Chapter nine: microcracks
Lily and Alison knew each other very well by now. Alison also played Lily's favorite game with Lily. Airplane. Like this Saturday afternoon. Alison was lying on the sofa and holding Lily up. Luan and Lucy watched. Also Rita, who did the laundry. Lola was on the sofa too. But she had more important things to do. She put on makeup and looked at herself in a small mirror.
"Attention Lily. Turbulence." Alison said, and began to shake Lily gently.
Lily laughed. Rita continued to watch. She was casually considering what to do with Lily and Alison. Then she had an idea.
"Alison, Lily. Do you want to go for a walk by the river?" asked Rita. "Sounds good. What do you think Lily?" Alison asked.
"Fishes." said Lily happily.
"We can go whenever you want." said Rita.
"Is it okay now?" Alison asked.
"Of course."
Alison dressed Lily in the purple sweater and white pants. Lily tried to put on the shoes on her own, but was not very successful. Alison helped her.
"Goodbye everyone." said Luan and Lucy. Lola said nothing.
"Lola." said Lucy.
"Yeah whatever." said Lola.
Then Rita, Lily and Alison left the house. The three walked along the river. It was quiet. Salmon were scuttling about in the river and there were also some dark brown eels to be seen. In the distance, the three heard a noise. The further they walked, the louder the noise became. Eventually they saw a large concrete structure that had extremely thick pipes facing away from the river. It was the pump house of the nuclear power plant. The fences around the pump house were the same as at the nuclear power plant itself. They walked along the path next to the fenced-off pipelines. Then the three saw the nuclear power plant. There were a lot of security guards inside the premises. Everyone was holding an assault rifle, and looked like they would protect the nuclear power plant with their lives.
"My goodness. There are a lot more security guards here." said Rita.
"You're right. So many have never been here before." said Alison.
A security guard walking a German shepherd on a leash approached Rita and Alison.
"What are you doing here?" said the guard.
"We went for a walk." said Rita.
"Oh. That's fine." said the guard.
"Do you already know who broke in?" Alison asked.
"Respect for the police, but some of them are complete idiots." said the guard.
"Why do you mean?" asked Rita.
"There was a fire at police headquarters. And the officer in charge dropped the evidence in panic. All the evidence was destroyed in the fire." said the guard.
"All evidence destroyed?" asked Rita.
"Yes. And that means we'll never find the burglars. The cameras didn't film the faces properly and there are no fingerprints anywhere." said the guard.
"This is bad." said Alison.
"That's right. So I have to move on. Have a nice walk." said the guard, and went on with the German shepherd.
Rita and Alison looked at Cooling Tower One. The graffiti Alison had done was gone. Only the stylized symbol of an atom and the lettering "RW 1" could be seen.
"My message is gone." said Alison.
"But we were high up." said Rita.
"That was thirty meters."
"Exactly."
"Hello can I help you?" asked the woman.
"We just wanted to look around." said Rita.
"Oh. Do you want to see the exhibition?"
"Yes gladly." said Rita.
The woman stepped out and walked to a door, which she opened. Alison holding Lily and Rita walked through this door and entered what looked like a small movie theater.
"Have fun." said the woman, and closed the door.
A movie started on the screen. Alison and Rita sat down. The narrator's voice began to speak.
"Our alarm clock rings. We turn on the lights. We cook breakfast. We go to work. Even a simple morning is unimaginable without electricity. It's available twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year. The City of Royal Woods draws from many places electricity. But most of it comes from the Royal Woods nuclear power station. Since 1982, unit one has been producing masses of energy, and unit two has doubled the amount. Nuclear energy is the only way to generate electricity mass-scale without producing CO2 find out how our nuclear power plant works. Have fun."
Another door opened. Alison and Rita got up. Behind the door was a room with exhibits. It featured models of wind turbines, dams, and a model of the Royal Woods nuclear power station. Behind a pane of glass were small dark gray pellets. Rita read a sign that stood next to it.
"A gram of uranium fuel contains enough energy to drive a car halfway across the world."
Rita was amazed.
"Lily. Alison. That's interesting." said Rita.
"Yes. For it could cost us all our lives." said Alison.
"Nothing happens. I think it's safe."
"I was here when I was a little girl. There are several films here. Come with me."
The three went into another cinema hall. Then another movie started. The voice began to speak.
"Nuclear energy is very safe. Accidents are rare. But why do people think it's dangerous? Accidents involving radioactive material are very serious. What happens if there is an accident at Royal Woods, as serious as Fukushima Daiichi, or Chernobyl?"
A realistic animation of the nuclear power plant appeared on the screen. Then the animation showed the reactor exploding, and ash started raining down from the sky.
