The Mech Touch

If Gavin asked whether Ves could fabricate a masterwork version of the Fey Project immediately after the death of the Elemental Lord, then he would definitely receive a negative response!

The loss of his previous Elemental Lord had left a deep scar in Ves' heart.

Although his most recent talk with his mother had successfully distracted him from this loss, Ves still felt a bit of apprehension at the thought of fabricating another mech so soon.

Even if Ves was willing to stay honest and fabricate an unadulterated version of the Elite Edition of the Fey Project, he still felt repulsed at the thought of doing so. It felt too much like attempting to fabricate an inferior substitute to the Elemental Lord.

How could Ves possibly create a masterwork mech when his mood was still affected by the trauma of his most recent loss?

It did not matter if Ves had learned in hindsight that the Elemental Lord had no chance of surviving the lightning tribulation from the start. Its design was too primitive due to his many shortcomings. He should have never attempted to bring this flamed work to life.

His rationality told him that he should accept his mistakes and move on from this incident.

His emotions still couldn't quite let go of the loss. Whether it was doomed from the beginning or not, in the brief time the Elemental Lord was alive, Ves genuinely developed a strong emotional attachment to his proudest and most remarkable living mech to date!

This was most definitely a problem. Ves recognized that he had developed a mental block that prevented him from smoothly fabricating another copy of the Fey Project.

He let out a sigh. "I am not quite ready to repeat my earlier effort. There is a high chance that I won't be able to produce anything special if I start another fabrication run. I need more time to restore my mood."

It was quite disappointing for Ves to be subjected to this constraint. Even though he had touched the third rung of Senfovon's Ladder of Craftsmanship, his grip on the second rung was not solid enough.

Ves had no intention of challenging the third rung anytime soon. It was clear that he still had to master the art of creating masterworks before he could think about taking the next step.

"As for the name... let us call it the Fey Fianna."

The odd name prompted Gavin to raise his eyebrow. "Is that another old mythological reference?"

"Pretty much. It sounds good enough, and it is certainly a unique and distinctive label. What matters is that the performance is good enough. That is indispensable for turning the Fey Fianna into a bestseller. While I am not that proud of the relatively superficial application of hyper technology, the E-technology that I have incorporated in this mech line is unmatched. I do not think that anyone else can design a drone mech with the benefits that I have imparted into my design."

Ves still had reasons to be proud of the Fey Fianna. The shortcomings in relation to hyper technology were not small, but they were excusable as the mech industry was still stuck in the early phase of the Hyper Generation.

"I might not be ahead of everyone else, but I am not too far behind either. I still have time to develop my own unique applications of hyper technology."

Ves definitely wanted to revisit the design of the Fey Fianna in a few years or so and update it into a proper elemental mech.

However, he only wanted to embark on this project after he had built up a robust toolbox of design solutions that were suited for the current mech generation.

In order to do that, he needed to explore what he could do in other mech design projects.

He still needed to finish up his remaining mech design projects.

He also had to take stock of the radical changes to his physique and other properties. Ves had yet to gain a clear idea on what he turned into and how that affected his productivity going forward.

When Ves almost wrapped up his meeting, his assistant gave him a piece of advice.

"I am concerned about you, boss. You have been working at a high intensity for over a month. You have skipped a lot of sleep when you started up three different fabrication runs in quick succession. I do not know how much you can tolerate, but if you are still anything close to a normal human, then it is time for you to take a break."

"Take... a break?"

"You know what I am talking about." Gavin spoke in a surprisingly assertive tone. "I know you still have mech design projects on your plate, but are they truly urgent enough for you to get back to them right away? Your mental condition has obviously deteriorated. You need a proper rest, and there is no better way to do so than to pause your responsibilities and spend more time with your children. Let me ask you this. How much time has passed since you last enjoyed a proper vacation?"

"Uh... I took days off, you know! I took my children to the city and everything!"

"Interrupting work for a single day every now and then does not constitute a proper vacation, Ves. Let's face it. You are too high-strung right now. You look and act like a mech designer that has been running on fumes. It might seem like a waste of time, but as long as you spend enough time on vacation to reset your mind state, I am sure that the problems related to your mood will go away."

Though Ves initially rejected the notion of dropping all of his responsibilities so that he could go on vacation, he gradually started to get around to the idea.

It had been a long time since his mood had dropped so much. Though Ves had been through worse, that did not mean that he was happy about his current state.

