Langevin Block

Ottawa, Canada

Jeffrey Reardon took a deep breath to control his panic. "Gotta tell Justin." He ran out of the communications room.

Jeff was making good time. He took the old stairs two at a time. The RCMP officer at the desk waved him through.

He reached the PM's office, gave it a quick rap and walked in. "We have a huge problem!" He didn't shout. Not quite.

"I thought we were already dealing with it. Rene just setup the list I sent him. Half of our communications networks are back up." Justin didn't want to hear about another huge problem.

"This is a problem that Rene might not be able to help with. I know that he's your new go-to guy..." He took a second to collect his thoughts and dropped the files on the desk in front of Justin.

"What's this?" Justin looked at Jeff. He didn't want to touch these folders just yet.

"Nuclear Power Stations that will start melting down in Canada. Now that Ottawa hydro has some hydroelectric stations back up we have some service up and running." Jeff opened the first folder.

With a reluctant sigh, Justin looked down at the opened folder. "What am I looking at?"

"As you can see this is the electric grid for Canada and the United States. It's one huge mess of interdependent electric generation and distribution networks." Jeff waved a hand above the mess that was a map of the North American Electric grid.

"I see they have it broken down by province and state. Quebec is 90 percent hydroelectric and Ontario is 20 percent with the rest from other forms of renewable generation. Wind, solar and tidal." Justin took a quick look at the other provinces. "Canada wide nuclear is at 15 percent. Ontario and New Brunswick are the biggest users of Nuclear Generation." Justin paused to digest the information. His concentration since the flash had increased by leaps and bounds. He knew that was mostly due to the lack of fatigue and higher energy thanks to his new body. "We need to reach these 18 locations as soon as possible." He pointed to the 16 powerplants in Ontario and the other two in Quebec and New Brunswick."

"Don't forget the experimental ones." Jeff turned the page to show the ones in Universities and Military Bases.

"Call everyone in. I need all hands on this one." The PM had some hard decisions to make. "Jeff..."

"Yes?" Jeff was about to use the chat system to set things in motion.

"Let the Americans and the UN in on this. They all need to deal with this before large parts of the world become radioactive zones."

"Yes, Prime Minister."

Johnny Pizzeria

Ottawa, Canada

Rene said goodbye to the gang at the Pizza shop and let the swing door close behind him. He looked at the snow-covered stairs and paused. 'That's not safe at all.' He turned back and went into Johnny's again.

"Robbie! You need to clean the snow from the stairs. That's an accident waiting to happen." He shouted at the kitchen.

"Do me a favor and clean it for me. We're getting swamped now that the power's back on. Shovel by the door. Thanks." Robbie went back to making pizza.

Rene looked at the shovel and shrugged. He shouldn't have said anything, but since he did, he may as well. He had time before Marie was done.

He grabbed the shovel and went back outside. First, he cleared the landing in front of the Pizzeria. Next, he started at one end of the top step and swept the snow in one shove over the side on to the Patio. He repeated the process for the other steps. It took less than a minute to finish up.

He went back and put the shovel by the door and left. Outside the streetlights were back on. The traffic lights at the corner of Nelson and Laurier were blinking.

He heard a rumble and turned around to look. The plows were out in force. Two plows covering most of the street went by leaving a trail of salt behind them. There was no other traffic on the street.

A quick check told the story. Impassable sidewalks. The trees are heavy with snow. Every few minutes a clump of snow would fall from the branches. Everything was white.

'I guess I'm following the plows.' He set a quick pace and stayed about a hundred meters behind the plows. It was the best way to get to the Montfort Hospital.

At the end of Laurier East, he saw a few guards outside the Embassy Row. He walked past Goulburn street. The Swiss Embassy was dark. At the corner of Range, the Egyptian Embassy had a couple of guards outside. He waved at them as he went by. He knew them by name. He delivered mail to this area when he was assigned to Centertown not too long ago.

They waved back when Mohamed Mohamed recognized him. "Aren't you out a little late Rene?" He asked.

Rene held his thumb and index finger close together. The two security guys laughed and waved him on.

He kept going past the Cordon Blue school. And crossed the street to avoid the Russian Embassy. It was lit up as usual and he could see a few guys checking the perimeter. They had a German shepherd on a leash. The security guys at the steel barricade eyed him suspiciously. A mailman at that time of night. Yeah, nothing suspicious there.

Rene smiled and waved. He was met with suspicious looks.

