Next stop: Central Square
Annie looks up. That's where she has to get off. She only needs to
be at work in the afternoon so she decided to get that manual for Jack.
The train comes to a halt in the station. Annie steps out onto the platform. Few people are around at this time. She glances at the clock next to the train display: 10:17 AM. The light on the display switches to the next train and the digits for the time of arrival start flipping over. Is there a more elegant way to describe the train station displays of yesteryear? The door chime sounds and the doors close. Annie starts to walk. The train begins to hum and starts to move. She follows the roughly three other people towards the exit.
Annie walks down the stairs and steps onto the square. It is brightly illuminated by a large glowing sphere made of yellow and brown glass tiles, suspended on steel cables that hang from four office complexes at the corners of the square, towering over the rest of the buildings. The other buildings around the square are more in line with the rest of the city but they each have a very unique look. There's the town hall city hall?, a building of dark red and yellow bricks, arranged to form beautiful patterns. Next to it is the Museum of the Last Days, a dystopian-looking building with black metal plates as a facade. Other buildings of note include the courthouse, a theater, Does that word also apply to what the German word means? and the cathedral - the only religious building in the city.
To her right is the library, a large building with a facade of sandstone blocks. The front features large pillars and a staircase spanning the entire width of the building giving it the look of an ancient temple. The wall behind the pillars has multiple rows of windows.
Annie makes her way up the stairs and enters through the large wooden
doors. She walks up to the counter.
Hello, how may I help you today? The guy
behind the counter smiles. Borrowing the next
stack of fantasy books?, he asks.
Uhm... Actually, no, Annie replies as
she takes her library card and a piece of paper out of her bag.
I have a quite unusual request. I am looking
for – she glances at the piece of paper –
a manual for a Neotek B three three F Y dash
A F bunker door.
The guy types into his terminal for a moment. Annie places her library
card on the counter. With a worried look, he turns back to her:
I'm afraid, that it has recently been
classified. There is a note about terrorism in here.
So there is no way to get it?
He musters her for a second, then he takes the card, quickly scribbles
something on it, and puts it back.
I can check you against a list of people with
security clearance. One moment, I'll get it.
He gestures towards the exit. Then, he turns around and walks towards a
door to the left, seemingly taking his sweet time. Annie gets the
message, grabs her library card and makes a swift exit. Just as she
leaves, she hears him call out to someone else:
Dorothy, she left. What do I put on the
list?
Input on how to format this dialog is appreciated.
Annie is already half-way down the stairs by the time the heavy door falls shut. Quickly, she walks back to the station. A train is coming. She hurries up the stairs and gets on. The doors close and it begins to move. Annie catches her breath and takes her library card out to look at it. The note written on it reads: <metro station> 10:30PM tonight.
Copyright © 2023 Jan Danielzick (aka. BodgeMaster) – All rights reserved.