The New Romford Free Press

Tag: ATOM Labs

  • ‘X-Ray Man’ Releases X-Rays on Public after Attack by Teens

    ‘X-Ray Man’ Releases X-Rays on Public after Attack by Teens

    xraymanweb
    Photo of Stanger (right) with an unnamed woman

     

    by Buffy Bolivar

    An East Town man with uncontrollable X-Ray vision was attacked by teenagers outside of a convenience store, causing him to release large amounts of X-Rays on the unsuspecting public.

    Daniel Stanger, 54, was sprayed with toxic sludge when he was 22 in a truck accident while living in the Industrial District.  The truck hit a series of potholes and toppled over, spraying the toxic sludge onto the eyes of Stanger, who was walking down the sidewalk at the time.  After spending three weeks in the hospital, he discovered to have X-Ray vision, and not the kind of “X-Ray vision” that allowed him to see through walls.  His X-Ray vision did the same thing that X-Ray machines did at hospitals, and for several years, Stanger was able to control his new vision and work for the hospital to pay off his medical bills.

    At age 28, Stanger wasn’t able to turn off his X-Ray vision, and he was releasing dangerous amounts of X-Rays onto people.  Doctors weren’t able to turn off his new vision, and neither could scientists at ATOM Labs.  Instead, they fitted him with lead glasses that block his X-Rays but also make him blind.  Over the years, Stanger has grown accustomed to his blindness, and his glasses are strapped securely around the back of his head to keep them in place.

    Then, punk teenagers attacked him and ripped his glasses off.

    “Daniel came into my store everyday,” said Raahi Krishnamurthy, owner of East Town King Mart on 16th Ave and Tennyson St.  “He’s a polite, considerate man, always taking the great care in where he walks.  He’s quite adept at using his cane and hearing to move around.  He’s never caused anyone any trouble.”

    After Stanger bought an iced tea and a few toiletries, he left the store and encountered three punk teenagers.  They accosted him, mocking his lead glasses.  According to Krishnamurthy, Stanger tried to be in on the joke to alleviate the situation, but that didn’t work, and one of the punk teenagers (who were dressed in “punk clothes” and had “punk haircuts” according to witnesses) ripped off his glasses.

    Stanger screamed in protest, and with his eyes briefly opened, he released massive amounts of X-Rays across 16th Ave.  Krishnamurthy, who doesn’t believe he was exposed to the X-Rays, came to his aid, hitting the punk teens with a mop.  The teens turned their attention to him while Stanger closed his eyes and frantically searched for his glasses on the ground.  A couple locals rushed to his aid, knowing both Stanger and Krishnamurthy.  They retrieved the glasses, trying to explain the situation to the punk teens, but they ran away.  Stanger put his glasses back on and called 911.

    “So many people were hit by Daniel’s X-Rays,” said Krishnamurthy.  Stanger was shaken up and did not want to talk.  “It was just for a brief instance, but it’s very dangerous.  He went up to as many people as possible to tell them what happened.  I know Daniel is more upset about it than anyone.  I feel sorry for him.”

    The NRPD is still on the lookout for the punk teens not just for punishment but for their own safety.  Stanger’s X-Rays likely hit them as well.  Ambulances were on the scene within minutes to check out victims for cell damage, but health officials are encouraging everyone from 16th Ave to 26th Ave between Milton and Crowley Streets to come to a hospital to get checked out, just to be safe.

  • City Council Nixes ‘Micro-Way’ After Mutant Bacteria Attack

    City Council Nixes ‘Micro-Way’ After Mutant Bacteria Attack

     

    By Packie Williams

    When Daisuke Honda, a.k.a. Micro-Man, set out to demonstrate how his “Micro-Way” would work to the city council, he never envisioned it would go quite like it did today.

    microwaywebHonda had been working for years on perfecting the Micro-Ray technology for common use and for everyday applications.  His “Micro-Way,” essentially a miniature subway system, was going to be his first commercial endeavor, and with the streets of New Romford still largely in disarray, he figured now would be the perfect time to implement his dream.

