Utterly Mad

For the rest of the day, Catnip helped sift rubble while the others went back to their ordinary duties. Felicia toyed with the sites computer network, a job she did herself because the projects computer specialist still hadn't shown up. Tobin was up above on the tower proper examining the dishes, while Tenny went over the wiring, carefully marking with red tape cable bundles that needed replacing. The architects gave the ok on the condition of the roof, but it was a cautious ok. Some sections didn't exactly look stable, particularly around the front of the main administration building.

"It could be nothing," Patrick said, "but all the same, that concrete has cracked a bit. I think the weather has gotten into it and stressed it. Shouldn't be a big issue though. It's got rebar running through it." Catnip thought she understood. Quinn had once explained to her how moisture would seep into cracks in the pavement and when it froze, the resulting ice would gradually widen them. it rarely rained in Pricetown, but it sometimes snowed at night. When day came, the snow would melt off. When night fell again, what was left would freeze over.

Catnip was getting ready to leave for the night when a call went up. A murmur of concern from what work force was still at the facility, gathered outside. She rushed to join them, meeting L as she ran.

"What's going on?" She asked.

L shrugged and ran after. "I don't know, something going on up the tower."

It was hard to see in the failing light, but up near the structures zenith, the crowd could see the outline of Tobin's large figure moving among the girders and rails. It was only due to the light he carried that he could be seen at all. When it suddenly dropped away, falling the length of the tower to explode in a shower of glass and sparks on the ground far below, seeing him became downright impossible.

"Why isn't he up on the walkway?" Someone shouted. Catnip could see well enough in the dark, but she couldn't see any reason for the man's erratic climb. Except maybe...

Catnip broke into a run for the tower, avoiding the broken lamp and taking the stairs two steps at a time. She couldn't be sure given the distance, but she got the impression that the cyborg wasn't alone up there, and whoever it was wasn't exactly friendly. She climbed for all she was worth and managed to reach the first of many walkways running the circumference of the tower, when the crowd below let out a sound of horror as something fell screaming past her. When she looked up, the tower was unoccupied. Below her, Tobin lay in a mangled heap among the ruins of his lamp.