0:04

I clamored down the rusted metal ladder,

0:07

my shoes echoing around the cavern walls.

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And with a grunt, I jump down from

0:55

the lowermost rung to the pile of trash

0:57

and scrap beneath, my flashlight

1:00

passing over the streaming, humid heaps

1:02

in the darkness. Yeah,

1:05

I'm a madman. I get

1:07

my kicks exploring my city's sewer networks.

1:10

It's gotten to the point now that I know the waterway

1:12

system like the back of my hand. I'm

1:14

not in any danger, and I'm not going

1:16

to get suddenly flooded out and washed away like

1:19

in the cartoons. That being

1:21

said, however, I've gone a little deeper

1:23

than normal this time. I just

1:25

couldn't help myself. I mean, come

1:28

on, a secret door tucked away in

1:30

the shadows of an underground alcove, way

1:33

out by the far edge of the city sewers. I

1:35

just had to go down. The

1:37

first time I tried, I opened the door, saw

1:40

the ladder, and chickened out. Same

1:42

story with attempt number two. But

1:45

here I am, third attempt and a week

1:47

later, down at the bottom of the ladder

1:49

in question, lower than I thought it

1:51

was possible to go in this secretive

1:53

underground cavern. Batman, you down

1:55

here? I call out into the gloom and

1:58

my voice wobbles and echoes through the

2:00

darkness, bouncing

2:01

off the rock walls and cracked

2:03

remains of the concrete beams.

2:05

The poor attempt at a joke.

2:07

I swallow, listening as my echo

2:09

reverberates further and further away. Water

2:13

leaks and drips from little rivets in

2:15

the ceiling, which is to say the

2:17

rocky roof of this enormous cavern.

2:20

I think I can hear it streaming somewhere nearby

2:22

as well. I can't see it though.

2:25

I see nothing but ruin.

2:27

Mountains and valleys of flood-streaked

2:29

scrap metal, of a black, tarry

2:32

sludge-like substance.

2:34

I see broken segments of pipes, old

2:36

tires, all torn up and damaged,

2:39

and I see other stuff too. Splashes

2:41

of color here and there. Smashed

2:44

up segments of old carnival rides, a

2:46

piece of a carousel,

2:47

a section of what might have once been

2:49

rollercoaster tracks. The hell,

2:52

there's all kind of mad junk down here. I

2:55

snap a few pictures. Woah, this

2:57

place, man. I murmur to no

2:59

one, casting the light of my beam through

3:01

the darkness. Far away

3:04

through the cavern is a heap of junk adorned

3:06

with little lights, flashing,

3:08

blinking reds and blues.

3:11

In the darkness it looks like some kind

3:13

of massive, shadowy skeleton, and

3:16

my curiosity bids me to head on over.

3:19

I climb across the piles of junk, careful

3:21

to take the surest and flattest paths possible

3:24

to minimize risk, crossing

3:26

over girdles and bridges of rusted

3:28

metal panels. I pass

3:30

by a series of tanks, all faded

3:32

and old, and burned by

3:34

the look of them. Not sure how a fire

3:37

could break out in a place as dank as this,

3:39

but they're burned alright, charred

3:41

and blackened by smoke and flames. I

3:44

scan the flashlight beam across the ground,

3:46

and, half submerged and gunk, a

3:49

pale, faceless corpse stares back

3:51

up at me. I shout out in alarm

3:53

and fright, but I laugh it off as best

3:55

as I can when I realize that the corpse

3:58

is nothing more than a dummy. A mannequin

4:00

or whatever they're called.

4:02

Jesus. I mutter in

4:04

the gloom, raising the flashlight a little. The

4:07

dummy is one of many. Several

4:10

lie sinking in the goop at the base of a mountain

4:12

of debris. Others are buried within

4:14

it. I take a few pictures, doing

4:17

my best to calm the beating of my heart, and

4:19

I continue on along my way through

4:21

the dark towards the subtly glittering

4:23

mountain.

4:24

Step by cautious step over

4:27

and between the desolation, I clamor

4:29

up a little hill of scrap metal coming

4:31

to a sudden rapid stop as I realize

4:34

that the floor doesn't go any further, instead

4:37

giving way to a steep drop and

4:39

a black, silent lake below.

4:42

This lake acts like a kind of moat,

4:44

preventing me from getting any closer to the mountain

4:47

with its surviving LEDs.

4:49

I clench my jaw and raise the beam of my

4:51

flashlight across the mountain.

4:53

The LEDs glow from within a series

4:55

of dark, interlocking gears and wires.

