Issue #0: "Origins" Pt. 1

Martin Stein, unaware of the cosmic entity that was about to descend upon him and alter his life forever, sat at his desk exhausted, after talking to reporters all day. The planning and development of the Hudson Nuclear Power Plant had taken the better part of a decade. Charges of stealing and plagiarism threatened to ruin his large-scale project and take away his dream, a dream that had brought him a Nobel Prize along the way.

Stein had conceived his vision of a fully automated nuclear power plant during his last days as an undergraduate at Stanford University where he attained a Bachelors degree in Physics graduating summa cum laude. He tweaked his vision and continued to work on it during graduate school obtaining his masters then doctorate. After finishing school, he got a job in the Research and Development department at STAR Labs in New York, where he presented his design to his superiors, but the budget of the department at the time was tight and could not support his highly innovative and controversial project.

Stein grew frustrated with his superiors at STAR and left after five years of service to become a Professor of Physics at Hudson University, where he quickly rose to the rank of Department Chairman. At Hudson U, Stein met another Physics professor named Danton Black and the two formed a partnership, furiously working on the Power Plant project in between teaching classes and grading papers. Stein was subsequently hired to head Research and Development at the Hudson Power Company. His first duty was to hire Danton Black and the two of them submitted the proposal for their Power Plant which was met with a welcoming attitude and a big wallet.

The construction of the Hudson Nuclear Power Plant met with numerous delays, most of them coming from local protesters picketing the site and obtaining injunctions in the courtroom. The project was almost scrapped due to escalating legal costs until Stein was nominated and then won the Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking work. With the publicity of having the Nobel Prize winner working for them, Hudson renewed their commitment to Stein’s project and soon all of the external obstacles were finally solved.

Stein’s project was dealt with a big blow when it was discovered that Danton Black had been stealing plans and equipment from the project and selling them to a competitor. Stein had no choice but to fire his one time friend, but did not report this stealing to the authorities. Danton, wanting to get back at Stein, approached the Nuclear Regulations Council, claiming that Martin Stein had stolen his ideas and implemented them in his power plant design without his consent. On the day the power plant was going to activate the reactor, the N.R.C. had begun a formal investigation into Danton’s claims and halted the activation of the reactor until the investigation was concluded.

These claims, if proven to be true, could cost Martin his entire career and his Nobel Prize. After a night of drowning his discontent in a bottle of Jack Daniels, Martin Stein came back to the plant and began to conduct interviews, hoping to get his side of the story out and preserve whatever he could of his reputation. Martin was waiting in his office waiting to do his last interview of the day, with a student from Hudson University as a favor to a former colleague who owed a favor to a friend of his. He took his black horn-rimmed glasses off and placed his head into his hands. He knew these charges were a sham, but they were an unneeded headache.

He picked his head up as he heard some unexpected commotion coming from down the hall. He got up from his desk and walked down the hall to investigate. He reached the source, the reactor room and saw two young men wearing ski masks placing explosives along the far wall.

“What are you doing?” He screamed instinctively, knowing if he was in better control, we probably would have remained silent and alerted the authorities.

“Damn it Eddie, do something.” One of the masked men said. Stein was oblivious to the third man to his left, holding a pistol in his hand who hit him in the temple once with its handle. Martin Stein fell to the floor, unconscious.

The Matrix descended on the Hudson Nuclear Power Plant. The steel and concrete that made up the building’s infrastructure proved not to be effective in hindering its progress. As it began its intention of permeating its would-be host, an influx of nuclear energy began to mix and mutate the cosmic energy. It swirled around its potential host and began to mutate again due to the prescience of a second party. The energy began to be absorbed by both bodies, with different elements of the Matrix being divided between the two as it began the process of merging the two men into one.