Chapter 18

Having taken care of the colony's immediate needs, he tried to think of any ways he could do anything else. While Jacob considered these issues, he continued to help around the graphene printer. Putting up the solar panels each time they were ready.

It became a very tiring and repetitive process as the printer sped up. However, Jacob was a fast learner, he also kept increasing his pace. Not as fast as Sophia, of course.

By late afternoon, the energy production had increased, the printer could now produce at full power. Cutting the production time of panels down to 5 minutes. It was far faster than it was 24 hours ago.

At this rate it took 45 minutes to make what took them a day of sunlight yesterday.

Wiping the sweat off his brow, Jacob was tired. Having to get Sophia to help him with increasing the wire layout for more panels.

While the panels were just sitting on the ground. Sophia had ensured Jacob and the others who doubted her they were waterproof.

The graphene's properties allowed it to be submerged but still make electrical connections against the corresponding graphene materials and copper alloys. This aside, Jacob still hoped they could create some basic solar array frames to hold up the panels and protect them a little from the elements. Also giving them a more efficient view of the sun.

"How are you feeling?" He looked over and asked her as she finished a second wire line to the batteries for a full sized second array. Not wanting to overload the current copper wiring in the first array.

"Honestly, I'm friggen tired! That issue earlier on was a bummer, but I thought about it for a while, and I feel much better. I simply had never hurt another human like that before. Tough business and brutally honest research feedback is one thing, but physical harm is a line I never thought I'd cross."

"I also never thought I would shoot someone. Yet here we are, life likes to throw curveballs..." Jacob said, trying to reason with what happened.

She looked at him. "Your right, and what you said earlier helped speed it up, thanks! But now I would love to get a good rest and hot shower in ... I am definitely going to design a water heater ASAP."

**

As they had worked in the storage facility, the entire colony had seen a flash of activity and movement. Everywhere you looked, you would see blue holograms guiding people and others banging hammers beside a blue copy of themselves. The AI really changed how humans would work from now on.

Despite a few work injuries and minor issues with the new colonists, most people were careful to listen to the AI's advice and their superiors. The trees had been cut back by as much as 10 meters in some areas, though there were still spots that needed to be cleared, which touched the town.

During the day, Dr. Amrit had moved his clinic to the second floor of the storage facility. Being open and spacious but protected from the elements was a luxury right now. Since they were not using any floors, Jacob had no issues approving it.

Electric saws were used to cut into the trees, but they couldn't be spared to chop them into smaller pieces. Everyone wanted the darkness of the forest to be pushed further away, especially those with apartments on the edge of the colony.

This was made even harder by the tree's unique structure. The darkness was caused by branches intertwining in multiple layers. They were forced to cut multiple trees in rows before the weight became too much for the branches supporting them.

In the square, you could see a rudimentary fence set up, very well made. It looked much like a picket fence. However, the wood still had natural imperfections, and could not be painted or stained for obvious reasons. The colour of the wood is like oak.

Sophia had made graphene hand saws. These cut through wood like butter would stay sharp far longer than old saws on earth.

Thanks to this, Ingred could cut the wood much more precisely, even if they had to do it by hand.

As soon as the first trees fell, the carpenters had jumped on them like ants on honey.

The hard wood was no match against the super material known as graphene. It took them an hour to set up the first parts of the fence. And as soon as the first cart arrived from the welders. They could send large amounts of wood stakes and boards to the square with less energy and time wasted.

The cart was basic, with two wheels being the only parts that are made of graphene. A specific type that was flexible but retained its original shape, one version Sophia had researched on earth.

It was small enough to load up a couple hundred pounds of wood. But not too much so that the person pushing the wheelbarrow like cart forward could still do so reasonably. The colony was not too large, so this was not an issue.

The only issue was the wall around the colony was much too large to do in a single day, especially with no heavy machinery. They had only completed laying the first parts of a few sections, not even reaching your chest.

By the end of the day, the colony was noticeably different. Wood chips were everywhere, half constructed outhouses and a wall was under development. One could even see the patches of dirt that the farmers were tiling to experiment with seed growth.

**

It was getting darker outside; the sun was setting into the mountains, creating a fantastic view for the colonists who were at the right angles to notice. The sky glowed an alien purple of soft light.

Jacob looked around the facility as the work slowed down. People had started to turn in for the day. One could tell by the slower foot traffic coming in and out of the storage facility. It may also be due to them making most of the hand tools anyone had asked for.

Sophia's team was still hard at it. They had learned the ins and outs of the metal printers. Only needing Sophia for complex design problems.

They even had people manually powering the metal printers to keep printing sheet metal for the next day. All the designs so far used two universal sizes except special corners and cuts. Which were easy enough to produce when needed.

The AI simply sending the measurements to the team, producing metal at that given movement. Which would then be added to a delivery which would be guided by the users ai in an efficient route.

Sophia was currently designing her motor from the other day, still doing her best to come up with a new design to use graphene.

The graphene printer had slowed down as the daylight lessened and the batteries ran out of buffer charge. Finally, they shut it down for the evening to have a minor charge built up in the batteries.

Jacob let it make its final solar panel, asking Genesis to power the machine down when finished. He was finishing setting up the panel. Just as Diego walked in with Akiko, carrying a few bowls of food.

Akiko bowed slightly and spoke up. "Sophia, Jacob. It's time to take a break. Come sit down and relax for a few minutes." Her voice was calm, but there was also a way she said it that didn't give room for argument.

She looked at the other workers. "Last rations for the day are being made. You all should grab a bowl as well." With her words, the workers all got up after finishing their task and shuffled out of the building. The guard escorted the manual labourers as well to get rations.

After the building's main floor was empty, they sat down in a square, talking about the day. Near all the boxes of materials.

"So, Jacob, how did today go? I think you dealt with things very well." Akiko said with a smile.

Jacob looked at her and frowned. "I am not sure I could ever say it went 'well'. People died today."

Sophia's face darkened, and Diego frowned. However, Akiko smiled.

"I know things are not going like on earth. But the reality of our situation means people will die. I'm finding that it's my job to make sure those left can deal with it. Starting with you." Akiko said with determination.

"My grandparents taught me something about life. When I was younger, my parents died. I grew up with my mom's parents instead. When I first came there, I was sad and wouldn't leave my room. Until my grandpa came in and told me a something to help me feel better." She paused and took a little breath.

"My grandpa said that death was a natural part of life. Eventually, it came for all living beings. Sometimes earlier than it should."

"But what death cannot take from us is the memories and experiences those people gave us. The memory of their existence. As the living, we have the power to remember those we lost and keep their spirit alive."

"As a leader, you will experience this more than anyone. Your job is to make sure they did not die for nothing." Akiko finished her speech with a smile and teary eyes.

Sitting still for a moment, Jacob let a tear down his cheek and looked at the three. "I just don't want these deaths to become numbers to me. How can I make their sacrifices worth it?"

"By ensuring the rest of us have a fut ..." Sophia was cut off from her part of the inspirational speech.

Their AI orbs had lit up and turned red.

"Sir, the colony is under attack!"