8.1 Sinker Interlude
o0O0o0O0o
Sophie stared at the huge new water tower that had just been finished in Civic. She had helped with melting concrete rubble into the base, but it was still amazing to see it after everything they had been through. Myriad had explained the process to anyone who was curious, but most of it had gone over her head. It was hard to believe that the huge tank was grown. It looked just like a normal white water tower tank.
'Although I guess that's the point.'
It was still weird to think about the fact that the city's protector was a hero from another country. And sent to the Birdcage too! That place was infamous even on the other side of the world. But a guilty part of Sophie's brain was glad about what had happened in the States, it meant that Myriad could help the people of Canberra even more, with medicine, and soap, and chocolate. They just had to drag junk into the bubbling pools that Myriad had shown them around the city and pick up whatever they wanted. It was just like going to the store, you just had to pay with a backpack full of rubble from one of the smashed houses that was being cleared.
She was still lost in thought when Wes put his hand on her shoulder, making her jump slightly.
"Hey, hon. Deep thoughts?" He was smiling at her, his hand emitting the occasional hiss of compressed air as he shifted it.
"I guess. I'm just thinking about how far we've come. I'm almost glad the Simurgh attacked. I was such a piece of shit before, stealing from jewelry stores and stuff. Now I'm actually helping people."
Wes frowned when she finished her thought. "Don't say things like that. You were in a bad place."
Sophie just nodded and leaned into his chest. "Alright. How's it coming on the fourth windmill?"
That got a laugh out of him. Sophie loved how quick Wes was to laugh, perpetually in good humor at the drop of a hat. "The windings are all done. People are still working on the molds, but I should be ready to check them over tomorrow. Will you be ready for the pour?"
"Mhmm. My part is easy. You're the one who does all the hard stuff." He just grinned in response.
They started walking away from the water tower, towards his workshop slash house for the two of them.
"I've got a lot of helping hands these days. Some normal, some special-" He squeezed her hand as they walked. "-a whole bunch of grey ones-" Sophie laughed at that, Myriad was everywhere these days. "-and even one powered by compressed air. Other than mine, I mean."
And wasn't that a surprise. One of the windmill crew had got his hand crushed during the second windmill raising and asked for a prosthetic like the one Scramjet had for himself. Well, mostly like the one that Wesley had. He probably didn't have the attachments that Wes had built for her.
They had improved their safety procedures since then, and they were getting better at raising windmills all the time. There was a reason that they had managed to raise a water tower in Civic and work on the Belco windmill in the same week. Only three more to go and they would have the city covered.
There was talk of reconnecting the grid once they were all up, to provide for more consistent power across the city, since it was rare that all of the towers would be stopped at the same time. Wes was all excited about it and had meetings with some of the build crew every week, but Sophie just let it all flow over her in a happy babble, she didn't need to know the details about how they would be balancing loads and preventing brownouts, she was just glad that Wes was happy.
Sophie grinned as she swung their arms while they walked. "Watching the tank go up was something else, eh?"
Wes nodded. "Yeah. I'm glad that Myriad found Highline. It was amazing to watch the whole thing just launch in the air like that. I don't think we could have managed with just Newton. He had a hard enough time aligning the tank when it was at the top. Not that he would ever say so."
They walked mostly in silence until they got back to the shop.
Sophie paused when she saw the shop taps. "When did Myriad say the water would be running? It would be a godsend to be able to take a proper shower again."
Wes walked over to the sink in lieu of answering. When he turned the knob, air spluttered and hissed.
"She said she was pumping and filtering it already, but they've been dry for a month and a half, so we don't know how long it will take to suss out all the problems."
After another minute, the tap gave a few asthmatic coughs, before spitting out some black, rancid water.
"Eurgh. Nasty. We're going to have to clear the pipes before any of it is usable. If you don't mind, I'll just leave the sink running. It won't clear out everything, but it will at least start on the line between here and the tower."
Sophie thought it over for a minute. "Could you do it tomorrow? Just leave it running while we're working on the windmill. That way we don't have to put up with… that." She gestured to the sink. The so called water was still nasty.
"No problem, hun. There's no rush. I'm gonna go tinker for a bit. Call me if you need anything?"
She just nodded. It wasn't what she had planned on when she moved to Canberra with her sister, but everything was working out alright.
o0O0o
It was bright and early the next day, and Scramjet and Sinker were already making their way to Belconnen to finish off the windmill. The city still lacked good transport options, but people adapted. Most long distances were done by bike sharing, and anything shorter was just walked. Not that people generally had to far to go these days. With the city divided up into mostly self sufficient neighborhoods, people were already getting used to the smaller community feel brought about when no one worked more than a few minutes away.
Plus, if any messages needed to be sent, you could always just find Myriad. She was always willing to transmit messages across town, and she was never more than a shout away. Some people found it creepy, but most of the population was thankful that she dealt with any incidents around town so quickly. Already, life was settling in to a new normal, now that anyone that was overtly crazy was along the edges of the city, right up next to the wall. There was even talk of setting up a charity to go around and give some of the crazy ones that were interested in conversation a chance to socialize with the more normal members of Canberra instead of just Myriad.
Everyone found it reassuring that if they ever went crazy, or suddenly expressed a mad desire to harm society, they would be taken care of with the best of care until they got back on their feet. Not that it was happening often anymore. Fewer and fewer cases of people going crazy were popping up as time went on. It could always just be a trick, but the general feeling was that the Simurgh had been well and truly foiled this time.
Sophie spotted activity in the new 'town square' of Belco as they were making their way in that direction. "Looks like they're getting ready for food shipment."
