Whumptober 2024 No. 25: Alt Prompt: Body Swap

Characters: Scott, Virgil, Gordon, John, Alan

Warnings: Body Swap, Earthquake, Buried Alive

Gordon's Squid sense was off the scale.

There was something going on between his oldest and immediate-oldest brothers and it was setting his teeth on edge. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but…Gordon gave himself a shake.

Maybe it was just the freaky mind thing those two often displayed.

Maybe Gordon was just as over-tired as they were.

Collecting Alan from the lounge he dragged him down to the pool for some aqua therapy. He was determined to make the most of what was left of the 48-hour shut down.

They'd only been in the pool for an hour when the klaxon sounded.

They hightailed it out of the pool and to the command centre, ignoring the pointed looks as they dripped everywhere as they tried to hurry up and dry off.

'What's the situation, John?'

Everyone stared at Virgil, who blushed slightly under their gaze. Scott cleared his throat and took over.

'John?'

'Oh, um…there's been an earthquake in Japan. GDF and local services are managing fine but they've requested help evacuating the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge.'

'That bridge is supposed to be earthquake-proof.'

This time surprised glances were thrown in Scott's direction for a comment that was more Virgil's line of work…and Scott blushed.

Gordon's gaze ping-ponged between Scott and Virgil as his Squid sense started screaming at him again. But then John was talking again and Gordon's attention shifted.

'Y-yes, it is, Scott, but the area surrounding it has been severely weakened since the bridge was built. There is no knowing if this quake is the one that brings it down. There's potentially over 500 cars over the 3.9 km span, and they all need evacuation as the end that is in Kobe is too damaged for the cars to pass over. You'll best take Four just in case.'

There was a pause as Virgil wanted to speak but didn't and Scott, who should have spoken, glanced at Virgil before uttering the words he'd said a thousand times.

'FAB, John. Thunderbirds are go.'

Virgil was sweating.

Not because he was going on a rescue but because of how he was going on the rescue.

Being in Scott's body meant that he had to let his adrenaline-junkie of a brother fly his precious bird. But it also meant that he had to fly One. He hated flying One – she was so sensitive to every little touch and she flew way to fast for him…Virgil was pretty sure Scott was feeling the same way.

Well…this was going to be interesting.

Scott's chute was fast. Virgil barely had time to take a breath before he was plummeting and the 'bots were dressing him. He was thankful that there was a pause while the walkway extended to One's seat so he could breathe again. He'd never been afraid of heights but Virgil resolutely kept his eyes on One's cockpit and mentally blocked out just how high off the ground the extending walkway was. But he really needed to have a word with Scott about handrails…

But then he was seated in the cockpit and looking at the levers and…Virgil's mind went blank.

He trained and trained and trained all the sims, even Ones, but he couldn't remember the start-up sequence!

'Scott? Are you alright?'

'I'm good.'

'I thought you'd have launched by now.'

'Just gathering my thoughts on how to tackle the evacuation.'

'Are you sick? You sure you're feeling alright?'

Virgil started, heart racing. How did he know?

'Wh-wha?'

'Since when does Scott Tracy pause for thought?'

And then John laughed, turning away for a second which was just long enough for Virgil to start breathing again. He laughed too and cut the comm. Oh…that was a close one!

Examining the levers and buttons again Virgil had a flash of memory and, with a silent plea to their parents, Virgil launched.

...

Scott had taken two steps towards his chute before realising where he was heading and made the seamless detour to Virgil's Chute. The tip made him disorientated for a second, but there was a certain rush in the speed his brother's chute reached.

This would require some concentration to grab the handles that would swing him into the cockpit…Nailed it. He may have nailed the landing but then Scott tripped on nothing as his centre of gravity shifted – damn, he was still getting used to this big body – and he was relieved to have been alone for that embarrassing trip.

Sitting himself in Virgil's chair Scott fired up Two ready and impatiently waited for Gordon and Alan to board while Four was being loaded.

Finally the Fish and the Sprout were seated and belted in, and Scott fired up the rockets and set the heavy lifter off on the runway, pushing the thrust as hard as he dared.

'Woah, ease up there, Virgil. Anybody would think that Scott was flying!'

Scott froze at Gordon's words for a second before throttling back slightly and throwing a sheepish grin at his copilot.

'I just want to get there, Gordon.'

'We all do, bro. Just in one piece would be nice.'

With a nervous chuckle Scott settled into the seat and bit his tongue trying to control his irritation at how slow his brother's 'bird went. It wouldn't do for Gordon to get more suspicious than he already was, judging from the occasional frown and side-eye he was occasionally casting in Scott's direction.

...

Virgil, as expected, arrived first. He allowed One to hover while he looked over the scene. And his mind drew a blank. How on earth did Scott decide what to do first? There were so many cars…there was a jam on the one side preventing the cars reversing and the other side had been closed due to the structural damage.

In his head Virgil could work out the potential weak points, the stressors and which areas of the deck, foundations and anchor blocks would be most at risk of damage from the earthquake. But he couldn't work out how to safely evacuate these people.

How on earth did Scott decide? It wasn't about triage, that was for sure, triage Virgil could do. Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair. No wonder his brother's hair was always a mess…Virgil was beginning to wish he'd never wanted to swap places with Scott…

'Scott?'

