The Meltdown at Station Zero
As the night shift monitoring technician for the deep-core geothermal plant, Ronald usually enjoyed the profound silence. That was until the core temperature gauges began fluctuating in a jagged, erratic pattern that spelled out words in binary code. Thinking it was a software glitch, he attempted a hard reboot of the mainframe terminal. Instead of resetting, the monitors flickered violently, displaying a live security feed of the subterranean chamber that should have been completely empty. Dozens of pale, elongated humanoids were gathered around the primary coolant valve, slowly turning the massive wheel counter-clockwise with synchronized force. The facility klaxons blared to life a second too late as the pressure valves blew, releasing a blinding wave of scorching steam that carried hundreds of whispers through the ventilation shafts.
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