The Mech Touch

The Glory Seekers, the Crossers, the Adelaines and the Boojays had long expressed their impatience about their continued stay in Davute.

Many of them had become inspired by the expeditionary fleet's past successes. Dreams of rending apart alien warships and plundering hundreds of kilograms of phasewater enthralled many ambitious people.

It had been too long since the expeditionary fleet last fought a thrilling battle!

Though Ves became slightly more distracted by all of the activities related to the expanded fleet's departure from Davute, he still spent most of his time on fleshing out the Dawn Star Project.

The Larkinson Biotech Institute reported that the organic components for the Carmine System were already growing as best as could be expected under the current conditions.

Ves found it quite annoying to work around the limitations of biotechnology.

The biotissue used to create the Carmine System needed to be formulated based on Benjamin Larkinson's DNA.

Every implementation of this organic system also had to match the specifications of a particular design.

If Ves wanted to popularize the concept of 'carmine mechs', then he needed to reduce the complexity of his work.

It was essential for him to design a more generic and universal version of the Carmine System.

This way, specialized biotech companies could produce them en masse and readily supply them to any mech factories responsible for fabricating a lot of carmine mechs.

Ves already started to entertain ideas on how he could turn this into a reality. Designing a generic Carmine System that could readily form a Blood Pact with any human individual sounded difficult, but not impossible.

The most crucial requirement was to ensure that blood connection did not trigger any rejection reaction from the mech pilot.

"I may have to cooperate with an advanced biotech company in order to increase the safety of my universal system."

As Ves continued to make brisk progress in his Dawn Star Project, he became interrupted by another unexpected development.

Normally, Ves was inclined to leave most matters aside in order to save his grandfather's life as quickly as possible, but the contents of the latest message immediately caused him to suspend his work.

"What?!"

Ves almost couldn't believe what he just read!

Although he was sure that his personal assistant did not pass it on without personally verifying that the notification was authentic, Ves still needed to make sure he wasn't being fooled!

"Benny!" Ves roared as soon as he called his personal assistant. "Have you grown lazy or sloppy after all of these years? Tell me whether this message is accurate!"

Gavin Neumann looked as if he already expected his immediate superior to summon him for an explanation. He projected several different logs that showed that he put in the work.

"I personally verified the mail that you have received. I contacted the school in question and talked to one of the secretaries. The administration has a file on you that confirms that it has serious interest in exploring whether it is possible for you to teach a couple of virtual courses. Isn't this what you sought? This outcome is much better than you could have hoped for, boss!"

"Far be it for me to look a gift horse in the mouth, but this particular offer is far too enticing to make any sense." ves narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "I applied for a teaching position at a number of first-class mech design universities, but they were all struggling and failing institutions that are located in relatively neutral regions. I distinctly remember that I did not reach out to a university of this caliber!"

Gavin looked perplexed. "I get that, boss, but that is not a reason for you to regard this invitation as a trap. I already asked around and discovered that one of the schools you originally applied for has passed your name to another institution. Many schools arc connected to each other. They can be competitors as well as allies. What often happens is that former classmates continue to stay in touch with each other even as they go on to work at vastly diffrent mech design universities. That is how your name fell into the ears of the recruiting office of the Eden Institute."

Ves studied the brief amount of information that he quickly retrieved from the galactic net.

The Eden Institute of Business & Technology was a recently founded university that centered around educating the next generation of businessmen and mech designers.

It was mainly oriented towards the mech industry. By educating aspiring businessmen and mech designers at the same time, the Eden Institute hoped that the two student groups would learn from each other.

Mech design students would learn how to run a business and form many useful connections with numerous different companies in advance.

Business students would learn how to work together with engineers and mech designers while also forming promising ties with future stars.

According to the reports on the galactic net, the first-raters regarded the Eden Institute of Business & Technology as a middle-tier university.

It received a lot of funding and support from its investors, but it lacked the reputation, prestige and brand value of an old galaxy institution.

The school also did not put a lot of emphasis on academic research, but that could still change in the future.

All in all, the Eden Institute actually sounded like a nice place to attend, if not for a single major blemish.

"This goddamn university is located in the Agamemnon Upper Zone!" Ves complained!

"The zone may be located a lot further away than the other schools you applied for, but—"

"It's not about the distance! It's about the fact that this zone falls under the jurisdiction of the Terran Alliance! The Eden Institute is a Terran-run university!"

Ves may have recently formed plans to establish relations with the Terrans, but he intended to take baby steps at first!

Applying to teach a bunch of arrogant and hyper-intelligent Terran brats was way too fast for his liking!

