The man, obviously scared to death of being held at gunpoint, obliged
quickly. He called over a rescue vehicle, and helped Eric place Susan's
shell inside. By this time, Susan's shell was starting to die from
radiation poisoning. It was almost certain that she would die before they
even reached a medical center.
One man inside the vehicle pulled out a gun and aimed it at Susan. Eric aimed back and shouted, "That the fuck do you think you're doing?"
The man responded, "Do you love her?"
Eric responded, in a very sarcastic tone, "What do you think?"
The man who had come over to help him said, "Dude, she's dying. If you want to save her, either you should kill her, or we will. It's your only option."
Eric had realized this, but couldn't accept that fact. In order to save her, she'd have to die. He responded, almost completely choked up with tears, "let's let her die on her own"
The first man responded, with a sense of confusion, but, realizing this man would not be able to live with himself if he had to kill the shell of his girlfriend, he gave him this right. "Ok, dude, it's your decision. But she's gonna die no matter what. Luckily, since she's already backed up, she doesn't fell pain. But, the sooner we kill her, the sooner you can see your girlfriend again."
Eric aimed the gun, cocked the hammer, and placed his finger on the trigger, and fired.
After the echo of the shot had faded, he realized what he had done.
He missed.
"FUCK!" the attendant said, "Either you have really bad aim, which I know isn't true, because you killed those two guys at almost two hundred yards, or you just can't do it."
Eric was dead silent. At this point, he knew what he must do. And so he had no qualms about doing it.
"Ok, here's what I want you to do. I want you to kill me, and then I want you to kill Susan."
Both attendants in the vehicle were shocked to hear this. "You. You want us to kill you?"
"Yes, and then kill Susan. At least we can be together in backup."
"You realize that there is a very small chance of being put on the same server. If you aren't, then it will be almost impossible to find her. Even then, the chances of finding her are extremely slim."
"I know, but, if I request the server and the drive, then I'll be safe, right?"
"Not necessarily. Even then, these drives are several hundred terabytes in size. They store about four dozen people per drive, and each server has twenty drives. That's almost a thousand people per server, and average backup time is about a week. Dude, even If you make the drive she's on, you're screwed. The only way you're even gonna get reconstituted at the same time as her is if you were to die at the same time she was sent into backup."
"Teleportation can move back in time, right?"
"Under the right circumstances."
"Take me to a teleportation site that can do so, and then send me back to around 4:15. I'm gonna kill us both at the same time."
And that's exactly what they did. Eric and the attendant arrived at the bear Creek teleportation center, bought a time travel ticket for him, and sent him back to around 4:12 PM. When he arrived, he immediately sprinted towards the press bunker, which was still standing intact, along with almost three thousand people.
Little did they know that within two minutes they would all be dead.
Eric arrived at the bunker, and about four people, including Susan, all turned around and stared at him.
Susan then ran towards him and threw her arms around him. After a long embrace, she said, "What are you doing here?"
Eric responded, "We need to get out of here, now."
"Why? What happened?"
I know this sounds strange, but you have to trust me. In about two minutes, a nuclear bomb is going to go off. You will be the only person behind this bunker, and you will be reconstituted prematurely. Now, in about thirty seconds, both of us are going to run under the bandstand, and stay there until the bomb goes off. When it does, both of us will go into backup, and we'll survive. Any questions?"
"Yeah, just one. What changed your mind about reconstitution?"
Eric was stopped dead in his tracks. "My mind hasn't changed about reconstitution, it's just this is the only way you will survive this event. I love you, and I don't want to face that decision again."
"What decision? Eric, what aren't you telling me?"
At this point, Eric's alarm watch went off. It was time to go. "Ok, follow me"
They ran towards the grandstand in haste. Upon arriving, they realized that this was no safe haven. There were three men down there, Soldati suicide bombers, with a small nuclear bomb.
Eric and Susan had just signed their death certificates, and no reconstitution was going to save them. At that point, 4:17 PM, Alexy Dimitry made his statement. From under the bandstand, it was quite audible.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement to make. Right below my feet sit three men from the Soldati Terrorist Group. They sit there with a small nuclear device. Our company security found out about their location only about a half an hour ago. All of the people here, excluding those terrorists, are members of the AKD Pharma reconstitution network, which pretty much grants all of us safety. But.."
