'qb' Banished: revision and continue writing

signed off by Panini bc I couldn’t focus on reading

qb-Banished.html

@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@
 <p>
   <span class="quote speech">Isabelle!</span><br />
   <span class="quote speech">Lucas!</span><br />
-  <span class="quote speech">I got banished.</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">I got banished.</span>, he says with
+  a shit-eating grin on his face.<br />
   <span class="quote speech">What...?</span><br />
   The guard behind Isabelle gives her a stern look, the one in front of her
   turns around:<br />
@@ -23,10 +24,10 @@
   large table. One of the suits addresses her:<br />
   <span class="quote speech">Before you go to trial, we have something
   to discuss with you. You are being accused of breaking and entering,
-  robbery, interfering with law enforcement, compromising operationally
+  property theft, interfering with law enforcement, compromising
-  critical systems, and conspiracy of terrorism. Some of these charges
+  operationally critical systems, and conspiracy of terrorism. Some of
-  alone will land you in prison for a long time &ndash; unless you take
+  these charges alone will land you in prison for a long time &ndash;
-  this deal...</span><br />
+  unless you take this deal...</span><br />
   He grabs few sheets of paper from his briefcase and slides them over.
   <br />
   <span class="quote speech">Basically admit to everything you&apos;re
@@ -38,27 +39,86 @@
   a bunch of things in here that aren&apos;t true.</span><br />
   <span class="quote speech">Take it or leave it.</span><br />
   <span class="quote speech">What are you getting out of this?</span><br />
-  <span class="quote speech">We don&apos;t want troublemakers like you
+  <span class="quote speech">We don&apos;t want people like you here.
-  here &ndash; nor do we want controversy.</span><br />
+  You cause too much trouble.</span><br />
   <span class="quote speech">What will happen if I sign this?</span><br />
   <span class="quote speech">You will be removed from Sunside Cove.</span>
   <br />
-  <span class="quote speech">And in practical terms?</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">That&apos;s what it says. And in practical
+  terms?</span><br />
   Another one of the suits answers:
   <span class="quote speech">There is an ongoing power outage to parts
   of the city. We will have to send an expedition outside to fix it.
   You will join them and not return.</span><br />
   She looks back at the pages.<br />
-  <span class="quote speech">Okaay.</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">... Okay...</span><br />
   The other pages are some half filled-out forms. She is given a pen and
   told to fill in the rest.
 </p>
+<p>
+  <span class="comment">something is missing here, maybe add a
+  paragraph about the trial itself</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+  Isabelle is taken to a cell with no bed or toilet, just a bench.
+  She sits down and waits. The guard leaves and the hallway gets quiet.
+  The only thing she hears is the hum of the flourescent lights.
+  She waits some more. Time passes.
+</p>
+<p>
+  The lights go out. Relays click in the hallway. She tries to look
+  around. The streetlight outside the tiny cell window projects a small
+  shimmer onto the ceiling that slowly fades until she is surrounded by
+  complete darkness. It gets even quieter than it was already &ndash; not
+  even a noise from outside.
+</p>
+<p>
+  After quite some time, she hears a door open. A guard comes walking down
+  the hallway, looking into all the cells with a flashlight.<br />
+  He arrives at her holding cell and says:
+  <span class="quote speech">Good afternoon.</span> while opening the
+  door, pointing his flashlight back where he came from.<br />
+  <span class="quote speech">That way. Someone will be with you
+  shortly.</span>
+  <br />
+  <span class="quote speech">You&apos;re just gonna let me go by
+  myself?</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">There aren&apos;t that many places you could
+  run off to. Now go.</span><br />
+  She gets up and does as she is told. The diffuse light reflecting off
+  the floor and the walls lets her barely see her surroundings. Another
+  gaurd appears in the door at the end of the hallway, holding
+  a flashlight as well.
+</p>
+<p>
+  She is cuffed and brought to a car where two other guards are waiting.
+  It&apos;s a short ride from the prison to the nearest train station.
+  Apart from a few cars moving around, the entire area is completely dark.
+  No steetlights, no lit-up windows. It is dark enough that she can see
+  a faint shimmer on the dome ceiling, reflecting from other parts of
+  the city.
+</p>
+<p>
+  A train is waiting at the platform. Rather than the usual metro, this one
+  is made up of a battery locomotive and a few flatbed cars. The guard
+  hands the key to her handcuffs over to a guy who seems to be in charge.
+  They sign some paperwork. Then, the guard leaves and the guy tells her
+  to go sit on the last of the flatbed cars.
+</p>
+<p>
+  A few minutes later, the same repeats with Lucas. He sits down next to
+  her and they start quietly chatting.<br />
+  <span class="quote speech">Any idea who else is gonna join us
+  here?</span><br />
+  <span class="comment">dialog here</span>
+</p>
 <p class="comment">
   Note: It was always intended that at least some of the rebels who got
   caught will be released to the outside. However, before starting this
   chapter, I have never actually considered what this means for the rest
   of the story. The following chapters weren&apos;t originally written
-  with this in mind and may need to be revised to take it into account.
+  with this in mind and may need to be significantly revised to take it
+  into account.
 </p>
 
 <p class="copyright">Copyright &#169; 2023-2025 Jan Danielzick (aka. BodgeMaster) &ndash; 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++) {if (lines[j].length >= 80) result = result + spans[j%2] + lines[j] + "</span>\n"; else result = result + spans[j%2] + lines[j] + " ".repeat(80-lines[j].length) + "</span>\n";} pre_texts[i].innerHTML = result;}</script></body></html>