"Get everything taken care of you wanted?"

"Yeah, the offworld harvest?"

"Will be finished and handed out in a couple of days." David says, looking at his PADD for the latest information before putting it back on his belt. The food is in and passed out, the Lights Festival happening a couple weeks later. Thomas pulls up Josette's hood where it had slid down.

"Did you finish delivering the supplies to the winter lab?"

"Yes, by the finals. They headed off a couple days ago, staying at the lab except in case of medical emergencies for two years. This isn't the first time they've had an experiment like this, there was the biosphere but this is the one that's the furthest away. Even if they can summon help within minutes by the switching station."

"I wouldn't be able to do it." CJ says, coming over.

"Me neither, the students were getting on each others nerves in the dorms back on Earth during storms before the rockets in the atmosphere. The lab's a helluva lot smaller for all they're doing a good deal of research into arctic conditions there."

"We're learning what will be needed to live in a winter environment year-round, what food can be grown, and if man can live in an enclosed environment for years." Clark says, coming up behind him. Everybody nods. "Growing food would be the biggie, that's one of the reasons I took a zero gee hydroponics degree, as well as a low moisture agricultural degree." Clark and Thomas nod.

"How are the others coming in their classes?" CJ asks.

"David's three years into his bachelors on Westerns, but since he's only taking three classes for that a semester he's actually two more years before he's finished. He's nine classes in the masters. The girls are eight classes into their Masters and Ph.Ds, taking two classes a semester."

"The twins are teaching and Susan's turning into a good manager for the government building."

"And there's talk about naming her a Judge if we ever need one." Nods from the others. "The boys are getting in three classes a semester for the comic book and lit degrees, they're a year in with this last semester." CJ chuckles, he's doing the same thing for his classes at Oxford. His fathers give him looks and he grins. "Are you finishing three degrees again next year?"

"Probably only the two hands-on degrees I'm working on since I started three new degrees this year and I'm starting two more next year. I'm three semesters from six degrees, two for another but two of those are the degrees I only take three classes a semester in and the others I switch semesters. That's one of the reasons I've been finishing so many degrees lately. They're all coming up."

"Your Ph.D?"

"I'm halfway through it, year after next summer I'll upload the dissertation to the server at GD for the botanist who's acting as mine and Professor Druid's advisor to read."

"Katrina's degree?"

"She finished her botany Masters this year, she might be going on for a doctorate but it won't be for a few years. The babies will be starting kindergarten in a couple of weeks."

"How long are we looking at the school being open?"

"Sixteen more years will have everybody out of high school, including our youngest and the Amish babies in the gestation chambers right now. The babies that came up with the second orphanages are in school or starting kindergarten in a couple weeks." Thomas, Clark, and Doc, who'd come up to them, nod. "By that time, most of the older teachers will have quietly turned their classes over to the younger ones and class sizes will back to what passes for normal now."

"We don't need to follow Earth's example and have millions of people, let alone billions."

"No, we don't want to ruin another world. Right now we're hovering around 31,000 people on Haven, that's enough for a few decades. On Earth 3000 wouldn't have been a viable population, let alone 31,000." Nods from the others. "Earth wouldn't have thought 300,000 a viable population."

Josette snorts. "Earth thought more had to be better, that's why there was so many famines in Africa. The land was wore out from constant farming and couldn't feed everybody anymore." Nods from the others as they go into the mall and look at the decorations on the stores inside. The next day Josette starts going through the kits from the store and starts copying the pieces of the pattern to plastic and marking them before she starts cutting out blocks.

The new school year starts a couple weeks later, everybody either going to work, heading elsewhere, or settling in front of their computers the first morning.

"Signed up for your buttonmaking degree?"

"Yep, and a degree on the China conflict from the history school. I'm taking that on the school computer though."

"Finishing degrees this year?"

"My two hands-on, tea-dyeing from Assryian and weaving from Edinborough. I'm two semesters from one degree and three more on others. I'll probably only finish the two hands-on ones this year though."

"Finishing a degree a semester declasse?" David smirks.

"Ahhh, bite me." Josette snorts. "You've got the first apartment complex going up this year and I'm looking into the factory for velcro and elastic." David nods. "Shoelaces."

"That I gotta look into too." Josette sighs. "The toothpaste order is coming in soon, the candy factory has the survey up for what to make next and I've got my own to work on." Nods from the others.

"How many classes are you looking at?"

"33, 14 on the school computer. I'll be three semesters from finishing the degrees from the military and sosh schools for Pearl Harbor with this semester."

"Finishing them next year?"

"Yeah, probably getting in extra classes over the break or during the summer semester so I'm finished with them before the fall semester."

After lunch Josette puts on her outside clothes and walks to town, checking on everything before getting some doughnuts and coming back to the dorm. The next morning is the planetary leaders meeting and Josette starts talking when they bring up the new business, putting pictures of the factories on the screen, what they'd be used for and what's needed, what they have in storage yet, and what the products are used for.

"We'd been talking about having to make them eventually." Principal Madison says.

Josette nods. "I'm looking into button and zipper making facilities next. We have them in storage but .. ."

Nods from the others. "We've got to have plans for making our own eventually. Better be prepared than running around like a chicken with his head cut off."

The next couple of weeks fly by and soon it's the first testing week. After she finishes her tests she talks to Dr. Stark about the plans for the velcro, elastic, zippers, and buttons, getting nods from him. "Those are things we will always need."

Josette nods. "Concentrate on what we will always need, let the others wait. Food, water, clothing, shelter."

Dr. Cross nods. "Leisure activities."

"We're going to be bringing up the first of four apartment complexes this year, we're looking at bringing out a good sized spa and the power production facility from the road in the next couple of years. We'd had tentative plans to bring the gym out, to give people something else to do during the winter, getting the orphans put the plans on hold for a few years." Josette snorts. "Though look how long it took us to bring out the mall."

Dr. Stark chuckles behind his coffee as the buzzer sounds and the others come over to the tables after using the bathroom.

"It's not something you needed until now." Dr. McNider says. Josette nods. Anna looks at her. "Talking about how long we've had plans to bring up the mall."

"Decades, almost from the beginning."

"We've been talking about bringing out the power production building from out by the road for in town for a few years now, but winters are getting mild again so people are outside more." Alan nods. "And a spa?"

"Yes, there's been talk about that too."

"The gym would need work. Ours needs work."

"Ours is being worked on this year." Dr. Cross says. "We tend to forget how long things have been."

Josette nods. "Dad's working on plans for the gym right now, the work should start next year."

