The Mech Touch

n exploit the holes in his mech. ”

Unless it was a matter of life and death, mech pilots always retreated before their mechs sustained too many battle damage.
It took only a few stray shots to completely ruin a mech ’s internals.
The benefits of staying in the field didn ’t outweigh the risks of death or totalling an expensive machine.

Before he embarked on his work, Ves wanted to take of any upcoming matters.
He worked best if he could devote his entire concentration on his design.

”Ves! ” Carlos called as he stepped inside his office.
”You ’ve got another pair of visitors from your family. ”

”Bring them to the lounge.
I ’ve been expecting them for a while. ”

After brushing up his clothes, Ves met with the retainers the Larkinsons had groomed on Rittersberg.

At first glance, the newcomers still retained the air of an elite from Rittersberg.
The man looked like a typical bureaucrat, with his neatly groomed grey hair and impeccable suit.
The woman looked younger, but still mature enough to occupy a senior position in a company.
Both looked like they mean business.

”Ves, it ’s good to see you.
My name is Jake Altern and this is Primrose Mackarie.
We ’ve been working on behalf of the Larkinson Estate for over a hundred years combined.
I think you will find we can add a lot of value to the Living Mech Corporation if you let us take part in your venture. ”

Ves shook both of their hands.
”I ’ve already inspected your resumes, and I ’m fairly satisfied with your qualifications.
However, both of you have mainly worked in the retail sector.
You will find that managing a mech business is a whole other beast than running a department store. ”

”We are aware of this shortcoming, but the Larkinsons have extensive connections to the mech industry. ”

Jake and Primrose had made an effort to immerse themselves into the world of mechs by reading up a lot of industry-specific textbooks.
They also exchanged knowledge with various industry insiders.
Together with their existing business acumen, the two should be amply prepared to take the helm of any medium-sized mech manufacturer.

”I ’m glad to hear you ’ve made the extra mile.
The LMC is still in its infancy at this point, but I expect a lot of growth in the future once I publish my first original design.
I ’m going to need a competent COO and CFO to support my company ’s rise. ”

Without any further hesitation, Ves appointed Jake as the COO and Primrose as the CFO.

The chief operating officer often acted as the number two within the corporation.
In the case of a mech manufacturer, the founder and principal mech designer usually occupied the title of CEO while the COO performed the actual day-to-day management of his company.

Since Jake occupied various leadership positions for the businesses under the Larkinsons, Ves could think of no other suitable position for him to adopt.
His age and experience should provide a steady hand at the top.

The chief financial officer took care of the finances and bookkeeping of the company.
The CFO led the financial department of a company, which managed the its accounts and made sure that no one secretly siphoned any money away.
They also kept track of any transactions and made sure that their ledgers complied with the law.

While Primrose ’s resume did not look as impressive as Jake ’s, her knowledge in the field of accounting surpassed anyone else in the entire company by far.
Ves had always intended to hire on an accountant to straighten up his increasingly burdensome transactions.

”The amount of money flying around will easily surpass a billion credits every year, spread over thousands of individual transactions.
Right now, I don ’t have a lot of contingencies if something goes wrong.
I hope you can help me with that, Miss Primrose. ”

”Just call me Primrose. ” She smiled at him.
”I ’ve already taken a peek at your records.
It ’s a bit crude, but not as messy as I ’ve thought.
There are a number of entries that your automated management suite has been producing a lot of errors. ”

With his permission, Primrose brought up his asset listings and pointed out the nonsensical credit values attached to some of his licenses and his equipment.
The accounting software mainly failed to estimate the proper values of things Ves had acquired by exchanging merits or DP.

”Oh, yeah, I haven ’t really thought of that. ” Ves awkwardly grinned.
”The value of some of these things is very substantial but have a complicated background. ”

For example, Ves had no clue how to estimate the credit value of his reconstructed Dortmund printer.
It should be worth several billions of credits, but it wasn ’t exactly market standard.

Fortunately, his newly hired CFO didn ’t mind the oversight.
”I can take up this task.
It ’s imperative your company can deliver a proper accounting to the Republic ’s tax office if asked.
They may even confiscate your assets if you ’ve been negligent in this area. ”

That sounded very scary to Ves, so he eagerly handed off all responsibilities of this nature to Primrose.

Besides discussing accounting, Ves also laid out his future plans to Jake.
”I ’d like you to take care of three things.
First, I want you to setup an administrative department for the LMC.
You don ’t have to hire a lot of people, just make sure you hire enough to take care of all of the routine stuff that needs done. ”

”Consider it done. ”

”Next, I want you to help lay down the groundwork for the debut of my first original design.
I don ’t think I need to explain how important its success affects my company and my career.
My biggest priority is to secure a fixed supplier to supply the most critical exotics for my design.
I ’ll send you the list. ”

”That will be difficult to accomplish. ” Jake admitted.
”A fixed supply contract is mostly established through existing connections or referrals and needs to be maintained through trust and communication.
I think it ’s best I hire a specialist that can facilitate a connection with a specific supplier. ”

”Just get it done. ” Ves didn ’t care about the specific method.
”My third demand is to get a handle on the political situation of Cloudy Curtain.
My business is hovering on uncertainty right now because the ruling coalition has a beef with me.
I ’ve got a part-time law student filling me in on the situation, but I don ’t have the time to manage my relations with the scumbags in power. ”

”It ’s best to start up a relations department that can maintain ties with the local stakeholders of your company. ”

”Sounds good. ”

They had a fruitful talk about his intentions for the company.
By the time the day came at an end, his new executives should have a good idea on how to perform their jobs.
Ves would keep an eye on them, of course, but he didn ’t expect any missteps on account of their experience.