Shadows of JiangXi

[Shazbot11]

Somewhere, in orbit over the desolate planet of JiangXi...

Deep within the cold, metallic bowels of the gunship Judas' Sin...

A misunderstood intellect strives to unlock the answers to restoring the natural order, no matter what the cost....



"Uhhhmmm...Sir...are you talking to yourself again?"


Mobius Paradox spun around to face the insolent marine. His hands were raised in the air, the metallic fingers on the end of his gauntlets clenched together while an intense red glare poured out from the two lenses on his helmet.

"SILENCE! I will tolerate no more of your sassy-mouth! Well...at least until our work here is done, but then MARK MY WORDS!

NO! MORE! SASSY! MOUTH!"

The marine could only sigh. His idea of a good day didn't center around an agitated Mobius in the confined quarters of the engineering bay aboard the gunship. Figuring it was in his best interest, the marine continued setting up the analytical equipment while Mobius paced to-and-fro. A few minutes of idle silence passed by before the marine turned around to find Mobius staring directly at him; the poor soul nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Would you like to know a bit about nuclear decay?" Mobius tried grinning as hard as he could, hoping the Marine would notice it through the solid face-plate of his helmet.

"Errm, well, not particularly...."

"TOO BAD!" Mobius raised his left gauntlet and tractored a drawing board over, while the right gauntlet took hold of a few writing implements.

"Let us assume that we have a pile of small wooden blocks splayed out on a sloped surface. Their arrangement, though random, is sufficient to support the weight of the entire pile." Mobius' hand darted back and forth over the drawing board, like a mouse on 10 varieties of stimulants.

"Now then, this is not the most stable configuration possible for our little pile of blocks. Tell me, what do you think is the most stable configuration?" Mobius peered intently at the marine.

"I don't reall...."

"PRECISELY! The most stable configuration would be at the bottom of this slope!" Mobius drew an extension to the picture while the marine slumped to the ground in futility.

"If we initiate the process by removing one block, we create a cascade reaction in which the entire pile slides down the slope to its most favorable configuration which...*gasp*...is also the lowest possible energy state!"

The marine nodded and smiled. Mobius continued.

"In the case of a nuclear reaction, we see the use of free neutrons to split our fissile material. This subsequently releases more free neutrons to continue the reaction; HOWEVER! What happens to the remaining elements?"

The marine nodded and smiled. Mobius looked at him for a bit, then continued.

"These remaining elements are physically unstable. Much like our pile of wooden blocks, they seek to reach a lower, more stable energy state. This is achieved through the release of neutrons, coupled with a burst of radiation across various spectra. NOW THEN! HOW CAN WE GO ABOUT RECTIFYING THIS SITUATION?!"

The marine opened his mouth to speak, at least until Mobius intervened.

"CORRECT! We must isolate the source elements and remove them from the environment! Ahh, how clever of you! Yet...I see that ambition in your eyes...how you seek to usurp my role within this organization...I'm keeping my eyes on you..."

Mobius glared at the marine before continuing.

"Now, we can filter these elements from the environment, but, WHAT ABOUT THE IONIZING RADIATION! That nasty and moderately-annoying electromagnetic radiation so embroiled with all that is nuclear! Scattering electrons before them, and hearing the lamentations of their protons! We must SINK them! Yes, indeed, we must find a means of drawing this ionizing radiation into a sink, where they will be trapped for all eternity to reminisce about the naughty things they've done."

Mr. marine, by this point, was out cold.

"In order for all of this to come to fruition, though, we require DATA! SWEET, SENSUAL DATA! GO, my associate! Hail Mr. Iscariot!"

Mobius raised his gauntlet to tractor the marine into the air who, by this point, was flailing about wildly before being flung towards the communications console.

---

Maybe some day, they'll see a hero is just a man who knows he's free.