After a good rest and so mindless cuddling, Ves and Gloriana entered the new day with a fresher outlook.
Though the shadow of their previous failure still lood large over them, they no longer felt as burdened as before.
A simple break and rest did wonders in cleansing their minds.
It also helped that Gloriana didn't go through with her threat to suspend their honeymoon period.
They both loved each other and had just co off a wedding that was close to perfect. Overall, there were far more reasons for Gloriana to be happy with Ves than otherwise.
Still, just because they had so fun didn't an their problems magically went away. They rely faded in the background. Now that they were ready to fabricate their next ch, they had to confront the issue they were avoiding all this ti.
As their cats playfully prowled across the ch workshop, the couple sat down at a work table in order to hash out their differences.
"We need to compromise." Ves said. "Neither of us can continue to work together if we aren't on the sa page."
Gloriana crossed her arms. Unlike his sturdy and utilitarian work overall, she preferred to do her work while looking at her best. Her white shirt, black skirt and high heels along with her jewelry and scarf made it seem she was his secretary rather than a proper ch designer.
She was not subordinate to him, however.
"We can compromise by making one of us give in. In my opinion, you should be the one to give up. As far as I'm concerned, the first production copies of our ch designs are extra special. They are collectors items at worst and priceless heirlooms at best. Will anyone who obtains these valuable chs ever mistreat them in any way? There is no way our custors will neglect or subject them to frequent abuse!"
"Uhm, the Quint has fought against battleships and dark gods just recently. chs are ant to be used for their intended purpose. While that has caused the Quint to have so close shaves, it's a much stronger ch. It played a key role in elevating Venerable Joshua. Before you call stupid again or sothing, let just say that as long as absolute perfection isn't attainable, there are different ways to get a good result. Whether we pick your approach or mine, they are both good in certain conditions. What we have to do is to adapt our ch to our current circumstances."
"This.. you may have a point." She reluctantly admitted. "Who do you design the ch for, Ves?"
Ves made a suggestion. "If we want to make both of us happy, then maybe we should alternate between our preferences. Right now, we have expensive chs that will likely benefit more if I follow your lead. We also have more affordable chs where performance is important, but reliability is an even greater issue."
She looked intrigued at his suggestion. While the solution he offered was not quite a definite compromise, it at least allowed them to reconcile their differences to an extent.
"We have five chs to go. I get to dictate the direction of three of them while you can do what you want with the remaining two. I promise not to complain too much."
Ves scowled at her. "Why do you get three while I get only two?"
"Because I'm a woman and because I need compensation for the suffering you've inflicted on these past few days!"
"That's nonsense!" Ves had no patience to deal with Gloriana's selfishness right now!
He forcibly cald himself while trying to co up with a solution that did not amount to outright surrender.
"Look, let's just work on the next four chs and leave the last one for later consideration." He suggested. "Perhaps we might be able to improve our teamwork to the point where we can find a third approach."
"Okay. We'll do it your way, Ves."
They still needed to fabricate a copy of the Cat's Paw, the Chiron, the Ferocious Piranha, the Sanctuary and the Crystal Lord Mark II.
Of the five, only one of them was a solid second-class model.
"We should leave the Cat's Paw as last." Gloriana decided. "I think it was a mistake for us to start with fabricating a second-class ch straight away. The Valkyrie Redeer is much more intricate and features much greater considerations than lesser chs. If we tackle the third-class chs first, we can slowly ramp ourselves up and work out most of our kinks before we address our heavy artillery ch."
Ves nodded in agreent. He completely agreed with her logic this ti.
"The Cat's Paw is arguably the most important ch of this batch. It will definitely be one of the key chs of our clan."
It didn't take too long for them to determine which ch they wanted to take the lead on. Ves was very partial towards all five chs, but if he had to pick favorites, it would have to be the Sanctuary and the Crystal Lord Mark II.
The Sanctuary was his first anti-glow ch and was presided over by his newest spiritual product. As the ch that best conford to Lufa's properties, Ves wanted to make sure the first production copy of the Sanctuary was spiritually strong.
As for the Crystal Lord Mark II, it was a dramatic upgrade to one of his first original works. The story behind this product line and the effort that Ves had made into upgrading its original design spirit into the Illustrious One caused him to develop a lot of special feelings about this upcoming attempt.
Gloriana on the other hand had been highly involved in the design of the Chiron and the Ferocious Piranha. The Chiron incorporated a very sophisticated self-adjustnt structure that she had largely devised from the ground up by herself. Though her attachnt to the Larkinson Clan wasn't as strong as his, she actually cared a lot about nurturing the next generation of Larkinson ch pilots.
Each of them deserved a ch that closely fit their unique traits! As far as she was concerned, this was a rare way to apply her design philosophy to a standard ch model without offending her sensibilities too much!
As for the Ferocious Piranha, her preference for the ch model was actually quite simple. The light skirmisher was a feminine ch model to her. In truth, the ch only appeared this way because it was slender in comparison to the other chs.
