The Mech Touch

Master Ginevra Hubert-Colmain was a severe-looking woman with middle-length gray hair. She wore a neutral gray suit and coat that hugged her slim build but did not add much color to her appearance.

Despite the fact that she was 'only' 180 years old, she carried herself as a mech designer who was a century older. Ves gained the impression that the female Master had spent many hours on quiet studying, experimentation and other boring-sounding stuff.

Her mech company reflected her focus on design over the other spheres of the mech industry.

According to the galactic net, the GHC Mech Consulting Bureau did not produce a lot of mechs in-house, but designed a lot of mechs on commission to many different clients.

Based in the more distant Greenwich Middle Zone, GHC had managed to carve out a good niche in the competitive mech market. It designed complete mechs if needed, but also did a lot of business by providing consulting services to any mech designer or department that was struggling with a difficult project.

There was one particular reason why Master Ginevra Hubert-Colmain became such a valued consultant and adviser in the mech industry.

She originally came from the galactic center of the Milky Way!

Even if she only grew up as a relatively unassuming second-class mech designer in one of the numerous marginal buffer states in the prosperous region, she gained access to many benefits that were practically unattainable in the galactic heartland and the galactic rim.

She had access to significantly more advanced augmentations. There were even cases where redundant or used stocks of first-class augmentations got dumped in whatever second-rate state could afford these dubious goods.

She was able to study at a mech design university that taught a lot more high technologies that were usually present in first-class mech designs.

She had access to many relationship networks that enabled her to forge connections with first-raters.

She also started her business in a region where average customers had so much more money at their disposal that it wasn't even funny!

It did not surprise Ves that second-class mech designers from the galactic center found it much easier to promote to first-class mech designers.

Anyone who grew up under those circumstances could soar into the heavens!

However, Master Ginevra did not enjoy a powerful start. She insisted on starting her own business and experienced slow growth throughout her first century of life.

It was only after she became a Master Mech Designer and started over in the Red Ocean that she started to build up momentum.

The new frontier was a much more suitable place for her to do business. Not only was the market a lot more fluid, but the rise of new technologies enabled her to leverage her intellectual prowess to the fullest.

Master Ginevra Hubert-Colmain had earned a reputation for understanding phasewater technology and hyper technology quickly. She increased her proficiency in these new and exciting fields so quickly that she purportedly managed to construct her own unique comprehension that better utilized their properties.

This was why she became a successful consultant. Many other mech designers with busy schedules simply did not have the time to study phasewater technology or hyper technology to the same extent.

It was much better to hire a consultant that could solve specific design problems that were intimately related to the new technologies that introduced a lot of new and unfamiliar paradigms.

In any case, it was not just her learning ability that enabled her to stand out in this day and age.

Her design philosophy also became a lot more relevant during the last two mech generations.

It was rather interesting to Ves that Master Ginevra originally settled on a Class VIII design philosophy that was not too relevant when she started out roughly 150 years in the past.

She chose to dedicate her entire career to exploring the field of Exotic Energy Conversion.

Exotic energy was not an unknown concept during the Age of Mechs. Humanity had already developed an extensive degree of familiarity with the basic and fundamental types of energy.

Many different human technologies made ingenious use of thermal energy, kinetic energy, gravitic energy, electrical energy, sound energy, radiant energy and mechanical energy.

Yet that did not encompass every energy type in existence.

The universe was far more amazing than many humans could ever imagine from their limited perspectives.

Many different aliens managed to harness the power of more exotic and unusual energy types.

One of the more iconic examples in the previous age happened to be Worclaw energy. The powerful Alshyr race was known to eschew a lot of technology because it was mostly redundant to these powerful beings.

This large and potent avian race could fight and travel faster-than-light by relying on their own bodies alone!

They could accomplish so many more feats that they were practically the opposite of a tool-using race.

The Alshyr were probably the closest equivalent to body cultivators in the modern era of the Milky Way Galaxy!

Yet it was exactly because the Alshyr developed so much pride towards their own abilities that they never escaped its shackles.

The Alshyr constantly underestimated the power of technology, and that ended up being one of the root causes of their defeat at the hands of humanity.

In any case, Ves developed a greater interest in the former resident of the galactic center as soon as he found a list of the exotic energy types that she had managed to harness over her long career.

One of the entries just so happened to mention Worclaw energy!

Even though the sleuths on the galactic net only managed to ascertain that she had implemented in only a couple of experimental mech designs, that was already remarkable in itself!

Ves did not really put a high priority on finding a cooperative scientist that could help him make use of Worclaw energy in a more systematic manner.

However, now that he had coincidentally gotten in touch with a mech designer who happened to work with Worclaw energy in the past, how could he possibly let this opportunity slip from his grasp?

