The Mech Touch

Ever since he obtained the statuette carved by his mother, he felt more at ease with himself. He not only obtained a few important answers to his questions, but also something valuable to add to one of his upcoming mechs!

When he visited the design lab the next day, everyone couldn't help but notice his brightness.

"You seem inordinately happy today." Gloriana remarked as she prepared herself for another mental design session. "Did something good happen between the family and the clan?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just in a good mood to design our mech today." He replied.

"Well, before we start, you should talk to Maisie Ann and Rennie. My two cute students have learned enough to do well in the Hegemony! I plan to send them off within the month so that they arrive in time to begin the next semester!"

Ves widened his eyes. "They're departing?! Now?"

"Do you want to delay their future?" Gloriana frowned. "I know it's rather abrupt, but a university in the Hegemony has finally accepted our request. This is a lifetime opportunity to them, Ves! It won't be easy to admit them in any other second-class university in the coming years."

He knew she was right. The two female Larkinson seeds deserved to learn how to design mechs in the best possible institutions.

He was just a bit uncomfortable with the idea of carting them off to Hexer schools of all places.

"Which institution agreed to admit the girls?"

"Hippolyta War College. It's a mid-ranked university that is affiliated with our military. A lot of graduates from its programs go on to serve in the Hex Army."

Ves frowned. "I didn't agree to send Maisie and Rennie off to the Hegemony to take part in the Komodo War!"

"You don't have to worry about that." Gloriana crossed her arms and smiled. "Joining the Hex Army is optional to the graduates of the college, and besides, the two girls are foreigners, so they are ineligible anyway."

He calmed down a bit when he heard that. His girlfriend made a lot of sense. Maisie and Rennie would just be regular foreign students in a state that thinks that women are the superior gender and that boys needed to be taught a lesson. There were a lot of other matters he should be concerned about!

"How long will their program last?" He asked.

A mech design degree could be obtained from as little as four years to as much as eight years. The latter was a rather extreme case, though. It depended heavily on the quality of the institution, the qualifications of the professors, the laws and regulations of the state and the overall degree of development of the state and region.

"It depends on how well they do in their studies." Gloriana answered. "The shortest track is just five years. That is enough to get their foot off the ground but not much more. If they achieve better results, then they can enter a more promising track that will allow them to make a running start in their careers!"

"I see."

The War College adopted a merit and achievement-based approach, then. This sounded good, because the two Larkinson seeds would have a fair chance to prove themselves.

The only downside was that their foundation still paled in comparison to the elite Hexer mech design students whose bodies were probably stuffed with augmentations!

Ves fell into a brief silence. He knew the current state of the two girls. Their learning ability was better than the average person, but not enough to keep up with their second-rate counterparts!

"What about their augmentations? We planned for Dr. Ranya to foist them all with implants and gene mods, right?"

"There's no time, Ves. I'll just have to contact someone at Hippolyta to augment them when they arrive. As long as there are no complications, they should have just enough time to acclimatize themselves with their new improvements before the semester starts."

That sounded a bit iffy. Ves turned his head to look at the two girls. Right now, they looked ecstatic at the thought of attending a Hexer university!

"Give me a moment, Gloriana. I need to read up on what you said."

He turned away from her and pressed his finger against a port from a nearby console. After his implant connected to its systems, he entered the galactic net to read up on some articles.

He gained a very quick overview of the Hexer higher education system.

It turned out that Hippolyta was a fairly respected institution, which reassured him. It also maintained a very competitive atmosphere, which basically meant that the students had to outdo each other in order to gain more resources and attention from their teachers!

"It all starts in the first semester." He muttered.

Those who gained an advantage at the start immediately received more attention. Those who fell behind or were just a few steps slower would not be able to enter the more promising tracks!

Even when the hard-working ones received more focus, the competition didn't end there. They had to increase their efforts and meet higher standards in order to retain the favor of the professors.

Those who failed to endure the pressure or slipped up in their students would immediately be moved to a lesser track!

"Only Hexers could come up with a sadistic program like this! There is no time for any of the students to relax!"

Gloriana, who observed him from the side while playing with Clixie, smirked at him. "That's exactly what Hippolyta is all about. Its graduates may not be as brilliant or inventive as the mech designers who studied at Kelma University or the Artemis Institute, but they are the best in working under pressure and under less-than-ideal conditions! That makes them a lot more suitable for the military!"

That made sense. The professors at Hippolyta didn't play all these games because they liked to torture the next generation. They sought to challenge and push their students so that they unearthed more of their potential.

In a way, Ves was reminded of the market-based competition system imposed by the Leemar Institution of Technology. The LIT sought to stimulate its students as well by forcing them to apply their newly-learned skills to do all sorts of jobs to the other people in the campus.

