The Mech Touch

As the Larkinsons from both branches continued to mingle with each other, the clan underwent a large reorganization.

After the Battle of Kesseling VIII, the clan suffered a lot of losses. All of those missing positions had to be filled. In fact, the clan also sought to expand its numbers further in order to ensure it had enough strength to face its challengers!

The Larkinson Clan organized a large recruitment event. Any Sentinel or upstanding person could apply to join the clan!

As long as they possessed valuable skills the clan urgently needed, they became eligible to become Larkinsons!

Though this was a rather sudden shift in policy, Ves encouraged it because he was confident that the adoption ritual was sufficient enough to weed out the weak-hearted and treacherous people among the applicants.

The Larkinson Clan had made it very clear that it wasn't offering a regular employment opportunity. Instead, they sought people who knew what they were getting into and were enthusiastic about taking part in all of the wealth and woe of the clan no matter the danger!

Even if the clan listed out an extremely stringent list of demands, the amount of locals applying to join still flooded the administrators assigned to process them! There were far too many Sentinels and other people who heard about the clan and envied the people who became a part of it!

It was an especially attractive offer to the commoners who led regular lives in the Sentinel Kingdom!

To become adopted by a clan known for its wealth, strength and heritage was a dream come true to many locals who once fantasized about becoming nobles.

Though the Sentinel Kingdom occasionally elevated outstanding commoners into the ranks of nobility, that was a pipedream for many ambitious lowborn citizens. The class system in the Sentinel Kingdom was still a fact of life for many people!

Though the commoners of the Sentinel Kingdom were better off than their counterparts in the Vesia Kingdom, they always yearned for more.

This was why the recruitment opportunities of the Larkinson Clan were so significant. Though the foreign clan didn't necessarily equate to a noble house, to the commoners who didn't know any better, they might as well be the same!

In their eyes, the wealth, prestige, honor and heritage of the Larkinsons already elevated them into nobles in every way that mattered!

While the Larkinson Family emphatically did not seek to adopt anyone, the Larkinson Clan was different!

In the eyes of many Sentinels, the clan was rather crazy for opening its gate so wide! Over the course of the next two months, thousands of people would receive the chance to become a Larkinson and thereby turn into 'nobles'! The frenzy the news ignited among the populace was so great that passenger liners were struggling to handle all of the demand for transit to Cinach VI!

Some local powers were pleased at this development. House Evenson, despite failing to arrange a meeting with Ves in person, were ecstatic at all of the attention that Cinach VI received!

Others, particularly its rival houses, were not so pleased to see so many skilled and talented people leave their domains.

The Larkinson Clan didn't pay attention to the sentiment among the nobles. Their strength and the strength of their Hexers escort meant that there was nothing the local nobles could do to pressure the clan into stopping its activities!

So many people applied to the Larkinson Clan these days that the people responsible for vetting the newcomers had to allocate additional personnel to handle the influx!

For a time, Ves tried to evaluate the applications in person, thinking that his implant allowed him to be very efficient at this task.

He soon gave up. When the applications surpassed a hundred-thousand, there was no way he could properly evaluate every individual in a comprehensive manner!

Ves soon decided to leave the matter to the clan and went back to meeting with important Larkinsons and resuming his work on his ongoing projects.

All sorts of weird and peculiar people applied to join the clan.

The handful of members of the old family who looked at the clan and wanted to be a part of it all got in without issue. They were the only exception! Everyone else had to go through the normal process, which entailed successive rounds of inspection in order to filter out the unsuitable!

At a large venue in downtown Torze, hundreds of people were obediently waiting in line to enter the Larkinson Clan's recruitment hall. The hopes and dreams of many commoners rested inside the hall where the Larkinsons in their dashing uniforms evaluated each of them for their skills and temperament!

In fact, the crowd outside the hall would have grown bigger if not for the preselection that took place before. Automated AIs employed by the clan already scanned their applications and records and already filtered out the vast majority.

The ones who didn't make the cut all failed to meet the basic qualifications. Examples included doing badly at school, a history of behavioral problems or a criminal record. Anything that pointed towards trouble or ineptitude need not apply!

AIs couldn't do everything, however. There was always a chance that the application and records contained lies. Even if some mech technician graduated from technical school with excellent grades, they might have forgotten half they learned after a couple of years!

If there was one thing the Larkinson Clan and Ves especially loathed, it was incompetence!

Since so many people wanted to become a part of the clan, the Larkinsons had the luxury of choosing the very best!

Because expanding the Larkinson Clan was a very serious matter, the clansmen assigned to conduct the recruitment event all took their duties seriously. They not only had to verify in person that the applicants actually possessed the skills the clan urgently needed, but also test their personality and temperament to see if they were compatible with the values of the clan!

It was mostly the latter where the applicants received their crushing rejections!

"I'm sorry young lad, but your personality is better served elsewhere." A Larkinson recruiter shook his head.

"What?! Why!" The young man stood up and thumped his fists against the table! "I know starships like the back of my hand! I'm an excellent helmsman! I'm a spaceborn from birth. I studied how to control the complex propulsion systems of trade ships as I grew up and studied interstellar navigation in university!"

The recruiter sighed. He had seen sights like this all the time. On paper, the applicant was highly suitable. Not only was he a well-trained helmsman and navigator, he also possessed a true spaceborn pedigree, which was something the clan desperately needed more of in order to adjust to life in space!

