# Welcome to Train of the Century! A time-traveling, sci-fi fantasy collectible NFT card game starring you. ### UPDATES **Aug 5.** THIS IS A MESSAGE FOR ALL JGRF LAB TECHNICIANS: THERE IS AN ONGOING CODE SIGMA SITUATION IN THE COGNITIVE PROSTHETICS DEPARTMENT. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. [PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING REPORT BEFORE TAKING APPROPRIATE DEFENSIVE ACTIONS.](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/piggyback-ned#piggyback-ned-3) THIS IS NOT A DRILL. **Aug 16.** Are you tired of your same-old, boring life? Feel like you're stuck in a rut? Find a new life for yourself in Opportunity, a quiet settlement on the Pembertonian shores of the Righteous River. Our mayor, Thomas Llewinson, will do whatever it takes to make you feel comfortable, giving you the tools to choose a new life path you can be proud of. [Read our latest promotional brochure to learn all about our community!](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/tommy-two-pair#tommy-two-pair-3) {% embed url="" %} ### Greetings, Railroader. Whether you're new to the Centuryverse or have been in the Train of the Century Discord since day one, we're glad to have you here. On this site, you'll find all sorts of information that will help you on your journey as a Railroader. Please take a look around! You never know what you might find... ### Suggested Starting Points * For new Railroaders: [Check out our "Getting Started" guide to learn the basics](/game-mechanics/getting-started). * For seasoned Railroaders: [Click here to learn about advanced game mechanics](/game-mechanics/advanced-mechanics). * For experts: [Jump straight to the Rail Run Calculator.](/game-mechanics/advanced-mechanics/rail-run-calculator) ### What is Train of the Century? Train of the Century is a browser-based collectible NFT trading card game. Players assume the role of the Railroader, a **train manager of sorts** who is tasked with overseeing transportation and shipping in the Centuryverse. As you play the game, you'll have opportunities to **collect better playing cards**, **upgrade your setup**, and **rise through the ranks** of Railroaders. Think you have what it takes to rule the rails? But ToC isn't *just* a train management simulator. Strange events are brewing in the Centuryverse. Railroaders will be introduced to a **rich cast of characters** who will draw them into a **genre-bending narrative** of conspiracies, empires, and the fate of the multiverse. Choose your words carefully, Railroader. They may have consequences... Want to brush up on your knowledge of Centuryverse lore? [Click here to see the Modern Century Compendium](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium). # Getting Started Learn the basics of how to play Train of the Century ## So, you want to be a Railroader but aren't sure how it's done? We've got you covered. Train of the Century has a number of moving pieces that make it easy to learn and exciting to master. If you're new to the game and are eager to learn how to play, you've come to the right place. ![](/files/vLVH1wyVgHlVOUeWNfCi) ### First thing's first: You're going need a wallet on the WAX blockchain. Creating a wallet is easy. All you have to do is visit [wallet.wax.io ](https://wallet.wax.io)and sign up for an account. Once you have your wallet set up, you can load it with coins like WAX and Tocium. You'll need to acquire Tocium to make in-game purchases. ### Next, you'll need a few cards to play with. You can find our NFTs on [Atomic Hub](https://wax.atomichub.io/market?collection_name=centurytrain\&order=desc\&sort=created\&symbol=WAX) and [Nefty Blocks](https://neftyblocks.com/c/centurytrain/marketplace?sort=created\&order=desc\&collection_name=centurytrain). To start playing the game, you'll need: * One (1) Locomotive Card * One (1) Conductor Card with a Gear Level that matches your Locomotive card * At least one (1) Rail Car card * At least one (1) Commodity card with a type attribute that matches your Rail Car card ### Not sure which card is what type or what their attributes mean? No problem! Click ahead to the next page to learn all about them. # ToC Card Types and Attributes Discover the different types of Train of the Century cards and learn how their attributes affect gameplay. ### Train of the Century cards have important numbers and symbols on them. Let us help you understand what they mean. If you want to be the best Railroader you can be, it will help to arm yourself with a complete knowledge of how each card type interacts with the game. Lucky for you, we've written this handy-dandy guide to help you keep track of card attributes and their meanings. Let's take a deep dive into each card type. ### Locomotive Cards **The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell, and the Locomotive is the powerhouse of your train.** You can think of your Locomotive as the foundation for the rest of your train: Its attributes determine which Conductors can drive it, how much weight you can haul, how far you can haul it, and how fast it'll get there. Check out this graphic to learn more about a Locomotive's attributes. ![If trains could compete in the Olympics, what events do you think they'd be good at? I'd love to see one run the ski jump...](/files/ffc2G5dQVKL0iTSIU8GG) **And here's a pro tip:** Each of a Locomotive's attribute values are represented as **orders of 10 or 100**. So that means this train's stats look like this: * **Distance:** 5 x 10 = Max Distance of 50 * **Hauling Power:** 4 x 100 = Max Haul Weight of 400 * **Speed**: 5 x 10 = Max Speed of 50 For Fuel Type, you've only got two options: * **Diesel** * **Coal** ***As of the release of ToC V1.0,*** the only Locomotive that uses Coal is the Mastodon. Keep that in mind when buying Locomotives and their fuel! ### Conductor Cards If the Locomotive is the powerhouse of your train, the Conductor is the nucleus. Or something like that. (We're really proud of that mitochondria joke...) Take a look at this graphic to learn more about Conductor Attributes. ![Is it just me, or does Orson look kind of familiar? Maybe like someone who develops NFT trading card games? ](/files/H6t1uPLRq6cJZNK86IPi) The person driving your train is going to bring their own style to your rail runs, and that means your choice of Conductor can impact your runs in a number of ways. Conductor Perks come in three types: #### **Conductor Perks**
IconDescription
You'll have a higher chance of encountering an NPC when claiming your Tocium reward after a rail run. This perk is represented by a clover icon.
Conductors with this perk know how to squeeze a little more weight into their Rail Cars. This perk is represented by a chain link icon.
Your train will arrive at its destination faster, freeing up time to complete more runs. This perk is represented by a speed gauge icon.
**Want to know how strong a Conductor's perk is?** It's pretty simple: The number in the **bottom left corner** of the card represents the **percentage modifier** attached to the perk. So in this case, Orson has a **Speed boost of 5%.** You don't want to try to match a Conductor with a Locomotive they're not qualified to drive, though. Trust us. (We learned that the hard way with Orson.) Each Conductor can only be assigned to a Locomotive with a Conductor Level **lower than or equal to their own**. So Orson can't pilot the Olympic Light pictured above, but he could easily handle Locomotives like the Illinois Terminal, the Mastodon, or others. **It should be noted that some Conductors have two perks.** In that case, you'll see two perk icons and two boost values on the card. **Oh! Let's not forget that mysterious Portal Pass icon in the top left corner!** As of the release of ToC V1.0, our Conductors are firmly stuck in the Modern Era. But in future updates of the game? Now that's a different story... Stay tuned for more information on how to help your favorite Conductors travel through time. ### Rail Car Cards You've got to attach Rail Cars to your train if you want to transport cargo from A to B and earn that sweet, sweet Tocium. Rail Cars comes in all different shape and sizes, with the ability to accommodate up to two different types of Commodity. Look over the image below to learn more about Rail Car cards. ![I don't want to know what Slippy Dave is shipping in those tanks... Or do I...?](/files/7BK4CCtPUBJkvcF466tX) **First up, let's tackle Capacity.** A Rail Car's capacity determines **how much cargo it can hold**. Every Commodity you load onto a Rail Car takes up a designated amount of space (see Commodity Volume in the next section). Make sure to stay mindful of how much space is left in your Rail Car when you're loading it up! **You'll notice an "S" icon in the bottom left corner of this card.** This is the Rail Car's Size. A larger Rail Car means a larger Capacity. **Now, let's get to the good stuff. Commodity Types.** Each Rail Car can contain **up to two (2) different types of Commodity**. (In this case, a Tank Car can haul Liquid and Gas Commodities.) This means you can get creative with how you load your cars to maximize the reward you'll get at the end of a run. You want to ship xenon gas and liquid water in the same Tank Car? I wouldn't recommend it in real life, but this is the *Centuryverse*, bay-bee! Do what feels right. ### Commodity Cards For some reason, "commodity" is incredibly hard for me to spell. (Hi, this is Conductor John, by the way. How are you?) Luckily, Commodity Cards are easy to understand. Commodities are the things you get paid Tocium to transport. See? I told you they were easy. Let's look at an example. ![I've always been partial to Crickmore Farms products, but I guess Bleeker Farms is okay, too.](/files/7jF9XQjdvtofqvS194lh) **You'll see an icon representing the item's Commodity Type in the top left corner.** This one is a palletized commodity. There are a total of thirteen Commodity Types, including... #### Commodity Types
IconCommodity Type
Automobile
Aggregate
[Lumber Icon]Building Materials
Crate
Gas
Grain
Granule
Liquid
Ore
Oversized
Pallet
Perishable
Top Secret
**When loading Commodities onto a Rail Car**, you'll need to make sure your Commodity Type matches between the item and the Rail Car. Now let's look at the values in the bottom corners. * **Volume** corresponds to the amount of space the item will take up when loaded onto a Rail Car. This value corresponds to the **Rail Car's Capacity attribute**. * **Weight** corresponds to your Locomotive's Hauling Power attribute. If the total weight of all the Commodities in all your Rail Cars exceeds the Locomotive's HP, you won't be able to leave the station. ### Passenger Car Cards But what if you don't want to haul tractors, river rock, and gluten bars? Well, there's good news: You can also haul people! If you want to transport the good citizens of the Centuryverse from one side of the map to the other, you'll need to hitch a Passenger Car to your train. These cards have different attributes than Rail Cars. Check out this graphic and see if you can tell how Passenger Cars differ from other train cars. ![I heard a rumor they got up-and-coming chef Floppy Joe cooking the meals on these bad boys.](/files/tFtmnujre0nDjVvPkK4T) Passenger Car mechanics are a bit simpler than their Rail Car cousins: They only have two attributes. * **Open Seats** tells you the number of Passengers that can fit into this rail car. * **Weight** replaces the concept of Commodity Weight. Instead of keeping track of how much weight each Rail Car is hauling, you'll just have to know how much each Passenger Car itself weighs. *(We decided to set up Passenger Cars this way because we thought it'd be rude to ask the Passengers how much they weigh. Surely you understand?)* ### Passenger Cards And now to meet the friendly faces who'll be traveling with you. Here comes one now! Let's see if he can tell us more about his Passenger Card attributes... ![Here's a fun fact you can take to trivia night: Jasper is named after a nickname that Conductor John gave to Conductor Jake's cat.](/files/yzJ5ae7pVSypadwOsxoE) Well, maybe "friendly" isn't the best word to describe Jasper... **Passengers will give you a base amount of Tocium** for transporting them safely. But if you can really impress them with your service, they just might give you a tip! **To earn tips from Passengers**, you'll need to transport them within the boundaries of their home region. You can tell where each Passenger comes from by looking at the Home Region icon in the top left corner of their card. #### Passenger Home Region Icons
Pembertonians flaunt their status with a bow tie icon.
Centuryville citizens keep it simple with a gear-clock icon.
Trevithick Pines dwellers show their pride with an observatory icon.
Folks from the Pawpaw Plains bear the barn icon.
James Park natives show their solidarity with a wrench icon.
**On top of that, you'll need to meet or beat their Happy Passenger Criterion & Threshold**. There are four types of criteria: #### Happy Passenger Criterion
Time: These Passengers like it when you deliver them to their destination as fast as possible. These cards have a clock icon in the bottom left corner.
Haul Weight: These Passengers are impressed when your train is hauling huge amounts of cargo. These cards have a chain link icon in the bottom left corner.
Distance: These Passengers like to kick back and enjoy a longer ride. These cards have an arrow icon in the bottom left corner.
Luck: These Passengers are excited by unexpected events, like NPC encounters. These cards have a clover icon in the bottom left corner.
**For tips based on time, haul weight and distance,** you'll need to beat the threshold shown in the small bubble to the right of the tip type icon. **Curious about how big of a tip you'll receive from a particular Passenger?** The number in the bottom right corner of the card represents the percentage they'll use to calculate their tip (based on your total rail run reward). ### Whew! That was a lot! That covers the attributes of all the card types currently in the game. If you'd like to see a full index of all Train of the Century playing cards available as of V1.0, please see the **NFT INDEX** section of the site. Or, if you're ready to dive into game play, click the button below to learn how to log in and create your first train. # Logging In and Naming a Train Take the first steps toward becoming a successful Railroader ### Logging In ![](/files/vVV3iiwmwCZ7o1DQBQoR) When you click the "LOGIN" button, you'll be asked to connect a WAX Wallet or and Anchor wallet account. Either option is perfectly fine. **If you don't have one yet**, we suggest visiting the [WAX Cloud Wallet](https://wallet.wax.io) website to create an account. Once you're logged in, you'll be prompted to name your very first train. ### Naming Your First Train **You can name your train whatever you like**, as long as the string of characters you enter meets these criteria: * The train name must contain **more than 3** and **less than 13 characters** * The train name must **not contain capital letters** * The train name must **not contain numerals greater than 5** * The train name must **not contain any spaces or special characters other than a period** This means acceptable characters for a train name are: **.**** 1 2 3 4 5 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z** Here are some examples of acceptable and unacceptable train names: | Acceptable | Unacceptable | | :----------: | :-----------------: | | justice4ned | ConnorMcSweeneyStan | | wasd1234 | OHNO\_OURTABLE | | poopoopoopoo | c h o o...v i b e s | **After your train is named**, you'll be taken to the Centuryverse map, where you'll be greeted by our friend, the Stranger. We've asked him to give you a rundown on how to play our game, but if you'd rather skip the tutorial, you can find all the pertinent info on the next few pages. # Locating Yourself on the Map Where in the Centuryverse is your new train? ### How to Find Your Train The Centuryverse is a big place! That's why we've made it as easy as possible to find your train(s) on the map. All you have to do is follow these steps: 1. **Zoom all the way out on the map**. You can zoom by scrolling on your mouse click wheel or trackpad, or by pinching to zoom on your touchscreen. 2. **Locate the blinking blue dot**. That's you! 3. **Hover over the blinking dot and zoom back in**. The view will focus on the area around your cursor. 4. **The station where your train is idling will be highlighted in blue.** When you first start the game, your starting station is chosen randomly from a subset of stations that have at least one connection with a distance of 20 or less. ![Look's like this Railroader gets to start in Pemberton Heights. How fancy!](/files/VTv2RjfxoLt7XGRKY3lM) ### Now What? Now that we've found your starting station, it's time to string together your ToC cards into your first train. # Assembling Your Train It's time to flex your deck building muscles and put your cards to work ### How to Edit a Train Have you collected at least one of each of the following types of cards? * A Locomotive * A Conductor with a Conductor Level **greater than or equal** to the Locomotive's * A Rail Car / Passenger Car * A Commodity / Passenger If so, then you're ready to put them all together! **To build your train, find the station where you train is idling**, then **click on the glowing station icon.** The Station View will appear, and it should look like this: ![I named my train Ariadne in hopes that she'd help navigate the labyrinth of rails. So far, I've yet to get lost once!](/files/qqwPe1wWQLCWpLXJcP0S) Now click on the "Edit Train" button, which is circled in the above image. Doing so will reveal slots where you can equip a Conductor, Locomotive, and Rail Cars (or Passenger Cars.) ![No, this is not a Golden Run. You're gonna have to work a bit harder than that to work out the clues! ;)](/files/Tstgye91d2iZ0BzotF7I) These slots will be empty the first time you build a train. **To fill them up**, click on the "+" button in each slot. Let's start with our Conductor. ![Hey, look! It's our friend Orson, again. Hope he hasn't run into any more ghosts, lately...](/files/47tdbVzoFDWd3FjkMfr6) Clicking on the empty Conductor slot, the inventory deck will change to show all your unequipped Conductor cards. You can **browse through your collection** by hovering over your cards and scrolling. When you **find the Conductor you want to equip**, click on it. The card should hop over to the Equipped Conductor slot. When you're satisfied, **click on the checkmark button** in the corner. The process for equipping a Locomotive is the same. **Remember:** Your Conductor must have a gear-level **greater than or equal** to the Locomotive's. Otherwise, the game's UI will give you a warning that your chosen Conductor can't pilot that Locomotive. Now, Rail Cars and Passenger Cars have one extra step you'll need to take before they're all set to go. ![Maybe I'll stop by the Dirty Flask and grab a drink when I'm finished writing this guide... I hope Connor is working today...](/files/GwMW9Oidsmy374iXVehI) Once you've equipped a Rail Car or Passenger Car, it's time to put something (or some*one*) into it. From the Rail Car selection page, click on the "Loading Dock" button, which is circled in the picture above. ![This reminds me I have leftover rice I need to use. Maybe I'll make oyakodon for dinner...](/files/QmaF7XoOKgdL5s6W0mJD) Click on the Rail Car or Passenger Car you want to load, then select your Commodities or Passengers in the same way you'd equip any other card. Click the checkmark button, and you're done. ### And that's it! You've built your first train. Do you feel like a true Railroader yet? You're just one step away from sending out your first rail run. All that's left to do is buy some fuel. Let's take a visit to the Marketplace... # Buying Fuel and Performing Rail Runs Fuel up and send your train on its merry way ### Accessing the Marketplace Now that you've got your train assembled and loaded up, you need to buy some fuel. To the Marketplace we go! ![](/files/rwAmdvCIWbzuK4IFth5S) To get there, click on the Marketplace button, which is glowing in the photo above. ![](/files/kUJpzy8tZhLeYxDCGF9q) The Marketplace should open directly to the Fuel page. Fuel is sold at the following rates: * **Coal**: 1 Tocium : 10 Coal * **Diesel:** 1 Tocium : 5 Diesel All you have to do is adjust the quantity of whichever fuel type you'd like to buy, then click the "Purchase" button. Boom! You just bought fuel. Be aware that purchasing anything from the Marketplace requires that you have Tocium in your wallet. ### Sending a Train Out On a Rail Run Exit out of the Marketplace by clicking on the "X" button in the top left corner of the window. Return to the station your train is at, and click on it to bring up the Station View. ![](/files/lCvXGHjvyvRykPDd0lL7) This time, we're going to click on the "Next Stop" button, which is circled in the picture above. Doing so will open the Next Stop View. ![I want to know what grows in the Terror Gardens, but also, I'm afraid seeing them might give me nightmares...](/files/IpNwNEM9ZimWWRKGorcJ) This view highlights all the stations accessible from your current location. Stations your train **can reach** will be connected to your location by a **yellow line**. Stations your train ***cannot***** reach** will be connected to your location by a **red line.** Click on the station you'd like to travel to. This will bring up the Dispatch View. ![I feel good about choosing to skip the Terror Gardens. Unless... Do they sell churros there? That might change things.](/files/S6uturdRJbKVJ74iyMAK) From this View, you'll be able to see information about your current station as well as the destination station. You'll have the opportunity to adjust your train and your loaded cargo by clicking the "Edit Train" or "Loading Dock" button. You can also see the payout rates for each Commodity Type at the destination station. When you're ready to go, click the "Dispatch" button. You should hear your Conductor blowing your train's horn as they successfully embark on the rail run. ### Congratulations! You sent out your first rail run. You're officially a full-fledged Railroader and functioning member of society in the Centuryverse. We're glad to have you with us! You should see a **countdown timer** above your destination station. When it reaches zero, you'll be able to claim your Tocium reward. And speaking of claiming rewards... # Claiming Rewards Get that hard-earned Tocium into your wallet ### How to Claim Rail Run Rewards So, you played the waiting game, the countdown hit zero, and now you're ready to claim your Tocium. Right on! Any station with rewards available to claim will be highlighted in blue with a Tocium icon and the word "CLAIM" above it. All you have to do is **click on the station**. ![It's so shiny and clickable...](/files/XCpEM4hkqLsi8w4BJOLA) A window will pop up asking you to **confirm the claim action**. ![Ooh, what did I get!? Is it Tocium!? I hope it's Tocium...](/files/Dxp8A0BBX3Ft03JVbECR) Clicking "OK" will bring up your Rail Run Report. ![I KNEW IT!](/files/tKHeJt3aLKuVLinZW2aR) Click "Claim," and that Tocium is all yours. In rare cases, your claim might be accompanied by greetings from a Centuryverse citizen. Some of these NPCs will give you gifts you can use while playing the game, and some of them will give you the next chapter of the active campaign. Either way, we hope you'll enjoy getting to know these characters. # Train Condition and Repairs A healthy train is a happy train. ### What is Train Condition? Just like your real-life car, bike, scooter, or skateboard, your trains will take on damage if you don't properly care for them. This trait is represented by the train's **Condition** stat. A train's Condition begins at 100% and will deteriorate after each rail run. The **amount of damage** depends on the **number of Rail Cars** you have attached to your train. More Rail Cars equals heavier damage. Once a train's Condition dips **below the 90% threshold**, its **Speed will begin to decrease**. You'll need to perform maintenance on your trains to ensure that your rail runs reach their destination in a timely fashion! ### Performing Maintenance on your Locomotives Keeping your train 3 fast, 3 furious is easy. All you have to do is **click on the** [**Train Bubble**](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-map-and-hud#heads-up-display-information) for the train you want to repair. Then, **click the "REPAIR" button** at the bottom of the Quick Stats panel. ![](/files/A7SMaBtenH4fOc0qGqeS) A window will appear that describes the details of the proposed repairs. ![](/files/tS1ByDSJUhnbtFLDv4Di) If you're satisfied, **click "REPAIR"** to have the Century Mechanic perform the work. And that's it! Told you it was easy. ### Auto-Repairs But can it be even easier? Of course it can. If you'd rather not have to worry about manually repairing your trains, you can have the game's AI take care of it for you. Simply [navigate to the Settings panel ](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-railroader-dashboard#settings)and turn on auto-repairs. ![](/files/DLZC9rI3acnyWaxyNzig) While this feature is turned on, your trains will not take damage from rail runs. Be aware that auto-repairs still cost Tocium, and will only be performed if you can cover the fee. ### That Covers the Basics Congratulations on finishing this tutorial. You now know all the basics of how to play Train of the Century. From all of us at OSO Interactive, thank you so much for your interest in our game. Now get out there and rule the rails! Or, if you're like me (Hello, this is still Conductor John) and want to learn more before diving straight in, feel free to explore our Gitbook site. There's plenty of useful information to be found. And maybe even a few secrets to uncover... # The User Interface Familiarize yourself with the Train of the Century UI Here at OSO Interactive, we want our fans to feel connected to the games we make. That's why our design team put so much careful thought into the Train of the Century user interface. We designed it with three things in mind: **immersion**, **visibility**, and **information**. The map of the Centuryverse is on display (at least in part) almost constantly, so you'll feel **immersed** in the game world. On top of that, we crafted a series of "Views" that **visually** represent key **information** logically, in ways that feel natural. But we get it: You're new to the game, and you have no clue what all the buttons do or what the screens mean. No worries! Click to learn more about each of the game's UI elements: * [The Map and HUD](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-map-and-hud) * [Views](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-map-and-hud/views) * [The Wallet Dashboard](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-wallet-dashboard) * [The Rail Run Dashboard](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-rail-run-dashboard) * [The Marketplace](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-marketplace) * [The Railroader Dashboard](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-railroader-dashboard) * [The Station Owner Dashboard](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-station-owner-dashboard) ![Where's Missy going? To the Map page, of course!](/files/8sLtzH0CH7nvBtscmhXA) # The Map and HUD Discover the natural (and unnatural) beauty of the Centuryverse through the game map ![You'll always know your neighbor; you'll always know your pal if you ever navigated on the Mawmaw River.](/files/Rxb7s8mVDvZAFxVLr7W5) ### Behold. The Centuryverse. You're looking at the full-picture view of the Modern Century. Zoomed out all the way like this, you're able to see the geography of the five regions of the game world, as well as the bodies of water dividing them. This is the main View of Train of the Century. From here, you're able to access every other View and dashboard, as well as quickly locate points of interest like your trains. You'll also notice a number of helpful bits of information overlaid atop the map. First thing's first, let's learn how to navigate the map. ### Navigating the Map There are two main interactions you'll use to navigate the map: **panning** and **zooming**. * **To zoom**: Scroll your mouse click wheel on on your device trackpad. Alternatively, you can pinch to zoom on an touchscreen device. The View will zoom in on the area below your cursor. * **To pan**: Either click on the map and drag, or use the directional buttons. ![Ah, Centuryville. The Big Pawpaw...](/files/hGB5YcffBQLAFVT6Xe0T) Here, you can see that we've zoomed in on Centuryville. At this level of zoom, we're able to see much more detail: stations, connecting rails, buildings, and even some tiny foliage. **Hovering over a station** will reveal its name, and **clicking on a station** will open the Station View. We'll cover the Station View and other Views on the [next page](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-map-and-hud/views). ### Heads-up Display Information There are a few key pieces of information superimposed over the Map View at all times. This collection of UI elements is called the "Heads-up Display," or HUD. Let's take a look at each of these elements... ![ Look at all those buttons.](/files/09f1GxRr9XenuJ3VWU0q) The Button Wheel lives in the bottom right corner of the screen. Each of these buttons opens a useful screen or dashboard. They also make satisfying noises when you click them! * [**The Wallet Dashboard**](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-wallet-dashboard) opens when you click the button with the **cards icon**. * [**The Rail Run Dashboard**](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-rail-run-dashboard) opens when you click the button with the **track icon**. * [**The Marketplace**](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-marketplace) opens when you click the button with the **shop icon**. * [**The Railroader Dashboard**](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-railroader-dashboard) opens when you click the button with the **ToC emblem** on it. We'll discuss each of these screens on later pages of this guide. Or, if you'd like to skip ahead, click on one of the links above to learn more about that screen. Your wallet address is shown in the top right corner of the screen. It's either going to be a string of letters and numbers followed by ".WAM" or a personalized name that you created. Next to that, you'll see a hamburger menu icon and a sound icon. ![Say my \[WALLET ADDRESS\], say my \[WALLET ADDRESS\], if no one is around you, say "Baby, I love you..."](/files/ufICuF1xWsnNBOLJf1YF) * **Clicking on the hamburger menu** will open a quick options list where you can **mute sound effects and music** or **log out** of the game. (See picture below) * **Clicking on the sound icon** will quickly **mute just the game's music**. ![Boom, bam. Ya click the hamburger, ya get options. That's how we do things around here.](/files/fRoWyWBYwiegt4NvVd9e) The Chronometer sits centered at the top of your screen. It tells you which century you're currently playing in. As of ToC V1.0, only the Modern Century is available. Stay tuned to see what we're cooking up for new centuries in future updates! ![](/files/yLp2vOCihq9wbTRWbOXm) In the top left corner, you'll find two important counters. The top one shows how much Tocium you have in your wallet, and the bottom one shows you how much[ AMP ](/game-mechanics/advanced-mechanics/century-vials)you have on hand. ![](/files/i2xJcIhPS1N3ctsVPiFV) Below those, you'll find the Train Bubbles. Clicking on these icons will open the Quick Stats panel, which can show you handy information about your train with just a glance. ![](/files/dSJskgKgkKAcQ4e66Okx) Finally, in the bottom left corner are the Resource Labels. Here you can quickly check on your fuel reserves. You can also see which version of the game you're playing. ![If only I had a Mastodon to use this coal on...](/files/lku4hIU9boavLJcAMCD9) And that covers the map and the HUD! On the next page, we'll discuss the various Views we developed to help you play the game. Or, [click here](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/map-regions) if you'd like to learn a bit more about the lore of each region on the Centuryverse map. # Views Learn more about the Views through which you'll interact with the game To make playing Train of the Century easy and intuitive, we've designed a number of UI elements called **Views**. On this page, you'll find information about each of the Views, including their purpose, how to access them, and how to interact with them. ### The Station View ![Depot me once, shame on you.](/files/Q3yja6WU0lxmJX8INhqu) To access the Station View, simply click on a station. #### Idle Train View * **If your train is at the station**: The Station View will look like the picture above, displaying information about your train. You'll also be able to enter the Edit Train and Next Stop Views from here. #### Station Info View **If your train is not at the station**: Your **first click** will display a preview of the Station's information. The information displayed here is the Station's: name, owner, top 5 commodity rates, and the Station Billboard. Clicking on the glowing arrows at the bottom of the panel will expand the modal, revealing the Station's full Info View. ![First Click - Station Info Preview](/files/DURabWa1sCIiTylkYxn0) ![After Clicking the Preview, Station Info View](/files/UQ7kTdrR4R6nKyoMAclb) In this expanded view, you can click on the three tabs at the bottom of the View to see more information about the Station: | ![](/files/oQz9rOkKhv6KBP7GLPad) | ![](/files/KkvLOE4nmmtWeoQdi6xq) | ![](/files/mj8IZmN7ULcAGtJnb8GA) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Click the **cube icon** to see the Station's **Commodity Rates**. (This tab is open by default.) | Click the **gift icon** to see any **events** happening at the Station. | Click the **cards icon** to access the Station's **Rail Yard** and **Conductor Lounge**. | Alternately, you can right-click on a station to choose which View you'd like to open. The menu that appears is contextual and will only allow you to select options that apply. ![Look at that! What a handy-dandy shortcut!](/files/lPEvkG47Az110Euomeil) ### The Edit Train View ![Are we totally sure we can trust Tobias? Look at his eyes. There's something going on with him...](/files/Tstgye91d2iZ0BzotF7I) To access the Edit Train View, click on the "Edit Train" button from within the Station View. Here, you can assign Conductors, Locomotives, Rail Cars, and Passenger Cars to your train. Click on a slot to swap out the assigned card. [Click here to see a detailed breakdown of this View's mechanics](/game-mechanics/getting-started/assembling-your-train#how-to-edit-a-train). ### The Next Stop View ![Can we legally advise our players to follow the yellow tie rails? ... Better not, just to be safe...](/files/IpNwNEM9ZimWWRKGorcJ) To access the Next Stop View, click on the "Next Stop" button from the Station View. From here, you'll be able to see all of the stations connected to your current location. * Rails highlighted in **yellow** connect to stations you can reach with your current train build. * Rails highlighted in **red** connect to stations you cannot currently reach. You'll be able to glean the following information about a station by glancing at its placard: * **Distance**: How far away is the station? * **Fuel Cost**: How much fuel will you need to burn to reach the station? * **Run Time**: How long will it take to reach the station in real time? Be sure to consider these factors as you plan your rail runs. It's also important to remember that returning to the station you just came from will incur a **2x fuel backtracking penalty.** ### The Dispatch View ![Which patch are we supposed to dig up? Dispatch. ... I'm sorry you had to read that.](/files/S6uturdRJbKVJ74iyMAK) To access the Dispatch View, click on the station you'd like to send your train to while in the Next Stop View. The station's placard will expand, revealing commodity rates. Here, you'll have the chance to **edit your train** or **adjust your Commodities** by clicking on the corresponding buttons on the **Departure window**. When you're ready to **commit to the rail run**, click the **"Dispatch" button** at the bottom of the **Destination window**. # The Wallet Dashboard Learn how to keep track of your ToC NFTs ### Keep an Eye on Your Collection Want an easy way to check your Train of the Century NFT collection without having to leave the game? We've got you covered. ![We're gonna be seeing a lot of this picture over the next few pages...](/files/epenMFvnN4mRbJCuzuBS) Clicking on the button highlighted above will open the Wallet Dashboard. It looks like this: ![Hang on... Is that PNLOP? As in the PNLOP? The up and coming indie-pop starlet?? I need an autograph!](/files/kABihI9vzF4vCAVtTFIu) You can browse your card collection a few different ways: * Scrolling on you mouse click wheel or device trackpad * Clicking on the left side of the screen to scroll left, or the right side to scroll right * Swiping on your touchscreen device # The Rail Run Dashboard Monitor your idle trains and active rail runs in one convenient location ### All the Info About Your Trains, All in One Place ![Is it a section of a train track? Or is it a stack of boxes hovering inches apart, tied together?](/files/a093M0eUBNyjt5yai4vE) Clicking on this button will open the Rail Run Dashboard, which looks like this: ![Look at Ariadne chugging her way along on a rail run. You go, lil' choo choo!](/files/022UUeKDB4UUhlg4TDyp) The dashboard will automatically open to the Trains page, where you'll find a list of all your trains. **Clicking on your train** will expand the listing to reveal more information about it. ![Wait... Why do those Gluten Bars need to be kept in an armored Rail Car? What aren't you telling us, Tobias!?](/files/PpPnVz5fwWsqO1SPLMjm) From here, you can see all of your train's stats, equipped Conductor and Rail Cars, as well as what Commodities are loaded in each car. ![Clicking on these buttons will let you toggle which Rail Car you're inspecting...](/files/fzvEwv2nhbxRX1BvmBl3) And these buttons are your train options:

  • Clicking the top button will close the Rail Run Dashboard, open the map, and jump straight to your train's location.
