As the expeditionary fleet continued to advance towards Davute, the mech designers of the Larkinson Clan engaged in plenty of work. The assistant mech designers who normally worked in the design labs had all been sent to the production halls and workshop to gain a lot of much-needed practical experience. The Apprentice Mech Designers were the primary people responsible for drafting and executing the individual repair plans for each damaged mech. The Journeymen Mech Designers mostly spent their time on repairing the damaged expert mechs as best as possible. Mechs such as the Dark Zephyr, the Riot, the First Sword, the Everchanger and the Promethea all spent a lot of time in the workshops. The Larkinson Journeymen not only focused on restoring their battle effectiveness, but also improving it whenever possible. They had all studied the footage and data from the previous battle and came up with many small suggestions that could slightly make the expert mechs handle similar situations smoother next time. Though people such as Gloriana also developed more ambitious upgrades, all of this had to wait for later. Ves himself spent a moderate amount of time in the workshops as well. Though his contributions weren't impressive, his close contact with the expert mechs allowed them to assess their physical and spiritual states in great detail. He was especially interested in observing how much the living mechs had grown. The Battle of Pima Prime had sparked a lot of growth for both the expert pilots and their expert mechs. For example, the Dark Zephyr gained a more aggressive character while the Riot and the First Sword became more tightly integrated with Qilanxo. To Ves, these were all signs that the living mechs learned from their previous experiences. They were actively evolving in directions that should allow them to perform better if used in the same ways as last time. Aside from studying his existing expert mechs, Ves also spent a lot of time on preparing for the Dullahan Project. Though he was still obliged to spend time on numerous other design projects, the significance of this new expert mech design project was much greater to him as far as he was concerned. Ves diligently worked alongside Gloriana and Sara Voiken to lay the groundwork for this crucial design project. They looked for new and powerful technologies to add to the reborn expert mech. They contacted Professor Benedict in order to borrow his expertise on expert mechs and energy transmission systems. They consulted with numerous development companies such as Melmen Advanced Systems to help the Larkinsons develop custom transphasic parts and systems needed to ensure that the Dullahan Project could keep up with the rapid advances in the mech industry. Ves even had a talk with Gloriana about how they became increasingly more dependent on external help. "Why are we still forced to approach companies like Melmen Advanced Systems and Morton Tech to obtain decent transphasic products?" She confronted him while he had just settled down in the design lab. "Because we don't have the expertise to design all of this stuff ourselves." He replied to her. "Many of us have studied phasewater technology for multiple years, but all that allows us to do is serve as interns in these high tech development companies. It will probably take at least a decade before any of us can reluctantly catch up to the lead developers of these powerful institutions, but by then the phasewater experts have already made even greater progress. In short, our clan simply isn't strong in this area. It is not a mistake to turn to outsiders for help." Gloriana crossed her arms. "It's been years since we started doing this, but we have come no closer to including this competence into our clan. Why haven't we bought out Melmen Advanced Systems as of yet? We have lots of money and phasewater at our disposal! Years ago, our clan was only able to enter into a trade agreement that allowed our clan to gain 7.75 percent ownership of Melmen. Today, the LMC is not only earning record sums of profit, but our recent victory in Pima Prime has also tripled our reputation and prestige. Don't you think it is time we finish what we started and become the majority owner of Melmen?" "It's not that simple, honey." Ves let out a tired breath. "I've been wanting to take over Melmen as well, but Professor Neihy Almar isn't stupid. She's an independent entrepreneur just like us and never wants to work under a boss. She cleverly tied multiple different large organizations and power blocs into her company by trading minority stakes to them as well. Melmen has therefore become something akin to a semi-public institution that exists to serve the leading powers of Davute. Do you think that the rival shareholders will agree to let one of their own call all of the shots?" The Larkinson Clan initially managed to enter this exclusive club due to its willingness to offer a lot of phasewater. Though the situation in the Krakatoa Middle Zone changed significantly in the years that followed, the Larkinson Clan was always able to hang onto that 7.75 percent stake without issue. However, expanding it any further was out of the question! None of the shareholders of the successful and productive development company was stupid enough to trade short-term financial gain for a long-term loss in access to cutting-edge research and technological development! "How do you propose to fix our situation, then?" His wife pressed. "Don't tell me we have no solution in the works. I don't want to end up in a situation where I have to approach you and ask the same question thirty years later. I swear I will divorce you and force our children to disown you if you still haven't done anything to remedy this problem!" Ves quickly raised his palm. "Don't be so hasty, Gloriana! We are working on it! The thing is that it will still take a lot of time for our plans to bear fruit." "Tell me your supposed plan." "Our clan has tried to approach and offer to buy out high tech development companies for years. None of our attempts have succeeded, and