The Mech Touch

Ves already came up with a handle of suitable names that could lead his ambitious T Institute.

The most obvious choice was to put Ranya Wodin in charge.

She was a biotech expert by trade, so she already possessed a lot of relevant knowledge as well as the right mindset towards augmenting humans.

She had also proven her ability to lead a large and important group by successfully remaining in charge of the Larkinson Biotech Institute.

Under her leadership, the LBI steadily grew to become the primary biotech service provider of not only the Larkinson Clan, but also the rest of the Golden Skull Alliance!

Though the LBI made much less progress in developing unique biotech products that could be put on the market, Ves did not mind too much. He understood how difficult it was to break into the biotech market when an organization had to start from scratch.

Still, Director Ranya had already told Ves that the LBI was on track to release numerous viable commercial products in five to ten years. Once this happened, the clan would finally gain a second major revenue source!

Aside from her proven leadership ability, there was an even more important reason why Ves favored Ranya above many other choices.

She was trustworthy.

She had long cast aside her former status as a member of the Wodin Dynasty and fully embraced her new identity as a Larkinson.

Not only that, she had become the wedded wife of Venerable Tusa Larkinson.

This indirect blood relation made Ves more inclined to entrust his secrets to her, knowing that she would never betray his confidence due to her personal bonds.

"Isn't Ranya an exobiologist?" Ketis asked as Ves mentioned the woman's name. "I can see why you think she can do a decent job in leading the T Institute, but who will you put in charge of the Larkinson Biotech Institute instead?"

"That… is indeed a problem."

The LBI had grown into a large organization that employed thousands of researchers and other staffers. There had to be plenty of smart people who could fill in Dr. Ranya's shoes.

Ves was reluctant to see that happen, though. He was someone who prized familiarity and personal relations and did not feel at ease with putting a relative stranger in charge of such an important institution.

Although the Larkinson Biotech Institute did not play a crucial role to him for the moment, it would definitely have a bigger influence in the future. After all, it was already in the process of collecting and cultivating dozens of mutated beasts. Ves could turn each of them into spiritual ingredients or design spirits.

Ketis made another suggestion. "How about one of your students? If I recall, that kid Maikel Larkinson is the closest mech designer who is following in your footsteps. Even though you're grooming him to become a mech designer, with his understanding of living mechs you could also turn him into the first director of the T Institute."

That sounded interesting, but Ves quickly shook his head.

"Maikel has his own ambition, and it doesn't involve performing weird experiments. He has dedicated many years to achieve his goal of becoming a mech designer. Sure, with my power and prestige I can easily convince him to pursue a different vocation, but I will be doing him a grave disservice."

Ves also looked forward to seeing what Maikel Larkinson could do once he began to progress his chosen design philosophy.

Ketis was right in that the young mech design student also wanted to pursue living mechs. This turned Maikel into a highly important asset to Ves. It was unacceptable to turn the kid away from a career in mech design!

Now that he thought about it, the original four Larkinson seeds were almost ready to graduate and become fully-fledged mech designers.

Though they would have to start off as mere novices, they had all received at least a bit of instruction from several different Journeymen.

Even if Ves was too busy with his own projects to spend much time tutoring Maikel and Zanthar Larkinson, the two adolescents weren't clueless students anymore.

Both of them had not only studied a lot of fundamental subjects, but also gained plenty of hands-on experience and observed a lot of mech designers at work.

Though Ves regretted that he couldn't provide Maikel and Zanthar with orthodox education, the two had received so much personal attention that they definitely enjoyed a much higher starting point than other mech designers!

Only the direct disciples of Master Mech Designer like Tristan Wesseling received better guidance!

Ves and Ketis continued to swap ideas, but neither of them came up with anything better.

The difficulty of finding even a single person to lead the T Institute was a considerable problem that could significantly delay his research gains in the area of human development.

This was an unacceptable outcome!

As Ketis had already said, Ves had been wasting the potential of the Aspect of Lufa and many other fantastic solutions due to lack of time.

He might have been okay with this in the past because he never really thought about it, but now that she pointed it out, he couldn't ignore this issue any longer!

As Ves continued to think about this problem, he suddenly came up with a radical idea.

The MTA, or at least the Survivalist Faction, possessed a vested interest in the success of the T Institute.

After all, weren't they clamoring to uplift humanity and promote their development? What Ves sought to accomplish with the T Institute aligned quite well with the goals of the Survivalists!

The only concern was that the research projects of the T Institute might interest the Five Scrolls Compact as well, but that made it even more important to tie his cart to the MTA's horse!

Though Ves preferred not to entangle himself with any of these huge powers, if he had to shelter under any of them, he might as well stick with the MTA.

The mechers weren't malicious towards him. In fact, as a mech designer, he possessed a natural affinity with the Association.

