Heaven Gilded Zarcroft Hybrid

Twenty One

Small white lights turned on along the aisle walls, turning it into a haunted doctor's office. I felt bad for leaving  Jamie alone, but I felt that having a second person with me would arouse suspicion.

No one had their cubicles open, so no one could stop me.

An arched door at the front of the car slid open leading into a short blueish hall with a closed room at the end.

It had a speaker beside the door frame with three colored buttons. One of them was a simple symbol of an open mouth, so I pressed it. The solid black doors opened to a sterile white room with curved walls and reflective tiled floor.

There were two cushioned, black chairs on the sides. There was no dashboard or buttons, not even a windshield. It looked like a laboratory.

A tall girl with long, bright pink hair slouched in one of the chairs. Her pale skin and the white room made her look ghostly. The uniform was just a full-body white suit with a single black zipper in the front. She stared at a bulky laptop in her lap.

I walked over.

    "Excuse me," I said. "Do you drive the train?"

She looked up with her bored, lined gray eyes. "No one drives the train."

    "I need to go somewhere specific."

    "Like..."

    "I need to go to a hotel to see someone. I don't know my way around. I just kinda ended up here."

    "Where are you from?"

I pretended to look worried and observed the room. "Is anyone listening? Should I tell you?"

She cracked a small smirk and closed her laptop. "No one's watching, dude."

I walked closer to her, and bowed down to her ear.

    "I'm from Earth," I whispered.

Her eyes shot open and she leaned forward. "No way... really? Prove it!"

    "Oh no!" I jumped back and threw my hood on. "Maybe I shouldn't have told you."

    "No no no!" She waved her hands to calm me. "You're a Dualgaean, you said?"

    "Is that what they call Earthlings?"

    "Well, it's the appropriate term."

I gasped. "Do you think people can tell?"

She shrugged. "No. You look South Earthonian. No one should notice. Not everyone has pointy ears there. Don't let it slip, though."

    "Really? Should I do something about it?"

    "No! It's cool."

She gently laid her laptop on the floor beside her and rose from her seat. Her eyes narrowed as she stepped closer to me and laid her hands on my shoulder. I didn't realize how much taller she was.

    "So you came through a rift?" she asked, softly. "I never saw one of you in person... Are you guys actually just like us? Do you dream? I heard you don't have dragons!"

    "Uh, no," I stammered. "We definitely don't have dragons. We had dinosaurs, but they're long, long gone. And we do dream. Most animals do."

    "And you're a Dualgaean male?"

    "Why?"

    "Woah. Do you really have a—"

    "Can you take me to The Kalypso?"

She leaned in closer. "Can you do something for me first?"

    "Do you know where the Kalypso is?"

    "The control guy does. He tells the train where to go."

    "Okay. Fine."

    "Awesome."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a phone along with a few coins, which all fell to the floor.

    "Spare change," she laughed. "Anyway... can I take a picture of your eyes?"

    "Uh... sure!"

    "Okay!"

She held her phone up close to my face. Really close. A red light spewed from her camera and shot right into my eye.

    "Ouch!" I flinched and covered my eyes.

    "Whoops!" she laughed, nervously. "Well, I got my picture! Your eyes are wonderful..."

    "So can you take me to The Kalypso?"

    "Of course!"

    "Great. Thanks!"

The girl walked around me, towards the door.

    "Farewell, good sir," she joked, and bowed.

    "You too," I forced a laugh. "Well, ma'am."

I finally left the room. That didn't go as badly as I thought. I expected some angry middle-aged man sitting in a dark room threatening me for money.

⚝⚝⚝

I walked back through the aisle, where all of the lights were on. People spoke from across the seats and kids ran from cubicle to cubicle with toys. Even our cubicle was wide open.

Cynaline and Dorothy sat across from each other, talking to Jamie, who sat on the floor with another cupcake.

I caught up with them.

    "Where'd you go, Jackie?" Dorothy asked.

    "I found a way to get us to The Kalypso."

    "You did? How?"

    "Persuasion."

I glanced over at Cynaline, but I quickly looked away. He was probably still upset with me.

    "How long will it take to get there?" Jamie rose to his feet, brushing off his pants.

"I don't know... Hopefully not that long."

As soon as I said that, I felt the train stop beneath my feet. The dark sky outside overlooked a meadow. But in the middle of the field stood an intricate, crystal blue building. Like a gigantic, upside-down ornate goblet with hundreds of perfectly aligned windows.

The artificial voice sounded from the ceiling. "Crystal Memoria Mall."

    "Is this it?" Cynaline asked.

No one else was getting out of their cubicles. Some were looking around, waiting for someone to get off the train.

    "Let's go," I said. "The Kalypso might be here."

    "What if it's not?" he wondered.

    "Then we'll try something else. We have to see. They promised they'll bring us there, and no one else seems to be going."

Dorothy grabbed the food bags. "Do we have to carry these around?"

Cynaline pulled out his teleporter remote, pressed a button, and set them inside of one of the bags.

     "Set them on the table!" he demanded.

As soon as Dorothy set them down, they glowed blue and warped from the air.

    "They're Mobi's problem, now." Cynaline brushed his hands together. "Let's hope he doesn't eat them all."

We collected our bookbags and started walking down the aisle. I tried my best to ignore the stares from passengers. Maybe it was strange seeing four teenagers walking into some weird mall and no one else. Or that the MorteVista made this random stop when people had places to go. That part made me feel guilty.

But we finally reached the exit and stepped off of the train.