A/N: Now that you have made it through the first chapter of this story arc, allow me to point something out here. And if you actually read these things, good for you. You have more spare time than most people. But it will also save both you and me some grief.
Yes, I understand the principle that Snowpiecer technically can not stop. Yes, I understand that if it does stop it needs help to get started again because back in S2,E1, Melanie states that she drained the batteries too much trying to escape Wilford.
And so do we have my escape plot, folks. This story takes place before that ever happened.
So, in my happy little AU (which encompasses any other technological reason anyone can come up with for why this train can not stop) Snowpiercer can stop for a short period of time under the right circumstances.
The fun is it can only stay stopped for a short period of time. So everything in the beginning of this story arc has to take place in a matter of hours.
Chapter 37 - Changes
Partie Deux
"Stopped!?"
Panic seeped into his tone even as he tried to force it back down.
Like every other person on board, Layton knew what those words meant for each and every living thing on the train.
If they could not get the train moving again, and quickly, it meant they were going to die as the cold outside slowly encroached on the train's insides.
Melanie had already laced up her boots and was racing out of the room.
To save time as he tried to keep up with her, Layton tucked his laces into his own boots and hurried after her. He barely managed to catch up to her at the subtrain below their cabin as Melanie was calling a car.
"You need to get to the communications room." She rapidly told him. "Tell the passengers only what we know. Don't speculate. Don't answer questions. Only say the train has stopped and we are working on the cause."
The subtrain arrived and they both jumped in.
"What about you?" Layton quickly asked.
"Bennett and Javi are likely already working on the engine, trying to figure out what went wrong. Hopefully by the time I get there they'll have the root cause and we can start working on the repairs."
Layton turned a worried stare to her. "How long?" He asked quietly.
Melanie paused as she worked out the time frame, then shook her head. "If we don't get moving again, no one on this train is going to see the sun rise."
Layton turned back to face the front of the car, giving a slight nod.
He had been on the train for nearly seven years, and he had felt the train go through a lot of different events. Shakes, shudders, times when the whole train felt like it was going to become derailed. But each time...
He slowly turned back to her.
...each time it had been her voice that had come across the speakers, even in the Tail. Calming the hysteria among a group of people who had no way of knowing what was happening aside from her words. Not a person in the Tail likely didn't hate her on some level during those years. But when disaster seemed imminent, not a single person there also didn't find some measure of comfort in her voice. Her reassurances they would all be all right.
That they would survive.
Melanie turned and caught his stare. "What?"
Layton gave her a small smile. "Nothing. I was just thinking, over all these months I've been in that communications room each morning, how it should have been you making those announcements."
Melanie gave him a confused look. "Wha...why me?"
"Because it was always your voice that reassured everyone." He answered. "It was always your voice that helped us believe we were going to get through whatever happened."
Melanie turned resolutely back to the front of the car. "Well, it has to be you now, Mr. Layton." She replied in a no nonsense manner. "Bennett and Javi need me up in the engine. Not holding the hands of ever person on this train."
Layton turned back to the front as well. "I always said yours were some awfully big shoes to fill, Ms. Cavill." He replied. "I just never thought of it in this capacity."
"Just stick to what I said." Melanie repeated as the car slowed to a stop. "Only tell them the train has stopped, and the engineers are working on it. Nothing more. Nothing less. Don't speculate or answer questions."
Layton gave her a slight nod as he got out of the car. Taking her hand, he gave it a quick squeeze.
"Be careful." He told her. "As soon as I can, I'll come forward."
"Layton...," She began to discourage his plan.
"I'm coming forward!" He stated a bit firmer, leaving no room or time for argument as he stepped back and sent the car on its way as he turned and started up the ladder to the communications room.
As soon as he reached the level where the door opened to the corridor that led to the Communications Room, Layton found himself already besieged by a number of people who had figured this was at least one place they might get some answers. Having run the train now for several months, Layton was already a seasoned pro at deflecting questions as he made his way silently to the room. At the door, he turned back to the anxious, worried faces gathered in the hallway.
"I'll speak to you after I address the whole train." He stated in a calm, level tone, totally opposing how even he felt on the inside. "If you still have any questions after that." He added solemnly before shutting the door to the room behind him and throwing the latch to lock it.
Seating himself at the microphone, he paused for a few seconds to compose himself before pressing the button to activate the speakers in every car on the train. Even those outside the room fell silent as they waited for him to speak.
Taking a deep, steadying breathe, he began to address the train.
"Citizens of Snowpiercer..."
