Interstitial II - Incidents and Accidents

=== The Conversion Bureau: A New Age, A New Life ====== Interstitial II: Incidents and Accidents ===

[ Near Los Pegasus, Equestria -- Mar 26, ??? + 1 @ 11:30 PM ]

"GET OFF THE STAGE!"

"YOU'RE TERRIBLE!"

"BOO THIS MARE!"

          The jeers and shouting were still ringing in the ears of the azure and the (pale-)cornflower-maned showmare. It had been a couple of years since the incident in Ponyville with a certain violet Unicorn and her freakish-for-her-age magical capacity, and the azure Unicorn still hadn't gotten over it.

“WHY CAN’T TRIXIE GET OVER THIS! THAT HAPPENED FOREVER AGO!” she screamed at the heavens; the heavens deigning not to respond.

Everything up until that point two years ago was going just peachy for her. She was making her name as one of the best young up and coming illusionists in all of Equestria. It wasn’t long before she was going to have her name in lights in the grandest theatres of Los Pegasus. Then, that incident happened.

“Go to Ponyville, they said! It’s a nice small town with a bunch of unassuming marks, they said! You’ll make a killing there, they said!” Trixie said, wanting desperately to demolish something with a burst of magic or a swift heel-kick, but thinking better of it.

It had been two years. Two years of struggling, two years of saving, two years of basically living as much a Spartan life as her ego would allow, in order for her to finally build up the cash to replace her precious carriage.

"Stupid Ponyville! Stupid Twilight Sparkle! STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!!" Trixie continued to shout as her miserable failure of a debut in Los Pegasus, combined with two years worth of pent up frustration, was sending her into an absolute fit. Little did she know, the heavens were beginning to respond to her rather impressive tantrum.

          She had finally managed to drag herself, and what belongings she could salvage from the Ursa Minor clusterfuck, to Los Pegasus. There, she was going to start fresh, she was going to start anew, she was going to reclaim her self-professed title of "The Great And Powerful" Trixie.

Needless to say, her show went over like a lead balloon. The illusions were child's play, the stage tricks were pedestrian, and the stories she told were the very definition of 'boring as all fuck'. It was as if the metaphorical de-pantsing she suffered two years ago had stripped her of anything resembling 'showmanship'.

"Why can't I just forget that night?! WHY WON'T YOU LET ME FORGET THAT NIGHT?!!!" The cornflower-maned pusedo-showmare yelled at the sky in an accusatory tone. She was in such a fury at this point, she basically ignored that magical sixth-sense all Unicorns were supposed to have regarding a sudden spike of magic, as the clouds above her grew unnaturally dark for there being no Pegasi on weather duty. She also ignored her body starting to glow with Terran runes in an even more pale cornflower than her mane.

She stomped around, she slung rocks, she did everything she could to display anger without trying to damage her rather plainly adorned carriage.

She finally reared back on her rear hooves, looked up at the sky, and shouted one very pertinent question. "UNIVERSE, WHY DO YOU HATE ME!?"

The universe, finally tired of her shenanigans, decided to answer her...

with a well-placed, magic-generated lightning bolt to her horn.

           She squealed and stammered in pain as the magic bolt struck her, and surged through her system; completely lighting her up physically and mentally. She staggered around afterward, every inch of her body ringing with pain, her extremities and ends of her mane singed. The runes disappeared as she stumbled around like someone drunk on some especially strong liquor. Before she passed out though, she did manage to say one last thing to the heavens.

"Trixie will have the largest stack of pancakes you sell, with strawberries on the side, and maple syrup please..."

==----==

[ Near Ponyville, Equestria -- Mar 27, ??? + 1 @ 4:40 PM ]

          The Cutie Mark Crusaders sat at their clubhouse on the edge of the Apple's property at Sweet Apple Acres. They were discussing how the recent wave of 'weird energy' that swept over Equestria had made them start really thinking about things.

"You all remember a week ago right, when I told you I felt that weird energy appear?" Sweetie Belle said, feeling the flux through her horn.