Dr. McNider chuckles. "After the gym is finished, they're going to be working on the first couple of floors at GD, they don't get destroyed as often as the labs so they're getting a little timeworn."

"It happens, we were pregnant with Tinya and her crowd when the dorm was last renovated. They're turning fifteen in a couple months."

"Are the offworld children in high school now?"

"Yeah, they started this year. Hard to think that if things had been different we'd be closing the school again in three more years. Now we're looking at sixteen with this year to have all the kids through school. By that time I'm sure the younger teachers will be taking over most of the classes." Anna nods slowly.

"The classes will be back to 'normal' since people don't need to be popping out kids."

"No, the kids are going to be concentrating on degrees and then their jobs. That was one of the problems with Earth, having children too young."

"They didn't have strong support structures, too many single mothers who were little more than babies themselves."

"The baby daddy denying them, that's why there was so damn many Maury shows that were nothing more than one paternity test after another." Anna says.

"Maury hell," Josette snorts. "There was one of them court shows that was nothing but paternity cases."

"Awwww hell." Abby moans. "None of that nonsense here."

"No, the babies are DNA tested at birth." Dr. Cross says. The others nod.

Josette absorbs her duplicates that had been out and about when she comes back to the dorm, helping get the kids ready for dinner.

"How's the apartment complex coming?"

"Dad says it should be out by the end of the week. After that he's going to be looking at the buttonmaking, zippermaking, elastic, shoelaces, and velcro concerns, seeing if he can put them in one building." Josette nods. "He's also going to see if we can enlarge the toothpaste building to make toothbrushes too." David nods. "If not they can go in the same building as the dental floss and mouthwash."

"Shoelaces?"

"Tons in storage, flat and round. Various lengths, including the stronger ones meant for work boots." David nods in satisfaction.

"Toothpaste?"

"Should be finished next week, I'll deliver to the store and Albatross first, then offworld." David nods.

"Classes during the break?"

"Finishing the third year for Doctor Who from Montague and the man-made dyeing degree from Assyrian. That will put me two degrees I'm a year from finishing there."

The next day Josette starts bringing out boxes of supplies for the quilting and knitting classes for Frances and Elaine.

"Thank you Josette, this should last us for a couple years since the bulk of the current high school students who want to take the classes have taken the classes."

Josette nods. "And the rest are in their first year and probably be signing up the end of the year."

"And the advanced classes have the students going to the stores and selecting their own projects, if they want to buy the kits they can but it won't count for the classes." Josette nods as they head off for their finals as Josette heads into town, checking in at the various factories before buying some doughnuts and getting some food at the taco bell replicator at the mall.

"How are we handling perishable stuff at the chain stores?" Anna asks at dinner.

"Notes on the shelves, they can request the items and they are brought out of stasis so they don't go bad." David says.

"Just like at the store now."

"Exactly. The PADDS are linked so whoever's working can see if we have any left, if we don't, they remove that sticker from the shelf. Not that I see that happening for a few centuries, Earth had twenty or more different brands of toothpaste alone."

"Yeah, they were a consumer society. They never figured out less is more. It was just worse with the other Earth since they didn't have all the deaths ours had so they weren't ramping down production like we were." Josette says, saying a silent prayer for the dead.

"Some of the airhead patrol would be horrified at having to work for a living." Susan snorts.

"No trophy wives."

"No, men don't get stupid as they get older here. People are either married and stay together or don't marry and live apart but have children."

"We're starting a new planet and new traditions." Josette says, the others nod.

The next week Josette delivers the toothpaste to the stores in Town and Albatross, getting thank yous before she takes the rest of the order offplanet, accepting payments and delivering it where she's told. She stops to pick cactus paddles and returns an hour later, absorbing her duplicates.

"Tortillas?" David asks, looking at the bag before it goes in the stasis chamber.

"Yeah, I'm running low on the ones we made up last time."

"I know you planted blue corn last year."

"Yeah, I was running low on the blue cornmeal."

That weekend they spend a day working assembly line making tortillas, putting most in the freezer. The next week she finishes the other degree she'd wanted to get in over the break, talking to the others about how many of the offworld harvests would be in by the Harvest Festival.

"How many classes are you taking this summer?" Doc asks.

"I'm looking at 27 classes, depending on how busy I am I might pick up another semester. I'll be three full years in for six degrees, two more need one more semester to be that far. Two of them are the military and sosh school, I'll finish those next year, that still leaves six degrees to flip through to be finished."

"The others?"

"School computer I'm on my second year for one degree, and started another last semester."

"Did Dad look through the factories?"

"Yes, we can either link them like we do the museums, malls, etc. . ." Nods from the others. "Or we can put them in the same building on different floors. We can add onto the toothpaste factory for the toothbrushes. . ." Josette looks at her notes again. "He'll talk to us about the pros and cons of each plan in a couple of months to go over the final details." The others nod.

"There's talk about new babies on the animal and sorting planets?"

"Fifteen in the gestation chambers from the animal planet and twenty-eight from the sorting planet. They're going slow, making sure that they'll have apartments and jobs when they graduate. Right now we're still looking at staying open 16 years," Principal Madison nods. "They'll either get in more classes so they can start earlier to graduate with the last of the kids or get in their last year of classes on the computer."

Principal Madison nods. "Peanut butter?"

"We're looking into a factory in about a decade. By then we might have a second crop." The others nod.

"Cracker factory?"

"Working on a batch." Josette looks at her PADD.

"First world peppers?"

"Yeah, I've got a batch growing in the platform along with tomatoes and herbs."

"There's been a request for a second pizza parlor?"

Josette nods. "With the influx of so many newcomers, it will be needed. The manager has three senior people that she believes could take it over and she'll hold their hands over the first few months. We can bring out a mid-sized independent or a chain."

"Add onto the one we have?" David asks.

Josette shakes her head. "The kitchen would be too small."

"Like when we added onto the dining halls and had to add the new kitchens." Principal Madison says. "Exactly."

"Do you have a pizza parlor in the dorm?"

"Yes, I added one years ago."

"Do we have supplies either way?" Josette nods. "Have them look over the mid-sized independents, hopefully we can bring one out by the end of the year." Josette nods and sends off a message to the manager of the parlor. She gets a message back almost immediately, sniggering. "They already selected three, two mid-sized independent restaurants and a chain for the future." She clicks on the files, putting them on the screen, splitting it to bring up the points that had been added to the files. Josette looks over at David.

