6:00 AM, December 11, 1999 – Janjira, Japan – Brody Household

Bbbbbrrrrrriiiiiiiinnnnnnnggggggg… SMASH!

The alarm clock was silenced. Dead as a door nail beneath the hand of Joe Brody. And as he drew his hand back, the clock fell to the ground.

"Mmmmm…"

"Time to get up, honey." Sandra mumbled as her head wiggled out from beneath the covers.

"Yeah. I know." He groaned as he lifted the sheets and sat up.

Joe took one step and immediately regretted the decision as his foot found the alarm clock.

"YEOW!" He yelled as he fell back onto the bed, gripping his foot.

"Whoa! What happened?!" Sandra yelped.

"I stepped on the damn alarm clock!" He hissed through his teeth.

"Oh. Poor baby." Sandra cooed while rubbing his shoulder and kissing his cheek.

Shaking it off, Joe made his way to the kitchen with Sandra who poured him a cup of coffee to help wake him up. Following this, he took a shower and dressed himself for work just in time to catch a phone call.

"Moshi, moshi? Takashi. Hai. Yes, yes. Thank you for calling."

Sandra, meanwhile, made her way down the hall to their son Ford's room and cracked the door. Inside, Ford stood with "Happy Birthday Dad" decorations in hand.

"Hey, sorry babe. I forgot to turn off the alarm clock before bed so he's up." She whispered.

"What're we gonna do?" Ford asked.

"Hide the decorations and get dressed. I'll think of something."

Ford nodded and got ready for school while his mother went back to the kitchen to hear the rest of the conversation Joe was having.

"No, Takashi. Hayato said I need to go through you about-no. No, Takashi. I'm not trying to pass the burden onto you. I'm just trying to follow the protocol set by the company. If I don't then we're both going to get in trouble. So I need-yes. Yes, Takashi. Yes. I need to formally request the meeting from you because I'm not permitted to request it on my own. But it needs to happen. Understand? Yes. Kyou. Arigatou."

"Gonna get the meeting?" Sandra asked.

"Looks like it. Takashi's going to make some calls."

"Sounds good."

"Also, hun."

"Mhmm?"

"These tremors. They've got me really worried."

"Why's that?"

"They're regular. Repeating. And there's something else too."

"Okay. Well, how about you tell me when we get there? Otherwise we're going to be late."

"Ah, good idea."

After seeing Ford off on the school bus, the pair set off for the Janjira Nuclear Power Plant.

Arriving at the power plant, Joe and Sandra made their way to the Employee Lounge.

"So hey. What were you going to tell me before?" Sandra asked.

"Oh, right. Well. The tremors. They're regular and repeating. And the frequency is almost exact every single time. The differential is all of a three to five Hertz at worst."

"So what do you think's happening?"

"I don't know, Sandra. But I know that the epicenter isn't far from the main reactor. So I need you to take a team with you to go check everything out and make sure there's not some kind of hardware malfunction in any of the equipment."

"Got it. I'll get a team and check it out."

"Thanks honey."

The two kissed and parted ways. Sandra leaving to gather her team and Joe heading to the main engineering room where Takashi and others were waiting for him.

"Joe-san. Yokuso." Said one of the men in suits who was seated.

"Hayato-san. Ohayiougozaimasu." Joe replied with a bow.

"Takashi says you needed a meeting. What for?" Hayato asked.

"Yes, Hayato-san." Joe replied while holding up a folder filled with images and documents and handing them to Hayato.

"These are images taken from our readings. The tremors are all coinciding with these frequency patterns. Right down to the millisecond. Whatever's causing the tremors is letting out these frequencies. And I have the data to prove it in the folder."

Hayato flipped through the images and graphs.

"So you think this is caused by, what exactly?" He asked.

"I don't know. I sent Sandra and a team down to investigate the equipment nearest the epicenter. We haven't been able to pin it down. But we know the general area."

"I see. But you've no proof beyond this data that the two are linked?"

"What more do I need? They're exact to the millisecond. That's a clear connection. If not a direct causality."

"Perhaps. But if the two are linked then something that's capable of making sounds loud enough to be detected by our equipment is at the center of all this. None of our equipment can do that. And there isn't a living organism alive capable of generating frequencies responses this strong."

