Sketch: Nuclear Sphinx (Patreon)

A concept I wanted to get down on (digital) paper before I forgot about it.

So, a while back I was reading about long-term nuclear waste warnings, and ideas for how to warn people thousands of years into the future of the dangers of nuclear waste sites. Among the more outlandish ideas was the “Ray Cats”, creating genetically engineered cats whose fur would glow different colors when close to radioactive emissions as a warning to stay away, and manufacturing myths and fairy tales of Ray Cats so the idea would stick to the collective awareness of humanity long into the future. It then reminded me of the legendary Sphinx and its reputation as a wise but deadly guardian. And thus, the Nuclear Sphinx, guardian of the nuclear wastes, was born.

I haven’t gotten a concrete design down yet, but I have a few ideas: she can shift between a humanoid and bestial form, her body would be covered in thick black spikes (based on the “spike field” plan for forbidding architecture), and she’d had largely bluish-black skin with glowing blue eyes. I know green is a traditionally “radioactive” color but blue is more common in actual radioactive phenomena, such as Cherenkov radiation in reactor pools.