"Yeah, with them selected we can bring one out in a few weeks, a crew can split off the apartment complex to work on it once the outside work is finished. It should be finished by Thanksgiving. Including putting up a building for supplies." He sends that off to his Dad.

"Good."

"Supplies?"

Josette brings up a file, the others looking at them and nodding. "I'll add this stuff to the replicator as we bring it out. It's too late this year but next year they can start a garden for part of it." Nods from the others.

"Pizza Parlor?" He asks, nudging Josette as they walk back to the school.

"Yep, I've been adding quite a few things to the dorm over the years. And my fortress." He nods as they walk into the dorm.

"Crops?"

"On track, they should start coming in in a couple of months."

"Charmin brand tp?"

"I'm taking the cotton offworld when I go to deliver the first offworld harvest, that and a couple of scrub trees." Josette goes upstairs to her section of the dorm, settling in a booth at the pizza parlor and having one of the holograms take her order. Turning on the tv in the corner she settles in to wait, watching the tv channel from the vampire planet. The pizzas come out and she turns off the tv, heading down to her first floor room to eat.

"A second pizza parlor?" Anna asks at lunch.

"Yeah, with the last few years it was needed." Josette waves a hand at the screens of tables filled with students and teachers and she nods.

The next few weeks pass quickly, Josette bottling the olives and wine, bringing in the offworld wine and pepper harvests. Josette takes some of it to Eureka, haggling genially with Vincent over everything, then heading back to Haven and smiling as the pizza parlor appears. Heading to the communal kitchen, she knocks at the back door. "Offworld pepper harvest."

The manager of the kitchen wipes her hands on the towel on her belt and they talk, Josette taking some more to the store, and the rest going in stasis at the dorm. Part of it will go on sale at the harvest festival, the rest she'll eat.

"The new pizza parlor's up." She tells the others after putting everything away.

"Good, now that you mentioned it we can see how much business the parlor gets." Alexander says, rolling his head back on the couch to look at her.

"Michael?"

"At Hank's working on stuff for the Harvest Festival, I've got everything I had planned finished. The girls are working on their papers, they'll be a year in for their degrees this fall."

"And you boys will be three semesters in your classes. David will be a year in his Masters, and lack a semester to finish his bachelors."

"And you'll have two more bachelors in and next year will have a baker's dozen of doctorates. Damn it." Alexander looks at her. "Keep that damn evil imp in your own head." Josette smirks as she sees her and Rodney McKay in a snark war about soft science doctorates, even if she did have thirteen of them.

"I'd win, hands down." She says smugly. Heading upstairs, she works on a quilt top for a few hours until dinner. David tells the others about the pizza parlor that just come up. The crops start coming in and Josette's busy the next few days, harvesting and planting. The offworld harvests start coming in and Josette takes the cotton to the toilet paper factory along with a couple scrub trees when she delivers the first offworld harvest to the sorting planet.

"Are we done now?" David asks when she slides into her seat at the board room.

"Until the rest of the offworld harvests start coming in. Harvest Festival?"

"Next weekend, all the probes say the weather will be good."

Josette nods. "Pizza parlor?"

"Still on track to be open by Thanksgiving. Thank you for bringing out the supplies, we replicated enough for both buildings for what Professor Eppes said would be enough for seven months, then doubled it to make sure they had enough for the opening rush." Josette sniggers. "Everything's in the replicator now so they can make more as needed and they have a garden in for a harvest before they open."

Josette sniggers. "Wha?" David knows that look.

"I'm just thinking of some of those whiny idiots who couldn't live without a mall. We finally get one and after the first rush it's like 'meh, who cares, we got things we need to do'. They'd be heartbroken."

Everybody else laughs.

"How many employees are we looking at?"

"About eight or nine a shift, four in the back working on the pizzas, one up front, two waitressing, one home delivering and the last bussing tables, running the dishwasher, and replacing supplies as needed. The last two could be sharing duties as needed." The others nod.

"Same hours as most everything else?"

"Yep. Another thing the idiots on Earth would have whined about, nothing's open all the time. They'd have to wait if they wanted something at two in the morning."

"And they couldn't have that." Principal Madison smirks. "Waiting's for common people. They can't send off one of their people to buy whatever they want if the stores and restaurants aren't open all the time."

That night Josette's led into the dining hall as she busily types on her PADD.

"Damn it, let me get this down before I lose the inspiration."

"Quilt?" Pat knows the others have seen that look on her face when something's popped into her head she's got to get down right now.

"Yes." Josette settles against the raised platform, typing and drawing for about ten minutes before she puts the PADD away. "Okay, that's safe."

After the party Josette gets in semesters for classes on Zorro and the Titanic, being a year in on both before the other offworld harvests start coming in and the third semester starts. Josette's busy for most of the semester, their crops starting to come in after the last of the offworld harvests have been canned, dried, or otherwise preserved. The harvests for the other planets have been delivered and the last offworld harvest for their planet stores away to be passed out after Thanksgiving.

"Your harvests?" Dr. Cross asks as Josette slides into her seat after the finals.

"I split off a dozen duplicates to get in ours and help out with the others. Everything should be canned, dried, or otherwise stored for winter by the end of the week." Josette yawns and thanks Vincent for the bottle of Eureka Dew he puts in front of her.

"Did you finish your hands-on degrees?"

"Yeah, and I'm now three full years on eight degrees, two of them the Pearl Harbor degrees from the military and sosh schools. Those I know I'll finish next year. The others I'll take turns taking semesters in until they're done."

"Your botany Ph.D?" Dr. Stark asks. "I was asked by your advisor."

"I'm three classes from it and plan on uploading the dissertation next summer." He nods in satisfaction. Then smirks. "Are you going to the opening of the new pizza parlor?"

"Hell to the no. It will be asshole to elbow for about a month." the others chuckle and nod. "At least through the first month of next year." They nod again.

"427 students graduating this year?"

"Yes, that's the figure Principal Madison gave us a couple weeks ago. Next year we're figuring on about 200, including our kids. Then two years after that will be the next big group of kids graduating."

"And the ones that graduated a couple years ago heading off to their internships. Or moving to their new homes." Dr. Cross says. Josette nods. "The students have been looking at the new apartment complex and looking at the furniture Hank has available or is in the supplies."

"Have the floor monitors chosen their new homes?"

Josette nods.

"Did James come out about the factories?"

"Yes, we were talking to him at the last planetary leader meeting. We figure a five story building, one floor for each factory." The others nod. "The toothpaste factory is closed unless we're working on a batch, it won't be that hard to add onto it in the future for the toothbrushes. Right now Sanders is working on the computer programs to see if the floors will hold from the weight of the machinery."