it is foreseeable that nothing will change in the coming years and decades. This is why a few people including me came together and decided that it is better to start our own R&D institution from scratch. By building our own version of Melmen Advanced Systems or Morton Tech, we can put our people in charge from the beginning while ensuring that we maintain absolute control over it. We don't have to argue with powerful owners and arrogant researchers who aren't inclined to give us the best possible service." His wife looked thoughtful after this. "I like what you have just said. The only problem is that I have seen no sign of this company as of yet. Where is our new development company?" Ves raised his comm and projected a document that detailed an ambitious new proposal. "It doesn't exist yet. The reason for that is because we are still in the buildup stage. An important component to the plan is that we raise our own phasewater specialists. With the help of the advanced textbooks and other knowledge on phasewater and the technologies that can be derived from this substance, we have been able to set up advanced courses at our universities. Hundreds of clever young men and women have already overcome the initial hurdles and are on track to become our go-to people concerning our phasewater needs." Gloriana did not look impressed. "This will take forever. You know how difficult it is to master phasewater technology. The two of us are already struggling with it. How can these students do any better? It will likely take twenty, forty or even sixty years before they become somewhat competent!" "I know that. I never intend for these kids to do more than performing assisting work. The key to activating our future Larkinson Advanced Research and Development Institute is to lure over senior researchers and developers that can lead its major projects. This is currently the most difficult part of the plan, but as long as our reputation and prestige continues to rise, I am confident enough that we will eventually gain the people that we need." Though the plan still sounded dubious to Gloriana, it at least had a higher chance of working out than the futile effort to take over a major development company outright. "If it is people that we need, I can call up my contacts in the Hex Federation and—" "Stop. No Hexers. We need people who are fully prepared to commit to our clan. Too many Hexers can't let go of their loyalties to their own people and state. I have no problem with treating them as our allies, but it is a bit of a stretch to call them Larkinsons." His wife was already aware of this problem, so she did not persist any further. The Larkinson Clan did not attract that much people despite its rising popularity because of one key reason. The clan demanded permanent loyalty and commitment from all of its recruits. Once they got in, they could forget about getting out unless they received an exception to the rules. The Larkinsons were quite upfront about this, but this was exactly the reason why they were struggling to recruit enough senior personnel. Those who accumulated a lot of knowledge, experience and awards were able to join a lot of companies. Few organizations were willing to turn away high-level specialists. Given that the Larkinson Clan offered rich benefits but even stricter demands, it did not surprise Ves that not a single senior phasewater expert had come. "Just give it time." He told her. "We expect that we will be able to recruit our first senior phasewater expert in five to ten years. The amount of people who possess the right skills is constantly growing with each passing month and year. Supply will eventually catch up to demand." Though his wife did not know whether this 5 to 10-year time frame was enough to allow this new R&D institute to take off, at least Ves was being proactive about this issue. "I hope your plans work out, Ves." She eventually told him. "If you still haven't been able to solve this problem all this time, then I will solve it in your stead regardless of your dislike of receiving help from Hexers." Perhaps Ves should direct a little more time on this issue to keep his wife at bay. He did not want her to mess up this elaborate arrangement! "Let's get back to planning our Dullahan Project. There are still a lot of areas that we need to define." The married couple went back to fleshing out the draft design for the ambitious design project. Sourcing the advanced tech needed to develop a transphasic expert space knight was only one of many challenges. They also had to make sure that it functioned like an expert mech, which meant they needed the help of a Senior or Master in order to enable it to resonate with Venerable Jannzi. Fortunately, Master Benedict was willing to cooperate in this project. "Your project sounds to me. I am curious to see whether you can succeed in creating a true successor to the Shield of Samar." The older man answered over the comm. "By the way, I heard you pulled out the head of the expert pilot that was integrated in the plasma sword. Do you have an existing use for it yet? If not, I can use it to implement the original version of an energy bridge into your new design." Ves slowly shook his head as he thought over this proposal. "That… won't be necessary, Master. Venerable Jannzi would be horrified if she is piloting a mech that has literally integrated a human skull. The regular Endex System should be enough to give the Dullahan Project an adequate boost." The former Skull Architect smirked. "Are you sure about that? My Endex System may be the reason why I have succeeded in realizing my design philosophy, but at its heart it is nothing more than a pale imitation of what I initially accomplished with the Mars. The skull of an expert pilot is several times more effective than the artificial substitute that I have formulated out of many different exotics. Are you truly willing to forgo a 100 to 200 percent increase in effectiveness because you are squeamish about a single skull?" "Wait. Did you say 200 percent increase in effectiveness?"