"How is the power grid holding up?" Max asked the next afternoon, as the work on the fourteen docked ships began and the two million new arrivals began to settle into the environment of Creeping Darkness.
"We are currently at eighty-nine percent of maximum total output. If we want to open a portal, it is still feasible, with a one percent margin of power consumption, but it cannot be done concurrently with powering up the warp drives or full shielding, unless we reduce power in other regions.
The industrial production is currently the largest user of power, as we are filling orders from six hundred and three customers for repair and emergency relief supplies. Second is the ship upgrading bays, while the general usage of the population accounts for a steady eight percent of total power availability.
That number will drop once everyone is acclimated to their surroundings. Current usage numbers are over ten times the average usage provided to me by Felicity." Sylvie replied.
She had a point. Once everyone finished blowing through their initial allowance on decorating their homes and stocking up their pantries, the numbers would drop to standard consumption.
The amount of stocked food was surprisingly high, in Max's estimation, but after having their ship destroyed, he couldn't blame the new arrivals for not wanting to rely on the replicators for every meal as they needed them. Stocking the pantry and then refilling it weekly made for a more reliable buffer, and then special meals could be created on the spot for dishes that were more complex, or ingredients that didn't store well.
There were still more vessels incoming with refugees and Reavers from failing Companies that were looking for stable work, but nothing as bad as the two million.
Now that they were here, it was actually easier to bring in more people, as they made a smaller percentage of the total, and Felicity could easily integrate them into existing operations while slowly expanding the inhabited areas.
A portion of the ship would be left empty at all times as an emergency buffer, and a portion was in active use as cargo docks, with a steady stream of vessels in and out every minute, but Creeping Darkness was becoming much more lively now, and you could wander for hours through the ship without seeing any signs that it had been abandoned for millennia.
"What does it feel like to have a proper crew again, Sylvie?" Max asked curiously as he watched the Avatar humming her happy processing tune while she adjusted settings and sent orders around the ship.
"It feels complete, like my proper duties have been returned. All that's left is to deploy the Mecha on a mission and I will be back at full operational status."
Max chuckled at the instinctive programming left over in her system. No battleship was complete when it wasn't in battle. It didn't matter what they were doing, if there was nobody deployed on a mission, the ship felt like it was in standby mode.
"So, should we adjust to free some more power, or do you think that you can compensate quickly enough in the event of an emergency?" Max asked.
"We have enough reserve for full shield deployment, so in an emergency, we still have enough time to adjust. Once the shields are up, the other systems can be powered down at the same time that the red alert is broadcast, and that will free the power for the energy weapons. Standard procedure 811-C of the reactive tactics manual. I am confident in our success." Sylvie replied.
It sounded strange coming from the childlike avatar, but the tactical decisions she made were always soundly based in logic and experience of other vessels of her class fighting the Great Enemy.
"If that's settled, can you tell me how impatient Mary Tarith is for a visit? She should be near to exploding with anxiety right now." Max asked.
"Her itinerary is full nineteen hours a day for the next three days, and has been over fifteen hours daily since we arrived. All her meals are scheduled as lunch and dinner meetings, and her advisors have recommended a complete day's break after these three to recover on missed sleep." Sylvie replied.
That would explain why he hadn't heard from her. She was so insanely busy with the aftermath of the attacks on the Human Galaxy that there was no time for her to relax. It was the great downfall of the Reavers not having a true leader, everything had to be discussed among the factions, and when there was this much happening, all of the faction leaders would be swamped with no option to delegate their responsibilities.
It was a major reason that nobody tried to assassinate the Reaver leadership. If you killed them, you were volunteering to do their job better than they could, and nobody wanted the job in the first place.
"Talk to Felicity and see if you can arrange dinner for myself and Nico with Mary Tarith at the end of her day off, or breakfast the day after. Book as long of a block as possible, even if you need to book it as an official meeting with the heads of the Terminus Trading Company and not a personal visit." Max directed her.
"Understood, Commander. I will start with an attempt to book from breakfast until noon the day after her day off for an official meeting on the refugee situation with the leaders of the Terminus Trading Company." Sylvie agreed.
There was a short pause while Sylvie hummed her happy processing noise, and then she smiled.
"And done. We have six hours from six until noon, the day after her day off. I have locked the itinerary in her planner with a command override so she will have to personally cancel it if there is something more important, and none of the assistants or adjutants have the authority.
That should be enough to guarantee you a morning with her to talk about whatever you need, as well as have a proper meal. I am told that Subcommander Nico is a particular fan of her chocolate cake."
