He descended quickly, landing carefully to conserve the last of his power, which ticked down to just 7%—barely enough battery life for any extended use.
"Flying eats up way too much energy," Zack muttered, shaking his head. "But once I get my hands on that Cold Fusion Reactor, flying will be smooth sailing from here on."
Ego's voice cut through his thoughts. "Sir, that maneuver was incredibly risky, though it worked out this time."
Zack grinned. "Ego, sometimes we have no choice but to take a risk. If I waited for your simulation, I'd be dead already." He turned toward the wreckage. "Now, let's scavenge for reactor materials."
As he flew back, he scanned for the sarcoma, spotting the large, tree-trunk-like chunk of flesh. With his knife, he pierced it, and a strange, guttural noise bubbled from within. The flesh twitched as he stabbed it repeatedly, only stopping when it lay completely still.
"Ego?"
"No vital signs detected."
Zack stabbed a few more times just to be sure. "With these freaks, you can't be too careful."
Satisfied, he cleaned his knife and continued gathering the materials. As the sun set and the nuclear plant faded into darkness, Zack loaded his loot into his escort vehicle. But the journey back was anything but peaceful. The darkness of night made the zombies more aggressive, more violent than the ones he'd encountered during the day. Growls and snarls surrounded him, but the reinforced vehicle easily plowed through them, crushing anything in its path.
Finally, Zack arrived back in Tribeca, though the trip had taken an extra hour. He noticed the blackout as he approached—no streetlights, the area submerged in darkness.
"Sir, power to this area was interrupted two hours ago," Ego informed him.
"Any messages from Sophia and the others?"
"None."
"Good." Zack had left instructions with Annie to contact him only in case of emergency. No news meant the defenses were holding, even with the power outage. The tall, nano-coated walls surrounding the community were enough to keep most zombies out. Their smooth surfaces made it nearly impossible for anything to climb over.
As he neared the entrance, a small horde of zombies caught the sound of his engine and charged toward him. Zack didn't hesitate, plowing through them, clearing the path. After making sure none were trailing him, he drove inside and parked at the mansion.
Looking at the blood and limbs caked onto the vehicle, Zack sighed. "Guess I'll have to wash this tomorrow... or maybe just retire the whole thing," he muttered, shaking his head at the mess.
He opened the carriage and began unloading the materials. Each piece was packed in oversized black containers to block radiation. Despite the large load, only a small portion actually contained reactor material.
"Enough to build four or five reactors," Zack said, eyeing the containers with satisfaction.
"Sir, I recommend taking a rest before starting the build," Ego suggested.
"Alright, you win this time. Tomorrow, it's." Zack didn't argue. He'd been exhausted, cooped up in the MV-02 most of the day. Even with the suit's air filtration, it couldn't fully mask the unpleasant smell clinging to him.
Just then, he heard quiet footsteps on the stairs. "Annie, I'm a little scared..." a voice murmured.
"It's okay, Sis, I'll protect you," Annie replied confidently.
"Bah, how can I let you protect me? Give me the gun, and I'll protect you!" Sophia huffed back, though her tone was more playful than serious.
The whispering wasn't loud, but in the complete silence caused by the power outage, it was easy for Zack to hear every word. "Ahem!" Zack cleared his throat loudly, cutting through their conversation.
The two girls froze, their heads turning his way. "If I were a zombie or some bad guy, you two would've been gone a hundred times over!" Zack scolded, rolling his eyes.
There was a moment of stunned silence. Then, two familiar figures emerged from the dim stairwell—one tall, one small.
"Zack!"
"Big brother!"
They shouted different names, but their relief was the same. They rushed over with bright smiles. "There was a sudden power outage! We were so scared, we almost called you," Sophia exclaimed, throwing herself at him, pressing against the cold metal of his MV-02 armor. Annie, following close behind, grabbed hold of one of Zack's fingers.
"Ahem, before you two say anything else, I have to tell you…" Zack stifled a laugh, glancing at Annie, who was standing nearby with an amused expression. "The armor you're holding now? Yeah, it just had a very... close encounter with some zombies. Ones that were, shall we say, a little more enthusiastic than you are."
"Wait, what?" Sophia's face drained of color, and she stumbled back, letting go instantly as if she'd touched something hot. She ran to the side, coughing and gagging.
'No wonder it smells like blood!' she thought, while she asked, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"How was I supposed to know you'd come at me like this?" Zack chuckled, shaking his head. "Alright, Annie, help me out of this thing."
Annie nodded and obediently helped him dismantle the suit, breaking it down piece by piece and placing it on the workbench for repairs. Once the MV-02 was safely off, Zack let out a relieved sigh.
"Everyone, get some rest," he said, rolling his shoulders to loosen them up. "The place is safe."
With that, he turned and headed upstairs for a shower. Sophia and Annie, reassured, followed suit, no longer worried about zombies sneaking up on them in the night.
Early the next morning, Zack woke up feeling refreshed and more alert than he had in days.
"Sir," Ego's voice chimed in, "your body's indicators have improved by approximately 5% compared to yesterday."
"Any negative effects?"
"None detected."
"Good," Zack murmured, feeling a surge of energy. "Today's the day. Time to finish building the reactor."
After washing up and grabbing a quick breakfast, Zack went down to the basement. Power was still out, and even the water supply was dwindling because of the outage. Luckily, Sophia had thought ahead and stored several buckets of water, so they were managing.
"Power, water, everything—all of it can be solved with a reactor," Zack muttered to himself as he put on protective gear and opened the black box he'd brought back last night.
Inside, he placed a small amount of palladium—exactly 1.9 grams. Taking a steady breath, he wiped the sweat from his brow and asked, "Ego, what's the risk if something goes wrong at this stage?"
"If the power test fails, the explosion would be equal to 176,000 tons of TNT," Ego replied calmly. "Approximately eleven times the power of the Neon nation's last nuclear test."
Zack blinked, slightly stunned, then chuckled. "But we're going to succeed, right? Alright, Ego—let's start."
First, he carefully placed the small ring of palladium at the center. This would act as the catalyst—palladium had the unique ability to absorb hydrogen atoms, which was essential for the fusion reaction to begin.
Next, he prepared the fuel. Zack filled the inner chamber with two special types of hydrogen: deuterium and tritium. When these two combined, they would release a massive amount of energy—enough to fuel the reactor.
Around the palladium core, he tightly wound copper coils. Once powered, these coils would create a strong magnetic field, holding and compressing the reaction. This magnetic field was crucial; it would help control the intense energy from the fusion.
Then came the power source. Zack connected the copper coils to a graphene battery, one he'd pulled from his MV-02 suit. This battery could deliver the high voltage needed to kickstart the fusion and keep it going.
Finally, he sealed everything inside a makeshift vacuum chamber. By removing the air and impurities, he reduced any interference, making it easier to control the process once it started. With everything in place, Zack took a deep breath, mentally running through each step one last time. Satisfied, he pressed the activation button.