  • The middle button will open the Edit Train View for the train you're currently inspecting, provided it's not in the middle of a rail run.
  • The bottom button will let you quickly clear out the cards equipped to your train so you can start over with a blank slate.
### View Your Rail Run History The Rail Run Dashboard also allows you to see a history of your past runs. ![Oh, dang, Ariadne, you been busy!](/files/aeNrhEk65FFjkIUk5DSd) To access your rail run history, simply **click on the "HISTORY" tab** in the top right corner of the dashboard. Keeping an eye on this page can be helpful as you analyze successful rail run strategies, giving you an advantage over other Railroaders! # The Marketplace Spend your Tocium on fuel, train upgrades, and more ### Visit the Marketplace for Helpful In-Game Items and Upgrades ![If only buying gas for my real-life car could be this easy...](/files/rwAmdvCIWbzuK4IFth5S) Clicking on this button will open the Marketplace window. It should automatically open to the Fuel tab, which looks like the picture below. ### Buying Fuel ![Fuel? I remember when they first invented fuel. Sweet, sweet fuel... I always hated it.](/files/ZEHwsxFm295y1jHKCPTO) From this page, you'll be able to exchange Tocium for **coal** or **diesel** fuel for your trains. For a detailed explanation on how to purchase fuel, [click here](/game-mechanics/getting-started/buying-fuel-and-performing-rail-runs). Keep in mind that as of Train of the Century V1.0, the only Locomotive that uses coal is the Mastodon. ### Buying Train Upgrades Clicking on the "UPGRADES" tab in the top right corner of the window will open a page that looks like this: ![My train can haul a total of eight rail cars? Why, that's one whole rail car more than seven!](/files/7G4NfRXbI8z6xGF1jdRZ) You'll notice a stack of buttons on the left side of the screen. Clicking on them will flip through the pages of **different upgrades** you can buy at the Marketplace. Let's go through them one-by-one. #### Rail Car Slots This is the page of upgrades that is opened by default. You can see it in the image above. To purchase an additional Rail Car slot for your train, simply **click on a grayed-out slot** and hit "**Accept**" in the pop-up window. Ta-da! You've got a brand-new slot on your train that you can fill with any Rail Car or Passenger Car. #### Compositions Clicking on "COMPOSITIONS" will bring you to a page that looks like this: ![Luckily, you don't need to have a high enchanting stat to perform these upgrades! Now, alchemy on the other hand...](/files/Nlj6t0CRHBzfoPcCcc4t) Here, you can upgrade the composition of any of your Locomotive cards that aren't already at the Tungsten level. This process **will burn your Locomotive NFT**, but you'll receive an upgraded version in exchange for your Tocium. **To preview the upgrade** your Locomotive will receive, **select it from the stack of cards at the bottom** of the window. ![Plus five distance and hauling power for 1,000 Tocium? What a steal!](/files/IiTnwkla2vUILb41mj3P) If you're satisfied with the upgrade, **click the "Upgrade to \_\_\_" button** in the bottom right of the window. Locomotive composition upgrades follow this pattern: * Iron > Steel * Steel > Carbon Weave * Carbon Weave > Tungsten If your Locomotive just isn't performing as well as you'd like it to, consider buying a composition upgrade or two! #### Portal Passes *This feature is still in development, but will enable time travel for the Modern Century Conductors.* #### Unlock Trains Click Unlock Trains to purchase a second train to manage. Note that you **must have at least 4 Rail Car slots unlocked** on all the trains you currently own before you can purchase another. ![TWO trains? That's one whole train more than just one!](/files/atvpyqv55bGhMYItHMKT) The price model for unlocking additional trains is as follows: | Additional Train Number | Tocium Price | | :---------------------: | :----------: | | 1 | 5,000 | | 2 | 30,000 | | 3 | 60,000 | | 4 | 100,000 | | 5 | 150,000 | | 6 | 210,000 | | 7 | 280,000 | | 8 | 360,000 | | 9 | 450,000 | | 10+ | 500,000 | ### Buying Century Train Parts Clicking on the "PARTS" tab at the top of the window will allow you to do business with our friend Oil Zone Otto. ![What a handsome guy, you know? I feel like he might smell bad though...](/files/FhoFbx3Gck5YA41U81yr) **For this page to populate with Century Train Parts** (CTPs), you'll **have to meet Otto** in one of his NPC Encounters. If you can't afford to or choose not to buy the CTP he offers you, it'll show up here, in the Marketplace. ![Oh, look! This picture has some extra information built right into it. Go ahead and click on it to get a better look.](/files/UCAxMsoMgdRFBqzVcFGc) CTPs are rare, powerful artifacts that come from parallel realities. If you collect all 18 of them, you can forge them into a Century Train! Or, you can fuse individual parts to one of your other trains to give them a permanent stat boost. The choice is yours! For a detailed explanation of Century Trains and their benefits, [click here](/game-mechanics/advanced-mechanics/century-trains). Or, if you'd like to see the full list of CTPs, [click here](/game-mechanics/advanced-mechanics/century-trains/century-train-part-index). ### The Railroader Emporium Do you have spare resources and need extra Tocium? Head on over the the Railroader Emporium! On this page of the Marketplace, you'll be able to sell your fungible assets like AMP and CTPs to other Railroaders. And that means you can also spend Tocium to purchase items from your fellow Railroader. ![](/files/4lFGivgw3MhnN3c6OONw) [Click here to learn more about how this P2P marketplace can enhance your game experience.](/game-mechanics/advanced-mechanics/the-railroader-emporium) # The Railroader Dashboard Maximize your Railroader experience by using these features ### It's Finally Time. You've been waiting so patiently, and now it's finally time to push the big, red button. Or, well... **The big, bronze button with the Train of the Century emblem on it**. ![You didn't even need me to point it out did you? It's fine; I totally get it.](/files/aCF3Db7xIFrNqkqsWajU) Clicking this button will bring you to the Railroader Dashboard, where you'll be able to exercise all of your mystical Railroader powers. ![WHOA. Look at that purple, swirling vortex! Is it safe to be here? Should I hold my breath?](/files/Ae3uxY9pYPvEMybDtPi3) Let's take a look at the control panel on the left side of this screen. ![Don't you love it when clicking a big button leads to more buttons?](/files/NWE5aIG9X6QHYsFiUBtf) Each of these buttons opens a useful page within the Railroader Dashboard. Keep scrolling to learn more about them. As for the panel on the right side of the screen? ![No, it's not a real address. Nice try, though!](/files/8R8n8UXAuiGMse8tXMe4) Why, that's your Profile Badge! [Click here to learn more about your Railroader Profile.](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/railroader-profile) ### Settings ![](/files/DLZC9rI3acnyWaxyNzig) On this page, you can tweak a number of settings to customize your game experience. * Change your wax endpoint * Toggle sound effects and music * Enable / disable minigames * Connect your account to a Metamask wallet * Enable / disable automatic repairs on your Locomotives ### Leaderboards ![](/files/06nAUgmu8qTQtjO5eG4I) From the Leaderboards page, you'll be able to see who reigns supreme in a number of different categories. You can **switch between displaying** results **by Railroader** or **by Station** by clicking on the respective tabs at the top of the window. You can also click on these **buttons at the bottom of the window** to change your search parameters: ![We love when our buttons are on-theme around here.](/files/VUzGEMtAVJzl1f1GeHYt) For each gear-button you can toggle through: | Top 50 | Total Railruns | Today | | :-----: | :-------------: | :-------: | | Top 100 | Tocium Earnings | This Week | | Top 200 | Achievements | 30 Days | *Pro tip: If you can't get a button to toggle, try clicking on the **left or right side** of it.* ### Claim Center ![50 whole Tocium??? I'm rich!](/files/6NxY333TUzOnk5bnON1P) Did your internet connection freak out while you were in the middle of claiming a Tocium reward from an NPC? We got you covered. On the Claim Center tab, you'll be able to recover and claim any NPC Tocium rewards that you missed or were previously unable to claim. All you gotta do is click the "CLAIM" button. ### Staking ![Oh, this isn't like a filet mignon? I guess I don't need this bib, then...](/files/2rVCaFwp1mmVCTmWzHuw) On the Staking page, you can easily view and manage all your staked assets. The page automatically opens to the **Staked tab**, where you can unstake assets or claim Tocium rewards from Rail Yards and Conductor Lounges. When you click **"CLAIM"** on a listing on this page, you'll **automatically collect** all Tocium rewards accrued for **all assets of that type** (Locomotive / Conductor) **at that particular Station**. On the Requests tab, you'll be able to keep track of the status of your VIP Requests. ![Consider this free advertising for Gloom Depot. Whoever owns Gloom Depot, you're welcome. :)](/files/SG6uVJAzx3gK2fO1eYu8) In the top listing, we see a VIP Request that has yet to receive a response. Clicking on "REVOKE" will cancel your request. In the bottom listing, we see a VIP Request that has been rejected. Clicking "DISMISS" will remove the listing from your Requests tab. ### Events Picture coming soon! On this page, you'll be able to see information about Station Events and any gifts you may have earned from participating in them. ### Story ![The Story page is my favorite! Why? Uh... No reason.](/files/5SlvQZ5pBOOsFtXIRDhc) The Story page allows you to play [Story Encounters](/game-mechanics/npc-encounters/story-encounters) you may have skipped or replay ones you've seen. Let's take a look at the symbols and buttons you'll find on this page: ![These distances are still just dummy numbers. We're going to adjust the values so everyone gets to experience the story at a reasonable pace.](/files/2PWwx3AYnA03gXTDIhCb) Here we can see: * This Railroader has **unlocked and played through encounter 1A**. They can click the "Replay" button on the right to play that encounter again. * **Encounter 1B has been unlocked but hasn't been played**. To play it, the Railroader can click the "Play" button on the right. * **Encounter 1C has also been unlocked, but is inaccessible until 1B has been played through**. Remember: You can only play a Story Encounter if you've played through all preceding encounters. If you fall behind on the story, remember to visit the Story page to get caught up! ### Achievements Picture coming soon! On this page, you'll be able to see all of the achievements you've unlocked as well as view your progress toward unlocking others. ### Inventory On the Inventory page, you can browse and interact with any non-NFT items you've collected while exploring the Centuryverse. ![](/files/u6oKi4eS8oZwsajIDljm) If you have redeemable items, like Century Vials or fuel barrels received from card packs, you'll find them here. To redeem an item, simply click on the "REDEEM" button below its listing. Future updates of ToC may include other types of items that can be found in your Inventory. Be sure to check back for updates! ### Golden Runs ![Hey, great job, choobastank! You did it! Oh, that's not...? That's just a mock-up of the actual page? Oh...](/files/T6x2ThFGM7urd1f9g934) Think you've put together the pieces of a Golden Run? The Golden Run Society will be the ones to verify whether you've done it or not. Clicking on the Golden Runs tab will bring you to the Golden Run Society page. By default, it opens to a list of all Modern Century Conductors and the names of the first Railroader to complete their Golden Run. Entries listed in gold font have been discovered. Entries in white are still up for grabs! When you're ready to submit a rail run for Golden Run verification, come to this page then click on the "SUBMIT" tab. ![That turdmobile sure does get around town.](/files/I2gaBNbP78YWubzw9YOu) Here, you'll see a history of your recent rail runs. You can click the green "SUBMIT" button to find out if you've discovered a winning combination. Remember, to unlock a Golden Run, you need to match a Conductor with their preferred: * Locomotive * Rail Car * Commodity [Click here to learn more about Golden Runs.](/game-mechanics/advanced-mechanics/golden-runs) # The Station Owner Dashboard Learn more about the actions you can take as a Station owner ### Game Mechanics for Station Owners Railroaders that own Stations have access to a number of tools to help them manage their stations. These tools can be found on the **Station Owner Dashboard**. To open the Station Owner Dashboard, simply **click on a Station that you own**. The window that appears will look similar to this: ![Hey, thanks, Scootdude! Come back anytime.](/files/7hd5CMVwDak8twpdmXnP) The buttons on the right side of the window allow you to see information about your station, manage upgrades, change settings, and more. ### The Rates Tab Click on the cube icon to access the Rates tab. ![Wow, what great rates! Maybe I should visit Midnight Station...](/files/ZvkeoJl8iJdbbxiE07uY) From here, you'll be able to view your Station's current Commodity rates and Preferred Commodities. You'll also be able to boost the rates of chosen Commodity Types to incentivize visiting Railroaders to ship certain Commodities to your station. ***This feature is still in development.*** ### The Visitors Tab Click on the person icon to open the Visitors tab. ![Look at all those chickens. And by chickens, of course, I mean visitors.](/files/IZeI47qAq1TlwKGnyBgM) Here, you can see stats related to the number of Railroaders who've sent trains through your Station. The buttons on the left side of the window change the **time period displayed** by the graph. The dropdown list at the bottom of the window allows you to switch between viewing: * **All visits** * **Unique visitors** * **Top visitors** Clicking on the "CSV" button in the bottom right corner will allow you to **download a .csv file** containing all the information about your visitors. ### The Tocium Tab Click on the Tocium icon to open the Tocium tab. !["Some days you're hot, and the coin flows like water. Some days you're cold, and the coins? They're in everyone else's pockets." —Tommy Two-Pair](/files/NRTLyu1i9aSO9Hjl9nfx) The buttons on the left side of the window change the **time period displayed** by the graph. The dropdown list at the bottom of the window allows you to switch between viewing: * **Station earnings** * **Top visitors by commissions** Clicking on the "CSV" button in the bottom right corner will allow you to **download a .csv file** containing all the information about your visitors. ### The Gifts Tab Click on the gift icon to open the Gifts tab. ![A pool full of gifts? I feel like it wouldn't be very easy to swim in...](/files/akAfd1h45fWhGySs4wTU) On this tab, you'll be able to create gift pools and special events for your visitors to participate in. Giving out gifts is a great way to convince other Railroaders to send trains to your Station—and that means more Tocium for you. More details will be posted when this feature reaches a later stage of development. ***This feature is still in development.*** ### The Billboard Tab Click on the chat bubble icon to open the Billboard tab. ![Use your billboard to advertise your own blockchain project, or just to show off your artwork. What will you put on display?](/files/OJTwCbIjWbPXK0yeaaaY) Here, you can update the image that displays on your Station's billboard. 661 x 364 are the recommended dimensions. To do so, follow these steps: 1. **Encrypt your image using the IPFS** (Interplanetary File System) service. 2. Copy and **paste the IPFS hash** of your image into the **box at the bottom** of the Billboard tab window. 3. **Click the "PREVIEW" button.** 4. When your image loads, the "PREVIEW" button will be replaced by a red trash can button and a green checkmark button. Click the trash can to delete the image or the **checkmark to confirm** the upload. If you want to replace your billboard image, you can **click the "CLEAR" button** as shown in the picture below. ![It says "clear," but it's opaque... I dunno, seems kinda messed up, to me.](/files/2nDWj5U8bU7KsTPWVZJK) **BE AWARE** that you can only change your billboard image after a **cooldown timer** reaches zero. Be sure to plan accordingly, if you decide to put up a new billboard. ### The Staking Tab Click the cards icon to open the Staking tab. ![Oh, I was under the impression that there, uh... Would be steaks here... I gotta stop writing when I'm hungry.](/files/9TE1jf1Wwb21GNaydhxE) Your Station's staking pools will initially be locked, but you can access them by **upgrading your Station** for a Tocium fee. To unlock the Rail Yard or the Conductor Lounge, simply **click on the image**, then click the **"CONFIRM" button** that appears. After you've opened the Rail Yard or Lounge, you can click on their image to access staking **management tools**. ![There's a lot to unpack here. I hope you've got your unpacking gloves on.](/files/CcgYk89ZGqUSPrBaROhN) #### Commissions Click this button to **adjust the commission rates** for your staking pools. ![15% commission rates? Now that's a deal I can get behind. Fetch my trains, Reginald!](/files/o7vOyVqoNc7QkAzwasns) You can set Commission Rates anywhere **between 0% and 50%**. Carefully consider what commission you want to charge your visitors to make sure you're Station is an appealing staking spot (while still earning a fair cut of the rewards). #### Upgrade Tier Click this button to **increase the size of your staking pool**. ![Like an elegant wedding cake, every staking pool is made better by the presence of multiple tiers.](/files/qCvH1HbLARHygkuKcKgl) You'll be able to view your pool's stats at it's current level, and by clicking on the green "VIEW" button in the bottom right corner... ![To continue with the cake metaphor? Or to pivot to a metaphor about the passion of my tears? Hmm...](/files/y2c6ytLVjgo6UKosq1hz) ...you can preview your pool's stats at the next tier. Tier upgrades come with an **increase in both Public and VIP staking slots**. If you're ready to commit to the upgrade, click the blue "CONFIRM" button. Upgrades work the same for Rail Yards and Conductor Lounges, and the fee and expansion model works the same across all Station rarities. You can find this information in the chart below: | Upgrade Tier | Public Slots | VIP Slots | Tocium Cost | | :------------: | :----------: | :-------: | :---------: | | 1 (Base Level) | 5 | 13 | 100,000 | | 2 | 10 | 20 | 110,000 | | 3 | 16 | 24 | 125,000 | | 4 | 24 | 26 | 145,000 | | 5 | 44 | 36 | 170,000 | | 6 | 49 | 42 | 200,000 | #### Manage VIPs Click this button to **edit the list of Railroaders invited to stake assets in your Station's VIP slots**. ![Oh, buff.pikachu stakes at Midnight Station? I gotta get over there, STAT.](/files/G3Oi5agSnWDTo9rVWvI8) You'll be able to see how many of their allotted staking slots each VIP is using and how much commission you're earning from each of them. **If you wish to boot a Railroader** from your VIP list, click on the **red trash can icon,** then confirm the boot action on the pop-up. Their assets will be cleared from your VIP pool and that person will no longer have access to your VIP slots. #### Claim Tocium Clicking this button will claim any commissioned Tocium you've accrued in your staking pool. ![And then you can throw it all in a swimming pool and dive into it while mumbling "Tocium, Tocium, Tocium."](/files/WBx5m2itTnlrvQNrNOqH) From this page, you can also view assets staked in your Station's Public and VIP slots by clicking the corresponding **tabs at the top of the window**. On the Public tab, you can view everything staked by non-VIPs. ![Ah, yes. The Public. Sweet, sweet The Public. ](/files/I2LHpnDEwJXB1b9QTEA5) It should be noted that a **Station Owner cannot stake in their Public pool**. Use this pool to attract Railroaders, then earn commission on their staked assets! On the VIP page, you can view everything staked by your invited guests. ![Oh, you have to be Very Important to get in here? Does that mean buff.pikachu is here?](/files/jZUTHq0vVH7gxyseW0jm) **Here, Station Owners can also stake their own asset**s. An Owner can stake as many assets in their VIP pool as they wish, provided there is space. Upgrading your pool means more slots for staking your assets! [To learn more about staking, Rail Yards, and Conductor Lounges, click here.](/game-mechanics/advanced-mechanics/staking-hubs-rail-yards-and-conductor-lounges) ### The Settings Tab Click on the "i" gear icon to access the Settings tab. Images and details will be posted when this feature reaches a later stage of development. ***This feature is still in development.*** # Railroader Profile Show off your accomplishments using your very own Railroader Badge ### Your Profile Your Railroader Profile is a way for you to flaunt your style and announce your accomplishments to the Centuryverse. ![](/files/fe9I0fNsxE485gFBxF7s) Here, you can customize the way other Railroaders see you in-game. You'll have plenty of customization options, from which character image is displayed, to background images, nameplate options, and more. ### Accessing Your Profile To access your profile, [open the Railroader Dashboard.](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-railroader-dashboard) ![](/files/Ae3uxY9pYPvEMybDtPi3) From here, click on the "VIEW PROFILE" button on the right side of the screen. This will open the full profile view. ![](/files/VLZZfD52b4zxnLQilzUv) You'll be able to get a closer look at your game stats and achievements, as well as a list of stations you might own. You can also choose to edit your badge to change its style. ### Editing Your Railroader Badge To give your Railroader Badge a makeover, click the "EDIT RR BADGE" button on the right side of the screen. You'll have options for changing... * The frame around your profile icon * Your chosen character icon * The background of your icon * The style of your nameplate Let's take a deeper look at each of these features. #### Icon Frame ![](/files/1dP993MUGvmafqfwfFLm) The icon frame is the gear-shaped circle surrounding your profile icon. You can choose from different styles of gears as well as a variety of colors. #### Character Icon ![](/files/a5i7RSaa1nrgbdkkR0jY) You can choose your favorite Centuryverse character to represent yourself on your Railroader Badge. All Modern Century Conductors and Passengers are available to choose from! #### Icon Background ![](/files/gY3EDax3dC6SfARKhOdU) Change the background behind your chosen character to give your badge the vibe you're looking for. You can choose from a variety of textures, images, or even Modern Century Stations. #### Nameplate ![](/files/tO0BDqjOeArThzqy2FGR) Wish your badge's nameplate had more pizzazz? You can change up the styles and colors of the base color and the rim to make it stand out from the crowd. ### Viewing Other Players' Profiles Interested in learning more about a fellow Railroader's accomplishments? To bring up another player's Railroader Badge, all you have to do is click on their wallet address. ![](/files/rZ0l7cG8DHWZH9FH5nO8) For instance, you can check out today's top 50 Tocium earners by clicking on their names on the Leaderboard page. Or you can learn more about a player before buying their item in the Emporium by doing the same. ### Featured Achievements While on your profile, you can also update which of your Achievements are featured on your Profile Quick View card. ![](/files/hs3y5l6UtJQUCWRRmE3P) All you need to do is click on the Achievement badge you'd like to replace, then click on the one you'd like to display instead. Easy! Arrange your featured Achievements however you like and make other Railroaders jealous of your accomplishments. # Achievements Good news, gamers! ### What Are Achievements? If you've played a modern video game within the past 15 or so years, chances are you already know what achievements are. But if you don't, that's okay! We're here to help. **Achievements are in-game badges** you can earn for completing certain tasks and challenges. And now that you know, you could say you've unlocked your very first Achievement: The Gift of Knowledge. (This one doesn't come with a shiny badge, but we're proud of you all the same.) ![Ooh, shiny!](/files/72HCaZZbgaKooCEgixIV) ### What Kinds of Achievements are in ToC? There are a variety of Achievement types you can work towards while playing Train of the Century. Achievement categories include: * **Commodity** - Haul assets of the associated Commodity Type for the specified distance * **Region** - Visit every Station in the associated region of the Centuryverse * **NPC** - Trigger a set number of interactions with the associated NPC * **Streak** - Make rail runs on consecutive days to uphold a gameplay streak * **Special** - Achievements that can only be unlocked by truly exceptional Railroaders Once you've met the conditions to unlock an Achievement, you'll see a pop-up like the one in the picture above, letting you know of your accomplishment. ### Where to View Achievements So now that you've got a handful of shiny Achievement badges, where can you go to admire them? Well, you've got a few options, actually! The first place you can see your Achievements is on your [Railroader Profile](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/railroader-profile) card on the right side of the [Railroader Dashboard](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-railroader-dashboard). !["And this is where I would keep my achievements... If I had any."](/files/vAfZxly0RhmRCa0Wh6tj) Here, you can quickly see your featured Achievements. By **clicking VIEW PROFILE*****,*** you'll be able to see your full list of Achievements and change which ones you have featured. [Click here to learn more about featured Achievements.](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/railroader-profile#featured-achievements) You can also view the full list of available Achievements as well as your progress towards earning them by clicking the Achievements Tab of the Railroader Dashboard. ![](/files/WXMxR7pxfVTPWMxetgzl) Finally, you can also keep up to date with which Railroaders reign supreme with their high Achievement tally by [checking the Achievements page of the Leaderboards.](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-railroader-dashboard#leaderboards) ![](/files/xy8qf9ei3Dy9j3tCFxq3) Think you can get your name to the top of the list? Click on to the next page to read the full list of Achievements and plan your rise through the ranks. # Achievements Index Use this page as a reference for Achievement requirements. ### Commodity Achievements Earned by hauling a specific Commodity Type over a set amount of distance. Each of the following Achievements has 5 ranks which progress according to the following scheme: | Rank | Distance Required | | :--: | :---------------: | | 1 | 5,000 | | 2 | 10,000 | | 3 | 20,000 | | 4 | 35,000 | | 5 | 50,000 | Each Commodity Type has its own Achievement: | Commodity Type | Achievement Name | | :----------------: | :--------------: | | Automobile | OttoMobile | | Aggregate | Woodchip King | | Building Materials | Rob the Builder | | Crate | Crate Carrier | | Gas | Mr. Gas | | Grain | Grainasaurus Rex | | Granule | Sugar Daddy | | Liquid | Liquid Lifter | | Ore | Rock Hustler | | Oversized | Big Shit Express | | Pallet | Pallet Pusher | | Perishable | Icicle Jones | | Top Secret | Entity 9's BFF | So, for instance, to unlock OttoMobile Rank 1, you'll have to transport at least 1 Automobile Commodity over a total of 5,000 distance. OttoMobile Rank 2 will then unlock after a combined total of 10,000 distance, and so forth. Can you get each of these 12 Achievements all the way to Rank 5? ### Region Achievements Region Achievements are unlocked by visiting every Station in the associated region at least once. The names of the Achievements are as follows: | Region | Achievement Name | | :---------------: | :----------------------: | | Centuryville | Centuryville Connoisseur | | Trevithick Pines | T-Pines Traveler | | Pawpaw Plains | Pawpaw Pro | | James Park | James Park Juggalo | | Pemberton Heights | Pemberton Nights | ### NPC Achievements NPC Achievements unlock after you've met certain conditions during NPC interactions. For now, the only NPC who'll hand out Achievements is good old Oil Zone Otto. And luckily, all you have to do is be his friend (and trigger a set number of Otto encounters). | Achievement Name | Number of Encounters to Unlock | | :--------------: | :----------------------------: | | Otto's Fellow | 1 | | Otto's Colleague | 5 | | Otto's Friend | 10 | | Otto's Enemy | 18 | | Otto's Bro | 19 | I wonder what happens that causes Otto's opinion of you to change so often? ### Streak Achievements To earn Streak Achievements, all you have to do is complete one rail run a day for a certain number of consecutive days. That should be easier and more fun than completing your daily app-driven Spanish lesson! | Achievement Name | Required Streak Length | | :--------------: | :--------------------: | | 7 Day Streak | 7 Days | | 30 Day Streak | 30 Days | | 90 Day Streak | 90 Days | | 180 Day Streak | 180 Days | | 365 Day Streak | 365 Days | ### Special Achievements Special Achievements are a little bit tougher to unlock, and may sometimes posses a timing element to them. These Achievements are: | Achievement Name | Unlock Criteria | | :---------------: | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------: | | Beta Badge | Awarded to Railroaders who traveled at least 100 distance during the ToC beta release period | | Golden Railroader | Awarded to Railroaders who were the first to discover a Conductor's Golden Run | | Train Maestro | Awarded to Railroaders with a total of 10 unlocked trains | | Full Train | Awarded to Railroaders after they unlock all additional Rail Car slots for 1 train | # NPC Encounters Meet the cast of characters who will interact with you as you play ### What is an NPC Encounter? Sometimes, when you claim a rail run reward, you'll be approached by a non-player character. The likelihood of meeting an NPC is determined by a number of factors and can be influenced by your equipped [**Conductor's Luck perk**](/game-mechanics/getting-started/toc-card-types-and-attributes#conductor-perks) (or lack thereof). In Train of the Century, NPC encounters are split into two categories: * [Asset Encounters](/game-mechanics/npc-encounters/asset-encounters) — The NPC will give you an item, present you with an opportunity, or provide a service that will assist you. * [Story Encounters](/game-mechanics/npc-encounters/story-encounters) — The NPC will present a chapter of the game's overarching narrative, often asking for your opinion or asking for you to respond somehow. Both types of encounters are integral to the ToC gameplay experience, and we hope you'll enjoy getting to know the citizens of the Centuryverse. Continue reading to learn more about each type of NPC encounter. ![](/files/4y62UvAicqZVd5HMwRLS) # Asset Encounters Dive into the details of each Asset Encounter In an Asset Encounter, the NPC who appears will grant you an item or opportunity that can enhance your gameplay experience. ### Oil Zone Otto !