H Trope: Gaia's Lament; “On a futuristic Earth, or similar location, plants, animals, and naturally clean water are things of the past. Something terrible has happened — civilization's negligence of the environment, a strange natural disaster, or even a combination of both — to turn the world into a wasteland. This isn't (usually) the Earth That Was, as the planet is still populated (usually overpopulated), but it's on its way there.
Current Event: The science behind Minnesota's Iron Range - MPR News
https://www.mprnews.org January 18, 2023 3:41 PM. “The science behind Minnesota's Iron Range. A large pile of iron pellet. A giant pile of about 200,000 tons ...”
Emma Johnson stopped at the top of the Castle Danger hiking trail near Split Rock Lighthouse on Lake Superior. “Now isn’t this amazing?”
Jacob Erickson finally joined her five minutes later, huffing and puffing. He came to a stop, bent over, and moaned. She glanced at him and smiled, then continued to look east over Lake Superior. He finally managed, “I thought we were going to look at abandoned mines?”
“We will, silly! I wanted you to see what the North Shore’s pristine beauty looks like!” She threw her arms wide, taking in the vista. “This is what I came here to see!”
Jacob finally stood up, scowling; looked to his left, then his right. He could catch glimpses of Minnesota Highway 61, as well as the sight of massive iron ore carriers far out on the lake. He turned around, looking inland and said, “Isn’t the North Shore Mining Company a few dozen miles north of here?”
She turned, casting a dark scowl at him and said, “Don’t be a spoilsport!”
He shrugged and motored on, “During World War II, Northern Minnesota produced, by some estimates, 75 percent of the iron used in the war effort. How can it NOT have affected the area?”
She sighed and turned giving him her complete attention. He’d never get off whatever horse he was on until she heard him out, no matter how crazy his story or theory was. “OK, sweetie. What’s the matter.”
He shivered, looked around, then said, “The mining they did here from World War Two until today?” She sighed and nodded. “We already know it released different kinds of toxins into the water?”
“Asbestos being the main one. What of it. It’s been remediated! No problem.”
“Maybe asbestos, but I heard that they found radioactives up here! They were dumping who know HOW many tons of radioactive waste into Lake Superior!”
Shaking her head, she said, “Probably true. All rock contains some amount of radioactive isotopes. We EVOLVED to take care of that naturally…”
“Not normal isotopes! Radioactive IRON!” Emma opened her mouth to protest, but he kept talking, “It’s called Iron-55. It’s an extremely long-lived isotope and it permeates the soil from central Minnesota to Lake Superior. It’s a well-known fact!”
“I’m a geology minor, Jacob! If there was such a thing, I’d have heard about it by now!”
“There was a massive coverup! Entire ships were built of it during WWII!” His voice suddenly lowered. He whispered, “There was talk of a ship that never sank. It was supposed to be crewed by men from Hell! But scientists found it – and they weren’t from Hell! They were mutants – glow-in-the-dark mutants with unearthly powers!”
She sighed and said, “Let’s go, Mister Creepy Storyteller Man!” Shaking her head, she noticed that the sun was lowering toward the west. Shadows had grown longer, and a chill wind blew in off Superior.
They were halfway down, when Jacob cried out, “Look!”
Emma looked, scowled, then leaned forward. On Lake Superior, not far from shore, a huge battleship, glowing eerily in the West Shore shadow falling across Superior, waited off shore. Jacob said, “You thought I was crazy! Now you’ve done it! You called them here!” He made a strange sound, and Emma turned to see that Jacob himself had started to glow with a ghostly, ghastly light…
Names: ♀ ; ♂ BOTH – Popular names in Minnesota in 2007
Image: https://cdn.britannica.com/40/11740-004-50816EB1/Boris-Karloff-Frankenstein-monster.jpg
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