The Mech Touch

He did not activate his comm and make direct contact with the cheap Master who barely taught him anything before kicking him away due to getting entangled by a single Hexer.

Though he held a lot of resentment towards her in the past, enough time had passed for Ves to mature and get over this incident.

In fact, Ves likely wouldn't have been able to decouple himself from his family and his state in order to pursue his own future without this crucial turning point.

All of the experiences he went through and the lessons he learned from them had molded him into one of the leading independent mech designers of his generation!

Of course, Ves also went through a lot of dangerous and death-defying incidents, but he conveniently downplayed their severity considering that he managed to come out on top in the end.

Given how far he had come, Ves looked back on his brief tenure as Master Olson's nominal disciple with considerable more fondness.

The Fridayman Master Mech Designer provided him with crucial assistance at an early stage of his career. The guidance she provided also helped with setting him on the right path and maintaining the correct mentality as a mech designer.

The only question was whether she was willing to write a referral letter on his behalf. There were many reasons that he could think of for her to refuse this request.

Nonetheless, as long as he had the faintest of chances, he might as well try and hope for the best!

"I need to take a more clever approach."

His chances of succeeding were too slim if he directly contacted Master Olson out of the blue and begged for a referral letter. Ves possessed at least that much awareness.

A better way to open up a dialogue was to make use of an intermediary. Ves paused and ran through the short list of names that could act as a suitable bridge between himself and Master Olson.

He quickly settled on a single name.

His lips curled into a smile. "Last I recall, he should still be around."

He looked up a few pieces of information on the galactic net and quickly obtained what he needed.

Ves immediately prepared to make a short trip.

"Lucky! Where the hell are you?! We're going to visit an old pal!"

He managed to track down his lazy cat. As soon as he entered his second daughter's cute and pastel-colored bedroom, he saw his cat looking distressed as he wore a cat-sized pink princess dress!

"Meow! Meow!"

"Sit still, Lucky! The marriage ceremony isn't finished yet! You still need to kiss Mr. Snuggleberry before you can go!" Andraste insisted as she pushed forth a plushy dinosaur.

"Meeeeeoooow!"

Ves chuckled at the childish sight. He stepped forward and lifted her daughter into his arms. "Hello there, pumpkin."

"Paaaapaaaaa! I am busy!"

"I saw that. As much as I would like you to play with Lucky, I am going to need him to visit an old friend."

His red-headed daughter's eyes began to sparkle. "You're going out! Can I come!?"

"Sure you can, but it won't be particularly interesting to you. I am merely paying a visit to a design studio. Unless you are interested in looking at boring mech designs, you won't have a lot of fun at that place."

Andraste immediately lost interest. "I am going to visit Kirian so that we can practice our swordplay!"

"Okay, dear. Have fun and don't hit him too hard."

"Hihi!"

Ves rescued Lucky from his current predicament and took him to his shuttle that was already warmed up and ready to depart.

The shuttle along with its escort moved away from the city center and eventually reached a landing zone situated in the outskirts of the capital.

Ves looked up at the modest building that was currently undergoing renovation and expansion.

The construction work did not hinder the building's operation, so Ves stepped straight through the entrance where a receptionist led him to a private lab.

It was not often that guests received the opportunity to visit the lab or workshop of another mech designer. Doing so despite the risks could be considered a sign of trust and friendship.

It could also be a reflection of the vast gulf in power and status between the two sides.

In theis case, Ves had no interest in stealing the secrets of a struggling Journeyman Mech Designer.

It would have been a different story if he entered Master Toqueman Huron's laboratory, but despite all of the gems and other quaint curiosities on display, there was nothing in this chamber that merited his interest.

"Look, Lucky. There are lots of shiny gems over there. Are you interested in taking a closer look?"

"Meow!"

"What do you mean, no? Gems are part of your identity!"

"Meow meow meow!"

Ves shrugged and left his cat to fool around while he approached the mech designer awaiting his arrival.

"Ves."

"Tristan. It has been a long time."

"That it is indeed." The man who looked almost just as old as Ves nodded in an almost subservient manner. "It is a great honor for a Senior such as you to visit my humble company. Congratulations for your promotion by the way. You have generated a lot of commotion in Davute."

"It will die down quickly. Becoming a Senior is an important step to any mech designer, but it is only a prelude to advancing to Master."

The two chatted for a short while. They had not exactly remained in contact even though they lived on the same planet for a decent period of time. It couldn't be helped as they lived in two vastly different orbits these days.

