22-Pimp My Ride (Niwut Edition)
6/1/5/4353 M.A.C - Niwut - Before Dawn
Doro woke up in a frenzy, his sleepwear soaked in sweat. The sun had yet to show any signs of appearing and it was not the only time he'd woken up in this state that night. Distorted versions of the assault had been replaying in his head as he dreamt. Versions where Dhruvah never appeared to save him, versions where Dekt had turned out to be a disguised monster and had defeated Dhruvah before clawing Doro to death, and multiple other versions he couldn't quite recall. The only things he could clearly remember from all of them were the sense of powerlessness he had felt, his life being at the mercy of the whims of others, and all his resistance turning out to be futile.
The part of Doro that had still been a child a mere four days earlier had been greatly affected by the encounter, but surprisingly, it was the part of him that had been Ben that was the most shaken.
I need to get stronger. Or at the very least, find a way to protect myself in the future. I need to start coming up with ways to use my Abilities to help me survive and incorporate the findings into my training. When I made my Choice, I dismissed most combat-related options because my life had felt safe, but now that I've seen how powerful Dhruvah is, even when he was probably holding back... It might have been a mistake...
After his heart rate had settled down, Doro fell back to sleep as his thoughts trailed off.
***
Yes! Level up!
As he woke up, Doro noticed that his sigil was glowing and checked it. The notification showing him that he had gained a level washed away the dark thoughts that had made his night so restless.
Let's see if my new Abilities give me some extra survivability.
After changing the display and looking through the update to his Abilities, Doro could not help but feel mixed emotions.
[Phase Meister 4/4]
[Minute Expertise]
Allows Abilities to affect inorganic matter on a smaller scale by increasing their precision. The minimum scale may vary based on knowledge, understanding, and the affected Ability.
Dammit. This is good, and will probably let me be more efficient, but I can't really see any way this would help me in survival situations... Never mind, I can use this for other stuff. Let's check my Blessed Choice, maybe that one got something that could help.
As Doro changed the display to his Blessed Choice, he noticed that the number of Abilities hadn't increased. He checked over his Abilities and noted what had changed.
[Matter Analysis+]
Ability to circulate your energy throughout abiotic matter to understand its elemental make-up, properties, density, volume, and structural ordering. Energy expended is returned. Results are affected by knowledge and understanding.
Well, shit... Makes sense though, I used it a lot more than any of my other Synthesist Abilities except maybe for [Persistent Memories of the Blessed], but I think that one is a special case, probably. Seems like it now also gives me information on the structure, volume, and density of what I use it on. Not useless, but a bit underwhelming...
Doro felt a bit down until he remembered that he should now be able to store up to 20 energy, according to the metric he had used thus far.
Ah, well, this is the only level-up that will ever effectively double my energy stores, so it still rocks! Plus, also the only one that will double my energy regeneration as well.
His mood salvaged, Doro put on his clothes, washed his face, and made his way to the kitchen. His parents were already there since he had slept in a bit past first bell. They appeared to be preparing a pancake-like dish from his mother's homeland. One she seldom made since its preparation was quite involved compared to most of the breakfasts they usually had.
"Good mornin', did you sleep well? How about you come over here and chop a cabbage or two for me? Your dad is lighting the oven."
Doro decided not to worry his parents and forwent telling them of his nightmares as he nodded and picked up a cabbage from the pantry.
"It's been a while since you made those. I'm sure Dhruvah will enjoy them."
"Well, we don't often have guests over for breakfast, and it was the only thing I could think of that was a bit better than just porridge, eggs, or cured meats. Didn't feel like grillin' fish in the mornin', so that was also out."
The trio worked together and by the time Dhruvah knocked on the door, they were nearly done setting the table. Doro went to open the door for his savior and was surprised to find the man out of his armor.
He looked Dhruvah over and was once again impressed by the size of the man. Doro had assumed that a lot of Dhruvah's bulk came from his armor, but now that the man appeared even larger without it, he understood that it had acted as some sort of corset. Doro thought Dhruvah had exaggerated when he'd joked about being fat the previous day and was not mentally prepared.
Damn, all the sense of danger and power he exuded while in armor is gone. I know there must be a lot of muscle under there, but he looks so smooth and bouncy now. If not for one or two puncture scars I can see on some of his exposed skin, I would not think him a combatant. He kind of looks like a mix between that one big guy in Mulan and the Hawaiian dude who sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" while playing the ukulele.