A security guard came up to Alexy at this point, and whispered something into his ear. Alexy was outraged by what he said, practically screaming at the guard, "I don't give a fuck about me, my guests and clients are more important, and reconstitution is a must to their survival!"
The terrorists under the bandstand, terrified about being ratted out, and seeing the reporter and politician under there with them, decided to set off the bomb at this exact point. It was now 4:18 PM.
Eric, who overheard their entire conversation, told Susan, "terminate now, if you want to live, terminate now." Apparently, he wasn't the only person thinking about this. Before the bomb even went off, about two hundred people had already self-terminated.
But Susan refused, saying, "I won't until you do."
Eric was now faced with a dilemma. Either fall back on the thing he so much hated, reconstitution, and save both of their lives; or die like the terrorists next to them. He then remembered the gun he stole from that attendant back at 5:00. He pulled it out, and realizing he had three bullets left, pulled back the hammer, and fired.
He hit all three men in the chest.
Eric and Susan were elated, knowing that they had saved the greatest man alive from death. And then, at 4:19 PM, it happened. Eric was the first to notice it. One of the men was still alive! He aimed and fired again, but all he heard was a click. The man gained enough strength to press the detonation button on the bomb. He then died.
There was a twelve second delay on the bomb, and during that entire time the button had to be held down. The terrorist had the trigger handle in a death grip, which did just that. In the end, Eric and Susan had no time to react.
Their only way of killing themselves was gone, wasted on the three men with the bomb. Instinctly, they ran away from the grandstand, but it was too late. Before they even got out, the bomb went off, instantly vaporizing almost a hundred people. The rest were far enough away from the epicenter to not experience instant vaporization, and were able to transfer into backup. In all, about two thousand people were saved by reconstitution in that split second of terror, but it could do nothing to save those who were too close; including Eric and Susan Stevens, who were posthumously married at their funeral date.
Their parents requested it, saying, "They were to be married in three days, in front of the United States Capitol, which is one of the twelve wonders of the Americas. Both would have wanted to be together until they died, and they were."
One man inside the vehicle pulled out a gun and aimed it at Susan. Eric aimed back and shouted, "That the fuck do you think you're doing?"
The man responded, "Do you love her?"
Eric responded, in a very sarcastic tone, "What do you think?"
The man who had come over to help him said, "Dude, she's dying. If you want to save her, either you should kill her, or we will. It's your only option."
Eric had realized this, but couldn't accept that fact. In order to save her, she'd have to die. He responded, almost completely choked up with tears, "let's let her die on her own"
The first man responded, with a sense of confusion, but, realizing this man would not be able to live with himself if he had to kill the shell of his girlfriend, he gave him this right. "Ok, dude, it's your decision. But she's gonna die no matter what. Luckily, since she's already backed up, she doesn't fell pain. But, the sooner we kill her, the sooner you can see your girlfriend again."
Eric aimed the gun, cocked the hammer, and placed his finger on the trigger, and fired.
After the echo of the shot had faded, he realized what he had done.
He missed.
"FUCK!" the attendant said, "Either you have really bad aim, which I know isn't true, because you killed those two guys at almost two hundred yards, or you just can't do it."
Eric was dead silent. At this point, he knew what he must do. And so he had no qualms about doing it.
"Ok, here's what I want you to do. I want you to kill me, and then I want you to kill Susan."
Both attendants in the vehicle were shocked to hear this. "You. You want us to kill you?"
"Yes, and then kill Susan. At least we can be together in backup."
"You realize that there is a very small chance of being put on the same server. If you aren't, then it will be almost impossible to find her. Even then, the chances of finding her are extremely slim."
"I know, but, if I request the server and the drive, then I'll be safe, right?"
"Not necessarily. Even then, these drives are several hundred terabytes in size. They store about four dozen people per drive, and each server has twenty drives. That's almost a thousand people per server, and average backup time is about a week. Dude, even If you make the drive she's on, you're screwed. The only way you're even gonna get reconstituted at the same time as her is if you were to die at the same time she was sent into backup."