His previous concerns about attracting the wrong kind of attention from the MTA were also dispelled mostly. The Polymath herself traveled all the way to Davute in order to probe whether Ves possessed the System.

Since she failed to find what she was looking for, Ves was pretty much in the clear! None of his other secrets were a big deal in the eyes of the mechers. It was actually beneficial for him to expose what he could do because it enabled him to cooperate with the MTA in an upright manner!

Ves quickly made a decision. "Since we can't find the right person to lead the T Institute in our ranks, we can ask for help from another organization. I have contacts within the MTA that will probably be happy to recommend me a suitable talent."

"What?!"

This time, it was Ketis' turn to be shocked!

According to her own understanding of Ves, he would have never asked for help from the MTA on his own initiative.

It was even more unlikely for Ves to allow the MTA to put one of their own goons and informers in charge of his most sensitive and vital research projects!

"You can't do this!" Ketis hissed. "Haven't you forgotten about your original aim of turning the pakklaton refugees into your 'test subjects'? We need to protect them from the MTA!"

"That's exactly why this is a great idea, Ketis. I know the mechers well enough that they are fascinated by research. As long as our research projects are promising enough, anyone the MTA puts forward will not only provide unofficial sanction for our activities, but also make sure our 'experimental assets' will be fully retained! Even if we dump the aliens on a sleepy mudball, the MTA will probably assign warships to patrol the star system. This is the best way to guarantee the long-term survival of the alien refugees!"

The swordmaster was not a stupid woman. She quickly figured out his rationale. It was a brilliant if unconventional way to obtain cover for his experiments. The logic being that any experiments happening under the full supervision of an agent of the MTA ought to be without issue!

"You are playing with fire here…"

"Well, that's only because you pushed me into the fire in the first place, you know."

The two discussed a bit more until they finally ended the meeting.

In the end, both Ves and Ketis had a lot to look forward to. Not only would the T Institute provide a way for the pakklaton refugees to survive, it also promised to provide the Larkinsons with many new ways to improve their strength!

Once Ketis retracted Sharpie and left the office, Ves remained silent as Blinky returned to his own mind.

"Meow?"

"Yeah, I should make the arrangements."

Ves moved quickly. He expanded his initial plan for his T Institute and instructed his assistant Gavin to take care of the administration.

As for finding a suitable director and other useful personnel, he directly sent a message to Jovy's personal comm.

He recalled he still needed to provide a companion spirit to Jovy, but he needed to think about it carefully.

If he wanted to raise his value to the Survivalist Faction, then he needed to make sure that Jovy received a life-changing gift!

The companion spirit that Ves intended to design for the MTA Journeyman not only had to be strong, it also had to compliment his design philosophy!

Only by accomplishing this goal would the mechers be truly delighted!

Days passed by as Ves arranged various matters before turning his attention back to putting the finishing touches on his remaining mech design projects.

Almost two weeks after the Battle of Orange Tulip, the salvage fleet invited by the Golden Skull Alliance finally entered the star system!

Everyone in the expeditionary fleet was relieved to see the arrival of the new ships. Once the salvage fleet took over the captured pakklaton starships, the Golden Skull Alliance could move on without carrying any burdens.

Though it took a bit of time for the slow and heavy salvage fleet to reach the inner system, once they neared the site, Ves took a good look at the newcomers.

There were a lot of carriers as well as cargo ships in the salvage fleet. The Golden Skull Alliance had transmitted the exact volume, mass, dimensions and other data about the captured vessels and valuable debris, so the salvagers came prepared.

As the salvage fleet came into position, the expeditionary fleet moved back in order to give the professionals space to do their work.

Many of the salvage ships belonged to a company called the RTG Group. When Ves observed their salvage teams at work, he quickly nodded in satisfaction. They were all working efficiently and with great care towards preserving as much value as possible.

Murphy & Sons happened to bring the bulk of the cargo ships, though. These huge but largely hollow vessels used to carry all of the parts of their disassembled shipyard. Now that it was set up in the Davute system, it was no problem for the cargo ships to be used to transport salvaged goods and materials.

Melaia Murphy of Murphy & Sons happened to accompany the salvage fleet this time. Ves received her on the Spirit of Bentheim in person in order to discuss the salvage operations and other important topics.

"Is your shipyard operational yet?" Ves asked the older woman.

"Not yet. I wouldn't be here if that was the case." The chief shipbuilder shook her head. "The reassembly process is a huge endeavor due to the size of the shipyard. We also need to inspect and test every important system in order to ensure that their time in storage hasn't degraded their functioning. Aside from that, we have only received half of the replacement shipyard components that we have ordered so far. It will take at least two more months before we can tentatively begin with constructing starships. Don't worry. It will not take long before we can fulfill your first ship commission."