The Mech Touch

is a giant heat generator. ” Lucille said.
”Energy is converted into various movements and attacks.
Large amounts of waste heat emerge from these transformations.
Despite the progress that our race has made since they emerged from Old Earth, we still haven ’t been able to achieve perfect efficiency.
Waste heat is a fact of life, no matter the race.
Whether it ’s humans or aliens, we are all facing the same constraints. ”

Many mech designers treated heat sinks as an annoying necessity that hey begrudgingly include in their designs because it wouldn ’t function without them.
That was the wrong mentality to adopt.
Heat sinks formed a vital function that wasn ’t any less important than a power reactor.

One part generated usable energy, while the other part handled the waste heat.

Ves had in fact gained a new appreciation of heat sinks ever since he won the Amastendira.
The wondrous weapon that utilized some of the most advanced technologies from the galactic center utilized something which the weapon referred to as a dimensional heat sink.

It basically absorbed any waste heat within its body and shunted it into another dimension, thereby solving the problem in the easiest but also most extravagant manner possible.

Although the dimensional heat sink only worked up to a point, it was still an amazing picture of what the end point of heat sink technology looked like.
Ves hoped that he could incorporate them into his own design one day.

Ves entered a brief discussion about heat sinks with Lucille.
Despite his broad base of knowledge, Lucille knew quite a bit about materials science, while her insights into thermodynamics veered into a completely unknown territory to him.

It became clear that with regards to heat sinks, she was truly a specialist who was leagues ahead compared to a generalist like Ves.

Someone with her specialty was in high demand to any design team that worked on spaceborn mechs or mechs that predominantly relied on energy-intensive weapons such as lasers.

The banquet ran on for several hours until it came at an end.
During this time, Ves spent most of his time learning more about what they brought to the table as mech designers.
As Iris and Lucille both possessed specialties that pertained to specific components, they could potentially provide a substantial boost to the three designs that the Vandals still kept developing.

As the guests retired to their own compartment aboard the Wolf Mother, Ves and Alloc walked back to their own section of the massive ship.
The corridors had dimmed down a little, signifying that it was standard night time.

Once they fell well out of earshot from the Vesians who attended the banquet, Alloc began to speak.

”Did you enjoy your time with the girls? ”

”Uhm, they ’re very competent, sir. ”

”Rrrright.
Competent.
Interesting choice of words. ” The Journeyman curled up his lips before bringing them down to a frown.
”Don ’t fall for their tricks.
The VRF always sends out a couple of vixens to us.
They ’re always easy to talk to and pleasing to the eye, but that still can ’t change the fact that they ’re Vesians. ”

Ves grasped the implied meaning and stopped smiling as well.
”I understand.
I think.
If that ’s the case, what is the VRF after? ”

”It ’s one of the many games they play.
The VRF may not look impressive as an insurgency movement, but their influence reaches well beyond the borders of the kingdom.
They have their fingers in a lot of different pies.
Don ’t underestimate their skill in trade and diplomacy.
They ’re always out to make a deal with you, couched in terms that sound great at first, but turn out to come with several inconvenient caveats. ”

”If they ’re so inconvenient, then why do the Vandals accept this kind of behavior, sir? ”

”Don ’t ask me. ” Alloc shrugged helplessly.
”I once asked the same thing to Professor Velten.
She told me that it ’s one of the concessions the Vandals have made to the VRF.
The slick-talking diplomats of the rebels have even gotten us to agree that any mech designer that wants to defect to the VRF is allowed to do so without restrictions. ”

That really got Ves to halt.
What a ridiculous concession! ”Has anyone ever taken up this offer? ”

”Pff.
Look at how few designers are on our design team and you have your answer. ”

That was impossible.
There was no way the Vandals would tolerate the VRF stealing over eighty mech designers from them.
Ves looked at Alloc with a suspicious eye.

”Okay, maybe I exaggerated. ” Alloc held up his hands.
”Only five mech designers that I know of has defected to the VRF over the past decade.
Those mech designers haven ’t been content in their current postings anyhow, so good riddance to them.
The only regret that we have is that they are all rather good at what they do.
The VRF mainly targets Journeyman Mech Designers.
That ’s what Florissa is here for.
She ’s mainly targeting me and the two other Journeymen in our department. ”

Though age gaps didn ’t count for much in this day and age, people would still from at couples whose ages visibly diverged.
It would be unseemly for Ves to hook up someone like Florissa.

Instead, he could look forward to the advances of Iris and Lucille.
Great.

”Well, the cat ’s out of the bag.
Now that I know, I won ’t fall for their tricks. ” Ves declared with some conviction.

”That ’s what they all say, Ves, but when it comes to the matters of the heart, we turn into some of the dimwitted sentient beings in the galaxy.
Love makes you stupid. ”

Despite Alloc ’s warnings, Ves did not think much of the threat posed by the three women.
He was a Larkinson, and a Larkinson never abandoned the Republic.
He also thought of himself as a rational thinker.
Though he acted on a couple of reckless impulses from time to time, at his core he believed himself to be an enlightened thinker.

There was no way Ves would turn silly because of a silly face.