Dread. It crept over Connor like an infection invading his body. A feeling that he felt he couldn't win against, something that would consume him from the inside out. Maybe he should just allow it to do so and render him immobile. He could say he was ill, that he was unable to work today because of it and needed to go home, he needed to escape. Of course he knew that this was a fantasy. There was no way out of today.
As Connor walked towards the reactor elevator he suppressed the dread as much as he could, as if he were forcing an animal into a cage. Today was the day Anomaly Reactor 1 was going live per the UN's demands. If the reactor was not online today, the project would be cancelled, something which Connor couldn't allow. If they didn't get the reactor online today, the UN will just hand the project off to someone else, someone who would ignore the risks… someone like Phillip Burton.
Connor banished the memory. He couldn't bear to think about the day New Dawn went active. When hundreds of thousands of people died, when the world nearly ended and when he lost the love of his life. Though it wasn't apparent at first, Connor's hand in nearly ending the world had pushed Abby away from him. She told him that she couldn't take waking up next to the person that invented that terrible machine knowing the devastation it caused, knowing how many families were torn apart because of it. After ARC was shut down by the UN, Connor never saw Abby again. Maybe it was for the best.
Connor swiped his key card over the Elevator control panel, activating it. It was a huge platform that slid down at an angle allowing cargo to be brought into the reactor room. Connor almost felt like he was a component being brought to the reactor as without him none of this would have been possible. When the UN approached him to build the reactor, they gave him an ultimatum. Either he helped create the reactor or they would do it themselves. It was like saying 'if you don't drive with the seatbelt on, we'll drive without the seatbelt on'. He knew they'd ignore the safety precautions he and Phillip had previously ignored. They were facing an energy crisis and the temptation of using energy from an anomaly was not something they could ignore. Connor had to help. He told himself there was no other way.
The elevator slowly came to a stop. Connor exited the elevator and began walking down the long concrete corridor that lead to the reactor. His colleagues were all busy checking dials and cross referencing these with their paperwork to ensure everything was running smoothly. He then approached the huge metal blast doors that slid open revealing a huge metal and concrete room that housed Anomaly Reactor 1.
The design of this reactor was similar to New Dawn but more sophisticated. Connor's paranoia at a reoccurrence of the event had led to numerous safety features being implemented. The most notable were the four large cylinders attached to large metal arms that hung from the ceiling. These cylinders were much larger versions of a device Connor had once used to lock anomalies back in his ARC days. These cylinders would not only lock the reactor anomaly but also prevent the anomaly from growing in size. In reality, one of these devices would probably be fine but Connor was not going to take any risks which is why he had also implemented a failsafe feature.
Above the reactor were a number of large metal boxes. It could not be seen by the naked eye but inside each box were smaller manmade anomalies. The boxes were referred to as sun cages though only by Connor. No one else really understood the sun cage reference, another relic from Connor's ARC days. The idea for these anomalies was based on how the New Dawn anomaly was stopped. If the reactors Anomaly began to grow out of control, one of these boxes would be dropped into the anomaly causing it to close, averting a catastrophe.
The sight of the safety devices put Connor's mind at ease for a brief few seconds. He had covered everything, the anomaly would be locked, it would not be allowed to grow beyond the permitted size and if all else failed, and they could close the anomaly. The problem however is that this had all been tested on anomalies that required the opening generator to be kept powered on. They had not yet tested on a self-sustaining anomaly. The feeling of dread began to claw at the bars of its cage, bringing with it memories of news report showing the loss of life caused by New Dawn. Connor swallowed it back and walked up the stairs to the control room.
"Ah, here he is! Connor! Today is going to be a good day my friend!" the voice of Connor's boss could be heard as Connor made his way to the top of the stairs. Alfie was a tall and muscular man, his skin Sepia, Reddish-brown, someone who looked more like he should be modelling rather than running a Space-Time reactor. Alfie had been appointed overseer of the reactor by the UN. Connor always liked Alfie but never really wanted him there. Alfie had been surprisingly patient with Connor's cautiousness but he knew that patience could only go so far. Connor didn't want to come to blows with someone he not only respected but someone whose company he enjoyed.
