We explore the modern, prospering Soviet town of Pripyat, Ukraine in April of 1986. Then we enter the control room at reactor 4 of the nuclear plant in the early hours of Sat. April 26th. We observe abnormal activity in a safety test next to the deputy chief engineer Anatoly Dyatlov. We even stick around to mitigate the worst case scenario. 

In this one we do a quick study of the 3 Act Structure of storytelling and then dive into how it applies to the story we've been working on. We then proceed to ripping the younger daughter's heart out (figuratively) and setting the stage for sleuthing, redemption & revenge. 

We travel back in time to a dry, windy Sunday October 8th 1871, when the flame from a single lantern decimates the bustling trading hub & ends up paving the way for the world's first skyscrapers.

We follow Oscar the housecat into scene 3 of our story as he and his brother Charlie eavesdrop and talk mad shit on the father's zoom interviewer. 

Gemini takes us down the skyscraper rabbit hole starting in 1880's Chicago, 9 years after The Great Chicago Fire. We learn about The Taipei 101's solid steel mass damper, how early elevators were sketch af, and follow Andy the (fictional) ironworker up the nearly-finished Empire State Building as he catches white-hot rivets with a bucket before pounding them into steel beams that remain steadfast 95 years later. 

Chat comes up with an intriguing idea for a 2nd perspective to tell our story from. Then we push into brainstorming about the younger daughter's current life and what scene 3 should be. 

This is a follow up to ep129 where we establish Carol as a freelance frontline journalist that's outfitted a school bus with $685K of the latest drone surveillance tech. She uses it to gather real-time intelligence across large swaths of land. Here we see a bit more of what boots on the ground looks like. 

Copilot teaches us about the boundaries that separates conscription, forced labor & slavery. Then it craps out and needs to be relieved by Gemini. 

It honestly isn't prohibitively expensive to establish an AI-supported, real-time intelligence gathering net of drones and cameras. We introduce Carol the freelance frontline journalist and intelligence consultant.

I really wanted to learn about the slang that they use in con artist movies to describe methods and necessary personnel. But Gemini does a really crap job at bringing us into this world. Maybe we'll try it another time. This episode is just an example of when AI falls short.