#⭐{Golden Rabbit} self

[fabrowrites]

For the ask game: you've got an improbable number of fics I'm not caught up on, so here comes a great big shiny

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Hi Lila! tysm! you get the director's cut of Dosimetry!

Together they don their suits, gather their equipment, and ascend the ladder to the topside. Golden light floods down on them from seemingly everywhere at once, leaving no shadows to hide in. Kai’s breath hitches as the ruined point of Borg Tower rises into view. He hasn’t returned since that fateful day. or: Kai and Nya at the end of the world

So Dosimetry was originally written for a writing prompt challenge of "write about a ninja merging with their element." I chose Lloyd :D

The story takes place in an alternate s3, specifically canon-divergent post Enter the Digiverse. We open in media res with Kai and Nya, because I'm predictable XD

“I’m going up,” Kai says, throwing his jacket onto the bed as he enters their shared room.

Two things immediately:

"I'm going up" creates a "below" where Kai and the reader are

He's sharing a room with someone, implying (a) a lack of space and/or (b) a desire to be close to someone else.

Behind him, Nya’s pen clatters to the table.   “I’m coming too.” Kai freezes.  “No,” he says, spinning around.  “No, you can’t.  You don’t have any powers.” Nya gives him a sharp glare.  “Like fire is going to protect you out there,” she retorts, standing.

Dew from NWoD actually commented on this when she was reading Dosimetry, but there's not very much setting or description at the beginning (or really for the whole fic). This is due to the fact that I am (a) bad at descriptions, (b) limited by the challenge's word count, and (c) actually trying to create a sense of emptiness and utility.

Kai shoves the manhole cover aside.  Golden light floods down on them from seemingly everywhere at once, leaving no shadows to hide in.  It sets off his EPD counter’s mechanical clicking – slow, good.  It’s impossible not to trigger it on the topside, but as long as it stays this slow, they’re safe. Well, as safe as one can be when exposed to the criticality.

a little nod to the s3 manhole scene! we're also dropping some more terms that, if you combine them with the title, might start to paint a picture of what's going on.

It’s not the criticality.  Their counters would be going haywire if it were.  But there’s more than just exposure to worry about on the topside – only the desperate linger up here, and he edges in front of Nya, reaching for his sword.  Fire is dangerous here, bright and bold and full of energy as it is.  Behind him, he hears Nya readying her chakram.

This is just me begging Lego to let Nya use chakram again pls pls she'd be so cool

Click. Click, click, click click clickclick clickclickclickclickclick – Kai’s head snaps up.  His horrified eyes find Nya’s. Light as bright as the sun, light that burns a hole through the universe.  Light that thralls, that dazzles, that kills.

aw ye here we go! it's criticality time baby :D I actually really like how I formatted this part back when I was experimenting with Transfiguration compared to ao3.

In case it hasn't come together for you yet, we're dealing with an entire nuclear disaster situation here :D

You can actually blame Markiplier for this one, like the dominoes meme. I watched his video playing the Liquidators a summer ago and was hooked (here's my plug to go watch Kyle Hill on YouTube if you want to follow me down this rabbit hole XD) As explained by Wikipedia, which does it much better than I can:

Criticality occurs when sufficient fissile material (a critical mass) accumulates in a small volume such that each fission, on average, produces a neutron that in turn strikes another fissile atom causing another fission; this causes the chain reaction to become self-sustaining within the mass of material.

A critical mass accumulated in a small volume.

All the energy of creation, merged with one small body.

(Dosimetry, by the way, is "the measurement, calculation and assessment of the ionizing radiation dose absorbed by an object, usually the human body" - Wikipedia, emphasis added by me.)

A boy with unseeing golden eyes reaches out his hands. “W H Y  A M  I  A L O N E?  W H E R E  A R E  Y O U?”

The final lines of the criticality are a callback to "Enter the Digiverse."

Lloyd: I am not alone. I am not alone.

So that's Dosimetry! ad;fksjlgasdhjl this got way out of hand but thanks for letting me ramble, lila! this was really fun :D