Danny Phantom: Stories of the Dead

Technus

Technus:

Nicolai Technus was a smart engineer of his time, which was he was employed at the expo to work with the scientists. Granted, sometimes his mouth got him in trouble. It was because of his mouth that he earned the nickname, 'Runner.' He was always running his mouth. Now, it wasn't bad things that came out his mouth. It wasn't gossip like Dr. Stewart. It wasn't complaints like the ones from Dr. Drew. It wasn't fake and bubbly like Dr. Karren. Everything that came out of Dr. Technus' mouth had something to do with his project, which didn't sound too bad until you heard how he talked about the project... and occasionally referred to himself in the third person.

"I, Nicolai Technus, shall complete this project," Dr. Technus said as he puffed out his chest in pride.

The nearby scientists merely rolled their eyes. The project in question was rather complex. It was meant to be the 'ultimate computer.' Should it be completed and work, it would make Apple look like a little kid's toy. It would be able to do anything and everything should it work and Nicolai Technus was determined to make it work.

"Give it up, Dr. Technus," Dr. Karren said.

"I, Nicolai Technus, never give up!"

His face scrunched up in concentration as he looked over his work. It should work- there wasn't any reason he could see as to why it wouldn't. With that in mind, he plugged in the machine only to sigh in frustration when nothing- not even a spark- showed from the large computer.

Running a hand through his hair, he grumbled to himself about the failed project.

He was the only one at the expo. He was the only one willing to stay there for over time in order to work on his project. Truthfully, it was the only time he could work on his project. When the others were there it was always, 'Technus do this!' 'Technus, you're the engineer do something!' 'Can you give me a hand?' 'Technus do that!' He never had a chance for himself when the others were there. So as a result, he found peace working alone after hours to finish his project and it would get finished. It would work. He wasn't sure what he would do if it didn't.

He rubbed his chin in thought as he paced the floor, thinking about all the ways he could make it work. Finally, he got an idea. He unplugged the machine and worked on the inside components a bit. He snipped a wire there, a wire here, and placed a chip there, took out this and that, put in that and this... When he was finally content, he put it all back together with a smile of satisfaction.

He frowned suddenly, remembering that he should have done something different. He took it back apart, but didn't bother to unplug it from the large core that the expo used for power- which was far more powerful than any normal socket. Aside from the mistake of not unplugging it, he also forgot another important thing- he was grounded when he touched the live wires.

The thing with electricity- it was always running, flowing, moving. It just needed something to flow through. When you plug and unplug something, for the most part, you're safe. The electricity doesn't do any harm. If you are grounded, holding just one piece of metal, plugging something in or out will shock you or kill you- that's just when plugging something in. Now imagine if you were actually holding the live wire as you were grounded and it wasn't just the normal amount of electricity- it was a large core generator that was producing the electricity. The electricity wouldn't just shock you or kill you. It would kill you- that was exactly what was happening to Nicolai Technus.

The hairs on his neck stood on end as thousands of volts of electricity passed through him, shocking him...

It was a painful way to go...

And he didn't even finish his project.