#Industrial Water Tank Cleaning

[endeavorclean18]

The Importance of Marble Polishing and Water Tank Cleaning in Dubai

Marble Polishing in Dubai: Elevating Your Home’s Elegance

Many buildings in Dubai today incorporate luxurious features, including spectacular use of marble and related products. These types of surfaces over time, however, fail to look new due to scrapping from traffic, staining and other general abuses they are subjected to. Hiring a marble polishing company in Dubai is the best way to restore the shine and elegance of your marble. It includes mechanized operations such as abrasion, finishing and refinement of the material surface whilst eliminating any flaw to bring the surface to its new condition.

For those looking for a trusted marble polishing service, it’s crucial to choose professionals with experience and the right equipment. These experts have adequate knowledge of various types of marble to realize that each surface needs special attention.

Residential Water Tank Cleaning: Ensuring Safe Water Supply

Choosing a reliable residential water tank cleaning service ensures that your family has access to safe, clean water. Professional cleaning on the other hand, encompasses inspection, cleaning and sanitation of the interiors hence enabling homeowners to have their water supply checked to ensure that it is clean.

Commercial Solutions: Marble Polishing and Water Tank Cleaning

To the businesses, it is essential to keep their setting clean for both the consumers and their employees. Whether it’s a luxury hotel or an office building, marble polishing services in Dubai help keep floors gleaming, contributing to a professional and upscale appearance. The right service will also include a method of scratching, staining, and dulling the surface for ultimate shine.

In addition, commercial water tank cleaning is essential for businesses that rely on a steady supply of clean water. Water that is stored in a tank is potentially health hazardous through contracting diseases through its use particularly in preparation of food and other domestic uses. Unfortunately cleaning and maintaining the tank is very important since the tank contains water which is essential in the preparation of food and other domestic uses. The professionals involved in cleaning the tanks employ the right techniques that help them disinfect the tanks while ensuring the water being portable for use daily.

Marble Floor Polishing and Health Benefits

While many people consider marble floor polishing services for aesthetic reasons, it also has health benefits. The material used here is polished marble which makes it easier to be clean in way that there will be no dust and or allergens buildup on the surface. This is particularly important where there are kids or any of the members of the family that has a sensitive skin allergy. Apart from beautifying your house, there are other health related reasons for investing on a regular polishing.

Water Tank Cleaning in Dubai: Why It’s Essential

Since Dubai enjoys warm temperatures, water that is stored in tanks is prone to evolve into a breeding ground of bacteria, if not treated often. Water tank cleaning in Dubai is an essential service for both residential and commercial properties. Another aspect is; a professional cleaning will help in preventing pollution and contamination of the water in question. This is especially so during the summer period since water deoxygenation, which makes the culture medium most favourable for the growth of dangerous organisms in water tanks takes a very short time.

By combining house water tank cleaning with routine maintenance, homeowners can protect their water supply and reduce the risk of health problems associated with contaminated water. Consequently, suitable and regular supervision and care will go a long way in helping to provide safe water to the inhabitants.

Conclusion

Whether you need marble polishing to keep your floors looking flawless or water tank cleaning to ensure a safe water supply, it’s essential to work with trusted professionals. The cleaning of your marble surfaces and water tanks does not only serve the aesthetic purpose of enhancing beauty of your compound but also would be contributing to health of your family or employees.

Visit Endeavor Clean to know more about cleaning services we offer!

[puretanks]

Water Tank Cleaning Services In Delhi NCR At Affordable Price

Water tanks are often overlooked and ignored until they have become an issue. They may start to smell, grow mold, or develop bacteria if they aren't properly maintained. The best way to maintain your tank is by having it cleaned professionally every few years. 

A professional Water Tank Cleaning will ensure that your water stays clean and healthy while also preventing any potential hazards in your home. As one of the leading companies offering water tank cleaning services in Delhi NCR, we offer professional services at affordable prices.

 Give us a call today to get started! We'll take care of everything from removing debris from the bottom of the tank  found in older pipes. Our certified technicians can tackle even the toughest jobs with ease- and you don’t need to worry about doing any work yourself. 

All you have to do is contact our team today and let them know what needs done. No matter how big or small the problem, we have the skills and knowledge to help.  Water Tank Cleaning services Delhi Give us a call today for more information about our services.

 If you're ready to get started with our team of experts, we look forward to hearing from you! Just give us a call at 9am EST so we can begin working on this project. To learn more about our company and see why people love working with us, visit ! You'll be glad you did!

[harshdakadam]

High-Quality Industrial Fire Fighting Tanks in Pune, India

When it comes to safeguarding your industrial facility, having a reliable water storage solution is essential. At Coepp Prefab Water Tanks, we specialize in providing top-tier industrial fire fighting tanks in Pune, India. Our tanks are designed to meet the stringent requirements of industrial fire protection systems, ensuring that your facility is well-prepared in case of an emergency.

Industrial Fire Fighting Tanks

Industrial fire fighting tanks play a critical role in ensuring the safety and security of industrial facilities. These tanks are engineered to store large volumes of water specifically for fire suppression purposes. They are constructed using durable materials that can withstand harsh environmental conditions, ensuring long-term reliability and performance.

Our industrial fire fighting tanks are designed with the following features:

High Capacity: Capable of storing large volumes of water to meet the demands of industrial fire suppression systems.

Durable Construction: Made from high-quality materials that provide strength and durability, ensuring longevity even in challenging environments.

Corrosion Resistance: Designed to resist corrosion, ensuring that the water stored remains clean and uncontaminated.

Easy Installation: Our tanks are designed for easy installation and maintenance, minimizing downtime and operational disruptions.

Industrial Fire Fighting Tanks in Pune

Located in Pune, Coepp Prefab Water Tanks is committed to serving the local industrial community with high-quality fire fighting tanks. Pune, known for its bustling industrial sector, requires robust fire protection solutions to safeguard its numerous manufacturing and processing facilities. Our industrial fire fighting tanks in Pune are tailored to meet these specific needs, providing reliable water storage solutions that enhance fire safety and protection.

By choosing Coepp Prefab Water Tanks, businesses in Pune can benefit from:

Local Expertise: Our team understands the unique needs of Pune's industrial sector and provides customized solutions to meet these demands.

Timely Delivery: We ensure prompt delivery and installation of our tanks, allowing you to quickly enhance your facility's fire protection capabilities.

Comprehensive Support: From initial consultation to installation and maintenance, we offer comprehensive support to ensure your fire fighting tank system operates seamlessly.

Industrial Fire Fighting Tanks in India

As a leading provider of industrial fire fighting tanks in India, Coepp Prefab Water Tanks is dedicated to ensuring the safety and security of industrial facilities across the country. Our tanks are used in a wide range of industries, from manufacturing and processing plants to warehouses and commercial facilities. We understand the critical importance of reliable water storage in fire protection systems and strive to provide solutions that meet the highest standards of quality and performance.

Choosing our industrial fire fighting tanks in India means benefiting from:

Nationwide Reach: We serve clients across India, providing reliable fire fighting tank solutions regardless of location.

Quality Assurance: Our tanks are manufactured to stringent quality standards, ensuring reliable performance and durability.

Expert Consultation: Our experienced team offers expert consultation to help you choose the right tank solution for your specific needs.

Why Choose Coepp Prefab Water Tanks?

Expertise and Experience: With years of experience in the industry, we are well-equipped to provide the best water storage solutions for fire fighting needs.

Quality and Durability: Our tanks are built to last, using high-quality materials that ensure long-term performance and reliability.

Customized Solutions: We offer customized tank solutions to meet the specific requirements of different industries and applications.

Comprehensive Service: From consultation and design to installation and maintenance, we provide end-to-end service to our clients.

At Coepp Prefab Water Tanks, we are committed to enhancing fire safety and protection through our high-quality industrial fire fighting tanks. Whether you are in Pune or anywhere else in India, you can rely on us for dependable water storage solutions that safeguard your facility.

[reasonsforhope]

"A 1-megawatt sand battery that can store up to 100 megawatt hours of thermal energy will be 10 times larger than a prototype already in use.

The new sand battery will eliminate the need for oil-based energy consumption for the entire town of town of Pornainen, Finland.

Sand gets charged with clean electricity and stored for use within a local grid.

Finland is doing sand batteries big. Polar Night Energy already showed off an early commercialized version of a sand battery in Kankaanpää in 2022, but a new sand battery 10 times that size is about to fully rid the town of Pornainen, Finland of its need for oil-based energy.

In cooperation with the local Finnish district heating company Loviisan Lämpö, Polar Night Energy will develop a 1-megawatt sand battery capable of storing up to 100 megawatt hours of thermal energy.

“With the sand battery,” Mikko Paajanen, CEO of Loviisan Lämpö, said in a statement, “we can significantly reduce energy produced by combustion and completely eliminate the use of oil.”

Polar Night Energy introduced the first commercial sand battery in 2022, with local energy utility Vatajankoski. “Its main purpose is to work as a high-power and high-capacity reservoir for excess wind and solar energy,” Markku Ylönen, Polar Nigh Energy’s co-founder and CTO, said in a statement at the time. “The energy is stored as heat, which can be used to heat homes, or to provide hot steam and high temperature process heat to industries that are often fossil-fuel dependent.” ...

Sand—a high-density, low-cost material that the construction industry discards [Note: 6/13/24: Turns out that's not true! See note at the bottom for more info.] —is a solid material that can heat to well above the boiling point of water and can store several times the amount of energy of a water tank. While sand doesn’t store electricity, it stores energy in the form of heat. To mine the heat, cool air blows through pipes, heating up as it passes through the unit. It can then be used to convert water into steam or heat water in an air-to-water heat exchanger. The heat can also be converted back to electricity, albeit with electricity losses, through the use of a turbine.

