The Mech Touch

The new mech designers all looked eager and ready to go, but there was no way that Ves would allow them to work on the expert mech design projects straight away.

Putting them to work this way would just mess up the design teams and cause a lot of disruptions. No matter what prior work experience they held, the Design Department of the LMC developed its own system where mech designers teamed up into fixed groups and dedicated themselves to working on specific aspects of a mech design for long periods of time.

What mattered most to Ves was that every assistant gained an emotional attachment to the mech they were contributing. It was a lot easier to manage how other people affected a given mech design as long as it was the same group of people working on the same mechs.

Changing the teams while they were in the middle of working on an expert mech design project would cause a fair amount of disruption. Ves preferred to wait until the current round of expert mech design projects was over before making use of the new recruits. By then, the newcomers would have acclimatized to their new jobs and acquired the necessary know-how in order to slot into the existing structure.

The lead designers didn't have to take charge over the new recruits. Ves and every Journeyman was too busy with their primary responsibilities to waste their time on management duties.

Though certain individuals like Miles Tovar and Oscar DiMartin were relatively uninspired mech designers, they possessed decent management and leadership capabilities. The other design team leaders were also capable of taking charge of groups of new recruits.

After splitting up the hundred recent entrants and assigning them to different assistants with greater seniority, everyone went back to work.

Whether any of the new assistants would stand out and showcase their talent remained to be seen. Ves didn't dare to judge any of them prematurely. They were all young and had plenty of time to bloom in their new jobs.

The LMC and the Larkinson Clan offered many chances for hard-working mech designers to promote their capabilities. From offering high-quality second-class augments to allowing them to borrow a lot of valuable textbooks for free or for a modest Larkinson merit fee, the mech designers received more than enough chances to climb to a greater height.

The only issue was that they needed to do most of the work themselves. Ves had increased the cost of receiving a personal tutoring and advice session with any of the Journeyman from 1 Larkinson merit to 5 Larkinson merits.

This increase reflected the increased value of receiving the full and undivided attention of a mech designer who overcame the first major hurdle of their careers.

To be honest, he wanted to remove these interview sessions entirely, but thought that was a bit too harsh. Though a proper mech designer should be able to develop their design philosophies and figure everything out on their own, anyone who encountered a bottleneck often needed a little push to get ahead.

In those circumstances, let alone 5 merits, even 50 merits was worth the answer an Apprentice Mech Designer needed to find a way to advance to Journeyman!

Of course, no one took up the offer to exchange 5 merits to receive the full attention of Ves and Gloriana. The same amount could be redeemed for several high-quality textbooks. At their stage, it was much more useful for them to expand their knowledge base and deepen their technical skills.

Shortly after the new batch of mech designers joined the Larkinson Clan, the expeditionary fleet finally completed its extensive expansion and resupply and reluctantly departed from the Pelsa Ryndover System.

During the Larkinson Clan's stay in the port system, the recruiters managed to pick up a whopping 25,000 people who managed to pass through all of the checks.

The majority of the new clansmen consisted of essential spacers needed to crew the four new capital ships. Their qualifications were fairly solid as the Larkinson Clan wasn't picky about the age of the new recruits this time.

Though these solid former merchant mariners brought a wealth of competence and experience to the table, they also brought their families along. This was not necessarily a downside as those who brought over their spouses and children would definitely be committed to the clan for life.

One of the reasons why the Larkinson Clan was able to attract these married spacers was because of the excellent living conditions of the Larkinson fleet.

Unlike ordinary trade fleets and trade vessels, the Larkinson fleet possessed a dedicated entertainment ship that could also serve as a decent ark ship. Dawn City was already heralded as a utopia and the amount of family units requesting to be reassigned to the Vivacious Wal was insane.

In fact, every other capital ship offered plenty of facilities and amenities for families to live as if they were residing on land. Ves didn't think there was anything wrong with Dorum, the simulated city environment on the 8th deck of the Spirit of Bentheim.

Good living space wasn't the only factor that convinced many spacers to join the Larkinson Clan. The growing educational opportunities for students of all stripes turned out to be a surprisingly effective attraction.

One of the downsides to raising a family on a ship was the lack of access to crucial facilities such as good and prestigious schools. The only way for parents to give their children a decent education was to enroll them into virtual schools and universities.

Yet no matter how good these study programs were, attending a virtual institution was incomparable to attending the real deal. There were so many factors that were different that it would take an entire library to explain all of the details.

However, everyone knew that most students benefited a lot more from attending real schools where they could hang out with real classmates in person.

The Larkinson Clan happened to be one of the few space-faring organizations that invested a lot of money and resources into raising the next generation. The Larkinson Education Department, which would soon become a ministry, had done a good job with keeping up with the growth of the clan.

