beep beep
What was that? Annie looks up.
beep beep
That came from the hallway. She steps outside her office to find the source of this noise. Everyone else had already gone home and she was about to leave as well so this is weird.
beep beep
Following the sound, she walks down the hallway. She stops to listen.
beep beep
Behind that door to the left... Opening it reveals the staircase down to the basement.
beep beep
The sound is clearer, it comes from down there. Annie walks down the stairs and turns the lights on. She rarely goes to the basement, usually just to add to the piles of paperwork on the rows of shelves, but she had no idea there was anything other than the archive down here.
beep beep
The room is dimly lit by a few light fixtures on the walls. Looking through between the rows of binders, boxes, and loose stacks of paper, she notices a small dark area in the back of the room. She walks towards it.
beep beep
The noise is now very close. Behind the last shelf, sectioned off from the rest of the room, she finds what looks to be a small office. There is a large wooden desk with a comfortable-looking though well-worn leather chair in front of it. Next to the chair is a floor lamp that was apparently placed there in absence of a desk lamp. The desk itself is a mess, apart from a neatly organized row of books towards the wall, holding all sorts of cables and other things. Front and center is a terminal...
BEEP BEEP
... and apparently it is the source of the beep sound. She had never used one before but taking a quick look can't hurt – and besides, this beeping is slowly getting on her nerves. She walks up to it and begins to inspect it... wording!!
BEEP BEEP
... ugh. That's kinda loud. The terminal looks like kind of a weird TV. It has a screen to display text, a couple adjustment knobs, and a flat section with rows of buttons with letters and symbols on them. The reception desk has one of these things; they always use it to order new office supplies and for other important-sounding work...
BEEP BEEP
The text on-screen flickers.
Hello, anyone there? This is Jack from Cryo Facility 53. I got woken up from cryogenic sleep and am stuck down here. Please respond or send help. Type reply: █
BEEP BEEP
She sits down on the chair in front of it and switches the lamp on. Her eyes fall on the rows of buttons with letters - should be easy enough. Annie starts looking for the right letters...
BEEP BEEP
Type reply: hello█
Click, click, click, click, click. The buttons have a very satisfying feel and sound to them - unlike the beeping noise which is ... now gone. It was unpleasantly loud and annoying.
i am going to get help Thank you. Appreciate it.
That took a while to... type?... Is that the word? The rows of buttons are arranged in a strange order... Annie looks around. Lots of cables, a pile of paper, an empty cup, some pens and pencils, a screwdriver and other tools, a rubber duck – what an odd place to find a rubber duck... A phone! She picks it up – no signal. Freizeichen? Weird. Maybe, it isn't connected. She looks on the floor and, sure enough, there is the plug – not for much longer as she finds a phone socket and plugs it in. Strange electrical noises. She tries to dial a number but nothing happens. She drops the receiver on the cradle and turns back to the terminal. A couple random characters appear.
%s; i cant call anyone the phone is only making weird noises This modem is probably on the same line. I can disconnect for a while and dial in again in a bit. okay Talk to you then. LINE DISCONNECTED - Tue, 2106-06-01, 19:16 AgriWorks Login: █
What's a modem? she wonders for a second, but then disregards the thought as she picks up the phone again. Who to call though? Her coworkers would probably make fun of her or be annoyed. Also, this place, Cryo Facility 53, she had never heard of it. The only one who might know more about it is her grandpa, as he had studied the plans of the city very thoroughly during his time at the power company. So she dials his number...
Annie is greeted by the friendly voice of an old man. After
a short exchange of "Hello, how are
you?", she begins explain the situation. He interrupts her
while relaying what Jack had written:
Cryo Facility? Are you sure?
Yes, it says here: Cryo Facility 53.
Well that makes it very interesting.
Unfortunately, we can't get there. These cryogenic facilities are
outside the dome.
So there is no way we can help him?
Well not directly. Facility 53 does happen to
be on the mountain above Sunside Cove, but it isn't connected
to the dome.
How did he get there then?
He ... didn't. He's been there from
the start.
How?
Cryogenic sleep - it's a way to preserve
people for a long time by essentially freezing them. It was thought to be
impossible for a long time but they made it work just before the
apocalypse happened.
He's one from the old world?
