From c8c204d7719c4973230ecc196635e77813bc22a4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: BodgeMaster <>
Date: Thu, 2 Jan 2025 09:06:37 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Multiple chapters: Old changes (see long description)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

My old laptop broke and I just finally got around to getting the files
off its SSD. I have no idea what exactly I was working on back then.
It’s been a while.
---
 pa-Bare_Necessities.html                      | 180 ++++++++++++++++++
 pa-Basic_Needs.html                           | 106 -----------
 pq-diesel_creek.html                          |  56 ++++++
 ...=> ta-consulting-no_u_dont_have_train.html |   4 +-
 4 files changed, 238 insertions(+), 108 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 pa-Bare_Necessities.html
 delete mode 100644 pa-Basic_Needs.html
 create mode 100644 pq-diesel_creek.html
 rename ta-no_u_dont_have_train.html => ta-consulting-no_u_dont_have_train.html (96%)

diff --git a/pa-Bare_Necessities.html b/pa-Bare_Necessities.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d92ec62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pa-Bare_Necessities.html
@@ -0,0 +1,180 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title> Bare Necessities </title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="html_resources/style.css"></head><body><a href="index.html"><button class="back">&lt;</button></a>
+
+<h1> Bare Necessities </h1>
+<p>
+  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 &ndash; while they
+  <span class="comment">certainly have? have certainly?</span> seen better
+  days &ndash; don&apos;t look abandoned. Jack says
+  <span class="quote speech">Hold on!
+  <span class="comment">Festhalten?</span></span> and drives into the
+  river bed.
+  <br />
+  <span class="comment">TODO: mention Annie in this paragraph</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+  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 &ndash; to no
+  avail, the truck gets stuck again.<br />
+  <span class="quote speech">Well... fuck.</span><br />
+  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.<br />
+
+
+
+  <span class="quote speech">Ouch.</span> Annie holds her shoulder where
+  the seat belt had dug into it. <span class="quote speech">Can we not do
+  that again, please?</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">I&apos;ll... try to keep it in mind,
+  sorry.</span><br />
+  He turns around and drives onto the overgrown remains of a road leading
+  towards the settlement.
+</p>
+<p>
+  Jack parks the truck in front of an old store.<br />
+  <span class="quote speech">This is it, I guess.</span><br />
+  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.<br />
+  Jack says: <span class="quote speech">I&apos;m gonna be inside.
+  <span class="comment">more elegant way of saying &quot;I need to take a
+  piss.</span> Hopefully, they have a toilet.</span>
+
+
+
+
+  
+  <span class="quote speech">I&apos;ll be right there.</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">Okay.</span> 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.<br />
+  <span class="quote speech">You wanna play fetch, do you?</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+  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:<br />
+  <span class="quote speech">No, we don&apos;t sell food. What you see
+  there is strictly rationed. Since the <span class="comment">river name
+  </span> has changed course, we don&apos;t even have enough water to grow
+  crops for ourselves. The cisterns and wells simply don&apos;t
+  cut it.</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">Okay... What if we supplied you with
+  water?</span><br />
+  The man interrupts the conversation and looks at Annie:<br />
+  <span class="quote speech">Good afternoon, what can I do for you?</span>
+  <br />
+  <span class="quote speech">I&apos;m with him.</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">I see.</span><br />
+  He turns back to Jack:<br />
+  <span class="quote speech">Listen, the amount of water we need can&apos;t
+  simply be carried here or we&apos;d do it ourselves. And we need it
+  constantly and consistently, not just once.</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">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?</span><br />
+  He musters Jack for a moment.<br />
+  <span class="quote speech">Who is <i>we</i> and how do you wanna
+  accomplish that?</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">We are a small group of people living in
+  a bunker south of Ivydale. Two of us have extensive knowledge of
+  old&nbsp;world technology that we can put to use.</span><br />
+  The man looks at him with skepticism.<br />
+  Jack continues: <span class="quote speech">Let the <i>how</i> be my
+  problem to solve. If we make it happen, will you supply us with
+  food?</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">You&apos;re gonna have to discuss that with
+  the others. Wait outside.</span><br />
+  He disappears through a door behind the counter. Annie and Jack leave
+  the store and, once outside, Annie asks:<br />
+  <span class="quote speech">So how do you wanna accomplish that?
+  Sounds like you have a grand plan already.</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">Not really, but I&apos;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.</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+  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:
+  <span class="quote speech">Your intentions are ... ambitious. I doubt
+  you can do it but I don&apos;t see any harm in agreeing. <i>If</i> you
+  manage to restore a permanent water supply, you can have all the food
+  you want.</span><br />
+  Someone else throws in: <span class="quote speech">Within reason.</span>
+  <br />
+  <span class="quote speech">Yes, within reason. Any objections?</span>
+  <br />
+  He looks around. Someone raises a hand.<br />
+  <span class="quote speech">Yes?</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">We&apos;re not just gonna feed these people
+  forever, are we?</span><br />
+  Jack replies before the one in charge gets a chance:
+  <span class="quote speech">We need to feed maybe ten people for a few
+  months while we establish a settlement in the south of Ivydale.</span>
+
+
+
+
+  <br />
+  The one in charge responds: <span class="quote speech">That&apos;s a lot.