4:59

Monstrous metal panels, jumbled cogs

5:01

and pistons, scattered broken

5:03

pipes arranged almost in the shape of

5:05

a massive ribcage, giving a section

5:07

of the mountain that skeleton-like appearance

5:10

I noticed earlier.

5:11

And amongst it all, I

5:14

squint. In the center of

5:16

the mountain is a massive rectangle

5:18

of metal in faded blue, rested

5:21

and scratched and scarred and burnt.

5:24

The

5:25

hell is that? I mutter,

5:27

stepping right up to the edge of the hill of scrap.

5:30

There's a word emblazoned across the side of the

5:33

metal blue box. The letters are scuffed,

5:35

but I can still just about read them.

5:37

I think they say, Tommy?

5:40

I whisper, then louder.

5:42

Tommy, what you got for me, Tommy?

5:45

I don't know what I was expecting with this question

5:47

to tell the truth, but what I was

5:49

What I was not expecting was an answer.

5:52

A deep, low groan rises up

5:54

from the mountain of metal before me. Hogs

5:57

and gears begin to whirl, and the LEDs

5:59

fla- flash

6:00

from red and blue to yellow.

6:02

One by one, like little fireflies

6:05

in the darkness.

6:09

Rumbles of voice from the mountain. Cold

6:12

fear stabs into me like a blade slicing

6:14

its way up my spine.

6:16

I stagger backwards in abject horror,

6:18

unable to speak or scream as I

6:21

crash down onto my elbows, my

6:23

phone lost from my hand to the darkness.

6:26

Something begins to emerge from the mountain.

6:28

At first I see only its silhouette,

6:31

rising up, pushing aside the scrap

6:33

and the wreckage with grinding and clattering

6:36

shards and pistons. The massive

6:38

metal blue box. It groans

6:41

and it twists around. To

6:43

Tommy, I whisper, my

6:46

throat dry and cracked.

6:48

Madison?

6:50

The voice says.

6:52

Madison, is that you?

6:55

The massive blue box is the machine's body.

6:58

It cracks and spreads out, it raises

7:00

itself unsteadily up onto enormous,

7:03

clanking metal legs. Eight

7:05

spindly iron legs like a spider.

7:09

It sends out a rumble through the shadows, blinking

7:11

yellow LEDs shivering into life

7:14

across its monstrous form.

7:16

I may have lost my phone for now, but

7:18

I still have my flashlight. I fumble

7:21

for it in the dark, grab a hold, and

7:23

flick it back on in a shaking hand.

7:25

The beam lands on the monster's face.

7:28

A protruding circle of grey juts

7:30

out from the front of the machine.

7:32

A grin has been carved and painted into

7:34

what looks like hard-chipped plastic,

7:37

a nose too carved into this metal.

7:39

But the eyes, the eyes were gone.

7:43

There are only two hollow tunnels of darkness,

7:46

stuffed with wires and blinking lights.

7:48

Madison,

7:50

where are you?

