76. for the thousands

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The next morning brought with it its own abundance of issues. It seemed that there wasn't a single day that went by without some kind of problem.

The fire that ravaged the palace had been dealt with, a small part of the large building still remaining.

That's exactly where Raven and I were now, quickly making our way down the corridors toward the chamber where Emori and Murphy were staying.

The power was out all over Sanctum, meaning something had gone wrong with the reactor. Thus, Raven had requested my assistance, and our first task was getting Emori to come help as well.

"I'll stay here." I announced as we reached their door. Coming to a halt, I gave Raven a raised brow look as I leaned against the wall.

She turned to look at me. "Why?"

I shuddered as I shook my head slightly. "I do not need to see what they're doing in there."

"Oh, come on." she muttered, already throwing open the door which was immediately met with the surprised yells of Murphy and Emori.

"Six years of you walking in on us in space, and you still can't knock." Murphy groaned as Raven waltzed into the room.

I gave it a couple of seconds before finally following after her, a pointed smirk coming to my face as I entered. "What did I tell you?"

Murphy rolled off Emori. Luckily for all of us they were still partly dressed. "Oh, Collins, how nice of you to join us."

I gave him a small grin as Raven scratched at her forehead. "You think you could learn to lock a door."

Emori wore an amused expression. "What's up, guys?"

"Well, clearly not the reactor." Raven answered. "Power's out all over Sanctum. James failed me again. Get dressed." She looked between Emori and I. "Time to see how much you two were paying attention on the Ring."

The three of us made quick work getting down to the machine shop. The reactor being down meant that the shield was too. While electricity and hot water was always nice, safety and security was even nicer. That was our main motivation to get the power up and running again.

As we entered the shop, we were immediately met with the loud blaring of an alarm signalling that something had gone awry with the reactor.

"That can't be good, can it?" I questioned, giving Emori a weary look as we followed after Raven who was already rushing down the stairs to the reactor room.

Emori gave a small shake of her head as the three of us neared the tech room, Raven quickly punching in the code as I looked around for any sign of danger.

The alarm was even louder down here, causing me to wince slightly as we entered the room. There was no sign of James...something that put me on edge.

"Core temp is up, coolant pressure's down." Raven breathed, her worried eyes locked on the screen in front of us. "Where the hell is James?"

My eyes caught on a door that led toward the reactor. It was cracked slightly ajar. "The door's open." I pointed out, already making my way toward it.

Emori and Raven followed after me, the loud alarm silencing our footsteps as we approached. "Wait." Emori called, pulling Raven and I back as she picked up a dosimeter.

We all looked down at the device, noting the number that came across. "Radiation's normal." I mumbled. Something didn't seem right.

"James!" Raven yelled, searching the room as we entered.

𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞²Where stories live. Discover now