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We are the Borg you will be assimilated, resistance is futile.

What do I think is in the future? The end of the universe of course.

Is it five?

Though most moderate and average people tend to line up with a religion, but in a casual sense. However, there is still a large, loud, radically fundamentalist streak running around the world, it's members are often seen as insane and extremely radical and they are often perpetrators of terrorist attacks and other illicit activities. I think these people are wrong but the moderate practitioners of the mainstream religions are no problem and often have fairly open minds. There really isn't a problem in my experience with most people who affiliate themselves with any mainstream religion like Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and so on. I personally haven't a religion to speak of but that is more out of laziness and want of free time than anything else.

Songs will be written of my grandiose exploitations.

Short break got longer when I realized how little I actually thought about this next part. Do your normal thing, read if you want ignore if you want, whatever, peace.

Door 9: Runaway Train


The sun was getting ready to rise behind the dark grey curtain of dust and smog lying over the ruined city when Callum woke with a start. He jerked up, usually such a thing would be reason for irritation, this case however allowed his the small pleasure he got out of his restored movement. The room was empty, not even Church was there, the others must’ve been in some of the other rooms. Callum stood, wobbling at first but gaining balance and strength quickly. He lifted his bag out of the corner and slung it back across his back before looking around the small apartment. The first adjoining room was in the care of Daniels who sat with his head slumped over on an old wooden desk. He quickly rose when the room was disturbed however. He seemed a bit disoriented at first but soon calmed himself and greeted his younger companion.

“Callum, what’re you doing awake, we don’t have to go for another--†He stooped over and lifted a pocket watch off the ground and eyed it for several seconds still blinking away his grogginess. “--ten minutes ‘til we have to leave.â€

“Sorry.†Callum said automatically dropping his gaze slightly.

“No need, just get Church up, we should get ready early.†He murmured before tipping his hat up and making his way towards the door. He slipped past Callum and back into the main room where he met Church, standing there as if he’d been ready to go for hours. Callum edged his head out of the door after Daniels but didn’t follow, he just watched the two for a moment.

“Let’s move.†Church smiled. The three were on the street walking towards the train terminal once more. Callum followed the other two silently, he had questions, but none of them seemed so important that he couldn’t wait until after “volcano dayâ€. Soon after their arrival a train pulled up to the station, it was impossible to say the least. The tracks were destroyed outside of the station on both ends and the city as Callum had noticed was without power for much of the day, not to mention the fact that it seemed to be in perfect working order, unlike anything in the rest of the city. It was simply impossible for the train to be running on this line. However run it did and board it they did. On the train’s lone passenger car there were only a few other passengers, the term hobo came to mind.

Daniels walked straight past them to the heavy oak double doors at the front and slip the three slips of grimy paper in between the floor and the doors. The door opened promptly and revealed a Victorian era sitting room. Daniels sped through the doors and into the room Church sighed before dragging his feet across the threshold, Callum cocked and eyebrow but followed suit all the same. Upon entering the room his nose was assaulted with the scent of tea, pastries, and affluence, or maybe it was just clean. After reeling in shock for a few seconds, he noticed Daniels talking to an old man in a suit with a cartoon classic monocle and a young woman wearing a an absurd dress. He did a lot of smiling and laughing while in their presence but returned with the expression of a relieved man.

“Okay, Church.†Daniels seemed to have started with a pause inserted to perfectly match up with a sigh of disdain uttered from the effeminate man’s mouth. “Mister Brooke and his daughter want to talk to you, I knew I couldn’t be your spokesman.†Church made it no secret that this turn of events was nothing if not to his chagrin and grimaced until his face was within the view of their hosts. He spoke in a rather soft voice but was assaulted by a loud round of friendly greetings and lots of touching. After several moments of this Callum observed a conversation begin, again Church’s voice made it hard to hear what he said and eavesdropping on the loud half of a conversation is usually misleading and annoying. Callum sat in a spindly chair next to a coffee table and Daniels followed suit after the traditional brushing off of his jacket. A butler appeared out of what could only have been thin air and handed each of the two a dainty cup of tea, with that he disappeared without a word.

