Lilia's Tale

Chapter 1: Transfer

My name is John, and I am what you would call a "normal" person. I have a wife who I have been married to for three years now, as well as a stable home and job. My life has previously been quite painful, involving tales of abuse during middle school and nervous depression. I am neither tall nor short, neither large nor thin in musculature. I am what they call an electrician. I verify the integrity of electrical systems and carry on the repairs if needed, or ask for additional operations to be carried out if on-site repairs are impossible. It is a simple work, but it allows both my wife and I to live comfortably. It does include certain health risks, including electrocution, but in most cases the work is rather safe. Additionally, more often than not, work is carried out in low-power environments such as peoples' homes, and with electricity cut out.

Those are the standard conditions for my work. However, just like with every standard, there are exceptions. Today was such an exception. My work is carried out in terms of "missions", which is a simple way to say I have one thing to do at a specific place and I am paid depending on how many missions I carry out, as well as how dangerous and complex missions are, based on my reports and that of the client. This specific mission was one of a kind, to say the least. As I was considered in my company to be a very capable worker, I was trusted with a mission marked as "extremely urgent". I was to go to a nuclear power plant due to an unknown power outage affecting the entirety of the station. The technicians on site were unable to locate the source or identify the problem, and as such asked for help for my company. They were running on a backup system, sized to sustain the station for up to six hours. Was it to run out, the power plant would overheat and eventually explode.

I cancelled my current mission with approval of my direct superior and drove directly to the station, which was roughly an hour away taking a highway. When I arrived, I noticed I wasn't the only person called on site, as one of my co-workers, Jason, was already on site and waiting for me. There were also police officers, and a large area around the plant was under police lockdown. When questioned about it, they explained that they could not give much information, but weren't sure if the reason for the power outage wasn't of terrorist origin. They allowed me to enter when I showed my identity card, and both Jason and I arrived to the power plant itself. We decided to split in order to cover more ground quicker, as time was of the essence, and I was dispatched alongside the head technician to inspect the energy supply.

It was underground and rather close to the nuclear core, so I had to wear a suit I wasn't familiar with. I put it on, and entered the room. I thoroughly inspected the large amalgam of wires, painstakingly inspecting every wire and both its origin and end. The suit made things quite complicated as I did not have as much freedom in my field of view and my movements. I went as quickly as I possibly could, until I noticed something that first struck me as peculiar. As I was pushing cables aside, I noticed one of them had its insulation melted, rendering it unprotected. Not only was it a major safety issue, but it also meant that very powerful current was blasted through that wire, making it heat up to dangerous levels. I wanted to inspect the wire more closely, looking at what was the input. I reached for the cable and grabbed it...

I expected the suit to be insulated, as well as the general power supply to have been cut, as I was accustomed to. To my dismay, it wasn't. Deadly and powerful current went straight through me, shocking me continuously as the electricity went from my arm all the way to my leg, dissipating into the ground. The energy was enough that my muscles and nerves were out of my control, making me unable to release my grip, as my entire body was shaking. The situation was even worse as I had gripped it with my left hand, meaning the electricity went through my heart. Only a few seconds passed, but they felt like hours to me, as I was suffering from my body melting from the inside. Eventually, I lost consciousness, and could only assume I was dead. The last thought that went through my mind was "I'm sorry, darling..."