[401-600] THE MECH'S TOUCH

Chapter 407: Farewell

Over the course of several weeks, Ves fabricated eight gold label Crystal Lords. Together with the first production model, the LMC would be able to show off nine of them at once at the looming press conference.

A while ago, Ves tentatively settled on holding the press conference in a couple of days. Though the announcement didn't leave much time for everyone else to arrange their schedules, he believed that a lot of people still planned to attend.

"Interest in our new model is has peaked." Gavin spoke as he reported the matter to Ves in his private office. "The teasers have done their job, but without showing anything more solid than a silhouette, it's extremely hard to generate new fans."

"We'll make do with what we have. How many confirmed guests are we talking about?"

"We've roped in over two-dozen local publications. None of them are major players, and only a couple of them have state-wide reach."

Ves frowned. "Nothing bigger has shown any interest?"

"No. We tried our best and even offered a substantial amount of bribes, but those huge publications that are followed by people throughout the Komodo Star Sector hardly pay attention to Apprentice Mech Designers. You have to be an extremely talented Journeyman Mech Designer in order to rouse their interests."

Though he found it disappointing, Ves did not expect anything else. It had already been an extremely rare occasion for a publication such as the Rimward Star Herald to do a feature on him. Even that got quickly ignored and buried underneath all of the major news that popped out shortly afterwards.

"Have you gathered any more intelligence about the second wave?"

"According to the latest rumors circulating in the mech industry, the Mech Corps has almost finished settling the first wave of mech designers. They'll likely call up the second wave early next week."

"Ves tapped his fingers. "Hm. I've done what I can in Cloudy Curtain. The Barracuda arrives in orbit tomorrow morning. We'll depart for Bentheim to prepare for the press conference. Make sure you finish everything that needs to be done on this end before you go."

"Will do, boss!"

As Gavin left his office, Ves contemplated how the LMC would fare in his absence. Right now, a lot of tiny mech workshops and mech boutiques shuttered their doors by the thousands. Hardly a day went by without reading up on the doom and gloom among the tiny mech manufacturers.

These marginal companies only managed to cling onto solvency as long as their only mech designer remained in charge. The sudden absence of a vast majority of of mech designers caused most of these businesses to shutter their doors, sometimes by the founders themselves.

This in turn disrupted plenty of supply chains and caused a deluge of unemployed people who used to work for these small mech manufacturers to end up on the streets.

Fortunately, the LMC remained steady throughout all the turmoil. With two currentgen product lines in its catalog, the company would be able to remain relevant for at least eight more years without any further input by Ves.

"This is a good time for my company to grow and accumulate more wealth."

Unless someone else published a design that competed directly against his mechs, the LMC should be able to sustain a regular cash flow. It mattered little whether Ves published more designs or not. His current two designs already covered a decent swathe of the market.

Ves spent his final day in Cloudy Curtain meeting his people one more time and saying goodbye to them. He even took a shuttle trip downtown and visited Dietrich to get in touch with the Whalers.