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

That was mostly it. No context, no location, no countdown. Frustrated, Sunshine tossed the tablet onto the cushions and said mockingly. "Plan Adeline?"

Hades laughed. "They started out by calling it Plan A."

She snorted. "That’s so unoriginal! Who even uses letters anymore?" She rubbed her temples, trying to convince herself that their plans did not use letters, which they did! "Listen Hades we are returning to preparing the old school way, our guard should be up 24/7 until we know what is coming."

Hades took her hands back into his. "I’ve got the defenses handled, Suni. You have one job: concentrate on saving the world. Leave the rest to me, you trained me well for such situations."

Sunshine rolled her eyes, leaning her head back against the sofa. "I’d rather fight a three-headed mutant than deal with tomorrow."

Hades looked confused. "What’s tomorrow? Another complicated repair? Do you want to discuss it with Tank and Hunter? Sorry babe, I cannot help you out with the tasks."

"I wish that was the case, It’s Hero’s Day," she groaned, her voice muffled by a pillow.

"Hero’s Day?" Hades repeated. "What is that? What heroes? Since this is not a base event, I am guessing this has something to do with the repairmen, right?"

"It’s the day when the ’Best Repairmen’ are rewarded by the Organization, apparently it’s a special event that happens once every two years, it’s a must attend kind of event." she explained, making air quotes with her damp fingers. "It’s a giant waste of my precious time. Speeches, itchy formal clothes, and worst of all... Commander Melvin."

The room went silent for a beat. The Pyraeth incident was still a sore spot, she had disobeyed a direct command from the leader of the damn repairman organization. Sunshine sat up as she wondered why the commander had not sent her a warning or even punished her for being disobedient.

"I haven’t seen commander Melvin since that disaster," Sunshine whispered, looking genuinely horrified. "I cannot face him. What if I run into him and he remembers what happened? Oh, I just know they will use me as an example for bad repairmen, especially if he is holding a grudge against me."

Hades chuckled, the tension in his shoulders finally breaking. He pulled her into a hug, smelling of wood smoke and the lavender oil. "Sunshine, I’ve seen you face down monsters that would make a grown soldier cry for his mother. You’ve been in some of the most fucked up situations with no back up and made it out alive. If there is a person braver than you, they haven’t been born yet. You’ll handle Melvin with grace. You’ll be the bigger person_ just apologize if you run into him but overall, I advise that you stay out of his sight completely."

Sunshine pulled back, a mischievous glint returning to her eyes. "Handle with grace? Me? Hades, trouble has a way of finding me. I will avoid him but if I cannot, then I have a better idea."

"Oh no," Hades said, though he was smiling. "What is it?"

"I’m going to pretend I’ve lost my memory," she said, her voice rising in excitement. "I’ll look him dead in the eye and say, ’I’m sorry, do I know you?"

Hades burst out laughing, the sound echoing through the room. "You wouldn’t. He would think you are making a joke of him."

"Watch me," she giggled, leaning into him. "I attended acting class; I could pull it off."

"What do I know? Maybe it actually could work," Hades admitted, kissing the top of her head. "Just stay in character and remind Nine not to laugh and give you up."

"I will," Sunshine sighed, finally closing her eyes. "But for now, more foot rubbing. I command it." She wanted to be relaxed when she met Vortan tomorrow. He had something important to tell her about her inheritance. Usually, such things meant bad or troubling news.

"As you wish, your Majesty." He saluted.

*****

The office was not small, but it was cramped and smelled faintly of old parchment and the butter from Nine’s popcorn. Sunshine leaned against the heavy metal desk, her arms crossed, while Vortan paced the floor. Nine sat on a stack of storage crates full of plain paper, tossing popcorn into his mouth one kernel at a time, looking like he was watching the season finale of a very messy drama.

"So, let me get this straight," Sunshine said, her voice tight with disbelief. "Grit Byers did not file the papers claiming my inheritance after all this time?"

Vortan sighed, rubbing his temples. "Yes, I confirmed it myself when I went to the financial registry, the clerk looked me dead in the eye and said your claim hadn’t even been filed. Your grandfather’s entire inheritance was sitting in ’unclaimed’ limbo, just waiting for someone to claim it."

Nine swallowed a handful of popcorn and leaned forward, his eyes wide. "Wait, wait. So, the snail just lied? That’s cold, man. Even for a guy with no bones."

"I was shocked, because Grit is one of the most loyal people in this place, his reputation is white with no stain, I had to find out from him why your claim was not filed," Vortan admitted, his face reddening as he remembered. "So, I did the only thing I could. I went to the Vault Manager’s office and I stayed. I took camp. I sat in that lobby for hours. Every time I asked where Grit was, the secretary told me he was busy."

"And?" Nine asked, unable to stand the suspense. He held the popcorn bag out toward Sunshine, but she waved it away, her fingers twitching with nervous energy. "Did he come out? Did you ask him?"

Vortan stopped pacing and looked at them. "It was a matter of time. Finally, the door creaked open. Grit crawled out, looking smug. He was whistling_ don’t ask me how a snail whistles_ and he looked like he’d just had the most wonderful day of his life."

"I didn’t give him an inch," Vortan continued, acting it out with his hands. "The moment I saw him, I moved. I stood right in front of him, blocking the hallway like a brick wall. I had my angry face on and everything. I asked him why he had not filed that claim yet."

Sunshine leaned in, a small smile tugging at her lips. "What did he say?"

"He said that there were many claims to file and he had not gotten to yours yet." Vortan said, "And I told him to do it by tomorrow so or else I would report to the commander that something fishy was going on with that vault. Grit agreed and began to glide away but slipped."

Nine chuckled loudly.

Sunshine frowned. A snail slipped! How did that even happen? Was he nervous and unsteady because he had something to hide?