A/N: Hello. :) As promised, here is Book 2 of my Infinity Train stories. I'm just sorry it came up at night. Anyway, this story will be rated M, but there's a lot of content here that could be used for those who preferred it at a "T" rating. So, I'll be sure to let you know at what point in a few chapters where the "M" rating will be necessary. That said, I hope you enjoy this follow-up. And to those of you who haven't heard of Infinity Train, please do. I promise you won't regret it. :)

Prologue: The Slime Car

"I'm... I'm all alone."

Those were the words the girl muttered to herself. She had shoulder-length dark red hair, and was dressed in a black shirt with a red hoodie and dark blue jeans. Sadly, she was in a tragic sleep. The poor girl's most hated memory was playing in her mind again, forcing her to watch as her mother was taken away. The lady being taken had a dark grey jacket over her white shirt, had bright blue jeans, and had dark brown hair in a length that went over her back. Men in black suits were taking her away as she tried to run after her, with one of them holding her back.

"Let me go! You can't do this!"

The girl tossed and turned in her struggle, as if she's experiencing it all over again. The voice of the suited man that held her back didn't make it any better.

"Trust us, it's for your own good."

The girl knew otherwise. It's been said before, many times and many ways. In fact, it's gotten to the point where it's been turned into a cliché. In turn, it's lost all meaning. All that meant to her was that nobody cared what she went through and why she wanted her to stay. Nobody could ever understand. At least, her aunt didn't.

"I'm what's best for her, Aunt Edith! Don't you understand?! Without me, she won't stand a chance!"

She tossed and turned even worse. The voice of her aunt was surging in her mind. And she hated it the most...

"She dug her own grave, Emma. There's no sense in you going down with her."

The girl gritted her teeth. Aunt Edith was never supportive of her mother, as far as she knew. The way she sounded, she couldn't have cared less about what happened to her. Emma gritted her teeth as she recalled the last thing she said to her.

"As far as I'm concerned, my mother's the only family I have left!"

Emma was quick to shut the door on her. She hadn't looked back since. All that mattered to her was getting her mother and her life back. Nobody else would ever understand, but she didn't need them to. She did. And that was enough. And yet... she hoped that there's one soul who understood her and would accept her decisions for what they mean. As Emma began to shed a tear in her state of oblivion, only one voice was able to speak to her.

"I know how you feel..."

As the voice echoed, Emma immediately opened her eyes with a gasp. The first thing she saw was quite bizarre. She'd hoped that the first thing she saw was her bedroom, her room decorated in grey paint with her shelf holding a picture of her and her mother and father together when she was little. That would've let her know that it was all just a nightmare, that her mother was still with her. Instead, what she was a blue forest. Everything in it from the trees to the vines to the rivers— even the animals themselves, animals that ranged from birds to monkeys to hippos— were in a blue color. And as if that weren't enough, there's the machine she slept in.

"What the...?"

Looking around in it, Emma noticed a cushioned seat where she was sitting. And in front of her was a TV screen with a red button beside it. In that context, it appeared to be a small spaceship of sorts to her. With that information, she had two theories, one of which she hoped was true.

"Am I dreaming all this?"

Emma looked at her arm and got her fingers ready to pinch. She hoped that doing so would allow her to wake up, but all that managed was a pained yelp from her.

"Ow!"

Emma rubbed her arm to soothe it from the pain not long after. With that dreaming theory shot down, Emma only had one other possible theory left.

"Okay, so I'm not dreaming. That means... I must've been abducted by aliens and brought to their home world! I can't believe Tony was right."

Typically, almost anyone would find that exciting. But for Emma, it wasn't even close. For all she knew, she could be a billion light years away from home and her mother. She might as well be kissing all of Earth goodbye altogether! And that wasn't even the bad part.

According to one of her friends, Tony, the only reason for being abducted is "research", and it wasn't the good kind. The likelihood of surviving their protracted and invasive procedures as the same person is very low at the least. Emma wouldn't know how to survive through all of that; she didn't believe him when Tony told her that aliens were real. A fact that she regretted very much in that moment. Just then, Emma heard a squeak above her, making her look up to see where it came from. What she saw was a small, blue slime creature on top of the pod she traveled in.

