195 lines
10 KiB
HTML
195 lines
10 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title> Escape From Dome City </title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="html_resources/style.css"></head><body>
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<h1> Escape From Dome City</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 station.
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Annie freezes as she panics. The train for sure won't leave before
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the police searched it. Where can she hide?
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</p>
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<p>
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<span class="speech">Annie!</span> Someone shouts her name.
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<span class="speech">Annie, get in here, run!</span>
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</p>
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<p>
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Annie breaks out of her freeze. The train had turned out to be a single
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car. A single rusty railcar painted in different shades of blue.
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<span class="comment">note: make it a theme that the metro is always
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yellow and red</span> The only person inside is the driver, turning away
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from the door he just opened - that has to be Jack. His Neotek jacket
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flaps in the air as he runs to the other end of the train. While Annie is
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still running towards the open door, the motors start humming. She jumps
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inside as the train starts to move back in the direction it came from.
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The door closes 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 though the next station. The platform
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appears, is visible for 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="speech">Hello Jack!</span><br />
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<span class="speech">Hi Annie – you good?</span><br />
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<span class="speech">Yes</span>, she breathes heavily,
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<span class="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="speech">You arrived just in time. They were close on my
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heels, but we got away.</span> <span class="comment">change this to say
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something like "they were following me for/since/all the way"
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</span><br />
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Jack seems to think for a short moment while his eyes stay fixed on the
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track ahead.<br />
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<span class="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="speech">An anthill?</span><br />
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<span class="speech">Oh, I forgot, you wouldn't know... Ants are
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tiny little animals. They build hills of loose material as their nests.
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If you poke a stick into one, they scramble to defend it.</span><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="speech">Anyway</span>, Jack continues,
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<span class="speech">this little expedition hasn't gone
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unnoticed.</span><br />
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Short pause.<br />
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Looking outside again, Annie realizes:<br />
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<span class="speech">I have never seen one of these</span> – she
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knocks on the control panel – <span class="speech">go this
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fast.</span><br />
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<span class="speech">Me neither</span>, says Jack. He adds:
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<span class="speech">There used to be trains that could go faster - a
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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="speech">Here are the documents you need. Maps, blueprints,
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manuals, everything we could find.</span><br />
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<span class="speech">Sounds good. Just put them in there for now.</span>
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<br />
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He gestures towards a small cabinet next to the right side window.
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Annie places the pile on top of a few books <span class="comment">binders
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</span>that are already in there. The train barrels through another
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station. Jack slowly decelerates the train.<br />
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<span class="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><br />
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The train is going around a long curve overseeing the park and square in
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front of the station. <Grandpa's friend>'s car is there,
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surrounded by police cruisers with flashing lights and open doors.<br />
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<span class="speech">What do we do now?</span><br />
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<span class="speech">Well I'm sure as fuck not staying around to
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see what they're doing down there.</span> Jack says while
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accelerating again. <span class="speech">I hope you're okay with
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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 side. The train rocks side to side for a
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moment. 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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‘B33FY-AF' door is wide open. Technicians and police are
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standing around it in small groups, trying to figure out why
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<span class="comment">and how</span> it had opened. The ramps connecting
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the street below to the airlock are full of parked transporters and
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police cars. Some are even on the tracks but the one Annie and Jack are
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approaching on is mostly clear.
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</p>
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<p>
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<span class="speech">Hold onto something!</span> Jack slams on the
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brakes. The train loses power and rumbles over a bunch of switches.
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The headlights flicker and turn off. A police car that was parked too
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close to the track gets flung aside. A bunch of technicians jump out of
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the way as the train passes them and rolls into the airlock where it
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comes to a screeching halt. Jack presses some buttons on the control
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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 *ka-chonk* of large machinery.
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<span class="speech">Access authorized, cycling airlock, please stand
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by</span>, announces an automated voice. The bunker door behind them
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starts to move with a squeaking noise. The ‘keepers of order'
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that had started to run after the train into the airlock stop and look
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around in confusion. Everything around them turns to black. The only
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thing Annie sees are the illuminated gauges on the control panel. More
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hissing of 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="speech">Everything okay? You look puzzled.</span> Jack looks
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at her.<br />
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<span class="speech">What's this weird noise?</span><br />
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<span class="speech">The generator. There's no power out here so
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the train has to generate its own power to drive.</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="speech">Gentlemen, for your own safety, please step back
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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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<span class="speech">In a couple minutes, it's gonna get very
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bright.</span> Jack says while accelerating the train again.
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<span class="speech">Close your eyes if it's too bright. It might
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take a while to get used to daylight.</span> <span class="comment">
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to the sun</span><br />
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As the train moves through the tunnel, an automated voice comes on:<br />
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<span class="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 <underground city> 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 sight. It's
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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 clicking relays. The motors go
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quiet, the generator turns off, and the train starts to slow down. She
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tries to open her eyes but it's still too bright.<br />
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<span class="speech">I think you could use a pair of sunglasses.</span>
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<br />
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<span class="speech">Sunglasses?</span><br />
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<span class="speech">They're like normal glasses but... dark to
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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="speech">We are now approaching Ivydale South. Your next
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connections are line 7 to Ivydale Distillery from platform 5, HST1511 to
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Siren's Edge from platform 14, HST815 to Nova Metropolis from
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platform 11. This train will continue on line 5 to Sentinel Shores Fish
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Market via Ivydale West, Sentinel Shores Observatory, Sentinel Shores
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Central Station.</span><br />
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After a moment, Jack says quietly:<br />
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<span class="speech">I wonder how much of these places is left...</span>
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Raising his voice back to a normal level, he adds:
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<span class="speech">But for now, we'll head back to base.</span>
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<br />
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<span class="speech">Base?</span><br />
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<span class="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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