+ Jack is driving the truck towards a dried-out river. On the other side,
+ a bit in the distance, is a group of houses that – while they
+ certainly have? have certainly? seen better
+ days – don't look abandoned. Jack says
+ Hold on!
+ Festhalten? and drives into the
+ river bed.
+
+ TODO: mention Annie in this paragraph
+
+ The truck struggles to get traction while driving up the other river
+ bank, eventually getting stuck in the sand. He backs up and turns into
+ the river, accelerates, then steers back onto the bank – to no
+ avail, the truck gets stuck again.
+ Well... fuck.
+ He turns back into the river once more. The engine roars and the wheels
+ fling sand everywhere. Jack shifts gears, the needle on the speedometer
+ slowly creeps up, then he goes for another attempt. The suspension
+ bottoms out as the wheels plow into the river bank, but the truck does
+ barely make it out.
+
+
+
+ Ouch. Annie holds her shoulder where
+ the seat belt had dug into it. Can we not do
+ that again, please?
+ I'll... try to keep it in mind,
+ sorry.
+ He turns around and drives onto the overgrown remains of a road leading
+ towards the settlement.
+
+ Jack parks the truck in front of an old store.
+ This is it, I guess.
+ They get out and start walking towards the door. A small dog runs up to
+ them, barking, jumping around, running in circles, and wagging its tail.
+ It picks up a stick and drops it in front of Annie. She crouches down
+ and pets the dog.
+ Jack says: I'm gonna be inside.
+ more elegant way of saying "I need to take a
+ piss. Hopefully, they have a toilet.
+
+
+
+
+
+ I'll be right there.
+ Okay. Jack disappears into the store.
+ She picks up the stick, gets up and holds it just out of reach of the
+ dog. It jumps back and forth a couple times looking at her.
+ You wanna play fetch, do you?
+
+ Annie throws the stick a few times, then she follows Jack into the store.
+ Its shelves are sparsely stocked with a random assortment of things,
+ roughly sorted into categories:
+ Hand tools, boxes full of hardware, household chemicals, bars of soap,
+ a few clocks and watches, books, and more. Half of the store seems to be
+ dedicated to food though the shelves are mostly empty. Behind the counter
+ is a man who appears to be in his 60s, talking to Jack:
+ No, we don't sell food. What you see
+ there is strictly rationed. Since the river name
+ has changed course, we don't even have enough water to grow
+ crops for ourselves. The cisterns and wells simply don't
+ cut it.
+ Okay... What if we supplied you with
+ water?
+ The man interrupts the conversation and looks at Annie:
+ Good afternoon, what can I do for you?
+
+ I'm with him.
+ I see.
+ He turns back to Jack:
+ Listen, the amount of water we need can't
+ simply be carried here or we'd do it ourselves. And we need it
+ constantly and consistently, not just once.
+ I know you need an industrial quantity of
+ water. We can get you an industrial quantity of water. Will you give us
+ food if we supply you?
+ He musters Jack for a moment.
+ Who is we and how do you wanna
+ accomplish that?
+ We are a small group of people living in
+ a bunker south of Ivydale. Two of us have extensive knowledge of
+ old world technology that we can put to use.
+ The man looks at him with skepticism.
+ Jack continues: Let the how be my
+ problem to solve. If we make it happen, will you supply us with
+ food?
+ You're gonna have to discuss that with
+ the others. Wait outside.
+ He disappears through a door behind the counter. Annie and Jack leave
+ the store and, once outside, Annie asks:
+ So how do you wanna accomplish that?
+ Sounds like you have a grand plan already.
+ Not really, but I'm pretty sure I will
+ within the hour. If all else fails, we could fix up a flatbed
+ truck, bolt a tank to it, and drive it here.
+
+ While they wait, the small dog runs up again. They play fetch for a bit
+ until a group of people, amongst them the man from the store, approaches
+ them. A few handshakes later, Jack repeats his suggestion. A man in his
+ 40s, who seems to be in charge, says:
+ Your intentions are ... ambitious. I doubt
+ you can do it but I don't see any harm in agreeing. If you
+ manage to restore a permanent water supply, you can have all the food
+ you want.
+ Someone else throws in: Within reason.
+
+ Yes, within reason. Any objections?
+
+ He looks around. Someone raises a hand.
+ Yes?