Upon closer inspection, Emma deduced that its resemblance was closer to that of a gerbil. It was by far the cutest thing she'd ever seen. But if she'd learned anything, and she has, it's that you can't judge a book by its cover. Following on that naturally, Emma was cautious around the slime gerbil.

"Oh, no. Don't tell me you're gonna ask me to 'take you to my leader.'"

The creature only tilted its head to the side in confusion as it squeaked. Emma became perplexed by its behavior. She began to think that perhaps it was stereotypical to say to an alien after all. Of course they won't operate like they did in the movies. But if they didn't... how would they act? Emma tried to figure it out as she tried to inquire of the small slime gerbil.

"Well, if you're not doing that... maybe you'd want to tell me your name?"

The slime gerbil hopped off of the pod and onto Emma's lap with a squeak before it looked up to her and gave another squeak. Unfortunately, Emma couldn't understand anything beyond its cute noises, so if it ever had an answer, it'd be lost on her. Nonetheless, she tried her best to answer with what she's given.

"So... it's Squeak?"

The slime gerbil squeaked negatively as it shook its head. Emma became stumped before realizing what its interaction with her meant.

"It isn't? Well, I'm sorry, but I can't understand a word you're—"

Just then, the monitor in her pod turned on to show a robot with a black stripe down the middle of it and two small white dots within the stripe. It was news to Emma, but even stranger was its happy and sad duality.

"Welcome aboard, new passenger! I'm your conductor. One!"

"One..."

As the "Conductor" One-One spoke to Emma, the robot predicted that she'd jump the gun and ask him the questions that instantly took hold of her mind when she woke up.

"Once you wipe those groggy little peepers, you'll probably have a lot of questions like,"

"Where am I? Why am I here?"

"'Are snacks provided'?"

The last one perplexed Emma as she raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, that's not what I was going to say."

One-One only responded in his glad personality before his sad side interjected.

"For those of you talking to me like I'm there in real life, I'm not."

"I'm a cold, steely pre-recorded video."

"And this is a train where you sort out your problems."

Emma became befuddled by what he said. What part of this alien planet looked like a train?

"A train? But I don't see any—"

Before she could finish, One-One's video interrupted.

"How about that number on your hand, huh? Pretty cool and green."

"Every passenger has one."

"Huh? What number?"

Emma looked at her hands, seeing her right hand's palm had a sight that confused her even more: it had a glowing green "285" at the center of her palm. Emma gasped in surprise and almost fell backward as she examined it back and forth while listening to One-One's voice.

"The numbers are made by the train based on your life in order to help you have the most personalized experience we can offer. If you want to get home, get your number down to 0, and poof! Away you go."

"I'm a zero..."

This definitely wasn't part of her plan. Emma didn't turn her back on her so-called aunt just to end up on a train that needed her number to be at zero for her to get home. And at this pace, it's not likely that she'd ever leave. Then again, he might know something about getting it down to zero.

"Get it down to 0? How am I supposed to do that?"

As One-One spoke out in the video, the slime creature went up on her arm and stopped on her palm before looking up to her with a squeak. It's whole body was so jiggly and transparent, it almost appeared as if it was distorting her number with its body.

"But always remember, there are lots of denizens along the way to help you on your journey. Don't be afraid to reach out."

"Unless the denizen is one of those monsters with more teeth than body."

Emma looked at the slime gerbil and gently pressed her fingers on its head as she spoke softly.

"A denizen? Is that what you are...?"

The gerbil squeaked softly as Emma gently caressed it before One-One spoke again, catching both of their attention.

"Remember: you can't spell escape without companionship. Uh, companion-shape? Companion-scape?"

Emma looked at the gerbil, curious to know its two cents on the Conductor's words.

"I don't think that's a word. Do you?"

The slime gerbil shook its head while squeaking negatively to Emma.

"Huh. I didn't think so."

In that moment, One-One's sad voice began to give out the condition that came from watching the message.

"By watching this recording, you've agreed to release the train of any liability regarding the loss of personal property or physical injury, including maiming, death, or transformation."

With that, the monitor shut itself off. That sent Emma in an instant panic. She still had no clue how to get her number down to zero. Having it shut down now, especially with no knowledge on how her number worked, was not how she would've liked the message to go.

"Hey! You still didn't tell me! How do I change my number?!"

