137 lines
7.7 KiB
HTML
137 lines
7.7 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title> Consulting </title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="html_resources/style.css"></head><body><svg class="hidden_filter"><filter id="crunchy_blur" x="0" y="0"><feFlood x="4" y="4" height="2" width="2"/><feComposite width="6" height="6" in2="SourceGraphic"/><feTile result="a"/><feComposite in="SourceGraphic" in2="a" operator="in"/><feMorphology operator="dilate" radius="1.4"/><feGaussianBlur stdDeviation="2.2"></feGaussianBlur></filter></svg><div class="back"><a href="index.html"><</a></div>
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<h1> Consulting </h1>
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<p class="comment">
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The following is a conversation between Jack and someone from the
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train company.
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</p>
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<p>
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<span class="quote speech">If it is as you say then why don't you go
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over there and touch that power rail?</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Because I'm not stupid.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Because you're lying. You're just
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in kahoots with them to keep us all inside.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Sir, I'm done arguing with
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you. I told you twice that it is never a good idea to to touch these.
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I told you what you could do instead. Go ahead with your bone-headed
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plan, get a train to the airlock and find out for yourself.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Leaving you alone here so you can sabotage
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...?</span><br />
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Jack cuts him off: <span class="quote speech">In fact, I am gonna leave
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and see if I can find some popcorn. Watching this is gonna be
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fun...</span>
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</p>
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<p>
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The rails start ringing and a train of the Sunside Cove Metro approaches.
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It slows down and comes to a halt before the switches in front of the
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closed airlock. In the cab are a driver and the railway official.
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Jack, sitting next to the rails, reaches into his bag of chips –
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he didn't find any popcorn for the occasion – and shoves
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a handful into his mouth. The headlights turn off and the driver leaves.
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A moment later, the first door opens and he jumps out.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">No, I am only going to drive the first segment
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in there. We don't need the entire train stuck in the tunnel if it
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doesn't go to plan.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">It's gonna be fine. What could go
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wrong?</span><br />
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Jack says (loudly so both of them hear him):
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<span class="quote speech">A lot.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">You shut up!</span> shouts the official from
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inside.<br />
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The driver says, talking over his shoulder:
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<span class="quote speech">I'm inclined to agree with him.</span>
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<br />
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Then, he turns around and walks to the end of the first railcar where he
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proceeds to detach the hoses and cables and unhooks the couplings.
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He returns to the front and climbs back inside.
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</p>
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<p>
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The headlights come back on and a few contactors click inside the train.
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A compressor kicks into action. After a moment, the door closes.
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The train sits like this for a few minutes until the compressor turns off
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again. Jack shoves a handfull of chips into his mouth. The inner door
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of the airlock begins to open, creaking and buzzing as it slowly moves
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up.
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</p>
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<p>
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The motors begin to hum and the first car of the train starts moving
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towards the airlock. It loses power as it rolls past the end of the power
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rail and over the switches. The headlights dim. Jack shoves another
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handful of chips into his mouth. The railcar disappears completely inside
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the airlock, rolling without power. It's still decently far away
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from the other door. Jack thinks <span class="quote non-speech">any
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second now...</span> as he waits for the emergency brakes to engage.
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The car rolls deeper into the airlock, beyond Jack's view. Moments
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later, loud hissing sounds from inside the airlock as the train's
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failsafe mechanism trips, followed by screeching and grinding noises from
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the brakes.
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</p>
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<p>
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Jack grabs his bag of chips and gets up. He walks onto the tracks and
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looks into the airlock, stuffing his face as he watches the dim
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<span class="comment">Rücklichter? rear lights?</span> go out.
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A few minutes pass and nothing happens. Eventually, he hears one of
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the doors getting unlocked with a key and sees a hand pushing it open.
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He gets off the track and sits back down next to the rails,
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continuing to crunch on chips. A bit later, the driver and the railway
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official emerge from the tunnel, the latter seeming pretty close
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to having an aneurysm.<br />
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Jack says: <span class="quote speech">Told you so.</span><br />
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The railway official loses it completely, <span class="comment">stampfen?
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</span> and jumping around while screaming some presumably very colorful
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language – Jack doesn't understand a single word.
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</p>
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<p>
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The train driver approaches him: <span class="quote speech">
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Who are you, by the way, and what are you doing around the tracks?
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</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Jack, former head of dome infra between
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1992 and 1994.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">You look like you're twenty-something,
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not over a hundred.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">I was frozen after that.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Well, you seem to know some things about
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trains. You <span class="comment">reckon</span> we can get that thing
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towed out with an <span class="comment">translate: Überlänge
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</span> train?</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">I'd say it's probably not
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advisable. It could work, but you should really just use a diesel
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locomotive.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Diesel?</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">My bad — battery-powered.
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Alternatively, I can get the diesel-electric train from outside and
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push it back in.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">You have a train that is perfectly fine going
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on unpowered track and let us get one of ours stuck in there?</span>
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<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Told him.</span> Jack nods towards the railway
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official. <span class="quote speech">He didn't wanna hear about
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it.</span><br />
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</p>
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<p class="comment">
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missing section: they decide to have Jack get the train from IV South
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</p>
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<p>
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Jack grabs the microphone off the wall and holds the push to talk button
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on the control panel in front of him.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">7-oh-5-D oh-oh-1-4, underway to
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airlock two. Control, permission to enter Sunside cove?</span><br />
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He waits for a moment. Noise from the speaker, but no discernable
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response.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">This is train 7-oh-5-D oh-oh-1-4, approaching
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airlock two. Control, do I have permission to enter?</span><br />
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<!--
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Control: 705E... 705D 0014 your track is blocked by another train. Stop immediately.
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short pause, Jack decelerates
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Control: 705E 0151 what's your situation?
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705E 0151: Control, waiting for 705D 0014 to push us back out of the airlock
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Control: 705D 0014 you are ok to enter, proceed with caution
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more missing section
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they decide the best course for Sunside Cove is to convert a 705E to 705D
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with parts harvested from the IV train yard
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-->
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</p>
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<p class="copyright">Copyright © 2023-2025 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++) {if (lines[j].length >= 80) result = result + spans[j%2] + lines[j] + "</span>\n"; else 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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