    Unfortunately, he didn’t do enough to protect his prototype, and the city council, from mutant bacteria.

    This morning, Honda invited the city council to his office at ATOM Labs, where he showed off his prototype.  It was a “Micro-Way” from his office to a park bench just outside of ATOM Labs.  The shrinking process went off without a hitch, and the council members reportedly didn’t feel any ill effects from it.  Once tiny, Honda showed off what a Micro-Station would look like with fake plastic store fronts and two Micro-Trains.  At normal size, this all fit into the area of a shoe box, but at micro-size, it was the size of a normal subway station.

    Then, they boarded the Micro-Train and fastened their seat belts.  The trip to the “station” out by the park bench also went off without a hitch, lasting one a couple minutes to make the 200-foot journey.  Honda remarked that the speed of the train can vary depending on express and local trains, and it’d still be easy to install dozens of train lines alongside a single street, and that’s when the mutant bacteria broke into the Micro-Station.

    How it got in is still unclear, but Honda grabbed his laser gun and fought them off.  One bacteria swallowed up a council member (who wished to remain anonymous), and Honda had to cut him out with his laser sword.  But the bacteria horde began to overwhelm them and blocked their escape either back to Honda’s office or to the reverse Micro-Ray gate.  They would’ve been killed if it weren’t for the last minute heroics of Krok, who had been hiding in the grass above the station all day.

    Together, Krok and Honda were able to defeat the mutant bacteria horde, but the attack ended any hope of the “Micro-Way” becoming a reality anytime soon.  Honda could not be reached for comment, and the city council only remarked that they “would be going in a different direction, probably one where people won’t get swallowed by mutant bacteria.”

    Krok grunted and flew away on a dragonfly.

  • Micro-Man Preps ‘Micro-Way’ for Proposal

    Micro-Man Preps ‘Micro-Way’ for Proposal

    microwayweb

    By Julia Crumpleman

    ATOM Labs scientist, Daisuke Honda, a.k.a. the superhero Micro-Man, has been prepping a new transportation proposal for city hall ever since the Dino-Day Disaster.  Calling it the “Micro-Way,” it’s essentially a miniature subway, and he says it’ll solve the city’s traffic problems.

    “There’s only so much space for public transportation,” said Honda.  “Subways, buses, monorails, pneumatic tubes, they all suffer from one problem:  they take up space,” said Honda.  “You have to tear up whole streets to lay down new subway lines or tear down buildings for monorails, and that not only costs billions of dollars but also years of construction time.  But imagine if the subways were the size of an electrical wire.  Now imagine a whole network of subways that small.  You could lay down hundreds of subway lines all across the city at a fraction of the cost and space as standard subway lines.”

    Honda’s proposal* would be to build “Micro-Stations” all across New Romford.  People would enter the “Micro-Stations,” pay for their ticket, be shrunk down by a Micro-Ray, and then ride the “Micro-Way” like they would a subway train.  Once they reach their destination, they get reverted back to their original size as they exit.  The “Micro-Way” trains would run much the same way as normal trains do, but at a significantly faster pace than their larger version to make up ground.

    “That’s not all,” he added.  “The major terminals could also have ‘Micro-Businesses.’  You can have convenience stores, restaurants, clothing stores and so on down there, but at a smaller scale.  One city block may have a dozen businesses, but if they were ‘Micro-Businesses,’ you could have hundreds of taxable businesses per block.”  Honda emphasized this point several times as he will at city hall.

    But there already are detractors with some reasonable concerns in the “micro-community.”  “They’ll never go for it,” said Paul Gershwin, the original Micro-Man.  “It’s a good idea, really, but no one will want to subject thousands of people to the Micro-Rays needed to make it work.  Even if people weren’t wary of being shrunk down, which not everyone can handle by the way, there’s still the possibility, however small, that something goes wrong.  Maybe the body shrinks but not the head, and then you crush your body.  Unfortunately, these things happen.”

