The Mech Touch - Chapter 15

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The Mech Touch - Chapter 15

The Mech Touch

The center of the Bright Republic lay in Rittersberg. Though Bentheim
surpassed the founding planet with its vibrant economy and liberal
housing regulations, Rittersberg still remained the seat of government
of the hundred-planet state. Only inherited and distinguished families
were allowed to live in its luxurious housing districts.
In one such district, a row of modest villas rested alongside a placid
river. In the backyard of one of those villas, a man reclined in a folding
chair as he held a fishing pole in front of him. An empty bucket lay
beside him, waiting for fishes to carry back home.
An aircar approached the guarded district. After the local defense
systems checked its transponders and scanned the vehicle for any
threats, it approved the vehicle's approach. The aircar smoothly
descended onto the landing pad next to the garage.
The door opened to reveal the chiseled face of a man in uniform. The
man marched briskly towards the back, as if already aware the
occupant of the villa spent his time there.
"Father."
Benjamin Larksinson turned his gaze away from the bobber and
beheld the new arrival. "Ark. As carefree as ever I see. You've even
taken the time to visit your dear old dad. How are the kids?"
"Rambunctious as ever." The uniformed man smiled a little as he
loosened up. "I don't know how you managed to raise all seven of us."
"I had a good wife, as do you, Ark. No matter how much the service
takes up your time, don't forget your family. You can do anything if the

happiness of your wife and children are at stake. It's half the reason
why I made it this far."
Ark nodded. "Speaking of which, I might have news of my elder
brother."
"Ryncol... I have no idea what he's embroiled himself with. He's always
been the most reticent of you bunch. He loves his own son like a
treasure, so why did he not come to me? Does he think I will treat him
any less? Pah."
"We've spent some time digging into Ryncol's movements of the last
year before he disappeared. There's a couple of times when he went off
the grid. I suspect he went incognito in order to visit a conflict zone.
Accounting for travel time, It should match the times he couldn't be
traced."
Benjamin grimaced at those words. "Pirates. What has my boy done
now? I didn't raise any of you to make dealings with the scum of the
galaxy."
"The trail ends there, unfortunately. We don't possess enough
information to infer which conflict zone Ryncol frequented. We're
analyzing all of the data devices he left behind, but he's been very
disciplined with the trails he left behind, so we're not expecting much
from those sources."
Sighing, Benjamin closed his eyes as he leaned back on his chair. "Tell
me about my grandson."
"There are some anomalies surrounding Ves that paint a suspicious
picture. While he had been an unremarkable student in the
Rittersberg University of Technology, he's performing above average

in the month-and-half that he's been active so far. It's as if he's given
wings now that he's free."
Benjamin smiled at the report. "I always expected Ves to catch up to
his potential once he got over his inability to join our career path. I'm
glad he finally found his way and embrace his role in the world."
"The financing still remains troublesome. Despite receiving a
production license grant, Ves is unable to leverage this asset. If
nothing unexpected happens, he will fail to meet his impending
interest payment. Father... will you give him a hand if he's come up
short?"
"No. Not even at the very last moment. Ryncol went through the
trouble of procuring those loans, so we should see his plans through
the end. I don't believe he has lost grip of his son even if he's
indisposed."
The river flowed gently along the stream. The sun shone brightly in the
skies. A serene calm descended on the pair as the father kept fishing
while the son organized his notes, sending over the relevant
documents to his father's comm.
"How's my grandson's work? He's not making more Fantasia variants,
is he?"
"He sold most of his 1-star virtual licenses to raise money. He's
completely committed to mastering the Caesar Augustus. I bought his
first mech, which is unmodified, and tested in simulations."
"Was it up to par?"

"Not really." Ark shook his head in disapproval. "If Ves produced a
mech as shoddy as that in the real universe, he'd get chased away as
soon as he tries to certify it at the association."
In most of civilized human space, weapons such as mechs faced
stringent controls. Designers and manufacturers were only allowed to
produce a mech if they owned the necessary licenses. When they
finished producing a mech, they needed to be certified at the local
Mech Trade Association before it receives permission to be put on
sale.
The MTA was a transnational nonprofit organization with branches in
pretty much every human state. A colossus of the mech world, they
regulated the civilian production and sale of mechs. Most states like
the Bright Republic gave them official backing to do so in their
territories because they were good at it and adhered to strict
neutrality, never overstepping their bounds.
In any case, if Ark said that Ves' product couldn't pass the MTA's strict
certification, then he had a long road ahead of him. If Ves managed to
shore up his weaknesses within a month, then he may be able to
produce a mech that passed certification. But that required a lot of
progress in a very short time.
"It comes down to time, huh." Benjamin mused. "If the interest
payment didn't hang over his head, Ves wouldn't be rushing with
building a mech beyond his capabilities. It's convenient timing on the
bank's part that they chose to hang such a term over his head without
compromising a single step."
Ark shifted another set of documents over to Benjamin's comm.
"We've looked at the Cloudy Curtain Planetary Bank. The shareholders
and employees are clean. Their books are also in order. The situation
is just as it appears. The bank made a negative assessment of the

viability of Ves' business, and just wants to claim the assets before they
depreciate in value."
"Greedy bastards. I'm glad to hear they're nothing more than that,
though. Saves me the trouble of another visit."
"According to the latest reports, Ves should be working on a new
virtual mech right now. Do you want me to snap it up when he puts it
on sale?"
"Yes, and keep buying one of every variant he sells in that game of
yours. I want you to track his progress in this way and give him a little
push while he's at it. Don't buy any more, though. I don't want him to
grow complacent."
"Understood, dad. Anything else?"
"Keep digging into the so-called Future Sons Technology Institution.
Any organization with the clout to grant a production license of the
Caesar Augustus shouldn't be an obscure player."
"We still can't make much progress on that front since they're based in
the New Rubarth Empire. Their corporate laws are too opaque,
deliberately so. Even if we use our sources, they won't be able to get
anything."
Benjamin spat to the side. "Ark, I don't need to know the shareholders
or donors of the institute. Just find out if a New Rubarthan or a
foreigner taking advantage of the local laws is pulling the strings."
"That should be doable. I'll pass on your instructions."

