A Different Kind of Giant

"...I need to actually work out how these rest stops get placed," Arista said, laying out the route map and tracing the changing depth of the seabed between the ring and the Drowned Court. "The seabed gets progressively deeper the farther offshore you go. By my estimate, most of these waypoints are going to sit past three hundred meters, except the very last one near the new City of Worship."

Claire studied the depth profile, frowning slightly. "...Three hundred meters is exactly where the cloud material foam failure happened. No player's placing anything with precision at that depth, not without serious risk."

"Right. So building the structures themselves isn't the problem. We can do that at the surface. The problem's placement. Getting something heavy down to three hundred-plus meters and positioned exactly right, without anyone actually diving down there to guide it."

Bram considered the map, then glanced instinctively skyward, a familiar pattern surfacing in his memory. "...Same problem as the tube, basically. You couldn't move that into place on your own either, so you called in Thoth."

"Right, but Thoth's a flier," Arista said. "He's not built for sustained work at crushing ocean depth. This is underwater. That's not his element."

Bram thought about that for a moment, then his expression shifted. "...But it's exactly Squishy's."

Arista blinked, then grinned, the pieces clicking into place. "...Of course. He's not limited by depth pressure the way we are. He carried ten panels at once without any visible strain. He's already proven he can work patiently and with precision exactly where the job needs doing."

Claire nodded. "Build the structure at the surface, where we have the tools and safe conditions. Lower it partway using cables and ballast, getting it close to the correct depth without needing perfect precision yet. Then let Squishy handle the final placement himself, where our own limitations would otherwise stop us."

"He's not bound by the pressure limits we are," Arista said, already sketching the plan. "He can work at three hundred, four hundred meters, however deep these waypoints end up sitting. No player has to go down there at all."

Bram grinned. "...Thoth handles the lifting. Squishy handles the depths."

He glanced toward the water.

"...Different kind of giant."

Arista grinned, delighted by the symmetry. "That's exactly the shape of it. I build the structure. The cable gets it roughly into position. And then—" she glanced toward the water, toward wherever Squishy was currently drifting, likely still delighting in his own people's presence nearby "—he finishes the job with the precision Thoth needed four hundred and thirty-one calculations to achieve."

"Do you think he'd actually be willing?" Colm asked. "This isn't a small ask. Five separate sites, plus however many structures each one ends up needing, and then the final worship site on top of that."

Arista considered that, though she already suspected the answer. "...He asked us for help first, remember. He picked me up specifically because he wanted his people to have somewhere to rest. I don't think willingness is going to be the problem."

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She found him not long after, near the dome's edge, still lingering close to Selen, rings glowing warm and content.

Arista settled near the glass and explained what she needed, Selen relaying her words through the trident.

"...Big favor, this time," Arista said. "Not delivering panels. Placing entire structures, precisely, at depths we can't safely reach ourselves."

Squishy's massive eye turned toward her, patient and curious, one tentacle drifting close in familiar, easy greeting.

"...Would you help me build your people somewhere to rest?" Arista asked, looking directly at him as Selen carried the question across.

The rings across his skin pulsed bright and immediate, unmistakably enthusiastic.

Arista laughed. "...I'll take that as a yes."

At the shoreline, Arista stared at the five rest-house designs sprawled across the improvised workbench she'd built when the tube project began.

"...Next problem," she said. "Even one of these isn't going to fit on Nettle's deck once it's built. And whatever number we eventually need, carrying them out there one at a time isn't going to work."

Bram studied the sketches, each house a modest but still substantial structure, built for comfortable rest rather than quick passage. "...Too big, too many, too heavy for a single deck."

"Right. And Thoth isn't a transport plan for this either. Moving everything needed for five separate rest stops across the whole route is too much to ask him to manage."

Nettle, reviewing the sketches with her usual practical eye, tilted her head. "...What if we don't put them on a deck at all? What if we make them float themselves and just tow them?"

Arista glanced up. "...Go on."

"Run one main tow line behind the ship," Nettle said, warming to the idea. "Each house gets attached to that line separately, one after another. That way we're towing a whole string of them without stacking anything on the deck."

Bram considered it, then grinned. "...Like a train. Except on water instead of rails."

"Exactly like a train," Nettle confirmed, delighted. "The steamboat's power isn't limitless, but it should be able to pull five separate 'cars' at a time, each one an actual floating house, strung out behind it instead of piled onto one deck."

Petrov studied the sketches, mentally working through the numbers. "That could mean a sizable number of trips. Five houses per tow, maximum, however many we eventually end up needing."

Claire studied the concept, already working through the practical mechanics. "The connections to the main line would need to be sturdy, but not rigid. Each house has to be able to move independently with the swell without every shift or sudden pull transferring straight into the structure."

"Cloud material rope, probably," Arista said, already sketching the connection points. "Use it for the main line and the bridles. Give each house reinforced tow points and enough freedom to move with the swell without letting anything snap."

"And the actual buoyancy?" Colm asked.

"Temporary platforms beneath each house," Arista said. "Sealed air chambers underneath, like the ones we ended up using for the tube. Size them to keep the structures afloat during transport. Once we're at the site and Squishy's got hold of the structure, we disconnect it from the main tow line, flood the chambers gradually, and let him guide it down."

Bram studied the growing plan, picturing a whole line of houses trailing behind Nettle's familiar hull. "...So it really is a hybrid. Train logic, multiple connected cars, one engine pulling the whole line. Boat logic, floating instead of wheeled."

"That's exactly it," Arista said, grinning at the practical elegance of the combination. "We're not inventing a new transport method. We're just borrowing the useful parts of two we already understand and mashing them together."

Nettle glanced toward her ship, already mentally calculating what the stern would need. "I'll have to reinforce the rear tow points. Five buoyant structures are going to put a very different kind of load on her."

"We'll test it in stages," Arista said. "One house first. Confirm the tow line, attachment points, and buoyancy all hold under real ocean conditions, then add the rest one at a time."

Claire nodded. "Better than discovering a weak point with all five attached."

Arista looked over the finished concept again. A five-house convoy, each structure riding on its own temporary buoyancy platform, all trailing behind Nettle's steamboat in a long, ridiculous line.

"...Okay," she said, grinning. "We've built ourselves a very strange, very slow train. Let's see if it holds together."