post_apocalypse_story/05-Eventful_Evening-secret_...

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<h1> Eventful Evening</h1>
<p class="comment">
If you&apos;re just here to read, scroll down past the outline.
</p>
<p class="comment">
Outline:
</p>
<ul>
<li class="comment">
Annie rides the metro to the station
</li>
<li class="comment">
A shady figure in a black hoodie is there
<ul>
<li class="comment">
Approaches Annie before she can even get off the train
</li>
<li class="comment">
tells her to stay on
</li>
<li class="comment">
Turns out it&apos;s Lucas
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="comment">
Lucas speaks to her quietly, asking if she&apos;s interested in
leaving the city while being mysterious about it
</li>
<li class="comment">
They get off a couple stations later and go to a bar
<ul>
<li class="comment">
Lucas gets some alcoholic drink
</li>
<li class="comment">
Annie, being kinda tired, gets a coffee or energy drink
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="comment">
They go to a back room where ppl are waiting for them around a table
<ul>
<li class="comment">
Amongst them is Karl
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="comment">
secret organization discusses secret organization things
</li>
<li class="comment">
Annie gets the keys to the library
<ul>
<li class="comment">
Lucas can&apos;t go himself because he needs to attend some
important event
<ul>
<li class="comment">
he gives her a description of where to find the relevant
computer
</li>
<li class="comment">
he gives her some login credentials to use
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="comment">
other ppl have excuses
</li>
<li class="comment">
Karl would join but he&apos;s unable to run in case they get caught
</li>
<li class="comment">
he gives Annie a list of useful computer commands and instructions
on how to boot up the computer
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<p>
Annie looks through the window in the door as the train enters the
station. The platform is empty except for a shady figure in a hoodie
leaning against the wall, observing the train from under his hood. She
looks at the clock in the station: 10:34 PM - a bit late. As soon as he
notices her, he steps away from the wall and walks up to the train.
<span class="comment"> Is there a more elegant way to say that he stops
leaning on the wall? </span> The pressurized air for the doors hisses in
the lines. Annie presses the button; the door opens.
</p>
<p>
<span class="quote speech">Hey, wait...</span><br />
The guy had made his way to the door and looks directly at her.
It&apos;s him from behind the library counter. <br />
<span class="quote speech">We&apos;re gonna take this one for a couple
stations.</span><br />
Annie steps aside and he gets on the train as well. <br />
<span class="quote speech">My name is Lucas, nice to meet you.</span>
<br />
He extends his hand as the doors close. <br />
<span class="quote speech">Annie.</span><br />
He probably knew that already, right?<br />
<span class="quote speech">Sorry for being late.</span><br />
The hum of the motors sets in and the train begins to move. <br />
<span class="quote speech">Perfect timing, I&apos;d say.</span><br />
He makes a short pause before continuing quietly:<br />
<span class="quote speech">So about that interaction we had earlier today
&ndash; I assume you want to leave the dome?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Not directly...</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Okay then disregard my question and we have
never met.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Wait. You say there is a way out of the
dome?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Well, there might be. Some friends of mine say
there is.</span><br />
Annie thinks about it for a moment. Before yesterday, she wasn&apos;t
even aware that life could exist outside the dome - and now she might
find out about a way to go there? <br />
<span class="quote speech">Tell me more</span>, she replies.
</p>
<p>
They get off at a station near the city center - a place that is never
asleep. In contrast to the empty stations everywhere else, the stations
here are busy with people seeking entertainment, clubs, or the many bars.
Lucas hurries down the stairs; Annie follows him.
</p>
<p>
The streets are alive with people, seeminly few of them purposefully
moving in a specific direction; most of them are just meandering from
bar to bar. The street they are walking down is illuminated by strings
of lights hanging from the buildings and between street lights. The
muffled bass of techno coming from one of the buildings is in the air.
She enjoys the atmosphere, she hadn&apos;t been here in a little while.
