NOVEL NEXT Chapter 234: System solutions.
Never before had the billionaires shut up so fast. None of them wanted to be picked next to join the ten men that would go out and fight.
Morris leaned forward, intent on telling Sunshine that they should leave the people from other bases out. They would slow everyone down.
As if she could tell what he was thinking, she shook her head and stopped him from talking. "Let's take a break. We have been at this for hours and missed breakfast."
Some people left the room to go fill their stomachs and others went off to tend to their duties first because they had jobs in other sectors.
Hades was among those who went off to think of solutions and put together names of the people he thought would be helpful in the fight. His head felt heavy with the weight of carrying the safety of their new home on his shoulders.
His responsibility was clear; build a team strong enough to fight the threat, but also wise enough to leave behind a guard that could shield the base from any sudden attack, be it from the watchers or any other foe. Their lives depended on the balance.
The billionaires, dressed in expensive furs had all followed Hades to his office in the information center. They had touched everything in there, taken some bites of his breakfast and kept looking at him with restless eyes.
"Have you come up with a solution yet?" Jon asked Hades while enjoying a Black hole donut. "Why is it taking long to find one? Aren't you the genius in getting out of troublesome corners?"
A scoff came from Hades. "Why haven't you come up with one yourself? My people are all doing something, unlike you guys that are just standing here and eating my breakfast."
"I am praying." Jin mentioned, wiping the cream on the side of his mouth quickly.
"And I think better on a full stomach." Sheldon claimed, stuffing some cakes into his jacket, with plans to eat them later.
All around him, the useless group was doing nothing but munching as if they had come for a regular visit to their big brother's home on a Sunday morning.
Hades scoffed again. "You are all useless and distractions. Time for you to leave so that the grownups can work."
He handed Jon a battered radio, his voice steady though his chest burned with tension.
"Go home and wait for my call," he ordered. "Return with fighters when I tell you to come, I will share any bit of information if there is need."
Sheldon, let out a sharp grumble. "Let us be realistic here Hades, our bases do not have the men to spare. Fortress four does. If we send in ten of our mercenaries, we will be left exposed!"
"Did you think that the alliance was about us fighting while you sipped on chardonnay?" Hades asked, glaring at Sheldon. "Everyone must contribute. If you cannot send men, I will be very happy to accept only one person, but it has to be a superhuman or you."
They gasped.
He looked at them, one by one and said with great force. "My wife's words stand, whether you combine forces or not, bring enough men. Fortress four is not going to go to war for you. You either provide support and stand with us, or you stand on your own."
For a moment, the billionaire's looked at each other and blinked like deers caught in headlights. If they were not looking at each other, they were looking at Hades as if they were waiting for him to declare his words a joke.
That did not happen.
"We understand Hades, the men will be ready." Jon sighed and gave in. He motioned for the others to follow him.
Meanwhile Sunshine had already slipped out of the information center, her heart pounding against the rib cage like a war drum of urgency. She barely registered Nimo and Alfred as her vehicle rolled past their waving hands that they were hoping she would stop.
Her mind was consumed by the beetle colony which was creeping closer with every second that passed. What would it take to freeze them all and shatter them at the same time?
In no time, she was home. White greeted her at the door with a soft purr, rubbing against her legs.
"How are you boy?" Sunshine ruffled its fur and checked on its healing wound.
For one fleeting moment, Sunshine's lips trembled into a smile. She reached for a coconut bean from her pocket and dangled it gently before White.
The bear grabbed it and hugged it like a treasure.
"I'll see you later." She patted its head and sat it down in front of the tv. White loved cartoons, a thing Sunshine was grateful for because the bear bothered her less.
She moved to her room and immediately vanished into the space.
"System," she called with urgency. "You saw those things. I need solutions, tell me how I can I kill the mutated bombardier beetles. Before you tell me that this is not part of your duties, keep in mind that they will destroy everything we have repaired if they make it in here."
[Host, I am going to to present remedies for this problem. Some however are very costly and.....]
Sunshine waved to dismiss whatever it was about to say. " This is a matter of life and death; the cost is worth it."
[One is containment. With your ice control abilities, you can create a hard frozen ground beneath and all around them. Trap them in an ice prison and shatter them.]
"Am I strong enough for that? I am worried that some will get away before I can trap them all."
[I can give you the odds of success. But I do agree that this requires the skill of ice storm which you have not yet mastered. At your level, it will take time which you may not have. The beetles could release fire explosions before you freeze them all which could melt the ice. So, some could escape into the ground.]
"Just what I thought." She muttered.
[Also, heavy use of your power could cause a cold burn out in your body.]
"If I do choose this solution, send me a warning before the cold burn out happens or I damage my body."
[Noted host. Solution two is the using Savyx gas to neutralize the beetles. It will prevent chemical combustion and turn the fire into gas. Because of the excessive winter wind, the gas will spread quickly. There is a risk of your team being poisoned.]
"We will get back to that one later if there is nothing else." She had been hopeful until the poisoning came up.
[Fungal spores that are bio engineered. This is a new weapon from planet Thatole, that has never been used. It is being offered freely in all markets as part of the trials. Once released, bugs can breathe in the spores which weaken their internal systems from within their bodies. The con is that there is no proof that it works.]
"Ha!" Sunshine scratched his head. "I do not know about this; it is a risk I cannot even measure."
[Next are sonic disruptors, these almost act in almost the same way as fungal spores. The deep frequencies released destabilize the minds of the beetles. As the pressure increases, it causes vibrations in the fire sacs of the beetles, making them explode prematurely....]
"I like the sound of that." Sunshine murmured.
[The only con is that they have to be planted into the ground around the colony manually. These mutated beetles have very good hearing. If they know what you are doing, they will attack. Also, the sonic disruptors are heavy and could be hard to transport.]
"And yet they sound like the best solution, combined with my ice abilities." She responded. "I don't think I have much of a choice than to choose this option. It is time to take a trip outside."