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It was surreal. It was the most insane, preposterous thing she’d ever done. And yet there was something alluring to it all.
Kate Walker threw some water in her face, trying to make its cold wash away her anxious thoughts. Her face looked back at her through the reflection of the mirror aboard the clockwork locomotive. There was an intense glint in her eyes, a shine that she hadn’t seen in forever. It made her look excited on an otherwise tired face – the beginning of dark circles under her eyes betrayed the fact she had barely gotten any sleep since travelling to Valadilene.
A sudden knock on the door snapped her out of her daydreams.
“Are you there, Kate Walker?”
It was the familiar, robotic voice of Oscar, the friendly yet infuriatingly stubborn automaton.
“Yes, Oscar. What’s wrong?”
“I was looking for you, Kate Walker.”
“Aw, that’s sweet, Oscar. Did you miss me?”
“No. As an automaton I am unable to experience feelings such as ‘missing someone’. I was merely noticing your prolonged absence and wanted to ensure your wellbeing. After all, it is my duty as this train’s operator to look after all of its passengers. That includes you, Kate Walker.”
Kate sighed. “And here I was, feeling flattered. Well, no need to be alarmed, Oscar. I’m just washing up is all.”
Kate could practically hear the cogs turning in Oscar’s mechanical head, finding the best answer to her reply.
“That is most fortunate, Kate Walker. Once you have sufficiently cleansed your face, do make yourself comfortable. We still have quite a journey ahead of us.”
“Will do, Oscar. Thanks.”
Kate heard him walk away, the mechanical whirring and thumping moving further into the distance. She smiled.
Kate looked back at her face. There was something off about it. She could see that shimmer in her eyes, the excitement, the wonder… and yet she felt tense, as if something was about to cross her path that would change her life forever, something just out of view, chasing her, until it suddenly wasn’t. Expectations of stories as-of-yet untold, ones equally terrifying and wondrous.
She wasn’t make any sense. She had to get some sleep.
She dried off her face and exited the bathroom. Since Hans Voralberg had taken over her bedroom and turned it into his makeshift workshop, she couldn’t exactly have a comfortable lie down.
“The chair it is then, I suppose…”
She sat down in the chair next to the windows and made herself as comfortable as she could. She took off her coat and laid it over her as an impromptu blanket.
Apparently that caught the attention of the train’s duly-appointed operator.
“That will not do, Kate Walker,” Oscar said, appearing from the engine room as if summoned. “We have blankets stored in the overhead compartments, ready for use at any time, may a passenger may require one. Here.”
He lifted an arm up to one of the compartments and from it took a thick, white blanket. He gave it to her.
“Next time you are in need of anything, do call upon my services, Kate Walker. I must continue to insist that I am here to–”
“To see to my every wish, I know, I know, Oscar.”
“You would do well to remember that, Kate Walker.”
Kate smiled. “I will, Oscar. Thanks. You’re ever the gentleman.”
Before Oscar could yet again go on his usual talks of how he was merely doing what Hans Voralberg had made him for, Kate playfully shooed him away, saying how she wanted to get some rest.
“Very well. I will see you in due course, Kate Walker.”
When he was gone, Kate took the blanket and buried her body under it. Its feel and warmth were perfect. From one moment to the next she felt the weight of the last few days dissipate, and the tiredness truly set in. Even during all her years as a lawyer she had never felt as tired as this. It was a different type of tired, one that told you you were alive, teeming with energy, ready to rest up right before the next exciting day.
Her eyes wandered to the windows. Beyond the confines of the train a landscape moved rapidly outside. Pine forests and chaotic rivers, above them grey, cold skies. The world was changing in front of her, becoming increasingly more barren, lifeless, uninhabited.
Yet the allure remained…
The mystery of it all, of where she was going, with this old, magical inventor and his trusty automaton. They were a strange duo, and yet she felt more at ease with them than with any of the people she knew back home. If it ever was, and had been, home.
Her eyes grew heavy. Maybe, when she woke up, she would be back in New York, in her usual bed with her usual boyfriend. Then she would be able to hit the alarm, put on her suit, have breakfast, and head out to the office for another day of work. She would come home at half past five and sleep by ten. She would sleep restlessly, with dreams that occasionally fell into nightmares, and then wake up again, repeating the cycle. Familiar, trusted, business as usual.
Or she could wake up aboard this train, heading steadfastly into the unknown, the edges of the world hidden by thick mists and metres of snow. She could wake up to a new world with new people, new relationships, new battles and uncertainties and heartbreaks. It would be uncertain and dangerous. And exhilarating.
Her eyelids slowly dropping and her mind slipping into comfortable silence, Kate sensed she was about to have the best sleep of her life.