I woke up with a sudden jolt and almost fell off my bunk. The unexpected awakening left my head feeling fuzzy, and I couldn't grasp what had just happened. I could hear the pounding of heavy rain against the hull. A storm was raging outside. It felt as if the gusts of wind were making the ship sway. Occasionally, there were creaks and rattles, adding to the unease. My pulse quickened with growing fear, and I decided to get up and find Neight. I didn’t want to be alone in such a storm. Who knew what could happen? But as soon as I stood up, the ship shook again, even more violently, causing me to collapse back onto the bunk.
What the hell is happening out there?!
In the corridor, I heard footsteps rapidly approaching, and a moment later, Neight burst into the cabin. His concerned expression made it clear that the situation was serious.
"Evie, come with me. Now!"
He rushed over to me, grabbed my hand, pulling me up from the bunk, and thrust a helmet into my hands. Then he grabbed my belongings and practically dragged me out of the cabin, not giving me even a second to process what was happening. I ran barefoot after him down the corridor and then up the stairs, stumbling over the steps in my half-asleep state. When we reached the massive door, which had always been locked for me, Neight handed me my clothes. I watched with a dazed, bewildered expression as he rushed to the control panel to open the door for us.
Finally, the doors opened, and Neight grabbed my hand again, pulling me into a spacious room filled with various control panels and a large transparent window. Just as I had suspected, this was the cockpit—the heart of the ship. Neight led me to one of the three seats right by the central panel and then sat down in the middle seat himself.
"You have a couple of minutes to get dressed while I start the system," he said in a serious tone, busy entering various commands.
I was about to ask what the hell was going on, but one glance through the front window was enough to understand everything. Terror gripped me. A storm was raging outside. Black clouds covered the entire sky with no break in sight, the slanting rain poured down like a wall, reducing visibility to almost nothing, and the wind gusts pressed the plants to the ground. Clumps of something unidentifiable were rushing past so quickly that there was no chance to make out what it was. Another blow landed, accompanied by an unpleasant jolt.
"Evie, stop dawdling. We don't have much time."
Neight said this without turning to me, fully occupied with his work on the control panel, and seemingly noticing out of the corner of his eye that I was standing there like a statue, shocked by what was happening. There was tension in his voice.
Snapping out of it, I shakily and clumsily pulled on the suit over my nightwear, my hands trembling and dropping everything at the worst possible moments. I put on my boots, gloves, and helmet, almost dropping the latter in the process. Once dressed, I quickly slumped into the seat and reached for the seatbelt, but the belt jammed when I pulled it too sharply, refusing to move further. After a bit of tugging and a fair amount of cursing, I finally managed to fasten myself in.
"Are we really going to fly right now?!" I asked fearfully. It was obvious from what was happening around me, but I couldn't believe it.
"Yes, otherwise we'll be blown away. If something happens to the ship, we're done for," he replied without stopping his work. I watched in shock as various lights and indicators started to blink on and off.
"And y-you know how to fly this thing, right?"
Neight didn’t answer me, which only fueled my panic. A sense of terror pierced through me. It felt as if I had never experienced such fear in my life—not even in those moments before drifting off to sleep... Suddenly, to my surprise, Neight leaned back in his chair, furrowed his brow, and muttered through clenched teeth, "No, we're not ready yet... Not ready..." I could only watch as he closed his eyes, took a couple of deep breaths—probably to calm down and muster his resolve—and then, with a serious expression, he leaned forward again towards the control panel, put on his helmet, and entered some command.
"Welcome to the autopilot system. Please confirm the transfer of access rights to the navigation and control systems to proceed," came the standard voice, typical of nearly all the AI assistants I was familiar with.
"Neight, what the hell?! You said people had abandoned AI!"
"This is an exception. A gift from the person who saved us," he stated.
"So, after AI destroyed humanity, you're now going to trust it to control the ship? Is that what you're doing?!" I fumed, unable to understand what he was thinking. I had this terrible feeling like I had been deceived. In response, I heard an irritated click of his tongue.
"Do you have any better ideas? Maybe you know how to pilot the ship? For your information, I can't fly it manually," Neight’s voice sounded unusually hurt and offended, as if I had personally accused him of all the deadly sins. Realizing that this was not the time for yet another argument, I decided to give in and trust him this time. However, if we survived, I would definitely bring this up later!
"Fine, do whatever you want, just get us out of here!"
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"Confirming transfer of access," Neight said firmly.
"Initiating sensor checks. Initiating engine check. Initiating navigation systems. Sensors are functional. Initiating area scan. Engines are operational," the AI continued, performing tasks to get the ship ready for flight. At some point, I heard the roar of the engines. The ship began to vibrate, and the assistant commented, "Engines started." Suddenly, we were jolted with such force that if not for the seatbelts, we would have been thrown out of our seats. The sensors flashed red, and an unpleasant alarm sounded.
"Critical situation. Extreme weather conditions. Immediate evacuation required. Initiating procedure."
My breathing quickened. I could feel my heart pounding furiously. It felt as though the air itself was pressing down on me from all sides. I gripped the armrests of the seat as if my life depended on it. However, the realization of my helplessness, my inability to affect anything, and the inevitability of the situation scared me more than anything.
