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often, once things had got back to normal.  Back to normal?  Whatever happened, he was pretty sure ‘back to normal’ was not going to be one of the scenarios.  He’d probably have to explain why he didn’t tell anyone else about his Faraday cage theory, even though he had thought there was only a point-one-percent chance of it having any affect and in any case he’d only thought of it with about five minutes to spare.  Could anyone else have made it to safety if he had told them?  Well a few more people could have fit into the MRI room, but not many, and if there had been a panic they’d never have got in and shut the door in time. 
    His brain was flicking through the other possible shelters that may have protected people.  Anything that was specifically shielded against electromagnetic attack should have worked; at least a few government nuclear facilities should have had that.  The military had always been wary of a Russian electromagnetic attack on US soil; both sides had been aware of the risks EMP posed, should a nuclear warhead be detonated in the upper atmosphere.  When atomic bombs were tested at altitude, scientists had taken note of the mysterious side effect that disabled electronics for miles in all directions; and that was in the days when electronics were built like tractors on both sides of the Pacific.  So yes, there should at least be some military types buried underground somewhere wondering what the fuck happened and what they were supposed to do about it with what remained of their authority.  He was glad he wasn’t in their shoes. 
    But who else?  Anyone who had been in the equivalent of a Faraday cage, but what would suffice?  Metal buildings had too many windows, air vents and doors, plus large sections that were often made of non-conductive materials.  Cars had rubber tyres and a metal construction making them good in a lightning storm, but the windows meant they offered no protection from a giant wave of EMP.  Something like a shipping container would be perfect, but you’d have to be in there with the door tightly shut, meaning it was unlikely that anyone had made it that way.  Submarines, yes they’d be ideal, as long as they hadn’t suffered too much damage; the point of a Faraday cage was that the metal cage you were in didn’t touch anything conductive inside the cage and he didn’t know enough about submarine design to say whether that was the case.  Perhaps the deep ocean also provided some protection, with its salts and dissolved metals, who knew?  He shuddered to think of the watery graves of thousands of sailors that may have instantly been created. 
    And planes?  Jesus they must have all gone down, adding to the electrical fires already ablaze in the cities.  And what about the nuclear plants, how many were there in the country again? A hundred, hundred-and-fifty?  How did their fail-safes work?  He thought he’d seen something once that if the electricity to a plant failed, it would shut off an electro magnet holding the control rods in place, automatically dropping them into the reactor to shut it down.  But did that completely shut it down if nobody came to fix it, for days, weeks, longer?  He didn’t know, but wished he did.  Where was the nearest nuclear reactor anyway?  What a mess, what a fucking mess.  He hoped everyone woke up soon and started clearing it up before it got any worse… Ships cabins, in steerage, no windows? But the ships themselves would be in a bad way, probably ablaze and drifting in the oceans without their engines or instruments for navigation.
    Marius broke his train of thought.  “Hey Brian, check this out.”
    Marius was holding his keys near a metal railing when suddenly they jumped from his hand and attached themselves to the rail.  “Cool yah!  Das ist magnetised!”  He had an irritating habit of slipping back into German when he got excited. 
    “Must have been some kind of effect of the swathe,” said