Apocalyptic Rebirth: With a repairman system space, she rises again.-Chapter 611: What if the space was taken away?

The children were not listening, they were too taken in by the space to hear their mother speak, especially Ariel who had begun the effort of trying to count the towering shelves.

"It’s like a comic book." Earl shouted as he zoomed past her on Hunter’s back.

He said that because there were rows of canned food that caught the light like amber, and stacks of clothes that looked soft enough to dive into. Lego’s and other animated figurines were lined up like defense warriors. He found it so cool.

Castiel was on Tank’s shoulder, and they crossed into the non-living section. He pointed a trembling finger toward a section of shelving that looked like a mountain range made entirely of cakes and chips. He tried to speak, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. The sheer majesty of his favorite onion pringles left him speechless.

White had been far behind them, and he too had found his favorite place. He let out a low, territorial growl because he had stumbled upon a refrigerated unit vibrating with the cold of more than hundred gallons of his favorite triple-chocolate-chunk ice cream. He looked like he was ready to fight a war just to stay in that five-foot radius.

Earl, jumped down from Hunter’s back and turned in a slow circle, his eyes wide. "Mom... where are we?"

Ariel, who was currently standing with his hands tucked firmly into his waist, gave a knowing, slightly annoyed nod. "It’s a dimension space," he declared, looking like a junior professor. "Like Ala’s. We’re inside a pocket of reality."

Sunshine tsked, wagging a finger. "Not quite, but you’re in the ballpark, kiddo."

Ariel’s expression shifted instantly from wonder to pure, unadulterated betrayal. He turned on Sunshine, his voice rising in an indignant squeak. "You didn’t tell me? Mom, how could you keep such a secret from me?" he shouted, waving his arms at the infinite shelves. "You let me sit there every night, counting the grain bags in the supply stores? I’ve been calculating our survival rate for months! I’ve been skipping dessert to save for the ’dark days,’ and you’ve had a literal mega supermarket hidden in your pocket?"

Hades chuckled, stepping into the boy’s personal space to ruffle his hair. "Careful, Ariel. Even an infinite space has limits if handled badly. You start eating five meals a day, and even this mountain will turn into a molehill. Discipline is still the rule."

Ariel huffed, but the lure of the inventory was too strong. He began to wander, his eyes scanning the labels with the intensity of a tax auditor. "I need to count the stock in here; I need to know how much we have left. From now on, I live here."

Sunshine blinked. "What?"

She heard the sound of something crashing. Earl and Castiel had already vanished into the "Toy and Gadget" section, where sounds of whirring drones and clicking plastic suggested they were already deep in a state of bliss.

"Try not to get lost!" Sunshine joked, her voice echoing off the high-altitude shelves. "If you wander into the ’Industrial Solvent’ section, I’m not coming in to get you! You’ll just have to live there now!"

As the kids’ voices faded into the distance, the playful light in Sunshine’s eyes flickered and died. She felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. Hades didn’t say anything at first; he just led her to a stack of pillows and gestured for her to sit.

"Spill it," Hades said, his voice dropping into that low, serious register. "Whatever is bugging you.

Sunshine let out a sigh so long and heavy it felt like she was deflating. She rubbed her temples and glanced at the system time-stamp floating in her peripheral vision. "I’ve been notified to appear before the Council. I have... exactly one hour and ten minutes."

Worry didn’t just touch Hades; it seemed to flood his entire body. "The Council? Is this about the Sea World incident?"

Sunshine nodded. "Most likely. My supervisor reports every time I so much as cough in the wrong direction. He definitely logged the report the second things went sideways. He’s a ’by the book’ guy, and we definitely did a lot of wrong things that day."

Hades scratched his nose, his brain clearly firing through a dozen legal defenses. "What’s the crime, exactly? It’s not like they have proof that you and Nine activated a beacon. They’d need a direct link." He looked at her, his eyes narrowing. "Unless... did that little bug spill everything? Ask him, Sunshine. Can you reach him?"

"System, call Nine," Sunshine commanded.

A hollow, digital ringing filled the air. Ten seconds passed. Twenty. It just kept ringing, a lonely sound in the vast warehouse. Silence.

Hades stood up abruptly, kicking at the air in frustration. "I knew it! Trusting that bug was a mistake. He’s probably sitting in a charging port at the Council right now, singing like a canary in exchange for a pardon."

Sunshine closed her eyes for a long moment, then flickered them open. She looked tired_ not just ’long day’ tired, but ’carrying the world’ tired.

"I’m expecting a hit," she admitted, her voice small. "They’ll either nail me for involving myself in a war that wasn’t mine, or for the unauthorized activation of the beacon. Best case? A hefty fine that will make my eyes water. Worst case? They demote my repairman status. I could lose my access levels. I could lose the ability to maintain this very space. And very worst-case scenario is they expel me."

Hades’ expression softened. The anger at Nine vanished, replaced by a quiet, protective warmth. He sat back down beside her, his shoulder pressing against hers.

"Hey," he said gently, bumping her arm. "Don’t overthink things. You’re spiraling, and you haven’t even walked through the door yet. Go there, look them in the eye, and see what the Council has to say. You’re one of the best repairmen they’ve got; they’d be idiots to bench their star player just because she made a dumb mistake once and has a big heart."

Sunshine nodded, forcing a small, fragile smile. "I know. It’s just... the Council isn’t big on hearts. They’re big on going by the book."

"Then give them reasons to divert from it," Hades teased. "Show them the one where you saved a world. Even if they fine you, we’ll pay it. I’ll give them all my gold."

Sunshine laughed, a genuine sound this time. She stood up, smoothing out her clean shirt and checking the clock again. "Thank you love, although we do have Hunkerville and my grandfather’s fortune to save the day. My worry is the inventory in the space. If they take it back, we need to find the right place to store all of it."

Hades looked around, the space was like a giant mall. "We are going to need a bigger vault."

"We will need a whole town." Sunshine muttered.

More crashing came from the toy section. It was followed by an ’oops’ and giggles.

Meanwhile, Ariel looked like he was short circuiting because he had no idea where to start. "Mom..." he called out.

Sunshine pushed Hades away. "Coming sweetie,"

Before she could get to him White also growled, calling for mom. He was suffering a brain freeze already. Hades sighed and stood up. "I have got him," he declared. "But I am going to need a cart to move him. We need to put him on a diet before he breaks my spine."

White growled again and threw up.