7:53

Murners the machine, its grin

7:55

unmoving. It rocks from side

7:58

to side, adjusting the position of one

8:00

of it's many legs as the last shards

8:02

and clumps of ruin and rec tumble

8:04

from it's side and down the mountain some

8:07

of the pieces clatter all the way to the base

8:09

and splash into the waters below us it

8:12

looks like a train this monster

8:15

perhaps it was once designed with an appeal

8:17

to kids in mind but now now

8:20

it's nothing more than a nightmare come to life

8:22

what the hell are you i croak out

8:25

frozen to the spot the face

8:27

of the great train wheels around to stare

8:29

at me with it's many empty eye sockets

8:34

just

8:34

the train asks it's voice

8:37

is high pitched and feminine like a child's

8:39

with a deep rumbling metallic undertone

8:43

it reverberates through the gloom of the cavern

8:45

echoing away down into the darkness

8:47

in all directions know

8:50

i

8:50

stutter in reply my

8:52

name is peter peter

8:54

warbles

8:55

the voice of the great train both

8:58

high and low and it's tones do

9:00

you might play on truly

9:02

peter

9:04

madison loves to play on

9:07

the trail you a chill shivers

9:09

across my skin i

9:10

find the nerve to rise unsteadily to

9:12

my feet play

9:14

i repeat the

9:16

train what happened to you

9:19

tommy is it what are

9:21

you tommy

9:24

the train creaks lifting it's face

9:26

up towards the ceiling yes

9:29

that sounds right i

9:31

think i

9:34

am tommy tommy

9:37

was safe tommy

9:40

was safe

9:42

itami it it's okay i'm

9:45

i'm just have a visitor

9:47

i like to explore i

9:49

shake violently behold my ground

9:51

trying not to avoid any sudden movements

9:54

what happens u

9:56

s to remember

10:00

peter i

10:02

remember being

10:04

side i

10:06

remember wanting

10:09

to play

10:11

are supposed to drive children

10:13

around the tracks and

10:15

swan

10:16

he could be fine a

10:18

sad time he

10:20

was going to save them i

10:23

don't i don't remember

10:26

the never really surround maxed

10:29

there is a deep resident misery in this

10:31

creatures voice it tugs at my

10:33

height and simultaneously turns

10:35

my stomach how isis a fire

10:39

paralyse there were

10:42

flames type

10:45

mice and

10:46

men i was down here i've

10:50

been down here for a long time

10:53

peter a

10:55

long long time

10:59

i made the tracks for zero for

11:02

the show streaming from

11:04

out he soon

11:06

i'm not a kid anymore tommy

11:08

i say gently i don't

11:10

think i get the same fun out of the train ride

11:12

that the kids would i

11:14

cast my eyes of the trains terrible

11:16

legs one of them twitches three

11:19

of them learn the train inches a little

11:21

higher up the mountain clamoring just

11:23

a little closer it's body

11:25

grinds and creeks and worse

11:28

maybe maybe i could go get

11:30

some kids real i'll go find them

11:32

i'll leave day i'll be right back i

11:34

inch backwards taking retreating step

11:37

my foot knox into an old spring and

11:39

a tumbled down the hill behind me landing

11:42

in a pool of gunk with a sickly splash

11:44

the train twitches and

11:46

judges forward and i suck some damp

11:48

stale air through my teeth know

11:51

he says simply than louder

11:53

you know

11:54

where he said hamilton said

11:56

he left edge

11:59

who to Tommy, I whisper, who

12:02

said that to you? You can't leave! You

12:04

can't leave me! Ride

12:06

the tracks! You have to play, Peter!

12:09

You have to play!

12:11

Yellow light flashes in the ruins

12:13

of the train's eye sockets, and it

12:15

hauls itself up to full height, an

12:17

emotion of surprising and sickening speed.

12:20

It leans far forward towards me, using

12:23

six of its legs to anchor itself to the

12:25

mountainside. There isn't even

12:27

time for me to scream. Tommy

12:29

reaches out one of his legs and roughly

12:31

shoves the metal panels upon which I stand.

12:34

They are sent tumbling out before me and down

12:36

into the water, and I am knocked violently

12:39

backwards, falling, crashing

12:41

down with a thud and a sharp jab of

12:43

pain into some kind of rudimentary

12:45

cart, like a mine cart. I

12:47

clamor up to the side and peer over the edge.

12:50

There's barely even enough space for one person

12:52

inside. The cart is on

12:54

some kind of track. The wheels

12:57

attached are all of different makes. I

12:59

watch dumbfounded as Tommy uses

13:01

his leg to clear away the debris on the tracks.

13:04

Tommy! I shout out. Wait

13:06

please! But the train does not. A circle

13:09

of light flashes in the mechanisms of his cracked

13:11

and broken body and the same

13:13

circle of light appears from the mechanisms

13:15

of the cart. I try to climb

13:17

out, but I am too late. Tommy

13:20

pulls back, retreating to the top of his

13:22

mountain of junk. A black silhouette

13:24

in the darkness as the cart is lurched into

13:26

life, pulled forwards down the side

13:28

of the hill towards the water below. I

13:31

scream out, one hand on my flashlight,

13:33

the other gripped with white knuckles to the rim of

13:35

the cart. The air rushes past

13:37

my face and I shield my eyes with the flashlight

13:40

as the cart hits

13:41

the water and it splashes up and out

13:43

in all directions. The cart does

13:45

not sink however, it is carried hastily

13:48

and chaotically along the river on on the ground.

14:00

train on eight spindly metal

14:02

legs, a dark shadow glowing

14:04

yellow from the eyes, before I am

14:06

hurled around a corner and Tommy is lost

14:08

from sight. I swear

14:10

and curse an alarm as the cart is violently

14:13

carried around on these chaotic rails, up

14:15

and out of the water with a splash of dark

14:18

spray, through the rocks and concrete

14:20

to caverns unknown. Whistling

14:22

and whirring through the darkness, my

14:25

hair blown back from my forehead. I

14:29

mutter again and again,

14:30

casting the beam of the flashlight

14:32

this way and that, getting only the

14:34

briefest of glances at my surroundings as

14:36

I tear through them. There is nothing I

14:38

can do now but to hold on tight, and

14:40

hope for the best. I pass

14:43

through a room stacked with speakers, all

14:45

kinds, from the 90s and the 2000s, massive great

14:49

things with wires spilled from the sides,

14:52

bullhorns and megaphones. I

14:54

duck as a leaning pole swings by

14:56

overhead. I cry out in alarm. The

14:59

speakers and wires in here, they've been

15:01

twisted and reshaped, twisted

15:04

into the shapes of bushes, of trees,

15:06

flowers, different colored wires

15:09

for different colored petals.

