The Mech Touch

After Ves finished searching Aisling's quarters for goods and information, he made a modest haul.

Though Aisling brought along a lot of personal effects, he had no use for most of them. The only gains worth his notice was the unidentified vial he suspected to be a gene boost elixir and the information she left behind on her terminal.

Aside from being able to glean many insights and insider knowledge from Aisling's correspondence, Ves also gained other useful data from her terminal.

First was her detailed logs, design schematics and technical documents of her own designs. As long as Ves studied them in detail, he would definitely advance his proficiency in second-class mechs, particularly those designed to work in close coordination!

Second was her library of exclusive knowledge. Ves not only encountered the virtual versions of the textbooks that Lady Curver printed out, but also found many other Clarion University textbooks that covered other fields and more advanced subjects!

While most of their contents already overlapped with his prodigious knowledge, they were all specifically tailored for second-class mech designs. This made them very worthwhile to skim through.

As far as Ves was concerned, all of this knowledge that was exclusive to Clarion University students and graduates was his most worthwhile gain.

He believed that even without receiving lessons and tutoring from others, he would still be able to become a qualified second-class mech designer after half a year of focused study!

"Aisling is pretty sloppy for leaving all of these textbooks behind."

If the Scarlet Rose's internal network connected to the galactic net, then her terminal would probably receive an instruction that would wipe its databanks.

Fortunately, Ves already isolated the ship's quantum communication node, preventing anything but an isolated control module to connect to the rest of the galaxy!

After verifying that the files did not contain any hidden viruses or other nasty surprises, he transferred them over to his System comm.

"Hehehe. All of this is mine now!"

Though Ves was disappointed that he didn't find anything of immediate use such as a high-quality suit of armor, beggars couldn't be choosers.

At least Aisling wasn't as cautious and reserved as Patricia. He still blamed his old classmate for being too prudent for her own good. The least she could bring was a spare shield generator or something!

Though Ves managed to take over the Scarlet Rose and everything the former crew and passengers had left behind, none of them enhanced his ability to return to safety.

This was a distressing outcome, especially when he had to evade capture for at least a month!

He took some time to consider his chances and found that there were too many things that could go wrong. The likelihood of the Friday Coalition or one of their helpers catching up to his fleeing ship was very substantial!

If Ves wanted to overcome this crisis, then he needed to increase his immediate combat and evasion capabilities!

"If I want to increase my chances of success, I'll have to increase my capabilities in another fashion."

He directed his attention to something he long neglected: the Mech Designer System.

When he activated the System, he first reviewed the DP he recently earned.

[Design Evaluation: Deliverer DL-A-01]

Model name: Deliverer DL-A-01

Original Manufacturer: Ves Larkinson, Gloriana Wodin

Weight Classification: Medium

Recommended Role: Marksman Mech

Armor: E-

Carrying Capacity: D

Aesthetics: B-

Endurance: C

Energy Efficiency: D

Flexibility: E

Firepower: A

Integrity: B-

Mobility: D+

Spotting: B

X-Factor: A-

Cost efficiency: C+

Project involvement: 86%

Original component composition: 14%

Overall evaluation: The Deliverer is a marksman mech that only excels at offense. Its powerful Executor gauss rifle model grants the Deliverer extended range when dealing physical damage. The Deliverer's shortcomings in defense and mobility makes it highly depended on other mechs for protection. The Deliverer is able to achieve unprecedented performance when certain mech pilots are able to excite its Guided Aim and Prescient Movement abilities.

[You have received 50,000 Design Points for completing an original design that has no other equivalent.]

[You have received 50,000 Design Points for designing a mech with a high presence of X-Factor.]

[Design Evaluation: Adonis Colossus AC-A-01]

Model name: Deliverer AC-A-01

Original Manufacturer: Ves Larkinson, Gloriana Wodin

Weight Classification: Medium-Heavy

Recommended Role: Custom Spaceborn Hybrid Mech

Armor: A-

Carrying Capacity: C

Aesthetics: A+

Endurance: C

Energy Efficiency: C+

Flexibility: E-

Firepower: B

Integrity: B

Mobility: C

Spotting: C

X-Factor: A-

Cost efficiency: D-

Project involvement: 56%

Original component composition: 21%

Overall evaluation: The Adonis Colossus is a custom spaceborn hybrid mech designed for Vincent Ricklin. The mech is notable for featuring a prominent masculine appearance and a stylish codpiece. The Adonis Colossus is able to output substantial ranged firepower with its Sandbreaker rifle, shoulder-mounted missile launchers and nail drivers. Though it is also issued with a backup sword, the mech is not optimized for melee combat.

