The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1812

Chapter 1812 Governance Structure

After the birth of the Golden Cat, the founding ceremony wound down. After Colonel Ark Larkinson finished his address to the new Larkinson clansmen and cut off his projection, the separation between the Larkinson Clan and the Larkinson Family became permanent.

This was not an unhappy divorce. Ves could clearly tell that many if not all of the clan members in the crowd were happy, hopeful or eager of their future.

The influence of the Golden Cat mellowed out after the newborn spiritual product grew tired and began to rest within the book.

The Larkinson Mandate still glowed with warmth, protectiveness and familiarity in his hands.

Out of all of the spiritual products he made, only the Golden Cat bore his affection. He intended to create an ancestral spirit that not only watched over the Larkinson Clan, but also himself. _{freeωebnovēl.c૦m}

He felt a little less alone now that he sensed the clear spiritual bond to the ancestral spirit.

The other Larkinsons all experienced the same sensation but to a lesser degree due to their decreased spiritual sensitivity. The norms among the Larkinsons would probably not pay conscious attention anymore as they slowly filtered out the bond as background noice.

Perhaps the expert candidates might notice something. Ves observed Jannzi and Tusa carefully and figured that Tusa was considerably more sensitive to the new bond from the way he tried to look around.

As for Jannzi, Qilanxo already claimed her. She probably wouldn't allow the Golden Cat to maintain anything more than a cursory bond. To go further would encroach on her territory!

All in all, the Golden Cat's influence on the clan was very minor for the time being. Except for making the clan members feel more warmth whenever they thought about the clan or their fellow relatives, the ancestral spirit didn't possess the power to do anything more.

Ves did not underestimate this effect, though. Positive feedback, however minor, was a powerful tool to reinforce certain kinds of attitudes or behavior.

If his new clan members experienced warmth whenever they thought well of the clan, then their mentalities would slowly reprogram in a way where they continued to seek the same reward.

Any attitude or conduct that lessened the frequency of rewards would unconsciously signal the Larkinsons that they were heading in the wrong direction, thereby encouraging them to return to the correct path!

This was something that Ves considered crucial to his nascent clan. Despite all of the pomp and circumstance which Ves used to create a lot of strong associations in the minds of his clan members, the Larkinson Clan was not as strong and established as he would like. It was barely better than a typical mercenary corps in terms of cohesion!

Therefore, Ves had to resort to stagecraft, symbolism and outright spiritual manipulation in order to reduce the gap between the Larkinson Clan and the Larkinson Family!

As long as he could manage to maintain the illusion of a strong and vibrant Larkinson Clan, his relatives would naturally fit the desired mold. Once they internalized their new identities as clansmen, then Ves did not have to exert so much effort anymore.

At that point, the illusion became real.

Ves wrapped up the ceremony by summarizing the governance structure of the Larkinson Clan.

"Three organs will govern our clan for the time to come. First, the Larkinson Assembly will be the platform where notable clan members can offer proposals to be discussed and voted upon. Any notable clan member, including elders, are eligible to join the Assembly."

The Assembly highly resembled the steering committee of the old Larkinson Family. The details and the overall roles of the two organs different. The Assembly was supposed to be a legislative body with the power to restructure the entire clan as long as enough proposals passed. The downside was that it only held its meetings a couple of times a year.

The clan needed another body to run the affairs of the clan, especially if it grew and expanded in size.

"To govern the day-to-day activities of the Larkinson Clan and enact any new proposals, we have decided to create a smaller Larkinson Executive Council that consists entirely of the most suitable Larkinsons that can lead the clan. Any issues that aren't worth bringing up to the Assembly will be dealt with by the Council. Do note that the Council always governs at the will of the Assembly."

To reinforce this relationship, the Assembly had the power to appoint or dismiss any of the nine members of the Executive Council. An assembly member could not occupy a council seat and vice versa. Aside from the position of patriarch, a concentration of power had to be avoided at all costs.

If something happened that neither the Assembly nor the Council could resolve, then another institution was needed.

"Disputes and violations are inevitable. In order to resolve these issues, the Larkinson Court is formed out of the most esteemed Larkinsons among us to mediate or pass judgement, whichever is necessary. Every high-ranking mech pilot or mech designer will automatically become a member of the Court, though they will only take part in the most severe cases."

The three organs resembled the typical division of power of states, and that was on purpose.

Ves envisioned the Larkinson Clan growing from its modest beginnings to a huge behemoth over time.

The Larkinson Clan was different from the Larkinson Family, which had always controlled its size through various means.

When Ves initially conceived of the Larkinson Clan as a nomadic clan, he studied the governance structures of spaceborn clans.

Each of them had chosen to model themselves as states, because that was who they were. The only difference between a spaceborn clan and a recognized state was that the former didn't hold any fixed territories!

In many other aspects, a spaceborn clan did not differ substantially from a state.