The Mech Touch

Alexa Streon had become a Larkinson.

This was a significant event. Her formal entry into the clan not only meant that the Premier Branch had gained a proper first-class mech designer, but also gave the Larkinsons hope that Ves could effectively pass on his teachings!

Although Ves himself cared little about this issue, many people placed a huge amount of importance on inheritance and continuity.

As impressive as Ves may be, he was not immortal. He could die or disappear at any point.

The fact that he managed to stay alive and well given all of the times he put himself at great risk did not comfort a lot of people.

What if his luck ran out one day?

What if he encountered an enemy that he and his forces couldn't defeat this time?

What if he left the Larkinson Clan on a voluntary or involuntary basis?

The Larkinson Clan's status and prestige would instantly plummet as a response!

The lives of many Larkinsons would almost certainly become worse in the future.

Without a brilliant mech designer that could attract a lot of support from the Red Association and other first-rate powers, there was no reason for the Larkinson Clan to merit as much investment as before.

Human society could be cruel in that sense.

While Ves had put a decent amount of effort into passing on his teachings to Gloriana, Ketis, Maikel and Zanthar, none of them had mastered the essence of his full inheritance.

This was why the entry of Alexa was so significant. Even though she only became exposed to Ves' work relatively recently, her qualifications and potential were vastly superior!

It did not matter whether Alexa was unable to live up to her promise. The Larkinson Clan of today could afford to bet on multiple horses.

If the former scion of the Streon Ancient Clan was not able to learn the art of designing living mechs, then Ves could always place his hopes on the first batch of graduates of the Eden Institute that had received his teachings.

Not all of the fourth and fifth-year mech design students of today possessed any talent or interest in working with living mechs, but there should be enough of them to give Ves additional options.

All of that was for the future. For now, the Larkinsons put in a modest amount of effort to welcome Alexa Streon into their clan.

No ordinary new recruit merited so much attention, but even if everyone ignored her impressive background, the value that she could provide to the clan was enough to give her special treatment!

This was how the Larkinson Clan. It was not so different from other powerful organizations in that regard. Merit and value always determined a person's importance.

As the Larkinsons organized a small banquet to celebrate Alexa's entry, Ves carefully observed as the woman in question began to strike up a conversation with Gloriana.

He knew his wife well enough that she always maintained a lot of vigilance towards any woman that came close to him. The problem became exacerbated when the woman was a mech designer who was bound to work with Ves on a frequent basis going forward!

"Welcome to our clan." Gloriana spoke in a calm and even tone. "I look forward to your contributions."

Alexa responded with a charming smile. "I am eager to learn and assist in the design of my new clan's living mechs. I am also looking forward to studying your unique approach to mechs. Your husband has explained your god body method to me before, I have never been able to study it first-hand."

"You are in luck, then." Gloriana smirked. "We have recently completed the Greenaxe Project and the Bloodripper Project. They are both quasi-first-class expert mechs that incorporate some of our latest advancements. Their intended users are on their way to New Constantinople to test our latest high-end works and bring them back to the middle zones. Now that you have joined our clan, I can permit you to study our latest mechs. I look forward to receiving the input of a first-class mech designer."

Alexa responded with a modest smile. "Do not expect much from me. Much of my expertise is related to first-class technologies that are normally unrelated to second-class mechs. My overall experience and judgment of mechs cannot match that of a seasoned Journeyman and masterwork mech designer such as yourself. As the pioneer of a means to enable mechs to upgrade their quality on an autonomous basis, I believe that you can teach me much about your own area of specialization. I would love to receive lessons from you as well."

As the two women continued to talk with each other, Ves did not detect any signs of tension or conflict.

The two apparently got along pretty well! They even started to talk about further cooperation!

It was not until Alexa finally concluded her talk with Gloriana that she explained why nothing happened.

"I have already spoken to your wife numerous times in the past. A woman like her can be... protective, but it does not take an excessive amount of effort to reassure her concerns."

Ves looked impressed. Sure enough, first-raters were different from other people, and an elite Terran scion like Alexa Streon was even better!

A woman like her could easily navigate her way through complicated social situations. The fact that she had done her research on Gloriana and adopted the appropriate strategy spoke well for her ability to contribute to the clan in the future.

Ves even thought about asking Alexa to tutor her daughter.

In the days that ensued, Alexa began to immerse herself in the Larkinson Clan.

Although Diandi Base was too small compared to the expeditionary fleet, Ves and the other Larkinsons stationed on the planet tried their best to treat her as a genuine Larkinson.

Alexa got introduced to all kinds of weird and unusual stuff that were common sense to any Larkinson but completely unique to outsiders!

