The Mech Touch

"We'll soon be leaving this central star node." Gloriana stated as she hugged and caressed her daughter. "How much progress have you made in recruiting additional Journeymen?"

"Huuuu… guguuuu…"

Aurelia cutely reached out to her mother. The sight of their little daughter becoming a little larger and more lively brought a lot of warmth to Ves and Gloriana.

When Ves sat down next to his wife and carefully took their baby in his arms, he tickled and kissed his little girl.

"Heeeheeeheee…"

"I love you too, Aurelia."

He couldn't wait until his baby grew smart enough to understand his words! He wanted to teach a lot of lessons to his daughter so that she developed into a healthy, smart and powerful woman.

"Ves?"

"Ah, we haven't managed to attract as many prospects as we wish." Ves answered her earlier question. "Despite winning a mech design tournament and doing well in several other tournaments, not a lot of Journeymen have applied to join our clan. I even took the initiative to send invitations to several former rivals who have impressed me, but most of them are already attached to other pioneering organizations. The remaining Journeymen all know their own worth and would rather join a more powerful and established pioneering organization."

Gloriana remained quiet for a few seconds. She slowly reached out and lifted Aurelia from his grasp. "In other words, you failed to make any progress."

"I didn't say that! We did manage to attract the interest of over a hundred Journeymen! Most of them chose to respond to our offer because they were impressed by either myself or Ketis. When I interviewed them, it became pretty clear to me why they sought to join our clan. They think that Ketis and I have a lot of promise and that we're bound to become Master Mech Designers in the future. The applicants want to bet on us and join us while our conditions are still relatively generous in the hopes that they can benefit from the rising tide."

"You don't sound too happy with this group."

Ves sighed. "Most of them are opportunists to be honest. The Journeymen we're talking about are mostly middle-aged or older who are not that attractive to other employers. They've lost most of their drive for whatever reason. I've met dozens of Journeymen who have either become too comfortable in their own success or have stalled in their research. Their mentalities aren't good enough in my eyes."

Gloriana knew what he was talking about. "We need to recruit mech designers who can keep up with us. These folk definitely won't meet our requirements."

"That's for sure. One of the mech designers who have knocked on our doors is a man called Velroyce Sivance. Don't let his fancy name fool you. He ranked at the bottom in the first tournament I took part in. He's a disgrace of a Journeyman and severely overestimated his abilities if he thought he could compete in the High Tide Tournament. Mr. Sivance actually had the guts to apply for our clan!"

His wife didn't look impressed either. "I hope you turned him away right away."

"I actually took the time to meet with him. We only talked briefly, though."

"Why?"

"Because I want to see if he had any redeeming qualities. It turned out that I shouldn't have bothered."

Ves proceeded to highlight other Journeymen who fell far below his standard. The only reasons why he bothered to interview them was because he did not put all of his faith in records and didn't have to expend too much time in hearing them out for a few minutes.

None of the Journeymen he met were diamonds in the rough. They were mediocre at best, and might perform better if they received a lot of support.

The issue was that Ves did not want to bother with helping these Journeymen regain their drive. If they needed external assistance in order to get back in shape, then what was the point of recruiting them? The Larkinson Clan needed additional lead designers, not overgrown children who needed a lot of handholding!

In truth, Ves hoped to encounter someone similar to Ketis. If someone like Mr. Sivance took a wrong turn and became lost, then he was still worth saving if he possessed a powerful specialty!

They were too rare, though. People weren't stupid. Anyone with promising specialties had either been recruited in advance or started up their own venture. Few mech designers who possessed the courage to pursue a difficult or ambitious specialty were willing to work for a relatively small and young pioneering organization like the Larkinson Clan.

"You must have been able to attract more competent Journeymen, right? Not all of them should be as useless as you say." Gloriana guessed.

"You're right, but they come with their own bag of problems."

"Such as?"

"Well, let us begin with our requirements. One of our non-negotiable terms is that any Journeyman who wishes to join our clan will do so on a permanent basis. Once they become a Larkinson, they aren't allowed to quit whenever they wish. If the applicants aren't willing to commit to our clan on a permanent basis, then why should I trust their loyalty?"

Ves already knew he couldn't rely on the Larkinson Network to instill loyalty in their minds. Journeymen possessed so much mental strength that it was nearly impossible to shake their stances. They needed to be convinced the old-fashioned way in order to change their thoughts!

Just like Gloriana, any Journeyman who joined the Larkinson Clan would largely stick to their own values and principles. While Ves had already managed to bend her personality, there were limits to what he could do. His wife still possessed way more Hexer tendencies than he preferred even after all of these years.

"I can see how this demand can repel most interested Journeymen." Gloriana said. "What about the ones that are left?"

"They all drive hard bargains." Ves grimaced. "No one at our level is stupid. They might have personality issues but they know how much they can contribute to an organization like ours."