"Are you going to invite me in or just keep staring?"
"Uh, my bad. You seem a lot more harmless than I expected. It's hard for me to associate the two images in my head, even though you still have the same face."
"Don't worry, you are not the first to tell me this. At least I don't have one of those warrior faces that scare children and small animals. Smells really good though, what did you make?"
Doro led Dhruvah to the table where a tall stack of thin pancakes was surrounded by four small bowls containing sour goat milk cream mixed with chives. Khetep started serving everyone a portion of crispy bacon as Suyum explained the dish.
"So, you take some potato flour, eggs, and a bit of milk and you mix it up hard. Then you chop some cabbage, onions, and a few fresh herbs. After mixin' everythin' together, you spread some in a large skillet and put it in the oven for a couple of minutes. Then repeat the process until you run out of batter. I recommend puttin' a bit of the sour goat cream, and a couple bacon strips, on it and then rollin' it up like a carpet. It is a bit different from how they are made back home since I can't get the same fresh herbs or yak cream here, but I reckon I did a good job."
"Ifw fewy gooh!"
Dhruvah tried to compliment the dish verbally, but the gusto with which he was eating made his words barely understandable. Luckily for him, the speed at which he was downing his first pancake conveyed his feelings in a rather obvious manner.
"Here, a whole one is a bit much for me so early in the morning. You can have half of mine."
Doro ripped his rolled-up pancake in half and pushed it onto Dhruvah's plate.
"I made a couple of extra portions since I wasn't sure how big your appetite might be, but it seems I may have underestimated you."
Suyum laughed as Dhruvah got started on his third pancake, not counting the half Doro had given him.
"Don't worry, the truth is that I've already had enough, but I thought it would be criminal of me not to enjoy an opportunity to eat your delicious food."
Khetep cleared his throat loudly.
"Mister Dhruvah, although I enjoy the compliments, it would seem as though you are makin' my husband self-conscious."
"My bad, my bad! The food really was great though."
Doro decided to try to help his father out by giving him a chance to shine.
"Hey Dad, how about you show Dhruvah to your workshop so we can give his armor some maintenance? I'll clear up the table and join you in a couple minutes."
"Good idea. Follow me Mister Dhruvah, the sooner we start, the sooner we'll be done."
Dhruvah picked up the sack in which he was carrying his armor and followed Khetep out of the room.
"I should start workin' too. Come by at some point this afternoon, I have a bunch of handles and other bits I need you to attach with your Ability."
Suyum then left for her workshop as Doro finished clearing the table. When he rejoined his father and Dhruvah, he saw that they had spread the pieces of the armor out on a cloth.
"Ah, here you are. So, I was thinking we give it a good scrub with a rust remover and then oil it up. What do you think Doro?"
"I think I have a better idea. We'll finish with you oiling up the armor but I think I can use one of my Abilities to clean the armor. Let me show you."
Doro activated his [Matter Isolation Field] and levitated one of the pieces of armor into it, using [Somatic Support]. He then spent a tiny amount of energy to deoxidize the outermost layer of the steel.
Okay, [Minute Expertise] is already paying dividends. I was too focused on yesterday's incident, this Ability is much nicer than I gave it credit for.
"See, since it's only the surface, it barely costs me any energy, and this should be even more effective than what you normally use to remove rust. Ah, there are a few scratches on this one. Dad, do you mind if I take a tiny bit of steel? I'll trade you some Umayer iron I made yesterday in exchange."
Doro handed his father one of the vials he had filled with the ferrous oxide he'd extracted the previous night, and Khetep accepted the trade with a smile. Doro then liquified a very small amount of steel and used it to fill in all the damaged sections. Thanks to [Minute Expertise], he not only fixed the larger scratches, but also the nearly imperceptible ones, making the surface extremely smooth. After repeating the process on the rest of the armor, a full half hour had gone by, due to the number of pieces, and Doro's motivation to perform at his best. The door brusquely opened and Sarima ran into the room.
"Sorry, I'm late. My dad tore his work pants and I had to patch them before coming. Woh!? who's this, and why is there armor all over the place?"
