"Keep them eyes covered Starlight! 'N tell that Bone-lasher ta keep his eyes to himself!" Grandpa said.
"Bone-lasher doesn't have eyes." I said while I rolled my eyes though my Grandpa couldn't see it. I had a blindfold and was getting lead somewhere by him. It was the day of departure for Tolapo Village, two more days have passed since the breakfast meeting where I cemented who was going. Grandpa Seamus behavior had changed over the last few days, he'd gotten giddy and playful almost to like he'd been when Grandma was alive.
"Ya know what I mean!" Grandpa Seamus chuckled.
While I couldn't see where we were going I could make a pretty good educated guess. I could tell we were underground somewhere thanks to the smell of the air and the slight echo when we stepped, the fact I felt us descending a flight of stairs was also a clue. I knew we were a good bit away from the apartment building thanks to how far we walked and all the times I heard people mutter 'Master Kingston!' when they saw me.
Up ahead I could hear small whispers that echoed louder than my own footsteps telling me that whoever was up ahead were in a much larger passage than the one I was in or possibly a antechamber. The whispers stopped suddenly when we got close and our footsteps were audible enough to be heard. As we walked I could the echo of our footsteps getting louder and ringing more letting me know we were nearing the antechamber. Grandpa Seamus suddenly stopped and placed a firm hand on my chest to stop me.
"Alright Starlight…take ta blindfold off!" Grandpa Seamus exclaimed, the giddiness in his voice sounding more like a kid in a candy store's.
I reached up then yanked off the blindfold and was immediately blinded by bright flashes light I didn't expect. It took several seconds for my eyes to adjust but when it did I couldn't believe my eyes.
I was indeed underground, standing in the mouth of a giant antechamber that looked to be as large as two warehouses. The passage Grandpa Seamus and I walked down had smooth floors with support columns ever two dozen feet or so. Each column had lights that illuminated the entire tunnel. The antechamber itself was carved out of hard rock, the ceiling made of processed manacite that shined light down onto the entire chamber. There were two floors to the chamber: the main floor where Grandpa and I were and the ground floor where all the magic was happening.
The ground floor was a hive of movement and activity. There were over a dozen manaceite tracks laid down, moving in four major directions: North, south, east, and west. One several of the tracks were manacite trollies loaded up with container cars filled with gods knows what and my company's products and evos. Their were multiple platforms where humans; both splicers and normies; and evos were working together to load and unload various cars and trollies.
"THE FUCK IS THIS?!" I bellowed, my jaw officials on the floor. Grandpa frowned, looking unsure of my reaction.
"You…don't like it?" He asked hesitantly.
"Like it? I FUCKING LOVE IT!" I bellowed then nearly tackled my grandpa going for a hug. "What is it though…?"
"Ha! No surprise ya don't know. Back in Sullivardic village we'd call this a mana train station." Grandpa Seamus replied then wrapped a arm around my shoulder and led me inside the station. "Now each of ta Moldworks labs have a mana trolley that transports evo containers here through each of the four tunnels ya see here. Each tunnel also head past ta moldworks labs and into the desert."
"I'm guessing you designed this Grandpa?" I mused. Grandpa laughed heartily and slapped me on the back.
"Just a bit laddie. Though I mostly used ta layout of the grand central mana station in Sullivardic village." Grandpa replied.
The main floor was more of a walk way that spanned from one end of the station to the other. In the middle point between each end there were a set of stairs that went down to the ground floor. Grandpa Seamus led me down the middle point and led me down to the ground floor. The moment we stepped onto the ground floor's platform I felt dozens of eyes trained on me. Grandpa seemed immune to the attention and continued on with the tour.
"This mana station was the reason I planned and made the mana trolleys. Had ta plan out the whole system 'fore we broke any ground. 'ery track laid down was oversaw by me!" Grandpa Seamus said. The pride in his voice was obvious. "The tracks down 'ere are can either go ta moldwords or to the desert, several miles from the city."
Grandpa Seamus led me down a series of platforms giving a brief summary of what the platform's purpose was, how many people were assigned to the platform and how evos were assigned to what job. I allowed my eyes to wander and look over everything we passed, the station felt like another city under the city. After a few minutes of walking I suddenly stopped and looked to Grandpa Seamus.
"I want to call this Lower Silver City Station." I said. Grandpa paused and scratched his chin then nodded.
"Sounds good Starlight! But before ya go naming other things there is one other thing ya need ta know about this station." Grandpa Seamus replied.
I arched a brow quizzically at him and Grandpa Seamus just smiled with a child-like glee. He quickly rushed off further into the station and I found I had to almost run to keep up with him. It wasn't until we reached the very center of the station that I realized why he was so giddy. I stopped mid-step and looked up at the gleaming structure nestled next to the platform before me.