In the forward engine, Melanie paused for a moment as she heard his voice come on the speaker. She listened carefully to each word, the smallest smile on her lips. He truly was becoming a great leader for these people. Collected and calm, he explained what he knew of what was going on and nothing more. And in that context the message was brief and to the point. She made a mental note to remind herself to compliment him on the address later.
A small shudder ran through her as she also reminded herself it might be the last one she ever gave him. The last words she ever spoke to anyone.
Bennett nudged her out of her thoughts.
"Hey?" He stated. "You still with me?"
Melanie gave herself a mental shake as she turned a nervous smile to him. "Yeah. Sorry. Just thinking."
Bennett returned her smile, trying to make it look confident. "Well, you have to do that on your own time. Right now the train and I need you focused on the problem."
Melanie gave another quick nodded, but the look of desolation remained just under the surface.
Bennett nudged her again. "Melanie."
She turned to him.
"It's not your fault. All three of us thought the problem was solved weeks ago. And there hadn't been a hint of trouble since then. There was no way to predict this."
But Melanie shook her head. "No. I felt something all those weeks, Bennett. Something...wasn't right. I just...I could just feel it in the train. But I told myself I was imagining things. I was too focused on myself and my own problems..."
"Hey. You're allowed to have those." He told her firmly. "Now stop beating yourself up. What's done is done, and we need to deal with the here and now. Not what we should have done."
"What time is it?" She asked nervously.
"One thirty."
"Ok." She replied, her voice shaking slightly. "Let's run the rest of the brake lines, see if we can find the root cause and correct it. Where's Javi?"
"I sent him and a few of the higher skilled apprentices to car 134 to see if they could figure out if that's where the problem started or we're dealing with a whole new problem."
Melanie nodded, then turned back to the brake panels.
"The good thing is we stopped on a decline." Bennett added, trying to add a small bit of light to the situation. "When we get her started, it won't take much effort to get us rolling again."
Melanie only answered him with another slight nod.
Several minutes later they both turned to footsteps hurrying towards them, and seconds later Layton entered the panel corridor.
"Where are we?" He asked quickly.
"We're still working on the root cause." Bennett answered. "We know the reason the train stopped."
Bennett half expected Melanie to add to the explanation, but instead she turned back to the panels, focusing her attention on them.
Giving a slight inward shrug, Bennett continued on. "Apparently the braking system engaged again."
Layton immediately caught the reference. "Wait. The braking system?" He turned to Melanie, who had her back to him. "This is all relating back to the braking system issue from 134? I thought you fixed that?"
Melanie didn't give any reaction to his question. But Bennett did.
Stepping a little closer to her, he faced down the other man, holding up a finger in warning behind Melanie.
Layton didn't take a second to get the message. Realizing his words may have sounded harsher than he intended, he quickly laid a hand on her shoulder, stepping up closer to her.
"This isn't your fault." He said quietly. "I didn't mean for it to sound that way."
Melanie quickly rounded on him, shifting her gaze between the two men behind her. "It IS my fault!" She stated with tears in her eyes. "I told Bennett I felt something was wrong with the train for days now. But I ignored it. I didn't even mention it to anyone. I should have rechecked the system. I should have..."
Layton took her by the shoulders and fixed his gaze on her. "You should have been more worried about yourself than the train for once...which you were." He answered her. "There are three qualified engineers on this train, lady, ten high level, skilled trainees, a horde of Apprentices, and one person who likes to think he knows something about this engine. Not ONE of us caught anything. So stop laying this on your shoulders alone. Don't focus on what might have been. Focus on what is. Because that's where we are right now."
Melanie paused in his hold, then nodded slowly.
"So what are our opinions?" Layton asked, looking between them.
"Only one." Bennett replied. "We have to find the reason the train's braking system engaged, make sure it doesn't happen again, get the train started, and hopefully we'll start moving."
"Hopefully?" Layton asked.
"With the train sitting idle, it's using the batteries to keep systems running." Bennett laid his hand on the panels cabinet. "How many of these are there?" He asked, but didn't wait for an answer. "And that's just a small fraction of the electrical needs of the engine. Thankfully, we stopped on an decline, so it won't take full power to get the train moving. But as the power continues to be drained, the train will work to sustain itself. And as hard as it may be to think of, Mr. Layton, this train cares less about us than it cares about itself. It will strive to preserve itself before us."
"What does that mean?" Layton asked.
Melanie answered him, although she wasn't looking at him at the time.
"What it means is that as the train tries to keep its systems running, it will start to shut down systems it considers non-essential to its own survival."
"Such as?"
Melanie's voice grew a little softer. "Like the ventilation, the clean water hydraulics, the lights..., the interior heat." She finally finished.
"The heat?"
