Ves exited from Old Man Terrence's headquarters in a contemplative mood. Gavin and Nitaa quietly followed him out as he slowly sauntered back to his guarded shuttle.
Meanwhile, the mercenaries readied their mechs for moving. Though the formation of landbound and aerial mechs surrounding a single shuttle looked excessive, no one laughed at the abundance of caution. Not even the Vindar System escaped unrest.
"Did you make any gains, boss?" His assistant asked.
"A lot." Ves paused. "More than I thought, actually. Professional exchanges between mech designers can be very fruitful. All the months of traveling to the Chuko Republic has already paid off. The insights I've gained from the exchange will definitely improve my future mech designs, in particular my next work."
His perspective on neural interfaces underwent a sea of change. No longer did he consider them to be carefully shackled components that performed a vital function.
