Rachana did as she was told. She allowed it to fiddle with and observe the wristband PDA, and she watched it in turn, curious. She'd never have guessed the beast was this intelligent. Had it always been this way, or had it somehow developed these traits over the course of this fucked-up experiment? Perhaps increasing its intelligence was the point. Perhaps that was true for all of the creatures they'd unleashed.
Rachana was fascinated, in truth. This was well outside her usual field of study, but knowing the Chimera was capable of sapience and intelligence changed everything about it. It seemed almost a waste, throwing it into this violent game against a bunch of armed humans. It seemed like the exact kind of idiotic little "experiment" cooked up by a scientist who'd read too many trashy sci-fi novels and didn't have anyone around them with enough backbone to cut the chord on it. Studying this creature and allowing it to develop in a safer, healthier environ could have taught them far more than letting it butcher and be butchered in turn.
She felt almost a little sorry, then, for what she was about to do.
Rachana whipped her arm up out of the creature's grasp. With the sprayer over her back and the nozzle in her grip, she sprayed the Chimera with the grease, trying to coat it evenly while backing her way up the rickety stairs.
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Perhaps it was a little heartless to admit, but now that the Chimera had been coated in the flammable grease, Art didn't really see a point in keeping Rachana around. She'd served her purpose well, but now the Chimera had been alerted that they were planning something, he didn't want this chance to go to waste. Popping out of his hiding spot, Art made for the door that the Chimera had ripped open, turning around once he was there, hopefully not close enough to be seriously hurt by the explosion, and shooting the explosive barrels.
He instantly realised, as the sound, heat and shockwave started to envelop him, that he had been too close anyway.
He instantly realised, as the sound, heat and shockwave started to envelop him, that he had been too close anyway.
It struggled to understand the words on the screen. One was familiar. Seen often in the sterile place where it had first grown new eyes to read them. Not comprehended at the time, merely stored in the depths of memory.
Chimera.
Is that what they called it? Was that a name? What else did they know?
The first human wrenched herself away, and attacked. Naturally. Prey would find any way to escape. It attempted to gain its footing and give chase, only to slip on the stairs and fall forwards.
Chimera caught the burst of light in one of its secondary eyes. The second human had struck again, but the Chimera felt no impact on its hide. Heat, flame, and pressure met its hide from the other direction. A jet of fire slithered out from a punctured container, curling in the air before suddenly expanding outwards. There was another blast, and a bright flash.
It screeched, initially out of frustration, and then out of fear.
It smelled the fumes acutely when it had entered. This place could burn.
They would burn.
As the Chimera leapt back to its feet, an explosion rocked through the first floor of the Powerhouse, blowing out every window and collapsing an adjacent wall. Fire completely enveloped the three.
Rachana was violently wrenched upward by the blast, dashed against a steel girder before falling back into a rapidly expanding puddle of burning fuel oils. If she had any awareness of what was happening, it was only fleeting.
Art and the Chimera were both thrown a short distance out of the building in a shower of debris and fire; while the Chimera’s exoskeleton protected it from some of the shrapnel and flame, Art was not so lucky.
Moments after impact, when awareness returned to him, he could only writhe in silent agony as the burning fuel consumed his broken body.
The Chimera struggled to pull itself from the debris. Even with its adaptation, it struggled to draw breath through the smoke and fumes. It coughed up iridescent blood and bile, which quickly caught fire. Its tail had broken, and so it removed it. Many of the bones it had reinforced to deal with their weapons had nevertheless shattered, and it collapsed only a short distance from the spot it had landed.
It did not know what kind of force could cause such a reaction, only that it must’ve been the same it had adapted to earlier, but on a much larger scale. Hubris. It heard that word before. "Such hubris" a human in white had said, behind thick panes of glass. The emotion seemed correct.
They had mastered fire, and understood it - Chimera merely adapted. It still knew so little. Why then, did it still think itself superior?
The creature cast a fearful look back at the smouldering powerhouse. Only seconds later, another far more violent explosion completely levelled the ruin, ejecting a fiery mushroom cloud into the grey arctic sky. The blast shook the island, knocking loose snow off of every roof, hill, and rocky crag.
Observing the carnage, watching the twisted steel and shattered brick fall back into the now-empty foundation of the Powerhouse, one could've been mistaken for assuming that no living thing could have survived such an event.
And yet...
P05 - Rachana Kumar: DECEASED
P21 - Arthur "Art" Miles: DECEASED
Chimera.
Is that what they called it? Was that a name? What else did they know?
The first human wrenched herself away, and attacked. Naturally. Prey would find any way to escape. It attempted to gain its footing and give chase, only to slip on the stairs and fall forwards.
Chimera caught the burst of light in one of its secondary eyes. The second human had struck again, but the Chimera felt no impact on its hide. Heat, flame, and pressure met its hide from the other direction. A jet of fire slithered out from a punctured container, curling in the air before suddenly expanding outwards. There was another blast, and a bright flash.
It screeched, initially out of frustration, and then out of fear.
It smelled the fumes acutely when it had entered. This place could burn.
They would burn.
As the Chimera leapt back to its feet, an explosion rocked through the first floor of the Powerhouse, blowing out every window and collapsing an adjacent wall. Fire completely enveloped the three.
Rachana was violently wrenched upward by the blast, dashed against a steel girder before falling back into a rapidly expanding puddle of burning fuel oils. If she had any awareness of what was happening, it was only fleeting.
