It was looking like another day of dismal weather. Alton wasn't entirely sure what the residents of this area had done to warrant unending overcast and drizzle, but he was certain it must have been an unspeakably terrible atrocity. He wasn't sure why anyone would live somewhere with so little sunlight, and if the rumor about this place's suicide statistics was true, then he guessed many people couldn't. Mable's decision to move in with her parents while Alton was hiding in Oahu's jungle made financial sense, but now that they were renting a house he was seriously regretting not looking elsewhere.
San Diego couldn't be that much more expensive, could it? If that didn't work out, real estate was probably really cheap in Florida now.
He shuttered, the image of glowing eyes in the jungle overtaking him for a moment. Anywhere on the East Coast was way too close to trouble.
"Up?" Elizabeth questioned, interrupting Alton's thoughts. He focused back on the level he'd been steadying.
"Nah, this one's good." He reported. Without further prompting, the new girl twisted the wire around the bar, securing it with a now-familiar ease. Once some light prodding proved the rebar was secured she scooped another bar up, threading it into the bender while Alton stole a swig from his water bottle.
Again, Elizabeth operated the bender with ease, pulling the lever down with her arm strength alone. The mystery behind her endurance still burned in the back of Alton's mind, but in the hours they'd worked the novelty had worn off somewhat.
He lowered his water bottle, unobscuring the form of his supervisor. Austin approached, giving Alton a nod as Elizabeth finished with the other end of the rebar. Oblivious, she turned back to Alton, offering an end of the rebar, but he instead focused on the Supervisor closing behind her. He wasn't making any attempts to conceal his approach, but it seemed Elizabeth was too absorbed in her work to notice. An urge to point out the Woman's (lack of) awareness rose, but his boss spoke first.
"Everything going well?"
To her credit, Elizabeth didn't jump this time.
"Oh! Yeah, we've made a lot of progress." She turned, looking back at the steel skeleton they'd been assembling. "I think."
"You have." Austin confirmed. "However, it's almost Ten, which means I've got to turn you over to Lee." He made a show of checking his watch. "He's on the floor below us, with all the folks wearing blue helmets. They stick together, so just say you're the fresh meat Dan mentioned and they'll point you to Lee Newman, got it?"
"Aye-aye!" She replied, snapping another salute. Alton quietly added 'random salutes' to the list of downright surreal things surrounding the newcomer. Unfortunately, She was gonna get swept up by The Electricians, and he'd never have a chance to fish for answers. "Look for Lee, one of the blue helmets."
Maybe that was a good thing. Generally it was Alton's policy to keep his nose out of other people's business, but if he had to spend so much time with someone so mysterious he knew his curiosity would get the better of him.
"That's right." Austin confirmed. "Have a good day."
"Uh…" She hesitantly replied. "...you too!"
A second passed.
"Well? You've only got three minutes to get down there."
"Ah!" Comprehension dawned on the woman's face, and she turned. Setting a pace just below running, she left, shouting a haisty "Sorry!"
Once the newcomer was suitably out of earshot, Alton's Supervisor turned to face him, his face serious.
"How'd she do?" Austin asked, his voice low.
"Pretty good." Alton replied, before reconsidering the statement. "Really good. I don't know how Dan found a terminator, let alone hired one. I've never seen someone with so much endurance."
Austin chuckled, slapping Alton on the back. "It's called being young, Alton. You'll understand when you and Mable have kids."
Alton faked a chuckle in response. Elizabeth's endurance was clearly more than just being young and spry, but that wasn't a point he was going to argue.
"Anyways, you two got a lot more done than I expected, so I'll put a good word in for her with Dan. Help out Tirto and Sern in the meantime."
He nodded, hefting the remaining rebar they'd brought.
"Got it."
He'd originally been working with Sern, but once Tirto's partner stopped coming in the older man had been added to their work crew. They worked together well enough, but in the specific task of building rebar cages the third person found themselves with a lot of free time. It looked like Austin was trying to split their little group up again, a sentiment Alton could certainly agree with. It meant the process would be less convenient for him, but ultimately it also meant they'd get this job done faster.
Tirto and Sern had just gotten started on another column, the pair hunched near the ground as they leveled a rebar brace. With their backs turned, Alton thought his approach came unnoticed, but Tirto spoke up as he approached.
"Back already?"
"'Already?'" Alton echoed, laying the leftover rebar next to their stockpile and feeding a length into the bender. "It's been two hours."
"Tie it up." Tirto commanded, and after Sern's acknowledgement he continued. "Didn't feel like it. It's a lot more work with only two people."
"Of course it is." Sern added, before changing the subject. "You and the new girl got a lot done, didn't you?"
"Sure." Alton replied noncommittally, throwing his weight into the bender. The lever fell with little effort, but he still couldn't see how Elizabeth had made it look so easy.
"What's she like?"
Sern's question was tentative, hopeful. Alton stood, suppressing a sigh.
"She can bend rebar, Sern."
He knew this topic was going to come up. Unlike a lot of refugees, Sern didn't have any issue talking about his life before the Abyssals drove him to Washington. The kid had a pretty sheltered life, almost never leaving his hometown. Between School Studies and his hobbies, it was clear Sern had never found time for romance in his life, and living in a stuffy all-mens barracks clearly wasn't helping things. Alton would be very surprised if Elizabeth hadn't been on his mind for the majority of the day.