"Hey, I got in a bit of trouble yesterday, and Dhruvah here saved me. Dad and I are giving his armor some maintenance as thanks. Dad, would you mind checking over Sarima's homework? Could you also write up a few new exercises for her while I finish this? Sorry Sarima but I'm a bit busy today. You can stay and watch if you want though."
"Why not, I only need to be back home early enough to cook lunch so I can stay until fourth bell."
"Ah in that case don't worry about it Dad, we should be done more than early enough for me to help Sarima."
Khetep looked at the armor that his son had restored and whistled.
"Aside from the one or two dents, this armor looks as good as new. Don't try to buff them out though, we are not armorers and might end up fixing them wrong. Shape is as important as the material, and I only know about the latter in this case. Should I start polishing and oiling it up now?"
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
"Not yet. Now comes the exciting part. We are going to make something new!"
Dhruvah gazed happily at his cleaned-up armor as he spoke up.
"This already looks better than I expected, what else would you possibly do?"
Doro went to retrieve one of the small titanium ingots he had made the night before and presented it to the others.
"Here, I extracted this metal yesterday. Please check it out and tell me if you've ever seen something like it before."
Doro handed the ingot to Sarima first, since she was the least involved in the process and he wanted to avoid making her bored.
"Ooh, it's super light and feels pretty tough. Don't think my dad has anything like this."
Sarima handed the ingot to Dhruvah, who inspected it for a few seconds before trying to smash it hard against what remained of the steel ingot Doro had used to fix his armor. The titanium was unalloyed making even the middling quality steel, that this world considered high-end, able to break off a small chip.
"Pretty darn strong for its weight too. Never seen it before, and I've been around. Not as resistant as steel but I had to hit pretty hard to damage it, considering how well I know effecive attack angles. I do end up on the receiving end of a lot of them after all."
Dhruvah then handed Khetep the ingot in turn. Khetep picked up a small stone and attempted to scratch the surface. When that didn't leave a mark, he started trying different materials.
"Pretty hard, doesn't scratch easily. Not quite as good as steel when it comes to toughness, but harder and lighter. Never seen it either. Doesn't seem to interact in any special way with energy though, so not a new holy metal. What do you call it?"
Doro thought for a few seconds but couldn't decide on how to answer. If he named it titanium, it would be broadcasting to the other Blessed of his generation that he was one of them if he started selling the metal and it gained fame. It could make meeting up with Emi and Meg more likely, but once the cat was out of the bag, it wouldn't be possible to put it back in.
Better play it safe for now. Titanium oxide is white and seems to be used as a pigment around here. It comes from sifter sand. Its main properties are its light weight and resistance to corrosion. What name would fit? Something to do with clouds maybe because it doesn't corrode in water?
After making the trio wait in silence, for over a minute, Doro gave up on finding a new name for it and decided to call it titanium for now.
I suck at naming things, I'll just have to sell it anonymously or something.
"I call it Titanium. You might be interested to know that I extracted it from sifter sand. Please don't spread the name around for now, I might change it. The source doesn't have to be a secret though, I doubt people can work out how to extract it through mundane means before I have a plan for its release."
The three looked at Doro dumbfounded. Khetep was the first to recover and asked Doro to clarify.
"Surely, you mean that you used sifter sand to help you extract it from something else, right?"
"Nope, it is made entirely of the white powder that you extract from sifter sand for Mom. Just had to use my Ability on it to get it back into a metallic form."
"How many bags of the stuff did you have to use?"
"Bags? This ingot is what I was able to make from three librae of the stuff. I made two of them last night."
Khetep expression changed as his excitement kept growing.
"Even if it isn't quite as strong as steel, you are saying that you have basically an unlimited supply of the stuff!?"
"Well, it takes about a tenth of my energy to process each ingot, so I'm somewhat limited."
"Yeah, but your energy stores will grow and your energy costs should decrease if you get efficiency Abilities and the like. Ten ingots though? That is some scary efficiency for someone at level 1. Even one or two ingots would be pretty good."
"Oh my bad, forgot to mention it. When I woke up this morning, I was level 2. I could make five ingots at level 1."
The trio got thrown for another loop at that statement. This time, Dhruvah was the first to recover.