[You have received 50,000 Design Points for completing an adequate original design that has no other equivalent.]

[You have received 50,000 Design Points for designing a mech with a high presence of X-Factor.]

[Design Evaluation: Holy Soldier DS-H-01]

…

[You have received 10,000 Design Points for completing an adequate variant of an existing design.]

[Design Evaluation: Resentful Soldier DS-R-01]

…

[You have received 10,000 Design Points for completing an adequate variant of an existing design.]

[Design Evaluation: Prideful Soldier DS-P-01]

…

[You have received 10,000 Design Points for completing an adequate variant of an existing design.].

…

Ever since the System renewed the rules for earning Design Points, designing mechs was the only way for him to earn DP.

The sales potential of a mech no longer affected his DP outcome. Only the quality and usefulness of a mech design determined how much DP he earned.

The advantage of this new remuneration scheme was that he would be able to get all of the DP upfront. The downside was that he couldn't milk any more DP out of the system once he finished a design!

What distressed Ves the most was that the System heavily reduced the rewards for designing a variant.

While Ves could easily earn 100,000 DP for designing an adequate original mech design, he could only scrape 10,000 DP for a variant of the same quality!

Clearly, the System did not wish for him to waste too much time with designing different versions of his existing work!

Even though it took almost as much time to design the Militant Soldier and Peaceful Soldier as their base model, Ves only earned a tenth as much in the same amount of time!

Earning 10,000 DP for one or two months of intensive design labor was incredibly inefficient. He'd have to waste an entire decade to accumulate 1 million DP, which was ludicrously slow compared to his previous earning rate!

"Status."

[Status]

Name: Ves Larkinson

Profession: Journeyman Mech Designer

Specializations: Spiritual Man-Machine Symbiosis

Design Points: 1,333,622

Attributes

Strength: 1.6

Dexterity: 1.6

Endurance: 2.0

Intelligence: 2.2

Creativity: 2.1

Concentration: 2.1

Spirituality: 1.8

Neural Aptitude: F

Skills

[Assembly]: Journeyman - [3D Printer Proficiency IV] - [Assembler Proficiency IV] - [Masterwork Mech Assembly I]

[Battle Mechatronics]: Apprentice - [Knight Mech Mastery I] - [Rifleman Mech Mastery I] - [Space Knight Mastery I] - [Hero Mech Mastery I] - [Custom Mech Design III] -

[Business]: Apprentice

[Computer Science]: Journeyman - [Mech Hacking III] - [Programming III]

[Electrical Engineering]: Journeyman - [Structural Pathway Configuration IV] - [Energy Storage IV] - [Conductors III] - [Ultracompact Energy Storage I] - [Power Reactors I]

[Materials Science]: Journeyman - [Crystallography III] - [Crystal Laser Propagation II] - [Lithic Materials I]

[Mathematics]: Journeyman - [Simulations IV]

[Mechanics]: Senior - [Jury Rigging IV] - [Speed Tuning IV] - [Mechanical Fault Detection I] - [Fine Motion Control I]

[Metallurgy]: Senior - [Alloy Compression III] - [Fixed Armor Specialization III] - [Flexible Armor Specialization I] - [Smart Metal IV] - [ASMAS III] - [Internal Structure Specialization I]

[Metaphysics]: Apprentice - [X-Factor IV] - [Spiritual Senses II] - [Spiritual Exploration I] - [Spiritual Manipulation II] - [Spiritual Engineering II]

[Interfacing]: Novice - [Neural Interface Optimization I]

[Physics]: Senior - [Directed Energy Weapon Optimization III] - [Gamma Laser Weapons I] [Lightweight Armor Optimization II] - [Mediumweight Armor Optimization IV] - [Melee Weapon Optimization IV] - [Polarizing Shielding II] - [Rapid-Fire Laser Weapon Operation II] - [Optics III] - [Ballistic Weapon Optimization IV]

[Propulsion]: Journeyman - [Flight Systems IV]

[Salvaging]: Apprentice - [Field Repairs III]

[Signals and Communications]: Journeyman - [Anti-Stealth Detection II]

[Stealth and Cloaking]: Novice

Abilities

[Superpublish]: Available. Can be activated once a year.

