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<!DOCTYPE html> < html > < head > < title > Telescope < / title > < link rel = "stylesheet" type = "text/css" href = "html_resources/style.css" > < / head > < body > < a href = "index.html" > < button class = "back" > < < / button > < / a >
< h1 > Telescope< / h1 >
< p >
Michelle says: < span class = "quote speech" > I know the way.< / span > < br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > Wanna drive?< / span > < br / >
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Jack extends his hand with the keys.< br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > Sure.< / span > < br / >
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She takes them and the four get in the truck. James joins Michelle in
the front while Annie and Jack take the rear seats. A few moments later,
Michelle pulls onto the street in front of the bunker.< br / >
James asks her: < span class = "quote speech" > How far is it?< / span > < br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > A decent bit. Used to be about an hour on the
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highway. If it' s in even somewhat decent shape, I' d say
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we' re gonna make it there in about that time.< / span > < br / >
She turns right at an intersection onto the on-ramp, saying:< br / >
< span class = "quote speech" > Gonna find out very soon...< / span >
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< / p >
< p >
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The pavement is cracked and has potholes, and the highway is partially
overgrown but, despite this, its condition is somehow good enough.
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Michelle floors it and the truck rattles and shakes as it accelerates
on the uneven asphalt. James < span class = "comment" > hangs on to the handle
< / span > in the door as the remains of the city outskirts fly by.
Michelle notices it:< br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > James, relax, that seat belt is gonna hold
you.< / span > < br / >
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< span class = "quote speech" > How are you not absolutely terrified by the
speed you' re going?< / span > < br / >
< span class = "quote speech" > You get used to it after a while... Also,
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I know very well what I can or can' t do with this car –
I used to drive the same model.< / span >
< span class = "comment" > wording?< / span >
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< / p >
< p >
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Within a few minutes, they make it out of Ivydale, leaving its valley
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behind. The mountains make way for an area of plains and shallow hills.
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The large, rusty signs above still indicate the proximity of
Sentinel Shores where they haven' t faded completely. Following
them, Michelle takes an exit onto another highway that takes them north,
around the western part of Ivydale' s lower side.
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< / p >
< p >
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After a while, they approach what used to be the outskirts of
Sentinel Shores and Michelle takes an exit, getting them onto
a rural road. The observatory is located on a hill, now ahead of them
– a small group of buildings in the distance.
As they get closer, the buildings take distinct shapes. Two of them stand
out: The one in the center holds a large geodesic dome and another one
off to the side is a smooth round dome with a slot cut out of it for
a telescope to peek through. Well, it < i > was< / i > smooth at one point
– now, it has many holes with a tree growing out of the largest
one. The geodesic dome has ivy vines clinging to it but looks otherwise
surprisingly intact. The other buildings look like mostly unremarkable
ruins in various stages of decay.
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< / p >
< p >
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Michelle says to James:< br / >
< span class = "quote speech" > I' m sorry but it doesn' t look
like your idea of using telescope is gonna pan out.< / span > < br / >
< span class = "quote speech" > Oh well, still worth checking it out –
maybe, there are old photos left behind... Didn' t you say you also
need the telescope?< / span > < br / >
< span class = "quote speech" > We need the < i > radio< / i > telescope. That' s
a very different beast. It' s in that ball made of triangles in the
middle there.< / span >
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< / p >
< p >
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She drives onto what remains of the large paved space inbetween the
buildings and parks the truck next to the entrance to the optical
telescope. They get out and look around. Trees and bushes grow all over
the place, some even out of the buildings. Dora runs up to a bush and
barks at it. A young fox jumps out and runs away.< br / >
< span class = "quote speech" > Dora, c' mere!< / span >
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< / p >
< p class = "comment" >
What now? They start exploring but where to they begin?
< / p >
< 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 >
