I've always hated planes. Ever since the accident that killed my parents five years ago, just stepping onto one makes my chest tighten. Now I'm seventeen, stuck in a metal box hurtling through the sky, surrounded by strangers talking way too loud. Maybe I should just close my eyes. There's still a few hours left.
Kid beside Kairo: "Hi, sir. What's your name?"
Kairo:smiling slightly "Kairo. Kairo Jordan.How old are you?"
Kid: "I'm nine. You're really tall for seventeen."
Kairo:chuckles "Thanks, I guess."
A flight attendant leans toward me.
Flight Attendant: "Would you like anything from the menu?"
Kairo: "No, I'm good. Thanks."
I let my head sink back into the headrest. The engines hum. People laugh. My eyelids grow heavy. Then
A deep rumble shakes the fuselage. The lights flicker. I sit up. Outside, a storm tears across the sky like it's alive.
Then the lightning hits. A crack of white splits the clouds and the world snaps sideways.
Smoke. Screams. Metal folding in on itself.
My seat breaks loose. The ceiling rips open. I feel myself falling. Then
Nothing.
I wake to silence. My face is cut. My ribs ache. The air smells like fire and salt.
The plane what's left of it is torn across jagged rocks. Bits of metal glint under a moonlit sky. Charred bodies still strapped into twisted chairs.
I stumble toward the door. My legs barely work, but my instincts scream: Move.
When I get outside, all I see is darkness. Ocean all around. No buildings. No voices.
Just waves and night.
Then I hear it.
Tick… tick… tick…
A quiet beeping sound from inside the wreckage.
I freeze. The sound speeds up. My eyes widen.
No. No. That's a countdown.
I turn and run sprinting through the sand, heart pounding, lungs burning. Ten meters. Twenty.
Then
BOOM.
The wreckage explodes behind me, heat licking my back as I dive forward into the sand.
And just like that...
I'm alone.
[1 Hour Later]
I lie on my back in the sand, staring up at the moon. Everything hurts. Everything's broken.
Then
A voice.
[Welcome, User. Initializing Genesis Protocol…]