Emma shook up the monitor in her desperation, but it didn't turn on. It must've been the ending of the message. All Emma could do was grumble in frustration as she sat back down in the pod. But that wasn't the end of it. She began to vent her frustration aloud.

"I should be trying to get my mom back right now, not stuck here in this place getting my number down without any idea how to do it! I didn't ask for any of this!"

Emma then laid back in the seat, facing the "sky" of the car she found herself in. All of this was a lot to process already without her own crisis. Emma had to wonder what she had done to deserve being put here? She just wanted to get her life back. Was that really so wrong in the grand scheme of things? To Emma, it seemed that she'll never know as a small tear escaped her eye while she stared at the sky above her.

"So why? Why am I here...?"

One Week Ago:

Emma was lying in her bed, looking up at the ceiling of her bedroom. It was just like any other day in her life for a few years by now. After a good moment of staring, she made a sputter with her mouth before sitting up and stretching her arms. After the stretching, she looked to the picture on the shelf in front of her with a sad look before she spoke softly to it.

"So, how are you doing, Dad?"

The picture was a sad memory for her, especially since her father wasn't around anymore. She'd lost him when she was just a kid. Emma didn't know what happened until a few days after the incident, that he was ambushed by a lethal shooter. All she could remember was that there was shouting that night and her mother asked her to wait in her bedroom. The fact that she fought with him the night prior was especially devastating. Since then, Emma hadn't been able to be happy for a long time.

"Oh, me? Well, I'm still trying to pick up the pieces. Every day, it's just... getting harder. I don't know how I'm supposed to do this without you. I just wish you could come back. Maybe then, I could tell you how sorry I am. That's all I want to do with you right now..."

In that moment, Emma heard her mother's voice calling out to her.

"Emma! Your breakfast is ready!"

She looked out to the door before she called out.

"Coming, Mom!"

Emma looked back to the picture before she spoke softly.

"Take care of yourself, Dad."

Emma made a soft kiss on her fingers before placing it on the picture of her father before she walked out of the room. She was headed towards the common kitchen/dining room area to get breakfast. But on her way there, she was cautious, and for good reason. She stood by the door leading to the kitchen and gave a small whiff. What she smelled wasn't anywhere close to the breakfast that her mother called her for: it was being overpowered by cigar smoke.

She hated the smell, especially due to the many risks it presented to her health. She started this bad habit about 3 months ago, which was about a month after the world was halted by COVID-19. Emma was already sick of it before, and the fact that she had to stay home didn't help matters, either. She tried her best to help her mother quit this addiction, but it was difficult. In fact, it's gotten to the point where she'd smell for any sign of it first before entering to keep from getting a surprise blast of smoke to her face. She was even forced to cover her nose and mouth as she walked into the kitchen with caution while she spoke.

"Seriously, Mom?"

Her mother smushed the cigar into the ashtray by the kitchen window. She wasn't even trying to hide it anymore. Emma's mother went to the table and sat down, facing her disapproving daughter before she replied.

"Hey, don't give me that look. I'm the adult around here. I can quit if I wanted."

"No offense, Mom, but that's exactly what you said three weeks ago. And you're still doing it! At this rate, you might as well be sick."

"I'd rather not discuss it."

Her mother turned away from Emma as she crossed her arms. But she didn't like it one bit, especially not with the small traces of cigarette ash on her eggs.

"Well, I'd rather not eat eggs with cigar bits on my eggs, yet here I am."

Despite the point she made, her mother still persisted in her standing.

"No discussion."

Emma's had this argument before. And she was beyond tired of having it over and over again. No other kid should have to go through this. She wanted to complain that to her mother, but she had a feeling that it'd just be ignored like always. Emma took a brief pause, trying not to get worked up as she got up from the table and walked over to her. She wanted to reason with her mother in a way she could understand, with support. Just like mothers would usually do for their daughters.

"Mom... You know I'm just trying to help you get past this addiction of yours, right?"

Just from hearing this, her mother's earlier resolve began to get chipped away. She started to look back to Emma with a sad look on the horizon.

"Yes..."

"And you know this stuff's not good for you, right?"

Her face sunk even lower in shame. She began to feel more worthless by the second.

"Yes..."

"So, why won't you let me help you?"

Emma's mother gently lowered her face, ashamed to even look her daughter in the eyes. She held her hands together as she spoke sadly.

