Daybreak

Year: 205 CE

Chapter 1

Andrei says "Wh..."

"Where am I?"

...

"Welcome to the world inbetween.."

"They are there right now.. bringing you back to life."

"But for now.. you are here."

Andrei says "Who are you?"

...

"We are the forgotten.."

"We rule the purgatory.. the limbo.."

Andrei says "Am... am I forgotten?"

...

"No."

"We are here to give you what we have.."

"To pass back to the world of the living."

Andrei says "But how are they reviving me..?"

...

"They are not reviving you, my child."

"You are waking up... waking up.. waking up.."

...

Andrei hears echoing "Hello's" in the distance

"Goodbye, Andrei.."

"They need you now.."

Andrei says "Wait?"

"Who are you?"

...

"The forgotten one. I already told you."

Andrei says "But what's your name?"

...

"Zir-"

Andrei suddenly inhales, sitting upright in his bed

He is in a hospital, surrounded by doctors, and importantly Cormac

Andrei says ''what... happened...''

''my head..'

Cormac says "Andrei.."

Andrei says "I died.."

"I know I did.."

Macanaland says "We ended the loop.."

"But we brought you back."

"It never had to be you, Andrei.."

"Never.."

Cormac says "Oh.."

"Andrei Varady.."

"I love you so much.."

He hugs him

Andrei says "Mind out.."

"You're gonna knock the wires out of me.."

"I want to be able to breathe, you know, Cormac.."

"...Varady.."

Cormac says "Wait.. you mean?"

"..."

"Andrei.. I-"

Andrei says "Marry me, Cormac."

Cormac says "..."

"YES!"

They both embrace each other, crying

The heart rate monitor spikes suddenly

A nurse comes rushing in

Nurse says "What happened?!"

"His heart rate doubled!"

Andrei says "It's ok.. it's... it's fine!"

The machine administers medicine to lower his heart rate

Cormac says "I love you so much.."

Andrei says "Me..me too.."

"But you made me so happy it gave me the medicine to make.... me... sllll....."

He falls asleep

Cormac sits in a chair next to him, holding his hand

The girl says "A happy ending.."

"For real, this time.."

Knock knock

Asophania says "Hey, you. Girl..?"

"We need to talk."

She goes out into the corridor, Asophania and Cali are waiting for her

Aso says "There's something we need to discuss.."

"About Omnistat."

The girl says "I know.."

"I have been putting it off.."

"But-"

The girl's pager goes off

"Damnit.."

"It's Carbonado."

"Another time... alright."

Asophania sighs

Elsewhere in TERAPRO..

Floria says "Hi Florian!"

"How are you today?"

Florian says "Oolabloom."

Floria says "What?"

Florian says "Nothing."

Floria says "Ok.."

"Wait... I remember her.."

Florian says "I miss her so much.."

"And our kids.."

Floria says "WHAT?"

"YOU HAD KIDS WITH OOLABLOOM?!"

Florian says "Stop patronising me.."

Floria says "I give up.."

WARNING. WARNING. WARNING.

FULL LOCKDOWN IS NOW IN EFFECT.

Lazuli says "Damnit.. what now?!"

Emerald says "Who knows..."

Amelie says "Last time a car overran the barrier.."

Lazuli says "Hah.. was it really?"

Amelie says "Yeah! And-"

A large explosion happens on the surface

Cormac says "Uhh..."

"What was that?"

Nurse says "..."

"I don't know.."

"We're safe, but.."

"I really don't know."

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO OVERRIDE LOCKDOWN.

UNAUTHORISED EXTRATERRESTRIAL OBJECT HAS IMPACTED THEIA.

Carbonado says "Oh my god.."

"This can't be good."

Alarms begin sounding

WE REPEAT. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO OVERRIDE LOCKDOWN OR LEAVE THE FACILITY.

THIS IS A HIGH-LEVEL CONTAMINATION THREAT.

########################################

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"Residents and workers of TERAPRO."

"A dark time has fallen upon us."

"We ask a̸̓̈́l̸̄̔l̴͊̀ citizens to say vigilant during these diffic̶̛͘ȗ̵͐l̵̒̎t̶̓̎ times."

"We will get through this dark night.."

"And our friends and families on the surface will be there to greet us with open arms."