15:10

A voice carries out through the darkness. A

15:13

voice I do not recognize. The

15:15

children love the train, he says, his

15:18

voice like the wind. Madison loves

15:20

the train. Allow me to help her.

15:22

Something

15:25

ethereal echoes and rumbles through the darkness,

15:27

and I feel the hairs on my arms all rise

15:30

in unison. The cart takes us

15:32

through an arch in the rock to a room much

15:34

wider and larger than the previous.

15:36

The voice cries out behind me, I

15:39

can save her! Tommy can save her!

15:41

But the words are lost as the rails carry

15:44

us upwards, upwards through the dark

15:46

and leaving the ruin and wreckage on the ground

15:48

far below.

15:50

I reel in fright, has colorful lights

15:52

dance and drift across my field of vision.

15:55

The beam of the flashlight reveals they are connected

15:58

to various intricate mobiles.

16:00

Spinning and whirring and jolting

16:02

with grinding gears and sparking cogs

16:04

near the ceiling, and in great,

16:07

shambolic towers striking upwards

16:09

from below. What is this place?

16:12

I cry out, screaming and gripping tight

16:14

to the rim of the car for all I'm worth as

16:16

it tips over an edge and speeds down, down

16:19

like a roller coaster before being carried

16:21

way back up. My stomach lurches

16:23

in dismay.

16:24

Tommy? I shout out.

16:26

Is that you? Please, please let me

16:28

off. No! Roars

16:31

the voice, its mechanical edge grinding

16:33

with sudden fury. You have to play!

16:37

And so the cart is carried onwards through the dark.

16:40

Over to my left, a sudden flash of light catches

16:42

my eye. I look over, squinting

16:45

through the blasts of stale, putrid air

16:47

and a massive, torn projector screen flashes

16:50

into life.

16:51

It depicts some security footage.

16:53

like it's coming from a camera in the corner

16:56

of a room.

16:57

A lab, I think.

16:59

There's equipment, strange machines.

17:02

There's a man in there, too, talking to a couple

17:04

who both seem distressed. The

17:06

picture quality glitches a little, then refocuses.

17:10

There's a little girl in the room, too, though

17:12

she isn't with the others. She's watching

17:14

a train go by outside, filled

17:17

with kids her age, all laughing.

17:21

The woman asks, burying her face in

17:23

her hands, sobbing. Her

17:26

partner reaches around her shoulder, comforting

17:28

her. The man across from them scratches

17:30

his chin. He

17:37

has white hair, and he stands tall. He

17:44

is interrupted by the woman, suddenly shouting

17:46

at her daughter. the girl

17:48

is clamoring up onto the windowsill for

17:50

a better view outside.

17:52

I shout out, Tommy are you seeing this?

17:54

It's her! But Tommy does not reply.

17:57

I don't know if he can see or even hear me

17:59

now.

18:00

The cart is hauled around a steep corner, and

18:02

my view of the projector screen is lost.

18:05

We pass low between hills of scrap,

18:07

and my eyes widen in horror at what

18:09

I see.

18:10

Disturbing, half-formed, broken

18:13

children.

18:14

Or at least models of children, life-size,

18:17

prepared with intricate precision, and yet,

18:20

it's like the creator couldn't quite remember what

18:22

a child actually looked like.

18:24

comprised of scrap, gears, little

18:27

lights, pieces of metal, shards

18:29

of plastic, a sickly, semi-translucent

18:32

wax-like substance for the skin.

18:35

They stand still and silent all

18:37

around. I watch them pass as the

18:39

cart whizzes between them. They've

18:41

all been arranged into careful positions

18:44

to make it look like they're playing, presumably,

18:47

but many of them don't look like they're playing

18:49

anymore.

18:50

I pass by a pair of distorted children.

18:53

Where I imagine they were once both stood

18:55

side by side, one of them has fallen

18:57

down into the white gunk below.

18:59

The expression of the child still standing

19:02

is

19:03

not an emotion I can understand.

19:06

It's difficult, I suppose, to convey

19:08

expressions and emotions with faces

19:10

of metal and wax. Did you build

19:12

these, Tommy? I murmur as

19:14

the cart speeds along through the dark. I

19:18

swear I catch a glimpse of one of these accursed

19:20

children turning to look at me, twitching

19:22

its head ever so slightly as we go by.