The fact of the matter was that the Glory Seeker and Cross Clan fleets didn't have anything close to the sheer breadth and depth of educational opportunities provided by the Larkinson Clan! The latter had already taken a dozen steps ahead while the former were still at the planning stage!

A great example that encapsulated how well the Larkinsons had prepared to raise the next generation was the acquisition of the Discentibus. Even though the academy ship was just a chance purchase, she already promised to provide excellent military training and higher education to both potentates and norms.

The high and consistent demand for starship personnel also drove the Larkinson Education Department to set up a naval academy on the Discentibus. Though the clan was able to hire a large batch of spacers this time, the job market was a lot tighter in the Red Ocean. It was best to plan for the long term and take advantage of the abundant amount of teaching facilities on the capital academy ship to set up another school.

In fact, the Discentibus offered so much room for teaching that the Larkinson Education Department also intended to set up a general university on the vessel. By mingling both military students with civilian students, neither groups would become alienated from each other.

Of course, the other capital ships weren't left out either. The Spirit of Bentheim already hosted the Larkinson University of Technology while the Dragon's Den recently set up the Larkinson Biotech University.

The Vivacious Wal was next on the list. Shederin Purnesse and many of his family members pushed to set up a higher institution for arts and humanities. Dawn City was the perfect place to raise the next generation of elites of the Larkinson Clan.

Let alone one higher institution, the Larkinson Clan would soon operate six of them at the same time!

"Don't expect too much from them, though." Gavin warned Ves during a morning briefing. "While the Larkinson Education Department can set up the facilities and hire the staff and teachers needed to put them into use, it takes more than that to establish an effective school. The Larkinson University of Technology doesn't have the certification, recognition, heritage, history and prestige of a conventional university."

"I know, Benny. It's not as if we can do anything about it, though."

Ves leaned back on his chair while placing his feet on top of his desk. He idly petted Blinky who he pulled from his mind.

Mrow~

Though he still found it rather weird to pet another aspect of himself, Blinky was simply too adorable. Who couldn't resist the opportunity to stroke his fluffy intangible ears?

"We could opt to host branches of existing renowned institutions." He suggested. "Certain large fleets are eligible to apply to establish a branch school. The advantage of doing this is that every graduate will receive a standard diploma that is universally-recognized throughout human space."

Ves shook his head. "I already looked into that. I don't like it. Hosting these branch schools come with harsh requirements, such as relinquishing all control over the teachers and curriculum. I don't want foreigners to indoctrinate our future Larkinsons. If anything, it should be us doing the indoctrination!"

Schools were excellent places to shape the attitudes and opinions of young and impressionable children. Anyone who believed that schools were apolitical was completely naive. A lot of school material that people considered neutral and common sense was actually the product of a lot of compromises of past struggles.

"The diplomas of our homegrown universities aren't worth much outside the clan." Gavin pointed out. "It will take many years or decades for our schools to meet the requirements of certification. The education industry places a heavy emphasis on stability and tradition. It's a hostile place for newcomers."

Anyone with money could start a school. That didn't mean that it was any good. Since the transfer of knowledge from one generation to the next was an extremely important pillar of human civilization, humanity did not joke around when it came to schooling.

The MTA along with many other organizations formed a common set of standards and agreements that served to make sure that schools dedicated themselves to raising proper graduates who were ready to join the workforce rather than grifting gullible students out of their tuition money.

Usually, the strict rules forced every new colony to invest a considerable amount of funding and effort to set up a good school. A new settlement would definitely lose a lot of attraction and competitiveness if it botched this priority!

This was why branch schools of famous old institutions existed. Any colony or organization who couldn't be bothered with all of that trouble could just pass on the responsibility to a dedicated organization.

Ves never considered this option. "We're not in a hurry. So what if we need to wait a few decades for our schools to become recognized? Besides, it's not as if our younger Larkinsons will work for an employer outside of the Larkinson Clan. The study programs of each of our universities will be completely tailored to the needs of our fleet. No one in our clan will refuse a diploma from our own schools."

Though Gavin looked as if he wanted to respond to that, he eventually reined himself in. His boss had made it clear that it was more important for the Larkinsons to maintain control than to provide the absolute best schooling for the next generation of Larkinson clansmen.

"If that is what you wish, boss…"

"Considering how many spacers we manage to recruit, they apparently don't care so much either. As long as their children have a decent opportunity to become a doctor, an engineer or even a mech designer, who cares what fancy name is attached to their diploma? A real job is a lot more important than these vain distractions. The greatest benefit to attending an elite institution is all of the elite friends you can make. That is not applicable to our situation."