A/N: Good morning. :) As we all know, today is Christmas Eve and what better way to celebrate than with 2 more chapters of "Infinity Train X Glitch Techs"? Although, I may be a bit late for the last 2 tomorrow sometime. I'll still get the last 2 posted, but it may be sometime either before or after dinner (at 4:30 if it's before). And the last 2 may be darker with Polaris involved. Anyhoo, enjoy. :)
Infinity Train X Glitch Techs
Book Three: Chapter 7: The Canyon of the Golden Winged Snakes Car
"The wh...what?", Simon puzzled.
"The train cars, genius.", Amelia responded.
"Amelia? Lena? Damien?", Tulip spoke in awe.
"Hey, Tulip.", Lena greeted.
"Nice to meet you again. I just wish I could say the same for you Simon.", Damien added with Simon giving a slight growl in response.
"And what's going on with you, Grace?", Lena puzzled.
"Yeah, it's a long story.", Grace spoke with a blush.
"Oh, hello, Amelia! It's awfully nice to see you three again.", Glad One grinned.
"So, how's it going?", Sad One asked.
"Not good, I'm afraid. We scanned this car for apparitions and found nothing. And you're here for all of one minute and I get an alert that there are lines of code that don't match the reality of the car.", Amelia stated.
"We barely escaped the ejecting train cars! We're the victims here.", Simon spoke.
"There are no victims. There's a glitch on the train.", Amelia spoke.
"Hold on. Did you just say 'Glitch'?", Miko asked.
"That's right. One sent me out from the engine to resolve it.", Amelia responded.
"One? Like 'one-one'?", Grace asked.
"One, one..., one?", Hazel puzzled.
"The false conductor! But it turned out, he wasn't even a real threat in spite of taking over the train from the true conductor.", Amber stated as he picked One-One up as he giggled while being carried under her arm.
"Yeah, and the real threats, Zenith and Polaris, have been trying to kill us ever since they heard about us and everything we do to keep our numbers high!", Simon added.
"And for the record, we would not wish that kind of punishment on our worst enemy!", Jesse added.
"Zenith?", Lena puzzled.
"Polaris?", Damien added.
"Yeah. They're really bad people who're out to capture Hazel.", Five responded.
"The true...", Amelia puzzled before she started laughing.
"What's so funny?", Lake puzzled.
"Before he met you all, One had no idea you exist, short-pants. At least no more so than any of the passengers. In a very real sense, we were just numbers to him.", Amelia spoke.
"Not to mention profile pictures, don't forget that.", Sad One added.
"Speaking of which, how about reading that card, huh?", Glad One added.
"Of course. I was just getting to that.", Amelia responded before reading what the card said aloud.
"'Every passenger is important. Their well-being and progress is what the train is about. All aboard the growth train, toot-toot. Whee! Sincerely, your conductor, One.'", Amelia spoke as Glad One grew a bit giddy with Miko giving a slight snicker before flipping to the back of the card.
"'One.'", Amelia finished.
"I just love the toot-toot part.", Glad One grinned.
"Me, too, buddy.", Miko grinned as Hazel laughed.
"You're weird.", Hazel grinned.
"Yes, I am! Good heavens. You people really have no idea what's been happening.", Amelia spoke.
"Actually, I think we might have an idea since you said the word, 'glitch'.", Atticus spoke.
"It is a key word given our situation.", Tuba agreed before Alan Dracula snorted.
"Yeah. From what I saw on the first car that was ejected, Zenith ripped the master orb off the panel and released a massive glitch monster that was wreaking havoc. We managed to take care of it just before it was ejected. It wasn't easy for me putting the master orb back on the panel as we got out the exit at the time.", Tulip added.
"He did that?", Kazar puzzled.
"Yeah. But the only thing we don't understand is how those glitches that come out end up as monsters wrecking the cars.", Jesse added.
"You got half the story right. Thing is, some of the cars on the train have corrupted code. I created a pulse that scans for that code and it was working fine until a three weeks ago when cars started ejecting one after the other and since you say you keep getting ejected along with them, you're the only lead I have as to what's gone wrong, so start talking.", Amelia spoke as she took her backpack off, reached for her board, unzipped her gray jumpsuit, took it off, and turned around, surprising Grace and Simon.