"Well, yes. That's true. But with all due respect, Hayato-san, just because we don't know what's causing it doesn't really mean anything other than just that. We don't know what's causing it. But something is out there. And whatever it is, it's dangerous. This Plant was built before modern structural standards were implemented. So it's not designed to handle the tremors if they continue at any consistent rate. And if they start increasing in intensity, heaven help us."

"Joe. You know we admire and appreciate your work history as a Nuclear Engineer. But this data, while most certainly compelling, isn't enough for us to draw a conclusion or take definitive action. We must wait for something more substantial."

"But, Hayato-san. Please. You can't expect me to just-"

"What I expect from you is your cooperation, Joe-san. You know this company's protocol. And you've been here long enough to know the limit of my patience. Please continue to monitor the tremors. But unless something substantial happens, please don't come to us about it again."

With that, Hayato-san and some of his similarly dressed associates got up and left the room leaving Takashi and Joe both in a cold sweat.

"Joe. I want to believe you. But you must admit they have a point."

"A point about what, Takashi?"

"A point that even though the data points to a theoretically plausible connection, we don't have true proof that they're related. I agree that it's far too close to be a coincidence. But still. It's just pictures on paper saying there's sound coming from the tremor. Maybe it's a sensor malfunction and our equipment is picking up the low frequency rumbling caused by the tremors in general?"

"Tremors and earthquakes don't trigger a frequency response that spans nearly three quarters of the spectrum, Takashi."

Takashi remained silent.

"Look. Something is causing these tremors. And it's close to the Plant. That's why I sent Sandra and the others down there. If they can't find anything, then we'll chalk it up to faulty equipment for now, as they suggested. But the team's report comes first. Deal?"

"Okay, Joe."

"Thanks Takashi."

Down in the belly of the Plant, Sandra and the others wandered the halls as they headed down to the "Basement."

"What are we looking for, Sandra?"

"We're looking for anything faulty or otherwise out of the ordinary." She replied.

"Got it. So broken or damaged equipment."

"Pretty much."

Into the Basement they went. Nothing out of the ordinary. Pipelines to either side and overhead running parallel to hundreds of cables and wires on trails and railing. A little bit of steam here and there were the pipeline's contents were hotter than the air in the tunnels. But other than that, nothing strange to see… Except a rat dashing across the way which got a gasp out of Sandra.

At that moment, Sandra's radio sparked to life.

"Sandra?"

"Joe?"

"Hey honey. You okay? You sound a bit out of breath."

"You know how I feel about rats."

"Ah. Got it. Got it. So how's it look down there?"

"Nothing yet. But we're getting closer to the last known epicenter you reported."

"Understood. Keep me posted, okay?"

"I know how this works, honey."

"Haha. Right. Love you."

"Love you too, Joe. Muwah."

Putting the radio down, Joe scanned the monitors like a hawk before noticing a strange reading on one of the seismic monitors.

"Hey. What was that?" He asked.

"What?" Asked another engineer.

"A few seconds ago I saw a blip."

"Hold on. Let me go back."

Checking the recording, he rewound until the blip appeared.

"There. What's that from?" Joe asked.

"Too small to really tell. Must've just been a general tremor. I didn't even feel it."

Joe's eyes narrowed.

"I doubt it's nothing." Joe mumbled.

"Joe, come on. You're starting to sound paranoid." Takashi said as he gave Joe's shoulder a light shake.

Sandra and the others, meanwhile, rounded a corner.

"What in the name of God is that?" Asked one of Sandra's colleagues.

Down at the end of the tunnel, tucked against and in the pipes, was a large, slimey, wriggling thing. They couldn't make out a defined shape amongst all the pipes and wires and metal support structures. But they could make out a single glowing red eye near the end. That eye seemed to flash as the head turned their direction. Some kind of sharp beak-like maw opened and a shrill screech shook the halls around the team.

"Run! Run!" Sandra yelled.

The team took off back the way they came as the cries from the strange creature continued along with new tremors that began shaking the tunnels around them.

Joe had to grab a rack of equipment to prevent himself from falling to the ground as red warning lights began flashing and alarms blared.

"What happened?!" Joe demanded.

"A new tremor! Stronger this time! There!"

The image of the tremor's strength and the same frequency pattern appeared on the main screen.

"Oh God." Joe whispered.

"Joe, what do we do?!"

