SENDER: @ nefelibata | RECIPIENT: @ All

[shiftybladesofcray]

To Whom it May Concern;

Let's assume anyone capable of receiving this message is, like myself, a captive on board this train. While nothing can be determined unequivocally, I've come to some conclusions that bear weight enough to consider.

Thus far, we are only permitted to advance upon the completion of objectives as set by an unknown puppeteer. This "clownductor" assumes an affable but absent persona, and so their true nature cannot be ascertained. The motives are paraphrased below:

1. Read the Instructions
2. Message another Passenger
3. Request Friendship with Another Passenger*
4. Assist a Dog
5. Retrieve Part of Your Person
6. Collect Seeds in Exchange for Personal Information

(*Meaningful connection is not required)

While each appears innocuous on first blush, they aspire to two functions: fostering connections and gaining intelligence. There could be strength in numbers if we come together as one, true, and sharing secrets can bolster such bonds, but let's not be fooled.

There's a strong possibility we are being set up for darker purpose. If on a future car, the motive becomes:

7. Murder a Fellow Passenger

Will it not be all the more devastating after we've bonded? Without hope, there cannot be despair. Despair can breed subjugation, a loss of self and morality, a weakness of character that's easily exploited by those in power. It can breed violence.

I've seen such games put into action myself. Anyone may turn on their fellow man if the correct pressure is applied. If there are sensible people among you, these notions may have struck you as they have me. I'm sending this now as a warning.

Do not play into their hands. They control our passage through the train. They may be watching us. We cannot assume they have our best interests at heart.

Conversely, even if you are able to stay your course? Never assume your neighbor can do the same. We are each uniquely strong and uniquely weak. A miscalculation may cost you your life.

I cannot say whether this is a dream, a simulation, or an alternate reality, though the latter requires tremendous suspension of disbelief. Regardless, we cannot assume that our actions on the train are without consequence. Act with caution, but most urgently, act with hope.

I appreciate your time in perusing this missive. I understand some find reading difficult. If you're so encumbered by your illiteracy, ask another passenger to read it for you. I will not be providing summation.

Thank you.

- Fukawa Toko


****ADDENDUM: Should anyone be approached by or glimpse a half white, half black bear, DO NOT ENGAGE. Contact me immediately and I shall deal with it.

Comments

[overruns]

[ Oh, that's fine, actually. He prefers this—letters and texts are convenient, but gauging tone and intent takes voices and faces. ]

My apologies, Ardbert. I cannot claim any expertise when it comes to using these devices...

[ sometimes you are medieval ]

But I'm happy to share what I know. They are not paintings, but rather 'photographs.' Moments captured in instant time, instead of painstakingly built up with brushes and pigment.

[soulshard]

[ Sometimes you are medieval. Or medieval with a side or airships and ancient technology. It's fine. ]

No need to apologize! I only wanted to make sure your friend got to see that adorable pup.

[ Photographs. He has no real sense of how it works, and can't help but view it more as magicks than technology, though he's certain Aria would correct him. Mayhap he'll ask her more of this later. ]

It's truly a marvel. To think we can preserve these images on this tiny devices... it beggars belief.

[overruns]

[ There's a faint puff of laughter on his end of the line—he'd try sending Claude the photo again, but. Maybe later. When he has a better idea of the phones. ]

I'm hesitant to compliment this train, considering it sounds like you all have only just arrived and have your suspicions, but...

[ While he doesn't exactly like it here, and has been doing his best to return home, time is clearly playing tricks on them—so maybe escape is not so urgent as he had thought, originally.

And also, every cloud, silver lining, and what have you. ]

I do agree. It's far beyond anything I could have imagined, and I cannot hold my praise. [ he can carry this dog pic forever... wao...... ]

[soulshard]

[ Ardbert himself is of two minds about it. He suspects there is more to this train than they could gather at first glance, and his assumption is that they're all being used for some untoward purpose.

Yet he also has his body back and is able to interact with the world and people around him for the first time in a century. Whence the time comes that they leave, he'll lose all of that.

This can only last for so long, however. Aria has battles to fight back home, as always. So do the other Scions. ]

I believe we can both appreciate the bright spots while also keeping in mind that there may be more to all this than meets the eye. So long as we keep on our guard and don't let ourselves get too distracted...

[ Easier said than done, though, when there's dogs to befriend and wide sprawling vistas to explore. ]

[overruns]

[ Not every car is so terrible—some, certainly, are more threatening than others, but he doesn't want to hate the ones full of friendly dog citizens or great mountain ranges, each a fully formed world of their own.

Surely it's possible to appreciate that much, while keeping their eyes forward. ]

Mm, of course. I think so long as we do not allow ourselves to get separated and stay alert, we can manage without growing to despise our situation overmuch.

[ Hopefully? He's hopeful, so far, even if he does have too much to attend to at home to dawdle too long. ]

All the denizens I have encountered thus far seem aware that we are not of this world, so... if we continue, surely we will find some more answers.

[soulshard]

[ It would be difficult for Ardbert to despise the situation, as Dimitri puts it, if only because this is still quite the step up from the situation he'd been in before. It's true that a part of him had been ready to rest, his duty finally done and the road he's walked thus far already so long.

But if he must continue on, at least Aria is at his side, and at least he can interact with everyone around him.

What Dimitri says next is quite interesting, however. ]

They know we don't belong here? What have they told you? Did you hear this from one of the dogs?