+  Let&apos;s say two months.</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">Okay.</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">Then we have a deal.</span><br />
+</p>
+<p>
+  A few people keep questioning the feasibility until Jack puts a stop
+  to it:<br />
+  <span class="quote speech">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?</span><br />
+  The one in charge turns to a girl:
+  <span class="quote speech">Mary, can you go, show them around?</span>
+  <br />
+  <span class="quote speech">Sure.</span> She takes a step towards Annie
+  and Jack. <span class="quote speech">Follow me. The closest access point
+  is right there, behind the store.</span><br />
+  They walk around it and onto a field of <span class="comment">withering?
+  </span> 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 <span class="comment">Gestell?</span> with
+  a boom to lower a large bucket into the access hatch.<br />
+  Jack asks: <span class="quote speech">Is it all like this, a net of
+  buried pipes?</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">Mostly. In the greenhouses, it&apos;s just
+  an open <span class="comment">channel?</span>.</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">Where do these pipes lead?</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">They all connect to a large
+  <span class="comment">round buried tank</span> from where another pipe
+  leads to the intake. It&apos;s a bit of a walk but I can show you.</span>
+  <br />
+  She gestures for them to follow but Jack stops her:<br />
+  <span class="quote speech">Wait, we can take the truck.</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">That&apos;s <i>your</i> car?</span><br />
+  Her sudden excitement seems to take Jack by surprise.<br />
+  <span class="quote speech">Uhh... yeah.</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">That&apos;s so cool! I&apos;ve only ever seen
+  the broken ones by the side of the road. We gonna drive there?</span>
+  <br />
+  <span class="quote speech">If you show the way.</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">Heck yeah!</span>
+</p>
+<p class="comment">
+  Not sure of this should be the end of a chapter or if I should continue
+  here.<br />
+  One thing that has happened is that this chapter, while written from
+  Annie&apos;s perspective, has her be a passive bystander without even
+  having any introspection for most of it. This needs to be adressed
+  somehow.
+</p>
+<p class="copyright">Copyright &#169; 2023 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++) {result = result + spans[j%2] + lines[j] + " ".repeat(80-lines[j].length) + "</span>\n";} pre_texts[i].innerHTML = result;}</script></body></html>
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 @@
-<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title> Basic Needs </title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="html_resources/style.css"></head><body><a href="index.html"><button class="back">&lt;</button></a>
-
-<h1> Basic Needs</h1>
-<p>
-  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&apos;t look abandoned. The truck struggles to get traction in the
-  sand on the other side of the river and eventually gets stuck.
-  <span class="quote speech">Well fuck.</span> Jack backs up and turns
-  into the river. He accelerates, then steers back onto the river bank
-  &ndash; to no avail, the truck gets stuck again. He turns back into the
-  river. The engine roars. First gear, second gear, third gear...
-</p>
-<p>
-  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.<br />
-  <span class="quote speech">Can we not do that again, please?</span><br />
-  <span class="comment">response?</span><br />
-  Jack turns around and drives onto the overgrown remains of a road leading
-  to the settlement.
-</p>
-<p>
-  He parks in front of an old store.<br />
-  <span class="quote speech">This is it, I guess.</span><br />
-  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.<br />
-  <span class="quote speech">I&apos;ll be right there</span>, Annie says
-  to Jack before throwing it.<br />
-  <span class="quote speech">Okay.</span> Jack goes into the store.
-</p>
-<p>
-  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:<br />
-  <span class="quote speech">I mean in the long run. We have plenty of food
-  right now but, since the &lt;river name&gt; has changed course, we
-  don&apos;t even have enough water to grow crops for ourselves. The
-  cisterns and wells simply don&apos;t cut it.</span><br />
-  <span class="quote speech">So, basically, you&apos;re saying you need
-  water.</span><br />
-  The man interrupts the conversation and looks at Annie:<br />
-  <span class="quote speech">Good afternoon, what can I do for you?</span>
-  <br />
-  <span class="quote speech">I&apos;m with him.</span><br />
-  <span class="quote speech">I see.</span><br />
-  He turns back to Jack:<br />
-  <span class="quote speech">Listen, we don&apos;t just need a little bit of
-  water. The amount of water we need can&apos;t simply be carried here or
-  we&apos;d do it ourselves. And we need it regularly and consistently.
