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<!DOCTYPE html> < html > < head > < title > Escape < / title > < link rel = "stylesheet" type = "text/css" href = "html_resources/style.css" > < / head > < body > < a href = "index.html" > < button class = "back" > < < / button > < / a >
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< h1 > Escape< / h1 >
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< p >
Annie reaches the platform. The sirens of the police cars are really
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close now. A train is coming. The first police car arrives at the
station. Annie freezes as she panics. The train for sure won' t
leave before the police searched it. Where can she hide?
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< / p >
< p >
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< span class = "quote speech" > Annie!< / span > Someone shouts her name.
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< span class = "quote speech" > Get in here, run!< / span > < br / >
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She breaks out of her freeze. The train had turned out to be a single
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car. A single, slightly rusty railcar painted in shades of dark
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blue. < span class = "comment" > note: make it a theme that the metro is
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always yellow and red< / span > The only person inside is the guy who had
called out to her, turning away from the door he had just opened.
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His Neotek jacket flaps in the air as he runs towards the other end of
the train – that has to be Jack. The motors begin to hum while
Annie is still running towards the open door. She jumps inside as the
train starts moving back in the direction it came from. The door closes
just after leaving the platform.
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< / p >
< p >
The train accelerates with a force stronger than anything she has ever
felt before. The motors scream, the entire train rattles. While making
her way to the front, she looks outside. The city flies by. The horn
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sounds as the train barrels through the next station. The platform
appears, is visible just long enough to see the astonished faces of
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the onlookers, and disappears again.
< / p >
< p >
She reaches the driver' s cabin.< br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > Hello Jack!< / span > < br / >
< span class = "quote speech" > Hi Annie – you good?< / span > < br / >
< span class = "quote speech" > Yes< / span > , she breathes heavily,
< span class = "quote speech" > but that was close.< / span > < br / >
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After catching her breath for a moment, she says:< br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > You arrived just in time. They' ve been
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following me around for a while but we got away.< / span > < br / >
Jack seems to think for a short moment while his eyes stay fixated on the
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track ahead.< br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > That remains to be seen. Coming through that
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airlock seems to have set off some sort of alarm; like poking a stick
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into an anthill...< / span > < br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > An anthill?< / span > < br / >
< span class = "quote speech" > Oh, I forgot, you wouldn' t know... Ants
are tiny little animals. They build hills of loose material as their
nests. If you poke a stick into one, they scramble to defend it.< / span >
< br / >
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Annie imagines a bunch of mice scratching and biting away at a stick
that' s stuck in a slope of rubble.< br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > Anyway< / span > , Jack continues,
< span class = "quote speech" > this little expedition hasn' t gone
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unnoticed.< / span > < br / >
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Short pause.
< / p >
< p >
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Looking outside again, Annie realizes:< br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > I have never seen one of these< / span > –
she knocks on the control panel – < span class = "quote speech" > go
this fast.< / span > < br / >
< span class = "quote speech" > Me neither< / span > , says Jack. He adds:
< span class = "quote speech" > There used to be trains that could go faster
– a lot faster – but not the metro.< / span >
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< / p >
< p >
After watching the tracks, stations, and buildings fly by for a couple
minutes, Annie opens her bag and pulls out a pile of paper.< br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > Here are the documents you need. Maps,
blueprints, manuals, everything we could find.< / span > < br / >
< span class = "quote speech" > Sounds good. Just put them in there for
now.< / span > < br / >
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He gestures towards a small cabinet on the wall behind them.
Annie places the pile on top of a few books and binders already
inside.
< / p >
< p >
The train barrels through another station. Jack decelerates slowly,
saying:< br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > We' re almost at your drop-off point, next
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station is Crystal Park ... uhhh ... and we might have a problem.< / span >
< br / >
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The train is going around a long curve overseeing the park and the
square in front of the station. < Grandpa' s friend> ' s car
is there, surrounded by police cruisers with flashing lights and open
doors.< br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > What do we do now?< / span > < br / >
< span class = "quote speech" > Well I' m sure as fuck not staying around
to see what they' re up to down there.< / span > Jack says while
accelerating again. < span class = "quote speech" > I hope you' re okay
with coming with me.< / span >
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< / p >
< p >
They pass a couple more stations before the train runs over a switch and
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gets suddenly jolted to the left. It rocks side to side for a moment.
They are now heading straight for the outer wall of the dome.
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The airlock, now in view, is rapidly coming closer. The inner
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< span class = "quote non-speech" > B33FY-AF< / span > door is wide open.
Technicians and police are standing around it in small groups, trying
to figure out how and why it had opened. The ramps connecting the streets
below to the airlock are full of parked transporters and police cars.
Some are even on the tracks but the one Annie and Jack are approaching
on is mostly clear. He sounds the horn.
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< / p >
< p >
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< span class = "quote speech" > Hold on to something!< / span > Jack slams on the
brakes. The train loses power and rumbles over a bunch of switches. The
headlights flicker and turn off. A police car that was parked too close
to their track gets flung aside. A bunch of technicians jump out of the
way as the train passes them and rolls into the airlock where it comes
to a screeching halt. Jack presses some buttons on the control panel.