"Yeah, somethin' was definitely up with that. Even though it wasn't somethin' you could see," Apple Bloom added.

"It was like... I dunno, honestly. I didn't get a bad feeling from it, but it wasn't good either. I guess 'weird' is the only word for it," Scootaloo replied; all three of the fillies nodded sagely as they continued to contemplate things.

          After the brief discussion, they all decided to head outside to see if they could figure out just what the weird wave was, or if it had done anything. As it would turn out, that 'wave' did indeed do some things, quite a lot of things.

Sweetie Belle was humming a song she picked up from the local radio station. It was nothing of particular note, although it seemed like the audience she was attracting found it positively captivating.

"Yo Sweetie Belle, have you ever had that happen to you?" Scootaloo asked, noticing the odd trail of small animals following Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie Belle was broken out of her reverie once she noticed what Scootaloo was talking about. "Well, yeah it's happened from time to time. But, now that you mention it... it hadn't happened like this..."

The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked on at the odd sight of all the birds and squirrels that were trailing Sweetie coming to a dead stop once Sweetie stopped humming. They all had a strange look in their eyes, some of the animals with larger eyes with a discernable yellow glow in those eyes.

"Ya know, Ah think it might have somethin' to do with that Sweetie..." Apple Bloom started as she pointed a hoof at a pair of yellow marks near her mouth.

Sweetie Belle was deeply confused by the markings around her mouth, there was nothing like that around her face before they left the clubhouse. "Um... I... huh? Okay, that was definitely not there before."

"Might have something do with that weird feeling we all got a few days ago," Scootaloo figured.

After a few moments of not humming or singing, the runes disappeared and the animals subsequently scattered, not knowing where they were initially. Sweetie Belle was thankful that she didn't have to deal with a menagerie following her for the rest of the evening, but was still somewhat confused by the whole experience.

"Maybe that's your talent, getting animals to do what you want by singing," Scootaloo said somewhat jokingly, knowing how well Sweetie Belle sung. After saying as much, she was suddenly struck with inspiration. "Hey, wait, your horn wasn't glowing when you were singing, so maybe if I..."

"If ya 'what' Scoots?" Apple Bloom asked, not following Scootaloo's train of thought.

Scootaloo had a devious look in her face. "Ha-ha, just watch 'Bloom."

          The orange Pegasus-filly strapped on her helmet ran a good distance away from where her two friends were now sitting still. She mounted her scooter proper, and took off. "Alright, here goes nothing!" she shouted as she picked up speed; eventually her still underdeveloped wings were fluttering, as yellow runes appeared along her back and a few along all four of her hooves.

"You know... I think she's going faster than she usually does on that thing," Sweetie Belle said as she watched Scootaloo approaching their position at a faster clip than normal.

"Judgin' by that dust cloud she's kickin' up along the road... Ah agree," Apple Bloom said as Scootaloo continued her approach.

"In fact... I don't think she's even kicking along the ground... and she's still going tha-" Sweetie Belle started before Scootaloo crossed in front of them and let out a great yell.

"GET READY TO FLY!!!" the orange and magenta-maned filly shouted as a massive updraft lifted her and the scooter in the air and knocked her two friends a few fractions of a length away.

"WOAH! Just what in tarnation was that?" Apple Bloom said, as she made sure her bow was still secure on her head.

"I have no clue, but there she goes..." Sweetie Bell said as she brushed leaves out of her mane, and watched Scootaloo float through the air.

It was difficult to say if Scootaloo was actually flying, but she was definitely airborne, and not falling very rapidly, if at all. Scootaloo even had time to do a few kickflips and hoof-stands while floating in the air, her fluttering wings slowing her descent. When she finally landed, the other two ran over trying to figure out just what in the heck had happened.

"Alright missy, spill it. You've been practicin' ya flyin' behind our backs or somethin'?" Apple Bloom asked, quite interested in how she pulled off that aerial display.

