The Mech Touch novel Chapter 720

The problems Ves had with the Pale Dancer came from its corrupted vision.

"If you analyze its specs, how it fits with Venerable Xie’s abilities, and look at its intended vision, you can see a clear underlying thread running throughout its entire design. The vision for the Pale Dancer has been crooked from the start. The Senior Mech Designer who designed this insidious rifleman mech failed to adhere to the mech designer’s creed. Do you still remember what that’s about?"

"Uh, it’s that phrase about how mech designers should cater to mech pilots as if we’re their slavish servants."

"Something like that, but not so severe. The point is that mech designers have a responsibility to design a mech that benefits the mech pilots the most. This especially applies to one-on-one commissions to design a custom mech involving a single mech designer and a single mech pilot."

Whoever designed the Pale Dancer intended to deliver an improper product to the Fourth Prince and Venerable Xie at the initial stage of conception.

While Ves didn’t have access to any other designs that Xie might have piloted, he would bet that those mechs consisted of flawed designs as well.

No, flawed would be the wrong word to apply to this case. They were outright malicious, meant to sabotage his future progress without being too obvious about it! How long had this been going on?

"Who is the mech designer of the Pale Dancer?" He asked.

Ketis already dug up the attribution, though there didn’t appear to be much to go on. "It says here that it’s designed by some Senior retained by the Royal House of Talk. It doesn’t add much else."

He grunted. "That’s to be expected. I doubt a Senior is willing enough to sign the design with their personal name. Has it gone through MTA validation and certification?"

"No. Didn’t you say that expert mechs are never sent to the MTA, teacher?"

"I wanted to make sure. Have you figured out the story behind the Pale Dancer?"

Even if Ketis hadn’t been exposed to politics in civilized space, she wasn’t stupid. Besides, she watched drama broadcasts from the galactic net like anyone else in her youth. Dynastic struggles breaking out in feudal states were some of the most all-time popular shows in the galaxy.

Ketis ran a hand through the underside of her open helmet. "I bet this Fourth Prince was a loser from the start. The other princes and princesses in the Royal House of Talk likely wielded a lot more power than the Fourth Prince, because they managed to influence their resident Senior Mech Designer to bend his principles and design an awful expert mech for the Fourth Prince’s personal champion."

"That’s my thoughts as well." He nodded. "By all accounts, the Palast Kingdom is a third-rate state of the Dark Plasma Star Sector, so even if its a Royal House, they shouldn’t be able to retain another Senior. With only one mech designer at the top, he can do virtually anything, but that also means securing his loyalty is one of the top priorities of the competing heirs. The Fourth Prince obviously lost at this game, and quite badly as well."

"Still, didn’t you say that orthodox mech designers take their principles seriously? How come this Senior acted like a scumbag and handed over the Pale Dancer to one of his clients?"

Ves shook his head. "Politics in civilized space can be just as sleazy as in the frontier. Technically, the Senior retained by Talk fulfilled his end of the bargain. He designed a suitable expert mech for Venerable Xie that allows him to express his full strength. The Senior just didn’t do anything extra, even though it is usually customary to do so. If you interpret the principles in a minimalistic way, you can still get away with it without appearing as a hypocrite."

"Wow. That’s really dirty."

"That’s why the Fourth Prince should have retained his own mech designer instead of relying someone from his Royal House. There are too many ways a mech designer can screw with their mech pilots if they don’t take the mech designer’s creed seriously."

This explained why the MTA constantly pushed their creed into every mech designer’s face every chance they got. Recalling how many times he heard the phrase back in school, Ves realized that the MTA basically attempted to indoctrinate the values related to the mech designer’s creed into every prospective mech designer’s moral fiber.

The mech industry would truly be an awful sight if mech designers stopped working in the best interests of their clients. Something like that already took place in the frontier.

Ketis frowned. "Still, does this even matter right now? Limitations aside, the Pale Dancer does the job and its wholly intact. That’s just what we need, right? Who cares about growth and future potential and such. I’d be happy enough if we have an expert pilot on our side with a ready-made expert mech for when we reach the Starlight Megalodon."

She had a point. Ves had subconsciously treated Venerable Xie as a long-term investment, but the fact of the matter was that the Flagrant Swordmaidens didn’t have the luxury to think so far ahead.

"I suppose if the Vandals aren’t looking for a long-term replacement for Venerable O’Callahan, then Venerable Xie will be a fine addition to our reserves." He muttered. "It’s a shame he lost his Meridian Echo. Even if we put him in the cockpit of a spare spaceborn rifleman mech, he will only be able to show off a fraction of his full potential. Such a weak mech won’t be able to keep up with his performance."

"It doesn’t have to be a rifleman mech." She pointed out. "Doesn’t his profile state that he’s cross-trained in many different melee and ranged mechs? You can put him in one of your Akkara heavy cannoneers if you want to blast enemies apart from afar. You can also put him in one of your Hellcat hybrid knights if you want an absolute beast of a champion mech."