Reading up on how the MTA classified and evaluated different design philosophies gave Ves a greater sense of his own worth.
"On one hand, I’m a Class IX mech designer."
Compared to the vast majority of more conventional mech designers, Ves was like the class clown. There was a large chance that he wouldn’t amount to anything in the future, but there was always a tiny chance that he would accomplish something extremely remarkable!
"Sort of like what happens when the class clown starts a new company that becomes so successful that they’ve become a billionaire!"
Naturally, the odds of that happening was quite small that Class IX mech designers rightly deserved to be treated as clowns.
Even so, many Class IX mech designers still managed to advance to Senior. At that height, they were capable of providing a lot of modest enhancements to any mech design they contributed to. Class IX Seniors therefore gained a reputation as the ’best’ assistants to Master Mech Designer looking to add some extra ’oomph’ to their own work.
"Is that how Master Olson sees me? A future assistant with a very convenient design philosophy?"
Ves had mixed feelings about that. While he was fine with collaborating with other mech designers, he did not see much value in it if he was being relegated to the sides.
Only by being the lead designer of a design project would he be able to harvest the most gains! Not only would the finished design carry his vision and his design choices, he would also make a much greater impact on the lives of his customers!
Therefore, Ves did not accept this stereotype of Class IX mech designers! It completely went against his ambitions! Senior was not the end of the road for him! He was absolutely confident that he could make his design philosophy bloom and reach even greater heights!
Charlotte mentioned something very important during his birthday celebration.
She informed him that the MTA’s resident mech designers in the Bright Republic paid a lot more attention to him than normal. The reason was because he expressed his design philosophy a lot stronger than others.
It was rather strange that the expression of his design philosophy fluctuated so strongly between different mechs and mech designs!
Ves knew that this was because he focused on the X-Factor, which was inherently volatile. However, a bigger factor was that he relied on external sources of strength to enhance his mech designs.
"The MTA will probably have a lot of questions in store for me when I arrive at Centerpoint. Questions that I really don’t want to answer."
Yet would the MTA accept no for an answer? Likely not! They were one of the two most powerful organizations in human space! They wielded so much power that they could easily crush Ves like a bug! You didn’t just say no to their requests!
Ves began to sweat a little as he began to see his upcoming visit to Centerpoint in another light.
Instead of seeing it as a supreme honor to get into closer contact with one of the core powers of the galaxy, he was actually entering the belly of a very dangerous beast!
He had various secrets that he really didn’t want the MTA to find out. From possessing the Mech Designer System, his insights and applications of spirituality and the secret behind the X-Factor, each of them could land him in hot water if exposed!
Although it sounded nice to become a galactic citizen and obtain recognition of his recent advancement, Ves preferred to pass over them entirely if it meant that he had an interrogation in store!
"There’s no way the MTA is clueless! They have a copy of all of my design files and logs! Surely they’ve recognized something fishy about my designs!"
If Ves suddenly ordered the Barracuda and the Greenfeather to turn around and return to the Bright Republic, the MTA would certainly grow impatient with him. While the Association didn’t set a firm time limit to their invitation, they nonetheless expected mech designers to answer their summons as promptly as possible!
For an intriguing case like Ves, that meant the MTA would definitely be willing to drag Ves to Centerpoint if he was being too tardy!
"Damnit! I can’t delay this visit!" He cursed.
What did the MTA know? What did they suspect? Some of the smartest and most ingenious people in the galaxy work for them! With all of the tech and augmentations at their disposal, they were much sharper than the average baseline human. freёwebnoѵel.com
To Ves, entering the sector headquarters was the same as entering a den filled with Calabasts!
Paranoia and worry began to plague his imagination as he envisioned himself being dragged into a high-tech interrogation chamber before being prodded to spill every little secret!
Even though it should have been unlikely for the MTA to treat a Journeyman so badly, Ves nonetheless couldn’t rule out the possibility of this happening! He only needed to slip up a single time before the MTA brought out the manacles!
"I can’t let this happen!"
What could he do?
As soon as he calmed down a bit, he realized that he wasn’t as hopeless as he thought. His earlier experiences in the Ylvaine Protectorate gave him several ideas on how to tackle this potential problem.
He grinned. If Class IX mech designers were seen as clowns, then he should do his best to reinforce this stereotype!
As the Barracuda and Greenfeather crossed through territories on their way to Centerpoint, Ves slowly refined his strategy towards any possible inquiries he might face upon arrival.
Perhaps Ves was being too paranoid. Perhaps he was worrying too much. Yet the prospect of facing difficult questions haunted him so much that he wasn’t content unless he accounted for every possibility!
The MTA may be the holy land for mech designers, but as far as Ves was concerned, it was a pit of darkness that could swallow him up as long as he took a single wrong step!
Still, as long as he managed to make it out of their sector headquarters, he should be in the clear. Depending on how well the MTA received him, he might even be able to spare some time to explore the many sights of the Centerpoint System.
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