I Built This City Chapter 54: Chapter 54

Read chapter 54 of I Built This City by ThePudding on NovelPedia.

Mason Ellen “Needs more insulation.” Carpenter’s muttering was followed by the ephemeral image of the structure they were working on together gaining a second, thinner layer of slats on the roof, with some kind of filler substance between the two layers. The components list called it… dirt. Ellen didn’t disagree with Carpenter’s decision. She’d known they’d needed it, she was just letting her more specialized self handle the wooden parts. By now this was the fourth building they’d put together in the Settlement Interface, laying out the groundwork for a workshop, a tanning shed, dry storage for grains, and now their latest design… an icehouse. This one was important, since middle of winter was the best time to get ice. If they could get it built swiftly enough, they would be well-stocked for spring and summer. Carpenter’s work made plenty of sawdust, so a place to put the ice was the only thing left to create. Fortunately, though building techniques had advanced in the last eighty years, the basic idea of an icehouse remained roughly the same. Old Onroc’s previous icehouse needed major repairs, but the Ellens didn’t need to dig out a part of the mountain or anything. That part was already done for them. The old stone walls needed some repairs and mortaring, while the roof needed completely rebuilt. With Carpenter’s wood seasoning ability, this shouldn’t be too bad, as most of the wood for this roof didn’t need to be cut with any precision. Mason could tell that much easily. “We’ll have to shovel some coals in there and keep it hot for a few days to set the mortar,” Ellen mumbled. “But we should probably work on this one first, now that we have it planned, so we can take advantage of the river ice.” “Makes sense to me,” Merchant murmured, standing behind Ellen and Carpenter. She probably had the Settlement Interface up as well, looking at the plans they’d made. Ellen wasn’t sure how this interface was supposed to work normally, but the ability of every Ellen to view it—including the planned construction illusions it provided—was phenomenally useful for getting things built and functional quickly. “Do you have enough wood for this?” Mason questioned, but she was already looking at the inventory in the interface. She knew the new Fighter Ellen was already cutting trees on the old road to clear it as part of her Strength training, but Carpenter’s wood-drying power could only be used on so much in a day… and she still needed to do her woodworking on top of that. As useful as it was, it didn’t fully solve the materials issue. Fortunately, only a portion of the lumber needed seasoned. “It’ll be fine,” Carpenter assured. “Cobbler and Fisher said they’d help… though I’m not sure if they’re really in shape for this kind of work.” Merchant shook her head. “I wouldn’t worry about that. Village Ellen was on her feet all day, every day, and worked at the mill for a while as well, remember? She’s gained a little weight and looks softer, but it’s not like the two new Ellens have Attributes that are different from the rest of us, starting out. You’re closer to them than I am, you should know.” She was right. Ellen was really only twice-removed from the two newcomers to their little city. Builder had been the sister-self of Village, who was the progenitor of the two new Ellens. That was closer than she’d realized, and Ellen just hadn’t considered that she’d been living in Onroc so long that she’d started thinking of Village Ellen as different. The two newcomers had been a little hesitant at first, but were already integrating well into the Ellen community. Had they not drifted as far as she’d thought? Or did their assimilation at a low level help them to adapt better? How much does our Class decision change our outlook? Ellen wondered to herself. She stepped back and shivered. It was a relatively mild day out… but still below freezing. The chill mountain air blowing through the ruined city made every day feel colder than it was, so Ellen tried