[Chapter 4: Solar Storm]Mav came up to the podium.
“Good evening. As many of you know, Superman has fully grounded himself after the incident that occurred outside Home Renov this morning. Again, no one was injured, and I and the Foundation send our thanks to those who helped Superman through the bout of sensory overload.
"Now, we have recently learned that our initial belief that his condition was caused by his recent healing efforts was incorrect. It is actually being caused by a solar storm. The scientists at the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory contacted us with details of the recent solar activity, concerned this may be connected. After looking at the evidence, Superman’s medical team is certain the solar storm is the sole cause of his sudden power imbalance.
"This solar storm is already the longest on record, as storms of this scale typically only last minutes to hours, not days, and while the storm hasn't been substantial enough to knock out power grids, it is clearly strong enough to affect Superman.
"We don't know how long this storm will last or how severe it will become, so Superman has voluntarily grounded himself until his abilities have stabilized. However, he will remain reachable in case of a large-scale emergency and any actions made will be decided on a case-to-case basis.
"Now, we have time for a few questions," Mav said before pointing to one of many reporters.
"What is Superman’s current condition? Is there anything that can be done to mitigate the effects?" A reporter from LNN asked.
"He is currently coping with fluctuating powers, primarily strength and his senses, as those abilities are always active to some degree. Concerning mitigation, other than the coping tools already discovered and utilized earlier today, his medical team is considering a few things, but the primary recommendation is staying indoors and out of sunlight if at all possible," he answered before pointing to another reporter.
"Where is Superman? Is there a danger?"
"Superman is home with his family, and as they handled control challenges when he was younger, they are the best equipped for this current situation. So no, there is no danger to the general population, if that is what you were asking," Mav answered. "Alright, that is all the time for questions we have. Superman is grateful for the world's understanding and hopes to return soon. We will keep you updated on the situation. Thank you,” Mav finished before turning.
O o O o O
Lois glanced over at Clark, who was sitting outside on the porch in the dark. The fact they got him this close to the house had been difficult enough. Convincing him to come inside would have been impossible.
After leaving the Foundation via Henderson's car in civilian attire, Clark had met her in the outskirts of Metropolis, where Bill bid them well on their impromptu Smallville vacation – though she used that word loosely.
And now he was sitting in the dark with special blinders over his eyes and ear plugs in his ears under hefty ear protection. An open can of coffee grounds was on the floor beside his foot, and his hands were on the armrests, palms up.
If it weren't for his clenched jaw and furrowed brow – that, and his agitated aura – she would think he was sleeping. But he wasn’t.
He was hypersensitive to everything, and while that seemed to have equalized, his strength had become extremely volatile. It would kick in at random.
So far, Clark had crushed two door knobs, shattered one glass, crumpled two plastic cups, cracked a railing, and broke two floor boards.
In his own words, he was a walking disaster.
Martha and Jonathan looked at her with sad eyes.
What made it all harder was his (understandable) insistence of them keeping their distance from him.
“I’ll go set up a cot and tent,” Jonathan said after a moment.
Martha sighed but nodded.
Lois looked back outside and quickly noticed Clark was no longer on the porch. Frowning, she got up and went out the front door.
/Clark?/ she thought to him, deciding to risk a thought since calling out to him would likely be too jarring.
/Yeah?/ Clark thought back.
/Where are you? You okay?/ she asked, stepping out onto the porch.
/Just walking. I think I’m figuring it out,/ he said.
She heard a rustle and looked toward the sound, finding him carefully walking away from the house. She looked down and saw random footprints, some much deeper than others, in the dirt and lawn trailing just beyond the first step of the porch to where he now stood under the starlit night.
/Okay./ She was unsure of what else to say.
He flexed his hands and lowered his gaze, watching his feet as he took another step.
His foot crunched down two inches into the hard, rocky ground.
He took another step and did a little better.
Lois watched in silence, smiling as his strides became more certain and more confident. He stopped and tentatively jumped, landing heavily but not alarmingly so. He jumped again, his impact much lighter.
He turned and smiled at her and his mom who had just stepped out to join her.
Lois beamed and gave him a thumbs up.
