Chapter 15: The Innocent’s Abroad, by Mark Twain – Part 1

September 25, 2652 – 367 Days Before Judgment Day

The Lake Ellis Train Station was a small and somewhat rickety train platform made out of matchsticks and peeling paint. Everything from the station house, the benches, the stairs, and the even the platform itself was made of wood which in a kinder time, would’ve seen about a billion code violations but fortunately, that wasn’t a problem here inside the Columbus Server. After all, it’s not like the station could burn down, the trains derail, or anyone contract tetanus from inside the virtual environment so instead, the old-timey station simply had an abundance of character.

It was currently still the early morning, a few hours after first light perhaps, but not so late that the morning fog had dissipated.

“Whew! Made it,” Riley said breathily upon reaching the top of the train’s platform.

“See? I told you we would,” Lucius said from behind Riley.

“Yeah, yeah,” Aaron muttered as he finally crossed the threshold.

After walking up the stairs, to the immediate right of the trio was the departure’s side of the station and parked there on its rails with its passenger car’s open was Continental Express 188. As the name implied, the Continental Express was a transcontinental railway service which ran across the whole of Arcadia. Arcadia was 1 of 3 traversable continents in Butterfly’s Dream on the Columbus Server and also the one boasting the highest population.

The Continental Express itself looked and operated like a coal-fired locomotive during the Age of Steam but without the choking ash. It’s passenger cars were modeled after the posh styles at the time, complete with seating, dining, and sleeping cabins, which were accessible by entering and exiting through the non-vestibuled car end doors.

Boarding the Continental Express required purchasing a ticket from the station house, which the trio did, before they stepped aboard the Continental Express. Once aboard, their tickets automatically prompted them to select between automatic or manual exit options, as it was possible to disconnect from the server due to the RSS while riding the train.

“How long do we have until the train leaves?” Riley asked.

Aaron pulled down his HUD and reported, “About 5 minutes.”

“All right. My slot in the RRS is coming up so I’ll be gone for a bit,” said Riley. “I should be back before we arrive at New Haven but if not, I’ve set it to automatically disembark there.”

“Same,” said Lucius.

“Got it,” said Aaron.

“When’s yours again?” Riley asked Aaron.

“Mine’s an hour after you guys so you’ll have to wait for me,” said Aaron.

“Well that sucks,” said Riley. “We lost an hour. We can’t go anywhere until you’re back.”

“I know. But it happens,” said Aaron. “At least you’ll have plenty of time to do repairs and buy other stuff.”

“No repairs, remember? Only through DIY kits,” said Riley.

“Oh. Right… So how many DIY kits do we have left?” Aaron asked.

“We used one yesterday on the P-90 so we’re down to 3,” Lucius reported.

“Okay, so that’s 3 between my armor and her gun,” said Aaron. “If we space it out and wait until we’re deep in the red, we might be able to make it. It’s up to the gacha gods.”

“Well, we might be able to buy 1 or 2 more from the Auction House if we’re lucky,” said Riley.

“Let’s hope we’re lucky then,” said Aaron.

Just then, Riley and Lucius began to glow.

“All right, time’s up. I’ll see you guys in an hour,” said Riley.

“In 2 hours,” Lucius corrected. “You’ll only see me in an hour.”

“You know what I meant,” said Riley.

Lucius opened his mouth to retort but they beamed away before he could say anything.

Shortly thereafter, the whistle on the Continental Express released 2 long blasts, which indicated the call for final boarding before departure. The morning mist had just about dissipated. From his seat, Aaron stared out the window and observed an older gentleman run towards the station house to try and purchase a ticket. While the older gentleman was still at the station house, Aaron felt the locomotive shake as the brakes were released. Then, the train whistled once more and began to shake.

Aaron got off from his seat, ran towards and opened the train car door, and yelled, “Hey! Come on!”

The older gentleman had begun running parallel to the train, which had by this time begun slowly rolling forward. Aaron reached out with an outstretched hand, the older man reached out with his, and in a single motion, Aaron pulled the stranger aboard.

“Whew! Thank you,” said the grateful stranger.

“Sure. No problem,” Aaron replied.

“I didn’t think there would be anyone else aboard,” said the stranger. “Hi! I’m Virgil.”

“Aaron,” Aaron replied.

Virgil #70 was a gray-haired, mustached, and monocle-wearing man who was absolutely rocking the Sunday-best aesthetic. Even though it was pretty obvious that the man had terrible time-management, Aaron felt that Virgil had a certain dignity about him.

“I’ve never seen you before,” said Virgil. “Just visiting?”

“Yeah, you could say that,” Aaron replied.

“How’d you like it?” Virgil asked.

“It was nice,” Aaron replied. “We didn’t stay long but we had fun.”

Virgil raised a brow and stressed, “We?”

Aaron blushed and said, “My friends. They’re on RRS right now.”

“Ahhh,” Virgil uttered while nodding understandingly. “So Bunker Turtles.”

Like a deer caught in headlights, Aaron froze and in response, Virgil chuckled.

“Don’t worry; I won’t tell anyone,” Virgil promised in a lighthearted but trustworthy way.

“Thank you,” Aaron mumbled meekly.

Just then, the passenger carriage jostled slightly as the train made a slight turn and began crossing a curved viaduct that slowly sloped and spanned across a long, deep, and forested valley. Even as an imitation, words cannot do justice to nature’s majesty. Clear cerulean skies were painstakingly recreated across a digital canvas while a gorgeous and sweeping panoramic view of the wooded valley stretched both to and beyond the visible horizon. With the sun at one’s back, it felt glorious to take in the sights, smells, and even warmth as the Continental Express pressed on.

“Magnificent, isn’t it? It took almost 2 years for the devs to get all the details right. Can you believe that only 5 people have ever been down there in the last year and a half?” Virgil asked.

“Wait, really?” Aaron expressed incredulously.

“Oh yeah,” Virgil confirmed. “There’s a stop where you can get off coming up but no one ever does.”

“I didn’t see a stop when we came here,” said Aaron.

“That’s because you were coming in on the arrival track. This stop only appears during departures,” Virgil explained.

“Huh. I didn’t know that,” Aaron offered in response.

Unprompted, Virgil asked, “So if you’re leaving, then I’m assuming that you leveled to 280 and you’re now hunting trophies?”

Aaron furrowed his brow and tried to scrutinize this mysterious man. “How do you know all this?” he asked.

Virgil laughed but in an amused, not mocking way. Then, he said, “I’m old, remember? This isn’t my first culling, even if it is my last.”

It was at this moment that Aaron felt the pang of genuine shock and surprise. It was also at this moment that he had never felt so stupid. The last culling was only 25 years ago – of course there had to be survivors! Why didn’t he think of that? Why did he spend so many hours combing through the archives, sifting through unverifiable accounts of dubious reliability when he could have; should have asked a veteran instead?