The Mech Touch



Every Senior and higher became obsessed with earning teaching kudos from the Kingdom of Mechs.

This was because it was insanely difficult for mech designers to successfully advance to the rank of Master Mech Designer and Star Designer!

The huge disparity in numbers between Seniors, Masters and Star Designers already made that clear.

If mech designers weren't brilliant or clever enough to produce enough results in their regular work activities, then it was definitely worthwhile to spend more time on teaching classes.

This was because if mech designers became stagnant or got stuck in their current research, investing more time and effort into doing the same did not necessarily yield any further results.

The law of diminishing returns hit really hard in these instances.

It made sense for mech designers to focus on teaching instead. This not only allowed them to get into contact with new perspectives and enriched their theoretical understanding, but also encouraged the Kingdom of Mechs to give them the push they needed to make a breakthrough in their research!

An argument could be made that the Kingdom of Mechs explicitly distorted the mech industry to enforce an unnatural pattern of behavior.

Ves was sure if this mechanism did not exist, much fewer mech designers would be willing to waste their time on raising ignorant brats!

He had no problem with this reward mechanism, though. Many mech designers including himself benefited massively from the open and accessible learning environment. It would have been a lot harder for them to get started if the discipline of mech designer was only reserved for a small group of rich and wealthy elites!

"How much time do mech designers have to spend on teaching them for the benefits to become significant enough?"

Master Goldstein smiled. "There is no single answer to that question. More promising and talented mech designers such as yourself likely do not need to prioritize this too much. Nonetheless, it is always worthwhile for every mech designer to spend at least a few hours of their day on offering guidance to future mech designers. This is because the reward scale is not linear. Even a small but earnest effort will already earn you a healthy amount of recognition from the Kingdom of Mechs. After that, it becomes harder to earn more benefits as you teach more students. You will still gain more advantages, but they will not be as great as before."

This meant that the quantity strategy had its limits. Blindly teaching a lot of students was not necessarily profitable anymore if it took too much time away from core design activities.

"If this is the case, then I suppose it is important for mech designers such as myself to strike the right balance." Ves concluded. "Our research and design projects are part of our fundamentals, so we cannot neglect these core activities. Teaching a little bit already helps, but teaching more students and taking up a greater share of their curriculums will cause the Kingdom of Mechs to recognize us more."

The MTA Master nodded. "You have a good understanding of this already. What I also have to add is that the environment has a large influence on your 'yield'. The majority of third-class mech design students have a low ceiling. They may become household names in their states, but it is unlikely for them to radiate their work any further. Second-class mech designers are much more rewarding overall. They can design stronger mechs that have greater significance and they can more easily advance to the higher ranks."

Ves recalled Master Benedict mentioning that it was always better to teach at any first-class mech design university than the most renowned second-class mech design university.

Was it because of this? Was it easier for first-class mech designers to realize their design philosophies and attain great success in their careers?

"What about first-class mech designers, Master?"

"The study environment of first-raters is different. Many schools impose high entry requirements. Combined with their extensive augmentations, the average quality of a group of first-class mech design students is much higher. With their strong foundations and stronger state or family support, first-class mech designers are more likely to advance, though the absolute yield still remains fairly low."

From what Ves could understand through his prior studies, first-class mech designers were able to reach the Journeyman and Senior ranks with greater ease due to their superior study and work circumstances.

It was the jump to Master that truly challenged them. First-class mech designers had become too accustomed to relying on their augmentations, family support and the conveniences granted by high technology that they lacked too much practice in conducting original research.

It was not easy for them to rely purely on themselves to blaze a new trail in an untouched or underutilized branch of technology!

That said, first-class mech designers weren't all that shabby. Their superior environments and individual circumstances made a huge difference. Their work was also a lot more directly related to raising the upper ceiling of mechs, so even minor first-class innovations yielded greater rewards from the Kingdom of Mechs!

Ves slowly nodded. "I have a clearer understanding of the importance of the quality of students. I guess I need to find the best possible mech design universities that are open to hiring a mech designer like myself. What do you think about my prospects?"

It was a certainty that Master Vayro Goldstein studied everything that the MTA knew about Ves. Someone as clever as an MTA Master must have already put a lot of thought on this subject.

The bald Master looked ready to share his own thoughts. "You are not a conventional teaching candidate to say the least. Educational institutions generally seek teachers who have proven to possess a certain degree of stability. In addition, you are too young. You may have accrued more accomplishments and designed more excellent mechs than your peers, but your proven qualities do not necessarily match the requirements that schools seek in their teaching staff."

That did not sound good, but Ves already expected to hear this kind of answer. He knew quite well that he did not exactly fit the mold of a good and reliable teacher.

"I already tutored three students. They are all doing well. I have high expectations for Ketis Larkinson, Maikel Larkinson and Zanthar Larkinson."