Sure, a young man like him was entitled to his thoughts, but a conversation along those lines would get old fast. Hopefully, he'd get the hint.
"That's good, but…"
Of course he hadn't.
"I don't know, Sern." Alton cut him off, handing the younger man a prepared length of rebar. "If Austin can pry her out of the hands of the electricians, then you could probably get to know her when concrete's drying on the next floor."
"She looks about the same age as you." Tirto interjected, steading the bar and tying off his end. "I bet she'd love to hear about those cartoons you like."
Sern grunted noncommittally, handing Tirto the lever while Alton got started on bending another length of rebar. The conversation died as the three got back into their work pace.
Still, Alton couldn't shake the questions that had borrowed into his mind: Just what was Elizabeth?
Not that he'd ever know. The electricians downstairs had a labor shortage as well, and he was sure that once they'd gotten their gloves on her, they wouldn't let her out of their sight.
"God damnit."
Trinitite flinched, knowing her superior's foul mood was entirely her fault. Lee Newman had greeted her amicably, and had seen her through the process of threading wire through a concrete-encased conduit, but once things started going wrong…
"You don't have to yank the wire, Elizabeth!" He turned, exasperated. "When you pull it, take your time. For Christ's sake, girl, this is the second time we've had to do this."
"Aye." The Abyssal replied, sullenly staring at the frayed end of the thick wire Lee had called the 'fish tape.' Tied to the end of the tool, the remains of the wire she'd tried to pull through the conduit sat, little more than some stretched copper and rubber.
Trinitite had thought she could handle small work like this, and she was taking her time to feed the wire through the pipe, but there was just enough resistance that she couldn't rely on gravity to guide the wire through the tube. When she was putting any effort in, however, the cable Lee had tied to the end of the fishing tape would snap when the hook caught on a bend or be yanked out of Lee's hands as she tried to guide it through, both with disastrous consequences.
"Just-" The human stated, gritting his teeth. "Just slow down, okay? Don't force anything."
She… she wasn't, though…
Deep, folding rebar had been so easy! This job was looking like a guarantee until they started asking her to work with fragile stuff. Even if everything went right from now on, there was no way Lee would put a good word in with the Fleet's Princess.
"I won't." She reaffirmed, trying to keep the hopelessness out of her voice. "Sorry."
Instead of giving an expected response, like 'Sorry isn't enough' or 'I don't care, just do it right this time,' Lee sighed, searching Trinitite's face.
"Tell you what." He said, looking away from Trinitite. "The rest of the team is working on this floor's circuit breakers, but we don't have any coolant for them."
Coolant? Why would-
"Now, the guy in charge of the Toolshed told me the site was out of Breaker Coolant this morning, so we were going to install them without the coolant and add it in next shipment, but I could swear it got resupplied only a few days ago."
The man started meandering towards the exit, motioning for Trinitite to follow. She did, and he continued with his explanation.
"Now, everyone knows Cook nabs a bit of the supplies for his black-market contacts, but he's never too brazen to steal all of something. Either he pissed off the Hells Angels and needs to sell a lot of something expensive like circuit breaker coolant, or I bet there's still a good amount lying around the worksite. I don't have time for a thorough search, but think you can take a look around for me?"
"Uh- yeah." Trinitite replied, somewhat confused. Her circuit breakers didn't need any kind of coolant, especially since, if one was tripping enough to need cooled, Trinitite would have much more serious problems, but human technology was far more advanced than what she had. Maybe it was some kind of fire suppression system.
"Great." Lee replied. "If you could get me some by twelve, I'll be very grateful. Check with the Electricians in the other building first, I think they're on floor eleven, and make sure you stay safe, alright?"
"Aye aye!" Trinitite acknowledged, forcing an enthusiastic salute. "I'll do what I can."
"That's all I can ask." Lee replied, turning away from Trinitite in a silent dismissal. The Wo-class carrier watched him leave for a second, surveying the worksite before she descended. herself.
It was a hunt, then. Trinitite hadn't participated in any seek and destroy operations, content to allow fleeing submarines to sulk as she put distance between them, but she'd heard plenty of exciting tales from Abyssals who had. This certainly wouldn't be as tense, but compared to folding metal like she'd been doing for hours? This was exhilarating.
First, she wanted to find someone else with a blue helmet. Something didn't sit right about the explanation Lee had given her. The human had been in a bit of a hurry, though, so she probably only needed Circuit Breaker Coolant re-explained by someone else so she could get a better idea of what she was looking for.
Now, it would probably be best if she could catch an electrician on the ground. Were there any blue helmets down there?
Pyrrhic's Pro Tips #1: Whenever you don't know how to start a chapter, describe the weather! It's easy and will definitely never get old, just like with conversations!
Lee is actually pretty terrible at his job, to be cutting the wire he thinks he'll need before feeding it into his conduit. The videos I watched did make the process look almost foolproof, but they certainly didn't follow US regulations and only used one wire, so it's probably more difficult than it was in what I watched. Still, I admit I don't know much about wiring a building. Hopefully I got things correct enough that I won't need to go back and rewrite that scene.
And I will, if I did screw up.