201 lines
11 KiB
HTML
201 lines
11 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title> Escape </title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="html_resources/style.css"></head><body><a href="index.html"><button class="back"><</button></a>
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<h1> Escape</h1>
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<p>
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Annie reaches the platform. The sirens of the police cars are really
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close now. A train is coming. The first police car arrives at the
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station. Annie freezes as she panics. The train for sure won't
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leave before the police searched it. Where can she hide?
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</p>
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<p>
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<span class="quote speech">Annie!</span> Someone shouts her name.
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<span class="quote speech">Get in here, run!</span><br />
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She breaks out of her freeze. The train had turned out to be a single
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car. A single, slightly rusty railcar painted in shades of dark
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blue. <span class="comment">note: make it a theme that the metro is
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always yellow and red</span> The only person inside is the guy who had
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called out to her, turning away from the door he had just opened.
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His Neotek jacket flaps in the air as he runs towards the other end of
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the train – that has to be Jack. The motors begin to hum while
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Annie is still running towards the open door. She jumps inside as the
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train starts moving back in the direction it came from. The door closes
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just after leaving the platform.
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</p>
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<p>
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The train accelerates with a force stronger than anything she has ever
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felt before. The motors scream, the entire train rattles. While making
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her way to the front, she looks outside. The city flies by. The horn
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sounds as the train barrels through the next station. The platform
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appears, is visible just long enough to see the astonished faces of
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the onlookers, and disappears again.
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</p>
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<p>
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She reaches the driver's cabin.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Hello Jack!</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Hi Annie – you good?</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Yes</span>, she breathes heavily,
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<span class="quote speech">but that was close.</span><br />
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After catching her breath for a moment, she says:<br />
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<span class="quote speech">You arrived just in time. They've been
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following me around for a while but we got away.</span><br />
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Jack seems to think for a short moment while his eyes stay fixated on the
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track ahead.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">That remains to be seen. Coming through that
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airlock seems to have set off some sort of alarm; like poking a stick
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into an anthill...</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">An anthill?</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Oh, I forgot, you wouldn't know... Ants
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are tiny little animals. They build hills of loose material as their
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nests. If you poke a stick into one, they scramble to defend it.</span>
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<br />
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Annie imagines a bunch of mice scratching and biting away at a stick
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that's stuck in a slope of rubble.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Anyway</span>, Jack continues,
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<span class="quote speech">this little expedition hasn't gone
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unnoticed.</span><br />
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Short pause.
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</p>
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<p>
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Looking outside again, Annie realizes:<br />
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<span class="quote speech">I have never seen one of these</span> –
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she knocks on the control panel – <span class="quote speech">go
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this fast.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Me neither</span>, says Jack. He adds:
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<span class="quote speech">There used to be trains that could go faster
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– a lot faster – but not the metro.</span>
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</p>
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<p>
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After watching the tracks, stations, and buildings fly by for a couple
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minutes, Annie opens her bag and pulls out a pile of paper.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Here are the documents you need. Maps,
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blueprints, manuals, everything we could find.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Sounds good. Just put them in there for
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now.</span><br />
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He gestures towards a small cabinet on the wall behind them.
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Annie places the pile on top of a few books and binders already
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inside.
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</p>
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<p>
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The train barrels through another station. Jack decelerates slowly,
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saying:<br />
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<span class="quote speech">We're almost at your drop-off point, next
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station is Crystal Park ... uhhh ... and we might have a problem.</span>
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<br />
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The train is going around a long curve overseeing the park and the
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square in front of the station. <Grandpa's friend>'s car
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is there, surrounded by police cruisers with flashing lights and open
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doors.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">What do we do now?</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Well I'm sure as fuck not staying around
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to see what they're up to down there.</span> Jack says while
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accelerating again. <span class="quote speech">I hope you're okay
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with coming with me.</span>
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</p>
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<p>
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They pass a couple more stations before the train runs over a switch and
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gets suddenly jolted to the left. It rocks side to side for a moment.
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They are now heading straight for the outer wall of the dome.
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The airlock, now in view, is rapidly coming closer. The inner
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<span class="quote non-speech">B33FY-AF</span> door is wide open.
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Technicians and police are standing around it in small groups, trying
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to figure out how and why it had opened. The ramps connecting the streets
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below to the airlock are full of parked transporters and police cars.
