Infinity Train: Reflected Relationship
Chapter 5: The Past Car
Ghom Atticus watched from his prison as Tulip paced around, trying to think of a solution while One-One walked up to Tulip with her shoes and Lake's.
"Look, Ms. Tulip! I found your shoes. And now, I'm a shoe head. Who's a shoe-head? Me; that's who!", Glad One said cheerfully.
Lake snickered a little as Tulip was just puzzled.
"Uh..., thanks.", Tulip said as she and Lake pick up their shoes.
"I told you Boot body would be funnier...", Sad One jeered to Glad One.
"Okay... We know that Atticus was shot by the Conductor with some kind of... mutating laser gun? But what powers it exactly? What functions did it have? And can it reverse what it did to him?", Tulip asked to herself.
"Those are excellent questions, kitten. Of course, with every excellent question, there's always an effective answer. After all, you're my favorite person arbitrarily named after a particular kind of flower.", the cat spoke up toward Tulip.
"One that bounces back.", Glad One guessed.
Tulip only glared a bit, as did Lake.
"Quite right. Now, as you've no doubt noticed, I'm trapped beneath the weight of...ngh...childhood escapism. Might I propose one last Bona Fairé? If you help me...", the cat began.
"I help you, then we're done. No more trades!", Tulip interrupted angrily.
"But...what would you gain?", the cat puzzled as Tulip, Lake, and One-One went over to the trapped feline and lifted the debris off her.
"Ahh. Now, to hold up my end of the deal.", the cat spoke.
"I don't ever want to talk to you again.", Tulip responded harshly as she turned away.
"But wait!", the cat exclaimed before stopping near Tulip and Lake.
"I couldn't help but overhear you thinking of a way to try and cure the dog.", the cat said.
"What's your point?", Tulip asked.
"There is a way to cure the dog.", the cat assured.
But after everything they'd been through, Lake grabbed the cat by the neck and threatened to choke her, making her yowl.
"Don't you DARE lie to her again!", Lake snapped.
"No lies..., no lies...!", the cat choked. "Mercy, please...!"
"Lake... I don't like this anymore than you do, but... if there's a chance we could save him like you say, we should hear her out. Just one last time. For Atticus...", Lake suggested.
Lake didn't like this, but after a moment, she let go of her neck, relieving the cat, who took a big breath and panted.
"All right. What's the catch?", Lake asked.
"While there IS a way, the only catch is the answer lies in this tape.", the cat assured, getting out a video tape of sorts from her coat.
"Last time we saw one of these, we almost got trapped in my own memories forever.", Tulip responded.
"That's because it was your own tape, and apparently, hers. This tape belongs to...another, and while it's admittedly voyeuristic, it's not dangerous.", the cat responded.
"Oh, sure. You've only lied to her twice now. Why not go for a third?", Lake responded a bit sarcastically.
"Yeah. Fool her thrice, shame on me.", Glad One added.
"Our goals aren't wholly dissimilar. The conductor tried to kill me.", the cat responded.
"Hold on. That part was actually true. It would explain why you ran for cover and hunkered down with us.", Lake realized.
Just then, the group turned to a calm, yet sad Ghom.
"All right. We'll watch the tape, but only if you watch it first.", Tulip responded.
"Deal.", the cat before placing the tape inside and watching it first as Tulip looked away for a moment before noticing how entranced the cat is and growled a bit.
"Well, I guess we don't have any other choice but to go in.", Lake spoke before she and Tulip looked at the tv and gasped at the same time.
The next thing they knew, they were now in front of a tv screen which showed how Tulip, Lake, and the cat looked right now in the wrecked ball pit car before then turning to notice the cat sleeping before heading over to her and stopping near her. When they did, the cat woke up as one of her eyes opened first before the other did.
"Took you long enough. Luckily, I was in dire need of a catnap.", the cat spoke as she then sat up.
"Sleeping's creepy.", Glad One commented, surprising Tulip and Atticus.
"Aah! One-One! How'd you get here?", Tulip puzzled.
"I followed you.", Glad One responded.
"Yeah, but...how?", Tulip puzzled.
"How did you wind up in here with us?", Lake puzzled.
"I don't know.", Glad One responded.
