The Mech Touch

Multiple days passed by as the three mech designers continued to work according to the schedule set by Gloriana.

While a few unforeseen complications had occurred that caused their progress to slow at times, everything still remained within tolerance.

The Amaranto Mark III was slowly being rebuilt section by section. A lot of old parts and outdated parts had been strapped from the mech frame so that much newer and more powerful parts could take their place.

One of the difficulties of this project was the heavy reliance on archetech for the upgraded version of the Amaranto.

It was difficult to upgrade an existing machine and try to keep it alive when archetech temporarily had to cooperate with conventional tech.

Gloriana had to invest additional hours to solve compatibility issues that she hadn't foreseen.

She also needed to supervise Harry Kaikkonen and occasionally correct his mistakes while also keeping an eye on Ves to ensure he remained a good boy.

Though Gloriana had to shorten her break periods in order to keep up with her elevated workload, she felt she was largely in her element. The work she planned out in advance largely unfolded according to her thoughts. No major disruptions occurred that completely messed up her expectations for the fabrication run.

Although the lack of disruptions meant that the chances were low that they would hit the jackpot and produce a work that exceeded her expectations, it also reduced the chance of accidents that could ruin the Amaranto Mark III!

Gloriana did not ask for too much this time. She just wanted to preserve the masterwork quality of the expert rifleman mech while also reshaping the machine to conform to her design style.

One of the advantages of Ves' abnormal mind state was that he had become so goal-oriented that he literally did not care about subjects that were not relevant to his current work and goals.

Style and aesthetics fell under this category. Ves sought to make the Amaranto stronger and not necessarily more stylish as it was hard to measure such a change in an objective manner.

Looking good also wasn't as important as defeating the enemy phase lords and phase whales as far as he was concerned.

Everytime Gloriana glanced at her docile husband, she continued to observe a mech designer that was doing everything right, at least according to her perspective.

Thus the days passed by while Gloriana held few complaints. As the living mech slowly completed her gradual metamorphosis into a much more powerful ranged mech, everyone involved grew more and more exhausted.

Assuming all of the burdens and responsibilities upon herself had exhausted Gloriana a lot more than usual.

She did not realize how much she depended on Ves for several different matters of concern.
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From leading the Larkinson Clan to keeping everyone united under a single direction, Ves was the glue that held all of the Larkinsons together.

He was also the source of a lot of confidence and inspiration to the mech designers of the Design Department.

Many members joined the Larkinson Clan not because they valued the identity of a Larkinson, but because they wanted to work alongside a growing legend.

Given how much Ves already managed to accomplish as a Senior Mech Designer, who knew what else he would accomplish once he grew older and more powerful.

Gloriana envied him for becoming so famous that he became an attraction and role model for many other mech designers.

She still lacked such a status, and did not expect to get anywhere close to what Ves had attained through his own work for quite a few more years.

The woman accepted this reality. She might not be perfect for now, but as long as she improved herself with each passing day, she would eventually be able to catch up and maybe even overtake Ves.

Not every mech designer could imitate a freak like her husband and casually solve the genetic aptitude tyranny before he had begun to realize his design philosophy!

In fact, his historic success in solving one of the most far-reaching problems of the mech industry excited Gloriana.

Not only did it vindicate her excellent judgment to hook up with Ves and never let him go, but it also gave her a lot of pressure to improve and exceed her past work.

Only by working harder than almost any other mech designer would she have hope of one day making an accomplishment that could match Ves' greatest feat!

Whether it was even possible for a mech designer like Gloriana to produce such a groundbreaking work or invention was a redundant question as far as she was concerned.

If a boy like Ves could do the impossible, then a woman like Gloriana should be able to do no less!

In any case, as the fabrication run had entered its final hour, Gloriana already felt satisfied with all of the lessons she learned and the insights she obtained during this novel experience.

The Amaranto Mark III largely looked complete by this time. The expert rifleman mech had undergone such an extreme makeover that Gloriana would not blame others for not being able to recognize the same machine.

The material composition had completely changed.

The transition to archetech gave the mech frame a much more sophisticated vibe.

The Instrument of Vengeance had grown much thicker and more angular.

The high phasewater content seemed to make the machine a little more ethereal.

The integration of Solus Gas also caused the presence of the machine to become more subdued, especially when the living mech remained inactive.

Yet despite all of these changes, the fundamental nature of the Amaranto still remained the same.

She retained her identity as a living mech as well as a masterwork mech.

The iconic third eye surrounded by a hexagon maintained a prominent place on the forehead, proving that she was a genuine work of Ves and Gloriana.

The machine also retained her intimate connection with the Illustrious One, whose presence and attention graced the expert mech for many years.

All in all, the latest iteration of the Amaranto had become a drastically improved version of herself in practically every conceivable way without losing sight of her original identity and purpose!

The three mech designers had already completed all of the more difficult and risky work assignments.