"Well, I guess like myself, it has something to do with that on her hooves," Sweetie Belle posited as she was looking at the strange looking characters along Scootaloo's hooves and along her back between her wings.

"Yeah, it started a couple of days ago. Fluttershy was talking about this big, display or something, the four Ponies from Earth did not too long ago. So when I felt that weird wave, something just made me try it out," Scootaloo said as she took her helmet back off, shaking her mane back loose. The runes were already fading as she wasn't in the air at that moment.

          Somewhile later, they were back on Sweet Apple Acres near the fringe of the property. Apple Bloom was walking around, looking at the various older trees, until she found one in particular. It was very sickly, and barely had any leafing branches left on it.

"Say fillies, Ah betcha Ah can knock this tree down with one kick," Apple Bloom said, with a look of the utmost confidence.

A confidence that was not shared by her two friends. "Yeah, I dunno. Even if it does look terribly sick, I don't think one kick is gonna knock it down," Sweetie Belle replied, confused by the sudden proclamation of strength.

"Hah, watch meh!" Apple Bloom said, as she walked up to the tree and placed a forehoof on it. Her hooves began to glow with green, as she traced a line along the old tree that only she could see.

Heh, are they gonna be in for a shock!

Apple Bloom turned around and lined herself up. With a swift strike, the green glow in her rear-hooves disappeared, and nothing happened for a couple of moments.

"So... what was supposed to happen 'Bloom?" Scootaloo asked, confused by the display so far.

"Just watch, Scoots," Apple Bloom replied.

The three of them saw green charge run along the invisible path Apple Bloom traced, all the way to the top of the tree; finishing with a little explosion at the top of the tree. After which, every single branch fell off the tree to the ground with a loud thud. Which was then followed by the ENTIRE tree sans root tipping over, collapsing on the ground opposite the three fillies.

"That was... wow..." Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo said in unison, utterly shocked by the display.

"Ah know, right!" Apple Bloom said, absolutely beaming with pride.

==-----==

[ Somewhere within the Everfree Forest, Equestria -- Mar 27, ??? + 1 @ 9:30 PM ]

"Spirits of the world guide me. In this cottage of the Everfree..."

"Spirits of the world guide me. In this cottage of the Everfree..."

          The chanting could be heard for a few lengths all around a cottage located somewhat deep within the Everfree Forest. All but the hardiest of Equestrians found living in said location, long ago designated a Wild Zone by the Royal Sisters, to be far more trouble than it was worth. However, the occupant of this cottage was no Equestrian.

"Spirits of the world guide me. In this cottage of the Everfree..."

"Spirits of the world guide me. In this cottage of the Everfree..."

          The charcoal-and-white striped figure sat in her meditation circle, surrounded by the vapors of various incenses and brief flashes of color. Zecora was taken aback almost a week ago, as she felt the dramatic shift in the Astral Plane post-unsealing of Terran Mana. Due to that, she was beginning to sense ancient spirits travelling between the world recently connected and the world Equestria occupied.

"These spirits are foreigners to this land. Who is to say that they all are bad..."

          As she strolled along the Astral Plane, her suspicions in other respects began to bear out. The spirits resembled many of the living beings of Equestria, and the other territories and nations of her world. At first, she was shocked that the ancient spirits that were migrating were so similar, but then she began to put two and two together.

"Those spirits that have crossed into this plane bear such similarity. Our two worlds must have shared an ancient familiarity..."

          She then began to sense and examine the new mana that was migrating to her world with said spirits. She could feel an amplification of her existing abilities, as if that mana was the very concept of power. She could also feel that said power was extremely raw, as if it had been bottled up for an incredibly long time; nowhere near as refined as the mana ambient in Equestria and the rest of her world. With that, she exited the Astral Plane, breaking herself out of her meditative state. She began putting out the fires around her, and placing her charms back into her storage chests. This night's session of investigation into what exactly was crossing into this world had proven to be quite fruitful, as she begun to divine in her own way what the future held for Equestria and its neighbors.