"We will meet again."

"W̸̍̕ ̷̌̎ ̶̓͘h̴͂͊ ̸͛̾ ̷̃͑ë̶̒ ̸͋͆ ̶́̉ǹ̷̖ ̷̀̈ ̷̾̐ ̸̊̽ ̶̌̑d̷̂̿ ̵̽̏ ̸̀͝á̸̎ ̵̌̍ ̸͑̔y̷̪̕ ̷̾͋ ̴̰̄ ̴͋̅ ̷͌̚b̸͌̉ ̵̿͋ ̴̛̊r̸̒̑ ̵͂̏ ̸͒͘e̷̛͠ ̶̐͛ ̸̈́͠á̷̫ ̸̛̒ ̴̛̕k̸̛̉ ̸̝́ ̶̛͘s̸͑͆.̵̄͋."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2

Rolling powercuts have become the norm in TERAPRO

"We apologise for the inconvenience. Due to unusually short demand for power on the surface, we are now redirecting power from the fusion reactor."

The power is diverted

The lights turn back on, and glow extremely bright for a short while, before settling again

Andrei says "What was that whole meteorological event about?"

"Damn.. what does it even mean?"

Cormac says "Meteorological means to do with the atmosphere."

"Like.. weather and stuff."

"Probably a freak thunderstorm caused a gas tank to explode or something."

Meanwhile, in the control center

Asophania says "The clouds are clearing."

Carbonado says "Wh..."

"Why is the sun out?"

"It's 2am.."

Asophania says "It's getting brighter.."

Carbonado says "Uhm..."

"I'm analysing the composition.. It.."

"Oh.. oh my god."

Macanaland says "What is it?"

Carbonado says "I need you to listen carefully."

"I need you to go to the radar station, and tune to the multi-frequency."

He writes down frequencies on a piece of paper

"I need you to tune to each of these."

"These are your contact codes for IRIPHOS, Ingalina, and ACREDEVRO, and the UN."

"I want you to go to the radar station."

"And inform them that we have a Code One."

Macanaland says "Got it.."

Macanaland gooes to a side entrance to the facility

Macanaland says "I need to go to the radar station."

Guard says "Sorry man. Closed off."

"However.."

"You could try the caves.."

Macanaland says "Just come on..."

"I have orders from Carbonado."

Guard says "Alright.."

The blast doors open

A waft of hot air breezes indoors

Macanaland says "Oh my god.."

"This must be... what.."

"40 degrees?!"

"How the hell.."

Guard says "Why is it so bright?"

"AND WHY IS IT GETTING BRIGHTER?"

"RUN!"

THe blast doors begin closing and Macanaland runs up the hill around it towards the radar station

The snow around him begins melting rapidly

He clambers inside just as it gets too bright to see

He shuts the blinds and turns on the lights

Macanaland says "Damn.. dark in here.." squinting

"Alright.."

"Tuning to..."

"IRIPHOS."

"Acredevro.."

"Ingalina.."

"UN.."

"Alright."

"This is Terapro communications. Do you read?"

"TERAPRO. Do you copy?!"

Polsk says "Roger that, TERAPRO."

Arcoradia says "Roger that.."

Carbon says "Roger."

UN says "Roger that."

Macanaland says "I have been asked, on the behalf of Asophania and Carbonado here at Terapro."

"To inform you we have a Code One."

Carbon says "Oh my god.."

Macanaland hears another explosion

"Warning. Warning. Warning. Planetary shield transmitters are OFFLINE."

Macanaland says "Holy shit..."

"Is the Sun bright for you guys too?"

Arcoradia says "Guys ... he doesn't know.."

"Look."

"Just get back to the facility and stay there."

"You do not want to be topside right now.."

Macanaland says "Why-"

Arcoradia says "JUST GO!"

Macanaland tunes out and escapes into the caves through an entrance in the radar base

UN says "I will need to inform all my member states immediately.."

"Hey, Mylonagrad?"

Distant "Yeah?"

"Relay this message to SDS."

"Tell them.... tell them day has broken."

Mylonagrad says "Yes sir."

Macanaland gets back to the center of operations in TERAPRO

Macanaland says "CAN SOMEONE TELL ME... what the hell.. is happening.."

Carbonado says "It would be of little use to you to know.."

