Essentia Animus

14-Late Admission

The nearly vacant train continued along it's extended circuit as the shadows of the evening took hold over the sky. Quickly the natural light of the city was being replaced by the ambience of artificial light, the gift-powered networks of street lamps remaining the sole contribution of light.

Khyzae looked over the evening city, herself pondering being so self-aware that the lamps around here would work as she surmised. It would mean there was a network of people responsible for keeping the lights going, maybe into the night. She pondered the thought in doubt, not fully certain if such staff would actually keep going until morning. Certainly people would be given a break once the night took over, bringing a cover of darkness to the city. Khyzae took a chance to look up to the sky, the black of the sky appearing almost devoid of the stars she loved. Certainly, it would only make sense for there to be a time when the beauty of the night sky was given it's chance to shine, letting everyone relax for once.

Vwyx herself wasn't all that relaxed, also having peeked out the window. The train had been travelling along a raised track the entire trip, elevated high above the ground. The view from the window to the ground was staggering, reminding her in a subtle way of the view from the observatory window. She had become interested in the sight out of curiosity for Khyzae's apparent interest, but a sudden shot of fear dissuaded her from keeping to the window any longer. Vwyx was almost shaking, recalling Khyzae's broken form after it had been thrown from the observatory, evidence of exactly what a catastrophic fall could do for a person. She might not be compensating for the propulsion from the included explosion, but that was beside the point.

Sryine took the offered window seat after it was abandoned, taking account of the city as they drove past. Things had suddenly gone a bit awry, having lost contact with their original guide. The information posted did say that the trains operated in a one-way circuit, making a loop around a predetermined path along its tracks before eventually returning to its place of origin. Certainly that implied that they would only need to wait and they would eventually return to where they started. Then it would only be a matter of finding Fhyernx and figuring out everything from there. Still, it was troubling, they were the last one's riding in their cart, the entire system having slowed down considerably with lack of sufficient gift to keep it going. They had already been riding the train for quite a while, just how long was this particular circuit?

"Next stop, Riverside District. Next stop, Riverside District. Please be aware that this is the final stop of this train for the night. All passengers are asked to disembark promptly." A voice echoed across the train from it's intercom system, a message from the drivers. Wait, final stop? This train wouldn't be going any further? Khyzae was brought back from admiring the sights outside the train to witness things from the inside. Of course, if the train was this empty, there would be no reason to suffer keeping it going. The three girls had been making small contributions with their gift with the support of their transit pass as a focus, but just as she was suspecting of the lights outside, the train and its staff would be needing time to rest as well.

"Let's just get going. We can find a place to spend the night, and figure out what we're going to do in the morning." "But.. what about your friends?" "Sryine, you two are my friends, I still know Fhyernx about as well as you do. From my perspective, Vwyx has more of a history with Fhyernx than I do." It was something that was really troubling her, something bugging her at each turn along the way. There was all the obligation for being friends with someone, the weight of obligation suffocating her in her inability to deliver. She was the Khyzae he knew, the Khyzae they all knew.. and yet she wasn't, not by how she felt. As they kept going along with everything, Khyzae had been left wondering just how much of a good idea this really was. Meeting up with friends who knew her, but not her them. Everything felt like she was trying to live a lie, and it was becoming too much. As they got off the train and started to make their way from the train station, she decided to open up to her actual friends about her feelings.