"This power is raw and untamed, but to deny its existence would truly be a shame. That which can control it will certainly be a boon; that which abuses it, will certainly spell nothing but doom."

==-----==

[ Canterlot Magical Research Facility No. 2, Equestria -- Mar 29, ??? + 1 @ 1:30 PM ]

"Shining dear, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, not even my aunts have the best grasp on what this new magic is capable of."

"Baby, we just have to play this by ear. That's why were in the Training Field; this is gonna be one long experiment, and it looks like we're all gonna be guinea pigs for it."

          The two still-technically newlyweds were by themselves in a training space, doing their best to learn Terran Magic in their own way. Princess Cadence was taking the role of sword, lobbing various 'balls' of whichever element; as Shining Armor took his usual role of shield, figuring out a method to defend against in as generic a way as possible.

"One thing I've already learned after doing this for a week - Terran Magic is extremely dynamic and unpredictable. I don't know if there is a singular catch-all spell that can defend against it. That, combined with what we know of humanity, means finding a single catch-all spell for defense will probably be next to useless," Shining Armor said despondently, finishing up another round of catching stray 'balls'; similar to how an infielder would track down ground balls from his fielding coach.

Cadence giggled a bit at her husband's mild consternation at not being able to find the perfect shield. "And you are quite upset by that fact, I think anyone can see that. Although personally, I like how dynamic this new magic is. We're already finding so many potential uses for it; and that's just using the four main types of magic my aunts have observed. Something also tells me that some mixing and matching will produce a bevy of wonderful new techniques."

"On another note, you look pretty cute when those runes flash along that long body of yours," Shining Armor said as he flashed that million-bit smile that got Cadence to fall for him in the first place.

"Oh, you always know just what to say with me..." Cadence replied, flitting over to her husband, and grabbing him in a sudden warm embrace. What Shining Armor couldn't see, at first anyway, were the bright red runes along Cadence's cerise coat, backwards to her flank. Nor could he see the red points of light behind her, suddenly form into dense, red, missile-like streaks of flame. The only tip-off Shining Armor got to the incoming barrage, was Cadence's trademark giggle right before he had a chance to do anything about it.

          Shining Armor, in the few moments Cadence spared him by having the fire-missiles fly a few lengths backwards before curling 'round to slam into him, suddenly found the inspiration for a new spell. Body flashing with red runes, mixed with his natural rose-color Explicit Magic, he had finally created that shield he'd been looking for. The shield was mixed crimson and rose, and easily soaked up the fire-missiles, dispersing the energy along the length of the shield.

"Never a dull moment around you..." Shining Armor said, expression flat as he successfully defended against the sneak attack. He was sure Cadence got that mischievous streak from Celestia.

Cadence giggled a bit, not having let go of Shining through the whole episode. "You know me, I have to stir the pot every once in awhile. Also, you look just as cute with the red all over your white coat."

Shining just sighed, and then smiled as he nuzzled his wife. "That's why I married you."

==-----==

[ Near Bamako, West African Administrative Zone, Earth -- Mar 25, 2081 ]

          It was another dreadfully hot day near Bamako of what was once Mali, now absorbed into a special UN Administrative zone at the behest of several companies who had been doing business in that region. The first couple of decades since the merger were marred by resistance movements and the like, although in recent decades, the regions were more or less unified... by the persistent twin threats of famine and plague. The wicked weather, increasing desertification, and poisoning of natural water sources were slowly killing the populations of Africa and the Middle East; yet it seemed like the Elite didn't care. Most of the public that acted as a bulwark again the absolute destitution of all of Africa, were now so bogged down in their own problems that there was little aid coming to the continent. As it were, nearly all of Africa had now degenerated to barely subsistence levels.

          A young man named Omar was one of the unlucky many stuck outside of the Domes. Every day was the same for him during the morning time: go to one of the few working wells around the slums to get some rank-smelling water, get a cleaning packet from one of the distribution centers, and return home with a cart full of water (hopefully without incident). This morning though, he was the victim of one of the many random assaults that occurred in the slums all around the world.

