The Mech Touch

Patriarch Kobal Gemini smirked and crossed his arms. "As a mech designer and an entrepreneur, I am sure you understand why it may be more advantageous for you to design mechs for your own use rather than buy off-the-shelf copies of mainstream mech models."

"Ever since our Gemini Family chose our current way of life, we have always tried our best to solve our… reproduction issues… in-house." Matriarch Sena Gemini explained. "Many biotech companies are either prohibited by law to produce the offspring we desire or have severe moral objections that prevent them from accepting our business. Then there is the possibility that our business partners might attempt to sabotage our genes in the hopes of ending our way of life. That is not acceptable."

"We have therefore decided to invest in our own genetics company so that we can solve our needs without requiring outside intervention. Our geneticists have become quite good at their jobs over the generations. They may not be as the geneticists working for a leading company such as W&Y, but they are far more specialized in developing a single type of designer baby. Our biotech experts are not burdened with the need to study many different alien genes in order to formulate many different varieties of designer babies. They only need to become good at producing the designer babies that meet our specific requirements."

Patriarch Kobal backed up his sister and wife. "I dare say that not even W&Y can produce a superior version of our specific type of designer baby. I am also willing to dare that our designer babies are superior to yours."

That got a rise out of Ves.

"We paid good money to get Witshaw & Seneca to take us seriously." He claimed. "My first two children may be derived from their more affordable lines, but my third kid is remarkably better as my disposable income has risen at the time. Next time, I will be able to spend even more money to get a higher quality designer baby."

"Don't get me wrong, Patriarch Larkinson. Withshaw & Yeneca is by no means overpraised as a genetics company. It is just that despite their size, the company does not allocate their leading geneticists to satisfy the needs of ordinary consumers such as yourself. You have only been dealing with their middling biotech experts who are adequate at their jobs but have only truly worked with creating variants of standard product formulas. They are far from able to offer you customized genes that have been formulated from the ground up. It is similar to commissioning a personalized variant of a standard mech model and commissioning a custom mech from the beginning."

The analogy made it easier for Ves to understand what the Geminis were trying to say. He couldn't help but agree with their logic, even though designing mechs was substantially different from formulating designer babies.

"Okay. Let's assume that your claims are accurate. What does this mean for my clan?"

"We are willing to give you a 'starter pack' that consists of all of the essential data and information packages that your people need to begin producing your own designer babies. You will need trained and competent geneticists, exobiologists, doctors and other specialists to properly harness our teachings, but I am told that your Larkinson Biotech Institute is more than up to the task."

Ves smiled. The Larkinson Biotech Institute definitely had the right people, but he intended to expand its responsibilities in the near future. The addition of biomechs to the Larkinson Army meant that Director Ranya needed to hire a lot of new biotech experts in order to fulfill all of the new responsibilities.

"That may be true, but my men could easily learn how to make designer babies ourselves." He pointed out in an attempt to reduce their bargaining power. "What stops us from buying out a genetics company and obtain all of that juicy know-how ourselves?"

Surprisingly enough, the Gemini leaders did not look concerned about this possibility.

Patriarch Kobal Gemini kept smirking. "You are welcome to try, but any genetics company that is within the range of your budget will not offer the quality of products that require. Gemini Genetics is different. Our company only occupies a small niche in the market, but it has invested greatly into securing its current place."

"Uhm, did I mention that our Larkinson Clan does not have an interest in adopting your… interesting family planning policies?"

Both of the Gemini leaders chuckled at Ves.

"We do not insist you follow our lead, though we will appreciate it if you do. This is also why it is sufficient to give your biotechs a foundation to build upon rather than a copy of our whole structure. I can guarantee you that you will not be disappointed with what we can offer. While we do not intend to offer our most current and effective gene packages to your clan, we will still transfer enough information to allow your geneticists to develop their own competitive products within a decade or two. The exact quality of their work depends on their competence and your demands."

Ves frowned. "That sounds a little too vague to me. The reason why I agreed to the Lehrer Foundation's offer is because I have the technical background to understand most of what they have chosen to trade with us. I am not able to do the same with your family's offer. I will have to consult with my specialists in order to obtain an accurate assessment of the value that you are willing to transfer."

"Please feel free to do so, Patriarch Larkinson. We will stay here and await your prompt return."

The Geminis transferred a short electronic document to Ves that briefly summarized the contents of the designer baby starter pack.

Although Ves had actually gained enough of a background in biotechnology to figure out at least half of the contents of the list, he did not want to reveal that he knew more than what everyone expected. Not yet, at least.

