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BodgeMaster befaf0a50e 'pa' Bare Necessities: Add a description of irrigation system intake. 2025-01-07 08:39:06 +01:00
BodgeMaster fc07c29592 'pa' Bare necessities: revision, tie things better together 2025-01-07 08:31:36 +01:00
BodgeMaster c8c204d771 Multiple chapters: Old changes (see long description) 
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.
 2025-01-02 09:06:37 +01:00
BodgeMaster 0d08afe2b1 'km' Unhappy Engine Noises: tiny wording fix 2025-01-02 08:27:54 +01:00
BodgeMaster b975243986 'ta' No U Don't Have Train: continue writing 2024-07-04 20:33:51 +02:00
7 changed files with 369 additions and 168 deletions
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km-unhappy_engine_noises.html
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@ -42,10 +42,10 @@ going with this so I'll just leave it in here, commented out.
cables off the terminals, and hooks them up to his makeshift power cables off the terminals, and hooks them up to his makeshift power
supply. Then, he starts the generator and climbs into the train. supply. Then, he starts the generator and climbs into the train.
Michelle follows him and they go to the driver's cabin. Jack turns Michelle follows him and they go to the driver's cabin. Jack turns
a key switch and parts of the dashboard light up. Then, he pushes the a key switch and part of the dashboard lights up. Then, he pushes the
engine start button. While holding it, he points to the fuel pressure engine start button. The engine begins to turn over. While holding
gauge and, slightly raising his voice to talk over the noise of the the button, Jack points to the fuel pressure gauge, slightly raising
engine turning over, he says:<br /> his voice to talk over the engine:<br />
<span class="quote speech">That&apos;s progress already.</span><br /> <span class="quote speech">That&apos;s progress already.</span><br />
The needle on the gauge slowly creeps to the right.<br /> The needle on the gauge slowly creeps to the right.<br />
<span class="quote speech">Too slow though</span>, he adds after a <span class="quote speech">Too slow though</span>, he adds after a

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<span class="quote speech">Everything okay? You look puzzled.</span> <span class="quote speech">Everything okay? You look puzzled.</span>
Jack looks at her.<br /> Jack looks at her.<br />
<span class="quote speech">What&apos;s this weird noise?</span><br /> <span class="quote speech">What&apos;s this weird noise?</span><br />
<span class="comment">TODO: Change this back to say something along the
lines of the power doesn&apos;t work outside</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">The generator. The electrified tracks end <span class="quote speech">The generator. The electrified tracks end
at the air lock so the train has to generate its own power.</span> at the air lock so the train has to generate its own power.</span>
</p> </p>

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<!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
have certainly seen better days &ndash; don&apos;t look abandoned.
Jack says to Annie: <span class="quote speech">Hold on!
<span class="comment">translate: Festhalten!</span></span>
Then, he drives into the river bed.
</p>
<p>
The truck struggles to get traction in the sand while driving up
the other river bank. It gets stuck. Jack 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 sand, but the truck barely makes
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">Sorry. I&apos;ll... try to keep it in
mind.</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><br />
He disappears into the store. Annie 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 plays with the dog for a bit, 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 &ndash; though the shelves are mostly empty.
In the back is a counter. Jack is talking to the man behind it who
appears to be in his 60s.<br />
The man says: <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 understand that. You need an industrial
quantity of water. Will you provide food if we supply it?</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&apos;re 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 give us 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 do supply runs.</span>
</p>
<p>
While they wait, the small dog runs up again. They play fetch until
a group of people approaches, the man from the store among 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 why we shouldn&apos;t let you try.
<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 one month.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">We&apos;ll need at least two.</span><br />
A few members of the group discuss among themselves for a moment.
Then, the one in charge turns to Jack again:<br />
<span class="quote speech">Okay, we have a deal.</span><br />
A few people keep questioning Jack and the feasibility of his idea.<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.
Do you have an irrigation system?</span><br />
The one in charge responds: <span class="quote speech">Yes, old pipes
in the ground.</span> He 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.</span>
</p>
<p>
Mary says: <span class="quote speech">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, buried pipes
going to fields?</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 a tunnel
connects to the inlet. 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="comment">
Description of the inlet: Two &lt;translate: Stauwehre&gt;, a large one
and a small one. The small one can be adjusted with large screws.
