The Mech Touch

5717 Useful Fey

While Lucky initiated his secret jaunt, Ves stayed put and quietly fulfilled his various responsibilities for the following days.

Nothing special happened during this interval. Lucky hadn't gotten caught while he secretly intruded into many different locations and searched for any evidence of suspicious activity.

Although it was a certainty that Lucky would encounter questionable situations, they did not matter so long as they were not related to the cosmopolitans or anything else that threatened the current order.

Given how absurdly effective the cosmopolitans were at circumventing the expansive monitoring and spying efforts of the mechers, Ves had developed certain suspicions about the human traitors.

He did not dare to voice these suspicions to anyone. He lacked proof as well as a strong base of support that could support his claims. He did not dare to expect too much from Lucky's fact-finding mission. It would already be worthwhile to obtain a few clues about the identities of a few more hidden cosmopolitans.

Finding them was the most difficult step. As long as the cosmopolitans had lost their disguises, they became a lot easier to deal with! Each of them were parasites who could only exist so long as they attached themselves to more powerful parties.

In any case, Ves was not able to act without more information, and that would only happen if Lucky returned with useful findings.

For now, the upcoming contest took up most of his attention. The Fey Fianna along with the Ultimatum had become the two bestselling mech lines in the past few months.

Their existence and proliferation changed the mech community and forced many people to adapt to the new machines.

The Ultimatum sold extremely well despite its inflated price and its cumbersome requirements, but the Fey Fianna continued to sell the most units on a monthly basis.

At the start of the Fey Fianna's release, many customers had become attracted by the drone mech's strength and versatility. Its value proposition was already higher than any other second-class mech released at that time.

The emergence of newer and more varied fey models complimented the Fey Fianna's strengths and plugged a lot of gaps in its capabilities. There were lots of mech outfits that developed their own unique approaches to combat that could sorely use these helpful fey.

In any case, now that the day of the closing event had finally arrived, Ves finally received an opportunity to explore the top 50 fey models in person!

He looked forward to seeing what the contest participants had come up with. The creativity of the masses always surpassed that of any single individual. Ves expected for at least some of the newly developed fey to surprise him and exceed his expectations.

As Ves got ready to depart for the large exhibition hall where the closing event was being held, he dressed himself in one of his best first-class outfits that his wife had bought for him during her trip to Vulit.

He decided to change up his style a bit and opted to wear a predominantly black suit that was integrated with reflective and slightly luminescent patterns that looked like cats streaking across the surface.

Ves liked the programmed fit and the refinement of the smart clothing. It also helped that it was able to part instantly and remain intact and out of the way if Ves ever wanted to unfold his true body. It could even grab his toolbelt and anything he carried to a safe location without needing to be ordered.

"I look good." He smiled as he examined the mirror projection of himself.

He had a feeling he would look even better if he grew a beard, but that was a taboo that he did not intend to violate.

"I'm ready."

Ves entered his shuttle and departed for his destination under heavy escort.

It did not take long before the strong procession arrived in an underground hangar that was built to receive important visitors of the exhibition hall.

He talked to a few personnel and learned that almost everything was proceeding according to plan at this time.

"Since that is the case, there should be nothing preventing me from examining the contest submissions, right?"

"Correct. You may proceed whenever you wish. We have reserved the upper floor for you so that you can inspect the fey without attracting the attention of our guests. There is one complication, however…"

"What is the matter?"

"One of your mecher friends has decided to stop by and accompany you while you perform your evaluation. He is waiting on the same floor."

It turned out that Jovy decided to descend from the Tarrasque and keep Ves company for a while.

"Hello again, Ves. I have developed a curiosity towards these living fey. I hope you can tolerate my presence."

"Ah, it's no problem at all. You are welcome to join me as we examine the various works. I could use a second opinion."

When Ves entered the upper floor, he looked down and saw that it was completely transparent. The main floor down below was where all of the contest submissions had been put on display.

Thousands of visitors curiously approached these displays and admired the diverse possibilities of the third party products. Many of the people who attended this event either piloted the Fey Fianna or was part of an organization that relied upon them to varying degrees.

There was no doubt that these folk were purposely on the lookout for fantastic new fey models that could enrich their own mech forces.

Given the positive reactions that they frequently produced, it appeared that there were enough gems among the contest submissions that they were bound to fulfill their goals today.