"Your application has already been rejected by us. While it is true that you are very skilled, your personality wouldn't be a good fit with ours. In particular, we don't find you trustworthy enough."

"That's not fair! There is nothing wrong with my behavior! The previous tests didn't indicate any problems!"

Privately, the recruiter knew that was true, but there was one test which the applicant had failed.

It also happened to be the most important test and the entire reason why the aspiring helmsman and navigator had to look for employment elsewhere!

"Do you remember the instance where you were asked to move close to the Bright Warrior we placed inside this hall?"

"Uh, yes?"

"When you touched it, didn't you exhibit a negative reaction?"

"I was just feeling ill or something! I admired that mech! I thought it was very impressive with how it can affect my emotions. Just give me another chance and I'll hold in my reaction!"

The recruiter shook his head. How many times had he heard that excuse. "Sorry. You only have one shot at it. That's the rule."

The applicant completely lost his composure! "That can't be! I behaved so well! I held myself in so hard in order to become a noble! Please give me another chance!"

As soon as the distressed fellow tried to lunge across the desk, his hands brushed against an energy screen.

Soon enough, a zap from a turret hidden in the ceiling stunned his body to paralysis! A bot soon entered the interview room to haul the reject away.

"This is the seventh time today." The Larkinson recruiter sighed.

Ever since the locals got the notion that joining the Larkinson Clan was the same as becoming a noble, they went through extreme measures to cheat and game the tests!

From bringing government officials to alter the records to presenting a false image of themselves as a model employee, none of their efforts succeeded.

This was because they had to go through a hidden 'integrity' test that entailed exposing them directly to the glow of a Bright Warrior!

While the clansmen administering the tests weren't quite sure what was going on, their faith in the Bright Warriors all caused them to trust this procedure. This was especially so after the rejects all exhibited problems that they hadn't shown before when they still had hope!

The next applicant soon entered the room.

Surprisingly, he didn't come alone. Someone else entered as well!

The recruiter frowned. "Applicants are supposed to enter on an individual basis. If it is not your turn, please exit."

"You must be one of the newer Larkinsons, right? I'm Raella Larkinson, an original member of the family. I came to join the clan!"

"Oh." The recruiter's face softened up. "If you are a trueblood Larkinson, then you aren't required to go through this process. You can join the clan right away!"

"I know that. I already received an appointment to the upcoming induction ceremony. I'm here to support my boyfriend instead!" Raella beamed.

The recruiter turned his gaze at the handsome, confident-looking man dressed in a shirt that failed to hide the muscled contours of his chest and abs.

"Mr.. Ricklin." He said, looking up the applicant's record from his terminal. "Hmm. You're young, that's great. Mech pilot. We need those. Former officer with command experience. That's great. Participated in the Sand War and fought in defense of Bentheim. That is an excellent accomplishment! Hm.. it says here that you have brought a large number of subordinates. You do realize that we will have to test them on an individual basis, correct?"

"I know." Vincent lazily waved his hand. "I already told them the score. If they can't pass the tests, they'll just take over my outfit and run it by themselves."

"Very well. We have received multiple instances of people wishing to apply by group, but we don't do that here."

The recruiter went back to studying Vincent's records and test results. His face soon fell. "There are certain red flags in your record. It says here you once fought for an illegitimate rebel organization and committed acts of murder, sabotage and other assorted terroristic activities."

"I received a pardon for that!" Vincent objected! "The Bright Republic, back when it was still decent, forgave my past deeds! I fought tons of sandmen in order to redeem myself!"

"Vincent is not a bad guy." Raella vouched for her boyfriend.

The recruiter found other warning signs. "It says here that there are several.. irregularities.. with regards to your personality. You are too selfish, narcissistic and immoral!"

Raella shook her head. "Vincent isn't a bastard! He just had a difficult upbringing, that's all! Come on. Give a fellow Larkinson a favor. Just let him through. He can become a great clansman if you give him a chance! Didn't he do well in the remaining tests?"

According to the test results, Vincent didn't elicit any strong reaction from the Bright Warrior. The absence of a negative or positive reaction wasn't necessarily good. The most earnest and capable applicants always received a positive reaction from the mech!

"Besides, I know the big guy in person." Vincent grinned and tapped his comm. A projection of a very masculine-looking mech appeared into view. "I'm one of Ves Larkinson's best buddies, you know! Did you know he and his babe designed the Adonis Colossus for me? I smashed so many sandmen with this mech! I even brought it along with me so I can use this mech to fight alongside other Larkinsons. What do you say? Will you let me into the clan?"

"I'm not sure." The recruiter looked uncertain. "This is outside of protocol. I will need to contact my superior."

"Go ahead. Just mention what I said and I'm sure it will be fine!"

The recruiter privately contacted his superior and passed on the information he received as requested.

The overworked administrator in charge of some of the recruitment process quickly scanned at the information he received.

"Hmm… these red flags can't be ignored, but.. The Adonis Colossus? A mech designed by the clan patriarch in person? Anyone who received his attention must be someone special!"

The fact that Realla Larkinson personally endorsed Vincent Ricklin was also a mark in his favor.

Five minutes later, Vincent Ricklin's application had been approved!