"Well today's here at least. I guess we'll see whether it's good or not." Connor replied as he walked over to the control panels that weren't already occupied by his colleagues. He then felt Alfie's large hands placed lightly on Connor's shoulders from behind. "Nonsense my boy, today we make history. The world's first safe activation of a man made self-sustaining anomaly."
"I take it the talks with the UN to gives us more time didn't go well then?" Connor asked as he began checking the reactors safety protocols.
"The talks didn't go ahead at all. We have tested this reactor numerous times without incident. There is no reason not to proceed."
Connor turned his head to look at Alfie. Alfie looked so excited and confident. Somehow this managed to suppress the anger building up inside Connor. "I hope you're right. If anything goes wrong though, this reactor will be shut down immediately."
"Connor, you need to stop worrying." Alfie spoke as he began walking around the room. "Nothing will go wrong with the reactor but if anything does I will personally activate the failsafe protocol."
"Like hell you will! If I let you at the controls you'll somehow manage to blow the place up!" Connor said in a jokey tone, though he wasn't too sure if he meant it as a joke or he actually meant to be serious.
"Ha-ha! That's why I leave the controls to you Connor. Now, let's get this started. If all goes well, which it will, I will buy everyone a round at the pub for lunch." Cheers rang out through the control room which only further fuelled the dread inside Connor. How could anyone here be so relaxed about this? Connor pushed the thought out of his mind. As Head of Operations he would not be operating the reactor itself but rather instructing his colleagues on what to do.
"Ok then let's do it. Start-up sequence authorised on the second of May 2015 at nine forty-five AM. Initiate start up Emma." His colleague nodded and began pressing various buttons on the control panel.
"Start-up sequence initiating. Power set to 25% capacity." Emma said over the intercom.
An alarm sounded to signify the active status of the reactor before the sound of turbines and various other devices powering up rang out through the reactor room. The control room began vibrating as these devices came online.
Another one of his colleagues spoke through the intercom: "Anomaly opening sequence activating in 3, 2, 1" a long bright beam of energy shot out from a large blue generator device at the far end of the reactor, ending at a large circular device in the middle. An anomaly began to form in this device, pulsating violently before forming into the familiar sphere of what looked like a frozen explosion of quantum glass.
"Anomaly online at 25% capacity." Emma said over the intercom.
Connor nodded. "Ok then. So far so good, activate the locking mechanisms."
"Activating locking mechanisms, maintaining anomaly at 25% capacity." Emma again spoke over the intercom.
The large metal arms swung down into position pointing the cylinders at the anomaly. The devices then activated. The anomaly reacted by bending away as each cylinder came online before it appeared to turn itself inside out, forming a more spherical shape indicating it was locked.
"Right, very well let's do it. Bring it to self-sustaining capacity Connor." Alfie directed Connor. Before Connor could do so however, the dread managed to reach an arm out of its cage and tug at Connor. "Alfie, are you sure about this? We could just run a few more tests, we could-" Connor was not able to finish the sentence off as Alfie interrupted, showing visible signs of irritation. "Connor that was an order." The two glanced at each other for a moment before Connor backed down.
"Emma, bring it up to 60%. James be ready to activate shut down." His colleagues nodded and followed the commands.
The anomaly began to pulsate and grow in size as the beam fed it more and more energy.
"Start-up generator coming offline in 3, 2, 1" the beam of light coming from the generator disappeared leaving only the anomaly behind.
"Anomaly self-sustaining at 60% capacity, looks like we did it guys." Emma said in a joyous tone as everyone in the control room cheered. Connor breathed a sigh of relief to release the dread out of his body. Everything had gone smoothly. Connor and his team had done it. The first safe man made self-sustaining anomaly. Alfie walked over to Connor to vigorously shake his hand.
"Congratulations Connor. You did it. You can rest easy now."
"Thank you Sir. I'm just glad we got past the first hur-" Connor was cut off as an alarm rang in the control room and red lights flashed. On the monitors read a large red warning saying "Uncontrolled Anomaly detected". Everyone turned to look at the screen. One of Connor's younger colleagues began tapping away at the controls bringing up a map to show where the anomaly was before the message disappeared. "That's weird, it's gone…" his colleague said.