Taking the time to recover his mentality would ultimately yield more benefits in the long run.

Perhaps he might be able to recover his mood in time to fabricate a proper representation of the Fey Fianna.

"Okay." Ves relented. "You have convinced me. I guess it will be nice to take the kids out to an interesting new place for a week or so. It's too bad that my wife isn't here to accompany me, but oh well. Is there enough room in my schedule to squeeze in a vacation before the big event, or will I have to wait until it is over before I can take a lengthy break?"

"Given how fast the Bluejay Fleet can travel, we should be able to free up a week's worth of time in your schedule. It just so happens that the Joan Devos Elementary School will soon release its students for the upcoming holiday."

Ves raised his eyebrow. "What holiday?"

"The new holiday that commemorates the passing of the first year of the Age of Dawn, don't you recall? The Red Two has instituted a new calendar that introduces several holidays that did not exist before. I think the mechers and the fleeters want to encourage us to move on from the Age of Mechs and stop pining about the good old days. There are many people who complain about putting our calendar out of sync with the standard one that has always been used in the old galaxy."

That caused Ves to frown for a moment.

Unlike his assistant, Ves had gained a lot more awareness of the plots taking place above everyone's heads.

The new calendar deliberately broke from the calendar of the old galaxy in order to distance red humanity from the Milky Way.

It was one of the many cultural changes the Red Two had made to shape red humanity into a more independent civilization.

Ves did not take these changes as lightly as others. The curse of knowledge had forced him to notice the deeper undercurrents behind this deliberate strategy to steer red humanity's destiny towards a specific destination.

That did not mean that he had to act on the information that he possessed. So what if red humanity arbitrarily changed the calendar? All he cared about was that there were no problems in bringing his children along for the upcoming holiday.

"Will I be able to bring the kids to Bortele?"

"It is not advisable." Gavin seriously responded. "You can submit an application for an extended leave if you want to, but it will cause your children to fall behind in their studies. They can partially make up for it through virtual schooling and self study, but I think it is best to just send them back to New Constantinople VIII after your vacation is over. There is no compelling reason to bring them to the Bortele System. It is also not exactly suitable to bring them to a militarized star system."

He was right. The Bortele System had changed from a fairly remote and underdeveloped port system to a fortified stronghold.

A lot of armed forces had congregated in the star system, and that attracted a lot of service providers that sought to take care of their needs.

It was certainly not a place to relax and spend more quality time with his children.

"Alright." Ves shrugged. "I think that Gloriana should almost be ready to head back at that time, so I guess it will be fine. Have you come up with any suggestions on where I should enjoy my vacation?"

Gavin had already conducted research on this matter. He activated a projection that presented three different holiday destinations.

"I assume that you do not want to spend your vacation in New Constantinople, so I have looked for various destinations that are somewhere on the way to Bortele."

He highlighted the first planet.

"Nirian IX-B is an icy resort planet that is located on the edge of the Agamemnon Upper Zone. It features a lot of ice and snow for you to partake in all sorts of winter sports and winter activities. Given that it is owned and operated by the Terrans, all of the facilities and amenities are top notch. The most popular activity is to ski down the highest mountains of the planet, though it is far from the only draw."

Ves had not really gone on many vacations. The typical ones brought him to the surface of various tropical resort planets. Traveling to an ice planet was a nice way to experience whole new sights. Perhaps he might even be able to gather inspiration on how to utilize the water element.

"This is an interesting option. What about the second one?"

"Ocanon VI is an untamed planet in the Krakatoa Middle Zone that filled with exobeasts and exoplants. Its colonists have deliberately preserved its original ecosystem and made sure to keep a light footprint. It is one of the most biodiverse planets in the region and has a large amount of research value. The people in charge have also turned it into a nature resort of sorts and opened it up for tourism. In fact, the most popular activity on the planet is hunting. There are a lot different exofauna that provide challenges at every level."

That reminded Ves of the time he spent on Felixia I. He still cherished the memories he made of the time he spent on the surface of the cat planet.

In particular, it had also been the planet where he hunted his first and only Crown Cat.

Zeigra would have never become one of his design spirits and the spiritual fusion partner to his father if he never visited that unforgettable planet!

Ves grew more interested in Ocanon VI. Perhaps it might be fun to take his children on a hunting trip and allow them to shoot a few alien critters or whatever.

"What about the last option?"

"Well, the last holiday destination is a bit more special..."