"You're the number cluster we've been tracking!", Simon realized.
"You've been tracking me?", Amelia asked.
"Not on purpose, no. We were just trying to find the rest of the apex and get back to them.", Amber explained.
"But it wasn't the Apex.", Simon spoke.
"It was just a single high number.", Grace realized.
"The highest we've ever seen. Maybe the highest there's ever been.", Simon spoke.
"Rude.", Amelia spoke.
"We have the highest numbers of anyone on the train. Except you.", Simon added as he rolled out his sleeve to show his number.
"I don't care. This isn't about my number, it's about my cars. I need information.", Amelia spoke as she checked her board.
"Information? Such as...?", Kazar asked.
"The ejected cars. Have there been objects that didn't match the environment? Phone booths, college campuses, a lot of turtles, too many turtles, a number of turtles that makes you think, 'Why? Why turtles again?'", Amelia asked before Gummi gave a scared squeak while Grace turned to Hazel.
"Grace...", Hazel spoke worriedly.
"That first shifter! It had turtles.", Simon realized.
"It could be the Omega Glitch.", Kazar responded.
"The what?", Amelia puzzled.
"The only glitch powerful enough to cause massive errors of any kind lately. As a matter of fact, the instant we stepped inside this car, it even shorted out our gauntlets.", Kazar explained.
Then, Grace turned to Simon and Amber before she spoke.
"Apex, here, now.", Grace spoke before she, Simon, Amber, Hazel, and Tuba moves away out of earshot.
"What do you think that's about?", Miko puzzled.
"I don't know.", Tulip responded as Gummi squeaked in puzzlement before Grace whispered to Simon.
"We have to get away from her.", Grace whispered.
"What? She probably knows more about numbers than anyone on the train. She might know what's wrong with yours.", Simon spoke, making Grace widen her eyes.
"Well, exactly. She might not just know something, she might have something to do with what's happening to Grace. She's working with One-One and...and, um...Code A-17 of the Apex: Never trust adult passengers.", Amber responded before Simon sighed.
"Okay, okay.", Simon sighed.
"Right. Are they looking at us?", Grace asked before she and the Apex turned to notice the others staring while only Amelia looked at them.
"What?", Amelia puzzled.
After a moment, Grace, Simon, Hazel, and Amber suddenly ran off.
"Guys, wait!", Tulip shouted.
"Where are you going?!", Lena shouted.
"Looks like we better go after them.", Damien suggested with a sigh.
"Oh, I hate children.", Amelia sighed before standing up and chasing after them with Lena, Damien, Tulip, Gummi, Jesse, Lake, Miko, Five, Atticus, Alan Dracula, Tuba, Kazar, and One-One chasing after them.
Meanwhile, Grace, Simon, and Amber slid down the hill before Amelia and the others followed closely one at a time. It wasn't until they crossed a bridge that the Golden-winged snakes barred Amelia and the others from getting close to the Apex. Or so it seemed before Tulip saw where they were headed on the other side.
"I know where they're headed! This way", Tulip shouted before she led the others out toward an alternate route leading them directly to where Grace, Simon, Amber, and Hazel are as Amelia opened her eyes and saw only the Canyon on the other side of the crevice.
"This car is marked for ejection! You know, I can tell you children are in the car! I can see your numbers on the screen. Oh, this interface is garbage.", Amelia sighed.
Just then, Tulip cleared her throat before Grace, Simon, Amber, and Hazel turned and saw her, Gummi, Jesse, Lake, Lena, Damien, Miko, Five, Kazar, Atticus, Alan Dracula, Tuba, and One-One in front of them.
"Why did you guys just run off like that?", Tulip responded.
"Because we don't trust her, especially not passengers who deserted the Apex.", Simon responded.
"Guys, look. I can really explain everything about Amelia, knowing her as well as I do, but only after we find someplace to rest for the night.", Tulip responded.
"Okay.", Grace responded before Tulip led the way as Grace, Simon, Amber, and Hazel followed with the others.
After a mile-long of walking, they slid down a slope and saw a nearby cave.