Ves continued to look around the lab every once in a while. He paid increasing interest to a number of gems, a few of which vaguely reminded him of Lucky's increasingly rare output.

"How much have you progressed your design philosophy as of late? Have you been working on anything interesting?"

This was an awfully direct question, but Tristan knew that Ves only expressed genuine interest.

"I have been working on miniaturizing the effects of exotics by combining them, purifying them and processing them into small and easy to handle gems." The Journeyman said in a mildly proud tone. "I have not advanced my research far enough yet to start commercializing my work, but it will only be a matter of time before I can start selling them at a considerable profit."

Ves looked more intrigued. It did not sound as if Tristan's gems shared the same principles as Lucky's gems, but perhaps there might be a few commonalities.

"What can these gems do? How are they supposed to compliment the performance of a mech? It is hard to believe that they can make a meaningful difference given their awfully small sizes."

"That is the point." Tristan grinned back. "You can treat these gems as the shrunken forms of a larger quantity of exotic materials. Imagine what it would be like to have the power of a kilogram of phasewater in a gem the size of your fingertip. Such a potent product has many uses in the development of high-tech miniaturized mech components!"

That definitely sounded useful! Ves worked extensively with a lot of different mech parts and systems. He also cooperated with external development companies, so he knew quite well that the fairly restricted size of mechs had always formed a powerful constraint.

In a circumstance where the volume and capacity of mechs could never grow bigger than its current standards, one of the best ways to make them more powerful was to pursue greater miniaturization!

If Tristan truly managed to make a breakthrough in his gem research, then even Ves would become interested in incorporating these gems in a number of his products!

The premise was that those gems were actually worth the hassle.

"How much of the efficacy of the original quantity of exotics can these gems retain?" Ves critically asked.

"That is a complex question that has many different answers. The results differ depending on the type of exotics and the processing method. The retention is not that great at the moment. A typical gem can only retain 0.01 to 2 percent of the efficacy of the original materials. This is still useful in numerous different applications, but I am afraid that it is not cost-effective enough to attract customers."

Ves nodded. "Most mech designers and equipment developers are better off resorting to more expensive exotics that have greater potency."

"That is true, but the availability of the desired exotics may not be able to support the needs of a large mech company. If I can develop a series of gems that can be wholly produced with materials sourced within the borders of the Colonial Federation of Davute, I will be able to ease the logistical pressure of the state by a significant margin. My company will truly take off at that point."

That sounded quite impressive! Tristan would be doing a small but crucial service to a state that was on the cusp of going to war. Trade and resource extraction would inevitably suffer at that point. Any solution that could help Davute's military production stay afloat a little longer would definitely be appreciated.

It turned out that Tristan wasn't as weak and pathetic as Ves initially thought. The Fridayman Mech Designer may have fallen stagnant for a couple of years due to his participation in the Komodo War, but he was still a student of a notable Master Mech Designer.

Now that Ves had advanced to Senior himself, he possessed a much better understanding of the origins of exotics. This also gave him a much better appreciation of mech designers who specialized in the manipulation of existing exotics and the development of new ones.

He wondered whether Tristan already understood that exotics originally spawned from the released energies of long-dead spiritual entities. It was not quite necessary to know this in order to study exotics on a deeper level, but it could certainly answer quite a few difficult questions!

Ves did not dare to bring up this topic. Not only was this place not entirely secure, Tristan was still a Journeyman and not initiated in the higher-level secrets of their common profession.

The visitor decided to put this issue aside and bring up the point of this reunion.

"You must have already deduced that I came here for a purpose." Ves told the other mech designer. "As you know, I have recently advanced to the rank of Senior, and that comes with many benefits and obligations. One of my duties is to become a teacher and pass on my knowledge. I am currently trying to get hired by a good school, but if I want to have a chance of making this happen, I need to collect enough referral letters from notable individuals in the mech industry."

It did not take long for Tristan to adopt a knowing look. The man did not start from the bottom like Ves. He had been a part of the educational establishment for quite a few years.

"I understand." Tristan said. "You want my assistance in facilitating contact. Are you asking for my help in contacting your old Master?"

"I am. Can you do that for me, Tristan?"

"Uhm, I am not sure that this will work. You are kind of on the Friday Coalition's list of boogeymen. Master Olson would never dare to contact you when not that much time has passed since you and your clan banded together with the Hex Army to raid Pima Prime."

Ves rolled his eyes. Tristan helped make this secret attack happen! Both him and Master Olson played an indispensable part in suppressing the Gauge Dynasty that had been growing increasingly more rampant at the time!

"Just get in touch with Master Olson and wait for her response, okay?"