Raven entered the bunker, her footsteps echoing against the concrete floor as Momma Jean led the way to the generator. The air inside the bunker was damp and humid, as the scent of rust and mildew lingered in the air. Momma Jean looked at Raven, her expression a blend of respect and nervousness.
"I'll show you to the power generators, Raven." Momma Jean said, then continued saying. "We've scavenged as many parts as we can from the rest of the base for your repairs, but… as you have already said, this is your area of expertise, not ours."
Alara followed silently behind Raven, her curious eyes taking in every detail of the concrete hallways. Alara studied the faded graffiti on the walls, a lot of it already halfway washed off by the women from Momma Jean's group. Here and there, images of spray paint still showed local gang symbols, slowly being scrubbed away under Momma Jean's orders.
Momma Jean caught Alara's curious gaze but wisely chose to say nothing. She recognized this woman as the same "zombie" she saw with Raven before at the mall. The fact that Alara now moves with such humanity and intelligence made her gut twist with nervousness, but she kept quiet about it, feeling that this choice may have just saved her own life. Sometimes, silence is the best policy.
Seeing Alara's curiosity about the bunker, Momma Jean said. "We're working on cleaning this place up. It looks like the local gangs used this place for dumping trash and hiding out from the school truant officers. There's a lot to fix before it's livable and sanitary, but the basics necessities are all here. We just need more clothing and a few supplies. There's even an underground hydroponics farm with good soil and intact growing lights. We can grow some fruits and vegetables down here to eat when the power comes back online."
Raven nodded her head, hearing this. She glanced over at Alara, then turned back to Momma Jean and said to her. "This is my girlfriend and future wife, Alara. If she asks you something or gives you an order, consider it coming from me. She's my second-in-command."
Momma Jean's eyes widened slightly, but she quickly nodded her head in agreement. "You're the boss. Whatever you say goes, Raven."
Raven nodded her, head in approval. They finally arrived at the underground hydroelectric generator room. The heavy metal doors squeaked as they pushed to doors open, revealing a giant concrete room lined with machinery that looks like it has not been touched in decades.
Raven's eyes scanned every detail of the room. The generator is a Mark 8 Electrolight Hydroelectric Generator, once popular in the late 1970s and 80s, before the government shifted to underground nuclear generators. Stepping closer to the generator, Raven ran her fingers along the corroded turbine casing, assessing the damage throughout the generator with her mind using her Technomancer powers.
Raven began to plan the repairs in her mind: The turbines need immediate repair. With her metal manipulation abilities, she can handle them with ease. As for the submerged components, her spider drone can patch them with only a few modifications.
She also thought about other things the base will need: A tunnel boring machine would be necessary for expanding the base and securing the tunnels with concrete reinforcement. Additional AI-powered maintenance drones can handle this work since they are not under her direct control, they would not count towards her system limit of four drones. Many such drones are already at work inside Sanctuary, managing mundane tasks. Creating a few more for tunnel work would be easy enough.
Satisfied with her plans, Raven turned to Momma Jean, and said. "You can leave now. Alara and I will handle things from here. We will come find you when we're done here so we can work on the water filtration system next, then the hydroponics farm after that. After the repairs, you won't need much contact with the outside world for now, at least."
Momma Jean nodded quickly. "Okay, no problem,"
She turned and left the room without another word, already rehearsing in her mind how she needs to warn the other women here not to mention Alara being a zombie. One slip of the mouth could cost them their place here or even their lives."
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