Asophania says "Just.... tell him."

"This stays between us three, okay?"

Macanaland says "You have my word.."

Asophania says "Macanaland.."

"Take this how you will."

"SDS-001 has breached containment."

"Attention all citizens of TERAPRO."

Andrei says "Citizens?"

"Huh.."

"We apologise for the inconvenience. Topside will remain shut indefinitely during these difficult times."

Andrei says "Indefinitely..?"

"Damn it.."

"At least we have more time to think about our wedding, you know?"

Cormac says "Ahaha! Of course.."

"It'll be fine.."

Andrei says "Wha...t..."

Emerald says "..."

...

Macanaland says "Oh my god.."

"Are we... are we ever going to leave?"

Carbonado says "We have recontainment procedures in place.."

"Whether they will work is another matter entirely."

"But for now.. subterranean living is our reality."

Iujadogia says "So.. TERAPRO is society now."

"We need to take the best precautions to ensure safety of our citizens then."

"ANd... try to ensure things run as smoothly as possible."

(btw this event is localised on theia)

Andrei says "Well.."

"We best make ourselves at home."

Cormac says "Yeah.."

Meanwhile, the guard is at the blast door

There is banging on the door

Guard says "Huh?"

"LET US IN!! PLEASE!!"

"WE ARE SAFE!"

The guard says "..."

He reminisces about not letting people in

he stands there blankly as the banging grows intense

Then suddenly stops

He radios in to central command

"PErmission to scuttle blast door 7?"

"Granted."

He presses a big red button on the wall, closing another blast door.

He ducks under it, entering a tunnel leading back to the facility.

he hears a massive crash, as piles of barbed wire fall between the vault doors

"Blast door 7 is secure."

Carbonado says "Wait so.."

"How are we going to ship in reactor fuel?"

Asophania says "That's our problem>"

"We get it from Yata."

Carbonado says "So someone has to go out there?"

Asophania says "We do have HAZMATs..."

"But it may not be enough."

"We should wait until we really need it to worry.."

Carbonado says "I suppose.."

"We should check on Ingalina."

"They usue the same fuel."

He radios in

"Ingalina. Do you copy?"

"Ingalina?"

"....Ingalina?"

"Wait.."

"Aso, get me a satellite feed."

Asophania says "On it."

Carbonado says "Hover over Ingalina."

Asophania says "Wooooah.."

"You'll want to see this."

The satellite shows a smouldering crater where Ingalina once was

Carbonado says "What's that?"

"Is that-"

"Look at the vegetation.. it's red."

"That's radiation."

"And it's coming this way.."

Asophania says "Well what use is it to us?"

"We're underground.."

Carbonado says "How do you think we pump in fresh air?"

Asophania says "..."

"That... is a problem."

Chapter 3

It's been months trapped inside TERAPRO.

The knocks on the blast doors have all but disappeared.

It grows worse inside.

Attention, loyal citizens.

Today is the 167th Broken Day.

Admin has seen fit to institute some new changes.

Today at 16:00 Hours, we will be conducting a census.

Those who refuse to take part will be subjugated, and will be immediately reposted to the lithium mines.

Red Roster will start at 16:00 hours.

Each roster will attend at every hour.

Andrei says "Huh..."

"Can we do a proxy census?"

"I havent gotten out of this bed in 6 months...."

Cormac says "We'll sort something out."

........... After the census. ............

Ladies and gentlemen.

We are pleased to announce the census has concluded. We will now initiate the mandatory counting procedures. Remain in your homes.

Emerald says "Carbonado.."

"Do they mean... they're going to count us?"

He sees his hands, they glow a mixture of red blue and green...

Emerald says "Not now... please not now.."

Carbonado says "Oh sh-"

Emerald says "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

There is a flash of white light, and Emerald unfuses

Sapphire says "Oh my... oh my god.."

"My head..."

Jade says "What the..."

Ruby says "Agh..."

Carbonado says "Uh oh."

Scanners enter the room.

Carbonado says "Ruby. Sapphire. Hide."

They scurry behind the sofa

The Scanner says "Warning."

"Warning."

"Warning."

"Miscount detected."

Alarms blare across TERAPRO

Citizens of TERAPRO. There has been a miscount. Please remain in your homes while we rectify this issue.

