Chapter 732: All about leveling up.
Days turned into weeks, and weeks bled into months, while Sunshine spent her time either storm binding training or doing risky repair jobs. The people at the base did everything they could to not get her worried or involved in base activities. Hades had told everyone not to contact his wife with anything and to approach him with anything they needed. At the end of each day, he pampered her by giving her hot meals, showering her and many times massaging her body, at times even the kids joined in on the pampering sessions.
She always made time for them, despite how busy she was. Sunshine had made sure to be around for Castiel’s birthday and Ala’s birthday as well. She had gone outside two times. Once, to join Nimo and Dwayne when they adopted the twins. As godmother, she had to be present.
The second was for the funeral of Grandpa Quinn. After that, it was back behind closed doors, to focus on repairs and leveling up.
Today was like many of those days. Sunshine had just returned from repairing damaged neural implants on a group of high-ranking robot scouts on the Nimbus end world. It had been a delicate, high-stakes job that felt like trying to untangle a spiderweb while wearing oven mitts. As she sat on their oversized sofa, her fingers were twitching uncontrollably, a side effect of the micro-electricity she’d been channeling.
Despite the tremors, Sunshine couldn’t stop bragging. "Babe, you should have seen it. The circuitry was practically fried, absolute toast! But I got in there, did the bypass, and boom_ the robot could think in full sentences again. I’m basically a goddess of electric wires at this point. I think I am ready to build a real Tank like robot on my own. It will save us a lot of gold as we won’t have to buy from the council anymore. I am still holding a grudge against them you know."
Hades looked at her twitching hands, his expression a mix of adoration and sheer terror. He didn’t share her enthusiasm for the risky jobs her supervisor was assigning her. She had nearly died five times, and yet she was not giving up.
He reached for a ceramic bowl filled with crushed ice. "That’s great honey," he said, his voice a low rumble. "But without fingers, you wouldn’t be able to do anything else. You wouldn’t even be able to hold a spoon, let alone a storm-binding staff or repair the rifts. Put them in. Now."
He guided her hands into the bowl. Sunshine hissed as the cold hit her overheated nerves. "Ow! Hades, that actually feels very tingly! I think you are worrying over nothing. I’m amazing at this, soon I will be at the highest level of repairman expertise and Zevran will cry a bucket of regretful tears. Trust me, if the council assigns positions by voting, I am contesting for her seat as soon as possible. She is a cancer that needs to be eliminated from the organization."
Hades mostly replied with ’mmm’ or ’mm-hmm.’ "Just take it easy with the enthusiasm when you are working." he countered finally.
Just then, a soft ping echoed through her head. The system sent an update of her stats.
Repairman: [Sunshine Raine]
Points: [75,036,000]
Gender: [Female]
Planet: [Private]
Level: 7[0/1,000,000]
Class: [Pre-master]
Repair success rate: [94%]
Expertise: [Ice stitching, light moon, robot legs, all weapons, all household appliances, Emotion engines, gravity regulators, Cultural Atmospheric Generators, Electric stitching, space ships, portal hinges, musk filters, talking animal translators, dream projectors, temporal clocks, All insectoid carapace armor, Nanobot drones, Space elevator cables, Nano heart pumps, Deep sea mining claws, Plasma canon ruptures. Neural interface headsets, Exoskeletons, Exo suits, Cryogenic pressure chambers, Undersea fiber optic cables, Magnetic levitation transportation devices.]
Favorite tool: [Hammer]
Weakness: [ONLY TAKES HIGH RISK, HIGH REWARD JOBS.]
Speed: [Extremely fast]
Intelligence: [96/100]
Worlds visited: [23]
Sunshine let out a cheerful, high-pitched "Whoop! I made it to the Pre-master level in three months." She immediately tried to yank her hands out of the ice to celebrate. Hades winced in a threatening manner, his dark eyes narrowing.
"Keep your fingers inside the bowl, Sunshine Quinn. I mean it. If you move, I might as well ground you and give you a mandatory rest day."
She pouted but submerged her hands again. "Fine. Buzzkill."
Tank, wheeled in carrying a warm, lavender-scented cloth. He handed it to Hades with a single nod. Hades took the cloth and began to massage Sunshine’s feet, his large, calloused hands surprisingly gentle.
Meanwhile Tank scanned Sunshine’s body. "Foreman Sunshine, your body needs two vita E shots and eight hours of undisturbed rest." The robot advised like it did every day.
"She will do as you have told her, Tank. I will make sure of it." Hades said as Tank wheeled away.
Sunshine leaned back, the tension finally starting to drain. "How are the diversion trenches coming along?" she asked, her voice became somewhat serious. "Are we ready for the lava problem? The volcanic storms are almost here."
Hades didn’t look up from her feet. "We’ve been digging day and night. The hard ash sprinklers are in place, and the reinforced walls are holding. The lava won’t affect us, Suni. It’ll flow right past the base and into the diversions where it will be turned into stone, thanks to you. We have also spread the word and distributed hard ash to as many cities around us as we could."
He was saying all the right things, but Sunshine knew him better than she knew herself. There was a tightness in his jaw, a way he was focusing a little too hard on her big toe.
"Hades Quinn," she said softly. "What is it?"
He hesitated. He wanted her to concentrate on leveling. He wanted her mind clear of the politics and the looming dread that occupied every committee meeting. But the weight of the unknown was becoming a ghost in the room.
"It’s nothing you need to_ "
"Don’t you ’nothing’ me," she interrupted. "I see that look. It’s the ’world is ending and I’m not telling my wife look.’ Is it the Watchers? Are they sending new mutants? Big ones? Scary ones? Mutants with chainsaws for arms?"
Hades let out a loud, weary sigh, dropping the cloth into the basin. "The Watchers have sent mutants after mutants to Fortress Four. Every time, we beat them because we knew they were coming. We knew their patterns. But this time... everyone is failing to figure out the plan." He leaned forward, his face shadowed. "They’re being careful. They aren’t shouting their intentions over open frequencies anymore. They’re speaking in code. All we know for sure is that they’re bringing something. Or planning an attack."
"Give me the recordings," Sunshine demanded, reaching out with dripping, ice-cold hands.
Hades handed her the tablet. Sunshine listened intently. Through the static, she heard the cold, melodic voice which belonged to Pink. She could recognize it even in her sleep.
"It is time to initiate Plan Adeline." the voice said.
One of the watchers laughed, "finally!"
"They will not be able to do anything about it," another said.
"Let us see how Sunshine will get out of this one," Pink said in a mocking voice.