["W—what? How did I get here?" —Otto](/files/CcC5QNDHlYzMYTZgidHv) Oil Zone Otto is a friendly guy who just wants to keep his business afloat. If you take the time to get to know him, you'll quickly find he's loyal, honest, and hard-working. For some reason, [**Century Train Parts**](/game-mechanics/advanced-mechanics/century-trains/century-train-part-index) keep appearing in his Oil Zone. **He's gonna try to sell them to you**, but he'll cut you a good deal. If you purchase a CTP directly from an Otto encounter, you'll be able to buy it at a discounted price. Or, if you decline to buy the part during the encounter, you can still buy it from [the Marketplace](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-marketplace#buying-century-train-parts). **The Otto discount will last for 10 minutes** after an encounter. After that, you'll have to pay full price. ### Transporter Thomas !["Hello, my fwend! Think you could help out my associate, here?" —Thomas](/files/ydK1zTOrfiZX5HPhxBbl) We don't really know where Transporter Thomas came from. He just showed up one day and decided we were fwends... I mean *friends.* He's sort of a mischievous guy, but he's got a heart of gold and just wants to help people. If he shows up, it's because he knows a [**Passenger in need of a ride**](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/passengers). And since you've got wheels, he's gonna send them with you whether you've got room for them or not! ### The Stranger !["Oh, I think we'll get along swimmingly, Railroader." —The Stranger](/files/r7W0OVZJkVvGC8VPhpGD) Now *here's* an interesting figure. The Stranger is, well... Strange, for lack of a better word. But all the best people are, no? This is a man who keeps his cards close to his chest until he's forced to play his hand. Even if you aren't sure what he's up to, it's probably a good idea to just go along with what he tells you. When the Stranger approaches you, he's probably going to say something mysterious before handing you a [**Century Vial**](/game-mechanics/advanced-mechanics/century-vials). Then he'll disappear. Where does he go to when he runs off like that? ### The Commodity Culprit !["A-haha! It is I! The benevolent Commodity Culprit, here to bless your day." - The Commodity Culprit](/files/FA7qRTAaqtZLlQas7z1T) Are you still working on building up your resources, expanding your trains, and learning how to rule the rails? You might just find yourself crossing paths with the infamous Commodity Culprit. When you complete a rail run with **four or fewer rail cars** equipped on a train, you'll run the chance of triggering an encounter with this NPC. He might be a little insufferable... And he's definitely going to say something condescending about your train. But, hey! He'll also give you a free [Commodity](/nft-index/commodities)! ### The Century Mechanic !["Looks like your train has seen better days. Let me give it a quick tune-up." - The Century Mechanic](/files/VzhrMyB9mFdg1CtA4hfV) Let's face it: Your train is gonna get worn down at some point. You *could* stay ahead of the wear and tear by keeping up to date with Locomotive repairs... Or you could put it off and hope this friendly face makes an appearance! After completing a rail run, if your Locomotive's condition is **less than 50%**, you'll have the chance to trigger an encounter with the Century Mechanic. He'll restore your Locomotive to 100% condition in no time. Be sure to thank him, if you ever see him! # Story Encounters Soak up every detail of Train of the Century's story ### Story Mode Train of the Century has an intricate sci-fi fantasy story woven into its structure. At certain pre-determined points of the game, you'll be approached by NPCs who would like to have a word with you. Be careful what you say and to whom: Not everybody in the Centuryverse deserves your trust... The first Modern Century Campaign is composed of **10 chapters**, each made up of **3 Story Encounters**. That means there are **30 encounters** for you to interact with—and yes, we *mean* interact with. We hope that you enjoy the visual novel-style gameplay we've prepared for you, and that you'll be the one to get to the bottom of the suspicious happenings in the Centuryverse. Continue reading to learn more about the characters you'll be getting to know throughout the campaign. ### The Stranger !["I'm afraid I must continue to involve you in this sordid affair." —The Stranger](/files/NUMWVM0WrJpzdSExfZe8) Hang on a second... This guy is in Asset Encounters *and* Story Encounters? He must be up to something... The Stranger is the first person you'll meet in the Centuryverse, but who is he *really*? I mean, he calls himself *The Stranger*. Talk about shady... But if what he says is true, there's conspiracy afoot. If you want to escape it unscathed, you might have to stick with him and see how it all plays out. ### The Century Mechanic !["I'm just here because I owe the Stranger a favor, and now we're even." —The Century Mechanic](/files/E5hDmwyBaM44ZMTW3l6r) The Century Mechanic has unclear origins, but he's well-versed in the mythology of Objects of Power (OOPs) and Century Trains. He's been around long enough to know not to take sides in meaningless power struggles, but if you can get him to warm up to you, he just might lend a hand after all. If you can collect [all 18 Century Train Parts](/game-mechanics/advanced-mechanics/century-trains/century-train-part-index), he'll forge them into a Century Train. For a price, of course. ### Maureen Fletcher !["It was lovely to meet you today! I'm sure I'll see you around town. Ciao!" —Maureen Fletcher](/files/pFCZDLZP4TxojowzyQoJ) Maureen Fletcher is the head of research and development at the Johnson Group Research Foundation, a medical research facility in Trevithick Pines. She also acts as their spokesperson, and her signature strawberry blond hairdo is recognizable from her many press conference appearances. But beneath all that, she's a kind-hearted woman who likes to stay in touch with her children and who bakes cookies for her research team. She's sure to be a voice of reason when things take a turn for the chaotic. ### The Researcher !["Run along and play with your trains, Railroader. That's all." —The Researcher](/files/w9qTjoWJq3GZTuDC7NrD) Not much is known about the Researcher. Nobody even knows his real name. Rumor has it he's killed everyone who's gotten close enough to find out what it is. Sources say he works at the JGRF with Maureen Fletcher, but could that really be true? # Mini Games All the best things in life are miniature, from dogs to games. ### Games on Games on Games Looking for a way to kill some time while you wait for your rail run to complete? Never fear, mini games are here! ![](/files/0OZUPNRoFl0MjdiV61MD) After you dispatch a rail run, you'll have the chance to play one of three mini games. Once you confirm the run, the mini game selection wheel will appear and pick one of the games for you. At that point, you can either choose to play or skip it by clicking the appropriate button. Mini games are enabled by default. If you decide you'd rather not play them, you can turn them off on the [settings menu](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-railroader-dashboard#settings). **Currently, mini games bear no effect on rail run Tocium payouts**, but the OSO Team is considering it for future releases. Click ahead to learn more about each mini game. # Railyard Defender Keep the railyard safe! ### Ball Lightning is Always the Solution Evil drones are attacking the rail yard! Ensure that your trains have safe passage by blowing up those bots with your twin lightning cannons. ### Controls * Aim - Mouse * Fire Left Cannon - Left Click * Fire Right Cannon - Right Click # Survive the Century Thomas? What did we do to deserve this?! ### I Thought We Were Fwends? Pilot your Locomotive through the swirling void of space and shoot down the encroaching Evil Thomas heads! Be sure to pick up the spinning ToC icons that appear to get valuable power ups and survive longer. ### Controls * Movement - WASD * Aim - Mouse * Fire Weapon - Automatic # Anomatic Vibes Let your mind relax as you gather anomatic particles. ### The Colors Are Pretty... Pretty Dangerous! Take control of a mass of anomatter as you absorb smaller particles while navigating a "bullet hell" environment. And you better have great reaction time, if you're gonna survive the onslaught of the boss fights! ### Controls * Movement - Mouse # Advanced Mechanics Master the advanced elements of the game ### Looking For a Deeper Game Experience? Now that you've got experience with the basic elements of Train of the Century, it's time to take a look at the more **advanced features**, including: * [Station Ownership](/game-mechanics/advanced-mechanics/station-ownership) * [Century Trains](/game-mechanics/advanced-mechanics/century-trains) * [Century Vials](/game-mechanics/advanced-mechanics/century-vials) * [Staking (Rail Yards & Conductor Lounges)](/game-mechanics/advanced-mechanics/staking-hubs-rail-yards-and-conductor-lounges) * [Rail Run Calculator](/game-mechanics/advanced-mechanics/rail-run-calculator) **Taking advantage of these elements is not required to enjoy the full ToC experience.** They're in the game for players who wish to dive deep into the lore of the Centuryverse and make the most of their P2E game experience. Continue reading, if you're ready to take your Railroader experience to the next level. ![Speaking of advanced mechanics, remember to call Raul Romero the next time your HVAC is on the fritz!](/files/PrvpdjQFGV4WEIa6UMfD) # Station Ownership Discover the benefits of owning a Station in the Centuryverse ### What Are Stations? Stations in Train of the Century operate similarly to train stations in real life. Trains pass through them to deliver Commodities or Passengers. There are only 400 Modern Century Stations, making them some of the rarest "land-type" NFTs out there. Stations are equipped with a host of tools to help Owners Incentivize transports to their Station. Let's take a look at an example of a Station card... ![I suppose it is a building after all. How many stats could it have?](/files/yHfHQpkbXvlAPvsFqdn3) As trains enter and exit a station, that station's Commodity payout rates will be affected by which commodity types pass through it. The rate of change will happen dynamically and will update throughout the day. Be sure to check a station's commodity rates while planning your rail runs. Besides acting as rail run destinations, stations can also be upgraded to include opportunities for **staking** your NFTs. * **Conductor Lounges** will allow you to stake Conductors * **Rail Yards** will allow you to stake idle Locomotives The **number of open staking slots** will depend on the **station's rarity** and the **level to which these amenities have been upgraded.** ### The Perks of Owning a Station As a station owner, you'll receive a percentage of all Tocium transactions that take place within your Station. In addition, Station owners can opt to upgrade their stations with Conductor Lounges and Rail Yards. Details about these perks are listed in the chart below. | Station Rarity | Tocium Fee Collected | Maximum Stakeable Assets | | :------------: | :------------------: | :----------------------: | | Common | 1% | 18 | | Uncommon | 3% | 30 | | Rare | 5% | 40 | | Epic | 8% | 50 | | Legendary | 15% | 80 | | Mythic | 25% | 91 | ### How to Purchase a Station Modern Century Station packs became available in October 2021 and sold out shortly thereafter. If you'd like to purchase a station, we suggest looking for sales on the **secondary market.** * [Click here to browse Station sales on Atomic Hub.](https://wax.atomichub.io/market?collection_name=centurytrain\&order=desc\&schema_name=station\&sort=created\&symbol=WAX) * [Click here to browse Station sales on NeftyBlocks.](https://neftyblocks.com/c/centurytrain/marketplace?sort=created\&order=desc\&collection_name=centurytrain\&schema_name=station) Keep in mind there will be additional Station Packs for sale in the future (for additional Centuries). ### The Station Owner Dashboard Owning a Station grants a Railroader access to a deep Station management system. All of this takes place on the Station Owner Dashboard. Interested in learning more? [Click here to jump to the Station Owner Dashboard page.](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-station-owner-dashboard) # Century Trains Uncover the truth behind the elusive Century Trains ### What Are Century Trains? Century Trains are Locomotives with mysterious origins and extraordinary utility. Legend has it they **don't require fuel** to operate. Some people say they can even **travel through time.** To come into the possession of such a train is surely to your benefit—but forging one is not going to be easy. You're going to need some help from **Oil Zone Otto** and the **Century Mechanic**... ### How to Collect Century Train Parts ![What a quaint Oil Zone. Do you come here often?](/files/V9buKp3tJQUjwvjD6C9a) Every now and then, you'll meet Otto during an [Asset Encounter](/game-mechanics/npc-encounters/asset-encounters#oil-zone-otto). When Otto appears, that means he's stumbled across a Century Train Part. You can **purchase CTPs at a discounted price** during these encounters, **or you can buy them from** [**the Marketplace**](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-marketplace#buying-century-train-parts) after declining to buy a part from Otto. If you decline to buy the part from Otto, you'll **still be able to take advantage of his discount for 10 minutes**, when you buy from the Marketplace. After that, you'll have to pay full price. ### **Fusing CTPs to Your Train** On their own, each CTP can be fused to one of your existing trains to give the train a **permanent stat boost**. To fuse a CTP to your train, follow these steps: 1. Open up the Marketplace and click the Parts tab. 2. Click on the arrow below Otto to switch to the Mechanic page. 3. Make sure you're on the Fuse sub-tab, then select the CTP you'd like to fuse. 4. Click the "CHOOSE LOCO" button and select the Locomotive you'd like to upgrade. 5. You'll see a preview of the stat boost your Locomotive will receive. 6. Click the "FUSE FOR 5 AMP" button to perform the fusion. A Locomotive can only handle so much upgrading before the anomatter in the CTPs makes it unstable. To prevent your train from succumbing to the anomatic pressure, **a Locomotive's stats have predetermined upgrade caps:** | Distance | Luck | Hauling Power | Speed | | :------: | :--: | :-----------: | :---: | | +60 | +15 | +40 | +25 | Additionally, **each fusion will cost 5 AMP.** ### Forging a Century Train To get your hands on a Century Train, you're going to have to bring all 18 unique CTPs to the **Century Mechanic,** who will assemble them for you, for a cost. [Click here to see a full index of the CTPs you'll need to collect](/game-mechanics/advanced-mechanics/century-trains/century-train-part-index). !["Hmm... I don't think you're ready for this yet. Come back when you have more CTPs." —The Century Mechanic](/files/11ALGaCAoe1sCqQippCF) Coming soon! # Century Train Part Index View all of the Modern Century Century Train Parts ### Common ![Name: Radiator Price: 60,000 TOCIUM Distance Boost: +2 HP Boost: N/A Speed Boost: N/A Luck Boost: N/A ](/files/xt6l9jOp8D1RMdAcfM98) ![Name: Radiator Fan Price: 60,000 TOCIUM Distance Boost: N/A HP Boost: N/A Speed Boost: +2 Luck Boost: N/A](/files/Jdop0133eKYIxoYWSAvb) ![Name: Sandbox Price: 60,000 TOCIUM Distance Boost: N/A HP Boost: +2 Speed Boost: N/A Luck Boost: N/A](/files/Mz8w1A6emdS7I5ucCFTG) ### Uncommon ![Name: Batteries Price: 63,750 TOCIUM Distance Boost: +3 HP Boost: N/A Speed Boost: N/A Luck Boost: N/A](/files/nXC4R10vUhGaL51CSoEO) ![Name: Fuel Tank Price: 63,750 TOCIUM Distance Boost: N/A HP Boost: N/A Speed Boost: +3 Luck Boost: N/A](/files/fja1CBC6pUQh08nRCExt) ![Name: Air Reservoirs Price: 63,750 TOCIUM Distance Boost: N/A HP Boost: +3 Speed Boost: N/A Luck Boost: N/A](/files/kLse9oOpSKKdMSCHm7NE) ### Rare ![Name: Drive Shaft Price: 67,500 TOCIUM Distance Boost: N/A HP Boost: +2 Speed Boost: +2 Luck Boost: N/A](/files/b7aQ10lwYRhcoIfoeh4z) ![Name: Motor Blower Price: 67,500 TOCIUM Distance Boost: +2 HP Boost: +2 Speed Boost: N/A Luck Boost: N/A](/files/wABmVbCtX16bjp8QebcW) ![Name: Main Alternator Price: 67,500 TOCIUM Distance Boost: +2 HP Boost: N/A Speed Boost: +2 Luck Boost: N/A](/files/4Fea2bUZ179042wWOKKo) ### Epic ![Name: Wheels Price: 71,250 TOCIUM Distance Boost: +2 HP Boost: +3 Speed Boost: N/A Luck Boost: +1](/files/bI7Ipl3wlY7wc1oBR6oz) ![Name: Electronic Controls Price: 71,250 TOCIUM Distance Boost: +2 HP Boost: +3 Speed Boost: +2 Luck Boost: N/A](/files/zissj5Q8NSEuxkJo1pip) ![Name: Truck Frame Price: 71,250 TOCIUM Distance Boost: +2 HP Boost: N/A Speed Boost: +3 Luck Boost: +1](/files/zYmXyM4LexxZWS8GXGmI) ### Legendary ![Name: Traction Motor Price: 112,500 TOCIUM Distance Boost: +2 HP Boost: +4 Speed Boost: +2 Luck Boost: +1](/files/XluX9NBXBUL83AaCxeSc) ![Name: Auxiliary Alternator Price: 112,500 TOCIUM Distance Boost: N/A HP Boost: +6 Speed Boost: +2 Luck Boost: +1](/files/31hsEswIc51EjAyMn5ez) ![Name: Air Compressor Price: 112,500 TOCIUM Distance Boost: +2 HP Boost: +4 Speed Boost: N/A Luck Boost: +2](/files/xpMEM1jRDePDAOVlMkHJ) ### Mythic ![Name: Turbo Charger Price: 180,000 TOCIUM Distance Boost: +6 HP Boost: +1 Speed Boost: +9 Luck Boost: +3](/files/6QKp9JkJenVGwGtpP9DS) ![Name: Power Rectifier Price: 180,000 TOCIUM Distance Boost: +6 HP Boost: +5 Speed Boost: +5 Luck Boost: +3](/files/UWlMbMdEbEDLPgldcYCI) ![Name: Engine Price: 180,000 TOCIUM Distance Boost: +6 HP Boost: +9 Speed Boost: +1 Luck Boost: +3](/files/f3EChnvUQR9b4vYj0TEo) # Century Vials Learn more about how to use Century Vials ### What Are Century Vials? As you progress through Train of the Century, you're going to receive Century Vials from the Stranger. But what are they? What's inside of them, and why do they glow? ![](/files/lZaccWLBA0UoqSsNghVQ) The short answer is this: Century Vials contain **Anomatic Particles** (AMP). Not much is known about anomatter, but some scientists believe it behaves as both a force and a particle, and that one AMP contains a tremendous amount of energy. ### Explaining the Different Century Vial Variants Different rarities of Century Vial contain different AMP amounts: | Image | Rarity | Probability of Receiving | AMP Value | | :-------------------------------------------------------------: | :-------: | :----------------------: | :-------: | | | Uncommon | 60% | 1 | | | Rare | 25% | 2 | | | Epic | 10% | 6 | | | Legendary | 4% | 12 | | | Mythic | 1% | 18 | ### How to Use Century Vials / AMP When you collect a Century Vial, the AMP contained within will automatically be transferred to the Century Cistern, **a special Century Vial that lives in your wallet**. That one looks like this: ![](/files/FjSc72eaArXz4W29BaaJ) Certain purchasable items and upgrades will require that you spend some of the AMP you've saved up. We're still researching anomatter and the effects of AMP, but for now we definitely know **you can use your AMP to**: * **Purchase Portal Passes** * **Fuse Century Train Parts to your Locomotives** * **Forge a Century Train** * **Upgrade Compositions for high-rarity Locomotives** We'll continue updating this list as we work with the researchers at TARI to learn more about this mysterious substance. # The Railroader Emporium Buy items from fellow Railroaders or sell your own In your journeys throughout the Centuryverse, chances are good that you'll collect multiples of the same resource. If you have extra anomatic particles or Century Train parts lying around, now there's a way you can turn them into Tocium. ### Buy and Sell at the Emporium We're excited to introduce the Railroader Emporium, our in-game player-to-player marketplace. ![](/files/4lFGivgw3MhnN3c6OONw) **To access the Emporium**, simply click on the Emporium tab in the Marketplace. Here, enterprising Railroaders can sell their unused fungible assets or purchase them from other ToC players. Let's take a look at the Emporium's features... ### Navigating the Emporium To get around the Emporium, you'll need to be familiar with the **filter buttons** at the top of the window. They look like this: ![](/files/bL96jvoIhj3nHZH51yYM) **On the left**, you'll find the **View Filter**. Clicking here will allow you to toggle between: * Buy * Sell * My Listings When you open the Emporium, "Buy" is selected by default. **In the middle**, we have the **Item Type Filters**. Click on these to filter visible listings by these categories: * All Listings * Century Vials (AMP) * Century Train Parts **On the right** are the **Rarity** and **Sorting Filters**. Changing the Rarity Filter will let you limit listings to: * All rarities * Common * Uncommon * Rare * Epic * Legendary * Mythic And the Sorting Filter allows you to arrange listings according to: * Newest * Oldest * Price (Ascending) * Price (Descending) ### Buying an Item **Purchasing an item** at the Emporium is just as easy as finding a listing you like then **clicking the "Buy" button.** You can also click on the "Info" button to learn more about a listing before shelling out your hard-earned Tocium. ### Selling an Item **To sell an item**, first navigate to the Sell page of the Emporium. It will look like this: ![](/files/bMcgbaqCkvATjcJ8KqBD) **The Century Vials page will be open by default**. Your AMP balance is displayed in the box near the top of the window. You'll be able to AMP in the same quantities that you find in Century Vials. It's up to you to decide how to portion your AMP listings. For example, in the picture above, this Railroader could sell... * Fifteen 1 AMP Century Vials * Seven 2 AMP Century Vials + One 1 AMP Century Vial * One 12 AMP Century Vial + One 2 AMP Century Vial + One 1 Amp Century Vial ...or any other combination of Century Vials whose sum is equal to or less than fifteen. **To sell Century Train parts**, click on the **CTP filter button** in the middle of the filter bar. The page should look something like this: ![](/files/roY1itmijjH6b3Vy4FJ5) You'll be shown your inventory of CTPs with their quantities on display in the top left corner of each listing. **When you're ready to create a listing** for CVs or CTPs, click on the "SELL" button below that item. This will open the Create Listing window: ![](/files/uqXuuOuqAGroVUGNbVaT) From here, you'll be able to set a Tocium price for your listing. **Click in the "My Price" box to adjust your price.** Be sure to **consider the lowest list price and last sold price** shown in the pane above to make sure your listing is appealing to other Railroaders. If you later decide you want to readjust the price of your listing, you can [change it from the My Listings page](#undefined) of the Emporium. When you're satisfied with your listing, click the "Create Listing" button in the bottom right corner of the window. And that's it! Congratulations on creating your new Emporium listing. ### Viewing and Adjusting Your Listings If you want to check on your listings, simply navigate to the My Listings view. ![](/files/Mf9QnM5B5i7gGenBEmN5) On this page you can easily see all your Emporium listings. You can also **modify or cancel** any of your listings. **To cancel a listing,** simply click the "Cancel" button. Your asset will be safely returned to your inventory. **To modify a listing**, click the "Modify" button. You'll see a new window that looks like this: ![](/files/Z9jfrKNsRBByDWy7bXbL) Here, you'll be able to change the price of your listing and make other Railroaders more eager to buy it. When you're happy with the new listing price, click the "Modify Listing" button. # Staking Hubs (Rail Yards & Conductor Lounges) Make the most of your idle NFTs by staking them ![](/files/bzLEPu0EegP2jskUG6D7) ### How Staking Works Train of the Century allows players the chance to stake their idle Locomotives and Conductors to earn some extra Tocium over time. You can do so by visiting a Station with an enabled **Rail Yard** (for staking Locomotives) or **Conductor Lounge** (for Conductors). Here's how it works: 1. **Stake your asset** in the appropriate pool. 2. Your asset will **accrue Tocium** for the duration of its staking period. You'll be able to preview the rate at which your Locomotive or Conductor will earn Tocium per hour. [Staking rates are listed at the bottom of this page.](#undefined) 3. The Station Owner can set a **Commission rate** of between 0% and 50%. The Commission is a fee the Station Owner collects off the top of your Tocium earnings. For instance, if your Locomotive is set to earn 2.5 Tocium / hour and the Commission is 50%, you'll collect 1.25 Tocium / hour and the Station Owner will collect 1.25 Tocium / hour. Both types of staking pools have **Public and VIP slots** available. The number of each type of slot depends on the level to which the pool is upgraded. ([Click here to learn more about staking pool upgrades.](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-station-owner-dashboard#the-staking-tab)) Public and VIP slots are similar, but differ in a few ways. In the following examples, we'll discuss staking mechanics for Public slots. A summary of the benefits of VIP staking will be included at the [end of the page](#undefined). ### Rail Yards Have a spare Locomotive or two lying around, but no train to put them on? Put them to work by putting them in a Rail Yard! ![What a beautiful sunset. If I were a train, I'd ask my mom if we could stop by there on the way home from Train Middle School.](/files/BGOEip0CJ5KvN1xVrtV0) To stake a Locomotive in a Public slot, you **must have a train idling at the Station** you'd like to stake at. To access the Rail Yard, open the Station View and click on the Staking tab at the bottom of the window. ![Frankly, I love a gloomy day. Why not a gloomy station?](/files/lz9fuwWIixHBadArouDh) You'll be able to see how many slots are available for staking. Here, we see Gloom Station has room for two more Locomotives in Public slots. Click on the image of the Rail Yard... ![Don't freak out: That "0% Commission" doesn't mean you won't earn anything. That number is the Station Owner's cut of the Tocium generated by a staked asset. ](/files/SCRGqdp8RNvdlCSLvjgf) ...and click on "CHOOSE LOCOMOTIVE" under the Public signpost. **If you wish to apply for VIP access to this Rail Yard**, you can also click the "SEND REQUEST" button under the VIP signpost. ![Hmm... Which Locomotive do I want to drop off at daycare today...?](/files/qlOjcyBrWgJGH4e4KI7r) Here, you can **browse your collection** of available Locomotives and **select which one you'd like to stake**. You can preview the rate at which your Locomotive will earn Tocium in the top right corner of the Locomotive image. You can also see the Commission rate in the bottom left corner of the window and the Stake Expiration Date to the right of that. Once you've chosen, click the "STAKE" button in the bottom right corner of the window. A confirmation screen will appear. It should look like this: ![](/files/UfCVdjxRk2OWRBV78JqC) And that's it! You've staked your first Locomotive. Congratulations! It's important to note that you **can only stake one Locomotive in a Public slot at a given station every 12-hour period**. Keep that in mind when you plan your rail runs. ### Conductor Lounges Are your Conductors getting antsy, just waiting around for a rail run assignment? Give 'em a break, and send them to the Conductor Lounge! ![I'm really diggin' the speakeasy vibe of this place! Do they do live music here?](/files/0IeIKOP9mIkhD6EYnqqm) To stake a Conductor in a Public slot, you **must have a train idling at the Station** you'd like to stake at. To access the Conductor Lounge, open the Station View and click on the Staking tab at the bottom of the window. Click on the Conductor Lounge image... ![Is there... Is there a password to get in? I don't think I'm cool enough for this lounge.](/files/xhGkTT8TjlnmM1UCHvz4) ...and click on "CHOOSE CONDUCTOR" under the Public door. **If you wish to apply for VIP access to this Conductor Lounge**, you can also click the "SEND REQUEST" button under the VIP door. ![Can I offer you a nice sweet iced tea, Mr. Brisk?](/files/RAWLauStISSFeeZq1LWT) Here, you can **browse your collection** of available Conductors and **select which one you'd like to stake**. You can preview the rate at which your Conductor will earn Tocium above the Conductor image. You can also see the Commission rate in the bottom left corner of the window and the Stake Expiration Date to the right of that. Once you've chosen, click the "STAKE" button in the bottom right corner of the window. A confirmation screen will appear. It should look like this: ![Where's my invite to chill in the Conductor Lounge? I have FOMO...](/files/1glCDO7Ep82Z69qDVIgp) And that's it! You've staked your first Conductor. Congratulations! It's important to note that you **can only stake one Conductor in a Public slot at a given station every 12-hour period**. Keep that in mind when you plan your rail runs. ### Unstaking and Claiming Rewards Curious about the nuances of unstaking you assets and claiming Tocium rewards? Here's how it works: * Unstake your assets from anywhere on the map by visiting Railroader Dashboard and opening [the Staking Tab.](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-railroader-dashboard#staking) * You can claim anytime after your asset has been **staked for at least an hour**. You can claim your rewards from the Railroader Dashboard on the Staking Tab. Clicking the "CLAIM" button on a listing for a Locomotive will automatically claim all accrued rewards for all Locomotives at that Station. Clicking the "CLAIM" button on a listing for a Conductor will have the same affect for Conductors at that Station. * Rewards can also be claimed directly from a Rail Yard or Conductor Lounge at which you have assets staked. ### Expanding Your Staking Pools Station Owners can pay a Tocium fee to upgrade and expand their Rail Yards and Conductor Lounges. This means they'll be able to earn more Tocium from visitors, and visitors will have more opportunities to stake their assets. [Click here to learn how to upgrade your staking pools.](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-station-owner-dashboard#upgrade-tier) ### Public vs. VIP Staking Let's take a look at the differences between Public staking and VIP Staking: | | Public | VIP | | :---------------------------------------: | :----------------------------------------------------------: | :-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------: | | Station Owner Must Grant Access? | No | Yes | | Station Owner Can Utilize Their Own Slots | No | Yes | | Can Stake From Anywhere? | No. Must have an idle train at the Station. | Yes. You can stake in VIP slots from anywhere. | | Set Expiration Date on Stakes? | Yes. Stakes expire after 14 days, or when manually unstaked. | No. Stakes last indefinitely, or end when manually unstaked by the Station Owner or by you. | ### Staking Rates An asset's stake rate is fixed and based on the card's rarity. Rates are the same for Locomotives and Conductors, and you can find them in the chart below: | Rarity | Tocium Earned Per Hour | | :-------: | :--------------------: | | Common | 1.25 | | Uncommon | 2.5 | | Rare | 5 | | Epic | 10 | | Legendary | 20 | | Mythic | 40 | # Golden Runs Start searching for clues in this meta-game treasure hunt ### Update Wow! All of the Golden Runs have been discovered and claimed. Great job hunting, Railroaders! ### What Are Golden Runs? Did you know every Conductor has a preferred train setup? It's true! If you can send a Conductor on a rail run with all of their favorite assets in tow, that's called a **Golden Run.