Ramos was having mixed feelings about this. On one hand her job was a whole lot easier. Someone had already surveyed this place and they had the raw data. Not that she really needed it all since the massive bunker was a clear sign the area was stable.

On the other hand the people that had gathered the data were nowhere to be found. All Myers would tell her was that the base site they had tracked down was abandoned. She didn't like it but what was there to do? Argue with the Captain of the Onyx Guard? Emmerich might know more but she couldn't ask him because he'd been in back to back meetings for the last few days. All the later ones were with Myers and some woman she'd never seen before. Whatever they were discussing she wanted no part of. No way not when there was this much work to be done.

She had the final draft running on the projector in her office now. She'd had three other senior engineers look at the layout. Then she had set it so anyone in the DBi team could look and see if there were any errors. This was the hardest job ever. She needed to build a new capital for the COG and it needed to be done last week.

They had combined everything they could into this. All the lessons from the earliest recorded cites on Sera to the work on Settlement 6. They had triple redundancy in the utility's power, communications, water etc. An integrated transportation network that would allow carts to bring cargo across the city. A rapid transit network for people to use to move around. Underground spaces that could be retooled to serve different industries. The process would break down the bunker around it as it went and end with a near totally self-sufficient city. A careful balance of residential, commercial and multi use spaces. Functional but quite pleasant to look at.

She got a notification on her terminal from the team handling the defence systems integration. Ramos downloaded the attachment and added the layer to the design.

A wall was the clearest addition. Several stories high, thick enough it could withstand any attack and encircling the whole thing. Unlike New Ephyra there were no copper sections designed to make it look nice. Instead it was a mass of metal and concrete. Blunt, practical and efficient, not so easy on the eyes.

There were fortified gatehouses on any access point. Train tracks and roads would lead into stations but not directly into the city. Several fortified bases were built into the wall and connected by their own cart network. It could link to the city to allow troops to move from one side to the other. Landing pads for helicopters were mounted at key points. Not to be limited in case they were unable to call in air support the wall had transit lanes wide enough for trucks to use driving four wide.

'Little overboard guys but I love the enthusiasm.' Ramos said. The costs in material alone would mean that the wall was going to take some time.

Then the weapon placements started to load, and kept loading. The projection flickered and cut off before loading again as it tried to show the new additions.

'Oh come on. How much do you think we need?' Ramos sighed.

Pillboxes with automated guns. Pillboxes with manual guns. Artilery, rocket and mortar emplacements with enough ammo to fire for days. Missile systems that could hit targets beyond the horizon. Anti missile systems to shoot down enemy missiles coming over the horizon. A system of networked AA guns that could cover the city in an umbrella of fire. Railguns with overlapped fire zones that were able to annihilate anything approaching the walls.

Finally the icons stopped loading. The city now looked like some kind of stronghold with a town built inside it. Ramos could feel her blood pressure rising just looking at it all. New Ephyra had to divert power from its hydroelectric dam to power the Railguns and even then the charge time was a few minutes. How were they meant to power all of this? What could she remove and what did she need to keep? She couldn't go back to the team or they would just keep going back and forth.

She called O'Connor she needed a military outlook on this. He accepted the call from his office.
'Ramos? Been a while since we spoke last. What can I do for you?' O'Connor said.
'I just got a draft from the team doing the city defences. I wanted you to have a look.' Ramos said.
'Sure I have a couple of minutes.'
Ramos linked the file to the meeting and O'Connor opened it on his side.

'Holy…' O'Connor mumbled.
'Yeah it's a bit much.' Ramos said. Scratching her head.
'A bit much doesn't cut it. The AA system alone would let you walk to the ground on flak shards.'
'So you think we can leave some out.' Ramos said hopefully.
'Leave some out? This needs to be cleared down.' O'Connor said starting to send over edits.
'I was kind of worried you would want more.' Ramos said. Watching as icons were changed to denied or mounting only.
'There is a limit to what we can use. Having that crazy amount of ordinance seems good but maintenance and upkeep will be a nightmare. Better to nip it in the bud now. We can add more stuff but I'm right in thinking we might want to build around this thing someday right?'
Ramos nodded. 'Yeah expansion is going to happen at some point. Probably in stages.'
'Okay then we can keep some stuff. But anything that will take too long to remove if the wall needs to come down is a no go. Small stuff we can reposition is better than large targets anyway.'

