Meltdown Imminent

Zale walked to the lab every day. He would take the scenic routes along the bay, and through the city. Sometimes he would stop to rest at a cafe, or maybe stay a while with a homeless man. His path always came in from the north, past the old nuclear power plant which was connected to the lab where he worked.

He had to wake early, of course, but it didn’t bother him. He always arrived on time, and he never tired of the exercise. There was transportation available, of course, but he never took it. People speculated that he wanted the exercise. Others said that he had a profound love for all things in life, and didn’t want to pass them by. Beyond that, his coworkers jokingly suggested that Zale was in fact a robot, and that the magnetic rails underneath the trolley would interfere with his internal systems.

They were right.

One would expect that some sort of story detailing the creation and maintenance of such an android would follow, but this story cannot be told, because there is no man living who knows it. Questions of where Zale came from, and indeed [i]why[/i] remain a mystery to this day.

The lab where Zale worked was connected to a nuclear power plant that was thought to have been shut down for years. Had it not been for this plant, nobody would even know that Zale was any different from anyone else.

It was a day like any other. Zale arrived at the lab, perfectly conditioned and without any wear from his three-mile hike. His co-workers snickered behind his back, feeding their insecurities as they called him a loner and a freak. Zale paid them no mind as he walked into his personal lab and locked the door. While there, Zale talked to nobody and nobody talked to him. The only exception was his first day of work, when he tried to make friends with Jonah Cayle in the zygology offices.

Jonah, like Zale, was something of an outcast. He was always looked down on as an engineer in the place of “real scientists,” as they called themselves. “A waste of funding,” he had heard as well, along with other names not pleasant to repeat. Jonah didn’t know what to think about that. At first he had dismissed the reluctance of his coworkers as simple ignorance, a case for the proof of the human condition. Everybody, Jonah felt, needed someone to pick on, someone to feel better than. And in the world of science, where there was no distinction between better or worse, how could he as a simple engineer stand up? [i]Don’t let it bother you,[/i] he always said, but it still got to him. They were right, to a degree. At any given moment, Jonah knew that there were hundreds of “real scientists” out there making a difference in the world: saving lives, finding resources, inventing new ways to simplify life. He made connections.

“Nuts, bolts, screws, rivets, hinges, you name it,” Jonah had said when Zale inquired as to his profession. “We find new ways every day to keep stuff together. Better ways. Next thing you know, we’ll have a world of metal, through and through. Nothing to break, nothing to fix.” That was Jonah’s dream. Zale took a long look around the office and the workrooms, taking in every sight (which he did quite literally) before turning to leave.

“Don’t forget the flowers,” Zale said in a mournful voice.

“What’s that?” Jonah had asked.

“In your world of metal,” Zale said, “don’t forget the flowers.” Everyone was right when they said that Zale had a deep appreciation for the arts. In his private lab there were paintings of flowing rivers and majestic landscapes, sculptures of animals and people, and flowers as well. Some in the corners, in amongst his machines - anywhere and everywhere one could find some small facet of art or expression.

There were, of course, his work materials. Machines, tools, capsules, electronics. Nobody knew what happened in that office, and nobody really cared to find out. They were so engrossed in their own tasks that they gave no heed to the workings of Zale. They did notice, however, that there was an unusual silence in his workspace that day. Whereas before there had been poundings of metal and the hiss of welding equipment, now there was only an eerie silence, the kind which raises hairs and makes skin crawl.

Zale had been there for an hour, no more, when he left again, abruptly. This was another oddity, and more workers began to take notice. Jonah, feeling some connection to Zale from day one, decided to forsake his lunch break and follow him out of the building.

Zale went straight for the power plant. Jonah didn’t know why anyone would go there, and his curiosity deepened when Zale passed the security doors without missing a beat. The plant had been locked down for years, and Jonah knew that it shouldn’t be intruded upon so easily. Thinking that something dangerous was going on, he rushed back into the lab, grabbed a Geiger counter, and was back in front of the plant inside of five minutes.

By then, he saw no sign of Zale. He passed the outer and inner gates and stood with bated breath outside of the heavy doors. [i]Why not just turn back?[/i] he remembered thinking. A million things could be awaiting him inside - a druglord hideout, a murder suicide, a contamination... But then, [i]No. I’ll show them.[/i]. He was, of course, referring to the scientists back at the lab, to whom Jonah thought he had something to prove.

He slowly edged the door outward and was met by a wave of heat, so intense that he stumbled backwards. The Geiger counter began to tick wildly and Jonah knew that something was wrong. He forced the door shut with all of his might and ran back to call for help.


The radiation levels in the power plant were off of the charts. It seemed that there was a section of the facility which had not been properly shut down all those years ago, and a small leak there had allowed a buildup, to dangerous levels.

They found Zale’s body next to one of the generators. His skin had melted away, revealing the wire frame and frayed circuitry inside. On the floor next to him had been scrawled the words “Meltdown imminent. I’m sorry.” Jonah identified him and asked for a proper burial, but they left his body there. His entire workings emitted radiation, and even the workers in the suits could stay in the building for no longer than ten minutes. That meant that even a scientific study of the android would be impossible until the area cooled down, which caused a minor uproar amongst the robotics scientist community.


Everyone stood outside watching the commotion and trying to find their way onto local news, but inside of the laboratory one body still stirred. It opened the capsule wherein it had rested until Zale’s signal had terminated. Outside it found a note and a flower. The note read, quite simply,

[i]Dear Zale2,

They were mean to us, but I saved them.
Don’t give them our secrets.
Tell Jonah.

Zale1[/i]

Zale2 left a note for Jonah and left the building, never to be seen or heard from again.