"We are aware of that. You have set them on the right path, but you have done so through individual tutoring in person, which is different from teaching large classes at formal mech design universities, especially if you are doing so from remote. You will have to prove that you possess a different set of skills that are more relevant to this mode of teaching, but your relatively young age and lack of experience will prevent school administrations from taking you more seriously."

Although all of this sounded bad, Ves refused to believe he had no way of overcoming this hurdle!

"Alright." He said. "I do not fit the mold of a traditional professor. However, I have advantages that few if any other teachers possess. I am an adventurous mech designer who has gone through multiple expeditions. I have collected seven masterwork certificates during my Journeyman years. I am a tier 6 galactic citizen. I am a senior contributor of restricted technology. Do I need to go on, Master?"

"I believe that there are second-class mech design universities that are more than open to the idea of allowing you to teach specialized and elective courses. For example, you can teach students the basic principles of how to design or work with living mechs. You can teach them how to organize their own expeditions in the frontier. If you have proven your teaching skills and earned more trust from the school, then you may have an opportunity to teach more foundational courses such as physics, electromagnetism and mech assembly. I believe you will do particularly well in the latter."

All of that sounded pretty nice actually, but the only problem that Ves had with this answer was that Goldstein only assumed that Ves would be able to get a teaching position at a second-class mech design university.

"What will it take for me to get a teaching position at a first-class mech design university?"

The MTA Master dropped his smile. "You have a greedy appetite, Mr. Larkinson. I am not discouraging you, but I must warn you that you must be ready for disappointment. Frankly speaking, the fact that you are not a first-class mech designer will already cause most first-class institutions to disqualify you outright. It will tarnish their reputation and 'lower their standards' if they dare to hire you. This is your first obstacle."

"You said most, but not all. There should still be first-class schools that are open-minded enough to look at second-raters such as myself, right?"

"Yes, but these very same institutions demand the very best of what second-class society can offer. There are many mech designers who are much older, more experienced, more accomplished and more intelligent than you. You may be able to exceed them in other capacities, but not in the criteria that first-class schools value the most. Your insistence on becoming a remote teacher as opposed to a mech designer who is willing to teach at a physical campus removes even more options."

"Damnit." Ves quietly cursed. "Well, I can't blame these elitist schools. The amount of second-class mech designers who apply for teaching jobs must be overwhelming. It is really hard for me to stand out from the competition."

"My advice to you is to be more modest and work towards increasing your teaching qualifications step-by-step. There is no problem with teaching at a respectable second-class institution. As long as you spend two or three decades teaching classes while earning high appraisals from your students, you will slowly increase your eligibility to teach more important classes. This will enable you to apply for more prestigious schools. Combined with your increasing accomplishments in your mech design work, you should become eligible to teach at a first-class mech design university within a century."

That was too slow! Perhaps a Master who could live for at least half a millennium did not think so, but Ves was way too impatient to start from the bottom.

He wanted to get in touch with first-class mech designers right away! If he had any chance of skipping the awful grind and parachuting himself into a first-class school, then he needed to fight for this opportunity with all of his effort!

"I may have… a piece of information for you that may change your evaluation of my chances of obtaining a teaching position at a first-class mech design university."

"Hmmm? You seem serious. Very well, then. Please make your case."

Ves shiftily looked around the large and mostly empty office. "Is this… a secure place to talk? I recently made a huge advancement in my work that has massive implications. I dare not say it is true, but one of the implications has such a massive effect on the mech community and our society as a whole that it will definitely make a lot of people crazy. I really do not want this to get leaked."

To his credit, Master Goldstein did not show any doubt towards Ves. The man simply took action and activated a command that caused the entire office to change.

Additional energy screens and physical walls emerged around them and enveloped the two mech designers in an isolating bubble.

The air became charged with different interfering energies. A lot of electronics and advanced tech suddenly became inert.

"Ah!"

Ves could feel that the changed environment induced a lot of pressure on his cranial implant!

It would have shut down already if his bioimplant hadn't undergone a sublimation that caused it to evolve away from its original parameters!

Although Ves managed to keep his cranial implant active despite the unfriendly circumstances, he had no choice but to endure a persistent ache in his head.

Fortunately, Ves had withstood worse in the past. He could easily tolerate a small headache as long as it did not go on for days.

"This space is secure now. I personally designed and built these security measures by myself. If you trust in my ability, you can trust that anything we say here will remain confidential."

That was good enough. Only Star Designers could build anything better.

Ves felt a lot more reassured with the extensive security measures. He took a deep breath and presented the information that was certain to have a lot of meaning to the MTA!

"It is like this. If you have been paying attention to me, then you should know that I recently completed my Dullahan Project. This expert space knight has a special feature called the Carmine System. In the process of its first activation, its pilot made a massive discovery…"