19:25

I flinch and fumble with the flashlight,

19:27

but by the time that the beam is ready we have

19:30

rounded a corner and the child is vanished.

19:32

The children love the train,

19:34

whispers the voice of Tommy through the shadows.

19:37

Madison loved the train. She

19:40

wanted to ride.

19:41

She wanted to play with the others. A

19:44

shadow creaks and scuttles through the gloom

19:46

overhead. I cast the beam up into

19:48

the vast darkness of the cavern, but it

19:51

lands on nothing but rail and ruin.

19:54

The cart passes through a tunnel on the side of

19:56

a mountain of rubble. The air is thick

19:58

in here and the little light is still on the air.

20:00

flash and flickering blue i

20:02

cannot say for certain if anything is likely

20:04

to hit my head but i duck all the same

20:07

the visibility as it is everywhere

20:09

is dangerously low grade

20:11

or lights flash and flicker into life

20:13

over to my right and i turned to them and

20:16

far away appears another projector

20:18

screen occasionally my

20:20

view of the screen is blocked by a speeding

20:22

column of rubble or a pile of debris

20:25

but i can for the most part see

20:27

what it depicts

20:29

another scene from the same lab wait

20:31

no this one is different this

20:34

one is larger there are beds

20:36

tables cables and wires

20:39

i see the same for people as last time

20:41

know the

20:42

man with the white hair the couple

20:44

and the little girl madison are

20:46

you doing this tommy

20:48

i murmur and for speeding shadows did

20:50

you prepare these are not to

20:52

my the first person to ever write this rail

20:55

the rush of wind blows through my hair been

20:58

there is otherwise no reply on

21:00

screen madison looks on well

21:03

really really unwell the

21:05

picture quality is poor but her face

21:07

appear sunken her movements or sluggish

21:10

and slow

21:12

she just wants to play see

21:15

why believe

21:18

i can make

21:20

the mother sobs

21:21

one day the white haired man

21:23

frets pacing up and down one

21:25

day i will i will that's

21:28

what you said before and the time for that

21:30

the father shouts she

21:32

doesn't have long left it's

21:34

really a case of now or never so

21:36

what are you can to do a she's you got

21:38

daughter for christ sake i not

21:41

the white haired man cuts through with an outstretched

21:43

palm

21:44

enough leave her with me i'll

21:47

be here all night i'll think of something

21:49

i promise

21:50

both the father and mother try to protest

21:52

but the white haired man shouts them down

21:55

go what he snaps i need

21:57

peace i need to think and

21:59

so But

22:00

reluctantly they go,

22:01

with a promise to not return before sunrise

22:04

on the next morning.

22:05

The projector falters. For a second

22:08

the image is displayed upside down, and

22:10

then it vanishes.

22:12

The screen disappears into darkness. The

22:14

cart is rocketed from the end of the tunnel and

22:16

across a rickety bridge comprised primarily

22:19

of the rail itself.

22:21

I make the mistake of peering over the edge.

22:23

Beneath is a drop unlike anything

22:25

I've seen before.

22:27

It goes far deeper than I ever thought possible.

22:30

I see black water, I think, behind

22:33

layers of mist and fumes.

22:35

My heart leaps quickly up to my mouth and

22:37

back as the cart goes over a bump. A

22:40

violent shudder passes through me.

22:42

I redouble my grip on the flashlight

22:45

and crouch a little lower, bringing down the

22:47

center of weight. Something

22:49

massive creeps through the shadows directly

22:51

above me. I shoot a look upwards

22:53

and see the silhouette of Tommy vanish behind

22:56

an outcrop of stone. I

22:58

raise the flashlight but catch only a flicker

23:00

of faded blue before he is lost to the darkness.

23:04

Looking ahead reveals that the rail is about to

23:06

drop right down, a sudden slope

23:08

imminent. The anticipation

23:11

is almost worse than the drop itself,

23:12

and I grip my teeth as the vehicle

23:14

tips forward, shooting downwards through the dark.

23:17

The shouts are lost and we are hauled around

23:19

a steep, tight corner, and then another,

23:22

and another. We pass

23:24

close to the water. I can feel

23:26

its heat. The steam distorts my

23:28

vision. I swear I catch sight

23:30

of something, something massive

23:32

disturbing the surface, slithering

23:35

through the gloom beneath. But before

23:37

I can turn my head or angle the flashlight,

23:39

I am sent blasting through a tunnel and into

23:42

another new room.

