Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 605: Beacon swap.

"I don’t know." Ariel sniffled. "If we throw her out, then the kids will suffer. They are innocent."

Sunshine rubbed circles on his back. "I know." It was the same morality issue she had. "We will figure it out slowly sweetie, we don’t need all the answers today. For now, I am so angry with you for not coming to me first. On one hand, you should be punished."

Ariel’s eyes went wide with a fresh wave of panic. "Are... are you going to tell dad?" The thought of his father’s disappointed face was clearly more terrifying than a pack of mutants.

"Not for now," Sunshine sighed, giving him a small, tired smile. "But you’re going to fix this. You’re going to make it right with those kids, and I’m going to help you figure out how. Deal?"

"Deal," Ariel whispered, looking immensely relieved. He could still hear their frightened screaming and crying. It reminded him too much of Earl’s when he found him under the table.

With one last tight squeeze, Sunshine let him go but kept their hands linked and made Ariel walk her to her car. As she climbed inside, she said, "I have somewhere urgent to be, but we will deal with this later. I love you son." She waited, looking at him expectantly.

"I love you more mom," Ariel replied, a tiny, watery spark of humor finally returning to his voice.

As the car pulled away, Sunshine watched him in the rear-view mirror. He looked smaller, but lighter. Her visit had eased the guilt he was carrying. Now, she just had a base to save and a few dozen illegal beacons to hunt down.

The open training center sounded like a beehive that had been kicked. Hundreds of boots crunched on the concrete floor, and the air was thick with the smell of ozone and nervous sweat. Squad members were huddled in circles, squinting at their tablets.

"What do you think the dots mean?" one young squad member asked, tapping his glass.

"Danger obviously," his partner muttered.

The chatter died down instantly as Sunshine marched onto the central platform. She didn’t need a microphone; her voice was more than enough to rattle the rafters. She clapped her hands twice_ a sharp, stinging sound that brought everyone to attention.

"Listen up, people!" she shouted. "I know you’re looking at those red dots and wondering what they are. By now, you all know what the beacons are because rumors travel faster than Watchers in this base. They are not related to the base WIFI, and they don’t summon demons, they summon mutants and mutated beasts. They are dangerous devices that should not be out there. Today, we’re taking them back. All of them."

A hand went up in the middle of the crowd. "Ma’am? What if the residents refuse? Some of these folks are really...challenging."

Before Sunshine could answer, Hades stepped forward from the shadows of the doorway. His presence alone made the temperature in the room feel like it had dropped ten degrees. "If they refuse," Hades said, his voice low and dangerous, "you arrest them or take them down using any means necessary. This isn’t a polite request. It’s a matter of survival. Anyone holding a beacon is endangering every child, every elder, and every soldier in this base. Treat them like the threat they are."

The room went a little quieter after that. Nobody argued with Hades because his reputation was more hardened than Sunshine’s.

Major Elio stepped up to handle the logistics, always the one to keep things moving. "Alright, enough talk! We’re splitting into twenty-one groups of nine. We need to cover ground fast in each town. Each group will have a designated leader, and they will work with the soldiers and police on ground in the towns.

The leader of each group is responsible for the ’hot’ bag meaning that you collect the beacons, you keep them secure, and you hand them over the second you get back. If you take even one, I will personally put a bullet between your eyes." He checked his watch, his face grim. "We have a six-hour window. That includes the teams heading out to the far territories. If you aren’t back in six hours, we’ll assume you’re in trouble. Keep the communication channels open. Let’s move!"

The room erupted into a flurry of motion. Groups began to form, checking gear and syncing maps. Amidst the chaos, Sunshine turned to Ala, who was sitting on a crate, swinging her legs and looking remarkably calm for someone surrounded by soldiers.

"Ala," Sunshine said, softening her voice. "You’re the most important person here today. You’re our Master Keeper."

She looked at Leah, who was standing guard with a protective hand on the girl’s shoulder. "Leah, you stay with her. Every beacon that comes into this wall goes to Ala. Let her store them."

Leah nodded, her face determined. "Don’t worry, Suni."

Dominic checked the charge on his pulse rifle, his jaw tight. "I’m heading back to Kingsbridge," he told Sunshine. "I’ve got unfinished business there."

"Try not to break too many doors, Dom," Sunshine teased, though her eyes were worried.

"No promises," he grunted, heading for the exit.

By the three-hour mark, the raid was in full swing. The polite phase of the operation had lasted about five minutes. In the residential sectors, the squads weren’t negotiating. If a sensor pinged, they went in.

In Hunkerville, O’Toole stood in a cramped kitchen, staring down a man who was trying to hide the beacon behind a stack of canned beans.

"Sir, hand it over," Phillip said, his hand resting on his holster.

"But I was waiting!" the man cried, hugging the beacon to his chest. "I heard if we turned in five at once, we’d get the premium heat suits! The ones with the self-cooling liners! It’s hot as hell at night, man!"

Marcus sighed, reaching out and prying the device from the man’s shaking hands. "You know what else is hot? When mutants attack."

As the hours ticked by, the pile of beacons in the training center grew. Ala sat at a table, sending each batch to her space after counting them.

"You’re doing great, sweetie," Leah whispered, handing her a juice box.

"Thank you, mom, I am happy to help." Ala answered.

Despite the success inside the walls, Sunshine stood at the command console, her heart sinking. On the master map, the red dots inside Fortress Four were vanishing one by one. But as she zoomed out, her stomach did a slow roll.

Beyond their territories where there WIFI stretched from Kingsbridge into the lawless territories of the Walden’s, the map was a sea of red. There were hundreds of them_ clusters of beacons waiting to be activated.

"We cleaned the house," Sunshine muttered to herself, staring at the screen. "But the whole neighborhood is still on fire." Hades was right, they needed to go in swinging and claim the last part of the city as soon as possible.