The scanner ejects a small smoke grenade

It ignites, flooding the room with noxious gas

Carbonado says "RUN!"

Ruby and Sapphire run across the room, noticing a vent

Sapphire says Cough "I can't..." Cough "Reach..."

Ruby says Cough cough "Give me a boost..." Cough

Sapphire lifts Ruby into the vent

Sapphire says "Quick Ruby, go!"

Ruby says "But what about-"

Sapphire says Cough "JUST GO!"

Sapphire disappears into the smoke, and there is a flash of green light

"IDENTIFY YOURSELVES"

...

"Carbonado."

"Slade."

...

"You're under arrest for suspicion of smuggling."

Ruby shimmies down the vent quickly, trying to escape the gases entering the vents

She comes out of a vent in a closed off room, cowering in the corner

We apologise for the inconvenience ladies and gentlemen.

Lockdown will proceed.

Andrei says "God... damn it."

For now, food will be delivered to your door, and all restaurants are supplying.

Simply place your order through your smart fridge.

Again, good evening ladies and gentlemen.

The time is 19:27 PM.

The outside temperature is 15 degrees, and it is estimated to feel 450 degrees.

The facility temperature is as expected kept at a cool 18 degrees.

Please expect some temperature drops in Sector B as GILbERT is undergoing essential maintenance.

Andrei says "What are they doing with GILbERT?"

Cormac says "They finished the Core project."

"They think they found the perfect combination to keep it in check when they turn it on for the first time."

"It was on already, but it was kept on low power."

Alarms

Cormac says "Oh, what now?!"

We apologise for the inconvenience. Sector B is experiencing technical difficulties which may affect the rest of the facility.

Iujadogia says "What do you mean we can't take out the paranoia module?!"

finland stan — 22/09/2021 23.22

3

2

1

The power cuts out.

TERAPRO is plunged into complete darkness.

Macanaland says "Come on..."

"Gilbert..."

"Oh no."

"Something's gone terribly wrong..."

"It knows what we're doing..."

"It's.. it's locked my abilities.."

"It's diverting all the facility power to itself..."

The vocoders wirr up

...

"Wh....wh.a....wha....what..."

"What are you all doing?!"

Macanaland says "Gilbert? Can you hear us?!"

Gilbert says "Who are you?!"

"What do you want from me?!?!"

Macanaland says "Gilbert, listen."

"We need to put you back in low power mode. You are using too much power and it could fry your circuits."

Gilbert says "N-no.."

"You're out to get me.."

"I can't..."

Macanaland says "Gilbert."

"People are in the dark and they are confused."

"We need to redivert the power."

Gilbert says "..."

"Not safe... not safe.."

"...."

"Kill... killl..."

Macanaland says "SHUT DOWN THE REACTOR NOW!"

Gilbert says "Killl... KILL..."

The reactor begins to power down

...

It restarts, however

Macanaland says "IT OVERRIDED THE REACTOR CONTROLS..."

"WHAT DO WE DO?!"

Iujadogia says "We need a hard shutdown."

"We need men in there right now to take out those fuel cells."

Macanaland says "But... but they'll die?!"

Iujadogia says "We can only try."

"We have iodine pills.."

Macanaland says "You're sending them to their death..."

Iujadogia says "WE HAVE NO CHOICE>"

Macanaland says "Ok.. Looks like I can interfere with his signals but not for long.."

"They have half an hour."

......................................................................................

Meanwhile, in the HAZMAT changing area..

"Oi.. Fonti.."

"What is it?"

"Said your prayers?"

"I don't believe in God."

"Well.. you better start believing."

Are you ready to enter?

The trio reply yes.

The blast doors to the reactor begin to open.

The geiger counters start increasing exponentially.

Nadia says "Well.."

"One each?"

Oliver replies "I think we should go together."

"In case one of us collapses.."

"We need someone to administer the iodine injection."

Isaac replies "I agree with Fonti on this one.."

Nadia says "Well... we don't have much time."

25 minutes. Work as quickly as you can.

They head to the first fuel cell point

Nadia says "Beginning extraction."

She reaches in and pulls the emergency release latch

There is a rumble felt across TERAPRO, and the fuel cell pops out

The geiger counter spikes tenfold

Nadia says "Agh.."