[Inventorize]: Unavailable.

Evaluation: A qualified Journeyman Mech Designer whose products gained prominence for their unique and distinctive glows.

His prior self-study paid off as his Status added several new Sub-Skills to the list. He particularly took note of Neural Interface Optimization I, which signified his ability to tweak neural interfaces to achieve greater performance.

Of course, this wasn't anything impressive compared to neural interface specialists such as Aisling Curver. Ves could only turn a few knobs at most while the Clarion graduate could pretty much design a neural interface from scratch!

Ves was a little bit undecided whether he should expand his expertise in this field. With the help of all of the textbooks that he gained from Aisling's terminal, Ves obtained enough material to do more with neural interfaces.

The downside was that he hadn't actually gained any authorization from the MTA to employ this knowledge in his mech designs.

The only way he could make use of his expanded capabilities was by designing another underground mech such as the Devil Tiger!

"It's not worth it." He shook his head.

He was only interested in Aisling's research in unifying the minds of different mech pilots. What if he could use some of her methods to increase the cooperation of the mech pilots of his mechs?

Whereas Aisling relied on neural interfaces to form a connection between mech pilots, Ves believed that it might be possible to form a more intangible bond through the use of a design spirit!

Ves already formed some ideas on how to make this work, but this wasn't the time to delve into something so distant.

"I need to focus on my immediate needs."

Right now, escaping mattered more than increasing his design capabilities!

With over 1,300,000 DP in reserve, Ves gained a lot of choice in how he could strengthen himself!

If he wanted to, he could try his luck and squander it all on lottery tickets.

Considering the precariousness of his current situation, Ves did not dare to gamble with his life and freedom!

Even if he won something, chances were his prize wouldn't actually be useful at this time!

Ves ruled out spending his DP on Skills and Sub-Skills. He already possessed more than enough knowledge to control the Scarlet Rose. The System didn't offer him any Skills related to starships, which was another reason he dismissed this option.

Perhaps the only field that was useful to him was to expand his expertise in hacking.

Ever since he evolved his design philosophy in a certain direction, he no longer objected too much at becoming more proficient in hacking.

However, Lucky already covered all of his hacking needs. What Lucky couldn't hack, Ves wouldn't be able to accomplish anything.

That left the Store. Only by purchasing and upgrading his items would he be able to increase his immediate survival capabilities!

Ves dove into the Shop and sought out an upgrade that he had long been eying.

[Comm Upgrade - Privacy Shield - Level 2 - Full Stealth]

Price: 1,000,000 DP

Duration: 30 Minutes

Temporarily upgrades a level 2 Privacy Shield to emit an overpowering field that disrupts any means of observation. It is capable of obfuscating every possible means of observation that is known to the Mech Designer System.

Compared to his current Full Stealth augment, the level 2 upgrade extended its charge by 20 minutes!

With 30 minutes of complete and total stealth, Ves could probably assassinate the entire crew of a moderately-sized ship!

"Still, 30 minutes is not enough for 1,000,000 DP!"

Ves would have bought this upgrade immediately if it extended his use up to 60 minutes! With an entire hour of stealth, Ves could not only empty entire ships of their crews, but also infiltrate all manner of high-security facilities!

As it was, 30 minutes was barely enough for him to consider spending so much DP. The System was such a greedy profiteer that Ves would have to give up other possible goodies if he purchased this upgrade!

While this option significantly enhanced his personal security, it was no use at all in enhancing the Scarlet Rose's ability to evade pursuit!

After a long moment of consideration, Ves ultimately decided to upgrade his Full Stealth augment.

"If I have to, I'll give up the Scarlet Rose. She's just a ship. My own life is much more important!"