They worked for a while removing, adjusting and tweaking the design. Ramos was able to sort the engineering side and O'Connor helped pick what was needed from what was wanted. At the end they had a much more moderate design. It was still a formidable defence but no-longer did it seem like a fortress with a city stuck under it.

'Better, much much, better.' Ramos said.
'That's the problem these days. You ask for a defence. They work like it's the fall of Jacinto. Their hearts are in the right place though.' O'Connor said.
'Thanks for the help. I needed a military mind for this.' Ramos said.
'Sometimes knowing what you need to do the job is more important than having everything. I don't want to imagine how much ammo Gears would need if we let their armour have more attachment points.' O'Connor said. Chuckling softly at the thought.
'Don't I still get people saying they could carry more Dropshot charges if they just use a backpack.' Ramos said. Joining in with her own laughter.
'You mean the ones that you use in demolition. They want to have more explosives on them? Are they nuts? How did they think you would approve that?' O'Connor said. His laughter rose.
'We're on a totally different planet. I guess they thought the safety regs stopped at Sera's orbit.' Ramos said. Her laughter rose to match O'Connor's.
'Regs are universal. Doesn't matter where we are, we will always have regs.' O'Connor said. Starting to calm down.
'Yeah we won't we. Still nice to know some things just don't change.' Ramos said. Catching her breath.

'Thanks for the laugh. Not often I have a good laugh.' O'Connor said.
'You're welcome. If I get any more crazy designs I'll give you a call.' Ramos said.
'Deal. If you need the engineer corps just ask. Not like gears ever tire of digging trenches themselves.'
'I'll keep it in mind.' Ramos said. Ending the call.
She sighed and looked at the refined design. Not bad for a grunt. She thought.

Her terminal chimed with another notification. She looked at the sender. The Ministry of Employment? Must be the new personnel they were getting to help with some of the lighter work. She checked the list. A lot of people with manual labour as their prior work skill. They would be helpful for now but once DeeBee production picked up they would need to be retrained. Like O'Connor had said. Regs were regs and anything they could automate would be.

Zane put the cleaned plates on the drying rack. The small kitchen space was modest but had everything you needed. The same could be said for their current home. He had been expecting something like it but nothing quite this clean.

There was a small dining area connected to the kitchen. Two nice bedrooms, one for him and one for Erwin. A bathroom with a shower, toilet and sink. Finally a small living room with a couch. It was small but not cramped.

He compared it to the quarters the SDC had given him. One long room with a kitchen near the door. A single bedroom with enough room to fit the bed a little else. Erwin's old room was a converted closet. They had lost the place right after Ninlil had died.

Remembering her made him stop for a moment. So much lost and all because they hadn't had the time to reinforce the tunnel ceiling. Zane sighed as he recalled Ninlil's smile and energy. She had kept him going even when times were hard.

He hadn't been himself after she passed. He'd tried to keep going for Erwin but he just felt drained. Once his productivity dipped the company fired him. A guard and a manager had turned up and told him to clear his accommodation and be on the next transport back to Mantel. He'd had to pack what little they had with the two looming over him.

He had felt so ashamed waking Erwin to that. Then being marched out and dumped on the transport back. No one had objected. No one else could risk their jobs. He had known that. He hadn't spoken out when others were led away either.

He was torn out of his melancholy by an alarm on his scroll. He'd lost track of time. Erwin was starting classes today and he was meant to be on his first day of work.

He'd checked in with the COG's Ministry of Employment. They seemed uneasy about finding him a job as a labourer. But had come back with something. They needed work done dismantling some old buildings.

'Erwin are you ready? I need to leave for work.' Zane called.
'Ready dad. Am I really going to a new school?' Erwin said. Coming out from his room.
'Well sort of. The COG said you were getting lessons at the community centre. At least until they can build a proper school. But still you still have to be on your best behaviour okay?' Zane said. Kneeling down and adjusting Erwin's shirt collar.
'I know. I promise.' Erwin said. Smiling wide.

