Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 555: The punishment.

Sunshine and Hades exchanged a long, uneasy glance. The Watchers had just returned with new armor; they were there for vengeance. It was likely that they had a plan.

"Do you know what they are planning to do?" Hades asked Zulu.

Zulu raised her feathers in what looked like a shrug. "They did not go into details. Maybe they sensed that someone was eavesdropping or maybe they ran out of words. That was where the conversation ended."

"Understood," Sunshine said softly. She looked at Zulu. "Go back out there. Continue to spy, stay in hiding and remember they know who you are. Don’t let them catch you."

"Yes ma’am." the parrot prepared to fly away.

"And Zulu?" The parrot paused, its wings ready for takeoff.

"On the radio show today... don’t make any uncomfortable remarks. People are hurting. We lost some good soldiers yesterday. Try to... I don’t know, sympathize? Show some heart."

Zulu flapped her wings, her face a mask of performative shock. "Who do you think I am? I may not be human, but I do have a heart! I already have a very moving poem prepared about the fallen."

She cleared her throat.

"The best birds are like steel.

They work in silence, and rest like that.

Their wings folded tight,

Like ghosts in the night.

We honor their voices,

though silence remains.

Their courage still lingers,

like blood in our veins.

They shall rest in feathers."

With a dramatic flurry of feathers, the parrot dove out the window and vanished into the smoggy morning.

Hades stood up and placed a hand on Sunshine’s shoulder. The warmth of his touch was a small comfort against the chilling news. "That poem was actually beautiful, not what I would expect from Zulu. Now, if those devices she mentioned are designed to make us destroy ourselves, we have to find out what they are exactly."

"System anything about those devices?" She asked slowly.

[Negative, still searching.]

Sunshine nodded, her jaw set. "I need to talk to Ala as soon as possible. The system is still coming up empty on this one. It means they could be new or they are from a world repairmen have not been to."

"Do you plan to talk to her now?" Hades asked.

"No," Sunshine said slowly, looking toward the door. "We must deal with the boys first and then there is mass and the sendoff of our people."

The room fell back into a heavy silence. Hades leaned against the bed frame; his eyes fixed on the trees which he could see outside the window. "The punishment, Suni," Hades said softly, his voice echoing with the gravity of a father and a commander. "What do you think suits them best? They didn’t just break a curfew, they went out there to fight mutants, they need a heavy punishment. This cannot be one of those incidents where you act tough and secretly console them. I am aware my mother gave them food last night."

Sunshine let out a long, heavy sigh that seemed to drain the remaining tension from her shoulders. She rubbed her temples, looking at her hands. Yes, she wanted to punish them, but she did not want the punishment to be seen in the light of evil stepmother.

Earl would have something to say about that surely.

"They did wrong, Hades. Very wrong," she admitted, her voice cracking slightly. "But punishing them too heavily is the last thing on my mind. We’re raising them to be survivors. If we crush their spirit now, if we make them feel like protecting their loved ones is a crime, then we’ve failed them. I want them to be sharp. I want them to be the kind of men who stand up when everyone else sits down. I want them to be able to survive if one day the bubble is gone and we are not around."

"I know what you mean." He answered. He wanted them to be independent but too independent that they became reckless.

She paused, a shiver running down her spine despite the heat. "We could have been burying one of them today. Or both. The thought... it’s a hole in my heart I can’t close."

Hades didn’t say a word. He simply stepped forward, his large frame blocking out the light as he pulled her into a fierce, protective hug. He held her until her breathing steadied. Sunshine thought to herself that it would have been nice to stay that way for a long time.

A tentative knock sounded at the door. It wasn’t the frantic pecking of a parrot this time; it was the rhythmic, nervous tap of children who knew they were in trouble.

Hades opened the door. Standing in the hallway were the two older Quinn boys, Ariel and Earl. They looked like they hadn’t slept a wink. Their hair was messy, and they each clutched a crumpled piece of paper_ apology letters, written in the frantic, messy script of boys who feared their parents more than any mutant.

Ariel, the oldest and usually the most composed, nudged Earl with his elbow. He had clearly given his younger brother a ’keep your mouth shut’ look before the door opened.

"We are sorry, Mom. Dad. We spent the night reflecting on our actions, and we punished ourselves by writing a five-hundred-word letter of apology." Ariel said, his voice barely a whisper.

"Come in," Hades said, stepping aside.

The boys shuffled in, their heads lowered so low they were practically staring at their own toes. The bravado of the ’Kid Squad’ had vanished, replaced by the crushing weight of parental disappointment.

Hades sat them down and took a breath. "We are proud of you boys," he began, and he saw Earl’s shoulders relax just an inch. "We’re proud that you want to help us and protect those weaker than you. That’s a good trait. But what you did... it was reckless. You put not just your lives but that of others at risk. We are so glad that at least you had some training and put it to good use, which saved your lives."

Earl’s face brightened suddenly, his youthful optimism bubbling up. "Does this mean we’re forgiven? Can we go back to training as usual?"

Sunshine offered a sad, thin smile. She reached out and ruffled Earl’s hair. "Forgiveness is one thing, Earl. Consequences are another. Every choice you make in this world has a price. The Kid Squad is suspended. At least two weeks. No missions, no scouting, no super-secret meetings with Ala."

A collective, disappointed groan erupted from the boys. Two weeks in the apocalypse felt like a lifetime.

"Two weeks?" Earl whined. "Mom! That’s too long, its forever."

"If you think two weeks is little, I don’t mind making it a month." Hades reinforced, his leadership voice returning.

The boys shook their heads frantically.

"Now, go. Get some breakfast. You’ll need your strength for the day ahead. It’s a heavy one." Hades tapped them on the back, one by one.

After that talk, they had breakfast. Then, they joined the residents that were heading to the church, to mourn the loss of their people.