In Pornainen, Paajanen believes that—just by switching to a sand battery—the town can achieve a nearly 70 percent reduction in emissions from the district heating network and keep about 160 tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere annually. In addition to eliminating the usage of oil, they expect to decrease woodchip combustion by about 60 percent.

The sand battery will arrive ready for use, about 42 feet tall and 49 feet wide. The new project’s thermal storage medium is largely comprised of soapstone, a byproduct of Tulikivi’s production of heat-retaining fireplaces. It should take about 13 months to get the new project online, but once it’s up and running, the Pornainen battery will provide thermal energy storage capacity capable of meeting almost one month of summer heat demand and one week of winter heat demand without recharging.

“We want to enable the growth of renewable energy,” Paajanen said. “The sand battery is designed to participate in all Fingrid’s reserve and balancing power markets. It helps to keep the electricity grid balanced as the share of wind and solar energy in the grid increases.”"

-via Popular Mechanics, March 13, 2024

--

Note: I've been keeping an eye on sand batteries for a while, and this is really exciting to see. We need alternatives to lithium batteries ASAP, due to the grave human rights abuses and environmental damage caused by lithium mining, and sand batteries look like a really good solution for grid-scale energy storage.

--

Note 6/13/24: Unfortunately, turns out there are substantial issues with sand batteries as well, due to sand scarcity. More details from a lovely asker here, sources on sand scarcity being a thing at the links: x, x, x, x, x

[victoria-ward420]

Chapter 2 of V the most deadliest Mercenary in night city. *Disclaimer this does not follow the plot of Cyberpunk 2077 game but it is with cyberpunk 2077 characters. There’s Smut and fluff and all sorts of bad stuff. This is my first time writing so please be gentle.

CHAPTER 2

V navigated the bustling streets of Night City, the neon lights casting an eerie glow over the rain-slicked pavement. She moved with a predatory grace, her senses still heightened from the night’s violent escapades. Reaching Megabuilding 8 in Little China, she climbed the stairs to her apartment, a familiar path through the chaos she called home. Inside, the apartment was as she had left it—cluttered with empty liquor bottles, discarded food wrappers, and scattered weapons. She stripped off her bloodstained clothes, tossing them into a corner, and headed to the bathroom. The hot water of the shower cascaded over her, washing away the grime and blood, though it couldn’t cleanse the darkness within her. She closed her eyes, savoring the heat and the sensation of the water against her skin. After drying off, V grabbed the last bottle of rum from the cluttered kitchen counter. She took a long swig, the alcohol burning a familiar path down her throat. The apartment was silent except for the occasional drip of water and the distant hum of the city. Feeling the alcohol warm her from the inside, V dressed in clean clothes—a simple black tank top and jeans—then holstered her weapons. She needed to unwind, and there was only one place that could satisfy her cravings tonight: the Afterlife. The Afterlife was a legendary club, a sanctuary for mercs and the shadowy elite of Night City. It was a place where deals were made, alliances forged, and blood spilled. V pushed through the heavy doors and was immediately enveloped in the pounding bass of industrial music, the dim lighting, and the palpable tension in the air.

She made her way to the bar, her presence commanding attention. The bartender, a grizzled man with cybernetic arms, nodded at her. “V,” he greeted her with a hint of respect. “The usual?” She nodded, sliding onto a stool. She nodded, sliding onto a stool. The bartender poured her a glass of the strongest whiskey they had. V took a deep drink, the potent liquid numbing her senses just enough. She surveyed the room, the familiar faces of fellow mercs and fixers mingling in the smoky haze.

As the night wore on, V drank herself into a comfortable stupor, her mind drifting on the edge of darkness. She reveled in the noise, the chaos, the familiar comfort of being surrounded by others like her—lost souls seeking solace in violence and vice. Hours later, with the club still throbbing with life, V found herself leaning against the bar, her vision slightly blurred but her senses still sharp. The alcohol dulled the pain, both physical and emotional, and she allowed herself a moment of peace in the eye of the storm. The night was far from over, and V knew that come morning, there would be another job, another kill, another dance with death. But for now, she was content to drown her demons in whiskey and the heavy beats of the Afterlife.

In the haze of alcohol and music, V found herself drawn to a fellow mercenary who caught her eye across the bar. He was rugged, with a cybernetic arm and a dangerous glint in his eye. Their mutual recognition of shared chaos sparked an unspoken understanding. With a nod, he followed her to the back, slipping into the cramped bathroom. The encounter was fierce and unrestrained, a primal release of the night’s tensions. They parted ways without a word, both returning to the pulsating heart of the Afterlife, their connection a fleeting moment in the storm. V moved to the dance floor, losing herself in the thumping rhythm and flashing lights. She danced with abandon, her body moving in sync with the music, the world around her a blur of faces and colors. The energy of the crowd fueled her, a temporary escape from the relentless cycle of violence and pain. Amidst the throng, she felt a firm tap on her shoulder. Turning, she saw Rogue, the legendary fixer and owner of the Afterlife, standing there with a knowing smile. Rogue was an icon in Night City, a woman who commanded respect and fear in equal measure.

“V,” Rogue said, her voice carrying over the music. “Got a job for you. Swing by in the morning for the details.”

V nodded, her curiosity piqued. Rogue’s jobs were always high-stakes and high-reward, the kind that could cement a merc’s reputation or end their career. She finished her dance, her mind already turning over the possibilities.

Rogue placed a hand on V’s shoulder, leaning in to be heard over the din. “Drinks are on me tonight. Enjoy yourself.”

With that, Rogue disappeared back into the crowd, leaving V with a sense of anticipation. She returned to the bar, taking advantage of Rogue’s offer and ordering another round. The bartender gave her a conspiratorial wink as he poured her drink.

As the night wound down, V felt the alcohol settling into her system, a comforting numbness that dulled the edges of her ever-present darkness. She allowed herself a rare moment of relaxation, knowing that come morning, she would be back in the game, ready for whatever Rogue had in store for her. The crowd thinned as the hours passed, but V stayed until the club began to close. Finally, she slipped out into the early morning streets, the cool air a stark contrast to the heat of the club. She made her way back to her apartment, her steps steady despite the alcohol in her veins.

V collapsed onto her bed, the events of the night playing through her mind. She drifted into a restless sleep, her dreams a chaotic mix of blood, neon lights, and the promise of the next job. Morning would bring new challenges and new enemies, but for now, she embraced the fleeting peace of sleep. The sun was just beginning to rise when V awoke. The city outside was already stirring, the sounds of traffic and voices filtering through her window. She got up, the remnants of last night’s drinks still buzzing in her system. After a quick shower and a fresh change of clothes, she was ready. V made her way to the Afterlife, the city’s pulse matching her own. She stepped inside, the familiar atmosphere greeting her like an old friend. Rogue was waiting for her, a serious expression on her face.“Ready for the details?” Rogue asked. Rogue eyed V as she approached, a slight smirk playing on her lips. "V, got something big for you," she began. "There's an assassination job at a Maelstrom nightclub. High-profile target. You in?" V's heart quickened at the mention of Maelstrom. The gang was known for their extreme body modifications and ruthless tactics. She had a twisted fascination with them, finding their chaos and brutality oddly exhilarating. A smile spread across her face. "You know I can't say no to that," she replied, excitement lacing her voice.

Rogue nodded, handing V a data chip. "Details are all in here. Target is a high-ranking Maelstrom leader. Be careful; their club's a fortress. You know how those borged-out freaks can get. But I trust you'll handle it. Come back alive, and the drinks are on me again." V pocketed the chip, already planning her approach. "Consider it done." Rogue gave her a curt nod. "Good. And V—keep your head on straight. These guys don't play." With that, V turned and left the Afterlife, her mind already racing with strategies. The thought of infiltrating a Maelstrom stronghold filled her with a dark thrill. She headed back to her apartment to prepare, her steps quick and purposeful.

Back at her apartment, V changed tactics, opting for an unconventional approach to get inside the heavily guarded Maelstrom nightclub. She chose an outfit designed to disarm and distract: a bikini top, a short skirt with no panties, a bomber jacket over it, and her hair styled into playful pigtails. She spent extra time on her makeup, ensuring it looked cute and enticing, emphasizing her eyes and lips. As she approached the nightclub again, she noticed the bouncer—a hulking figure with numerous cybernetic enhancements—eyeing her with interest. She swayed her hips as she walked up to him, flashing a seductive smile.

He looked her up and down, his gaze lingering. “Why should I let you in?” he asked, his voice a low growl. Without missing a beat, V leaned in and planted a soft kiss on his cheek, her hand sliding down to rub his groin. “Because I’ll make it worth your while,” she purred, her voice dripping with allure. The bouncer’s eyes darkened with desire as he gripped her ass, squeezing it firmly. He smirked, clearly pleased with what he saw and felt. “Alright, sweetheart. You’re in.” He stepped aside, letting her pass. V sauntered into the club, her senses immediately assaulted by the thumping bass and flashing lights. The interior was a chaotic mix of neon and grime, with Maelstrom members and various patrons lost in the pulsating energy of the night.

V moved through the crowd, her seductive demeanor masking her lethal intent. She scanned the room, looking for her target—a high-ranking Maelstrom leader known for his cybernetic enhancements and ruthless command. Her informants had told her he’d be in the VIP section, a heavily guarded area at the back of the club. Navigating through the throng of dancing bodies, V reached the entrance to the VIP section. Two more Maelstrom guards stood watch, their eyes scrutinizing everyone who approached. V maintained her seductive facade, swaying her hips and flashing a playful smile as she approached them. “Hey there,” she said, her voice sweet and inviting. “I’m here to see your boss. I think he’ll want to meet me.”

