The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

After a good rest and some mindless cuddling, Ves and Gloriana entered the new day with a fresher outlook.

Though the shadow of their previous failure still loomed large over them, they no longer felt as burdened as before.

A simple break and rest did wonders in cleansing their minds.

It also helped that Gloriana didn't go through with her threat to suspend their honeymoon period.

They both loved each other and had just come off a wedding that was close to perfect. Overall, there were far more reasons for Gloriana to be happy with Ves than otherwise.

Still, just because they had some fun didn't mean their problems magically went away. They merely faded in the background. Now that they were ready to fabricate their next mech, they had to confront the issue they were avoiding all this time.

As their cats playfully prowled across the mech workshop, the couple sat down at a work table in order to hash out their differences.

"We need to compromise." Ves said. "Neither of us can continue to work together if we aren't on the same page."

Gloriana crossed her arms. Unlike his sturdy and utilitarian work overall, she preferred to do her work while looking at her best. Her white shirt, black skirt and high heels along with her jewelry and scarf made it seem she was his secretary rather than a proper mech designer.

She was not subordinate to him, however.

"We can compromise by making one of us give in. In my opinion, you should be the one to give up. As far as I'm concerned, the first production copies of our mech designs are extra special. They are collectors items at worst and priceless heirlooms at best. Will anyone who obtains these valuable mechs ever mistreat them in any way? There is no way our customers will neglect or subject them to frequent abuse!"

"Uhm, the Quint has fought against battleships and dark gods just recently. Mechs are meant to be used for their intended purpose. While that has caused the Quint to have some close shaves, it's a much stronger mech. It played a key role in elevating Venerable Joshua. Before you call me stupid again or something, let me just say that as long as absolute perfection isn't attainable, there are different ways to get a good result. Whether we pick your approach or mine, they are both good in certain conditions. What we have to do is to adapt our mech to our current circumstances."

"This.. you may have a point." She reluctantly admitted. "Who do you design the mech for, Ves?"

Ves made a suggestion. "If we want to make both of us happy, then maybe we should alternate between our preferences. Right now, we have expensive mechs that will likely benefit more if I follow your lead. We also have more affordable mechs where performance is important, but reliability is an even greater issue."

She looked intrigued at his suggestion. While the solution he offered was not quite a definite compromise, it at least allowed them to reconcile their differences to an extent.

"We have five mechs to go. I get to dictate the direction of three of them while you can do what you want with the remaining two. I promise not to complain too much."

Ves scowled at her. "Why do you get three while I get only two?"

"Because I'm a woman and because I need compensation for the suffering you've inflicted on me these past few days!"

"That's nonsense!" Ves had no patience to deal with Gloriana's selfishness right now!

He forcibly calmed himself while trying to come up with a solution that did not amount to outright surrender.

"Look, let's just work on the next four mechs and leave the last one for later consideration." He suggested. "Perhaps we might be able to improve our teamwork to the point where we can find a third approach."

"Okay. We'll do it your way, Ves."

They still needed to fabricate a copy of the Cat's Paw, the Chiron, the Ferocious Piranha, the Sanctuary and the Crystal Lord Mark II.

Of the five, only one of them was a solid second-class model.

"We should leave the Cat's Paw as last." Gloriana decided. "I think it was a mistake for us to start with fabricating a second-class mech straight away. The Valkyrie Redeemer is much more intricate and features much greater considerations than lesser mechs. If we tackle the third-class mechs first, we can slowly ramp ourselves up and work out most of our kinks before we address our heavy artillery mech."

Ves nodded in agreement. He completely agreed with her logic this time.

"The Cat's Paw is arguably the most important mech of this batch. It will definitely be one of the key mechs of our clan."

It didn't take too long for them to determine which mech they wanted to take the lead on. Ves was very partial towards all five mechs, but if he had to pick favorites, it would have to be the Sanctuary and the Crystal Lord Mark II.

The Sanctuary was his first anti-glow mech and was presided over by his newest spiritual product. As the mech that best conformed to Lufa's properties, Ves wanted to make sure the first production copy of the Sanctuary was spiritually strong.

As for the Crystal Lord Mark II, it was a dramatic upgrade to one of his first original works. The story behind this product line and the effort that Ves had made into upgrading its original design spirit into the Illustrious One caused him to develop a lot of special feelings about this upcoming attempt.

Gloriana on the other hand had been highly involved in the design of the Chiron and the Ferocious Piranha. The Chiron incorporated a very sophisticated self-adjustment structure that she had largely devised from the ground up by herself. Though her attachment to the Larkinson Clan wasn't as strong as his, she actually cared a lot about nurturing the next generation of Larkinson mech pilots.

Each of them deserved a mech that closely fit their unique traits! As far as she was concerned, this was a rare way to apply her design philosophy to a standard mech model without offending her sensibilities too much!

As for the Ferocious Piranha, her preference for the mech model was actually quite simple. The light skirmisher was a feminine mech model to her. In truth, the mech only appeared this way because it was slender in comparison to the other mechs.