"We need to shut the reactor down! If the reactor's breached we'll have to lock down and evacuate!"

"But Joe, we can't shut down without authorization!"

"I don't care! Shut it down, now!"

Joe took off down the hall towards the lower level where Sandra's team had ventured into, all the while grabbing his radio and trying to bring her up.

"Sandra!"

Static.

"Sandra! Honey?!"

Nothing.

"Sandra! Please! Answer me honey!" He cried.

"… Joe?!"

"Yes! Yes. I'm-I'm here, honey! Where are you!? What's happening?!"

"There's something down here! Some kind of massive animal! We couldn't make out what it was! We're on our way back!"

"Good. Good! Just run, honey! Once you get back here we'll-"

The ground shook mightily knocking Joe off balance causing him to strike his head against the wall. With his head swimming, Joe shakily forced himself onto his side and the onto his stomach.

"Joe!?" Takashi's voice rang through the radio.

"Joe!" He called again.

Joe pressed the "Talk" button.

"Takashi?"

"Joe! There's been a breach! We need to seal the lower doors to prevent surface contamination!"

Joe's head began to clear, and he shook his head.

"No. No, no, no, no! No Takashi! Sandra and her team are on their way back! We're not closing them in there!"

"Joe! It's protocol! We need to contain the breach!"

"I don't care, Takashi! You keep those damn doors open and put them on manual override! I'm right here! Once they're through, I'll seal it!"

"Joe!… Fine. Manual override engaged."

"Thanks Takashi… Sandra? Honey, can you still hear me?"

"I hear you!" She gasped.

"Sandra! You heard that right? If the reactor's breached you won't last five minutes with or without your equipment! So don't look back, honey! I'm waiting for you!"

"I am!" She cried.

Another major tremor struck the Plant causing Sandra to twist her ankle alongside another of her team while the rest continued to run. Sandra grimaced and gripped her ankle before thinking of Ford and forcing herself to stand up. As she reached for her colleague, she looked down the hall as a massive wall of smoke came billowing out towards her.

"Sandra?"

Static.

"Sandra? Honey?"

Static.

"Sandra!?" Joe shrieked.

Static.

Several members of Sandra's team came running around the corner and Joe was immediately on his toes gesturing for them to hurry the fuck up! Once they were through, he noticed someone missing.

"Where's Sandra?"

"I-wait. She was just with us, right?" Said one.

"I thought she was too." Said another.

Joe's mouth was slack as he slowly turned back to the hallway and saw a giant cloud of smoke rushing towards them.

"Close the doors!" They all screamed.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" Joe shrieked.

Joe smashed the button and the doors all slammed shut, and massive locked clicked into place. Everyone, except Joe, sighed in relief while Joe leaned on the doors with tears streaming down his face. And everyone seemed to realize all at once that their own relief to be alive had just momentarily blinded them to what now amounted to a death sentence of one of their own.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Joe felt the subtle vibration in the doors. He was afraid to look up. He couldn't look up. He knew who this was…

But he looked anyway.

Through the circular window, Joe saw the face of his wife gasping for breath as she gazed back into his eyes as she ripped her mask off.

Silence.

Her hand came up to the glass, and Joe's hand came up to meet it on the other side.

Sandra smiled, and tears gathered in her eyes as Joe fought to maintain some semblance of composure.

Her other hand came up, radio in hand, and clicked the "Talk" button.

"Ford made you birthday decorations last night." She said.

Joe gasped and felt his knees on the brink of giving out.

"When you pick him up from school, tell him that mommy was in an accident at work and will be home tomorrow once she gets some rest."

Joe nodded. Lips pursed and pushed up as he fought back the gasps and sobs building in his throat.

The doors began closing another layer for extra protection from the radiation breach, slowly closing in on either side of the couple.

"Celebrate your special day, Joe… You earned it… You were right."

Joe couldn't speak as his wife continued to smile for him behind the glass.

"I love you, Joe." She whispered while blowing him a kiss.

The doors slowly shut as he withdrew his hand, and Joe fell to his knees in complete mental disarray as his forehead thunked against the metal.

Another tremor knocked him to the ground, shaking him from the stupor just long enough to get onto his feet and escape the building as it went down.

And nearby, from the schoolyard, Ford watched the building his parents worked at crumble to the ground as he cried out for them against the noise and chaos around him.