The building they were living in had a mix of humans both from Sera and Remnant and faunus living together. It was unusual. Normally faunus were pushed out to the edges of a place near to the walls. But their building was sort of in the middle of the camp. There were a few residential buildings around a community centre. A pattern it seemed from what he'd seen on a map.

Zane took Erwin by the hand leading him to the community centre. There was a teacher out front greeting the students. He held out a hand to Zane and introduced himself.
'Adam Wallace. I'm the teacher for the centre until we can get a school running.'
'Zane Serac and this is Erwin, my son.' Zane said. Shaking the offered hand. 'Go ahead and say hello Erwin.'
Erwin peaked out from behind Zane. 'Hello Mr. Wallace.'
'He's a little shy sometimes.' Zane said.
'Ah not to worry. It's a new place with new faces. But I'm sure he'll settle in.' Wallace said with a confident smile.

Wallace greeted a few more students and parents before guiding the group in together. Zane and Erwin waved to each other until the doors closed.

After that Zane walked to the meeting point. There was a truck with benches fitted waiting and he gave his name as he boarded. There was a few minutes wait then the truck headed off. They left the camp and drove for a few minutes. Zane looked at the others. It was a rough mix of serans, humans and faunus again. Was that just coincidence or planned?

Zane had expected to be taken right to the site. But instead they were dropped off outside a small compound of modular buildings. A Manager called them into one.

Inside was a row of seats and a screen. They were seated and the manager introduced himself as Edwin Ruiz. He then gave a health and safety briefing about the site and their job. They were helping break up an old COG bunker. The dangerous work was being done by the COG androids or military. Their job was helping break down the interior. Furniture, pipes, cables and anything else that could be stripped out.

All and all it was strange. Most of them who had done this sort of thing before were used to just being told to get to work. After the briefing they were brought to a storage building. Inside was a small counter with shelves of equipment. The Manager stepped up to the counter and turned to face them.

'You will all be issued with PPE. If there are any issues with the fit, tell me or one of the others. Should your kit be damaged during work.' Ruiz said.
Here it comes. Zane and the others thought.
'Stop work and alert me or a team leader. You'll be issued with a replacement before you resume working.' Ruiz finished.
'How much will it cost?' One of the Faunus with Zane called.
'How much does what cost?' Ruiz asked, looking confused.
'The replacements.' Another Faunus added.
'Doesn't matter. The company pays.' Ruiz said.
'Wait what? Why should we believe that? There's got to be a catch.' A third called.
'Yeah the catch is DBi is not fighting the Ministries of Employment or Heath and Wellness. You get hurt because we skimped, we get hammered. So no one works without their equipment being in good order.' Ruiz said firmly.

There were a few mumbles from the group before they settled and started drawing off their equipment. Zane was surprised when he was given a set of work trousers already made to accommodate a tail. Normally he would have had to cut a hole and then sew something to stop debris catching his tail.

They were led to a third building that served as showers and a changing room. All had to get changed into their new equipment. Zane got out of his patched clothes from Mantle and into the new work gear. The material was tough but not rough. Even his tail didn't feel constricted or limited.

'This is so weird.' A dog faunus said. As they stepped out of the stalls examining his own tail in its protective covering.
'I know. Never had a helmet I didn't need to punch my own ear holes in.' A bear faunus said. As she adjusted a hard hat that had covers for her ears.
They were all issued with lockers and stowed their personal effects inside.

'Once you are all set we can start getting you certified.' Ruiz called. Leading them to a row of tables.
On each one was a set of tools both powered and hand. They were each run through how to use them. Most were the same as the ones they had used before. A screwdriver couldn't change that much between worlds it seemed.

'I know a lot of you will be able to undo a screw without stabbing yourselves.' Ruiz said to a few chuckles. 'But this is just the process for new staff. So sadly you'll need to humour us.'

Convinced they were not likely to injure themselves they were finally loaded back into another truck and taken to the bunker proper. Zane and the others were surprised at the size of the structure. It was massive even if this was just one part it was still huge. The shadow it cast covered their work area.

