Aboard the Scarlet Rose, a tense atmosphere settled over the design lab. The Braves and Erudites that entered the compartnt each walked with nervous gaits as they took their regular seats behind the terminals and work stations.
Only a handful of ch designers took less notice of the ambiguous mood in the design lab.
"What's going on?" Ketis asked as she sauntered over to Miles Tovar. The satisfied smile on her face was completely at odds with the grave expressions of the other low-ranking ch designers. "We're finally about to design so chs again. Isn't this great?"
The forr Brighter ch designer raised his palms in a sussing motion. "Quiet down. Don't attract too much attention today?"
"Why?"
"Because there is trouble on the horizon?"
Ketis looked confused. "Huh? What trouble?"
The man leaned forward until his lips ca close to her ears. "The marital kind."
"Oh."
The Swordmaiden ch designer still looked clueless.
"Haven't you been paying attention to the ssages on the internal net?"
"No. I am preoccupied with sothing lately. I've been… ahem.. training so personnel over at the Hall of Heroes."
She couldn't help but smile in a mischievous manner as she said that. Venerable Joshua rapidly improved his swordsmanship after he began to follow her high-intensity training program.
Alas, she couldn't spend as much ti with the expert pilot as before. Her duties to the Design Departnt ca first, and she also had to spend enough ti on her own projects in order to progress her design philosophy.
Her improvent never stopped. Though the prospect of advancing to Journeyman was still fuzzy to her, she continued to work diligently in order to get closer. She had already completed all of her early ch designs and had begun to design another wave of swordsman chs.
Perhaps other ch designers might go bored or crazy after designing one swordsman ch after another, but Ketis was different.
She loved swords! She loved chs! She loved combining the two! As long as she had enough ti, she could design an infinite variety of swordsman chs!
This was how a hyper-specialized ch designer worked! The more restrictions they imposed on themselves, the more they were able to expand their options in the areas they excelled at. There was never a case where Ketis would run out of ideas!
As she and Miles spoke in low tones to each other, the entrance to the design lab slid open again.
Everyone sat up straighter.
The air beca even tenser.
Gloriana did not pay attention to the nervous expressions of her assistants. She marched over to the front of the lab. Her white coat billowed as she advanced like a woman possessed.
"Miaow."
Clixie dutifully followed the ch designer while keeping a close eye on the other ch designers.
A number of Glory Seeker bodyguards had entered as well. They hardly attracted any attention as they took position around the design lab.
No one spoke as Gloriana quietly sat down at the seat reserved for her. Clixie jumped up and perched on her lap. A delicate hand soon began to stroke her fur.
A few minutes passed as every ch designer tried to keep themselves as still as possible. No one wanted to be the one who attracted Gloriana's ire!
Rather than sticking their necks out, it was better to stay still and act like statues. After all, Gloriana didn't have a problem with them. Only one person was responsible for putting her in a foul mood!
The hatch slid open yet again. Everyone turned to face the entrance.
Several people passed through. The assistants automatically dismissed the presence of Nitaa and the other Larkinson bodyguards.
Lucky attracted a bit more attention. The eye-catching chanical cat floated forward as if he served as a scout for the people who were just about to pass through.
"ow."
Two more people passed through.
One of them wore a familiar red-and-white uniform that possessed so ornate touches. This was the Larkinson Patriarch uniform that Ves wore on a daily basis.
The woman next to him wore a very different uniform. Only one ch force issued the fairly distinctive black and orange outfit.
The logo on the front of the uniform attracted even more attention. The very distinctive orange ♂ symbol surrounded in a black circle left no doubt to the identity of the ch designer walking next to the clan patriarch!
An invisible storm seed to form around Gloriana as the pair of ch designers approached.
The intensity of her barely-restrained fury caused one of the two newcors to falter in her steps.
Ves turned his head to his companion. "Stiffen up. You're a soldier, aren't you? You're a Journeyman, just like her. The Penitent Sisters have fought against pirates chs and warships without flinching. Will you sha your sisters by showing cowardice in front of another woman?"
The Penitent Sister's body froze. Ves was right. The Penitent Sisters had shown undaunted courage and valor throughout the Nyxian Gap Campaign. No matter how many sisters perished, none of the exiled Hexers ever broke!
Yet defying Gloriana was easier said than done. If there was one weakness the Penitent Sisters possessed, it was that they were never able to show strength towards other Hexers.
The Hexadric Hegemony held the power of life and death over them once. Though Gloriana wasn't an extension of the Hexer state, she was the closest thing to a proxy in this situation. She even had the Glory Seekers at her beck and call!
Right now, aside from the Cross Clan, the Glory Seekers possessed the greatest might in the Cinach System. On the other hand, the Larkinson Clan wasn't able to exert that much strength anymore as it was in the process of drawing down its third-class assets.
How could the Penitent Sisters hold their heads high in this situation? Despite their common origins, the Glory Seekers did not regard the Penitent Sisters as their own! In fact, it was the opposite!
