160 lines
6.3 KiB
HTML
160 lines
6.3 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title> <End> </title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="html_resources/style.css"></head><body><a href="index.html"><button class="back"><</button></a>
|
|
|
|
<h1> <End></h1>
|
|
<p class="comment">
|
|
If you are just here to read, skip past the outline.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p class="comment">
|
|
Outline of this section:
|
|
</p>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li class="comment">
|
|
protagonists are waiting on top of one of the sky scrapers in
|
|
Nova Metropolis
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li class="comment">
|
|
they're having food, potentially cooking it over a camp fire or
|
|
gas stove or whatever
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li class="comment">
|
|
Jack's watch starts to beep
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li class="comment">
|
|
that's the alarm he set for roughly the time when moon girl
|
|
should be entering the atmosphere
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li class="comment">
|
|
They get up and walk to the edge and start observing the sky with
|
|
binoculars
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li class="comment">
|
|
after a while, the escape pod becomes visible as its heat
|
|
shield glows red hot
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li class="comment">
|
|
several minutes pass (ChatGPT says a space shuttle would take about
|
|
half an hour so let's assume 10 to 15 min
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li class="comment">
|
|
the thing is coming down way too quickly
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li class="comment">
|
|
the rear end of the capsule breaks apart while it's (from their
|
|
perspective) still far up in the sky
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li class="comment">
|
|
the capsule plummets into the city leaving a crater where it lands and
|
|
taking down some buildings
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li class="comment">
|
|
they think they just witnessed a horrible accident
|
|
</il>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li class="comment">
|
|
after a moment, a parachute opens in the distance
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li class="comment">
|
|
it lands between the buildings
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li class="comment">
|
|
In a hunch, one of the protagonists grabs a radio and broadcasts a
|
|
message asking if the girl is okay
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li class="comment">
|
|
very noisy but clearly affirmative response
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</li>
|
|
<li class="comment">
|
|
End of story
|
|
</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The group sits around the pot with leftovers on the gas stove, enjoying
|
|
the view of the skyline from above. They had decided to wait on top of
|
|
one of the tallest sky scrapers the city had to offer to increase their
|
|
odds of seeing where Emily would land. The intense light of the sunset
|
|
paints Nova Metropolis in various hues of vibrant orange and the moon
|
|
is already visible in the sky. They are engaged in a conversation about
|
|
the mind-boggling vastness of space and all it contains.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p class="strong">
|
|
bebebebeep bebebebeep bebebebeep bebebebeep
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The alarm on Jack's watch interrupts them. He presses one of the
|
|
buttons and says:<br />
|
|
<span class="speech">It's time. Emily will be entering the
|
|
atmosphere right about now.</span><br />
|
|
They get up. James pulls a pair of binoculars out of his bag. Jack does
|
|
the same. Annie looks at both of them - her face clearly showing her
|
|
disappointment.<br />
|
|
<span class="speech">Don't worry, I gotchu.</span> says Jack as he
|
|
pulls a second pair out of his bag before they start walking towards the
|
|
edge.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Michelle and James are already leaning against the railing and looking
|
|
towards the sky. Jack and Annie join them. Jack takes a compass out of
|
|
his pocket and briefly looks at it. Then, he points in a direction in the
|
|
sky and says:<br />
|
|
<span class="speech">The pod should appear somewhere around there.</span>
|
|
<br />
|
|
James hands his binoculars to Michelle for a moment.<br />
|
|
<span class="speech">I see it! There!</span> she exclaims before handing
|
|
them back to him.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The capsule looks like a tiny, red glowing dot in the sky, slowly
|
|
growing in size. For a few minutes, nothing seems to happen. The dot gets
|
|
bigger and bigger turning into a black circle as the glow dims and
|
|
finally disappears. The pod sheds its heat shield as it slowly comes
|
|
closer.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Around the 15 minute mark, Jack notices that it has moved almost above
|
|
them.<br />
|
|
<span class="speech">That's a bit too close for comfort - and way
|
|
too fast.</span> he says.<br />
|
|
Parts appear to be breaking off from the pod. They watch the last couple
|
|
minutes of the fall realizing that something has seriously gone wrong.
|
|
It plummets into the city, shaking the ground slightly, and taking
|
|
multiple buildings down with it. Nobody says anything for a while as they
|
|
watch the buildings around the impact crumble and the remaining parts
|
|
rain out of the sky in a mix of awe and shock.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<span class="speech">Guys, over there!</span> Michelle points into the
|
|
sky behind them. <span class="speech">A parachute...</span><br />
|
|
<span class="comment">reaction needed</span><br />
|
|
They watch as it disappears between the buildings.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Annie walks over to Jack's bag and, on a hunch, unpacks the radio
|
|
he had insisted on bringing.<br />
|
|
<span class="speech">Maybe, she can hear us from here...</span><br />
|
|
She swiches it on and turns the frequency dial until the needle is in
|
|
the position that Jack had marked.<br />
|
|
<span class="speech">Emily, can you hear us? Are you okay?</span>
|
|
<span class="comment">Might benefit from proper radio protocol</span>
|
|
<br />
|
|
They hear a slightly distorted but clearly happy response through the
|
|
noise:<br />
|
|
<span class="speech">Yes... Yes. I'm alive... I made it.</span>
|
|
<br />
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p class="comment">
|
|
This is the very end of the story. I originally didn't plan for
|
|
anything to happen after this though I have managed to somehow already
|
|
write about an event after this in <a href="./%3F%3F.txt">??.txt</a>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p class="copyright">Copyright © 2023 Jan Danielzick (aka. BodgeMaster) – All rights reserved.</p><script>let spans = ["<span class=\"paper green\">", "<span>"];let paper_sections = document.getElementsByClassName("paper");for (let i = 0; i < paper_sections.length; i++) {let lines = paper_sections[i].innerHTML.split("\n");let result = "";for (let j = 0; j < lines.length; j++) {result = result + spans[j%2] + lines[j] + " ".repeat(80-lines[j].length) + "</span>\n";}paper_sections[i].innerHTML = result;}</script></body></html>
|