-  When the &lt;river&gt; still flowed here, water used to flow into our
-  irrigation system upstream and got distributed to all the fields and
-  greenhouses from there.</span><br />
-  <span class="quote speech">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?</span><br />
-  <span class="comment">&quot;Who is *we*?&quot;</span><br />
-  He musters Jack for a moment.<br />
-  <span class="quote speech">And how do you wanna get it here?</span><br />
-  <span class="quote speech">By train - assuming the railroad south of here
-  is in a serviceable state.</span> Seeing the man&apos;s confusion, Jack
-  adds: <span class="quote speech">Let that be my problem to solve. Will
-  you trade water for food?</span><br />
-  <span class="quote speech">I&apos;m gonna have to discuss that with the
-  others. Wait outside.</span>
-</p>
-<p>
-  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.<br />
-  <span class="quote speech">What&apos;s this train you&apos;re talking
-  of?</span>, one of them asks.<br />
-  <span class="quote speech">A large vehicle from the old world. It drives
-  on tracks like the ones that should be south of here.</span><br />
-  <span class="quote speech">So that&apos;s what these rails were used
-  for... But that&apos;s still pretty far from here, how do you wanna
-  transport the water here?</span><br />
-  <span class="quote speech">That irrigation system of yours... Can we take
-  a look at it?</span><br />
-  <span class="quote speech">I see where you&apos;re trying to go with
-  this. It&apos;s still not particularly close to the rails.</span>
-</p>
-<p>
-  After a bit of additional back and forth, they agree on a plan. The man
-  who did most of the talking asks a girl:<br />
-  <span class="quote speech">Mary, can you go, show them around?</span>
-  <br />
-  <span class="quote speech">Sure, follow me.</span>
-  <span class="comment">It&apos;s a bit of a walk...</span><br />
-  <span class="quote speech">Wait</span>, Jack stops her,
-  <span class="quote speech">We&apos;re here with a truck.</span><br />
-  <span class="quote speech">So that&apos;s <i>your</i> car? Cool!
-  I&apos;ve only ever seen one working car in the city. So we&apos;re
-  gonna drive there?</span><br />
-  <span class="quote speech">If you show us the way.</span><br />
-  <span class="quote speech">Let&apos;s go!</span>
-</p>
-<p class="comment">
-  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&apos;t need to rely on water shipments past the day when the
-  protagonists leave for Nova Metropolis.
-</p>
-<p class="copyright">Copyright &#169; 2023 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++) {result = result + spans[j%2] + lines[j] + " ".repeat(80-lines[j].length) + "</span>\n";} pre_texts[i].innerHTML = result;}</script></body></html>
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 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title> Diesel Creek </title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="html_resources/style.css"></head><body><a href="index.html"><button class="back">&lt;</button></a>
+<h1> Diesel Creek </h1>
+
+<p>
+  Michelle asks: <span class="quote speech">And you really expect to find
+  one here that isn&apos;t beyond repair?</span><br />
+  They are walking into a valley in a large forested area.<br />
+  Jack replies: <span class="quote speech">I&apos;m not even sure this is
+  the right place. Everything looks so different. But if it is, we&apos;ll
+  have plenty to choose from. Not optimistic about any of the hydraulic
+  excavators but we had some older cable-driven diggers
+  <span class="comment">right word?</span> on site that we might get
+  working.</span><br />
+  <span class="comment">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?</span><br />
+  James says: <span class="quote speech">Look, over there.</span><br />
+  He gestures towards a group of very rusty and completely overgrown
+  machines and vehicles standing amidst the trees.<br />
+  Jack says: <span class="quote speech">That one to the right is similar to
+   what we&apos;re looking for.</span><br />
+  They walk up to the machines.<br />
+  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.<br />
+  <span class="quote speech">We&apos;re looking for something like this but
+  with steel cables going from back here up there and to the boom.</span>
+  <br />
+  James asks: <span class="quote speech">Why not use this one?</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">&apos;Cause this thing&apos;s done for.
+  Beyond repair, as Michelle put it.</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">How can you tell?</span><br />
+  Jack walks to the front and points to some parts on the arm of the
+  machine. <span class="quote speech">These rods used to extend and retract
+  to move the boom. They need to be perfectly smooth and fit together
+  exactly or they&apos;ll leak the oil inside.</span><br />
+  They take a quick look at the other machines. There is another, smaller
+  excavator, a <span class="comment">Kipper?</span>, a <span class="comment">
+  Wie hei&szlig;t diese Maschine mit F&ouml;rderband, die Material sortiert?
+  </span>, and two <span class="comment">Radlader?</span>.<br />
+  Annie asks: <span class="quote speech">How did all of these get
+  inbetween the trees?</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">The trees weren&apos;t here when they were
+  used. This is why I had such a hard time finding this place.</span><br />
+
+
+
+  Annie asks: <span class="quote speech">Is this how the dome was dug
+  out?</span><br />
+  <span class="quote speech">Well... no. That was mostly done using
+  explosives. But we had a large fleet of machines for all sorts of
+  tasks.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="copyright">Copyright &#169; 2023 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++) {result = result + spans[j%2] + lines[j] + " ".repeat(80-lines[j].length) + "</span>\n";} pre_texts[i].innerHTML = result;}</script></body></html>
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 @@
-<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title> No U Don&apos;t Have Train. </title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="html_resources/style.css"></head><body><a href="index.html"><button class="back">&lt;</button></a>
-<h1> No U Don&apos;t Have Train. </h1>
+<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title> Consulting </title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="html_resources/style.css"></head><body><a href="index.html"><button class="back">&lt;</button></a>
+<h1> Consulting </h1>
 <p class="comment">
   The following is a conversation between Jack and someone from the
   train company.