The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1012

As Ves exited Professor Ventag’s stateroom, he nervously wiped his brow. He managed to weasel his way out of the potential offer with a noncommittal answer.

Regardless, Ves received a standing invitation to come teach at the Dorum Center of Technology and Innovation as long as he advanced to Journeyman and became respected among the ranks of other Journeymen.

To be honest, Ves saw a lot of appeal in accepting a teaching position at the DCTI. As the second-best school of mech design in the Republic, it still earned quite some renown. Anyone talented enough to teach at the university instantly stood out from other mech designers.

His stature in the mech industry would increase, and the market responded quite well to mechs designed by professors from renowned universities. In addition, Ves would be able to get in touch with a lot of other Journeymen and Seniors the DCTI employed.

However, the down side to teaching at the DCTI was the political implications of aligning himself to their camp. Professor Ventag made it very clear that the Tovars and perhaps the central government at Rittersberg explicitly supported the DCTI in an attempt to dethrone the Ansel University of Mech Design.

To an outsider to the conflict like Ves, the rivalry seemed way too overblown. While he understood the apprehension towards the collective power of the AUMD, it also did a lot of good for the Republic. It didn’t seem to him that Ansel held any nefarious intentions to the state.

Those Ansel brats that Ves corralled for half a year at Frozen Point Research Base showed that while they possessed a greater foundation, it didn’t necessarily make them great mech designers. They just graduated at a higher starting point and if they were lucky they could make use of their Ansel association to get access to easy startup funds or good employment opportunities.

"Even so, Ansel has produced so many Senior Mech Designers that they are practically in control of the Bright Republic’s mech industry."

If every Ansel Senior came to a decision on something, everyone else had no choice but to obey. This even took on the form of a formal institution called the Bentheim Mech Court which was a gathering of ten of the most renowned and prestigious Seniors in the Republic!

The fear that Rittersberg held towards Ansel was that it firmly held root in Bentheim. Every mech designer that graduated from that school considered themselves a Bentheimer as well as a citizen of the Republic.

Sometimes, the Ansel alumni balanced both loyalties without any difficulties. In extreme cases, however, the former took precedence to disastrous results.

The DCTI, as pathetic as it seemed in comparison, served as Rittersberg’s main thrust towards the AUMD. Both schools had been locked into bitter rivalry ever since the central government stoked the conflict.

Right now, Ves mainly stood apart from this conflict due to his low stature within the mech industry. He was able to get away from Professor Ventag without a commitment because of that.

Still, to Ves it seemed that he was merely postponing a necessary decision. Eventually, he would advance to Journeyman and become someone successful enough to attract scrutiny from both camps.

The problem was that Ves stood opposite to Ansel from the very start. Not only did he study at Rittersberg, he also became apprenticed, if only tenuously, to a foreign Master Mech Designer. Both of these traits instantly disqualified him from entering their exclusive circle.

"Therefore, I can either stay neutral or throw my lot with the DCTI."

Staying neutral allowed him to stay above these petty conflicts. It also afforded him no extra privileges in the Bright Republic’s mech industry.

From his time at the KNG, Ves knew that as mech companies became bigger and more influential, politics played a greater in keeping them aloft. Having strong allies shielded his company to an extent.

Yet was this protection enough to side with the DCTI? Ves did not follow the normal career trajectory of a mech designer from the Republic. With the help of the System, he possessed much less reliance on the help of others to advance his mech design skills. _{ƒгeewebnovёl.com}

As long as he improved, why should he knock on someone else’s door and beg for help?

The strongest advantage the System gave him was that it enabled him to be self-sufficient!

Therefore, the most prudent and rational course of action for him was to stay aloof of the rivalry between the two institutions. Certainly, Ves wouldn’t be the first mech designer to do so. In fact, he vaguely knew that many other mech designers with ties to the Friday Coalition did so as well.

"In fact, I’ve already joined a camp. The Clifford Society and Master Olson are both powerful if exceedingly distant backers."

Still, though they both wielded a lot of clout, they were very distant and the help they could provide to Ves was limited.

It might be one thing if Ves began to relocate his business to the Friday Coalition, but as long as he remained in the Bright Republic he still couldn’t get away with everything. Therefore, siding with one of the two institutions would still help him pass through various difficulties.

As Ves continued to weigh the merits of associating himself with the DCTI as opposed to staying neutral, he headed towards the Felicitous Remembrance’s dining room for a meal.

The dining room befitted the Remembrance’s luxurious aesthetic. As Ves saw more of the ship, he got the notion that she was much more than met the eye. As Ves sat down a semi-enclosed table and ordered some plain dishes from the projected menu, he knocked his knuckle against the surface of the ornate dining table.

"This is compressed alloy!"

Who would waste so much money constructing nearly indestructible tables? While the bulkheads and most of the structure of the Remembrance didn’t make use of compressed alloys, they did make use of large amounts of very strong alloys that Ves found a bit too extravagant to justify.

Of course, it wasn’t any of his business where Senator Tovar chose to spend his money.

As a couple of bots hovered by to drop the dishes, Ves began to dig in. "This is good!"