The Dogs of Chernobyl

Prologue

April 26th, 1986

A light mist hung over the tops of the grey buildings, shrouding everything in a silvery glimmer. The faint sounds of human voices could be heard, indicating that the people of Pripyat were awakening another day. Streetcars were already beginning to crawl up and down the streets, and children laughed and played as they walked down the streets on the way to school.

In the north part of the city, a presence observed curiously, feeling sparks of amusement course through its concrete body as it watched over its beloved and booming town. It loved being in Pripyat- the people, the animals, and just the general enthusiasm of the city made the fact that it had been sitting in the same place for close to nine years more bearable. Besides being under constant threat of nuclear attack by the United States, as it was in the midst of the Cold War, Soviet Ukraine was an amazing place to live, and although the Great One of Chernobyl had obviously never seen anything outside of it, it loved it just the same.

The sound of footsteps reached the Great One's consciousness, and it shifted its attention to just a few feet away from the barbed wire fence that surrounded it, to catch sight of a human being- a male- walking towards it.

"Good morning, Great One!" the man hailed it from where he was standing. It instantly recognized him as Yuri, one of the workers from its reactors. "Beautiful weather we're having, isn't it?"

"It certainly is," the nuclear power plant agreed in its high pitched, slightly gravelly telepathic voice. "All the better for the carnival opening today. Those children will be so happy. Their mothers' ears must be falling off listening to them talk about it."

Yuri laughed. "You certainly do have quite the humour for a hunk of concrete!" The Great One knew that Yuri didn't intend that in a mean way. After all, he was one of the nuclear power plant's closest friends that worked at it.

"Now remember," Yuri added, sounding more serious now, "the workers in the control room of your fourth reactor are going to be carrying out a test shortly to see how much power it can take at once. No fooling around. No your mom jokes, no screaming 'I'm having a meltdown!' at those poor pedestrians walking by, got it?"

If the Great One of Chernobyl had hands, it would've saluted him. "Got it!"

Yuri glanced at the watch on his arm. "Now, they should be starting the test any minute..." he murmured.

Suddenly, the Great One became aware of a slight tingling sensation in the core of its fourth reactor, gradually growing until it became a throbbing warmth. "Uh, Yuri?" 

Yuri's eyes narrowed curiously. "What's up?"

"I think I-" the Great One was cut off suddenly as a sharp, excruciating pain lanced through the core of its fourth reactor, followed by a massive swell of pressure that gradually shifted into a tingling pain in the walls of the reactor. It gasped.

Yuri race forward, gripping the fence with his hands. "Great One! What's wrong?"

The Great One of Chernobyl didn't have to think about it. It just knew. "I'm having a meltdown!" it exclaimed.

Yuri sighed. "Now, Great One, what did I tell y-"

Yuri's voice was drowned out suddenly as a massive bang, louder than anything the Great One had ever heard in its life, shook the ground around it.

It just had time to shift its attention to the fourth reactor, which was now hidden by a huge plume of smoke, before it blacked out.