At this point, they were applying the finishing touches to the powerful machine. The Amaranto Mark III had become a much more powerful but also complex archemetal construct, so a lot more variables could go wrong. She therefore needed drastically more tuning and adjustments in order to ensure Venerable Davia Stark would be able to control her just right.

Finally, everyone withdrew from the machine and lowered themselves to the ground. Each of the mech designers looked up to their completed work while feeling a profound sense of awe and satisfaction at the fruition of all of their efforts.

"It is done." Gloriana declared while withdrawing the design network.

A hint of visible emotion stirred on the normally expressionless face of Venerable Davia Stark.

Her longing to pilot the Amaranto Mark III grew so strong that she almost couldn't hold herself back from entering the cockpit right away!

At the same time, Ves' eyes glazed over as it gradually dawned on his one-track mind that he had finally reached the end of his destination.

His work was done. The Amaranto Mark III Project had reached its ultimate conclusion. With no more goals left to forcefully pull his attention towards a single direction, his focus suddenly became a lot more scattered.

Ves became dazed as he felt unable to adjust to what should have been his ordinary scattered mindset.

The transition was so extreme that he simply felt lost!

He felt so much more focused and productive when he was working under his previous mind state that he became disgusted by how much he had lost after it had expired!

It was as if he was a god that had been cast down to the mortal plane. The transition felt nothing less like a devolution!

"Aaahhhhh!" Ves screamed as he held his head and fell to his knees!

"Ves!"

"Sir!"

While the surrounding people grew alarmed at his reactions, Ves suddenly suddenly collapsed as all of the fatigue he accumulated by overworking himself over the span of two months finally caught up to his true body!

Time passed by as Ves gradually regained his consciousness again.

"Urgh… my head…"

Due to the fact that he possessed several external incarnations, Ves had not remained completely unaware of the passage of time.

However, the fact that his main self had put himself into such a deep and focused state of mind for so many days had caused him to grow increasingly out of sync with Vulcan and Veronica.

While he was glad that at least a few parts of himself were able to retain their sanity and continue to progress as normal, Ves grew concerned about how much his connection had begun to weaken.

Perhaps his permanent bonds with his incarnations may not be as impervious as he previously assumed.

In any case, the deep sleep should have enabled Ves to recover from most if not all of the sequelae of overworking himself to exhaustion. The reason why he still suffered from a headache was that he was forcibly getting in sync with his incarnations again.

As the pain gradually started to die down, the entrance to his bedroom slid open.

"Ves! You are finally awake! Are you of sound mind again?"

"I… think so. I… probably overlooked a lot of stuff while I was working on the Amaranto Mark III Project."

His wife finally reached his bedside and placed her slender hand on his palm.

"The Deep Research Mode that is apparently inherent to all phase lords and phase whales is more dangerous than we thought. It is not a good idea for you to experiment on yourself in such a reckless manner. Leave this to the Phase Lord Department of the Red Collective. It is their job to study and document all there is to know about phase lords. Until the collies have completed a comprehensive investigation, please do not put yourself into this dangerous state of mind again, agreed?"

"Agreed." Ves grimaced but nodded. "It is most definitely a powerful tool, but… I can't afford to disregard everything else, especially during a time as sensitive as this. I missed out on a lot of important stuff, did I?"

"You have no idea."

While Gloriana enthusiastically began to summarize the most important developments that Ves missed out on, he secretly thought about whether he should employ the so-called Deep Research Mode again in one of his future projects.

Regardless of all of the dangers and negative side effects, Ves still yearned to return to that pure and focused state.

During the days he worked on the Amaranto Mark III Project, he felt as if he had attained the mind state of a god.

Even if his actual thinking power fell short of such a standard, just acquiring the mentality of one was such a powerful advantage that it held an irresistible attraction to Ves!

The ability to snap his fingers, become completely focused on a single goal and not stopping until he had completed his work was such a powerful experience that Ves craved to experience this unique rush yet again!

Although Ves possessed enough awareness to realize that he was in danger of becoming addicted to the Deep Research Mode, he didn't care as being able to get a lot more work done in the same amount of time was exactly what he needed to reduce his lengthy backlog of projects!

As Gloriana wrapped up her summary of shocking events that certainly required a lot deeper consideration from Ves, he only cared about one issue in particular.

"Did Venerable Stark break through when she piloted the Amaranto Mark III for the first time?" He carefully asked.

His wife sighed. "She… did not. Davia Stark hasn't been able to repeat Tusa's feat. She responded well to the Amaranto Mark III, though. She has taken her lack of immediate breakthrough in stride. Now that she has gained a much more powerful machine, she and her battle partner are currently on their way back to the expeditionary fleet. I believe that Venerable Stark is confident that she can earn her sainthood in her first serious action after gaining a much more powerful expert mech."

"Hmm… that may very well be doable. I hope her confidence is not misplaced."