"Didn't you make your first Choice only three days ago? Maybe not the fastest I've ever seen but you are definitely in my top 3. Although, if you just go by stories and claims, everyone and their grandmother leveled up in a day, heh. The other two were pretty special cases though. My friend who healed you was one of them, I was there when he reached level 2, with about the same timing as you. Tom was actually slightly faster, but that's because we were lost in a forest and didn't sleep for two nights straight. When he woke up for the first time after he made his Choice, he had already gained a level. Considering I've lived 400 years, top 3 is still quite a feat."
"Thanks for the compliment. Hopefully, Sarima follows suit, we made our Choice on the same day after all."
Sarima pouted in response, her jealousy obvious to anyone who cared to look.
"Give me a minute though, I need to do something with the titanium before we move on to the next step."
Over the next couple minutes, Doro put up his [Matter Isolation Field] and started extracting nitrogen from the air trapped within it. He then liquified some of the titanium and used [Compound Synthesis] to merge the two into titanium nitrate.
Let's see how far I can push [Minute Expertise].
After a few attempts, Doro managed to use his kinesis to form a sheet only a twentieth of a millimeter thick, about the thickness of the thinnest of hairs.
That is still thicker than recommended, but I can't think of any way for me to go thinner for now, not that it is a requirement for it to work. When I look at the sheet from the side I can barely even see it is there even when squinting. A bit of extra thickness is worth it to avoid having to deal with cathodic arc deposition. Not sure I could even make a setup for it. Still thin enough a layer it shouldn't make it too prone to flaking.
Doro carefully applied the layer of titanium nitrate to the surface of the steel, taking his time to make sure no air was trapped and no steel was uncovered. Dhruvah was so entranced by Doro's fine control that only after Doro had treated the third piece did he realize that the treatment had some pretty flashy side effects. Not only did it make his armor a lot more reflective than it had been, but it also changed its color to a very shiny golden hue.
"Uh Khetep, please tell me that color is not going to be permanent."
"Sorry, but I have absolutely no idea what my son is doing right now. He is working with stuff I have never seen before. We can try to stop him if you want, but he's just finishing the cuirass as we speak, so it might be too late to intervene. Unless you think having half of your armor being golden at random would be better than it being entirely golden, we'd better let him finish."
Five minutes later, Doro was done and the steel had been uniformly coated. The application hadn't ended up using much energy, so aside from the energy he had expended to get the nitrogen and merge it with the titanium, it turned out to be a fairly economical use of his Abilities. Considering the entire project had used less than twenty grams of titanium, even the energy used for its extraction didn't amount to much.
Churning out metals, or alloys, in large quantities is still out of my means considering how much energy the process costs, but I could literally do this close to the entire day, even with my current reserves.
"Doro? Why is my armor golden now?"
"Oh, well that's just a free side effect. Looks nice and shiny though."
"Yes, shiny. Extremely shiny. So shiny, in fact that, it would make polished gold look somewhat dull in comparison."
"You're welcome."
"I wasn't thanking you...Please tell me there is an upside to this or I might start crying. I already stand out enough as is."
Doro chuckled at the large man, who was old enough to be his ancestor yet still acted like a big kid.
"Like I said, the color was a side effect. Now that your armor is coated, it has much higher abrasion resistance and lubricity. In other words, the steel won't cause as much friction when it rubs against itself, and will not damage itself as much from the rubbing. It will also increase the lifespan of the steel, by at least four times, by greatly increasing its resistance to corrosion and oxidation. Lastly, look at this."
Doro proceeded to get a steel chisel and dragged its sharpened end roughly across the armor, not leaving any scratches behind.
"It has really high hardness and should prevent your armor from getting scratched up as often. It is really thin, however, and will not help resist impacts any better. Weak attacks that would have made a small scratch in the steel won't anymore, but any significant impact might crack or chip away very small portions of the coating. Since I applied it well, even if it cracks, it should remain and do its job to some extent but some of its properties won't work as well if it lets air contact the steel below because of fissures."
"Okay, I have to admit that if what you say is true, it is well worth any embarrassment the color may make me feel."
Doro had an evil smileon his face as he turned to his father.
"Hey, Dad? Time to break out the oil and polishing cloth. By the time we are done Let's get this armor to be twice as shiny for our big friend."
Dhruvah's face blanched as his face shifted into an expression that reminded Doro of that one famous painting of a screaming man. Doro, Sarima, and Khetep could not contain their laughter when presented with this situation.