The guards exchanged glances, skeptical but intrigued. “What’s your business with him?” one of them asked. V leaned closer, her lips brushing his ear. “Let’s just say I have something special for him,” she whispered, her fingers lightly tracing his jawline. The guard hesitated, then nodded. “Alright, but don’t try anything funny.”They let her through, and V entered the VIP section. The room was more subdued but no less intense, with Maelstrom elites and their companions lounging on plush seats, drinking and chatting. At the center, surrounded by a few heavily armed bodyguards, sat her target.

He was exactly as her informants had described—tall, imposing, and covered in cybernetic enhancements that glinted under the dim lights. V approached him, her movements slow and deliberate, ensuring all eyes were on her As she got closer, she let her jacket slip off her shoulders, revealing more of her outfit. The target’s eyes narrowed with interest and suspicion. “And who might you be?” he asked, his voice a low rumble. V smiled, her heart pounding with anticipation. “Someone who wants to get to know you better,” she said, her voice seductive. “Maybe even help you with a little… problem. ” He leaned back, his gaze unwavering. “Is that so? And what problem might that be?” V’s smile widened. “The kind that ends with a very satisfying solution.” As she spoke, her mind raced with plans. She needed to get close, close enough to deliver the fatal blow. She had come this far, and she wouldn’t let anything stop her now. V felt a surge of power and arousal as she straddled the Maelstrom leader, her seductive smile never faltering. He leaned in, their lips meeting in a fierce kiss as she began to grind against him. The energy between them crackled with a mix of lust and danger.His hands roamed her body, gripping her ass with possessive force. She could feel him getting hard beneath her, the anticipation building. He hit a button, and the privacy glass slid into place, sealing them off from the rest of the VIP section. Without wasting a moment, he freed himself, his cock springing to life. V positioned herself, the thrill of the moment sending shivers down her spine. He entered her, and she began to ride him, her movements a blend of desire and dominance. Their bodies moved in sync, a twisted dance of power and pleasure. She rode him hard, feeling the intensity of his grip and the heat of their connection. The first wave of pleasure hit her, and she cried out, her body convulsing as she came. She didn’t stop, riding him even harder, lost in the ecstasy and the control she wielded. The second orgasm followed quickly, her cries echoing in the confined space.

As she felt him nearing his climax, he grunted, “I’m close.” V’s mind sharpened, the final act of her plan coming into focus. She reached into her jacket, her hand closing around the mini pistol she had hidden there. With a swift, practiced motion, she pulled it out and pressed it against his temple. His eyes widened in shock, but before he could react, she pulled the trigger. The silenced shot was a muffled pop, and his body jerked, then went limp beneath her. Blood splattered across the privacy glass, the life draining from his eyes.

V dismounted, a satisfied smirk on her lips. She wiped the blood from her face, tucked the pistol back into her jacket, and composed herself. With one last glance at the lifeless body, she exited the VIP section, moving through the club with a confident stride. The music and lights continued to pulse around her, oblivious to the chaos she had left in her wake. She made her way to the exit, slipping past the guards and out into the night. The cool air hit her skin, a stark contrast to the heat of the club. She took a deep breath, feeling a twisted sense of accomplishment. The mission was complete, and the rush of power still thrummed through her veins. As she walked away from the Maelstrom nightclub, her mind turned to what came next. The night was far from over, and in Night City, there was always another job, another challenge, and another thrill waiting around the corner.

V made her way back to the Afterlife, her mind buzzing with the thrill of her successful mission. The city lights flickered around her, casting long shadows as she navigated the familiar streets. She felt a twisted sense of satisfaction, knowing she had once again proven her dominance in the chaotic world of Night City. Entering the Afterlife, V was greeted by the heavy bass and dim lighting that made the club feel like a second home. The familiar faces of mercs and fixers filled the space, their eyes glinting with respect and curiosity as she passed by. She headed straight for the bar, her body still humming with adrenaline and a need to unwind. The bartender, recognizing her, poured her a generous glass of whiskey without needing to ask. V took it with a nod of thanks, downing the first shot in one go. The burn of the alcohol was a comforting sensation, grounding her after the intensity of the night. As she settled into her stool, Rogue approached, a knowing smile on her face. “Heard you had quite the night,” she said, leaning against the bar. “Job done?”V nodded, a satisfied smirk playing on her lips. “Done and dusted.” Rogue chuckled. “Good. You look like you need a drink. Or ten.”V raised her glass in a mock toast. “To another night in Night City,” she said before taking another deep drink. The whiskey flowed smoothly, easing the tension in her muscles and dulling the edges of her ever-present darkness The hours slipped by in a haze of alcohol and noise. V drank until the world around her blurred, the faces of the Afterlife becoming indistinct shapes. She laughed with strangers, shared stories with fellow mercs, and let herself get lost in the comforting chaos of the club. At some point, she found herself on the dance floor again, her body moving to the relentless beat of the music. The lights flashed in time with the bass, casting everything in a surreal, dreamlike glow. V danced with abandon, her movements fluid and unrestrained, the earlier violence of the night a distant memory. As the club began to wind down, V returned to the bar, one last drink in hand. She leaned back, savoring the moment of peace amidst the storm. The Afterlife was a sanctuary, a place where she could forget, even if just for a little while, the darkness that constantly shadowed her. With her drink finished, she signaled to the bartender for another, determined to ride the wave of oblivion until she could no longer stand. The world spun around her, but she felt invincible, the thrill of power and danger still pulsing through her veins. Night City was a brutal, unforgiving place, but in moments like this, V felt alive. As the last patrons filtered out and the club began to close, she finally allowed herself to relax, knowing that tomorrow would bring new challenges and new enemies. But for now, she was content to lose herself in the comforting embrace of the Afterlife.

[seat-safety-switch]

There are two kinds of people in the world. On one hand, you have the folks who get super upset when an oil tanker spills and irreversibly contaminates precious natural resources, destroying our planet in the name of short-term profit. On the other hand, you’ve got the kind of folks who immediately commission a sketchy series of near-criminals into purchasing a disused scientific trawler because some idiot left a bunch of free oil out there and I don’t want to have to do the valve cover gaskets on my engine.

All it takes, really, is a big scoop on the front of a boat. A big scoop is something we can absolutely make. Most of us have experience fabricating rulebook-pleasing hood scoops from Princess Auto snow shovels, recycle bins left out on the side of the road, road signs, and human ribcages. Still not sure how Big Al got ahold of that, and, no matter what you may think of me, I’m not going to ask him while we’re sharing a room on this tiny little research ship.

You might think that once you’ve hoovered up the oil, it’s a good idea to separate out the water, or at least desalinate it a little bit, before you put it into an engine. And we did that, through gravity. The big tank in the bottom of the ship holds all of it and we just took a bunch of soup ladles from the kitchen and put it into old pails. Refine it? Nothing doing, college folks: like I said, the wheezy-ass slant six in this Volare blows through oil so fast that it probably won’t even notice as long as it’s slippery enough. Hell, it could be expired mayonnaise, but the grocery store recently started locking up their dumpster at night again. 

Really, the worst part of all this is the attention we got. As soon as the local government figured out that we were in the area, cleaning up one of the world’s most atrocious ecological disasters, they wanted to give us some medals and invite us to give speeches. And we’re not really about that, especially because the increased attention likely means that some plutocrat-worshipping federale will start scrutinizing us out of spite, looking for a “gotcha” to punish us for making the oil industry look worse. A gotcha like “noticing our license plates are made with crayon.” You just can’t do anything nice for people anymore without it becoming so polarized, but on the plus side Shaky Earl got a great gig at the United Nations. He did have to start bringing a drip tray to work, though, because his reserved parking space was starting to look a little oily.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Kids Are Headed Back to School. Are They Breathing Clean Air? - Published Sept 3, 2024

Across the U.S., kids are headed back to their classrooms—just as COVID nears a fresh, late-summer peak. Somehow, four years into a viral pandemic that everyone now knows spreads through the air, most schools have done little to nothing to make sure their students will breathe safely.

We—and especially our children—should be able to walk into a store or a gym or a school and assume the air is clean to breathe. Like water from the faucet, regulations should ensure our air is safe. “Air is tricky. You can choose to not partake of the water or the snacks on the table, but you can’t just abstain from breathing,” notes Gigi Gronvall, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an author of a 2021 report on the benefits of improving ventilation in schools.

The COVID-causing virus SARS-CoV-2 is far from the only airborne risk in schools. There are also other respiratory viruses, smoke from wildfires, mold spores, off-gassing from plastics and other compounds, air pollution from traffic and industry, and allergens that worsen asthma and add to sick days. Yet federal air standards are stuck in the 1970s, when they were mostly aimed at protecting people from secondhand tobacco smoke, says Joseph Allen, director of the Healthy Buildings Program at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. Fully updated standards for buildings are years or even decades away.

It’s hard to assess just what schools have or haven’t done to improve indoor air quality. No one—not one federal agency—collects nationwide air quality data on individual schools. Schools could use federal money to update air filtration and ventilation during the height of the pandemic. But a 2022 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey of school districts found that only half had taken simple steps such as opening windows or doors or using fans, and even fewer had upgraded ventilation systems.

The benefits go beyond protecting children and adults alike from airborne disease spread. “Better ventilation is linked with better test scores and grades [and] better workplace performance,” Allen said at a July meeting about air quality held by the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, a U.S. think tank.

“We have made incredible gains related to food safety, sanitation and water quality. Where is air quality in this?” he asked. “We have ignored it.” The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration quickly warn people about listeria in sliced meat or lead in cinnamon, but no one’s checking the air in public buildings for disease-causing germs.

