This Kid
When Ves thought about rebuking Maikel for violating a lot of taboos and developing a ritual that had a high chance of killing the mech pilots of his own product, he couldn't summon the motivation to commit to this choice.
As principled as a mech designer he may be, he felt like a hypocrite if he accused Maikel for committing misdeeds that Ves already committed!
Had Maikel gone astray?
Not necessarily, at least by the standards of Ves.
The more rigid adherents to the rules and regulations imposed by the Red Association may harbor very different opinions about Maikel's work, but Ves appreciated his bold attempt to develop the man-machine conversion process.
Even if it entailed a lot of potential dangers to the mech pilots that might become exposed to it, Maikel's intentions still remained noble. He never meant his potential customers any harm, and genuinely sought to better their lives by providing them an alternate way to live.