"That should be enough on your plate for now. Leave me to my fishing.
I'll go over the documents later and send you my thoughts in a day or
two."
"Very well. Goodbye."
As Ark left the villa, Benjamin relaxed his eyes and smiled. He held a
steady grip on his fishing pole.
"What kind of father abandons their son?"
The fish still didn't bite.
Back on Cloudy Curtain, Ves released an exhaustive breath as he
finished fabricating the Nero in Iron Spirit.
The customized Caesar Augustus model still had its problem spots.
However, with prior experience and the various modifications he
made to mitigate a few bad spots, Ves encountered fewer risks during
fabrication. The C1A Nero as he named it still caused some difficulties,
particularly with its armor plates which Ves hadn't modified. Finding a
solution for the armor plates
The System offered a fallback. Its Store sold various goods as long as
Ves could afford the price. The cheapest alternative armor he could
find in the shop cost at least 1000 DP. Ves preferred not to buy them,
because the armor plating was several generations behind current
standards.
No one wanted to buy a C1 variant with crappy armor. A big part what
made the Caesar Augustus was its sword and shield, which were made
out of the same expensive alloys as its armor. Cutting back on the

armor meant not just lowering the C1's defense, it also affected its
offensive power.
Luckily, it wasn't a problem he needed to concern himself with today.
Ves put the Nero on sale once he ironed out the remaining kinks
revealed by the last-minute tests.
[C1A Nero]
Base Model: Caesar Augustus C1
Purchase price: 950,000 gold (-50%)
Premium Price: 60,000 bright credits
Charging 60,000 bright credits for the Nero was stretching the
model's value. It only offered a marginal improvement in performance
and a slight decrease in repair cost to any player interested in a Caesar
Augustus model. Still, seeing how his previous mech got sold fairly
quickly, Ves hoped his handcrafted Nero at least provided higher
profits. He wanted to see some validation in the work he put in his
models.
Now that he finished the Nero, Ves ought to go back to the Designer
and create another variant. The problem was that Ves couldn't achieve
a breakthrough in either improving the C1's internals or replacing its
armor. It came down to a lack of skills and resources.
"I can't afford the things I need." Ves sighed. "Stupid System. Why did
the pagoda thing reward me with a Caesar Augustus."

He checked his Status again in order to see how much catching up he
still had to do.
[Status]
Name: Ves Larkinson
Profession: Novice Mech Designer
Specializations: None
Design Points: 175
Attributes
Strength: 0.7
Dexterity: 0.7
Endurance: 0.6
Intelligence: 1.2
Creativity: 1
Concentration: 1
Neural Aptitude: F

Skills
[Assembly]: Novice - [3D Printer Proficiency I] [Assembler Proficiency
I]
[Business]: Apprentice
[Computer Science]: Incompetent
[Electrical Engineering]: Novice
[Mathematics]: Incompetent
[Mechanics]: Apprentice - [Jury Rigging I] [Speed Tuning I]
[Metallurgy]: Apprentice
[Physics]: Novice - [Lightweight Armor Optimization I]
Evaluation: An all-rounder in incompetence.
"I've acquired a decent amount of skills, but I've split my attention."
Ves concluded as he saw how many low-level skills he currently
possessed. "I should either finish upgrading my Electrical Engineering
or pick up Mediumweight Armor Optimization I. Raising my Assembly
sub-skills can wait for later once I start fabricating the real thing."
Nothing changed after staring at his Status for ten solid minutes.
"Come on System. I'm at the end of my rope. You haven't sent me a
mission for a while now. Why not give me something to work with? Do
you expect me to beg my grandpa for a loan or something?"

[You have received a new mission. Please check the Mission page for
the details.]
"YES! Finally!" Ves celebrated as he raised his fists with a grin. He
then knelt on the ground, kowtowing towards the computer terminal.
"You are my god, System."
He kept praising the System and its timely missions, completely
forgetting the times he cursed the System for giving him missions with
ridiculous demands.
[Mission]
Mission: Tutorial Part 4 - X-Factor
Difficulty: B-Rank
Prerequisites: Completed Tutorial Part 3
Description
Some have characterized the profession of mech designer to the
modern Prometheus. Are mechs purely machines, or are they
something more? Please design a mech with a prominent X-Factor,
ranking at least E- or higher.
Reward: 1 random 10-year medium armor production licence, 200
tons of raw materials reserved for armor production
The rewards attracted Ves' attention. With a production license and a
couple of containers of raw materials in the bag, Ves faced much less
financial pressure in gathering the other materials required to

fabricate his desired C1 variant. This mission was essential to his
future planning.
"Uh huh." Ves scratched his head. "What the hell is X-Factor?"
[User, please research diligently and form your own answer to the
riddle of X-Factor. There are no wrong answers.]
"Okay. Whatever." Ves had the feeling this problem was a lot bigger
than anyone thought.
Chapter end