"Oh, come on, Ves. Isn't this what you have always dreamt of? Don't reject it just because it sounds too good to be true. You should at least attend the interview session and explore whether you agree with the Eden Institute's terms. This may be your best opportunity to come into contact with first-class mech design in the short term. I do not know if any serious first-class university will even think about hiring you. Don't throw this chance away before you have done your due diligence."

Ves eventually sighed as he thought this matter true. Gavin was right. If the offer was serious, then it would be way too premature to throw it away.

"Fine. I will give this a shot. Let's see whether the Terrans are truly serious about this stuff."

It turned out that it was not so simple for Ves to talk to the Eden Institute about employment opportunities right away.

He first had to complete a comprehensive examination that lasted for up to half a day.

Ves became immersed into different virtual environments. He filled out an exam paper like he had returned to school, but also demonstrated his fabrication skills by operating a highly complicated Terran-developed superfab.

Although Ves was not that comfortable with exposing his design capabilities, he still decided to do his best.

He wanted to maximize his chances of getting hired and increase the probability that he would be able to teach the more important courses of the Eden Institute's study programs.

While Ves felt that he had performed quite well as a recently advanced Senior Mech Designer, the problem was that he could only demonstrate his competency in second-class mech design!

It was still too premature for him to teach any classes that were directly related to first-class multipurpose mechs!

Once he completed the virtual tests, he received a one hour break before he finally received a notification that a school official was ready to conduct an interview.

"That's fast." Ves noted.

His test results apparently hadn't disqualified him. This was good news.

He finally arrived at a virtual office where he took his seat in front of an aged but dignified-looking woman.

Ves expected to meet with an ordinary recruiter.

Instead, he somehow entered into a discussion with the dean of the Department of Humanoid Mech Design, one who also happened to be a Master Mech Designer who lived for over three centuries!

"I can understand your skepticism." Master Laila Rebecca Devos spoke to Ves in a steady but unquestionably authoritative voice. "You do not fit the mold of a professor of a Terran educational institution. It is plain to see that you are still wondering why we are considering adding you to our teaching staff."

Ves tentatively nodded. There was no way he could hide his confusion in front of such an old Master.

"Please explain, Master Devos."

She smiled, making herself look even more elegant than before.

Master Leila Rebecca Devos still looked as if she was a healthy grandmother rather than a decrepit old corpse. Her life-prolonging treatments had been remarkably effective.

"I am an old associate of the MTA Mech Supremacist Faction." The Terran plainly responded. "I have cooperated with the Mech Supremacists for centuries. It is true that our Eden Institute did not have any interest in hiring you as a teacher at first, but Professor Gina Cavendish has brought you to my attention. She has praised your talents and your ingenuity, and suggested that you may be particularly suited to teach a number of our courses. The test results confirm her judgment."

So that was why the Eden Institute contacted Ves all of a sudden!

It was the Mech Supremacists that arranged for this connection!

Ves did not know whether to thank or blame Professor Cavendish, but for now he was inclined to view this development in a favorable light.

The Mech Supremacists had no reason to screw Ves over!

"What sort of courses are you willing to let me teach at your department?" Ves asked.

"The test results reveal that you are well-suited to teach three new elective courses, each of which you can organize yourself as they are based on your strengths. We may also consider the decision to assign you as a lecturer at two more courses, one elective and one mandatory. Both Introduction to Phasewater Theory and Crystallography can benefit from your surprisingly good mastery of these subjects, but you will need to prove your ability to teach our students before we permit you to teach these courses."

Ves' eyes lit up! Becoming involved in these courses sounded like a great way to get in touch with a lot of serious mech design students!

"What of the rest, Master?"

"Based on your record, your suggestions and your test results, we are open to letting you organize and teach three different elective courses. Frontier Wisdom should serve as an excellent guide for aspiring pioneers and more adventurous individuals. Introduction to Living Mech Design will likely be a niche addition to our university's elective course list. Advanced Manual Superfab Operation will be a more serious course that should attract a sufficient amount of mech design students on account of excellent craftsmanship."

These courses sounded quite reasonable.

Ves became happy when the Eden Institute was actually open to allowing him to teach his proposed Frontier Wisdom class!

What was even better was that the university was also willing to let him organize a course that was centered around living mechs!

As for the last course, there was no way that he could help any young mech design student fabricate masterwork mechs in the short term. Ves might get in trouble if the students who attended this course did not gain much of an improvement in their mech fabrication skills.

Oh well.

Ves continued to discuss the details of becoming a professor at the Eden Institute.

Master Leila Devos may be a high-ranking member of the Greater Terran United Confederation, but she did not look down on Ves in any fashion.

This reassured him as he felt that the Eden Institute showed enough goodwill to him that he could foresee that he might actually do well if he started to work for this recently founded Terran university!