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Looking out toward the sea from the base now, you could see the new base under construction.
Its shape resembled an upside-down water cup. Around it lay a scene of frenetic activity. A fully mechanized engineering corps operated machine after machine, working like ants on the move. Components like steel columns were delivered up to the new base one after another, ceaselessly, then rapidly installed onto the base's main structure by the workers.
Over the past two months, the engineering corps had run large crews in alternating day and night shifts. The machines stopped to rest only once every few days. As a result, the new base's progress was astonishingly fast, hardly slower than Dome Base had been originally.
And Dome Base was far smaller than the new base.
Looking in other directions, construction sites filled the view. These were the sites for the dormitory buildings and various support facilities, and their progress was equally quick. Quite a few buildings had already been completed and were airing out.
This was all the engineering corps' doing. Ryan had never asked how many people the corps had, but he estimated at least twenty or thirty thousand.
Thanks to all of this, the move-in of the research and technical teams had been put on the schedule.
Heading down to the base's ground floor, Ryan hadn't gone far before he heard a round of cheering.
It came from the firefighting mech's bay.
"What's going on?" Ryan curiously used his clearance to open the bay door, and his attention was immediately drawn to the mech inside.
The mech's four legs were spread apart like a spider's. Its upper body had two enormous mechanical arms that, like a gibbon's, nearly hung to the floor.
In the middle of the mech's four thighs, a massive cylindrical support column ran straight from the upper body down to the ground, easing the load on the four spider legs.
The support column was at least a meter in diameter. On all four sides of the column, four neat rows of hooks protruded, with metal rungs mounted on them, forming four ladders that could carry four people up or down at once.
The mech's upper body had a new special adjustable-size interface added to its back, presumably for mounting the water hose Ryan had mentioned last time.
"So this is the firefighting mech after your modifications?" Ryan asked.
"Take a look. What do you think?" Marsh walked over with a smile.
"This mech now has the firefighting system installed. It's a true prototype, ready for fire-suppression testing."
The other researchers and professors looked over too, wanting to hear Ryan's assessment.
Ryan only now noticed that the mech's exterior had a new black coating, and the fireproof layer's installation was complete. What was exposed on the surface was no longer alloy. He offered his suggestion. "From the outside I don't see any problems. How about we take the mech for a walk?"
Marsh laughed. "Same as what I was thinking. The pilot's already on the way. This time it shouldn't drop the ball like last time."
"Then let's go into the cockpit and have a look first."
"Sure."
Marsh walked to the support column at the base of the mech and, without a word, started climbing. Ryan went to one of the other ladders and climbed up. The other researchers climbed up in turn. Some of the professors were old and didn't have the strength, so after Marsh got up, he pressed a button inside the mech, and a lift device descended from the cockpit.
Marsh explained, "This is something we designed for fire-scene rescue. It's a two-by-one rectangle, big enough for at least four or five people. Even sending someone up lying down is no problem."
Ryan nodded. That was genuinely useful.
The lift carried the rest of the group up in a few trips.
The cockpit was sizable. The experience inside was far better than Scrapper's.
This mech's functional structure was simple, and the design had been optimized, with every effort made to lay out the various equipment optimally. As a result, the space left for the cockpit was considerably larger than Scrapper's, and the cockpit's structural layout was equally well-considered.
Three sides were transparent windows, giving excellent visibility. On the wall behind, there were nine mounted seats and three miniature restraint beds. Those were for carrying other firefighters and fire-scene rescue targets.
Ryan offered his own praise. "This layout design is great. Even better than Scrapper's."
The other professors only smiled. Someone said, "Not quite. Scrapper's structural design can transform into a sphere. This mech can't turn into a ball no matter what."
Marsh nodded in agreement beside him. He knew much of Scrapper's structural layout was designed around its transformation, while this firefighting mech had no such requirement. It only needed to be reliable and practical.
The two mechs had different design requirements. There was no comparing them at all.
While everyone was still in the cockpit, the pilot arrived.
Same as last time, the one who came was the eldest of the Sullivan triplets. He was the person most familiar with this firefighting mech.
"The test site is ready. Pilot the mech and follow me over," Marsh said after the eldest Sullivan boarded, guiding him out of the mech bay.
Ryan had wanted to sit in one of the cockpit's mounted seats and experience the mech from a first-person perspective. But Marsh and the others, citing safety, hauled him back down.
Thump.
The mech bay door continued to open. The eldest Sullivan took a step forward, testing the mech's gait.
Compared to last time, the operating experience this time was much better. The pilot's seat used a special shock-absorbing design, ensuring the pilot's stability.
The firefighting mech slowly walked out of the bay, and the enormous noise quickly drew the attention of others.
People on the base's upper levels stuck their heads out.
"Is that the new mech?"
"It looks a little different."
"I heard it's a firefighting mech."
"I will always love Scrapper," some people even shouted with passion.
Young faces crowded behind the windows, some with drinks and snacks in hand, clearly settling in to watch the show. The leadership in the various labs had no intention of stopping them. Letting these young people relieve a little stress was a good thing.
The test site was on an open stretch of ground not far away. It was piled with the soil excavated from the foundations of the base and other buildings, forming irregularly shaped little hills.
Beside it were three fire trucks, all requisitioned from nearby. The three firefighters who'd driven them over were currently staring slack-jawed at the firefighting mech slowly walking toward them.
Boom.
Each time the mech's foot came down on the soil, it was as stirring as a war drum.
"What is that thing? A mech?"
They exchanged glances. Hadn't their superiors told them to come here to assist with a fire-suppression test? Why had a mech suddenly come out?
The enormous mech slowly stopped in front of the three firefighters, who still hadn't recovered from their shock.
It wasn't until someone walked over and reminded them to bring out the hose they'd modified on the fire trucks earlier that they remembered the task they'd come here for.
Wait, no.
What did firefighting have to do with a mech?