Ike secures the Device in the payload section of the rocket and then gets back down to the cockpit. He steps inside and adjust the oxygen mask.
Irene curls herself around his head and neck, like a living fox scarf. Ike's sensitive ears aren't so happy about that. She tries to position her snout near the oxygen mask, so that she can use it if necessary.
There's a strange feeling in their minds as they adjust themselves and calm down. This cockpit wasn't designed for two and it's having trouble compensating.
Despite that, it manages to form a link with Irene's mind. Ike's mind is also affected but he manages to calm himself and empty his mind, his thoughts nothing more than a small whisper in Irene's mind. She feels the rocket like an extension of her body, but the connection isn't perfect. It feels slow, like trying to move your hand while drunk. Making the doors close takes some effort.
The cockpit door slowly closes, filling the cockpit with darkness. Irene is uncomfortably compressed. Her limbs hurt and her lungs have trouble expanding enough to receive oxygen. Ike is having trouble breathing with a fox pressed against his neck, compressing his trachea.
If that wasn't enough, the moment the door closes, bolts automatically secure it and the cockpit floods with some kind of gel, forcing Irene to press her snout hard against Ike's cheek to retain access to the oxygen mask and the air it provides.
It's getting hard for Irene to focus on what the cockpit is giving to her mind. The pressure and the fear and the lack of oxygen and Ike's thoughts in her head are getting to her.
She tries to move the missile forward and the missile responds, firing its engines with full power. It strains against the scaffolding and the restraints that are holding it down for a few seconds, the vibrations reaching them even through the gel. With a jolt, the restraints break, allowing the missile move upwards. With another jolt, the missile breaks through the fan and grating of the ventilation shaft. Irene tries to right the missile but it's hard. It keeps hitting the walls of the shaft, dragging against them.
After a few more seconds, the grinding stops and the missile moves freely. It keeps rising, ever upwards. After a while, the engine module detaches from the rocket.
When the noise stops and Irene has had a minute to collect herself and calm down, she notices something else. The missile is telling her something. Asking her something. She can vaguely feel the landmasses under her, unknown to her but familiar to her host. She can tell she's somewhere above Russia, she can barely feel the small lumps of the Urals below her. This planet is huge, so many places on it. Mountains here, sea there, a giant plain, more mountains, more sea...
What was she doing? Oh, right, the missile is asking her something. What is its target? Hmmm... What had D. told her again? Britain, Britain,... Her host tells her it's... there!
The moment she indicates the position, she's above it.
Primary objective achieved. Secondary objective achieved. Mission accomplished. Prepare for desynchronization.You start to feel the thoughts of your host again. At the same time you feel the missile stopping its motion and heading towards the earth.
You are almost completely gone from their mind when something goes wrong. The cockpit module and the payload module are trying to separate but they can't. Irene's host, already in a bad state what with the "being a fox" thing, begins panicking. She tries to slow the missile down but the RCS isn't strong enough and the payload module's parachute is refusing to open. Not that it would be able to do much good.
The ground keeps coming closer. Irene's host is whimpering while Ike's is confused, unsure of what's going on.
The rocket hits the ground. The gel is not good enough to take the energy of the impact. There is a crunch and then only darkness.
You are sitting on top of some rubble. A man in military camouflage with a red cross on his arm is taking care of a gash on your forehead.
Another soldier approaches, holding a radio.
"Tovarishch direktor..." You can tell who it is by the look in his eyes. "Eto tebya."
You push the medic away, get up and bring the radio to your ear.
"Sekretar', ya mo-"
"Ne razgovarivay. Ya poslal by vas k rasstrelu bez kolebaniy, yesli by ne bylo..."There is only the sound of breathing coming from the radio for a few moments. Further away, you can hear sirens and helicopters, men shouting orders and concrete striking upon concrete.
"Nalet na krupnoy kontrrevolyutsionnoy oplot proizoshlo. My znayem mestonakhozhdeniye tselevoy ametista."You get up and look behind you, at the buildings turned to mounds of broken glass and rubble, at the fires in the streets, at the thick pillar of gray reaching towards the sky, clouds circling around it. This is going to be problematic...
Desynchronization complete.
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Topic: Special People: Mechanical Syndrome (Read 1145081 times)