The Mech Touch

If the Davutan mech pilot did not want to start off a match with so much added weight, he or she could always opt to leave a few axes behind.

  The addition of the throwing weapons substantially threw off the original aesthetic of his hybrid mech.

It gave his mech design a sloppy and haphazard pirate look.

"It\'s as if my mech is too poor to buy a proper weapon and instead chose to scavenge all of the available weapons that it could scrounge from a junkyard!"

His wife would absolutely hate his current hybrid mech if she could see it, but Ves absolutely loved the current evolution of his work!

This hybrid mech began to personify mayhem and that was exactly what he wanted to unleash upon its foes!

Any pairs of competition mechs that expected to enter a match with a set plan in mind should definitely be in for an axy surprise!

"Hahaha!"

It took a while for Ves to rein in his enthusiasm for these axes. He recognized that their actual threat was probably not as great as he hoped once he became a little more sober.

The main limitation was the low physical arm strength of his hybrid mech. He hadn\'t designed it with melee combat or throwing weapons in mind, so it was impossible for a thrown axe to cripple an entire upon a direct hit.

It could still deal considerable damage to the rear or the obvious weak points of mechs at closer ranges, so the axes were not completely useless.

After Ves was done with designing and configuring the weapons along with completing much of the work of integrating them into the mech design, he felt it was time to summon his design network.

"Juliet. Are you ready?"

"I suppose so, Ves. What do you have in mind, exactly? You told me your plan before, but I am not entirely clear what you want to accomplish."

"You\'ll find out when we establish the network, but in short I want to design these two mechs as a set of two connected machines. You can consider them twins, or better yet two mechs that share the same \'soul\' for a lack of a better word."

"Is that even possible?" Juliet skeptically asked.

Ves smirked and tapped the side of his skull. "Some of us have companions in our heads, remember? That is what I am trying to accomplish with our mech designs. You might not notice it right away, but since the moment we started to design our mechs, I already made sure that your light skirmisher design is on the same page as my hybrid mech design. They are kindred and part of the same family. Once they are complete, I hope they will share a strong and unbreakable bond right from the start."

"That… sounds fantastical, Ves. I believe in your vision."

"Thank you. That is all I ask from you. Let\'s share our minds and work as one. The bond we form through the network will partially mirror our desired results. The key concepts of paired mech designs are twin souls, speed and disruption. Our light skirmisher and our hybrid mech must share all three traits in order to make sure there is enough symmetry between the pair. I think that will help with strengthening their special bond."

He quietly roused Blinky and commanded the cat to form an invisible spiritual bond.

Mrow.

Though nothing obvious happened in front of the spectators, the team of Ves and Juliet suddenly worked a lot more effectively than before!

Previously, the two Journeyman Mech Designers worked alongside each other but did not demonstrate higher than average coordination. They were mainly focusing their efforts into improving their own assigned mech designs.

This time was different. Ves spent a lot more time and effort contributing the design of the light skirmisher while Juliet did the same for the hybrid mech.

They did not do so sporadically, but wordlessly coordinated their efforts and made sure that none of their additions stood in the way of the work of their partners.

This might not sound so special, but the degree of coordination between the two had improved so much that they matched or exceeded that of married couples and long-term partners!

The more experienced mech designers who closely tracked the work of Ves and Juliet figured out that tacit cooperation and sharing of ideas was unnaturally high!

While this could easily be explained by using their cranial implants to form a private communication network, there were many other pairs of mech designers who were doing just that, only to fail to reach this level!

[It is not that difficult to guess that the remarkable cooperation between the two is another application of Patriarch Larkinson\'s design philosophy. He has several lines of mechs under his name that are known to establish special communication lines that work on entirely different principles. I believe that he and his current partner are making use of similar tech but in a non-combat related capacity.]

[Wait. If he is able to use his proprietary technology to communicate with others in private through means that cannot be jammed or intercepted, how are we able to know whether he isn\'t secretly working with a secret team of mech designers who are located in another design lab? Maybe this is why he is able to work through his design problems faster than any of his other rivals!]

[Hahaha! Do you think that the position of chief judge is symbolic? Master Hergard Elroy along with other Master Mech Designers behind the scenes are constantly tracking the progress made by Patriarch Ves Larkinson as well as the other 141 participants of our tournament. They understand mechs so much better than anyone working in the hall. They can spot any abnormalities and investigate further if there are any doubts. Our judges would have notified us by now if a single mech designer has broken any of the rules that we have set. Since that did not happen, the team of Larkinsons are in the clear.]

