Chapter 25: Chasing Miracles
Morning sunlight pushed through the bleak gray clouds, laying a thin coat of gold over the .
Meanwhile, inside the multi-purpose activity room in of the , it was already bright as day.
"Moonlight before my bed, like frost upon the ground..."
The childish voices were a little uneven but exceptionally earnest, echoing through the room.
, , and the rest of the six newly arrived children had changed into clean clothes, their little faces washed spotless. They sat in a row in front of the hastily assembled tables, swaying their heads as they recited the ancient poem along with their new teacher, .
Beside them, the two little ones who had originally been at the power station also sat up straight, trying hard to keep up.
's voice was gentle and firm. Though her complexion was still a bit pale, her expression was no longer so haggard.
As the only teacher in the whole shelter right now, she had naturally taken on the task of educating the children.
To call it education, though, was a stretch—there were no textbooks and no teaching aids.
The so-called "class" was mostly reading with the children, teaching them characters, and telling them a few pieces of general knowledge and stories.
But the adults in the shelter were very satisfied with this. After all, it wasn't as if a few children could fill the gaps in the daily work.
Not to mention that the oldest of these children, , was only in sixth grade.
In some sense, this was a consensus carved into their bones, an inertia from the old civilization.
That was how summed up this sentiment, and that was exactly what he told .
[Even if the end of the world has come, children should likewise stay behind the adults, study hard, and grow up slowly.]
[This is by no means some unnecessary ceremony; it is one of the most important things of the civilization that once was.]
And so, in the power station's early morning, there was now a sound of recitation—not very neat, but lively.
***
"Done!"
With a soft cry from , the silver-white cylinder in her hand gave off a brief, gentle light that instantly enveloped the large transformer in front of her, its casing covered with scorch marks from the overload.
When the light faded, the charred shell, the blown circuits, and the damaged instrument panel were all restored in just one second—as new as if they had just left the factory.
brushed the dust from her hands in satisfaction and winked at the surveillance camera hovering nearby.
"This thing really does the trick! , is there really no more of this stuff in the ?"
answered in his signature electronic synthesized voice: [I'm still exploring. There may be more, but please note—this is an ultra-high-precision item. Don't get your hopes up too high.]
"I know," leaned against the cold metal railing, her gaze turning toward the power station gate. "How are and the others doing?"
Today's was led by . Apart from , the rest of the members were newcomers chosen by lot from the second batch of survivors.
Ever since brought back his son, the atmosphere in the whole shelter had changed once again.
That stagnant, dead-water despair was stirred up, and a faint trace of hope took root in everyone's heart and began to sprout.
Nearly all the adults had volunteered for field duty. More or less, each of them had some place tucked away in their heart that they wanted to confirm, or some person they wanted to find.
Even if they couldn't find their family, being able to go and see with their own eyes, like , and get a definite result was better than letting that worry and regret ferment endlessly inside.
did not interfere much in this.
Apart from a few downtown locations he judged too high-risk, he approved most of the requested destinations.
As a result, today's field route was several times more complicated than yesterday's, with many more places to go, and the danger factor naturally rose sharply.
[The situation is still fine for now. We've scavenged some instant food and bottled water from a few abandoned supermarkets.]