Copperoton - The Snatcher Saga

Episode 4 - The Secret of the New World Revealed

Told from the perspective of Jacen.

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The unstable glacier shook once again under Nossrunn Village, and I had little time to collect provisions for our terrible migration ahead. The Nossrunn Supermarket was my first instinct to go to. I dove down the rabbit hole and into the double doors, which were forced open. I ran amidst the aisles and displays, sliding whole rows of food off of the shelves and into a black trash bag that I tore from its respective box. I slung the bag over my shoulder once I gathered a heavy amount of spoiled food, and jumped back out of the rabbit hole.

I started towards the outskirts of the village, but only making a few steps before an ominous realization flooded all other thinking. I widened my eyes and cursed in my mind and realized... The bomb...

"HEY, JACEN!!!" I heard, interrupted from my frantic responsibilities.

I darted my head toward the voice. It was Luke Edwards, "Hey!! Just grabbing some provisions before this town goes under!" I said, panting in relief.

"Good! We've gotta hurry! Everyone's gathering at the outer rims of the village to get outta this mess!" It seemed that for a moment, Luke paused in a sudden realization, similar to mine, "Hey, Jacen, any idea where Jed went?"

I had to pause for a brief second to remember, "That's a no from me! You'll have to try your house, that's the last place I saw him!"

Luke sped toward his house on the south side of the village, and I was left to my own dreadful devices. Resuming my duty, I departed from the Nossrunn Supermarket and raced for my house. I wore the sack of food like an oversized backpack as I slid.

Sliding along the road, the glacier rumbled from within once again. I found it gruelingly difficult to keep my balance amidst the chaos. The rumbling made it difficult to keep my balance as I slid

Soon, I found myself standing before my roof, so as quickly as I entered the supermarket, I delved into my dark house.

The candles continued to fade as I plopped the sack of rotten food down on the wooden floor. I ran for the basement as fast as I possibly could, making sure to avoid all of the cluttered furniture that littered my sloppy house. My awkward, straight legs bounded down the stairs and landed on the concrete basement floor.

A quick description of my basement: as dusty and as cluttered as the rest of my house. A gigantic steel vault guarded my deadly responsibility. I bolted for the vault and began to make clumsy work of the cold steel door. My flippers stumbled over the dusty piece of protection, but I eventually managed to crack a turn of the wheel that opened it. It creaked and moaned under its own old age and wearily grew its passageway to the thing that I felt was so vitally important.

The door opened up to a hangar with dusty hardwood floors and a gigantic, shadowy figure standing at the end of it. The figure was held to the ceiling by three gigantic chains and an equally gigantic cloak covered it. I stumbled over to it and took the drape by its corner. I uncovered the cold, explosive beast and marveled at its appearance.

This 'beast' was the Tsar Bomba II, the most powerful atomic weapon ever created. It was painted orange from its original chrome cover in order to make it look like a fake. But this was no fake, for it could detonate amidst the chaos of the fall of the village, and it was my dreadful responsibility to keep it from doing so.

' The power drill rested on a tool bench that was on the opposite side of the hangar. I was going to need it to get inside the bomb to neutralize it. Before, I knew I had to neutralize it, but I couldn't figure out how. I left it alone as a result of my own stupidity. Leaving it a sleeping, breathing giant for years, ready to wake and wreak its horrible disaster.

I ran for the drill as fast as I could, making no time for any other worries. I snatched it from the worn tool bench and hurried back over to the hatch. The hatch was secured by six large bolts. My eyes scaled the door, desperately looking for a starting point. The whole bomb was elevated too high for me to unscrew the top four bolts, so I only unscrewed the bottom two. My eyes bolted back over to the tool bench, which I glared savagely at. I found myself bounding for the bench again, knocking over the tools all while kicking up the dust that settled upon it. I coughed and fanned the dust from my face. Grabbing the bench from its supporting board, I splintered my flippers on it, allowing the old wood to stab them with a ruthless sting. The stupid piece of carpentry squeaked upon the polished wooden floor.

Finally, I set the bench below the hatch where I could easily unscrew the last four bolts. I hopped on the splintery wood and allowed it's annoying pain to sting in my feet. I barely had to reach the middle screws to make quick work of them, but it was the top two that gave me the most trouble. I stood on the top phalanges of my feet (basically penguin toes) and suspended the drill as high as I could to reach the top screws. Unscrewing the top left bolt was tricky. The drill was held in an unsteady position, making it slip from its socket too easily. My flippers wore out from the monotonous and desperate work. When I finally finished unscrewing the left bolt, I reluctantly moved to the right bolt- the last one. Following the same process, the right bolt came unscrewed. As soon as I finished it, the glacier jerked downward beneath my cabin, forcing the door to fall onto me.

I stumbled and fell off of the old work bench, with the Tsar Bomba II's door following. The stupid piece of metal squashed me under it's weight. After the rumbling stopped, I slid it off of my body and finally hopped into the bomb.

Inside, a ginormous reactor sphere clogged the hollow shell of the bomb, and wires were strewn all about the round walls. The reactor sphere was made of an ominous radioactive metal that could only have been forged from the dark mantle of Copperoton. From the reactor's supports, energy surged and flowed in and through the metal bars and frame. A power panel was attached to the front of the core. Inside it, wires were cluttered and switches and buttons were lost. I scanned the cryptic display of the panel and looked for any way to put the beast to sleep. A multitude of red wires hung from the sides of the box and