It’s not even hard to make sure indoor air is clean. Even in the 1800s, by having open doors and windows, tuberculosis sanatoriums prevented the spread of disease by air. The CDC has extensive guidelines on what’s known as air exchange, but ultimately, it’s a matter of moving contaminated air out and fresh air in.

If it’s too hot, cold, polluted or humid outside, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems can clean up the air perfectly well when they are installed properly and used consistently. Their benefits far outweigh their costs.

“There never has been a building that we could not turn into a healthy building with just a little bit of attention,” said Allen, one of the country’s top crusaders for cleaner air, at the biodefense meeting.

Pandemic fatigue, of course, explains much of the apathy around making air-quality improvements. Public officials, from principals to local legislators right up to the top of the federal government, see that hospitals are no longer overflowing with COVID cases and that the nightly news no longer provides daily death counts. Most parents no longer clamor for assurances that their kids are safe from SARS-CoV-2.

Despite regular, ongoing spikes in COVID, most people have dropped precautions such as masks, even in hospitals.

“People are like, ‘There’s not a whole lot you can do about it,’ and that is why, societally, we need to do something about it,” Gronvall says. “We did this for water once upon a time, and we can do it for air.”

Even the experts have mostly let down their guard.

It wasn’t until halfway through the daylong, in-person-only biodefense conference on air quality that someone even thought to ask if the air in the room was safe to breathe. “Are air monitors effective?” asked former U.S. representative Fred Upton, a Republican and a commissioner at the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, at the July meeting. “Does anyone here have one?” added Upton, who had represented Michigan’s sixth district until 2023.

“Are you sure you want to know?” someone in the audience asked, prompting laughter. Rick Rasansky, CEO of XCMR Biodefense Solutions, did have a carbon dioxide monitor, a device that gives a very rough estimate of the amount of fresh air exchange in a room. He read out a “pretty good” measurement.

That was a lucky thing because the 100 or so people attending the meeting had been seated shoulder to shoulder for several hours at that point. Not one was wearing a mask.

It will take federal legislation and sustained attention to make a difference.

The Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University have developed a Model Clean Indoor Air Act, which state legislatures throughout the country could use in writing new indoor air laws. In Congress, Representatives Paul Tonko of New York State and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania have introduced a bipartisan bill that would require the Environmental Protection Agency to list indoor air contaminants and develop guidelines (albeit voluntary ones).

The new federal Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) found a great acronym in its Building Resilient Environments for Air and Total Health (BREATHE) program, which will develop and roll out cool new air-cleaning technologies.

But fancy tech isn’t enough on its own, and some schools may have wasted money on glittery toys instead of real fixes. Ceiling-installed ultraviolet lights won’t kill germs if the air isn’t blown upward to get cleaned in the first place. And gadgetry won’t create the demand and enthusiasm needed for cleaner indoor air. Politicians won’t win elections by campaigning on clean indoor air. But once they have been elected, federal, state and local officials owe it to kids, their parents and their neighbors to fight this most invisible of all hazards.

“We need to make it easier for people to see what they can’t see—to see what they’re breathing,” Gronvall says.

Unpaywalled link: archive.is/20240904045601/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/kids-are-headed-back-to-school-are-they-breathing-clean-air/#selection-499.0-617.111

[mychlapci]

okay so i did quite a few cleaning/grooming headcanons during the last celibacy week so i figured i’d start it off with some more!

one thing i’ve been debating is how cybertronians clean their plating when my continuity has a completely mechanical cybertron. think about it, most human supplies used to clean cars and/or other machinery is quite soft to avoid scratching or otherwise damaging the exterior plating. 

so i have two solutions to this!

number one! the high pressure washer. this is basically just a normal car wash but more widely available to the public and utilised by more than just mecha with transportation altmodes. these showers would provide high powered jets of water that could blast either out of the floors, walls, or ceilings depending on the type of stall. they would probably look similar to gym showers in our world, very utilitarian in design. these would also be outfitted with vents that blast warm air over the plating in order to quickly dry off the user. i imagine these would be common among the labour classes and there would likely be many that are pay to use throughout the city. perhaps expensive ones have oil and solvent bathes that are meant for soaking rather than cleaning. 

my secondary solution is metallic fibres. i’m not entirely sure if it would work particularly well but the way i think of it is metal sheets flattened and then cut into extremely fine and flexible wires which can then be woven into something that might be a reasonable approximation of cloth. again i’m not entirely sure if it would work well because with cloth there isn’t the possibility that it could scratch the plating but i think with enough stretching and flattening, one could get a “softer” thread that could be used to make blankets and washcloths. these would likely be kept only for touch ups and smaller jobs since washing the entire frame would take a lot of time doing it by hand, hence the popularity of the above option. 

now onto the actual ideas revolving around grooming/cleaning habits. 

i think that manual classes are far more likely to develop communal grooming habits than scientific or racing classes. this is very several reasons. for one it’s far easier to get clean faster when there is more than one individual involved and in an industry such as mining or transportation, time is everything. additionally many of these jobs foster a strong sense of community between workers and in a work place where the wash racks are public, trust is crucial in regards to exposing oneself in front of others. 

army mecha, like seekers, tanks, and other such warframes also tend to display these communal grooming habits, with seekers in particular displaying intricate and complex rituals of grooming in regards to their wings. of course this varies from individual to individual and just as many mecha prefer to handle cleaning their frames on their own rather than seeking assistance or parting in community activities. 

in regards to actual cleaning products i think the manual classes would be supplied with the basics of a wash rack and if their employers are feeling particularly generous, cheap waxes and oils to relax the cables and touch up any plating that may have gotten scuffed or damaged. though many companies do not provide such things due to the prevalence of workers being replaced and/or becoming dirty from their jobs. it’s simply not worth the cost. 

those ranked higher in the caste system and who actually receive a paying wage would likely purchase waxes, buffers, and the above mentioned cloths to polish and wax their plating to a shine. even wealthier mecha who have shanix to burn might even buy scented oils, waxes, and extra paint in the event that they want to switch up their scents or paint colours. these bots would most likely include high ranking members of the government, like senators or elected officials, as well as the primes, diplomats, and entertainers.

oOooh inch resting... I do like it when big robots groom and preen each other I think they should do it more often. It makes sense. There's some bits you just can't reach with your own hands, and no one wants grime in the plating seams of their back, or on the back of their wings...

[endeavorclean18]

Enhancing Indoor Spaces with Cleaning Services: Marble Polishing, Duct Cleaning, Facade Cleaning and Water Tank Cleaning

Keeping your residential or commercial property clean is crucial for the sake of hygiene.From enhancing the look of your floors with marble polishing to ensuring the quality of your air and water with AC air duct cleaning both water tank hygiene services and other cleaning areas of a dwelling have an equally critical factor to the health of the occupants of the dwelling. Cleaning and maintenance in Dubai just like any other growing city around the world has had it sites in inhabited spaces or places of business. Therefore it is very important to enlist people for such services that you can trust.

Improve Indoor Air Quality with AC Duct Cleaning

Air quality inside an enclosure such as a home or workplace can be one of the key factors influencing the health status of people inside. These years have witnessed the dust accumulation, pollutants, allergens, mold, and several other dangerous microorganisms that collect in your air ducts and vents posing a lot of health issues related to breathing in addition to the unpleasant air. One cannot overemphasize the importance of a clean air circulation hence the need to schedule AC air duct cleaning frequently. Scheduling regular AC air duct cleaning is vital to maintain clean air circulation.

A wide range of Best AC duct cleaning employs sophisticated tools to conduct the cleaning thoroughly.

AC air duct cleaning cost may differ based on the area of coverage but investing in it can lead to proper management of wellbeing practices and energy wastage.

Marble Polishing for a Luxurious Finish

The installation of marble flooring in any room will enhance its elegance somewhat, however, marbles require proper attention to retain this aspect. Opting for marble polishing services can restore the shine and smoothness of your marble surfaces, making them look as good as new.

A trusted marble polishing service will ensure your floors are handled with care and precision.

Marble polishing in Dubai is a specialized service, tailored to meet the needs of both homes and commercial spaces.

Choose a marble polishing company in Dubai and knowledge to guarantee the long-lasting condition of your marble floors.

Importance of Water Tank Cleaning in Dubai

It is hence necessary that the tank is clean to ensure that the water to be supplied to the houses or businesses is clean. Whether it’s residential water tank cleaning or commercial water tank cleaning, ensuring the tanks are free from contaminants is necessary for health and safety.

Water tank cleaning Dubai can be done through services and you can rest assured that the water used by you is clean.

A professional water tank cleaning service provider in Dubai aspires to ensure the tanks are thoroughly cleaned.

Maintaining the Exterior with Façade Cleaning Services

The outer layer of a building is the initial view that people get of your compounds. Regular façade and building cleaning services help maintain a clean and professional look. Building façade cleaning services , participation of residents in Dubai are crucial factors in maintaining the elegance and durability of tall structures and houses.

Facade cleaning services in Dubai ensure that dust, pollution, and grime are removed, leaving your building looking spotless.

Specialist cleaning companies harness various techniques relevant to the safe and sound cleaning of any form of building material out there.

Comprehensive Marble Polishing Services

Whether you need marble floor polishing service for a home or business, choosing the right provider is key. It is for this reason that services offered in Dubai for marble polishing are made to meet the specific characteristics of the areas so that after polishing, the floor is not only shiny but safe for use for as long as possible.

Marble polishing Dubai services typically include grinding, honing, and sealing to maintain the stone’s natural luster.

A professional marble polishing service ensures that your floors are restored to their original glory without damaging the stone.