Slowly, she sets the receiver back on the cradle, pondering over what she had just learned. The call had left her with more questions than she had before. And what would she tell Jack? She looks at the terminal but nothing had changed so she gets up to grab some snacks.
A cup of juice and two cookies later, she hears the telephone ring in the basement. Annie grabs another cookie and hurries back down the stairs. She makes it to the desk just in time for it to stop ringing. The text on the terminal disappears. She looks back and forth between the phone and the terminal for a moment. A new message appears. She sits down and replies:
Hello again. hello i am really sorry but we cannot get to facility 53 its outside Okay. Sucks to be me, I guess... is there anything else i can do for you Yes. I might be able to fix up the door if I had a service manual for it. Do you think you can get me a copy? i dont know where would i find it You are in the city under the mountain, right? yes sunside cove The library should have it. I need the service manual for a Neotek Dynamics B33FY-AF Bunker Door. yes but how would i get a book to you They should have a digital version of it... You are not very familiar with computers, are you? no
Annie looks up from the terminal. She finds a piece of paper and a pen – whoever works here hopefully won't mind – and writes down Neotek B33FY-AF door.
Are there any computer people you could ask for help? not sure they would do that my grandpa might but he doesnt work here As long as he has access to a computer and modem, he should be able to do this. whats a modem It allows you to connect computers over the telephone network. not sure he has one but i can ask Thank you. Btw, I never asked your name... annie Thank you, Annie! In case he does, he can reach this modem under <phone number> at 300 baud.
She picks up the pen again and adds the phone number and 300 baud – whatever that means.
okay but it might take a couple days I can hold out down here for quite a while, don't worry about a couple days. I'll be back on this terminal on Friday evening if I don't hear from you or your grandpa before then. Is that okay? are you safe down there Yes, the bunker seems to be holding up well and I have plenty of food for now. I just wish I could get out of that damned door and see the light of day. ok thats good
The light of day, Annie thinks to herself, what is it like?
I have to go now, the bunker's daily phone usage quota is running out. Thank you again and looking forward to talk to you and your grandpa. Neotek Dynamics B33FY-AF Bunker Door <phone number> @ 300 baud I will connect back to this terminal on Friday if we haven't established contact before then. can we talk tomorrow i have questions We can tal LINE DISCONNECTED - Tue, 2106-06-01, 20:12 AgriWorks Login: █
Is that a yes or a no?, Annie wonders, still not quite sure what to make of the whole situation. She starts re-reading all that's still on the screen. The light of day, she quietly mumbles to herself.
As she reads the section with the bunker door and the phone number, she double-checks what she had written down. She continues to read. After a moment, the terminal makes a quiet click and turns off. The screen flashes and quickly turns to black before a tiny red light under the adjustment knobs comes on to illuminate the letters "RDY".
Annie collects the crumbs of the third cookie that had magically disappeared and eats them. Then, she gets up, takes the piece of paper, and walks back to the stairs. Still thinking about the phrase the light of day, she returns to her office. Now, she wants to see it too – out of curiosity. She collects her things and leaves for the day.
Annie closes the door behind herself and locks it. As she takes a breath of the slightly humid air, she steps back onto the sidewalk to look at the clock above the entrance... 8:25 PM – the realization of how much time had passed hits: Normally she'd be at home already. She starts walking towards the metro station at the corner. The buildings here are similar to the ones in residential areas – three to four story houses painted in different colors – but they are lacking balconies and, instead of being homes, they mostly house offices. On the other side of the street is an embankment that holds the rails for the metro and beyond that is the outer wall of the dome. The street lights illuminating the area had already switched to the lower brightness for the night giving the area an eerie look. Only a couple times had she seen it like this while staying late for company events.
Annie reaches the corner. She looks left and right before crossing the street but not a single car is in sight. As she enters the station and walks up the stairs, she glances at the display - 21 minutes until the next train arrives, that's a long wait... The station is completely devoid of life, nobody else is out here this late. Annie walks up to the vending machine at the upper end of the staircase - OUT OF ORDER... Hrm. Mildly frustrated, she sits down on one of the benches and and starts rummaging in her bag. She finds her headphones and puts them on. At the end of the cable is her walkman. She presses play and starts listening.
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