This was the last straw. Tulip just wanted to go HOME. Tulip tilted her head backwards, slamming it angrily against the wall behind her, letting her body slump to the floor as she groaned.
"Great! This is just perfect!" She hissed, staring at the green 115 on her hand as it glowed. "You're useless! First I thought 'oh, you're going to help me through the maze car when I'm going in the right direction' by lighting up! And then I thought that you would lead me to clues, but NO. You just sit there getting dumber the longer you sit there! I don't know what to do anymore! You're a dumb HAND!" Tulip shouted, curling her hand into a fist and smashed it against the wall. After a moment, she drew it back to her chest and looked down at it curiously.
"Great." She said aloud, staring at the still vividly glowing numbers. "Now I'm going to go insane. Here I am, in a seemingly-unending train, just talking to magical numbers on my hands. I mean, there has to be an end! It can't go on forever. The length around the world doesn't go on forever, and it just doesn't make sense. It seems like it has infinity cars, but it doesn't." Tulip was rambling again, but not to herself as she would tell anyone else. Instead, she was talking to numbers. Numbers that can't possibly understand her plight. "You know what else doesn't make sense?"
They didn't respond, not even flickering in the slightest. Not surprising, but it made Tulip despair.
"It's that I have an unending supply of food. I didn't even have food in my backpack when I put it on. But suddenly, I'm in this train, and I constantly have a sandwich on me, or cheese and crackers or a soda or SOMETHING. I always have just what I need when I need it. And it's weird." Tulip despaired, rubbing her eyes. "Hey, how are you glowing?" She injured, gazing at her palm. "I mean, you'd need a light source, and human bodies do give off a tiny bit of light, but their eyes are too weak to see it. So how am I seeing you?"
The numbers have no response, and Tulip gave up, standing up again.
She took in her surroundings for the tenth time, sighing. She was in a maze. The door to the next car was close, she could feel it, but this was the tenth wall she had hit. It seemed like…the maze was changing. But that wasn't possible. It would make sound, like machinery clicking, or the scrapping of the wall emerging from the ground, creating friction. Or there would be holes in the ground where they came up.
Tulip was at her wit's end. "Hello?" She called to the ceiling, ANYTHING to draw attention. "Hi! Tulip Olson here! I was just wondering…if there's anyone controlling this car or train or something and can hear me…CUT IT OUT! This isn't funny. Just send me home, I just wanna go home!" Tulip felt close to tears, kicking the wall.
"Who's there?"
Tulip started. That certainly wasn't her. Or was she going crazy?
"Hi. I'm Tulip Olson." She responded.
"Are you quite alright?" The voice asked, suddenly turning from depressing to cheerful.
"Not really. Who are you?"
"Oh, I'm-"
"-WE are One-One." The depressing voice cut off the cheerful one.
"Yes, we are. We heard you're desperate, and came to help you!"
"Really?" Tulip asked, straightening. "Wait…step where I can see you."
One-one obliged, stepping into the light of the single light that hung above them. He was a little, round white ball with a black streak going through the middle of him, two white dots in the center of the black, that moved slightly. Tulip supposed they were eyes.
He had four little stubs on the bottom of him that Tulip figured where legs. He was obviously a robot.
"One-One, huh?" She asked, crouching down to properly see him. "Um. Cute."
"Thank you! We come from the bowling car!"
"Wait, there's a bowling car?" Tulip asked, tilting her hear at One-One.
The depressing one probably would have gave her a disgusted look if he had a face. "Of course there's a bowling car. This train goes on for infinity."
"Oh, really?" Tulip sarcastically nodded, not in the mood for jokes.
"I'm afraid so, Tulip!" The happy one apologized.
"It can't possibly be going on for eternity." Tulip protested, looking around the maze. "That's figuratively impossible."
"Fine." The depressing half mumbled. "Don't trust us, who have been here all our life."
"Yeah, yeah. Wait…" Tulip stood, peering down at One-One unsurely. "How are you taking back to me? Are you an AI?"
One-One looked offended. "Of course not, Ms. Tulip!" The joyful half bounced.
"Are you an AI?" The depressing one inquired. Before Tulip could stubbornly insist that she wasn't, the depressing one continued. "Didn't think so."
"Ugh!" Tulip groaned, face palming. "I'm getting confused!"
One-One divided suddenly, one raising one of the stubs in a waving gesture.
"Ms. Tulip, I am Glad One, but you may call me One-One!" The happy one instructed.
"Sad One." The depressed one sneered. "But my name is One-One."
"Still confusing. Hey, why would a bowling place have a bowling ball that can divide into two semi-circles? Do you have like…a dome that can fold out? You know, so you're still a full circle for bowling?"
One-One cocked it-selves at her curiously.
"Why would you need a sphere for bowling?" Glad One asked, genuinely confused.
"Um. Never mind. How do I get out of this maze?" Tulip asked, placing her left hand against the wall. "You must have the answers."
Sad One pointed down a hallway behind her. "That is the way."
Tulip turned, excited, then hesitated, hastily grabbing One One and tucking them into her back-pack. "And I'm taking you with me!" She decided, grinning confidently back at them as she started down the next path.
"So." She said after several more turns that seemingly were going in a circle. "How do you know how to navigate this maze?"
"Well, Ms. Tulip, that is an excellent question-!" Glad One began.
Sad One interrupted again. "We've been stuck in this maze for a month. We know how it shuffles."
"A month? Wow. And you don't run out of batteries?"
"What are 'batteries'?"
"Um. Never mind." Tulip shook her head. "So…why are you still in here if you know how to get out?"
"We can't reach the door handle." One-One sighed simultaneously.
"Something in each room always helped us in some way!" Glad One chimed. "This room was clean of anything of this sort, however."
"Just turn the door handle." Sad-One moaned, waving one claw in a hurrying motion.
"Hmm?" Tulip turned, surprised to see the door in front or her. She had been so distracted talking to One-One, she had forgotten to look at her surroundings. "Oh. Thanks, One-One. Want to come with me to the next train car?"
"Hmm." Sad-One mumbled.
"That sounds exciting, Ms. Tulip!" Glad-One cheered.
"Maybe it'll be a fart-car." Sad-One moaned, sinking into himself.
"Too unlikely." Tulip hummed, placing a hand on the door handle as she slid it open.
She crossed the platform to the next car, and, closing her eyes, took a deep breath. Twisting the knob, she stepped into the unknown.