by Dain White
08232614@16:24 Steven Pauline
A beeping alarm rang out, snapping me out of the depths of the code. The gig moved slightly, as if buffeted by a strong wind.
08232614@16:25 Jane Short
“YAK!” I screamed over and over, as hard as I could, until my throat felt full of thorns.
The yawning crack of light along the bottom of the foundation had closed, but the fierce infrared glow remained and was getting brighter. There were now giant cracks running up the side of the arco, bursting and popping, clouds of dust and gravel raining down around me.
I drew up short, suddenly enveloped in a rolling cloud of dust from a giant chunk of concrete that had cratered into the debris off to my right.
A burst of static rang out on comms.
“Yak?” I called back hopefully.
“--ane, come in,” Emwan called out in another burst of static.
“EM! Over here!” I screamed back along the carrier wave, leading up through the haze towards her beautifully haloed outline, coming down through the clouds of dust like an angel.
“Jane, where is Yak?” she asked, her voice heavy with concern.
“I don’t know. He’s here somewhere, but…” I trailed off, looking at the endless drifts of debris piled into the dusty haze. Some larger chunks of concrete hurtled down in the distance.
“Well, we need to find him. Have you looked down this way yet?” she replied, showing a waypoint route on my screen.
“Yes, I have gone that way, and that way,” I indicated, flashing my route.
“He will be down this way, Jane. He would have been blown away from the epicenter. Please, get in.”
She whipped up smartly, and hung there next to me, hatch doors open. I almost cried the moment I touched the crab.
I quickly worked through the lock, and took my seat in the aft compartment. The moment my suit clicked in to the harness, she was away, moving at speed.
We travelled for a bit, and I did my best to feel for Yak, to sense his suit, but felt nothing.
“Jane, I do not have Yak on scan,” Emwan replied softly, as we barreled across the landscape.
“Is he okay?” I whispered through a stabbing pain in my chest.
“He will be, Jane. Please remain calm,” she said softly, as we pulled through a solid hailstorm of pulverized concrete, followed by a massive chunk that crashed past the forward viewport into the churning dust below.
08232614@16:25 Shaun Onebull
I couldn’t see anything on visual, and even with filters, radar was really affected by the particulate. Sonar was slightly better, though churning growls and groans muddied up the signal terribly, the subsonic screams of the foundering arco rattling and crashing like waves everywhere I cared to look.
I had to find Jane.
She was probably lying unconscious in pain somewhere. I was at an intersection, quiet and dark, no sign of critters or web, just a silent, dusty haze. On radar the sides of the foundations swept far above me out of range.
Huge crashing booms and growls rolled out of the trench ahead, as waves of dust blew past me from the unfolding chaos ahead.
She has to be this way. Just has to. I pushed on, trying to dodge the bigger chunks falling off of the fracturing foundations to my left.
08232614@16:25 Captain Dak Smith
“Captain!” Pauli howled on comms.
Gene and I were pounding up the stairs towards the top hatch, clambering on all fours as the floor shook from side to side.
“Simmer down, son,” I replied calmly, hauling Gene up and pushing him onto the next landing.
“We’re moving, sir!” he screamed in reply.
I gritted my teeth and shoved upwards through the shuddering, shaking stairwell, towards the blackened opening of the upper hatch.
The entire stairwell seemed to lurch sickeningly to the left. It was minor, but unmistakably dire nonetheless.
“Almost there, Gene,” I said confidently. “One more level, mister, step lively now!”
08232614@16:26 Jane Short
“Jane, I have him on scan!” Emwan called out happily.
“YAK!” I screamed on comms, despite the pain.
“Jane! Over here!”
A wracking sob wailed out of the depths of my soul.
The crab came to a stop, and Yak pounded through the aft hatch, blurred from a sudden, hot flood of tears.
I furiously blinked, and mustered calm. “I’m…really glad we found you, Marine.”
He paused, and looked over.
“I’m glad you found me too, ma’am.”
As he bent down to sit, something frigate-sized smashed into us, a sudden crash that flattened us in a violent snap, hurling Yak into the ceiling. A furious roar and crashing sounded all around us, as we were smashed into darkness and dust.
08232614@16:26 Gene Mitchell
“Viceroy is now in collapse, sir,” Janis said briskly as we pulled through the hatch opening. The catwalk over the roof fans led towards the gig, clearly leaning on a tilt.
“Captain…” I started to say, through a tongue that felt suddenly numb. The face of Titan was sliding past, slowly moving upwards and twisting slightly.
“Move Gene, move!” he replied, shoving me in the back. We ran like the world was ending.
08232614@16:26 Steven Pauline
“Janis, we need to get in contact with the kids!” Captain Smith called out, as he pounded into the gig behind me and hurled into his seat. The face of Titan was inexorably sliding up and to the right now, an oscillation in slow motion.
It was by far, the worst experience I’ve ever had in my life. The relief I felt at knowing our captain was at the helm again was like cold water on the back of my neck. I had been squirming for what felt like hours, my screens ignored.
The drops and shifts, the subtle but continual shake… I knew what was happening here, and it was terrifying.
