| Generated by Google Flow text-to-video AI software, powered by Veo 3.1 |
Elise and Colley learn that the maze the other team members were making
their way through is a rocket buried in the ground narratively from
crashing. It’s heavily damaged, and not likely spaceworthy, so they’re
pretty sure that their goal was never to learn how to pilot it. It is of
apparent alien design, based on the mysterious writings and glyphs all over
the place. One particular room off of what they believe to be the bridge is
calling out to them, like path funneling in a video game. It just looks
important. This is partially because it sits opposite the exit that led them
back to their friends on the surface. This hunt is all about movement. It
must be the next step in their journey.
They came across other locked doors, but they served mainly as dead ends for
the maze portion of the challenge, because if the ship were real, it
probably wouldn’t have actually been designed as a maze on purpose. This
room is different, and they think Colley may be able to figure out how to
unlock it. Their best guess is that it’s a puzzle.
Colley is standing at the door now, looking at the symbols carved into it,
having already examined the writing on the consoles. Elise stands a little
to the side. She has no idea what the symbols mean, but she’s watching
Colley’s facial expressions closely. He doesn’t look like he’s studying
them. His face is solemn and reflective. At times, it’s unclear if he’s
looking at anything at all, or simply staring into space. After a moment, he
pivots 45 degrees to look over at Rage. “You’ve always known.”
“What?” Rage questions. “I’ve always known what?”
Colley quietly looks back at the door. “You’ve always known we would end up
here. Or maybe you thought this time would be different...that you could
change it.” He looks back over at her again. “Which is it? Hope, or
inevitability.”
Rage looks as confused as before, but then her face falls into cold
understanding. “I did what I had to do. We’re so close. Next time, we’ll
make it all the way, I know it.”
“What is going on?” Jolanda questions. “What are you two talking about?”
Colley begins to look around. “The door is dead. We got here too late.”
“There’s power,” Zelda reasons. “We can figure out how to reroute it to the
door.”
“No,” Colley contends, shaking his head. “It’s not that kind of door. It’s
powered by time, and the clock ran out before we even stepped foot in the
maze.” He faces Minotaur. “Do you have any idea who brought you down here?
Did you catch a glimpse? Any clue whatsoever?”
“No, why? I assumed it was Azad, or a programmed Ambient, like those
pirates.”
“I don’t think they were supposed to grab you,” Colley begins. “I think
someone was trying to help us get down here faster. It turned out to not be
enough because of the other delays we faced, like Elise’s death, and
Miracle’s surprise return. Rage knows more about it. She’s been here before.
Haven’t you, Rage? You’ve been through all of this.”
“It’s not like that,” Rage says. “They give us different challenges every
time. Even this last one is different. It’s the same crashed ship, but the
path is always changed. That’s why I started recruiting Mino, so they would
help us get through it faster. But like the man said, it wasn’t enough. The
countdown has already begun.”
“Explain,” Minotaur presses. “What do you mean you started recruiting
me?”
Rage sighs. “I don’t have the whole history, because I’m not always the
designated survivor, but—you have to understand that at first, a part of me
thought they were just dreams. When I could remember past attempts, I
thought my brain was just making it up, because the memories don’t really
feel like mine. The more time passes, the more I realize that they’re real,
and I start actively trying to change things.”
“Ah,” Miracle says. “You don’t store all of your thoughts in the network.
You learned how to keep them in another dimension. I probably taught you
how. Though, if I did, why would I not have those memories?”
“Because you have to be the one who survives,” Rage explains. She points at
the mysterious door. “Once we open that, two things will happen. The ship
will ascend, and bathe this whole dome in exhaust and radiation. The dome is
smaller than it looks. A single-person pod will unlock, and allow one of us
to survive. That person’s consciousness alone will continue, go back to the
beginning, and recruit everyone to try again. It’s usually me. We vote and
agree that it will be me since I’ve become the one with the most context. I
think I sometimes just don’t make it this far so you have to pick someone
else. I have been trying different ways of winning, but delays add up.
Speeding through it won’t work either, because it usually just ends up
getting everybody killed. I made one huge change this time which got us
closer than ever.”
“What did you change?” Zelda asks.
Rage looks over at Elise. “I recruited a seventh hunter. She was the missing
piece. If we go one more time, I know that we can make it. You just have to
let me get in that pod one more time. Once I regain access to the right
equipment, I will send my consciousness back in time, like I always do, and
restart. Please, trust me.”
“How can we trust you?” Colley questions. “You have been lying this whole
time. Did you ever think of reading us in, and maybe we would work through
it better?”
“Of course I’ve tried that,” Rage contends. “Those iterations go worse than
any. We get in our own heads, and we get in our own way. Placing
my trust in you is what gets us far, as well as thinking
outside the box, like when I found Elise.”