+ We're not just gonna feed these people
+ forever, are we?
+ Jack replies before the one in charge gets a chance:
+ We need to feed maybe ten people for a few
+ months while we establish a settlement in the south of Ivydale.
+
+
+
+
+
+ The one in charge responds: That's a lot.
+ Let's say two months.
+ Okay.
+ Then we have a deal.
+
+ A few people keep questioning the feasibility until Jack puts a stop
+ to it:
+ Ladies and gentlemen, whether it can be done
+ will be our problem. Now I would like to see what we have to work with.
+ Can I have a look at that irrigation system?
+ The one in charge turns to a girl:
+ Mary, can you go, show them around?
+
+ Sure. She takes a step towards Annie
+ and Jack. Follow me. The closest access point
+ is right there, behind the store.
+ They walk around it and onto a field of withering?
+ plants. A large, partially buried pipe with just the top exposed
+ goes through it with an access hatch roughly in the center of the field.
+ Right next to the hatch is a Gestell? with
+ a boom to lower a large bucket into the access hatch.
+ Jack asks: Is it all like this, a net of
+ buried pipes?
+ Mostly. In the greenhouses, it's just
+ an open channel?.
+ Where do these pipes lead?
+ They all connect to a large
+ round buried tank from where another pipe
+ leads to the intake. It's a bit of a walk but I can show you.
+
+ She gestures for them to follow but Jack stops her:
+ Wait, we can take the truck.
+ That's your car?
+ Her sudden excitement seems to take Jack by surprise.
+ Uhh... yeah.
+ That's so cool! I've only ever seen
+ the broken ones by the side of the road. We gonna drive there?
+
+ If you show the way.
+ Heck yeah!
+
+ Not sure of this should be the end of a chapter or if I should continue
+ here.
+ One thing that has happened is that this chapter, while written from
+ Annie's perspective, has her be a passive bystander without even
+ having any introspection for most of it. This needs to be adressed
+ somehow.
+
Copyright © 2023 Jan Danielzick (aka. BodgeMaster) – All rights reserved.
diff --git a/pa-Basic_Needs.html b/pa-Basic_Needs.html deleted file mode 100644 index a44f346..0000000 --- a/pa-Basic_Needs.html +++ /dev/null @@ -1,106 +0,0 @@ -- Jack drives into a dried-out river. In the distance on the other side is - a group of houses that, while they have certainly seen better days, - don't look abandoned. The truck struggles to get traction in the - sand on the other side of the river and eventually gets stuck. - Well fuck. Jack backs up and turns - into the river. He accelerates, then steers back onto the river bank - – to no avail, the truck gets stuck again. He turns back into the - river. The engine roars. First gear, second gear, third gear... -
-
- The suspension bottoms out as the truck plows uphill through the sand,
- barely making it out of the river. Annie holds her shoulder, it hurts
- from getting pushed into the seat belt.
- Can we not do that again, please?
- response?
- Jack turns around and drives onto the overgrown remains of a road leading
- to the settlement.
-
- He parks in front of an old store.
- This is it, I guess.
- They get out and start walking towards the door. A small dog runs up to
- them, barking, jumping around, running in circles, and wagging its tail.
- It picks up a stick and drops it in front of Annie. She crouches down,
- pets the dog, and picks up the stick.
- I'll be right there, Annie says
- to Jack before throwing it.
- Okay. Jack goes into the store.
-
- After playing fetch for a bit, Annie follows. Behind the counter is a man
- who appears to be in his 60s. He is talking to Jack:
- I mean in the long run. We have plenty of food
- right now but, since the <river name> has changed course, we
- don't even have enough water to grow crops for ourselves. The
- cisterns and wells simply don't cut it.
- So, basically, you're saying you need
- water.
- The man interrupts the conversation and looks at Annie:
- Good afternoon, what can I do for you?
-
- I'm with him.
- I see.
- He turns back to Jack:
- Listen, we don't just need a little bit of
- water. The amount of water we need can't simply be carried here or
- we'd do it ourselves. And we need it regularly and consistently.
- When the <river> still flowed here, water used to flow into our
- irrigation system upstream and got distributed to all the fields and
- greenhouses from there.
- I know you need an industrial quantity of
- water. We can get you an industrial quantity of water. Will you give us
- food if we supply you?
