BXBX NOVEL Chapter 149: People's time isn't worth the same
"I have to admit, they really pulled their weight with those," I then muttered as I admired the finished product.
Standing before me was a bee-hive-like structure, consisting of two thin, metal walls with six rods arranged in between to keep them steady. Thanks to a series of hooks on the inner side of those metal plates, I only needed to open up another box, pull out the air filters, and then stretch them from one wall to the other.
Repeating this process a total of nine times, I've filled the entire front-back surface of the whole thing, turning the simple stand into an industrial-grade modular air filter.
"Don't forget about those," Claire pointed behind her back with her thumb, at the two massive fans, formerly used to bring the temperature in the room down.
Right now, however, thanks to the valiant efforts of the highly paid and skilled workers, those two old fans were gone and replaced with state-of-the-art air condensators, plugged directly into the factory's air circulation system.
According to the blueprint, the air from the freezer would have to pass through its foldable, sliding doors to reach the rest of the factory's main floor… Or, on the blueprint, to reach the next step on its designed path.
"Now we just need like a hundred more of them…" I then muttered as I turned my eyes from the machine to the stack of boxes with the same label that had grown into a small mountain by this point.
"I think we should just let the others do it…" Claire suggested, easily noticing the source of my sudden distress.
"No, we should be the ones to do it."
I shook my head before clasping my hands against my face to sober up a bit.
By now, the great benefits of Claire's massage were starting to fade, replaced with the level of exhaustion I was honestly getting used to.
'It's the last straight, man! Pull your head up and just grit your teeth through it!'
Taking a moment to regain a clear view of the end-goal, I cast aside my earlier dislike of Claire's idea.
"Wait, you know what, you are right. Let's have others do it for us," I vocalized the change in my mind as I decided not to let excessive secrecy put an even greater burden on the two of us.
It wasn't me going for the easier solution where I could shift my responsibilities, but more of an honest evaluation of the worth of everyone's time and remaining energy.
'If we tire ourselves down on this menial task, we won't be able to do anything else. It's much better if I focus on searching even further into what else I can do to improve this design…' I thought, raising my eyes to the finished air filter module.
"I mean, there are benefits to doing it ourselves…" Claire suddenly changed her tone as well, as if unwilling to let me be alone in the wrong.
"No, what's the point of secrecy here if we are going to end up putting them on display anyway?" I shook my head, readily dismissing the issue. "Instead…" I took one last look at the filter, only to turn away from it, giving up on the opportunity to indulge some more in just the standard, mind-soothing crafting.
And so, not daring to waste another minute, I stepped out of the freezer before waving at the nearest worker.
"Hey! Yes, you!" I called, taking my time to make sure the other party got my intentions. "Could you call for a foreman for me?"
The worker threw a quick glance at my elegant suit, quite unbecoming of a place as dirty, rundown, and in the very middle of a general rebuilding as the factory's main floor.
And so, instead of throwing logs at my feet, he simply nodded his head and reached out for his walkie-talkie.
And a moment later…
"Yes? How can I help?"
This was the same foreman I saw discussing something outside with Chihiro and the architect. Right now, however, the blueprint they were looking at was stuffed into his pocket, along with the number of tools great enough to prove he was taking an active part in the building process rather than just comfortably overseeing it.
"I would actually like to add two channels outside of the main flow, that will direct the exhaust back into the enriching core," I spoke out in a low tone, just loud enough for the man to hear me while I supplemented what meaning could be lost by gesturing with my hands to sort-of paint a picture of what I wanted.
"Hmm…" the leader of the workers rubbed his chin for a moment, thinking my request over. "That… We should be able to do that, but it will add…" he took a moment to calculate, "about ten hours? And that's a positive estimate. We would have to either rip out the existing structures or further narrow down the main path to separate the main flow from the backflow."
I smiled and nodded, pretending I could understand everything, while in reality, deriving the meaning of some parts purely out of context.
"But yeah, if you are fine with the delay, we should be able to whip something like that out," the man reported with the smile of a craftsman who knew the extent of his abilities and just how practical they were.
"Keep in mind that I'm quite likely to keep adding stuff all the way up until the very last moment," I jokingly added, drawing upon the few designs I already had in my head but needed both more time and some specific parts to implement.
"Keep in mind, right now we can modify stuff because we have both time and room. But just with this backflow idea, there's only so much more we can stuff into various points of the structure before its throughput will be affected."
'To think there would be a time in my life where I would be genuinely worried about throughput,' I thought, only for the corner of my lips to twitch into a small, amused smile, 'what's next, automation of all the basic resources so that I can build whatever I want unrestrained by something as silly as cost?' I thought, only for the smile on my face to slightly deepen.
'Thinking about this… who is there to say it's actually a bad idea?'