November 5th, 2063 - 05:57 NZDT
Scott sits working at his desk going through some work for Tracy Enterprises. The past few weeks have been recently quiet with the lack of a major global emergency. Even John and Ridley had spent a week on Tracy Island and left EOS in charge during that period. Scott is using this extra time to go through some of the family's finances. While they worked closely with leading authorities across the world, including the World Council, they received little, if any money from them. Certainly not enough to run a 24/7 rescue operation. This meant back in the day Jeff Tracy had started using his company as a face to help fund International Rescue and Scott, as the oldest son, had continued doing this. He'd made several trips over to the headquarters in Chicago, Marion even joined him a couple of times.
As Scott finishes going through some of the documents, Marion walks into the room with a new stack of papers and places them on his desk with a thud.
"More," Scott sighs as he takes the stack of papers.
"Unfortunately," Marion states, "This is what happens when we're months behind paperwork."
"Glad you said 'we'," Scott chuckles.
"Ugh!" Marion growls.
"Hey, you said it," Scott says.
"I think somethings changed on this island," Marion muses changing the subject."
"Oh..." Scott trails, "And what would that be?"
"Well, despite all that's going on, Kayo seems to be more relaxed than ever," Marion states.
"Surely that's a good thing, right?" Scott asks.
"Don't get me wrong, it is," Marion replies, "But it isn't like Kayo, if you know what I mean."
"Hmm," Scott thinks, "I suppose you're right."
"Aren't I always," Marion smirks and flicks her hair over her shoulder.
"Yes, love," Scott smiles and leans back in his chair, "What do you think's the cause of it is?"
"I think it's to do with Alan," Marion says.
"What do you— WHAT?!"
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Thunderbirds are Go!
In the lounge, Sally sits at her son's desk and is talking to a man by the name of Tycho Reeves, who's recently designed a HyperTube that goes from Tokyo to London in under an hour. This is even faster than Fireflash, where Brains had redesigned the engines for.
"My techs at HyperTube control have tried everything," Tycho explains, "But we continue to pick up speed."
"Okay. Any chance something's wrong with the HyperCar itself?" Sally asks
"Um... possibly," Reeves states, "It's hard to examine at 27,000 metres per second."
"If anybody can catch up to you, it's us," Sally says and calls in Scott, Marion and Brains, the last of whom is seemingly very tired, "Brains, sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep with an early morning emergency, and you guys with that paperwork, but these people need help. Pronto."
"FAB. Time to fly, Marion," Scott says and he takes a seat next to Marion.
"And I'll try to d-determine precisely what is wrong with... this amazing, brilliant design," Brains says as he talks a look at the data Reeves has sent on the holo-screen.
7
Thunderbird 7 pulls out from a hanger underneath TB1 to allow Marion and Scott to get inside.
6
A crane comes down and lifts Thunderbird 7 onto a platform.
5
The platform starts to move out of the hanger.
4
Marion prepares Thunderbird 7 for flight.
3
The hanger doors open to a flat concrete surface on the back of Tracy Island.
2
Scott makes the last pre-flight checks.
1
The engines start.
Thunderbirds are Go!
November 4th, 2063 - 19:33 GMT
Thunderbird 7 pulls up to the HyperTube line that is currently running through a rainforest. Scott watches the line closely and watches as a flash of light zooms past them.
"There!" Scott points.
"Closing in on the HyperTube now," Marion announces as loads up the scan of the HyperCar that Tycho has sent forward, "Matching speed with the HyperCar."
"Any luck figuring out what's gone wrong, Brains?" Scott asks and brings up a hologram of him and Tycho, "Brains?"
"I think your friend may be a tad... starstruck," Tycho states.
"I'm your n-number one fan," Brains gushes.
"Well Brains, if you ever want to meet Tycho in person, we better figure out how to stop his car," Marion says as even Thunderbird 7 is having trouble keeping up.
"Of c-course," Brains says and brings up the data on the holo-screen, "It's hard to imagine anything c-could go wrong with this elegant design. F-Floating on a magnetic cushion inside an airless tube, the HyperCar is p-perfectly safe."
"For now," Tycho says glumly.
"But if it keeps speeding up?" Scott asks and Tycho runs a simulation for Scott.
"Well, it won't be too long before the car takes a turn too fast..." Tycho starts.
