TROA)Getting A Grasp On The Situation

A few days have passed, and the temperature outside has continued to rise. I had already finished my drones and sent them out to scout around for anyone hiding out in buildings. So far, there have been no hits. Only dead bodies. These drones all have their own screens in a new monitor room I set up. There is also an alarm that will go off if the drones detect any targets. 

I am quite glad I decided to make an underground base. While the surface was not 136 degrees(57c) outside, the inside was a nice cool fifty five(12c) degrees. Some might find this cold, but for me and my family, it was spring or fall weather. The kids found it to be cold, and so did Jen, but my father, my mother, and myself were perfectly fine. Of course, we still wore sweatshirts. We did not want to get sick after all. But I would rather put layers on than be too hot. It’s not like you can remove your skin to cool off. 

“Ai, are you sure this did not happen in your past life?” Jen asked as she pushed her way into my lap. We were in our room, and I was sitting on a large bean bag chair. Jen has a habit now of sitting in my lap no matter where I am sitting. Not that I mind! My Jen is welcome to sit in my lap any time she wants!

“I do not think it has. The temperature outside is enough to make the lab feel sweltering hot. It might not be as high as it is outside but it would not be as cool as it is down here.” The temperature outside was just too high. There was no way this happened in my past life. I would remember suffering under the heat if it did.

“What about the people who are in hiding? What would they be doing right now?” Jen’s question was a good one.

“If they are lucky, they would have some kind of cooling system. If not, then they would need to stay indoors and drink a lot of water. But since no one would have expected this to happen, they might not have enough stock. Only some would have such stock. At night, the temperature has gone down enough to be bearable but only by a little bit. But it is enough to at least to go out and search for resources. 

“Running a generator would also be dangerous. Maybe if they had some kind of solar power, they could run a few fans and maybe an AC if they put it on the inside. I would rather deal with a wet floor than have a spider find me.”  While the weather was hot, the skies were clear the entire time, and since the sun was extra strong, it would allow for solar panels to work very well. 

“So we can go out at night?” Jen asked. Her eyes lighting up. I could understand why. Being stuck indoors all the time could really cause one to go nuts. 

“Yeah, we can go out tonight. The kids probably went to go out and play for a bit as well if they can bear the heat. I will talk to my mom about it as well. We do not know how long this will last, so we can only hope it will not last too long. Luckily, I thought ahead and made a place to farm inside the base, or else we might end up short on food once our food stock runs dry.” We had plenty of food to last a few years, but if we got more and more people, things would not be so easy. 

A few hours later, I was sitting at the table with my mother and father. “So tonight we can go outside, but it will just be hot. Think a really hot summer day but at night.”

“That would be good. We have also been working on clothing that can keep our bodies cool in case we need to go out during the day. Since you want to help people, there might be a time when you need to personally go out. So I figured this would be helpful.” My mother was really a forward thinker. 

“That would be amazing. If it is just me, I can get around pretty quickly and teleport people back here. I already started a different housing area for other people. I do not want anyone else in this section of the base except for the kids.” I have everything that was important based on this side of the base. If we wanted to keep things going, they could not be easily accessible.

“I also think that is a good idea. The kids keep me busy. I forgot how much time it takes out of my day to take care of kids. But I am enjoying it. It is helping me cope with the situation.” My mother let out a sigh. “Your father is the same. Ai…. I know you died once, but thank you for believing in your father and I and being willing to do whatever it took to keep us alive.” 

My mother has been saying this nonstop. I know she is grateful, but in the end, we are family, after all. “I just did what needed to be done. We are family, after all, right?”

“MMm.” My mother smiled and nodded her head. “Go do your things. I need to go join your father and run more tests. Give us a week or two, and we should have a final product.”