I've rebuilt the shielding, put the radiological materials back in place and repaired the reactor. Now-.
Recognised, Mister Atom, asterisk.
Surprised he's accepting the need to take time away from his console, but he's probably got a continuous feed from here.
He steps out of the construct zeta tube, raising his hands. My ring can't entirely decipher the mechanism, but I can detect that radiation is being sucked into him. No matter how little sense that makes.
"Have you identified any major leaks?"
Super-science. Doesn't have to make a lick of sense, especially if it's Earth bullshit.
"Some fuel is missing. I'll follow up on it right now."
"The time allotted is five minutes. If you cannot locate it within that time, notify local authorities and proceed to your next city."
Well, okay. I get the need for haste in the clean-up period, but five minutes? To be fair, a Lantern should be able to handle this in
one.
I nod and transition myself out of the power plant. Lot's of lovely radiation-blocking metal and concrete around here. Honestly, we're lucky that Darkseid thinks that nuclear bombardments are too quick, or a lost fuel rod would be far from the worst thing that happened today.
Worst ongoing thing. Those men having burned themselves to death with fuel rods is… Pretty bad. I don't know if it would be better to believe that they died under the affect of the Anti-Life or that they died after it left. They'd have been more aware of the pain… But maybe it would be better to die free as yourself?
Still insane that they were ordered to pull a fuel rod out anyway. Especially if it came out 'hot'. And judging by their damage, it was
very much so.
Strong radiation trace that way. Towards the riv-.
Transition.
Ah, I see now. Polluting and poisoning the river that feeds the city, and all those downstream. Pain and suffering followed by many, many deaths.
"Uuuuh."
A man who's skin is more blister than skin is weakly reaching for-.
I'm guessing he carried it here. Amazed he's still alive, as
nuclear fuel rods are
not happy fun toys.
Stick that in a construct box, purple healing ray and shoot him with it.
"Sir, don't try to move. You're-."
Hopefully flushing any residual radiation out of him in the process of healing. And keeping an eye out for potential cancer outbreaks in his system.
Sufficiently close to death's doorway that I'm a little surprised that you're alive.
"You're in a bad way, but we can fix you up."
...Methinks the
White Light played some part in that. The
Life Entity does things for unknowable reasons sometimes, after all.
Ring, signal Mr. Atom.
Compliance.
Calling in the good news, I assume. 'Rod accounted for, one casualty being healed.'
"…hurts…"
"Yes, and I'm sorry, about that, but I don't.. want to risk introducing drugs into your system, and your brain is in somewhat less than pristine condition."
And the Ray is busy enough dealing with the radiation effects.
On the… Other hand, I… Should be able to remove the sensation of pain. Because that has to hurt.
I extend my environmental shield around… Dr. Li. Oh shit, this is a man whose nervous system doesn't need me poking it for… At least two minutes while the purple ray does its work.
...Is he meant to be someone important, or is that just caution?
"Two minutes, and then you should be healed enough for me to give you a painkiller without killing you."
"Not important. People… Safe."
They are now, yes. I'm guessing he tried to make the rod safe after the Anti-Life was repelled. Even if he might have been the one to carry it here in the first place beforehand...
"Got to be honest, I'm impressed that you're still alive."
"White God."
...That sounds like he got a personal visitation by the
Entity... And I suspect he won't be the
only one on the planet who did.
Um..? "What do you mean by that?"
"We were… Commanded. Spread radiologicals." He shudders. "I got..." He manages to weakly raise his head and look at the river. "This close before I fell. Then… I saw the White God, and the... My mind cleared. Tried to throw it away, away from the water. Live to shout for attention, warn… Someone. Most… Important thing."
Making amends for what he was forced to do, eh? A story that will likely be repeated elsewhere too.
"The White God. It looked like-"
I generate a construct of the Life Entity.
Careful, OL. Don't go flashing that around
too much.
"-this?"
There's something odd in his expression as his eyes lock onto it. He nods, stiffly.
Probably a sense of 'it doesn't compare to the real thing, but close enough.'
"You saw it?"
He nods again, still staring at the image.
Now, what to
do with him and that knowledge?
"That happened yesterday?"
Another nod. He lived that long with those radiation burns… Not impossible, but… Unlikely.
Unless a higher power
wanted him to survive for its own inscrutable reasons.
I dismiss the construct.
"I understand that the government of the People's Republic of China is not in favour of religion. While I personally know that all of the Earth owes the being you saw a great deal, it might be a good idea not to talk about it too freely."
In other words, keep mum or
someone might take issue with it.
He looks up at me and nods stiffly. There's some actual skin on his face now, which is a significant improvement. So… He drew on the white light. Not much, but enough to keep his body alive while he tried to get the fuel rod away from the river.
I know that the Life Entity can empower people. That's why Nommo's still alive after all this time. But that isn't common. He described the process as reaching into the furthest limits of the Earth's thaumosphere through meditation. But… If the Life Entity is… Occupying the space Mannheim created rather than where the Guardians put it…
That might explain the surprised expression it had. So it's out of the safety bubble the Guardians put it in? That might be
troublesome.
Then it would now be easier. And we can't really have a bigger target painted on the planet than 'successfully opposed Darkseid'…
Well, if we can then we now do. And if we can't then we can't.
At least the fellow isn't flying around with a ring and a natty silver-and-white
costume.
Alright, Doctor Li looks recovered enough not to keel over. I numb his extremities and… Use ring power to accelerate the rate of repairs, patching up the parts that are to badly damaged for the purple healing ray's regeneration enhancement to affect. Only a few more moments pass, then he's back to full physical fitness. I reach out to offer him a hand up.
He takes it, looking a little stunned as he examines himself.
Given he was at death's door not three minutes ago (and only because the Entity was holding it shut,) that's not
surprising.
"Thank you."
"I can fly you back to the power plant if you like?"
As long as it's not still 'hot'. But Mister Atom has
that handled, methinks.
"Thank you, no. I would like to take the time it will take to walk there to think things over. I… Am not sure, of a great many things."
"Rightoh."
Though I would expect OL to make a note of the guy's details, figuratively speaking. Plant a tracer or a Ring bookmark or something, that sort of thing.
I transition back to the power plant, next to Mr. Atom as he closes his radiation absorption vents.
"I got the fuel rod and the scientist, but we might have a problem. He saw the Life Entity."
Wonder if anyone else has reported similar visions. Perhaps this isn't news to Atom.
"Yes."
"You're not surprised?"
"This is not the first such occurrence the League has made note of."
"Initial interviews suggest that the closer a human was tied to the Anti-Life, the clearer and more intense their vision of the Life Entity was. They do not understand what it was they saw, but they know that it was part of what freed them."
He takes the fuel rod from me and eats it.
"Create a new zeta tube construct. I am needed elsewhere."
So there could be hundreds, even thousands of people worldwide who saw something like an 'angel'. Those with strong Abrahamic beliefs might just think 'Oh, God did it', but there's bound to be some who want to look deeper.
At least in their eyes.
