The Mech Touch



Though Ves did not spend as many days on optimizing the Ghost Project as Gloriana and Master Benedict, he did not need to make as many changes either.

This was because the Ghost Project did not share as many similarities with the Dullahan Project in relation to his design philosophy.

The Dullahan Project's defining feature was the first real implementation of the Carmine System.

It made a lot of sense to bind Venerable Jannzi to an expert mech that reminded her a lot of her previous machine.

Ves could not apply the same argument for Venerable Zimro Belson.

As an expert pilot who had only emerged fairly recently, Venerable Zimro had no affection to any specific mech or mech design. The stealth mechs he piloted in the past were third-party products that the Black Cats procured from the mech market. None of them served as a viable basis for a Blood Pact.

Although Ves could ask whether Venerable Zimro wanted to develop a strong relationship with his upcoming expert stealth mech right away, it was way too premature to make this offer.

The man had never piloted a powerful stealth mech before. The Ghost Project was also unique and beyond anything the mech industry had ever produced.

What if Zimro disliked the Geist System?

What if he wanted to pilot an expert light skirmisher instead?

What if he did not want to tie his entire life to the continued existence of a single machine?

The Blood Pact was a serious lifelong commitment. A single mistake could literally doom the career of an expert pilot with endless potential!

In any case, the Ghost Project had nothing to do with the Carmine System, so a lot of the lessons he learned from the latest Superpublished design became irrelevant.

Ves could only make small technical improvements as well as refine the spiritual foundation of the Ghost Project a little further.

None of this took too much time. Once he became satisfied with his results, he finalized his work and prepared to fabricate the mech design.

Ves had high hopes for the Ghost Project.

Despite all of the excitement that took place after completing the Dullahan Project, the Larkinson Clan's first expert stealth mech was also a heavyweight in terms of innovation!

"This is going to turn into a real treasure." He grinned.

He also wanted to find out how much better his fabrication skills had grown now that he had become a Senior Mech Designer.

Normally speaking, it was barely possible for Senior Mech Designers to fabricate masterwork mechs.

Ves did not exactly know why this was the case. Was it because their connection to the Kingdom of Mechs provided them with an invisible boost, or was it intrinsic to their own abilities?

It would be great if the latter was the case, but Ves could still accept the former outcome.

He had the feeling that the Kingdom of Mechs shouldn't be able to make that much of a difference, though.

The reason why he thought this way was because a lot of high-ranking mech designers never bothered with fabricating their own designs.

Even if they did work with their hands, the quality of their mechs were unlikely to surpass the masterwork threshold.

Ves already came up with his own theory that explained the difference. If his suspicions were true, then his success rate should be substantially higher than before!

All of the benefits he obtained after designing so many masterwork mechs as a Journeyman did not disappear into smoke.

That accumulation still existed and turned him into a better mech designer!

It was just that Ves could not leverage this advantage as well as before due to his limitations as a Journeyman.

"That is no longer the case. Since other Seniors already have the capability to fabricate masterwork mechs on their own, my conditions should definitely be a lot better!"

If Ves already received a massive improvement, then Gloriana would most definitely become a lot more outrageous once she finally broke through to Senior as well!

Both Ves and Gloriana possessed different interpretations of what constituted a masterwork mech.

Years of cooperation allowed them to grow familiar with each other's design styles and minimize the contradictions between their respective design styles.

So long as Gloriana advanced to Master and became a lot more effective at making masterwork mechs, Ves believed that their success rate when combining forces would definitely skyrocket!

Although it was too far to think about making a grand work, Ves had little doubt that he and his wife would be able to close the gap a lot more.

This would be especially the case once they both advanced to the rank of Master Mech Designer!

Ves shook his head. "It is way too premature to think about this. I need to finish the Ghost Project first."

He took time off in order to correct his mindset and put him in the best possible state of mind for this important activity.

He spent time with his children and played with them. Though his kids did not like it when their parents were about to close themselves off again in order to fabricate yet another mech, this time was a little better.

"The Ghost Project isn't as large and massive as the Dullahan Project." Ves gently told Marvaine as he held his son in his lap. "We don't have to fabricate as many parts. The ones we do have to make are also smaller and a lot faster to make. One of the challenges of the Dullahan Project was that we had to process a lot of first-class alloys that are exceptionally tough and difficult to shape. The Seferath AQ-3M Active Stealth System is not an armor system, so it is nowhere near as tough as the Bolton Armor. If nothing goes wrong, we will be able to complete this fabrication run in 5 whole days."

Ves and his wife would be putting their minds, bodies and spirits under greater stress yet again by skipping so much sleep shortly after fabricating the Dullahan Project.

