Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again. - Chapter 399

Chapter 399: A warning before breakfast.
Sunshine teleported to the living space directly. Now, she was staring at the little girl who was sitting on the ground in silence. She was pinching her torn dress; her eyes fixed on the fish in the pond.

She squatted down and touched her arm. The child was too thin, nothing but skin and bones. She would need love and attention. She had one person in mind for the task.

“Do you understand what has happened?” Sunshine asked.

The child blinked, turning her head away from the pond to look at the flowers beside them. “I have no home anymore,” she said simply. Her voice was soft, hoarse, but steady.

Sunshine smiled. “So, you can talk.”

The girl nodded.

“And yet you never said a word to them.” Sunshine replied.

“Because I had nothing to say.” The girl replied. “They all hated me anyway. And I did not have the answers they wanted.”

Sunshine was blown away by the child’s ability to communicate so fluently. Her intelligence was obviously superior to that of a three-year-old on earth. She removed the mask which covered the girl’s nose and mouth. To her shock, she looked human! She had been expecting a more alien like look.

Instead, all she got was a little girl with dirty skin, smelly hair, yellowish teeth and freckles.

“Can I ask about your family?”

The girl nodded.

“Where did they get the stone, the prime core?” She asked, with a small pause between.

The girl shrugged. “I don’t know.” She looked into Sunshine’s eyes. “The stone, it had too much power. They thought it would make them strong.”

“Did it?”

“No,” the girl replied slowly, “It killed everyone.” She looked away from Sunshine, lips sealed tight.

From the way she seemed guarded Sunshine guessed the conversation was over. She had just one more question even though she did not expect a response. “What is your name?”

“Aladora Agora.” She answered slowly.

Sunshine stood up. “Follow me. Clean up, get something to eat and some rest. If you can, forget your other life and live a new one.”

The child did not reply.

Sunshine left the space with her. Out in the real world, she noticed that the sky was blue and the sun was about to rise. The air carried a warmish bite which felt nice.

The base was already awake. Training was already in motion; the shadows of residents stretched across the ground in rhythmic patterns. Voices called out drills. Boots thudded. Someone yelped after tripping during a sprint.

She took Aladora to a spare bedroom, planning to help the child clean up. The girl refused her help, insisting that she had been doing everything for herself for many years now.

After showing her how everything worked, Sunshine left her. But she left some food out on a small table in case the child wanted to eat.

Her first stop was her home office. Tank had left a note on the office desk; Went to monitor squad progress. Artificial sun is halfway complete. _ Tank.

Sunshine smiled faintly. Her robot was becoming Hades like. He was the one with the sticky note habit which had been passed to her and the children.

“System, any update on the wasps?”

[All dead, and none in the nearest vicinity to your territory.]

There and then, she deactivated the filament shield. If possible, she would have loved to keep it up forever just to trap the watchers, but it was dangerous to humans and harmless birds.

The invisible laser filament dome shimmered once_ faint red, like a ghost_ and dissolved into nothing.

She switched to the open radio channel, knowing fully well she was about to wake hundreds of tired souls from whatever sleep they’d finally managed to get.

“Good morning, Fortress Four, welcome to another day in the apocalypse,” she said, voice firm. “Laser filament shield is now deactivated. You are free to move around without fear of being turned into ash.”

Sunshine walked to the wide window where she could see the top of the bubble clearly. She needed to witness the reaction of the watchers.

They shot upward in chaotic flurries of wings, shrieking at the sky_ angry that they had been trapped in an invisible prison all night.

One watcher bumped into another.

Another smacked into a branch.

Pink actually tripped over her own long feet.

Sunshine bit her lip so she wouldn’t laugh. Who would have known that the watchers could be clumsy? It was cute.

She got on the radio again, “Residents of Fortress Four, listen closely. According to the weather forecast, we have two weeks, maybe less__of normal weather the before brutal heat begins.” She paused, letting those words settle.

People reacted by murmuring worriedly. The whispers about this had long spread among the population.

Someone whispered, “The heat cannot be worse than this winter that we just survived, or the acid rain or that citrus drizzle.”

Sunshine continued, voice steady. “This is not sunny picnic heat. This is the kind of heat that dries water bodies and dries water from your bodies too. It is the kind of heat that can melt shoes, result in spontaneous combustion and kill you. You MUST take this seriously.”

The reaction was immediate. Panic. Fear. Loud voices rising across the base.

“How will we survive?!”

“We barely survived the winter, this is worse.”

Sunshine continued, “I know that some of you are panicking. I do have some wonderful news. Every resident will receive two heat-resistant bodysuits for free. If you want more, you’ll have to purchase them but be warned, they will not be cheap. The bodysuits will protect you from the worst of the heat, so you don’t have to worry about catching fire out of the blue.”

The panic softened into nervous relief. She took a breath, then switched her tone_ sharper now. “Now, to all residents in our newly acquired territories…”

Silence. Total silence. “You’ve realized by now that the government is not in charge. Quinn Group is. We have proven that we can protect you from disasters and provide supplies. I expect NO resistance to our leadership, only cooperation.”

Sunshine added, voice dangerously calm. “If there is resistance… it will be squashed. If you doubt that, take a trip to Westbrook and see what became of those who refused to join Fortress Four and attacked our kind soldiers and medics who went over to help.”

A pitter patter of footsteps made her pause and turn her head. Castiel and White were awake and apparently hungry. They had just stolen some snacks from the kitchen, and they were smuggling them to the bedroom.

She turned her attention to her broadcast again. “I will be assessing the base managers soon. Those who meet the standards may keep their positions. Those who don’t will be replaced. And regardless_ you will see my people stationed in every territory, especially soldiers.

They are there to keep peace and protect you.” She exhaled slowly. “To get the free heat-resistant jumpsuits, you will have to be registered as a resident of Fortress four, after which a thermal band will be given to you.

Further communications will be made as the day progresses. I wish you all a safe day.”

She walked away from the window, just as Hades was walking into the kitchen. She followed him, watching silently as he took hold of a frying pan and eyed it warily as if it was trying to bite him.

“Hades,” she said, walking over quickly, “Are you trying to set the house on fire?”

“I just want to make some pancakes for breakfast.” He answered defensively.

She looked at his sweaty outfit. “Try taking a bath first, you are dropping sweat all over the floors. How many miles did you run?”

“Six.” he answered proudly, kissed her on the cheek and escaped the kitchen.

Sunshine took over cooking duty and soon, the kitchen filled with warm scents_ eggs, toasted bread, pancakes, a bit of fruit she sliced for the kids and fresh juice and coffee.

As the sun’s warm rays hit the windows, Ariel stumbled into the kitchen, hair a wild cloud, rubbing his eyes. “Mom…..you didn’t wake me up to train.”

Sunshine smiled at him. “You can begin after breakfast,”

Earl followed, grinning “Mom…I am starving. I had a dream that White was eating my head, and I was screaming from him to stop. When I woke up, he was drooling over me and chewing. He must have tried to eat me in my sleep.”

White protested from behind.

Sunshine laughed.

And Castiel screamed.