"What do you have trouble with, then?"

"Well, I've received a number of visits from Journeymen who either demand shares in the LMC or want to have a say in how the Larkinson Clan is run. Suffice to say, I quickly closed the door on them. There is no way I want to give them this level of control."

This was actually an unusually harsh stance, but Ves believed he had the capital to insist on his demands. The Larkinson Clan was far from average and had a bright future ahead of it. He would rather recruit nobody than give in on his demands.

The result of all of this was that there were only a handful of mech designers left who still earned greater consideration from Ves. He was glad that at least a few Journeymen were willing to bend their heads to him and his clan.

"Tell me about the mech designers that have met your approval." Gloriana requested as she played with Aurelia.

"I wouldn't immediately say that I approve of them." He quickly said. "I can only state that they are better than the rest."

Ves activated a projection that displayed the profiles of a pair of Journeymen that he had initially competed against in the Wild Brawl Bowl.

"Meet Sara and Dulo Voiken. They're a pair of siblings who come from a notable mech designer family in the galactic rim. While my Heart of Victor managed to beat their Thornbearer, I'm quite impressed with their work."

"What is your opinion on their specialties?"

"Dulo Voiken specializes in spearman mechs. This might be useful when we upgrade Venerable Orphan's Riot, but we don't make heavy use of spear-wielding mechs. We already have Ketis so a mech designer like Mr. Dulo is largely dispensable."

Ves pointed his finger at one of the photographs.

"Sara Voiken is the most valuable Journeyman of the two. Her defensive specialization is not only widely applicable, but also crucial to our clan. As long as we reel her in, we can upgrade the defenses of our armored mechs to a whole new level and design brand-new defensive solutions that are more suitable to the new frontier."

Gloriana frowned. "If the Voikens only come in a package deal, then this is quite risky. I share your concerns about Mr. Dulo's usefulness in our clan. It is also not good if the two of them hail from the same family. They'll keep working alongside each other and won't open themselves up to the rest of the Larkinson Clan."

That was also a major concern to Ves. How could he properly integrate the Voiken siblings into his clan if they would just form their own little subgroup in the Larkinson Clan?

Ves sighed. "One of my biggest concerns is that Sara and Dulo refuse to cut ties with the Voiken Family. They grew up in this powerful family and its prestige is doubtlessly much higher in their hearts. Though the two siblings have given me assurances that they are trying to make their own mark in the mech industry, I'm not so sure I can believe them when they claim that they won't run back to the Voiken Family."

The Voiken Family was led by a Master Mech Designer!

"If that is the case, why are you still thinking about them, Ves?"

"The first reason is because I'm lacking in choice. The second reason is because I performed a little research on this family. The Voikens have a good reputation and it is not unusual for their more ambitious descendants to join other organizations. Perhaps these Voiken mech designers think they won't be able to achieve success on their own merits if they can easily call for help from their fellow family members."

The only way for a mech designer to advance to Master was to perform a lot of original research and achieve a lot of unique attainments.

Ves understood the motivations of Sara and Dulo Voiken a bit better after figuring out their probable motivations.

That didn't mean he was willing to take them in right away.

"I don't think you should recruit the Voikens." Gloriana said. "As you've said, there will always be questions about their loyalty to the Voiken Family. It is fine if they are in frequent contact with each other, but once the two Voiken Journeymen leak our secrets or try anything else, we might face another crisis."

"Those are exactly my thoughts. While I don't want to discard the Voiken siblings entirely, they're currently at the bottom of my shortlist.

"Who else are you considering?"

Ves projected another set of records.

"Miss Janassa Pellier and Miss Tifi Coslone have also managed to impress me in the Wild Brawl Bowl. Their Zenomon Gamma made it to the third round of the fighting phase before the Heart of Victor defeated it in the arena. Both of them come from the galactic rim like us so they are not as arrogant as other Journeymen. What is notable about them is that they are both disciples of the same Master Mech Designer."

Gloriana raised her eyebrow. "They inherited the same design philosophy?"

Ves nodded. "That's right. Though Miss Pellier and Miss Coslone claim that they are trying to differentiate their specialties from each other, for now it's hard for me to find the difference between their works. They both excel in maximizing the physical strength and force exertion of their mech designs."

"Such a specialty can doubtlessly play a useful role in all of our melee mechs. Even ranged mechs can benefit from possessing additional strength. They can handle bigger guns and they'll be able to improve their mobility on land."

"I'm not underestimating their specialty." Ves said. "The real issue with this pair is that their design philosophies are nearly identical. It is still not certain whether they will be able to steer their specializations in different directions in the future, but for now that sounds like a bad bet."

"I agree. That sounds less than desirable."

"I'd be happy with just one of them, but just like the Voikens Pellier and Coslone come in the form of a package deal. They're BFFs and they absolutely can't stand the thought of going their separate ways."

"I see…" Gloriana frowned.