[201-400] THE MECH'S TOUCH

Chapter 224: Colleagues

An hour went by as mech designers kept converging around the Reckoner. It must be the most expensive mech at the festival by far. Even Ves didn't dare to put a price on this mech. It was worth its weight in exotics as pretty much all of its components incorporated them in their construction.

As Ves patiently waited for the manager to arrive, Ves received a distinctive ping from his comm. He looked up his device and saw one of his apps informing him that another Society member was among the crowd.

The other member received the same notification and chose to home in on Ves. Minutes later, an elderly looking man approach Ves. "Knight Larkinson? My name is Reesc McDonnell, a Squire of the Clifford Society."

Ves shook hands with the elderly squire with a bemused expression. He couldn't quite get a grip on a Squire as old as Reesc. Every other Squire he encountered at Leemar only had a couple of years on him. The man sensed his confusion and smiled.

"Don't be so surprised. The Squires you've met at Leemar are mostly recent graduates that are trying to keep their options open. Those of us who come from outside Coalition space often blind themselves to the challenges of competing against actual Coalition citizens. Most of them will return to their home states after years of fruitless effort."

Unspoken in his explanation was that Reesc had likely been one of these dreamers. After finding out that his skills barely impressed the elitist Coalition citizens, he packed up his bags and shuffled back to the Republic in order to make a living. The fact that he languished as a Squire up to when his hair turned grey meant that Reesc didn't deserve any respect.

"My apologies. I'm not used to seeing older Society members." Ves replied. "As you've said, those that gathered at Leemar still have a full life ahead of them. If I hadn't already had plans, I might have lingered at Leemar as well."

They chatted a bit about their mech careers. Like Ves, Reesc entered a competition held by Leemar and managed to reach a notable rank. However, his foundation didn't amount to much, and he only reached the top 500 by sheer luck. Even after he gained access to the Star Library, Reesc never got to read a lot of books.

"Merits are simply too hard to come by!" The old man lamented. "I don't have anything to trade, so the only way I got them is by doing these tedious long-term missions. Even then, they only pay a handful of merits after you slave away for years. It's completely impossible to earn enough merits this way!"

While he agreed with Reesc's complaints, Ves pointed out an alternative. "Haven't you considered taking one of the riskier missions? They pay quite well for a couple of months of work."

"Absolutely not! The pay is better, but the conditions are awful! Mech designers like us belong behind a desk, not at some hostile alien planet while shells are raining down above our heads! Leave the battlefield work to the people who signed up to fight!"

As Reesc chatted on about his lack of opportunities, Ves increasingly came to dislike the stodgy Squire. The elderly mech designer had a golden opportunity to develop his skills and knowledge through trading merits for access to textbooks, and what did Reesc do? He squandered decades of his life performing the safest and most unrewarding missions imaginable!

Ves finally welcomed the arrival of the managing director. Everyone hushed their conversation and even Reesc had to shut his mouth. Everyone stared beneath the legs of the Reckoner as a small platform lifted upwards from below.

A much more distinguished gentleman appeared on stage. The man looked at the hundreds of mech designers gathered here today and nodded in satisfaction.

"It pleases me to see so many of you take part in my festival." The director began. "The last generation of mechs may slowly be forgotten, but our memories of this remarkable period will live on. Our job is to remind the public that the last generation will never be consigned to the archives!"