160 lines
6.5 KiB
HTML
160 lines
6.5 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title> Alone </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> Alone</h1>
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<p class="comment">
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Outline:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li class="comment">
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Lena and Emily put on their space suits to go outside
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<ul>
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<li class="comment">
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(imply that Lena is about to die)
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</li>
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<li class="comment">
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Lena double-checks that Emily can get back inside
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</li>
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<li class="comment">
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Emily helps Lena with her helmet
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</li>
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<li class="comment">
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something to the effet of Lena is leaving for one final time
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</li>
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</ul>
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</li>
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<li class="comment">
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they go to the grave of Lena's SO
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</li>
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<li class="comment">
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once there, they sit down on the ground
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<ul>
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<li class="comment">
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Emily helps Lena take her life support unit off her back
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</li>
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<li class="comment">
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Lena sits down leaning against a rock, her life support unit next
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to her
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</li>
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<li class="comment">
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"You were ultimately right" conversation
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<ul>
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<li class="comment">
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Lena has to tell Emily that she should get in touch with Jack
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using the downlink
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</li>
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</ul>
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</li>
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</ul>
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</li>
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<li class="comment">
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Emily leaves and returns with new oxygen canisters
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</li>
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<li class="comment">
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Lena dies
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</li>
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<li class="comment">
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Emily returns inside and goes to the control center
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<ul>
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<li class="comment">
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following any procedures such as operating the air lock as
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robot-like as possible
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</li>
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<li class="comment">
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she lies down on the floor and looks out the window in the ceiling
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</li>
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<li class="comment">
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she remains on the floor for an absurd amount of time
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</li>
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</ul>
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</li>
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<li class="comment">
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Jack uses the uplink to dial into the station
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</li>
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</ul>
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<p>
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Emily and Lena start putting on their space suits. Emily is done
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relatively quickly while Lena makes slow progress as she struggles to
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keep her balance. Half-way through, she gives up, sitting down on the
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bench across from the air lock. Emily helps her all the way into the
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suit. Lena sits there for a moment, heavily breathing, while Emily waits.
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<br />
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<span class="speech">Sorry, I can't... I feel exhausted.</span>
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</p>
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<p>
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Emily takes their helmets and brings them into the airlock. She returns
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for a life support unit, pulls it out of the rack in the wall, and sets
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it down on the floor. Following a mental checklist, she makes sure that
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the air tank is connected properly and the status display reads what it
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should. Everything okay... or is it? She double-checks with the check
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list on the wall. Yes, this unit is ready. She triple-checks everything
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– first time it actually matters. Reasonably satisfied with her
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findings, she carries it over to the air lock. Then, she repeats this
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procedure for the second unit. Finally, she helps Lena up and they get
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into the airlock.
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</p>
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<p>
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The pumps are getting quieter and quieter. Lena kneels on the floor
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holding a bunch of flowers from the biotope module, her life support
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unit next to her on a short tether. Emily puts it on her back and and
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helps her up. The outer door of the airlock swings aside and they start
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walking, Lena leaning on Emily.
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</p>
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<p>
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They reach the graveyard and walk over to the recent graves. The entire
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graveyard is covered in hills where the bodies of the deceased were
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buried. Some have signs with names, some have painted pieces of regalith
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as gravestones, some have <span class="comment"><the crumpled remains
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of>? What happens to flowers when exposed to vacuum for a prolonged
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amount of time?</span> flowers next to them, some are entirely
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undecorated.
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</p>
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<p>
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Lena places a couple flowers on each of the most recent graves, then she
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gestures for Emily to take the life support unit off her back. Emily
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takes it off and she sits down. Emily places the life support unit
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behind her, Lena leans against it. She turns her radio on and Emily does
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the same.<br />
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<span class="speech">Ultimately, you were right.</span> She is
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interrupted by coughing. <span class="speech">If more had taken
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Tony's cure – no matter what risk it posed ... – maybe
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some of them would be alive now.</span><br />
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<span class="speech">What about you?</span> Emily asks with a slither of
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hope in her voice.<br />
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<span class="speech">No – no cure can save me, it's too
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late.</span><br />
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Emily tears up. <span class="comment">note: Slightly. Is there a better
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way to say this?</span><br />
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<span class="speech">I'm sorry.</span><br />
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Lena raises her arm. Emily sits down next to her and Lena puts it around
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her shoulders.<br />
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<span class="speech">What will I do without you?</span><br />
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<span class="speech">You have a strong mind. You got this. Jack will
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call in the evening, as usual; he will know what to do next.</span><br />
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</p>
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<p class="comment">
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missing:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li class="comment">
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Emily starting to reconsider her choice not to leave the moon
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</lI>
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<li class="comment">
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brief mention that the conversation changes to a more pleasant topic
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and continues for a while
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</li>
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</ul>
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<p>
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The conversation is interrupted by the beeping of Lena's low oxygen
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alarm going off. Emily gets up and walks back to the habitat. She enters
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through the airlock and looks for a full oxygen bottle. She lifts one
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out of its rack and carries it back to Lena. She opens the life support
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unit and closes the valves on it and the empty bottle, then she replaces
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it and opens the valves again. <br /><span class="comment">
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missing: Emily's LSU is also empty. She replaces the oxygen bottle
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and returns, sitting down next to Lena for company.</span>
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</p>
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<p class="comment">
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missing: time jump, Lena dies, etc.
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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 paper_sections = document.getElementsByClassName("paper");for (let i = 0; i < paper_sections.length; i++) {let lines = paper_sections[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";}paper_sections[i].innerHTML = result;}</script></body></html>
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