From design spirits to totems, Ves did not hold back in introducing her to the various specialties that made his clan different.

"So this is the woman who promises to bring death at the first-class level?" Helena asked in a flat tone. "She's just an Apprentice Mech Designer. Your clan already has hundreds of them. What makes her special? Is it her companion spirit? Her cat reminds me of Gaia and our mother."

Alexa truly appeared stunned at this time.

"Sir..."

"Yes?"

"There are sources that claim that you actually consider some of your creations to be your relatives. I never put much credence to these claims as they do not sound plausible to my ears, but... do you truly consider her to be your sister?"

"Ahem! I am not just any sister. I am his eldest sister!" Helena insisted as her energy manifestation flew closer to Alexa. "I may not be older than himon a chronological basis,but I

am most certainly his eldest on a mental basis! Even our mother acknowledges that I am the eldest and most mature out of the two of us. Anyway, I ampleased tomeet you. Ihope

that you can improve quickly so that you can take over the chores that occupy far too much of my brother's precious time."

The former Terran responded with a controlled smile. "I shall do my best, but I have much to learn before I can satisfy your request."

"Great! It was about time that Ves managed to get himself a decent assistant! I would love to introduce you to our mother, but she has been preoccupied as of late."

Helena and Alexa chatted for a bit longer before the Daughter of Death said goodbye and retracted her awareness.

The Apprentice Mech Designer slowly turned towards Ves. "Tell me the truth. Is she... truly your sister, or is she a creation that is posing as one?"

"It's complicated, Alexa." Ves sighed. "The answer depends on your definition of life and kinship. I don't want to argue philosophy with you, so I will keep it simple. As far as I am concerned, Helena is my eldest sister and the Superior Mother is my mother. Yes, I know it might not make total sense to you, but I am not ready to explain the full story behind them to you. Just treat them as they are my actual siblings and you should be okay."

"Very well..."

Alexa probably contemplated whether Ves was insane. The probability that this was the case had shot up by quite a few percentage points.

This strange incident did not depress her enthusiasm about the rest of the Larkinson Clan.

After familiarizing herself with many different aspects of her new family and organization, Ves and Gloriana finally introduced her to their latest completed works.

The Greenaxe Project and the Bloodripper Project were two vastly different expert mechs that also shared a lot in common.

As products envisioned just before the Age of Dawn but had only been completed after the Great Severing occurred, the two expert mechs already incorporated new advancements in hyper technology.

While neither of them ended up as masterwork mechs, they were still impressive in terms of power and quality!

"So these are the two expert mechs that you are about to deliver to the pair of expert pilots that have broken through not too long ago?" Alexa asked as Maia playfully flew around her body. "I can tell that they are much more powerful than the typical expert mechs designed for low-tier expert pilots. Are you not afraid that their new expert pilots cannot properly handle all of this power?"

"That is indeed a concern, but not as much as you think." Ves calmly responded. "I have introduced you to the MSTS yesterday, so you should know that it can accurately simulate the performance of expert mechs. Our low-tier expert pilots can spend enough hours in the MSTS to thoroughly familiarize themselves with their new machines and master all of their nuances before they enter into their first real battle with their new machines."

With the help of the MSTS, no Larkinson expert pilot should ever be able to make poor use out of their powerful living expert mechs!

It was inexcusable if any of these powerful champions still struggled to control their powerful machines after months of dedicated practice.

Seeing that Ves did not worry about this problem at all, Alexa did not push her argument any further.

She instead began to study other noticeable aspects about the new expert mechs.

"Compared to the living mechs that I have already seen, these ones are different. One of them feels oddly empty. The other one feels... just as alive as other humans."

"That is because they are." Ves smiled. "The second-class mechs that the Eden Institute imported from the middle zones are all mass produced mechs. These two are our handmade works. Do you know why we prize craftsmanship so much? This is part of the reason why. Both of them have reached the standard of a third order living mech. The Bloodripper Project is a classical living mech, so the livelier its personality, the stronger it becomes. The Greenaxe Project is a so-called second skin living mech, so it is deliberately kept blank so that it can best embody its pilot."

"Third order? Second skin?"

"You'll learn about that later." Ves waved his hand. "There are many distinctions between living mechs, and I am sure that more variations will emerge in the future. The development of living mechs is still at an early stage. Perhaps in the future you can contribute your own variation to our body of work."

Alexa shook her head. "That is a steep expectation. Even if your two expert mechs have not reached the first-class standard, I can judge that the work that you have done to them cannot be matched so easily."

"That's okay, Alexa. You still have plenty of time ahead of yourself. Just work towards becoming a Journeyman first. Then you will get your chance to work on mech design projects like these."