However, just enough time had passed since the last fabrication run for the both of them to be in a good enough shape to maintain their health.

Once the day finally arrived, Ves entered a familiar workshop located deep within the Genesis Lab.

It still held two different first-class superfabs like last time. His own AP-VEX along with Master Benedict's personal superfab which he had yet to take back to the Cross Development Center had already gone through several rounds of inspection and preventative maintenance.

Gloriana shifted her attention away from a report about the prepared raw materials when her husband arrived.

"What is your condition, Ves?"

"I feel good. I am eager to get to work and realize the Ghost Project. I poured so much love, expectation and passion into its design that completing it is another major sign of progress for my design philosophy."

His wife smiled and briefly hugged him as he came close. "We are all looking forward to what Ves the Senior Mech Designer can accomplish in the workshop. Your understanding of mechs is much better than before, and you should be able to connect with them on a deeper level as well. You have left a significantly stronger imprint on the latest version of the design. This should all aid you in fabricating a higher quality mech."

Her expectations were a bit high, so much so that Ves was afraid of disappointing her. Their previous attempt with the Dullahan Project did not end up well due to the added difficulties of fabricating a quasi-first-class transphasic expert mech.

The good news was that both of them learned a lot of lessons from that attempt. They would no longer get stumped by many new problems and already knew what to do when they encountered similar challenges.

The only question was whether the mech designers who hadn't been involved in the Dullahan Project could keep up as well.

Gloriana glanced towards Miles Tovar and Cormaunt Hempkamp. The two were a lot newer and had no experience with fabricating a mech of this caliber!

"I have tried to accommodate them as best I can." She explained. "I allocated the fabrication assignments so that they will solely get involved if their tasks are directly related to their design philosophies. I have also written a manual for them that explains the common problems that they will encounter when they work with first-class materials. Neither of the two are qualified to work with transphasic materials, so we will need to make up for their shortcomings."

"That won't be a problem. The issue with transphasic materials only applies to Miles Tovar. The transphasic flight system incorporates a substantial amount of phasewater. Neural interfaces have no use for this substance."

The good news was that neither Miles nor Cormaunt contributed all that much to the development of the Ghost Project. They functioned similarly to Ketis in that they only worked on what they excelled at and nothing more.

After Ves got up to speed by talking to his wife, he soon approached the pair of Journeymen.

Both of them were rather low on the Design Department's totem pole, but for different reasons.

Miles was a recent graduate from the clan's own design teams. He was an old-timer among the Larkinsons and steadily built his way up after years of diligent design work and accumulation.

His potential was not that high, but Ves did not look down on Miles because of that. The man was loyal and still had a chance to undergo a metamorphosis.

Cormaunt was a lot more promising as Ves hired him only recently. He was a true second-class mech designer with a proper foundation. This meant his potential was a lot higher. His chances of realizing his design philosophy were definitely higher!

"Hello. Are both of you ready to do the work that we demand from you?" Ves asked in a direct fashion. "I have high expectations for this fabrication run, so if there is anything you are uncomfortable with, you will need to bring it up now. It would be too late to mention your problems when we have already begun."

Miles looked pensive. "To be honest, sir, I think it may be better to allow you or your wife to fabricate the flight system without my involvement. I haven't been able to design the flight system for such a high-end expert mech without relying on the assistance of your wife and outside developers. I have too little experience in fabricating mechs and I am even less confident in my ability to handle so many exceedingly expensive materials."

His concerns were certainly valid, but Ves did not allow Miles to shirk his responsibilities that easily.

"Relax." Ves said as he reached out and patted the man's shoulder. "Do not forget that we are a team. The Ghost Project is your work as well as mine. It is unconscionable for you to be left out of the party. Don't worry. My wife and I will constantly guide and monitor you as you undertake your work. You need to learn how to pull your own weight, and the best way to do so is to get started for real right away. It is unacceptable for any mech designer in our Design Department to avoid fabrication work. This is one of the best aspects about designing mechs."

Cormaunt nodded. "The patriarch is correct, Miles. I do not want to remain stuck as a Journeyman for too long. If I want to advance to Senior faster, then we need to learn from his example and embrace the practical side of mech design."

"That is easy for you to say. Your responsibility begins and ends with designing the neural interface."

"Hey, that is not entirely accurate! I am also assigned to assist Ves in fabricating a part of the Geist System!"

"Don't take the plan too seriously, you two." Ves warned. "The situation can always change once we begin. It may not be ideal, but you should always be prepared to deviate from the original planning."

Ves already had a feeling that this fabrication run would be different. His recent advancement to Senior had changed him in ways that he couldn't describe. He was eager to find out how that related to his craftsmanship!