Dr. Stark nods. "Which is why when you see multiple floor factories, the heavy equipment is usually on the bottom floor and the rest is storage."

"I remember that building in Korea collapsing when they went in and did renovations, adding the top floor that wasn't supposed to be there as a restaurant and had that big ass heavy air conditioning things on the roof. We're making damn sure it doesn't happen here. If we can't make it multiple stories, we'll bring out the buildings and link them to a common building. Either way, they're still using the same power." Dr. Cross nods. "If we can't add a second floor for the toothbrushes, that will go in that building too, adding other factories as needed."

"None of them would be in operation all the time."

"Exactly. Right now we're not even looking at them for a few more years, but we want to have plans in place for the future."

"Better to have them and not need them than be caught unprepared." The others nod as the buzzer sounds and the others come over to the table after using the bathroom and washing up.

"Crops and garden?"

"Will all be in by the end of the week, fingers, toes, and eyes crossed." Alexander snickers. "Might be another week to get everything canned, dried, or otherwise stored and everything tilled under for the winter."

Josette goes into the office the next day, helping print out the diplomas for the students graduating at the end of the week.

Thanksgiving comes and goes, food being passed out from the offworld harvests and the second pizza parlor opening. As Josette had said, it was wall to wall people for the first three days.

The next day Josette joins the others at the Albatross nest in Albatross, showing off the notes for the quilts she's been working on. She'd finished the art quilt with the cats, showing it off before putting it back in the bag.

After lunch Josette heads upstairs with David, looking over the supplies in the growing areas and starting things in the greenhouses and hydroponics area before dinner.

"Get everything taken care of?"

"The greenhouses and the hydroponics, we'll plant in the ground crops rooms in a couple of days.

The next couple weeks pass and soon its the Lights Festival. Thomas shakes his head at the line of people going into the pizza parlor even during the festival. "I figure another month before the demand drops to normal." Thomas nods.

"How is integrating everything coming?"

"Slow, Clark . . ." Josette's lips twitch as she valiantly tries not to cackle. "Talked you into going for a degree yourself?"

"Yes." He scowls over at Clark who just chuckles and wraps an arm around him. "I start it in a couple of weeks."

"CJ going on for another degree when he finishes his first one next year?"

"Oh yes, we insisted." Clark says. "He's talking with his advisor next summer. While he doesn't have a list of degrees ten pages long that he wants to take like some people." Josette sniggers. "He does have a few he's interested in."

"How many students are you expecting to graduate next year?"

"218, including our kids. Then it will be the offplanet kids graduating with the others finishing high school. Fifteen years and counting."

"I heard there's new offworld children."

"Yes, they're either going to be taking extra classes to graduate with the twins and the Amish children or taking their last year of classes on the computer. I'm thinking they'll probably take extra classes so they can graduate sooner. As it is, the last three years the school's open will just be the twins, the Amish kids, and them. By then we might have younger kids at the education center." She looks over sourly at David who smirks at her. "Including some more of our own." Thomas chuckles.

"Are we going to have work for everybody?" CJ asks.

"The others say we will, even if they're only working part-time. Which isn't that big of a hardship when we have three growing cycles, no utility payments, homes paid off. . ." The others nod. "People had been working multiple jobs, they're at the stage of life where they can let some of them go to younger people. I know GD has a problem with scientists getting older, so does Stark and Wayne. Plus integrate all the new stuff. . ."

The others nod. "They don't all have to stay on Haven. That's why we're waiting on bringing up the rest of the apartment complexes."

"No use leaving them sitting around. The cleaning robots would keep them in good repair like they do the dorms but . . ." Clark says, everybody nods. "The apartment complexes can go up on the other worlds just as easy as they can here."

Nods from the others. "Or Albatross for that matter. Though with the switching stations, they can work anywhere and still live here."

Nods from the others again. "You have the experience of what happened last time and know what to do now."

Josette nods.

The next weekend Josette slides into a seat at the auditorium to talk about the plans for this year's classes and the next batch of students graduating.

"Josette, not to be nosy, but your kids?"

"Are already signed up for an internship with GD, Wayne, or Stark. just like their brothers and sisters. I don't know where they get the brains in the family, they seem to have been skipped in our generation." She looks at the twins who are doing the village idiot impressions as everybody else in the building laughs.

"Frances, Elaine. Classes?"

"We've got a good number of students in the beginning knitting and quilting classes, a good portion of them tend to stay on for the others."

"Sooooo Masterharper Madison, what is the plans for the school?"

"Well Masterarchivist Takahawa. . ." the others snigger. "We might make Pern jokes but the traditional school isn't going to work anymore."

Josette nods. "Only a quarter of the years at Tesla have students right now. I don't think Albatross has any students right now." She looks over at Professor Fletcher. "Cabot Cove?"

"No children in school right now."

"I don't think there's any currently in Smallville either. Children come in waves." The others nod. "Fifteen years with this one will have our babies, the Amish children born last year, and the offworld children through school. Or through all but the last year for the off-world babies if they don't take extra classes to keep up with the others."

"We'll have to see how they're doing when your hoodlums are ready to start classes."

"Awww, you say the sweetest things." Josette coos while the twins cackle. In the dorm the boys and Susan are laughing and the others look at them. "Principal Madison talking about the plans to shut down the high school in fifteen years, including this one." David says when he finally stops laughing. Thomas nods. "We'd been talking about it at the Lights Festival."

"Principal Madison said he'd look into the schooling of the kids from the animal and sorting planet when our hoodlums were ready to start classes. Josette cooed that he says the sweetest things, the twins were laughing too hard to say anything."

"It's hard to think that the babies will be in pre-school next year already. It seems like just yesterday that we got the news from Atlantis that Earth had been . . .lost and Josette split off to duplicates to handle the other ships. How long did it take?"

"250 years to harvest everything. That was with 13 ships"

"It took Josette 500 years to harvest our Earth by herself. Your Earth didn't have all the devastation that ours had, there was a lot of urban renewal, tearing down buildings in cities instead of letting them fall down and once we lost a country, they went in with large scale recycling units took it down to the ground and let jungle reclaim the central American countries. Africa we added nutrients to the ground and encouraged gradual growth."

"It was already bad in our world, too many people, too much fighting, too many years of growing or trying to grow crops without letting the ground rest."

David nods. "It was beginning to recover. . .Josette's on her way back with the twins now." Five minutes late the pocket doors open and the three come into the living room.

"Thomas?" Josette asks.