Now that they selected their chs, they began to work while letting one of them take the lead.
In previous attempts, they rarely let one or the other take over entirely. The only exception so far was when they created the Little Angel. Gloriana completely took over the show when she fabricated the masterwork copy of the Blessed Squire.
Both of them agreed that whenever one of them entered into a similar state again, they should automatically take charge, ignoring any prior agreents they made.
The importance of taking the lead paled into comparison to fabricating another masterwork ch!
"Let's begin."
They decided to tackle the easiest model first. The Sanctuary undoubtedly won in this regard. Aside from its very special glow, it was a relatively plain space knight that stood out for its relatively high mobility.
If not for the presence of Lufa, the Sanctuary might be able to moonlight as the spaceborn version of the Blackbeak!
"The Sanctuary's value and purpose on the battlefield largely centers around its glow." Ves explained to Gloriana as they were beginning to inspect the raw materials that a transport had just delivered to the Stellar Chaser. "Just like the Blessed Squire, it's a force multiplier, and therefore a key strategic target. This is why I decided to package this ch into an offensive space knight type. It has to be fast enough to get in the range of enemy LMC chs and it has to be able to last against focused fire."
"I have no objections to your interpretation this ti." Gloriana graciously said. "Maximizing the defense of our first production copy is paramount, although we probably have different ideas on how to fortify our ch."
Ves smirked. "That's why I'll be the one that will have the most say for this attempt."
They began to work on the ch. Despite its relative bulk, much of it was due to its thick and hefty armor plating. The Sanctuary's internals weren't very difficult to put together.
Overall, the two regained much of their harmony during this fabrication run. They just needed two days to complete the first copy of their Sanctuary design!
"ow…"
Lucky looked uneasy as the unnaturally pure and suppressive glow of the finished Sanctuary flooded the ch workshop.
"Miaow~"
Unlike the gem cat, Clixie found the Sanctuary's glow to be rather pleasant.
"Nyaaaa!"
As an inherently spiritual cat, Goldie didn't fare too well in Lufa's influence! The only reason why she managed to maintain her materialized form was because she was stronger than Lufa. Of course, it also helped that Ves hardcoded so instructions in the ch design and its design spirit.
There was no way Ves would allow Lufa to bully the ancestral spirit of the Larkinson Clan!
In the wrong circumstances, Lufa might even be able to suppress or destroy the Larkinson Network!
Making this realization midway into the fabrication run almost caused Ves to botch his current task.
It dawned upon him that he hadn't added any specific strengthening or defenses around the spiritual networks he created.
Wouldn't that make his clan critically vulnerable against spiritual attacks?
"I'll definitely add this to my to-do list!"
Fortunately, the brief distraction hadn't interrupted his rhythm. The white and sacred ch that erged at the end had clearly reached a higher level of quality than their disastrous Valkyrie Redeer.
Both of them not only beca accustod to each other's changes, but also minimized their conflicts by letting one of them take the lead.
"It's a fine product, but it still falls short." Ves pronounced with a touch of disappointnt.
Gloriana also looked disappointed. "That's because you were too conservative when you took the lead. You didn't go far enough when you could have."
"Let's just take so ti off and reflect on how we can do better next ti."
Both of them rested and cuddled with their cats. Once they fully refreshed their ntal states, they tackled the next ch.
"The Ferocious Piranha needs a proper na." Gloriana stated as they decided to tackle the light skirmisher ch next.
"I think its current na is fine."
"It needs a dignified na!"
Ves disagreed. "There's nothing wrong with continuing to call it the Ferocious Piranha! The na is a good fit for how this ch is supposed to fight. It's already strong by itself, but as the Valkyrie Redeer already showed, a ch like this would work far better when deployed alongside many identical chs. A piranha is never depicted alone. While pricy for third-class standards, I believe that plenty of custors will see the value in deploying this ch en masse with the help of its current na. I've even programd so aweso visual projections to reinforce this the!"
He eventually got his way, largely because Gloriana's choices didn't sound any better.
While this mild argunt spoiled her mood a bit, she didn't let that affect her work.
With her competitive and perfectionist mindset, she could not tolerate an outco where 'her' ch was inferior to 'his' ch!
She worked extra hard now that she held most of the responsibility. Ves did not work against her even if he didn't agree with her decisions.
In the end, they took two days to fabricate a Ferocious Piranha that was hardly different in quality than the Sanctuary ch they made before.
Gloriana looked upset. "I put in so much work in this ch! Why isn't it better?!"
"Maybe we are going at it the wrong way." Ves guessed. "Have you ever noticed that when one of us takes the lead, we can't produce the synergy we achieved before? We need to work as equals if we truly wish to draw out our potential."
Her anger faded as she processed this argunt. "You may be right. It's just that going back to how we tackled the Valkyrie Redeer ch won't work. How can we solve this problem?"
Neither of them could co up with an answer.
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