The Mech Touch

A part of Ves was thankful that Merril O'Brian was the only rational mech designer in the Larkinson Clan as far as he knew.

Mech designers of this ilk were very rare outside of the MTA because it was much more difficult to advance up the ranks with such an exotic design approach.

Ves had always remained fairly possessive of his unique design solutions, so he instinctively rejected any instances where other mech designers could copy the reason why he was able to beat the competition.

However, another part of him felt that it was regrettable that there weren't more mech designers like Merrill in the clan.

As Ves continued to grow and expand his design capabilities, he gradually became less insecure about his own worth and competence.

Even if others succeeded in copying his living mechs, so what? Ves had developed many other advanced design solutions that gave his work an even greater edge in battle!

He was confident that no one could fully steal all of the design techniques and methods that caused his works to become more and more impressive over time!

As such, Ves did not feel that Merrill's breakthrough was that big of a threat to him as it was in the past.

He could already tell from her first successful attempt that her mastery and understanding of living mechs was still at a rudimentary stage.

When Ves was at this level, it took him many years for him to reach his current level!

Though Merrill would doubtlessly be able to make faster progress at first due to her ability to copy Ves' homework, eventually she would slow down and get stalled as she hit a wall.

Ves did not believe that Merrill could completely figure him out to the point of being able to simulate everything he utilized to design his living mechs. It was simply impossible for her to be able to build a complete model of him without going through all of his experiences!

Still, what she managed to pull off on her own was already impressive in its own right. Her accomplishment also opened up a lot of interesting new possibilities.

He did not have to babysit every living mech design project, for example. Although his intervention was doubtlessly necessary for most essential and complicated design projects, there were many other mech designs that were less intensive and important.

The increasing number of variant mech design projects that the Design Department took on as of late was a good example.

Even if Merrill was not that proficient in living mechs as of yet, with a bit more guidance she could turn into an adequate substitute for Ves!

With someone like Merrill available, Ves could take longer vacations without worrying that the ongoing design projects at the Design Department would stagnate without his involvement.

Ves could also bounce his ideas off Merrill and gain another perspective on his living mech designs.

In fact, once Merrill became more proficient in simulating his design philosophy, they could even hold a more fruitful exchange where they could learn more ways to exploit living mechs because two minds were always better than one!

As Ves continued to discuss what Merrill could do and how they could cooperate in the future, Gloriana suddenly interrupted their conversation by asking a different question.

"How much progress have you made in emulating other people's design philosophies and approaches?" She pressed the new Journeyman. "Are you able to copy my work as well?"

"I… can do that, but it would require time for me to master the basics of your operation." Merrill calmly replied. "While your design philosophy is easier to emulate, the problem I face is that your design approach is intertwined with highly advanced technical design solutions that are beyond my ability to understand and replicate. The way you think and design your mechs is much more sophisticated on a technical level. That makes you much more different from your husband who prefers to simplify his work and think in broad strokes."

Gloriana looked as if she couldn't decide whether this reflected well or poorly on her as a mech designer.

On one hand, Merrill's difficulty in emulating Gloriana's work reflected the Hexer's excellence in mech design.

Gloriana clearly made a lot of progress in developing her design philosophy as well as her technical design capabilities. The greater her progress, the harder it became for others to catch up to her level!

One the other hand, Gloriana's difficult work also made it harder for Merrill or another rational mech designer to copy her work.

Certainly, Master Willix had demonstrated her ability to emulate Gloriana's design approach a few years ago, but that was because the MTA Master was much more versed in the science and engineering of mechs.

No Journeyman could come close to matching the technical prowess of a Master Mech Designer, so people like Merrill had to invest a lot of time and effort into book learning in order to catch up to the likes of Gloriana.

"I think… Merrill might be able to get close to reproducing a number of your design solutions, but it wouldn't be an efficient use of her time." Ves said to his wife. "First, your specialty is primarily relevant in individual custom mechs and expert mechs. These are always high-priority design projects that deserve to receive the best care and attention that we can offer."

Gloriana vigorously nodded. "That is right. No offense, Merrill, but our expert pilots deserve better than a cheap imitation. Leave the design of our most powerful and important mechs to me. It is better if you focus your efforts on using your versatility to design mass production mech models."

"There are other design philosophies that I have been exposed to that I am reasonably confident in emulating." Merrill stated. "As you already know, it takes time, effort and diligence to get started on them. It takes even more learning and practice to become good enough to meet the standards of our clan. I need to pick and choose my options carefully."

