Chapter 54 - 52: The Sky Beneath the Dome
Morning in Egghead was never truly morning—light here came from everywhere and nowhere at once.The dome above glowed with artificial sunlight, filtered through prisms that scattered soft rainbows across sterile floors.To Shinobu, it looked like heaven trying to imitate Earth.
Her children called it The Sky That Hums.
And today, the sky hummed merrily.
"Mother! Hikari took my ribbon again!"
"I didn’t! It fell off and I found it first!"
"Stop fighting," Shinobu sighed, though her voice couldn’t quite hide her laughter. She knelt to retrieve the torn ribbon from the floor—pale lilac, half-drenched in nutrient gel.
Fifteen pairs of wings fluttered and rustled behind her. The children had discovered both pride and mischief in equal measure.
They were a riot of light: feathers in gradients of gold, violet, crimson, and silver. When they laughed, the air shimmered faintly—their Lunarian flame organs flickering at random, making the whole room glow like a lantern festival.
"Line up for breakfast," she called, though she knew it was futile.
"Breakfast!" shouted Arashi, the tallest of them—a boy whose flame burned white-hot even when he wasn’t angry. "Does Auntie Pudding make the cream pancakes again?"
Pudding, who stood at the counter in her frilly apron, twirled a whisk with exaggerated pride. "Of course I do! And no one’s allowed to steal the whipped cream this time."
Five small heads turned guilty at once.