Steady Supply

The forge had moved on from proving the dome could be built to figuring out how, exactly, they were going to stop the damn thing from moving.

Arista stood over the first of the modified floor-ring panels, notebook open beside her, while Bram examined an adamantium screw nearly as thick as her forearm.

In the days since she'd thrown him off Nettle's boat repeatedly in the name of science, two things had become clear.

First, sufficiently high Strength made deep-sea construction possible without pressure protection.

Second, Bram was apparently never going to let her forget how she'd discovered that.

"Before you say anything," Arista said, without looking up, "this experiment does not involve throwing you anywhere."

Bram slowly lowered the enormous screw.

"...Why did you feel the need to specify that?"

"Because we're learning from past mistakes."

"Are we?"

"...Some of them."

Bram turned the screw slowly in his hands. "Before you start recruiting the rest of the construction crew, how many panels can you actually make?"

Arista paused.

"...That sounded like a trap."

"It's logistics."

"Same thing."

"You already have the beginnings of a supply chain," Bram said. "Nettle's people know the process now, and the dwarven smiths can handle the adamantium frames. What you need before you start scaling the crew is an actual production rate. Enough panels coming in every week that the people you recruit have something waiting for them when they show up."

Arista stared at her notebook for a moment before recognition settled in. "...Right. Railway lesson."

"Exactly."

"Production rate first. Crew size follows production."

"Look at you, learning."

"I learn things."

"Eventually." Bram confirmed. "The public recipe means the design can be reproduced," Bram continued, "but that's not the same thing as having a production network. Right now you've got Nettle's guild trained on the process and the dwarven smiths making the adamantium frames. That's the supply chain you can actually plan around."

"...So I don't need thirty-six thousand panels sitting in a warehouse before I post a single recruitment call," Arista said slowly, the shape of it properly clicking into place. "I need a production rate that keeps pace with a construction rate, and I match the crew size to whatever that rate can actually support."

"Right. Recruit small first. Get the supply chain proven and steady. Then scale the crew up as production catches up, instead of the other way around."

Arista was already sketching the logistics, cross-referencing rough smith output against her own memory of how quickly the metro's track components had once come together once the recipe went properly public.

"...So I work from the people I actually have," Arista said, writing as she spoke. "Nettle's sixty can keep the glass work moving, and roughly twenty dwarven smiths can keep the adamantium frames coming in behind them. I track what that group can actually produce each week, then recruit enough builders to consume that output without either side sitting idle."

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She glanced over the numbers, already thinking ahead. "I don't need thirty-six thousand panels sitting in storage before construction starts. I need a production rate that keeps pace with the construction rate. Then the dome grows the same way the railway did, piece by piece, except this time I don't recruit half the world before I've figured out what to do with them."

"Progress," Bram said.

"And the crew itself?" Bram asked.

"Small to start. You, obviously, now that we know the Strength threshold is real." Arista tapped her notebook. "Then a handful of actual Strength-heavy players. I'll put out a targeted call this time, not a blanket global quest. We know what stat matters now, so I can recruit specifically for people who meet the requirement instead of just inviting anyone curious enough to show up."

"Smaller, sustainable crew," Bram said, nodding. "Matched to a production rate that won't leave anyone standing around."

"Exactly." Arista grinned, already drafting the recruitment post in her head, considerably more measured this time, considerably more patient than her usual instinct to throw the doors wide open immediately. "Guess I actually learned something from the railway after all."

"Miracles happen," Bram said, dry, though there was genuine, quiet pride underneath it.

The floor-ring panel in front of them looked noticeably different from the rest of the dome's hexagonal lattice: the same reinforced glass and adamantium frame as every other piece, but fitted along the underside with a second, sturdier mounting frame, a single reinforced hole through each side sized to accept an adamantium screw nearly as thick as Arista's forearm.

"These are the foundation panels," she explained, setting one down in front of Bram. "Everything else in the dome locks laterally, panel to panel, using the spline joints. But the ring that actually sits against the seabed needs to anchor down too, or the whole structure's just resting on silt, waiting for a strong current to shift it."

Bram picked up one of the massive screws, testing its weight, already sensing where this was headed. "...You want me to screw this into the ocean floor."

"I want to know if you can," Arista said, entirely honest about the uncertainty. "I don't know if this is actually mechanically feasible for a person to do by hand, even with your build. If it's not, tell me, and we figure out a different anchoring method, driven piles, maybe, or some kind of expanding grip mechanism instead. But I wanted to actually test the simplest option first, before assuming we need something more complicated."

Bram studied the screw, then the mounting hole, working through the physical logic of it. "...Real-world construction actually does this, doesn't it. Helical piers, I think they're called, big screw-shaped anchors, driven into soft ground to provide a stable foundation without needing to pour concrete."

"That's exactly what I was picturing, yeah. Same principle, just scaled up considerably and done by hand instead of a machine."

"...Worth trying, then." Bram flexed his grip around the screw's mounting bar, considering the angle. "Strength isn't my primary stat, but I've still got a stupid amount of it at this point. If I can handle the pressure down there, I can probably manage turning this without machinery too."

They took the prototype down together, Bram carrying the massive screw with the same easy, if awkward, confidence he'd shown holding the shield during the pressure tests, settling into position against the seabed at the test site's edge.

He planted the screw's tip against the silt, braced his stance, and began to turn.

It bit in slowly at first, the loose sediment offering minimal resistance, then caught firmer purchase as the threading dug deeper into more compacted layers beneath the surface silt. Bram kept turning, steady, methodical, muscles straining visibly against the resistance but never faltering, the screw sinking deeper with each rotation until only the mounting collar remained visible above the seabed.

[Action Complete: Anchor Screw — Secured][Structural Test: Resistance to Lateral Force — Passed]

Arista, monitoring the readout from a safe distance, let out a delighted whoop. "It worked. You actually did it!"

Bram straightened and tested the anchor with a firm push. It held rock solid, with no visible shift against the seabed. "...Huh. That was considerably easier than I expected, actually. Dense enough sediment that it bit in fast, and apparently I've got more than enough Strength to keep turning once it reaches the compacted layers."

"No machinery needed. No specialized drilling rig. Just a strong enough player, a well-designed screw, and enough patience to turn it all the way down." Arista was already sketching notes, delighted by the sheer simplicity of the solution. "That gives us a workable foundation method. Every floor-ring panel can be anchored the same way by whoever on the construction crew meets the Strength requirement."

Bram wiped sweat that didn't technically need wiping, admiring his own handiwork. "...I'm getting real tired of being the answer to every single one of your engineering questions."

"You're extremely good at it, though."

"That's not the comfort you think it is."

"...I'll take the credit either way," Arista said, grinning, already adding manual screw anchoring, confirmed feasible to her growing list of solved problems. "Okay. Foundation method works. Let's go tell Petrov we finally know what kind of construction crew we're recruiting."