Why Professional Water Tank Cleaning is Essential

For households and businesses alike, clean water is non-negotiable. Home water tank cleaning for all consumption purposes, such as drinking, cooking and cleaning, respectively, would be of paramount importance. This calls for the cleaning of water tanks in business and corporate organizations, in order to avert affecting the health of the employee and any other individual within the given organization.

Professional water tank cleaning services use specialized equipment to thoroughly clean and disinfect water tanks.

Regular household water tank cleaning prevents buildup of sediment, algae, and harmful bacteria.

FAQs

1. How often should I get my water tank cleaned? It is recommended to schedule professional water tank cleaning services at least once a year. However, if use increases or hard water defines the type of water in the tanks then cleaning might have to be more frequent.

2. How long does marble polishing take? The duration of marble floor polishing service , the intensity will however depend on the size and condition of floors available. Generally, surface refinement of a residential area may take about two hours while larger commercial areas may take one or two days.

Key Takeaways

Marble polishing services in Dubai further beautify the marble floor and increase their usability.

Regular AC air duct cleaning enhances the quality of air used indoors and can reduce energy expenses.

Water tank cleaning in Dubai is essential for maintaining clean, safe water.

Facade cleaning services help preserve the exterior appearance and value of buildings.

If it comes to such cleaning services as marble polishing, air conditioning duct cleaning, facade cleaning or water tank you are better off calling professionals who can do a good job and who demonstrate that they actually can by posting photos of their work. Choose Endeavor Clean for best services now!

[neonblessing]

10.

⚠️ SPOILER ALERT! ⚠️ Click here to read Neon Blessing from the beginning!

Club RED was a labor of love. A cyclopean eye of neon tubes stared down at the street from the facade of a beautiful temple to excess, bathing the darkening street in bloodred light which played through the mist kicked up by a nearby waterfall. The building was dark glass and darker stone, three stories tall and culminating in a domed roof. It wasn’t even 5 pm, but the line was pouring out the door and onto the sidewalk, foreign raincoats and umbrellas standing side by side with wet-haired Diluvian partygoers.

Shiv had never entered a nightclub through the front before. There’d been one club, the Magpie, that she’d frequented with her friends, but the owner was one of Ornarch’s devout and always let them skip the lines. Huh. She hadn’t been to the Magpie in years. She wasn’t even sure if it was still in business.

The line moved quickly, and before long, she was at the door. “Let’s see some ID.” There were two bouncers, identically dour and militaristic-looking men who loomed over her like a pair of sunglasses-clad statues, their suits custom-made to fit over the bulky structure of a mil-spec exocloak. Thin seams in the skin of their faces suggested the presence of subdermal armor plating to protect what the mechanized armor didn’t. One of them handled a scanner with the practiced care of a guy whose grip could crush a human skull.

Shiv showed them the card. “Kooler sent me.” The one with the scanner stared her down while the other barked a few quick words into a headset. If shit went south, the only viable exit was ducking the rope to the left, but Headset would make a grab for her and if those huge hands got a grip it was over. She’d need to distract him first, maybe blind him. Throw her coat in his face? She started to shrug it off her shoulder, just in case. Scanner continued to glower at her in a prolific display of disdain. He should be too far away to do anything, but just in case-

Headset spoke, snapping her out of her planning.

“Hm?” She’d missed what he’d actually said.

“Go on in. The boss is on the second floor.” Shiv pulled her coat back over her shoulder and brushed past the bouncers and into the club. She pushed her way past a heavy curtain of soundproof fabric and replaced the endless roar of the streets with the endless roar of Club RED’s speakers.

Water poured down gilded fountain walls and colored lights arced and scattered through thick smoke, produced by a mix of sweet-scented cigarettes and industrial fog machines. Waiters and waitresses wearing practically nothing served a very peculiar clientele: half of the patrons were exactly what she’d expected, the sort of wealthy-looking folks willing to spend fifteen credits on a can of beer; and the other half were all grizzled paramilitary types. The burning coal glow of their cybernetic eyes stared out at her through the fog, automatically seeking out her vital organs before flicking back to their drinks.

Shiv scaled the stairs to the second floor, taking a moment to look out on the dance floor from the balcony. The band’s frontwoman was more work of art than human, her limbs all formed from sweeping lines of carbon fiber and steel. Her guitar plugged into a port on the back of her neck, her quicksilver fingers dancing over the strings with surreal grace. She had a voice like an angel with a smoking habit.

“She’s quite something, ain’t she?” A woman’s voice came from behind Shiv. She turned to see Kurtz, for who else could it be? The owner of Club RED was maybe forty years old, a little shorter than Shiv, and built like a brick. Her head was clean-shaven, revealing dozens of tally mark tattoos, in sets of five, spreading from near her temple and across half of her head. Unlike everyone else, she was dressed simply and practically, in sturdy black pants and a tank top, and unlike everyone else, she had a gun at her hip, an antique revolver. Both of her eyes were red: one eye was flesh, with an iris that had either been dyed or transplanted. The other eye was metal, the iris glowing the exact same shade as the vast eye on the front of the building. She carried herself with an easy confidence, bordering on arrogance. “Are you the one Kooler mentioned?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m Joan Kurtz, owner of Club RED and REDEYE PMSC. What brings you to my door?”

First Page – Previous Page – Next Page

[davidstortebeker]

Closing Loops in Soilless Gardening - Hydroponics and Aquaponics

What is the future of food production going to look like? Is the projected 10 billion people in 25 years, out of which two thirds will live in cities, going to require us to convert every square meter of arable land into intensive mono cultural farms? Please don't let that be true! There HAS to be some alternative. Fortunately, there are several. Two of them are different ways of growing plants without soil, a radically new method, which may be most appealing to urban food production.

image source

Hydroponics: Growing Plants in Water

When it comes to growing large amounts of food on a small area efficiently, hydroponic systems are often brought up as a solution. And the reasons sound pretty convincing: An efficient hydroponic farm uses 90% less water, and can yield 3-10 times the amount of produce per area, with 7-14 growth cycles in a year. IMPRESSIVE! But before getting too excited, let's not forget: the devil is in the details! It's worth looking into under exactly what conditions those plants grow, being fed by what light, and most importantly which nutrients, and where they come from.

image source

The basic concept, however, of growing plants vertically, in mostly water, with some kind of substrate, such as clay balls or vermiculite, is actually a pretty nifty way to grow food where there are no fields. The most basic form of this may be the Windowfarm technique, which I experimented with myself years ago in my Budapest apartment. Going to Shanghai, the whole idea seems to be taken to a whole new level.

https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2017/04/sunqiao-urban-agricultural-district-Sasaki-architecture-industrial-china-shanghai_dezeen_hero-b.jpg image source

Is That Really Sustainable? Or Even Healthy?

… not to mention, does hydroponics even fit into Permaculture? Because let's be honest: with a system that needs to be constantly managed and monitored you could not be further from a self-supporting ecosystem. Also, what exactly do those plants get to eat? The typical N-P-K made industrially out of petrochemicals? Most likely. So while it certainly reduces the transport related drawbacks, hydroponics is by no means energy efficient, and the nutritional value won't be any better than your most industrially grown veggies.

image source

How Does Aquaponics Compare?

Okay, so let's bring in the fish! For those not familiar with the difference between the two systems, aquaponics is the combination of hydroponics and aquaculture, which are simply fish farms. Having fish in a tank, they will naturally defecate into the water, requiring it to be changed regularly. Plants, however love to eat those nutrients that the fish excrete. Or to be more exact, they feed on the nutrients that have been converted by bacteria and other microbes. The ammonia will turn in to nitrites, which in turn become nitrates, that is food for the plants.

image source

So running the water from the fish through the plants growing substrate will on one hand feed the plants, as well as clean it for the fish to enjoy it again. So the system already closed a few loops there, making it more sustainable than just mere hydroponics. Also, the inclusion of microbes already offers a more diverse environment, bringing the system a bit closer to an ecosystem. But let's not get ahead of ourselves: Aquaponic systems still need close monitoring, as they are still a far cry from a self sustaining ecosystem of let's say a pond. Also, the water circulation / aeration is most likely going to require a pump, and depending on the exact setup of the system, maybe artificial lighting for the plants. All these aspects add to the energy requirement of the aquaponic system.

image source

A Truly Closed Loop? Consider the Food of the Fish!

When praising the sustainability of aquaponics, one thing that mustn't be ignored is the source of the fish food. Just like with the hydroponic systems, where the food for the plants or the fertilizer is considered, we can't ignore the feed we give to our fish to eat. If it is the same industrial feed, we may as well have kept to our hydroponics. Not true, since including fish already makes our system more diverse. So instead, let's continue in that same direction. What do fish eat? What is good for them? How can we grow that food ourselves?

image source

Making Your Own Sustainable Fish Food

Here I could probably start a number of individual posts, since talking about fish food is like opening up a can of worms. But fortunately, I already have a number of appropriate things written. Talking about worms, by the way, anyone who has been fishing knows that they are a favored delicacy, and anyone who composts will have no shortage of them. Since worms are mostly vegetarians, and many of us eat meat, it may have been a bit difficult to properly compost greasy, meaty, bony food wastes. That's where black soldier flies come in, whose larvae are also frequently mentioned for fish food. I still need to try growing those guys. As for green plants for the fish, duckweed makes also good fish feed, again something I have no experience with. What I do know, though, is spirulina, which is also super rich in nutrients, and I would be surprised if the fish didn't like it. So I can see throwing some composting worms, black soldier fly larvae, and spirulina into a blender, to make some great nutritious fish food. At the moment this is very theoretical for me, though.

image source

Don't Give Up the Soil Completely

So does this mean we should all focus on setting up our most sustainable fish-plant-compost combo cycles? Hells yeah! But please not at the expense of everything else! Soilless gardening, as exciting and revolutionary as it may sound, is still that: without soil. And let's face it: neither us, nor our beans and tomatoes, have evolved to live entirely without soil. That just seems wrong. Even in a small urban apartment it's worth having a bit of soil on your roof, balcony, or window sill, where you can dig your hands into a world of healthy microbial diversity on occasion. And if you do have the space, by all means, set up a pond, a dam, or another aquatic ecosystem, where fish, and frogs, and dragonflies, and numerous other species can live together without relying on our management. Apart from looking pretty, they will also provide food for us, that is nutritionally superior to anything industrially grown.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

[smalls-words]

Wandering Tales - Soulmate AU

Summary: Your job is never easy, but the likes of a family having a bad day makes it all the more enjoyable.