'Okay each of you will get a team leader. It's mostly just pulling out stuff and sorting it into the bins over there.' The manager said. Pointing to the containers around the yard. Each was labelled with its material be it metal, plastic or anything else they expected to find.

They were broken up into teams, once again mixed between races, and began to enter the structure. All the team leaders were seran, but they didn't seem to prefer their own people. Tasks and orders were given out pretty fairly. It was hard work but not dangerous. Zane was tired but happy as they worked. He'd done quite a bit during his time on Remnant but this was simple honest work. An alarm went off and the team leader called for a break.

They were led back to the outside where a small cantine served food and drink both hot and cold. The teams queued up for their food. The team leaders broke off to speak with Ruiz. It seemed rather normal all things considered. Then a human cut in front of a badger faunus. Zane had seen them both earlier and recalled their name tags. The human was Shane and the badger faunus was Gran.

'Hey line starts back there.' Gran said. Gabbing a clawed thumb over his shoulder.
'Too bad for you fur ball. I'm hungry. So can it.' Shane said. Refusing to budge.
'We're all hungry so just line up like everyone else.' Gran said.
'Some of us civilised people need to eat. You can have the scraps when I'm done.' Shane said.
'Now you li-' Gran said. Grabbing the man and turning him round.
Shane promptly cried out in pain and threw himself to the ground.
'What the?' Gran said. Looking at the man shouting in pain.

Ruiz came running over at the sound.
'What the hell is this?' He shouted looking at the sight of Shane writhing on the floor and the badger faunus standing over him.
'He went nuts and attacked me!' Shane shouted.
'No I didn't. He cut in line. I just grabbed his shoulder.' Gran said terrified.
'He's lying. Look at those claws. He could have gutted me.' Shane cried.
'First of all I'm not blind Shane. Your shoulder is fine since you're resting on it. Second of all this place is rigged with CCTV. I'm guessing you know that that is?' Ruiz said. Folding his arms.
'I. Um.' Shane said. Looking around suddenly, not in pain.
'Both of you in my office. Now!' Ruiz said, pointing to the small structure.

Both Shane and Gran followed Ruiz inside. A few minutes later two androids in yellow marched in and came out with Shane between them. They loaded him into a car and then drove off. Gran came back to the others and sat down. He seemed a little on edge but otherwise fine.

They all ate in silence then finished the latter part of the shift. It was quiet with them all on edge given what had happened. More than a few had seen the same thing but with the faunus being escorted away.

They finished up and headed back to the changing area. They got washed and changed. As he walked to his locker Zane saw that Shane's had been emptied and the name section cleared. They were taken back to the briefing room with Ruiz at the front.

'I'm sorry for keeping you all like this but I wanted to be frank.' Ruiz said, looking around the room. 'That little display today was unacceptable. Now I don't know the background to this whole situation. But I do know I'm not letting that on my site. You might not be COG but with the Allfathers as my witness this site is working under the virtues they passed down.'

Ruiz rested his hands on the podium before continuing. 'Shane will not be returning tomorrow he's been let go. If anyone else wants to be a performance artist they are free to join him. Because I don't have time for that crap. If anyone else gets given any kind of trouble let me or a team leader know. That sort of behaviour does not happen here. Any questions?'

No one spoke up, just a few nods and grunts of agreement. Ruiz let them go and everyone boarded the trucks back to the camp. It was quiet on the way back. The serans seemed surprised at the event. The humans seemed a little on edge. The faunus weren't sure what had happened.

Once they got back to the camp Zane walked over and tapped Gran on the shoulder. Gran spun round but relaxed when he saw Zane.

'What happened back there?' Zane asked.
'Ruiz pulled up the CCTV and showed it to us.' Gran said. 'He told Shane he could say sorry to me and he would only get a verbal warning.'
'And?'
'Shane said he wasn't going to apologise for trying to protect himself.' Gran said with a shrug.
'That's a load of trash. You didn't do anything. Hell, he tried to provoke you.'
'Ruiz said the same. He also said that was Shane's second strike. And he was getting a written warning unless he said sorry and promised that would never happen again.'
'How did Shane respond to that?' Zane asked.
Gran snorted. 'He called Ruiz an animal loving sod and told him he wanted to report me for assault.'
'Ah.'
'Ruiz said that was his last chance. Then two androids turned up and marched Shane out. Ruiz said Shane won't be back and for me to go get something to eat.'
'That's nuts.' Zane said, looking around. 'These people are crazy.'
'I agree. But if that's their kind of crazy I could get used to it.'
'Amen brother.' Zane said. Patting Gran on the back.

