Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again. - Chapter 302

Chapter 302: Tank’s night out.
When they stepped out of the bedroom, they found the living room buzzing with post-dinner fun and noise. Leo had come cover with the boys’ grandparents. Hadrian and his daughter were also present. The children were building a fort in the middle of the living room.

Ariel marched over to them like a professor with a textbook on all the knowledge of the world in his hand. He cleared his throat.

“Behold,” he started loudly, “the two tailed cat beacon. Mom gave it to me.”

Earl squinted. “Is it edible?”

“No.” Ariel pressed a button, the cat appeared and started dancing. It had even added an extra move, juggling balls with its tails. The kids were shrieking with delight.

While the children giggled and took turns testing it out, Sunshine joined her husband and White on the couch. For some reason, he had decided to teach the bear how to box.

White was following his arm movements lazily, more interested in the dancing cat. The moment she sat down, the little bear leaped over her head to join the children.

“How did it go in there?” Hades asked her.

She replied softly, “He is scared about my drinking because he thinks I am going to become an alcoholic like Amber and then leave you all.”

Hades nodded. “So that was it,” he said more to himself than her. “He has been on edge since the ballerina and snowflakes fart incident.”

Sunshine grimaced. “Don’t remind me of that, I am still embarrassed by what happened. I had an honest conversation with him and assured him that nothing he imagined would happen. He is not just scared of alcohol–he’s afraid of losing someone.”

Hades sighed. “I guess that therapist I sent him to did not do enough….I did not do enough to reassure him. He is so young, but he is always trying to be the adult in the room.”

She leaned against him, glad to hear that he had tried to help Ariel face his fear before. “I think we need to do more to make him feel safer. More family activities to assure him that we are here for him and he can let go and just be a kid.”

“Weekly dance offs or trust falls?” He smiled.

Sunshine laughed. “Well….not exactly what I was thinking but it is not a bad idea. Whatever it is, it must be silly.”

He slipped his fingers through hers and smiled as she told him about the apple juice swap. Meanwhile, the children started to dance because the two tailed cat had called for a trust dance battle.

“This house is crazy.” Lisha shouted to them before joining the children.

*****

The evening air was cooler, another snowstorm was blowing outside. Mist was visiting Westbrook Mountain again, so most residents had gone to bed early. Because of this, the base was mostly silent.

Sunshine walked steadily bedside Hades along a path in the second wall, her gaze fixed on the towering figure moving ahead of them. Tank, the robot. For a long time, she had kept him indoors, hidden from the eyes of the world for his own protection. Apart from the Quinns and a few friends, no one had seen him. Of course, they knew of his existence as the children talked about him often.

It was because of him that the lights started being turned on in houses and doors were opening. Somehow, talk of a giant robot outside was already spreading.

It did not take long for the couple to find themselves surrounded by residents. Already some children were calling the robot a transformer, asking him to do this and that.

Tank seemed to be enjoying his fame. As he walked through the pathway towards the training field, he waved playfully at the residents. The robot was not afraid. He was smiling_if that is what you could call the soft pulsing glow across his visor whenever he was amused.

“Foreman Sunshine, can I give sweets to the children?” He asked, his metallic voice bright and warm.

“Go ahead, do whatever you want as long as you do not harm the humans.” Sunshine replied.

That was all he needed. Tank opened one of the compartments where he kept Castiel’s healthy candy and began handing them out to the children. The children squealed, jumping around him. Then he plucked a few ribbon flowers from his storage and presented them to some of the women nearby, they giggled at the gesture.

“Seems like he enjoys attention from the ladies. Is that part of his programming?” Hades asked curiously.

“I am not sure about that. Seeing how he is enjoying all this, I feel bad for hiding him before. He wanted to be there for the first testing of the moon.” Sunshine felt some guilt for having denied the robot that pleasure. So, she raised her voice and shouted, “We would not have the artificial moon if not for Tank. He is a resident of the base, and I hope you welcome him.”

Whispers broke out, some cheering even. Tank walked with more pride.

Hades nudged her gently. “You know.” He said. “After today, I doubt Tank will agree to stay indoors all the time.”

Sunshine chuckled. “That is okay. After what happened earlier, I am confident that he can look after himself.”

That made Hades pause. His brows furrowed. “What do you mean? What happened earlier?”

Sunshine sighed, glancing at Tank’s back as he walked ahead. “You know how my door leads to other worlds?”

He nodded.

She told him about the Noxian horrible experience.

Hades’ expression darkened. “This sounds very dangerous. I don’t want to be the kind of husband that limits you but Suni….” he left his words hanging but she knew.

“I know better now.” Sunshine told him.

“Just be careful out there, Suni,” Hades said, his tone sharp but caring. “I do not know what I would do if something happened to you in a place where I cannot even reach you.” He dreaded the thought.

“Do not worry, I will always be careful.” She assured him.

Hades then changed the subject. “Oh_Jon and his friends are ready to hand over their share of money and resources in the expansion.”

Sunshine gave a small smirk. “I am not surprised; it’s not like they will use it to buy stocks anytime soon. This is the only investment opportunity available.”

Hades snorted in amusement. “True.”

They reached the right spot in the field. The bubble with the lesion was just above them. A small crowd of technicians had already gathered. The bubble looked okay under the normal eye but with magnifying glass one could see the lesion_it was like a crack in the shield.

Soldiers started sending Tank’s fans away.

“I will get to work now, Foreman Sunshine.” Tank said, stepping forward.

First, he assessed the level of the damage, the sensors in his chest flickering with green light. “Lesion integrity at twenty percent.” He reported. “Expansion risk minimal, still I advise we repair it.”

“Go ahead Tank.” Sunshine said, stepping back.

Tank’s upper body began to shift_the plates along his chest unfolding with precise motion, each layer sliding apart with soft metallic clicks. The residents who had refused to leave gasped when a light emerged from him. From one of his compartments, Tank drew out something that looked like a shimmering film_a holographic shell that rippled and bent like liquid glass.

“What is that?” Someone asked. Nobody answered.

Tank raised it high, projecting it towards the lesion. The holographic sheet hovered pulsing once before fusing with the damaged area. The air rippled. Then with a low hum, the film solidified into a tangible matter, sealing the crack seamlessly.

Gasps rose from the technicians, some clapped.

“Wow, so simple.”

“I thought we would have to fly up somehow and fix the crack.”

A soft shimmer remained across the repaired patch, barely visible unless the sun hit it just right. Tank turned to Sunshine. “The bubble is stable,” he said. “However, under direct sunlight it will produce a faint luminescent sheen.”

“Thank you, Tank.” Sunshine said to him.

The system sent an alert. [Bubble lesion repair complete. You get 30 gold coins and 30 merit coins.]

She always got rewards even when Tank did the tasks because he was her assistant, this did not come as a surprise.

Hadrian winced, scratching his chin. “It is worrying that the watcher actually caused a lesion in the bubble.”

Sunshine sighed. “This bubble shield does wear out in time, but right now it is not at the point of being replaced yet.”

“How will we know when it’s worn out?” One technician asked.

Sunshine looked his way. “I will tell you so do not worry.”

She looked at Tank who was now kneeling allowing the children to touch his arms.

“Tank say goodnight. It is time for us go home.” She shouted to him.

Above them, where the lesion had been, Pink seethed and screeched angrily. Sunshine looked up once and huffed. “Her temper tantrums are becoming more frequent.”