“Really glad to see you, sir,” I whispered.
“Well, I’m glad to see you too, Pauli,” he replied nonchalantly. “Looks like this one’s going down, alright. Janis, get me a waypoint to their location.”
“I am afraid that is impossible, sir,” she replied softly. “I do not know where they are.”
He barked out what sounded like an almost nervous blast of laughter. “Nonsense, my dear. They’re in this sector, right? Somewhere in the danger zone?”
“That is correct, sir.”
“Very well, my waypoint is down. You may adjust as necessary.”
He raised the gig on lifters for a brief moment, and dove like a banshee down the gap into the clouds far below. I wanted to scream, but I knew it wouldn’t do any good.
“Pauli, I need your eyes on screen, if you please,” he asked softly behind me.
“Onscreen, aye,” I said, ignoring the blur of chromate flashing past the viewport. “No hostiles, sir”
“Very well. Now, we’re going to drop at maximum here son, so I won’t exactly be following traffic rules or patterns. I need a master designation on anything that is on a collision course.”
“Collision course, aye,” I called back, working through the sierra targets ahead of us. I flagged all of the questionable ones. “Janis, can you assist?”
“Certainly Steven, though I cannot guarantee a preactive response to externally changing vectors.”
“That’s fine, Janis. Let’s also work on Yak and Shorty’s location. Do you have an analysis that tracks well?”
“Pauli, on Archaea I have a highly detailed simulation of Viceroy. I am unable to perform the necessary calculations on this vessel, but I am collating data from the seismic transducers of the surrounding area and replicating it on a engineering model of the structure.”
“Are you trying to tell if it will fall?”
“I am. Here’s an image of the building at this time. As you can see, a four kilometer crack opened on the east face, at level one. This crack closed instantly, but placed extraordinary shear stress on the structure.
That has resulted in fascia cracks on the external cladding. If you expand the ground level view in this area…” she paused as the view expanded, “…I am expecting there to be a significantly large debris field being formed from the concrete abradement.”
“Is this an exact sim?” I whispered, looking at the huge pile of concrete.
“It is not, Steven. This is purely a model based on the physical properties of the materials listed in the construction of this structure.”
“Is the arco falling?” The thought of the impending casualty count made it difficult to put my thoughts to words.
“It is, Pauli, though at what point it occurs is not known to me.”
I looked up at the viewport, and wished I hadn’t. We were punching through the median between stacked lanes of aero traffic, dodging the occasional lane changers and other traffic.
“Captain, be advised, the tower is falling,” I called out.
“Very well,” he replied casually. “Janis, what is your best estimate on the event?”
“Sir, I am simulating the event, but have a wide variance in collapse events.”
“Doesn’t Em know? If she doesn’t have it in her timeline, wouldn’t that mean they might be out of danger?”
“Captain, she knows it will fall. Her analysis tracks closely with almost 68 percent of my simulations. The moment it falls, however, is not definitively known to either of us.”
“Well, what is your best guess, my dear?”
“Our best estimate is of collapse within the hour, plus or minus a range of 45 minutes.”
“Very well…” the captain replied quietly. “Do you know where they are yet?”
“Captain, Em thinks she is located on the east face,” she started, as the captain snap rolled in the middle of the intersection, angling downward at a flatter angle back towards the collapsing arco.
“What’s it look like on the simulation?” he called out.
“My most congruent simulation is running real time on your screen. Be advised, this is a mathematical model, sir, not a direct analysis.”
“It looks pretty bad nonetheless. Why does this side of the trench look drifted in?”
“It is drifting in sir, with concrete detritus from fractures on that face of the foundation.”
“If they haven’t called in, they’re probably down in it. Get me ground support on that face, Janis. I need a dropship at either end of the crush zone.”
“I took the liberty of issuing this command twenty-three minutes ago, sir.”
Memories of my pitifully short life flashed past my eyes as Captain Smith skinned us past an expressway onramp. We tore onward into the depths.
“So which end do you think they’re in?”
“Captain, Master 4 was originally engaged in a vertical dive into the next intersection.”
“So they’re somewhere down there…”
“While that should remain our center of search, my analysis shows a high probability that Jane and Yak may have been impacted by the shockwave from her shot on Master 4. Given their proximity to ground zero and the compression wave formed by the trench, it might be likely the landed… here.”
We both saw a waypoint ahead in the depths, a little over halfway down the next block. Ahead of us, a solid cloud of dust billowed for thousands of meters to the Warrens below, lost in shadow.
08232614@16:31 Shaun Onebull
“Em?” I called out, scrambling to get my feet under me and hurling myself into my seat. Dull groans and deep cracking sounds resonated through the hull of the crab.
“Oh Yak…” she started in a voice heavy with sadness and love. “I am so very sorry.”
“Sorry for what? We’re fine. Jane, can you hear me?” I called out, waving my hand in front of her face.
“Yak… it hurts so much to talk,” she replied in a husky whisper.
“Save your breath, Jane. We’re going to be fine.” I said assertively. “We’re not dead yet. What’s our status, Em?”
