in doing so was a lot higher!

Although the concept sounded easy enough, Professor Benedict knew that it was practically impossible for other Journeyman Mech Designers to succeed with this method.

They needed to believe with all of their hearts and minds that they could successfully create a masterwork mech, yet how could they truly accept this belief when they had never made this accomplishment beforehand?

Only abnormal personalities such as Ves and Gloriana succeeded in overcoming this immensely difficult hurdle.

As long as they succeeded once, they would definitely be able to succeed again! This was because their absurdly high confidence in their own abilities had a basis in truth, however small!

"I cannot even imagine how they managed to succeed in the beginning. How could they have possibly passed the initial hurdle?" He puzzlingly frowned.

Regardless, Professor Benedict had become inspired by the effectiveness of this approach.

Perhaps even a Senior like himself could adopt the same mindset over the impossible challenge that hindered his advancement to Master.

"If I think I deserve to be a Master hard enough, then I will likely get closer to realizing my ambitions!"