“Why can’t we just walk out here right now?” Elise asks. She dips her head a
little. “I can still see light coming in through the executive exit. We’ll
go back to the desert, armed with water this time, and make our way to the
wall. We won’t win the hunt, but all of our memories will remain intact,
rather than only yours.”
Rage shakes her head. “We’ve tried that too. As soon as one person steps
over that threshold, the ship takes off and burns them alive before they
cross the desert. Anyone who manages to hold on and stay inside when that
happens asphyxiates once the ship reaches altitude.”
“Well, we could teleport,” Elise turns to face the person who knows the most
about all this time travel stuff. “Miracle, I’m surely charged up by
now, aren’t I?”
Miracle nods. “You probably are, but you can only take two people at a
time.”
“Yeah,” Rage agrees. “Miracle managed to retain her own powers in one
iteration but that didn’t work either, because the ship launched, and I
guess triggered some kind of teleportation suppression field. That’s when
she taught me how to send my consciousness into the past. We were hoping to
subvert the challenge changes, but we later decided that we decide
what challenges come up, based on our dynamic and capacity for teamwork,
which changes constantly. That’s why I didn’t tell you. I was trying to keep
everything as predictable as possible.”
“But you said that I’m new,” Elise reasons. “You made a change, but also
tried to keep everything the same? Which is it?”
“It’s both,” Rage answers. “It’s complicated. I’m sorry. It’s gonna happen
again.”
Elise shakes her head. “What if I flew people out of here?” Elise asks. She
turns to Miracle again. “I think I’m strong enough. The ship has to escape
the dome somehow, right? It is a spaceship, after all, and there’s no
outer space inside the dome.”
When Miracle defers to Rage, the latter goes on. “I once climbed into the
escape pod, but intentionally didn’t escape right away, to see what would
happen. Yes, it does fly all the way into space. You’re not strong enough to
carry six people, though.”
“She won’t have to carry all six,” Miracle claims. She begins to stretch and
roll her neck. “There’s a reason I’ve been so subdued since Hrockas made me
come back in a different body. I’ve been focusing on induced limb growth.”
She tenses up like she’s having a baby, and hunches her back. Two beautiful
white angel wings sprout from her shoulder blades, and unfold before their
eyes. It looks a little painful, but once it’s over, she smiles and
breathes. “Ahhh, loophole!”
“Oh my God,” Zelda says. “That’s bad ass. You have to teach me how to do
that.”
“There’s a problem, though,” Miracle says as she’s flapping her new wings,
presumably to get used to them. “I couldn’t will myself to have
superstrength, and it doesn’t sound like Elise has it either. I reckon we
can each only take two passengers.”
“Someone’s going to have to stay behind,” Zelda realizes. “There’s
apparently usually only one survivor, but this time, there will be one
death. How poetic.”
“I’ll do it,” Colley volunteers. “Before you say anything, I don’t have any
special argument in favor of it, but the way I see it, I called it first, so
I win. I shouldn’t have to explain myself. I don’t have this big speech
about what I learned, and what will happen to my alternate self when he
wakes up with no memories. This is just gonna be what happens. So go on and
yell all you want, but I’m not budging.”
Rage looks at him like he’s an idiot. “There’s still an escape pod,” she
reminds him. “It’s got my name on it. I’ll take that. You take the ride.”
“Oh, yeah, that makes sense,” Colley agrees. “But we have to time it right.”
Everyone gets into position. Rage prepares to open the door with the code
while the flyers stand at the exit, their respective passengers on either
side of them. On Rage’s mark, they fly out of the hatch as fast as they can.
Miracle gets going quickly, which triggers the launch sequence. Elise is
having more trouble. Her wings may not be as fragile as a real Luna moth’s,
but they’re not made of carbon nanotubes either. They’re still organic, and
she still has limitations.
They’re only a few meters over the surface, and Elise is fighting just to
stay at that level. She just can’t reach elevation. As she’s flapping her
wings as hard as possible, they look down and see the sand slipping away
from them like an hourglass. She’s not getting higher; the ground is getting
lower as the ship displaces it with its initial lift off. The boosters are
just about to fire and burn them to death. They have to go now.
“I guess I am gonna sacrifice myself!” Colley yells, obviously
preparing to let go.
“No!” Elise cries. “Just hold on! I can do this!”
“There’s no time!” Colley shouts. “Don’t argue with me! Save Zelda!”
“Save Zelda?” Zelda questions. “I was born for this.” She lets go and
plummets towards her death. “Wooooo!” They lose her amidst the rain of sand
below.
Now there’s really no time...no time to mourn, no time to dwell.
Elise tightens her grip on Colley, and flies up towards the zenith as flames
nip at their heels.