"There. We can camp for the night.", Grace spoke.
Then, the group went in the cave before Tuba set her satchel down and sat down on the ground with Hazel sitting on top of her arm.
"So, do you think you can fix our gauntlets so that they don't crack from sensing the Omega Glitch?", Tulip asked.
"Of course. But I'm gonna need your gauntlets to fix the problem.", Kazar stated before Tulip nodded and she, Lake, Jesse, Miko, and Five gave their gauntlets to Kazar.
"It'll take the rest of the day to fix them, but once I do, I'll install an update for them to account for the Omega Glitch's presence. If you have any questions, I'll be right there.", Kazar stated, pointing to the far side of the cave before heading there.
"Thanks, Kazar.", Tulip thanked.
"As for you, Simon, before she can tell you, there's something you have to know.", Lena spoke.
"What's that?", Simon asked.
"I hate to say it, but...you have to prepare yourself for the possibility that you're wrong.", Damien responded.
"About what?", Simon puzzled before Tulip took a deep breath and sighed.
"About everything.", Tulip sighed as Gummi squeaked.
Meanwhile, Polaris was outside on top of a cliff by himself.
"I have to wonder. Is Zenith really going to help me with my plans?", Polaris puzzled before he noticed numerous footprints leading to a cave.
"So, this is where you are all hiding.", Polaris sneered with a glare.
Inside the cave, Amber couldn't believe it.
"What? Y-You mean all this time, Amelia...didn't care about us?", Amber asked.
"No. She only cared about herself, trying to recreate her old life in a car. It wasn't until 33 years later that I came in and helped her see that what she was doing is wrong.", Tulip responded.
"And since then, she's been making amends to help her number go down.", Glad One grinned.
"Not that it went down very much.", Sad One added before Miko noticed how taken aback and down Simon is.
"Uh..., you okay, Simon?", Miko asked.
"Yeah. Uh... I... I'll keep watch outside. You guys rest.", Simon spoke softly before he slowly walked out with Grace speaking up to him.
"Simon...", Grace spoke before Simon turned around.
"Yeah?", Simon asked.
"I... nothing. Good thinking.", Grace responded before Simon nodded and walked outside.
And then, all of a sudden, Grace felt a strange tingling feeling.
"Oooh. Why do I feel so weird?", Grace puzzled as she was unknowingly growing a tail with only Tulip and the others noticing in surprise.
Then, once Grace finished growing her tail, at the same time, Hazel felt and odd pop from behind.
"What was that?", Hazel puzzled before looking behind her to notice that she grew a turtle tail of her own.
"Aw. I have a cute little tail now.", Hazel spoke while wagging her newfound tail.
Grace, however, didn't exactly feel the same.
"Okay. This is embarrassing. But it does look a little cute.", Grace commented.
"Of course, it is. After all, Turtles can't be turtles without tails.", Glad One spoke.
"Especially if some of those tails are hidden.", Sad One added.
"Wait. Does that mean...?", Grace puzzled before she tried again, this time, finally changing back to normal with her mouth and skin returning to normal first followed by her shell and tail, retracting, and then her skin becoming smooth again as the webbing and claws disappear while her skin color changes back to normal.
"It does. I'm finally back to normal!", Grace grinned excitedly.
"Hooray!", Hazel and Glad One cheered.
"Glad to have you back, Grace.", Amber grinned.
"It's good to be back.", Grace responded.
"Well, that takes care of one problem. All we have to worry about now are Zenith and Polaris.", Kazar spoke, making Hazel give a an angry, determined grunt with a nod, unknowingly causing her shell to grow back over her sweater.
"Hazel, the shell.", Grace gasped with a whisper before Hazel noticed and had a crazy idea.
"Good! I'll use it to fight them!", Hazel responded as she grabbed a rock and tossed it aside.
"Hazel, shhh!", Grace urged.
"I don't care! I can protect us with it!", Hazel shouted back.
"If you try and fight them yourself, you'll only get captured by them. We have no idea what they're capable of, which is why we should be careful about confronting Zenith and Polaris.", Kazar warned.
"Besides, protecting you all is my job.", Tuba added as she walked over to Hazel and hugged her.
