The days passed quietly, with the new OHPS taking off without a hitch, prototypes already being presented to potential buyers. Dr Elune practically forgot about the OHPS after that... It was up to the other departments from now on.
Instead, the doctor focused their efforts onto project AHOR, letting Alex handle daily comings and goings from the station as the system processed ways to refine and optimize the HPA prototypes, keeping the most recent one in the lab for Alex to use. Well... The most recent breakthrough, anyway.
As Alex pored over the Holographic system's designs, they also worked on the firmware, and on their own appearance. Never a big change, maybe a little smoothing here, more of an angle there, the image that was defining Alex became more... Solid. In both clarity of the projection and in how regularly some features were appearing, as they were still changing things up now and then.
It was peaceful it was quiet, and to the majority of the residents, it was incredibly boring. Seeing Hope blasting across the sky in a commandeered spacecraft not designed for such activities was an occurrence so regular some people used it to check the day of the week. Sure, the head of Military on the spaceship should be a bit more tight with the regulations... But years up here with nothing to do means either finding half a dozen hobbies to occupy your time, or literally going stir-crazy. Doctor Silverthorne has kept a very close eye on the occupants since the first... Incident of that.
Dr Elune was in the middle of playing one of their library of old games when they suddenly paused, and scrambled to the workshop area of the adjacent lab, grinning as they pulled out a few things.
"Any way I might assist, doctor?"
"Why certainly, Alex! I need more electroactive polymer... And of all things, a loom and a spindle."
"... I, um... Right away, doctor."
As Alex sent off the necessary messages, they looked on perplexed as Dr Elune cleared space for the devices, and fired up some of the machinery nearby, from furnaces to a blender. This was going to be both messy, and chaotic.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The labourers came in with the service drones, helping set up a Loom and arraying clumps of Polymer on a bench. "Thanks. I'm amazed we even had a loom, I was expecting to need it custom made like the spindle."
"Belongs to Norman, of all people. Was his grandmother's, so there'll be hell to pay for damages."
"... Alex, you are to make sure no harm comes to this."
"Yes doctor. This means more... Regular breaks for you."
"... Dangit. Fine, I guess it is necessary."
As the labourers left to go back to sorting ore from an over-enthusiastic meteor blasting session of Hope's, Alex fired up the HPA, watching curiously, "I thought the polymer wouldn't be efficient enough."
"Oh, it won't. And this fails in the sims... But What we are trying to make isn't actually one material, is it?"
"No doctor. It is layered, made of fine... Strands."
Dr Elune grinned, digging out some good old silicone, "And to keep them stringy, something to fill the gaps. Let's see how this goes, hmm?"
"Always a mad scientist, doctor. Would you like some company, or are your fingers more important?"
"Hehe, both are good... But setting this up will be a nightmare for another day. I need the spindle first, and knowing Laura's manufacturing, they will delay my order a week out of spite."
"Perhaps you should have let her be second in command at least, doctor."
"No way. It is hard enough to argue with her as it is..." The doctor grunted as they deposited the largest peice of polymer in a vat, ready to be re-processed into it's new shape, "Besides... I have measurements to finalise."
"... Doctor?"
With a silent grin, the doctor left the room, and went back to their game, leaving an incredibly befuddled alex to neaten up the last bits of the setup.