Now that they selected their mechs, they began to work while letting one of them take the lead.

In previous attempts, they rarely let one or the other take over entirely. The only exception so far was when they created the Little Angel. Gloriana completely took over the show when she fabricated the masterwork copy of the Blessed Squire.

Both of them agreed that whenever one of them entered into a similar state again, they should automatically take charge, ignoring any prior agreements they made.

The importance of taking the lead paled into comparison to fabricating another masterwork mech!

"Let's begin."

They decided to tackle the easiest model first. The Sanctuary undoubtedly won in this regard. Aside from its very special glow, it was a relatively plain space knight that stood out for its relatively high mobility.

If not for the presence of Lufa, the Sanctuary might be able to moonlight as the spaceborn version of the Blackbeak!

"The Sanctuary's value and purpose on the battlefield largely centers around its glow." Ves explained to Gloriana as they were beginning to inspect the raw materials that a transport had just delivered to the Stellar Chaser. "Just like the Blessed Squire, it's a force multiplier, and therefore a key strategic target. This is why I decided to package this mech into an offensive space knight type. It has to be fast enough to get in the range of enemy LMC mechs and it has to be able to last against focused fire."

"I have no objections to your interpretation this time." Gloriana graciously said. "Maximizing the defense of our first production copy is paramount, although we probably have different ideas on how to fortify our mech."

Ves smirked. "That's why I'll be the one that will have the most say for this attempt."

They began to work on the mech. Despite its relative bulk, much of it was due to its thick and hefty armor plating. The Sanctuary's internals weren't very difficult to put together.

Overall, the two regained much of their harmony during this fabrication run. They just needed two days to complete the first copy of their Sanctuary design!

"Meow…"

Lucky looked uneasy as the unnaturally pure and suppressive glow of the finished Sanctuary flooded the mech workshop.

"Miaow~"

Unlike the gem cat, Clixie found the Sanctuary's glow to be rather pleasant.

"Nyaaaa!"

As an inherently spiritual cat, Goldie didn't fare too well in Lufa's influence! The only reason why she managed to maintain her materialized form was because she was stronger than Lufa. Of course, it also helped that Ves hardcoded some instructions in the mech design and its design spirit.

There was no way Ves would allow Lufa to bully the ancestral spirit of the Larkinson Clan!

In the wrong circumstances, Lufa might even be able to suppress or destroy the Larkinson Network!

Making this realization midway into the fabrication run almost caused Ves to botch his current task.

It dawned upon him that he hadn't added any specific strengthening or defenses around the spiritual networks he created.

Wouldn't that make his clan critically vulnerable against spiritual attacks?

"I'll definitely add this to my to-do list!"

Fortunately, the brief distraction hadn't interrupted his rhythm. The white and sacred mech that emerged at the end had clearly reached a higher level of quality than their disastrous Valkyrie Redeemer.

Both of them not only became accustomed to each other's changes, but also minimized their conflicts by letting one of them take the lead.

"It's a fine product, but it still falls short." Ves pronounced with a touch of disappointment.

Gloriana also looked disappointed. "That's because you were too conservative when you took the lead. You didn't go far enough when you could have."

"Let's just take some time off and reflect on how we can do better next time."

Both of them rested and cuddled with their cats. Once they fully refreshed their mental states, they tackled the next mech.

"The Ferocious Piranha needs a proper name." Gloriana stated as they decided to tackle the light skirmisher mech next.

"I think its current name is fine."

"It needs a dignified name!"

Ves disagreed. "There's nothing wrong with continuing to call it the Ferocious Piranha! The name is a good fit for how this mech is supposed to fight. It's already strong by itself, but as the Valkyrie Redeemer already showed, a mech like this would work far better when deployed alongside many identical mechs. A piranha is never depicted alone. While pricy for third-class standards, I believe that plenty of customers will see the value in deploying this mech en masse with the help of its current name. I've even programmed some awesome visual projections to reinforce this theme!"

He eventually got his way, largely because Gloriana's choices didn't sound any better.

While this mild argument spoiled her mood a bit, she didn't let that affect her work.

With her competitive and perfectionist mindset, she could not tolerate an outcome where 'her' mech was inferior to 'his' mech!

She worked extra hard now that she held most of the responsibility. Ves did not work against her even if he didn't agree with her decisions.

In the end, they took two days to fabricate a Ferocious Piranha that was hardly different in quality than the Sanctuary mech they made before.

Gloriana looked upset. "I put in so much work in this mech! Why isn't it better?!"

"Maybe we are going at it the wrong way." Ves guessed. "Have you ever noticed that when one of us takes the lead, we can't produce the synergy we achieved before? We need to work as equals if we truly wish to draw out our potential."

Her anger faded as she processed this argument. "You may be right. It's just that going back to how we tackled the Valkyrie Redeemer mech won't work. How can we solve this problem?"

Neither of them could come up with an answer.