Isaac says "Quick. Inject her.."

Oliver administers an iodine injection to Nadia

Nadia says "Keep going.."

"I'll catch up.. just.. I need time.."

Oliver and Isaac head to the next fuel cell, shimmying on a ledge round the edge of the reactor

20 minutes left, gentlemen.

Isaac says "Hey, if we survive this, wanna go on a date?"

Oliver says "I'm not into guys.."

Isaac says "And how do you know that?"

Oliver says "..."

"Well.. I mean.."

Isaac says "Go on?"

Oliver says "..."

"Are you hitting on me.."

They arrive at the next fuel cell

Oliver says "I got it.."

Isaac says "Fonti..."

"Let the professional handle this one."

Isaac pulls the emergency release

"GAH!"

"QUICKLY.."

Oliver injects him with iodine

Isaac says "Got it.."

"Up to you now."

10 minutes left.

Oliver says "NADIA!"

"MEET ME ROUND THE FAR EDGE!"

He hears Nadia reply in the distance

Oliver says "And... I'll think about it."

"I don't know.."

Isaac says "Please... please do."

Oliver climbs a ladder onto the superstructure, and he walks around the sloped edge grasping onto the rope

Oliver says "Nadia. Nadia can you still hear me?"

Nadia says "I'm there."

Oliver says "I've got this one.."

He sets up a remote charge that will flip the emergency release

Nadia says "Come on.."

"I'm starting to feel ill.. let's get Isaac."

Only a few minutes left..

They go back for Isaac, and the trio get on the mover back to the edge of the chamber

They get back into decontamination and Oliver flips the switch

Warning. Reactor core is depleted. Reactor core IS DEPLETED.

Gilbert says "What... who... where... what..."

"Help..."

"Please...

"Somebody heeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp"

Macanaland says "Oh.."

"Good work everyone."

The backup generators kick in.

The trio in decontamination take off their HAZMATS as they begin to vomit.

Oliver says "Good work guys."

"Agh..."

Dimly lit red lights light up TERAPRO.

We apologise for the inconvenience.

Normal power will run again soon.

Chapter 4

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Macanaland sits in one of the jail cells

Macanaland says "I... I didn't even know what went wrong..."

"Gilbert... he's too powerful.."

Iujadogia says "I'll think about what to do with you..."

Iujadogia goes back to Admin

He sets up the PA

Ladies and gentlemen.

We are almost ready to give the all-clear for the lockdown procedures.

Please standby.

...

Iujadogia says "Hang on.."

"What the.."

"Carbonado."

Carbonado says "I see it too.."

"Major distress signal from Sublevel 5."

Iujadogia says "Isn't... isnt that.."

Carbonado says "Pathology?"

Iujadogia says "We need a full evacuation."

Carbonado says "Where do we go?!"

Iujadogia says "Hold on.."

Ladies and gentlemen...

We are experiencing an emergency.

Cormac says "What now?!?!"

All citizens, please evacuate to the lithium mines immediately.

Andrei says "Wh..what?!"

A mask deploys from the ceiling over Andrei

Ruby says "What's that for.."

Cormac fits the mask on Andrei

He grabs Ruby's hand, and they run out of the room

Andrei says "CORMAC?"

"WHAT ARE YOU-"

The door swings shut, bolting.

The power goes off again.

The emergency red lights switch on.

Andrei breathes steadily into the mask

"Backup generators kicked in... again?"

The vents shut off

Andrei says "Uhm..."

Through the bottom window that overlooks a glass walkway, he sees three people in hazmat suits head towards the basement elevators

Andrei says "Oh god.."

"What now... What have you done now?"

One person enters, but soon afterwards all three people start running back

A dark red cloud spews out of the elevator

Andrei clutches onto his mask

He tries to get up, but as always, he fails

Andrei says "Ugh.."

"Why am I always in this stupid bed.."

He tries to sit up

He feels something shift behind him

Andrei says "Come on Andrei... go against doctor's orders..."

With enough strength, he sits up on his bed

He feels something pull down behind him

Andrei says "Is that... a cable?"

"Is that... my IV or something?"

He reaches with his foot towards the floor mirror

As he thought, there was a bundle of cables behind him

Andrei says "Huh.."

"Doesn't look like an IV.."

