But the results are worth it. The new apartments 'school-side' of the portal (which she's been calling the Link recently to not confuse issues with the apparently semi-regular appearances of dimensional rifts) have been finished, furnished and hosting tenants. The technical college courses are ready to go and have at least somewhat decent sign-ups from varying backgrounds. She still has to adjust the course-work but hopefully soon the first class of people will be learning not just handiwork skills but the technically pertinent parts of her hypertech engineering. Not only would it mean less maintenance work for her but more importantly, it'll hopefully give the residents of Mutant Town the control of their own system and not feel like they're becoming increasingly dependent on arcane knowledge hoarded by her.
Meanwhile said system had been expanded steadily, spreading out from the community center. (Re)planting trees to accompany the first set of algae tanks, capturing carbon and sunlight to produce a steady trickle of biomass suitable for processing into cheap supplementary food. Finding decent ways to prepare it was still a work in progress however. The rapid overnight deployment of the utilities system went perfectly. Originating from the community center she'd sunk a pillar down past existing modern structures and into the old sewage layers. Hyper-specialized nanites then proceeded to spread out to assemble water, electricity and fiberoptics pipes, based on not only population and census data but working with the map she and Will developed based on the spread of the Musical Wave. It had inadvertently given her an anonymized map of where people congregated and spend a lot of their time and thus allowed her to establish the main 'arteries' and nodes of her new utilities along those spots. Rooftops had been converted into community spaces and gardens, solar panels that gathered rain-water dotted a number of roofs; houses and homes were being renovated.
She'd done her best to try and keep the public appraised of her work every step of the way, leaning heavily on Lisette to translate her excited listing of specs into a clearer message. 'Organically spreading nanite-driven utilities usurping existing city connections' became 'Free water and internet access automatically connected to your homes'. She'd have to make sure peoples' rents reflected the decrease in costs. The various owners of the buildings were another matter that would need addressing eventually. Very few people actually owned their place of residence and unweaving the stranglehold of landlords would take some doing.
And so Ashlie had settled into a kind of routine.
Monday, Up at 5 am, clear paperwork and urgent matters, check the Point systems. 7 am, wake Heather, breakfast, see her off to school. 8 am, preparing courses, finish admin work prepped by Will, coordinate with various contractors. 10am off to Mutant Town to swing by Kneadful Creations to bring Lisette baked goods and a drink, discuss anything that needs discussing, then off to work on one of the Mutant Town projects personally to connect with residents. 1 pm lunch in Mutant Town or at home if Heather has no afternoon classes. 2 pm working with X-Corp, paperwork, addressing any X-Men related issues, paperwork, deal with governmental agencies or interferences, paperwork, monitor potential threats, prepare to salvage Thrax' ship, adjust some of her assets and portfolios, source rare earth minerals and more exotic materials. Brief dinner interlude at 6 pm with Heather, help with homework or take her to the Point to tinker with things, perhaps a movie. Then it's time to do the heavy science. Check papers flagged for 'quantum mechanics', 'topology' or 'fieldwave', work on her own equations while assembling things, devise experimental designs, prototype ideas. Go to bed somewhere between 1 and 3 am to dream of
Repeat.
Despite the coffees' and nanites' best efforts, she looks tired, heavy-lidded eyes and hints of bags beneath them.