[I do not need to borrow the judgment of Masters to see that Ves Larkinson is working earnestly on his projects. Do you not see how high his motivation has become after he invested himself in his mech designs? That is the mark of a mech designer who loves his work to a greater extent than many other professionals. An individual who loves mechs so much would never defile the sanctity of his work by breaking the rules. It would taint his effort and dishonor him in front of the entire mech community.]

Though the subject of cheating had sprung up among the critics and the skeptics in the audience, the Davute University of Technology enjoyed such a high prestige that most people accepted the judgment of its mech designers.

[Humanity has developed many forms of high technology. The more delicate but life-changing technologies are related to human augmentation. Many states and groups have developed their own proprietary tech that they rely upon to surpass the competition. What is not to say that the Larkinson Clan has received a boon from his powerful patrons from the Mech Trade Association? As a favored friend of the mechers, it is not unusual for Patriarch Larkinson to exchange powerful high technologies or receive them as gifts.]

[Remember, mech designers. Building up a relationship with the Mech Trade Association is also a skill. Many of my fellow colleagues think that the mechers are so much better than us that it is impossible for us to open up a dialogue with them. Admittedly, their impression is not wrong. The mechers are only willing to speak to mech designers that are capable of contributing to the body of work related to mechs and any related tech. As long as you have conducted original research that no other mech designer in human space has touched upon before, you should be receiving an invitation from a member of the esteemed Association any day.]

[...]

[...]

[...]

[I hate you.]

[You make it sound much easier.]

Though people mistook the effects of Ves\' design network as another wondrous effect of MTA-approved tech, it conveniently settled the controversy related to this matter.

Ves and Juliet did not care at all what people were saying about them, not that they could actually listen to all of their words due to the isolating barrier that supposedly cut off all outside communication.

In practice, Ves could abuse the hell out of the Larkinson Network to secretly work together with any other Larkinson Mech Designer.

He would never do that. He outright ignored the Larkinson Network and pretended that it didn\'t exist since the start of this design session!

Ves was still committed to winning this tournament fair and square. He set the limit at intrinsic abilities and no further. Using Blinky\'s design network was a reflection of his own strength, while borrowing Goldie\'s vast spiritual network was clearly a form of cheating by using outside help.

Regardless, Ves had become way too invested in designing the two mechs concurrently while doing everything he could to turn them into \'twins\'!

"Haha!"

"It\'s working."

"This is really fun!"

It was not unusual for Ves to spontaneously burst in laughter or become impressed at his own work.

The innovative and interesting vision that he created for these paired mech designs was slowly turning into a reality!

"Our work is going to amaze the judges and the crowd!" Ves exuberant boasted. "What we are making is a first for me and my clan. I don\'t dare to claim that no other mech designer has made anything comparable in the past, but this will definitely be a new and promising advancement for our clan as long as it works!"

Though Juliet did not share his abundant enthusiasm for their paired mech designs, his strong enthusiasm and boundless optimism infected her own mood.

Even she started to get caught up in the excitement!

She could already see how the twin-souled concept could become a boon for the Larkinson Clan and more specifically the Penitent Sisters where she hailed from.

Close Penitent Sister mech pilots could cover each other\'s backs to an even greater degree than before.

It would be even better if these strong mech-induced bonds could encompass more than two mech pilots!

Of course, Juliet recognized that Ves still needed to learn how to walk before he could run. He still needed to prove the most basic implementation of this new design application could work before he could expand its scope.

Though Ves was already thinking about the future, he was pretty certain that the original twin-souled concept was the strongest possible iteration of this idea. The bond between an intimate couple was stronger than any other relationship!

It was like the bond between husband and wife or mother and child.

"This is the power of family." Juliet Stameros spoke out loud.

Ves nodded in agreement. "I agree. If humans have family, why not mechs? They can become siblings within the same model or even outside of it. The only material I need to forge their bonds is love."

It was strange for him to say this, but it made a lot of sense as he continually poured his heart and passion into these competition mech designs.

Despite their transient nature, their value to him was much greater because they would be the first machines to debut his provisionally named Twin Souls System in physical form!

"This is going to be awesome." Ves grinned. "I only hope that the mech pilots assigned to our works are able to recognize and take advantage of this unique capability."

He needed to remind himself to add this to an instruction manual.

Better yet, he should probably spell it out in a loud and obvious tutorial message.