The Mech Touch

The momentum of the Pacifier model was almost non-existent at first.

The LMC only sporadically received orders for the new product after Ves held his groundbreaking presentation.

Most of those customers turned out to be attendees who had waited and put more thought into their decisions before deciding to pull the trigger.

There were also leaders who decided to buy a Pacifier or two after hearing the praises of their subordinates who had experienced the product reveal event.

The Larkinsons did not leave it at that and started a more extensive marketing campaign in order to generate more awareness in the mech community.

Ves gave interviews. His clan set up numerous live demonstration events throughout Davute. The LMC even advertised on various news portals and mech portals.

Though demand slowly ticked up due to these efforts, it looked as if the LMC was wasting hundreds of MTA credits on ineffectual advertising.

However, Ves never lost faith in his product and finally got rewarded when the trend started to rise three to four months after the initial reveal!

"We just received an order for 75 Pacifiers!"

"A major mercenary organization ordered 500 Pacifiers yesterday!"

"The backlog of Pacifiers is growing bigger. While we still have plenty of room to expand the production capacity of our manufacturing plant, our material suppliers can't keep up with the increasing amount of resources needed to produce our machines!"

One day after another, Ves received news indicating that the demand of the Pacifier had grown by at least ten times in a relatively short interval of time!

"What changed, Benny?"

"A lot of stories about our Pacifier mechs have spread throughout the local mech community. The mercenaries that bought our products have used them in numerous different missions by now. Their experiences with our new mech model are almost universally positive!"

Another reason why the demand had shot up was because the Voikens had achieved results as well around this time.

Unlike Ves who set his sights on the private sector that he was most familiar with, Professor Taigen Voiken exclusively approached public sector clients.

While the Voikens did not manage to win over the authorities responsible for maintaining order in port systems and major colonies, they succeeded in making inroads with the leaders of smaller colonies and settlements.

Unlike the law enforcement agencies of major colonies, the ones in charge of keeping the peace in smaller settlements often struggled to do their jobs!

While there were less troublemakers at more rural towns and cities, a single rogue mech could easily cause a lot of devastation!

The lack of funding and appropriate personnel made it difficult for settlements to receive adequate protection. Everything was expensive and pioneers who struggled to make a profit in the frontier simply couldn't afford the more expensive toys that were also more effective.

The Pacifier model neatly met their needs. While its technical configuration was rather basic, its price tag was low enough to fall within the budgets of many struggling settlements.

As the Voikens started to deliver the Pacifiers to their first clients, the users of the new machines discovered that just one of them was enough to make a qualitative difference in peacekeeping operations!

A single Pacifier could break up an escalating fight.

A single Pacifier could restore a hysterical crowd to sanity.

A single Pacifier could stop a rampaging exobeast horde in its tracks.

As the new law enforcement model began to exhibit more and more uses at different rural settlements, word of it soon spread out, thereby leading to an increased amount of interest from customers based in both the Magair Middle Zone and the Krakatoa Middle Zone!

Sales had grown so quickly that the Larkinsons had to accelerate their efforts to expand their manufacturing plant's production capacity and forge new contracts with material suppliers.

Though Ves expected a turnaround to take place, the trend continued to climb upwards without any slowdown even after the Pacifier model finally became known to the greater mech community.

"Good news, boss! Our Pacifier model has gained the status of a bestseller! It has become one of the hottest new products in the category of peacekeeping mechs of this year! Better yet, the Davute Planetary Guard has finally taken note of our product and ordered 400 copies at once!"

"What?! Really?"

The fact that the main law enforcement group of one of the busiest trading hubs of Krakatoa finally saw fit to buy his Pacifier mechs was a major breakthrough!

Not only did it mean that the Pacifier finally gained credibility among the most important clients in the middle zone, but millions if not billions of residents and visitors would finally get exposed to his work!

Each time the local Planetary Guard sent a Pacifier mech out on patrol, a lot of people would see and possibly experience a measure of its glow in person.

The authorities effectively advertised his work this way!

Ves knew that sales for the Pacifier model would definitely reach new records if that was the case!

"Can you tell me more about this major order?"

"From what I have read, the Davute Planetary Guard originally wanted to purchase a larger batch of 2,000 Pacifier mechs, but they lowered their order when they heard how long it took for us to deliver all of the machines. The client also got discouraged after learning that Voiken Industries has not yet published the right variants that perform better in specific situations."

"Hm, that's a shame, but it takes time for the Voikens to flesh out their new mech ecosystem."

Despite this minor setback, the spread of Pacifiers on the streets of Kotor City and other settlements on Davute VII quickly raised the popularity of the mech model!

Though it was far from the only product sold by the LMC, its incredible success and rapidly growing number of fans provided the Larkinson Clan with a growing amount of cash and influence!

It was the first but certainly not the last product that facilitated the explosive rise of the Larkinson Clan!

As Ves held another virtual meeting with Professor Taigen after the Pacifier turned into a bestseller for both of their mech companies, their respective situations had drastically changed.

