Utterly Mad

They'd been told to keep in groups before, and it seemingly hadn't helped. Now the work was done in larger groups and while the safety such a plan provided was in question among some of them, the efficacy of it was undisputed. George and Catnip worked at a fever pitch, patching walls and tuning equipment. The electric generator brought up from the depths had suffered greatly from years spent submerged in standing water, and the coils of it's simple but effective motor had been corroded to uselessness. To that end, L was put on "winding duty." Catnip's term for the task of carefully unspooling the corroded copper wire and respooling a fresh length about the motors shaft. The generators starter was also an issue, but Catnip had that issue well in hand herself. It was more busywork for her than anything else. To the others though, it was something to watch. Catnip's crude improvised professionalism drew attention from the workers and assistants who came and went in there little groups.

After the big meeting, everyone had stayed in the auditorium and slept in shifts, keeping a close eye on each other. When the day came, and a cold but sunny sky with it, the fears of the night before burned away. Day also brought renewed vigor to the work crew and plans were laid out. Tenny would complete work on the wiring with prefab lines she herself had assembled over the course of the week while George would direct reinforcement of existing structures. Catnip would work on the electric generator, and Felecia would investigate into the strange death of the work crews only doctor.

---

"Could you cut the humming Miss?" Tenny asked tentatively from the railing across the large egg shaped chamber beneath the tower. Daylight streamed into the room in an oddly copious manner from the sole hole in the roof high above, and it warmed Catnip's bare scarred skin in a most pleasing manner. What she wouldn't give to have Kathrine rubbing that sunshine into her arms, and it was that thought that had Catnip humming. She had a vortex stone, safely tucked away in her tool pouch, and it seemed now that home was just a hop, a skip, and a longish jump away. And so, she hummed. Her singing was certainly something to wince at, but her humming... Kathrine had often found herself just sitting and listening to the steady lilting drone of Catnip's hum. Floyd had also done this on occasion, calling it Catnip's "inventors song" while her sister thought of it as Catnip's special magic song. It was calming, and it was probably this that brought the crews back to her while she worked throughout the day.

"Hm?" Catnip said groggily, the sun always did it to her. She could lay out under the sun for hours if she didn't have so much work to do. "Oh, humming. Humming?"

Another thing was that Catnip didn't know she was doing it. It just resonated out from the back of her throat most of the time, but she didn't really notice a note of it. She stopped for all of two minutes, and without knowing it she was off again. Deep in her work and humming the music of invention.

"Ugh..." Tenny groaned, "How inconsiderate. I can't stand that noise! Please, stop it. Some people's children, I swear..."

People were giving the electrician looks after that, little glances of distaste that Catnip felt the poor woman had done little to deserve. Instead of keeping silent and risking humming again, Catnip decided to talk instead and that didn't go over as well as she thought it would. The first thing that came to mind was a story about her knight in a modern time, Hector. Catnip got as far as, "My friend Hector is a knight and I helped him make his tank better." Before Tenny made a sound of irritable disgust and stormed out. Catnip watched her go, feeling confused but L only felt contempt.

"Go on Nip, I for one would like to hear more about New England and your family." L urged. She was unable to keep a little of the scorn out of it, and Catnip hesitated. Still, she talked a little hesitantly at first and then picked up the pace when she was sure no one else was going to storm out on her. She got part of the way through the rescue of her sister, when word came that the shattered helm was taking requests for supplies out by the barrier.