Callum looked at it incredulously before downing the cup in a single gulp and regretting it instantly, it was hot and awful tasting. Daniels, seeing his comrade’s expression withdrew a flask Callum had never seen and began to drink it’s contents. Callum sat silently across from the clearly unconcerned Daniels with a scowl crossing his face, half out of contempt for the carefree attitude of his senior and half because he could still taste the tea on his injured tongue. They spent several more minutes in silence, waiting for good news. However news never came, Church just stood across the room talking with the cheery pair until it seemed that it would never end. However it did come to an abrupt halt when the room lurched several feet forwards throwing everything and everyone into disarray. Everything was still afterwards even the disgruntled passengers of the room remained silent, some straining their ears for a sign of the cause, other simply too bewildered to do anything. The first to speak was Daniels, he stood up and brushed off his coat before proceeding to check on everyone else’s situation.

“Looks like the train stopped.†Church straightened himself and made his own cursory evaluation of the situation.

“Smart man.†He replied sarcastically. “Maybe we’ve reached the end of the line too.†Callum took the opportunity to look around outside the door and was horrified at what he saw as he hung out of the room and looked both in front of and behind the train. There were no other cars anymore, and what’s more the tracks were laid out on a small isthmus connecting a great mountainous island to a great black void.

“Actually it rather looks like we have.†He said without taking his eyes off the eerie sight. Daniels rushed over to see as well and Church merely cocked an eyebrow. The Brookes remained huddled in a corner with their butler attempting to no avail to calm them. When Daniels reached the open door he leaned dangerously far out of it examining the place they found themselves in.

“Well, I’ll be, now that is one strange thing. Hey Church you said this thing went inside the Walls so it could go anywhere, but something seems to have gone a hair outta place, mind shedding a mite bit of light on this situation?†Daniels hopped down onto the track and looked at the train clicking his tongue all the while.

“It’s probably nothing big, there isn’t even supposed to be anything inside the walls, the train builds the track as it goes and it just leaves the other cars at their stops, it‘s natural and even common for a few technical hiccups, a few more minutes and it should be functional again.†Church said taking a seat next to a bookcase and choosing the thickest codex he could reach buried his face deep within it’s pages.

“Well, the guy said that this is the way to get to the Lateral Enigma.†Callum conceded leaning back into the car. Daniels lingered for several seconds more and finally reentered the car with a defeated sigh. He’d almost been hoping for some action after the boring ride. No sooner had the door closed than the train started moving again. It was only then that the Brooke pair came to themselves and began twittering away again. This time Callum decided to take advantage of it though, not knowing what the others did didn‘t sit well with him.

“This train is yours?†He asked as he approached the pair with a deceptively bright smile. His social skills were dull but his acting skills were less so.

“Oh yes my lad. I was born here in Escher and I wanted more than anything to be able to travel where you want to go without a blank key, so I developed this lock tool based on a Rossetti original lock designed as a mode of transportation, my version is called Warp Tunnel. It’s the only lock I’ve ever made but it’s enough to turn anything into a train that’ll travel through the Walls, I just happened to be testing it in this very room when it tore through a Wall into another world, now I’m on my way back home to see my dearest wife and son, however it’s still a bit hard to navigate some areas so I’ve been traveling like this for nearly a year now.†The man let forth that great flood of words without either pause or consideration, he was the kind of man Daniels would be if stricken with senility early.

“I see.†Callum replied lacking a proper response. The man was very jovial and gregarious in his speech and opened up very easily even to strangers. However his daughter remained completely silent. Had she always been so silent? Callum wondered whether the chatter he‘d heard earlier was just the old man. He put it out of his mind, sighed and spoke once more. “How d’you know Church?â€

“I only just met him.†He said plainly and honestly. “through a friend of mine, his name is Sir Addison. He worked as a knight up until ten years ago when his kingdom fell and he was forced to take up work as a mercenary. I haven’t heard anything from him for several months though. Separation and things of that ilk come with the territory I suppose.â€

“I see. I‘ll tell him you send your greetings if I see him.†Callum replied as politely as he could, the irritation was getting to him, but he was composed for the moment.

“That would be nice of you.†The man said with equal politeness.

“Not really.†Callum mumbled almost realizing the end of the conversation was long off yet.

“You’re a nice boy, you should never lose that.†The man said placing an avuncular hand on Callum’s shoulder prompting both a suppressed cringe and an incredible urge to end the conversation.

“I’ll keep that in mind.†He did his best to keep up the act to the best of his abilities but ended up letting the words come with a dull scripted sound.

