[1-200] THE MECH TOUCH

Chapter 45: Mech Trade Association

"My apologies for inconveniencing you. Can the certification process still proceed? I'm kind of pressed for time."

"No worries, son. As long as we're not in the middle of nowhere, we always have a senior technician on hand."

They entered the quiet and spacious building complex and went down the halls to a large workshop area. A cranky-looking middle-aged lady in coveralls greeted them with a stinky eye.

"Ves, let me introduce you to Gertrude Samuelson."

The woman in question crossed her arms. "So you're the brat messing up my maintenance schedule. I had a system in place, you know. Now I have to waste precious hours off my schedule in order to knock your little toy around. Well, you better not think it's a done deal, because I'll be doing my best to dig up its flaws!"

He could only smile awkwardly at that. Fortunately, Ves spent an excessive amount of time building up the Phoenix Cry. He was confident his mech could pass all but the most stringent of tests. Those top-level tests would never be applied to a regular commercial mech, so Ves should be in the clear. He hoped.

The three entered the cavernous workshop where a handful of mechs underwent routine maintenance. At the end of the stables rested the Phoenix Cry, freshly transported from his workshop. A couple of junior technicians already crawled around its chassis with several handheld instruments.

"Seeing as you're as young as shit, this must be your first certification, right?"

"Yes, but I'm familiar with the steps."

"Good, then you know that you'll just have to stand there and do squat while I pick apart its flaws." Gertrude stated as she stepped behind a console and activated a thick, mechanical arm.

Ves recognized the device as an advanced sensor that was capable of penetrating through almost any material. The woman gently operated the arm and brought it over to the bottom foot of the mech. The projection in front of her changed into a cutout image of the section along with multiple technical readouts that Ves barely understood.

"Hm, looks fine so far. You haven't screwed up the proportions when you made the HRF armor plating. Lots of newbies trip themselves over when they work with such a highly refined material. A deviance of 0.1% at the start could get amplified by as much as 10% by the time the HRF is off the fabricators."

"I didn't rush the process. I'm confident the rest of my mech is equally as sturdy."

"We'll see about that."

Gertrude diligently scanned over the mech, from bottom to top and back to bottom. She also swiveled the sensor from the sides and the rear of the mech as well, but to no avail. Ves understood enough from the readouts that none of the armor or internal components showed any significant deviations from the blueprint. All of the flaws she detected so far was within tolerance according to the MTA's official guidelines. Only the most nitpicky of technicians would choose to make an issue out of those tiny problems.

To her credit, Getrude said nothing even if her frown grew deeper. "Well, let's see if your internals perform as advertised."

This was an area Ves was less confident in. It was fairly easy to spot damage, but harder to determine if the components he fabricated performed on spec. As the technicians crawled away from the chassis, a young pilot entered the cockpit. Ves, Ryan and Gertrude watched at a healthy distance as the pilot activated the mech.

"The neural interface is starting up without a hitch. No issues encountered so far." The pilot reported, and Getrude confirmed his observations through the readings that scrolled down her terminal.