"Can you come out to Wayne Industries tomorrow, there's a meeting about what we've been integrating."

"Yeah, when?"

"Just after breakfast with the time difference. We'll use the switching station here, it's going to be multiple meetings over the entire week, the council is talking, We're talking, Stark Industries is talking, and GD is talking. There's still tons of industry that we need to go through."

Josette sighs but nods. "And university classes." Thomas nods. "We've got plenty of time."

"I'll be ready." She rolls her eyes. "Wearing something decent." Thomas chuckles and heads back to Headquarters.

The next morning Josette splits off duplicates that either settle in front of computers or head various directions. After breakfast Josette changes her clothes, putting her hair in a neat bun before walking through the switching station with the others. She looks at her PADD beeping a few hours later.

"Damn it, but we were expecting it. Plan B for the factories, Dad finished the computer simulations." Tony Stark looks at them. "We've been talking about bringing out factories to make velcro, buttons, zippers, shoelaces, elastic, and toothbrushes."

"Wouldn't the plastic factory be able to take care of those?" Thomas asks.

"Different machinery." Nods from the others. "We'd been talking about putting them on separate floors in one building instead of adding more buildings, but the upper floors won't handle the weight."

"Yes, we have to be careful with the machinery loads when we add onto the labs." Tony sighs. Nathan nods. "Plan B?"

"Linking them in one building, each door going to a different building like we have the malls, museums, and a lot of other things now." He nods. "They wouldn't all be in use at the same time."

"Josette, the plastic factory. . .combs and brushes?" Bruce asks.

"Thank you, we'll have to look into it. Combs definitely, not sure about brushes."

"The machinery to insert the bristles?"

Josette nods. "I'll look into the factories we have in 'limbo' in case they can't do it."

"Who's handling integrating the university classes?" Tony Stark asks.

"Me, somebody from GD, Doc, somebody from each of the schools that came up. . ." Josette says, waving a hand. "It's slow going since so many of our schools had been shutting down thanks to the epidemics that took out teachers and students. They weren't, they were updating degrees and adding new ones because nobody wakes up and thinks 'today there's going to be a natural disaster that destroys the world'." Everybody nods.

"What were you talking to Joan and the quilting teacher from Edinborough about?" David asks at dinner when Josette's absorbed her duplicates.

"Fabric painting for quilts, some of it is heat and sun reactive so we're experimenting. It may end up being a degree. Unless there's degrees from the other schools or books in everything I brought back, it's all hands-on."

"How much longer?"

"All this week probably, we've got a whole long list of stuff that we're integrating. Did you get the message from Dad?"

"No, what about?"

"The computer simulations show the floors wouldn't hold, we have to go to plan B." Principal Madison sighs in the front room, repeating that for President Bartlett. "Meeting tomorrow morning after breakfast to go over everything, Dad sent me the file with the simulations, I'm letting Doc know now." Principal Madison nods and repeats it for President Bartlett. "Somebody also has to look at the plastics factory to see if they can handle combs and brushes. And see if there's factories in what we have in limbo that will do that." Principal Madison nods, making a note of it on his PADD. Josette gets the confirmation back from Doc and puts the PADD back on her belt.

The weeks fly by and the first testing week of the semester comes, Josette sliding into her seat after finishing her tests.

"David says Assyrian and Edinborough are working on another degree together?" Dr. Cross asks.

"Don't know if it will turn into a degree, but they're talking about fabric painting for quilts where the paint is heat sensitive, painting the fabric then laying it in the sun or under heat lamps with items on it to make designs. Unless there's a degree already from one of the other schools or books that can be used, it would all be hands-on."

Drs. Cross, McNider, and Blake nod. Dr. Stark's off telling somebody who blew up a lab doing something stupid they're idiots in twenty dollar words.

"How are you planning your classes during the break?"

"Getting in three three classes for the military and sosh school degrees, two for one and one for the others. With five for the degrees this summer, that will leave two and one class over the 2nd semester break. I'm also getting in the first semester for one of the degrees I'm three years in this break and one the next, doing a third 3rd semester. That will leave me one degree that I'm still two semesters from next year but I can finish three or more next year."

"Your dissertation?"

"Planned on uploading it to the server after my finals. I'll be two semesters from the degree then." Nods from the others.

"Have the historians figured out where the dimension timelines changed?"

"After WWII, the world council grew out of the group that took over after Germany fell. They put major sanctions on the countries. Korea and Vietnam were taken out before they became wars that involved the US. Communism was stamped out during the cold war, the USSR, Cuba, and China under extreme trade embargoes and sanctions."

"Awwww, no cheap labor." Josette coos. "No wonder they were so happy to buy from us." Nods from Drs. Blake, McNider, and Cross. "I know most of the alternate dimensions Professor Xavier's group interacted with, Kelly being assassinated by the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants caused widespread mutant deaths and internment camps."

"All that over one bigoted asshole." Dr. Cross shakes his head. "What a waste."

"Amen, may he rot in hell with the rest of the bigots. Who are probably still trying to tell everybody else they're soooooo much better than everybody else."

"What's your plans this year?"

"Dad's putting up a building for the factories, bringing out the factories to attach them one at a time after the crew working on the apartment complex is finished. It's a bit of work since we've got machinery to go over and everything to tie in." Nods from the others.

"Has there been any problems with bringing out restaurants? I know some of those kitchens were filthy."

"No, first we made sure that the premises were kept up to date, the bringing them out cleaned them. When we brought out supplies we made sure it was new and in good condition because it would be needed for a while. A lot of it went right to the recyclers to be turned into raw materials." The three nod in satisfaction.

"The Mars colony wasn't like that."

Josette snorts. "The Mars colony was all 'money, money, money, show me the money'. Big business just sent out they wanted to get rid of because it was old and failing or just worn out and didn't want to pay to dispose of it. If it was somebody else's problem they could ignore it." The others nod. The talk turns to how the lab on the eleventh planet is going, how the renovations at GD are coming along, plans for the gym's renovations, and the latest accident of the week at GD.

"For being so smart, people can be so damn dumb." Josette says.

"Oh I know, that's why so many of the people who demanded to come to Eureka or Archimedes were told Hell no." Dr. Blake snorts. "Some of them made Rodney McKay and Sam Carter from Stargate look tame."

"Carter was a bitch who needed a dom to knock her attitude out of her. . .or her brains fucked out of her ears more often." Josette snorts. Dr. McNider chuckles. "I wouldn't have minded Radek or Carson, but that fucking twit Kavanaugh needed the stick pulled out of his ass and beaten to death with it."

