"You have work to do. You can't hide under a blanket. Well I guess you can hide under a blanket a little bit longer, while I borrow the incident report and bring it here and while you read it, but then you have to do things."

Merta whines and limply tries to pull Calsa under the blanket with her.

Calsa shakes her off. "I'm fine. I was hanging back with Chime so I was one of the first ones out.

The incident report is really interesting. Part of it was written by Larian, the kappa, who Fuzzer hired as a 'Safety Officer' on the spot. You should go introduce yourself to your new teammate."

The harpies, minus Audron, float a narrow barge along the tube with food and more people.

From the Frozen City is an aasimar, a thin seven-foot-tall winged humanoid covered with iridescent feathers, holding a rope that blends into a spike brandished by...

...a glowering stetcap (a short furry person with a thick square snout and tiny round ears) who looks around unpredictably.

Behind the aasimar is a wroth.

And there appears to be a whisshopper next to the wroth, but the whisshopper might actually be anywhere in the area. Only the stetcap would know.

And here's a black beetle with long antennae. Like a wroth or a whisshopper, he has more than four limbs. Six, or eight if you count his wings, or ten if you count his elytra too, or twelve if you also count his antennae. He carries a wax tablet with werewolf-carved writing on the backside, which he holds out:

Hi! I'm Siamek, the fourth contribution from the Freedom Democracy. Like a wroth, I can't speak, but I can hear fine and I understand Sotalese, common Elvish, and spoken High Elvish. I can write on this tablet in all of those, and I can sign in Nosimasna Pidgin, Signed High Elvish, and Teng-Allheart Wrothsign. I'm so happy to meet you all! My species is an FD secret :)

The contribution from Koy is a siren, fishy and feathery, with long dark green hair. She sedately steps off the barge and looks around. "Hello, new companions. I'm here to protect you, and I look forward to making new friends. But to avoid unfortunate misunderstandings, I must make it be known that if you try to breed me, I will kill you, and if you succeed at breeding me, the path between Koy and the baby will be built with death."

The fourth person from Lei is one of the emperors.

He knew it!

Experiments with the boulders of ice on the ground establish that it's more prone to break the more heat is applied. One of the catfolk is a jeweler, who compares it with how glass explodes if you put it in flame unevenly or touch it with a cold tool. Further experiments are focused on ways to apply small amounts of heat deep inside the ice without going into a dangerous place oneself.

Touch the ice with a hot stone rod? It works but you can't get very far with it. Make a hole and lower in a stone holding catfire on a chain? Sure, and you can scoop the water out with buckets. The jeweler points out that the water is analogous to hot glass and maybe shouldn't touch the ice... and experiments bear out that concern. So they'll make a tiny aqueduct to get the water off the mountain?

A team tries putting water into a piston and spraying it into the air, where it freezes and blows away. That seems easier, as long as the snow isn't going to be a problem somehow - a crew is assigned to make snow using that method, upwind of an unused part of the boulder pile, continually for a cycle.

Would it be possible to melt the ice by spraying molten ice on it? Yes, it's certainly possible, with the water getting pushed back out the hole to be heated again, but some of the water is disappearing... and then the boulder cracks and water gushes out. Ultimately, this way is slower, more complicated, and more unpredictable than inserting a flame-covered stone.

Back to the simple method, now with a shaft that spins a pump to push the meltwater out to the top.

Problem: if a catflame is incidentally covered in water, it boils a bubble of steam that can crack the ice. Solution: put the catfire into a hollow inside the rod, where it can't get wet. Problem: now the rod explodes. Solution to that: leave a tiny hole for hot air to get out while sealing the flame.

Problem: if water gets at the pump shaft, it can freeze and then it's hard to unstick the shaft without breaking it. Solution: use a bubble pump, like a tiny version of the really big pumps in Kef, using a tiny turbine to push the air, like in Audron's design.

The next challenge is connecting segments of rod together without leaking air or water, but actually making the tube has been good practice for that.

They confirm that boring an upwards sloping drain from the bottom works too. Getting them to meet is hard but it's fine if they need multiple attempts; they're going to need to remove a whole lot of ice anyway. They confirm that they can line the L shape with stone and gradually expand it.

Time go to on top of the mountain and start! With a ship like a bell. Everyone will stay inside the whole time. Normally the ship will be frozen (and if the ground collapses it's obviously fine). They go up by freezing the separate 'floor' and then everyone hauls the ship upward by rope handles. Going sideways is similar.

Aaaaaah all these experiments seem so dangerous!! Also she doesn't really see the obvious differences between them!! Just. Everyone answers: What could go wrong? What might go wrong if you're being pessimistic? What will you do if that happens? When things fail, how will they fail and is that safe failure or a dangerous one?