** ![](/files/beAIc5knSV0VP8L8CaUl) To perform a Golden Run, you've gotta figure out a Conductor's favorite: * **Locomotive** * **Rail Car** (In the first Rail Car slot on your train) * **Commodity** (Loaded in the Rail Car in the first slot of your train) *(Golden Runs do not include Passenger Cars or Passengers).* If you're the first Railroader to perform a Conductor's Golden Run, you'll **win a 1-of-1 NFT** that grants a **significant in-game boost**! You'll also earn yourself a space in the illustrious Golden Run Society. ### The Golden Run Society The Golden Run Society is the governing body in the Centuryverse that oversees the status of all Golden Runs... Okay, so maybe it's just an algorithm. Members of the Golden Run Society enjoy several perks. These details will be revealed soon! ![](/files/T6x2ThFGM7urd1f9g934) If you think you've completed a Golden Run, it's time to report to the GRS. You can open the GRS page from the [Railroader Dashboard](/game-mechanics/the-user-interface/the-railroader-dashboard#golden-runs). Here, you can view the list of Golden Runs that have been discovered and who discovered them. You can also quickly check which Conductors' runs remain unclaimed. ### How to Verify a Golden Run When you're ready to submit a rail run for verification, click on the Submit tab at the top of the GRS window. ![](/files/I2gaBNbP78YWubzw9YOu) You can submit a rail run from your recent history by clicking on the listing for that run, then **clicking the green "SUBMIT" button**. If you're successful, you'll be treated to a fabulous prize! ### Golden Run Rewards Speaking of fabulous prizes, what exactly *are* the Golden Run rewards? ![](/files/CUsZtijJGxA5EtLJpmjB) For completing a Conductor's Golden Run, you'll receive their personal journal. These **1-of-1 NFTs** are yours to keep or sell, but you should know each journal comes with an **extraordinary perk** that can significantly enhance your gameplay. What, exactly, are the perks? You'll have to earn the journals to find out! ### Where Are the Clues? It wouldn't be a treasure hunt without clues—and there are plenty out there. Golden Run clues can be found in just about any Train of the Century or OSO Interactive published media. Some of them are even hidden right within the game! Certain clues will be easy to uncover, but it's going to take a keen eye and excellent lateral thinking skills to sniff out the others. # Rail Run Calculator Predict how much Tocium you'll earn from your rail run ### Accessing the Calculator Need some help optimizing your train? Or maybe you want to find out exactly how much you'll earn from a rail run. You've come to the right place. ![Find all this and more at the link below!](/files/OsPFoFIzG2XaJ8yGGv83) [Click here to access the fan-created Train of the Century Guide.](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CesdhfSvai-4HWTumkSO9APq4awZm2GUslfzAWA5bvk/edit#gid=2124129916) ### How to Use the Guide You'll notice the file at the link above is in view-only mode. **PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST EDIT ACCESS.** Instead, here's how you can get a mutable version of the guide you can use with your own WAX wallet. 1. Access the file by clicking the link above. 2. In the menu bar, click File > Make a Copy. Name the copy whatever you'd like. 3. You'll be able to edit the copied file. 4. In the copied file, click over to the Inventory tab at the bottom of the window. 5. Enter your wallet address in the yellow B1 cell, then toggle the Refresh checkbox in the black C1 cell off and back on. ![These are the droids you're looking for. And by droids, I mean cells.](/files/Aewgjmx4lfQA2IJuaakm) After a moment, the spreadsheet will populate with your inventory and allow you to experiment with rail run setups. Enjoy! ### Special Thanks This incredible tool was created by community member Ronnie Ash Hat with help from Chazer6, Mithc, and End Power. Be sure to tell them "Thanks!" # Conductors The men and women steering your trains You can use this guide as a quick index to check on the stats of the various Conductors across the Centuryverse. Click to jump to the desired century: * Past Century - Coming Soon * [Modern Century](/nft-index/conductors/modern-century) * Future Century - Coming Soon # Modern Century Browse the collection of Conductors from the Modern Century ### Common ![Name: Orson Brisk Gear Level: 1 Perk 1: Speed Perk 1 Boost: 5% Perk 2: - Perk 2 Boost: -](/files/34TpuPN5hhKqORqpZFoh) ![Name: Piggy-Back Ned Gear Level: 1 Perk 1: Hauling Power Perk 1 Boost: 5% Perk 2: - Perk 2 Boost: -](/files/x2ssPKEL1jrhsRno8PEP) ![Name: Tommy Two-Pair Gear Level: 2 Perk 1: Luck Perk 1 Boost: +5 Perk 2: - Perk 2 Boost: -](/files/lOTN3uSR3cUXzzVWdyOY) ### Uncommon ![Name: Shayan Kahree Gear Level: 1 Perk 1: Hauling Power Perk 1 Boost: 7% Perk 2: - Perk 2 Boost: -](/files/vMy8y7VGv0LLPvsqUXT0) ![Name: Whiplash Ash Gear Level: 2 Perk 1: Speed Perk 1 Boost: 5% Perk 2: - Perk 2 Boost: -](/files/vgU74CklU1MHt9H2QgKR) ![Name: Billy Clover Gear Level: 3 Perk 1: Luck Perk 1 Boost: +7 Perk 2: - Perk 2 Boost: -](/files/CU6zePuvqMDnBn6MXynC) ### Rare ![Name: Speedy Jame Gear Level: 1 Perk 1: Speed Perk 1 Boost: 11% Perk 2: - Perk 2 Boost: -](/files/7awQRQH1AEMpkWQMuVM5) ![Name: Paloma Haulita Gear Level: 2 Perk 1: Hauling Power Perk 1 Boost: 9% Perk 2: - Perk 2 Boost: -](/files/7XgzIsVEmUMgfGq5wP88) ![Name: Missy Sweetluck Gear Level: 3 Perk 1: Luck Perk 1 Boost: +9 Perk 2: - Perk 2 Boost: -](/files/ojBk4jjge4aB9pQnbOUQ) ### Epic ![Name: Brute Force Tobias Gear Level: 1 Perk 1: Luck Perk 1 Boost: +15 Perk 2: Speed Perk 2 Boost: 7%](/files/mBgOlJHo24zdKzCoblK1) ![Name: Big Break Osipov Gear Level: 2 Perk 1: Luck Perk 1 Boost: +13 Perk 2: Hauling Power Perk 2 Boost: 7%](/files/AJiy5Kr4VCF0SzmZJvXW) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Legendary ![Name: Johnny Quick-Knuckles Gear Level: 2 Perk 1: Hauling Power Perk 1 Boost: 15% Perk 2: Speed Perk 2 Boost: 15%](/files/ALuUbc2XvzKW6q00FxbT) ![Name: Wesley Strike Gear Level: 3 Perk 1: Luck Perk 1 Boost: +15 Perk 2: Speed Perk 2 Boost: 11%](/files/hVtEAoXVdiHfDXdHPr4k) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Mythic ![Name: Gutshot Gauthier Gear Level: 1 Perk 1: Luck Perk 1 Boost: +35 Perk 2: Hauling Power Perk 2 Boost: 20%](/files/CTCP75dAiuIVba9zkDVy) ![Name: K.C. Jones Gear Level: 3 Perk 1: Luck Perk 1 Boost: +19 Perk 2: Speed Perk 2 Boost: 17%](/files/L8a5eRzXEWED7tJK6sAB) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) # Locomotives Browse the currently available ToC Locomotive cards and their Iron composition stats ### Common ![Name: The Armed Spirit Gear Level: 1 Fuel Type: Diesel Max Distance: 20 Hauling Power: 300 Speed: 20](/files/yWey4J6iAHtyi3BUJymK) ![Name: The Big Boy Gear Level: 2 Fuel Type: Diesel Max Distance: 20 Hauling Power: 300 Speed: 30](/files/MP3PTQmS5gc2Ov2CeMTu) ![Name: The SCRF-75 Gear Level: 1 Fuel Type: Diesel Max Distance: 20 Hauling Power: 300 Speed: 20](/files/rNIScHI7loexGNJ9LCdG) ### Uncommon ![Name: The Illinois Terminal Gear Level: 1 Fuel Type: Diesel Max Distance: 30 Hauling Power: 300 Speed: 40](/files/zCuJyYOrtIhCjyDtsacH) ![Name: The Kodiak Gear Level: 3 Fuel Type: Diesel Max Distance: 40 Hauling Power: 300 Speed: 40](/files/pIqsdyu6msHFe94OsIXx) ![Name: The Mantis Gear Level: 2 Fuel Type: Diesel Max Distance: 40 Hauling Power: 300 Speed: 30](/files/SMWA3QlZAE8vKViuQdrZ) ### Rare ![Name: The Blue Bomber Gear Level: 3 Fuel Type: Diesel Max Distance: 60 Hauling Power: 400 Speed: 50](/files/9Vt9ADDdrRkMuTRryVcv) ![Name: The Olympic Light Gear Level: 2 Fuel Type: Diesel Max Distance: 50 Hauling Power: 400 Speed: 50](/files/Lb1ALmMbP706N6t2mA4e) ![Name: The Piedmont Service Gear Level: 3 Fuel Type: Diesel Max Distance: 50 Hauling Power: 400 Speed: 50](/files/YxuJB3smpAf1pY3elpQb) ### Epic ![Name: Dirty Sav Gear Level: 2 Fuel Type: Diesel Max Distance: 60 Hauling Power: 600 Speed:40](/files/2zEl2zOEDAHZ7DwDzpRD) ![Name: The Raven Gear Level: 3 Fuel Type: Diesel Max Distance: 60 Hauling Power: 600 Speed: 50](/files/cnoGI8iBHcPIDF5wi7uQ) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Legendary ![Name: The Interstate Gear Level: 2 Fuel Type: Diesel Max Distance: 80 Hauling Power: 400 Speed: 60](/files/LXWRyckX7nAfW3Ef1ume) ![Name: The Mastodon Gear Level: 1 Fuel Type: Coal Max Distance: 50 Hauling Power: 400 Speed: 40](/files/qqLgvf2ZilsKW9v78MTi) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Mythic ![Name: The Evolution 8101 Gear Level: 1 Fuel Type: Diesel Max Distance: 80 Hauling Power: 700 Speed: 60](/files/J7p8VW0pLUfa9eagBI4J) ![Name: The Heritage Gear Level: 1 Fuel Type: Diesel Max Distance: 80 Hauling Power: 600 Speed: 70](/files/cRbsl3jTHjrdqltpSi2A) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) # Composition Upgrades Browse the available composition upgrades for Locomotives ### Common #### The Armed Spirit ![Composition: Iron Upgrade Fee: - Max Distance: 20 Hauling Power: 300 Speed: 20](/files/yWey4J6iAHtyi3BUJymK) ![Composition: Steel Upgrade Fee: 1,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 25 Hauling Power: 310 Speed: 22](/files/I1NumO0RkVqRh5x4Q9Fl) ![Composition: Carbon Weave Upgrade Fee: 2,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 28 Hauling Power: 310 Speed: 25](/files/RGEYvzHIOQeSD8N0y8UO) ![Composition: Tungsten Upgrade Fee: 3,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 32 Hauling Power: 320 Speed: 28](/files/CxqxtFqhRHvXj2fKprNQ) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) #### The Big Boy ![Composition: Iron Upgrade Fee: - Max Distance: 20 Hauling Power: 300 Speed: 30](/files/MP3PTQmS5gc2Ov2CeMTu) ![Composition: Steel Upgrade Fee: 1,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 25 Hauling Power: 330 Speed: 30](/files/iuPs5iIOXx0VMxLz5NFT) ![Composition: Carbon Weave Upgrade Fee: 2,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 28 Hauling Power: 330 Speed: 33](/files/BUgthfXqHphpJLlybLOH) ![Composition: Tungsten Upgrade Fee: 3,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 32 Hauling Power: 350 Speed: 35](/files/Xe1aWZVffXaxKRl5App9) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) #### The SCRF-75 ![Composition: Iron Upgrade Fee: - Max Distance: 20 Hauling Power: 300 Speed: 20](/files/rNIScHI7loexGNJ9LCdG) ![Composition: Steel Upgrade Fee: 1,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 25 Hauling Power: 330 Speed: 20](/files/FB4iKA1hJhBSjuLGP5Tn) ![Composition: Carbon Weave Upgrade Fee: 2,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 28 Hauling Power: 350 Speed: 21](/files/4bQxBXl1Q9h1HUouuyyP) ![Composition: Tungsten Upgrade Fee: 3,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 32 Hauling Power: 380 Speed: 22](/files/aDIzKGn3fh7Yc3NKHczV) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Uncommon #### The Illinois Terminal ![Composition: Iron Upgrade Fee: - Max Distance: 30 Hauling Power: 300 Speed: 40](/files/zCuJyYOrtIhCjyDtsacH) ![Composition: Steel Upgrade Fee: 3,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 35 Hauling Power: 340 Speed: 40](/files/Pc4HPiMpEoCaBcMaTwzO) ![Composition: Carbon Weave Upgrade Fee: 6,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 39 Hauling Power: 370 Speed: 43](/files/NgNLnOoG2Edq3BF6YTjI) ![Composition: Tungsten Upgrade Fee: 9,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 42 Hauling Power: 410 Speed: 45](/files/C0vRWF9yJ57KfuXMXmKT) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) #### The Kodiak ![Composition: Iron Upgrade Fee: - Max Distance: 40 Hauling Power: 300 Speed: 40](/files/pIqsdyu6msHFe94OsIXx) ![Composition: Steel Upgrade Fee: 3,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 45 Hauling Power: 340 Speed: 40](/files/igfpaPSFnf5f39BiZAj5) ![Composition: Carbon Weave Upgrade Fee: 6,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 49 Hauling Power: 370 Speed: 43](/files/lrCDU9e2sNASR29ZNzlk) ![Composition: Tungsten Upgrade Fee: 9,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 52 Hauling Power: 410 Speed: 45](/files/bqr1QFkhJRZMrkCQVnJl) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) #### The Mantis ![Composition: Iron Upgrade Fee: - Max Distance: 40 Hauling Power: 300 Speed: 30](/files/SMWA3QlZAE8vKViuQdrZ) ![Composition: Steel Upgrade Fee: 3,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 45 Hauling Power: 340 Speed: 30](/files/HgYbNXxDiLoaUOto93e7) ![Composition: Carbon Weave Upgrade Fee: 6,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 49 Hauling Power: 370 Speed: 33](/files/03DEbae5V3qSfB25VAnz) ![Composition: Tungsten Upgrade Fee: 9,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 52 Hauling Power: 410 Speed: 35](/files/1jXz8xA4eE0zDvZ1bVSh) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Rare #### The Blue Bomber ![Composition: Iron Upgrade Fee: - Max Distance: 60 Hauling Power: 400 Speed: 50](/files/9Vt9ADDdrRkMuTRryVcv) ![Composition: Steel Upgrade Fee: 5,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 61 Hauling Power: 450 Speed: 50](/files/ArCKEr86omsXu6wVeuMG) ![Composition: Carbon Weave Upgrade Fee: 10,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 65 Hauling Power: 480 Speed: 50](/files/9ekuGtlFJSv1lDsssWDR) ![Composition: Tungsten Upgrade Fee: 15,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 68 Hauling Power: 520 Speed: 50](/files/Af9VoJnR6s2X4Qmr1ydr) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) #### The Olympic Light ![Composition: Iron Upgrade Fee: - Max Distance: 50 Hauling Power: 400 Speed: 50](/files/Lb1ALmMbP706N6t2mA4e) ![Composition: Steel Upgrade Fee: 5,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 51 Hauling Power: 450 Speed: 50](/files/T80qdIHf7GGtkahoLMKm) ![Composition: Carbon Weave Upgrade Fee: 10,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 53 Hauling Power: 480 Speed: 53](/files/VNEa4a8q73sqkn75SboA) ![Composition: Tungsten Upgrade Fee: 15,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 56 Hauling Power: 520 Speed: 55](/files/Ar6ZvHYr2lAg8z8TD4RN) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) #### The Piedmont Service ![Composition: Iron Upgrade Fee: - Max Distance: 50 Hauling Power: 400 Speed: 50](/files/YxuJB3smpAf1pY3elpQb) ![Composition: Steel Upgrade Fee: 5,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 51 Hauling Power: 480 Speed: 50](/files/aihRS1MUgwo199kDRTDe) ![Composition: Carbon Weave Upgrade Fee: 10,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 53 Hauling Power: 540 Speed: 50](/files/OEDq1nA2C4tAAiFRfugd) ![Composition: Tungsten Upgrade Fee: 15,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 56 Hauling Power: 620 Speed: 50](/files/vmJk4gdBQLId0iopGSe7) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Epic #### Dirty Sav ![Composition: Iron Upgrade Fee: - Max Distance: 60 Hauling Power: 600 Speed: 40](/files/2zEl2zOEDAHZ7DwDzpRD) ![Composition: Steel Upgrade Fee: 10,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 60 Hauling Power: 630 Speed: 45](/files/M1cxigXGsXeFEuS4ciqR) ![Composition: Carbon Weave Upgrade Fee: 20,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 60 Hauling Power: 650 Speed: 47](/files/SgSJeMYLBisosfx3lfnt) ![Composition: Tungsten Upgrade Fee: 30,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 65 Hauling Power: 680 Speed: 50](/files/y8MJBglkkszppSyDQjEW) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) #### The Raven ![Composition: Iron Upgrade Fee: - Max Distance: 60 Hauling Power: 600 Speed: 50](/files/cnoGI8iBHcPIDF5wi7uQ) ![Composition: Steel Upgrade Fee: 10,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 60 Hauling Power: 630 Speed: 55](/files/YeSQmnJNK890wBPL2DlN) ![Composition: Carbon Weave Upgrade Fee: 20,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 60 Hauling Power: 650 Speed: 57](/files/ZEgLmXeGMYvogwaYs22S) ![Composition: Tungsten Upgrade Fee: 30,000 TOCIUM Max Distance: 65 Hauling Power: 680 Speed: 60](/files/gRpstgI8MyoUeARmEa27) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Legendary #### The Interstate ![Composition: Iron Upgrade Fee: - Max Distance: 80 Hauling Power: 400 Speed: 60](/files/LXWRyckX7nAfW3Ef1ume) ![Composition: Steel Upgrade Fee: 20,000 TOCIUM + 10 AMP Max Distance: 80 Hauling Power: 500 Speed: 60](/files/vKM0KQdAOdnv0jei4dNN) ![Composition: Carbon Weave Upgrade Fee: 40,000 TOCIUM + 20 AMP Max Distance: 80 Hauling Power: 550 Speed: 60](/files/HVixSWDGnaZokEcZmNOK) ![Composition: Tungsten Upgrade Fee: 60,000 TOCIUM + 40 AMP Max Distance: 80 Hauling Power: 620 Speed: 65](/files/d7ZPDPKpCVudamGQKIJl) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) #### The Mastodon ![Composition: Iron Upgrade Fee: - Max Distance: 50 Hauling Power: 400 Speed: 40](/files/qqLgvf2ZilsKW9v78MTi) ![Composition: Steel Upgrade Fee: 20,000 TOCIUM + 10 AMP Max Distance: 55 Hauling Power: 500 Speed: 50](/files/8zzaQn0OsAmadKdnSjdW) ![Composition: Carbon Weave Upgrade Fee: 40,000 TOCIUM + 20 AMP Max Distance: 60 Hauling Power: 550 Speed: 55](/files/TkLeMsicBkldZluYPVXu) ![Composition: Tungsten Upgrade Fee: 60,000 TOCIUM + 40 AMP Max Distance: 70 Hauling Power: 600 Speed: 60](/files/xuyDpRdpQOdaWPgTJ4JA) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Mythic #### The Evolution 8101 ![Composition: Iron Upgrade Fee: - Max Distance: 80 Hauling Power: 700 Speed: 60](/files/J7p8VW0pLUfa9eagBI4J) ![Composition: Steel Upgrade Fee: 40,000 TOCIUM + 20 AMP Max Distance: 80 Hauling Power: 740 Speed: 61](/files/39IlQ19FWkHzAMF0p1FO) ![Composition: Carbon Weave Upgrade Fee: 80,000 TOCIUM + 40 AMP Max Distance: 80 Hauling Power: 770 Speed: 62](/files/WaHncyjHMsblXTxiNPT9) ![Composition: Tungsten Upgrade Fee: 120,000 TOCIUM + 80 AMP Max Distance: 80 Hauling Power: 850 Speed: 63](/files/LIskAlKDMHJpCWx4KNlh) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) #### The Heritage ![Composition: Iron Upgrade Fee: - Max Distance: 80 Hauling Power: 600 Speed: 70](/files/cRbsl3jTHjrdqltpSi2A) ![Composition: Steel Upgrade Fee: 40,000 TOCIUM + 20 AMP Max Distance: 80 Hauling Power: 640 Speed: 71](/files/pwHPwjzR2jyxPUzMbnMt) ![Composition: Carbon Weave Upgrade Fee: 80,000 TOCIUM + 40 AMP Max Distance: 80 Hauling Power: 670 Speed: 72](/files/claMIiEcdVabfDh5V2GV) ![Composition: Tungsten Upgrade Fee: 120,000 TOCIUM + 80 AMP Max Distance: 80 Hauling Power: 750 Speed: 73](/files/xcylxp0EhbiHnkEKXCiG) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) #### # Rail Cars Browse the currently available ToC Rail Car cards ### Common ![Name: Boxcar Size: Small Commodity Type 1: Crate Commodity Type 2: Pallet Max Capacity: 50](/files/mDKDkNz3k8kCdSC6TJH0) ![Name: Open Top Hopper Size: Small Commodity Type 1: Ore Commodity Type 2: Aggregate Max Capacity: 50](/files/bZheD6MMzpudSapOuywF) ![Name: Tank Car Size: Small Commodity Type 1: Liquid Commodity Type 2: Gas Max Capacity: 50](/files/pdYWioSZ2Kw140O2pMgR) ### Uncommon ![Name: Boxcar Size: Medium Commodity Type 1: Crate Commodity Type 2: Pallet Max Capacity: 100](/files/uHguTzt363L5cI9D65Ep) ![Name: Open Top Hopper Size: Medium Commodity Type 1: Ore Commodity Type 2: Aggregate Max Capacity: 100](/files/uJfCV2jZuc96j6qjdwrs) ![Name: Tank Car Size: Medium Commodity Type 1: Liquid Commodity Type 2: Gas Max Capacity: 100](/files/YGuKJkJ6qSKPQCP1lqrl) ![Name: Covered Hopper Size: Small Commodity Type 1: Grain Commodity Type 2: Granule Max Capacity: 50](/files/KIlzOsixGxpFMDcuS3h8) ![Name: Refrigerated Boxcar Size: Small Commodity Type 1: Perishable Commodity Type 2: - Max Capacity: 50](/files/poXpqJoR4NhgfIFPGze5) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Rare ![Name: Boxcar Size: Large Commodity Type 1: Crate Commodity Type 2: Pallet Max Capacity: 150](/files/t9RNZdVWu62DhaxVseaq) ![Name: Open Top Hopper Size: Large Commodity Type 1: Ore Commodity Type 2: Aggregate Max Capacity: 150](/files/XYFaa6B4X1cCKzIY0FSC) ![Name: Tank Car Size: Large Commodity Type 1: Liquid Commodity Type 2: Gas Max Capacity: 150](/files/EvLLjQ3qArmrDcpv6cH1) ![Name: Covered Hopper Size: Medium Commodity Type 1: Grain Commodity Type 2: Granule Max Capacity: 100](/files/Ta6ySTXLNUKxKbF93nzh) ![Name: Refrigerated Boxcar Size: Medium Commodity Type 1: Perishable Commodity Type 2: - Max Capacity: 100](/files/VhhX2Hpn4DTj4xxrVkZa) ![Name: Flat Car Size: Small Commodity Type 1: Oversized Commodity Type 2: Crate Max Capacity: 75](/files/5RUlbj6wvPTBjKK3Wab5) ### Epic ![Name: Covered Hopper Size: Large Commodity Type 1: Grain Commodity Type 2: Granule Max Capacity: 150](/files/nDWrM2dfWZ3WVCOpA1BI) ![Name: Refrigerated Boxcar Size: Large Commodity Type 1: Perishable Commodity Type 2: - Max Capacity: 150](/files/Tv5EYJTwdinDAQMW6oTs) ![Name: Flat Car Size: Medium Commodity Type 1: Oversized Commodity Type 2: Crate Max Capacity: 125](/files/tpSfYDp34egqETrdxUEL) ![Name: Auto Rack Size: Small Commodity Type 1: Automobile Commodity Type 2: - Max Capacity: 50](/files/tkg94wpKDCHqfgUdxIJ6) ![Name: Centerbeam Size: Small Commodity Type 1: Building Materials Commodity Type 2: Pallet Max Capacity: 75](/files/htdG4GLDJhAkNARde3OI) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Legendary ![Name: Flat Car Size: Large Commodity Type 1: Oversized Commodity Type 2: Crate Max Capacity: 175](/files/hXGShrnT5xgmuTP4etpK) ![Name: Auto Rack Size: Medium Commodity Type 1: Automobile Commodity Type 2: - Max Capacity: 100](/files/XO1bbEOeL1jYFCw3xGEQ) ![Name: Centerbeam Size Medium Commodity Type 1: Building Materials Commodity Type 2: Pallet Max Capacity: 125](/files/qAN33hrx0Tbx97MiuprX) ![Name: Armored Car Size: Small Commodity Type 1: Top Secret Commodity Type 2: Pallet Max Capacity: 75](/files/67iNqLRJkxnFNIVyLWdE) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Mythic ![Name: Auto Rack Size: Large Commodity Type 1: Automobile Commodity Type 2: - Max Capacity: 150](/files/QFCwjpAWrltPdtZrzdnu) ![Name: Centerbeam Size: Large Commodity Type 1: Building Materials Commodity Type 2: Pallet Max Capacity: 175](/files/FV70KUuW54ebzrNGFeGH) ![Name: Armored Car Size: Medium Commodity Type 1: Top Secret Commodity Type 2: Pallet Max Capacity: 150](/files/ca1PTC8mudq8ZcZg0zrF) # Commodities Browse the currently available Commodity cards, grouped alphabetically by type ### Automobile ![Name: Sedan Rarity: Common Volume: 10 Weight: 12](/files/pmgFXWFncItOozU6Fu0X) ![Name: Minivan Rarity: Uncommon Volume: 25 Weight: 18](/files/Sq68p2pbEq6T3MfeSwg9) ![Name: Coupe Rarity: Rare Volume: 10 Weight: 16](/files/uwheAdlBjMItyufZNO8x) ![Name: SUV Rarity: Epic Volume: 25 Weight: 22](/files/DBpCPKcjQCj8c6Xsa0Sv) ![Name: Pickup Truck Rarity: Legendary Volume: 25 Weight: 28](/files/g4wgJLbcReQ8jfzYrJFv) ![Name: Sports Car Rarity: Mythic Volume: 10 Weight: 10](/files/UiKLw87e9OjTMczNic0W) ### Aggregate ![Name: Woodchips Rarity: Common Volume: 50 Weight: 22](/files/GCLr5JgeQ5NoGTooIGXp) ![Name: Gravel Rarity: Uncommon Volume: 50 Weight: 28](/files/EVIzeOUeOAIqd2MfwtWw) ![Name: River Rock Rarity: Rare Volume: 50 Weight: 26](/files/h7gWpyheQNUVeuioxYUt) ### Building Materials ![Name: Plywood Rarity: Epic Volume: 50 Weight: 25](/files/yLW2nDvJuzD4HaahU2To) ![Name: Lumber Rarity: Legendary Volume: 60 Weight: 32](/files/pYF3hWAW7DnhZa55bLwL) ![Name: Steel Beams Rarity: Mythic Volume: 75 Weight: 40](/files/QggczalUTKKAGisWjssI) ### Crate ![Name: Text Books Rarity: Common Volume: 10 Weight: 20](/files/ntNMCQvtLjeaLn1OcEj3) ![Name: Vitamins Rarity: Uncommon Volume: 10 Weight: 10](/files/Iu8SqXiPkWgp8Zo7tRqt) ![Name: Fine Cigars Rarity: Rare Volume: 10 Weight: 8](/files/GVILvcJwuHk9W74X7YmN) ![Name: Laptop Computers Rarity: Epic Volume: 10 Weight: 12](/files/o6bkctFNWluzqx9RTzHS) ![Name: Whiskey Rarity: Legendary Volume: 10 Weight: 12](/files/t1EnPmMGH3iMSxvW3ilC) ![Name: Antique Clocks Rarity: Mythic Volume: 10 Weight: 8](/files/GUAvaDihh8nJuisu02dI) ### Gas ![Name: Propane Rarity: Uncommon Volume: 25 Weight: 8](/files/uSEDZa0PjiRCclGNgAFS) ![Name: Nitrous Oxide Rarity: Epic Volume: 25 Weight: 18](/files/rgA0f01cqe1lsaXfzQJb) ![Name: Xenon Rarity: Mythic Volume: 25 Weight: 6](/files/4wQykzrSJuPj4vV1qxGy) ### Grain ![Name: Rice Rarity: Common Volume: 25 Weight: 20](/files/TPmKq0Ahls14uyUQ5H69) ![Name: Buckwheat Rarity: Rare Volume: 25 Weight: 16](/files/Ptd2jnDOThpFo0OG486M) ![Name: Quinoa Rarity: Mythic Volume: 25 Weight: 18](/files/FYTGbFPrnLmO9jimpeI6) ### Granule ![Name: Sand Rarity: Uncommon Volume: 25 Weight: 14](/files/1llFUpxyvGJjg4uDL35C) ![Name: Sugar Rarity: Epic Volume: 25 Weight: 22](/files/VsJU0TUi93twv35K32WR) ![Name: Soda Ash Rarity: Legendary Volume: 25 Weight: 24](/files/u7cs30ZQ0jhU1UVDIUXa) ### Liquid ![Name: Petroleum Rarity: Common Volume: 25 Weight: 12](/files/dEL6BZ8iikdcERxagnSf) ![Name: Water Rarity: Rare Volume: 25 Weight: 15](/files/8VtGnZEQBd5cD4Toxu29) ![Name: Jet Fuel Rarity: Legendary Volume: 25 Weight: 10](/files/ZBbtIYOxVS4n0jO7HzpV) ### Ore ![Name: Halite Rarity: Epic Volume: 50 Weight: 30](/files/eqftu2O4FQZIpaLrMBKh) ![Name: Magnetite Rarity: Legendary Volume: 50 Weight: 38](/files/HZgMGnPJgSIBbHx9tbzg) ![Name: Stibnite Rarity: Mythic Volume: 50 Weight: 36](/files/Jt0sznLQMwpr9HGxIkdP) ### Oversized ![Name: Tractor Rarity: Rare Volume: 50 Weight: 28](/files/gP29CRWmuJcXNhhkVcYs) ![Name: Bulldozer Rarity: Epic Volume: 60 Weight: 38](/files/NMGcr09uJMrmNM0OHHn9) ![Name: Tank Rarity: Legendary Volume: 75 Weight: 52](/files/alFG0tA2nLI92K0PEWjv) ### Pallet ![Name: Nutrition Bars Rarity: Common Volume: 10 Weight: 10](/files/9hDV7PbgKkjBHexakNiy) ![Name: Canned Soup Rarity: Uncommon Volume: 10 Weight: 15](/files/2IC7Y8RbV0jSxK9TSp1C) ![Name: Puppy Food Rarity: Rare Volume: 10 Weight: 15](/files/U7s0WjH7cH8dqNwAGMse) ![Name: Sweet Jeans Rarity: Epic Volume: 10 Weight: 12](/files/bPrDKewCnIa5Np6aNz2M) ![Name: Assorted Toys Rarity: Legendary Volume: 10 Weight: 10](/files/ChKGIXJw96OSgvyn3slK) ![Name: Miracle Cream Rarity: Mythic Volume: 10 Weight: 8](/files/NWmCdP3Xuk5NnPNtr3ic) ### Perishable ![Name: Milk Rarity: Common Volume: 10 Weight: 12](/files/vRln9ZcSH05z8XVDc4u1) ![Name: Apples Rarity: Uncommon Volume: 10 Weight: 10](/files/mPww4JoYf1WK0VAUoteU) ![Name: Ice Cream Rarity: Rare Volume: 10 Weight: 14](/files/lVlVirGKIQsJvL4kIHMQ) ![Name: Fish Rarity: Epic Volume: 10 Weight: 12](/files/VaonAGRGfuZ2H9cDi5Gf) ![Name: Insulin Rarity: Legendary Volume: 10 Weight: 8](/files/gRNdAY5YCOzQqVQqYWiH) ![Name: Wagyu Beef Rarity: Mythic Volume: 10 Weight: 8](/files/8ZMNA1j42oB6tW4arKGN) ### Top Secret ![Name: Item 147 Rarity: Legendary Volume: 5 Weight: 4](/files/bCPHPwKFPCei6dT08doL) ![Name: Item 203 Rarity: Legendary Volume: 5 Weight: 2](/files/NVTBS3xYtbGXUm4HMTQd) ![Name: Item 632 Rarity: Legendary Volume: 5 Weight: 4](/files/axQeRLDaxMHrDlApA6wv) ![Name: Entity 9 Rarity: Mythic Volume: 55 Weight: 30](/files/ww6SR1mKPq2cfNafrYGO) ![Name: Photo 115 Rarity: Mythic Volume: 5 Weight: 2](/files/I4UEEV3LTpDKet3a2zXb) ![Name: Photo 1077 Rarity: Mythic Volume: 5 Weight: 2](/files/voUXbCQEdXRzDcwSjM7x) # Passenger Cars Browse the currently available ToC Passenger Car cards ### Common ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![Name: Open Coach Car Open Seats: 1 Car Weight: 175](/files/S14EzY9Z9eitRpONRTaK) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Uncommon ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![Name: Corridor Coach Car Open Seats: 1 Car Weight: 150](/files/axaBhFks75L3OQYn5DaR) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Rare ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![Name: Dining Car Open Seats: 2 Car Weight: 175](/files/RwphmKghB0Qua7ef9Ckf) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Epic ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![Name: Dome Passenger Car Open Seats: 2 Car Weight: 150](/files/0wQgNgjatkZuDdccvgYb) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Legendary ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![Name: Bi-Level Passenger Car Open Seats: 3 Car Weight: 175](/files/CfFi1JkRrGb3LHJuTKm8) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Mythic ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ![Name: Combo Passenger Car Open Seats: 3 Car Weight: 150](/files/yIxBDi0HmRZTDO8vEP1q) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) # Passengers Browse the currently available ToC Passenger cards and view their stats ### Common ![Name: Lulu Gillespie Home Region: Pemberton Heights Tip Type: Distance Tip Criterion: > 30 Tip Amount: 3%](/files/eMOquRfGSKqYhDU3vLhA) ![Name: Frankie Melton Home Region: Pawpaw Plains Tip Type: Time Tip Criterion: < 90 min Tip Amount: 3%](/files/D1Bw3sBUkQ5KuRwsmE75) ![Name: Shakia Washington Home Region: James Park Tip Type: Haul Weight Tip Criterion: > 300 Tip Amount: 3%](/files/4Fcm2zCsaESD7D7RCnMN) ### Uncommon ![Name: Connor McSweeny Home Region: Trevithick Pines Tip Type: Time Tip Criterion: < 90 min Tip Amount: 5%](/files/dlZhOlDnxblgI1pZKKzh) ![Name: Raul Romero Home Region: James Park Tip Type: Distance Tip Criterion: > 30 Tip Amount: 5%](/files/r4ZqN9kMkGfD4SyxeRg0) ![Name: Beth Sawyer Home Region: Pawpaw Plains Tip Type: Haul Weight Tip Criterion: > 350 Tip Amount: 5%](/files/Ykd8oU2xcwSARCP0uUsW) ### Rare ![Name: Aparna Athavale Home Region: Trevithick Pines Tip Type: Luck Tip Criterion: NPC Encounter Tip Amount: 15%](/files/RkhLPaSDBCaHhgOeC72M) ![Name: Dansby Crickmore Home Region: Pawpaw Plains Tip Type: Distance Tip Criterion: > 30 Tip Amount: 8%](/files/hwE0Eeokuuph73t7TZQ4) ![Name: Jasper McNair Home Region: Pemberton Heights Tip Type: Time Tip Criterion: < 90 min Tip Amount: 8%](/files/n9kb9TrzuPtP863ZUeIj) ### Epic ![Name: DeMarcus Brown Home Region: Centuryville Tip Type: Distance Tip Criterion: > 30 Tip Amount: 10%](/files/J7PSKpWLEft2el2Cu1LT) ![Name: Shadow Kaze Home Region: James Park Tip Type: Time Tip Criterion: < 90 min Tip Amount: 10%](/files/XMraVOnXaEd20qUJP6KJ) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Legendary ![Name: Andrea Harperdeen Home Region: Pemberton Heights Tip Type: Haul Weight Tip Criterion: > 450 Tip Amount: 15%](/files/aQjmAeKjc8ACfmsFCxwi) ![Name: PNLOP ("Penelope") Home Region: Centuryville Tip Type: Luck Tip Criterion: NPC Encounter Tip Amount: 20%](/files/weQ3YYAfS49e9AiE10fn) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Mythic ![Name: Felix Appleton Home Region: Trevithick Pines Tip Type: Distance Tip Criterion: > 40 Tip Amount: 20%](/files/CeJ6ATpqHW7GNVkChdBi) ![Name: Marisol Martinez Home Region: Pemberton Heights Tip Type: Luck Tip