    “Personally, I know not how he plans to beat back the rats and armies of ants,” said Krok, the size-changing alien warrior.  “Somehow, someway, they will break into this ‘Micro-Way’ and wreak untold havoc on innocent lives who do not know the first thing about fighting giant rodents and insects.”

    “And do not get me started on mutant bacteria.”

    Honda acknowledged the concerns of his friends but was adamant that he could handle these challenges.  “The Micro-Ray has progressed since Paul’s time.  Of course, there’s no way to eliminate all errors, but the machine is now built to detect any slight error and to shut down immediately.  We’ll take every precaution to stop that from happening.  And the rail lines will be coated in five layers of titanium.  There will be no way for rats or insects to enter.  Even so, we’ll have guards stationed in each terminal and train just in case.”

    “And, well, mutant bacteria is mutant bacteria.”

    Honda will give his proposal next week.

     

    *Professor Honda is not affiliated with the Honda Motor Co.

  • Besides Walking Trees, Cosmic Rays Pass By Harmlessly

    Besides Walking Trees, Cosmic Rays Pass By Harmlessly

    By Chase Chapley

    The cosmic rays that hit Earth yesterday passed by without much damage apart from the walking trees of Loyalsock State Forest in northern Pennsylvania.

    ATOM Labs saw that a cloud of cosmic radiation was headed toward Earth last week and predicted they’d hit our planet yesterday somewhere between 5:00 am and early this morning in a large area of the Eastern Coast. What was expected to be an off day for much of the country turned out to last about two hours. The cosmic radiation hit Earth at about 7:49 am and ended at about 10:03 am. But scientists and the National Guard in 12 states spent the next two to three hours scanning for any remaining radiation and to search for any mutations.

    The only known mutation was in northern Pennsylvania in the Loyalsock State Forest. Roughly 140 trees had mutated legs and began walking around, bumping into one another because they did not mutate eyes to see where they were going. By the time a helicopter had reached the forest, half of the trees had fallen on their backs and couldn’t get back up because they also did not mutate arms. All in all, the walking trees were corralled into a farm 25 miles away where they are being monitored by scientists. The farm owner is reportedly keeping a chainsaw on hand “just in case”.

    The cause of the radiation was still not definitively known. Since no one became the new savior of Earth or the galaxy, it’s assumed that the radiation wasn’t some cosmic power choosing its new host. The energy signature does seem reminiscent of some alien weapons the Peace Force has come in contact with before, so the likely answer is this was a massive energy discharge from a starship thousands of light years from Earth. It’s even possible the radiation came from a battle that occurred thousands of years ago, assuming it didn’t travel through a wormhole.

    By late afternoon, the All Clear was given by ATOM Labs and the White House, and residents were told to take off their lead-lined vests and helmets and to vacate their bomb shelters. Earth has dodged yet another cosmic bullet.

  • Scientists Still Stuck in Adhesive

    Scientists Still Stuck in Adhesive

    ATOMLabs

    By Muffy Borgeron

    The team of ATOM Labs scientists who were encased in a vat of super-strong adhesive a few days ago are still stuck.  They’ve been unable to move ever since.

    “That stuff is stronger than anyone thought,” said project supervisor, Daryl Freeman.  “Stronger than anything we’ve got to cut, crush, dissolve, or disintegrate it.  I’d say we had a winner on our hands, but we may have too much of a winner if you get my meaning.”

    Carl Michaelson, Denise Detroit, and Margo Doll have been stuck in a vat of their own adhesive, known as KR-1078, for several days.  Michaelson and Doll were pinned with their backs against the control panel in Testing Room 21, which proved fortunate for them.  They’ve been able to eat and drink without complications.  Detroit, on the other hand, was caught bending over with her head facing the ground.  She’s had to eat everything with a straw or have food spoon-fed to her.  But eating hasn’t been the hardest part of the ordeal.

