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Lampert was on one of his usual elevator trips. Nothing too much, just seeing where the elevator brings him so he doesn't spend another day thinking too much in his Rokea fortress.
He just got done sanitizing his hands viciously after they brushed against the elevator railing when the elevator dinged. Peering out, he observed that it was the underground subway.
His eyes squinted, ‘no Partynoob or that bug guy?’ He decided to step out of the elevator onto the subway just to see if either one was there, out of curiosity.
The underground air was cold, unusually cold for summer, and even though he couldn't really feel most temperatures, he felt his metal body tense up slightly from the frigid air. Looking around, he saw no sign of Poob, Pest, or really anyone.
‘Weird,’ he thought. Right as he was going to step back into the elevator, he realized something. ‘I’ve never really explored this floor, have I?’
Right then, the subway pulled up and stopped, its doors opening and letting warm air from inside fill the cold subway station. Lampert looked at the open door. A new opportunity. A small one that likely won't matter to him ever again, but an opportunity nonetheless. Something about the door felt like it was watching him, even wanting him to go through it and go onto the subway.
Lampert hesitantly got in. The lights were dim and buzzing, which was the only sound other than the distant sound of wind blowing, coming from above the ground. The subway interior was mostly blue and white. There were tens, likely even hundreds, of dirty old seats with the same tacky blue pattern with various shapes, such as circles and squiggles, that you would expect to see on the carpet of an old arcade. He stood in the middle of the train, looking around only to notice that he was the only person inside, or so he thought.
The doors closed behind him, leaving him all alone with his thoughts, once again.
The train quickly started picking up speed as it made its journey to wherever the next stop was. After almost falling over from the quick increase in speed, Lampert took a clean napkin from his pocket and used it to cover his hand while he wrapped it around a handrail right above him.
Alone with his thoughts, again. Isn't this what he was trying to escape from? Lampert sighed, contemplating his choices that led him here, until he heard a noise.
Quickly looking around, he noticed something, or someone. At the very end of the long, empty line of seats, he heard the sound again as his eyes darted to the area. The sound itself wasn't anything much, just the movement of skin against a metal handrail, but it was the source of the sound that Lampert was focused on.
Looking closer, he saw a tall figure with its back facing towards Lampert. Upon looking even closer, he saw their red jacket and black beanie, and his heart stopped.
Instantly tightening his grip on the handrail, he tried to muster out a call, anything, to get the figure, or Kasper’s, attention, but his throat felt like it was nailed shut. Shakingly, he took his hand off the handrail and decided to try a different approach.
Walking as quietly as he could, he made his way closer to him. He wasn't completely sure why he was being so quiet, it's not like he would be attacked or something if someone heard him, right? Whatever it was, he just felt like right now wasn't the right time to make noise.
Eventually he stopped about 10 feet or so away from the Kasper. He hadn't seemed to have noticed Lampert standing near him, looking as if he was experiencing twenty different emotions at once. Kasper seemed to be in his own world, standing silently and still, much more still than what was normal for Kasper.
From up close, Lampert got a much better look at him. He saw the same small metal chain on his pants, and the same pizza stain on the back of his jacket that he could never seem to wash out. It was definitely him. It was him, right there, right?
How was he here? Is this actually Kasper? Was there a misunderstanding, and he was staring at a complete stranger? Lampert had so many things he wanted to ask, but he couldn't get anything to come out of his mouth.
Lampert stepped forward even more. He was only a couple of feet away from Kasper now, but Kasper seemed to be just as unnoticing as before.
Reaching his hand out slightly, he tried again to force something to come out of his mouth. He tried, and eventually, he got one word out.
“Kasper?”
…
The man in front of him didn't seem to notice. Within only mere seconds, Lampert’s head flooded with so many thoughts. ‘Did I ask the wrong guy? Oh god, what if this is someone completely different? This will be so awkward if this is a stranger.’ After a couple of the longest seconds Lampert had ever felt, the metal handrail that Kasper was holding onto squeaked as he took his hand off, turning around.
As Lampert saw Kasper turning around, his eyes widened as he felt a brief flash of hope. Maybe this is Kasper. He's back and everything is okay, everything can go back to how it was. Everything can go back to the time Lampert wished to relive everyday, even if it was only for a second.
Just as Lampert was about to be able to see Kasper’s face, he vanished.
…
Lampert sucked in his breath and blinked.
What?
He blinked again and again, deep down he was hoping, even praying, that maybe his eyes were acting funny, and he would see Kasper again once he reopened his eyes. He would get to see his face again. He would be able to remember his face again.
Lampert withdrew his slightly outstretched hand, and put it to his chest. He stood still, frozen in the subway, unable to move.
His mind flooded with millions of questions as he tried to process what he just saw. Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
“Excuse me, sir, can you move please?”
Lampert blinked again and looked behind him. There were at least a dozen people, looking at him angrily as he unintentionally blocked anyone from reaching multiple seats.
“R-right. I'm sorry,” he apologized as he shuffled his way back to the train door, being cautious as to touch as few people as possible.
After fighting his way through the crowd, he found himself standing on the cold floor of another subway station, which he assumed was the stop that all the people flooded onto the train from.
All he could do was stare at the ground as the questions went back into his mind. ‘Was that really him? Where did he go? Am I losing it??’ He sighed and put his hands into his face.
While lost in thought again, he felt another tap on his shoulder.
Beside him, there was a little boy, no older than 10, handing him an orange. Lampert hesitantly took it, thinking about too many other things to be concerned with what germs may be on this orange right now.
“Here Mr. Lamp Sir. You look sad.” Lampert couldn't even mutter a word before the boy was skipping off towards a woman across the station, likely his mom.
Lampert looked at the orange in his hand. It had a couple of small indents, but it was fresh nonetheless. ‘Kapser always hated oranges,’ was the first thing in Lampert’s mind upon inspecting the orange.
‘I should probably get out of here,’ he thought after realizing that it would probably look weird, while also making him a good target for being pickpocketed, if he stood still right in front of the train tracks for a longer period of time than he already had.
Putting the orange in his pocket for later, he made his way up the stairs of the subway station into a part of Macabre city that was completely new to him. Something new to explore, something new to keep him distracted and prevent overthinking. He tried his best to get the train encounter off his mind, trying to put it aside and focus on what was right in front of him. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't get his mind off of what he saw.
‘Am I seeing ghosts? Can you see the ghost of someone who is still technically alive? Why couldn't I see his face?’
…
‘Will I ever get to see his face again?’