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THE NEWCOMER
Path B2A2 by Jay
[Path B2A2. Try to grab with right hand.]
"Aaaah!" Cyberreyn screams, the sound of her own voice echoing the terror of her most frightening dreams.
The Captain leaps to the top of the ladder, but watches helplessly as he can do nothing.
In what seems like slow-motion, Cyberreyn's right hand touches but loses one of the upper rungs. Flailing through the air, she floats downward like a fragile autumn leaf.
Kan-chiang calls out, "Cy!"
Smash! Cyberreyn crashes sideways onto the cold harsh metal deck, her body broken, unconscious, but amazingly alive.
"Cy!" With another leap, the captain slides effortlessly down the ladder, meeting his first officer Hitch, then his second officer Sky, at the bottom.
"Captain, what happened?" Hitch says.
Shaking his head, Kan-chiang replies, "The alarm went off -- she slipped -- and--"
"Don't worry," Sky bends down to Cyberreyn, "I'll look after her. You two better go on ahead."
With a nod, Hitch quickly starts up the ladder, then stops, "Come on, Captain!"
With one last look at Cyberreyn, the captain turns and follows Hitch up into the cockpit.
"Dammit!" shouts the first officer, bringing up the central holographic display. "We got three squiddies after us... they'll catch us in about three minutes."
"Do you see any junctions, holes, any irregular features in the tunnel ahead?"
"Uhh, I... think... so," Hitch turns to one of his display screens, punches a few keys, "Yes! The tunnel branches off up ahead... about... three or four minutes away. Dammit!"
"We can do it," the captain reassures him. Peering ahead down the spinning tunnel, Kan-chiang weighs his options. In three or so minutes, the junction will appear, as will the Sentinels. The gun batteries don't have a chance of deactivating the machines, but they may delay them. If he can delay the Sentinels, he may have additional time to shut down the hovercraft, and release the electro-magnetic pulse. Or he may not.
But with Cyberreyn seriously down as either a gun operator or "Cockpit Construct" pilot [refer to Path A1A1A1], his choices were cut down considerably. He may be forced to shut down in the middle of the tunnel, and face the Sentinels in full clear view... and hope he fires the EMP before they tear, slice, or bomb his hovercraft to pieces. Dammit!
"Should we delay the machines?" he ponders intensely, "Or should we face them now?
Choose Path B2A2A for the captain to prepare the guns, and speed ahead to the junction.
Choose Path B2A2B for the captain to turn the hovercraft around.
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