The Mech Touch

Ves and Master Goldstein actually had a pleasant chat about teaching.

Just like any other high-ranking mech designer, Vayro Goldstein spent a lot of time on teaching students as opposed to designing mechs.

He did not see this responsibility as a diversion, but saw it as an addition to his life and progression.

"You have reached a stage in your career where you will encounter more and more obstacles to work." Goldstein sincerely advised the relatively young associate. "You may be of the opinion that your relatively fast progress and frequent successes does not require you to depend on others at all, but that is not correct. As brilliant as you may be, you are only one mech designer. Have you faced situations where you wish to pursue an interesting new research project or develop the urge to design a new mech design, but ultimately choose not to do so because of your existing obligations?"

"Yes."

"I am not surprised. You are being confronted by a problem that plagues almost every mech designer at your stage. Mech design is a discipline that offers endless possibilities. We are plagued by choice, and this problem becomes more and more severe as you go deeper. You can only choose to pursue two or four directions of research as most. You do not have the time to take on any further projects. This is where carefully selected apprentices and proteges can relieve your growing burden."

Ves nodded in agreement. "I already understand the benefits of spreading my craft. I am not opposed to taking on apprentices, but it will take a lot of time for my teaching efforts to bear results. I haven't actually experienced too many years as a mech designer. 1 find it difficult to wait for years or even decades for a younger mech designer to become a Journeyman with a related design philosophy."

Goldstein smirked. "Ah. This is the downside of rapid progress. Your vision is still directed towards the present. Your perspective on time is still skewed towards the short term. That is not necessarily a fault, but it can indeed cause you to grow impatient when other factors are not progressing as fast as you. Be patient, Professor Larkinson. The further you go, the longer you have to wait to see your efforts bear fruit."

When Ves thought about how Maikel and Zanthar were taking their sweet time figuring out their design philosophies, he couldn't help but grow frustrated and impatient.

It was not fair to fault his two former students for making as much progress as other Apprentice Mech Designers, but there were times when he wanted to smack their heads and tell them to stop dilly-dallying around.

"Not every young mech designer can advance up the ranks as fast as you." Goldstein said as if he knew exactly what Ves was thinking. "It is not uncommon to wait for three or five decades for a young student who has benefited from your teachings to finally reach the stage where he or she becomes useful to you. At least your former pupil managed to succeed in making progress. There will be cases where they will continue to disappoint your expectations without any indication that they will change. That is when you need to learn to let go and invest in other hopefuls."

The older mech designer's advice ultimately helped Ves a lot. Mech designers already had a lot of experience with the selection, teaching, supervision and management of apprentices. It was a good idea to take a closer look at their best practices and copy their methods.

Once Master Goldstein was done with providing friendly advice, he soon turned to more relevant matters.

"I will first need to update your badges."

The green badge attached to Jovy's chest and the teal badge affixed to Ves' own chest began to gain a few more additions. They looked like differently colored dots that clearly contrasted strongly against the dominant colors.

"What is this all about?" Ves asked as he tried to decipher the meaning of these extra symbols.

"They are visual shorthands that can quickly communicate your expertise and whether you are permitted to discuss or attend closed sessions on certain topics. The red dot is the most important one. It signifies that you possess useful expertise on E energy radiation and that you are qualified to exchange with others who possess the same recognition."

That was actually a clever system. Ves would know whether another mech designer was worthwhile to talk to about a specific topic by glancing at the dots on their badges.

"What about the purple dot?"

"That identifies you as an expert on 'traditional psionic power manipulation'. Some of my colleagues along with a small number of associates will hold many closed sessions related to this topic that may or may not have massive implications to our society. I highly advise you to attend as many of them as possible since it is strongly related to one of your core competences."

Ves had to admit that he was incredibly interested in what other people had to say about cultivation science.

He was also a bit disturbed by how well the Survivalists knew about his past entanglement with cultivators and their practices.

"I will keep that in mind. Do you have any recommendations?"

"Not per se." Goldstein said as he tapped his own badge. He had a lot more dots than Ves and Jovy, but none of them were in purple. "My expertise lies in different areas. You can decide on your own. Pay close attention to the rules and attitudes of the lead speakers. There should be enough open-minded researchers who are more than willing to enter into a debate or discussion, but there are also less impatient professionals who will not have the patience to do the same."

"Understood. I will pay close attention to that. What about my own presentations?"

