83 lines
5.9 KiB
HTML
83 lines
5.9 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title> A Simple Errand </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="home"><a href="index.html">⌂</a></div>
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<h1> A Simple Errand</h1>
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<!-- perspective: Annie -->
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<p>
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<span class="quote speech">Next stop: Central Square</span><br />
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Annie looks up. That's where she has to get off. She only needs to
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be at work in the afternoon so she decided to get that manual for Jack.
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</p>
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<p>
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The train comes to a halt in the station. Annie steps out onto the
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platform. Few people are around at this time. She glances at the clock
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next to the train display: 10:17 AM. The light on the display switches to
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the next train and the digits for the time of arrival start flipping over.
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<span class="comment"> Is there a more elegant way to describe the train
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station displays of yesteryear? </span> The door chime sounds and the
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doors close. Annie starts to walk. The train begins to hum and starts to
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move. She follows the roughly three other people towards the exit.
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</p>
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<p>
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Annie walks down the stairs and steps onto the square. It is brightly
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illuminated by a large glowing sphere made of yellow and brown glass
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tiles, suspended on steel cables that hang from four office complexes
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at the corners of the square, towering over the rest of the buildings.
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The other buildings around the square are more in line with the rest of
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the city but they each have a very unique look. There's the town
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hall <span class="comment"> city hall?</span>, a building of dark red
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and yellow bricks, arranged to form beautiful patterns. Next to it is
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the Museum of the Last Days, a dystopian-looking building with black
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metal plates as a facade. Other buildings of note include the courthouse,
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a theater, <span class="comment">Does that word also apply to what the
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German word means?</span> and the cathedral - the only religious building
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in the city.
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</p>
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<p>
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To her right is the library, a large building with a facade of sandstone
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blocks. The front features large pillars and a staircase spanning the
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entire width of the building giving it the look of an ancient temple.
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The wall behind the pillars has multiple rows of windows.
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</p>
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<p>
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Annie makes her way up the stairs and enters through the large wooden
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doors. She walks up to the counter. <br />
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<span class="quote speech">Hello, how may I help you today?</span> The guy
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behind the counter smiles. <span class="quote speech">Borrowing the next
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stack of fantasy books?</span>, he asks. <br />
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<span class="quote speech">Uhm... Actually, no</span>, Annie replies as
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she takes her library card and a piece of paper out of her bag.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">I have a quite unusual request. I am looking
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for</span> – she glances at the piece of paper –
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<span class="quote speech">a manual for a Neotek B three three F Y dash
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A F bunker door.</span><br />
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The guy types into his terminal for a moment. Annie places her library
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card on the counter. With a worried look, he turns back to her: <br />
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<span class="quote speech">I'm afraid, that it has recently been
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classified. There is a note about terrorism in here.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">So there is no way to get it?</span><br />
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He musters her for a second, then he takes the card, quickly scribbles
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something on it, and puts it back. <br />
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<span class="quote speech">I can check you against a list of people with
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security clearance. One moment, I'll get it.</span><br />
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He gestures towards the exit. Then, he turns around and walks towards a
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door to the left, seemingly taking his sweet time. Annie gets the
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message, grabs her library card and makes a swift exit. Just as she
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leaves, she hears him call out to someone else: <br />
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<span class="quote speech">Dorothy, she left. What do I put on the
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list?</span>
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<br />
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<span class="comment"> Input on how to format this dialog is appreciated.
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</span>
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</p>
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<p>
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Annie is already half-way down the stairs by the time the heavy door
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falls shut. Quickly, she walks back to the station. A train is coming.
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She hurries up the stairs and gets on. The doors close and it begins to
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move. Annie catches her breath and takes her library card out to look at
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it. The note written on it reads:
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<span class="quote non-speech">Metro Crystal Park 10:30PM
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tonight</span>.
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</p>
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<p class="copyright">Copyright © 2023-2026 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;}fetch("./chapters.json").then(function(result){return result.json();}).then(function(json){let chapters=json.pages;for(let i=0;i<chapters.length;i++){if(chapters[i]===document.URL.replace(/^.*\//,"./")){let prevdiv=document.createElement("div");prevdiv.className="prev";if(i>0){prevdiv.innerHTML="<a href=\""+chapters[i-1]+"\">◃</a>";}else{prevdiv.innerHTML="<p>◃</p>";}document.body.appendChild(prevdiv);let nextdiv=document.createElement("div");nextdiv.className="next";if(i<chapters.length-1){nextdiv.innerHTML="<a href=\""+chapters[i+1]+"\">▹</a>";}else{nextdiv.innerHTML="<p>▹</p>";}document.body.appendChild(nextdiv);}}});</script></body></html>
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