Friday 27 July 2018

The Hunt for Crimson Tide - alternative ending

After heated discussion, the Captain of the submarine decides to launch the nuclear missiles. Yellow lights flashing, ominous buzzer repeating etc.

Screen prompt: Please enter launch code to continue

Captain reads launch code from slip he retrieved from the safe and diligently keys in: 0101WFRWS

Captain pauses, crosses himself and hits 'Enter'.

Yellow lights continue flashing

Screen prompt: Incorrect launch code. Please enter launch code to continue.

Junior Officer #1, nervously: Permission to speak, sir?

Captain: Granted.

Junior Office #1: I think that those are capital letter "i's" rather than digit "ones", and if you look closely, the second "O" is rounder than the first one, so I think it might be a capital "O" rather than a zero.

Captain, keying more carefully: 0IOIWFRWS

Captain looks carefully at the screen, holds up the slip of paper for a last check, hits 'Enter' again.

Yellow lights continue flashing.

Screen prompt: Incorrect launch code. Please enter launch code to continue.

Junior Officer #2: Permission to speak, sir?

Captain: Yes, what is it?

Junior Officer #2: I don't think those are ones or capital "i's". They look to me like lower case "L's". And if you look closely at the "S" at the end, it could well be the digit five, it's a bit smudged.

Captain: Why the fuck did they print the launch code in san-bloody-seriff? Don't answer that!

Captain, turning to Junior Officer #1: Go on, what do you think? Digit "one", capital "i" or lower case "L"? And is that a capital "S" or the digit "five"?

After several minutes of earnest discussion, the Captain keys in very slowly, repeating each key stoke out loud: 0-l-O-l-W-F-R-W-S.

Captain compares the screen with the slip of paper for several minutes, finally closing his eyes and hitting enter, while muttering "Boom!" under his breath.

Yellow lights continue flashing.

Screen prompt: Incorrect launch code. For security reasons, your account is now locked. Please wait 24 hours before re-entering launch code or contact your software administrator.

Junior Officer #1 to Junior Officer #2, under his breath: I told them we should have stuck with Android.

Junior Officer #2: Yup. Fucking Apple! Jeez...
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Cut to US and Russian Presidents, standing beaming on the steps of the UN building, shaking hands and taking credit for having averting Armageddon.

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