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Some are even on the tracks but the one Annie and Jack are approaching
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on is mostly clear. He sounds the horn.
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</p>
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<p>
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<span class="quote speech">Hold on to something!</span> Jack slams on the
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brakes. The train loses power and rumbles over a bunch of switches. The
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headlights flicker and turn off. A police car that was parked too close
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to their track gets flung aside. A bunch of technicians jump out of the
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way as the train passes them and rolls into the airlock where it comes
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to a screeching halt. Jack presses some buttons on the control panel.
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</p>
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<p>
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The screams of the police and technicians are drowned out by the hissing
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of pressurized air and the <i>ka-chonk</i> of large machinery.
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<span class="quote speech">Access authorized, cycling airlock, please
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stand by</span>, announces an automated voice. The bunker door behind
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them starts to move with a creaking noise. The
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<span class="quote non-speech">keepers of order</span> that had started
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to run into the airlock after the train stop and look around in
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confusion. Everything around them turns to black. The only thing Annie
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sees are the illuminated gauges on the control panel. More hissing of
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pressurized air.
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</p>
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<p>
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The train shakes slightly as it makes a noise that sounds like a
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mechanical version of someone clearing their throat. The gauges on the
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control panel flicker. Annie is surprised by this, the noise is
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unfamiliar to her. It turns into a constant rumbling hum and the
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headlights come on again. The bunker door ahead is moving out of the way
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revealing a long tunnel.
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</p>
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<p>
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<span class="quote speech">Everything okay? You look puzzled.</span>
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Jack looks at her.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">What's this weird noise?</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">The generator. The electrified tracks end
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at the air lock so the train has to generate its own power.</span>
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</p>
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<p>
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The police start banging on the outside of the train and yell something.
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Jack grabs a microphone off the wall and speaks into it:<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Gentlemen, for your own safety, please step
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back from the train.</span><br />
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He pushes a lever on the control panel and the smooth hum of the motors
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joins in with the noise of the generator.
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</p>
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<p>
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Jack sets the train in motion again.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">In a few minutes, it's gonna get very
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bright.</span> he says while driving into the tunnel.
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<span class="quote speech">Close your eyes if it's too bright. It
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might take a while to get used to the sunlight.</span><br />
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The train begins to move up a slight incline. An automated announcement
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comes on:<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Dear passengers, welcome to the combined
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Sentinel Shores and Ivydale local transit zone! Please keep in mind
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that the last train returning to Sunside Cove for today
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departs from Ivydale South at 10:15PM. Enjoy your travel!</span>
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</p>
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<p>
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The train leans into a curve; Annie hears the screeching of the wheels
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grinding on the rails. After a moment, a blue-ish white shimmer appears
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on the walls of the tunnel. It gets brighter and brighter. The tunnel
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straightens out again and the other end comes into view. It's much
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brighter than the light over Central Square. Annie closes her eyes but
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the light continues to get brighter. For a moment, she covers them with
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her hands as the train leaves the tunnel.
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</p>
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<p>
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Annie hears Jack press some buttons and the clicking of relays. The
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motors go quiet and the train starts to slow down. She tries to open her
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eyes but it's still too bright.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">I think you could use a pair of
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sunglasses.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Sunglasses?</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">They're like normal glasses but... dark
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to make bright light easier on your eyes.</span><br />
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Jack puts a pair in Annie's hands. She puts them on and cautiously
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squints outside. Lots of green, brown, and gray but before she can make
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out any details, they roll into another tunnel. The automated voice
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comes on again:<br />
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<span class="quote speech">We are now approaching Ivydale South. Your
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next connections are Metro line 7 to Ivydale Distillery from platform 5,
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HST1511 to Siren's Edge from platform 14, HST815 to Nova Metropolis
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from platform 11. This train will continue on line 5 to
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Sentinel Shores Sea Market via Ivydale West,
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Sentinel Shores Central Station.</span><br />
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After a moment, Jack says quietly:<br />
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<span class="quote speech">I wonder how much of these places is
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left...</span> Raising his voice back to a normal level, he adds:
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<span class="quote speech">But for now, we'll leave the train here
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and head back to base.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Base?</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">The bunker, we refer to it as our base of
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operations.</span><br />
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The train rolls out of the second tunnel and they find themselves in a
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station.</p>
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<p class="copyright">Copyright © 2023 Jan Danielzick (aka. BodgeMaster) – 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>
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