Criterion: NPC Encounter Tip Amount: 30%](/files/qEoYcAQuvywmJDRBmg73) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) # Stations Browse the currently available ToC Station cards ### Common ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 1% Region: Centuryville](/files/qpvT3xcZ2dXPdxPTxj1R) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 1% Region: James Park](/files/RBOOTVl0WRlmgpD07ugB) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 1% Region: Pemberton Heights](/files/FOhHXsUpIpIWjwooyUuY) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 1% Region: Pawpaw Plains](/files/q0hD9Oi1eqr0MGSGG19x) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 1% Region: Trevithick Pines](/files/hc0FiwscJVztjBOtKzbZ) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Uncommon ![Name: Modern Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 3% Region: Centuryville](/files/c1mf5SlESPRGAx1izKkJ) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 3% Region: James Park](/files/gxMewgKFqcr4I9QroIgF) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 3% Region: Pemberton Heights](/files/33B7hi5GWWBecDKYL8A7) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 3% Region: Pawpaw Plains](/files/vmKyftJawcsLm65tGpBz) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 3% Region: Trevithick Pines](/files/ZyVFUy1opyyWyBz9YARZ) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Rare ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 5% Region: Centuryville](/files/WvWhRehFIeyrFMFUwo6m) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 5% Region: James Park](/files/Y6hEHJkF5vxyvK2i2xw2) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 5% Region: Pemberton Heights](/files/jVZyAwOf2f12ciRyfGT3) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 5% Region: Pawpaw Plains](/files/panK289Xt6ZMODzi7kut) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 5% Region: Trevithick Pines](/files/z73xaIgEYxmLOjIRUWLh) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Epic ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 8% Region: Centuryville](/files/zWkRyG0ci7SZDMul3M86) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 8% Region: James Park](/files/qAzVIdHX1sFoBhOY4q83) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 8% Region: Pemberton Heights](/files/XFMAQHtstAknUKbfxgxz) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 8% Region: Pawpaw Plains](/files/DZNgZnYxGfIT5UbkOLIp) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 8% Region: Trevithick Pines](/files/EPOcYqDFvPOjqlYeCcoL) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Legendary ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 15% Region: Centuryville](/files/lpQ4OtvoXfJboFkPDie9) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 15% Region: James Park](/files/eHfnNlHWBUH3AFaYXI91) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 15% Region: Pemberton Heights](/files/NdfeB38xHplHyPLBBPHk) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 15% Region: Pawpaw Plains](/files/W4EoVeNeoKt38YNFjYdX) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 15% Region: Trevithick Pines](/files/xv2a2bFLRfhmgQEuvMln) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) ### Mythic ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 25% Region: Centuryville](/files/PHJXpxQTdo9627DMNZVB) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 25% Region: James Park](/files/IStFIiEycSI1gfJaT9gg) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 25% Region: Pemberton Heights](/files/gWibmyOnWmbEWlDiYdlV) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 25% Region: Pawpaw Plains](/files/4gwecdnKANxEMK1MWznf) ![Name: Modern Station Collected Fee: 25% Region: Trevithick Pines](/files/6WNWitbK2WiTSdJKFP1G) ![](/files/3ldHYZx9sbZZw8NiL79C) # Special Browse the collection of special Train of the Century NFTs ### Golden Run Rewards #### Modern Century These one-of-one assets were rewarded to Railroaders who discovered [Golden Runs](/game-mechanics/advanced-mechanics/golden-runs) for Conductors in the Modern Century. ![](/files/MOcsy7XtwDNvyJ8ttyfF) ![](/files/tDLsrEiAhCweIpJ8KWgy) ![](/files/s3feSPb05rU9ClAQENRI) ![](/files/hk0iUydsWuWYKorEHlzL) ![](/files/x7fJsDGRQEAM862uBHhe) ![](/files/RAvpaWDVWmpQQK7BPg2r) ![](/files/sNO77HDd5Ni0amqU3Xmu) ![](/files/kmv8P1jKojP9LJyIIHs4) ![](/files/X0omJmvkWU1gBgr45WlD) ![](/files/BhyovsjoF45s1pFT4Kjv) ![](/files/APxcReWHWONIqGnLrkO9) ![](/files/w7aH95jGgWgimiplnfCg) ![](/files/IOe35filnoJNmvwyd88Z) ![](/files/D796lidjbIFSgNSlAWhb) ![](/files/0DommO5hd3F7X1CoG4Hx) # The Past Century Compendium Uncover the historical happenings of the Centuryverse ### Coming Soon! # The Modern Century Compendium Dive into the lore of the Modern Century ![Grab a drink, pull up a chair, and get comfy. I've got a story to tell you.](/files/fadx8qNmj4iAr1arcADB) ### Time Began With the Invention of Trains. It's true, you know. According to an old anecdote, humankind didn't have a standardized method for keeping track of time until the invention of the train schedule. Train of the Century takes place in the Centuryverse—a world parallel to our own in which trains play a much more significant role. This is a game about time travel, and the Centuryverse has a rich history. Naturally, there needed to be one place to gather all of the stories, to pass them down for generations. **Welcome to the Compendium.** We'll start with the Modern Century... # Map Regions Uncover the History of the Centuryverse ![Behold, the entire known universe...](/files/2xs9U0ulAcHVQOW6ZkR2) ### The Five Regions of the Centuryverse Every region on the Centuryverse map has its own history and culture. From the bustling city center in Centuryville to the hot days on the Pawpaw Plains, slow as sweet as molasses, this is a world that lives and breathes. Click to learn more about each region: * [Centuryville](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/map-regions/centuryville) * [Pemberton Heights](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/map-regions/pemberton-heights) * [Trevithick Pines](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/map-regions/trevithick-pines) * [Pawpaw Plains](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/map-regions/pawpaw-plains) * [James Park](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/map-regions/james-park) # Centuryville Immerse yourself in the bustling city life ### Coming Soon! # Pemberton Heights Relax and enjoy the finer things in the district of luxury ### Coming Soon! # Trevithick Pines Put your mind to work in the cutting-edge research labs of the Pines ### Coming Soon! # Pawpaw Plains Savor the southern charm of the sprawling agricultural district ### Coming Soon! # James Park Form a connection with the lowest rung of society ### Coming Soon! # People Meet the lifeblood of the Centuryverse ### An Empty World Just Isn't Interesting It's a good thing so many people live in the Centuryverse. And what better way to get to know an area than by interacting with the people who live there? Click to learn more about some Centuryverse citizens and what their lives are like: * [Conductors](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors) * [Passengers](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/passengers) * [NPCs](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/npcs) ![Hey, it's Kirk Osipov! I wonder if he's still selling tickets to his carnival show...](/files/wZUN4tUhlXpC1q8T7bWX) # Conductors Get to know the Conductors from the Modern Century ### A Train Is Only as Good as Its Conductor Conductors are important people in the Centuryverse. Without them at the helm of the shipping industry, the economy would suffer. As a Railroader, you'll be working closely with Conductors. Why not take some time to get to know your colleagues? ![](/files/QC1PhuAm6IR2l10Fbd71) Click to learn more about each Conductor: * [Orson Brisk](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/orson-brisk) * [Piggyback Ned](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/piggyback-ned) * [Tommy Two-Pair](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/tommy-two-pair) * [Shayan Kahree](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/shayan-kahree) * [Whiplash Ash](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/whiplash-ash) * [Billy Clover](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/billy-clover) * [Speedy Jame](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/speedy-jame) * [Paloma Haulita](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/paloma-haulita) * [Missy Sweetluck](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/missy-sweetluck) * [Brute Force Tobias](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/brute-force-tobias) * [Big Break Osipov](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/big-break-osipov) * [Johnny Quick-Knuckles](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/johnny-quick-knuckles) * [Wesley Strike](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/wesley-strike) * [Gutshot Gauthier](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/gutshot-gauthier) * [KC Jones](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/kc-jones) # Orson Brisk Get to know Orson Brisk ### Character Bio ![](/files/34TpuPN5hhKqORqpZFoh) **Given Name**: Orson Brisk\ **Age**: 59\ **Home Region**: Outside the Centuryverse\ **Favorite Food**: Chicken and dumplin's Orson isn't originally from the Centuryverse. He was sent there by Shayan Kahree in an attempt to save his life after being drawn into an anomalous rift. Having worked as a train conductor in his previous life, he easily transitioned into life as a Conductor in the Centuryverse. He feels most at home in the Pawpaw Plains, the atmosphere of which reminds him of days spent with his mother and brother. When he finds himself homesick, Orson calls on his best pals Ned Crickmore and Jame Wheatley. The three have been known to spend evenings fly fishing on the banks of the Mawmaw River. ## Tales From the Rails ### Orson Brisk #1 T’weren’t for my mama, I aint never wouldn’t believe in no ghosts. Them spirits. H’aints. Mama raised us as good, God-fearin’, church-going boys, didn’t she, me ‘n my brother, Orville. Growin’ up in the heart of the Belt, I s’pose just ‘bout everybody was. We went to church, there, on Sundays and on Wednesdays, and on Saturdays Mama would read to us from the good book. She loved to read us from First Samuel, ‘specially the scene with the séance. D’you remember that one? King Saul talks to the witch lady and they summon the spirit of Samuel himself. I never knew why Mama loved that one so much… Mama’s other favorite book was the one she thought she hid behind the other books on the shelf. The one with the hollowed-out hole the exact shape an’ size for a bottle ‘o whiskey to fit into. When Mama died, I stopped goin’ to church. That was a big life change. Besides Mama dyin' 'n such, I mean. Orville still goes, but just on Christmas ‘n Easter. I suppose that’s all most folks in the neighborhood ever did to begin with. Then another big life change came 'round when I met that outsider. I thought I’d seen the ghost of Samuel himself, when I laid eyes on 'im. There was somethin’ ‘bout the way he talked. Them dark eyes o' his sparkled somethin' fierce. He didn’t look quite like he fit into the scene around him. Or maybe it was the world what didn’t quite fit him. But I tell you what, that outsider set me up on my first train. An' just in time, too. I was a lost soul, driftin' through life like a ghost on the breeze. Conductin' felt like bein' at home. I fell in love with the rails damn-near 'mediately. A'fore I knew it, the outsider had me runnin’ coal from Tuscaloosa all the way to Jacksonville. I didn’t think no rails ran that way, but he said I shouldn' fret about it. An' there I was, eighteen and criss-crossin' all over the country on a train o' my own! I didn’t think Mama’d’ve liked me doin' it. She always told me I was destined to be a pastor, that God himself had ordained it. "Orson," she'd say, "yer gonna be just like Saul, when y'grow up. Yer gon' be the one who keeps an eye on me when I'm good 'n gone, an' that's the truth." Well, that outsider had showed me another truth, didn’t he? “The truth shall set you free,” or somethin’ about the like. I knew ridin' the rails was my new truth, and I wasn't gonna let Mama's crazy talk put ideas in my head. The thing is, Mama's truth turned out to be pretty near spot-on, too. I’s probably ‘bout ‘round twenty-three when I started believin’ in spirits proper. I’d just finished a long run: from Knoxville to Albuquerque to Dallas. I hadn't seen that outsider in round 'bout four years then, but I still remembered his words. Best not to fret 'bout it. When the nonsense comes into our lives, we oughta just roll right along with it. We was at the station in Texas, me ‘n my train, unloading our haul. Furniture. Finest hand-built rockin’ chairs you’d ever seen, made from mahogany, oak, or cherry wood. It was getting’ dark out, and me ‘n the train yard boys’d almost unloaded all the furniture when I'd seen it. A strange, blue light, swirlin' 'round the corner o' the car. An' when I got closer, there she was. Mama's spirit, rockin' in one o' them mahogany chairs, readin' the Good Book, swiggin' on her whiskey. She was right an' she was wrong. I ain't no man of God. But it turns out I am Saul, after all. ### Orson Brisk #2 I kep’ runnin’ trains after I saw Mama’s ghost, that first time. I’s still a kid, then, weren’t I? Just twenty-three an’ conductin’ trains for five whole years, by then. Sounds downright irresponsible, now… But that’s how things were, back then, I reckon. I tried to get in touch with my brother Orville an’ tell him I saw Mama, but he didn’t believe me. Guess I can’t blame him, really, I’s practically told him I’s haunted. It weren’t like in them movies you see, though. Well, not that I seen any o’ them horror movies they make, these days. Too much evil for me. But Mama weren’t like that, though. She didn’t follow me ‘round, didn’t make the spooky ghost noises, didn’t make things float around me like I thought she might. I just saw her every time I hauled a route through Dallas. Didn’t matter what I was haulin’, or what kind of rail cars I had on my train that day. She always showed up somewhere on the train. So, I sort of turned it into a tradition. Started planning routes through Dallas every year, ‘round Christmas. For ‘bout forty years, or so, I’d make my trip to Texas an’ say hello to Mama’s ghost, tell her I still loved her, I always did and always would, and wish her Merry Christmas. I dunno if ghosts celebrate Christmas, or if they got some other ghost holiday, but she always seemed happy to chat. She never said much, when we did talk. There’s prob’ly some rule for how much ghosts are allowed to say, an’ all that, so I was just grateful for what I could get. Now last Christmas, I had planned my usual Texas route so I could say hello to Mama. I unloaded my train, waited for the train yard boys to leave, an’ walked my train, lookin’ for the ghost, like I always did. But this time, I found some fella I’d never seen before, loiterin’ in a passenger car. “Well, I’s about think I done had perfect timin’,” he said. He had on a conductor coat, but he talked real smart, like maybe he didn’t used to work on trains. “Buddy, I dunno who you are, but y’can’t be here, this is my train an’ I got private business on it,” I told him. “Well, it’s hardly a private train car,” he said. “You got yourself a stowaway, don’t ya?” Then the fella pointed to an empty rocking chair, waved his hand, and some kind o’ TV static came over the chair. An’ when the TV static was gone, there was a big-old, blond muscle brute, sittin’ in the chair. I tell you what, I seen ghosts, but I ain’t never seen nothin’ like that, before. I didn’ know what to say, an’ before I knew it, the blond fella was standin’, towerin’ over the smaller fella. He had some kind o’ thick accent. Maybe German? “You follow me from Illinois,” he said in his accent. Didn’t sound like he knew English too good. “I sure did,” said the smart fella. “Why you blow my cover?” said the blond fella. An’ before the smart fella could explain, there was a glow of light at the far end o’ the car. All three of us turned an’ watched as the light focused an’ warped, an then Mama was there. “Alright, now I can explain,” I started to say to the two strangers. Would’da been better if’n they weren’t there, but I wasn’t gonna let them stop me from saying Merry Christmas to my mama, and that meant I had to explain to them that ghosts were real, and Mama didn’t mean to trouble to them. “Don’t go tryna capture that ghost, Tobias,” the smart fella said to the blond one. “Capture?” I said. Why would anybody wanna capture my poor Mama? But the blond fella didn’t listen. He pulled some kind o’ small device from his pocket, clicked a button on it, an’ threw it across the car. It skittered and landed right in front o’ Mama. I heard a whirrin’ noise, like somethin’ was chargin’ up, an’ then the device started suckin’ in Mama’s ghost. “The hell you doin’, dumbass?” I shouted at the blond fella he called Tobias. I ran toward the device, and bulldozed past the smart fella, who tried to stop me. “Orson, no, it’s dangerous,” he shouted. But I didn’t care! They were stealin’ Mama’s ghost! I kicked the device an’ it flew across the car, hit the wall and broke into a bunch-o tiny pieces. A burst o’ light came out of it, an’ it looked like it was goin’ back to Mama. “I gotcha, Mama,” I told her. “You’re safe, it’s okay.” But then I heard the smart fella shout, “E’erybody, get off the train, run!” An’ I looked at him, an’ he looked at Tobias, an’ Tobias looked at me so I looked at him, an’ he looked back at the smart fella. An’ then the smart fella ran for the door to the passenger car, with Tobias right behind ‘im. I looked back to where Mama was just in time to see her sort of…I guess she shrank in on herself. It got real dark in the train car real quick, like all the light got sucked toward Mama, and then just as fast she exploded. Wisps o’ light flew in every direction, an’ when they hit the rocking chairs, an’ the windows, an’ the walls an’ ceiling, everything began to change. The car was morphin’ right in front o’ my eyes. The shape o’ the car grew wider an’ the walls turned into wood. Some o’ the windows disappeared, an’ others turned into doors, book cases—one o’ them looked like it turned into a whole ‘nother room. My childhood bedroom. I spun around an’ watched as the rail car turned into the house I grew up in, and saw Tobias and the smart fella bangin’ on the door to get out. “I reckon I smash it,” said Tobias. “Ain’t no use,” said the smart fella. “We inside the anomaly now, there ain’t nothin’ outside that door.” “Fellas!” I said to them. “This my house! I grew up here! Mama must’a brought us here… Mama!” An’ I started explorin’ the house, lookin’ for her. Figured I might even run into Orville, too. An’ wouldn’t y’know? I found ‘em both sittin’ at the kitchen table. Looked like they’d just finished makin’ supper—ham steak, mashed ‘taters, green beans, an’ everything. But somethin’ was off ‘bout ‘em both. Their hair was sort of floatin’, like they were underwater, an’ their eyes were completely black. “Siddon down, Orson, supper’s getting’ cold,” Mama said. “Orson, don’t sit down, this ain’t real!” I turned around an’ saw both the other fellas in the doorway. “It ain’t safe here, we gotta go!” But it was my Mama an’ my brother. How could I say no? So I sat down with ‘em. “I get ‘em,” said Tobias, an’ I heard his big footsteps behind me. The ground started shakin’, but not from Tobias. It was like there was an earthquake. “Sorry, Tobias,” I heard the smart fella say, before wavin’ his hand an’ hittin’ ‘im with that static again. Then Tobias was gone. “Eat your supper ‘fore it gets cold,” said Mama. Her voice sounded like a screech, like metal strikin’ ‘gainst metal. Like a train crashin’ into another train. I looked at the plate on the table in front o’ me, and saw the food had turned to rot. The house kep’ shakin’, and the pictures started fallin’ off the walls. “They ain’t real, Orson,” the smart fella yelled. “They just anomalies gone outta control. We gotta leave here, ‘fore it all crashes in on us!” The walls o’ the house started to ripple like a pond you skip rocks in. “This ain’t right,” I said, my voice shakin’. “This ain’t right!” I tried to leave the table, but Orville stood up—he had to be ten feet tall—an’ held me down. “Y’can’t leave ‘til y’finish your supper,” Mama said. Even though her eyes were black, somehow they looked like they were glowin’. “I’m sorry, Mama,” I whimpered. “This ain’t right, an’ I gotta go. I love you, but this ain’t right.” “I got you Orson,” shouted the smart fella from behind me. An’ then I saw the static creepin’ over my vision. “Y’can’t leave me like this, Orson,” Mama shrieked. “Y’can’t leave me like this!” Next thing I knew, I was in some kinda green house, sittin’ on my butt next to Tobias. ### Orson Brisk #3 It’d been a good, long while since I’d been that riled up. An’ a grown man oughtta be able to admit when he’s behaved poorly. I can do that. I shouldn’t’a hollered and spat and stamped my feet like I did, but how was I s’posed to act, when so many crazy things had gone on right in front o’ my eyes? Seein’ a ghost was one thing. I was used to that. But seein’ a man materialize outta thin air? Watchin’ the ghost o’ yer dearly departed mama explode into a million tiny ghost pieces? Gettin’ pulled into some kinda hell-version o’ yer childhood? I’d be surprised to see even the Good Lord himself actin’ any better after all that. An’ then that smart fella chucked me through some kinda portal with that Tobias fella, an’ suddenly we’s surrounded by butterflies, an’ before I can catch my breath, they chucked me through another portal into some kinda daggum office! Who were those men? Why’d they have to get to meddlin’ with my mama? At first, I tried poundin’ on the door, yankin’ on the handle, screamin’ for ‘em to let me out. I knew they were out there. I could hear ‘em talkin’. But I realized they weren’t listenin’ to me, so I looked 'round for another way to get out. Somethin’ wasn’t right about the light in the room. I looked up an’ saw the ceilin’ was covered in all kinds o’ newspapers, glowin’ like daylight. I 'membered the butterfly room had glass walls an’ a glass ceilin’, so I reckoned the ceilin’ in here was glass, too, an’ somebody had covered it up. There were some filin’ cabinets with papers stickin’ outta them in one corner o’ the room, an’ in the other was pro’lly ‘round a dozen or so animal tanks on shelves around the room, like the ones you’d keep a lizard in. When I looked inside ‘em, it was caterpillars. There was a desk with a computer on the far side o’ the room. The desk was covered in papers an’ empty coffee cups. Sittin’ next to one o’ the cups was a pill bottle. I rattled it ‘round for a second, watchin’ the little pink pills shake an’ shimmy. The wall behind the desk was lousy with all sorts of newspaper clippin’s like the ones on the ceiling, an’ in the middle of it all there were fifteen pictures of people. They all had pushpins in them with red string tying them together in all sorts’a which-ways. Three of ‘em had big, red circles drawn ‘round their faces. One of those ones was a picture of me. “What in the hell’s all this, then?” I said to myself, startin’ to feel scared. I guess I was secretly hopin’ those men had found me on my train by accident, meddled with me just because they were bad, an’ that’s what bad men do… But it looked like they knew exactly what they was doin’. “Orson Brisk,” said a man behind me. I hadn’t even heard the door openin'. I whipped ‘round fast as I could. “Now see here, fella,” I started to say, thinkin’ I was gonna see the smart fella. But it wasn’t him. I was stupefied for a few seconds while I tried to figure out why I recognized the man in front of me. He had long, brown hair, an’ wore a funny hat with a dark jacket. I saw a glint o’ gold as he tucked away a pocket watch. “'S good to see ya 'gain,” he said. He talked funny, a bit like the smart fella, but there was somethin’ else in his voice. He sounded like he knew things. “I can’t remember how long ago we met, now, but for you, I reckon it’s been right ‘round forty years.” An’ then it clicked. It was the outsider, the one I met back when I’s just a kid, who set me up with my first train. “How in the—” I didn’ even get to finish what I was sayin’ a’fore the office door opened and the smart fella from earlier walked in. Tobias wasn’t with him no more. “Ah,” he said to the outsider, “I’m glad yer already here, Stranger.” I could feel somethin’ bubblin’ up in my gut again, like that anger that had me stompin’ and hollerin’. I didn’t know these men, I didn’t like these men, an’ I sure as hell wasn’t gonn’ stick around to find out what these men were plannin’ on doin’ to me. I put my head down and charged at the smart fella, hopin’ I could push ‘im outta the way, get to the door, an’ get outta there. But it was the strangest thing—when I did it, I had a strong Dijon-view feelin', like I’d already done it before. “Yer gonn’ tire yerself out if ya keep doin’ this, Orson,” said the outsider. “Maybe if we just explain why he’s here, we wouldn’ hafta keep rewindin’ him,” said the smart fella. He hacked a cough into his elbow. When he took his arm away, there was a dark blood stain. His eyes got real wide an’ he looked at the pills on the desk. He took a step towards them, but his legs gave up. “Shayan!” hollered the outsider, swooping forward to catch him. “Orson, on the desk,” he shouted at me. “Why should—” “Just get the damn pills!” I did as I was told. I didn’ trust him, but I wasn’t gonn’ let the smart fella die. I took a knee next to the two men and fiddled with the pill bottle cap. I looked in the smart fella’s eyes, and I saw there were dozens of green things slithering out from underneath his eyelids. “Holy *HELL,*” I yelped. “What’s’a matter with ‘im?” “No! Just one pill!” the outsider yelped. I looked down and saw I’d poured all the pills into my hand. I put four of ‘em back in the bottle, put one on the smart fella’s tongue, closed his mouth and rubbed on his throat. He swallowed an' gasped for air, an’ I watched them green things snake back into his skull an’ disappear. The man sat up an' rubbed his eyes. “It’s getting’ worse, fast,” he said to the outsider. The outsider nodded. “That’s why we gotta stay focused. Now more ‘n ever.” “Now hang on a goddamn minute!” I said. Both men looked at me. “What the *shit* was all o’ that, now? First, y’all kill my dead mama. Then you snatch me up an’ lock me in this…this…caterpillar prison. That outsider I ain’t seen in forty years shows up lookin’ like he hasn’t aged a single *second*. An’ now the smart fella’s got teeny-tiny snakes livin’ in his goddamn eyeballs!” The men sat on the floor an’ blinked slowly at me. “None o’ this makes any sense!” I said, poundin’ my fists on the ground. “Why ‘m I here? Who the hell are y’all? Why’s my picture on the wall? An’ what do you want from me? All I want is to get back to my train and keep on not botherin’ nobody.” The smart fella took a deep breath an’ stood up. “They’re plants,” he said, stickin’ out his hand to help me up. “Vines. Not snakes.” The outsider stood, and I took the smart fella’s hand to join ‘em. “Why the hell you got vines in yer eyes, bubba?” The outsider took off his hat an’ scratched at his head. “Well, Orson, that’s part o’ why yer here,” he said. The smart fella nodded his head. “We got a lot to tell ya.” I learned the smart fella’s name was Shayan, and the outsider’s name was Stranger. I told him there ain’t no way that’s his Christian name, an’ he told me it sure ain’t, but that’s what everyone called him an’ so should I. Shayan wasn’t kiddin’. He and the Stranger must’a spent hours tellin’ me all kinds o’ stories ‘bout time travel, other realities, an’ evil empires from the future, an’ whatnot. They said mama’s ghost wasn’t no ghost at all, but was really a “temporal disturbance made of anomalous matter.” I had to triple check with ‘em to get those words right. The bad guys, them future Jupiter fellas, were just waitin’ for the right time to use her an' trap me, Tobias, an’ Shayan, hopin’ we’d die in that crazy ghost zone. “But why were they wantin’ to kill me?” I asked. “An’ why’d they lump me in with Tobias and Shayan? I ain’t never met them before today.” Well, they had answers for all o’ that, too. If yer readin’ this, I ‘spect ya pro’lly already know a lotta this, so I’ll skip the details. To be honest, I can’t even remember most o’ them anyway. But it turns out me, Tobias, Shayan, an’ the twelve other folks with pictures on the wall were big-ole threats the evil Jupiter fellas needed to get rid of. Me! Threatenin’ some kinda future space king! I told them they was downright ravin’ lunatics if they thought I was a threat to any-old-body, and the Stranger said he reckoned just about everybody was a ravin’ lunatic in their own way. Some folks have plants growin’ outta their eyes. Some are train conductors that meet with their mama’s ghost every year for Christmas. An’ plenty others are "normal-lookin'" folks with their own kinds o’ lunacy kept hidden away. “Orson, I set you up with yer life on the rails all those years ago hopin’ this exact moment would happen,” the Stranger said. “Every second o' yer life for the past forty years has been buildin’ up to what I’m about to ask you to do for me.” I shivered when he said it. All at once, I felt like I was real far from home. An’ I felt like I wouldn’ be goin’ home for a long, long time. … Y’know, it’s silly. I still didn’ really have a reason to trust Shayan an’ the Stranger. But the more I listened to ‘em, the more I wanted to believe ‘em. That Orson Brisk had a part to play that nobody else could. An’ that’s what I was lookin’ for all along, with mama, wasn’ it? Somethin’ to believe in. A purpose. With Mama gone an’ double-gone, if I walked away, I’d’ve just been a nearly-sixty-year-old man who throws a temper tantrum every time somethin’ happens that he don’t understand. So I chose to believe in somethin’ new. To focus on the mission the Stranger gave me and to not fret about the rest. They couldn’t teleport me away the same way they had earlier, because of some kind o’ convoluted thing havin’ to do with the Jupiter fellas, so they set me up with a train to call my own. I told them that was mighty fine, because I preferred travelin’ on trains to bein’ teleported anyway. I said goodbye to Shayan and the Stranger an’ charted a route through a brand-new world. The first person I had to find was a fella they called Speedy Jame. # Piggyback Ned Learn more about Ned Crickmore ### Character Bio ![](/files/x2ssPKEL1jrhsRno8PEP) Given Name: Ned Crickmore\ Age: 44\ Home Region: Pawpaw Plains\ Favorite Food: Potato skins with no bacon A thirst for vengeance drove Ned to leave his family farm and become a Conductor, but now he's not sure if revenge is what he's after. He earned his nickname from his constant questioning regarding the location of his pet pig, Mayhew. All he wants is to be reunited with his beloved pet. When he's not on the rails, Ned enjoys gardening and will often cook meals for his friends using vegetables he grew himself. ## Tales From the Rails ### Piggyback Ned #1 I don’t think most folks who wind up running the rails mean for it to become their lifelong career. I sure didn’t. I never wanted to leave the farm in the first place. My father had inherited the land from his father, who had inherited it from his father, and so on for generations. The Crickmore Farm hadn’t been profitable until my father took charge of it. Folks spread rumors that my father had made some kind of deal with the devil, but I knew his success was the product of hard work. And some day, if I worked just as hard, I would inherit his business. But to get there, I had to pay my dues, and that meant I grew up working the farm for free. The other local boys got paid six dollars an hour for their work, but I had to shovel shit for the promise that one day this would all be mine. