Chapter 743: Planet Elitope.
The system had told Sunshine that her destination was planet Elitope. It had warned her about the weather conditions. But not even that warning could prepare her for the actual situation on ground. The winds on Planet Elitope didn’t just blow; they screamed like they were auditioning for a heavy metal band inside an industrial sized air conditioner that relied on frozen ice.
This wasn’t the ’tolerable breeze’ the system had described. This was a physical assault. The bridge itself was a nightmare. It stretched across the heavens, so high she couldn’t even see the ground. Below was only mist, a bottomless abyss that swallowed sound. Why anyone would choose to use such a bridge was a puzzle to her. Death was surely guaranteed if one fell below.
Now, Sunshine was dangling above, her heavy magnetic boots slipping on the slick, vibrating metal of the giant Sky Bridge. The problem she had to fix were the cables. The wiring had frayed under constant wind shear, sparking dangerous. If left unfixed, the entire structure would collapse, severing the lifeline between two floating cities.
The pay was astronomical--enough for a repairman to retire, but the risk was equally towering. Three days, alone, with nothing but her toolkit and stubborn grit.
It was day one, and she wasn’t sure if she would survive. She clamped herself to the bridge’s underside, dangling over the abyss. Sparks hissed from the cables, each one a reminder that one slip meant possible death.
"Okay, Sunshine," she huffed, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. "Just another dangerous repair. You have been through many of these, and this one won’t be the last. Think of it like fixing spaghetti at the edge of the universe. Breathe in, breathe out, try not to die."
Her calm, slightly posh voice spoke into her mind.
Halfway through slicing wires, the first danger arrived:
[WARNING! Atmospheric ionization is reaching 93% capacity. Probability of you being turned into a human charcoal briquette is... statistically high. Also, your heart rate is making me nervous, do you need a calming shot?]
"System don’t you dare stick one of your needles into my body," Sunshine grunted. She hauled herself over the railing, her safety harness clanking loudly against the carbon-steel frame. "Let us focus on the bridge? Why is the east bridge tower dark?"
[A localized surge has fried the primary junction, host. My sensors indicate the damage was... aggressive. Also, look behind you. Approximately three o’clock.]
Sunshine whipped her head around, her hand instinctively flying to the hammer hanging at her hip. A winged creature leathery and shrieking, had come to visit. It was drawn to the sparks. It wasn’t just one, three of them were hovering. They swooped at her, talons scraping wires and metal.
"I’m in no mood to play," Sunshine growled, pulling her hammer free. The head of the tool glowed a dull, comforting orange. "Alright pals, let us make this quick."
As the first creature lunged, Sunshine swung with everything she had. CLANG!
The hammer connected with the creature’s head in a shower of sparks. The creature screeched_ a sound like metal grinding on metal_ and tumbled off the bridge, vanishing into the mist far below. The other two flew off quickly.
"I don’t get paid enough for alien pigeons!" she cursed.
One of the two creatures that had escaped returned, snagging at her tool pouch, but she kicked it off and fried it with electricity. She watched as it spiraled into the endless mist.
"Two-zero, Sunshine wins," she muttered, wiping sweat and grease from her forehead.
[Host, if you’re finished playing with the local wildlife, the junction box is currently melting.]
She rushed forward with her tool kit and reached the junction box at the center of the span. It was a mess of melted copper and humming blue energy. Every time the lightning flashed above, the wires inside the box danced like angry eels.
The bridge groaned under her feet, swaying in a way that made her stomach do flip-flops.
"Talk to me, system. Which one do I pull? My manual says red, but there are six red ones and three of them are screaming."
[The dark blue cable provides gravitational support to the residents of this world. The yellow one stabilizes the bridge’s magnetic anchors, so you don’t fall into abyss. The sparking red ones are the most dangerous ones just like the manual indicated, so pull all the red ones. All of them.]
"Piece of cake, " Sunshine said, though her hands were shaking so hard she could barely grip her pliers. "If I blow this, I am going to be reborn just so I can find you and kill you."
[That will not be possible since I will reboot immediately after you die. Also, DANGER. Incoming strike in three... two...]
CRACK-BOOM!
A massive bolt of lightning slammed into the bridge’s spire just above her. The vibration nearly shook Sunshine’s teeth out of her skull.
The bridge lurched violently to the left, the magnetic locks screaming as they fought to stay attached to the pylons.
Sunshine gasped, her feet leaving the catwalk as she dangled by her safety tether.
"Bloody hell!" she yelled, hugging the junction box for dear life. "System, keep us level! Use the auxiliary thrusters or something!"
[I am trying, host, but the storm is... very aggressive. My algorithms suggest it isn’t a natural weather pattern. Something is feeding on the grid. Something big.]
Sunshine squinted into the swirling black and violet clouds. For a second, the lightning held, illuminating the sky. She saw it_ a massive, shimmering spine made of pure shadow and light, coiling through the clouds like a dragon made of static. It wasn’t just a storm; it was a flying thunder snake. The kind that fed off magnetic waves, electricity and everything with power. How the hell had something like that ended up on this planet?
"You’re kidding me," she hissed. "No wonder the bridge is failing; it’s being sucked dry." Also, it explained the high pay. Whoever posted the job had left this out.
She pushed herself up using the power of her boots, to navigate gravity. And them she grabbed the live red wire. The power surged through her suit, making her hair stand up inside her helmet and causing her vision to swim.
Suddenly, the bridge shuddered again. Another snake, even larger than the first, leaped from the rafters above. It wrapped its cold, muscular body around her waist, pinning her arms to her sides.
Sunshine gasped, the air being squeezed out of her lungs as the snake’s glowing eyes met hers.
"Hammer! A little help! Getting... hugged... to death!"
The hammer charged with lightning and smacked the snake with enough force to make the bridge cry. It shrieked as 20,000 volts went through its belly, more than it could handle. It lost its grip, its muscles spasming, and it slid off the side, hissed one last time, and vanished into the fog.
"Ugh, thanks," Sunshine panted. She jammed her hammer into the gears of the junction box to hold the frame steady against the wind. "Alright, you big cloud-snake that is messing with me, let’s see how you like a hard reboot!"