post_apocalypse_story/02-Unlikely_Encounter-Annie...

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<h1> Unlikely Encounter </h1>
<p class="light">
  beep beep
</p>
<p>
  What was that? Annie looks up.
</p>
<p class="light">
  beep beep
</p>
<p>
  That came from the hallway. She steps outside her office to find the
  source of this noise. Everyone else had already gone home and she was
  about to leave as well so this is weird.
</p>
<p class="light">
  beep beep
</p>
<p>
  Following the sound, she walks down the hallway. She stops to listen.
</p>
<p class="light">
  beep beep
</p>
<p>
  Behind that door to the left... Opening it reveals the staircase down
  to the basement.
</p>
<p class="strong">
  beep beep
</p>
<p>
  The sound is clearer, it comes from down there. Annie walks down the
  stairs and turns the lights on. She rarely goes to the basement, usually
  just to add to the piles of paperwork on the rows of shelves, but she had
  no idea there was anything other than the archive down here.
</p>
<p class="strong">
  beep beep
</p>
<p>
  The room is dimly lit by a few light fixtures on the walls. Looking
  through between the rows of binders, boxes, and loose stacks of paper,
  she notices a small dark area in the back of the room. She walks towards
  it.
</p>
<p class="heavy">
  beep beep
</p>
<p>
  The noise is now very close. Behind the last shelf, sectioned off from
  the rest of the room, she finds what looks to be a small office. There
  is a large wooden desk with a comfortable-looking though well-worn
  leather chair in front of it. Next to the chair is a floor lamp that was
  apparently placed there in absence of a desk lamp. The desk itself is
  a mess, apart from a neatly organized row of books towards the wall,
  holding all sorts of cables and other things. Front and center is a
  terminal...
</p>
<p class="heavy">
  BEEP BEEP
</p>
<p>
  ... and apparently it is the source of the beep sound. She had never
  used one before but taking a quick look can&apos;t hurt &ndash; and
  besides, this beeping is slowly getting on her nerves. She walks up to
  it and begins to inspect it... <span class="comment">wording!!</span>
</p>
<p class="heavy">
  BEEP BEEP
</p>
<p>
  ... ugh. That&apos;s kinda loud. The terminal looks like kind of a weird
  TV. It has a screen to display text, a couple adjustment knobs, and a
  flat section with rows of buttons with letters and symbols on them. The
  reception desk has one of these things; they always use it to order new
  office supplies and for other important-sounding work...
</p>
<p class="heavy">
  BEEP BEEP
</p>
<p>
  The text on-screen flickers.
</p>
<pre class="terminal">
Hello, anyone there?
This is Jack from Cryo Facility 53. I got woken up from cryogenic sleep
and am stuck down here. Please respond or send help.

Type reply: &#9608;
</pre>
<p class="heavy">
  BEEP BEEP
</p>
<p>
  She sits down on the chair in front of it and switches the lamp on.
  Her eyes fall on the rows of buttons with letters - should be easy
  enough. Annie starts looking for the right letters...
</p>
<p class="heavy">
  BEEP BEEP
</p>
<pre class="terminal">
Type reply: hello&#9608;
</pre>
<p>
  Click,&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;
  click,&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;
  click,
  click,&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;
  click.

  The buttons have a very satisfying feel and sound to them - unlike the
  beeping noise which is ...  now gone. It was unpleasantly loud and
  annoying.
</p>
<pre class="terminal">
i am going to get help

Thank you. Appreciate it.
</pre>
<p>
  That took a while to... type?... Is that the word? The rows of buttons
  are arranged in a strange order... Annie looks around. Lots of cables,
  a pile of paper, an empty cup, some pens and pencils, a screwdriver and
  other tools, a rubber duck &ndash; what an odd place to find a rubber
  duck... A phone! She picks it up &ndash; no signal. <span class="comment">
  Freizeichen?</span> Weird. Maybe, it isn&apos;t connected. She looks on
  the floor and, sure enough, there is the plug &ndash; not for much
  longer as she finds a phone socket and plugs it in. Strange electrical
  noises. She tries to dial a number but nothing happens. She drops the
  receiver on the cradle and turns back to the terminal. A couple random
  characters appear.
</p>
<pre class="terminal">
%s;  i cant call anyone the phone is only making weird noises

This modem is probably on the same line. I can disconnect for a while and
dial in again in a bit.

okay

Talk to you then.

