Another workday had already started inside the Colony. Workers moved through the streets with tools, carts, and whatever materials their assignments needed.
Children lingered near the corners and workshop lanes, their laughter carrying between the buildings.
At the urban fringe, the fortress tower rose above the surrounding structures.
Hans stood near its upper railing with Alexei and Selene, watching the settlement below.
Adam was elsewhere checking the day's military inventory, leaving the three of them to review the civilian work and the overdue Pandora team.
Below, the Colony moved through another routine morning despite the world beyond its walls.
A bell rang somewhere near the workshops, and the people assigned there split into their usual lines. A few carts rolled past loaded with scrap metal, wooden crates, and parts marked for either repair or reinforcement.