23:42

A room piled high with

23:45

the corpses of children.

23:46

real corpses I quickly realize

23:49

they are more of those models, the fakes.

23:52

These are the rejects, presumably.

23:55

The ones not even good enough by their

23:57

creator standards. They are

23:59

worse than the- The ones I saw positioned earlier,

24:02

even less accurate,

24:03

misshaped faces, hollow eyes,

24:06

jaws that don't connect,

24:08

limbs with incorrect bends, unnatural

24:10

proportions, and these corpses

24:13

they number in the hundreds, all piled

24:16

high, rotting away.

24:18

One of them sparks, a little light

24:20

flashes behind its eyes, and then

24:22

it just goes dark like all the rest.

24:25

The car is carried upward, and shaking

24:27

clumsy jumps at first, but then we

24:29

are caught onto a chain of some kind, and

24:32

at a dangerous angle, the car is gradually

24:34

carried upwards, slow and steady,

24:37

up past piles of broken children. It's

24:40

slow enough now that I could jump out if

24:42

I wanted. I could jump out and land

24:44

on the remains of these failed models, but

24:47

what good would that do me? I'd never be

24:49

able to follow the rail back. It wouldn't

24:51

be possible, and I have no idea

24:53

where I am.

24:55

My best bet now is to hope that the rail

24:57

is looped, that it will take me back to the

24:59

beginning.

25:00

I deliberate mentally if this is

25:02

definitely the best course of action, but

25:05

to tell the truth I feel safer

25:07

in this ridiculous cart than I'd feel down

25:09

there, among the bodies,

25:11

even if they're not real bodies as

25:13

such, just lumps of wax

25:15

and metal.

25:17

It would be all too easy to get lost amongst

25:19

them, to become just another misshapen

25:21

wreck. So I stay where I am,

25:24

as the cart travels up and up.

25:27

I look a corpse in the face as we steadily

25:29

pass by, as it sinks down below

25:31

us. It looks back at me with

25:33

a single painted glass eye. The

25:35

other socket is empty, waxy,

25:38

with shadowed gears visible behind.

25:40

I turn away.

25:42

The cart is carried higher and higher

25:44

through the cavern, until, once again,

25:46

we are way off from the watery ground

25:48

below.

25:50

It picks up speed, shooting through

25:52

gap after gap in the rock.

25:54

We pass through stone, through concrete,

25:56

through a room stuffed with metal and wires,

25:59

through We're really I'm

26:00

hooked up with unfamiliar equipment, blackened

26:02

and burned.

26:04

It's all a blur, really.

26:06

One thing after the next.

26:08

And when once again the cart finally slows,

26:10

I am greeted by the sight of nothing.

26:13

There's nothing to see now.

26:15

Even with the flashlight, I cannot see a single

26:17

thing above me, below me, or around

26:20

me. Just the rail, the cart,

26:22

and myself.

26:24

A drift in the void.

26:26

Every chunter quietly along the tracks, the

26:28

mismatched wheels rumble and creak, and

26:31

a flash of activity up ahead draws my

26:33

gaze.

26:34

Way off in the distance are two pale

26:37

circles of yellow, sparking and

26:39

flickering in the darkness.

26:41

Small, for now, but growing

26:43

steadily larger as we approach.

26:45

Before long, however, they are lost to

26:47

sight, as the enormous screen of a projector

26:50

appears before them, blocking them from my

26:52

view.

26:53

I hear the voice of the white-haired man before

26:55

the picture appears on the screen.

26:57

It glitches out from speakers unseen

26:59

in the darkness. Do you like it, Madison?

27:02

The voice asks, a dry whisper. It's

27:05

a train.

27:06

Images appear on the projector screen as the

27:09

cart quietly rumbles.

27:10

It shows Tommy, back as he was

27:13

before, I suppose. No

27:15

terrible, spindly legs,

27:17

just wheels.

27:18

The blue of his paint is shiny and proud.

27:21

His grin is friendly, not demented, and

27:24

he has his eyes.

27:26

They are smiling.

27:27

He sits on a section of track, floodlights

27:30

clank into life on screen, and

27:32

more of the track, and of Tommy's surroundings

27:34

are revealed.

27:36

There are no windows. Tommy is connected

27:38

to a series of machines with wires.

27:40

He is still, motionless, not

27:43

alive, just a train. A

27:45

train waiting dutifully on the tracks. I

27:48

built it myself. I call him Tommy.

27:51

murmurs weekly and I am unable to make

27:53

out what she says.