"Royal Woods would be the first to be evacuated because of its proximity to the nuclear power plant. There would be major contamination with the fission products iodine 131 and cesium 137. Iodine poses a particular danger to people because it accumulates in the thyroid gland. In the event of an accident, this The death toll would be in the thousands and the cancer rate would skyrocket. A fifty-kilometer exclusion zone would be drawn around the nuclear power plant. Royal Woods would be uninhabitable for three hundred years and become a ghost town."
The movie ended. Lily got scared during the movie and snuggled up to Alison. "Rita, that's why I did it. I want my child to be able to grow up here and not be in danger of anything like that." said Alison.
"Three hundred years." said Rita.
"Quite right. Three hundred years."
Rita noticed Lily.
"Don't worry Lily. Nothing will happen to you." said Rita.
Rita and Alison left the information center with Lily and walked back home by the river.
"What can we do to make it safe enough for you and your child?" asked Rita.
"Shut down the nuclear power plant. But that will never happen anyway." said Alison.
As the three headed back to Royal Woods, Rita considered what to do. When they were in Royal Woods, Rita saw a phone box.
"Alison, come with me." said Rita, and went to the phone booth.
Alison followed her with Lily in her arms. Rita took some coins from her wallet and threw them into the phone booth. She took a handkerchief, picked up the receiver, looked up something on her mobile phone, and dialed a number with the handkerchief over her fingers. A man who sounded like he was sixty took the call.
"NRC. Robert Jackson. How can I help?" Rita shifted her voice slightly.
"Hello. I work at Royal Woods Nuclear Power Plant and I would like to report a safety hazard." said Rita.
"Safety risk?"
"There are microcracks in the reactor. And I think that these can be problematic."
"What's your name?" asked Robert Jackson.
"I don't want to say that. I don't want to lose my job."
"I understand that. I'll see what I can do."
"Many Thanks." said Rita, and put down the receiver with her handkerchief.
"Do you think that will work?" Alison asked.
Rita shrugged her shoulders.
"Perhaps I do not know."
"What you do?" Lily asked.
"A call. Don't worry." said Rita.
They went Home. When Rita, Lily, and Alison entered the Louds' house, Lori and Lucy were in the living room. Lori was on her phone as usual and Lucy was writing her poetry. The two noticed Rita, Lily and Alison.
"Hi. Where have you been?" asked Lori.
"We went for a walk." said Rita. Lori and Lucy looked at each other briefly. Somehow her mother's voice didn't sound believable.
"Okay. Was it nice?" asked Lori.
"Yes." said Alison.
"Lily, Al, do you want to play in the garden?" asked Rita.
"Oh yes. What do you think Lily?" Alison asked.
"Play catch." said Lily happily.
Rita nodded. The three went into the garden. Lori and Lucy looked out the window in the kitchen into the garden, and watched Rita, Lily and Alison as the three of them played tag.
"Powr plant." said Lily.
"No everything is fine." said Rita.
"Power plant? What does Lily mean by that?" Lori asked softly.
"They were by the river. That's where the nuclear power plant is. Maybe they were there." said Lucy.
Lucy looked at Lori.
"I think we should check what's going on at Alison's house. I don't mean to imply anything, but she's a bit odd." said Lucy.
"Are you going to break into Alison's house? You know burglars are scary." said Lori.
"That's the second reason." said Lucy.
Lori couldn't help it. The two went to Alison's house and entered the backyard. Lucy recognized a tilted window.
"Lori, lift me up to that window." said Lucy.
Lori nodded and lifted Lucy up to the window. With her thin arms, Lucy could open the window from the inside. When it was open, Lucy climbed in and Lori climbed in after her. The two communicated via hand signals. Even if no one was home, the two didn't want to make any noise. The two looked around. Nothing suspicious here. There were letters on the table in the living room. Lori and Lucy sneaked upstairs to Alison's room. The two immediately saw the shards of the mirror, and traces of blood.
"Alison must have been mad at herself." said Lucy. "How do you mean that?" asked Lori.
"Classic case. When you're angry with yourself, and you look in a mirror, you see yourself. Then you want to take the anger out on yourself."
"Sounds logical."
"She cut herself on impact. And the one shard that looks like a scalpel is farther away. She was probably thinking of hurting herself more, or more."
"How do you know such things?"
"I read books. And certain parts of the human mind are very easy to read." Lori looked at Lucy. Lucy looked back, it certainly looked that way.
"They have to explain a lot to us." said Lori.
Lucy nodded. The two left the house as unobtrusively as they entered it. End of Chapter nine