The Mech Touch

It was very hard to come up with a good present to someone who could outright buy the total assets of the Larkinson Estate several times over!

Still, they needed to express their sincerity in some way, so they decided to follow the same strategy as Benjamin by gifting presents that carried a symbolic or sentimental meaning.

The only problem with this was that Ves only cared for the sentiments of those he cared about in person. Just because he shared the same family name as them didn’t mean he particularly liked them or appreciated their company.

Perhaps the most odious Larkinson Ves had met tonight was Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson.

After gifting Ves with a shard salvaged from an old expert mech wreck, the elder in charge of the trust fund eagerly patted his back.

"You’ve heard of my grandson Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson, yes? He’s an expert candidate just like Jannzi. He served admirably during the recent war, and right now he’s placing all of his efforts into breaking through to expert pilot."

"I’m sure he’ll succeed one day." Ves politely responded even if he wanted to swat away the slimy old man’s hand from his back.

"The Mech Corps and other institutions offer many training programs that increase the chance of breakthroughs. While I’m sure that Tusa doesn’t have to rely on them, the faster he breaks through, the sooner our entire family benefits from the addition of another expert pilot in our ranks. If you lend a hand to him during this time, I’m sure he’ll reciprocate the favor."

After several minutes of babbling, Ves eventually learned the true reason why Raymond was buttering him up so much. He wanted Ves to invest several hundred million credits into Tusa’s training.

"While the Mech Corps is a fine place to seek a breakthrough, the Friday Coalition offers even better training programs." Raymond explained. "As long as my grandson can pay the entry fee, he can benefit from the wisdom of a second-rate state, not only increasing his chances of breaking through, but also allowing him to absorb some of the skills of a second-class mech pilot!"

While Ves maintained his polite smile, he inwardly cursed Raymond for being a greedy old bastard.

Of course, he couldn’t ruin the festive mood by uttering something like that aloud.

"I think the family should make this decision collectively, Raymond." He said in a mild but slightly warning tone of voice. "The ample dividends the Larkinson Estate receive should be more than enough to cover these kinds of investments. It’s not fair for me to openly favor one Larkinson expert candidate over another."

Raymond knew he couldn’t make any further progress when he heard that so he stopped insisting. "You’ve raised a good point, Ves. I was merely thinking that since you’re so wealthy, you don’t mind spending this trivial amount of money."

"A few hundred-million credits is not trivial. Whatever you think of my wealth, my business ventures eat up most of what I earn." Ves lied.

In truth, Ves was flush with more money than he knew where to spend it on. While he reserved quite a bit to fund the expansion of the Avatars of Myth, the rest of his money was essentially sitting in the bank.

Even if he wasn’t hurting for money at the moment, Ves did not want to make it a habit to lend or give away his cash whenever a Larkinson held out their hand and begged.

Therefore, after shutting down Raymond, half of the Larkinsons who wanted to chat with him further all declined to say anything more than pleasantries.

Perhaps the most lighthearted Larkinson he greeted was Lanie Larkinson.

The little girl had grown into a big girl. Ves remembered meeting her shortly after he embarked on his career. After five years of growth, the girl was approaching ten years old, which meant she would soon find out whether she possessed the right genetic aptitude to pilot mechs.

Ves generously smiled at Lanie after she gifted him with a handknit shawl. "Did you make this yourself?"

Lanie eagerly nodded. "I don’t know if I want to become a mech pilot or mech designer, but I’ve been practicing my handicraft in case I decide to follow in your footsteps!"

"It’s very hard to become a mech designer, Lanie. While being good with your hands is useful, it’s more important to have a knack in science and engineering. Even then, you still have to study hard in order to graduate."

The young girl didn’t look fazed at all. "I’ll surely succeed! By the way, where’s Lucky? He’s so fun! I miss him so much!"

"She might know where my cat has gone." He said while gesturing at Ketis. "If you have any questions about mech design, feel free to ask her as she’s also a mech designer."

"Okay!"

The girl enthusiastically scampered off to Ketis, causing Ves and the other Larkinsons to chuckle.

"Kids are precious, Ves." His grandfather remarked in a goodnaturedly fashion. "They liven up your life and help you remember the joys of your own life. Children are the best gifts that you can have."

The implicit message was that Ves should hurry up and marry so that he could have kids of his own.

After he finished greeting the Larkinsons, Ves greeted his other guests. With Gavin’s help, he was instantly able to greet some of the unknown faces by name, which easily earned him some of their appreciation.

"Yoni Ricklin. What an unexpected surprise to see you here." Ves politely shook the middle-aged man’s hand.

The Ricklin generously smiled at Ves. "I came to convey Madame Catelyn Ricklin’s well wishes. Unfortunately, she couldn’t be here herself, but she wants to make sure you are aware of her good intentions."

"That is welcome news. I thought that you Ricklins were rather irate at me for being involved in Vincent Ricklin’s defection."

How could Ves forget about his first custom job where Vincent insisted on adding a codpiece to his mech?!

"What happened that day was a tragedy. Many elders of the Ricklin family lost their lives." Yoni firmly shook his head. "However, now that five years have passed, Madame Catelyn is no longer hysterical whenever she recalls this incident. She realized that it’s unfair to blame you for supplying Vincent with the weapon that slew many of our lineage. Any mech could have done the same."