"What difference would that have made if I did? I still lost my job, our house is going to be foreclosed, and even worse... your father isn't around to help us, any more than your grandfather was to help me. How are things supposed to be better without him?"

Emma knew the feeling. She sought counsel from an effigy of him not too long ago. Emma wished many times that he was still with them, but alas, the reality was that he was taken from them too soon. If only he wasn't... he could still be with them, and they'd be far better off than they are now. But he isn't here, and she's the only one at the moment who can possibly help her. In an effort to live up to that, Emma looked back to her mother, trying to show her a smile that would get her strength back. But faced with the unknown, she had just as much a clue about it as she did, so that smile didn't last long, and Emma instead gave her mother a hug to help reassure her where her smile couldn't.

"I don't know, Mom. I wish I had an answer, but I don't. Still... I'm not gonna just give up on you. I know you can be better."

In spite of the comfort Emma's hug gave her, her mother wasn't too reassured about their situation.

"But what if I can't?"

Emma didn't want to think about that. She didn't want her mother to be left broken. Not if she could help it. She held her tightly and spoke softly, hoping she wouldn't have to see that outcome.

"Don't worry, Mom. I'll take care of you."

That was the promise Emma made to her mother. And now, she's stuck on the train, unable to keep that promise. For what reason, she didn't know. But all she knew was that One-One was definitely on her list. What right did he have to take her away from any chance of helping her mother, especially when she needed her? But as much as she wanted to chew him out, Emma knew that her main priority was to get back home. But the only way to do that is to get her number down to zero.

Of course, the mystery of how to do that still eluded her. According to the robot, Emma's number was based on her life. But what about her life was based on her number? Emma couldn't figure that out. She gazed at her number in melancholy before looking towards the slime creature that now sat on her lap.

"You don't happen to know how to make it go down, do you?"

The slime creature looked at Emma and shook its head. Emma slumped her head back on the seat, somehow expecting the answer.

"I don't know why I even bothered to ask a slime hamster. Of course, it doesn't know."

In that moment, Emma heard grumbling from the slime gerbil. Its belly was shaking before the creature squeaked meekly and placed its stubs on the belly. Emma raised an eyebrow, starting to get an idea of what it meant.

"Oh. You're hungry, aren't you?"

The slime gerbil squeaked affirmatively to the girl. That, Emma could understand. Nobody likes to go hungry. It was fortunate that she'd packed something to eat beforehand. When she left, she initially planned on getting something to eat as a snack before paying for her potential dinner.

But now that she's stuck here, she supposed it wouldn't hurt to share at least a little bit of her snack; it is smaller compared to her. Emma dug into her jacket pocket, and got out a small bag of chips with "Gorp" on it. She then opened the bag and got out a small orange chip before breaking a piece of it off and held it out to the gerbil.

"Well... here you go."

The slime gerbil took the piece and began to nibble on it with abandon. Emma looked on as the cute creature devoured its piece. When it was finished, it held its paws out again, hoping for more. Emma assumed it was really hungry at this point.

"You want another bite? Okay."

This time, Emma gave it one chip to see how hungry it was. The little creature began nibbling away on the chip while Emma watched with a small smile. But, that's when the slime gerbil surprised her. Almost in an instant, it began to gobble up the chip in its exact shape. By the time it was finished with the chip, only a small piece of it was left before it burped making her surprised over how much it actually ate.

"Wow. You really were hungry, huh?"

The slime gerbil squeaked again to answer her before hopping up onto her hand, and then on her arm before hopping onto her shoulder.

"Huh? You wanna come along with me?"

It squeaked in a positive manner again. Somehow, she couldn't help but find it adorable. It was almost like a hamster, which it technically was. She even began to consider taking it with her. At least then, she'd have something, if not someone to keep her company. But, then again, it wouldn't be right to take it away from its home. For all she knew, it could only make the gerbil as agitated as she is being taken from hers. She didn't want to put it through that as she began to frown, gently picking it up before setting it down on the ground.

"Look, buddy... you're not coming with me, okay? You're staying here."

The slime gerbil squeaked sadly as it began to frown, too. Emma felt bad breaking the little guy's heart, but it's the truth.