Regardless of the structure these universities adopted, the attrition was doubtlessly severe! The amount of dropouts from Leemar was staggering and Hippolyta was almost just as cutthroat! The schools had no use for those who stumbled or failed! There were so many eager students who wanted to study at them that they never ran out of replacements!

As much as Ves found Hippolyta's teaching methods distasteful, he had to admit that the pressure they exerted on their students simulated reality quite well.

Ves would have probably been a lot better off if he successfully managed to pass this kind of rigorous program!

When Ves gazed at the two girls he was about to send off to one of the strictest universities of the Hegemony, he began to reconsider one of his rules.

After Carlos, after his traitor of an exobiologist, Ves vowed to refrain from bestowing his Attribute Candies to someone else.

While they always did as promised, there was no way they came without side effects!

Yet.. it wasn't as if other forms of augmentations were devoid of side effects either. Right now, it was very troublesome to fit the two Larkinson seeds with augmentations when they were so close to beginning their studies.

After warring within himself, he eventually gave in to the urgency of the situation.

If he wanted to set up his Larkinson seeds for success, then he needed to stop holding back.

The future of Maisie and Rennie was at stake. As third-raters, they were already significantly behind their Hexer peers. While Ves wanted them to endure some hardships in order to set them up for success, he didn't want them to hit a wall!

He sighed. He stood up from his terminal and approached the group of teenagers. They all fell silent as soon as he approached.

"Patriarch."

"Patriarch."

"Patriarch."

"Patriarch."

He disliked being addressed by this title in the design lab, but they insisted on it. Ves meant far too much to the Larkinsons these days to be referred to on a casual basis!

Ves observed the four closely. He especially took the time to inspect their bonds to the spiritual network.

Just like any other clansmen, their bonds were healthy and hale. There was no sign the Golden Cat disliked them or anything. That meant that Ves could probably trust them to keep a secret.

"Maise, Rennie, since the two of you are about to begin your studies in the Hegemony, I'd like to impart you with some.. gifts. They'll help you keep up with the Hexers, though you still need to maintain a very demanding work ethic in order to excel."

The two girls immediately looked eager at what he was about to give! With his power and wealth, he could bestow them with all kinds of useful gifts that could make their time at Hippolyta easier!

"What about us, patriarch?" Maikel meekly asked.

Ves turned to the two boys and saw that they distinctly felt as if they were being left out.

Since he intended to keep Maikel and Zanthar by his side, the two didn't strictly need his gifts. He could tailor their curriculum to their level and make sure they were challenged but not overstressed.

Yet.. if he bestowed them with the same benefits as the girls, their learning efficiency would likely soar as well. That meant that Ves would have to spend less time to lecture them, which meant that he would have more time left to work on his own projects!

This reason alone was enough for him to change his mind yet again!

"The four of you, please come with me. Let's get you somewhere comfortable. Tell me, do you like candy?"

"Huh? Candy?" Maikel looked confused.

A half hour later, the four Larkinson seeds exited his office with the biggest headache of their lives! They groaned and all dragged their bodies out of the design lab as if they had just completed an arduous exam!

Ves watched them go with a smile. When he directed his System vision at them, they all returned the same results.

[Maikel Larkinson]

Intelligence: 1.6

Creativity: 1.4

Concentration: 1.8

[Zanthar Larkinson]

Intelligence: 1.6

Creativity: 1.4

Concentration: 1.8

[Maisie Ann Larkinson]

Intelligence: 1.6

Creativity: 1.4

Concentration: 1.8

[Rennie Larkinson]

Intelligence: 1.6

Creativity: 1.4

Concentration: 1.8

Though he had to sacrifice some precious DP to procure all of the Attribute Candies from the System, it was worth it in his opinion.

Ves did not go overboard with upgrading their mental attributes this time. He already learned first-hand that too much of a boost would lead to much more severe side effects!

He dialed back on the Intelligence and Creativity Candies in order to make sure the four kids were still sufficiently grounded.

In fact, he already took into account that their Intelligence would likely be boosted in the future when they received their future augmentations. Putting their current score at 1.6 was a nice starting point.

As for Concentration, he was a bit more generous with that because it would help immensely in increasing the efficiency of their studies without making it too effortless.

Besides, Ves suspected that Concentration was one of the critical attributes related to spiritual potential!

"This is a pretty nice experiment." Ves grinned as he stroked his smooth-shaven chin.

Though the four kids were more than just a set of numbers, their cognitive abilities should still be similar enough to allow for comparisons!

In any case, with four different test subjects, Ves could tweak and alter their individual conditions in order to figure out the best way to teach his students!