He dutifully called Director Ranya and passed on the list.

"What do you think?"

"Hmm." Ranya's projection looked thoughtful. "It looks legitimate at first glance. Let me pass on this list to the foremost experts in our institute."

It took a couple of minutes for Ranya to receive the information she needed to make an accurate assessment.

"If the list is accurate, then the Gemini Family has made a serious effort to give us an accelerated introduction into developing our own designer babies. The breadth of proprietary textbooks, manuals, gene templates and research logs is remarkable, but their depth is a bit more shallow than what I would have liked."

"Is that bad?"

"Not necessarily." Ranya shook her head. "The Geminis did not lie about giving us a solid foundation. It is just that we will have to contribute plenty of original research in order to build a proper house of what we have received. That will require a lot of time and effort, especially if we have the ambition to develop more capable designer babies that excel in areas that we deem important. It may take more than a single generation before we can deliver a designer baby that satisfies our criteria."

"That is way too long." Ves frowned.

"It doesn't have to be that way, sir." Ranya replied. "The time frame that I have given only applies to situations where we develop the capability to formulate designer babies without additional measures. If you are willing to spend a large sum of money, then I can go ahead and acquire an existing genetics company. It doesn't have to be as good as Gemini Genetics, but it must already be in the business of developing designer babies. Once we have secured the loyalties of our new acquisition's geneticists, we can pass on the valuable knowledge package to them. They will quickly be able to get up to speed and develop an adequate designer baby in five years or less."

That was a much better outcome. Ves looked impressed.

"That is a great idea. It doesn't matter if we don't have the right personnel as we can always hire them. If it is possible for us to develop our own designer babies within the next decade, then I am open to investing in this venture. I have always wanted our clan to develop its own designer babies as we enjoy advantages that not even Witshaw & Yeneca possesses."

Ves already thought about all of the spiritual shenanigans he could pull off. It might even be possible to ensure that every future offspring of the Larkinson Clan would be born with active spiritualities and greater aptitudes in relevant professions!

Ranya also looked forward to what the Larkinson Clan might manage to produce in the future.

"I am already regretting the decision to have children so early." The wife of Venerable Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson said. "The Geminis are correct when they state that their knowledge transfer can enable us to develop our own specialized designer babies. This is especially the case when there are manuals and gene packages on the list that can teach our how to formulate designer babies that are much more empathic and prone to developing strong bonds with friends and family."

That did not surprise Ves that much. "So the proclivity of the Gemini family members to love and marry their own twin siblings is a product of their genetics rather than just their culture?"

"That is correct." Ranya enthusiastically grinned. "Our best genetics experts will have to study the information in detail, but if the summaries are accurate, then we can produce future mech pilots that can develop much stronger emotional bonds with living mechs. It is as if our mech pilots were all born to pilot Larkinson mechs! We can even take steps to genetically look our Larkinson-exclusive mechs to our clansmen. This way, you can develop much more specialized mechs that can take full advantage of the genetic strengths of our unique strain of designer babies."

The director of the Larkinson Biotech Institute painted such a promising picture that Ves became convinced.

"Okay, Ranya. I've heard enough. If you think the starter pack is comprehensive enough, then I am inclined to accept it, but this doesn't mean the Geminis can get away with paying 120 kilograms of phasewater."

When Ves returned to the leading pair of Geminis, he gave them a somewhat favorable response.

"I am interested in this starter pack." He said. "However, that is not enough. You need to sweeten the deal. Is there anything else of value that you can offer to our clan?"

The patriarch and matriarch of the Gemini Family frowned. "We cannot offer you any further knowledge that you would be interested in. Our main business activity centers around human genetics. We have other companies that generate revenue for us, but their competitive advantages are rather slim."

"You could teach our clan a bit more about biotechnology."

Patriarch Kobal Gemini shook his head. "No. We need to protect our trade secrets. Everything we can add on top of our initial offer will stray too close to what makes us stronger. We would rather refuse this trade deal than to leak out core secrets."

That left the two sides at an impasse. Ves was not willing to get taken advantage of, so they had to find another way to satisfy his need to conclude a favorable exchange.

When he thought about the strengths of the Gemini Family, he quickly came up with another promising suggestion.

"Your ace pilots must know a lot about their profession, right?" Ves spoke up again. "Can you persuade them to tutor the expert pilots and expert candidates of my clan? They don't have to do much as long as they are earnest about helping my best soldiers find their ways to advance further."

"That…. can be discussed."