"Let's ride it out," you say. "I'm handing over the controls to the NESCA AI. She has faster reflexes than either of us."
"Good idea."
You leave the active sensors running, praying that your batteries last, and with them, NESCA deftly outmaneuvers the falling boulders. You feel utterly helpless as you and your wife are abruptly thrown from side to side by her wild shifts in direction. You watch missiles of all shapes and sizes miss the gyrating ship by inches.
Two minutes pass.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
This has to stop sometime, you think desperately. And then, exactly as you feared, a big red warning flashes on the screen: "Warning. Low power. Turning off Active Sensors." The hologram in front of you vanishes.
Suddenly, the rumbling ceases. The ship stops moving and drifts to the ocean floor, the whirring of the propellers coming to a slow halt. All is peaceful once more. Only the most critical systems remain online as your generators frantically try to replenish your drained batteries. Even so, you know it will take hours to collect enough energy to get moving again.
"That's it," you say, releasing the controls. "We're running on emergency power now. All we can do now is wait for our batteries to recharge before we can head back home."
Zell doesn't answer. You realize that she's crying softly.
"What's the matter?"
She gives you a tiny smile and points up at the cracked porthole. You see something huge plummeting toward you through it, illuminated dimly by the exterior lights. It's one last boulder, and it's headed straight for the Singularity. The proximity sensors start to wail again.
There is nothing you can do.
An indescribable feeling of guilt and regret overwhelms you. "I'm so sorry," you whisper, reaching out a hand.
The boulder hits. All goes black.
THE END.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRY AGAIN? GO BACK TO CHOICES #1 AND PICK A DIFFERENT CHAPTER!
YOU ARE READING
The White Singularity: A Choose Your Own Adventure
Science FictionYou are Dr. Brent Phillips, scientist extraordinaire, and have explored all the frontiers on Earth. There's only one place you haven't been... the very center of our planet. Until now. What will you encounter on your way down? Extinct species...
