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

Even when she returned to the mountain base, Sunshine did not rest. The new bubble shield needed to go up immediately and it needed to be delivered to all the other towns. The mountain was noisy all through the night. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The sun was rising by the time they finished. Sunshine allowed herself to sigh.

"That’s not girl bubble." Major Elio muttered, frowning at the invisible shield as if it was the most bizarre and ugliest thing he had ever seen. "With all due respect ma’am, we are going to need to paint it."

Sunshine stumbled away from him like a zombie, "Not today, Elio. I am too tired for this, and I have a son that was struck by lightning. I am going home." She did not dare to turn back out of fear that someone would present something else that needed to be done immediately.

When she returned home, she was greeted by a sight that was both heartwarming and mildly terrifying. The children were on the floor testing Nimo’s claws_ which mostly involved Nimo trying to shred anything wooden in her sight while Earl cheered her on.

"Neems! No claws around my furniture." Sunshine groaned, dropping her bag.

Earl looked up, his face lighting up. "Mom! You’re back! Look, she’s getting the lateral swipe down. I love aunt Nimo even more... she’s so cool."

"I’m thrilled," Sunshine deadpanned. "And I am going to deep fry you like a twinkie."

Ariel laughed.

Tank added deep fried twinkie to the ideas for breakfast that morning.

Earl’s expression shifted instantly into guilty puppy mode. "Mom, I know what you’re going to say. ’Earl, how could you disobey my orders’ and I will say, ’But mom, my skills were needed, but I was just stuck here, the guilt couldn’t let me.’ and then you will say...."

"Later, Earl," she sighed, waving a hand. "I don’t have the bandwidth to scold you right now. How are you feeling, anyway? You look... vibrant. Come here so that I scan your body."

Earl jumped to his feet, vibrating with an almost manic energy. "The medical phone already scanned me. I am okay and I feel vibrant. Mom, I feel like I swallowed a star! I’ve got so much juice in my system I feel like I could take on one of those thunderous dragons that caused the chaos. Look at this!"

He flexed his bicep, and for a second, Sunshine actually thought his small shirt might explode.

"The lightning strike? The one that hit me in the back was huge! It was so cool mom," Earl continued, his eyes wide. "The sky turned purple, then white, then the sound_ it was like the Earth was cracking a whip! I’ve never seen anything like it."

Sunshine stared at him, exhausted. "Baby, try to keep your excitement about the lightning in house. Twenty-three people died. We cannot give the lightning storm a five-star review."

Nimo, sitting on the rug, let out a piercing giggle. Her mouth was shoved full of coconut beans, making her cheeks look like a squirrel’s. "Boom!" she sprayed, a half-chewed bean landing on Earl’s boot.

Earl sniggered. Castiel also stuffed his mouth, to start a bean war!

Sunshine glared at the two. "Will you all be serious for a minute?"

Thankfully, Jill appeared in the doorway like a guardian angel. She took one look at Sunshine’s sagging shoulders and the chaotic energy in the room and stepped in.

"Alright, circus is over," Jill announced, scooping Castiel up. "Kids, bath time. Now."

Nimo stepped forward, her face uncharacteristically serious. She looked at Sunshine, who had collapsed into the one chair that wasn’t shredded. "Do we really have to do the general meeting now?" Nimo asked softly. "You look like you’re about to pass out in your soup."

Sunshine’s eyes flipped open, sharp and focused despite the fatigue. "It’s necessary. More than ever. The residents aren’t just tired, Nimo. They’re scared. They saw the bubble shield fail. If they start believing the base can’t protect them, we don’t have a community anymore. We just have a bunch of panicked people waiting for the end."

Nimo nodded slowly, clicking her tongue against her teeth. She leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. "I don’t know how you do it. I really don’t. Being a base leader? That’s a one-way ticket to a heart attack by forty. It’s too exhausting. I’d rather fight the mutants."

Sunshine exhaled a long, shaky breath and leaned her head back against the cushion. "Some days, Nimo, fighting the mutants is the easy part. It’s the humans you have to worry about." She closed her eyes for just a second and dozed off.

Two hours later, Nimo shook Sunshine awake, helped her freshen up a bit, change and they set off for the command center.

The general meeting had evolved into something much bigger. This time the entire Fortress Four was present_ every base patched in through live streams, their faces blown up on giant screens mounted high in the congregation halls.

Sunshine leaned forward, eyes already tired before the meeting even truly began. Around her were the familiar faces of the committee: Ariel with his tablet, Hades leaning back like nothing in the world could surprise him anymore, and a dozen others who all looked braced for chaos_ there always was.

The screens flickered as territories connected one by one, voices overlapping, people murmuring, children occasionally darting across the background before being yanked away by embarrassed adults.

Sunshine tapped the table once. "Alright," she said, calm but firm, and the room slowly quieted, though silence was more of a suggestion than a rule on such a day. "Let’s begin. Territory reports after the earlier attack. Pitbull, you’re first according to the agenda."

A man with a dust-lined face leaned into the camera from Pitbull, irritation practically vibrating through the screen. "We don’t have steady water," he said bluntly.

Sunshine frowned immediately. "Where is Linda Chan?" She asked. "I prefer to hear from the leader of that territory."

The man let out a loud scoff, a displeased look replaced his smile. "I am still the governor of Greenwich!" He shouted so suddenly that everyone flinched.

In the background, a baby startled in its mother’s arms, then broke into loud, piercing cries.

Hades tapped the microphone twice and spoke. "Stop scaring the children governor Russo, we all know who you are."

"I do not care who he used to be. I care about who is running things now." Sunshine quickly added. "Where is Linda Chan?"

Linda hurried to the front, sweat beads sliding down her face as she pushed through the room. "Here I am," she said breathlessly. "I had to deal with an emergency; they seem to be popping up endlessly. The lightning messed up some of our communication cables, please assign a team to restore them soon."

Sunshine nodded once. "What about the water over there?" Water was important in this cruel hot weather, as important as breathing itself.