“We come to you today outside the remains of the Holy Four Hotel in Kazaks, the Spast-run town in Portalia, where a horrible event has just occurred…”
There had once been a large building here. Three hundred rooms, a four-star restaurant, sunset views and probably the best pool area in the district, but all of that was now rubble. Rescue robots scoured the scene, while journalists swooped in like vultures to try and put the timeline together.
“Ten minutes ago, a large explosion rocked through the basement and northern wing of the hotel, causing the entire structure to collapse. So far, the number of dead is unknown, but at least 120 people have been injured, mostly Spasts, alongside the odd xenon worker. The hotel was at high capacity when the disaster struck and-”
Sirens began to blare as a fire broke out somewhere within the rubble. Luckily, a fire truck was already present and began to douse the flames. However the sirens belonged to several army vehicles, 6-wheeled trucks filled with a handful of Spast soldiers and various robotic drones, specially designed to deal with these situations.
Above all of that though, there was a particularly loud cry, this one coming from multiple radios.
“WHERE IS MY SON?”
“We are looking for him, your Highness.”
“FIND HIM. NOW!”
The journalists immediately picked up on these communications and began to report on them.
“It seems as though that, among the missing, is the son of Lord King Ahvra Himself. Statements are coming in that Prince Tanos tou Ahvran was staying at this very hotel when the explosion occurred. However, it also seems that no one has found the missing Prince. Military vehicles have arrived in order to aid with the search.”
Immediately, rescue and recovery began to pick up, even though there were still simmering flames among the rubble. Spast technology was somewhat advanced, and they had already managed to save many of the survivors via echolocation scans which picked up heartbeats and body-shaped patches of heat among the debris. Work was now underway to free the remaining, still living victims, most of whom were trapped under collapsed furniture and corridors on the upper floors. Anyone on the lower floors was not as lucky. High heats had pretty much incinerated the hotel lobby, basement and storage areas before causing the structure to collapse, meaning anyone down there wouldn’t have been alive for long.
“Reports are coming in that Prince Tanos tou Ahvran was located at the roof bar on the north wing, but he has not been found among the living survivors so far. Authorities have called out to locals to assist in body identification, as the blast has destroyed many of the digital identification bracelets that many Spasts wear…”
As searching intensified, the radio calls were still echoing across the rubble.
“WHERE IS HE?”
“We are still looking, your Highness.”
“Don’t make me come down there in person!”
“We are doing everything we can, my Lord King.”
As time passed though, the flames dwindled, both the flames of the fire and the flames of hope. As the last survivor was pulled from the rubble, parties switched from Search and Rescue to Search and Recover. Rumours began to circle that the Prince had been in the northern wing when the explosion had rocked the hotel. There was some brief hope when bodies and a handful of seriously injured survivors had been found around the hotel’s perimeter, having been blown away from the building by the explosion, but even those hopes faded when the Prince was not found among them.
“Despite constant searching, it has been declared that the Prince is still among the missing and is now presumed dead. Our hearts go out to the families of those injured or killed in today’s horrific tragedy…”