The Mech Touch (Web Novel)

5721 Versatile Uses

As massive as his latest idea may be, this was not the time to explore it further.

Ves already became satisfied with obtaining the idea. This was the most crucial gain that he could make. Everything else that followed was a lot easier as he merely had to invest a lot of time in progressing his research.

The magnitude of this idea was so great that Ves almost lost interest in the Fey Shaper Contest.

However, his commitment to rewarding the participants of this contest prevented him from leaving right away. He needed to fulfill his obligations to the people who had spent a lot of effort into developing useful fey.

Ves and Jovy quickly completed their tour and developed a good enough understanding of all of the 50 fey submitted to the contest.

It did not take a lot of time for Ves to form a ranking based on his impressions and evaluations. He just had to ask himself whether he would rank one fey model on top of another and repeat this process many times until he came up with a final list.

Though he occasionally requested Jovy's opinions, Ves made sure that he was the one that decided the ranking.

Once he was done, Ves transmitted a message that requested the top 10 participants to get ready to present themselves on the stage.

People had already begun to move to a larger exhibition hall where the presentation was about to be held. Everyone grew more excited as they wanted to hear what the designer of the Fey Fianna thought about all of the interesting fey they had seen.

As Ves got ready to step up and address his audience behind a reinforced security screen, he idly asked a question to Jovy.

"What do you think about the ranking that I have formed?"

The Survivalist still appeared distracted from Ves' earlier revelations.

"Hm? Oh. I can understand the logic behind your decisions. The top 10 is compromised of a good mix of offensive, defensive and utility options. Personally, I think you have left out numerous utility-based solutions that should have earned a place in the top 10. Did you deliberately leave them out in order to add more variety?"

Ves nodded. "I did. Stuff like this is subjective to begin with, so the utility fey that lost out aren't entitled to place at the top. I think that it is inherently difficult to develop effective offensive and defensive fey that perform better than what is already possible, so the few successful attempts should be rewarded. The ecosystem of fey models needs to be healthy and varied enough to cater to every customer's needs. I don't want to strengthen the impression that the Fey Fianna can only effectively function as an auxiliary mech."

The Fey Fianna had a lot of potential when employed for offensive and defensive purposes. The model would lose out on a lot of sales if too many customers mentally dismissed it as a support machine.

That was not to say that Ves looked down on the decision to utilize the Fey Fianna for auxiliary purposes, but it was an enormous waste of its potential to lock it into this single role.

He hoped that by promoting a couple of excellent offensive and defensive options might encourage customers to be more flexible in the use of his drone mechs.

Minutes passed by as the main hall continued to get filled. Once everyone took their places, Ves hovered out into public view and looked down at the masses.

Eager and interested faces gazed up at Ves. The majority of attendees were ardent fans of the Fey Fiannas. Each of their lives had been positively impacted by his work.

It was these kinds of people that Ves worked hard to satisfy their needs. He wouldn't have become so successful without the support of so many loyal customers.

A smile appeared on his face as he began his introduction.

"Welcome to the closing phase of the Fey Shaper Contest. Half a year ago, I introduced a new mech line that has gone on to become a phenomenon in the second-class mech community. Even I did not anticipate that the Fey Fianna would catch on so quickly that it has become an integral component to the mech rosters of so many different organizations. Whether you value them for their ability to produce convincing decoys to the additional weight of firepower they add to your ranks, the Fey Fianna has undoubtedly saved many lives and resulted in the deaths of many aliens. Today, I intend to celebrate its success by highlighting ten of the most compelling fey models that have earned my appreciation."

Ten different fey flew in from the side. The crowd produced varying noises as they saw the selection arrayed below where Ves was hovering.

From the reactions that Ves could hear, his selection did not deviate too much from what others had expected. These were predominantly mech professionals who knew their craft well. They could spot a good machine when they were able to examine it properly.

"There are many deserving fey models among the top 50 that have passed the preliminary stages." Ves explained. "Just because 40 products have failed to make it to the top does not mean they are without merit. Each of them have their uses. They can be incredibly significant to mech forces that fight in a specialized manner. I encourage all of you to browse the full catalog and base your purchasing decisions depending on your actual needs rather than an overall score that does not take any specific context into account."

The heat disperser fey was a good example of that. It was a simple product with a single-minded use, but it could play such a major role in mech forces that relied far too much on energy weapons.

"That said, the top 10 all have qualities that enable them to stand out from the 40 other fey models that have failed to rise higher in the rankings. I would like to spend my time on going over the former and explain to you why I think they deserve their spots."