Ves and the Larkinson Clan had turned from upstarts into a part of Davute's establishment.

Meanwhile, The Voiken Family that had settled in the Magair Middle Zone not only achieved financial security, but also gained acceptance from the community!

Both of them acknowledged that they couldn't have achieved so much success if they worked separately. The relations between the Larkinson Clan and the Voiken Family had warmed up considerably as a consequence.

When Ves and Professor Taigen informed each other of the developments related to the Pacifier model and the LaVoi System that became increasingly more fleshed out, the two reflected on the reasons for its popularity.

"We recognized a need in the Red Ocean and offered a product that fulfilled it better than any of the competition." Professor Taigen said. "It is not that our competition has been complacent all of this time. There are many products on the market that offer their own advantages. Your specialty may not be the strongest in the most objective sense, but it happens to be highly complementary to the role that law enforcement mechs are expected to fulfill."

This was a clear example that showed that mech models with the highest specs were not necessarily the ones that customers needed the most.

There was still room in the mech market for unconventional mech designers who offered alternative solutions to long-standing problems!

"It also helps that the Pacifier model is one of the few law enforcement mechs that are popular among a wider customer base. It is not just the Planetary Guard organizations that have grown to appreciate the functions of our collaborative work."

Professor Taigen's smile turned awkward. "That is… correct. I have to admit that I overlooked the appeal of our product from the private sector. While I can still foresee how useful the Pacifier can be to professional security companies, it is notable how many mercenary outfits have learned to use our work in more offensive operations."

The Senior Mech Designer felt quite ambivalent about this development.

On one hand, the man had grown up and designed his mechs with the belief that his products not only promoted law and order within human space, but also benefited humanity as a whole.

Letting mercenaries and other miscellaneous take advantage of the Pacifier's glow in other situations might still result in greater order, but it was not necessarily certain whether this development was a boon to human civilization!

This was because tyrants, criminals and oppressors had discovered that it became a lot easier to bully their targets if they used the Pacifiers to soften up the opposition!

Ves wasn't necessarily happy with this development either, but that did not mean he wanted his mech company to restrict its sales!

The Pacifier had become the main cash cow of the Larkinson Clan at this point.

The model also expanded the brand awareness of Ves and the LMC by an explosive degree, thereby making it easier for them to sell their other commercial mech models that would have otherwise gone unnoticed!

"You have a great gift, Ves." Taigen praised his business partner. "No, that is not entirely accurate. You have worked harder than many other Journeymen your age to develop an entirely different dimension of mech strengthening. The progress you have made so far has already allowed you to impart your mech designs with brand-new capabilities that other competitors cannot answer, at least for the time being."

Ves loved to receive acknowledgement for his work. Though his contributions to the Pacifier design was admittedly rather limited, he was still the key reason why the Voiken Family was on the rise in the Red Ocean!

"Thank you for the compliments, Taigen. You are not that bad yourself. I think you just need to make a single major breakthrough for you to realize your design philosophy and elevate the rest of the LaVoi System to the next level by yourself."

Professor Taigen sighed and shook his head. "You are being too optimistic, Ves. I am cognizant of my strengths and limitations. I will need to revise my original plans and seek a more promising pathway to Master if I wish to maintain my pride as a mech designer."

"Hehehe…" Ves awkwardly rubbed his head.

"I do not blame you, my friend. I am thankful to you. Without your wakeup call, I would have settled for advancing to Master through more modest means. Now that I am aware of the greater possibilities at our disposal, I have liberated my imagination and begun to explore ideas that I have never entertained before. Again, thank you for that, Ves. You have set me on the path of a better future for myself."

"You… are welcome."

Professor Taigen smiled. "I am not accustomed to holding debts, so let me repay my debt to you right now. Have you or any of your men thought about exploiting the commercial value of some of your other glows?"

"What do you mean by that, professor?"

"It is quite simple, my friend. Your background in combat mechs had caused you to focus too much on thinking on how you can leverage your existing selection of glows to mechs designed for battle and war. However, do you know that there is an enormous market for mechs that are not designed for combat? Do you know how many industrial mechs are sold in the Red Ocean per month?"

"Uhhhh…"

"There is a huge untapped market for industrial mechs that can motivate and increase the loyalty of their mech pilots and the workers around them. I believe that there are many warehouse owners and factory operators that would embrace an industrial mech that incorporates the glow of your Desolate Soldier."

Ves widened his eyes.

Before Professor Taigen made this suggestion, Ves had always considered the Solemn Guardian to be one of his earlier and less impressive design spirits.

Compared to the versatility of the Superior Mother or the lethality of Helena, the Solemn Guardian was nothing impressive in combat!

Its duty-based glow may be useful on the battlefield, but the combat mechs that Ves envisioned with it did not sound exciting to him anymore!

This was different, though. Professor Taigen's incredibly insightful tip opened an entirely new window of possibilities to Ves!

He realized that there were plenty of situations where his glows could complement mechs designed for peaceful applications rather than combat applications!