"I'm sorry, little guy. But I've got a home to go back to, and you have a home to live in. I just don't wanna take that away from—"

Just then, Emma heard rustling in the bushes before she could finish. She looked up to see where it came from, only to see something that puzzled her. If she didn't know any better, she could've sworn she saw a platinum-colored figure. Emma looked down to the slime gerbil before speaking softly to it, not sure if it was anything good or bad.

"What the heck...?"

Emma cautiously walked toward the figure, wondering what the figure really was as she left the gerbil behind, only for it to look around before it began to follow her, hopping on its four stubs. Unaware of the slime gerbil following her, Emma parted the leaves from the bush to see a platinum-like feminine being with boots, short hair at chin length, leggings, a skirt, and a jacket. Emma let out a gasp of surprise at seeing such a being, but in doing so, she took notice of her and made a sour look, as if she was annoyed with her.

"Oh, no."

Emma was thrown off by that look, but she nonetheless tried to interact with her. If One-One's video was anything to go by, the "denizens", whatever they are, must hold some key to helping her get back home. If there was a time to find out for sure, it'd be now.

"Uh, hi. I'm sorry for bothering you like this, but—"

"Then how about leaving me alone?"

Emma got stumped once again, but this time it was starting to get her mad. She tried her best to keep herself calm as she spoke to her.

"Um... about that, normally I would. But One-One said that I should try to reach out."

The platinum girl narrowed her eyes as she spoke in the same tone she did.

"Yeah, the thing is, I'm not really looking for a commitment right now. So..."

Emma became flabbergasted at the idea of someone like her being a companion. She wasn't exactly making a good first impression, and she's beginning to dislike her more and more. But nonetheless, she needed her. So, she once again kept her temper even as she replied, gesturing to her number.

"It's not...! About that. It's just that I'm hoping you would know how I'm supposed to get my number down."

The chrome girl made a small sputter from her lips before she replied.

"I don't see any reason to tell you."

That answer was starting to chip away at Emma's attempt to keep herself calm. She wasn't going to accept that kind of attitude.

"And what's that supposed to mean, exactly?"

The chrome girl didn't see any reason to beat around the bush with her.

"Look, all passengers end up on this train because they did something wrong in their life. And it means they probably deserved it."

Emma's hands tensed into knuckles. She's worked too hard to keep her mother alive to be talked down to by some chrome girl, she thought.

"How would you know?! You don't even know me!"

"And I'm not going to, so, bye."

The platinum girl began to walk away from Emma, making her seethe in anger. Her mother needed her, and she's not going to be stopped by some denizen who thought she was better than her! She began to march towards her, unwilling to let her leave.

"Listen, you chrome-colored jerk! I'm not a passenger! I'm a human being who's taken away from home! And even back then, I've been through more than you can ever imagine! I need to get my number down and go back home, and I'm not leaving until you tell me how!"

As she protested, Emma's number began to go up, something the girl took notice of as she pointed it out bluntly.

"Well, you certainly know how to make it go up."

Emma looked at her palm, mortified to see that it had changed into a "310" as she gasped. The girl knew her point was made as she repeated what she'd told her earlier, walking away from her to a red door in front of her at the middle of her sentence.

"See? It's like I told you. You deserve to be here."

Emma was beyond her boiling point now. Her body was shaking in anger as she growled, reminded of when her Aunt Edith said a similar sort of thing about her mother.

"She deserves to be taken away, Emma. Don't you think you're better off without her?"

Everything about the girl reminded her too much of her unsupportive Aunt, and she wasn't going to accept any of that. Emma picked up a rock and aimed it at the back of her head.

"NO, I DON'T!"

Emma made no hesitation to throw it with a hard step into a pile of blue leaves. But in doing so, she fell into it just as she let go of the rock. As a result, the rock hit her directly on the back of her head with a small ting. The rock had no effect on her whatsoever, but she nonetheless turned around to see if that happened to have been Emma's doing. Sure enough, it was. Because she could see Emma barely hanging onto the ledge of what was apparently a bottomless pit that was hidden by leaves. Needless to say, she was pretty mad.

"Did you just throw a rock at my head?!"

Emma looked up at her, seeing how angry she was. If she hadn't been hanging on off the pit, Emma would've been quick to say yes. But in this precarious situation, it made her realize that she'd lost her cool too soon. She needed to make a rebound from it and quickly.

"Uh, that depends. Did it hurt?"

