exclusion zone2

i was thinking more in depth about exclusion zone puppy design: maybe a lot of kemonomimi people had been brought to work at the plant because of impressive sense of smell, hearing and overall high strength. they were often placed in very physical jobs with lower pay than those who worked in the control rooms. kemonomimi women were often assigned to be childcare workers while parents worked their shifts.

the plant itself hired around 11,000 employees with around 30% of them being kemonomimi. it made the island the highest concentration of kemonomimi people in the world since their original lands had been colonized. for most children it was first time meeting another kemonomimi outside of their own family — the bonds created by the island and by the power plant were strong. this was an excellent opportunity.

when the accident happened there was a loud boom on the north side of the island and it shook every last apartment in the town. within ten minutes the emergency alarms sounded and people gathered their children and as many personal effects as they could carry and herded everyone down the stairs to the ground floor. stray materials from the explosion continued to rain down outside, causing a mess and a series of loud noises.

shinji packed everything he could but he remained in the apartment until his father would return. as less and less steps echoed through the halls until there were none left to evacuate, shinji curls up next to the full suitcase at his side and cries. no one would be coming for him after all. what he doesn’t know is that his father and uncle weren’t allowed back into the building to collect him, so they were hoping he was already on an evacuation boat.

the chulainn boys found themselves in a similar position in that they did their best to gather themselves and pack enough things to last them a few days post-evacuation, but it isn’t until a passerby — a colleague of their guardian’s sticks his head in the apartment door and looks to them with no small amount of pity when he says that fergus had not survived the blast, so there wasn’t any time to be waiting around.

cú can’t help but bark angrily and argue that was a lie; that man had obviously seen something else. fergus had told them to stay in the apartment at night so that’s what they’re going to do! he locks the deadbolts on the doors and turns to console his younger brothers who welcome him into their arms. to evacuate as orphans with no guardian..  surely they would be separated again. fergus has made them a promise that they would always be together now, so cú is intent to believe that even without him... even if they’re on their own again.

i think because they were on the island during the initial blast and subsequent blasts while the mechanics that remained at the plant were trying to cool the reactor before it overheated again, there were unmatched levels of radiation spreading through the island. little geiger counters affixed onto the wall in each apartment begin to chirp as high levels of airborne radiative materials settle over the tiny city and inevitably into the children who were too unfortunate to evacuate.

i think the effects of radiation in their every day life (though present now but not quite like it was back when the accident was still new) and how it’s changed things about them physically and mentally. injuries that never heal properly, persistent illnesses like migraines or weakness, cosmetic effects on skin and hair from the stress of the radiation surrounding them. aspects of albinism and blindness were shown in fauna that lived exclusively in the zone and i think it would be cute to have a couple of hair/skin color patched milky-eyed babies. they likely all are skilled in certain areas regarding their survival and the survival of their pack.

once the chulainns discover shinji as a fellow kemonomimi he’s immediately taken in by them and indoctrinated into their dog pack, automatically making him feel more safe and loved than he ever has. their loyalty to one another began to burn deeply from that very moment.

the island lacks electricity, but the water pumps were never turned off since the staff had been using it to try to cool the reactor. most of the apartment doors were left unlocked in the shuffle way back when, which gives the pack access to plenty of cookware, tools, linens and clothes. they typically stay in one apartment until they have gotten full use of its resources and move on to the next. with how many empty rooms there are it’s likely that they will have shelter and textiles for a very long time to come.

food is a little harder to access. they tried to get all of the non-stable items consumed as fast as they could, giving them time before breaking into the shelf stable foods. some of these are rationed even to this day, as there were many foodstuffs left behind in the grocery stores and individual apartment units. when they can, some of the boys climb down to the shore to fish while others collect edible flora like grasses and mushrooms. after so many years the food supply has gotten lean, but their hunger levels have mostly adapted to it.