"Probably just a glitch, the anomalies energy is probably throwing the warning system off, nothing to worry about it" Alfie said, obviously making up something to calm everyone down rather than wanting to look into it. It only gave everyone a few seconds of relief as the warning sounded again and a smaller, paler anomaly appeared in the reactor room briefly before disappearing again.
"Ok then maybe not a glitch. Connor any thoughts?" Alfie turned to Connor as he spoke.
The dread crawled its way back inside Connor, taking over his whole body, pushing a memory vividly into Connors mind.
"Satellite anomalies." He spoke staring at the reactors anomaly.
"Satellite anomalies?" Alfie queried as the rest of Connor's colleague looked at him puzzled.
"I've seen this once before, two anomalies opened on the same spot and the resulting energy released from the two trying to separate created Satellite anomalies." Connor rushed over to a console as another anomaly alarm sounded.
"So is that what's happening here?" Alfie asked as he walked over to the Console Connor was now using.
"No, we wouldn't have been able to lock the anomaly as the other Anomaly would have kept it open. If I'm right it's because…" some numbers flashed up on the screen in front of Connor confirming his thoughts but quite visibly puzzling Alfie. Connor sighed "I'm an idiot, how could I have missed this?"
"Missed what? What's happening Connor?" Alfie asked Connor, his voice growing more concerned as another alarm sounded.
Connor turned to Alfie "New Dawn happened because the amount of energy the anomaly was creating caused it to continuously grow. This anomaly is unable to grow because of the suppressors but it is trying to and the energy of the anomaly trying to grow is what is resulting in these satellite anomalies."
"So how do we fix it Connor?" Alfie asked as if there was any other option that what Connor saw as the blindingly obvious.
"We shut it down." Connor turned to Emma "Emma start shutdown sequence."
"No, ignore that command." Alfie said to Emma, now visibly angry. He turned back to Connor "If the anomaly is generating too much energy then we can release it into the plants substation to relieve the pressure, it's what the reactor is for after all."
Connor was stunned by the ignorance of what Alfie had just suggested. It took Connor a moment to process this before being able to respond.
"We don't know what would happen if we released that level of energy that quickly! We need to test it rather than make blind decisions!"
Another alarm sounded, briefly providing a respite before Alfie responded.
"Testing. That's your answer to everything, more testing. Connor we have done testing. We have spent the last few years testing and now is the time that this reactor goes online."
"But we ne-" Connor attempted to protest but was immediately interrupted by Alfie again. "Look Connor, you are letting your past experience cloud your judgements. I know you feel guilty for what New Dawn did and I know you blame that event for Abby leaving you but you can't let tha-"
The words failed to leave Alfie's mouth before Connor struck a blow against him. It took a lot to enrage Connor but bringing up New Dawn and Abby in the same sentence was enough to release that anger. Alfie staggered back for a moment more in shock than pain. Once the shock had faded however it turned to anger. Connor wasn't sure what would happen. Alfie was physically quite strong and he could easily tear Connor apart. Alfie Rose, anger tearing through his face as he shakily shouted to his colleagues "Get him out of here and connect this damned reactor to the substation!"
There was a slight pause before anyone reacted which was ended by another "Now!" being shouted by Alfie. Connors colleagues attempted to move him out of the control room as he protested. "No please! Shut it down! You don't know what this will do!" Connor pleaded.
Alfie turned to Emma as she stared at Connor "Well what are you waiting for? Release the power into the substation!"
Emma paused for a moment before turning around to her control panel "Y-yes sir." Emma's voice rang over the intercom again "Anomaly connected to substation in 10, 9, and 8"
"No please you have to stop this!" Connor shouted attempting to break free from his colleagues.
"7, 6, 5, 4"
"Please I'm begging you!"
"3, 2, 1"
A loud booming sound was heard as the anomaly appeared to shatter into thousands of quantum glass pieces. The suppressors holding the anomaly back were briefly seen to collapse into where the anomaly had been as the power in the facility was lost. Emergency red lighting filled the chamber, dimly revealing the damaged reactor with the anomaly now gone. Sparks flew out from the reactor mechanisms. Everyone was silent, the only sound that could be heard were the sparks coming from the reactor. Connor's voice raised itself above the darkness as he said to Alfie "What have you done?"