Chapter 7065: Reliance on Collaborations When Gloriana returned to their temporary accommodations after her meeting with the Resonance Smith and taking the kids out to play, she still retained a lot of energy. “Papa! Look, look! I bought a new shark plushie. He can fly and he can swim in our baths. Doesn’t he look cute?” Ves smiled and lifted his only son in his arms. “So what do you think of Yernstall IV?” “It is not as busy as Yernstall V, but there is a lot more high-tech stuff.” Marvaine babbled. “There is so much stuff about mechs for sale on this planet. Not just whole mechs, but also parts and wnew technologies. They even have Mekanos box sets for sale, but mama refused to buy any for me. They were so cool!” “We already have more than enough to keep you satisfied, young man.” Gloriana lectured him as he sorted out the new jewelry and smart clothing she bought during a visit to a shopping mall. “It is a waste to keep buying new Mekanos when you have not sufficiently explored the possibilities of your existing ones. Remember that each new set opens up new combinations and possibilities with your old sets. It is the habit of a good mech designer to look back at your old works and see if you can upgrade them with the new tech that has become available.” She made a very valid point, but Marvaine did not look so pleased. Ves was actually surprised that Yernstall, the stronghold and de facto capital of the Red Two, still sold Mekano products. After all, they were invented by the Polymath, who not only disgraced herself a few years ago, but had completely turned away from the Red Association while appropriating the richest and most developed star system in the Red Ocean. Then again, Mekano was genuinely a good product. The toys were beloved by many children in both galaxies and created an entire ecosystem of third-party kit developers. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺 It would be unreasonable to replace it with another toy system as it was extremely difficult to cast Mekano from its throne. Its quality and design specifications are close to perfect while the network effect was firmly on its side. In the face of this entrenchment, the mechers would only seem desperate if they forcibly tried to replace Mekano with their own rival products. It would also offend the Cybernetic Empire during a time where she was sitting on a mountain of advanced, next-generation technology. The mechers did not want to offend the Polymath during this tense period. So long as that remained the case, Mekano would probably remain a fixture in the lives of many children and teenagers. After dinner, Ves and Gloriana let the children play and run around in the living room while they moved to the side and shared what they had gained from their respective meetings. Ves went first. “I underestimated the Web Mistress.” He began. “You would expect a mech designer who specializes in networks and stuff to be relatively weak compared to the rest of her peers. It doesn’t help that she has always maintained a lower profile compared to the likes of the Polymath. It turns out that Zemana Ilcef is much more formidable in reality.” His wife responded with a smug grin. “I could have told you that, but you wouldn’t have believed me. You are far too prone to making judgments in advance based on the incomplete information that you have gathered. The reality described on the galactic net and hearsay from your friends is not an accurate match to our actual reality. A Star Designer is still a Star Designer. Just because the Web Mistress does not shout all of her accomplishments is not an indication that she lacks ambition. She is likely working on a big project that is not yet ready for public consumption.” That may be the case. Ves did not know what the Web Mistress was working on next. It could be trying to upgrade the Red Association’s kinship network into a much more powerful version. It could be a massive improvement to her existing support link technology applications. It could also be a new form of support link technology that further reduced the separation between individual mechs. “From what I gathered from the Web Mistress, she is a true mech supremacist at heart.” Ves said. “The supremacy of mechs is under threat. They fare better and better against the native aliens because we are constantly developing new and more cost-effective means to counter transphasic energy shields. The mutated voribugs don’t care about that at all because they don’t have a heavy defensive focus to begin with. Instead, their combat strategy amounts to flooding our troops with an excess of disposable insect warriors. Even shield link technology will reach a limit after a bunch of mechs have endured so many attacks for multiple hours.” The native aliens engaged in attrition warfare on the strategic level, but liked to decide important battles with concentrated offensive pushes. This forced red humanity to change in order to cope with both at the same time. The mutated voribugs fought differently because their doctrines did not center around phase lords or other champion units. Their absence made it difficult for them to fight against expert pilots and ace pilots, but it was not impossible to overwhelm them after sacrificing millions if not billions of individual voribugs. His wife understood the problem as well. “Mechs are most suited for relatively short-duration deployments. Those designed to last longer tend to allocate more capacity to energy cells and other supplies. That subsequently makes them weaker, which is exactly what you do not want in mechs assigned to fight against the mutated voribugs. A more ideal mech is one that can output strong damage over a longer period of time. Such mechs… certainly exist, but they were never designed to fight against enemies as outrageous as the voribugs.” Ves recognized an opportunity to make a difference. He could design a living mech that was specifically configured to fare better when deployed against the voribugs. However, the