What happens when this recently completed/combined/invented contraption gets too deep, out of catfire range? Will they build landings/closets every so often for catfolk to stand on? Escape shafts to the side of the ice mountain?

What could go wrong with that? It's more work and cutting more holes into the ice. Exhalation could pool down there if you start from the top. Will they need a turbine pushing air down to the bottom of the shaft constantly?

What could go wrong with that? The turbine could break, the noise could distract people, the heat from the turbine could melt the ice, people could slip and fall down into the hole and be irretrievable by gnomunk-rescuers and and-

-And the aasimar bell-ship, is this a well established well practiced thing for them? Has it ever had accidents? Are there written down safety procedures for it? Can they make sure EVERYONE in the area knows them, just in case?

Stop please WAIT before going up there, gaaaah there are so many things that can go wrong here so please don't start until we have ADDRESSED them and NOT THOUGHT OF ANY NEW ONES FOR A WHILE. 

...It is possible she is overcompensating towards slow and safe but just because you fixed all the problems you thought of does not mean you fixed all the problems.

This is hard. This might take a while. No need to be in such a tearing hurry.

...Also have they tried using melting/fire as a knife, or an actual knife, to cut away sections and physically haul them out without having to melt it all? If adding heat to the ice is the problem here?

...Aaaah new people. Well, that's significantly less aaah. Hello hello welcome to the edge of the world, these are the emergency procedures I have found out about so far, if you notice anything that seems unsafe do tell her. Better to stop and back away and think than get someone hurt or killed. Again.

...The three aasimar-bodyguards look twitchy. Are aasimars really that - vulnerable, valuable? Also one of the Lei Emperors is here and she has no idea how important this person is, how does Lei even work, or what kind of diplomatic disasters will happen if anything happens to him. Well, whatever. Look, aasimar and bodyguards valued delegates from Frozen City and Lei and Freedom Democracy and Koy, if there are things that will make you twitchy and maybe cause misunderstandings or tension at critical moments, please tell me, so we can do Things That Are Not That. She really doesn't want a misunderstanding to leave people at each others' throats out here.

Also if we can afford to spare the people we could specifically form a Rescue Team whose job is to do NOTHING but be watching out for danger and ready to respond to emergencies and plan for possible emergencies that could happen so that if disaster strikes again there is either more forewarning, or more ability to respond to it quickly, or something.

If the boulder cracks we'll run away. Or jump down from it and then run away. I guess I might slip and fall?

What, do you think it's going to explode or something? Oh, some of the experiments have exploded? Well then we'll look away during the dangerous part. The dangerous part is when we're touching the ice. Oh, the rod exploded before touching the ice? We're not going to do that again, obviously. We're going to do it the way that we already did and it worked fine.

We're going to widen the hole enough for a catfolk to fit in and lower them down on ropes. No, we're going to do the thing with pushing hot water down, but keep it contained in the rod, separate from the meltwater. No, we're going to get the rod really hot and lower it down, repeatedly. Where did you hear that? You were the one who told me we were doing that! I said that it would be too slow and we weren't doing that! Oh I thought you said it we we're taking it nice and slow. Yeah, it is really hard to hear in this wind!

If the mountain breaks, everyone hangs on to the ship (and rope! no, no rope!) while it collapses below them. And of course we're doing it over there to the side, so more ice doesn't fall near the tube. Okay fine we'll do it twice as far to the side.

We're not going into the hole until it goes all the way through the mountain, and then the wind will keep pushing fresh air in. No, why, I figured that as long as we can feel the breeze we're safe.

Oh, hmm, we'll keep rope and a gnomunk in the ship. No, that's too much weight. How about we make a stone cap for the hole so no one can fall in.

Well aasimar ships usually operate in air that's safe for harpies to fly in continuously, and they don't freeze the floor, they freeze a bar above the ship with a rope from the bar to a pulley on the ship to a handle. So usually they look like normal ships. And traffic to the Frozen City usually is just normal ships. The aasimar is needed only for hauling really tough loads like those giant chunks of metal. And the Frozen City has enough harpies now to handle even that.

...Yes, aasimar ships have existed for less than a deci-year, and this particular design is completely untested.

We can't wait, what if the alien artifacts blow away in the wind.

Calm. Calm. Running around screaming won't help your chance of being taken seriously, which is a serious safety constraint.

The alien artifacts seem to be mostly metal, and therefore heavy, and unlikely to blow away in the wind. Maybe it's just that the heavy ones are the ones they've found so far, though. Whatever, never mind.

