162 lines
8.9 KiB
HTML
162 lines
8.9 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title> Overdue Maintenence </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> Overdue Maintenance </h1>
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<p>
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Jack parks the truck just before the exit of a tunnel and the four get
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out. Roaring water echoes from somewhere in the distance. Annie grabs
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her bag and follows the others towards the end of the tunnel. The wall
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to the right features doors, large gates, and a few windows that allow
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a peek into abandoned offices, storage spaces, and a machine shop.
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The end of the tunnel connects to a large balcony extending into
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a narrow ravine with rusted metal walkways going to either side.
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</p>
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<p>
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They walk onto it and take a look around: The walkway to the left
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goes to a freestanding staircase tower that leads down and is just
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as rusty as the walkway itself. The walkway to the right connects
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to the top of a concrete dam blocking the ravine. A couple bushes,
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flowers, and a small tree grow there, partially hiding rusty cranks
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and levers, and the dam is green from moss and small ferns growing
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all over its side. Water flows over the spillway, falling into the
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depths below. To the right of the dam and walkway, inset into
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the same side of the ravine as the tunnel exit, is a wall with
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a front of windows.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Annie, check this out!</span><br />
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Jack gestures for her to come to the railing. She hesitates.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">That railing is gonna hold, yeah?</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Idunno?...</span> He attempts to push
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<span class="comment">shove?</span> it and bangs agains it –
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it doesn't budge. <span class="quote speech">Probably?</span><br />
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She walks over and cautiously leans on it to peer down. The water
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flowing over the spillway joins a torrent of water rushing out of
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two big pipes deep below, at the bottom of the ravine.
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</p>
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<p>
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Michelle and James go ahead, using the walkway towards the dam.
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About half-way, as Michelle walks onto the next section of walkway,
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it starts making scary <span class="comment">foreboding?</span> creaking
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noises. The moment James reaches it, the creaking turns into cracking
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and the panel of <span class="comment">grid floor</span> beings
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to give out underneath his feet. He grabs on to one of the railings and
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quickly <span class="comment">hops? Idk some word between "step"
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and "jump"</span> onto the beam holding it, leaving the
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section of floor barely hanging on.<br />
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Michelle asks: <span class="quote speech">You okay?</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Yeah – less so the floor...</span>
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<br />
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The two walk the rest of the way across, meanwhile Annie and Jack stay
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on the balcony.
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</p>
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<p class="comment">TODO: Change this so Michelle and James explore the
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dam first, then turn their attention to the windows.</p>
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<p>
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After the <span class="comment">Aufregung?</span> dies down, Michelle
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and James start looking around.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Would you look at that!</span><br />
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Michelle is looking through the windows. A few of them have cracks but
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most are somehow intact.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">I think I found what we're looking
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for.</span><br />
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Jack asks: <span class="quote speech">The control room?</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Yea, it's right here.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Guess we're gonna have to climb
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across...</span><br />
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Annie says: <span class="quote speech">I'm not doing that.</span>
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<br />
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James walks up to one of the windows saying:
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<span class="quote speech">Looks like there might be a way back to
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the tunnel from inside. We could let you in that way.</span><br />
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Jack replies: <span class="quote speech">That would work
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but we probably don't wanna break these windows.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Nobody said anything of
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<i>breaking</i>...</span><br />
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James takes a screwdriver out of his pocket. He jams it inbetween
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the window and its frame, then quickly pulls on it. The window jumps
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open with a bang.<br />
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</p>
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<p>
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Jack and Annie are waiting in the tunnel next to a door.
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The handle moves down and they hear the deadbold retracting with
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a click. The door creaks as it gets pulled inward, revealing a hallway.
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Michelle is on the other side, leading the way. James is standing in
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a door to the left, holding it open. They go through and enter the
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control room, a somewhat large room packed with equipment. Across the
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room is the wall with the window front, allowing a view of the spillway
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and the top of the dam. In front of it is a random collection of
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electronics and furniture, mostly desks and chairs and terminals,
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<span class="comment">zusammengeschoben? piled up?</span> for storage.
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In the center is a large
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console with more buttons, switches, and gauges that is facing the
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windows and an opening in the floor behind it, covered with a thick
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glass pane.
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The wall to the left is lined with metal cabinets with buttons,
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switches, large gauges and levers on them.
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The wall to the right is taken up by storage
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<span class="comment">cabinets? the drawer thingies...</span>
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and an assortment of large devices and contraptions.
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</p>
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<p class="comment">TODO: They take a brief look at the control room
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and then climb outside onto the dam, returning to the control room
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afterwards.</span>
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<p>
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<span class="comment">This needs to be tied together again as the
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beginning of the chapter has been rewritten.</span>
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They roam around the room for a while. Annie looks outside, admiring
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the flowering lilypads floating in the water held back by the dam.
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Meanwhile, Michelle looks at an old calendar.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Jack, what's the status on that dome
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city you're building? You guys only have two years to finish that
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project.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Oh no, I guess we're gonna have to slack
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less while waiting for bureaucracy to take its course.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">The power lines are gonna get hooked up
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to the battery bank in a couple days. Aren't you excited for
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progress?</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Not my department but I sure hope we're
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no longer gonna need these portable batteries down there. Having a
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working power grid is gonna be so nice.</span><br />
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They are laughing. The calendar shows October 1991 with a few entries
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and crossed-off days.
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</p>
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<p>
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Jack looks at a clipboard that was placed on the control panel on the
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center console.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">The next maintenence expedition is scheduled
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for 2011... I don't think anyone ever stepped foot in here after
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Sunside Cove was sealed off.</span><br />
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Annie turns around and leans against the center console.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">It wouldn't surprise me. Many people are
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legitimately scared of the outside world.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">I mean they're probably right, the
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outside world is pretty dangerous. Watch your step, by the way...</span>
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<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Whoa!</span><br />
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She stumbles backwards. Without noticing it, she had walked onto the
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glass pane. It allows a view down into a hall filled with machinery.
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</p>
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<p>
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They gather around it and look down. The floor is flooded by water
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rushing out of a burst pipe and spraying out from the flanges of many
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other pipe sections.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">It's a miracle this place is still
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running.</span>
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</p>
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<p class="comment">
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missing section
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</p>
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<p>
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Jack turns the key and the gate starts to move up, scrathcing and
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squeeking as it does, revealing a bunch of crates. About half-way
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up, it gets stuck, making a buzzing noise. He lets go of the key and it
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stops. They duck under the gate and look around. They find themselves in
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a warehouse much larger than the gate and windows facing the tunnel would
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lead to assume.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is what I call
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an adequate stockpile of spare parts.</span><br />
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Jack walks up to a huge crate and wipes the dust off the label:
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<span class="quote non-speech">Turbine C, replacement 2</span>.
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</p>
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<p class="comment">
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exploring the warehouse, they find a forklift and a railroad in the back
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</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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