The Mech Touch

For some reason, the prominent sculpture of Prophet Ylvaine seemed highly incongruent in this setting. Calabast herself admitted that Madame Cecily was a fabricated identity that didnʼt exist before she infiltrated the Protectorate.

Now that she faced him from the other side of the desk, grinning like a certain mechanical cat who just devoured a huge lump of high-grade exotics, Ves simply could not equate her to a devout believer.

”What is it, Ves?” Calabast asked as she caught his skeptical expression.

”Is it difficult for you to maintain your cover identity here? What if youʼre found out? I doubt the Ylvainans will be pleased to have a nonbeliever in charge of such an important responsibility.”

”Come now. Who do you think I am?” She chuckled. ”That little fellow from Flashlight who recently joined your staff has nothing on me! Infiltrating a religious state like the Protectorate is not as difficult as you imagine. In time, you will realize that the Protectorate will play a very important role in the future. Youʼll thank me for being in the right position at the right time.”

”Sure. I suppose you canʼt tell me anything?”

”Iʼm sorry. Some secrets are best left with me. For now, itʼs important for you to expand your presence in the Protectorate. Our goal is to make your mech company into one of the leading foreign enterprises involved in the local mech market.”

Ves adopted a skeptical expression again. ”Iʼm happy to see that happen, but is that even possible? The LMC is far from a dominant mech company in the Bright Republic, let alone in the rest of the star sector. It is a bit too much to expect for the LMC to take up a leading position in the Protectorate when companies like NORA Consolidated and other mech companies owned by Seniors can do a much better job.”

”Ah, but thatʼs the genius of it.” She grinned. ʼThe Ylvaine Protectorate recognizes the need to liberalize the mech market, but the opposition to it is very intense. The pressure exerted by the Ylvainan Journeymen and Seniors will make it so that the liberalization process will be slow and gradual. Any mech company that is led by a foreign Senior will be restricted from entering, while a smaller mech company led by a Journeyman like you will be able to slip through the cracks. Very few Ylvainans in the mech industry feel threatened by your presence.”

Basically, with Calabastʼs help, the LMC stood to benefit from a first-mover advantage in the Protectorate mech market for a substantial amount of time.

”How much time are we talking about here?”

”Two or three decades. Itʼs difficult to estimate that far ahead. In my judgement, as long as the Protectorate continues to pursue gradual liberalization, you can expect to enjoy that much time in which the Protectorateʼs mech market can serve as your playground. Every year, Iʼm expected to permit more foreign mech companies to enter the market without many restrictions, so donʼt think you have this place to yourself.”

The local Ylvainan mech designers also wouldnʼt sit still and let the foreign mech designers take away their market share. Ves knew that Calabast couldnʼt push the local interest groups too far on this matter.

”I take it you can manipulate the foreign entrants into the market in my favor, right?”

”Right. Iʼm expected to allow a number of mech companies led by Apprentices or Journeyman entry into the market. Unlike the offer that Iʼm about to extend to you, your competitors wonʼt enjoy unrestricted access. While they are allowed to expert a much greater amount of mechs to the Protectorate than before, tariffs and other trade barriers will make them more expensive and less competitive to the other offerings in the market.”

If Calabast kept her promises, then a mech designed by Ves that sold for 50 million credits would be for sale in the Protectorate for roughly the same price.

On the other hand, a competitor would still need to deal with a number of trade barriers that increased the cost and reduced the profit of every sale. A mech sold by a competitor needed to be priced at 55 to 65 million credits in order to earn the same amount of profit!

This was a massive competitive advantage to the LMC!

”So all I need to do to earn the right to earn the right to do unrestricted business with the Protectorate is to fulfill the commission, right?”

”Right. Itʼs not a sham if thatʼs what youʼre thinking of. My cover identityʼs power base isnʼt entirely secure. Not everyone in the Curin and the Kronon Dynasty agrees with opening up the economy, and I havenʼt even mentioned the Poxco Dynasty yet. Suffice to say, need a lot of protection if I want to remain in a position to help you. Ever since I left my old employers, I have to depend on myself for protection. It will be good if you can lend a hand.”

”Do you really need my help?” Ves asked. ”Surely the local mech designers wonʼt resort to perverting the designs of your bodyguard mechs.”

”No. In truth, I can import a decent mech from any foreign mech company if I donʼt trust any of our domestic mech companies. I just wanted to invite you here so that we can hit multiple birds with a single stone. By making you responsible for designing six of my bodyguard mechs, we can make multiple statements that advance our interests.”

”One message would be that you donʼt trust or think you can rely on a bodyguard mech designed by a domestic mech designer.” Ves mentioned.

”Correct. Itʼs meant to be an indirect slap in the face of the Ylvainan mech industry that I turned to a foreigner instead of one of their own.”

”I heard your bodyguard mech pilots all consist of members of the Kronon Family. Will they be agreeable to your choice of mechs?”

