On The Empty Tracks Of Sodor (GOTP AU)

14. To Start To Help To Heal

Blades' optics were wide as saucers, his mouth open as he stared at the collective of bots in the bunker. His finger slowly moved over the group, "One, two, three, four... Boulder-"

"Blades," Boulder stepped forward to intercept the copter, "Blades, look. I can explain-"

"You told me nothing was going on!"

"No, I told you 'nothing out of the ordinary,' and with everything else we've dealt with on this island, nine new mosaics aren't exactly out of the ordinary for us."

The copter suddenly changed shape in a flash of orange sparkles, his rotors turning into fluttering wings like a dragonfly's that sent gusts swirling along the floor, and his body disconnecting at the joints, but hovering in place together like a kite connected by tiny strings. Definitely the air mosaic Boulder had said one of his brothers was.

"You dumb tractor! I could have been here, I could have helped!" He argued, his voice echoing a bit like many voices at once. Even Boulder seemed a little startled.

"I know, I know! But I wanted you to get your break, and we've been doing just fine so far-"

"How much sleep have you gotten!? Energon? We can't afford to be wearing ourselves out with Chase missing and Heatwave down!"

"He's been getting his sleep and fuel, Blades..."
Boulder looked relieved when Graham came to his rescue, "I've made sure of it. Everyone here has been taking care of themselves in your absence..."

Blades looked at the human engineer for a moment, and then reverted back to normal as he landed on the ground again. "Fine. Fine. It's fine... Go on."

"Okay, so first? Introductions. This is Cranky, Diesel, Thomas, Percy, Edward, Gordon, Henry, James, and Emily. They are the Sodorian Mosaics from the island of Sodor in nineteen-twenty-five."

"...Wow."

"Yeah. Anyway, they arrived about the same time I sent you off, so just a few days. I've been working with them to try and figure out how they got here and why, and we think we've determined something- Now, keep your cool about this one, Blades."

Blades frowned, "What's that supposed to mean...?"

"So... We think that what happened was that... another anomaly took Chase and Cody and put the Sodorians here as a replacement."

Blades was stiff for a moment and then gave a slow, hesitant nod. "Okay... go on, go on. What proof do we have of this assessment?"

"So they showed up about the same time Chase and Cody vanished. We can't get their signals anywhere, but these nine popped up like daisies in the snow. Their memory of Sodor is different enough from the Sodor I found them on here that I'm pretty sure they're alternate Sodors-" He looked back to the engines, "-I will get to that."

"So someone took Cody and Chase, put the Sodorians here to try to hide it, and Mother found out and now is tearing into them and demanding their return." Blades took in a deep breath, and then closed his optics. "...Okay... So what do we do in the meantime?"

"For now, I'm focusing on helping the Sodorians get grips on their elemental powers. I don't know if they'll retain them when they return to their own world, but for now, I'd like for James and Emily to not set themselves or anyone else on fire."

"Fire. That's new."

"Agreed."

"Okay, okay... So, any air?"

"Possibly one, but it's still early."

"O-Okay, okay, just give me a minute." Blades closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. "This is... a lot, on top of everything that happened out in Crown City too? I don't-"