Art and the Chimera were both thrown a short distance out of the building in a shower of debris and fire; while the Chimera’s exoskeleton protected it from some of the shrapnel and flame, Art was not so lucky.
Moments after impact, when awareness returned to him, he could only writhe in silent agony as the burning fuel consumed his broken body.
The Chimera struggled to pull itself from the debris. Even with its adaptation, it struggled to draw breath through the smoke and fumes. It coughed up iridescent blood and bile, which quickly caught fire. Its tail had broken, and so it removed it. Many of the bones it had reinforced to deal with their weapons had nevertheless shattered, and it collapsed only a short distance from the spot it had landed.
It did not know what kind of force could cause such a reaction, only that it must’ve been the same it had adapted to earlier, but on a much larger scale. Hubris. It heard that word before. "Such hubris" a human in white had said, behind thick panes of glass. The emotion seemed correct.
They had mastered fire, and understood it - Chimera merely adapted. It still knew so little. Why then, did it still think itself superior?
The creature cast a fearful look back at the smouldering powerhouse. Only seconds later, another far more violent explosion completely levelled the ruin, ejecting a fiery mushroom cloud into the grey arctic sky. The blast shook the island, knocking loose snow off of every roof, hill, and rocky crag.
Observing the carnage, watching the twisted steel and shattered brick fall back into the now-empty foundation of the Powerhouse, one could've been mistaken for assuming that no living thing could have survived such an event.
And yet...
P05 - Rachana Kumar: DECEASED
P21 - Arthur "Art" Miles: DECEASED
Excerpt from Subsection 4.02 - Impact Assessment
…unfortunately, in part due to budgetary concerns but primarily owing to deficiencies in oversight of logistical personnel, the fuel storage in the Serensk-1 Power Station was not pumped out before the launch of the experiment. Interviews with key logistical personnel confirmed that they had made the incorrect assumption about the origin and nature of the fuel stored in Serensk-1.
While much of the fuel was long-expired Mazut fuel oil, left by the Soviet (later Russian) presence on the island, this did not comprise the majority of the fuel stored at Serensk-1. While the facility did contain large reserves of low-grade bunker fuel oil, the facility also was likely used as a general storage for TS-1 jet fuel, as it possessed the necessary equipment to store many grades of fuel in the long-term. Though we do not have access to complete records, we would posit that this likely owed to the future role of Severniy Norin as a staging area for the Soviet Navy. Furthermore, review of the available footage and samples taken at the site would indicate that unknown quantities of naphtha-kerosene Jet B were likely stored by Hayes Aerospace in the facility during their occupation of the site.
We can conclude that if the logistical team’s assumptions were correct, and the facility had only contained Mazut, firearms discharge in the facility would not have resulted in detonation of available fuel stores. The resulting fire was considered an acceptable outcome in discussions with the Project Director.
However, due to the presence of far more volatile fuel in the Serensk-1 Power Station, our team argues that detonation was inevitable in the event of a prolonged engagement. The initial explosion, likely from a drum of TS-1, set fires throughout the first floor of the facility. Approximately two minutes, thirty-one seconds afterwards, a second explosion starting from a larger holding tank annihilated the facility. NOAA and DoD assets were able to maintain discretion by following the established procedure for a fire at the site, although concerns were voiced about the unexpected scale of the explosion and subsequent smoke plume, as well as subsequent detonations of oil tanks on site. Discretion was successfully maintained despite these concerns.
In the next section, we will discuss preventative measures to ensure discretion in operations at Site D, including revised procedures for logistical personnel…
…unfortunately, in part due to budgetary concerns but primarily owing to deficiencies in oversight of logistical personnel, the fuel storage in the Serensk-1 Power Station was not pumped out before the launch of the experiment. Interviews with key logistical personnel confirmed that they had made the incorrect assumption about the origin and nature of the fuel stored in Serensk-1.
While much of the fuel was long-expired Mazut fuel oil, left by the Soviet (later Russian) presence on the island, this did not comprise the majority of the fuel stored at Serensk-1. While the facility did contain large reserves of low-grade bunker fuel oil, the facility also was likely used as a general storage for TS-1 jet fuel, as it possessed the necessary equipment to store many grades of fuel in the long-term. Though we do not have access to complete records, we would posit that this likely owed to the future role of Severniy Norin as a staging area for the Soviet Navy. Furthermore, review of the available footage and samples taken at the site would indicate that unknown quantities of naphtha-kerosene Jet B were likely stored by Hayes Aerospace in the facility during their occupation of the site.
We can conclude that if the logistical team’s assumptions were correct, and the facility had only contained Mazut, firearms discharge in the facility would not have resulted in detonation of available fuel stores. The resulting fire was considered an acceptable outcome in discussions with the Project Director.
However, due to the presence of far more volatile fuel in the Serensk-1 Power Station, our team argues that detonation was inevitable in the event of a prolonged engagement. The initial explosion, likely from a drum of TS-1, set fires throughout the first floor of the facility. Approximately two minutes, thirty-one seconds afterwards, a second explosion starting from a larger holding tank annihilated the facility. NOAA and DoD assets were able to maintain discretion by following the established procedure for a fire at the site, although concerns were voiced about the unexpected scale of the explosion and subsequent smoke plume, as well as subsequent detonations of oil tanks on site. Discretion was successfully maintained despite these concerns.
In the next section, we will discuss preventative measures to ensure discretion in operations at Site D, including revised procedures for logistical personnel…