The Mech Touch novel Chapter 4165

Chapter 4165 Trial Period

The entry of Cormaunt Hempkamp into the Design Department generated plenty of controversy at first.

"Ves, are you sure you know what you're doing?" Ketis confronted him a few days later. "While I respect your desire to hire a neural interface specialist, can't you look for a more reliable one instead of the new guy?"

He reacted with mild surprise at her response. "I thought that you of all people would look favorably upon his entry. He is a strong and passionate innovator who doesn't listen to anyone and sticks to his guns no matter the circumstances. There are obvious parallels between your respective approaches."

The fiery swordsman mech specialist took affront at this comparison!

"We are not alike, Ves! While our approaches may look similar on the surface, our driving motivations are different! From the beginning of my career, I only ever wanted to design better and stronger swordsman mechs for the Swordmaidens. Later on, I extended my sights to every swordsman mech pilot I could reach. I might not have received classical education like the rest of the mech designers in the Design Department, but my heart has always been in the right place. As for that guy Hempkamp… my intuition tells me that he always puts his own ego first, and you know how sharp my intuition has become."

As if to emphasize her remark, a miniature version of Ketis emerged out of her head and waved around a miniature sword!

"Sharp! Sharp! Sharp!"

Though Ketis was not a smooth operator, she was quite good at judging other people due to her extraordinary willpower and enhanced intuition.

It said a lot when she sensed an unsettling vibe from Mr. Hempkamp. Ves never fully believed in all of the man's promises of good behavior. Innovators tended to be rulebreakers more often than not because there were always obstacles in the way that prevented them from pursuing their novel ideas to the fullest.

As an innovator himself, Ves could speak from personal experience.

However, as much as Ves was able to see himself in Hempkamp's shoes, they differed in one important fashion.

If Ves screwed up, he would suffer all of the blame.

If Mr. Hempkamp screwed up, his boss or employer were ultimately responsible!

It was because Hempkamp never fully worked in a situation where the buck stopped with him that he had grown so unbridled and unrestrained in his work.

This was why Ves had imposed a special regime on the newly-hired Journeyman.

As Ves explained his overall strategy and approach towards the potential time bomb, Ketis' expression softened to an extent.

"Your theories sound decent enough. I can't say whether Mr. Hempkamp will be fine with playing by the rules you have set, but I will keep an eye on him whenever I am in the vicinity."

Ves smiled and patted her shoulder. "You are more than welcome to do so. I have already instituted additional monitoring to keep a closer eye on his work and activities, but none of them are able to judge him on an instinctual level such as you. If you ever pick up a vibe from him that obviously feels wrong, don't hesitate to bring your suspicions up to me or Gloriana. No matter how uncertain you feel about Mr. Hempkamp, it is better to be safe than sorry."

"The safest option that you could have taken was to never hire him in the first place." Ketis stated as she crossed her arms. "Why did you go for him, really? Is it just because his design philosophy and research just happens to match well with your own, or is there more to the story?"

The Swordmaiden mech designer had grown in many different ways compared to a few years ago. She had advanced to Journeyman. She developed her first true solo mech designs with great commercial potential. She also became a mother to a healthy designer baby boy.

What was even more important was that she had worked in the Design Department by herself and alongside many other mech designers long enough to become a lot more professional in her work.

She had gradually shed her sloppy and unreliable image over time and became one of the senior stalwarts. The more junior lead designers who joined the clan only recently all looked up at her with admiration.

In fact, it was not wrong to state that Ketis was the third-ranked Journeyman of the Design Department. Her outsized sway among the Swordmaidens and the Heavensworders in the clan definitely helped with amplifying her voice!

Therefore, even though Ves was tired of explaining his decisions to different people, he had to give due consideration to his former student.

"Let's look at the Design Department as a whole." He began. "How many lead designers do we have at the moment?"

"There is you, your wife, me, Juliet Stameros, Sara Voiken, Dulo Voiken, Janassa Pellier, Tifi Coslone, Miles Tovar, Merrill O'Brian and finally Cormaunt Hempkamp. That is 11 in total."

A few years ago, Ves could never imagine working alongside so many Journeymen!

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