John “Buck” McAllister (1890-1957) was a decorated Pan-Pacific War veteran, former chief engineer of Energy Complex One, and the retired vigilante known as Captain Atomic Ace. Widely regarded as the guardian of New Radion Bay during its most volatile decades, McAllister became a symbol of Atomic Age heroism following the 1932 Radion Reactor Incident, which permanently altered his physiology. By the events of Year Zero, McAllister is a retired public figure attempting to live quietly as a father, having stepped away from vigilantism in 1944. His legacy, however, remains deeply embedded in the city’s cultural identity — and in the conflicts that resurface decades later.

​

EARLY LIFE

​

John McAllister was born in 1890 and moved to Radion Bay at a young age, the son of a steelworker and a church singer. From an early age, he demonstrated mechanical aptitude and a compulsion to repair what others abandoned. He served in the Pan-Pacific Conflict as part of the motorized cavalry, earning distinction for his battlefield rescues and rapid-response operations. During the war, he met Eleanor, an Army nurse who would later become his wife.

​

Following the war, McAllister enrolled at the Radion Institute of Applied Mechanics, eventually partnering with Japanese refugee Yoriko Takeda in the early development of the tech company Takeda Dynamics. By the early 1930s, he served as chief engineer of Energy Complex One, one of the city’s most ambitious atomic infrastructure projects.

​

In 1932, a catastrophic reactor malfunction forced McAllister to manually intervene in order to prevent mass casualties. The radiation exposure left him near death. Takeda Dynamics undertook an experimental reconstruction procedure to save him. McAllister’s organs, skeletal structure, and cardiovascular system were augmented and reinforced using advanced, proprietary technology. The transformation granted him extraordinary strength, durability, and resilience.

​

He became Captain Atomic Ace soon after.

​

In 1944, following years of public heroism and the death of his wife Eleanor, McAllister formally retired from vigilantism to raise his daughter, Kayla.

 

​

IN YEAR ZERO

​

In Year Zero, John "Buck" McAllister is no longer the unstoppable figure of headlines and rooftop silhouettes. Now in his sixties, Buck lives modestly in the suburbs, splitting his time between breakfast at the Dash & Eggs Diner, friendly debates with Commissioner Elijah Cain, and quietly supporting his daughter’s ballet career.

​

The city, stabilized by automation and years of relative peace, appears to have moved beyond needing Captain Atomic Ace.

​

That illusion shatters.

​

When the Ice Cube Cryogenic Detention Facility is breached and reactor instability once again threatens New Radion Bay, McAllister answers instinct before logic. He mounts a motorcycle and rides toward danger — the first time the public sees Atomic Ace in motion in nearly two decades.

​

Inside the failing facility, Buck confronts not only catastrophic radiation levels, but a ghost from his past: Jezebel, a former adversary whose history with him is deeply personal. The reactor crisis forces him to relive the defining trauma of 1932. Unlike the first incident, however, his body is no longer at peak condition. Despite his declining physical state, McAllister once again attempts manual intervention to save the city.

​

The cost is immense.

​

The cascading events of Year Zero result in devastating personal consequences, including severe injury to his daughter during the broader crisis. By the conclusion of the book, McAllister’s role in New Radion Bay changes permanently.

​

Where he once embodied the Atomic Age — bold, visible, indestructible — he becomes something else: a man forced to confront the limits of his era.

​

His legend does not end in Year Zero, but it fractures.

​

And in that fracture, a successor rises.