"{Hey kid, what's that you got there?!}" Omar heard a young man probably 5 years his senior at least shout at him from afar. The man quickly got down from a short wall to walk over to Omar to hear his response better.

"{It's just a water cart. I'm on my way back home from the well from filling it up,}" Omar replied, wondering how anyone who lived in the area could not know what the jury-rigged water transporting 'vehicle' looked like.

"{Is that so...}" the older man said before he snuck around Omar, and clocked the younger man in the back of the head with a piece of fabricated wood.

Although the wood was relatively weak, and snapped into many pieces once it struck Omar in the head; it was swung with enough force to stun Omar for a few moments. Plenty of time for the older man to grab the cart and run off with it.

          When Omar finally unscrambled his brain from the sudden shock. He scanned all around for the older man and his water cart. They were nowhere to be found, disappearing amongst his fellow poor dark-skinned slum-mates, and the occasional fair-skinned peace keeper in body armor. He felt a bit of blood in his short, nappy hair, thankful that the board (or whatever) he was struck with didn't do anything worse. He was afraid of returning home though, his siblings expecting the water for the day, and now he'd return high and dry. He eventually did return home, and explained to the next oldest, his first sister, what happened.

"{Omar, where is the water cart?}"

"{Someone attacked me and stole it...}"

"{That's horrible! Are you alright, do we need to go to one of the clinics?!}"

"{No, just a little cut on the back of my head. I managed to get into a public facility to wash it out. I'm just concerned with what we are going to do in the future.}"

"{I can only guess we'll have to go to one of the junkyards to make another water cart.}"

"{Yes, we'll have to get Ibrahim to do it this time, though; I'm starting to get a headache. Hopefully that board wasn't infected or something...}"

"{If you start feeling any worse, tell me. We can't afford to lose you, like our mother, to an infection.}"

"{Yes, yes I know, Malaika. I promise I will go if I start feeling any worse.}"

With that, Omar walked into his room. He was the first of 4 other siblings, father disappeared to who knows where, and mother having died 3 years previous due to a random infection while gathering junk to make tools out of. He had immense pride in keeping his family afloat in this pitiful region, but this was one of those many times where he feared that soon the world would claim him.

{This existence cannot persist. What happens when the wells run out of water?  What happens if someone strikes me with an infected weapon. Malaika, Ibrahim, Ashia -- what are they supposed to do if I am taken from the world?}

Do you wish to possess the power to save your family?

{What... what are you?}

The power to save your family is available for you, do you have the will to grasp it?

{Yes... yes... I want to help them in any way I can... even if it is as mundane as being able to find clean water...}

Then search your soul for the link to that power...

Omar contemplated the words of that mysterious voice as he drifted off to sleep.

          A few hours later, Ashia, Malakia, and Ibrahim marveled as Omar was glowing with the blue runes over his dark brown skin, and the plastic container filled up with a water more pure than any of them could ever remember seeing.

"{It is a miracle, it is nothing short of a miracle Omar!! Where did this ability come from?}" Ibrahim asked of his older brother.

"{I do not know Ibrahim. I can only surmise that it was an ability granted to me by God himself. Although, while using this, I cannot help but feel that this ability is not unique to myself. It is entirely possible this is something that others might be able to use as well...}" Omar said to his brother and the rest of his family. He could only hope that this was the start of a renewal not only for his family, but the entire region, and maybe the entire world.

==-----==

[ Chicago Domes, Earth -- Mar 28, 2081 @ 5:00 PM]

“So, what is this new project that you wanted to show me,” an impeccably dressed man said, taking off his sunglasses as he entered the building of one of the many research facilities.

“Well Vice President Spencer, some of our employees have made remarks to my fellow researchers claiming to feel this strange... energy, some of them call it, ever since that display over a week ago.” a mousy looking lab technician said, clearly in fear of Mr. Kenneth Spencer, Vice President in charge of Research and Development at Spearhead Defense Contractors, one of the largest arms dealers in the entire Western Hemisphere.