"No, but that's not the point! If that's how you're gonna be, then you definitely don't deserve to get back home!"

The chrome girl walked away from the pit with a grunt and headed to the door before muttering to herself.

"Geez. What a jerk..."

Emma overheard her muttering and became more furious than ever.

"Oh, yeah?! Well, fine! I don't need you! I can get out of this on my—!"

Before Emma could finish as she tried to lift herself up, the whole forest started to shake. And the timing couldn't have been worse. The shaking ground made it difficult for Emma to get a lasting foothold long enough to lift herself. Nonetheless, she tried to chance it, using her hands to push herself up, only for the ground she held on to break apart, sending her plummeting into the pit as she screamed. A few seconds after, however, Emma stopped her descent with a grunt. Surprised that she was suspended above the pit somehow, Emma heard a squeak near her, looking below her to see the slime gerbil!

It was stretched at an incredulously long length to grab her. Emma was utterly befuddled to see that it was possible, but she still felt grateful for its assistance.

"It's you! But how are you doing this?"

It gave out two quick squeaks as an answer before Emma looked up through the hole, having not forgotten who left her in the pit.

"Never mind. Can you help me get out of this, please?"

Suddenly, as if to answer, Emma was quickly pulled up out of the hole as she exclaimed in fear that she might get dropped into the pit. But she need never worry. The slime gerbil was able to pull her out and away from the pit as she landed back on the ground with a thud. With Emma now safely above ground, albeit with a groan from the rough landing, the slime gerbil went over to her and squeaked three times as it pointed to the door with its stubs.

Emma looked at the door where the chrome girl had taken off and saw that it was open. She saw her in the distance and gave her a glare as she spoke with an angry tone.

"You."

With that, Emma ran towards the door, seemingly unaware that her slime gerbil/rescuer went along in tow as she shouted, catching the chrome girl's attention.

"Hey! You think you can just leave me to die in the—?!"

In that moment, Emma arrived in time to see a big, metal car lift itself up, stopping Emma from saying the rest of the words out of pure shock. And then, once it was above the others, it propelled itself backward at a great speed. But the moment it did that, a bigger surprise awaited Emma.

She was met with a large wasteland with a never-ending horizon of pure desert and a large train that fits through the middle of it all. It was just like One-One had said. She was just a passenger on the train after all... The chrome girl made a sigh as she spoke to herself.

"Glad I didn't take that."

It was then that she took notice of Emma's shock from seeing such a bizarre world. It obviously made no difference to her, but she figured that she must've been one of the new ones. After all, she was used to the sight whereas Emma was not. To snap her out of it, she gave Emma a flick on the head, making her snap out of it, but at the expense of her pain.

"Ow! What'd you do that for?!"

She only rolled her eyes as she spoke to her.

"You threw a rock at my head, remember?"

Before Emma could retort, she remembered what she did before inadvertently stepping into the pit. She grew embarrassed that she didn't try to be the better woman for a time, but of course, she hadn't forgotten who made her lose her temper in the first place.

"Oh. Right. Sorry. But you know, you weren't exactly helpful, either."

The chrome girl didn't necessarily feel obligated to do so.

"And why should I help you? You don't care about anyone but yourself."

Just then, Emma's slime gerbil squeaked in defiance towards the chrome girl, catching both of them off-guard. Nevertheless, Emma tried to soothe it, though she'd ask why it followed her later.

"Take it easy. I'm mad at her, too."

The chrome girl crossed her arms. She was admittedly curious about why it would follow someone like her, given how she's acted as Emma picked it up and set it down.

"What's up with that thing?"

"You're asking me? Ever since I saw this thing, it's been following me. I was just in the middle of telling him to stay home."

The slime gerbil squeaked up at her in protest as it hopped up and down before she knelt down, trying to help it get the message while being as gentle with it as she can.

"Look, like I said before, you've got a home to live in. And I've got a home to go back to. Someone's back there waiting for me, and she needs my help. Don't you have anyone waiting for you?"

The slime gerbil paused a moment before holding its head down as it squeaked sadly. Emma only heard the squeak, but she knew that its answer must be "no".

"You don't? You have no one to go back to?"