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Fem!???!Reader

Warnings: Some hurt/comfort and fluffy stuff, adoption, nothing too serious but lmk if there is anything else.

A/N: I saw a post the other day that went something along the lines of ‘even if you think your writing is shit, there’ll be someone out there who relates to it and appreciates it’. So, here’s another WIP i haven’t touched in a while.

*not my gif*

When someone is born into this strange world of soulmates, they don’t realise how lucky they are. To know that someone out there in the billions of people is the one destined for them is both mind-meltingly and earth-shatteringly beautiful. But with all of these mutants, metahumans, aliens and more, how do you know who it is?

Well, in this world, you have two marks, both similar to a birthmark, but not quite the same.

For example, let’s take a Kryptonian with a Luthor. Now, the Luthor may not want to accept it, but her mark is the crest of the House of El, sealing her fate with one of two people. As for the Kryptonian, she may not have understood what the L symbol meant on her planet, but when she arrived on Earth, it became pretty clear on who her soulmate was.

And it’s not just symbols or crests that the mark can be. They can be mysterious, tricky, and downright allusive. A florist’s soulmate may have a plain flower on their wrist, or secretly, the florist has always wanted to pursue music, making it a clef or a blank bar. Similarly to a ballerina; you would expect her soulmate to have ballet shoes as their mark, but they could possibly have an open book as to which they would learn that their ballerina wanted to be a writer.

The possibilities are endless, yet you always have your soulmate’s mark next to your own.

But for you? Your possibility was already here, as you worked in Wayne Industries’ Aquarium and Rehabilitation Centre, your favourite place on earth to be. You didn’t know what would happen when you applied, but you were sure it would be exhilarating and incredibly soothing for you.

When you got it, your job was as simple as they could be - you did everything. You cleaned tanks, fed animals, interacted with the public, helped transfer animals like dolphins and turtles into and out of tanks. It was both the best and the worst, leaving you to go home with the stench of fish and salt all over you whilst you could almost sleep standing up in the warm shower.

Days like today, though, didn’t come so often.

Sally, your co-worker, was on the mic today as you fed some of the dolphins. You sat on the platform in your fisherman overalls and held out the fish underneath the water, letting them swipe it out of your gloved hands before you would mark off how many each dolphin had eaten.

When they weren’t eating, they were swimming laps around the pool, torpedoing underneath and saying hi to the people who looked through the glass domes from the lower deck.

“And Y/N here is our dolphin specialist. Say hi, Y/N!” Sally called for you over the speakers and you did your excited wave.

“As you can see, some of the dolphins really like having Y/N’s attention. But really, they just want the fish!”

You threw one out deep into the pool and watched it get snatched up quickly, smirking as it was the little one you hoped would get it. When you were done, you stood up and waved goodbye to everyone, making your way into the back of the aquarium.

“Hey, Y/N, how were they today?” Another co-worker, Alex, asked.

“Hey, Alex. Yeah, they were good. Salina was quiet but I made sure to give her enough fish.” You smiled softly.

Salina was your newest addition, coming in from the washed up sea and being severely underweight. She had immediately taken a liking to you, as most of them did, but the others had almost bullied her into submission.

A knock from the side door had your thoughts retreating to the back of your mind whilst you opened it, smiling at the only person you recognised.

“Hi, Mr Wayne.” You smiled.

“Hi, Y/N. Do you think you could take these guys for a tour? And go a bit backstage, they’ve had a rough day.” He asked, and you looked at the small family.

The mother was roughly 5’6” by your calculations, whilst the boys who stood by her side were easily 10 or 11 years old. You looked back at the mother and saw how bright her emerald eyes were, complimenting her diamond-shaped face well.

“O-Of course, Mr Wayne.” You stammered, smiling up at your boss. “If you don’t mind, could you just wait to the side whilst I take off my overalls?”

“Oh, no, not at all.” The mother spoke, her voice clear with a hidden accent behind it.

You stepped back inside and changed out of your overalls, hanging them up before you stepped outside. You smiled and asked them to follow you, scanning your pass through multiple side doors.

“So what have you guys seen today?” You asked, placing some fingerless gloves over your hands.

“Boys?” The mother turned to them.

They rattled off about how they did the whole reptile section before going to the animals, in which they were almost attacked by one of the birds of prey. You looked down at the first boy, Tommy’s, hand, and saw how it was covered in a large band-aid.

“Ugh, of course Wilbur would do that.” You sighed. “Besides the dolphins, what other sea animals do you guys like?”

“Oh, definitely the sharks!” Billy exclaimed, making you grin before you looked at their mother.

“And you?”

She sighed as you walked, taking her time to answer. “I like them all, but rays are definitely my favourite. They just look so…”

“Elegant.” You answered for her, watching her smile.

“Yeah. Elegant.”

“Would you like to meet some?” You opened the final door of your destination and the boys gasped in awe, a softer one coming from their mother.

“If you’d like to go in, there’s some overalls over here.” You stated, putting some of your own on whilst you grabbed some gloves and retrieved a bucket of shrimp.

The boys both put on some overalls with their mother’s help and you helped them into the water, smirking as they both giggled as the rays came up to them. You demonstrated how to feed them and helped them with a few trial runs before you let them go to town, moving to another tank with a fresh bucket of shrimp.

“Hiya, big gal.” You murmured as you sank onto the platform, brushing your hand over the southern stingray’s fin.

“You hungry?” You held out some of the shrimp and fed her slowly, letting her circle back before you fed her some more.

“How did you get this job?”

You turned to the side and saw the mother sit down on the edge of the pool, her legs crossed within her jeans as she admired the ray.

“Some people will tell you that it’s because Mr Wayne is my adoptive father…” You trailed off, trying to think of an answer.

“But really, I just applied. He didn’t even know I was in here until I was coming up on his pay docket. I love these animals with all of my heart.”

“What’s her name?” She asked, nodding at the ray.

You smiled softly as you ran your hand over her fin again. “Silvia.”

You chuckled as the ray flapped her fin against the pool by the brunette, her fingers running over her smooth skin. “Hi, Silvia.”

You smirked as the ray swam a bit more, leaving you alone on the platform before you emptied the bucket out into the water and stepped out.

“You boys done over there?!” You called out, smirking as they turned to you and gave you a thumbs up.

You gestured for them to come back and change out of the overalls before you continued, coming to your favourite part of the tour.

“Now this… is Grace.” You gestured as the huge manta ray passed over your head in the tube, smirking as the trio all gasped.

“Grace cannot return to the ocean yet because she had a fishing net hook stuck in her gills, which you can see… left a nasty gash.” You pointed as she swam over you again, the wound evident.

“Ms Y/N, can we feed her?” Billy asked, and Tommy nodded in excitement.

You looked down at your watch and pretended to debate it. “Oh, alright.”

They both cheered as you guided them to the top of the tank, getting the bucket of shrimp with Grace’s name on it. You separated it into two smaller buckets and gave one to each of the boys, smirking as they raced back to Grace.

“Now, spread it along the top of the water. Then she’ll swim around and get some of that yummy zooplankton she loves.” You grinned, watching the boys do exactly as you guided.

“You’re really good with all of this.”

You turned your head as you sank to sit on the side of the tank, smiling as Grace came past you. “I was the one who found Grace. Only I take care of her - that’s why there’s only one set of overalls.”

“Would… Would it be okay if I go in?” She asked, and you nodded.

“Come with me.”

You led her into the room and helped her into the overalls, trying not to look at her body, before you held her small hand as she entered the water. She chuckled softly as Grace came over and lightly flapped against her legs, making her gasp in awe as she brushed her fingers over her fin.

“She’s beautiful.”

“She really is.” You smirked, sitting back down on the edge of the pool as you watched her and Grace interact.

This was your favourite part of the job. Interacting with them on a basis that meant more than just food. Playing with them, soothing them, it was everything you wanted. Why would you ever want it changed?

You watched as the surface of the water gradually became choppier, alarm bells ringing in your head as Grace began to get erratic. Her slaps against the brunette’s legs became harder and harder, and you quickly dove into the pool in front of her.

You looked down at your soaked shoes and felt a tingling sensation from the air bubbles, cutting it out of your mind as you put your hands underneath the water. The manta circled one more time before she saw your hands, nudging against them in a calming manner before she went over to the other side.

“Are you alright?” You asked, helping the brunette out of the water.

“Yeah. Yeah, I am. Nothing broken or bruised.” She stammered. “Why did she do that?”

“Marine animals like Grace have incredibly acute senses, so she must’ve known it wasn’t me in the tank.” You explained, helping her remove the overalls.

“Mom!”

“Mom, are you okay?”

You mentally admired the love these boys had for their mother as she assured them she was alright. She stood up and faced you, noticing how closely you were watching them.

“I don’t think I told you my name. I’m Wanda, Wanda Maximoff.” She held out her hand.