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< / p >
< p >
The screams of the police and technicians are drowned out by the hissing
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of pressurized air and the < i > ka-chonk< / i > of large machinery.
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< span class = "quote speech" > Access authorized, cycling airlock, please
stand by< / span > , announces an automated voice. The bunker door behind
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them starts to move with a creaking noise. The
< span class = "quote non-speech" > keepers of order< / span > that had started
to run into the airlock after the train stop and look around in
confusion. Everything around them turns to black. The only thing Annie
sees are the illuminated gauges on the control panel. More hissing of
pressurized air.
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< / p >
< p >
The train shakes slightly as it makes a noise that sounds like a
mechanical version of someone clearing their throat. The gauges on the
control panel flicker. Annie is surprised by this, the noise is
unfamiliar to her. It turns into a constant rumbling hum and the
headlights come on again. The bunker door ahead is moving out of the way
revealing a long tunnel.
< / p >
< p >
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< span class = "quote speech" > Everything okay? You look puzzled.< / span >
Jack looks at her.< br / >
< span class = "quote speech" > What' s this weird noise?< / span > < br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > The generator. The electrified tracks end
at the air lock so the train has to generate its own power.< / span >
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< / p >
< p >
The police start banging on the outside of the train and yell something.
Jack grabs a microphone off the wall and speaks into it:< br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > Gentlemen, for your own safety, please step
back from the train.< / span > < br / >
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He pushes a lever on the control panel and the smooth hum of the motors
joins in with the noise of the generator.
< / p >
< p >
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Jack sets the train in motion again.< br / >
< span class = "quote speech" > In a few minutes, it' s gonna get very
bright.< / span > he says while driving into the tunnel.
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< span class = "quote speech" > Close your eyes if it' s too bright. It
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might take a while to get used to the sunlight.< / span > < br / >
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The train begins to move up a slight incline. An automated announcement
comes on:< br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > Dear passengers, welcome to the combined
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Sentinel Shores and Ivydale local transit zone! Please keep in mind
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that the last train returning to Sunside Cove for today
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departs from Ivydale South at 10:15PM. Enjoy your travel!< / span >
< / p >
< p >
The train leans into a curve; Annie hears the screeching of the wheels
grinding on the rails. After a moment, a blue-ish white shimmer appears
on the walls of the tunnel. It gets brighter and brighter. The tunnel
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straightens out again and the other end comes into view. It' s much
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brighter than the light over Central Square. Annie closes her eyes but
the light continues to get brighter. For a moment, she covers them with
her hands as the train leaves the tunnel.
< / p >
< p >
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Annie hears Jack press some buttons and the clicking of relays. The
motors go quiet and the train starts to slow down. She tries to open her
eyes but it' s still too bright.< br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > I think you could use a pair of
sunglasses.< / span > < br / >
< span class = "quote speech" > Sunglasses?< / span > < br / >
< span class = "quote speech" > They' re like normal glasses but... dark
to make bright light easier on your eyes.< / span > < br / >
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Jack puts a pair in Annie' s hands. She puts them on and cautiously
squints outside. Lots of green, brown, and gray but before she can make
out any details, they roll into another tunnel. The automated voice
comes on again:< br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > We are now approaching Ivydale South. Your
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next connections are Metro line 7 to Ivydale Distillery from platform 5,
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HST1511 to Siren' s Edge from platform 14, HST815 to Nova Metropolis
from platform 11. This train will continue on line 5 to
Sentinel Shores Sea Market via Ivydale West,
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Sentinel Shores Central Station.< / span > < br / >
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After a moment, Jack says quietly:< br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > I wonder how much of these places is
left...< / span > Raising his voice back to a normal level, he adds:
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< span class = "quote speech" > But for now, we' ll leave the train here
and head back to base.< / span > < br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > Base?< / span > < br / >
< span class = "quote speech" > The bunker, we refer to it as our base of
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operations.< / span > < br / >
The train rolls out of the second tunnel and they find themselves in a
station.< / p >
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< p class = "copyright" > Copyright © 2023 Jan Danielzick (aka. BodgeMaster) – All rights reserved.< / p > < script > let spans = [ "<span class=\"paper green\">" , "<span>" ] ; let pre _texts = document . getElementsByTagName ( "pre" ) ; for ( let i = 0 ; i < pre _texts . length ; i ++ ) { if ( pre _texts [ i ] . className != "paper" ) continue ; let lines = pre _texts [ i ] . innerHTML . split ( "\n" ) ; let result = "" ; for ( let j = 0 ; j < lines . length ; j ++ ) { result = result + spans [ j % 2 ] + lines [ j ] + " " . repeat ( 80 - lines [ j ] . length ) + "</span>\n" ; } pre _texts [ i ] . innerHTML = result ; } < / script > < / body > < / html >