"...touches the tube wall and..." Brains continues.
"...not so elegant," Marion finishes and checks her holo-map, "You'll be crossing the Sea of Japan soon."
"Maybe we could take out a section of the tube over water, we'll be able to rescue you after the HyperCar makes a water landing," Scott says.
"No!" Brains says.
"Absolutely not!" Tycho agrees, "We're travelling in a vacuum."
"Hitting the atmosphere at M-Mach Eight would be like..." Brains says.
"Slamming into a brick wall," Marion sighs, "It's like that runaway train in Japan all over again."
"We'll have to f-find a way to stop the car without breaking the tube," Brains states.
"I could probably fix it myself if I had the right tools," Tycho says as he looks under the control unit of the HyperCar.
"Tycho, it looks like you three won't be the only ones taking a ride in the HyperTube today," Marion says and fires her thrusters up and takes them away from the tube.
"What are you doing?" Scott asks.
"Thunderbird 7 can't maintain at this speed," Marion replies, "And someone needs to get Tycho his tools.
"Ah, good thinking, Marion," Scott smiles.
""Aren't I'm always right," Marion smirks and pretends to flick her hair over her shoulder.
"Ugh! Not that again," Scott sighs.
November 4th, 2063 - 20:04 GMT
Thunderbird 7 lands at Knightsbridge Tube Station and Marion and Scott get out. A reporter comes up to them with a camera and is about to record when Marion puts her hand up.
"If you want to keep that camera, I suggest you don't," Marion states sternly and the reporter quickly puts the camera away. The walk over to the control section and approach who seems to be the lead technician, who has Tycho's tools ready for them in a case. He hands them over to Scott and nods at the pair.
"Glad you're here, International Rescue," the technician says, "Here Tycho's tools."
"Load up another car," Marion states, "We're going in."
"Are you certain this is a g-good idea, Marion?" Brains says as another HyperCar is loaded onto the tracks.
"Got a better one?" Marion asks rhetorically and gets onto the car, "Tycho needs tools. We're gonna get them to him."
"If you c-check your sash, Scott, you'll find a new tool of your own," Brains says.
"Thanks, Brains, but what does it—" Scott starts and opens the top packet of his sack out and a drone flies out, practically coming alive, "Woah!"
"Meet Mini-Max," Brains says as the drone, which looks a quiet like Max, waves at Scott causing him to smile, "Mini's petite proportions should c-come in handy in the HyperCar's cramped spaces."
"Brains, you always surprise me," Scott states and he enter the HyperCar with Mini-Max flying around him, "Ready to launch." Marion nods and pulls a couple of leavers before they speed off. Due to the intense speeds, Mini-Max reaches out a hand and grabs onto Scott's sash for support. They soon reach the same speed that Tycho's HyperCar was originally going at.
"J-Just one question," Brains says, "How do you expect your HyperCar to c-catch up with Tycho's?"
"I don't expect to catch them," Marion smirks, "I expect them to catch me." Within minutes, the hologram showing their HyperCar's position suddenly beeps. Marion looks over and sees that Tycho's HyperCar has appeared on the screen. Scott looks behind and sees that Tycho is quickly catching up to them. Too quickly.
"I've begun to question the merits of this plan," Tycho states.
"Pushing this thing as fast as possible," Marion replies, "Let's hope it's fast enough." However, the HyperCar behind is still coming at a speed that would lead to disaster.
"You must go faster, Marion!" Scott cries as he continues to look out the back.
"Kinda already fucking knew that!" Marion growls and presses several of the controls, with Mini-Max helping her find some of the right ones, "Come on. Come on." Scott looks at the holo-screen at the front as it starts to beep, indicating that a crash is imminent. Marion and Mini-Max carry-on fighting with the controls when suddenly, their HyperCar speeds up rapidly just before the point of contact making the collision more like hitting a pothole on a motorway. Marion and Scott breathe a sigh of relief and Brains appears again on the holo-screen.
"G-Good job. How did you m-make it go faster?" Brains asks.
"I'm not exactly sure," Marion responds.
"Well, I'll try to f-figure out what you and Mini-MAX did," Brains replies, "It may lead us to the p-problem."
"I'm going to hand the tool case over," Scott says as he gets his helmet on.
