Late Regret

An exchange between two equal mech designers was a time-honored tradition in the mech industry.

Mech designers were more than capable of innovating by themselves. Yet they did not work in a vacuum, but were part of an immense community of fellow peers.

All of those mech designers shared a lot in common as they each studied many of the same scientific subjects. Yet these mech designers also diverged heavily when it came to their specialties.

Most of the time, mech designers weren't able or willing to share their exclusive insights with other mech designers. Why should they help out a competitor design better mechs by imparting them with their valuable insights?

Information was power.

Power had a price.

Therefore, information possessed intrinsic value.