Zane headed back to the community centre. Erwin was waiting with Wallace along with some other students.

'Sorry got held up.' Zane said as he walked over.
'Don't worry it happens.' Wallace said smiling.
Zane noticed Erwin was wearing a small satchel now.

'Where did you get that Erwin?' Zane asked.
'Mr. Wallace gave us these. They have pens, pencils, notebooks and all kinds of stuff inside.' Erwin said. Bounding on the tips of his toes.
'Oh um. Is that right?' Zane said. Looking at Wallace. Was this a gift or a cost he'd missed?

Wallace just nodded. 'Don't worry school supplies are issued to all students. They're his to keep.'
'Ah um. Thank you.' Zane said. Nodding shyly, so it wasn't charity but he felt strange taking it all the same.
'No problem. Erwin was a joy. I look forward to seeing him tomorrow.' Wallace said.

They said goodbye and walked back to their building. Erwin was chattering excitedly about his day. Zane hadn't seen his son this happy in a while. It was nice he made some dinner and they ate. He told Erwin about the massive building he was working on. His son's eyes were full of wonder as spoke about the scale of it. After dinner Erwin played with his new drawing book for a while and Zane headed into his bedroom.

He walked to the wardrobe and unlocked the bag pulling out the tool box. He popped the latches and then opened it. The tool was one he'd used for years in the mines. It had been his fathers and using it saved on the tool lease he had to pay the SDC. He reached up and pulled away part of the padding on the lid.

Nestled inside the hidden space was a scroll that was more tape than plastic. But it was set up to use the harder to track parts of the CCT network. He pulled it out and powered it up. This was a part of his old life but he wanted to see what was being said.

He opened the Howler app. It allowed hidden chatrooms to be created and used so people could communicate only using an alias. It had been made by the White Fang to arrange protests but was quickly used by less desirable users. Needless to say, being caught with it was a quick way to get put behind bars.

He signed in with his old handle. SturmLeopard. Childish but he hadn't thought that far ahead when he made it. He spotted a local chat room with the tags for Faunus discussion and joined. It looked like no one else had the same name. That was lucky, otherwise he'd be SturmLeopard2 or god only knows what.

WiseBadger: No joke they marched the guy off site like that. Boss gave him three chances then boom he's gone.
SwiftHorn: I call BS no way humans would just turn on one of their own like that.
LynxRunner: It's true. Same thing here. Some new guy joined. First day he found out his team leader was a faunus. He walked right up to the boss and said he'd never work with a fanus team leader. Boss slapped him down like the KV from old times.
FancyMacaw: I dig these guys. No one crosses the street to avoid me. Never been stopped except for directions. I have claws they can see a mile off but they don't care about it. Never had a guy shake my hand so eagerly.
TRUBLUD: You're all just being deceived. It's all just some act. They just want us to think they're nice. I bet those guys were plants. The serans just fear the fang getting to them again.
LynxRunner: Calm down Khan doesn't hang out here no need to prattle on. We're just talking about our experiences.
WiseBadger: Yeah none of the serans I meet even muttered about the fang. They don't care about who we are or what we look like.
TRUBLUD: You just can't see it. They'll make a deal with the SDC. They'll have us all back under the Schnee whip the moment they wave the Lien.
FancyMacaw: Go polish Taurus blade you nut. Serans don't even use Lien. We get paid in dollars for the gods sake.
SwiftHorn: Can we stay on track?

Zane closed the app and powered down the modded scroll. He put it back in its hiding place and locked it back away. He walked back to see Erwin drawing a picture at the table. It was the two of them riding in one of the COG airships. Erwin turned to look at him.

'Are we going to stay here dad?' Erwin asked.
'Yeah we are. Menagerie isn't going anywhere.' Zane said smiling.