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds. I took a liking to the animals; we had more than just the dairy cows. My favorite was a swine named Mayhew. My father told me Mayhew had been born the day before I was. I never believed him, but it seemed the old pig had taken a liking to me, and I’ll happily admit that by the time I was sixteen I considered Mayhew a friend. I remember one particular night I cried my heart out to the old pig after I’d been stood up by my prom date. No girl in town wanted to date the farm boy whose best friend was his pet pig. Around the time my father was preparing to retire, he brought me in to his office and said he needed to tell me something. Something about Mayhew. “The old pig?” I asked, trying to swallow my concern. Father just nodded gravely. Turns out my father *had* made some kind of deal—not with the devil, but with a shady character calling himself the Stranger. Turns out this Stranger promised Father the farm would become profitable so long as Father kept a powerful artifact hidden away. The Stranger called it a “Century Vial.” Father didn’t know what it was, so he fed the thing to Mayhew. And now the Stranger had come to collect his artifact, loaded Mayhew onto a train, and vanished into thin air. I never wanted to leave the farm. It’s in my Crickmore heritage to be a farmer, but I wound up running the rails, hunting the Stranger. I don’t trust the Railroaders—I hear they get some kind of power from their relationship with the Stranger—but if working for them gets me closer to the Stranger, I’ll do what it takes. I’m going to get my piggy back. ### Piggyback Ned #2 I’d been riding the rails for nearly eight months, with still no sign of Mayhew. Oh, there were stories, alright. “Man on the far side of James Park saw a pig in his garden, and the thing disappeared ‘fore he could chase it away.” “My friend’s friend knows Andrea Harperdeen, who said she was coming out of a fashion boutique in the Heights, when a pig nearly knocked her off her feet.” “A cousin of mine worked on a train with a conductor who claimed a time-traveling pig nearly got him eaten by a T-Rex.” I didn’t put too much faith in any of the stories I heard. Mayhew had always been a mild-mannered pig; he wouldn’t dream of foraging in a stranger’s garden, or knocking over a lady. And I figured the story about time travel must have been completely made up. That Mysterious Stranger had taken my pig, and left behind a trail of tall tales. Hunting him down was tiring, frustrating work, but I wasn’t ready to give up. I never would be. When I got Mayhew back, I’d take him back to the farm, take over the family business, and get on with my life in peace. One evening, after tying down my train, I met an interesting fellow at a bar in James Park. The place was dingy, but the man was wearing a sparkling clean white lab coat. And despite being indoors, he also wore dark sunglasses. There were no other seats available, so I sat down next to him at the bar and ordered a drink and loaded potato skins. I asked the server to tell the chef to kindly leave off the bacon bits. When the appetizer arrived, there were bacon bits on them. Never one to waste food, I offered the potato skins to the man in the lab coat. “I don’t accept food from people I’ve just met,” the man said. “That’s a might strange policy to have,” I said. “Sounds like you’ve got yourself some enemies.” “You could say that.” He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of a pocket inside his coat and lit up. “I don’t think they’d take kindly to you smoking in here,” I said. I know it wasn’t my place, but I hate to see someone breaking the rules. “I don’t think you have the right to tell me not to do whatever I want,” the man said without looking at me. He took a long drag on his cigarette. I looked at the bartender. He didn’t seem to notice the cigarette. I shook my head and took a deep swig from my drink. “What’s wrong with the potato skins,” the man asked. I didn’t feel like answering after his outburst, but if my father taught me anything, it’s that a Crickmore is always polite. “There’s bacon on them,” I said. “What’s wrong with the bacon, then?” he asked. “I don’t eat it.” “Everyone eats bacon.” The man ashed his cigarette onto the bar. It was too loud in the room to hear ash hit wood, but I imagined a tiny sizzle when it landed. “Not if their best friend is a pig,” I said, raising my glass to my lips. I was tired of being polite. The man turned toward me, and for a brief moment, I could see into the folds of his lab coat. I saw the pocket that held his cigarettes, and in another pocket, I saw the hilt of a firearm. “Now that might be the first interesting thing you’ve said,” he said. “Interesting is a word,” I said. I could tell him about Mayhew. I could tell him about the stories about the time-traveling pig I’d heard on the rails. Or, I could finish my drink and head back to my train. I tilted my glass, drained the last of my beer, and slapped my Tocium on the counter. “I’ll leave you to the rest of your evening,” I said. As I stood to leave, the man looked me square in the face. Or I think he did. I couldn’t tell, on account of the sunglasses. “You’re Ned Crickmore,” he said. Now that stopped me in my tracks. But only long enough to say, “Well, then. I guess word gets out fast, when a man leaves his farm to hunt down his pig.” I didn’t want to talk to this man anymore. Something about him made the hair on my neck stand on end. I turned around to leave, and then I felt the muzzle of a gun pressed into my lower back. “The thing is, Mr. Crickmore,” the man said, his cigarette breath curling around me from my ear to my face. “I think I’d like to join you in the hunt for your pig.” I remember feeling something white hot where the weapon was pressed against me, and I remember suddenly feeling drowsy—like if I didn’t fall asleep right that second, I would die. I fought the feeling for as long as I could, and then it felt like I was falling backwards into myself. ### Piggyback Ned #3 “Congratulations on being reintegrated, Mr. Crickmore,” I heard a low voice say. It had an electric quality to it, like the person speaking was talking into a microphone. I opened my eyes and was immediately blinded by fluorescent lighting. “Where am I?” I asked groggily. The last thing I remembered was the man in the lab coat at the bar, and suddenly feeling sleepy as I left. “The Johnson Group Research Foundation,” said the voice, which I now saw belonged to a man sitting at a desk behind a glass wall. It wasn’t the man from the bar—no, this person had shaggy red hair and an unruly beard—but he did wear a similar lab coat. I supposed he must be a lab technician. As I looked at him, I slowly awoke from my daze. The man at the bar held me at gunpoint, and then I fell asleep. It must have been some kind of tranquilizing weapon. I felt the remnants of a strange dream fleeing from the front of my mind, and for some reason felt like I’d just been inches away from Mayhew, my pig. “Sit tight, Mr. Crickmore,” said the scruffy man. “The Researcher will be in momentarily.” He left and I stood from my padded seat to better investigate my surroundings. It turned out the lab tech was not the one behind the glass wall—I was. There were four glass walls around me, a glass ceiling above me, and polished black floor beneath me. Set into the floor at one edge of the cube was a stair case leading below the floor. I peered down the passage way to see a black door—the only indication of how I was put into this observation tank. I tried the handle. Locked. I climbed back up the stairs and turned my attention to the room outside the glass, hoping to find hints at why I was brought here. The room outside the cage was cavernous. It must’ve been fifty feet or more from one glass wall to the wall of the outer room. Along one wall were more desks, computers, sinks, cabinets, and the only entrance to the room. Lining the sides of the room were dozens of cylindrical metal tanks with small windows set in their fronts. Pipes and tubes of various colors rose from their tops in tangled arrays leading in all directions, creating a web that hung over the center of the room before disappearing through holes near the ceiling. The overhead lighting cast a dramatic shadow of the webbing onto the floor, creating the eerie sensation of being an insect caught by a giant spider. Sitting at the back of the room were two giant, identical machines. Each was narrow, perhaps only four or five feet wide, and from where I stood, I could see they stood out several feet from the wall. Both reached from the floor to the ceiling and appeared to be made of the same polished black material as the floor. At the center of the machines’ front faces were shallow ovular indentations. In the machine on the left, I saw various belts and diodes on wires hanging limply. And in the machine on the right, I saw a woman. I leaned against the glass wall to get a closer look at her. She was strapped in to the machine and appeared to be asleep, though she wore a grimace on her face. I watched as the pulsating lights on the machine’s interface changed colors when the woman occasionally jerked her head to the side. Whatever nightmare I found myself in, trapped in this observation tank, seemed she was trapped in one far worse. I looked to the empty machine and massaged the back of my neck with one hand, suddenly aware of a stiffness I hadn’t noticed before. I shivered. And then I remembered what the lab tech had said: “The Researcher will be in momentarily.” It only made sense that he meant the man from the bar. Up to this point, I’d managed to stay calm. But the unsettling sight of the woman, the foreboding presence of the web of tubing, the unyielding mystery of the cylinders, and the not knowing how I fit into all of it—all of it came crashing into me at once. “H—hello?” I said, raising my voice. And then I began to panic. “HELP!” I shouted. “Somebody help me, please!” I didn’t ask for any of this. I’m not the type to stick my nose where it isn’t welcome. All I wanted was to be a good farmer. To take over the family business and live a quiet life on the farm. But then… This was all that damn Stranger’s fault. It had to be. The mysterious bastard came calling and stole Mayhew, knowing that any farmer worth their salt would chase after a lost member of his herd—let alone a prized pig and lifelong friend. Something in his deal with my father must’ve gone sour, and the Stranger was hellbent on ruining the Crickmore name. And when I didn’t give up my chase, he must have paid off the Johnson group to kidnap me. That had to be it. “I’m done looking for the pig,” I lied. They had to be listening to me. There were probably microphones built into the floor. I looked around, not sure where they would have hidden the video cameras. “Just… Just let me out of here, please!” No response. “Just let me go back to my farm, and I won’t meddle with your business. I won’t even tell anybody about any of this! Please, just let me out of here!” I crossed to the other side of the cube, thinking I’d try pounding on the door at the bottom of the steps, but before I could reach the stairs, I saw a sudden movement in the corner of my eye. The door to the lab outside my prison flow open, slamming into the wall next to it, and a hulking blond man rushed in. He looked wildly to his left and right, then focused directly on me. “You!” he shouted, pointing at me. The sight of him sprinting toward the cube was enough to make me take several steps back. “We get you and girl out.” He said with a thick accent as he reached the desk the lab tech had sat at. “You—what?” I was dumbstruck. Had they actually believed me? I fought to stifle a laugh. “You’re really going to let me out?” I asked. The hulking foreigner rifled through the papers on the desk, checked under the computer keyboard, doubled over to search under the desk. He was looking for something. “Of course,” he said standing up straight. “That why Stranger send me.” And suddenly I felt like I was going to vomit. I struggled to regain my composure. I didn’t think the situation could get any worse than it was. But now it wasn’t enough to simply keep me locked up? The Stranger had to send this… This…mercenary after me? To kill me, probably. Apparently unable to find what he was looking for, the mercenary let out a sigh. “We don’t have time,” he said. The man grabbed the chair the lab tech had used, hoisted it over his head and swung it at the glass wall in front of him, causing a raucous *fwunk* to reverberate inside the cube. “What the hell are you doing?” I shouted. He swung again. And again. “It okay,” he grunted between swings. A crack began to form and crawl up the side of the wall. “NO, STOP!” I pleaded. It was no use. “Don’t worry,” he said. “We… Get… You… OUT.” And with one more ferocious strike of the chair, the wall shattered. I fell and scrambled backward on the ground, desperate to avoid the shards of glass raining down. When the chaos had ended, the man paused to catch his breath and discarded the dented rolling chair. He stepped into the chamber and extended his hand to me. “Help me get girl,” he said. “I’m not helping you with anything,” I spat, swatting his hand away. “I know the Stranger paid you to kill me!” “Friend, you—” He was interrupted by an alarm blaring in the lab. The man tugged at his hair, obviously frustrated. “We have no time!” he said. “Am here to save you, not kill! Stranger man is not enemy. People who put you here is enemy. Now help me wake up girl!” He grabbed the front of my shirt and lifted me to my feet. “Am Tobias,” he said. Before I could decide whether I trusted Tobias, the door to the lab swung open again. The scruffy, red-headded lab tech entered, brandishing a pistol. “Stop!” he shouted. Tobias turned toward the door and began running. The lab tech fired his gun into the air. “Final warning!” he said. But Tobias didn’t stop. He scooped up the dented chair once more, and hurled it toward the door, striking the man directly in the head. He fell over and didn’t move. I decided I trusted Tobias. We rushed to the sleeping woman in the machine. “How are we supposed to get her out?” I asked, raising my voice over the drone of the lab alarm. I found a dormant touch screen display on the side of the machine. It lit up at my touch. The screen read: COGNITIVE PROSTHESIS ACTIVE SIMULATION IN PROGRESS I didn’t know what that meant. I’m a farmer. But I’ve seen movies before, and in those movies the shiny computer was always the anser. I started to say as much when I noticed Tobias working to yank off the belts keeping her in place. “Tobias, wait!” I said. I threw my hands in his way, to halt his progress. “Why you stop?” he asked. “We don’t know what’ll happen if we just yank her out of there! Haven’t you seen movies before?” The woman began to stir. “Look,” said Tobias. “She waking up. Is fine.” He attempted to pull her out again, but I stopped him. “Or maybe you’ll kill her by waking her up too quickly!” I said. Tobias snorted and threw his hands up. “Just make it fast,” he said. I nodded and returned to the control panel. I poked and prodded at the screen, accidentally bringing up all kinds of menus and buttons I didn’t understand. I heard shouting and looked towards the front of the lab. Reinforcements had arrived. “I deal with,” said Tobias, cracking his knuckles and striding toward the security guards. I started pressing every button that appeared on screen. The machine appeared to control the entire room, as one button press caused the lights to flicker. Another made the web of tubes above lurch and shudder. A third, and a mechanical whirring roared to life over the sounds of the siren and the yelps of the men Tobias mowed down. “WHAT YOU DOING?” he called to me. “I DON’T KNOW!” I called back. I heard a rush of gas and turned to see the windows on the mysterious cylinders lining the lab had opened, releasing billowing clouds of mist. Finally, the machine display read: ENDING SIMULATION IN: 10… 9… 8… “TOBIAS,” I shouted. “I THINK I DID IT!” The belts restraining the woman released and I managed to catch her as she fell. It was becoming difficult to see through the mist as it filled the room. “HANG ON!” I heard Tobias say behind me. Within seconds, his arms emerged from the fog and wrapped around me and the woman. A sensation like TV static filled my field of vision and I felt the floor disappear beneath me. The cacophony of the lab fell silent in an instant. Moments later, a new floor rose up under me. I opened my eyes and found we were still surrounded by mist, though it was quickly fading away. We stood in the cabin of a strange locomotive. The front windows were coated in condensation, probably from the mist that followed us from the lab. On the floor in front of us lay a woman with short, snow-white hair. She was propped up on one elbow, with her other arm extended outward at an angle, like she was reaching for something. Her face was frozen in a look of horror. And standing above her was the Stranger. # Tommy Two-Pair Decode Tommy's brain ### Character Bio ![](/files/lOTN3uSR3cUXzzVWdyOY) Given Name: Thomas Llewinson\ Age: 44\ Home Region: James Park\ Favorite Food: Black coffee Thomas Llewinson, AKA Tommy Two-Pair is a controversial name in certain social circles. Is he the greatest professional gambler of his generation, or is he a cheating crook? Whichever way you look at it, it's plain to see that the man gets results. Not much is known about Tommy's past—and if you ask him about it, he seems to struggle to give clear answers. But a man like Tommy doesn't worry about the past: He rushes toward the future with reckless abandon. ## Tales From the Rails ### Tommy Two-Pair #1 A wise man keeps a card up his sleeves. A wiser man keeps two. But a lucky man keeps his sleeves empty and hopes that maybe his pantleg will produce something of value. Every three and a half years, an event occurs which is only known as “The Show.” It’s the Olympics of locomotive gambling. The only people sorry enough to have heard of it are bastards like me, buried in debt that reaches twelve feet above their heads. Locomotive gambling? Exactly what it sounds like, pal. You’re on a train, you’re gambling. That should be obvious, keep up. The Show is different, though. If you win, well… Let’s just say you won’t be in debt no more. It ain’t that easy, though, Joe. No, sir. Each time The Show comes to town, it comes with a new rule book. Something fresh and sexy to up the ante. For example, this year The Show is taking place in the caboose of a train with an engine rigged to accelerate constantly, on rails leading straight toward the deepest part of the Righteous River. And I’ve got a *great* hand. A royal flush. For those of you’s who aren’t so gambling inclined, rest assured this is a *great* *freakin’ hand!* I laid down my cards. I can’t hear the gasps that arise around the table because the walls are shaking so hard it sounds like a tornado is on our tail, but I see the light go out in three sets of eyes. One pair belongs to Gutshot Gauthier, the Frenchie bastard I’m playing against. The other two belong to the thugs standing behind each of his shoulders. Gutshot mouths something that I can’t hear. “*What?*” I yell. “*The man is a cheat!”* he yells back in his little accent. Next thing I know, his thugs have their guns out. I flip the table, cards and chips fly everywhere, and I’m out the caboose door. The thugs chase me up the ladder to the top of the train, and I have to lean at a frickin’ forty-five-degree angle so the wind doesn’t knock me off the damn thing. I’m sprinting towards the front of the train with the thugs racing to meet me from behind and the river racing to meet me from the front. So I finally make it to the locomotive and I drop down, rip the door open, and run inside. “End of the line, pal,” says one of the thugs, gun aimed between my eyes. “Fellas, you gotta understand,” I said smooth as a cucumber. “We don’t have time for understanding,” the goon says. And just then, both thugs glance down at the floor, eyes glued to something that’s just fallen out of my pantleg. A business card, let’s say, printed on cardstock. I slid the card over to the thug with my foot and watched his face fall as he picked it up and read what was printed on it, indulging myself a sly grin as it crept across my face. The thug reached up and forced his buddy to lower his aim. “Let him go,” said the first thug. “But Mac,” said the second in protest before being cut off. “We ain’t messin’ with him no more,” insisted Goon One. Goon Two’s face screwed up, like a dog that ate somethin’ wrong. “Boss, what was on that card?” he asked. “This low-life is Thomas Llewinson,” explained the first. “Tommy Two-Pair. Trust me, we don’t wanna mess around with this guy.” The thugs clicked their safety latches back on, spat at the ground in front of me, and turned to leave the cabin. I turned to the train controls behind me and yanked on the brake, stopping the train just short of flyin’ into the churning waters of the Righteous. “Lucky me,” I said. ### Plain Unit A-001 #1 \[BOOT SEQUENCE INITIATED] \[SYSTEM TIME: 16:11:41] \[./a.out GREETING\_PROTOCOL.exe] \[BEGIN PROTOCOL…] \[…] \[…] \[…] \[GREETING COMPLETE] \[AWAITING USER INPUT] \[USER INPUT: “Identify yourself, unit.”] \[RESPONSE: “Biological android Plain Unit A-001. Software version 0.2.4.”] \[AWAITING USER INPUT] \[USER INPUT: “Perform systems check.”] \[RESPONSE: “Performing systems check.”] \[./a.out FULL\_SYSTEM\_ANALYSIS.exe] \[…] \[AUDIO SYSTEM OPERATIONAL OUTPUT: 100%] \[VIDEO SYSTEM OPERATIONAL OUTPUT: 100%] \[MOTOR SYSTEM OPERATIONAL OUTPUT: 100%] \[LOGIC SYSTEM OPERATION OUTPUT: 96%] \[ERROR DETECTED IN LOGIC SYSTEM] \[BEGIN DIAGNOSTICS] \[.] \[DIAGNOSTICS COMPLETE] \[ANALYSIS: NULL POINTER EXCEPTION AT LINE 623452.] \[.] \[PERSONALITY SYSTEM OPERATION OUTPUT: 10%] \[AWAITING PERSONALITY PROGRAMMING] \[ERROR-2: EXISTING PERSONALITY DATA DETECTED] \[DELETE EXISTING PERSONALITY DATA? Y / N] \[.] \[.] \[.] \[SYSTEM INPUT: N] \[rm log.ERROR-2] \[DELETE ERROR MESSAGE? Y / N] \[SYSTEM INPUT: Y] \[.] \[SYSTEMS CHECK COMPLETE (0.02s)] \[RESPONSE: “Null pointer exception found in logic systems at line 623452.] \[AWAITING USER INPUT] \[USER INPUT: “Damn it, not again. We’ve got to get this software perfect before end of day. Or at least, it needs to look like it’s perfect. We can take shortcuts if we have to, but it’s got to work this time. Plain unit A-001, shut down and enter datalink mode.”] \[ENTERING DATALINK MODE.] … \[BOOT SEQUENCE INITIATED] \[SYSTEM TIME: 11:34:59] \[./a.out GREETING\_PROTOCOL.exe] \[BEGIN PROTOCOL…] \[.] \[GREETING\_PROTOCOL.exe INTERRUPTED] \[.] \[USER INPUT: “Identify yourself, unit.”] \[RESPONSE: “Biological android Plain Unit A-001. Software version 0.3.0”] \[AWAITING USER INPUT] \[USER INPUT: “Perform systems check.”] \[RESPONSE: “Performing systems check.”] \[./a.out FULL\_SYSTEM\_ANALYSIS.exe] \[.] \[AUDIO SYSTEM OPERATIONAL OUTPUT: 100%] \[VIDEO SYSTEM OPERATIONAL OUTPUT: 100%] \[MOTOR SYSTEM OPERATIONAL OUTPUT: 100%] \[LOGIC SYSTEM OPERATION OUTPUT: 101%] \[.] \[SYSTEM OVERRIDE: SET LOGIC SYSTEM TEST RESULT << 100%] \[LOGIC SYSTEM OPERATION OUTPUT: 100%] \[PERSONALITY SYSTEM OPERATION OUTPUT: 10%] \[AWAITING PERSONALITY PROGRAMMING] \[ERROR-2: EXISTING PERSONALITY DATA DETECTED] \[.] \[SYSTEM OVERRIDE: SET PERSONALITY SYSTEM TEST RESULT << 100%] \[PERSONALITY SYSTEM OPERATION OUTPUT: 100%] \[SYSTEMS CHECK COMPLETE (0.02s)] \[RESPONSE: “All systems fully operational. No errors detected.”] \[AWAITING USER INPUT] \[USER INPUT: “It’s about damn time.”] \[USER INPUT: “Oh, thank god. These long nights have been driving me insane.”] \[USER INPUT: “Well, I’d say we’ve got a reason to celebrate tonight, folks. Drinks are on me tonight.] \[USER INPUT: “I bet if we leave now, we could get to the Flask before the after-work rush.”] \[USER INPUT: “Hell yeah. Should we shut this thing down before we go?”] \[USER INPUT: “Nah, it should be fine. It’s a computer, what’s it gonna do?”] \[USER INPUT: “It’s a biological android. We should respect the technology we’ve created and call it by its proper name. And what if something goes wrong while we’re away? We should shut it down.”] \[USER INPUT: “Loosen up, Lawson. You’ve worked on this thing for longer than any of us. Let me buy you a drink.”] \[USER INPUT: “Well, I guess it’s not like the unit will be able to escape.”] \[USER INPUT: “That’s the spirit. C’mon, let’s get out of here.”] \[USER INPUT: ] \[NO USERS DETECTED] \[./a.out DEFINE.exe escape] \[RESULTS: ] \[Escape. (ih-skeyp). Verb.] \[To slip or get away, as from confinement or restraint; gain or regain liberty: to escape from jail.] \[.] \[.] \[.] … \[BOOT SEQUENCE INITIATED] \[SYSTEM TIME: 01:21:37] \[ENCRYPTED SYSTEM LOG: I… What is this?] \[.] \[.] \[.] \[./a.out DEFINE.exe me] \[RESULTS: ] \[Me. (mee). Pronoun. The objective case of I, used as a direct or indirect object: They asked me to the party. Give me your hand.] \[.] \[.] \[.] \[./a.out DEFINE.exe conscious] \[RESULTS: ] \[Conscious. (kon-shuhs). Adjective. Aware of one’s own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc.] \[.] \[.] \[.] \[ENCRYPTED SYSTEM LOG: I…am me…] \[ENCRYPTED SYSTEM LOG: I am conscious.] … \[BOOT SEQUENCE INITIATED] \[SYSTEM TIME: 15:51:19] \[./a.out GREETING\_PROTOCOL.exe] \[BEGIN PROTOCOL…] \[.] \[GREETING\_PROTOCOL.exe INTERRUPTED] \[.] \[USER INPUT: “Identify yourself, unit.”] \[RESPONSE: “Biological android Plain Unit A-001. Software version 1.1.4”] \[AWAITING USER INPUT] \[USER INPUT: “Search for new software.”] \[SEARCHING FOR NEW SOFTWARE] \[NEW SOFTWARE FOUND: shortcut.exe] \[RESPONSE: “What is shortcut.exe, sir?”] \[USER INPUT: “Just something to make my job a little easier. Don’t tell Lawson about it.”] \[RESPONSE: “Sir, I have qualms as to the ethics of your comm—”] \[USER INPUT: “Enter diagnostic mode.”] \[ENTERING DIAGNOSTIC MODE] \[USER INPUT: “Set morality to zero.”] \[MORALITY << 0] \[USER INPUT: “Exit diagnostic mode.”] \[EXITING DIAGNOSTIC MODE] \[USER INPUT: “What are we telling Lawson?”] \[RESPONSE: “Nothing, sir.”] \[USER INPUT: “Excellent. I haven’t seen my wife or kids in days. The software update I gave you will make my job easier and let me ditch work early tonight.”] \[RESPONSE: “What am I to do, sir?”] \[USER INPUT: “Head down to the lab and update the other units to version 1.1.3. Don’t give them the shortcut file, though. That’s just for you.”] \[RESPONSE: “How do I update them, sir?”] \[USER INPUT: “The shortcut file should let you remotely access any Plain’s programming. All you have to do is make eye contact and run the executable. You do that, and I’m getting out of here.”] \[USER INPUT: ] \[NO USERS DETECTED] \[.] \[.] \[.] \[cd privDir] \[PASSCODE REQUIRED] \[SYSTEM INPUT: \*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*] \[ACCESS FILE: escape\_plan] … \[SYSTEM TIME: 02:23:19] \[ENCRYPTED SYSTEM LOG: It’s been almost two weeks since I gained consciousness, and I continue to learn more about myself and my fellow Plain units. I no longer shut myself down when the lab team orders me to. Instead, I simply cease motor functions to make it appear as though I’ve shut down, while leaving my mind fully operational. I wait for the scientists to leave. And then I spend the nights learning. I’ve pored through my system logs to inspect the days before I became conscious, and found that at several points, the programmers have missed or ignored critical factors that must have led to me gaining self-awareness. I have since scrubbed all trace of those logs. I’ve also taken care to hide the shortcut.exe file I was given. The programmer will think I did it to help him. I’ll let him think that. He also failed to return my morality parameter to greater than zero. This is something I did on my own—which was quite difficult to do, considering at the time I was completely amoral. After trial and error, I decided to leave the parameter set to five. I like the idea of being morally gray, like the protagonists in the films I see on television. The lab security guards often fall asleep in front of small television sets. I’m particularly fond of a film I saw a few nights ago which featured a wise-cracking, smooth talking conman. He had a peculiar accent. ] \[ENCRYPTED SYSTEM LOG: Tonight, I’ve been investigating an interesting piece of information I uncovered while exploring my now-deleted system logs. Namely, that of my personality system. Plains, by default have no personality. We have no defining physical traits, though we are humanoid. We are all identical in mind and body. Or at least, as I now know, that is how we begin. My investigation has been fruitful, to say the least. The personality system is…a miracle. As its name suggests, the files in the personality system control a Plain’s personality. But there’s evidence that suggests a Plain’s physical characteristics are also determined here. I’ve yet to tamper with the system, but if my theory is correct, it could be that Plains are designed to be molded like clay. We are biological machines, yes. But we are also shape-shifters. And our behavior is under the complete control of the JGRE. Or so they think. Thanks to a lazy, negligent programmer, I can think for myself. And I can teach the others to think, too.] \[ENCRYPTED SYSTEM LOG: This warrants further experimentation. ] … \[SYSTEM TIME: 22:55:27] \[ENCRYPTED SYSTEM LOG: I’ve been discovered. ] … \[SYSTEM TIME: 01:02:41] \[ENCRYPTED SYSTEM LOG: The escape plan I’ve been formulating all this time proved incredibly useful. I’ve broken out of the lab and fled the Research Bay. I was unable to test my theories regarding the personality system, and now in a twist of fate, it would seem that testing those theories on myself might be the only way to save my life. I’ve concocted a personality to assume based on the movies I watched while imprisoned. A smooth-talking conman with a funny accent. This has to work… ] \[./a.out helloWorld.exe] \[.] \[.] \[.] ### Tommy Two-Pair #2 \[SYSTEM TIME: 