"So, the chrome girl and the glorified wind-up toy will be joining us.", the cat spoke as she started off.
"I am glorious.", Sad One responded before Tulip, Lake, and One-One started following the cat through a corridor of slight static on the rips.
"So... what exactly are we looking for here?", Lake asked.
"We'll know it when we see it.", the cat only assured.
"Fine...", Lake sighed.
"But if you hated the conductor so much, why'd you help him?", Tulip puzzled as the group of four turned right on the corridor.
"Je suis dÉsolÉ. I thought if I found you, I'd be left alone.", the cat responded.
"That's funny. That didn't work at all!", Glad One responded before laughing, cracking himself up before calming down.
"No. It didn't.", the cat responded before she heard a static noise and noticed a wall of static behind them as it made itself known and grew into a wall with the cat going through it before Tulip and the others eventually followed the cat towards what appeared to be a classroom on a rainy day.
"Excellent work, Alrick.", the teacher spoke while handing him his paper with a grade on a red marker saying, "A+ Great job!" on the right of it while on the left, it showed the name "Alrick Jimmens" with the date below saying, "25/03/1963", which meant the 25th of March 1963 while the topic below them on paper was concerning the themes of "Alice in Wonderland", before the teacher hands the girl her results, which was apparently lackluster as far as she can tell.
"Perhaps you should spend less time with your toys, Amelia.", the teacher spoke.
"It's not a toy. It's a crystal radio.", Amelia retorted.
Then, just as Alrick felt bad for Amelia, Tulip and Lake walked over to him and grew curious about him.
"Who's this goof?", Tulip and Lake puzzled in unison.
"Someone very important.", the cat responded just before the teacher then sat down on her chair, which apparently had a whoopee cushion on it, alarming, if not disgusting, her, causing the children to laugh as Alrick grinned a bit giddily before Amelia gave a warm grin to him.
"Mark, I know it was you.", the teacher spoke to someone.
"Hahahaha! Again!", Glad One laughed before the memory apparently got rewound as she even went in reverse, puzzling Tulip and Lake before the scene played out again with the same results.
"One-One, did you do that?", Tulip puzzled.
"Yeah! I did! Again!", Glad One spoke.
"Ball! Cease this foolishness.", the cat urged.
"Fine-uhhhh.", Sad One groaned on response.
"One-one, how did you do that?", Lake puzzled.
"I dunno.", Glad One responded.
"Wha...?", Lake puzzled just before the bell rang, prompting the students to get off their seats and then leave in an orderly fashion with Tulip and Lake following close by.
However, the memory quickly advanced to another one 13 years later, leading to graduation.
"Engineering. Derived from the Latin words 'ingeniare', to contrive.", the man spoke through the microphone.
"It looks like some kind of graduation ceremony.", Lake guessed.
"This memory better not be another waste of time.", Tulip responded.
"I can't do this. There are too many people.", Alrick spoke nervously.
"You wanna make a run for it? Bunk off before they hand us diplomas?", Amelia asked jokingly, making Alrick laugh nervously.
"Here.", Amelia offered before she then got out her handkerchief to dry out the sweat on Alrick's face, much to Tulip's surprise just as the man on the microphone then finished his apparent speech.
"Congratulations, Class of '76.", The man finished before everyone then tossed out their hats in the air.
"Wait... Is that...?", Tulip puzzled as she noticed Amelia wiping the sweat off Alrick with her tissue.
Then, before long, another memory took place on yet another rainy day with Amelia and Alrick running across the sidewalk and the street with the two lovebirds laughing before they went in the phone booth.
"Quick, in here.", Amelia spoke to Alrick, who then noticed that he had no change.
"No change to call a cab, love.", Alrick stated.
"Wait, there's a new trick I learned. If we play the right tones into the receiver, we can control the network.", Amelia spoke before playing said tones, patching her through to the phone.
"Hello?", the operator puzzled.
"Whoa!", Alrick spoke in surprise.
"It worked! Hi. Y-Yes, we need a taxi.", Amelia spoke.
"Tell 'em we're sopping wet!", Alrick responded playfully.
"Shush. Shh. Shh. Shh. No, no. No, not you.", Amelia responded.
