The Mech Touch novel Chapter 131

Ves woke up with a slight headache the next morning. He started suffering from pain at the end of the project. He never spent so much time holding on to an inspiration, not to mention three at a time. He still suffered from the aftereffects of his exertion.

"It’s worth it if I can obtain a C+ rating for my design." He muttered as he popped a pill inside his mouth to clear his head.

The medicine actually didn’t help much, as if the pain originated from something other than a purely physical reaction. Nonetheless, Ves expected the strain to fade now that he had no need to concentrate for hours on end.

After finishing his morning ritual, he entered the workroom to see Carlos up at work. Yesterday, Ves checked in with Carlos and became satisfied with his progress. He mastered all of his 1-star and 2-star virtual designs. Only the Young Blood gave him a bit of trouble, but a success rate of 90% proved that he hadn’t slacked off.

"How’s your progress with the Marc Antony Mark II?"

"It’s a lot better than the Mark I, that’s for sure!" His employee responded with a chipper tone. "The internals are still a lot harder to assemble, but at least I don’t have to be a plumber to untangle all of the messes!"

"That’s good. I’ll be relying on you to fabricate my silver label mechs. You should be able to thoroughly master the fabrication process by the end of the month."

"I don’t have the confidence to achieve a success rate of 95%, but I should be able to get close to 90% in a month." Carlos honestly informed Ves. "There’s only a couple of really tough spots that haven’t been simplified. I think I’ll need at least three months of practice to get over these bumps."

"That’s fine. The Marc Antony Mark II is still a difficult design and you’re still settling in your job. I’m making a lot of allowances for you, so you better shape up."

When Ves occasionally inspected the logs, he found out that Carlos religiously spent his evenings playing around with the designer software. As his boss, Ves naturally at his ambitious employee’s work.

They were awful.

Despite having access to all of the licenses procured by Ves, Carlos treated them like a toddler playing with building blocks. All of his resulting designs looked like something out of a mad scientist’s lab.

"Work hard, Carlos."

He left his minion alone and entered his own cubicle. He turned on his terminal and loaded up his finished design. The variant’s pronounced shape and its intimidating black and red colors radiated an eagerness for battle. The golden frills and the dynamic vapor crest both gave the mech an aura of leadership.

In short, the Marc Antony Mark II aimed squarely at the middle segment of the mech market. Hopefully he already generated enough buzz to attract a couple of orders upon releasing the design.

Ves called Marcella now that his design was ready for sale. Her tired face popped up from the projection. "I haven’t heard from you in a long time. Have you finally completed your work?"

"I finished my design."

For a moment, his mech broker thought she heard wrong. "Are you referring to your update to the Marc Antony?"

"I haven’t been fooling around with any virtual designs. It’s true. The Marc Antony Mark II is officially done."

"I’ve been dying to hear that! I already put the word out, you see. Once you release the specs, I’m sure I can make them bite."

When Ves sent over his design along with a detailed spec sheet, Marcella eagerly skimmed the documents. "Good! You’ve improved upon your mech’s performance without raising costs. That’s just what I needed!"

He could already imagine her diabolical plot. She’d pass off the Mark II as a more expensive design even if the fabrication costs hadn’t budged. Ves didn’t mind such plans, as a higher profit margin benefited him the most. With his current assets, he could forget about mass production.

"So what’s our sales strategy?" Ves eagerly asked. "My production facilities have stayed idle for too many months. I’d like to end the standard year with some accomplishments under my belt."

"Hold your horses, Ves. While a product like yours is almost good enough to compete with the mainstream models, it’s best to avoid widespread publicity for now."

"Why so? We previously introduced the Young Blood by holding an interview, and that worked alright."

"It’s exactly due to your previous high profile release that we should take a gradual approach. You’ve already built up your name recognition. What you lack is a solid track record. If you want to present yourself as a competent mech designer, then you have to avoid the perception that you’re showboating."

After a brief explanation, Ves understood his broker’s arguments. Essentially, if he showed up in the news without offering something solid, the public might start treating him like a celebrity.

He could still benefit from such a status if Ves only harbored limited ambitions. Yet ever since he obtained the System, he set his sights on the pinnacle of mech design. If he wanted to be taken seriously, then he had to let his products do the talking.

"Alright, if you think it’s best to keep a lower profile, then I’m fine with that. Do you have a plan?"

"I know you want to get your hands dirty, so let me ask you something. Can you fabricate a single mech without receiving an advance?"

"Right now?" Despite bleeding money lately, Ves still maintained a reserve of about twenty-eight million credits. "While I have the necessary funds, I’m not comfortable with dipping into my savings."

Marcella grinned at him. "It will be worth it. Didn’t I mention that I built up some hype for your product? Let me gather a small circle of willing buyers and host a private party. You can make your case when we introduce your design."

"Is it all right for me to be present? I’m still rather young."

"Don’t worry. As long as we demand outrageous prices, the market is willing to make allowances for your product. Even if the Mark II falls short in certain areas, there’s nothing wrong with its price to performance ratio."

She had a point. Even as lastgen mechs started losing value, the Caesar Augustus still sold for sixty million credits. As for Ves, he could fabricate a single Mark II for eighteen million credits. That was pretty good for a variant that only performed 23% worse than its overpriced base model.