“Y/N Atlanna-Wayne.” You smiled, shaking hers.

“That’s a really nice last name.” She beamed, making you blush.

“Thank you. Maximoff… isn’t that Croatia? No, no, Sokovia.” You corrected yourself, watching her impressed look in the form of a raised eyebrow.

“It is indeed. And Atlanna? I get the Wayne part, but that?”

“Atlantic. I was born on a boat.” You chuckled, loving to tell that story.

She chuckled. “No wonder you work at an aquarium then.”

“Ah, yes. My home away from home.” You sighed, grinning as an idea came to mind.

“Why don’t I get you guys something from the gift shop? You don’t have to leave if you don’t want to, but I’m pretty sure they’ve got some cool new stuff.”

Wanda nodded and the boys followed behind you, your pass scanning through the doors once more before they arrived at the gift shop.

“Billy, Tommy, go wild.” You smirked.

“Nonsense. Boys, one thing and no more than $30. We may be on holiday, but I’m not made of money.” Wanda spoke sternly and you looked at her.

“Did you forget who adopted me? He’s literally worth over 80 billion dollars. He is made of money.”

Wanda blushed and nodded, letting you tell the boys that they could get anything they wanted. Billy brought a large stuffed shark to you at the counter whilst Tommy brought a mermaid sculpture. You smiled at him and offered them both to grab something else, but when Wanda placed a whale tail necklace on the table, you grinned.

You scanned their items before paying it with your card, making Wanda playfully glare at you whilst you rolled your eyes. “It’s the least I can do for Grace going all wild on you.”

“Did Grace do that again?” The man to your right, Damien, asked.

“Yeah, she went a bit wild. It’s okay, I calmed her down.”

“I swear, you have the magic touch or something, Y/N.” He turned to Wanda and her boys.

“She’s got control over them like nothing you’ve ever seen before. She can get in a pool of frenzied sharks and they won’t even touch her.”

Billy gasped as he looked at you, your ego boosted by the little boy’s admiration. “What time do you feed the sharks?!”

“They’ve already had their feeding for today, but you can come any day and they’ll be fed at 11 o’clock.” You winked at him, handing over his shark whilst you gave Tommy his mermaid sculpture.

“And here you go.” You handed Wanda the necklace and she thanked you, tying her hair up before she clasped the necklace around her neck.

And there it was.

You blushed incredibly quickly and pretended to drop your pen, kneeling down as you checked your hip. There, on it, was a small face-shaping crown next to a whale tail, a soft tingle coming from it as you stood.

“I-I’ll see you guys soon?” You offered.

“Sure.” Wanda smiled.

“Just ask f-for me at the front and they’ll call me on my radio.”

Wanda and the boys left the aquarium and you wiped the non-existent sweat off of your face. You looked over at Damien, a knowing grin on his face, and you shoved him whilst you went back to the aquarium.

But you couldn’t wait to see them again.

To see… her.

.

.

.

A/N - pls tell me someone understands the underlying meaning in the title 🥹

[mariacallous]

Humans have long sullied the Arctic with industrial development—mining operations, oil and gas exploration, military bases. That’s contaminated the landscape with a bevy of toxicants, including radiological material, heavy metals, insecticides, and fuels. That nastiness was often intentionally buried in frozen ground known as permafrost. In theory, as long as that ground remained frozen, the pollutants would stay locked away.

No longer. An alarming new paper in the journal Nature Communications estimates that between 13,000 and 20,000 contaminated sites are splayed across Arctic permafrost regions, with 3,500 to 5,200 in areas that’ll be affected by thawing soils before the end of the century. The region is already warming rapidly, more than four times faster than the rest of the planet. And that estimated number of sites is likely low, the scientists warn, because thaw might dramatically accelerate in some places. 

As permafrost degrades, it collapses, releasing buried contaminants that flow out in the melted ice. The ground sinks—often spectacularly and rapidly—dragging down aboveground infrastructure like fuel tanks and pipelines. Indeed, that was the suspected cause of a 2020 environmental disaster in Norilsk, Russia, in which 17,000 tons of oil leaked from a collapsed tank.

“The assumption is that permafrost is a hydrological barrier, and it will remain there forever,” says permafrost researcher Moritz Langer, of the Alfred Wegener Institute and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, lead author of the new paper. “That was the assumption for all of these very old sites—especially from the ‘70s, ‘80s, up until the ‘90s—when climate warming and the problem of permafrost thaw was not really on the radar of most people.”

Langer and his colleagues found that 70 percent of these sites are in Russia, with others across Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. Some facilities are abandoned and difficult to access and clean up. Others are still operational, and producing yet more toxicants to leak into the environment. (The new paper doesn’t distinguish, though, exactly which sites are which.) As the Arctic warms, expect industrial and military development to creep farther north, adding more contaminants while putting more people in contact with them. And the mushier the soil gets, the harder it will be to use heavy equipment to clean up the messes.

“This idea that somehow we have, functionally, a number of potential Superfund sites that were completely unknown until this paper, but could be mobilizing into the Arctic and potentially international environment, is pretty terrifying,” says Kimberley R. Miner, a climate scientist who studies permafrost contamination at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory but wasn’t involved in the new paper. “To see them take that idea and apply it to actual maps and get actual sites, with permafrost disturbance underneath, was so mind-blowing to me.”

Existing sites are already plagued by a slew of environmental troubles. Oil leaks come from both wells and from pipelines. Radioactive material is buried around military bases. Pesticides like DDT are packed in barrels, then buried. Mining operations are notorious for emitting heavy metals like mercury; other sites are full of arsenic, lead, and other highly toxic elements and compounds. Trucks and heavy machinery carry liquid fuels like diesel, which are prone to spill. 

Once the ground is no longer frozen enough to form a barrier, those contaminants will seep into rivers and ponds, corrupting highly sensitive ecosystems. “This, we think, could also be a dangerous situation for people living up in the high north,” says Langer, as the contaminants mix with drinking water.

That water will eventually empty into the ocean and ride elsewhere on currents. Toxicants can also get airborne: Indeed, the Arctic is already dusted with lead from burning leaded gasoline. Mercury, too, could escape mining operations by taking to water and air. “Mercury that came from the burning of coal and fossil fuels from a century or two centuries ago is still cycling through our biosphere,” says Kevin Schaefer, a climate scientist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who studies permafrost contaminants but wasn’t involved in the new paper.

Human activity in the Arctic only exacerbates the thaw. Dark-colored roads absorb the sun’s energy, heating the soil. Digging up dirt and tossing it on top of snow darkens the whiteness that would normally bounce light off the landscape. Vehicle tires chew up the soil. “You already have rapidly changing environmental conditions,” says George Washington University climate scientist Dmitry Streletskiy, who studies permafrost but wasn’t involved in the new paper. “But then, of course, on top of those rapid changes, you have concentrated human presence—you have industry and infrastructure. So those are really focal points, where you in many ways amplify those changes associated with climate."

Oh, and the giant new Willow drilling project in Alaska that the Biden administration just approved? That’ll be on permafrost too. “Think about what it takes to establish a pipeline,” says Miner. “You're going to need a road. You're going to have people walking in and out, trampling the permafrost. All of that is going to lead to increased thaw and increased potential for contamination and disturbances to the very fragile tundra landscape. So it's just impacts upon impacts upon impacts.”

This new paper only considered gradual permafrost thaw. But permafrost can collapse much more rapidly, digging holes known as thermokarst. As ice becomes liquid water, it loses volume, forming a crater in which microbes produce the highly potent greenhouse gas methane. This further warms the atmosphere and accelerates permafrost thaw—a gnarly climatic feedback loop.

Adding yet more peril is that as the Arctic warms, wildfires are proliferating. If one sweeps through a contaminated site, it’ll send up plumes of toxicant-laden smoke. That will in turn exacerbate the thaw: Scientists have previously calculated that in north Alaska, thermokarst formation has accelerated by 60 percent since 1950, thanks to wildfires.

In other words, Langer says, their paper’s projection is “pretty conservative.” Some of the sites might thaw even earlier.

Permafrost is already deforming communities in the far north. Airport runways are sinking, roads are wrinkling, and buildings are crumbling. “It's no longer some ambiguous thing that might happen in the future—it's happening today, even as we speak,” says Schaefer. “If this infrastructure becomes damaged because of thawing permafrost, it's extremely expensive and extremely difficult to resolve. These areas are very remote. You can only do things in certain times of the year, mainly the summer.” 

If thermokarst opens a hole in your runway, for instance, it might cut off surrounding communities that rely on supplies brought in by plane. And if you can’t fly, you can’t get out of many places around the Arctic. “It's not like the Lower 48—if I don't make it to Denver, I'll fly to Colorado Springs,” says Schaefer. “These are all really key infrastructure, and it's really difficult to build and maintain.”

But this new paper is at least a step toward localizing the problem, directing governments to where cleanup might be required. Early scientific sleuthing like this is a start, but a fix will take putting a lot of boots on increasingly soggy ground. “In order to manage something, you have to measure it,” says Miner. The next step would take a massive push—one like the US Environmental Protection Agency began in the 1980s to clean up Superfund sites. But with such a patchwork of nations and corporations responsible for the mess, it’s not clear when—or if—that work would start.

[rjzimmerman]

As a native of Gary, Indiana, and a former "summer employee" at U.S. Steel (to pay for my college education), I'm obviously invested in what happens to the Gary Works of U.S. Steel. This story answers several of my questions, and puts me on the "no" side of this proposal. Excerpt from this story from Grist:

U.S. Steel, once the world’s largest company of any kind, can take substantial credit for the growth of American industrial power in the 20th century. But in recent decades, it’s been shuttering mills and shedding workers. Now, the iconic Pittsburgh-based manufacturer is set to be acquired by a Japanese steelmaker, Nippon Steel — if the federal government allows the deal to proceed.