He made sure to project a polite and friendly demeanor towards Master Ginevra Hubert-Colmain. It was as if he regarded her as a friendly acquaintance rather than a rival and an opponent.

"Welcome back to Phoca Arena, Master Ginevra." Ves greeted the stately-looking woman while extending his hand. "I look forward to seeing how your Montebra model shall fare against my Fey Fianna."

"Your new drone mech model presents an interesting challenge to my new lancer mech model." The older woman said as she accepted the handshake.

"I reckon that this challenge match will end much sooner than the last one. Lancer mechs are kind of all-or-nothing machines."

"Is that what you think?" Master Ginevra raised her eyebrow as she directed a challenging look towards the younger mech designer. "I have already mentioned to you that my Montebra GHCMQ-3 model is capable of purging its armor so that it can acquire the characteristics of a spearman mech. Its ability to engage in high-speed maneuvers should not be underestimated."

Ves smiled at her. "I am aware of that. My remark is not just based around your Montebras, but also my Fey Fiannas. Take a closer look."

As the second batch of challenge mechs entered the main arena field, everyone could immediately observe what kind of configuration the Standard Fey Fianna had adopted for this match.

Each drone mech was accompanied by 3 luminar crystal cannon fey and just 1 energy shield fey!

That caused Master Ginevra to develop a greater interest in this matchup.

"That is a bold choice on your part, Professor Larkinson. You have chosen to put much more emphasis on offense. Did you consider the option of replacing the final energy shield fey with another offensive fey?"

"I did. I almost came close to going all out on an offensive fey loadout, but I held back due to your Montebra's ability to purge its armor. I thought it was better to add an extra defensive buffer to account for any surprises."

"Good choice. Why did you choose not to add any further defensive fey to your drone mechs? Your works might have a chance of blocking the charge attacks of my lancer mechs with a full loadout of energy shield fey. The limited length of this mech arena prevents my Montebras from building up enough momentum to breach even the heaviest of armor."

Ves shook his head. "That sounds like a trap to me. I do not dare to assume that your lancer mechs are entirely subject to those limitations. You do not strike me as a person who has chosen to issue a challenge to me without taking prevailing circumstances into account. It is better not to bet on the possibility that 10 energy shields stacked together can block the charge attacks of two lancer mechs."

Master Ginevra looked disappointed when she heard that. This reaction reinforced Ves' suspicion that he had made the right decision!

"The way I see it, this challenge match will end fairly soon. Either your Montebras will be able to impale my Fey Fiannas with their lances, or they will miss and quickly get picked off by all of my offensive fey."

"That is an overly simplistic view of this fight. My Montebras are not as simple as they appear. You will see soon enough."

Both mech designers waited for the RA inspectors to thoroughly examine and confirm that the mechs conformed to all of the terms of this challenge match.

Anticipation started to build up among the audience yet again. No one knew which mech held the advantage in this matchup, but most people started to root for the Fey Fianna once again.

It was always pleasant to back a winner!

Ves meanwhile tried to explore the other Master Mech Designer's attainments in exotic energy.

"E energy is not a completely new phenomena to human civilization." He casually said as he continued to float by her side. "It is present in certain parts of the Milky Way. Did you have the privilege to work with E energy during the previous mech generations?"

Master Ginevra directed a deep and slightly knowing look at him. "I am afraid that I have to disappoint you. I am not a part of an exclusive society that has dabbled with the power of E energy. I dedicated my studies to more common and accessible forms of exotic energy. In the star cluster where I operated for most of my career, I was able to come into contact with numerous varieties of energies that had long been mastered by alien races. Much to my surprise, most researchers had little interest in them, so I took the opportunity to study them myself. My goal was to integrate them into human technology to the point where people can harness them as easily as other conventional energy types."

"Have you made much progress in your ambition?"

"Not enough." Ginevra shook her head. "There is an overpowering bias in the supremacy of human technology in the galactic center. This is despite the fact that many of our staple technologies were originally based on alien inventions. I have been working against these contradictions for most of my life. It was only when I entered the Red Ocean that I was finally able to earn widespread acceptance for my work. Everyone desires more accessible forms of phasewater technology. Recent events have caused people to develop the same desires towards hyper technology."

Moving to the Red Ocean was like a breath of fresh air. She belonged in this dwarf galaxy. She was like a fish to water.

"Phasewater is based around a special form of exotic matter. How does your design philosophy enable you to do stuff with this material?"

"I do not act upon phasewater directly, but rather the spatial energy that is intrinsically locked inside the matter." The older woman answered. "The line between energy and matter tends to blur when the former is more exotic in nature. The distinction is not as absolute as in other cases."

"I think I know what you mean."