After nurous days of long and tedious fabrication work, the five ch designers completed all of the parts they had been assigned to make.
The collection of parts looked quite impressive. Despite involving multiple different ch designers who each possessed their own outlooks on chs, the components and subcomponents they made with great care and attention were remarkably consistent!
Even though a discerning ch designer could spot the differences in the output of every individual ch designer, the degree of cohesion and uniformity was much higher than usual!
This was one of the many benefits of design networks! The ability for ch designers to share their insights and solutions to other participating ch designers made it so that their respective strengths spread out to others.
It was almost as if all of the parts were made by a single amalgamation of the five ch designers!
Of course, individual differences remained and those who beca preoccupied with producing parts related to their specializations were unlikely to accept the input of others. This was why the components that made up the flight system or the armor system were still distinct from each other.
In any case, the hardest and most influential phase had passed. The parts ford the building blocks of the ch that the ch designers were about to assemble, so their quality and other properties were extrely vital to the outco of this fabrication run!
Excellent parts made it a lot easier to build an excellent ch. As long as the assemblers possessed enough skill, they could put the ch components together in a ways that maximized their performance while minimizing any negative impacts on the final product.
Of course, if the people assembling the ch were incompetent or out of their league, then they could easily fail to unlock the potential of the parts. At worst, they could even damage the ch!
This was why no one who cared about chs took the assembly process for granted. Every participant was like a cook that had ticulously prepared the ingredients.
Now, they needed to employ all of their skill, knowledge and any other advantages they might possess to cook the best possible dishes over a span of two days!
"Let us begin."
Alexandria's design network continued to play a major role in this fabrication run.
Although the ch designers did not need to borrow each other's expertise as much during the assembly phase, they still maintained a high degree of unity and coordination.
None of them stepped on each other's toes and always maintained a tacit distance from each other. Only rarely did they work as two or three as it wasn't necessary for them to do so anymore.
Every ch designer knew that there was a greater chance for problems to occur anyti four hands were needed to complete a task when two hands should be enough. The existence of the design network brilliantly made this optional since the ch designers could directly convey their own advice and solutions from one mind to another without any friction.
As the oldest and most experienced ch designer in the current team, Professor Benedict Cortez expected to take the lead in the assembly phase.
This was the traditional thod of assembling chs. The more the ch fra beca complete, the greater the chance of colliding into each other. Soone always needed to be in charge to set priorities and determine the order of putting the parts in place.
What the Senior discovered was that the Larkinson ch designers did not defer to him despite his qualifications.
First, they were confident or overconfident in their own skill and approach. Whether it was warranted or not, the Journeyn all thought they could do just as well or even better!
They were not entirely wrong. People like Ves and Gloriana made the most masterwork chs out of all of them. If nothing else, their repeated successes not only inflated their confidence in themselves, but also increased their ch affinities to a considerable height!
Professor Benedict quickly discovered that his fears were unwarranted. He was completely wrong to doubt the competence of the Larkinson ch designers.
Though Juliet Staros and Sara Voiken were not as perverse as the Miracle Couple, the two female Journeyn both carried their own weight. They were already accustod to working together with Ves and Gloriana so they did not pose any hindrance at all during the assembly phase.
This completely relieved Benedict from any burdens. One of the reasons why he refused opportunities to collaborate in the past was because he always beca frustrated at the less-than-perfect teamwork that ensued.
Many ch designers were too full of themselves and did not believe that they were wrong. They also held strong opinions on many design aspects and could beco unreasonably stubborn when challenged.
While that hadn't beco invalid for this fabrication run, the design network solved a lot of misunderstandings before they happened. Pa nda
Novel This caused Professor Benedict to be able to work a lot smoother than in the past. Due to his exacting standards and his intolerance towards failure, he had never been the easiest ch designer to work with. This was especially problematic when he tead up with another picky ch designer such as Gloriana!
Yet even though conventional wisdom in the ch industry stated that the two should conflict with each other, nothing of the sort had occurred.
They either resolved their differences without saying a word or they simply avoided each other and worked on significantly different sections of a ch.
Without the interference and interruptions that usually occurred during collaborations, Professor Benedict seamlessly perford his work in a harmonious fashion.
The lack of irritations allowed him to beco more engrossed in the craft of assembling a ch.
"I missed this." He whispered to himself.
He had made many chs throughout his career. Each ti he did so, he treated it as a chore at worst. There were only a limited number of cases where he had developed a valuable ch that was more powerful than normal or incorporated a new invention.
Those were the monts where he invested a lot more in the fabrication process than before.
Those instances were rare, though.
