Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 603: How to find the beacons.

The air in the room was so thick it felt like words would choke before leaving the mouth. Dominic looked like he was vibrating, his hands shoved deep into his pockets to hide the shaking. A part of him wanted to throw Sunshine out and keep her away from Ala but this was her base and she had handed Ala to them.

He did not want to risk getting on her bad side lest she take away their daughter.

When Ala skipped into the living room, the tension shifted from nervous to full-blown Panic.

"Is this about the test tube that I broke in the lab?" Ala asked, her voice small. She looked between her parents’ stony faces for a cue. " Professor Chloe said that I do not have to pay for the test tube. I also didn’t overload the new particle accelerator, that was all Doctor Sing. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Also, Professor Nero was the one that suggested we freeze some Levias marrow, honey, peanut and chocolate ice cream in the cryogenic chamber. Blame my mouth for being curious about the taste."

She looked around like a thief, tapping her fingers together. Her eyes were the picture of innocence. "If Mr. Woo is claiming that I reprogrammed the bee cleaning bots to chase the scientists down the hallways, he is lying. I just wanted some robot bees that could move things from point A to point B. How should I have known that they would revolt?" She scratched her head.

Sunshine softened instantly. She squatted down, making herself eye-level with the little girl. Before saying a word, she reached out and playfully measured Ala’s height against her own shoulder. "Wow," Sunshine teased with a grin. "You have grown much taller Ala! Is this normal for a Creek?"

Ala giggled, the shadows in the room lifting just a fraction. "Yes, we grow quickly when we hit our growth spurt. I am almost four so mine is approaching and soon I will be taller that Ariel."

Sunshine laughed lightly. "I don’t think that he will like that very much."

"Too bad." Ala grinned slyly. She had that look of someone plotting trouble.

Then Sunshine took her hand, her expression turning gentle but serious. "You aren’t in any trouble, Ala. But the base is in a bit of a pickle. And I think that you might be able to help me."

Dominic’s brain did a frantic sprint. He looked at Sunshine, then at his daughter, then back again. "The beacons," he whispered, the realization hitting him like a cold shower. "You want Ala to help you find the beacons?"

Leah let out a sigh so heavy it sounded like a tire deflating. "Sunshine, she’s a child, not a GPS! Can she even do that? She barely remembers where she puts Mrs. long legs!"

Sunshine chuckled. "Mrs. Long legs? Ala, I thought you are not interested in toys?"

"Mom!" Ala protested, crossing her arms. "Please stop embarrassing me. Now Ariel will tease me nonstop."

For a moment, the adults laughed while Ala glared at Mrs. Long legs, a porcelain doll that was resting on the coffee table. It had legs far longer that its body should allow, tangled hair and a smile that was frozen in time.

Sunshine looked at Leah, her gaze steady. "I know it sounds crazy. But those beacons are like ticking time bombs. If we don’t find them, there won’t be a base left to hide in. We all want to be safe, right?"

Dominic chewed his lip. Every dad instinct screamed No, but every survivor instinct whispered ’Listen.’ He looked at his daughter_ really looked at her. She wasn’t just a toddler; she was a brilliant alien. She could handle this much if she could fight mutants.

The room went quiet. You could hear the distant hum of the refrigerator. Then, Ala tilted her head, her eyes sparkling with a strange, knowing light.

"I can find them," she said, her voice surprisingly firm. "And mom, you don’t have to worry since you put a tracking device on the pendant you gave to me three days ago."

Leah gasped. "Wait, you knew about that?"

Ala giggled and nodded strongly. "Of course I knew. The technology is so old that it made me roll my eyes."

Leah was the one that rolled her eyes.

Dominic took a deep breath and rested a hand on Leah’s shoulder. "Well," he sighed. "I guess we’re going beacon hunting. Where my daughter goes, I go."

"I am coming with." Leah declared.

Sunshine nodded. "Alright but first," she looked at Ala. "How are you going to help exactly."

Ala reached into her dimension pocket and pulled out the small black sleek device.

Clack!

The device landed on the wooden table with a light, plastic snap.

Sunshine leaned in, her forehead wrinkling. "The Nullifier? Ala, sweetie, that’s for turning mutated sounds off, not finding them. Right?"

Ala gave a small, mysterious smile, the kind that made Leah know that her daughter was about to reveal something secretive. "It’s a multi-use device, Aunt Suni," Ala said. "Like how dad uses a shoe to hammer a nail sometimes."

"Sweetie, that was..." Dominic laughed lightly, though he looked more impressed than offended.

Ala didn’t skip a beat. She reached for the side of the device and slid back a hidden panel that absolutely no one_ not even the base’s top engineers_ knew existed. Underneath was a graveyard of tiny, buttons. Her small fingers danced over them with terrifying confidence.

"Dad, can I borrow your tablet? Mine is... uh... dead. Too much ’Angry Birds’. I am not the one that plays the childish game, its professor Chloe."

"Right," Sunshine muttered. The girl would die before admitting that she liked ’childish’ games and toys.

Dominic handed it over, his eyebrows nearly retreating into his hairline. "Here."

Ala switched it on and used a wireless connection to connect the two. She toggled a tiny switch on the side of the Nullifier, and a soft blue light began to pulse. With a quick tap on the tablet screen, she paired the two devices using base WiFi. For a second, the screen flickered gray. Then, a map of the fortress bloomed into life.

Ping. Ping. Ping.

Small red dots started popping up like a chickenpox outbreak across the digital map.

"There," Ala said, sliding the tablet across the table like a pro gambler showing a winning hand. "Every beacon. All on the map."

Dominic leaned over, his face going pale. He pointed at a cluster of dots near the edge of the screen. "Wait. That’s Kingsbridge. I thought the people there turned those in yesterday."

Sunshine stared at the red clusters. The betrayal stung, but the reality was worse. "I guess not." she muttered, her voice turning cold and professional. "I guess some people like keeping dangerous souvenirs."

She pulled out her own tablet, tapped it against Dominic’s to sync the data, and stood up. The "Aunt Suni" persona was gone; the Commander was back. "Dominic, Leah_ We are taking Ala with us, all beacons collected should be given to her to store in her space and then they will be handed to me when we meet up. " Sunshine said, already heading for the door. "Meet me at the training grounds in one hour."

Dominic looked at the map, then at his daughter, who was already eyeing Mrs. Long legs with anticipation. The doll was definitely going with them. "Okay ma’am," he sighed, ruffling Ala’s hair.