+ Annie reaches the platform. The sirens of the police cars are really + 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? +
++ Annie! Someone shouts her name. + Annie, get in here, run! +
++ Annie breaks out of her freeze. The train had turned out to be a single + car. A single rusty railcar painted in different shades of blue. + note: make it a theme that the metro is always + yellow and red The only person inside is the driver, turning away + from the door he just opened - that has to be Jack. His Neotek jacket + flaps in the air as he runs to the other end of the train. While Annie is + still running towards the open door, the motors start humming. She jumps + inside as the train starts to move back in the direction it came from. + The door closes just after leaving the platform. +
++ 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 + sounds as the train barrels though the next station. The platform + appears, is visible for just long enough to see the astonished faces of + the onlookers, and disappears again. +
+
+ She reaches the driver's cabin.
+ Hello Jack!
+ Hi Annie &emdash; you good?
+ Yes, she breathes heavily,
+ but that was close.
+ After catching her breath for a moment, she says:
+ You arrived just in time. They were close on my
+ heels, but we got away. change this to say
+ something like "they were following me for/since/all the way"
+
+ Jack seems to think for a short moment while his eyes stay fixed on the
+ track ahead.
+ That remains to be seen. Coming through that
+ airlock seems to have set off some sort of alarm. Like poking a stick
+ into an anthill...
+ An anthill?
+ 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.
+ Annie imagines a bunch of mice scratching and biting away at a stick
+ that's stuck in a slope of rubble.
+ Anyway, Jack continues,
+ this little expedition hasn't gone
+ unnoticed.
+ Short pause. Looking outside again, Annie realizes:
+ I have never seen one of these - she knocks
+ on the control panel - go this fast.
+ Me neither, says Jack. He adds:
+ There used to be trains that could go faster - a
+ lot faster - but not the metro.
+
+ After watching the tracks, stations, and buildings fly by for a couple
+ minutes, Annie opens her bag and pulls out a pile of paper.
+ Here are the documents you need. Maps, blueprints,
+ manuals, everything we could find.
+ Sounds good. Just put them in there for now.
+
+ He gestures towards a small cabinet next to the right side window.
+ Annie places the pile on top of a few books binders
+ that are already in there. The train barrels through another
+ station. Jack slowly decelerates the train.
+ We're almost at your drop-off point, next
+ station is Crystal Park... uhhh and we might have a problem.
+ The train is going around a long curve overseeing the park and square in
+ front of the station. <Grandpa's friend>'s car is there,
+ surrounded by police cruisers with flashing lights and open doors.
+ What do we do now?
+ Well I'm sure as fuck not staying around to
+ see what they're doing down there. Jack says while
+ accelerating again. I hope you're okay with
+ coming with me.
+
+ They pass a couple more stations before the train runs over a switch and + gets suddenly jolted to the side. The train rocks side to side for a + moment. They are now heading straight for the outer wall of the dome. + The airlock, now in view, is rapidly coming closer. The inner + ‘B33FY-AF' door is wide open. Technicians and police are + standing around it in small groups, trying to figure out why + and how it had opened. The ramps connecting + the street 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. +
++ Hold onto something! 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 the 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. +
++ The screams of the police and technicians are drowned out by the hissing + of pressurized air and the *ka-chonk* of large machinery. + Access authorized, cycling airlock, please stand + by, announces an automated voice. The bunker door behind them + starts to move with a squeaking noise. The ‘keepers of order' + that had started to run after the train into the airlock 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. +
++ 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. +
+
+ Everything okay? You look puzzled. Jack looks
+ at her.
+ What's this weird noise?
+ The generator. There's no power out here so
+ the train has to generate its own power to drive.
+
+ The police start banging on the outside of the train and yell something.
+ Jack grabs a microphone off the wall and speaks into it:
+ Gentlemen, for your own safety, please step back
+ from the train.
+ He pushes a lever on the control panel and the smooth hum of the motors
+ joins in with the noise of the generator.
+
+ In a couple minutes, it's gonna get very
+ bright. Jack says while accelerating the train again.
+ Close your eyes if it's too bright. It might
+ take a while to get used to daylight.
+ to the sun
+ As the train moves through the tunnel, an automated voice comes on:
+ Dear passengers, welcome to the combined
+ Sentinel Shores and Ivydale local transit zone! Please keep in mind
+ that the last train returning to <underground city> for today
+ departs from Ivydale South at 10:15PM. Enjoy your travel!
+
+ 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 + straightens out again and the other end comes into sight. It's + 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. +
+
+ Annie hears Jack press some buttons and clicking relays. The motors go
+ quiet, the generator turns off, and the train starts to slow down. She
+ tries to open her eyes but it's still too bright.
+ I think you could use a pair of sunglasses.
+
+ Sunglasses?
+ They're like normal glasses but... dark to
+ make bright light easier on your eyes.
+ 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:
+ We are now approaching Ivydale South. Your next
+ connections are line 7 to Ivydale Distillery from platform 5, 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 Fish
+ Market via Ivydale West, Sentinel Shores Observatory, Sentinel Shores
+ Central Station.
+ After a moment, Jack says quietly:
+ I wonder how much of these places is left...
+ Raising his voice back to a normal level, he adds:
+ But for now, we'll head back to base.
+
+ Base?
+ The bunker, we refer to it as our base of
+ operations.
+ The train rolls out of the second tunnel and they find themselves in a
+ station.