"Please postpone your planned surgery." She instructed to Ves. "Whenever I encounter something novel, I am filled with questions. It would be helpful for you to be on hand as I thoroughly examine your creation over multiple days."
"No.. no problem, ma'am. How long will we be hosting your august presence?"
Willix tapped her finger against her lips. "A week will do. Please ensure that you and the Quint both remain accessible while I am here."
"We live to serve."
"Good." The old woman nodded in approval. "We won't occupy your time in vain. As long as you remain helpful and receive your masterwork certificates without any further issues, I will submit a request to award you with 1 million MTA merits, split evenly between each of you. With my standing, our sector headquarters will certainly approve of my request."
What?! 1 million merits! Ves completely turned his stance around as soon as he heard this figure!
"Truly, ma'am?"
"I thought we would earn less merits for our masterwork mechs." Gloriana couldn't help but remark. "Our mech is not a proper second-class mech, and we don't plan to submit it to your Association."
Master Willix smiled indulgently at Gloriana. "Those are the rules, but I am a Master. I possess considerable autonomy and authority within our organization. It just so happens that I like the two of you. Both of you are quite remarkable by yourselves, but together you make for a potent pair. I will be watching your careers closely from now on. If your Bright Warrior design is anything to go by, I am confident that you will be able to shake the mech industry as long as you mature."
While Gloriana beamed as if this was the happiest day of her life, Ves only felt his heart sink even further.
Attracting the MTA's attention was the last thing he wanted! He thought he could repel Master Willix by wearing his crazy hat, but how could he know that she was a lot more magnanimous and open-minded than he anticipated?
Clearly, Master Willix seemed to have adopted the attitude of a mentor towards them. Both Ves and Gloriana were promising mech designers who had the potential to provide the MTA and the mech community with a lot of unique innovations.
The Master didn't mind spending more time here to guide and question their work for this reason!
As Master Willix and her entourage finally disappeared into their ship, Ves and Gloriana slowly walked towards the shuttle that would bring them away.
Later that evening, both of them took stock of the meeting in the privacy of their shared bedroom.
As both of them had changed into their pajamas, they sat on the surface of the bed and looked towards each other.
"Master Willix is a lot nicer than I thought." Gloriana chirped. "I briefly encountered some Masters during my time at Centerpoint. Most of them are a lot more preoccupied and dismissive."
Ves shrugged. "Maybe that's the reason why she took it upon herself to travel to the Kesseling System."
His girlfriend winced. "She is certainly good at her job. Some of the questions she asked still haunt me to this moment."
"That's a Master Mech Designer for you. Their depth and breadth in mech design is unimaginably greater than ours. Hiding anything related to mech design from her is an impossible task!"
With seven days to go, Ves feared that Master Willix would keep asking questions. What she managed to uncover today was already bad enough. Multiplying it by seven would almost certainly spell doom!
That was the point, though. Moira Willix found something new and unique in the Quint. Ves feared that she wouldn't leave until she deciphered all of its working!
Ves looked bummed. Aside from the increasing risk of exposure, he also had to postpone his long-awaited implant surgery. He waited for months to integrate the Archimedes Rubal in his head. To delay it by at least a week annoyed him to no end!
"At least she's handing us a million merits for our efforts." Gloriana soothed him. "Doesn't that sound great? We are one percent closer to buying our beyonder ticket!"
"Whoopie." Ves replied flatly.