Earlier this month, reports emerged that the Biden administration is preparing to block the nearly $15 billion merger on the grounds that it presents a threat to America’s national security interests. The United Steelworkers union opposes it, fearing future layoffs and weaker labor protections under new ownership. So do both major candidates for president, who are vying for votes in the Rust Belt. Supporters of the deal, like the Washington Post editorial board and the nonpartisan think tank The Atlantic Council, have cast the politicians’ opposition as election-season pandering, and argued that the national security rationale on which Biden may block it is flimsy. But one area, in which the question of whether the merger goes through could be particularly consequential, has gone largely unremarked upon in the conversation: what it means for the climate.

Some environmentalists say the deal could slow the crucial progress that the steel industry must make in order to decarbonize. Their argument stems from the fact that both U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel have been slow, compared to industry peers, to adopt the most impactful decarbonization technologies, even with federal funding available in the U.S. to do so.

The most common process by which primary steel is produced is massively carbon-intensive. The reasons for this lie in chemistry. Steel is made from iron, but the form in which iron ore occurs in the Earth’s crust is mostly iron oxide (similar to rust). In order to get usable iron from it, one needs to remove the oxygen. For centuries, iron-makers have accomplished this by using coke, a fuel made from coal, which is heated alongside iron ore in a blast furnace at such high temperatures that the iron melts into a liquid while the oxygen bonds with the carbon in the coke and produces carbon dioxide.

Blast furnaces are responsible for the lion’s share of carbon emissions from steelmaking, and the inextricability of carbon emissions from the ironmaking process is a large part of the reason why, overall, steelmaking is responsible for 7 percent of global carbon emissions, and a quarter of industrial carbon emissions. These percentages will likely grow as other sectors of the economy are decarbonized. In the U.S., demand for steel is also expected to grow dramatically over the next decade to provide the raw material of the industrial growth sparked by the Inflation Reduction Act and the planned buildout of clean energy infrastructure and transmission lines. For these reasons, the task of decarbonizing steel is as urgent as it is difficult and expensive.

Fortunately, there is a solution on offer that has recently become viable due to new technological advances — and one that the Biden administration has sought to heavily subsidize: replacing blast furnaces with a process called direct reduction, and using hydrogen as a reducing agent in place of carbon, ultimately discharging water rather than carbon dioxide. “The chemistry is sound, it’s being built, it’s been piloted and demonstrated,” said Yong Kwon, a senior advisor with the Sierra Club’s Industrial Transformation Campaign. “The question is now: Will industries adopt it?”

There are eight operating steel mills in the United States that make “primary” steel (newly created steel, rather than the generally lower-quality “secondary” steel produced from scrap metal). Three are owned by U.S. Steel. Cleveland-Cliffs, the owner of the other five, has also made an offer to buy U.S. Steel and has been much more proactive in making the shift to greener production. “The Department of Energy has made available a great deal of money to do partnerships with industry to demonstrate the value of decarbonized projects,” said Todd Tucker, director of the industrial policy and trade program at the Roosevelt Institute. Both Cleveland-Cliffs and U.S. Steel have availed themselves of such funding to embark on decarbonization programs. U.S. Steel has partnered with the Department of Energy on carbon capture projects at several of their steel mills, and funded research and development of hydrogen-based ironmaking technology. The company also plans to install a carbon capture program at a blast furnace at its steel mill in Gary, Indiana, which it says will turn up to 50,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually into limestone — a tiny fraction of that facility’s overall emissions. But critics note that U.S. Steel has yet to take a step as ambitious as its rival by actually replacing one of its blast furnaces with direct reduction of iron.

The stakes of the potential U.S. Steel-Nippon Steel merger are perhaps best illustrated in the city of Gary, Indiana, which was built in 1906 by U.S. Steel to house workers at its Gary Works steel mill. That mill is home to the country’s largest and most carbon-emitting blast furnace — and it’s nearing the end of its lifespan. This situation hypothetically presents the furnace’s owner with an ideal opportunity to switch to a cleaner technology, with federal funding on the table to do so. But in August, Nippon Steel announced its prospective plans for Gary Works, which include a $300 million investment in relining the furnace to extend its lifespan for another 20 years. With this announcement, Kwon said, “Not only have they back in Japan not pursued solutions that we feel are responsible; they’ve now explicitly come out and said that they’re not going to pursue the solution that is on the table for reducing the climate change and public health harms that are currently produced by the iron-making process.”

[ambiguouspuzuma]

The Fairy Shareholder

Kitchens Inc had endured another torrid year; the crumbling capstone on a miserable decade. The old board had been out of ideas: revenues were down, profits were non-existent, and the whole company was circling a drain of its own design, making and installation. They could have done with a fresh start, but that had been years ago. At this point, they'd needed a miracle.

"Shall we start with introductions?" It was the first shareholder meeting since the takeover, and board were ready to face judgement. As the shareholder present, Juliana took the lead. "Juliana Merryweather, owner and CEO"

"James Barentin, former CEO," one man followed. He was the spitting image of the company founder, sharing his nose as well as his name. "Now head of sales and shareholder liaison."

"William Barentin IV." The man next to him also shared in both; another chip off the old block. "Former head lobbyist. Now responsible for white goods."

It hadn't always been this way. This had been the first business of its kind in the state, producing and fitting kitchens for office and home, and in those early years the market had been theirs: able to set the price of their wares, and decide where they wanted to set them, with a choice of customers waiting for a consultation. Their founder, William Barentin III, had led them from strength to strength in those halcyon days. There had been a bust of him in the lobby, a sign of their prestige, until the recent desperation had come to pass.

"Blane Lumber, former chair of this office." The introductions worked their way around the room. Blane was another man, this time with no remarkable features at all. "Now in charge of surfaces."

The problem with coming first was that the race never ended. Today, the market was awash with competitors, all with more unique names and better brand recognition: locking down the 'Kitchens' trademark had felt like a coup at the time, but it was less useful in an era more focused on Search Engine Optimisation. It took something more catchy to seize a modern customer's attention, a sense of originality - and being the actual original didn't help.

"Harry Goldman, water tank specialist." Another completely average-looking man. Looking across the desk, Juliana saw that most of the others were. She really had to get better at that, with workplace diversity and all. "I look after plumbing."

Of course, Juliana knew who each of them were, even if a few did look a little too alike. She'd given them their jobs, and given most of them their names. James had brought her in, and survived as the only remnant from the old board, helping with the transition to her new regime. Everyone else had gone, and their salaries had been the first costs they had saved.

She'd actually wanted a complete overhaul, but then James was a salesman, and he'd managed to convince her of what he could add: Juliana supposed she wasn't the first the step into the showroom wanting a clean slate, only to be upsold to the speckled marble tiles and countertops instead. She was glad of him, though. The others could be difficult to manage, and it was good to have an experienced hand to show them how things worked - hands included.

It hadn't been hard to convince him of her own resume. She'd started off as a godmother, like most in her industry, but corporations were people in law, and 'minority shareholder' felt roughly equivalent. They called them angel investors: venture capitalists who came in to support struggling businesses, management consultants who helped them to turn things around. She was a new kind of patron for the consumerist age, giving a makeover to miserable companies and helping to change their fortunes as a result.

Juliana had been used to making coaches out of pumpkins, their drivers out of mice; now she turned them into career coaches instead, or made do with computer mice to drive the business on. It was a massive saving on staff costs. They only cost her an arm and a leg, or two, and the rest of the body to attach them to. She arrived in a shower of sparkles, slashed expenses, found a few efficiencies, and sent them on their way. If that was their dream, even the most down-on-their-luck company would go to the IPO.

"Blane, if you could go first." With the roll-call out of the way, she moved onto the numbers. It was largely good news. "Worktop installations are up twice on last quarter. Are we sure these figures are accurate?"

"Well, we do employ a number of counter-fitters." In exchange for her investment, Juliana had told James she would need a seat on the board. That was Blane. He'd been an office chair until she gave him a promotion, and liked making her regret it. "But yes, business has been good. We've focused on the areas you suggested, and it's really working out."

"Excellent." She turned to Harry, who had once been the office goldfish. "Did the savings on sinks work out?"

"They're still working," he said. Harry had been his original name, which had saved her from having to think of one. He'd always known his way around a bowl, but the promotion had been a whole new learning curve: having to find his feet, and then figure out how to use them. "We have a steady flow of work coming in, but most of it's still in the pipeline. You'll see it in next quarter's numbers."

The puns were a side effect: on receiving the gift of language, her creations felt the immediate urge to play with it, like a child unwrapping a new toy on Christmas morning. Juliana had tried to tone them down, but at the end of the day there was no harm in letting the board have fun, provided the business was running smoothly. They might not be around for too much longer, and they might as well enjoy it.

"Okay, if you're sure." She thought about making a joke in turn, but didn't want to faucet. "But remember what's at stake here, gentlemen. We can't afford to let this company go bust. No offence, William."

"None taken." William was the old head in the room, having been in the company for generations. He'd been the bust of the founder in the lobby, now transformed from marble into flesh: it was easier, when Juliana had something similar in appearance to start from. It gave her more to work with, rather than having to come up with the details by herself.

"I'm confident," Harry assured her. "I'm basin everything on solid data from James's team. And yes, we know the stakes. How could we forget?"

She'd given them that briefing on day one. The company needed to get back into the black before the clock struck year-end, or else the spell would wear off: the business would fold, and the board would return to their original forms. That was their motivation - literally working for their lives, or their new ones, in Harry's case. She'd thrown him into the deep end, and it really had been sink or swim.