ATOMIKA

by
William Tucci and Peter Gutierrez

The year is 1986. The world doesn't know it, but the Cold War will soon come to an end as Soviet leaders desperately try to maintain power despite falling behind in the arms race. What the world does know about is Chernobyl: the worst nuclear power disaster in history. Indeed, some of its casualties become evident only a year or two later. One such casualty is the unborn child of JULIA PIZER, suffering from a rare form of pre-natal cancer. An American visiting the Ukraine at the time of the meltdown, Julia has been held captive by the Soviets ever since, lest her condition cause an international incident. In a daring mission of mercy, Julia's father, scientist NOAH CARPENTER makes his way to the USSR and saves his unborn granddaughter with a mysterious ALTO-RADIUM vaccine prior to birth.

Over many months, during which the child is miraculously brought to term, Noah and Julia escape to the border. The going has been slow because, while the newborn has regained health, Julia has become terminally ill, with many of the symptoms that had plagued the developing fetus. At the checkpoint, the three are angrily confronted by representatives of the BIOSTAR CORPORATION, Carpenter's employer and benefactor of the life-saving prototype vaccine.

BioStar's plan had been to market the product to superpower leaders anxious to survive a nuclear war. BioStar demands to know where its vaccine is, but before Carpenter can respond or escape, they are surrounded by the KGB.

The Soviets have had the Americans under watch the entire time. Having observed the remarkable recovery of the doomed infant, they are quick to declare the brilliant Carpenter a willing "defector"! With few options, Carpenter concedes-but with one condition: the infant is allowed to grow up free in the U.S. Then, in a whispered aside to BioStar, Carpenter confides, that the vaccine is, in essence, in the child's bloodstream! As for the ailing Julia Pizer, now a "documented spy," her fate is shadowy; neither her father nor her daughter sees her again.

Fast-forward to the present day:

ANATSASIA PIZER, brought up in affluence by her dad Malcolm, is now a gifted ballet student at a performing arts-oriented boarding school in California. At her Sweet Sixteen, she is approached by JOE SHARKEY-hard-boiled, self-assured, and mocking (think a black version of Simon from "American Idol"). He offers her the real reason for her constant "medical testing", as opposed to the cover story about seeing whether her cancer is still in remission. She has certain latent powers that BioStar is fumbling around and trying to bring out in the open. But only he, Sharkey, can do this. And only he can tell her the true history of her past and her family…

A haughty and skeptical Anastasia wonders what Sharkey expects in exchange for all these "revelations." It's simple, he says. He expects her to come work for him. "And what makes you think I'd want to do that?" she asks. "Well," Sharkey replies, "your mother did, for starters."

That stops her cold. She learns that Julia was in Chernobyl to prevent the meltdown, and in fact her intervention helped make it less serious than it might have been. "Oh, I get it," the jaded Anastasia says. "You're part of some super-secret government agency, right?" "Not exactly," Sharkey laughs. "In fact, that's the one thing we've never been, what we've always fought. You see, governments are the folks who brought us all these hot and cold wars, nuclear proliferation, and not to mention a lot of new-fangled weapons of mass destruction. We ain't them. We're the grownups who stand in the background and make sure the kids don't blow up the neighborhood with their chemistry sets."

Sharkey explains that, still reeling from Chernobyl and realizing that the arms race was lost, members of the Politburo secretly proceeded with "Alto" vaccines for their children. Thus, under her grandfather's reluctant guidance, an ATOMIK* generation was created to ensure the survival of the Soviet people. This, despite the fact that the vaccine was not ready for mass application, that its side effects were not fully understood. Indeed, it was only used on the pre-natal Anastasia out of sheer desperation: she would have died anyway.

So what happened to these kids-the ones that survived? Many were born in satellite republics such as Chechnya, Dagestan, and Georgia. However, as was often the case in the USSR, budgetary problems prevented adequate follow-up. In the early 1990's, when the superpower finally broke up, this new "Diaspora" of super-powered kids soon spread all over the globe. Some have migrated to the US and grown up, like "Tasia", as normal American citizens. In theory, today's ATOMIK teens can withstand extreme heat and cold as well as most types of biological and chemical weapons…

But how?

They're able to perform subatomic transfers between different elements. Using their bodies as a kind of "currency exchange", they can convert one element into another. They can turn radioactive uranium or plutonium into their harmless, stable isotopes. They can transfer iron atoms in their skin into the more protective element of lead. To avoid security at airports and international borders, they convert contraband material into an "innocent" form and then back again as needed. (Tasia, the most adept, eventually masters the art of changing oxygen and nitrogen in the air around her into the light-than-air elements of helium or hydrogen-and with the addition of a small heating device in her boots, can remain airborne for short periods.)

But there are limits to what they can do. By the laws of physics, matter can neither be destroyed nor created-the electrons and protons must go somewhere.

Often, in order to "transform" one element, they must alter other aspects of their environment, too, and with unforeseen consequences. Of course they can always use their own bodies as a kind of holding pen, moving the particles along intra-cellularly... and of course there are long-term side effects to doing so.

Sharkey will be her guide in tracking down these special teenagers, and then recruiting them to the cause of non-proliferation… or neutralizing their powers. As the only one given the vaccine in utero, she is uniquely powerful and suited to this mission. But our heroine balks: "I have a life here, not as some kind of jet-setter. I'm a dancer. I come from a distinguished family-" Sharkey tells her it's all a lie.

For years BioStar has used her blood to develop derivatives of the original formula. It is these new "Beta" forms of the vaccine that it has peddled to the scared, the extremist, and above all, the wealthiest families of Southern California. Indeed, her school itself is a front, owned and run by BioStar as an elaborate testing facility constantly keeping tabs on its "customers." And then the kicker: "-they've been paying your papa three mil a year to raise you-plus expenses. You're the source of his 'family' money. Yeah, you got your work cut for you without even leaving home!" Tasia's hazel eyes glow sky-blue as she powers up, raging at the betrayals that are her life and vowing to right them.

But how will she cope with the long-term effects of her gift/curse? And what has Noah Carpenter been up to since the Iron Curtain fell? And did Julia Pizer actually die, as we're led to believe, or is there some connection to Tasia's mentor/teacher, VALERIE PRESCOT?

The suspenseful unraveling of these mysteries, along with action-driven, teen-oriented adventures, provides the backdrop for a series combining the best elements of "Buffy", "Alias" and "Smallville."

* Hence "ATOMIK" as opposed to the Western "ATOMIC"--get it!?

Atomik Angels Artwork

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