Just noticed this--love the prompt. Irresistible. I've only got 22 hours left, and likely will devote some of those to sleep :).
Update: I made it. Drafted something rough last night and tried to refine it this morning. Thanks for running this contest. It was fun coming up with something so quickly. Here's the link to my story, which is entitled, The Mission https://steemit.com/twentyfourhourshortstory/@agmoore/twenty-four-hour-short-story-contest-the-mission.