    “They have to go to the bathroom at some point,” said Freeman.  “That has been interesting to say the least.  Luckily, we have plenty of things to root out the smells.”

    Apart from basic bodily functions, the three scientists have been in good spirits.  Their families stop by everyday to visit and usually sleep on beds Freeman had rolled in from other rooms.  They’ve been watching movies, either on a TV or on a tablet (for Detroit), reading books, and working on projects through speech-to-robot technology.

    Freeing them from KR-1078 has become ATOM Labs’ top priority.  Freeman has called in Dr. Amazing for a consult, but he won’t return from an off-planet mission for another couple days.  Adonis has stopped by to try using his powers in any way possible to no avail.  “If superheroes can’t break it, we may have something on our hands here,” said Freeman.  “Maybe not for buildings and roads and such, but maybe space ships and deep-sea vessels.  Something that really needs protection.”

    “Needless to say, we’re keeping a close eye on it, so it doesn’t fall in the wrong hands.  And if it does, maybe we can glue those hands together and see how far they get.”

  • ‘Normal Man’ Passes Away

    ‘Normal Man’ Passes Away

    gilBy Muffy Borgeron

    Gil Heredia, the ATOM Labs maintenance worker who fell into a vat of chemicals a month ago, has passed away at the age of 54 due to complications from his injuries.

    ATOM Lab scientists are still trying to comprehend what has happened to one of their own.  “This is just so tragic,” said Heredia’s manager, Lauren Paladio.  “Gil was a good man, and I grieve for his family who will have to forge on without him.”  Paladio said that he also had a good life insurance policy as does everyone at ATOM Labs, so they will at least be financially taken care of, and they are also planning a memorial service in the courtyard.

    The Heredia family could not be reached for comment and have asked for privacy.

    Carlos Montero, the scientist assigned to monitor Heredia’s condition, is confused by what has happened.  “I know the human body better than anyone,” he said, “and I’ve seen dozens of people fall into vats of chemicals and survive.  This, tragically, is the first instance where one didn’t come back.  None of the chemicals attached to his DNA and gave him powers, not even a horn or single levitation.  His organs, they just gave out.”

    ATOM Labs has pledged to discover what exactly happened with Heredia, but any decision on an autopsy will have to be made by the family.

  • New Romford Up to 60% Capacity

    New Romford Up to 60% Capacity

    By Buffy Bolivar

    City officials have released figures estimating that New Romford is now running up to 60% capacity following the Dino-Day Disaster several weeks ago.

    All sewer lines have been repaired, and water and power have been returned to nearly the entire city.  Some of the older parts of Downtown, Bexton, and Dukes are still without full services.  Water and power are expected to be returned to everyone by the end of the week.

    The majority of main roads have been repaired for traffic, but most side streets are still unusable.  City officials estimate it could take the next several months to a year to repave the streets.  Dr. Amazing and ATOM Labs are building machines to help repair the streets in less time.  “Nothing too fancy,” Dr. Amazing said.  “Just some drones to strip the streets and to pour cement in one fell swoop.  No AI (artificial intelligence) in them, so they won’t turn evil.”

    The bridges on the other hand will take several years to repair, especially the 4th Ave Bridge and the Judith Bridge.  They both collapsed during the disaster, and given their historic nature, there are likely to be legal battles.  “Already there’s talk about how to improve them,” said one unnamed city official.  “They need better structural support, but we got to do it in a way that preserves their history.  That’s going to be a challenge.”

    Most businesses have reopened to some degree, but many may not even reopen.  The 300 block of 24th Ave was hit especially hard, and the costs to rebuild everything, in some cases the entire building, may be too much for business owners.  Keiko MacNamara of Keiko’s Treats lost everything.  “I lived above my bakery and came down to work everyday,” she said.  “Now the whole building is just gone.  I just don’t know what I’m going to do.”  Right now, MacNamara is staying with relatives in Norwoods.  She’s hoping her insurance will help pay for a new bakery in another building, but that could take months.