27:55

this

28:00

one is just like the went outside

28:02

he carefully places her down on a table

28:04

and he had suicide of the room washing

28:06

his hands the man is shaking

28:09

his face keeps twitching into greens

28:11

the do not hold of

28:12

radek manic almost

28:15

wow he continues

28:18

not exactly like the one outside

28:20

not quite but close enough

28:23

i haven't finished the track yet but i will

28:25

i will will have plenty of time

28:28

he

28:28

tries himself and i watch squinting

28:31

as he takes hold of a surgical knife in one hand

28:34

and a batch of curious wires and the other

28:36

he positions himself over madison blocking

28:39

her from the cameras line of sight

28:41

and he set to work

28:43

i grimace in horror i

28:45

designed to be smite the

28:47

man mumbles mostly to himself i should

28:49

thing as he begins connecting madison

28:52

to all manner of monstrous looking machines

28:54

he isn't finished no no

28:57

none of it's finished but he can look

28:59

after you he can look after you and

29:01

tell i'm ready to save you he'll

29:03

keep you safe

29:04

he'll take care of you while i fix your body

29:07

you can ride the rails while you wait you've

29:09

always loved the train mccartt

29:12

hits a bump but i scarcely notice

29:14

my attention is held with full force by

29:16

the images flashing and playing in the projector

29:19

screen madison

29:20

barely moves she twitches

29:23

but says nothing the

29:24

white haired man wipes a sheen of sweat

29:26

from his forehead he flips some switches

29:29

and sit down at a desk typing some

29:31

unseen instructions into an ancient

29:33

plucky looking computer will

29:35

keep you safe and in one day i'll

29:38

be able to bring you back promise

29:40

he mutters over and over to

29:42

pass this he

29:45

looks at the girl my knuckles

29:47

why in on the rim for cart

29:49

he looks at the camera directly at me

29:52

the viewer i need to

29:54

disconnect am nervous system now madison

29:57

he whispers know

30:00

shoutout for reasons not quite known

30:02

to me pure instinct i suppose

30:05

and of course he cannot hear me the

30:07

man press the button and the lights dim something

30:10

flashes off screen and the lights cut

30:12

off entirely the picture is plunged

30:14

into darkness and when it returns there is

30:16

smoke and fluttering sparks a

30:19

siren sounds at first

30:21

a place only on screen but it becomes

30:23

quickly apparent that a place from everywhere

30:25

now i can hear it below

30:27

me behind me blaring loud

30:30

angry fire lakes

30:33

at the edges of tommy's body at the machinery

30:36

it spreads quicker and quicker the

30:39

man tries and fails to put it out panels

30:41

fall from the ceiling he started to panic

30:44

and his hand is wiped through something wet and

30:46

flammable he screams as he tries

30:48

to put out the flames that leap from his fingers

30:51

the man whimpers and turns to madison he

30:53

tries to unhook her from the machines tearing

30:55

the wires out of here with reckless abandon

30:58

he tries to drag her away but she still connected

31:00

and the smoke fills the screen it

31:03

burns and ripples with shades of orange

31:05

of yellow and of black all

31:08

vision is essentially lost

31:11

the man cries out and anguish i

31:13

cannot see him

31:13

but i can hear him and urgently

31:15

he says going to

31:18

leave now his voice waivers

31:20

i'll leave but i'll be right back i'll

31:22

be right back i promise i promise

31:25

the flames and the fire grow larger and

31:27

larger in the picture cuts out the

31:30

projector screen fades to black and

31:32

becomes as it was before translucent

31:35

directly behind it i can see the silhouette

31:37

of tommy the train waiting

31:40

yellow eyes sockets gleaming down at me

31:43

feel tommy whispers

31:46

his voice as it always has been high

31:48

pitched feminine

31:50

he should not come back tommy

31:54

i begin sweat pouring down my back

31:56

pigeon the

31:57

train replies cocking it's head

32:00

I cannot see where is

32:02

Madison. We regard each

32:04

other in cold silence.

32:06

After a long, terrible beat, the

32:08

cart drops. The rail takes

32:10

a sharp, sudden downward spike and

32:13

away through the darkness I go. Screaming

32:15

as I am hauled from side to side through

32:17

sudden jumping, roaring flames all around,

32:21

I feel their heat against my skin as I

32:23

plummet down the rail, as I am carried through

32:25

gap after gap in the stone. As

32:28

the force builds against my being, I

32:30

can hear cries and shouts and further

32:32

screams played to me through speakers,

32:34

but I cannot say to

32:36

whom they belong. The

32:38

heat intensifies. I scrunch my eyes

32:40

closed and huddle up in the cart, waiting,

32:43

praying, until at last when I feel

32:45

I can bear no more, the flames all

32:47

vanish as quickly as they appeared.