Melanie nodded. "Slowly, everything on this train will freeze. Including us."
Layton thought for a moment. "All right. What if we cut systems now? Will that buy us time?"
Bennett answered him with a quick nodded.
"All right. We can cut the water and shut the lights down to a bare minimum. We can convert that power to the heat and ventilation, but cut those back to conserve power." He said, turning to leave the room. "I'll go back to the communications room and let the people know what to expect. You two keep working on the braking system."
A few minutes later Melanie listened once again when the speakers came on in the engine room and carefully listened to Layton speak to the train. He managed to deliver the message they discussed just as before. Calm, clear, and with no divergence from their plan. But as she listened, he added to the end of the message.
"You may begin to notice a drop in the temperature of the train." He went on. "This is to be expected. You are advised to plan now by getting as may warm clothes and covers as you can for protection. Keep together to conserve body heat. The temperature may stay sub-normal for several hours while we work to repair the train and will need to divert power back to the engine for the start up."
Melanie silently congratulated him for the last part. In one concise message he had told the passengers what to expect, but done so in a way that would not cause mass hysteria or panic through the train. When the temperature started to drop, they would see it as just part of the sequence towards repairs being made. In the meantime, he had them preparing to survive against the encroaching cold for as long as possible. If they bundled up and stayed in groups, it might help them survive one minute longer. And that may just be the one minute she and the other engineers needed to get the train running again.
As the night progressed into the early morning hours before dawn, Melanie and the other engineers worked furiously to find the problem and fix it.
For his part, knowing he would not be of any help in the engine any longer, Layton remained in the commutations room, making period announcements to the train to try and keep everyone calm. But finally curiosity got the better of him and he made one last announcement before heading back to the engine room. Heading down to the subtrain, he was gratefully he had stopped by the cabin and grabbed his heaviest jacket. The temperature in the lower levels of the train were now even colder than their cabin's main room at night. With two spare jackets stuffed under his own, he arrived at the engine room connection and climbed up the ladder. On the way he passed by several other levels of the trains engine, which he noted all still had lights. But like the subtrain area, the temperature was notably colder now. He even noted a bit of frost on one of the girders and that the steps of the ladder were getting slipperier with the building ice.
Reaching Bennett and Melanie in the engine room, he quickly handed them each a spare jacket, which they gratefully accepted. He figured that even though the engine room had additional jackets in storage, neither one of them took the time to go get one for themselves.
"So where are we?" Layton asked as they each slipped into the jackets.
"Freezing our asterisks off on a stalled train." Came Bennett's quick quib.
Layton couldn't help but reward him with a small chuckle. Leave it to an Englishman to poke humor at their situation.
Melanie simply gave him a deep frown before turning to Layton.
"Your timing is perfect." She replied.
Layton immediately noted her whole composure was much calmer now. Whatever was going on, she was confident that things were now headed in the right direction.
"We just finished the repairs." Bennett added. "And we're getting ready to run one last series of tests on the systems. If everything comes back clear, we'll be ready to restart the engine."
"Fingers crossed." Layton stated with a forced smile.
As Bennett flipped several switches on the panels in succession, Melanie watched with wide, hopeful eyes as the panels came back to life. As each one came back on line, a smile on her lips grew more and more. When the final one lit up, green and yellow lights flashing across the screens, Melanie gave a slight cry of joy as she quickly hugged Bennett and then Layton.
"So this is good, I guess?" Layton asked, hugging her tightly.
Melanie pulled back as he set her feet again. "It's perfect!" She exclaimed happily. All the systems are up and running." She turned a half hopeful, half worried stare to Bennett with a slight nod. "So we're ready to try starting the engine." She stated in a whisper.
"Fingers crossed again." Layton stated as he watched Bennett reach for a lever next to the panel cabinets. With one last look at Melanie, he pulled the lever.
The panels continued to blink they're array of lights, and the train gave a slight shudder. For a few seconds Layton felt hope taking root in his chest as a smile came to his face.
But just as quickly, the lights in the panels shifted, almost all of them switching to red as an alarm sounded.
Bennett immediately pulled the lever back to the neutral position as he turned to Melanie.
The look on her face was now utter desolation. But she quickly pushed it aside as she turned to him.
"Why?" Was his sole question to her.
"Something is still stopping it." She replied. "The engine did start, and it tried to move. Something stopped it."
"Something outside?" Bennett ventured.
Melanie shook her head as she fell into silent thought. "The train didn't stop because it hit something." She finally said. "Or because any of the cars derailed. This is still the engine."
Layton watched her for a moment as she went back into herself.
"Well, I for one am not looking forward to having to go back to that communications room for another announcement." He said off-handedly. "That subtrain is freezing cold and there's even ice on the ladd..."