"Ahhh yes, we've had people like that, tattling fools who don't have lives of their own. They either grew up or are sent off for being troublemaking assholes who were too stupid to live. Whoever had the influence to force them on us against our wishes were not happy, Nathan made them even more miserable when he called them stupid in twenty dollar words. You'd think they'd learn not to piss off Nathan." Josette nods, sniggering.

"Too bad we couldn't have sicced him on that stupid bitch on Buffy the vampire Slayer."

"Which one, Buffy or Willow, they were both shallow brats who needed beating to death. Buffy was all 'I'm the Slayer, I'm king of the world one minute' and 'I'm the Slayer, oh woe is me. I have to do it allllll' the next. Nobody else fucking mattered. Willow needed a fucking leash when she started getting into magic. It was all me, me, me, it's all about me because I'm spe-shul from both of them. I'd have taken Willow out with a sniper rifle when she went all Dark Willow."

"People like that give magick a bad rap." Allison says, nodding as Dr. Stark walks in the door and the buzzer sounds to end the morning session. After lunch Josette heads back to the dorm, talking with David, Doc, and James Sanders before and after dinner and the kids are in bed about the new plans for the the warehouse that would be holding the factory links.

"Josette, a factory to make thread, yarn, and cloth?"

"Possibly far in the future, we wouldn't need a larger setup right away. The supplier I brought out had a good sized setup since he liked experimenting. And speaking of experimenting, I'm going to be doing some the next time I make thread." Doc looks at her. "Painting the thread before its wound on the cones so there's bands of color."

"Why?"

"It just came to me. Maybe using the same color bands on fabric so they match."

"What would you use it for?"

"A quilt, the back with squares of complementing colors for the top. Or maybe just because." Josette shrugs. "Who knows with the muses, they're as bad as that damn imp." David sniggers. "Shaddap." She pushes him lightly with one hand. "Won't be a while anyway, I'm not planting cotton and we're not doing it offworld either." They nod, they have a good supply of it for the next couple of years. Josette makes a note on her PADD and puts it back on her belt.

"Anything else?"

"Nothing that we'd need right now, it's been a few years since we needed these."

"In a couple decades we'll probably have more factories that we need to bring out." The others nod. "Not for a while though."

"How are we on flour and whatnot for baking?"

"Tons of tons of tons in stasis on the ships. We won't run out for a few thousand years. Even if we used nothing but that. Which we're not."

"What about the offworld growing areas, are we harming the ground?"

"No, the machines switch the crops continuously. And they're taking readings of the soil yearly." The others nod in satisfaction.

"Oats?"

"Again, got tons of them on ships plus we know which factory has the machines to cut them. We can start growing them in a while."

"Instant?"

"Tons of it, plus we could make more if we wanted but it's almost easier to make regular oatmeal if you soak it overnight. The only thing about instant is it's quick to make and it's available in flavors, but you can do that yourself when you make it."

"People were all hurry hurry hurry on Earth. With the day so long here we have to make sure we have good nourishing meals to keep us going."

"And a good portion of those people skipping breakfast also were trying to lose weight because everybody had to be supermodel thin. Or doctors looked at BMI stats and didn't take anything else into account like muscle mass." Doc says dryly. David sniggers. "Yeah, Josette said something like that when she was pregnant with the quints and Doc, Thomas, and CJ came out. She said some idiot doctor would look at her records, see she was 140 pounds and call her obese before looking further down the page and seeing she was pregnant with five babies." David pretends to think a moment. "Course he's also complain about how much food Josette eats at a regular meal."

Josette blows him a raspberry as Doc laughs and heads back to Headquarters. Josette shuts up the dorm for the night and heads upstairs as David goes to his room. Working on her quilt top for a couple of hours she heads to bed. The next day the others come home from Eureka.

"Dr. Blake says you're a heathen brat." Anna says with a grin at dinner, looking at David.

"Duhhhhh," Josette snorts, making everybody laugh. "What about this time?"

"I picked up another comic book degree." Josette rolls her eyes. "Hey, I'm going for two Masters." He says in his best innocent voice. "Josette, crops?"

"I'm working on the commercial crops and our garden plans, the dorm crops are starting to ripen, I figure another week or so we'll be picking the early stuff." David nods. "A couple weeks after that will be our midterms."

"Are you working on your theses?"

"Yeah, it's rough going. . ." Josette sniggers. "And I have a project to work on as part of the thesis." Everybody does the world's smallest violin playing just for you bit for him. Even he laughs.

"How's the factories coming?"

"Good, Doc, David, and I were talking them over last night after dinner. We're putting up the warehouse this summer and bringing the factories out one by one. The warehouse can be multiple floors since everything's linked."

"And we can add as needed." The others nod. "The buildings themselves can be used as storage for supplies or the finished goods before they're sent to the stores or the other planets."

The next couple of weeks pass and Josette and David start picking the early crops in the growing area, eating some and putting the rest in stasis to last until the first of the garden crops start coming in. A few days after the early crops are in Josette heads off to Eureka again for the second testing week. A couple days later Josette slides into her seat at the dining hall after coming back with the others.

"How are you figuring out your extra classes?"

"I'm taking two for each degree over the break, five this summer since defending the dissertation is just a formality, then the last two for each degree over the 2nd semester break. I'll also get in semesters for the degrees I'm nearly finished with, that way when they come up again in the rotation they're done."

"No new doctorate next year?"

"No, none for a few years until I start new degrees." Nods from the others.

"Are the new olive trees big enough to transplant?"

"Yeah, I'm heading off tomorrow to plant a grove on the first planet." Josette rolls her neck on her shoulders. "They won't be big enough to harvest for a few more years yet, but I can plant them. Doc wants to see what the differences are between the two ecosystems." David nods. "So does GD."

"Lemons and limes?"

"Yeah, I'm planting a few of them too."

Josette flies to Brigadoon the next morning, looking at the trees in the botany section before they head to the first planet. Planting everything takes a few weeks and Josette makes sure everything's well settled before they come back.

"Finished?" David asks at lunch.

"Yeah, everything's planted and it should be a couple years before they're producing." Between one second and the next, the eight vanish.

"Well that's new." Principal Madison says. A few seconds later Josette reappears. "Josette, just because you flit off to other dimensions doesn't mean the others can too." Josette sniggers and gets on the servers, sending information to Salem as she settles down to eat. The others appear in the back room a few seconds after she's flew off.

"Josette just head?"

Thomas nods.

"Good, this way we don't cross the timeline or give her any future information or any of that other . . .stuff." David waves a hand. Principal Madison can't help it, he snickers in the front room.