- "Who is *we*?"
- He musters Jack for a moment.
- And how do you wanna get it here?
- By train - assuming the railroad south of here
- is in a serviceable state. Seeing the man's confusion, Jack
- adds: Let that be my problem to solve. Will
- you trade water for food?
- I'm gonna have to discuss that with the
- others. Wait outside.
-
- After playing with the dog some more, they get approached by a group of
- people, amongst them the man from the store. They shake hands. Jack
- repeats his idea to supply water by train in exchange for crops.
- What's this train you're talking
- of?, one of them asks.
- A large vehicle from the old world. It drives
- on tracks like the ones that should be south of here.
- So that's what these rails were used
- for... But that's still pretty far from here, how do you wanna
- transport the water here?
- That irrigation system of yours... Can we take
- a look at it?
- I see where you're trying to go with
- this. It's still not particularly close to the rails.
-
- After a bit of additional back and forth, they agree on a plan. The man
- who did most of the talking asks a girl:
- Mary, can you go, show them around?
-
- Sure, follow me.
- It's a bit of a walk...
- Wait, Jack stops her,
- We're here with a truck.
- So that's your car? Cool!
- I've only ever seen one working car in the city. So we're
- gonna drive there?
- If you show us the way.
- Let's go!
-
- Not sure of this should be the end of a chapter or if I should continue - here. The way this has turned out, it would also be nice if they ended up - delivering construction machines (excavators, etc.) to the village so - they don't need to rely on water shipments past the day when the - protagonists leave for Nova Metropolis. -
-Copyright © 2023 Jan Danielzick (aka. BodgeMaster) – All rights reserved.
diff --git a/pq-diesel_creek.html b/pq-diesel_creek.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b8879f7 --- /dev/null +++ b/pq-diesel_creek.html @@ -0,0 +1,56 @@ +
+ Michelle asks: And you really expect to find
+ one here that isn't beyond repair?
+ They are walking into a valley in a large forested area.
+ Jack replies: I'm not even sure this is
+ the right place. Everything looks so different. But if it is, we'll
+ have plenty to choose from. Not optimistic about any of the hydraulic
+ excavators but we had some older cable-driven diggers
+ right word? on site that we might get
+ working.
+ research that needs to be done:
+ When were hydraulic excavators invented?
+ When did they get the ability to use a jackhammer attachment?
+ When did the cable-driven ones go out of fashion?
+ James says: Look, over there.
+ He gestures towards a group of very rusty and completely overgrown
+ machines and vehicles standing amidst the trees.
+ Jack says: That one to the right is similar to
+ what we're looking for.
+ They walk up to the machines.
+ Jack turns to Annie and James, patting the side of the machine he pointed
+ out a moment earlier. It has a sort of arm in the front with a huge scoop
+ thingy on the end.
+ We're looking for something like this but
+ with steel cables going from back here up there and to the boom.
+
+ James asks: Why not use this one?
+ 'Cause this thing's done for.
+ Beyond repair, as Michelle put it.
+ How can you tell?
+ Jack walks to the front and points to some parts on the arm of the
+ machine. These rods used to extend and retract
+ to move the boom. They need to be perfectly smooth and fit together
+ exactly or they'll leak the oil inside.
+ They take a quick look at the other machines. There is another, smaller
+ excavator, a Kipper?, a
+ Wie heißt diese Maschine mit Förderband, die Material sortiert?
+ , and two Radlader?.
+ Annie asks: How did all of these get
+ inbetween the trees?
+ The trees weren't here when they were
+ used. This is why I had such a hard time finding this place.
+
+
+
+ Annie asks: Is this how the dome was dug
+ out?
+ Well... no. That was mostly done using
+ explosives. But we had a large fleet of machines for all sorts of
+ tasks.
+
Copyright © 2023 Jan Danielzick (aka. BodgeMaster) – All rights reserved.
diff --git a/ta-no_u_dont_have_train.html b/ta-consulting-no_u_dont_have_train.html similarity index 96% rename from ta-no_u_dont_have_train.html rename to ta-consulting-no_u_dont_have_train.html index e42bc23..4b25eb5 100644 --- a/ta-no_u_dont_have_train.html +++ b/ta-consulting-no_u_dont_have_train.html @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@ -The following is a conversation between Jack and someone from the train company.