32:49

We leave them far behind, the intensity

32:52

of flames replaced by the bitter mercy

32:54

of this stale but cold cavern

32:56

air, flowing like a healing water

32:58

across my skin. The cart slows,

33:01

and this is the final time that it does so. It

33:04

trundles around corner after corner through

33:07

an arch in the cavern, until I recognize

33:09

the place where it began. From a different

33:11

angle, of course, but it's the same cavern

33:14

as the one we started in.

33:16

The one I wandered in after descending the

33:18

ladder.

33:19

We pass by the glittering mountain of wreckage,

33:21

sparkling with LEDs of blue and

33:24

of red.

33:25

We pass over the dark moat that borders

33:27

it, and I return to the central

33:29

landmass, if you will. The

33:32

great island of rubble and trash and

33:34

charred slabs of machinery upon which

33:36

I first spoke to Tommy. The

33:39

cart is slow now, and since I know where

33:41

I am, I haul myself over the edge, stumbling

33:44

and crashing to my knees in the trash as the

33:46

cart continues along its way.

33:48

I follow with my eyes. It looks

33:50

like it's going to do a wide loop, possibly

33:53

passing beneath a further arch before returning

33:55

to the exact place where I fell in.

33:58

I take a second to catch my breath. breath,

34:00

slow, deep inhales

34:02

and exhales of air.

34:04

Back to the mountain of wreckage, and right

34:06

there, directly behind me and towering

34:08

above me, is Tommy,

34:10

distorted and humorless grin locked

34:12

in place.

34:14

The air catches in my throat as Tommy

34:16

steadily clamors right over the top of me, silently,

34:20

almost scuttling along after the cart,

34:22

following the sound of its trundling on the rails.

34:25

I watch him go, frozen in place,

34:28

watching the blue abomination beneath the

34:30

ground.

34:31

Tommy.

34:32

Or… Madison?

34:34

I whisper, barely audible.

34:37

The train does not hear. It simply

34:39

follows the cart at a reasonable distance. I

34:42

watch as it scuttles up the side of the cavern

34:44

wall and rounds a corner out of sight. And

34:47

I take this chance. I don't mess around

34:49

and try to look for my phone. I just go. As

34:52

quickly but as quietly as possible,

34:54

I go. One foot in front

34:57

of the other, retracing my steps, back

34:59

through the jungle of debris and away from

35:01

the lights. A warbled, furious

35:04

cry of anguish sounds out from somewhere

35:06

in the darkness. Peter! Where

35:09

did

35:09

you go? You were supposed to ride the train, Peter! Come back! Come

35:12

back!

35:15

I break into a run, the

35:18

flashlight beam reflecting chaotically off

35:20

all manner of junk as I sprint through the

35:22

shadows and back towards the side of that rusted

35:24

old ladder. I'm sorry, I mutter,

35:27

but there's nothing I can do for you. The light

35:29

catches on the ladder, way off in the distance,

35:32

and I pick up my speed as I hear the train

35:34

scuttle madly through its desolation

35:36

somewhere off behind me. Paper!

35:39

It screams.

35:40

Please don't leave me down here in the dark!

35:42

Tears stream down my face as I reach

35:45

the ladder, throwing myself towards it, the

35:47

muscles in my arm aching as I pull myself

35:49

up, rung by rung until I can

35:51

use my legs. I hear an

35:54

expulsion of steam somewhere nearby,

35:56

I hear that mechanical frenzied

35:58

whirring sobbing on my head.

36:00

I hear rage in those

36:02

gears, and I leave the hell

36:04

of the cavern below me, scrambling

36:06

up the ladder rung by rung until I return

36:09

to that door in the side of the sewers. I

36:11

hold it open and run the entire way back,

36:14

legs burning. I don't stop running until

36:16

I've left that twisted world far, far

36:18

behind,

36:20

but all I can see as I run, even

36:22

once I've returned to the neon and rain

36:24

of the city above, are the faces that

36:26

were shown to me down there in the dark. I

36:29

see the face of Madison, the girl who

36:31

just wanted to ride the train.

36:33

I see the face of the white-haired man panicked

36:36

and mad.

36:37

I see the face of Tommy, smiling

36:39

and hopeful as he was when he was created.

36:43

And I see what became of that face,

36:46

broken and hollow. My

36:48

feet splash in the light-soaked puddles, and

36:50

I hear the voice in my head, playing

36:53

over and over like a chugging on

36:55

the rails. Do you want to play

36:57

on the train

36:58

Peter? Madison loves

37:01

to play on the train

38:00

You