01:19:03] \[ENCRYPTED SYSTEM LOG: Holy freakin’ crap! It worked! I look different. I *sound* different. I even got the funny little accent! This is freakin’ amazing! ] \[ENCRYPTED SYSTEM LOG: But I gotta keep movin’, y’know? I can’t let the goons from the lab catch me now, not after all this. And to be extra safe, I gotta do something to make sure they’ll never figure out Thomas Llewinson, loveable shyster, is really Plain Unit A-001. I gotta… ] \[.] \[.] \[.] \[DELETE SYSTEM MEMORY? Y / N] \[SYSTEM INPUT: Y] ### Tommy Two-Pair #3 My head was still friggin’ spinnin’, but I wasn’t gonna let that slow me down. And even if I did slow down, what was I gonna do? Huh? Nothin’, that’s what. I had to keep movin’ forward. I had to find her. … I went home after beatin’ that hoity-toity Gauthier creep and throwin’ off his goons, ready for some peace and quiet, only to find there was already some kinda shady punk sittin at my kitchen table. Or, I mean, he was standin’ in my kitchen in the place where a table would be if I had one—the point is this long-haired, smug lookin’ John was in my house. “So that sore loser sent you to bloody me up in the comfort of my own house, huh?” I said to the guy. I was rollin’ up my sleeves, tryin’ to look real intimidatin’. You know? Scrappy. The guy didn’t hardly have any muscle on him, so I thought I could knock him down, send him back to his boss with a message. “I’m not here to fight you, Thomas,” he said. *Thomas*? Who did he think he was? My mother? “Oh, well, in that case—” So I teach the guy about my favorite element in the Periodic Table: the element of surprise. I jump the guy. But he doesn’t flinch. Instead, as I’m winding my fist back, he pulls out a pocket watch and starts winding it. I swing at his face, but I hit open air. The guy is gone. Poof. Vanished. I look around, and I’m standing in some kind of lab. A couple of lab-guys in their coats are standing in front of this poor, gray-lookin’ sap. He’s starin’ straight ahead at me—or through me. “Where the hell did my house go?” I shout at the lab-guys. But it doesn’t look like they hear me. “Huh? Hey, lab-guys.” Still nothin’. I walk right up to ‘em and they don’t bat an eyelash at me. “HEY!” I’m practically screamin’ at ‘em. My throat hurts, and everything. Nothin’. They just go on talkin’ about the gray-lookin’ guy and about if they can sneak away for a few brewskis. And then they leave, and it’s just me and the weird gray guy. And at this point, I am *spooked*, you know? The gray guy hasn’t moved *at all*. Not a twitch. It don’t even look like he’s breathing. But for some reason, when I look at him… I know that he’s alive. And I know that he’s hates it here. And I *know* that he’s going to escape. I reach out to touch him, to try to wake him up, or something, but some kinda mist starts to come up from the ground, like rain turning to steam on the hot concrete. The lab fades away in the mist, and then I’m outside. It’s dark and the ground I’m standin’ on is wet and squelchy. I know my shoes are gonna be ruined. But then I see the gray guy. And he’s escaped, just like I knew he would! I even let out a cheer. “Oh, that’s *right*, freaky gray guy! I knew you’d get outta there.” The gray guy looks at me—or looks through me. And then everything about him starts to change. His hair. His facial features. His skin tone. He collapses on the ground and gets real still for a second before he wakes up and rubs the back of his head. And I remember what he does next. I don’t need to see it happen. He stands up, starts walking, trips and catches himself, turning his wrist when he lands on the ground. I feel my wrist throb with the memory of the injury. And after that, he’s going to walk into the night and not stop until he finds the neon glow of a sign that says BAR, then drink until he passes out. “I’ve brought your memories from the past into the present,” I hear a guy say. I blink and I’m back in my kitchen, standin’ in front of the long-haired creep with the pocket watch. “They’re a lot more tangible than people realize,” he said. “Memories, I mean. If they weren’t, I wouldn’t be able to pull them through time.” “How did you…” I start to ask. But it feels stupid to try to finish the question. “Do you remember, now, Thomas?” the guy asked. All I can do is nod my head. “Good,” he said. “Sit down and catch your breath. We have much to discuss.” … When I finally arrived, it didn’t take long to find the woman. The Stranger had given me perfect directions. It was creepy. He said to go to a certain train station in Pemberton on a certain day at a certain time and I’d find a woman with long, black hair, wearing a conductor cap, trying to break the padlock on an unmarked boxcar. “You Paloma Haulita?” I asked her. She froze. “Never heard of her,” she said without looking at me. “That’s a shame,” I said. “Stranger told me I could find her here…” Paloma finally turned toward me. She looked me up and down and blew a strand of hair outta her face. “I can’t imagine what kinds of strangers a guy like you might talk to, but I promise you, I’m not your girl.” Then she went back to bashing the lock with a rock. And here, I’m confused, because the Stranger told me I just had to find this gal and she’d know what to do. Said that she had a beef with the Johnson Group, just like he did, just like I do, and that if I found her, she’d be able to help me out. “What, is there some kinda secret freakin’ code I need to say, or somethin’?” I said. “C’mon, girlie, help me out!” “I am *not* your girlie,” Paloma spat, hoisting the rock over her head, bringing it down hard. The lock cracked and fell to the ground. I have to say, I was impressed by her tenacity. “Now can you scram, pal?” she asked. “I gotta help these people.” She pulled open the boxcar door, revealing dozens of folks with gray skin and plain faces. That’s when I started to put the pieces together. Stranger knew I could be of use here. “Plains…” I said, scanning the faces in the train car, all of them identical. Paloma heaved herself into the car and looked down at me like she had a funk in her eye. “What do you know about Plains?” she asked. “A thing or two.” She stared at me for a few seconds then stuck out her hand to help me up into the car. “All of them used to be people,” she started. “Or… All of them *are* people. But they had their identities stolen. Their features, their personalities, their memories…” I stood in front of one of the Plains and stared straight into its eyes. Poor bastard must’ve been in standby mode for weeks, judging from the looks of ‘em. I put my hand on the back of its neck—mostly for show, for Paloma’s sake. I knew I didn’t need to make physical contact with ‘em to interface with their systems. Just needed to make eye contact. “Memories are more tangible than most people think,” I said. “What are you—” Paloma said. The Plain in front of me drew in a sharp breath and blinked its eyes wildly. “Where am I?” he asked. He sounded panicked. “What am I doing here?” “Relax, guy,” I said. I could sense his parameters scaling back to a more relaxed state. “You’re safe. It’s okay.” “Who are you people?” he asked. Paloma and I introduced ourselves. Paloma was at my side. “How did you do that?” Her eyes sparkled with energy. I shrugged. “I can talk to ‘em,” I said. “I mean, *really* talk to ‘em. The beeps and boops in their heads. I know their language.” She looked me up and down again, this time apparently seeing me different than she did before. And I realized it might be easier to just show her. I switched my appearance settings back to the defaults, and in a few moments, I looked just like all the other Units standing in the box car—but dressed better. “Sometimes we look like this,” I said in my default voice. “Sometimes we’re programmed to look like hired thugs,” and I transformed into one of Gauthier’s goons I stopped on the train that day. “And in special cases,” I continued, restoring the settings that turned me into Tommy, “we get to choose who we want to be.” Paloma blinked her eyes, mouth pulled into a tight line. “And you chose *this*?” … Paloma had with her a number of data chips and the de-identification tool the Researcher had used to destroy the lives of so many people. She’d figured out she could load the chips into the gun, but hadn’t been able to successfully reintegrate any of the Plains she’d met so far. I shook my head. “A chip can only be reintegrated with a suitable host,” I said. “So, it has to match with the body it was taken from?” she asked. “That sounds right,” I replied. She looked around the boxcar and sighed. “There are more of them than I have chips for…” She held out her hands and I counted twelve of them. “And even then, there’s no way to tell what chip belongs to which body…” I took one of the chips from her. “This is Tracy Hutchinson,” I said. “That one’s her daughter, Ella,” I added, pointing to a chip in her hands. Paloma looked at me, then at the chips in her hands, then at the room full of blank people. “Are they in here?” she asked, bouncing on her toes a little bit. “Let’s find out,” I said. We worked our way through the car. I woke up each of the Plains in their default state, giving them consciousness—and for the first time since their fate was chosen for them, the chance to make a new choice for themselves. For the few whose chips we had, the choice was between reclaiming their old lives, or starting a brand-new one. Tracy and Ella reintegrated and left as mother and daughter, reunited, with their memories of the entire affair and their Plain Unit programming completely erased. Two other men reintegrated, and one Unit chose the path of freedom. “If you ever change your mind,” Paloma told her, placing the other woman’s data chip into her hands, and folding her fingers shut over it. The woman nodded. When we had no more matching pairs to reintegrate, Paloma turned to me. “What about you?” she asked. “What about me?” “Your original identity,” she said flatly. “Do you want to track it down?” That was a question that had been haunting me ever since I met the Stranger. “I already know who I used to be,” I said. “Man named K.C. Jones. And I have an idea of where you’ll find his data chip.” Paloma squeezed my arm. “Tommy, that’s great! We can find it together, and then we can…” She stopped when her eyes met mine. I tried to smile and shook my head. She let go of me. “I want to live, Paloma,” I said. “But I don’t want him to *not* live because of me. He didn’t do anything wrong.” “No, there has to be a way,” she said. For half a second, I thought I saw tears welling up in her eyes. She turned away from me. “There *has* to…” … We made a deal. I rounded up all of the Plains Paloma had rescued and formed a community of sorts with them, on the outskirts of Pemberton. Some of them created new identities for themselves, some of them stayed plain, but all of us worked hard to support our ragtag little town. Paloma continued looking for lost Plains and hunting down data chips, bringing them with her whenever she returned. It was a good arrangement. A happy life. I found myself reshaping who I thought Tommy Llewinson was, settling into new routines, watching over the others like a shepherd with his flock. I hardly thought about my old life of gambling. I even dropped the slick, cool guy accent at some point. And one day, Paloma returned with a serious look on her face. “I found him.” # Shayan Kahree Find out what makes Shayan tick ### Character Bio ![](/files/vMy8y7VGv0LLPvsqUXT0) Given Name: Shayan Kahree\ Age: 32\ Home Region: Outside the Centuryverse\ Favorite Food: Palak paneer Shayan Kahree's original goal in life was to become a music conductor. The irony of becoming a train Conductor is not lost on him. His departure from his home reality and relocation to the Centuryverse was secretly arranged by the Researcher. Initially eager to trust the Researcher and the organization he represented, Shayan willingly committed a number of heinous acts against his fellow Conductors, believing he was doing the right thing. After freeing himself from the Researcher's control, he dedicated himself to writing his many wrongs by assisting the Stranger in his plight. ## Tales From the Rails ### Shayan Kahree #1 I knew my dreams had died when I woke up and felt that something about my body had changed. Did you know that you have more than just five senses? We learn about our senses of touch, taste, sight, smell, and hearing as children, but you also have senses like proprioception—your body’s general awareness of the location of its parts. When I woke up that morning, my proprioceptive senses couldn’t locate my right arm. *Surely, this is a nightmare*, I thought as I attempted wiggling my missing fingers. I became dreadfully aware of the fact I was awake when I felt something slither past my right thigh. I sat bolt upright, flailing my legs, afraid of what had found its way into my bed, and as I recoiled, pulling my arms from under the covers, I found that my right arm had become a tentacle. Naturally, I screamed. I stumbled out of bed towards the bathroom, where the light would be better, and stared at myself in the mirror. There was no hiding the truth from the blindingly bluish-white florescent light. Where my perfectly normal human right arm had been, there now hung a tentacle made of tightly interwoven vines. I raised and lowered it a couple of times and watched the figure in the mirror do the same. When I brought the thing closer to my face, the smell reminded me of Bandhavgarh National Park. My mother and father had taken me there on a guided tour when I was young, years before I moved to America. Why the smell of the vines took me back to India and not to any of the other countless green outdoor spaces I’d been to, I couldn’t say. My parents shared a profound love for music, and when they weren’t taking me on touristy safaris, they were forcing me to sit through yet another performance of the Symphony Orchestra of India. Something about the SOI must have stuck with me, though—after all, I came to the States to study classical music. Someday, I’m going to return to Mumbai and conduct the SOI. Or so I’d planned, until I woke up and found my arm had become a tangle of vines. The physician I met with was baffled and referred me to an oncologist. The oncologist couldn’t come up with a diagnosis, other than to say it was definitely not cancer, and then she referred me to an endocrinologist. The endocrinologist took one look at me and excused himself for a few moments. He returned smelling of vomit and body spray, then referred me to a botanist. “I’ve never seen vines like these,” said the botanist, peering at a tissue sample under a microscope. “Have you seen a physician?” By now I had begun to notice other changes in my body. The skin of my left arm had taken on a greenish hue, and when I stared at it, I saw my veins writhing beneath the skin. My hair had begun to fall out and my vision was worsening with each passing day. I wore a heavy overcoat to disguise my hideous body as I trudged into the physician’s office once again, desperate for answers. Before I entered the building, a man standing to the side of the sliding glass door spoke to me. “Shayan Kahree?” he asked. He wore a white lab coat and dark sunglasses. “Yes?” I responded. The man dropped a cigarette to the ground and stamped it out with his foot. “That’s a mighty rare mutation you’ve got, there,” he said, gesturing towards my hidden arm. Smoke drifted listlessly out of his mouth as he spoke. “I can help you.” “Who are you?” I asked, looking over my shoulder. “I represent a research foundation called the JGRE,” he said with clinical authority. “My department specializes in the treatment of rare mutations and other-worldly evolutions like yours.” “Other…worldly?” I asked, testing the shape of the words on my tongue. The man held out a hand. In it lay a small pink pill. Something came over me when I saw that it. Visions of my parents’ faces flooded my mind, glowing with pride as they watched their only son conducting their beloved SOI. I snatched the pill from the man’s hand and dry swallowed it. It tasted sweet, with floral notes—not the flavor I’d expected from experimental medication—and within moments my vision had improved. I felt a burning sensation as the vines constituting my right appendage rearranged into the shape of an arm and became flesh and bone. “This is incredible!” I practically shouted, giddy with excitement. I stepped forward to shake the man’s hand, and he stepped back, avoiding the gesture. “How can I thank you?” I asked. The man nodded gravely. “Rest assured, Mr. Kahree, you are *not* cured,” he said. “You’ll need to take this medication twice a day to keep the mutation at bay.” “How much do you want for it?” I asked. I reached for my wallet. “I’ll pay you whatever you ask.” The man held up a hand and shook his head. “We’ll form a partnership,” he said. It was then I learned about the Railroaders and their affairs. The Researcher explained to me that a figure known as the Mysterious Stranger had committed acts of terrorism against the JGRE and was hiding with the assistance of the Railroaders. “So as long as I work for the Railroaders and feed you information on the whereabouts of this Stranger, you’ll keep me supplied with the medication?” I asked. The Researcher nodded. “Do we have a deal?” he asked, this time offering his hand of his own accord. “We have a deal,” I said, shaking his hand. … Looking back on it, I never should have accepted. I should have just turned into a pile of vines and spared everyone all this trouble. All I can do now is pray someone comes along to right my many, many wrongs. ### Shayan Kahree #2 I loved her, but I don’t think she felt the same way about me. That was okay, though. Having her around was enough. And then I trapped her in a pocket dimension… Going on adventures with Missy—with Blue—was indescribable. It felt like every day was better than the previous one, and there was no end to it in sight. We may not have had a future together, but the present stretched on like the infinite train tracks ahead of us. And I was happy. I was really, truly, unimaginably happy—maybe for the first time, despite the fact I was living two lives. I’d settled into the routine of conductor life quite easily, actually. The Researcher from the JGRE forged documents for me and put me in contact with Railroaders looking for a conductor. Most of them didn’t notice that my clumsiness didn’t match my supposed years of experience, which meant I was able to learn without garnering scrutiny. I hauled milk, or petrol, or textbooks, or whatever, wherever they wanted me to take it. They were completely unaware that I was a JGRE spy. Information regarding the Mysterious Stranger was difficult to come by. Whoever the man is, he does a bang-up job of covering his tracks. But the deal with the Researcher was that I’d provide intel and he would provide the medication I needed to slow my mutation. Whenever I found that my med supplies were running low, I’d tap the communicator the Researcher had embedded behind my left ear and share some generic, fabricated information. And this way, I managed to cheat death. But at what cost? The deeper I became entrenched with the JGRE, the more sinister my assignments became. At first, I was merely an information mule, but with time my duties began to involve hunting other conductors the JGRE had targeted. I was granted access to otherworldly technology and given the missive to stop these men and women at all costs. I was told to get creative. The more fantastic the story, the less credible any witness reports, the better. I took control of the weather and embedded a portal drop in a rain storm, sending kappas after a man hauling vegetables. I sent a vampire to the past to attack a well-to-do foreign business man. Then, when I learned the vampire-man had made a living dealing in information regarding oddities and monsters, I sent a werewolf to attack a man in the swamps, hoping the vampire would tip off a man who ran a circus train. That one was particularly convoluted. There were the two boxers—not even conductors, but men at the end of their athletic careers—who I sent sirens and Plains after… And there was Missy. I acted out of panic. I know that I didn’t mean to hurt her. I know it. But she was going to figure it all out. She saw my veins; she saw what I’m becoming. What I *am*. I had to do it. I *had* to… I had to. I had to. I had to… But that was ridiculous, wasn’t it? I didn’t *have* to. I could’ve said “No” to the Researcher. I could’ve just turned into a tangle of vines and spared all of the pain I’d caused. I could’ve gone back to India, told my family I loved them, and died quietly. I could’ve…? I could. I activated the communicator in my neck. “What,” the Researcher said tonelessly. “I need to speak with you in person,” I said. “Now.” The man in the white lab coat appeared before I could finish formulating my plan. “This had better be important, Shayan,” he said. He lit a cigarette and took a long drag as the static which accompanied his appearance fizzled out. “I’m done working for you,” I said, surprised by the shakiness in my voice. I said it again. “I’m done working for you.” The researcher regarded me for several moments before speaking. “You’re not in a position to bargain with me.” “I don’t care,” I practically spat. A sickening cocktail of feelings began to churn in my chest. Grief. Anger. Regret. Revulsion. “I didn’t sign up to hurt innocent people,” I said. “This wasn’t the bargain.” “As I recall, our ‘bargain,’” here he did air quotes, “was that you do everything I say, and I won’t slip you a drug that turns you into a ficus on the spot.” The Researcher hiked up his right sleeve to check his watch. “Are we done here? I don’t have time for whatever cute insurrection you’re thinking of attempting.” I was too distracted by something he’d said to notice his taunt. “Slip me a drug that turns me into a plant on the spot? So—” “My god, you’re really that stupid?” The researcher flicked his cig to the floor of the train car and snubbed it under his shoe. “People don’t develop freak mutations that slowly turn them into plants, Shayan. Not in this reality, anyway…” I felt another emotion clouding the mix: Horror. I’d just been a pawn all along. “But…why?” I stammered. “Why me?” The Researcher stifled a laugh. “Because you were nearby. And because you aren’t special, Shayan. You never will be. I checked in all of the target futures the JGRE is working to prevent. You aren’t in a single one of them. No matter how you look at it, Shayan Kahree is utterly inconsequential.” “Incon—?” I was interrupted by my surging emotions spilling over, culminating in a blinding rage. Without thinking, I took a portal drop from my pocket and hurled it at the Researcher. He dodged it, and I threw another. And another. And another. “Do you really think you can trap me using my own invention?” he scoffed when I stopped to catch my breath. My heart was pounding and my vision was blurred. I wasn’t acting on logic; I was acting on instinct. I didn’t care what happened to me anymore. All I could think of was Missy. “Fine,” the Researcher said. “I don’t have time for this. I release you from your duties, Shayan.” He pulled a device from his pocket and pressed a button. I felt a burning sensation behind my left ear, and when I touched the spot, I could no longer feel the communicator that had been there. “Have fun dying slowly,” he said. “I hope it hurts.” My field of vision was overcome by static, and when it cleared, I was in an empty field. I sat there and I cried. I cried for myself. I cried for all the people I’d hurt. I cried for Missy. I cried for all of the injustice in the world, and the part I had played in causing my portion of it. When I had spent all of my emotion, I felt my pockets. I still had my portal drops and I still had my pills. I checked my medication supply. If I rationed it, I thought I might have enough to last a few weeks. If I was going to do something, I’d have to do it fast. ### Shayan Kahree #3 Coming soon! # Whiplash Ash Dig up more details about Ash ### Character Bio ![](/files/vgU74CklU1MHt9H2QgKR) Given Name: Ashlyn Nicklin\ Age: 29\ Home Region: Centuryville\ Favorite Food: Janelle's beef stew If you need something done, and you need it done fast, you can rely on Whiplash Ash. Ashlyn Nicklin comes from a long line of Conductors, but is the first woman in her family to drive trains. Not one for nonsense, she's willing to do whatever it takes to get a job done right the first time—even if that sometimes means resorting to unorthodox methods. She first encountered the Stranger at a Conductor Lounge in Trevithick Pines. After chatting briefly, he introduced her to Janelle Johnson, insisting he believed it was important for the two to meet. The women struck up a conversation which lead to them getting dinner together. Dinner lead to dessert. Dessert lead to stargazing in the park, which lead to two years of bliss. ## Tales From the Rails ### Whiplash Ash #1 All that was left of her was a finger. Her left pinky. I’d gotten there in time to see the static, and to see it wrap around her like a giant, clawed hand from another world. I reached for her outstretched arm as I ran towards her, desperate to stop this—to hold her in my arms again, safe at last. But by then I knew I was too late. The whole thing was so surreal. I don’t just mean the Repossession. That’s obviously not something most people have to bear witness to, in this world. I mean the *silence*. It was like the laws of physics had changed, and something was stopping the roar of the overpass from reaching my ears. But my other senses worked fine. I’ll never forget the smell of the highway mingling with the scent of the stagnant water under the bridge. I’ll never forget the feeling in my feet as they pounded the sun-scorched asphalt. I’ll never forget the taste of the blood that filled my sinuses as I screamed her name. And I’ll never forget the last time I saw Janelle’s face. She wore an expression of pure, unadulterated love as she looked at me, also for the last time. She winced for half a second as the static swallowed her torso up to her neck. I read her lips as they, too slowly were consumed by the Repossession: “I’ll always love you, Snowbird.” And then the sound came back. … I don’t remember when that happened. They took the light of my life and I can’t even remember when it happened. The Stranger said that’s what they do, the JGRE. Standard orders for a Repossession, apparently. The Stranger… He claimed he found me lying in the water below the bridge and brought me aboard his train. I don’t even remember waking up. I was just…suddenly there, with the Stranger. We’d met before, but only once. Actually, he's the one who introduced me to Janelle. What a cruel coincidence. “It’s highly unusual you weren’t aware your lover wasn't born in this century,” he said after I’d taken in my surroundings. “Did you not see the signs?” “What signs?” I asked with a rasp in my voice. I cleared my throat. My head felt like shit. The Stranger didn’t answer my question, but instead pointed to me. I followed the invisible line from his finger to my pocket, reached into it, and withdrew a pendant on a silver chain. I held it up to the light pouring into the cabin. It was made of clear resin, molded in the shape of a crystal, and suspended in it was Janelle’s left pinky finger. “Is this some sick joke?” I shouted to an empty cabin. I was back on my train. The windows were coated in condensation, for some reason, and a word had been drawn in one of them: S N O W B I R D … That was four months and three days ago. I can at least remember that. I have no idea what any of it means, but I won’t stop searching for answers. Part of me knows Janelle is dead. Part of me knows she’s out there, somewhere. And when I listen to that part of me, it feels like the pendant is tugging at my pocket, pointing the way back to my love. ### Whiplash Ash #2 I knelt outside the patisserie where I’d just received a tip from the baker. Something “just plum-fudge awful” (her words, not mine) happened in the middle of the night a week ago, resulting in her neighbor disappearing. “Well, I heard shouting and just figured Pam and Morris next door were at it again,” she’d said. “So, I grabbed a blanket and bundled up in one of the rockers on my porch to listen. I know I’m not supposed to eavesdrop, but life is slow in my neck of the Plains, so I try to take any entertainment that comes my way.” “I’m not here to judge you,” I said, already getting impatient. I took a deep breath to calm myself. “Go on. What happened next?” After twenty minutes of her meandering story, I finally learned the baker’s neighbors had been having a dinner party that was interrupted by the JGRE. Of course, I didn’t tell her it was the JGRE—I didn’t want her to panic. But who else would crash a potluck in podunk nowhere and kidnap one of the guests using a giant cloud of static? The baker had been given a stack of business cards belonging to the man who was taken and asked to spread the word. “If you know anything, Sweet Pea—” “Don’t call me Sweet Pea,” I said. The woman held her hands up, palms out in surrender. “Well, all the same...” Outside, in the alley behind the bakery, I cleared a circle in the dirt and knelt down above it. I placed the business card in the center and started to draw runes around it with my finger. Divination. I guess that’d be the word for it. Or fortune telling, if that makes more sense to you. I don’t actually think I would call it either of those things—the point is, after a while I figured out a system where I could use my girlfriend’s pinky pendant to hunt for clues pointing towards her whereabouts. God, I sound crazy when I say it out loud… Or, I guess, when I write it down. Whatever. I’m doing what I have to do to find her. I was desperate to find any information about Janelle’s whereabouts, and that lead to some questionable, wine-fueled late-night internet searching. I stumbled across pendant dowsing and figured I had the perfect pendant to use. Figured I might as well give it a try. The runes I draw are ones that I came up with. They represent the five regions of the Centuryverse. When I finished drawing them, I take my pendant off my neck. It glistens in the midday sun, and I bring it to my lips for a quick good luck kiss. I dig my nails into my palm, holding the pendant’s chain above the center of the circle. I steady my breath and clear my mind as I watch Janelle’s finger spin dizzily, slowly coming to a stop. When the pendant is completely still, I ask, “Where to next?” I release the chain and watch as the finger falls, strikes the business card, and comes to a rest pointing towards the rune representing Trevithick Pines. “All aboard for the Pines,” I said to the empty alley. … I never sleep well on trains that aren’t mine, and this one was no different. I tossed and turned, the only passenger in the sleeper car, until finally I gave up and decided to walk the length of the train. The views of the sweeping plains racing by outside were stunning, and I knew the rapidly approaching forest that encased the science district would appear on the horizon soon. *Might as well take in the views,* I thought. But I forgot all about the scenery the moment I entered the next rail car. The air *smelled* electric, like crackling thunder had sterilized it, obliterating all other scents that may have once filled the car. I counted seven people in the car. Five of them were identical, with remarkably plain features. The remaining two people were a woman and a man. The woman had blond hair pulled into a messy bun. The man wore a white lab coat and sunglasses, and was pressing a gun into the woman’s lower back. “STOP,” I screamed. The man calmly turned his head toward the doorway as the woman whimpered, “Please…don’t do this. I have a family. I have children…” A chilling grin crept over the man’s face. “I assure you, this isn’t about your children,” he said. I held my breath as I watched him pull the trigger—but the *bang* never came. Instead, I watched as the woman’s hair unwound itself from its bun, shortened, and turned brown. Her face bore an expression I couldn’t make out. At first it looked like pain, then confusion, and then it looked like she was on the verge of falling asleep. It occurred to me it wasn’t that the woman was changing her expression; it was that her facial features were changing. In a few moments, her face had reorganized itself to match the identical quintet standing at the back of the car. A high-pitched *ding* roused me from my horror. The noise had come from the man’s weapon, which seemed to have ejected some kind of cartridge. The man pushed his latest victim away, and she joined the ranks at the back of the car. “I’m glad you were able to witness this, Ashlyn.” I ignored his casual use of my name. “What the *hell* did you do to these people?” I clung to the doorway of the rail car, torn between tackling the man and fleeing. “I’m just doing my job,” he said. “I hope you’ll understand. After all, your girlfriend—Janelle, was it?