Kenneth placed his sunglasses in a case and slipped said case inside his breast pocket, before donning a lab coat himself and travelling several hundred meters underground to the testing facilities. Spearhead was a major arms supplier to the various private security firms ensuring the relative stability of the Domed Communities all over North and South America, and he always wanted to develop new products, even if the suits over in accounting didn’t exactly appreciate the extra costs incurred.

They were about halfway down the elevator shaft, when Mr. Spencer began to speak to the lab tech-turned-escort. “Now you say they have begun to feel this, strange energy. Normally I would scoff at such, metaphysical mumbo-jumbo, but I believe only the blind and dumb would ignore what happened last week. What with the entire sky turning pitch black long before sunset.” Spencer himself felt an energy brewing within him, as if there was a brand new set of tools just waiting to be put to use by his very capable hands.

“Yes, Vice President Spencer, well, some of them report being able to invoke strange effects like those... um... Ponies I believe they call themselves. Although it seems like the effects were less... how can you put it... benign than the effects said Ponies usually produce,” the lab tech said, as he went over the reports and testimony on an electronic pad.

Ugh, I hate hearing about those Ponies. Always with the ‘amicable conflict resolution’ and the ‘let’s all just get along’ with them. What happens when people can’t resolve things all nice and peaceful-like? They come to people like me, that’s what... Kenneth thought to himself, making sure not to visibly show any sign of frustration at the mere mention of said equines.

The lab technician made one last point before they reached their destination. “Anyway, I’d like to show you one of the new prototypes we’ve already begun to develop, exploiting said energy.”

“Hrm, is that so. Well, lead the way...” Vice President Spencer said, as they hopped on a AI-driven cart to head to the lab in question.

        A short while later, Kenneth Spencer was speaking with the test subject for this demonstration. He was a quiet and unassuming employee, but his abilities had earned him a red-striped lab coat for the purposes of this experiment.

“So... Allen is it? What is it that you and the researchers have to show me this evening?” Kenneth asked while eating some finger sandwiches.

“Well, my official designation is AI Overseer, but ever since that Evening of the Black Sky, as they are calling it on the ‘net in some circles. I’ve felt this... burning, like this... I dunno... like I can just sense fire,” Allen said with extreme nervousness, not sure how one of his bosses would respond all of this metaphysical before-the-last-year-would-easily-be-dismissed nonsense.

“Fire, you say...” Kenneth said, drinking a fine fruit blend, feeling it was too early in the evening for alcohol.

Allen began to feel a small welling up of confidence, as his boss did not immediately dismiss his craziness. “Well, sir, I noticed it a couple of days after that evening. I was snapping my fingers to one of the many fine musical products our media partners produce, and I noticed these sparks that’d appear whenever the music got particularly intense. So... after a few hours of practicing with it, I could make little flames. Knowing how expensive the insurance is, I made absolutely sure that nothing was damaged by said experimentation.”

Kenneth Spencer stared at Allen the AI Overseer, taking his measure. He is intensely nervous in my presence, then again, everyone except the upper-tier of researchers are. Hrm... spontaneously generated fire... a fairly basic, but brutally effective ability... at least if said ability is actually real...

“Anyway, I would like for you to explain the nature of the demonstration you had lined up for myself,” Vice President Spencer requested of Allen and the other researchers.

One of the other researchers took over the role of explaining things to the V.P. of R&D. “Well, we have noticed that the energy that produces these effects is quantifiable. According to our contacts in other research venues, the Equestrians and their allies now refer to said energy as thaumatic radiation when it is in its natural and raw form, epsilon for the type used by those Ponies, and tau for the type native to Earth.”

Magic... that is native to Earth... how very interesting indeed... Kenneth thought to himself, finding himself amenable to believing the mystical mumbo-jumbo if it meant advancing his position and giving him more leeway to create.

