Half Life

Radioactive

"What do you mean you've lost the energy reading?"

"Sir, it was just a brief pulse we were able to detect the first time. It looks like the source has either moved out of range, or found some way to mask their presence."

"Corporal... Do I need to remind you what the stakes are here? Our sensors aren't the only ones that will have picked this up. We're fighting the clock here. Soon the area will be flooded with bounty hunters, interstellar mercenaries, and every crackpot with a functional ecto sensor. We get to the source first or we don't get there at all."

"I understand sir. But we don't have enough information to find it right now! We need help."

"Resources are not the concern. Use whatever you need to get to this source first. This is your only priority Corporal."

"..."

"Is that understood?"

"Yes sir."

..................................................................

"Whew!" Danny sighed, slumping into a kitchen chair. Finally two seconds of peace from school, Sam and Tucker's eagle eyes, and scientific experiments. He tugged off his boots and tossed them  expertly into their place by the door. They still had enough orange juice left for a full glass, so he helped himself, gazing sleepily out the window. 

No matter how long you lived in the colonies, the view was hard to get used to. Large interconnected asteroids formed the human colonies of Space Corps. His family's lab was one of many settled in the scientific section. But beyond the view of lit buildings and bustling maintenance was a clear field of stars and space. 

It was good to know that the galaxy was still the same, even with whatever was happening to him. 

"I'm home mom!" he called, tipping the chair back on two legs. 

There was a muffled clank, the sound of electric circuits running, and then a distant, "Hi sweetie! Can you come in here for a minute?"

Heaving a deep sigh, Danny walked down to the lab. His mom was sitting with her back to the door when he entered. All available screens were showing stats from the monitoring strips under his uniform. 

"What's up?" he asked. 

"I just noticed something very interesting!" she beamed, flipping her chair around to look at him. "When you used that adrenaline heat the other day, you gave off a very distinctive radiation signature."

"Woah, you're saying I'm radioactive?" Danny grinned, leaning against a lab table. 

"Actually yes. But luckily not at dangerous levels. When you engage that biochemical change, your body gives off a powerful surge of energy. It's short term, but potent."

"Huh. Well that's pretty cool."

"Yes, but do you realize what it could mean?" his mom asked, eyes gleaming. "If we tuned radiation monitors to the right frequency, we could scan for other Halpha survivors! There may be a way to find others!"

A reluctant grin broke over Danny's face. Others like him? Could there really be more? But then a sudden thought occured to him. 

"Hey, but if we could scan for others, could someone find me?"

"If you weren't in the house and pulsed, there is a risk of that happening. But don't worry! As soon as I learned about this, I insulated the entire house to be immune to scans from that particular frequency. Your undersuit also has a thin layer of protection. It'll help dilute the signal, but won't completely block it."

"Why don't we just add a thicker layer?"

Maddie bit her lip. 

"If all that radiation was held inside that inner layer, it would seriously, damage you over time."

"Oh," Danny said. "Well... I guess we'll just take the chance of scans. I don't love the idea of cooking myself from the inside out."

Maddie shuddered in agreement. 

"Well, I'm going to go work on my tinfoil hat," Danny joked. "Wouldn't want those mind probes to know all the secret sciencey stuff going down in here."

"Don't joke about those mind probes young man," his mom scolded teasingly. "They know that you have homework to get done."

"Ugh. If I knew all the stuff these mind probes know, I wouldn't need to do the homework at all."

Maddie shrugged, pulling her hair back from her face and turning back to monitors. 

"Alas. That's not the way of the world."