LINE DISCONNECTED -
Tue, 2106-06-01, 19:16

AgriWorks Login: &#9608;
</pre>

<p>
  <span class="quote non-speech">What&apos;s a modem?</span> she wonders
  for a second, but then disregards the thought as she picks up the phone
  again. Who to call though? Her coworkers would probably make fun of her
  or be annoyed. Also, this place,
  <span class="quote non-speech">Cryo&nbsp;Facility&nbsp;53</span>, she had
  never heard of it. The only one who might know more about it is her
  grandpa, as he had studied the plans of the city very thoroughly during
  his time at the power company. So she dials his number...
</p>
<p>
  Annie is greeted by the friendly voice of an old man. After
  <span class="comment">a short exchange of &quot;Hello, how are
  you?&quot;</span>, she begins explain the situation. He interrupts her
  while relaying what Jack had written:<br />
  <span class="quote speech">Cryo&nbsp;Facility? Are you sure?</span><br />
  <span class="quote speech">Yes, it says here: Cryo Facility 53.</span><br />
  <span class="quote speech">Well that makes it very interesting.
  Unfortunately, we can&apos;t get there. These cryogenic facilities are
  outside the dome.</span><br />
  <span class="quote speech">So there is no way we can help him?</span><br />
  <span class="quote speech">Well not directly. Facility 53 does happen to
  be on the mountain above Sunside&nbsp;Cove, but it isn&apos;t connected
  to the dome.</span><br />
  <span class="quote speech">How did he get there then?</span><br />
  <span class="quote speech">He ... didn&apos;t. He&apos;s been there from
  the start.</span><br />
  <span class="quote speech">How?</span><br />
  <span class="quote speech">Cryogenic sleep - it&apos;s a way to preserve
  people for a long time by essentially freezing them. It was thought to be
  impossible for a long time but they made it work just before the
  apocalypse happened.</span>
  <br />
  <span class="quote speech">He&apos;s one from the old world?</span><br />
</p>
<ul>
  <li class="comment">
    the dialog also needs to say that Karl wants to get in touch with Jack
  </li>
  <li class="comment">
    hint at the possibility to go outside?
  </li>
  <li class="comment">
    ensuing Annie Jack conversation needs to be modified taking into
    consideration that Karl wants to contact Jack (also notes/story and
    everything else)
  </li>
</ul>
<p>
  Slowly, she sets the receiver back on the cradle, pondering over what she
  had just learned. The call had left her with more questions than she had
  before. And what would she tell Jack? She looks at the terminal but
  nothing had changed so she gets up to grab some snacks.
</p>
<p>
  A cup of juice and two cookies later, she hears the telephone ring in the
  basement. Annie grabs another cookie and hurries back down the stairs.
  She makes it to the desk just in time for it to stop ringing. The text on
  the terminal disappears. She looks back and forth between the phone and
  the terminal for a moment. A new message appears. She sits down and
  replies:
</p>

<pre class="terminal">
Hello again.

hello  i am really sorry but we cannot get to facility 53  its outside

Okay. Sucks to be me, I guess...

is there anything else i can do for you

Yes. I might be able to fix up the door if I had a service manual for it.
Do you think you can get me a copy?

i dont know  where would i find it

You are in the city under the mountain, right?

yes  sunside cove

The library should have it.
I need the service manual for a Neotek Dynamics B33FY-AF Bunker Door.

yes   but how would i get a book to you

They should have a digital version of it... You are not very familiar with
computers, are you?

no
</pre>
<p>
  Annie looks up from the terminal. She finds a piece of paper and a pen
  &ndash; whoever works here hopefully won&apos;t mind &ndash; and writes
  down <span class="quote non-speech">Neotek B33FY-AF door</span>.
</p>
<pre class="terminal">
Are there any computer people you could ask for help?

