Siri stood at the train station, waiting for the next train to come in. The air was cold, a lot colder than she had originally expected it to be. She was glad that she had wrapped her thick scarf around her neck before she had left the apartment. She tightened her grip on the suitcase that was in her hand as she remembered the letter she had left for Rennan. It was all in a language he could not read, which would give her a little more time. He would feast upon the puzzle like he feasted upon his beloved roast beef. Basically the gist of it was that she was leaving him to go somewhere more politically stable than where he was now.
“TRAIN NUMBER 413 TO THEREMIN STATION IS NOW ARRIVING ON PLATFORM FIVE. PLEASE STAND BEHIND THE ORANGE LINE. THE TRAIN IS THREE MINUTES BEHIND SCHEDULE. I REPEAT: TRAIN NUMBER 413 TO THEREMIN STATION IS NOW ARRIVING ON PLATFORM FIVE.” The announcer’s voice was one which travelled everywhere. It was always the same voice. It used to be a comfort, a constant in a world of radical variables. Now, Siri found it unsettling. She felt like the announcer was watching her through the ever-present, ever-vigilant surveillance cameras.
The clean lines of the train bounded into the station and halted with a hiss. The doors slid open silently and she stepped on, with a group of other strangers she hoped she would never see again, for their own safety. The doors slid shut after an exceedingly short period of time, and the train took off smoothly down its monorail track toward Theremin Station.
Siri realized she may have made a mistake by allowing herself to get into a sealed tube to escape. There was no way out if they came for her here. There were many innocent bystanders if she needed to pull the las-pistol out of her suitcase. But there was no other way to get across the inlet other than to swim, and it was far too cold outside for that now. She tucked a fallen lock of her black hair out of her eyes and covered her face more with the large white scarf.
The train moved along the rail at a fast pace. The other people in the car with her sat silently. One gentleman read the news on his holotab. An elderly woman rested her eyes. A thyer was typing fervently at something that apparently only existed to her. There was nothing there that pointed to any potential unrest on the train to Theremin Station.
They arrived there about twenty minutes later. Theremin Station was a gleaming and bustling hub of travel and commerce in the city of Faldon. Everyone in the station moved at a very brisk pace—except for the oliphs, who moved as fast as their large bodies would allow, which was not quite as fast as everybody else in the station.
Siri stepped onto the platform and immediately turned left. She walked for a few strides before she felt something poke the back of her head. It was cold and relatively square in shape. A male voice spoke to her quietly: “Don’t move. I want you to turn around very slowly and do not scream.”
Rennan woke up, yanked the needle from his arm, and screamed. He did not like dreaming about Siri. She was the only one whose head he could not get inside of. She was the only one whose motive he knew nothing of. Why did they make him dream of her? What piece of the puzzle did she become?
“WHY?” he cried.
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