The Eleventh Hour Cade West, 2021 “We’re running out of time, Jonas!” Kevin shrieked over the roaring of the mob that was banging on the large, steel door to their laboratory. While it was designed to withstand a catastrophic explosion, it was only a matter of minutes until it gave under the sheer mass of the tenacious crowd. “Then get me some more! It’s still not finished!” Jonas screamed in reply, his voice wrought with desperation. He was soldering the final piece of circuitry together on their prototype. He was getting sloppy in his haste; however, large globs of solder were being left in the wake of his unsteady hands. If quality control was still a concern of theirs, the entire board would have to be rebuilt. Unfortunately, though, it was not. Kevin looked frantically through the lab for something to hold off the crowd. A prototype railgun? No, there were too many of them to handle conventionally. What about the canister of sleeping gas? No… he wasn’t sure if it even worked; it had never been tested before. Finally, his eyes settled on his answer: the arc lance resting in the corner of the room. Traditionally, it was just used to weld metal sheets together, but under the circumstances, he might be able to weld the door shut with it. He hastily scooped the device up and dashed to the door. Soon enough, the deafening sound of raw electricity arcing through the air resonated throughout 14
the room as Kevin sealed the door. It was nearly enough to drown out the ever-present pounding on the door from the increasingly aggressive mob. “Finished!” shouted Jonas, with a hint of triumph in his voice. Kevin threw the arc lance to the ground and darted to Jonas and the machine. He couldn’t help but notice the glaring flaw in its design, however. “Uh…Jonas? The device still only fits one person.” Kevin stated, his voice trembling from a mixture of fear and excitement. “One of us will have to…” “Relax, Kevin. I’ll come back for you as soon as I make a second machine. After all, time is on our side, right?” Before Kevin could utter any sort of protest, Jonas seized the machines only seat, fiddled with a button, and soon the entire contraption had disappeared in a flash of light. Kevin stood in awe--the machine had actually worked! He waited for it to reappear, with a second seat for himself; Jonas should be sending one back at any moment. ...Any second now. ……… The pounding on the door grew louder and louder as the steel began to buckle and give under the sheer mass of the crowd slamming themselves into it. Kevin looked back, a sense of panic steadily rising in his chest. Come on, Jonas, I’m