In fact, as he grew older, he enjoyed the process less and less.
Part of that was because his growth had slowed down. Back when he was younger, he continued to learn so much new knowledge. If that wasn't sufficient, he perford research and developed new techniques based on his results.
Whenever he ca up with an excellent innovation, he beca a lot more eager to fabricate a good ch. This was how he managed to create a few of his best works.
Yet… the further he progressed, the harder it beca for him to make new achievents.
He found himself in a position where he needed to spend ti on much more complicated studies, many of which were so tenuous that they rarely if ever yielded usable results.
How could he maintain the sa fire as before? With reality beating him down every ti he tried to push it, he began to hold less expectations about his work.
It was only when he started to work alongside the Larkinson ch designers that he regained a portion of his drive.
One example was gaining inspiration of Ves and Gloriana's design solutions to develop nurous innovations including the Magma Vein System.
There was just sothing about getting in touch with younger and eager ch designers that shocked Professor Benedict out of his inertia.
Now, that sense of change beca a lot more evident as they were gradually piecing the Minerva Project together.
A sense of anticipation and fulfillnt surged from the Larkinson Journeyn. Ves and Gloriana particularly held high hopes for the outco of this fabrication run!
Though it was far too premature of them to assu that they had t their goal, the increased confidence and enthusiasm they exhibited towards their work was infectious.
Even without the design network, their optimism and eagerness inspired confidence in those who were working alongside them. Juliet and Sara couldn't help but have higher expectations as well and began to put even more effort into their work than before!
Though Professor Benedict was able to maintain a degree of soberness, his ambitious and hopeful side of himself wanted to embrace the positive vibes generated by the Larkinson Journeyn!
"This… is delusional."
Though he along with everyone else were satisfied with their work so far, there was no reason for them to feel convinced that the expert ch would beco a masterwork ch.
Yet… there was always hope. Previous successes had buoyed their confidence and so far none of them had made any blunders.
From a rational perspective, the Larkinson ch designers were gamblers who purchased a lottery ticket with the firm expectation that they had won the lottery!
"The odds aren't that high!"
Yet… what if they beca lucky?
What if they happened to do everything right?
"What if they only needed to put in a little extra effort to succeed?
All of this logic gave Professor Benedict an excuse to indulge in his own hopes. As the hours passed by, he beca increasingly more astonished when he noticed that his productivity had increased!
He was highly sensitive towards these changes due to his design philosophy. There was no way that he had made a mistake!
"I am actually working faster and smoother than before. I have also improved the quality of my work!"
These changes ca for no good reason aside from getting infected by the emotions of the other ch designers.
"It's… nice, though."
He had worked by himself too many tis. A hint of loneliness affected him for a mont before the companionship of his fellow collaborators drove it away.
While Professor Benedict regarded himself as a Senior ch Designer with formidable design capabilities, he had forgotten that he was a human as well.
Eventually, he decided to throw logic out of the window and imrse himself in this mont.
The next few hours went by in a blur as the older man entered a state of mind that reminded himself of his younger self.
He used to be bolder and more unrestrained when he was a Journeyman. He had yet to learn about the imnsely difficult challenges to co and readily believed he could beco a Star Designer as long as he worked hard enough!
Though Benedict had gradually co to reject this naive mindset, the youthful passion shared by his other collaborators caused him to see this ntality in a new light.
He derived a lesson from this experience.
"You will do your best to attain your goal when you think that everything is possible. If you assu your goal is impossible to achieve, then you have been defeated before you have even tried."
He wasn't sure whether the forr statent was valid, but he was wise enough to recognize that the latter was absolutely detrintal to his career!
This was why he readily embraced the youthful vigor of the younger ch designers. He threw aside every other doubt, concern or distraction and fully tried to relive his younger experiences in working on chs.
Without his notice, the ti had co to put the finishing touches on the Minerva Project. When he started to gain awareness of himself again, he discovered to his surprise that the expert command ch looked harmonious and complete in a way that he had rarely seen before!
Every other ch designer backed away as Ves and Commander Casella floated above ch.
"Ketis taught a little ritual." Ves said as he handed a small knife to the Sentinel Commander. "Blood can cent your connection to your ch. Go ahead and do the honors, Casella. Your battle partner awaits your mark."
Commander Casella looked solemn as she accepted the knife and slit her palm.
As the drops of blood splattered over the surface of the Minerva Project, the silvery ch ca to life in a way that Professor Benedict never would have expected under ordinary circumstances.
Yet when he was working alongside these youthful and happy Larkinson ch designers, he felt as if this result was their expected reward!
"Masterwork!" Benedict gasped.
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