"Do I want to know?"

"Some moron who wanted us there to keep our families under control since they're bigwigs in the government." Susan sighs. "Or at least Grandma, David's parents, and Josette's Mom. Oh and Professor Xavier was there too along with Jack Harkness and a guy who called himself Black Jack.

"Japanese Manga and anime." Alan says. "Josette's a fan, he's a mercenary medical doctor, charges outrageous amounts of money."

"I can't believe that hotel manager was so fucking dumb."

"He's one of the assholes who thinks he's gods gift to humanity and everybody has to do what he says."

"Is this dimension likely to be lost?"

"No, they've already had their major disaster, 85 to 95 percent of humanity vanished in the three years after WWII. They've had more alien contact than we had, including the Doctor. They had magnetic levitation trains that went between cities in twenty minutes. It would have taken hours to drive. They also had trains that got you from the US to Japan in under 90 minutes."

Whistles from the front room where Principal Madison is repeating what Alexander is saying. "Huge cities that went up instead of out, megaskyscrapers that were 200 floors tall. The maglev trains went right into the buildings. Each building was nearly their own city with factories, malls, schools, museums, libraries, hotels, living quarters. . . Each building had their own peacekeeping force and there was also the city police. The building cops had ceremonial uniforms and duties, including swords that caused a few accidents. Oh, Josette's fighting abilities was her mother's mutation. She absorbed it when her mutation became active."

"We'd wondered since they didn't fade like her mother's memories." Professor Druid says slowly.

"I think the memories comforted her for a while, even though she thought she had taken her mother's life she knew that her mother loved her. Finding the truth out and meeting two different versions of her mother that love her unconditionally helped too, even when she's in a fuck this shit mood, hiding because she's got the sniffles and just wants to be left alone to whine, piss, bitch, and moan in peace until she annoys herself. . ." Clarinda who'd been contacted when Josette and the others vanished laughs and nods. "Or she's in that mood that has Lords Strife and Loki swearing and hiding if it's aimed their way or laughing and grabbing bowls of popcorn if it's not."

"Our evil genius got full ride scholarships to seven private preparatory high schools. . .which she was all attending at the same time thanks to computers. She only had to go to the campuses once a week."

"Uniforms?" Principal Madison's lips twitch.

"Yep, including ties. Some skirts, but mostly slacks. She complained about looking like one of those Japanese schoolgirls about to be ravished by a tentacle monster, the only thing missing were the short skirts that were a pervert's wet dream. Not only did she get scholarships to prep schools, they were all associated with universities." The others chuckle.

"Anything else?"

"Yes, they have a good delivery system, we were getting shipments of metal and wood for shows and the delivery boxes were only about eight by five by six inches."

Everybody whistles. "Limit on sizes? Or what they can be used for?"

"Not really, they're used for most everything. Unlike the crystals, finished products can be put in them. Weigh ounces no matter what's in it."

Josette arrives back at the dorm fifteen to twenty minutes after they finish lunch.

"Slowpoke."

Josette rolls her eyes. "Stopped to deliver some stuff at my fortress."

"Do you have any boxes?"

"Yep, and all the schematics. I sent demonstrations to Doc, Clark, Thomas, Bruce, Sanders Construction, Principal Madison, and GD when I arrived. I'm expecting moaning from at least one person." The others snigger.

"Garden plans?"

"I'm starting them in a couple of days." David says. "We'll go over them this weekend if we have any special requests."

Josette heads upstairs, looking up from working on a quilt top when a shadow leans against the doorway.

"Again, Josette?" Thomas shakes his head. "I shouldn't complain though, you were pulled to our dimension."

"First time it was just me, second time it was me and Bruce, this time it was all of us. Principal Madison just sighed and told me when I came back to get one of the ships that just because I flitted off to other dimensions, that didn't mean the others could." Thomas chuckles.

"Are they able to be replicated?"

"Yeah easily, plus I got thousands of them on Salem, filled with stuff."

"Did you start copying stuff when you brought Salem out?" David asks poking his head around the door.

"Yep. that way if we ever get big enough for cities we have a good basis for them. Not that I see if for centuries. I also have information on the alternate power sources, theirs were much larger than ours, it seems they grow under the demand."

"Really?" Clark, Doc, Bruce, David, Thomas, and Dr. Stark say almost in unison. Josette starts tapping on her PADD, bringing up the file and sending it to their PADDS. "I have no idea on the science but I was talking with Dad when he asked what our power sources was and he said that it takes time, which we have.

"We knew they were self-recharging. And they can handle a large load." Dr. Stark sends the information to GD through the switching station.

"While we're all here, how long until we have to bring out the second apartment complex?"

"Not for about five years, that will be about the time another batch of students graduate. We might be bringing up a complex to Archimedes and/or the vampire planet depending on how many we have staying there instead of staying here to commute." Dr. Stark says. The others nod.

"Have you been talking to the students who are interning with you in a couple years?"

"Yes, making sure they're ready and seeing how their grades are. Introducing them to their advisors and showing them intern housing."

The next couple of weeks pass and both before and after the third testing week Josette's busy with spreading manure on the fields, then tilling it under a few days later. By the finals everything's planted for the first growing cycle.

"Plans for break?"

"Finish sorting through what I brought from the other dimension, bring a few things out to add to the dorm, get in the two classes for the sosh and military school, and get in a semester for another of the degrees I'm two semesters from finishing. Upload my dissertation to the server at GD after I finish my finals." The others nod.

"Offworld raised boxes?"

"Last year, I'll look into it again next year depending on what we have left."

"Is everything in in the growing areas?"

"Yep, we tilled everything under and we'll check the soil again next fall. I might set up another zero-gee test offplanet for us instead." The others nod. "And I'm going to be changing out the herbs behind the fish tank." Nods from the others, they try to change out the herbs growing there every year or so.

"Josette, cane sugar vinegar?"

"I'm not sure how to ferment the juice, but I'll look into it."

"Only the three degrees finished this year?"

"Yeah, I'll get more next year, I'll be one semester away for four degrees, a full year on three more, one of which is one of the school computer degrees. Of course I'll probably be starting just as many next year." The others snigger.

"Are you talking to Dad and Dr. Stark about the warehouse for factories?" David nods. "We're putting the basic building up this year and hope to have at least one linked in and being worked on by fall. A few years should have everything in and ready to be used, plus give us room to expand in the future as we need things."