not sure they would do that  my grandpa might but he doesnt work here

As long as he has access to a computer and modem, he should be able to do
this.

whats a modem

It allows you to connect computers over the telephone network.

not sure he has one but i can ask

Thank you.
Btw, I never asked your name...

annie

Thank you, Annie!
In case he does, he can reach this modem under &lt;phone number&gt; at
300 baud.
</pre>
<p>
  She picks up the pen again and adds the phone number and
  <span class="quote non-speech">300 baud</span> &ndash; whatever that
  means.
</p>
<pre class="terminal">
okay but it might take a couple days

I can hold out down here for quite a while, don&apos;t worry about a couple
days. I&apos;ll be back on this terminal on Friday evening if I don&apos;t
hear from you or your grandpa before then. Is that okay?

are you safe down there

Yes, the bunker seems to be holding up well and I have plenty of food for
now. I just wish I could get out of that damned door and see the light of
day.

ok thats good
</pre>
<p>
  <span class="quote non-speech">The light of day</span>, Annie thinks to
  herself, <span class="quote non-speech">what is it like?</span>
</p>
<pre class="terminal">
I have to go now, the bunker&apos;s daily phone usage quota is running out.
Thank you again and looking forward to talk to you and your grandpa.

Neotek Dynamics B33FY-AF Bunker Door
&lt;phone number&gt; @ 300 baud

I will connect back to this terminal on Friday if we haven&apos;t
established contact before then.

can we talk tomorrow  i have questions

We can tal

LINE DISCONNECTED -

Tue, 2106-06-01, 20:12

AgriWorks Login: &#9608;
</pre>
<p>
  <span class="quote non-speech">Is that a yes or a no?</span>, Annie
  wonders, still not quite sure what to make of the whole situation.
  She starts re-reading all that&apos;s still on the screen.
  <span class="quote speech">The light of day</span>, she quietly mumbles
  to herself.
</p>
<p>
  As she reads the section with the bunker door and the phone number, she
  double-checks what she had written down. She continues to read. After a
  moment, the terminal makes a quiet click and turns off. The screen
  flashes and quickly turns to black before a tiny red light under the
  adjustment knobs comes on to illuminate the letters &quot;RDY&quot;.
</p>
<p>
  Annie collects the crumbs of the third cookie that had magically
  disappeared and eats them. Then, she gets up, takes the piece of paper,
  and walks back to the stairs. Still thinking about the phrase
  <span class="quote non-speech">the light of day</span>, she returns to
  her office. Now, she wants to see it too &ndash; out of curiosity.
  She collects her things and leaves for the day.
</p>
<p>
  Annie closes the door behind herself and locks it. As she takes a breath
  of the slightly humid air, she steps back onto the sidewalk to look at
  the clock above the entrance... 8:25 PM &ndash; the realization of how
  much time had passed hits: Normally she&apos;d be at home already. She
  starts walking towards the metro station at the corner. The buildings
  here are similar to the ones in residential areas &ndash; three to four
  story houses painted in different colors &ndash; but they are lacking
  balconies and, instead of being homes, they mostly house offices. On the
  other side of the street is an embankment that holds the rails for the
  metro and beyond that is the outer wall of the dome. The street lights
  illuminating the area had already switched to the lower brightness for
  the night giving the area an eerie look. Only a couple times had she
  seen it like this while staying late for company events.
</p>
<p>
  Annie reaches the corner. She looks left and right before crossing the
  street but not a single car is in sight. As she enters the station and
  walks up the stairs, she glances at the display - 21 minutes until the
  next train arrives, that&apos;s a long wait... The station is completely
  devoid of life, nobody else is out here this late. Annie walks up to the
  vending machine at the upper end of the staircase -
  <span class="quote non-speech">OUT&nbsp;OF&nbsp;ORDER</span>... Hrm.
  Mildly frustrated, she sits down on one of the benches and and starts
  rummaging in her bag. She finds her headphones and puts them on. At the
  end of the cable is her walkman. She presses play and starts listening.
</p>

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