Rachelleen A. Rodriguez Class no. 23

The Flight

(Final paper)

Jenny arrived at the airport looking like she just got up from bed. Her hair was quite messy and one of the buttons from her blouse was wrongly placed. She was very busy cramming for her report the night before so she awoke late the next day. She prepared to leave her apartment almost as soon as she had waked up. She couldn’t possibly miss that flight. It was her promise to get home for their family reunion which was planned long before.

Luckily, she made it just in time. The plane was about to leave in 10 minutes.

After all the necessary arrangements, Jenny was finally seated in the plane. She took her seat next to a man, who was about in his late 20s. He looked pale, and his thick glasses made him appear nerdy.

“There could be no weather as ideal as this,” Jenny thought as she stared though the plane’s window. The white fluffy clouds complemented the light blue sky perfectly.

“Yes Mom, I’m on the plane,” Jenny said on the phone. “Your dad and I are very excited. We can’t wait till you come home. Everyone is going to be here, you will finally meet your sister’s fiancé.”

“Really? She’s getting married?” Jenny exclaimed.

“Passengers fasten your seatbelts. The plane is ready for takeoff.”

“Oh Mom, the plane’s about to leave, see you later, love you,” then she put her cellphone back in her purse.

She gave a loud sigh. Jenny was really exhausted since she had been working almost nonstop for the past few days. At least now, Jenny could have a well-deserved break. She slouched on her seat and began to read a magazine. As she was reading, she suddenly remembered that she wasn’t able to do the added task given to her by her boss. Jenny began to panic. She could not stop but thinking what her boss would say had she not submitted the papers she was assigned to.

She took out her laptop and began to type. One file she needed was in her flash disk so she again reached out to her things to get it. Once she inserted it into her laptop, she noticed a peculiar file. She tried to open it but it wouldn’t open. Jenny concluded that it might be a virus so she tried to delete it. The virus, unfortunately, was write-protected. “Oh well, I guess I need to have this reformatted when I return,” she thought. She needed to email her officemate so she tried to connect to the plane’s wireless connection. Unfortunately, it had a limited connection.

Jenny, however, found another wireless network so she tried to log on to that connection. After about a couple of trials into entering to the network, she finally got an internet connection. Jenny thought that perhaps there was only a problem with the plane’s internet connection a while ago since the airlines already allow Wi-fi devices on the plane. She immediately took the chance to email her officemate. However, even before she could sign in to her account, something happened to her laptop. It was as if it was thinking on its own. It was malfunctioning and buttons are being entered automatically.

“Passengers please put on your seatbelts, we are undergoing turbulence.”

Jenny instantly put on her seatbelts. The plane was flying in a very unstable manner. “Hey, we’re flying off course!” one man said. Jenny was beginning to be alarmed. “What will happen to us?” she thought. “This is all their fault! They should not have persuaded me to get home for that stupid reunion.” The plane was becoming more wobbly. One kid was crying to her mom. “Mommy, what’s happening? Mommy, I’m afraid.” Hearing this, Jenny remembered her own mother. “I want to go home,” she muttered, tears began to trickle down her cheeks. “I miss them a lot. They’re waiting for me. I want to go home.” Jenny held her laptop towards her.

“Miss, I can’t help but notice that you had an internet connection a while ago,” said the man beside her. “Yes I did, w-why Sir?” Jenny asked. She thought, “Why is this man asking me such questions at a time like this?”

“Well I checked before but I got no signal. Hey! I think you accidentally hacked to the plane’s network.”

“I did what?”

“That’s the secured network of the airline. Let me fix it, I think your connection led to the disruption of the controls. A virus may have corrupted the system. I’m not that good at this but I could give it a try.”

Jenny instantly gave her laptop to the man beside her. “Oh no! I think the virus is currently destroying the controls. We might crash!” the man exclaimed. “I’m sorry, I’m very sorry.” Jenny said. “We’re not going to die, just hold on. I’ll do everything that I can.” Even as he said these words, sweat was beginning to form on the man’s forehead.

The plane became more unsteady than ever.

“Passengers, please put on the oxygen masks.”

Jenny grabbed her oxygen mask but the man beside her was still working on her laptop. “It’s all my fault,” she muttered to herself. The man continued on entering codes into the computer. Jenny could see him panicking. His hands were shaking ceaselessly. “How can I delete that stupid virus?” he screamed. “C’mon, work! Please work!”

Jenny closed her eyes, her tears beginning to flow again. “Is this the end?” she thought.

She recalled the time when she first arrived in Manila. Jenny could still visualize her departure. She imagined her parents waving back at her. “I miss them. I miss them so much. Why did I become so occupied with my career? Why didn’t I give them my time? I wasn’t there for them. I want to see them. I want to be with them”. Jenny was now trembling.

“I-I won’t see them again. It’s over.”

There was a sudden silence. “What happened?” Jenny asked. The plane began to stabilize. The man beside her gave a loud sigh of relief. “Yes! It worked!” he cried. Without thinking, Jenny hugged the man beside her and shouted, “We’re saved!”