Jovy noticed as well. "Interesting, is it not? A mech design published half a year ago can single-handedly stimulate the entrepreneurial desires of thousands of designers and encourage them to expand upon your drone mech platform. Many other drone mech lines such as the famous Sparrow Storm have managed to build a thriving market of spur models, but it has taken many years and multiple version updates to reach this state. You have managed to do this while the Fey Fianna model is still fresh and new."

"This shows that the mech market and the mech industry have a lot of sense." Ves smoothly replied as he moved to a location that was positioned directly above the nearest living fey that was hovering above the main floor. "As long as the product is good enough, there will be a lot of demand for customization and expansion. It has happened to any mech model that sells for over a million copies on a monthly basis. The default configurations cannot fully satisfy every customer. I am glad to be honest. These third-party developers are doing my products a lot of good by extending their usability."

"I suppose the fey model down below is a good example of what you have described."

Both Ves and Jovy looke down at a fey that possessed a different design than the starting models associated with the Fey Fianna system.

A projected information panel offered a basic description of this product.

[Heat Disperser Fey

Developer: Ray Tauron, Apprentice Mech Designer

Category: Utility

E Energy Attributes: Heat

Summary: The heat disperser fey is a hyper product that is designed to attach to any mech or large object and absorb heat before actively dispersing it into the environment.]

"This is a simple product, but that does not mean it is less valuable." Ves remarked as he took a good look at the predominantly black fey. "The rapid buildup of heat is a growing problem for many spaceborn mechs. They are expected to perform at their peak and remain as productive as possible on the battlefield for at least half an hour or longer. That is practically impossible for most mechs as their energy reserves and heat management systems cannot sustain a high level of intensity for long."

Jovy gestured at the simple fey down below. "Which is where this heat disperser fey comes in. The way they are designed makes it clear that they are solely meant to absorb lots of excess heat and disperse it in the form of radiation as much as possible. Their large surface area and considerable mass makes them far more effective for this purpose than other types of fey. They might not be able to disperse their heat fast enough, but they can absorb enough of it to relieve the immediate problems of overheating mechs. The best aspect of this heat disperser fey is that they do not strictly have to be alive. They also are not that complicated to control. This means that a typical Fey Fianna can enter the battlefield with 8 or maybe 12 heat disperser fey in tow. Together, they can effectively support an entire squad of rifleman mechs."

Not every mech force required a Fey Fianna mech that was configured to support other mech units by helping them vent their heat.

Those that did would find such a mech incredibly useful, though!

There were mech forces that relied on a lot of energy weapons to bombard enemies at range.

The mechs they employed for this purpose were already designed with lots of energy cells and heat sinks in their configurations, but it was never enough.

If a handful of Fey Fianna could effectively extend the maximum output phase of entire squads of rifleman mechs by 20 or 30 percent, then the drone mechs effectively contributed more to the battle in a support role than if they resorted to offensive fey instead!

Of course, the heat disperser fey did not add much value to mech forces that adopted a more balanced approach to battle.

"The applicability of this heat disperser is still limited to an extent." Ves evaluated. "Its utility is situational. I can still come up with many scenarios where it is more preferable to employ other fey models. Its design is also rather simplistic. The selection of materials is rather elementary and the way the developer combined it all together shows a clear lack of understanding of more advanced technological applications. Even so, its simplicity makes it cheap to produce, and their relative ease of control means that even beginners to drone mechs can control them with only modest practice required. This is a creative and qualified submission from an Apprentice. Mr. Tauron should feel proud for contributing a useful product."

"The heat disperser fey has clearly earned a place in the top 50, but how high do you want to rank it, Ves?"

"Not high." Ves said. "The fact that I can easily think of a million different ways to improve and optimize the heat disperser fey means that there is a lot of potential left untapped. It is a useful product, but not a competitive one. I'll probably rank it close to the bottom once I have evaluated the other fey models."

"Well, at least Mr. Tauron can expect to depart from this venue with 100 MTA credits in his pocket."

This was the prize awarded to contest participants who fell outside of the top 10. This was a great sum to some mech designers, particularly the younger ones who were still trying to build up their foundation in the mech industry.

The two mech designers moved on to examine the next contest submissions.

Most of them were not that complicated, but they did not have to be. Anything that was useful enough had a chance to enter the top 50. Their functions ranged from strengthening communication signals to producing a large and relatively convincing decoy of a small starship!

Ves had no qualms about appreciating them as long as they scored well enough in other criteria such as affordability and user-friendliness. He even planned to encourage his Larkinsons to adopt a handful of these useful products.

It still took a bit of time before Ves encountered a submission that truly impressed him for the first time since he started this tour.

"Whoever designed this fey is a lot more competent than the other ones."

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