“The crab’s structural integrity has not been compromised, and systems are at one-hundred-percent,” she replied. “However, my best analysis is that we are currently buried at a depth of 47 meters in a drift of concrete that is continuing to grow. We are currently immobilized.”
“How long can we last?” I asked breathlessly, listening to the groans and growls through the hull.
“Yak, Jane. I am so very sorry. In thirteen minutes and twenty eight seconds, the Viceroy arcology will collapse into this zone. I am deeply sorry to inform you both, that you are in fact, about to die.”
08232614@16:32 Jane Short
Her words snapped me alert. I was drifting off again, screaming inside at every breath, every movement.
Die?
The thought whipped me into action.
“Em, no!” I screamed.
“Jane…” Yak soothed, reaching out.
“NO!” I screamed again. “Em, what is your minimum safe distance?”
“Jane, the crab’s armor can withstand the effects of a full power shot at zero range, but I am afraid you may not be so lucky.”
“We’ll be fine, Em. You will fire that shot. Yak, lock your suit, and hold on!” I shrieked. Adrenaline coursed through my muscles, and tears filled my eyes.
“Jane…” she replied softly.
“NO! YOU WILL FIRE THAT SHOT NOW!” I screamed, and shut my eyes as the world went white.
08232614@16:32 Captain Dak Smith
“Woah,” I called out, as the cloud ahead of us lit brilliantly white from the inside.
“Janis, report,” I called out smartly.
“Captain, I am afraid I do not know. The gig has insufficient sensors to perform an analysis.”
“Was it the reactor?”
“It is possible, sir. The core fire may have breached a coolant vessel.”
“Was it the crab?” I asked softly.
“Captain, I am afraid that may be possible as well. I am unable to simulate a crush depth for the crab, but if it is in this zone, it may be approaching the limits I have simulated.”
“Very well.” I called out through lips dryer than the outer plateau. “Pauli, look lively on those screens son, we’re headed through to the next block.”
“Through?” he squeaked.
08232614@16:34 Shaun Onebull
I felt like every bone in my body had been pulverized, something hot and wet flowed across my lips and cheeks. I hoped it was just tears and a nosebleed. From the way my head felt, it also could have been my brains leaking out of a fractured skull.
I tried to say something, but my breath was completely gone. I couldn’t open my eyes.
“Fire… again,” Jane croaked through the cacophony of rattling, slamming, crashing chunks of concrete pounding us down, slamming my eyeballs deeper into their sockets.
08232614@16:34 Steven Pauline
“There it is again, Captain!,” I called out, intent on flagging the bigger hunks of concrete coming off of the face as we streaked through the trench.
“I see it, son. That’s not in the building, Janis,” he called out.
“It is definitely not, sir.”
“Are the marines on station?”
“They are landing now, 500 meters beyond the next intersection.”
“Very well, pull the ones behind us out.”
“Captain, we are out of range at this depth. I am unable to issue that command.”
“Very well,” he replied, twisting us through the corridor around a large chunk that split off of the wall directly above us, punching through a brief rattle of gravel raining down in its wake.
“Captain,” I screamed, as a giant section of the wall above us split free and thundered through a spreading cloud of dust down towards us.
“I see it, son,” he replied calmly, and we dropped in a twisting dive that swept side to side as he curved around other chunks below.
I think, at that moment, I went insane.
It didn’t seem to help.
08232614@16:34 Captain Dak Smith
“Emwan, come in,” I called out smartly, my hackles rising at the thought of what we were current racing underneath: millions of tons of concrete, falling rapidly.
Ahead of us: disaster.
Bigger chunks were crashing past, crushing into billowing clouds of dust full of boulder sized hunks of stressed concrete.
“Emwan, come in,” I repeated, climbing a ridge in the drift, staying above the tumultuous chaos of the shifting piles below.
“Three-by-five, Captain,” she replied in a hissing crackle of static.
I slowed down, and swung wide as we crested the ridge, as a massive chunk of concrete plowed into the depths ahead of us.
The ridge was the rim of a vast crater, the bottom glowing hot as we passed overhead.
08232614@16:34 Jane Short
“Yak, Jane, I am in contact with the captain,” I heard dimly, through ears that felt like they were packed with cotton and pain. “When he has reached minimum safe distance, I will fire again.”
“Ooh rah,” Yak gasped in response. “Get some…” he trailed off.
“I will. Please hold on.”
I didn’t have a chance. I spun free into the silence of oblivion, into the silent, soft dark.
08232614@16:34 Shaun Onebull
I waited, gritting my eyes shut and willing my suit to lock completely, ignoring the screaming pain. My ears were ringing with the pounding of my pulse.
“Jane?” I whispered, but there was no reply.
Another savage blast burned white hot into my eyes, and I fell soundlessly into the afterglow.
08232614@16:35 Captain Dak Smith
I whipped us around and landed hard behind a dropship disembarking marines, when all hell broke loose in the trench ahead of us.
A brilliant flash blazed out, lighting the collapsing tower through the dust. In the flash, I could see hundreds of pieces of debris raining down, vast chunks of concrete, falling from thousands of meters.