Incaricati dal Pentagono di investigare se dietro alcuni misteriosi fenomeni si celi una nuova, terribile arma segreta, alcuni scienziati - fra i quali il geofisico Josh Keyes e l'esperto francese Sergei Leveque - scoprono che, in realtà, il nucleo della terra si sta solidificando, fenomeno che, in prospettiva, causerebbe terribili disastri naturali e la fine della vita. Come conseguenza sta collassando il campo elettromagnetico che protegge la terra dalle radiazioni solari; un problema da risolvere subito per evitare che gli aerei cadano e le telecomunicazioni vadano in tilt. Per questo viene programmata una spedizione di emergenza con lo scopo di inviare una navetta e una bomba all'interno della Terra con la speranza di scongiurare la catastrofe.
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After a series of strange events over the world connected by variances in the Earth's electromagnetic field, scientists, led by Dr. Josh Keyes and Conrad Zimsky, discover that the Earth's molten core is slowly coming to a stop; without its rotation, the electromagnetic field around the earth will disappear, exposing the surface to the unfiltered solar radiation and will burn anything or anyone exposed to it. Keyes and Zimsky are charged to find a way to restart the core, which will require traveling deep into the Earth and setting off nuclear charges to induce rotational force. Keyes and Zimsky seek the help of Dr. Serge Leveque, a weapons expert, and Ed "Braz" Brazzelton. Brazzelton reveals a means of not only drilling through the Earth at high speeds using a series of lasers, but also has devised a material "unobtainium" which is capable of withstanding the pressures deep inside the planet as well as generating energy from them. Keyes himself works to create a means to visualize their path through rock structures via x-rays. To avoid creating a worldwide panic, an expert hacker, Theodore "Rat" Donald Finch, is brought to monitor the Internet and erase any rumors to the potential fate of the planet.
The team constructs a snake-like ship named Virgil made up of several compartments that will be launched over the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, the deepest such area on Earth. Keyes, Zimsky, Leveque, and Brazzelton are joined by NASA astronauts Commander Robert Iverson and Major Rebecca "Beck" Childs, who will pilot the ship. The launch goes successfully and the team finds their equipment is working to expectations as they begin their decent. They run into a snag when they breach a gigantic Geode-like structure, damaging the laser drilling device; during the repairs, Iverson is killed by falling crystals. As they dive further, a large diamond field breaches the hull of the last compartment where Leveque is preparing the nuclear devices for activation; he sacrifices himself to make sure that Keyes has the launch codes as the compartment, no longer able to withstand the pressure, is crushed. When they finally breach the molten core, they perform a series of calculations and find that their original plan would fail to restart the core due to unexpected physical property differences. The team calculates that they can still restart the core by decoupling each compartment of Virgil at precise positions, timing the nuclear devices in each to go off to obtain the best force they can impart to the core. However, in order to separate the individual compartments, one member will have to step into the open area at the front of Virgil, which is exposed directly to the molten core and likely will not survive. Brazzelton offers to do so and sacrifices himself to the cause.
Meanwhile, on the surface, the public becomes aware of problems after a super-storm appears over Rome and destroys the Coliseum and a patch of unfiltered sunlight over San Francisco melts the Golden Gate Bridge. Rat is unable to stop the release of the news, but learns of a device called "D.E.S.T.I.N.I.", the news of which he relays to Keyes. Keyes learns that the DESTINI project was an attempt to propagate earthquakes through Earth's core as a weapon, but instead was the cause for stopping its rotation, and that Zimsky was a critical figure behind its design. Zimsky reveals that the government will attempt to use the device again to try to restart the core, which could have disastrous results. Keyes gets Rat to disable the power to the device while they attempt to plot the proper locations for the detonations. As they start to detach each compartment, Zimsky is trapped in one and must be left behind by Keyes and Childs. While the timer for the nuclear explosions ticks down, the two find they are within the blast radius of the devices, and are forced to rig the ship, using the power generated by the unobtainium, to move themselves out of the way in time. As they speed out of the core, the series of nuclear explosions goes off successfully restarting the core's rotation. Keyes and Childs are able to safely make it to the ocean floor in Virgil but without heat, they are unable to get to the surface. However, their position is found by the military by tracking whalesong singing over their ship. Shortly after they are recovered, Rat, through Keyes' directive, releases full information of Project DESTINI and of their mission to the Internet, which reveals the truth to all, and ensures that Iverson, Serge, Braz, and Zimsky are not forgotten, but rather lauded as heroes. |
