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[COLOR=AF7AC5][indent][sub][B]Location:[/B] [COLOR=white][I]Navapo, New Mexico[/I][/COLOR][/sub][sup][right][b]Seeing [color=228B22]Green[/color] – 1.05[/b][/right][/sup][/indent][/color][sub][hr][/sub][INDENT][color=AF7AC5][sub][B]Interaction(s):[/B] [COLOR=white][I]None[/I][/COLOR][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][b]Previously:[/b] [COLOR=white][I][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4987024]1.04[/url][/I][/COLOR][/right][/SUP][/color][/INDENT]
[indent]Wincing at the blue eyed gaze, Bruce looked to the side, before asking, [color=AF7AC5]“Do you mind?”[/color]

Standing in the lobby of Fendi Labs, in front of the secretary’s desk, a gray haired man in a lab coat shut his gaping mouth. With a shrug he admitted, “I don’t see very many ghosts, is all.” Bruce’s eyebrows arced in bafflement as he reflexively looked to Rick, who only shrugged. Dr. Starsky nodded for them to follow as he went beyond, muttering, “You can’t just walk away from getting hit by radiation like that with just a tan.”

Bruce sighed. [color=AF7AC5]“I see you’re glad I’m alright. And this is just a sunburn.”[/color]

Starsky reached a doorway, stopping before he opened it to give him a transfixed look. “You must have done something horribly wrong.” Shaking his head, he muttered, “Doesn’t make any sense...” Looking back up he finally rectified, “I’m am grateful you’re alive, just...”

“It...doesn’t make sense?” Rick repeated. Starsky cracked the door open, admitting, “Yeah.” Bruce could feel the love, that was for sure.

Pushing into the room, there were a few desks and chairs about, but dominating was a small reactor, layers of glass allowing visibility to the materials within. [color=AF7AC5]“What makes you think it’ll preform the tight stream we’ll looking for?”[/color] Bruce asked.

Leaning over the reactor, Starsky explained, “Well, all tests so far have show minimal scattering compared to all other known isotopes. We don’t have the equipment to test it as the scale the military wants, but it’s the most promising so far.” Going to his side, Bruce said with a certainty, [color=AF7AC5]“Well, Ross doesn’t care for promises, he cares for results. I’ll sign off on it though.”[/color] Starsky nodded, going over to the desk and shuffling around with some paperwork, while Bruce kept his attention on the reactor. Wincing, his hand moved to the spot where he was hit.

They were right, he shouldn’t be alive.

The Gamma Stream Project was a directly named experiment in hopes of developing long distance radiation focused weaponry. Well, that’s what it was now. The original project was focused more on alternative power sources and long distance recharging of specialized power cells, but the military grants and use of military nuclear resources also meant more control on what the project would become. Bruce hadn’t been happy about the change of direction, but money spoke louder than words to the ears of his seniors. Bruce may have been contracted by the military but in reality he was employed by Fendi. He didn’t even have a doctorate yet, but despite being a little more than a paid intern, he was heading the project after the senior lab technician had to go on an emergency leave. With bruce the most knowledgeable and capable regarding the project, he was put in charge, Ross very much regretting the allocation of funding that effectively let to, well, Bruce. But all that negative emotion just ended up back on Bruce unless Betty was there to deflect some of it off. He didn’t blame the General for what happened of course, but Bruce might have taken more caution without the added pressure.

At the core of the project, regardless of its purposes, was reducing the scattering of radiation as much as possible. Not only would this increase efficiency, but it would become less widely dangerous for general use. The testing chamber had dummies which would be maneuvered about to test how much radiation was being scattered. To not interfere with the results, only one would be out at a time. Bruce had been maneuvering one into the new position, decked out in a radiation suit in case of an accident with the raw materials, but he’d skipped one simple safety protocol. Within the already small chance of a power surge happening was a small chance of the Stream activating, thus for complete safety the device was to be unplugged when anyone was in the chamber. Bruce didn’t listen, and as it so turned out, well, Bruce got away with his life after a short coma. Starsky was right: he might as well have been naked in front of that beam, and the power surge only should have made it worse. And yet Bruce was fine. The only plausible explanation was that the power setting was somehow dropped to the lowest, as there was very little residual radiation in the chamber. If the stream had been at full power there would have been more evidence, but instead there was nothing.

Bruce had been using it for tests, however, he knew the settings and capabilities of the device. Even at the lowest he’d have been done for. Nothing made sense.

Paper ruffling by his face, Bruce was snapped to attention, taking pen and paper before moving to a flat surface. Skimming through them, he reached the end, uncapping the pen and moving to sign.

Then his new phone buzzed. Putting the pen down, he took it out, seeing it was from Betty. Raising a single finger to call for a moment, Bruce headed out of the room and into the hall, door hanging open as Rick waited.

Answering the call, he didn’t even get the hello off. Alongside Betty’s voice he heard someone else in the background, and they were not happy. A fullness of the sound gave Bruce the vibe of an enclosed location, his body going on edge, as everything seemed wrong.

[color=F1948A]“Bruce, I’m at the base. He-[i]hey[/i]. Glenn, [b][i]Glenn[/i][/b]. Ow, fucking don’t touch me-”[/color]

A cry quickly faded, going slightly distant before the line cut. Bruce’s jaw hung slack, phone falling away from his face, Bruce looking at the screen, only barely able to make out the short time blinking before the screen faded to his background: a picture of him and Betty at a local park.

Looking down at the phone and up at Rick just on the other side of the open doorway, his friend’s eyes were wide face clear with concern. He’d heard.

Didn’t matter.

Turning down the hall, Bruce started down, white lab-coat flowing as he stormed, teeth bared. Rick grimaced, a slight crunching and popping being heard just before Bruce turned a corner. “Bruce, Betty’s tough, you don’t need to-”

[color=AF7AC5]“[i]Kill Glenn[/i]?”[/color] Bruce hissed through gritted teeth.

“General Ross would be happy too!” Rick tried to argue, but Bruce was having none of it, quickly punching through an emergency exit to the outside. Alarms sounding, Rick threw out his hands, the loud blaring grating at his ears. “Look, just call back...here.” Turning about, Rick rushed back inside, heads poking out of doors in the hall ahead out of confusion, not exactly urgent despite the alarm going off in a lab known for handling radioactive materials among other things. Backtracking, he stepped around the corner to find the phone on the ground, busted in half, bent straight through the middle. Gawking, Rick left the useless scrap behind, running back outside. “Bruuuuuce!”

Bursting out onto the concrete walkway, Rick stopped, glancing around as his eyes readjusted to the bright light, the heat pouncing on his skin. But as much as he looked at the wide open expanse, Bruce was nowhere in sight.[/indent]