The class was in full swing. Half a dozen men and women in various uniforms with different patches and insignias sat in the crappy prefabbed plastic chairs listening to Jessica lecture on the merits of the different paths to mana utilization. Two other instructors with a more skills-heavy focus helped as best they could, but it was clear they knew little about magic or mana manipulation.

“You’re sure you heard something? Could it have just been an animal?” Major Dawson asked as he and Isaka stood at the back of the large classroom, observing.

“It could have been, but whatever it was started too close-up. Almost right on top of me. It didn’t move again until I was further away. Most animals I’ve encountered, once they run, they keep running until they find a good place to bed down and hide. This didn’t feel like that. Then there is the sound I heard. It was definitely some kind of metal or rock hitting rock. It almost sounded like my dad’s old Russian AK he keeps as part of his collection.”

Dawson took a moment and thought about her words. “This is a different continent. Animal noises are going to sound different from what we’re used to. But I get it. Metal and stone have a particular sound to them. Could someone have snuck out for a night’s stroll? Maybe snapping some pictures or something? Or, maybe a bit of a midnight clandestine meeting between colleagues? I’ve seen how your people are, they’ve all hit level five, right? They’re bound to want to test that out.”

“Yeah, I guess so. And, it could have been the shutter of a camera. Or, even something like bear claws on rock. I don’t know. I just, this didn’t feel like that. There wasn’t any giggling, or embarrassed whispering, or a camera whine after. I felt threatened. I’ve been moose hunting and felt my spine tingle less.”

“Alright, alright.” Dawson put up his hands a little in defeat. “I’ll send a patrol out again tonight. In force, just in case. Will that settle your tingling spine?” He was taking her seriously, but his wicked smile made Isaka think not seriously enough.

“Yes. Yes, it would. I’m also interested in having a squad of your people stationed at the school as a rapid response force.”

“Wow, this really shook you up.” She glared at him. “Okay, okay. If it will make you feel more confident in your safety, then I’ll have a squad or two stationed at the school for a few nights.” She raised her eyebrows. “A week. Okay, two weeks.” She cracked a grateful smile, and he returned the gesture.

Isaka’s estimation of Major Dawson had only grown over the last week and a half working together. He was a military traditionalist, a conservative thinker and actor. But he was also resourceful and quick to take her concerns seriously. Even if he didn’t necessarily agree.

“Thank you. Our population is coming in on the last transport in about a week. So I’m going to have Greg finish the basic facilities on the campus, and then switch back to making houses. As it is, he only has a few crews working on the prefabs right now. Most are working on putting the finishing touches on the rest of campus.” Six of the eight buildings for the Academy were already semi-functional. The two that were left were the administration building, which Isaka still needed to design, and the classroom building, which would be where most of the lecture halls on campus would be located. There was a giant open space right in the middle of the campus, reserved for its construction.

The Major shook his head and sipped his cold coffee. When he lowered it, he sighed. “I can’t believe how quickly they can build things now. Those building printers are tireless, and Greg’s designs for box homes are ingenious.”

“He says he got the idea from some company that hired him a few years back for some basic consulting work. He says he signed an NDA with them, but none of that matters anymore, so he’s free to do whatever he wants. He asked me to have the rest of the staff not working on anything else, to work on getting them ready. Supplementing the few crews he has at work on it.”

“How did that go over?” Dawson asked. Covering a smirk by sipping more of his nasty cold coffee.

“Surprisingly, pretty well. It’s not that back breaking, as most of it is quality checking stuff the machines are automatically doing. I was worried it’d be a litany of old college day injuries and other excuses to get out of it. But everyone’s been really invested.” Dawson’s eyebrows rose slightly.

“That kind of investment in a project, where people do jobs that are clearly not theirs? That takes good leadership.” Isaka started smiling at the compliment, then stopped, catching herself. She didn’t want to give the Major the wrong idea. He was a good guy, and clearly brave, strong, a scrapper, and all that. But he was also in the military. Something Isaka didn’t really want anything to do with. At least, not right now. She wanted to build her town, get it working, and then go home. “Either that, or you threatened their lives.” He sipped his coffee again, and she barked a loud laugh before covering her mouth with both hands.

Jessica stopped mid lecture and glared back at the two of them. Isaka gave a small wave and kept one hand over her mouth. The younger woman glared for a moment before going back to her lecture. “We should go. Let them do their thing.” Dawson chuckled and the two left. In the main hallway, with the four pillars framing the base of the third floor, they said their goodbyes and went about their work.

Isaka found the small ‘factory’ out behind the school building, a few yards away from where Greg and his men were working on the pre-fabricated second and third story. It was a flat concrete slab with four metal frames around it that acted as construction scaffolding. Mechanical arms moved sheets of metal and various types of foamy plastic sheeting, stacking them on top of one another before another arm sprayed sealant and a third pressed them together holding them there while the sealant dried.

The setup made a single side of one of the boxes in ten minutes. Once it was finished, they moved it to another platform, where two more mechanical arms took them off the stack and held them in place, while smaller robotic arms put on hinges, metal frames, or rivets that held the walls together. When the box was finished, it moved to the last platform in line, where half a dozen workers with different power tools began installing cabinets, the toilet, a sink, and other necessities. That was where the bottleneck in the work was. Every other station behind it ended up pausing their work until the next station could clear its pad of its latest finished product.

At the very end was a small crane and a long flatbed truck. Every time a box was finished, the people would fold it down to about half its normal size like a piece of origami, and the crane would load it. The flatbed could hold three boxes before it had to leave. Greg had two more crews out working in the field. One laid concrete slab foundations that would quickly dry overnight for the next day’s houses, and the other that placed the box houses on each concrete slab and installed the hookups.

There was a fourth crew that was laying sewage pipes down to prepare for the connection to the utility grid once it was up and running. For now, that crew was working practically independently. Going behind the rest of the teams, digging in the patch of dirt beside the road Greg had left for them to work under. Right now, all the houses were on the left side of the circular subdivision. They would do the inside of the circle next go around. But for now, everything had to be as quick as possible.

At each of the change over stations, Isaka found her people. They were inspecting the finished materials against pictures of samples that Greg had given them. “What took you so long?” Red-wind shouted at her over the noise of the mechanical arms. He stood, inspecting the stack of building sides. “I could use your help. Having to run around these things is exhausting. You stand on that side, and I’ll take this half.” Isaka smiled and joined in.

There was a lot of work to do.