I don't want to die... I don't want to die...
All the sounds blended together, and it felt as if I had completely lost focus. The engines roared, the ship creaked and vibrated, objects slammed against the hull, carried by the hurricane-force winds. I trembled and prayed for salvation. Then, I felt a sharp upward movement, sending chills through my body, and the change in altitude caused a discomforting sensation in my head. But something was wrong. The red warning lights began flashing and beeping at an increased frequency, and then I felt us being pulled back as the ship started to lift and tilt backward.
Everything started to spin and whirl. It felt as though our ship had been sucked into some kind of air vortex, spinning us around at tremendous speeds while flipping us over and over. The g-forces were incredible, and my body, like a rag doll, was tossed around helplessly, held in place only by the seatbelts. It was painful and unbearably frightening. The pounding intensified, as if we were caught in a hailstorm of stones. Everything creaked, rattled, and it seemed as if the ship would be torn apart at any moment. I screamed at the top of my lungs and mentally said my goodbyes to life.
"Exit point detected," announced the AI assistant, and I suddenly felt a sharp jolt, pressing me into the seat, followed by a few twists. At some point, I realized that it was all over: the ship had leveled out, and we were flying straight, only occasionally swaying slightly.
"Evie, are you okay?.. Are you safe?" Neight's pained voice came through, accompanied by heavy, labored breathing.
"W-we’re a-alive," I stammered, choking on my own tears. I couldn’t believe we had made it out alive, that this nightmare was over. I wanted nothing more than to get out of this seat, off this ship, and collapse into the arms of my loved ones, crying. After everything that had just happened, I needed comfort—someone to hold me, to calm me down, to tell me that it was over, that everything would be okay…
"Hang in there just a bit longer… We’ll soon be at a safe distance… But the landing won’t be easy… Some of our sensors are damaged…" Neight’s voice was heavy and fragmented. I didn’t like how he sounded. I began to worry about him.
"N-Neight… What about you? Are you okay?" I cautiously asked, sniffling.
"More or less… I think. Anyway, there’s no need to worry…”
Judging by his voice, something was definitely wrong, but he just didn’t want to worry me. Or maybe he couldn’t assess the full extent of the damage yet. As I gradually came out of shock, I began to feel the pain in my head, neck, arms, and basically all over my body. I felt nauseous, like I might vomit at any moment. I looked over at Neight and saw that he was slowly tilting his head, carefully stretching his neck. But then I noticed how he grabbed his right arm.
"Are you hurt?" I asked, alarmed.
"Just a small bruise. It’s fine," he insisted. But it didn’t make me feel any better. Still, I decided not to bother him with more questions. If he says it’s okay, then it’s okay… Besides, I could use some time to pull myself together as well.
Outside, it was still dark and rainy. The only relief was that there were no more hurricane-force winds that could have blown our ship away. Just as I began to catch my breath and calm down, we flew into a black cloud, and the ship started shaking again.
No, please, not again!
I screamed instinctively, curling up and squeezing my eyes shut, bracing for the worst. The last thing I wanted was to relive the nightmare we had just escaped. However, this time, fortunately, the shaking didn’t last long.
"Don’t worry, it was just a small turbulence zone. According to the instruments, we’ve left the danger area and will be landing soon," Neight said, trying, it seemed, to calm me down. From the sound of his voice, he had fully recovered. I was amazed by his ability to quickly adapt to different situations and how he kept his emotions under control. Though, considering he’d spent his whole life in a lab, constantly participating in some experiments, maybe he had been trained to work in extreme conditions? Unlike him, I couldn’t handle it… Damn it, I’m just an ordinary person! I shouldn’t have had to go through something like this! I shouldn’t!
"Optimal landing site detected. Awaiting confirmation to initiate the maneuver," the AI assistant suddenly announced, interrupting my thoughts. And once again, a new wave of anxiety swept over me.
Didn’t Neight mention something about broken sensors?
"Evie, get ready," he ordered me, then firmly said, "I confirm and authorize the landing maneuver."
"Confirmed. Beginning maneuver," the friendly voice of the assistant responded.
We began to descend, and I felt that familiar sensation that comes with sudden drops—whether it’s in an elevator, an airplane, a steep road, or a roller coaster. It was the kind of moment when adrenaline surges through you. I tried to calm myself, breathing deeply and focusing on positive thoughts.
Everything’s going to be okay… The worst is over… Just a little longer, and this nightmare will be over…
"Damn it!" Neight suddenly exclaimed, and I felt us begin to rapidly descend, picking up speed.
"Nooo! We’re going to die!" I screamed, feeling like we were in free fall. The control panel beeped, red lights flashed, feeding into the realization that a disaster was imminent. Meanwhile, Neight was frantically pressing buttons and entering various commands, but the situation remained unchanged. For the second time today, I mentally said goodbye to all my loved ones, bracing for the inevitable.
"Come on!" Neight growled through gritted teeth, refusing to give up on saving us. Suddenly, the ship began to level out. Just as a glimmer of hope for survival flashed through my mind, I felt a sharp impact, and then everything went black.