Here's the spark notes for Josie's situation: If an order is given...
-she has some time to complete it in her own way.
-if she does not complete it in a timely manner, she blacks out and the Researchers complete the order as they see fit, usually with unnesisary violence.
-if it becomes impossible to complete the order, spoon-stabbing punishments are dealt to the spleen. Yeah.
For Josie, the signal came all too soon. A plain black box with no hinges and a single green light activated in her tightly clutched palm. It resembled the Internet, but was not an Earthly invention. It was another galaxy's equivalent of a pager.
She calmly got up from her seat and moved to the front end of the car. The porter chose this time to make an entrance. He saw Josie's advance, causing him to pause in the doorstep of the adjoining car.
"I'm sorry, sir," he was still unaware that Josie was, in fact, a woman. "Passengers are not allowed into other cars at this ti-"
Josie casually kicked him in the chest, sending him stumbling back out the door. She followed, her footsteps echoing with determination and purpose.
"W-what are you- who are you...?" The porter stuttered as he clutched the rail of the next car. The scenery was passing by much to fast for his liking.
"I don't think that's what you should be concerned about right now," Josie advised him, expertly keeping her balance as she crossed the platform that connected the two cars. The porter fumbled behind him for the handle to open the door to the next car.
The elegant white gloves she was wearing concealed the metallic device that ran the length of both Josie's arms. The device enhanced the strength she already possessed, equalling distribution and increasing leverage. Hoisting the porter up by the shirt collar was an easy feat.
"I suggest rolling when you hit the ground," Josie said as a farewell. The wind had blown away her hat, revealing her face to the terrified man. She gave a weak smile and tossed him off the platform. If he was smart and didn't flail around too much, he'd probably survive.
By this time the passengers in both cars had sensed the commotion. Sam's face, among others, was pressed to the windows looking out on the scene. The ornithologist was trying to wrench the door open, his bird squawked silently behind the glass of the train car.
Josie turned away from her audience, momentarily wishing her hair was longer to hide her face. She retrieved a foreign object from the folds of her coat. It looked similar to a spatula, but the end that would have been flipping pancakes was triangular instead of square. She aimed the object at the center of the platform.
The ornithologist succeeded in opening the door. Josie looked up in confusion. She had sealed that door with a sonic level of five, there was no way it could be opened by ordinary means!
K9 rolled defiantly onto the platform. He charged Josie's feet, rambling something mildly heroic.
K9, you bitch! Josie cursed at him mentally. You're not supposed to open the doors, freak! She stumbled to where the porter had been moments before. More horrifying than the prospect of falling of a moving train was the growing feeling of a black out framing the edges of her vision.
Sam had pushed the ornithologist out of the way and was stepping cautiously out of the train car. She gripped the door frame with white knuckles, taking uncertain steps towards Josie. The expression on her face was unreadable.
"Stay back!" Josie warned. Her head was throbbing; she didn't have long before she wouldn't be in control.
K9 rolled forward again, growling. The click-clunking of the train wheels on the rails became an increasing painful sound for Josie. She could see Sam's lips moving, but she was too far gone to read them.
"Everyone shut up!" Josie cried in desperation. She squeezed her eyes shut. She was going to have to go for it. The longer she waited, the less she could guarantee the safety of everyone on the train. She raised her arm, repositioning the spatula.
K9 flipped out. He knew what Josie was doing. He didn't know if he could stop her, but he knew he had to try.
Josie rocked back on her heels once, took a step toward Sam's car, and leaped over K9, activating the spatula mid-flight.
Several noises happened at once. The clack of Josie's shoes as she touched down on Sam's side of the platform. A creak of metal as the platform split apart. The yelp of a wounded, mechanical puppy who had strayed into the path of a deadly spatula.
Sam gasped. The spatula had shot out a thin, fishing-wire-like beam that had cut through K9 and the platform like butter. It happened quickly, a glint and then nothing. What she saw next was far slower. The front car of the train continued down the track, leaving its partner car to lose momentum and fall behind. The separating of the two platform halves revealed a diagonal slice in K9. His back half fell into the gap between the platforms to be crushed by the wheels of the train car rolling to a stop. His front rolled farther onto the opposite platform half, still pursuing Josie after death. The lights of his eyes lost power and faded to nothing.
"JESSE!" Sam screamed.
"Sam..." Josie whispered. Her eyes rolled back and she passed out on the threshold of the train car at Sam's feet.
"Josie?" The ornithologist asked, recognizing the purple-faced girl.
"Jesse," Sam sobbed again as she sunk to her knees. "Why did you have to be the hero? Graham worked so hard to repair you. Now you're not even a can opener."