After transmitting a silent signal, 9 of the fey moved out of sight again, leaving just the machine that ranked at the bottom of the top 10.

"Let us begin with the work submitted by Miss Esbeth Sandhurst, the Trixie DARTER!"

A familiar information panel showed up again, displaying a familiar summary that gave anyone who had yet to examine the dragonfly-shaped fey a brief introduction to the fey model.

The female Journeyman responsible for designing the Trixie DARTER moved up to the stage upon Ves' invitation.

For security purposes, Esbeth Sandburst was not allowed to float next to Ves. A physical screen as well as multiple transphasic energy shields isolated the two from each other.

Nonetheless, Miss Sandhurst clearly looked jubilant for her ability to squeeze into the top 10!

The significance of this accomplishment was great as the 11th place did not nearly receive as much acclaim!

"Miss Sandhurst, thank you for attending this event in person. Would you like to tell how you came to develop the Trixie DARTER?"

"I would be glad to, Professor Larkinson." The female mech designer replied as she faced the crowd with a demeanor that showed that she had obviously prepared for this eventuality. "The Trixie DARTER is not a completely original work. It is derived from one of my older mech designs. I care about the lives of many mech pilots who brave multiple dangers each time they deploy into battle. I have lost too many brave friends and acquaintances not because they got killed outright, but because they hadn't been pulled away from the battlefield until the engagement had always come to an end."

The tenth-place winner generously projected a basic design schematic of her original Trixie DARTER.

"This was why I set out to design a rare mech that solely specialized on extracting trapped humans from their broken machines. I have found that many mech forces treat search and rescue duties as a tiresome chore. I do not find this acceptable as mech pilots are subject to excessive risks the longer they spend in open space. I eventually developed a specialized mech that can rescue trapped mech pilots faster and more effectively than the alternatives."

Esbeth made a painful smile."My work did not receive many orders. This is not because my work is inadequate. It is because the alternatives are better. The Trixie DARTER is not a direct combat mech. It takes up space that could otherwise be occupied by a proper combat mech. I have sought to fight against this inaccurate bias for many years, but I eventually concluded that absent any widespread changes, the Trixie DARTER has no future as a standalone mech. That is where the Fey Fianna comes in. The drone mech model has not only produced an enormous amount of revenue, but also employs larger and stronger fey than other comparable models. This has given me the idea to reshape my original Trixie DARTER as an unmanned, remote-controlled spur."

The woman perked up as she only kept up the projection of the design schematic of the new version of the Trixie DARTER.

"The living fey that I have developed for this contest captures the essence of the Trixie DARTER but does not deviate too much from the Fey Fiannas that they are now being paired with. Their controls and operations have been simplified in order to allow a mech pilot to proficiency control four or even more of the at the same time, but through testing I have found that my search and rescue fey have become even more intelligent when up to four of them are synced up to a Fey Fianna. I have never managed to produce such excellent results when I have experimented with other drone mech models. This is what makes the Fey Fianna so special to me. The model has the ability to improve the intelligence and direction of any compatible spur, thereby opening up possibilities that cannot be found in other drone mechs!"

The crowd reacted positively to this story! They too learned that any living fey paired with a Fey Fianna moved and acted as if it was driven by its own dedicated intelligence. Their exceptional behavior went beyond the confines of ordinary AI and truly made people feel as if the fey were as intelligent and obedient as dogs!

Ves smiled as Esbeth Sandhurst praised the qualities of the Fey Fianna that attracted her the most.

"I am grateful for Professor Larkinson to bestow me the recognition of earning 10th place." The woman wrapped up her speech. "I hope that his endorsement will further assure you that my Trixie DARTER can be fully relied upon to perform search and rescue under the most arduous of battlefield conditions. They may be on the larger side when compared to other fey, but they are quick and have many solutions available to rescue mech pilots from a wide variety of wrecks and debris. The effective performance of my Trixie DARTERS almost match that of dedicated search and rescue mechs, but do not forget that every Fey Fianna can control four of my fey, which means that the latter mech can rescue many more lives without investing that much more into retrieving human soldiers."

Everyone clapped. Esbeth gave such a good speech that many people who originally showed little interest in this auxiliary fey model suddenly started to think it was a good idea to order a batch of copies.

Trained and experienced mech pilots were too valuable in this day and age. They may be relatively abundant now, but constant attrition would make them scarcer and scarcer.

It would be good for a mech force to preserve a lot more veteran mech pilots over the long run.

If that could be done by making a modest investment in a bunch of dragonfly-

shaped fey, then that was more worth the reasonably price they would have to pay!