Her job, that she was just hired for, is to try and keep things safe. She knows she is annoyingly stubborn and will wield it like a stylus. She will prioritize not pissing anyone off too badly. And explaining why we want to play it safe without getting... Graphic. And prioritize the most egregious-seeming risks. But she's not going to stop bothering everyone because she does actually take 'do the job you were hired for' seriously.

Let's please agree on a specific emergency plan for if the mountain is breaking, for if the vampires says it's about to, for if the aasimar ship has a problem, for this and that and the other thing, and write them all down, and be able to recite them on command? Please? Please.

The stone cap is a great idea! As long as we can't think of any other problems that a stone cap could cause! People fall into holes all the time. They get confused or blinded or aren't paying attention. It's a thing. And easy to prevent. So let's prevent it.

The emergency plan is to run. If the ship has a problem, they'll flare up in a pulsing pattern to call for help. On top of the ship, not near the ice, see they're learning to look for dangers.

If they bring multiple ships (the aasimar and harpies can fly back down by themselves to get the next one) they can bring a gnomunk and vampire and kitsune.

And while they get started on the initial bore, they can do experiments on the ground on enlarging it with a hammer and chisel. Hm, an irontooth might be faster, or different in a safety-relevant way...

Meanwhile the snow spraying team has discovered that if you adjust the nozzle you can create a layer of ice on a surface. Maybe they can use that to build the tube on top of the mountain!

"I'm not currently an emperor of Lei. Currently, I'm just an elph loaded up with useful memories, an elph with the non-transferable habits of long experience as emperor. You don't need to treat me in any special way, nor fear for my safety."

"If there is a vulnerability to aasimar, it is not known to me. I imagine Kliordi is simply safeguarding the fabulous wealth of the Frozen City, the only producer of kite mirrors. 

Are the drylanders treating you well, friend kappa? I would be honored to do what I can to ease your troubles, short of provoking war, if you would care to rest and unburden yourself onto me."

"...I suppose I am a kappa."

Sigh. She probably thinks she's being polite.

"My name is Larian. I'm an academic drakefarm attendant, a writer of short fiction, someone who enjoys grapes and cranberries and quiet wakes full of routine tasks, and lately a safety officer. I try not to let my species define me, Harqa... Although, I probably could use help going to sleep promptly, come to think of it. If you're offering that generally, not to 'the kappa'. Something like - white noise, to drown out chill and thoughts. I've never actually been sung to by a siren before so I'm not sure how it works or what uses it gets put to."

"Very well, then, I will offer such to any who ask. I suppose all the newcomers might want help adjusting to the local schedule."

The stetcap glares in their direction. Or, at least, that's what they see.

"...elsewhere, in a nook, and quietly."

The effect of siren song doesn't depend on the content, but combining it with music is a popular art in Koy. Harqa gives her a wordless melody, tensing and easing on a cycle a little slower Larian's breathing.

The second attempt at excavating a tunnel and elevator shaft finishes without incident, and they are both lined with thick stone. The elevator can be operated by harpies or hauling ropes by hand - and it's not set up for operation by werewolves out of concern that they can't be gentle enough.

Spraying water to make a layer of ice is faster than casting ice into blocks, and cutting blocks out of ice that's already frozen, using hot knives, is even faster. (The flames go in the handle, not just stuck to the blade, and all the catfolk and werewolves continuing with the expedition are individually asked to describe the technique and its dangers.) Going forward, the roles are rearranged: catfolk cut blocks of ice, boarks place the largest blocks at the bases of two parallel walls, catfolk place smaller blocks to finish the walls, and werewolves assemble a temporary stone ceiling and spray water on top with the minimum of catfolk for warmth and ice melting. Werewolves also push a stone cart with a pile of ice ahead of the tube opening to block some of the wind, and a similar cart inside the tube to keep the frigid air from rushing all the way back into the sleeping areas.

The expedition now slows to 1 klick per cycle, with shorter working hours (thank you Larian!) on the normal three shifts per cycle, and contains: 18 werewolves, 100 catfolk, 10 boarks, 1 mouseling, 1 kappa, 2 elves, 5 gnomunks, 2 wroths, 1 kitsune, 1 vampire, 1 liefling, 5 frogolds, 1 gnoll, 3 stetcaps, 1 human, 1 goatseer, 1 irontooth, 5 harpies, 1 whisshopper, 1 siren, 1 aasimar, and Siamek.

More debris: A burnt shred, made of something slightly soft, more like the blob on the side of the round metal thing more than any other known material. A piece of thin metal sheet, twisted and torn. A smashed metal box with wires and writing - some of the wires connect to intricate fragments of more unknown materials (and some bits of metal) covered in tiny writing.