"Freezing!" Melanie suddenly came back to life abruptly as she turned to him. "You came up through the lower levels! Tell me what you saw!"
Layton didn't see the significance of what he had said, so he tried to simply answer her question as best he could, watching his own breathe materialize in front of him as a hazy mist now.
"I saw a whole lot of cold. One of the girders had some frost on it, and I think there was even some ice on..."
But Melanie suddenly turned to Bennett.
"Ice!" She stated. "While the train sat, it's been pulling heat away from the lower levels."
"Where the wheels are!" Bennett quickly caught onto her train of thought. "The components that turn the wheels would be frozen."
Layton quickly looked from one to the other. "So how do we 'unfreeze' them? Can we get the heat...?"
But Bennett quickly shook his head. "The train will just shut it down again. It doesn't see things on the lower levels as essential."
"What if we force it?" Layton asked.
But Bennett shook his head again. "It's a system. It's programmed to..."
"Can we reprogram it?" Layton quickly suggested.
Bennett shook his head once more. "It would take too long."
Layton could even hear the panic starting rise up in his voice himself. "How much time do we need?"
"It wouldn't matter! As soon as we tried, the train's computers would compensate and negate the new program."
"Ice." Melanie suddenly said as she stood mostly ignoring Bennett and Layton's exchange. "The problem isn't that the wheels components are frozen. It's just ice." She suddenly turned to Bennett. "All we should need to do is shake the outer layer of ice off. Even if we could just get the forward wheels moving," she added, quickly pointing to the level below them, "the rest of the train should move with them, breaking the ice off the other wheels!" She finished with enthusiasm.
Bennett stared back at her a bit skeptically. "And how are we suppose to do that? It's already too cold to reach the wheel housings, and even if we could, they're well protected. Getting to them would take nearly an hour, and I don't think we have even an hour left."
Melanie quickly fell silent again, but after a few seconds turned back to him. "Explosives." She suddenly stated. "Do we still have the small explosives in the main engine room?"
"I think there's a box under the back console."
Layton was wondering what possible reason there was to have explosives of any kind in the engine room, but let it go for now as the two engineers turned and rushed out of the engine.
Catching up to them, Layton found Bennett already pulling a small box from out of one of the storage closets. As soon as the second engineer opened the box, Layton began wondering what good they could actually possibly be.
A little larger than a standard firecracker, they were neatly stacked in the box like small flares, each with a fuse protruding from the head.
"Are those things going to be able to shake the ice loose?" He asked as Melanie began gathering as many as she could and stuffing them in her pockets.
"They've got more of a punch than they look like." Bennett explained. "When we were building the train, we used them to test the...mental fiber of certain engineers to loud noises." He answered Layton previous question about their presence. "Sort of an engineering joke really." He shrugged.
"It was a perfectly legitimate test." Melanie answered him, leaving Layton with no doubt who came up with the 'test'.
Grabbing more of the small explosives, Melanie handed them to Layton.
"Put these in your pockets." She told him. "Bennett will stay up here to restart the engine when we're done. But I'll need your help down below. If the first try doesn't work, we'll just keep trying."
"Won't these damage the wheel parts?" Layton asked.
Bennett answered him again as he handed him the last of the explosives. "The wheel components are built of the same material as the front of the train. They were made to take a lot of abuse as that portions of them are exposed to the outside. But even if it does do some minor damage, it's worth the risk. Because if this doesn't work, it won't matter. This is literally our last play." He turned to the front window. The sun was just starting to lighten the sky ahead of them.
Layton followed his stare. If the situation wasn't so dire, he considered the scene would have had a beautiful tranquility about it.
"We only have about thirty minutes." He advised them. "Let's get moving."
Melanie grabbed two lighters out of the storage closet before they left, handing one to Layton as they headed for the ladder access to the lower levels. She quickly turned to Bennett as she followed Layton down the ladder.
"Reset the systems. That should take as long as it takes for us to get to the Wheel housing opening. We'll use the gate opening for the delivery. The tunnel opens to several areas in the housing and with luck we'll have the explosives discharging over the whole area of the forward wheels. Bypass the alarm system and keep retesting the systems every fifteen seconds. That will keep pressure on them to keep trying to break the ice themselves as the train tries to push forward."
Bennett gave her a small smile as he stared back her, then a quick nod. "I'll see you in thirty minutes." He told her, trying not to let her see the tears in his eyes.
Melanie returned his smile and nod. "I'll see you in thirty minutes." She answered him, quickly starting down the ladder after Layton so he didn't see her own tears threatening to brim over.