"You do not have any obligations for the remainder of this day. You will be expected to hold a closed session on your 'companion spirit fruit trees'. Few people are aware of what that even means, so you may find it challenging to attract much interest at first. You should be able to remedy this as long as you can produce immediate results that can support your claims."

Ves smirked. "That should not be a problem. I have made sure to strengthen the effect of the companion spirit fruits to ensure that they will produce a more noticeable effect than normal."

"Good. I know from Jovy that your product can augment humans so that they can work with E energy radiation with much greater clarity and awareness than before. This can become a vital boon in our society's transition to a new order."

It sounded as if Master Goldstein was a strong supporter of the Unity Plan. Ves expected nothing less from an important subordinate of the Polymath.

The older man soon moved on to the next obligation that Ves had to meet.

"There is nothing scheduled for you on the third day, but you must ensure that you are in your best possible condition to present your work on your Carmine System. You will not be doing so in an ordinary closed session, but rather a secret session where a carefully selected panel of mech designers and relevant experts will evaluate and discuss the merits of your invention."

This was the big presentation, and one that Ves cared about the most. The Carmine System was directly relevant to his design philosophy, so he wanted to make sure that the mechers saw it as a beneficial addition to the mech community as opposed to a threat to its existing order!

"I will be ready. I will make sure of that." Ves promised.

There was no need to question the competence of a Senior Mech Designer. If Ves wasn't able to hold an adequate presentation on a subject that he prioritized so much, then he would have never been able to reach his current rank!

"The composition of the panel is not entirely clear at this time." Master Goldstein informed Ves. "This is because many important figures are too preoccupied during this week. I think you can understand that they have greater concerns than to spend a few hours of their time on judging a peculiar invention of a relatively young associate."

Ves shrugged. "1 get it. I'm not asking for much. The only result that I need is to receive permission to continue my research in this area. I don't want to inadvertently break a rule or affect the interests of others without any cover. My innovation has the potential to change the definition of mech pilot forever."

"I will make sure to help you advance your research without hindrances, Professor Larkinson. I am not afraid of what you may unleash with your work, and 1 will try to find like-minded mech designers who possess similar outlooks."

This was the benefit of having friendly mechers by his side. Ves felt quite fortunate that a powerful Master Mech Designer within the faction was willing to cover his back.

"What about my third presentation?"

"We have discussed this subject matter with the Transhumanist Faction in advance. Master Termeneo Dervidian has approved of your request to present your work on your transcendence glow during a closed session. The only condition is that we must make it clear that this application falls under the supervision of his faction. The Survivalists cannot make any decisions by themselves. They will have to pass on their quests to the Transhumanists."

"I see. 1 have no problem with that. The Transhumanists are supposed to be the ones who will manage this stuff on their end. I just want to make more people aware of the transcendence glow so that they know that this option exists. 1 think it has become more relevant than before due to the urgency of these times."

"I share your opinion in this regard, Professor Larkinson."

This should be it. Ves did not have too many obligations in his schedule. His presentations were also spread out over different days so he should have plenty of time to adjust and prepare for each of them. Outside of that, he should be able to spend plenty of time on other people's sessions. There were so many brilliant people aboard the Khamatar Reign that he was eager to expand his horizons over the course of this exciting week!

"There is more." The Master Mech Designer unexpectedly mentioned. "You have received an invitation to attend a secret session held on the sixth day. It is organized by a research group that has spent years researching an augmentation method to produce human phase lords. As a subject of interest, your presence is expected at this session."

Ves blanked out for a second. "Uhm... I do not recall participating in this kind of research. I am not a geneticist or an exobiologist. I have a pretty good grasp of phasewater theory, but I think that any high-ranking mech designer of the Red Association can blow me out of the water in this aspect."

Goldstein directed a stern stare at the younger mech designer. "You do not need to show any false modesty to us. You have made unique and unprecedented accomplishments in your short career. Associate or not, my colleagues and 1 are not close-minded enough to disregard your input solely due to your identity. Results speak louder than words. The fact that you have succeeded while our research group has not is clear to all. There is no need for concern. This is not an interrogation. It is a research exchange. There will be rewards based on how much you can aid our research efforts."

"Oh... that sounds... nice..."

The Master did not mention this openly, but it was pretty clear that the Survivalists figured out that he had become a phase lord at one point!

Even though his phasewater concentration was still miniscule, that was already a ground-breaking result!

There was no way the mechers would miss the opportunity to study and 'question' an individual who actually managed to turn their unattainable dream into a reality!