Behind the small one is a pit with a grate covering the tunnel entrance.
They see a railway bridge not too far upstream.
</p>
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<!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>
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<!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>
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<!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.
</p>
<p>
<span class="quote speech">Why wouldn&apos;t they work outside? It&apos;s
not like they&apos;re magically gonna come off the rails once they leave
the dome.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">All of your trains are outfitted with
fail-safe emergency brakes. On power loss, you have about 15 seconds
before they are applied and the train comes to an abrupt, unscheduled
halt. You can&apos;t even tow these things without power.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">I thought you said the tracks were in decent
shape? Why would the <span class="comment">contacts? sliders?</span>
come off the power rail for that long?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">A) I didn&apos;t, I said they are in
<i>surprisingly</i> decent shape after being exposed to the elements
for a century without any maintenance. B) That power rail isn&apos;t
gonna be of any use because it doesn&apos;t deliver any power.</span>
<br />
<span class="quote speech">What do you mean? Why not?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Where does the rail get its power from?</span>
<br />
<span class="quote speech">The power grid.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Not quite, but close enough. What do we not
have outside?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Of course there is a power grid outside.
It&apos;s what powered the old world just as ours powers the city.</span>
<br />
<span class="quote speech">There used to be one, that much is correct,
but it hasn&apos;t been used or maintained in a century. Even if you did
somehow manage to get part of it working, I still wouldn&apos;t trust it.
And where would you wanna get the electricity to run it from?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">From a substation. We fix up one of those and
use it to power the grid.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Great, now you have a local grid attached to
the high voltage grid. And what do you wanna power that with?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">What? The substations make the power.
It&apos;s where all the power in the city comes from: Two substations
&ndash; one in the wall next to this airlock and the other one is by
the other airlock.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">There is a third one deep below Central
Square. These are indeed where the electricity in the city comes from
but they don&apos;t make it. They get it from a power plant outside,
a bit northeast of here.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">The dome powered by the outside world?
People be believing strange things these days...</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">I don&apos;t have to believe. I was there when
the city was built and, more recently, I helped replace a failing
generator at said power plant. You might have noticed the outage.</span>
<br />
<span class="quote speech">Uhuh, sure buddy. Since you&apos;ve been doing
nothing but spewing nonsense all this time, I&apos;m just gonna have one
of our guys drive a train up there and we&apos;ll see what happens.</span>
<br />
<span class="quote speech">I&apos;ll get some popcorn. Watching this is
gonna be fun...</span>
</p>
<p>
The rails start ringing and a train of the Sunside Cove Metro approaches.
It slows down and comes to a halt before the power rail&apos;s gap for
the switches in front of the closed airlock. Inside are a driver and the
railway official. Jack reaches into his backpack, grabs a bag of chips
&ndash; he didn&apos;t find any popcorn for the occasion &ndash; and
opens it. The headlights turn off and the driver leaves the driver&apos;s
cabin. A moment later, the first door opens and he climbs out.<br />
<span class="quote speech">No, I am only going to drive the first segment
in there. We don&apos;t need the entire train stuck in the tunnel if it
doesn&apos;t go to plan.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">It&apos;s gonna be fine. What could go
wrong?</span><br />
Jack replies loudly so both of them hear him:
<span class="quote speech">A lot.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">You shut up.</span><br />
The driver says: <span class="quote speech">I&apos;m inclined to agree
with him.</span><br />
He turns around and walks to the end of the first railcar where he
proceeds to detach the hoses and cables and unhooks the couplings.
Then, he returns to the front and climbs back inside.
</p>
<p>
The headlights come back on and a compressor kicks into action.
A few contactors click inside the train. After a moment, the door closes.
The train sits like this for a few minutes until the compressor turns off
again. Jack shoves a handfull of chips into his mouth. The inner door
of the airlock begins to open, creaking and buzzing as it slowly moves
up.
