The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1349

An exchange between two equal mech designers was a time-honored tradition in the mech industry.

Mech designers were more than capable of innovating by themselves. Yet they did not work in a vacuum, but were part of an immense community of fellow peers.

All of those mech designers shared a lot in common as they each studied many of the same scientific subjects. Yet these mech designers also diverged heavily when it came to their specialties.

Most of the time, mech designers weren’t able or willing to share their exclusive insights with other mech designers. Why should they help out a competitor design better mechs by imparting them with their valuable insights?

Information was power.

Power had a price.

Therefore, information possessed intrinsic value.

The problem was that it was hard to set a price on the insights that mech designers accumulated over the course of their careers. The MTA made a decent attempt at it, but information held different values to every different mech designer.

Nonetheless, mech designers still hankered for insights from other mech designers who specialized in related fields.

This need led to the emergence of informal exchanges between mech designers.

While not something formalized in rules, the mech industry adhered to a number of informal customs.

First, exchanges between mech designers should take place between peers or equals.

If a Journeyman exchanged with other Journeymen, then that was completely fine.

If a Journeyman exchanged with a Senior, then that was not okay. The latter was so much more powerful and insightful that the former was at a heavy disadvantage. An unscrupulous Senior might be able to forcibly alter the research direction of the younger mech designer!

Aside from this custom that was meant to protect and benefit both sides, exchanges also had to be fair.

One mech designer couldn’t keep demanding for insights without paying something in return.

Most often, the repayment came in the form of other insights. A mech designer who was interested in the related research of another mech designer could usually contribute a lot of useful insights in return!

For example, in this instance, Old Man Terrence’s specialty lay in neural interfaces. This was highly relevant to Ves because his own specialty relied heavily on neural interfaces to express its effects.

As for Ves, his unique understanding of the man-machine connection could potentially revolutionize Old Man Terrence’s use of neural interfaces!

The only problem right now was that Ves did not like to share his secrets. While he was willing to reveal some lesser insights, that didn’t leave him with a lot of choice.

Nonetheless, Ves had an obligation to reciprocate Old Man Terrence’s earlier generosity. The Chukan mech designer could have simply uttered some vague words for a few minutes, but he freely revealed much more.

Ves believed in the principle that mech designers ought to treat each other fairly if they behaved properly. Mech design was a noble profession and those who dedicated their lives to it should at least respect each other’s contributions.

For example, this underlying principle was the reason why Ves and Professor Ventag allowed the heckling Professor Pendleton to attend their product reveal for the Aurora Titan.

Not everyone believed in respecting other mech designers. It wasn’t unheard of for mech designers to violate the custom of equal exchange.

However, doing so was generally not a good idea. If word went out that a mech designer failed to reciprocate in an exchange, no one else would be stupid enough to enter into other exchanges with the offender.

Ves knew that if he tried to weasel himself out of this exchange with Terrence Reedan, the cantankerous old bastard would probably spread the news over his entire network!

Other outcomes such as Old Man Terrence dying just after Ves exited the headquarters also wouldn’t work.

If Ves wanted to stick to his principles and avoid becoming a toxic pariah within the mech industry, he had to reveal some of the extremely valuable lessons he learned.

While Ves thought about telling lies, something he did as easily as breathing, his heart hitched up. His sense of self as a mech designer strongly discouraged cheating in this instance!

He gave up on trying to act in a dishonest fashion. Instead, he wracked his mind for something to say that wouldn’t give too much away.

Even if Old Man Terrence only had a few years left to live, who knew what he might do with the insights imparted by Ves. His own interests had to be preserved at all costs!

After a bit of thinking while Ves continually petted Lucky’s back, he eventually came up with a suitable topic.

"Alright." He began. "I"m sure you’ve studied my public record, since you are aware of how my design philosophy is defined. While we are both interested in the man-machine connection in relation to mechs, we focus on different aspects of it. You specialize more in the hardware and the measurable interactions between man and machine, while I focus on the unmeasurable aspects that take place through this exchange."

"I presume this is the reason why your design philosophy mentions metaphysics." The older mech designer noted. "By any chance, does this have to do with a certain secret known to Journeymen?"

Old Man Terrance sent a glowering glance towards Ves. "Are you pulling my leg?!" _{freewёbnoνel.com}