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

The moment Sunshine stepped into the booth, the heavy glass door hissed shut, locking her inside. Suddenly, bright lights began to zip up and down her body like a group of glowing bugs, walking all over her. It tickled slightly, and she had to squeeze her eyes shut as the scanners hummed loudly.

Five minutes later, the lights faded, the booth clicked open, and she stepped out, shaking her head to get rid of the dizziness.

Trip was already tapping away at a holographic screen. "Perfect! Got everything I need. Every hair, every freckle, and even that tiny smudge of grease on your cheek. I’m going to get straight to work on your army, ma’am."

"Wait, Trip!" Sunshine called out, holding up a finger. "I need some extra features. Can you install cameras in their eyes? I need to see what they see. Also, I don’t want them looking like they are drunk on joy. No happy faces." The clone he has shown her was that type. She pulled up a picture on her wrist device and showed him a picture of the exo suit. "Can you make some of the clones wear this?" She didn’t want to waste real exo suits on the clones.

Trip scanned the picture with his magnifying-glass eye. "Ooh, fancy! Very stylish. I can do that. It will cost you more of course While I’m baking these ’New Yous,’ why don’t you and the big orange guy take a look around my showroom? You might see something else you like."

She had one more thing to add, and she wasn’t sure how he was going to like it. But still, it had to be said. "Trip, don’t use my clones as a sample for your future clients. At least, not before I solve my problems. I don’t want anybody knowing that I acquired your services." Information like that could be dangerous in the wrong ears.

"Got it. Privacy package, no problem. But it will cost you more." He told her.

Vortan snorted. "Even drinking water in this place costs more than elsewhere."

Sunshine paid and started walking through the showroom.Vortan introduced her to the weapons, and he showed her how some of them worked. She decided to purchase the ones that could do maximum damage with minimum side effects.

Thirty minutes later, Trip called them to look at his work so far. She couldn’t help but laugh when she saw the prototype clone walk across the floor. The fake Sunshine was doing great until it hit a cardboard box. It tripped, flailed its arms, and face-planted onto the floor. But then, in a weirdly graceful move, it did a perfect somersault and popped back up, waving at the empty air.

"Wow!" Sunshine cheered, clapping her hands. "That was a solid ten-out-of-ten recovery! Of course, anyone that knows me will be confused to see me somersaulting or falling carelessly."

"It is a bit clumsy," Vortan noted, stepping around a pile of robotic limbs. "But for a distraction, it is more than enough."

She shook her head. "No... not good enough. It needs to be perfect." She wanted to give more instructions, but Vortan stopped her.

"We are repairmen, we can fix it." He reminded her.

She smiled. "Right." Sunshine realized she had forgotten something important. "Wait, Vortan, how do I actually control them? Do I get an instruction manual?"

Vortan shook his head. "No. Your System will link directly to their processors. It is much safer that way. Since the System is locked to your DNA, it can monitor them. Only you can give them commands, or the system. The main reason for not attaching them to you is to prevent that connection from being exploited by the Xylas, somehow. We can add a self-destruct mechanism. If one is captured, it explodes."

"Great idea," Sunshine laughed. Indeed, coming with Vortan was the best. He thought of things that she had not considered.

Her eyes continued to move around the room, which was filled with all sorts of weird gadgets. Suddenly, her eyes stopped on a wall of heads she had been ignoring. Each one was wearing a thin, silver mask that looked like it was made of liquid metal.

"What are these?" she asked, reaching out to touch one. "Are they for a party?"

"Not exactly," Vortan said. "Those are Illusion Masks. They are created with a special effect to create an illusion to anyone who looks at the person wearing it. It’s light-bending technology."

Sunshine winced, scrunching up her face. "Light bending? Illusion? Vortan, you’re using big words again. It’s a bit hard to understand without seeing it happen."

Vortan let out a long, dramatic sigh. He looked at the mask, then back at Sunshine. "Fine. A demonstration."

He took one of the silver masks and slipped it over his face. He stood very still for a second, then whispered a command to his system: "Commander Melvin. Initiate disguise."

Sunshine’s jaw dropped. She actually let out a tiny scream and stumbled backward. Right in front of her, the tall, orange, serious Vortan was gone. In his place stood Commander Melvin. It wasn’t just his face_ it was his grumpy expression, his broad shoulders, his fancy uniform, and even the way he stood with his chest puffed out.

"Sunshine Raine!" the fake Melvin boomed in a perfect, grumpy voice. "I want the prime core?"

"AHHH!" Sunshine shouted, covering her mouth. "Stop it! That is terrifying! It’s too real!"

Vortan pulled the mask off, and his own orange face returned. He looked a bit tired from the effort. "It is effective, is it not?"

Sunshine’s eyes were wide with excitement. The wheels in her head were turning fast. "Effective? Vortan, this is the best thing I’ve ever seen! I do not know when I will need these, but I might."

She turned to Trip, who was watching them with a grin. "Trip! I’m taking 10,000 pieces of the illusion mask! Right now!"

Trip’s four arms all went up in the air at once. "Ten thousand?! Honey, I’m gonna be a rich man! I’ll start the printers immediately!"

A few minutes later, several large crates filled with the silver masks were being loaded into Sunshine’s personal space. She felt like a kid on Christmas morning. Every time she thought about the Watchers or the Commander trying to find her, she just thought about those masks and smiled.

She would move around completely undetected.

After they finished trying out other things and seeing everything from fake "scent bombs" to invisible capes, Vortan turned to her.

"You have all the tools you need, Sunshine," he said, his voice returning to its usual serious tone. "The next few days will determine if your world has a future or not." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Good luck. I will see you after you fix the first rift."

"Thanks, supervisor Vortan," Sunshine said softly. "For everything."

With a bright flash of light, he left and she teleported back home.