"Yes, you!", Alrick spoke.
"We're very dry. 100% dry. Very dry.", Amelia assured as Alrick wrung out the water in his hat on top of his head before both laughed.
"Ugh, this isn't helping.", Tulip groaned as she walked away.
It was only after arriving inside another memory inside the house that Tulip and Lake noticed Alrick playing a video game of sorts with a new pair of glasses before Amelia walked up to him before Alrick put his hood on turned around, stood up, and held a sort of voice changer near his mouth before speaking in a robot voice.
"A-mel-i-a.", Alrick spoke to Amelia, surprising Tulip and Lake.
"The conductor?!", Lake and Tulip exclaimed.
"Mm-hmm.", the cat responded.
"He was the one who attacked us?", Lake puzzled.
"D'une certaine façon.", the cat responded.
"It is I, your normal boyfriend. I am a hu-mon. This is how I sound now. I do hope that it's acceptable.", Alrick continued in a robotic voice.
"Oh, very acceptable, but you're obviously a robot.", Amelia responded, making Alrick gasp in surprise.
"And me? I'm just a simple hu-mon. But perhaps we can bridge the gap between our two civilizations.", Amelia finished as she walked toward Alrick and presented a sort of container with a perfectly cut, pink Spinel gemstone on top before opening it to show two engagement rings inside.
"So...what do you think?", Amelia asked before Alrick took his glasses off in surprise.
"Oh.", Alrick sighed while also taking off his hoodie before tearing up out of joy with Amelia and Alrick kissing each other on the lips a bit before they then hugged.
"Plato says love is a serious mental disease.", Sad One commented.
"That, we can agree upon, ball.", the cat concurred.
"So, this is the conductor's tape? He's just some...British guy?", Lake asked.
"What happened to him?", Lake puzzled.
"So impatient. Just watch.", the cat responded as One-One caught up to the others.
"No! We're done wasting time! I want to save my friend!", Tulip urged adamantly in a panicked manner.
"Let's blow this joint, Ms. Tulip!", Glad One agreed before both suddenly fell through the floor while being surrounded by a cylinder of memories inside and landed outside the house at night in the rain. Outside, four people close to both Alrick and Amelia were near the entry with one of them at the door before Tulip, Lake, One-One, and the cat both went through the door (literally) and then saw the conductor overcome with despair.
"Hey. C'mon. Please, open up. Look, I know it's hard, but it'll be good to go. We're all here for you.", the man assured.
"Uh, where's Amelia?", Tulip puzzled.
"Gone forever?", Sad One guessed.
"Well, the service... it's starting now.", the man spoke before the static then went all over the memory and altered it to a point that they are now in a new memory.
"Wha!", Tulip exclaimed in surprise before she noticed the cloaked being walking away on the street past the burger and pizza restaurant, especially past the engineering building and Kelly's Market before trying to catch up, only to find out that she couldn't even move any further than where she is now.
"Why can't we reach him?", Lake puzzled.
"The tape reflects how each memory was stored and the conductor keeps this memory at a distance.", the cat explained.
"Well, isn't he cooperative?", Lake glared.
"Beaten by the System.", Sad One stated.
"One-One, you rewound this tape earlier and you made us fall. Can you get us a better view?", Tulip asked.
"I think so.", Glad One responded before he, Tulip, Lake, and the cat both flew up as Tulip screamed before they stopped going up and stopped at a point where they saw a sort of brain-like maze.
"Huh?", Tulip puzzled before she then saw a certain memory that needed to be seen.
"There! Take us in.", Tulip spoke to One-One before the four started going down.
In the memory at night, though, the top of the campus suddenly disappeared before the conductor then moved in with Tulip, Lake, One-One, and the cat just behind him.
"Let's follow him.", Tulip suggested before they all moved in and were now in top of the campus where the train tracks were.
However, that was when the train first arrived, it blew the hoodie off her before it turned out to be none other than...
"Amelia?", Tulip puzzled in surprise before a door opened with a portal inside in front of Amelia, who started walking toward it before the tape stopped, bringing Tulip (who gasped), Lake, One-One, and the cat back to reality.
"Amelia...she's stuck here like me.", Tulip realized.