As Khetep was putting the finishing touches on the armor, Doro decided to make one last thing. He took out one of the chromium ingots he had made, as well as what remained of the steel ingot he had taken from his father, and took a portion of each ingot before alloying them using [Compound Synthesis]. He then made a flat rectangular plate out of the resulting alloy and rolled it into a wide straw, its diameter a tad narrower than the ventilation holes in Dhruvah's helm. He then carefully bent the top quarter of the straw sixty degrees, making sure to draw out the bend over an inch, to make it rounded and prevent it from growing narrower in that area.
And now I have Stainless steel! It's already highly resistant to corrosion and oxidation, but might as well give it a coating to match the armor since titanium nitride is also food-safe.
Doro treated the metal straw, giving it the same bright golden sheen as the armor, and presented it to Dhruvah.
"Here, I think you'll probably appreciate this more than the armor upgrade. I made it as wide as I could while still being able to fit through the ventilation holes of your helm. You should be able to use it to eat soup, porridge, or even stew, as long as the pieces of food are either soft or small enough. You can also use it to simply drink water or other liquids too. Now you won't have to worry about having to compromise yourself when you want a quick snack or drink on the job."
"How did I never think of that!? Khetep, hurry up! I want to put on my armor so I can try the straw out!"
Doro giggled as Sarima approached him and whispered into his ear.
"Your new friend has a strange sense of priorities. You made his armor better, but he is more excited by a small metal tube."
"Well, Sarima, this can be a teachable moment. If you get to know your customers well, you'll be able to understand what makes them tick. See, if he was here shopping and saw that armor, he might not buy it, finding it too gaudy for his tastes, but this straw solves a problem he has been struggling with. What you, or the majority of people, consider to be important may not specifically apply to all of your customers."
"Ah, so you mean that what you did to his armor was an upgrade, but the straw completely solved a problem he had no answer for? I think I get it."
"Don't worry about it too much for now. I will tell you the idea behind it in the future, when we cover market research."
Khetep finished the final piece of armor before asking Doro to help him put it on the large man.
"Let me do it, I have a pair of Abilities that let me put it on by myself."
Doro looked in Dhruvah's direction, half expecting the pieces to fly onto him as if he were Ironman. What happened was a lot less magical. In under three minutes, Dhruvah swiftly and precisely donned his armor, piece by piece. Doro couldn't tell exactly how, but as Dhruvah slapped on each new piece, they proceeded to secure themselves, seemingly of their own accord. As he neared the three minute mark, Dhruva lowered his visor and gave his spectators a gauntleted thumbs up.
Not quite Ironman, but if I'm not wrong a full set of armor usually takes well over ten minutes to put on, with at least one other person helping. At least I believe that's what Will ruled it as for our campaign.
The three clapped for a few seconds while admiring the armor's sheen. Doro shielded his eyes with one hand, as if he were looking toward the sun, and spoke up.
"Wow, I know it might be boasting, but I think I did a brilliant job. You may have the most well-polished Armor in Niwut. This will definitely let your virtues shine. Fits your bright disposition and beaming smile. I know you might not be sold by the new color, but please just reflect upon it, or on it. I'm sure that if you meet them wearing this, Tom and your old friend will see you in a whole new, possibly golden, light. Maybe your higher-ups will even promote you just so they can nickname you "The Solturion"."
Sarima, Khetep, and Dhruvah all had slightly different reactions to the barrage of puns, but the last one had all three break down in some form of laughter or another.
"That was so corny...but Sol-turion though...."
Sarima chuckled a bit, but her face was slightly pinched as if she had just bitten into a lemon. Khetep, for his part, was wincing as he muttered something about teams. Dhruvah just let out an amused, but tired, sigh.
"If this coating delivers on even half of what you claim, then it's worth it. At worst, I'll need to endure a few jokes. Not like I was very stealthy to start with. I need to drop by the Niwut Free Legion HQ to give notice of my squad's dissolution, so I should head off. I don't really know how long Tom and I are going to stay here, but I'll make sure to drop by before we leave. I was glad to meet you and your family, Doro, and thank you for the gifts."
Doro tried to reply but he stuttered. After gathering himself for a moment and fighting off the tears that were threatening to form at the corner of his eyes, Doro looked up and tried again.
