Leo walked over to the flashing computer console. Sitting right next to the keyboard was the captain’s physical paper logbook. He flipped to the very last page, where a frantic handwritten note caught his eye.
04:15 AM: Major hull breach detected in lower hold.
Computer reports 90% flooding. Ship is splitting.
All crew evacuating immediately to the lifeboats.
Leo looked from the notebook back to the blinking computer screens. He started tapping the buttons, overriding the automated alerts to look at the actual mechanical readings. Within seconds, he found the truth. A regular pipe in the lower hold had developed a small leak, spraying a mist of saltwater directly into a main electrical junction box.
The water had short-circuited the wiring, causing the central computer to completely malfunction. The broken system had fabricated a catastrophic emergency, locking down doors and blasting alarms that convinced the captain they were sinking.