demands were harsh and the competition had already begun to develop their own offerings. Follow new episodes on the "N0vel1st.c0m". If Ves wanted to make a greater difference in this new war, then he needed to visit the frontlines in person and observe with his own eyes how the mutated voribugs fought. Only after gathering all of this data and forming his conclusions would he be ready to start a new mech design project that could truly push back the relentless tide of voribug swarms. “Let’s leave the voribug issue for another time and get back to what I have gained from the Web Mistress.” He said before proceeding to summarize what he learned to strengthen the Larkinson Network. “Can you give me a copy of the improvements?” She asked. “My companion spirit Alexandria relies heavily on creating design networks to increase harmony among our design teams. I want to see whether I can apply the improvements that the Web MIstress has prepared for your kinship network on a different kind of network.” Ves looked a bit skeptical. “You can certainly try, but it is difficult for me to think you can readily apply them to your situation.” “I am aware of the difficulties, Ves. I do not hope to be able to replicate the specialized solutions to my design network. I am already content if I can decipher the general principles and gain enough inspiration to devise my own custom solutions. I am quite grateful for you for being willing to use up your favors for us to meet with two different Star Designers. Their insight exists on a completely higher level. If you had not talked with the Web Mistress, I would not have been able to come up with this idea myself.” A Star Designer did not always have to solve problems by presenting the most advanced and coolest tech possible. Even a True God was willing to resort to mundane solutions that completely lacked elegance but solved the problem in the fastest and most expedient measures possible. A stupid mech designer always tried to put the most complexible parts of an entire system in a project. He did so first without putting enough thought in the alternative. A clever mech designer sought ways to cut back on advanced tech and expensive materials, but squeezed what remained to their absolute limits to the fullest. That was partially what the Web Mistress presented to Ves. Her data transfer contained dozens of blueprints and instructions on how to develop small and specific programming code that would not look out of place in the development of a new mech. After Ves completed his explanation on kinship networks, he moved on to explaining the latest deal he made with the mechers. Gloriana responded with a slight smile. “You made the right choice as far as I am concerned. You have always entertained big dreams whenever you thought about designing your Polymetal mech, but it is clear that your ambitions have left your competencies far behind. Your expertise on smart metal is too shallow to realize such a project by yourself. No ordinary mech designer specializes in this expensive and highly complex field. They can only be found among the major players, and they usually maintain a tight grip on their nanotechnology wizards. Choosing to cooperate with the Red Association is the best and most expedient decision that you could make under the circumstances.” He sighed. “I do admit that delegating all of those complicated technical problems to the RA’s mech designers and R&D teams has shed a large weight off my shoulders. On the other hand, it feels too much like cheating. I am not putting in the hard work needed to develop one of the most important technological applications that defines a Polymetal mech. While I am still firmly in control of the E-technology side of this design project, I feel like I am only designing a part of a mech instead of the whole.” “That is what collaboration is all about, Ves. If you wanted to retain full ownership of your Polymetal mech design project, then you should have never mentioned it to the Web Mistress in the first place. I think you should get used to this sensation, because you will be repeating it many times in the future.” That message did not sit well with Ves. “I miss the old days…” His wife snorted. “Forget about the past. Our standards have risen beyond the point where we can design everything at a level that we are satisfied with. Sure, I can design a good archemech, but I am not a specialist when it comes to flight systems, armor systems and mech armaments. It is not a weakness to admit your lack of competence in these fields. Acknowledging the truth requires bravery. As a mech designer, you should be objective and recognize when you need help to adequately design the other core aspects of your mech.” Her overall message rang true. Collaborations with much more competent specialists and experts became increasingly more essential to realize the high-quality mechs that Ves and Gloriana envisioned. The Larkinson Clan was partially able to meet this demand, but its foundation was far too shallow. The Miracle Couple had grown too quickly relative to the Larkinson Clan. The Larkinson Biotech Institute, the T Institute and all of the other R&D institutions had expanded quickly over the past decade, but they were still many leagues behind compared to the renowned establishments of all of the big players. This left Ves and the other Larkinson mech designers with little choice but to get used to cooperating with the likes of the Terrans and the mechers. Gloriana most definitely believed this to be the case. “You should get used to working with third-party collaborators to complete the development of your remaining three elemental Carmine mech design projects.” She stated. “Because if you hold them to the same standard as the Arboreal Project and your new Polymetal mech design project, you will never be able to complete them in-house. Your potential breakthrough to Master Mech Designer will therefore be a community-supported effort. Your success is no longer a solo effort.” “…”