Hopefully the morning would not disrupt his progress too much, but she supposed they would see.
O o O o O
The alarms blared.
The solar storm had unquestionably worsened.
"Power is out all across the state. This last flare appears to have impacted the entire eastern seaboard," Markus told his supervisor after lowering the phone.
"Why are the generators not online?" someone asked. "We need those pumps and heat exchangers!"
"They were, but then the second flare happened!" a third answered over the alarms.
"The secondary systems are not fully operational. Reactor three is not being effectively cooled!"
Markus swallowed. All the nuclear reactors had been shut down, but without the ability to remove the residual heat they were still generating. . . .
They were in trouble.
O o O o O
Clark stood behind the couch inside, extremely mindful of his stance and how close he was to touching anything.
He had braved coming indoors at 3am, knowing the sunrise would likely bring another surge of power on top of what he had only just begun to learn to manage. And now it was almost evening. They kept the television off, knowing it would do none of them any good if they saw emergencies Superman could not risk addressing.
“How are you?” Lois asked.
He had cracked one floor board and indented one doorknob that morning, but had been able to contain the following power bursts remarkably well. He had earplugs in but had been able to shed the earmuffs, and while he was still stiff and strain was thick in his aura, his fear of harming them had dimmed, though he had yet to touch any of them.
“I think I’m okay. The flares are still happening, though. I can feel them. The storm has gotten worse and I can hear that there are power outages in certain areas,” Clark said.
He glanced at the covered window in the living room.
Jonathan and Martha had covered up all of the windows with boards and thick blankets where the curtains didn’t fully block the sun. That took care of the visible light, but didn't block much of the remaining power boosting radiation, specifically cosmic rays.
"Should I call the Foundation and ask if they’ve received word on how long the scientists think the storm may last?” Martha asked.
“I don’t think they’ll really know, Mom, but I suppose we should give them an update on how I’m faring,” he said.
Martha nodded, moving to get up. It was then that the phone, the Foundation phone resting on the side table, suddenly rang.
“Hello?” Martha hurriedly answered. “Yes, here he is.”
She held the phone up for Clark, knowing he didn’t want to risk accidently smashing the phone.
“Hey, Mav.”
'Kal, how are you doing?' Mav asked, his voice not as relaxed as his normal, but considering the circumstances it wasn't a surprise.
"Managing. I haven't broken anything for two hours now, so I'll count that as a win," Clark answered.
Mav slowly exhaled. 'That's good to hear. Have you been watching the news at all?'
"Uh, no, but I've managed to hear there have been power outages?"
'Yes. The east coast has been hit the hardest, and there is an emergency at the nuclear power plant in New Jersey,' Mav stated.
Clark clenched his hands. "Is it in meltdown?"
'I honestly don’t know its current state, I just know it’s not good. They've asked if you can help.'
Clark took a deep breath. "Do you have a direct line to the plant?"
'I can get us connected. One moment,' Mav said, before talking to Julie in the background.
There was some shuffling.
'Okay, Kal, I have Dr. Adams, Head of Nuclear Operations at Oyster Creek,' Mal introduced. 'Mr. Adams, Superman is on the line.'
'Hello, Superman, I hope you are doing better. The situation here is very serious,' Adams said.
"What’s happening? Are any of the reactors in meltdown?" Kal asked, following Adams’ lead and getting straight to the problem.
'No, but the cooling system is partially down. We have successfully SCRAMmed all of the reactors, but they're still generating residual heat. We're particularly concerned about Reactor number 3. Our attempts to reroute power to the pumps have been partially successful, but the temperature is still increasing.’
"And if things get too hot?" Kal pressed.
'It can lead to major core structural damage, worst case, a meltdown. Now, it wouldn't be anything like Chernobyl, but it would still be . . . undesirable."
"Could my ice breath help?” Kal asked.
Adams hummed. 'It might, but the issue is the transfer of heat. I–'
Superman frowned, hearing raised voices in the background.
'Sir! The pressure has spiked! Reactor 3's core is at risk of being uncovered!'
"Dr. Adams, have your people clear the way to number 3's cooling system for me. I'm on my way," Kal said, before a sonic boom echoed through the phone.
O o O o O
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