"I'll say here then and keep us straight then," Marion chuckles, "Mini-Max, why don't you go with Scott?" Mini-Max nods and flies over to Scott and grabs onto his sash again. Scott smiles and goes to climb out of the roof.
"See you in a minute," Scott says.
"Don't hurt, Mini-Max," Marion points, "He's too cute to get any injuries." Scott grunts and closes the roof hatch before making his way down to the end of the HyperCar. He then jumps across to the roof of the other HyperCar, tool case firmly in hand. Scott knocks on the front window of the HyperCar and Tycho looks over to him along with the family that are in the car with him.
" Hi there. I believe you requested these?" Scott inquires.
"Thanks!" Tycho says and opens the roof hatch to allow Scott to enter. When he enters, he hands over the tool case and a hologram of Brains is projected out of Mini-Max allowing him to talk to Tycho directly.
"T-Tycho, so nice to finally meet you. V-virtually, at least," Brains says and Tycho shakes Mini-Max's hand.
"Oh, impressive invention!" Tycho marvels, "Is it AI integrated or running server-side?"
"Oh, it's c-completely self-contained," Brains replies.
"Fascinating! You use memristors to achieve the miniaturisation?" Tycho inquires.
"A spintronic neural net actually," Brains blushes, "By giving each electron sixteen p-possible states—"
"Uh, guys, sorry to interrupt but uh... imminent doom?" Scott winces.
"Oh, right," Tycho nods.
"RAD," Brains nods.
"How's it going?" Marion calls Scott on their private frequency.
"I dunno," Scott replies, "It's too technical for me."
"Ugh!" Marion sighs, "I just want to get back to Tracy Island."
"That's not like you," Scott states.
"I'm just feeling tired... that's all," Marion replies quickly, "It's nothing else... honest!"
"Right..." Scott trails and turns back to Mini-Max.
"Well, Tycho's design appears to be perfect," Brains says from the holo-image, "So the problem must be a manufacturing error. A mistake when the car was b-built."
"I've been thinking the same thing," Tycho says as he works under the control unit, "Probably just a metallurgical flaw in the primary throttle matrix."
"Well, looks fine to me," Scott says.
"Right. If the throttle is working, then one of the plasma plugs must have been machined improperly," Tycho states.
"Oh no," Brains exclaims.
"Aw, a couple of bad plasma plugs should be easy enough to fix," Scott says.
"Fixing them is the easy part, but reaching them is next to impossible," Tycho sighs.
"T-Tycho is right," Brains confirms, "The p-plasma plugs assembly can only be accessed from outside the car. Specifically, underneath it."
"Gotcha," Scott inhales.
"Scott..." Marion says in her warning voice.
"Sorry Marion," Scott sighs and opens the underside hatch of the HyperCar and looks down. Mini-Max joins him and attaches a safety line for Scott and connects the other end to his belt. "Looks like a fun place to hang out," Scott comments and begins his crawl along the bottom. Mini-Max flies next to him so Brains could keep in contact with him.
"Now remember, if anything t-touches the tube at these speeds, it will b-burn up like a meteor," Brains explains, "Dropping even a single bolt could be c-catastrophic."
"Yeah, I don't think that's gonna be hard to remember, Brains," Scott mutters as he reaches the location of the plasma plug and Tycho takes over from Brains on displaying on Mini-Max.
"The access panel for the plasma plugs is just ahead on your left," Tycho states. Scott adjusts his position and gets ready to change them over.
"All right, I'm in position," Scott says and looks at the unit, "Hey, won't the car just stop if I pull all these plugs?"
"Oh, it'll stop all right," Brains scoffs, "The plasma plugs power both the engines and the magnets. If you unplug them all, the car will d-drop – with you under it."
"So, I probably want to replace these one at a time then, huh?" Scott questions.
"Erm yes, and very c-carefully," Brains says and Scott nods in reply. He uses the drill to unscrew one of them and then quickly replaces it before screwing it back in again. He then moves on the next one and starts to do the same but gets a shock and drops the drill.
"Woah!" Scott cries and Mini-Max swoops in, catching it before it hit the bottom of the tube, "Thanks, Mini."
"Come on, come on, come on!" Tycho mutters to himself as Scott finishes off with the third one.
