Three days passed.
Halley idly rolled a pen back and forth on his desk. God, if he didn't hold up his "job" he was completely screwed. But he didn't know what he was going to do. Keep applying for jobs, maybe, but if he didn't get a paycheck when they expected him to, they'd know he lied about it. But if he fessed up now, they'd still be pissed. He wanted to stop digging his own grave but he just couldn't put the shovel down.
Three days.
He couldn't shake the image of the train out of his mind, nor could he forget about its drivers. Were they really coming back? Were they just part of a dream?
Suddenly, his father opened his bedroom door, and he prepared for the worst.
"Halley." he said gruffly. "Your mother and I are going out of town for the weekend."
Odd. It was Friday and they were only telling him now?
"Uh...alright."
"If you fuck up any part of your training or this job, we are kicking you out. When we get back early Monday, we're going to ask for details."
Halley swallowed hard.
"Sure, Dad."
Then, his father left.
He put his head down on his desk.
This was going to be a nightmare. Might as well start counting his options now. It wasn't like any of his friends would let him stay on their couches. He'd probably get the same thing from them, too.
He heard the car pull out of the driveway and almost immediately felt weight lift from his shoulders. At least they were gone. Now he could breathe.
Halley got up from his desk and wandered into the kitchen, habitually stepping in certain places to avoid squeaking the floorboards and making noise. Just as he got the cereal and the milk and a bowl and a spoon laid out on the counter, he could hear a train whistle outside.
When he turned to look out the window, both of the twins were standing there in his kitchen.
"What the FUCK?!" he shouted, nearly jumping out of his skin. "Jesus Christ on a cross! Are you two trying to kill me?"
"Yes!" Solano answered, but Luno elbowed him in the side.
"How the Hell did you get here? And so fast?"
"The door." Luno replied. "It was unlocked."
Halley sighed and leaned back against the counter.
"I really have gone off the deep end." he muttered. "Well, you're here. Now what?"
"We hardly know a thing about you!" Solano said. "So we have to change that!"
Halley turned back around and poured his cereal.
"Not much to know. I'm really not all that remarkable. I also have two train conductors standing in my kitchen."
"Actually, I am the driver, and Luno is the fireman! And the conductor sometimes!"
"Explains why he's always covered in coal dust."
Luno took off his cap and shook it out a bit. Halley poured the milk and swore under his breath when some of it missed the bowl and landed on the counter.
"I can't even have cereal correctly." he half joked. "I need to get out of here."
"Why are you so eager to leave?" Luno asked. "It seems your needs are met here."
Halley sighed again and took the last of the paper towel from its roll.
"Not all of them. My folks don't give a damn about me. They just want me to move out so my mom can make my room into, like, some kind of weird art gallery thing. She isn't even that good. Hold this for a second." he said, handing the empty cardboard tube to Luno.
As he opened a cabinet looking for a new roll, Luno looked from the tube to Solano, then hit him in the head with it.
"Hey!" Solano hissed.
"I was consumed by an overwhelming urge I could not deny."
Halley wiped the milk from the counter and took the tube, then tossed it in the trash. He picked up his bowl of cereal.
"I've been trying to get a job for months now. Had an interview the day before we first met and it went badly." he said. "Then I told them I actually got the job when I didn't. Dad said if I screw anything up this weekend while they're out of town, they're kicking me out. I don't really have anywhere to go."
"Probably why you impulsively want to work for the railroad that binds the universe together!" Solano exclaimed. "Good thing we came here to talk to you more first!"
Luno clasped his hands behind his back.
"There are several terms to this agreement." he said. "You will not be compensated with any kind of physical currency, but instead with time."
"Time? What's that supposed to mean?" Halley asked.
"For as long as you are under our employment, you will never age or die of natural circumstances. As I have told you before, this is a commitment for eternity."
"So I'm gonna be immortal?"
"Yes. But should you decide to cease your employment with us, you will live out the rest of your human life as normal. You may leave as you please."
"But!" Solano interjected. "There is more!"
"To begin a new life, you must end your current one." Luno said. "It will not be easy, but you will be made anew."
Halley froze.
"Wait. End my current life?" he asked. "Does that mean you're gonna kill me?"
"I wouldn't have put it so bluntly!" Solano answered. "But yes!"
Halley blinked.
"You will have more time to consider this decision. Solano and I intend to spend the next couple of days alongside you, to help guide you to the decision you feel you must make." Luno said. "Your death is no death at all. We will ensure your safe departure and arrival to the other side."
This was a lot. Far more than Halley had bargained for.
"Halley." Luno said. "Are you prepared to make the leap?"
There were a few seconds of silence before Halley spoke.
"Yes."