Ves rubbed his smooth-shaven chin as he thought about where she should focus her efforts.

"How easy is it for you to emulate Ketis' design philosophy."

The young woman slightly frowned. "I do not have much confidence in my ability to copy her work. To be honest, her mentality and approach to her own work is relatively easy to understand. I know how her professional mind looks at mechs. The issue I have with her design philosophy is that I need to develop such an extreme love for swords and swordsmen mechs that it is almost impossible to replicate. Her strengths also encompass more elements that I can never replicate."

Ketis was not just a Journeyman, but also a swordmaster, which was an entirely different brand of weirdness.

She was arguably even more irrational than Ves! It was not surprising that Merrill did not possess the confidence to emulate Ketis' work.

"It's okay. Her specialty is rather narrow and not applicable to every mech." Ves said. "I think it is more useful to focus on more universal specialties that can be applied to a wide variety of mechs. Sara Voiken's defensive specialization is a good example."

Merrill shook her head. "I have a different opinion on this matter. I do not see much value in mastering Sara's design philosophy because you can recruit other mech designers with similar defensive specializations. Though their design philosophies may not be an exact mirror to that of Sara, they will still be able to fulfill the same purpose."

"I see. You're right." Ves said. "Instead of aiming for universality, you are better off prioritizing the design approaches that are less orthodox but nonetheless useful to many mechs. My design philosophy is a perfect example of that. My living mechs are incredibly useful but no one else has been able to publish their own versions of it. You can change that if you continue to study my design philosophy and specific design solutions in the future."

He already understood that rational mech designers were not innovators by nature. They did not practice their ability to come up with new solutions on their own but became crazy good at studying and reproducing the essence of other people's design solutions!

They could be regarded as parasites in a sense, but only in cases where they did not give back to the sources they stole from. If they actively cooperated with the mech designers they tried to emulate, then both sides could benefit from this relationship!

Ves wanted to make sure that Merrill would turn into an asset in the Design Department. He thought hard about who she should work closely with and which design philosophies she should prioritize.

It would have been great if Merrill had access to Jovy Armalon!

The MTA Journeyman's unique and brilliant design philosophy was both unconventional and extremely useful, so much so that the mechers were willing to put him on an elite track!

Unfortunately, Jovy disappeared ever since Ves granted him a companion spirit. Who knew where the man could be found these days.

"For now, you should definitely work closer with me, but other than that, I think it might be useful if you collaborated more extensively with Sara Voiken."

"Are you certain, Ves?" Gloriana skeptically asked. "You know it's only a matter of time before we will be able to hire more defensive specialists."

"That is true, but that does not mean that Merrill should forgo this option. The power of a rational mech designer is that she can effectively pick and choose the design philosophies that she wants to combine in her solo projects. That can lead to unusual combinations and synergies that were not apparent before. In order to get her to this point, she needs to develop a broad and varied repertoire. Being able to master at least one defensive design philosophy is a necessary step that she has to take. After that, I suggest she try to emulate Juliet's design philosophy."

Merrill did not immediately agree with this suggestion. "It may take years for me to emulate their design philosophies. I need to study a large amount of subjects in order to build up the knowledge base to properly understand and imitate their work. I am afraid it may take well over a decade to gain a decent amount of proficiency."

"Take your time, Merrill. We have been doing fine without your help for a long time. I would rather wait until you have built up a proper foundation before employing you in more strategic assignments. I can already think of several good uses for your talents."

The biggest advantage of Merrill was that she could serve as a reasonable substitute for several mech designers that she had studied.

This meant that she could act as their surrogate in other locations!

For example, if a client needed Ves' help in person, he could send Merrill in his stead to solve problems related to living mechs.

If his clan ever grew large enough that it was spread out over many different locations, then mech designers like Merrill could be quite handy in troubleshooting problems at various sites.

In the end, Merrill took up his advice and began to collaborate more extensively with Ves, Juliet and Sara.

For the latter three, it was much like teaching their knowledge and methods to an apprentice.

By imparting all of this to a rational mech designer, Merrill soon proved her worth by repackaging and reinterpreting what she learned into a more cohesive theoretical model that was considerably more systematic.

It was as if Merrill was a computer that converted irregular input into more logical output!

This significantly helped Ves and the others understand their own work and put their own theories and techniques in a more systematic light.

By relying on these systematic theories, Ves was better able to convey his own design philosophy and perspective to other mech designers!

"So this is another reason why the MTA loves rational mech designers so much! They are essential to the process of translating the specific works of passionate mech designers into more universal forms!"