It squeaked sadly again as it began to hop away from Emma slowly. No wonder it wanted to save her. She didn't know what it saw in her, but somehow or another, it cared about her and wanted to follow her. And here she is, sending it away to live out the rest of its days to be alone. Her heart couldn't take it, subjecting such a poor creature to this, especially since it helped her escape the pit. Emma held her hand in front of the slime gerbil, stopping it from hopping away before it turned to her and she spoke softly to it.

"I'm sorry. I had no idea. I just didn't want to take you away from your home."

The chrome girl had watched the whole thing and only became more confused.

"So, is it with you or not?"

As much as Emma had had enough of her attitude, she can answer that much, especially for her new friend's sake.

"Yeah. He's with me."

The slime gerbil jumped up onto her palm and squeaked happily as it ran up her arm and onto her shoulder as it judged itself on her right cheek, making Emma give a smile towards it. Having seen enough, the chrome girl began to walk away.

"Well, I'm out."

She began to walk ahead before Emma turned back to her, feeling embarrassed for how she'd reacted towards her and what she'd said. She couldn't let her go without making it right. Emma went up to the chrome girl as she spoke up.

"Hey, wait."

The chrome girl assumed she was going to rant about her again as she grunted.

"Now what?"

"I just... I want to apologize. For what I said back there. And for, you know, throwing a rock at you."

The chrome girl's sour look began to fade away before Emma spoke on.

"It's just like One-One said. I'm a passenger. And this is a train where I'm sorting out my problems, apparently. Nothing about it makes a lot of sense to me, but... all I know is that I wanna get back home. But still, I shouldn't have taken that out on you. It wasn't fair, so... I'm sorry."

The chrome girl still wasn't entirely convinced. She knew leopards can't change their spots, but if there was a chance that she actually meant it...

"I'll let your number be the judge of that."

The chrome girl held her hand out, waiting for Emma's hand in return. She didn't know why, but when she placed it on her palm, she began to see why. It was changing again. And her number had changed back to "285". Emma became surprised as she spoke up in wonder.

"My number. I-It changed back."

"Yep. That's how you get your number down."

Emma looked at her with a small blush, feeling beyond silly for the whole affair between them as she spoke again.

"Maybe we did get off on the wrong foot after all."

"Well, now if you'll excuse me..."

The chrome girl headed forward towards the door, but Emma stopped her again, hoping she could help her out with the rest.

"Wait. Is it alright if I can go with you?"

The chrome girl only made another sour look as she replied.

"Yeah, no. You've already got your companion, for one thing. And for another, like I said, I'm not looking for a commitment."

Emma did recall her saying that, but she still needed answers as well as help. And her companion can't exactly translate into English. That's when she cane up with a compromise.

"Maybe it doesn't have to be. Technically, I'm not actually going with you. We'd just be going in the same direction. That's all."

This gave her some good for thought. She may not want her around, but at least she wouldn't be bothering her. And she is learning to be better along the way. Besides, going backwards would mean that she'd have to go back into her world, and she obviously didn't want to. At this point, she couldn't pass it up.

"Alright. Since you put it like that, you got yourself a deal."

The chrome girl held her hand out to Emma before she reached her own out and shook it with a small smile.

"Thanks a lot, miss... uh... w-what is your name?"

The chrome girl only turned away from her, moving on to the door and leaving Emma by herself as she spoke to herself.

"So, no answer, then? Okay."

Emma then looked behind her, seeing the big car behind her. It was hard for her to fathom that such a large forest could fit inside it. Who knows what else the cars would hold for her? And moreover, who was that chrome girl, really? Was it a friend or foe? But the main one was what concerned her the most as she looked back at her number. According to One-One, the passenger's numbers are based on her life's problems. That, in itself, is the biggest question of all.

"What is my problem?"

A/N: And there you go. :) Now, it's only natural that the two of them end up in a rocky start, but I ship them together for a reason. I mean, don't get me wrong, but as much as I enjoy M.T. and Jesse being a couple together, I kinda like my OC with her as well. Oh, well. I'm sure Jesse would've made a compromise. XD That said, And also, here's my cast list for the main characters Emma's Story in case you happen to just start on this one prior to Bryce's Story.

Ashley Johnson - M.T.

Miranda Cosgrove - Emma Stephens

Robbie Daymond - Jesse

George Clooney - Jack

Ben Mendelsohn - Mace

Bradley Whitford - Sieve

I hope this chapter will get you more excited for many others to come. :)