”Theyʼre good soldiers.” Calabast dismissed the concern with a wave of her hand. ”Regardless of their personal opinions, theyʼll follow orders. They will pilot a hollowed-out mech-sized cleaning bot if that is what is expected of them. The Protectors of the Faith is one of the least political institutions in the Ylvaine Protectorate. The Ylvainans learned the hard way that pairing fanatics and extremists with mechs is a recipe for disaster.”

What she said made a lot of sense, but Ves reserved his own judgement. ”Can I meet the six mech pilots who will pilot the commissioned mechs in person? It will help me a lot if I have a solid impression of the people who will actually make use of my products.”

”Sure. Iʼll schedule a meeting for you with them tomorrow. Right now, they are housed in a training base not far from here. My new batch of guards are young mech pilots who graduated from the mech academies only recently. Please take that into account when you design your mech.”

”I understand. However, do you really think it is a good idea to assign inexperienced mech pilots to hero mechs? Not everyone is suitable to pilot such a mech.”

Calabast swiveled her chair to stare up at the sculpture of Prophet Ylvaine. ”You and I need to impress the local mech designers. If you come up with a great hero mech design, we can impress them to such an extent that they wonʼt raise any eyebrows when I give you unrestricted access to the local mech market.”

”I can do that.. I think. Do you want my mechs to look fancy or do they have to be combat effective as well?”

”Both. From what Iʼve gathered from your design style, you are capable of both, right? That will be very beneficial to you as you work in this state. Many Ylvainans have a penchant for elegant, artful-looking mechs. Your Blackbeak and the Crystal Lord received a modest amount of attention in some of the local mech circles. The only reason why your company didnʼt sell more of them is because your gold label mechs are far too difficult to obtain.”

”What are your demands when it comes to their performance?”

”Iʼll leave that up to you. Aside from looking impressive, I want the new mechs to be able to fend off landbound but especially aerial threats.”

”Is there anything else you want to add to your shopping list?”

”Yes. I want you to apply a religious theme to the mechs. Outwardly, the mechs have to come across as holy machines.”

Ves looked pensive. ”While I am confident in my artistic skills, I am not an expert in the Ylvainan Faith. How am I supposed to design a mech with this theme when I know nothing about this faith?”

”You donʼt have to work alone. Not every mech designer is against the reforms. Iʼll put you in touch of a couple of friendlier mech designers, though they arenʼt very high in rank. They should still be able to help you in this field.”

”Thank you. From what Iʼve already seen of Protectorate mechs, itʼs best to have a local on hand to help me shape the aesthetics of my mech.”

Outward appearances didnʼt matter too much in the Bright Republic, but in the Protectorate many mech buyers expected a certain look to their designs.

”I think itʼll take me a couple of months to finish the commission.”

”I will put the best workshop I have access to at your disposal. If you are short on anything, feel free to inform me. I will make sure you are supplied with what you need as long as it falls within our budget. I canʼt spend an unlimited amount of money for this commission, so you need to make sure you design some efficient mechs.”

”No problem. Can I have a full list of parameters that needs special attention?”

Calabast shook her head. ”Iʼll prepare the list tonight. I donʼt have too many demands, though. Their ceremonial purpose comes first, but they should still be good enough to put up a fight.”

After some poignant questions, Ves understood what Calabast wanted out of the commissioned mechs.

She wanted to intimidate the local mech designers. A hero mech that looked fantastic and performed decently would not have been anything special if designed by a local. If they learned that a foreigner designed such a mech, they had no choice but to bear the implicit insult.

Keeping the local mech designers busy and worried allowed Ves enough room to establish himself in the Protectorateʼs mech market.

After Ves received all of the instructions of what Calabast expected of the mechs, he could begin to work whenever he wanted.

He still had one more question, though.

”Seeing that you are not entirely safe here, will I be in any trouble while I work here?”

Calabast nodded grimly. ”Some of my problems might spill over to you. Itʼs unavoidable. I trust in your survival abilities. A Holy Son shouldnʼt die so easily.”

Ves wanted to groan. ”I donʼt appreciate being exposed to any danger. Canʼt you just let me return home to the Bright Republic and finish my work at home?”

”Nope. You need to immerse yourself in the Ylvainan culture and way of life if you want to design mechs that appeal to Ylvainans. Running home will also weaken the statements that I intend to convey.”

Those sounded like weak reasons to him. ”Is that all?”

”For now, yes. If you are really concerned about your safety, then I can allow your own bodyguard mechs to accompany you on the surface of Kesseling VIII.”

Ves trusted in the Avatars of Myth he brought along this trip. Currently, the mechs and mech pilots taking part in this mission were still stuck aboard the Greenfeather in high orbit.

Ves still felt as if there was more to the situation than Calabast revealed. ”Please tell it to me straight. Am I in serious threat while Iʼm here?”

”It depends.”

”On what?”

”On whether you will be able to charm the local mech community.”

Ves began to smile. ”Is that all? Iʼll have you know that Iʼm an excellent charmer. Iʼll have the locals eating from the palm of my hand in no time!”

”I see that sarcasm suits you well.”