The researcher continued. “We believe that we have begun developing materials to help process and contain said radiation, for use by other devices or people.”

“So you believe you have created some sort of Magical Capacitor?” Kenneth asked the researcher, genuinely intrigued where this all was going.

“While we would prefer the term ‘Thaumatic-Tau Capacitor’, yes, yes we do,” the researcher responded.

“Well, let’s see what you’ve got, then,” Kenneth asked of the researchers, a devious glint in his eyes.

        Another brief pause later, Allen was standing behind a blast shield, while a black device with several white lines sat in the middle of a 200’ x 200’ demonstration room. The main researchers and Vice President Spencer all sat in a control room, observing the effects on the cameras and through the veiw-ports.

The lead technician then reached for a microphone and began to speak to Allen. “Allen, the blast shield is now secure, what we want you do is begin concentrating your Fire power into that black disc-like object in the center of the room proper. If our projections are correct, the white lines on the disc should start to glow red once you are doing it successfully.”

Allen confirmed the task, and began concentrating on filling the disc with, well, whatever it is he had to control to produce his fire.

After a few minutes of futile mis-aiming, the disc, just like the projections predicted, began to glow softly with a reddish hue; as the lines had turned a nice shade of pink.

Incredible, that device is actually collecting the power that low-ranking employee is outputting. But I wonder... Kenneth began to think while watching the display.

A few more minutes passed, and now the disc was glowing bright red, as were the lines along the disc.

“This is excellent. The disc is collecting the thaumatic-tau radiation beyond anything we could hope for this early. This... this will be nothing short of a revolution in terms of energy storage!!” the lead researcher exclaimed, utterly stunned by how much energy was contained within that disc now.

Yes... a true revolution in energy storage... and a potential revolution in something else... Kenneth thought to himself, with a look on his face that would probably put the fear of God into many a small child.

“Tell Allen to pump as much of that radiation as he can into that device, I have a suspicion of something I hope I can confirm after seeing this,” Kenneth asked of the lead researcher.

“But sir, with all due respect, we have absolutely no idea what would happen if the device goes over capacity. For that matter, we really have no clue what that capcity would be.”

“Well... it seems like NOW would be a good time to figure that out, yes?” Vice President Spencer said, placing a hand on the shoulder of the lead researcher.

“Y-y-y-yes sir! Allen, pump as much power as you can into that disk, just keep going!” the researcher promptly requested of Allen after getting the hint from Mr. Spencer.

Allen kept pumping more and more of said energy into the device, which was now glowing like a red-tinted light bulb. Eventually, the device did hit capacity... and the very next second, promptly exploded with incredible force and energy.

“Good God almighty, what in the hell was that!” Allen shouted, protected by the enclosed blast shield, which was halfway melted off by the explosion.

“That explosion was nearly 700 degrees Celsius, and with enough explosive force to equal... let’s see here... 5 kg of dynamite!” the lead researcher replied, thankful his expensive computers were not harmed by the unexpected explosion.

“Allen, my dear boy, how would you like to be promoted to a new position. Lead Researcher and Experimenter of Pyro-Class Thaumatic-Tau Radiation?” Kenneth said, barely able to restrain his absolute glee at the sheer display of destructive power.

“Um... what is the pay?” Allen asked nervously; it was always bad form to ask a boss regarding pay, most of the lower-level employees of the various Dome firms learned.

However, he had caught Mr. Spencer in a very good mood. “Double of what you are making now, with hazard pay should you manage not to melt yourself into molten slag.”

“You have a deal, Vice President Spencer!” Allen replied excitedly, already wondering when he’d be able to move into a proper house in the Chicago Domes instead of his current apartment.

A pleasure doing business with you. Once I tell the suits about the potential gold-mine we are sitting on, they won’t even care about damages to the labs anymore... Kenneth Spencer thought to himself, as the researchers scrambled to gather ever last byte of data they could in order to begin producing more advanced Thaumatic Capacitors.

==-----==