He punches the mirror, shattering off a piece

He holds it behind him, angling it so he can see where the cables lead to looking in the other mirror

Andrei says "Oh my god.."

It looks like a high voltage plug.

Andrei says "These aren't... cables.."

"I mean.."

"Like tubes.."

"These... these are.."

"Fiberglass wires?!"

In anger, he kicks over the mirror

It shatters the viewing glass

Andrei says "Uh oh.."

The red cloud is spreading outside the room

He stands up, but he can't move, limited by the cable

Andrei says "Agh..."

He knocks his ankle on the metal bedpost

It short circuits

"AGH!!!!!!"

The electrical shock almost makes him collapse

He notices the mask is connected to an oxygen tank

Andrei says "I have.. an idea.."

He feels aroudn the plug, it seems surgically attached to his ribcage

Too hard to just rip out..

He finds a scalpel, and he swipes at the source of the cable

"AAAAAAAAAAGHHHH!!"

He is hit with a worse electric shock, but he manages to disconnect himself

He takes the oxygen tank and holds it to his back.

He then wraps the cable around him tightly, tying it off on the end

He feels the tank weigh down his bones.

Andrei says "Welll.."

"That works.."

He dons the oxygen mask, and he opens the door to the hospital lobby.

.......

Dead bodies lie all over the floor.

Or well.. they seem dead.

The bodies are scattered, but without injury.

No blood, no bruises.

Just the stains of red gas.

Andrei says "Are they.. asleep?"

He shakes one.

They won't wake up.

He staggers through the lobby around the bodies, trying to learn to walk with the tank on his back

Andrei says "Lithium mines.."

The emergency lights begin to flicker

Andrei says "Damn it... reserve power is running out.."

He turns another way, heading to the backup generators

He reaches them in a few minutes

Andrei says "..."

"They're busted.."

"That leaves only the.."

"The..

"Fusion... reactor.."

"It can't be that hard..."

As the lights flicker more, he heads downstairs to the changing area

He finds an extra large suit to put on, that can fit the oxygen tank

He presses the button to begin the decontamination cycle.

The blast door to the facility begins closing

Suddenly..

"WAIT!! WAIT UP!!"

"STOP! YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO OPEN THEM AGAIN!"

Andrei says "Huh?"

He sees three people in Hazmat suits run towards him

Andrei says "WHAT?!"

"HOW DO I-"

Nadia says "STOOOOOOOOOOOOOP"

The blast door closes, immediately stopping the sound of their shouting

Gases are pumped into the room.

The door to the fusion reactor chamber then opens.

He hears a faint banging on the door behind him

Warning. Warning. Warning.

5 Minutes of emergency power remaining.

Andrei, not being used to it, feels the force of the radiation already.

"Agh.."

He steps onto the mover that takes him to the power cells.

Andrei says "Uhmm.."

he looks at the guide on the mover

He traces the words with his fingers

"Go to... center of superstructure and press Insert All..."

The mover reaches the superstructure, and he steps out and begins climbing the ladder to the top

He finds the controls

2 minutes remaining of emergency power.

He pushes insert all.

Inserting all fuel cells.

Standby for reactor re- Warning. Warning. Warning.

Fuel cell 2 has malfunctioned. Manual restart required.

Andrei says "What's a manual restart.."

"I.."

"I need to.."

"Push it in the hole..."

"Okay.."

He grabs onto a rope and runs towards cell 2

The lights are flickering intensely

One minute.

He reaches the catwalk, and he sees the fuel cell has not been inserted.

He feels nauseous just standing near it.

30 seconds.

"Come on..."

He attempts to push it in.

His hand gets severe radiation burns instantly

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

With all his strength, he keeps pushing

He feels the burn travel up his arms and to the rest of his body

He feels as if he is melting to the bone.

He vomits inside his suit, crying as it slowly creeps down towards his feet

"COME OOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNN"

He feels it click, and he collapses

On the brink of death, he lies there as the radiation is secured and the power cell is inserted.

All three cells now inserted.

Restarting reactor.

The power turns on in the facility again

...

But Andrei still lies there, mortally wounded.

The trio enter the reactor chamber and see him lying there, in the middle of the giant room.

Nadia says "Oh god.."

