The Mech Touch

Ves questioned himself whether he had made the right choice during his talk with the Polymath.

The compensation that he managed to extract from her was considerably valuable. He had managed to secure a powerful benefit that the Association ordinarily reserved for its own troops.

The EdNet could be used to quickly transform random third-raters and second-raters into reasonably competent first-raters. It could turn an average first-rater into a highly knowledgeable expert in his own area of expertise.

All it would take was to spend a few years in a long-term simulator pod in order to undergo up to 20 years worth of virtual classes and training!

The Polymath could not overstate how much of an advantage this conveyed to a lot of people.

Although the downsides of this amazing implementation of high technology impacted mech pilots a lot worse than other professionals, it was still an amazing tool that effectively allowed Ves to transform 5000 Larkinson into first-raters for free!

The fact that the quotas were only valid a single time did not bother him too much. The EdNet was a service that was always in high demand. The waiting list was long as it was extremely expensive to expand its capacity.

In order for the Polymath to provide 5000 extra spots, she essentially had to commit to improving the underlying tech and construct a brand-new facility to accommodate her advancement!

The Polymath did not share the exact cost of researching the tech and constructing this top-of-the-line EdNet facility, but he would not be surprised if the final sum exceeded tens of billions MTA credits!

In a time where the Red Association needed to become disciplined in its spending, the way the Polymath intended to justify this expenditure was to make the facility available to other mechers once the Larkinsons got their turn.

It was one of the many forms of reparations that the repentant Star Designer planned to rely upon to get back into everyone's good graces.

"I could have asked for other concessions, though." Ves furrowed his brows.

He still became plagued by what-ifs after he had concluded the deal. He knew that he could have made a lot of other requests that fell within the Polymath's purview. Her technological accomplishments were massive. She developed so many goodies over the decades that any of them could make Ves a lot more powerful!

Ves could have potentially asked for a top-of-the-line version of the Hyper Chamber. Perhaps he could have gotten away with several decently outfitted Hyper Chambers.

He could have asked for access to a section of her personal library that enabled him to devour restricted knowledge related to the most advanced high technologies such as linking technology.

He could have asked for a huge batch of top-grade first-class materials that were ordinarily reserved for the construction of RA first-class multipurpose mechs.

The most valuable and relevant concession he could ask for was to request a small fleet of first-class carrier vessels that could form the nucleus of his future base of operations!

In the end, Ves gave up all of those possible opportunities for a benefit that he did not intend to use in person!

"Did I make the right choice, Jovy?" He asked his friend as he got teleported back to his stateroom.

His next meetings were scheduled to start a bit later due to the need to get more planning done. Ves could already tell that the Survivalists valued his contributions so much that they would get heavily featured in the Deep Strike Plan.

"It is a worthwhile choice if you value the loyalty and help of your Larkinsons." Jovy responded after a few seconds of thought. "Not everyone in your position would have made the same choice. You could have gotten away with asking for a well-equipped design lab and workshop in the Vulit Central Star Node. As an honorary member of the Red Association, you have the right to live in one of the safest and most fortified human star systems in the new frontier. This is probably the best form of compensation you could ask for that benefits you personally."

"Damn, you're right! Still, a fancy workplace in Vulit doesn't sound so nice if there aren't enough clansmen by my side. I am too accustomed to leading an organization of people that I can trust and rely on that I cannot bring myself to leave almost all of them behind. What happened today has reinforced the value of surrounding myself with peers and subordinates who I can trust with my back."

Although Ves did not think the mechers were awful, they possessed a radically different mindset and priorities.

This was not necessarily a dealbreaker. Ves knew that he had gained enough reputation and prestige to deepen his integration into the Red Association. So long as he showed enough promise and potential, he was confident in his ability to gather a new crowd of supporters among the mechers.

There were way more people within the Association who were still fairly young and decent like Jovy Armalon and his friends!

However, the Association already spent plenty of years indoctrinating them. No matter whether he employed a measure like the Larkinson Network, the ingrained loyalty and affection towards their original organization could be ground away so easily, especially when they were much more mentally resilient compared to the average space peasant!

It all came down to trust. Ves ultimately did not find it prudent to put too much trust in these utilitarian bastards. He would rather pay huge opportunity costs and give up on a lot of other goodies in order to guarantee that he could still surround himself with a reliable core of loyal henchmen.

The subordinates from his clan were thoroughly vetted and had proved their loyalty and dedication to service many times over. They would doubtlessly become incredibly grateful if Ves granted them the opportunity to become first-raters on his account.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt assured that he had made the right call. The Larkinsons were not a set of disposable employees that he could hire and discard at will.

They were family, and one of the principles of the Larkinson Clan was that its members should never abandon each other!

That said, the Larkinson Clan was bound to endure a lot of strain in the coming years. It was already bad enough to split the clan into a main branch and numerous side branches of lesser importance.

Once the clan became divided between a small core of first-raters and a much larger base of second-raters, then its cohesion came under severe threat!

