Stepping inside the train and looking around its interior, a single thought formed inside Vlad's mind that never experienced a true taste of sightseeing.
'This is the Lightning Express?'
He marveled, watching passengers walk around the cabins as if they were a regular room to them; of course, it might have been. Vlad never learned how to ride a train, nor did he ever board one. It was his first time traveling outside of the citadel and actually experiencing something new.
The train around him seemed so vast and yet so infinitely small compared to the citadel, where one would have to wander for around a day just to reach the next floor. Inside, it smelled of wood, the kind that his father's room was filled with. He took a deep breath, remembering the conversation they had had, and snorted with a furrowed brow.
'Stuffy.'
As the door behind him closed and the conductor's frame flashed past him, not forgetting to bump into his shoulder by complete accident and give him a short glare.
Watching the conductor slowly disappear at the furthest edge of the cabin, Vlad exhaled a pent-up sigh of frustration and looked around the cabin, not forgetting to carefully examine everything he deemed useful.
The place seemed to have taken on a beige color, with the walls curving to the ceiling and creating something akin to a tube inside the train's structure. Seats were placed against the walls, spaced from each other by a meter or two, which was filled with wooden tables; they merged with the floor, its surface seemingly reminding one of wood, but the way Vlad's shoes scraped against it proved otherwise. He looked up, observing the sets of lamps, large racks that were already somewhat filled with luggage from other passengers, and a couple of speakers that looked as if they had masked themself within the wall.
A voice came from above, most likely through the dark speakers mounted in the ceiling.
"Please take your seat, we will depart soon."
'So fast.'
He thought as he looked around and took the nearest seat beside him. It wasn't particularly comfortable for his tastes, but the fact that it was placed right next to the door and had some strange panel installed on the side of it made his mind somewhat occupied.
Vlad leaned to the side slightly to take a closer look at the panel on the side of his seat and started to read its functions in his mind. With time, his pace soon turned slightly paler, although unnoticeable due to his already pale complexion.
'What the hell are those buttons?'
His internal voice wavered as he shakily repeated the big lump of text above the panel. The part that was particularly marked with a thick red line.
'Emergency Engineer?'
Vlad didn't know what that particular name suggested; he had never heard of such a thing existing, even after reading about trains of the Era of Darkness.
Right below the name, a panel with functions that one would have as the train's engineer.
He looked around for a second, looking for any signs of the real owner of this seat to come over here and talk some sense into him, but no one appeared. It was as if no one had actually cared enough to inform him of what he was doing and let him be until someone of importance noticed what was going on.
'I knew I should have stayed in the citadel...'
He stood up from the seat, looking around at the other passengers who gave him strange looks after taking notice of his scar.
A few steps to the side, he found another empty seat, this one next to the window that showed a view of the train station and the management office bustling with workers in dark-brown uniforms walking in and out of it.
Not forgetting to check his seat for any hidden panels or instructions, he sat back in relief after a minute or so of inspections. Time passed pretty quickly, and the train wasn't as bleak as he thought it to be, with strange people passing through the cabins and wearing pieces of armor one wouldn't normally see on the surface. It was interesting to guess who might have to pass next time, maybe a mysterious old man wearing long, stinky robes. The next person who came was close to matching the description, but not well enough, as the man only had grey hair and no sign of a thin robe being tied around his waist.
It was still quite a sight to see people dress up like characters from movies and actually walk around without much change in their expression.
'Wait...'
Vlad looked to the side, outside the little window he was sitting next to.
Something seemed wrong.
The cabin he was in wasn't that strange, not that he could complain since it was his first time boarding one; on the contrary, he was a little happy to finally ride one after so many years. It was also quiet and warm, perfect conditions for him to take a while to rest and maybe even sleep if he could.
"This is a platform announcement... The train shall depart from platform four in five minutes..."
Vlad blocked off the sound of static from his mind, ignoring the long message completely.
He thought he might have forgotten something, but that couldn't be the case. Everything he needed was sitting right inside his pocket, safely hidden away from everyone's eyes and sealed tightly in a wooden box that weighed enough not to hinder his movements.
Maybe it was the fact that he forgot to eat breakfast this morning? It might, indeed, be quite an issue as he would never have skipped his meal without remembering to train afterwards.
'What is it?'
The answer hid inside his mind, somewhere, reminding him that something was missing in here. Maybe it wasn't an answer but a feeling he had harbored since entering this very train cabin and sitting on the Emergency Passenger seat he didn't want to touch ever again.
As he stared off into the window, racking his brains for answers-
- Plop!
A hand popped out of nowhere.
Staining the glass with water and making everything seem blurry.
It was a big hand, with a dark sleeve visible on its wrist.
A long hand, with thick, calloused fingers that scratched the glass.
Weirdly enough, instead of being spooked by its appearance, he frowned and raised himself under the angle that would let him see who it was that had been holding onto his window for the past couple of seconds.
'I'm so dumb.'
Of course, why couldn't he think of it sooner? The very person who was supposed to help him board the train had yet to even board it!
Vlad slapped himself lightly, as he pulled onto his face and looked down at Cesar shouting something outside. His face was blurry, but it seemed as though he was panicking for some reason.
'Did he get locked out?'
No, that couldn't be the case, after all, Cesar was one of the strongest people he knew.
Something like a mere pick-pocket would pose no problem for a delver like him, so why was it that he chose not to enter the train?
Cesar slowly stopped, his face cracking as he pulled his hand away from the window and looked down at his pulseband.
A buzz soon followed, coming from Vlad's wrist that shook from the vibrations. It was another feature of theirs to make specific contacts interact with your body when you grant them access, and connect the two with each other through the network.
'Seriously?'
He swiped his finger, accepting the incoming call and covering his ears.
"Leave the train, now!" His exasperated shouts, rough and uneven, came from the pulseband.
"The guy who stole your ticket is someone strange, he knows about me, and definitely about you!"
"What?"
"I mean-"
"This is a platform announcement... The train will now depart from platform four, please step away from the train..."
His voice, muffled by the loud announcement, turned into nothing but notes of light that got cut off as soon as the message ended, the call ended by itself, prompting Vlad to turn to the exit and prepare to meet Cesar, or he at least tried to... until he was thrown back into his seat against his will.
The train shook.