"Three down, one to go," Scott reassures and heads over to it. He unscrews it like the rest of them, but it doesn't come out of its socket. It remains in place and continues to buzz with electricity, he tries to pull it out with force, but it doesn't work initially, "Argh! This last one doesn't wanna..." Scott starts when it finally comes loose. Like the drill, Scott didn't expect this, and it slips from his grip only for Mini-Max to catch it just in time, "Ar! Nice catch. Okay, installing the last plug. Just one last twist and we'll finally be able to..." Scott pauses as he notices that the speed of the car increases again and he grips onto the HyperCar tighter and Mini-Max does the same by grabbing onto Scott's sash, "Slow down!"
"Woah!" Marion exclaims, "What's going on back there?"
I didn't touch the controls. We're going even faster," Tycho exclaims.
"Well, no shit," Marion mumbles.
"Why would the speed increase at random like that?" Brains asks, "N-None of this makes sense!"
"Don't give up Brains. Try taking the whole problem again from the top," Sally says as Brains starts to pace the room.
"If the c-controls aren't making the car go faster, then the only way it could be accelerating is if... Oh no..." Brains trails as he has another look at the schematics.
"Talk to me, Brains," Scott says.
"It's no use. Go back inside, Scott," Brain states, "Tycho, I'm afraid I've found the p-problem. One of your formula's has a small error."
"Impossible. My calculations were perfect," Tycho says as he brings up the mathematics.
"I thought so, too. But I've d-double, triple and quadruple checked it," Brains says and Tycho finally spots the error.
"No! No, that should be metres per second squared!" Tycho cries, "Oh! How could I be so foolish?"
"Even geniuses make mistakes," Scott breathes as he climbs back into the HyperCar and takes his helmet off.
"Yes, but my mistake is going to destroy us all! If the problem is my design, then every car has the same flaw. Even the one you came here in," Tycho says, "There's no way for us to stop."
"Okay, there's gotta be a way to fix this," Scott says as he walks over to the control section.
"I don't think so. We're doomed," Tycho says getting up from his seat, "And it's all my fault."
"I'm sorry I entered the contest. I'm sorry I made you come with me," the grandfather says.
"And I'm sorry I got sick on your shoes," the granddaughter whispers.
"Let's not say our goodbyes just yet," Scott states, "We will figure out how to stop this car. Tycho, could we reverse the engines."
"Not without them exploding," Tycho says as he paces the length of the car.
"What about the magnets? Could we reconfigure them to create drag?" Scott questions.
"No, it's hopeless! I may have been too daft to spot that mistake, but I'm smart enough to know it can't be fixed. There is nothing we can do to spot the inevitable," Tycho exclaims.
"Respectfully, Sir," Marion states coming onto the holo-screen, "You may be a genius, but there's nothing smarter than hard work. As long as we have time to work the problem, that's exactly what we're gonna do."
"Exactly," Scott says, "Let's just take a breath and slow down so we can think this through."
"Slow down," Tycho mumbles.
"Yup, that's the idea," Marion says and Tycho turns around to face her.
"No, slow down. We don't have to stop the car; we just have to be in a slower vehicle that won't vaporise when it hits the atmosphere. Ahhh, you're are geniuses!" Tycho cries and grabs Scott by the shoulders and starts to shake him, "Right, the vehicle would need to be fast enough to reach us with enough thrust to slow down in time."
"Brains, we need Thunderbird 4 inside the HyperTube ASAP," Scott explains, "And put it in there backwards."
November 4th, 2063 - 22:41 GMT
Virgil, Nina and Gordon eventually arrive at Knightsbridge Tube Station and hover near the landing pad Thunderbird 7 is on.
"We're in position. Lowering Thunderbird 4," Virgil announces and lowers Thunderbird 4 onto one of the carriages for the HyperTube. The head technician that attaches Thunderbird 4 to it and rolls it into the main tunnel.
"I've modified Thunderbird 4's turbines to work as afterburners," Brains explains, "We just need to time the launch, so the v-vehicles meet at the right moment. I'll be launching you up remotely Gordon, so b-buckle up."
"Erm, are we sure this is a good idea?" Gordon asks but doesn't get a chance to respond as Brains launches Thunderbird 4 into the tunnel, "Whoa! Bad idea! Bad idea!" After a few seconds, the same hologram of the cars that Marion got comes up in front of Gordon. "I have visual on the cars," Gordon states.
"You're losing speed, Thunderbird 4," Brains informs.