Jovy recognized these difficulties as well. "Have you thought about how to arrange your clan now that you and 5010 of your subordinates are on track to promote to first-raters in the next four or so years?"

"I am not sure about that yet. So many changes have taken place in the last week alone that you aren't giving me any time to adjust and rethink my short to medium-term plans." Ves looked annoyed. "It might not make much sense to you, but I was actually pretty content with staying as a second-class mech designer for a longer time. I planned to become a first-class mech designer at a much more gradual rate. The journey is just as important as the destination. I wanted to attain my goal in a more organic fashion."

"That is not all to your reluctance." Jovy turned towards Ves with a knowing look. "You have clear misgivings about the EdNet and its effect on people."

Ves reluctantly nodded. "I also wanted to give my wife and my closest confidantes time to catch up by relying on their own efforts. Just giving them a bunch of quotas for the EdNet out of the blue will grant them life-changing gifts that they haven't really earned. Aside from that, the world of first-raters is a lot different. They will all be dropping into a more cutthroat and demanding society where they will always fall behind compared to the elite first-raters who graduated from serious universities such as the Eden Institute of Business & Technology."

The EdNet combined with first-class augmentations could turn any average person into an adequate first-rater, but that was usually the limit.

A premier first-class mech company and mech force could not be run by 'average' first-raters alone!

The necessity for top talents and highly capable professionals was much greater at this level!

"You could try to mix it up." Jovy suggested. "Isn't this what you have done during your clan's initial transition from third-class to second-class? You began to hire a lot of native second-raters to fill up the more demanding positions of your clan."

"Yeah. You're right."

Ves also recalled that his clan no longer found it worthwhile to recruit any further third-raters.

Would history repeat itself? Would the Larkinson Clan become so snobby that it looked down on second-raters a decade later?

He felt incredibly ambivalent about this possible development. He did not want this to happen a second time. Second-raters might not be as smart or skilled, but they possessed a number of favorable qualities that Ves found distressingly lacking among the mechers and Terrans that he had come into contact with in the last few months.

Jovy pointed out the fundamental reason why Ves still felt alienated by the prospect of moving up to a first-class society.

"You have managed to climb your way up so fast that it is easy to overlook that your origins are much humbler than most people realize. I think that despite your continual ability to rapidly promote yourself, you are still a third-rater at heart."

"I guess that is also true." Ves wearily admitted.

Ves may have left the Bright Republic, but the Bright Republic still hadn't left his heart.

Compared to his wife and many of the people he surrounded himself with these days, Ves frequently noticed a lot of incongruities.

His values, his principles, his behavior, his attitude and so on were all different. While he had made plenty of adaptations as he matured as the patriarch of a rapidly rising clan, he also clung a lot more stubbornly onto the core traits that defined him as a citizen of the Bright Republic.

He only managed to get away with this all because he was so successful. People were much more tolerant to eccentrics who designed fantastic mechs and came up with a lot of other powerful inventions.

"You should cherish the support network that you have built around yourself, but you should not allow it to become your shackle. I think you should form a completely new development plan that enables you to become a first-rater on a stronger footing."

Ves and Jovy spent the next half hour on entertaining a lot of suggestions on how to form the blueprint of this development plan.

The preliminary planning took a toll on Ves. He had to consider a lot of difficult choices on who or what he should give up. It simply wasn't realistic to uplift his entire clan into first-raters.

"Have you thought about founding a new first-class organization that exists as a separate entity? This will make your personal empire a lot easier to manage. You can keep the Larkinson Clan as a second-class family organization. The bulk of your Larkinsons can continue to conduct its current activities. With the 10 permanent EdNet quotas, you can hand-pick the best and most proven talents to undergo accelerated virtual reality training and join your smaller but much more elite circle in the Upper Zones."

That... actually sounded like a decent idea. Ves did not feel it was right to distance himself from his clan so soon, though.

"I'm not so sure about that, Jovy. I don't want to leave my clan behind. It feels like I am abandoning all of the Larkinsons who have looked up to me for so long."

Jovy's expression became disapproving. "I understand your sentiments, but you cannot let your clan become a detriment to your personal development. Too much is at stake. Red humanity needs you to be at the top of your game. Do you want to hear my suggestion? You have already done more than enough for your clan. It has grown to the point where it is able to do fine on its own. Its current leadership and administration are more than robust enough to manage all of its affairs without relying on your direct input. The only requirement to sustain its current prosperity is to occasionally design or update a few second-class mechs every once in a while."

That... actually made a lot of sense. Though Ves knew that Jovy was advocating for a solution that was in line with the Red Association's interests, that did not mean his proposal was bad.

Ves still had his reservations.

"I'm not sure my clan will do nearly as well if I am gone. My daughter isn't even old enough to take over my position. In fact, I'm not even sure whether she is still suited for this job. Taking over a second-class clan is beneath her now. I can probably arrange a much better job for her now that I have become a tier 3 galactic citizen."

Jovy nodded in agreement. "Then let another Larkinson with proven leadership abilities take over. I believe that General Ark Larkinson is both capable and willing to take over this responsibility."