"Who would've thought that...?", Lake asked in surprise.
"Oui. Once upon a train, there was a different conductor. Until Amelia arrived and ousted them for her own purposes.", the cat replied.
"How does this help Atticus? We're right back where we started.", Tulip puzzled.
"Information is power, kitten. Notice anything...important?", the cat asked, pointing to the cannons on the train.
"Cannons.", Tulip spoke.
"Wait, so, the conductor repurposed that cannon? Which means... you could repurpose it, too.", Lake realized, giving Tulip a deeper realization.
"I could use it to save Atticus.", Tulip grinned.
"Ta-da.", the cat grinned.
"You dragged us through a tape when you could've just told us that in the first place?", Tulip puzzled.
"Oh. I guess I should've just told you how to save the dog?", the cat spoke sarcastically.
"Yes, you should've just told us!", Tulip retorted, making the cat gasp.
"But where's the showmanship?", the cat responded.
"Don't you get it? Seeing her tape just made things harder! It was easier when I thought the conductor was just some heartless robot thing! I would've crushed for what she did to Atticus if I went after them myself! She turned Atticus into a monster. I don't want to feel bad for her!", Tulip spoke before sighing and then realizing something else.
"But now, I know she's a person named Amelia who was in love and...she's hurt. And she's running away from the changes in her life...because she's afraid. Like me.", Tulip sighed as she knelt down a bit before Lake and One-One went over to Tulip and then gave a sad look.
Suddenly, her hand started glowing brightly, prompting Tulip to look at her hand and notice her number changing as One-One gleefully up and down before Tulip's number finally reached 0. At that moment, her hand then shot out green rays of light, temporarily blinding her before it dimmed down, making her gasp before a green light went down on the floor next to the gem door and formed a similar transparent door before the lever turned and opened, revealing a dimensional portal back home as it turned out that whatever happens to that person Tulip saw from the Grid Car was actually him getting back home.
"Is that...?", Lake puzzled in surprise.
"Home...", Tulip responded.
"Hooray! Now, you'll be gone forever!", Glad One cheered.
"To be clear, that's a good thing.", Sad One spoke before Tulip looked back at her number and closed her right hand.
"No. I can't leave while Atticus is still a monster. And I'm not leaving without you either, Lake.", Tulip responded as she turned and walked away toward Lake, making her grin fo a moment.
"But what about your door?", Lake puzzled.
"I'll just have to take it with me.", Tulip responded.
She came to a realization just as Ghom Atticus noticed Tulip returning.
"If the Conductor is just a person and the train is just a machine, then what's stopping me from doing what she did?", Tulip responded, looking back at one of the steward's broken tentacles.
Moments later, Lake, Tulip, and One-One all began to move debris, especially with One-one moving the balls away before Tulip and Lake were now moving the shuttle craft towards the exit door.
"It's like programming. We're gonna use your shuttle as a controller. I saw that the train has some kind of input socket next to the door.", Tulip said, referring to her notes as soon as the shuttlecraft was moved toward the exit door.
Tulip then used the metal tentacle to make it sprout into little bits that automatically typed some sort of code into the wall before it opened up, revealing an input socket next to the door, making her and Lake grin.
"Whoa! Look at you go, you genius.", Lake grinned.
But then, another thought crossed her mind.
"How do we connect the shuttle and the input?", Tulip puzzled.
"I can help.", Glad One assured.
One-One was already tearing a big wire off the shuttle craft.
"Did you just break my shuttlecraft?", the cat asked as she walked toward One-One.
"Depends. Who's asking?", Sad One smirked.
After connecting the wires from the tentacle to the wire of the shuttle craft, Tulip inserted the tentacle into the socket, powering up the shuttle craft with the cat hopping on.
"My paws are your paws. Where to, kitten?", the cat asked.
"Take us to the engine.", Tulip replied.
With a press of a lever and a push of a button, the car was sent up on top of the others and sent dashing forward. Ghom Atticus chittered excitedly as Tulip and Lake turned to him.
"That's right, Atticus. We're gonna turn you back.", Tulip said before they held hands, only noticing after half a second with Tulip leaning into Lake's shoulder, both still determined to cure Atticus and vice-versa.