</p>
<p>
Lucas turns left and enters one of the bars, Annie still following him.
They make their way through the crowded bar towards the counter. The air
feels dense and depleted, and carries the smell of alcohol. Live
musicians are playing <span class="comment"> Idk? Music genre? Need ideas
</span> on a small stage area in the corner. <br />
<span class="quote speech">Hey Kate, I&apos;ll take a Braincell Rattler
and my uhh... friend here looks like she needs a coffee.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Okay. Going to the back room?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Yeah.</span><br />
Coffee sounds good... The back room? Annie raises an eyebrow. He opens a
door next to the counter and gestures her to follow.
</p>
<p>
Lucas takes off his hoodie and hangs it on a hook on the wall. Annie does
the same with her jacket. She looks into the room: A bunch of people
sitting around a large, round table - to her surprise including her
grandpa. <br />
<span class="quote speech">Grandpa Karl?</span>
<span class="comment">Language intuition question: Is this how one would
realistically refer to their grandpa?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Hi Annie!</span>
<span class="comment">TODO: Fix this</span><br />
Before she has time to voice her confusion, they get interrupted: <br />
<span class="quote speech">Here you go, your drinks. Enjoy!</span><br />
Lucas walks up to the window that connects to behind the counter. <br />
<span class="quote speech">Thank you!</span><br />
Annie takes a second to regain her composure. <span class="comment">
I don&apos;t think this is a great way to say that, Idk. </span>
<span class="quote speech">Thanks.</speech>
</p>
<p>
They sit down at the table. Karl starts introducing people and some
introduce themselves. Then, he continues talking about the group&apos;s
mission:
</p>
<p class="quote speech">
<span class="comment">TODO: whole paragraph speech formatting</span>
<span class="quote speech">We are working on getting the city officials
to change their stance on some things. When the city was built, it was
seen as sort of a plan B for humanity in case things would get worse.
It wasn&apos;t built as a place where we could go and hide forever in
isolation. Over time, knowledge of the outside world stopped being an
imagination of a possible bright future, and instead it became something
to be worried about. &#8216;What do you mean, you want to go there?
Do you really want to go where the air you breathe is literal poison
and die?&apos;</span>
</p>
<p class="quote speech">
<span class="comment">TODO: whole paragraph speech formatting</span>
<span class="quote speech">My dad used to always say - and maybe this
was naive hope on his part - that it would get better one day and that
we could open up the airlocks and leave. That was many, many years ago.
It&apos;s been over a century now since the city was sealed - even if it
was naive hope on his part, we should at least take a look outside and
see for ourselves what it&apos;s like.</span><br />
Voices of agreement all around the table. <span class="comment">move
this outside of the speech paragraph</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li class="comment">
missing: more dialog to tie this together
</li>
<li class="comment">
Important information: The door Jack wants to open is of the same type
as the doors used for the airlocks.
</li>
<li class="comment">
The whole Jack topic needs to be brought up in general. They could talk
about how having someone outside might be useful.
</li>
</ul>
<p>
<span class="quote speech">I mean we have that manual at the
library.</span>
says Lucas. <span class="quote speech">It&apos;s just classified because
they really don&apos;t want anyone to open or use the air locks.</span>
<br />
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a key chain.<br />
<span class="quote speech">If you want, you can try getting it - I
can&apos;t because I disappeared from a birthday party with an excuse
and they are probably waiting for me to be back.</span><br />
He places the keys in the center of the table.<br />
Karl says: <span class="quote speech">I would love to, but I&apos;m
afraid I can&apos;t run if things go south.</span><br />
A bunch of other excuses from other people. Finally, Annie takes the
initiative:<br />
<span class="quote speech">I could go. Anyone want to help me with
this?</span>
</p>
<p class="copyright">Copyright &#169; 2023 Jan Danielzick (aka. BodgeMaster) &ndash; 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>