"Teleportation can move back in time, right?"
"Under the right circumstances."
"Take me to a teleportation site that can do so, and then send me back to around 4:15. I'm gonna kill us both at the same time."
And that's exactly what they did. Eric and the attendant arrived at the bear Creek teleportation center, bought a time travel ticket for him, and sent him back to around 4:12 PM. When he arrived, he immediately sprinted towards the press bunker, which was still standing intact, along with almost three thousand people.
Little did they know that within two minutes they would all be dead.
Eric arrived at the bunker, and about four people, including Susan, all turned around and stared at him.
Susan then ran towards him and threw her arms around him. After a long embrace, she said, "What are you doing here?"
Eric responded, "We need to get out of here, now."
"Why? What happened?"
I know this sounds strange, but you have to trust me. In about two minutes, a nuclear bomb is going to go off. You will be the only person behind this bunker, and you will be reconstituted prematurely. Now, in about thirty seconds, both of us are going to run under the bandstand, and stay there until the bomb goes off. When it does, both of us will go into backup, and we'll survive. Any questions?"
"Yeah, just one. What changed your mind about reconstitution?"
Eric was stopped dead in his tracks. "My mind hasn't changed about reconstitution, it's just this is the only way you will survive this event. I love you, and I don't want to face that decision again."
"What decision? Eric, what aren't you telling me?"
At this point, Eric's alarm watch went off. It was time to go. "Ok, follow me"
They ran towards the grandstand in haste. Upon arriving, they realized that this was no safe haven. There were three men down there, Soldati suicide bombers, with a small nuclear bomb.
Eric and Susan had just signed their death certificates, and no reconstitution was going to save them. At that point, 4:17 PM, Alexy Dimitry made his statement. From under the bandstand, it was quite audible.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement to make. Right below my feet sit three men from the Soldati Terrorist Group. They sit there with a small nuclear device. Our company security found out about their location only about a half an hour ago. All of the people here, excluding those terrorists, are members of the AKD Pharma reconstitution network, which pretty much grants all of us safety. But.."
A security guard came up to Alexy at this point, and whispered something into his ear. Alexy was outraged by what he said, practically screaming at the guard, "I don't give a fuck about me, my guests and clients are more important, and reconstitution is a must to their survival!"
The terrorists under the bandstand, terrified about being ratted out, and seeing the reporter and politician under there with them, decided to set off the bomb at this exact point. It was now 4:18 PM.
Eric, who overheard their entire conversation, told Susan, "terminate now, if you want to live, terminate now." Apparently, he wasn't the only person thinking about this. Before the bomb even went off, about two hundred people had already self-terminated.
But Susan refused, saying, "I won't until you do."
Eric was now faced with a dilemma. Either fall back on the thing he so much hated, reconstitution, and save both of their lives; or die like the terrorists next to them. He then remembered the gun he stole from that attendant back at 5:00. He pulled it out, and realizing he had three bullets left, pulled back the hammer, and fired.
He hit all three men in the chest.
Eric and Susan were elated, knowing that they had saved the greatest man alive from death. And then, at 4:19 PM, it happened. Eric was the first to notice it. One of the men was still alive! He aimed and fired again, but all he heard was a click. The man gained enough strength to press the detonation button on the bomb. He then died.
There was a twelve second delay on the bomb, and during that entire time the button had to be held down. The terrorist had the trigger handle in a death grip, which did just that. In the end, Eric and Susan had no time to react.
Their only way of killing themselves was gone, wasted on the three men with the bomb. Instinctly, they ran away from the grandstand, but it was too late. Before they even got out, the bomb went off, instantly vaporizing almost a hundred people. The rest were far enough away from the epicenter to not experience instant vaporization, and were able to transfer into backup. In all, about two thousand people were saved by reconstitution in that split second of terror, but it could do nothing to save those who were too close; including Eric and Susan Stevens, who were posthumously married at their funeral date.
Their parents requested it, saying, "They were to be married in three days, in front of the United States Capitol, which is one of the twelve wonders of the Americas. Both would have wanted to be together until they died, and they were."