"Come here.", Grace spoke as she walked over to Hazel and Tuba as the former shed tears.
"Okay, it's okay. Stay close to me.", Grace spoke before Hazel sobbed lightly, not knowing that her sobs were overheard by Simon who was standing watch when he heard a voice nearby.
"Children, huh? You never know when they act out.", Polaris spoke to Simon as he walked forward before the latter saw him and turned around to face him with a glare.
"Easy, now. I'm not here to fight. Not this time.", Polaris assured, puzzling Simon.
"Why are you here?", Simon asked.
"Well, I just wanna ask you something. Do you happen to know someone who can offer us something that lets us know what's going on in their minds?", Polaris asked.
Frankly, Simon was a bit perplexed from hearing this before coming up with an answer right away.
"Actually, I might.", Simon responded.
"Do you think you can take me to them? After all, you wanna know what's going on in your friend's mind, don't you?", Polaris asked.
"How do you know that?", Simon asked.
"Because it's the same reason I want to pick up something from someone.", Polaris responded, slightly surprising Simon for a moment before he grew cuirous about something.
"So I gotta know. Why are you and Zenith after Hazel in the first place?", Simon asked.
"Actually, Zenith doesn't need her, I do. Because she is the key to my plan for one.", Polaris responded.
"And what is your plan?", Simon asked, giving Polaris a long pause.
"Something that will give control of this train to someone is truly worthy of it and that's all I will say. But there is another reason.", Polaris responded.
"And that is…?", Simon puzzled.
"She's my daughter. I lost her a few months ago and I've been looking for her ever since.", Polaris responded.
"Weird. Hazel never told us you were her father.", Simon puzzled.
"Well, that's because we've been separated for months, but once I get her back, my plan can truly begin.", Polaris responded.
"Well, maybe you can be in the Apex with us. Just abandon Zenith and his crazy plan.", Simon suggested.
"In time, I will. But for now, I have to play my hands right.", Polaris responded before Simon sighed and turned back to Polaris.
"Alright. But until then, she'll stay with Grace and I.", Simon responded.
"Thank you. I appreciate your assistance with that.", Polaris responded, giving a sinister look as he placed his hand on Simon's shoulder.
Before long, after the former write down a note and placed it where he was keeping watch, Simon and Polaris both went outside the car before the former turned to him.
"Grab on.", Simon spoke.
"If you insist...", Polaris sighed before he grabbed onto Simon by the waist with Simon then aiming his magnetic harpoons and launching them up to the top of the car before they landed.
"You think you can keep up?", Simon asked.
"My gloves aren't just for show, you know.", Polaris responded as he stretched the bottom of one of his gloves and let go, giving off a brief electric spark.
After that, the two ran on top from car to car with Simon using his electromagnetic boots while Polaris used his own apparent electromagnetic gloves to stay on top of every car they run on top of. Eventually, both Simon and Polaris jumped off the car and onto the bridge before looking up at the door ahead.
"So, you know a friend who lives in this car?", Polaris asked.
"I don't want to talk about it.", Simon responded.
"That bad, huh? I understand.", Polaris assured.
Later, inside the cabin, the cat was reading a book with reading glasses and a necklace with a golden bell on it as she licked her paw and turned the page before the doors burst open with the winds blowing out as a result.
"Hey!", Simon shouted.
"Simon, I presume?", the cat guessed.
"And don't forget about me. The fact is, you're going to give us something we need.", Polaris responded.
"I am? Well, isn't that nice of me?", the cat spoke sarcastically.
"I want something that'll tell me what's wrong with Grace.", Simon spoke.
"Oh, piffle. I can do that. 1, she's very full of herself. 2, she has no respect for personal property. 3...", the cat began.
"This isn't a joke! You left me, so give me something for Grace!", Simon demanded.
"And for my partner, too, while you're at it.", Polaris added.
"I didn't leave you, Simon. I ran. There's a difference.", the cat responded.
"No, there isn't! That Ghom almost got me!", Simon shouted.
"I didn't realize you weren't by my side until the next car.", the cat responded.
"But you never came back...", Simon retorted sadly.
