Week Two -- Thursday
WHO: Watts and Ace WHAT: We'll see. WHEN: Thursday afternoon WHERE: The Mountain Lions' lodge RATING: Probably not more than PG-13
Watts shone her flashlight on the circuit breaker and blew out a breath that lifted wisps of flaming red bangs out of her eyes. As usual, she was in the power plant, and as usual, she was fixing somebody else's screw-ups. If she could figure out exactly how this person had screwed up, she could probably correct the mistake, but as it was, she wasn't quite sure what the problem was. Her eyes scanned over the control panel, checking buttons and lights and the position of switches. Everything seemed to be in place. Watts flipped a few switches for good measure, but nothing doing.
Having worked at this particular power plant for a good year now, she knew the ins and outs of it well. Watts hadn't been an electrician specifically, upon coming to Sundance, but it had been easy enough to learn; most operations of the power grid required nothing more than a basic knowledge of mechanical engineering, a subject in which Watts was more than proficient.
Power was fluctuating in certain sectors of the city, and Watts wasn't quite sure what to do about it. Everything looked normal. It didn't help that the bare, swinging lightbulb overhead in the control room had blown out a few days ago, and Watts hadn't had time to hunt down a spare -- if there were any. So she was forced to use a flashlight powered by precious batteries. Even that seemed to be against her, the beam of light growing dimmer and dimmer as she pondered the switchboard. Finally it faded out completely, and Watts cursed, throwing the torch across the room. Could anything else go wrong today? So without light and without any clue as to what the problem was in the first place, Watts shoved her hands in her pockets and left the plant, unsure whether she had given up for the moment or whether she was in search of a new light source.
The power station was deep in Mountain Lions territory, and Watts rarely had any reason to go anywhere outside of their sector. She really divided her time between the lodge and the station, as those were the places she could make herself most useful. And Watts liked being useful; she knew it was the main reason she was kept around. Even after a year with the Mountain Lions, sometimes she still felt like an outsider. This was probably due to the fact that she worked more than she socialized, but Watts did like being a Mountain Lion, even if she was sometimes required to participate in things she would rather not. Like burning people. She did recognize the necessity of establishing superiority, especially in a world like this, though she didn't always agree with her commanders' methods. But she was a good soldier, and did what she was told most of the time -- although usually not without making her opinions heard.
Upon completing the walk back to the lodge, she came in out of the wind and removed her jacket. She was considering heading to the stockroom to look for lightbulbs and batteries, but turned the opposite direction instead, moving toward her room.