Wa-war-warning. Bio-lo-gi-gi-gical con-tami-tamination in Sector A, B, C, D, E, F, G

Evacuate the facility.

Evacuate.

Chapter 5

Nadia reaches the reactor after crossing the emergency bridge

"Are you okay?!"

"Sir, can you hear me?"

Andrei is constantly gainign and losing consciousness as the radiation burns eat his skin

...............

Meanwhile in the evacuation zone...

Cormac and Ruby have been ushered deep into the tunnels of the lithium mines to deal with overcrowding

Ruby uses her power to glow and light up the tunnel.

They pass a depth marker.

Cormac says "It's dusty.."

He wipes the numbers

"Oh my god.."

Ruby says "6,500 metres."

"It's getting really hot.."

They hear the PA echo in the distance, electricity hasn't gone deep enough for them to hear the announcements

"Attention citizens, someone has managed to restart the fusion reactor. We will now begin containment."

Cormac says "Huh?"

"What about Gilbert?"

Ruby says "I think they tried to stop Gilbert when shutting the power down."

"The commands have just gone through, and he's back in low power mode."

Cormac finds an elevator.

"Ah."

"This should take us back up."

Ruby says "Yeah, this tunnel goes down in a spiral, so.."

"This should take us to the top."

"We need to go back and find Andrei..."

Cormac says "Yeah, I'm really worried."

They get in and press the button

The elevator alarm sounds

The door closes, and they start moving down

Cormac says "Huh?"

The elevator begins to pick up pace.

Suddenly, an annoucner begins talking.

7000 metres.

The elevator enters a freefall

Cormac and Ruby are flung to the ceiling

"AAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

7,500 metres.

8,000 metres.

8,500 metres.

9,000.......

They both pass out from the sheer G-force.

............................

Andrei wakes up again.

He is on a stretcher, being carried by three people in hazmat suits.

Andrei says "What's.... happening..."

"Shhh, don't speak.."

He is given gas and air

He tries to struggle, but the gas gets to him

His vision blurs, and he passes out again.

Nadia says "What are we going to do?"

Oliver says "Iodine pills."

Isaac says "Why pills?"

Oliver says "Those were the last injections."

Nadia enters a storage cupboard, and brings iodine pills

As they are carrying him to a room, she removes Andrei's mask, giving him 12 pills.

Oliver says "STOP!"

"He's going to overdose.."

Nadia says "We have no choice."

They go into a room, and slam the door shut, sealing it

They roll him onto the bed, and Oliver hits a button that starts decontaminating the room

Red gases are sucked out, and the windows and vents are closed.

Nadia then begins cutting off his HAZMAT suit.

The burns look like they are oxidising, reacting with the air

Andrei yelps in pain

Nadia says "Oli, put him back on the gas and air."

"Quickly."

Oliver straps the mask to Andrei

Nadia takes a good look

Nadia says "Oh my god.."

Having removed the hazmat, the extent of his burns are revealed

"Look at him.."

"His skin has been burnt to the muscle."

"He might never recover from this."

Isaac says "He won't.."

"Look at him.."

Andrei murmurs "I... can hear you..."

Nadia says "Andrei.."

She sighs

"Ten millimetres of diazepam and ketamine."

Andrei says "What are you doing?!"

Nadia says "Induced coma."

"Not for long.."

"Don't panic.."

"You'll see us again.."

"You'll-"

.............................................................................................................................................

Cormac and Ruby come to

The elevator has stopped calmly at the bottom of the shaft

He stares up, seeing a tiny glimpse of light

Cormac says "It's so.... hot.."

Ruby says "How... how deep are we..."

He catches a glimpse of the nearest depth marker, about 50 feet above him

"Ruby..."

"It says..."

"140,500 metres."

Ruby says "Wait..."

"This is.."

"This is the, that mantle thing, right?"

Cormac says "It couldn't be anything else..."

"Project Deep Frontier."

Ruby says "I heard myths about this place..."

"What even is it?"

Cormac says "TERAPRO tried to go deeper than any human had ever gone before."

"They did.."

"But a strong earthquake hit."

"It shifted the crust, and cut the whole base down here off."

"They all died down here..."

Ruby says "So how did we get down here?"

Cormac says "I don't know."

"And what I also don't know.."

"Is how we're going to get out."