Bob raced through the corridor. The world was being erased! He had to get to the access point before it was too late! The ship's computer said that there were only a few seconds before all matter in the universe faded out of existence. He didn't listen.
Instead he sprinted down the starship corridor, hearing claxons everywhere. Already the lights glitched and portions of the walls were fading to a white void, like blank paper. Ahead, though, he spotted the red light of the Universal Egress Device, set to launch survivors of the failed physics-rewrite experiment into a parallel universe.
But Bob tripped. There was no pain as the tips of his toes got caught in the edge of the erasure, only horror as he turned to see how close behind the phenomenon was. He yanked himself upright again and ran. Just a little farther!
He reached the final door, staggering on his damaged left foot, and banged the security pad with his code. After a terrifying delay the door opened and he jumped through, to the bench with its dozen seats. Only one man left in the world to sit there. Rather than try to strap in, he shouted at the computer, "Launch!"
The computer said, "Initiating universal launch procedure in ten --"
"Now! Do it now!"
"Command acknowledged," the computer said. "Beginning final checks."
There just wasn't enough time!