"Don't worry Brains. If I can see it, I can catch it," Gordon states and lines up a grapple at the back of Thunderbird 4 and launches it as soon as he gets a lock. This links the car up to him and he opens the back airlock of Thunderbird 4 and waves over to Marion, who is now on the roof of the initial HyperCar. As Thunderbird 4 closes in, Gordon gives Marion a signal as she indicates to Scott to bring the family up. Scott does so and Mini-Max even attempts to help the granddaughter climb up. "Careful now!" Gordon warns.
"We'll go together. Ichi, ni, san," the grandfather counts down and the pair jump across to Thunderbird 4 and Gordon catches them securely and guides them into the med-bay at the back.
"Alright, N-Nina, they're loading into Thunderbird 4," Brains informs, "Get ready to show them a way out."
"FAB," Nina says as they fly over the European Alps, and she fires two drones at the tunnel.
"Welcome aboard," Gordon states as he steadies Marion as she jumps across, and Scott kisses her forehead as she makes her way inside Thunderbird 4.
"We're in," Scott informs Thunderbird 2 and turns to Gordon, "Do it."
"Harpoon attached. Afterburners, on!" Gordon announces and Thunderbird 4 quickly starts to slow down. The drones that Nina had launched, had made two cuts at the tunnel which falls down the mountainside and crashes into a lake below. "It's working. We're slowing down."
"But will it be enough?" Marion says and they watch at the cars burn up as they fall out of the tunnel and crash into the lake as small bits of debris.
"The cars are gone," Virgil states, "Let's hope you guys make a slower, gentler exit."
"Hey, I'm nothing if not gentle. Brace for impact!" Gordon yells as Thunderbird 4 emerges from the tunnel and starts to fall down the mountain, "We made it! We didn't burn up!"
"Did you guys have a plan for how to land this thing?" Scott asks.
"Erm... kinda," Gordon mutters and looks out of his left window to see Thunderbird 2 appear and match Thunderbird 4's falling incline. Virgil and Nina allow Thunderbird 4 to go slightly ahead of them again and drop Module 4 slightly allowing the door to open. When it does, Nina lies Thunderbird 2 up with Thunderbird 4 and Virgil speeds up again and catches it. The airbags inside Module 4 then inflate to stop any damage.
"Ah!" Marion cries as they all shake about, "Everybody okay?"
"Can we do that again?" the grandfather exclaims.
"No, thanks. Not just yet," Tycho breathes as the door of the module close again and they're brought back up to the main body.
November 4th, 2063 - 23:09 GMT
"My deepest thanks to International Rescue for saving our lives," Tycho says as he shakes Scott and Marion's hands.
"And for the thrill of a lifetime," the grandfather says.
"Arigatou gozaimasu," the granddaughter bows.
"All in a day's work," Marion chuckles.
"So, you plan to rebuild?" Scott asks Tycho.
"Of course. I just need a little reminder that it's not intelligence that makes a great inventor, its persistence," Tycho chuckles, "Or as a wise friend once said, 'There's nothing smarter than hard work.' But this time I'll be sure to get a second opinion on all my designs. That is, if Brains is willing to lend a hand."
"Erm, let me just think about that for a m-moment," Brains says for Mini-Max and briefly closes the holo-link before reopening it, "I'd be happy to help."
"Well, that was a bit longer than I promised, but I did finally get you to London," Tycho says to the granddaughter.
"Thanks, but erm... how are we getting back to Tokyo?" the granddaughter asks.
"Ah... Yes... Erm... Marion?" Tycho inquires as he turns to face her and Scott. Marion kneels in front of the girl and Mini-Max lands on her shoulder.
"Want to go for a ride?" Marion asks and point behind her to Thunderbird 7.
"Wow!" the grandfather exclaims.
"Oh, that would be great... I... I guess," the granddaughter mumbles and the four of them head inside Thunderbird 7.
"Now, tell me about those engines," the grandfather inquires to the pair and Scott is about to answer then the reporter from earlier runs up to the with only a microphone this time.
"Scott Tracy! Marion Van Arkel! Any chance we could get a quick interview?" the reporter yells. Marion however, had enough of reporters having a go at her and Scott in America and immediately starts up Thunderbird 7's engines. "You know what? Never mind. Another time... Maybe," the reporter mumbles and watches as Thunderbird 7 takes off, heading back to Tracy Island, via Tokyo.