Indeed, people were clearing a large circle on the specially flattened ground near the middle of the neighborhood. Sophie was still proud of her part in making sure that the ground was flat and safe for use where there used to be crushed buildings. When Myriad judged the area clear, she obviously told Highline that the shipment was ready to go. Food, bottled water, and other supplies started flying in great parabolic arcs from the point on the wall where deliveries were made to the middle of the neighborhoods all over the city.
Sophie watched with amusement as children were running around and pointing, trying to guess exactly where the bundles would land before coming to a perfect stop in an instant, undisturbed by their flight. Some of the adults were pretty captivated too. It was quite a spectacle still, since they had only had the system in place for a little over two weeks now and the novelty hadn't quite worn off yet.
When the show was over and Myriad gave the all clear signal, people swarmed the boxes, organizing them into piles based on their contents and getting ready for final distribution. Most people were pretty happy with it, since whoever came up with the distribution plan was clearly a genius, but one of the failsafes was that anyone who complained was allowed to try to design a better system themselves. So far no one had managed.
As they got a little closer, Scramjet pointed to the area at the top of a hill where the wind turbine was going to go up. "Looks like the molds are done. I'll need to double check them, but if the last one was any indication, there shouldn't be any problems. We'll be ready for final assembly tomorrow."
"Hmmm." Sophie just made an agreeable sound, happy to have Wes talking about something he was so passionate about.
"What do you want to do when we're done for the day? They don't need your help with painting and gluing the halves of the blades by now, so we should have most of the day free." Asked Sophie. It went without saying that they would be spending the day together. They were still in the euphoric stage of their relationship, and Sophie wanted it to last as long as possible.
"We could go see your sister?" Suggested Wes.
Sophie pulled a face. "I guess. She's still pretty crazy. It's sort of ironic that she was always the proper one, and I was the petty thief, and now that the world has turned upside down, I'm the one that's the productive member of society and she's the one trying to climb the walls."
Wes sighed. "You know she's improving. She even called you by name last time we went-"
"Yeah. To insult me and call me mind controlled."
Wes just continued. "-and I think she's turning the corner, you know? Wouldn't you like to have her back to normal? I know it's still to early to tell, but people are starting to notice that the victims that interact with more normal people are getting better faster."
"Alright. Alright. We'll go see my crazy sister. You do know you're just confirming a stereotype right?"
Wes looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"You're going to see the 'crazy in-laws'." She snickered at her own joke, and got a laugh out of Wes.
"Well, it's settled then. We'll finish up here and then go see your sister. Does that mean you want to get married though? We haven't mentioned it, but I know you were thinking it."
Sophie was suddenly full of nerves. "Um. Kind of? I mean. Everything is calming down, but it was so crazy there for a while. I just feel like we shouldn't have to put our lives on hold, you know? And-"
Wes just put a hand on her shoulder and gave a slight squeeze. "I know what you meant, hon. You don't have to justify yourself to me. I happen to agree."
Sophie took a breath. Then another. Then she grinned. "You do realize I'm going to tell my sister about this, right?"
Wes put his arm over his face and groaned theatrically. "Is it too late to change my mind? I don't want to go see your sister today."
Sophie just laughed and ran ahead. Today was a good day.
o0O0o
The fourth windmill was up, this one a jaunty blue, and the neighbourhood had broken out into the now traditional party. In a slightly calmer, but still jubilant corner, the 'building council' was discussing their progress. Sophie wasn't technically a member, but no one cared that she was hanging off Wes's side, this was still a party after all.
"Good work people. Only two more to go until we have the city covered. Were there any questions people had before we get on with the party?" Spoke Myriad. She had to raise her voice slightly to be heard over the happy atmosphere. Someone had plugged a radio with a strong antenna in now that they had power and everyone was listening to the music and dancing.
"I was just wondering if we were going to focus on more water towers or redundant wind turbines once we had one turbine in every neighborhood." At that question, people turned to Myriad. She was the one with the plan.
"The tanks take me two weeks to grow, but I should be able to do more than one at a time now that I know that the process works. That will give us time to raise the last two turbines. I think that running water is more important than more consistent electricity, so that was the way I was leaning. Besides, it will take a few weeks to get the grid reconnected at any rate, and the extra turbines wouldn't be nearly as useful until then. Anyone have any objections?"
The was a general shaking of heads as people indicated that there were no objections.
"Alright. Now, about the grid itself. Have any of you had success finding electricians and civil engineers that would know what they're doing when dealing with the high voltage lines? I know it isn't the same skill set as a normal electrician."
One of the engineers that was part of the group raised his hand. "I went looking in Civic. I tracked down some of the city workers based on the files I found when I went through one of the public works buildings. I found a couple of them based on their addresses in the phone book. Of the ones I could find, most of them sound pretty agreeable. They know about the windmills of course, but they weren't feeling quite confident enough with the differences between that and grid power to approach us. When I explained that we were going to be reconnecting the grid, they were all for it."
Most of the group looked pretty impressed, and the engineer gave a satisfied grin, happy his work was being appreciated.
"Good. I think that was everything for now. Normal meeting place in Civic for Saturday as usual. Go enjoy the party everyone!" Myriad dismissed everyone.
The informal council broke apart, slowly wandering off to find people to talk to, or food to consume.
Sophie tugged on Westley's arm. "C'mon. Let's go dance. I haven't had a good chance to dance with someone since high school."
Wes just followed along, waving at people as they passed. It was a good day here in Canberra, things were finally starting to come together.