“I don’t think I’ve gotten your name.†He asked curiously, but still not unkindly.

“Callum. I’m going home too, maybe not quite so directly as you though.†The black haired boy replied with robotic dullness and precision.

“I wish you well on that.†The man said ignoring the delivery and taking it as a conversational point.

“Same to you.†Callum said as one would insult another. With conversation died there. Callum stood silently next to the sitting couple for some time before returning to the doors and pushing away a light curtain revealing a small vertical pane of glass on one side of the doorway. He stared out into the vast space closing in upon the small track behind them the further they went. The train kept on barreling down the tracks into the seemingly infinite darkness for an interminable period. Daniels had long since retaken his seat and made no motion to indicate any interest in his surroundings. Church remained hidden away from his hosts and showed no signs of letting that change if he could help it. Callum sighed and resigned himself to boredom.

Just as it seemed that the train was getting nowhere on it’s way to no place, Callum was forced out of his calm daze. The girl wearing the absurd dress had tapped him lightly on his left shoulder causing him to jerk back almost knocking her over. He quickly apologized but it was clear is was perfunctory and he really had no concern for her and the scripted quality his apology evoke made it seem that he couldn’t be concerned with anything further than his own condition. That often seemed fairly distant and alien to him as well though. After that he made no effort to converse for some moments and was about to turn back to the window when she spoke, the previously dumb girl suddenly had something to say, to the lethargic black haired boy none the less.

“I--†She took a few seconds to gather her thoughts. “I’d like to know more about you, Callum.â€

“Really?†He replied dryly. “You want to know about me?â€

“Yes.†She answered, more confident but just as ridiculous as ever before, how could she expect to be taken seriously while wearing that horrid thing?

“Shoot.†Callum replied leaning himself comfortably against the wall, almost sleepily. The thought of more conversation was in no way appealing to him but the prospect of hearing what she had to say interested him still.

“My father may trust everyone that walks in here, but there’s definitely something wrong with Mr. Sharpe and Mr. Daniels.†She was straightforward and blunt, but not stupid sounding, at least not so much as he’d imagined.

“Am I really that unthreatening?†Callum asked, half jokingly and half innocently.

“You seem different from their type. So will you tell me?†She asked, direct and clear.

“I’ll tell you how I met each of them, I won’t tell you what I think of them though.†The girl simply glared and grit her teeth in agitation. Callum took no notice of this and simply continued on as he’d been going. “Well, I met Church at my school back in the regular world, he wanted this key--†He lifted it from his pocket and allowed her to examine it briefly before returning to it‘s place. “--He even fought me for it. Nearly died. Daniels, met him in a diner after bumping into him on my way out. He challenged me to a fight to get this.†He motioned to his bag but didn’t make a move to reveal the contents. “I don’t remember exactly how it ended but the fact remains that it’s why the three of us are here. That‘s all I have to tell you for now.†He left the topic open enough to exchange more information on the off chance she might be able to provide some.

“Thank you.†She said insincerely. “From what you tell me both are nothing but trouble.â€

“Am I any less?†He asked, feigning extreme curiosity.

“No, but you don’t lie and look down on us the same way.†She replied.

“Damn my honestly, I’d rather not be considered your ally, if things get bad I’ve got no plan to do anything for anyone.†He started sarcastic but degenerated into ill mannered bluntness by the end of his sentence.

âine.†She said tartly.

“Glad I could be of help.†Callum said before she turned and left with a sour expression on her face. Then he proceeded to contemplate what had just transpired. “Now I remember why I never talk to people, I can’t come off as anything but an ass when people want help. Whatever, it‘s not like it concerns me so much.†He turned back to the window and gazed out of it with a glazed over expression. The car remained silent and undisturbed throughout the rest of it’s run.

I was going to watch it because I really liked the manga but I think I may wait till it loses some popularity for that. The samurai Mifune is my favorite.

Kill it with fire.

That depends on what you're thinking of. Right?

Wanna find out?

What? Really?

Bear with it. I'll be nice.

It's like a mini flashback to highschool physics.

Summon Christopher Walken.

Your skirt then.

Are you being totally honest you two?

Thank you and your song whoring. Jonathan Coulton has in fact done other, better, songs.

PLAY PORTAL.

Use the Celestial Brush to reconstruct the Bridge of Eldin.