"If not for you, I would be dead now. Worse, my last moments would have been the stuff nightmares are made of. As far as I am concerned, I owe you more than a meal and a small upgrade to your armor. If there is anything I can ever help you with, don't hesitate to ask."
"Don't sweat the small stuff, we're friends now, and friends don't keep score."
Dhruvah posed for a second, to add to the manly atmosphere, and turned to leave in style. Sadly, he was so concentrated on trying to look cool that he didn't take the fact that the door was appropriatly sized for Khetep into account. He dinged his head on the doorframe, slowly turned back to see if his blunder was spotted, then quickly left before anyone could start laughing.
"Well, that was quite the strange man. I like him though. I could do without him flirting with my wife, but since he saved you, I'll overlook it."
Doro spent the next fifteen minutes talking with Sarima and corrected her homework before sending her away, to work on a new set of questions. Only Khetep remained in the room with Doro, and it looked like he wanted to discuss something.
"Hey Doro, are you okay? I didn't tell your mother, but I heard you screaming in the middle of the night. Nightmares?"
"Yeah. Even with the memories I have of my previous life, I wasn't prepared. I've been in dangerous situations before, even in this life, but this was the first time a person was actually trying to kill me. How do you do it? How do you live in a world where there are people walking around who could destroy an entire village by themselves if they felt like it. How do you feel safe?"
Khetep paused before answering.
"You have faith in the law, and in the people administrating it. I believe that people are innately moral and that for every bad apple, at least one good one will exist to balance it out. Yes, there are people who could be considered evil at every level of society, but there are many that could be considered good. Most people are more complicated than that, but having lived in Niwut my whole life, I trust that most people will abstain from acting out their worst impulses. If they don't, they will get alienated from the community, or caught by the authorities. Sure there are still some people who will do horrible things, but then there are also people like Dhruvah who will go above and beyond to help others."
"I understand what you mean, but that won't protect you when someone does decide to do you harm, only make it less likely they are able to do it again if they get caught. When I ran out of energy and was pinned to the ground, there was nothing I could do. I kept trying to think of a way out, but I came up with nothing. If Dhruvah hadn't shown up just in time, I would have died helplessly."
Khetep's expression became graver as he listened on and saw the look on his son's face.
"I was lucky enough to never end up in that kind of situation, the worst I got was combative drunks trying to take a swing at me because I look like an easy target and sound like an intellectual. I decided to stay away from those situations. That's why I'm okay without any real means of defense. I'm not a fighter, I use my head to avoid putting myself in situations that could lead to violence, but I do have one or two Abilities I can use to help me escape. I never go out of the house without my satchel, and it contains a few substances that I could use on such occasions. Your mother has a lot more Abilities that can be used in combat than I do, probably a result of her lack of filter. Did you know she has an ability that lets her use energy to prevent ceramics from breaking? I'm fairly sure she got it because of her habit of throwing pots and cups at people who pick fights with her when she goes out drinking."
"So what you are saying is I either need to be mindful of my powerlessness and plan around it or, like mom, I should find ways to develop Abilities that I can use for self-defense if I plan on being headstrong?"
"Pretty much, and if that isn't enough to make you feel safe, you can always try and change direction toward a more combat-oriented Choice when you overcome a threshold. If you get creative though, that shouldn't be necessary unless you plan on becoming something like a soldier or an explorer later on."
"I guess you are right, I'm sure I can come up with a couple of tricks with my current Abilities if I practice with those applications in mind. Until I've become a bit stronger though, I'll avoid side streets and try to avoid wandering around outside the neighborhood on my own. I still need to make my way to the central district tomorrow, and every Learning-day after that though. If I stick to the main streets and don't carry any marks or precious stuff on me, I reckon it should be fine, but any chance you could accompany me tomorrow?"
Khetep thought for a moment before accepting.
"It wouldn't hurt for me to meet Scholar Atwut, but in that case, I need you to help me with work this afternoon so we can knock out tomorrow afternoon's share ahead of time. If we get started now, we might still have some time for you to teach me tomorrow morning. Your new metals are making me quite curious."
"Sure, I'll help out. I might have to head off to help Mom for a bit too since she asked me first. Guess I'll take a break from practicing energy-hungry Abilities for the next two days. I'll use whatever spare energy I have on ingot production until then. Tomorrow should be another full day."