"I’m glad to hear that. None of us thought that Vincent would be so crazy to join the Bentheim Liberation Movement. How is he, by the way?"

Yoni sighed. "Vincent is still at large, to our entire family’s shame. From the scattered intelligence we’ve gathered, our wayward family member has slowly climbed up the ranks and has become one of their side leaders. It doesn’t appear he’ll get caught anytime soon."

That was a small but persistent worry to Ves. Still, the BLM shouldn’t have any reason to target him directly, so he quickly threw his concerns aside.

After receiving Yoni’s present which turned out to be a small but highly-suspect processor chip, Ves moved on to greet another notable figure.

"Alistair Cordwraith." Ves greeted the executive assistant. He didn’t need Gavin’s help to recall the unassuming but sharply-dressed man’s name. "I did not expect to see you here myself."

The man shook hands with Ves. "Senator Tovar wishes you well. He has paid a keen amount of interest in you ever since you returned from the Ylvaine Protectorate. It has always been one of his dreams to forge a friendship with our isolationist neighbor. Now that you single-handedly opened up a major opportunity, our diplomatic corps has been hard at work ever since."

"The Ylvainans may hold some odd beliefs, but they are quite friendly once you get past their shells."

The gift that Alistair handed to Ves turned out to be a data pad that contained a bunch of official documents.

They mostly came from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Economic Development. While it took some effort for Ves to figure out the legalese, he figured out that they essentially authorized him and his company to engage in greater foreign activities with less bureaucratic oversight.

Alistair explained what they meant. "There is a lot of red tape involved whenever a domestic mech company begins to expand its operations in other states. The senator believes your company has a lot of promise catering to foreign markets. Your stunning achievement in opening up the Protectorate attests to that. For this reason, he has lobbied on your behalf to make it easier to do business across borders."

While Ves didn’t completely understand the conveniences these authorizations provided to him, he accepted them nonetheless. He passed the data pad to Gavin who eagerly began to read the documents right away.

"Please convey my thanks to the senator for his consideration."

It seemed the senator still paid a significant amount of attention to him. Whether this was good or bad, Ves didn’t know.

Aside from meeting officials and representatives, Ves also met some acquaintances who were remarkable by themselves.

Ves happened to meet another old friend from the start of his career.

"Charlotte Hoffmeister!"

"You still remember me, Ves." She smiled back.

"How can I forget the mech pilot who piloted my first competition mechs?"

"It’s been a long time since we competed at the Young Tigers Exhibition." She said. She looked calmer and more mature since they last worked together to reach the finals. "Both of us has come a long way since then, though I never expected you to explode to Journeyman this soon. That’s really significant to MTA, I can tell you that."

"You would know, since you’re a part of them now. It’s really impressive that you managed to catch their eye!" Ves sincerely complimented.

Indeed. While Charlotte was among the younger of the guests, she was like an elephant in the room due to wearing an MTA mess dress uniform!

Not only that, but her uniform bore the insignia of the association’s Compliance Department, which was their most feared enforcement unit!

Charlotte nonetheless shook her head. "I’m not as impressive as you think I am. I’m still a low-ranking trainee mech pilot in the MTA’s hierarchy. I have a lot more to go before I enter their ranks in earnest."

"I’m sure you’ll be able to distinguish yourself in time."

It was nice to catch up with an old acquaintance and see what they made of themselves since they last met. Even though Ves had taken a huge leap forward, Charlotte shouldn’t feel sorry for herself because she managed to join the most powerful mech fighting force in the galaxy!

Even if the MTA’s branch in the Komodo Star Sector didn’t equal the branches closer to the center of the galaxy, Charlotte could still expect to pilot some great mechs in the future.

She would also be eligible to receive the latest gene optimization treatments that her rank afforded her! That alone caused her to attract a lot of hidden envy from the mech pilots in the hall!

Once they finished exchanging pleasantries, Charlotte passed her present to Ves. The present was rather peculiar. She gave him an invitation card.

"You’ve recently advanced to Journeyman, right? That means you’ll visit the Centerpoint System soon. While I haven’t been there myself, you can use this card to an exclusive club on Centerpoint V. You won’t regret the visit once you get inside."

"Sounds mysterious."

Charlotte grinned. "I don’t want to spoil the surprise."

This was his second invitation card. Ves still recalled that he still hadn’t used his invitation card to the Angel’s Wing Foundation.

After carefully stowing away the card, Ves greeted one more acquaintance.

"Patricia. I must say I did not expect to see you here as well." Ves said while offering his most charming smile to someone he used to look up to during his student days.

The mech designer apprenticed to Master Null elegantly offered her hand, which Ves gently shook. Patricia Schneider looked as elegant and inscrutable as ever.

"We both came a long way since we graduated from Rittersberg University of Technology and competed in the Young Tigers Exhibition, Ves. You’ve managed to make a stunning achievement by advancing to Journeyman so soon. I’m still an Apprentice." She sighed.

"You’ve always been talented, Patricia. I’m sure you’ll catch up in no time."

"We’ll see. Mech design is not a race."

"So what brings you to the Bright Republic?"

"I’m picking up my parents so that they can attend my wedding." She said. "I’m engaged to a mech designer from the Vermeer Group. We decided to tie the knot this year."

"Oh." Ves said while he tried to maintain his best smile. "Congratulations. I’m very happy for you, Patricia."

"Thank you, Ves."