A/N: I apologize to any of you who were into this story, but I just can't continue it. It was initially a great idea, but I lost interest in it, and I've been unable to rekindle that fire. I bit off more than I could chew with this one, and I wish I could continue it, but sometimes it's better just to end it as it is. I despise, with a burning passion, awful endings, so I will write this one last chapter to tie up loose ends. Well, all of them except for the future reality where Tessa returns to Earth, but I'll offer an explanation for that at the end. This might be a little cliché, but it can't be much worse than the rest of the story, so enjoy if you can.
Chapter 25
The Long Haul
"I think I found it!" Brian shouted as he ripped one final shred of metal away from the shield generator.
"Good work. Let's get this thing out of here," Sammi said, assisting Brian. The shield generator was bulky, but Sammi was confident they would be able to drag it back to the pod. They pulled the generator from the compartment.
"It's impossible to move this thing over all the wreckage," Brian commented as he futilely attempted to push the generator across the uneven terrain the destroyed ship created.
/break\
"I don't know if we can get to the core, Tessa," Alexys said as she crawled out of the room where the main computer was located.
"Is it stuck?" Tessa asked.
"I'm not sure. I can't even see it," Alexys said half-heartedly. The sun was barely peeking above the horizon. The sky burned red from the fading light.
"If anything, we need that." Michael let out a loud sigh. "Are there any other ways we can get in there?" he wondered.
"No. There's only one way in. Wait." Alexys's brow furrowed as she thought through the idea that crossed her mind. "We can go in through the roof. Some of it fell in; that should give us easy access."
"It'll be difficult to get the core out, but it's not like we have any other options," Michael pointed out.
"Then let's do it," Tessa said. The group climbed on top of the pile of rubble.
"Right…here," Alexys strained as she pushed a metal support out of the way.
"It looks intact," Michael said, shining his flashlight into the hole.
/break\
"What's this?" Julian said to himself as he examined the map the satellite was creating. As the satellite passed over a new region of the planet, what appeared to be a large body of water appeared on the screen. A large source of fresh water such as this would be extraordinarily useful. It was 200 miles away. Julian began to wonder if it would be practical to build a pipeline from the lake to the town. He started working through the numbers, but the computer was still sluggish. Suddenly, the system froze entirely.
"Great," he complained. Every single screen in the room went black, and an instant later, the power shut off entirely. "What the hell is going on here?"
/break\
"Let's give this a go," Sammi said. She and Brian had managed to roll generator onto a large scrap of metal. Using a length of bundled wires, the pair was able to drag the hulking piece of equipment off of the pile of wreckage. Just then, the scenery around them flashed as though it was a hologram.
"What's going on?" Brian asked.
"I'm not sure. This wasn't supposed to happen." The pair sprinted over to the location where Tessa, Alexys, and Michael were looking around confusedly.
"Tessa," Alexys began. "That's not normal right?"
"No," Tessa answered.
"Do you think…" Michael passed out before he could finish his sentence.
/break\
A brilliant and blinding white light entered Tessa's eyes as she slowly opened them.
"Where?" she mumbled drowsily.
"It's alright Doctor. You're safe," a voice emanated from an unknown location. Tessa wondered for a moment if she was trapped inside her mind like Julian was, but then the picture became clear.
"Th-the simulation collapsed again didn't it?" she slurred.
"Yes Doctor," the voice answered. "You will have plenty of time to worry about that later, but you need rest right now." Tessa closed her eyes and tried to fight back tears. Eventually, she was blessed with sleep. When she woke, she was in an entirely different room. Golden shafts of sunlight shone through the curtained window. Her colleague Doctor Mitchell was sitting in one of the chairs in the room. His chin rested on his hands, and his eyes pierced Tessa's flesh just as they always did.
"I can't believe it—," Tessa began, but Mitchell cut her off.
"It wasn't your fault," he said in a calming tone.
"This was the fourth time I've tried this, and the program always fails," Tessa said resentfully.
"Don't beat yourself up about this. Holography is such a new technology; there are bound to be difficulties," Mitchell tried to reassure Tessa.
"How are the others?" She changed the subject.
"They're waiting to see you," Mitchell said.
"Why? So they can kill me?"
"Not quite." He stood and opened the door. The five other members of the team stepped into the room. Tessa managed a half hearted smile.
"We just want to say that we were honored to be a part of this experiment," Alexys said.
"And we're dedicated to any future experiments you wish to conduct," Michael added.
"Thanks for the ride." Julian smiled.
"Fifth time's the charm right?" Sammi joked. For the first time since the experiment began, the group laughed together.
The End
A/N: Now to address those pesky flash-forwards… I'm simply going to say that those were meant to show the way the program was meant to continue had it not collapsed. The six were sent to this simulated alien planet for two main reasons: studying colonization of other worlds and testing the abilities of a holographic simulation. Of course, Tessa and the others weren't going to spend the remainder of their lives inside the simulation; therefore, it operated in an accelerated fashion, so the group would not grow old and die. The simulator was, however, capable of making them appear aged. I apologize for the cliché ending, but I'm tired of leaving this story open ended as though I plan to continue it.