'Uh – yes, John?'

'There's a safe place for you to land here and you can begin evacuation from there.'

'There's quite a snarl-up of cars. It might be quicker to wait for Two to arrive and use the magnetic grabs and move the crashed cars that way so we can evacuate the rest.'

'Sounds like a good plan.'

'Good.'

Virgil let out a silent sigh of relief.

'Sc…Virgil, how long until you arrive?'

'10 minutes. You need me to push it?'

'Yeah, that would be good.'

Scott tried to hide his glee at being given permission to push Two harder, and he put his metaphorical foot down.

Once "Scott" had filled them all in on the initial plan Scott got busy with Two's magnetic grapples. Virgil, on the ground, helped those cars on the ground that couldn't be picked up with the magnets by connecting them through the car under the roof so they could still be lifted.

Eventually the snarl-up was cleared and Virgil began to direct the traffic off the bridge.

Over half the cars had been evacuated when an aftershock hit. The anchor block on the Kobe side sank slightly as the hard unconsolidated muddy and sandy silt combination liquified under the pressure.

The shifting of the anchor block cause the bridge deck to buckle to one side, and several cars slid off into the water.

'Gordon – you're up! Virgil, you'll need to get to the anchor block and hold the bridge steady. While EOS and keep your 'Bird steady while you join Scott and get the rest of the cars off the bridge. Those nearest the anchor block are at greater danger of a total collapse. Alan – you need to get a pod together to spray the anchor base with '

'FAB John.'

Scott manoeuvred Two over the water and dropped Four's pod before moving Two into position above the bridge, a little under halfway between the anchor point and the foundation.

He fired the grabs once more and they attached to the cable fence on each end and waited for Alan to launch his pod.

Just as Alan launched another aftershock hit and Two momentarily dropped with the sudden additional weight of the bridge deck.

'John – you sure you and EOS can hold Two?'

'Yes Virgil, we got her. Get down and help Scott, that end of the bridge is about to crumble completely and there's still drivers stuck.'

'FAB.'

Scott wished he had his jetpack. He took a look at Virgil's exosuit and bit his lip. Ideally Virgil would be here, would grab the suit and moving the cars while he jetpacked victims off the bridge. But Virgil was in his body and Virgil didn't like the jetpack, and he was in Virgil's body and while the exosuit would fit him Scott had very limited (and unsuccessful) use of it. So he thought about leaving the suit where it was…but he might need it, and so Scott climbed awkwardly into his brother's exosuit, clumped over to the hatch, attached the cable and jumped.

Virgil sighed in relief as Scott joined him. They clasped arms briefly once Scott had stashed the exosuit and got to work, listening in as Gordon reported a successful rescue the drivers of the three cars that had slid off the bridge and as Alan worked hard on the anchor block.

As hard and fast as Alan was working, though, there was aftershock after aftershock that caused more damage.

And then it happened.

As Scott leaned into the last car John's shouted warning came a millisecond too late. The shaking caused him to pitch forward while it caused Virgil to fall backwards, and before Virgil could react the ground opened and virtually swallowed the car – driver, brother and all.

Ignoring the screams from everyone Virgil shot to his feet and looked around for his exosuit. He scrambled over the broken ground to the crumpled suit and climbed in.

And cursed.

Scott's body was too skinny for the suit, even with the straps tightening to their limits. It would take more effort than he was used to, and he didn't have his heavy lifting muscles to help him. Scott was a rake…but he still had firm muscle and so Virgil set them to work moving the suit.

It took an agonising 15 minutes for Virgil to pull out the car. Both driver and Scott were unconscious, but the roof had held and saved their lives. By the time Virgil had cut through the roof both men were conscious.

Miraculously Scott had received only a twisted ankle and in true Scott fashion as soon as he was free from the car he'd removed his helmet. Virgil had rolled his eyes at him, but everyone was safe and clear so he didn't say much.

Scott waited while Virgil went to climb into Two, only for John's voice to stop them both dead.

'What are you two doing?'

'What do you mean?'

'You are both acting really weird. Get your s* together guys.'

'Oooh…you cheesed off the Space Noodle!'

'Yeah…you guys are in so much trouble!'

Virgil swivelled on his foot and headed to the command centre to hand over the remains of the rescue while Scott boarded Two with Gordon and Alan and set off for home. Scott, for once not having to deal with another bureaucrat, did not envy Virgil that task. Maybe his brother would understand why Scott hated doing it but made sure none of his brothers had to.

'Hey, Virgil?'

Scott looked over to Gordon.

'You taking a leaf out of Scott's book?'

'What are you talking about?'

'You're helmet. Since when do you remove your helmet during an active rescue?'

'Wh-what?'

'Hello? Do I need to start calling you Scott now?'

'No! Ha ha, no. The rescue was over when I removed my helmet.'

'Pfff, whatever man. You two are acting really weird.'

'Whatever, Fishface. You and Sprout ready to get going?'

There was a stunned silence. Suspicious, Scott turned to see what the teenies were up to. He was met with surprised faces.

'Sc-cott? Is that you?'

'W-w-what?'

'Only Scott calls me Sprout. Virgil never calls me anything but Alan.'

'Oh…that explains sooo much! Scott – when did you and Virgil switch bodies?'