Every Penitent Sister knew that if they made one wrong move, the Glory Seekers might take the initiative to wipe them out, their affiliation to the Larkinson Clan be damned!
Though Ves was vaguely aware of this dynamic as well, he didn't think the situation could deteriorate to this extent. Relations between the Wodin Dynasty and the Larkinson Clan would instantly sour and his marriage with Gloriana might fall apart as a result.
The Wodins would never let such a disaster co to pass!
Therefore, Ves bet that no matter how he interacted with the Penitent Sisters, Gloriana and her guard dogs wouldn't do anything.
The Penitent Sisters may possess a troubling history, but that was in the past. As far as he was concerned, the forr Hexers were Larkinsons now. Since they were his clansn now, Ves had an obligation to treat them as warmly as his own kind.
Once the pair of ch designers approached the front, Ves turned around to face the assistants.
He gestured to the woman he brought into the Design Lab.
"This is Miss Juliet Staros, a Journeyman ch Designer from the Hexadric Hegemony. She is a graduate of the Artemis Institute in her forr state. That ans that she is a real second-class ch designer. Her specialty is high-mobility flight systems. Given these qualifications, I have decided to appoint Miss Staros as the third lead designer Design Departnt, effective from today."
He really went through with his intentions! Despite Gloriana's darkening expression, Ves pretended as if his wife didn't exist at this ti as he began to unveil so procedural and administrative changes as a result of the latest addition.
The sudden changes to the hierarchy of the Design Departnt necessitated a lot of new rules! No longer were Ves and Gloriana able to command their assistants as casually as before. They needed more structure in place so that the departnt would continue to run smoothly even if so irregularities took place.
"We will be adopting a different project schedule for this round." He announced. "Due to our growing need for second-class ch designs, we will temporarily stop working on minor design projects. For the next round, we will all be working on six major design projects. Since the workload is much greater for all of us, I've decided to raise the ti limit from four months to six months. Within half a year, I expect us all to complete six different second-class ch design projects!"
Six second-class ch designs!
Just half a year of ti!
Many assistants couldn't help but gasp when they heard the news. The challenges were much greater this ti! None of the Braves or Erudites were truly up to the task of designing a second-class ch as of yet. Even if they were relegated to an assisting function, they needed to work much harder and draw on a much greater body of knowledge in order to perform even the most trivial of tasks!
Sure, the Design Departnt had two more months to complete the design projects, but the magnitude of work was much greater.
With just two Journeyman ch Designers at the helm, it was extrely doubtful whether the ch designers of the LMC could complete so many projects at the sa ti.
This was when everyone began to shift their gazes to Juliet Staros.
Only the addition of a third Journeyman would allow them to finish their projects within the ti limit!
Ves smiled in satisfaction as the Braves and Erudites began to look at Juliet in a more positive light.
Through applying pressure, he easily manipulated his assistants into regarding Juliet as their savior and helper instead of an interloper. Whatever negative influence Gloriana exerted to them beca a lot less effective.
One of the lessons that every Larkinson learned was that they should always aim to complete their assignnts! If they were late or failed to perford their assigned tasks, they might miss out on earning precious Larkinson rits.
No one wanted this to happen!
The Larkinson rit Exchange that Ves had set up added more and more valuable goods and services to its redemption list. There was definitely sothing for everyone!
Ves clapped. "As you can imagine, designing six second-class ch designs at once is quite cumberso. This is why Gloriana and I will share ultimate responsibility for the design projects with Miss Staros. While she is still unaccustod to working here, I have high expectations for her. Every lead designer will soon be in charge of leading two design projects each."
This ant that Ves, Gloriana and Juliet would only have to pay attention to two projects instead of all six. Of course, this did not an that they were supposed to isolate their projects from each other.
An LMC ch was not an LMC ch if it did not possess any life. Ves played an essential role in applying his design philosophy to all six upcoming ch designs.
In the sa fashion, Gloriana was indispensable when it ca to optimizing and elevating the performance of the ch designs.
As for Juliet, her role was a bit more specialized. It was her task to empower and maximize the performance of the flight systems of every ch design. In fact, her specialty actually encompassed so smaller mobility systems as well such as modular thrusters and boosters.
Since every second-class ch including the landbound kind possessed at least so form of extra propulsion, Juliet could still play a role in the design of chs devoid of flight systems.
Even if that sohow wasn't possible, the fact that she was a Journeyman ant that she could already handle many other aspects of a ch. It was just that the areas that fell outside of her specialty wouldn't be as remarkable.
That was okay. The third lead designer wasn't supposed to excel in every area. What mattered more was how much value they could impart in a ch design when they pooled their respective specialties together.
Ves truly looked forward to how much faster and more agile his next products would be! With the addition of Juliet, it was the perfect ti for the LMC to develop a lot of new light chs!
User Comments
0 comments from readers