After her finals Josette settles at her laptop, sending her dissertation to GD and sending a note to her advisor before turning off the computer before going upstairs and working on the sunset at Black Jack's house. The next few days pass quickly and the next week Josette gets in two classes for each of her Pearl Harbor degrees then a semester in for the dyeing degree from Assyrian. The meeting with Dr. Stark, Dad Sanders, and the government is a couple days later and they talk about what would be needed in the factory warehouse, plus putting together a list of what will be needed in the future. After the meeting she talks with them about what she's been adding to the dorm, getting head shakes at some choices and laughter at others.

"I do like your habit of adding things to make sure they work before we bring them out."

"If there's problems, I want to know before we get that far." Dr. Stark nods. "That only makes sense."

"How is the lab on the eleventh planet doing?"

"Driving me insane, they're complaining about everything. Everything they were grateful for before they're bitching about now." Josette sniggers. "I know, we need to know how people can live and work in an arctic environment and they know it, they're just pouting and acting like two year olds. Not that's any different from how some of them act normally. . ." Josette sniggers. "Stand them in corners or spank them?"

"Don't tempt me. How far are you on your degrees?"

"Seven classes for each, I'm getting five in next semester and the other two for each over the second break. That will give me three degrees finished."

"Did you turn in your dissertation?"

"Yeah, I put it on the server the day after my finals and contacted my advisor, I think she's probably still going through the paper since it was totally different than the masters thesis. Two more semesters and I'll have a bakers dozen of doctorates. Until the next set of degrees that go that far."

"What next?"

"I was thinking a masters and doctorate in alternative medicine if the herbal medicine degree qualifies, if not I'll take the bachelors. Chemistry. Biology. Engineering, maybe metallurgy."

They both nod and use the switching station to head back to Eureka. Stark taps on the door of the botanist's lab, getting her pausing her computer. He looks at the picture on the screen and smiles. "Josette's dissertation?"

"Yes, it's slow going through since it's all new information."

"Josette thought you would be. Are we looking at any problems?"

"No, I approved it the second I got the note from her." She looks at the picture and sighs. "I would love the chance to see this in real life."

"Josette said she's possibly doing it again for the Haven winter crops to give the growing areas in the dorm a year to recover."

"I'll e-mail her and ask for a visit if she does." the botanist unpauses the film when he leaves. "Oh yes, I'll definitely ask for a visit if she does it again."

Josette slides into her chair at the government meeting the morning the summer semester starts.

"Daniel, not to be nosy but are people going to have money to retire?" Principal Madison asks, starting the meeting.

"Yes, now that the homes are paid off or paid down, people are putting money away towards their retirements. We don't think about it but it's been over 30 years since we lost Earth."

Josette nods. "We think of the students as kids but they're nearly fifty."

"I've been talking to people to make sure they're putting money away for the future. Everybody has been looking through the planning for your future tutorial on the server. And there's the macros on the bank server for scholarship loans, homes and apartments, furniture, babies, and the future."

"Good, if they take responsibility for their own retirements I'm feeling a little better about the job situation slowing down."

"We've been lucky to have as many jobs as we have had. We never counted on something like this happening. We had more people we had to find jobs for, in a shorter length of time."

Nods from the others.

"Josette, David, did you two talk to your Dad?"

"Yes, the warehouse is going up and the first factory will be linked in by this fall, we'll look it over this winter to see what needs to be done."

"Solar panels?"

"No, each factory will be linked to to the building's alternate power source, just like the libraries, malls, and museums are now. GD's looking into whether we can tap another building's and how quickly they grow."

"Range?"

"Something else we're looking into, they had power collection boxes like we have." Nods from the others. GD is talking to Brainy and the others."

"We don't need massive power sources for a few more decades."

"No we don't, thankfully." She looks over at David. "The ship's by the cities."

"Thankee, I also have the plans for others."

"Yep." They look at them. "We were getting a little overwhelmed in the city and they had old ships being sold. We brought one to go out on the ocean and veg for a few days. Salem put it in limbo before we left."

"Power production building from by the road?"

"Going up year after next, fingers crossed. Right now Sanders is working on the school's gym and some other things that need updating. They're also talking to me about some things I'm adding to the dorm over the next few years. And what needs to be worked on."

"The robots should be taking care of that." David makes a note to look at that when they get back to the dorm.

After lunch Josette looks at what she'd been working on in her workroom, looking through her fabric for strips that would go with it then taking a picture and heading to Agatha's store.

"Perfect." She looks over at the Assyrian and Edinborough teachers who are there. "I'm working on a painted quilt top and this is the focal point."

"Oh Josette, that's beautiful. . .and so peaceful. Framing strips?"

"Yeah, nothing leapt out at me and said 'me, me, me, me, me' when I was going through my fabrics."

"We've all had those moments." Joan says, the others nod. "What were you thinking of for binding and backing?" They start looking through the fabrics and talk for a few hours until heading various directions. Josette absorbs her duplicates back at the dorm, the others looking at her. "Wanted some second, third, and fourth opinions on a painted quilt I'm working on. I'm working on the main section but I'm thinking of how I'm going to be framing it when it's finished."

"What's the focus?"

"Sunset over the ocean at Black Jack's home, it's on a bluff so we're looking down."

"Are you going to the first planet soon?"

"In a couple of weeks, I want to see how the new trees are settling in." The others nod. "The early stuff should be coming in then too."

"How's the knitting and quilting classes?"

"Good, the students interest is keeping up, as they're old enough to take the classes they do and a good portion of them buy a second kit to work on after their first one is finished. The students who are going to be finishing their university classes next year are looking at apartments or looking at the intern housing on Archimedes and the vampire planet."

Michael nods. "We're getting a few orders in for furniture. This way we can have their places fully furnished by the time they're ready to move in."

"What's going to happen when people die without families?"

"If the furniture is still good, and we make sure that stuff is built to last. . ." the others nod. "It will go in a building somewhere to be sold again as used. Those who have family it will be split among family members in their will." The others nod.

"How many apartments are we looking at?"

"About 250 in this first round, give or take 20 or so since a good chunk of the students are going to GD, Wayne, and Stark. With more going as we integrate stuff." Josette says. The others nod.

"Any news from the kids?"

"Bruce, Thomas, Tony Stark, and Dr. Stark are in a three-way tug of war over Clarinda, Yoriko, Aiden, Jared, and Stacey. Their contracts and coming up at the end of the year Archimedes time so they're all fighting over them." The others grin. "The girls are smirking as they rake them over the coals for a new contract."

"Of course they are, they learned from the best. . .Mommy." David snorts. The others laugh and nod.