</p>
<p>
The motors begin to hum and the first car of the train starts moving
towards the airlock. It loses power as it rolls over the switches
and the headlights dim. Jack puts his bag of chips aside and presses
the button on his watch that lights up the display. He begins to count
in his head:
<br />
<span class="quote non-speech">One, two, three, four, five...</span><br />
The railcar rolls completely into the airlock. It&apos;s still
decently far away from the other door.<br />
<span class="quote non-speech">Six, seven, eight, nine...</span><br />
It rolls deeper into the airlock, beyond Jack&apos;s view.<br />
<span class="quote non-speech">Ten, eleven...</span><br />
Loud hissing sounds from inside the airlock &ndash; the train&apos;s
failsafe mechanism begins to release the pressurized air from its tanks.
<br />
<span class="quote non-speech">Twelve, thirteen, fourteen...</span><br />
A loud <i>clunk</i> followed by screeching and grinding noises as the
emergency brakes are applied.<br />
<span class="quote speech">Fifteen.</span><br />
Jack grabs his bag of chips and gets up. He walks onto the tracks and
looks into the airlock, stuffing his face as he watches the dim
<span class="comment">R&uuml;cklichter? rear lights?</span> go out.
</p>
<p>
A few minutes pass and nothing happens. Eventually, Jack hears one of
the doors getting unlocked with a key and sees it getting pushed open
by hand. He gets off the track and sits back down next to the rails,
continuing to stuff his face with chips. A bit later, he watches the
driver and the railway official doing the walk of shame, the latter
seeming pretty close to an aneurysm.<br />
<span class="quote speech">Told you so.</span><br />
The railway official loses it completely, <span class="comment">stampfen?
</span> and jumping around while screaming some apparently very colorful
language &ndash; Jack doesn&apos;t understand a single word.
</p>
<p class="comment">
The train driver proceeds to walk to the rest of the train but Jack stops
him.
"It&apos;s too far back. There are only two feasible ways to get it
back out: Getting power on the track inside the airlock or dismantling
the brakes so it can be towed."
</p>
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<!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>
<p>
<span class="quote speech">Why wouldn&apos;t they work outside? It&apos;s
not like they&apos;re magically gonna come off the rails once they leave
the dome.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">All of your trains are outfitted with fail-safe
emergency brakes. On power loss, you have about 15 seconds before they
are applied and the train comes to an abrupt, unscheduled halt.
You can&apos;t even tow these things without power.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">I thought you said the tracks were in decent
shape? Why would the <span class="comment">contacts? sliders?</span>
come off the power rail for that long?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">A) I didn&apos;t, I said they are in
<i>surprisingly</i> decent shape after being exposed to the elements
for a century without any maintenance. B) That power rail isn&apos;t
gonna be of any use because it doesn&apos;t deliver any power.</span>
<br />
<span class="quote speech">What do you mean? Why not?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Where does the rail get its power from?</span>
<br />
<span class="quote speech">The power grid.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Not quite, but close enough. What do we not
have outside?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Of course there is a power grid outside.
It&apos;s what powered the old world just as ours powers the city.</span>
<br />
<span class="quote speech">There used to be one, that much is correct,
but it hasn&apos;t been used or maintained in a century. Even if you did
somehow manage to get part of it working, I still wouldn&apos;t trust it.
And where would you wanna get the electricity to run it from?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">From a substation. We fix up one of those and
use it to power the grid.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Great, now you have a local grid attached to
the high voltage grid. And what do you wanna power that with?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">What? The substations make the power.
It&apos;s where all the power in the city comes from: Two substations
&ndash; one in the wall next to this airlock and the other one is by
the other airlock.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">There is a third one deep below Central
Square. These are indeed where the electricity in the city comes from
but they don&apos;t make it. They get it from a power plant outside,
a bit northeast of here.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">The dome powered by the outside world?
People be believing strange things these days...</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">I don&apos;t have to believe. I was there when
the city was built and, more recently, I helped replace a failing
generator at said power plant. You might have noticed the power
outage.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Uhuh, sure buddy. Since you&apos;ve been doing
nothing but spewing nonsense all this time, I&apos;m just gonna have one
of our guys drive a train up there and we&apos;ll see what happens.</span>
<br />
<span class="quote speech">I&apos;ll get some popcorn; watching this is
gonna be fun. Wouldn&apos;t be the first time a train got stuck in these
tunnels...</span>
</p>
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