"I... no.", the cat spoke before Simon turned away, facing the fireplace.
"I am who I am, Simon. I can't give you more than that.", the cat responded before Simon day down next to her with a sigh, placing his hand on his face with the cat looking on sadly for him before speaking up.
"Could you give me a few more details? One thing more helpful than, 'I need a thing'?", the cat asked.
"Grace's number is broken.", Simon replied.
"Oh.", the cat responded.
"Broken? How so?", Polaris asked.
"It's going down. And she doesn't seem to want to fix it. And now, we found this woman who's working with One-One. She has the highest number we've ever seen. It's almost up to her neck.", Simon spoke.
"Really? Well, isn't that peachy?", Polaris smirked.
"But Grace doesn't even want to talk to her. She made us run. Even Tulip didn't understand why we ran.", Simon responded.
"The woman. How old is she?", the cat asked.
"How should I know? She's just...old...and British.", Simon responded before the cat hissed angrily in response.
"Amelia! Her name is Amelia! We've had some unpleasant dealings. She tried to kill me a few times, actually. Though, I suppose that would only endear her to you. She's dangerous. I'd stay clear of her if I were you.", the cat responded.
"So..., Grace was right to run?", Simon asked.
"You Apex work so hard to get your numbers up, doing what? Destroying things, pillaging cars, playing soldier. Think about what it would take for Amelia to get a number that high.", the cat spoke.
"Yeah, but Tulip told me that before she got off the train the first time, Amelia decided to make amends by helping One-One resolve problems with glitches in the car.", Simon responded.
"Well, that's news to me.", Polaris spoke.
"Is that so? Now, as for Grace, well, you're a smart boy. Surely, you thought about what the reverse means. What would make a number go down?", the cat responded.
"Numbers are power.", Simon spoke.
"And yet others see it as nothing more than a weakness to stay away from by lowering it.", Polaris spoke.
"Numbers are numbers and they eventually avoid raising it because they're supposed to go down. You said Grace's number is broken, but the truth is, you just don't like how it's working.", the cat responded.
"Th-That's not it. She's not acting like she should.", Simon responded.
"And how exactly should she be acting? She's not one of your miniatures, Simon.", the cat responded.
"She's shutting me out!", Simon shouted before walking further away and sitting down at a seat, placing his hands on his face with worry.
"Please, Samantha. I have to know why.", Simon pleaded.
"Oh, very well. The only way to find out what she isn't telling you is to see what she isn't telling you.", the cat sighed in reply as she got out of her seat and walked on the ground.
"What?", Simon puzzled.
"So, you have something that can show us these things?", Polaris asked.
"Patience.", the cat responded in a french accent as she climbed up before walking toward a box that says book and pressing her paw onto it with a green circle appearing and scanning her paw print before the book opened, turning out to be a safe containing a small red bag before handing them both to Simon and Polaris before the two opened the bags to see two small metal boxes and two tubes of little, white robots.
"So, what exactly is the point of these things?", Polaris asked.
"You'll have to extract tapes of their memories and go inside. Since it isn't either of yours, it's safe. Going into your own tape, however, can be unpredictable and dangerous.", the cat responded.
"I knew you'd have something. You always do.", Simon grinned.
"My thoughts exactly, Simon.", Polaris spoke before he and Simon started to head out.
"But, Simon...", the cat spoke up.
"What?", Simon asked.
"I'm not sure about what his deal is, but we shouldn't always know what's in a person's mind, especially the minds of those we love.", the cat warned.
"I'm not a child anymore. I know what I'm doing.", Simon coldly assured before he and Polaris headed out.
"Oh, Simon... you have no idea...", the cat only responded as the two leave the cabin, but not before closing the doors.
"Well, Simon, this is where we part ways.", Polaris spoke.
"Yeah. I guess so.", Simon spoke.
"You're gonna have to be very careful the next time we meet. I might even have to kill you.", Polaris spoke before walking away, leaving Simon perplexed and worried at the same time as he looked back toward the hill where he went to the cabin.
A/N: Uh-oh. Looks like something big is going to come soon. Doesn't sound too good by the looks of it, either. And there is another chapter coming right up.