NOVEL NEXT Chapter 249: Dual ability.
Hades and Sunshine went their separate ways, agreeing to meet in an hour at the command center.
At home, she closed the door and leaned against it for a while. Despite having taken enough rest through the night, her body still felt exhausted.
Her bones were slightly heavy. Sunshine wondered if it was because she had not exercised well for three days.
"I need a good work out."
"Good morning Foreman Sunshine." Tank walked to her from the work room. His hands could form tools when necessary, so his right hand was currently a drill. "You look exhausted. Would you like a drink?"
Sunshine shook her head. "Good morning, Tank, and no thank you. What are you working on?"
"I am making small holes through which the Electrostatic skin that goes on the orbit of the artificial moon pass through."
She nodded. Her mind drew a clear image of what the robot was up to. It also meant that the moon was seventy percent complete. This brought a smile on her lips.
They could begin working on a second one soon and then a third, fourth and more. When the darkness came, earth would be bright like a city of stars. Thinking of stars gave her an idea. Maybe she could make stars as well. She would have to ask the system about it.
She walked to her room, had a quick shower and changed into fresh clothes that smelled like lavender. Then she went to her workshop and sat down at her desk. It was clean and this was noticeable right from the start.
She thought Tank cleaned it but the note on the desk corrected that.
"Make all the mess you want, your husband will always be there to clean after you. I noticed some ketchup fingerprints on the tool belt, and I have no idea how it got there. I am quite interested in the answer though."
Sunshine let out a loud sigh. "Oh, is he not the sweetest?" A small giggle escaped her lips. The ketchup fingers were not hers. That was definitely Castiel's work.
She stood up and walked to Tank's workspace which had expanded during her absence. Clearly, the robot was making itself at home. Sunshine inspected the Moon that Tank was putting together. The globe had come together nicely like a round crystal ball. There were small holes inside which she could only see after taking a closer look.
Her head was moving up and down and her lips were spread in a smile of approval.
After that, she returned to her workstation, sat down and stared at the back of her hands rather than getting to work immediately. They were a bit wrinkly, like she had dipped them in water for so long.
"Definitely need a manicure." She whispered. "And this was definitely a side effect of that electricity mixing with my ice."
Bits of last night's battle still replayed in her head. How Tommy had used her as some kind of booster and how she had driven herself almost too far, ignoring the system's warnings in the desperate moment to destroy the colony.
She flipped her hands and sparks came from the fingers.
"Holy shit!" She shouted and jumped to her feet. "What the hell was that?"
She flipped them again, exactly like before and it happened again.
Sunshine screamed. "How is this possible?"
Her heartbeat increased rapidly. She flipped her hands and directed the sparks towards the flowerpot that Hades had just placed near the back wall to beautify the room.
The spark struck the flowerpot, it exploded into fragments that scattered across the tiles with a loud crash. Soil spilled across the floor and the flowers turned to ash.
Sunshine flinched backward, clutching her chest like as if the spark had come out of her heart instead of hand.
"Did I just do that?" She whispered a question, voice trembling.
She used her ice powers, and they worked. Then she flipped her hands and the sparks came. Sunshine opened and closed her mouth, like a fish fighting for air.
"System." She called, her voice sharp, urgent. "What the hell is going on with me?"
There was a pause, a weighed silence. It was almost like as if the system itself was hesitant to answer her call. But then the response came.
[Host, I am still studying the changes that are occurring to your body. Last night, you pushed your body almost beyond safe limits. As a counter measure, I released Dexa-Q into your blood stream to repair the cells you destroyed.]
Her brows furrowed. "System...you put what into me?" She moved into the space as if to confront it. "Tell me everything, no half stories, no riddles, just answers."
[Dexa-Q is a serum sold on the intergalactic black market. Its origin is traced to planet Zenn, a world with mutants or what you and some humans have become.]
"I am a mutant!!" She exclaimed.
The system ignored her reaction and continued.
[On Zenn, the law forbids the birth of non-mutants. They are abnormalities that have to be killed. It is said that a scientist with such a child, created a drug to stimulate the awakening of such abilities but for some reason it was banned.]
Sunshine run her fingers in her hair. "So... you wanted to awaken another ability in me?"
[I wanted to awaken the cells that were dying.]
"Okay, I get it. You were saving my ice abilities but why then have I suddenly got electro kinesis abilities?"
The system hesitated again.
"Well...." She pushed on.
[Host, in your case the drug seems to have worked in an unusual way. Somehow when the electricity went through you, your body absorbed it, and the drug enhanced it and formed new cells. Now you are a dual ability user.]
Sunshine froze. Dual ability!! This was new, never had she heard of a superhuman with more than one ability.
Slowly, she sat down. "Bloody hell! I do not know if I am supposed to jump for joy or be scared."
Many thoughts run through her mind, and she took a moment to filter them. In the end, she came to one conclusion. This was not such a bad thing, not in the apocalypse anyway. As long as it was not a risk to her.
"Are there any side effects that I should look out for?"
[There are no records of such circumstances. I am afraid you are a test subject in this case. Would you like me to reach out to someone on Zenn and inquire more about your situation?]
"No." She blurted out. "I will not become an actual test subject. Keep this between us. Keep track of whatever is happening to my body."
[Of course, host.]
From the way it responded, she guessed that it would be keeping an eye on her whether she asked it to or not.
Sunshine left the space and tried to work but found that her hands were shaky, and she could not grip any tool firmly. So, she gave up and headed to the command center.
The meeting which had been arranged to discuss the events of the day before was already underway. Core members of the committee were present as were the notorious useless billionaires. Their presence made her skin prickle.
Hades stood beside them, arms crossed, expression unreadable. They seemed to be squirming under his gaze.
Sunshine knew that Hades would not have allowed them into any command center of the base unless it was important.
Cory sprang up suddenly, rushed to her and shouted in her face, "Why didn't you tell us earlier?"
Sunshine blinked. She had just entered the room, and she had no idea what they had been discussing. But she did not like the way Cory was addressing her. Rather than scream back at him, she retrieved her hammer.
She looked Cory in the eyes and said coldly, "You have two seconds to back away from me."