"OH. MY. FUCKING. GODS!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
"I know Starlight! I know!" Grandpa Seamus laughed and clapped me on my back. We were standing in front of the King's Glaive, only it wasn't the mana train I remember from six months ago.
The train was enormous, now at least twice as tall and wide as before. The added height and width made the once sleek and snake-like appearance of the exterior now feel hulking and resilient. The King's Glaive's main engine car had two curved crystal ornaments that resembled horns sticking out a few feet past the car. The entire train was also recolored to the same burgundy with gold trim that was on the company's crest and sign. That same crest was painted on the side of the second engine car.
"Quick! Quick! Let me show ya the inside!" Grandpa exclaimed then grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the door. A small smile tugged at my lips at seeing my Grandpa so excited.
The King's Glaive's door opened the moment Grandpa stepped in front of it. A set of see-through stairs manifested from the doorway to the ground in front of us. I realized they were made of mana much like the mana rails the train made when it moved. I followed Grandpa into the train and nearly shit myself from shock.
"Welcome to yer new control car!" Grandpa Seamus exclaimed. My jaw was on the floor and all in could do was make a gurgling noise as I looked around.
The control car was now twice as large it was before, there was actually a second floor. The many pedestals that had once dotted the car were replaced by crystal consoles. Each console had a holographic screen floating above it and a chair in front of them.
The navigation column had a makeover as well. Instead of a column filled with a mana-like fluid that displayed a map of the area, there was now a floating diamond shaped crystal encased in a glass orb. A image of the entire globe was projected from the crystal.
The part that floored me the most was the fact that there were people inside the control car. Employees of the company if their uniforms were any indication. There were seven of them in total, two men and five woman from various nationalities and only one of them were a splicer. All of them stopped what they were doing once they noticed us.
"As ya can see Starlight there has been a few changes. 'Fore I do anything else let me introduce ya to yer control car crew." Grandpa Seamus said. All of the crew members quickly rushed over to the navigation sphere and lined up at my grandpa's words. Grandpa then pointed to the first in line then smiled. "This is Zane Aufin, navigator. Eris Cossak, co-navigator. Ruby Pearsand, diagnostics. Olithia Drum, communications. Tamara Verka, King's Glaive system management. Yanis Idun, Conductor. And Robin Cheese, weapon system operator."
I nodded along as Grandpa Seamus introduced each person but then froze when I heard him introduce Robin. I stared at the man for a second, he was the only splicer among the control car crew which stood out by itself. I
"Wait? Weapon system operator? The king's glaive has weapons?!" I exclaimed. Grandpa smirked then glanced at Robin. Robin jumped in immediately and pointed over to his console near the door to the next car.
"Yes she does!" Robin replied as he stepped over to his console. "The King's Glaive has five turrets in total, however there are three types of turrets. Fully automatic turrets, artillery torrents, and sniper turrets. The mana train has two automatic turrets, two artillery turrets, and one sniper turrent."
"THEY SHOOT BULLETS!" I screamed, my pitch getting dangerously close to a overly excited school girl.
"Mana bullets actually." Robin corrected then showed me the display.
Robin's console display showed an holographic view of the exterior of the train. On top of the third car, sixth car, ninth car, twelfth car, and fifteenth car there was a nodule that indicated where the turrets were. The display showed the King's glaive as a hole which was how I realized that Grandpa had added more cars to the mana train, ten more cars to be exact.
"The sniper turret is fixed to the third car due to the recoil from firing it is dispersed through the rest of the train. It is a single barrel turret that fires a one hundred-twenty two millimeter round of whatever element the operator wants. The fully automatic turrets are fixed to the ninth and sixteenth cars, they are dual barreled turrets that fire seventy-five millimeter rounds at two hundred and fifty rounds a minute. The artillery turrets fire a specialized one hundred and fifty-five millimeter round that explodes on contact with a detonation range of fifty meters. All of these turrets can fire shells created from whatever element the operator wants." Robin explained.
"HOW?!" I nearly squealed. Grandpa Seamus cleared his throat, grabbing my attention.
"Well Starlight, a couple of the orders ya had over the last six months weren't actually orders but...parts I needed ta finish the turrets…" Grandpa Seamus admitted. I blinked several times before I finally reacted.
"YOU MADE FAKE ORDERS TO HAVE ME CREATED ENCHANTED PARTS FOR THE MANA TRAIN!" I barked. Grandpa shrugged nonchalantly.
"Well it's not like I can make 'em Starlight!" He rebutted. I frowned but let out a sigh.
"I'll forgive you but only because I got a mana train with turrets!" I replied, having to remind myself to not jump for joy.
"Master Kingston…" Yanis Idun called to me and stepped forward. "…of you'd like a tour of your newly renovated mana train then as the conductor I would be honored to accompany you and Master craftsman MacClery."