Chapter 173: The first dog client is back.
After fixing that, Sunshine ate a coconut bean and renewed her energy. She figured that she still had energy and time to fix more things.
[Host, the robot dog whose leg you fixed upon becoming a repairman is injured again and the owner is requesting for your help. Do you wish to take on the job or not?]
"Ooh, the grump is back. Send him in." She said with a smile.
Much as she was not taking on robot leg fixing jobs as much as used to do, she would not mind seeing her first client. Hopefully, it was not a mistake in her repair that resulted in an accident.
She had a smile on her face ready for the dog.
It had a glare for her. "I will appreciate it if you do not talk to me." It told her.
She put her hands on her waist and looked down at the dog. "I fixed your leg, and I have given you priority over my other pending jobs. Isn’t that proof that we are friends?"
It gave her a blank stare.
"I have a robot dog too. Would you like to meet him?" She asked him.
Silence.
Blank gaze.
She groaned and grabbed her weapons muttering about the dog needing an attitude adjustment. Sunshine was also determined not to shut up as it wished, she would chat its ear off. Sooner or later, it would respond, even if it was to ask her to shut up.
She started with talking about her oldest son, Ariel. The dog rolled its eyes. Its mind drifted to the mother of the little boy who lived in the house next door. She talked too much as well.
As Sunshine chattered about Earl, the dog wondered who would win between her and the neighbor in a talking competition.
When she introduced Castiel, it raised its eyes, searching for a clock. The repair was taking longer than it expected.
As soon as the job was finished, it finally spoke. "You must have some tape here. Try using it on your mouth sometimes." It advised.
It vanished five seconds later, leaving her huffing angrily.
She scoffed as she watched her points rise to sixteen thousand. With determination, she went back to work, determined to reach one hundred thousand soon. The space needed an upgrade.
Also, she needed to take Hades on her next trip to another world. With two people, they could gather more than she had done on her own.
"Next...." She whispered as she looked through the jobs. Her eyes stopped on a fridge that was said to freeze time instead of food. "Well, that’s interesting. System, I want this one."
There was silence for a minute, and she waited impatiently, frowning deeply. Worry coated her eyeballs. "System....are you suffering an error?"
[The time freezing fridge was not supposed to be assigned to you, host. The job has been sent to a more qualified repairman. Choose another.]
She was disappointed but did not dwell on it for long. There were other jobs waiting for her.
****
Three hours later, she yawned and stretched, having cleared twenty jobs, including five that were urgent.
"My speed has increased." She whispered as she looked at her hands.
[Congratulations host on twenty-one perfect fixes. Altogether, you have earned 580 merit coins today. You have also earned a good worker bee badge.
The door to another world will be opened in two days. Should I make a reservation for you?]
Eyes widening, a slow smile spread across her face.
"Of course, make one." Sunshine quickly answered.
[For one or two?]
She hesitated to answer. While she was working, thoughts about Amber had crossed her mind again and made her unsure about the status of her relationship with Hades.
Was it safe to expose her cards?
Maybe it was better to take Nimo.
Or maybe it was better to keep going on her own and getting accustomed to these foreign world’s first.
"For one." She made up her mind.
She came out of the space with Castiel’s eight-legged octopus. When she thought about Earl, she winced. He would want something too.
So, she went back into the space and returned with the boxing gloves she had repaired and a set of broken medical knives from another world. They had also been repaired by her.
When she thought about Ariel, ice cream came to mind. After his encounter with the ant, he needed some comforting. Or to just eat something sweet.
Normal ice cream would not cut it. She went shopping for alien ice cream.
Armed with all those things, she went to the living room and placed them down before putting the ice cream in the fridge.
Dinner was ready but the children were not home. So, she sent Cathy home and cleaned the kitchen. Then she had a bath. By the time she came out of the bedroom again, the children were home.
They had already found the toys and gifts, and they were very pleased.
"Mommy, look..." Castiel screamed as he pointed to the octopus that was floating in the air, all limbs shooting out in random directions.
"Do you like it?" She asked him.
He jumped on her in response.
"I put Earl’s knives away." Ariel told her.
"I am getting them back when I am going on duty at the hospital." Earl piped up. "The nurses will be impressed."
"You are not a doctor; you don’t have duty." Ariel reminded him.
Earl shook his head. "My name is on the duty roster. I do rounds with the nurses, I am a doctor."
"Dinner." Sunshine shouted. She could tell where the exchange was heading: a heated argument.
The boys formed a line and followed her to the kitchen. They had to deliver cutlery and drinks to the table. They always did this for her in an orderly manner. They were still setting up when Hades returned.
Sunshine got the let-it-go berry ice cream from the fridge. It had been a long day, and everyone needed to let go of their stress.
"Mom, is it true that Ariel fought an ant?" Earl asked as they started eating.
Sunshine felt Hades’s body start to vibrate. She shoved a spoon of ice cream in his mouth. "Don’t blame him." She hissed at him.
She turned her eyes to Ariel and softened her voice. "You did wonderful champ. Why don’t you have some ice cream?"
He frowned but did as she suggested.
"Do you feel any better?" She asked him.
He nodded. "Are you guys mad at me?"
Sunshine let out a soft sigh. "What you did was brave today." Sunshine began, her voice soft and careful. "But confronting that ant or staying where it was wasn’t necessary. In times like this, sometimes the bravest thing that you can do is run and find those that are equipped to handle such a situation.
Never confront a mutated animal unless you have no choice but to do so. You have no idea how scared we were when we heard you on the radio or when we saw you near the ant."
Ariel looked at his father, waiting for the stern bellowing to begin.
Hades sighed and relaxed his shoulders. "What your mom said."
Ariel’s eyes became rounder. Was that it?