Rene shrugged and kept going. The plows had turned on to Charlotte street. Laurier East ended at the Russian Embassy and turned into Charlotte.

Rene increased his pace a bit and caught up to the plows. A few blocks later at Rideau Street, they turned left and he turned right.

He walked over the bridge between Rideau and Montreal road. The snow here was a bit deeper. Rene increased his pace into a light run.

The hospital was about 5 km on Montreal road. Other than the occasional plow and the Tim Horrten every few kilometers the streets were empty.

Rene knew this wouldn't last. Tomorrow people were going to wake up. They'll notice the changes left behind by the flash event and most will be out clearing the snow. The kids will be out playing, and the city services will be shut down. The only thing open will probably be the mom and pops grocery stores.

It took Rene less than ten minutes to run the 5 km distance to the hospital. He took it easy on the run. He wanted to check everything along the way. Tonight Ottawa was sleeping.

He made it to the Aviation Parkway and turned into the hospital driveway. The driveways were plowed. The lights were on and the ambulances were packed. They were lined up ten deep waiting to discharge their patients. Most were elderly. There were a few serious cases. In those situations, the paramedics picked up the stretchers and ran through the emergency doors with their charges.

The doors slid open as the sensor detected Rene. He walked through. The Noise assaulted his senses first. Then came the smells of crowded humanity.

All the chairs were full. The floors were full. The hallways were full. He didn't see anything that was obviously wrong with anyone.

'Scarlett, can you please highlight Marie's location on the mini-map?' As soon as he asked, the family map updated and added Marie's location.

Rene made his way to one of the prep rooms. He pulled the curtains and found Marie washing the blood from her hands.

"Cheri. Ca va?" He was asking about the bloody hands.

Marie smiled when she saw her husband. She shook her hands from the excess water and dried them on a towel. As she walked to embrace her husband she threw the wet towel into a nearby laundry soiled container. "Oui, ca va." She kissed him on the lips and gave him a hug with all her might.

"I just delivered a baby. All the doctors are busy." She explained. She also noticed Rene wince slightly. She laughed, "it's your fault." She smiled and let up on the hug.

"How is this my fault?" He asked.

"Easy. Who gave me this body adaptability? Hmm. I didn't mind the healing touch or shared regeneration. Very useful. But you forced the first ability choice. Deal with it." She kissed him again with a lot more passion this time.

"Get a room you two." One of the nurses complained.

"Oh, we will Claire. We will." She pulled Rene after her to get changed.

"I'm done. Triple overtime is my limit. Besides, most of the walk-ins have regenerated all their minor wounds. If they have no place to stay, give them some food and send them to the lobby." She walked with Rene to the staff change room, "wait here, Cheri. I won't take more than a minute."

Rene found a chair and waited. He took a quick look at Marie's Stats.

Marie Wilder Nurse Stats

Strength: 50

Durability: 50

Quickness: 50

Abilities

Physical Adept: Gamma Level

Shared Regeneration: Gamma Level

Healing Touch: Beta Level

Skills

Awareness: 10%

Medic: 25%

Diagnostics: 25%

'Good. It's a good start.' Rene thought.

A few minutes later Marie came out. 'Wow. She looks at least ten years younger.' she took his breath away. "WOW!"

"Thank you. You should see my abs." she didn't see anyone around. She lifted her sweater. "I haven't been this shape since I was on the Ottawa U hockey team."

"Yeah same here. I'm not bad for forty-two, but nothing like this." Rene lifted his shirt as well.

"We match. Come on let's go home. I think we can break the bed this time." she took Rene by the hand and led him outside. It was still snowing. "At least the cold let up."

"It didn't. You have a higher tolerance. It's part of the body adept package." he explained.

"Whatever. Let's go home. Where did you park?" she asked.

"RCMP Lot on Vanier," he told her.

"How are we going to get home. The buses have stopped running and all taxis are off the road. It was on the CBC." she didn't look happy.

"Follow me. I want to show you something." Rene started with a light jog, and Marie followed him.

After a few minutes, Rene increased the pace and Marie followed. She frowned. She was able to keep up without any extra effort. A few minutes later she increased the pace. Rene smiled and followed her.

Less than a kilometer to go and the two of them were running faster than the speed limit in the snow. A minute later and they were at the front door.

Before Marie could use her key, Paul opened the door. She looked at him in surprise. "I saw Dad on the min-map," he explained.

"Mini-map," she asked.

"Oh yeah. Here, let me show you."