Professor Norman Pendleton was a respectable-looking Senior Mech Designer who was roughly as old as Professor Ventag. They were very close rivals to each other for that reason. Each of them tried to outdo the other for many decades now. Even when they successfully advanced to the rank of Senior, they never let up on each other!
Alongside their personal rivalry, the competition between the AUMD and the DCTI played a role as well. Senior Mech Designers never deigned to attend the press conferences of Apprentices unless they were their mentors or involved in the design project in some fashion.
This made Professor Pendleton's abrupt decision to attend this product reveal so noteworthy. As his image was being projected on the stage for everyone to hear and see, Ves knew that the fight had finally started in earnest.