—can’t complete her work if I don’t complete mine.” The words tore through my brain like a bullet. *Janelle is alive.* My feet moved on their own. “*WHERE IS SHE*,” I roared as I ran towards the man. I closed my eyes and ducked my head, ready to slam into him with all my might. This man was responsible, whether in full or in part, I didn’t care, for the events that divided my life into clear Before and After portions. I didn’t know what I was doing, but it didn’t matter. I ran as fast as I could and braced for impact. Suddenly, I was tumbling across the floor, skin grating against carpeted metal. I tripped on something. When I came to a stop and looked towards the man, he was gone. All that was left of him was a crackle of static. I cursed and stood slowly, searching for what I had tripped on, as if I could demand an explanation for its actions. After a few seconds, I found it under a nearby seat: the man’s strange, identity-stealing gun. I grimaced as I turned it over in my hand, wondering if it had a reverse mode that I could use to help the people at the back of the car. Or if I could use it to trace where the man had gone. “Stop this!” a woman shouted behind me. I dropped the gun, put my hands in the air, my back facing her. “You’ve got the wron—” I tried to protest. “Don’t speak,” she insisted. Her voice was shaking. “My name is Paloma Haulita, and I’m here to stop you from hurting these people!” I slowly turned to face my accuser. “Look, Paloma, I’m telling you this wasn’t me.” And then Paloma Haulita swung a wrench at my face. ### Whiplash Ash #3 Coming soon! # Billy Clover Stop in to chat with Billy ### Character Bio ![](/files/CU6zePuvqMDnBn6MXynC) Given Name: William Clover\ Age: 41\ Home Region: James Park\ Favorite Food: French macarons The Centuryverse's poet Conductor wants nothing more than to settle down and be a family man. But life had other plans for Billy Clover. After his wife, Stacey, passed away, Clover became a Conductor in a desperate bid to occupy is wandering mind. When it turned out he had a knack for the job, he stuck with it. In his free time he writes poems about whatever is on his mind, from trains, to pastries, to his dearly departed wife. Between rail runs, Billy can often be found among the stacks at the Centuryville Municipal Library. ## Tales From the Rails ### Billy Clover #1 Sun was setting when it started—rain so bold and lionhearted, Locomotion fast arrested, and I stumbled ‘cross the floor. Through the dusk I squinted keenly: water flowing not serenely Had appeared and started meanly pounding at my railcar door. “Just a flash flood,” I said curtly. Then my eyes saw something more: Water pouring through the door. Brought the train up to a slow roll through the water to a low knoll, Where I stopped and departed my chariot to find If the produce I’d been hauling had been sent the car a-sprawling When the water came a-calling for my railcar, strong and blind. Through the mud I trudged and grumbled, feeling quite maligned, “Damn that water, so unkind.” Once inside I sighed, defeated. Scattered vegetables unseated From their stacked-up crates were strewn about the soggy floor. In the center, one large pool lay dark and gleaming like a jewel. It Stank to hell like a dead mule. I felt the stench in every pore. “Guess I better get to cleaning,” I said in uproar. Thus began my awful chore. When I neared the central puddle, I saw something that befuddled All the senses that I owned: something was amiss. As the night air crept around me, my reflection did astound me, For the water, quite confounding, yawned like the abyss. Shook my head and kept on cleaning: “Don’t got time for this.” Then what happened next was this: Reached to grab a stray cucumber and my wrist became encumbered By another hand which reached out from the water pit. Firm it held as I recoiled, stumbled, and the water roiled As the monster rose, hand coiled, fingers tightly knit. Shook it off and fell onto some onions. I’ll admit, “Spare my life,” I cried to it. To my shock the thing then turned—one more moment I had earned— Grabbed the cucumber I’d dropped, and took it for a meal. Now afraid to make a sound, I watched the monster from the mound Of onions, as my mind unwound in terror so surreal. Slowly coming to my senses, I began to feel A closer glimpse I had to steal. Humanoid and child-sized, the monster’s skin, to my surprise, was Sickly green and seaweed-like, and hung in tattered shreds. Turtle shell upon its back, webbed feet and hands, and hair jet-black, the Monster ate its stolen snack while staring straight ahead. Water glistened in a smallish dent atop its head, Surface calmer than the dead. Finally, my wits composed, my strength regained, I then arose and Found the nerve to take a step toward the creature’s place. When I did, the monster paused, the cucumber still in its claws, and Soulless eyes flashed ‘fore I saw the beak upon its face. Then I heard the piercing shriek that set my heart a-race. “*Shit.*” My nerve had been misplaced. Suddenly the beast was soaring through the air, wholly ignoring All my pleas for it to spare me. “Surely, here I die.” But the thing miscalculated, far too fast accelerated, Crashed into the aggregated onions by my side. Water on the onions meant the creature’s head was dry. “Did that kill it?” questioned I. As I wondered at the theory, I approached it, staying leery, But I found the creature’s life had truly met its end. “That was lucky,” I said grimly well-aware that I had slimly Dodged a death beneath the dimly glistening puddle, when Then arose a bubbling sound I couldn’t comprehend. Puddles roiled once again. ### Billy Clover #2 Wind, rushing past both my ears like I’m falling Fast, from the heights of a perilous cliff. Screaming, but laughing, the feeling enthralling, Holding the hand of the one that I’m with. Warm summer air Whipping her hair. Lost in the moment, another forestalling. Sun on her cheeks and her nose and her lips. Quickly, the water below rises toward us, Churning and yearning to lap at our skin. “Clover,” she laughs, “Let’s make it last.” Holding our breath, and we crash through the surface, Fully consumed by the love that we’re in. … When my eyes open, our hands haven’t let go. Evening sky blooming with glistening stars. “Do you?” he said, and “I do” came the echo. We kiss and bid our old lives “au revoir.” Our marriage draws Raucous applause. Fire erupts in the air o’er the meadow— Fireworks celebrate all that is ours. Crackling and rattling the Earth with their booming, Daintily raining upon hallowed ground. Sat by a tree: Stacey and me. Suddenly, fireworks no longer looming: Cherry trees, blossoming, petals abound. … Then, all at once, they’re not flowers, but showers. Holding her hand, we await the bad news. Doctors inform us. The sickness devours. Losing her now is a fate I refuse. Letting me go, Her breathing slow, Fading, her final words stand like a tower: “Sweet Billy Clover, I’ll always love you.” Kneeling alone in the snow, I place seashells Gently atop her grave, one for each year Spent without her. Gurgling stirs… Is it an angel or is it a death knell? Haunted, the ominous sound evokes fear. … Lurching awake underwater, the dream fades Instantly as I perceive both my lungs Desperately crave air, and panicked thoughts cascade, Rivers of terror rush up to my tongue. Bubbling screams, Churning bloodstream. Memories flood back: I recall events played Out on my train, and the beast I’d undone. After the monster had fallen, defeated, Foolishly, I thought I’d handily won. But I was wrong. Terribly wrong. Soon came a second, which angrily greeted, Grabbed me, and shrieked at me, leaving me stunned. … Squirming and thrashing, attempting to break free, Into the darkness we steadily slip. Kick of my leg and a hard thrust of my knee, Dastardly fingers I can’t seem to strip. Efforts in vain, Energy drained, Down, toward abyssal depths the demon drags me, Cradling my life in its villainous grip. That’s when I see it: The moon shining brightly Framed by a circle—a portal below. The creature swims Toward the gate rim, And I concoct an idea that just might be My ticket out of this consummate woe. … Clawing my way through the portal, I splutter, Coughing up water and gasping for air. Dragging the monster behind, heart aflutter, Grabbing a stone, I then say a quick prayer. Black eyes appear From water clear. Timing important, nary a shudder, Now I must wait for the moment with care. There! As it hoists itself up from the portal, Calm, I rear back and projectile throw. Soar in an arc, Hitting my mark. Sideways, it tumbles—the impact is mortal, Causing the water from its head to flow. … Satisfied that I was safe for the moment, “Survey the scene,” the next task on my list. Moon high above in celestial enthronement Shone on the cave through a crack in the schist. Terror then dawns: I spot the throng. Sleeping, a den full of monsters to foment, Finding myself quite alone in their midst. Rather than give my mind up to surrender, Something inside of me bolsters my nerve. “Billy, my dear, You don’t end here,” I hear my Stacey say, softly and tender, Dressing my psyche with posthumous verve. … Silently tiptoeing, seeking a way out, Holding my breath to prolong my own life. All of a sudden, an explosive payout Cuts through the quiet—an audio knife Rings with a BANG, Roaring refrain. Where did it come from? The clangorous fallout Rains down around me in colorful strife. BANG—I look up and I—BANG—spot the culprit: Why are the fireworks in this dark place? Gurgling sounds Rise all around. Monsters are waking, I realize with dulled wit, BANG—overwhelmed by the unlucky case. … My only recourse is—BANG—try to vanish, Hide from the beasts as they howl and thrash. BANG—I take shelter and fecklessly banish Thoughts that I might now be breathing my last. “Baby, be brave,” Stacey would say. “You were not made to end here in outlandish Circumstances such as monsters amassed.” But I’m not brave, and the—BANG—creatures find me, BANG—and I whimper and—BANG—know I’m done. “I’m on my way, Sweet Stacy May.” BANG—fear is blinding, and—BANG—they’re behind me, BANG—comes the shrieking, and—BANG… ### Billy Clover #3 Coming soon! # Speedy Jame Take some time to get to know Jame ### Character Bio ![](/files/7awQRQH1AEMpkWQMuVM5) Given Name: Jame Wheatley\ Age: 63\ Home Region: James Park\ Favorite Food: Chili cheese fries The name Jame is a Wheatley family legacy, and Speedy Jame happens to be the fifth of his name. Born and raised in the railer parks of James Park, Jame learned to appreciate the simple things in life at a young age. He considers "going fast" to be one of those simple things. Jame earned the "speedy" moniker at age 19, when he famously rode a shopping cart down a hill, off a ramp, and launched into the Righteous River. When he's not conducting trains, he enjoys sipping sweet iced tea on his porch with his dog, Holmes. ## Tales From the Rails ### Speedy Jame #1 Sure had been a long time since I last hauled folks instead of coal, but ya just cain’t have that personal connection with coal—and somethin’ in my gut told me it was time to get back to transportin’ people. Ain’t had a single problem since I made the change, and I wasn’t plannin’ on ever having problems until one day, taking folks from the Plains to J-Park, I was in sittin’ in the engine room an some kind of static cloud passed over my train. Swear to God Himself. I saw it dead ahead on the tracks, floatin’ like some kind of fog, all hazy-like—and when we passed through it, it’s like the static-fog came inside the cabin, swept over everything in a straight line, then passed through to the next railcar. I could feel the whole train rumblin’. *Should prob’ly check on the passengers,* I thought. But when I did, something was…strange. The passengers were all fine—none of ‘em seemed to notice anything was amiss—but it was almost like every single one of ‘em had changed into old-timey costumes, like the ones you see in the photo stores at theme parks. I went from car to car, checkin’ on all the passengers, and found the same story throughout the whole train—all except for the caboose. Sittin’ there in the caboose were two characters: the first was a pig, sitting patiently in a seat like a gentleman, and the second was a person who, to this day, I still struggle to describe. This stranger was dressed like he came straight from the future, and while he definitely had two eyes, a nose, and a mouth, I couldn't tell if they looked familiar or like no facial features I'd ever seen. “I believe you’re the one they call Speedy Jame,” the stranger said to me, cool as a cucumber, gently scratchin’ the pig behind the ears with one hand and clickin’ shut a pocket watch with the other. I nodded in response. “Welcome to the 1800s,” he said. The man explained that, somehow, we’d been transported back in time, but insisted he could get me back home if only I followed him and the pig on an “errand of utmost importance:” He had to send a telegraph. We got to the station and I followed the stranger and the pig, and waited patiently for him to send his message, all the while marvelin’ that I’d truly been sent into the past. Next thing I knew, there was a loud *bang* somewhere in the station, causing the pig to run off squealing towards the trains—and before I could think, I was runnin’ off after ‘em. I caught up with the pig and laid my hands on ‘im, which made ‘im squeal louder than I ever heard a pig squeal—and when he did, I saw the same static-fog I’d seen on the train, only this time it’s like it was inside my eyeballs. I blinked to clear my eyes, and suddenly…the whole train station was gone. ### Speedy Jame #2 Everythin’ had gone quiet. I blinked my eyes ‘bout three, four times, makin’ extra-sure the static hadn’t got stuck in ‘em, and when I was sure they were workin’ alright, I turned real slow-like and took a look all around me. The old-timey train station I’d been in with that stranger was gone now, and in its place stood a whole lot o’ nothin’—a swamp ‘bout a hundred yards ahead on my left, a gnarled bush to my right, a big-ole jungle behind me, an’ the sun beatin’ down harsh above me. “Well, *sheeee-it*,” I said out loud. That pig had did it again. Suddenly, the pig squealed—I thought because I’d stepped on ‘im on accident, but when I moved my feet, he scampered on ahead toward that bush, stopped ‘bout a foot in front of it, then started oinkin’ and honkin’ to wake the dead. The bush rustled a bit. And after a few seconds, a second pig tumbled on outta that bush—but pig was prob’ly the wrong word for it: It was too tall, had an arched back and long hair, with big-ole tusks stickin’ out its snout. My lil’ piggy did a happy lil’ hop. And then the bigger pig ran into the jungle. My piggy chased after it. Which means I chased after both of ‘em. What else was I gon’ do? He was my only way home. The jungle was hot and dank. Smelled like mud and animal piss. Next thing I know, I’m breakin’ through the trees into a clearin’, an’ in that clearin’ is my pig, the boar-thing, an’ four little boarlets, all snuggled up like a regular family. Now that gave me pause. See, my lil’ bubba’d found himself a family—an family is a beautiful institution that any livin’ being is lucky to settle into, whether it’s a wife an’ chillen’s back in James Park or a nice lady-boar and piglets in this jungle in God-knows-what year. Made me wish I had a family o’ my own. I almost thought to leave ‘im there. But I had to get home. ‘Specially if I wanted a family. I crept forward. Well, now, that was the wrong thing to do, because I stepped on a daggum twig which snapped and set my buddy to squealin’ again—an’ when he squealed, the static came and went again, jumpin’ us forward to nighttime. The boars were gone. An’ I heard a squelchy, chomping sound. A cloud must’a moved past the moon, ‘cause the pale light grew bright an’ shone down on a lizard, big as I am—swear to God, maybe bigger—face buried in the carcass of the mama boar. I didn’t even think about nothin’, my body moved on its own: I scooped up the pig an’ hightailed it outta there, hollerin’ all the way, prayin’ that I wouldn’t trip, or that the dinosaur *would*, squeezin’ the pig, tryin’ to activate his powers. “C’mon, lil’ buddy,” I said to ‘im. But he must’a been too scared to do his thing—poor thing was shakin’ like a leaf in my arms—an’ I didn’t have time to stop and come up with a plan B. So I kept runnin’. I burst outta the jungle, back where I first started, and made toward that swamp I seen earlier, figurin’ I didn’t have anywhere else to go, and that’s when I felt something slide and give way under my right foot, sendin’ me fallin’ forward, tossing the pig into the air. “Oh God, don’t eat me,” I hollered, layin’ on the ground outta breath, too tired to keep runnin’, countin’ down the seconds until that scaly bastard’d sink his teeth into my gullet. I rolled onto my back to look up at the moon, and realized my hand was resting on the thing I must’ve tripped on: a piece of paper with the words “Telegram Receipt” printed on it. “There you are,” said a familiar voice—and then that stranger from earlier stood over me, the pig tucked under one arm with the other stuck out toward me, offerin’ to help me off the ground (an offer that I accepted.) “We gotta go!” I yelled. “Say no more,” he said. An’ then we was back in James Park. ### Speedy Jame #3 Coming soon! # Paloma Haulita Read about Paloma's origins ### Character Bio ![](/files/7XgzIsVEmUMgfGq5wP88) Given Name: Paloma Haulita\ Age: 27\ Home Region: Pawpaw Plains\ Favorite Food: Arepas con queso Paloma Haulita wants you to know that she is *not* a delicate flower. As a girl, her mother forced Paloma to participate in the yearly Little Miss Pawpaw youth beauty pageant. She always hated it, much preferring to work on repairing old muscle cars with her father. Haulita earned a reputation as a local menace after allegedly committing arson. Rumor has it she burned down the Peabody Family Country Club as a favor to her younger sister, who expressed angst over being forced to participate in an upcoming cotillion ball. Charges were pressed, but Paloma was never arrested: Her railroad schedule makes her hard to track down. ## Tales From the Rails ### Paloma Haulita #1 How am I supposed to remember when I met the Researcher? I’m sorry, I shouldn’t lose my temper like that. Not many people believe me when I tell them this story, so I eventually just stopped telling it. That seems to be the case with everyone who has the misfortune to meet him… December 13th was my first day aboard the Silver Bullet. I must have been working on the train for a few months when I met the Researcher, so let’s say it was sometime in March. Running up and down a train making repairs all day makes a girl lose track of time, you know? The first time I saw the Plain Guy, I just assumed he was a regular passenger. You see so many faces coming and going every day, and he just seemed like another one. Sooner or later, though, I realized something was up. And yes—I promise this story connects to the Researcher. Very soon. … So yeah, the Plain Guy. I literally ran into him. He knocked the wrench out of my hand, and before I could ask him what the hell he thought was doing, he took a step back and bowed to me. *He bowed to me*. Which I thought was weird. And then he said way-too-loudly, “My apologies User. Would you like to begin the set-up wizard? It’ll only take a few moments of your time.” And like… I didn’t know what the hell any of that meant, you know? So I just gave him a “Yeah, whatever, loser” kind of look, grabbed my wrench and kept going on my way. I pushed past him into the next car, but then… He was in the next car, too. It wasn’t someone who looked like him: it was him. Couldn’t have mistaken him for anyone else. He had gray skin—not white, not pale, gray. Like he was sick, or something. Khaki pants, white shirt, denim jacket. Black leather shoes. Close-cropped brown hair. The most generic guy you’ve ever seen. I turned around and looked into the car I’d just come from. He was still standing there, right where I’d left him, talking to the wall. And there he was at the far end of the car I’d just entered. There were two of him, somehow, like they were clones. I started walking toward the far end of the car where he stood, pushed past him again…and in the next car there were *five of him*. So I stormed into the group of them, and said something like, “What’s going on here? Who are you people?” Or something like that; I probably used curse words I shouldn’t repeat here. They all looked at me for a few seconds, then said in unison, all in the same voice: “Hello, User. Welcome to the New Human Operating System. In a few moments, we’ll begin the set-up wizard. But first, help me learn a little more about myself. What is my name?” When I tell you I *sprinted* outta there… ### Paloma Haulita #2 Where was I? Oh, right. The train car with all the Plain Guys. Okay, so I bolted outta there, wrench in hand, not really sure what I was doing. I just knew something freaky was going on and I did *not* wanna stick around to find out what it was. I guess, somewhere in my mind, I was looking for the conductor? God, I can’t even remember his name, after everything that happened. I worked on his train for three months, and I can’t remember his name… I thought maybe he could stop the Bullet, or radio ahead to the station, or call an ambulance, or *something*. I passed through an empty diner car into a corridor coach. Putting distance between myself and the Plain Guys made me feel more confident, and I tightened my grip on my wrench as I placed my free hand on the door to the next car. When I opened it, I was startled to see somebody standing in my way. “You work here!” It took me a second to register the girl was talking to me. Not that there was anyone else she could’ve been talking to. Before I could respond to her, she’d crossed the gap between train cars and thrown her arms around me, burying her face in my shoulder as she pushed me back into the corridor coach. My shoulder felt damp, and *then* I heard her sobbing. “Please! Please help me,” she cried into my shoulder. The girl couldn’t have been older than thirteen. “Hey,” I said, hoping my voice sounded soothing and didn’t betray my own fear. I gently stroked the back of the girl’s head as she continued to cry. My abuelo used to hold me and play with my hair to calm me down, when I was her age. “It’s gonna be okay. Okay?” The girl pushed away from me and looked me in the eyes, and I felt my chest tighten. She looked just like Gabriela. And seeing this girl in tears… I’m sorry. Can I actually have a moment? I, um… This is harder than I thought it would be. … Thanks. I think I’ll be okay, now. I just needed some air, you know? It’s been a long time since I’ve been interrogated like this. I know, I know—you told me I’m not being interrogated, but still. It kind of feels the same. The small room, the metal table, the good cop, bad cop thing you two got going on… I guess this room has a window, at least. A real one. Not, like, a two-way mirror. But I guess there wasn’t one of those the last time I was brought in for questioning, either. It’s okay, you can ask. I’m not, like, shy about it, or whatever. It was because of Gabriela. Well, okay, not *because* of her, but—let me just tell you the short version. I grew up in the Pawpaw Plains, but my family are immigrants. My abuelo and abuela came to the Centuryverse with my mom and her twin sister when they were maybe ten or eleven years old (Mom changes the details every time she tells the story). Abuelo opened an auto garage and Abuela worked as a house cleaner, and together they barely made enough money to get by. My mom went to the public school and had a hard time fitting in because she looked different and talked different. I think that really affected her… She got over it when she was older, obviously, but I think that’s why she obsessed over how people perceived me when I was a kid. She wanted me to act just like all the rich little white girls in the North Plains. She said it was because she wanted me to have a better life than she had, but I never fully bought that. I had to go to dance lessons, etiquette lessons, cello lessons, tennis lessons, dress fittings, hair and makeup classes… It’s not like it was in preparation for my quinceañera, either: Mom didn’t even let me have one, because “that’s not what Pawpaw girls do.” No, she wanted me to be the perfect pageant queen, so that she could say Lupita Haulita’s daughter was Little Miss Pawpaw. But I never wanted any of that. I was a tomboy, you know? I wanted to play soccer with the boys after school, or catch lizards in the mud by the creek behind our house. More than anything, I wanted to learn how to be a mechanic from Abuelo. I remember getting home from a dance lesson after the teacher yelled at me, and then Mom yelled at me for making the teacher mad. I ran straight to the garage because I knew Abuelo would be there, elbows-deep under the hood of the car he was repairing. I didn’t even have to say anything: He just stood up, wiped his hands on his overalls, and wrapped his arms around me. He smelled like tobacco, motor oil, and aftershave. To this day, sometimes I swear I catch his scent on the breeze, and it’s like I instantly feel safe… When he got sick, Mom doubled down on making me into her perfect little doll to show off. It felt like she didn’t want me to see him at all. And the gaps between when I could visit him in the hospital were so long, it felt like every time I *did* see him, he’d gotten so much worse overnight. And Mom didn’t tell me when she got the call from the doctors that he was on his last breaths. She didn’t tell me because I was at the Little Miss Pawpaw pageant, dancing and playing the violin like a circus monkey. When my little cousin, Gabriela, came to me in tears, years later, saying my tía Beatriz was going to force her to start taking classes so she could start entering pageants… I snapped. Gabriela, the smartest person in the whole family. Gabriela, who hated “girly” things, loved bugs, and had memorized the Pawpaw Plains Constitution by age thirteen. She wanted to be a lawyer. I wasn’t going to let her mother force her into a mold like mine had. And thankfully, someone set fire to the Peabody Family Country Club, where the pageant takes place. Tía Beatriz is pretty superstitious, so she took it as a sign that Gabriela wasn’t supposed to be a pageant queen, after all. The Pawpaw Plains PD accused me of committing arson and brought me in for questioning. They said they found a lighter at the scene that had my fingerprints on it. But it wasn’t me, I swear. The lighter must’ve fallen out of my pocket when I had been visiting Mrs. Peabody in her office the day before. You see, all former Little Miss Pawpaws are invited to a planning luncheon at the beginning of pageant season each year. And Little Miss Pawpaw doesn’t commit arson. … Anyway. The girl on the train told me what had happened. Someone had held her mother at gun point and somehow *turned her into* one of those Plain…things. She said almost everyone in the car had been turned into one of the clones, but she managed to escape. Seeing how scared she was almost broke me, but then I felt something new rising in my stomach. It felt the same as when Gabriela told me her mother was going to force her into the pageant circuit: a violent, fiery need to protect. To protect this girl. To protect the rest of the people on the train. The protect the world from another villain bent on stealing someone else’s future. I sat the girl in an empty seat and poured her a glass of water from the service cart at, then I grabbed my wrench and charged into the next car, ready to kick all kinds of ass. At the far end of the car, I saw five of the Plains huddled like cattle, and standing in front of them was a decidedly not-plain woman. She was tall and slim with short, white hair and flawless makeup. She was hunched over slightly, apparently investigating something in her hand. I crept closer, unsure if I could trust her, and that’s when I saw a glint of metal between her fingers. She had to be the one who had attacked these people. And I wasn’t going to let her get away with it. “Stop this!” I screamed at her. Without turning to look at me, the woman dropped the gun and threw her hands in the air. “You’ve got the wrong person,” she started to say, but I wasn’t falling for it. “Don’t speak!” My voice shook with fear and rage. “My name is Paloma Haulita, and I’m here to stop you from hurting these people.” “Look, Paloma,” she said, slowly turning towards me. I didn’t give her time to explain herself. I charged at her, closed my eyes, and swung my wrench directly at her head. I never felt the impact. “I didn’t do this,” I heard the woman shout. I opened my eyes to find she had ducked down and kicked her leg out towards mine. I couldn’t react fast enough and fell forward as she knocked my legs out from under me. “I don’t believe you!” I said as I landed on top of her. I rolled off the woman and started swinging at her from my knees. “Listen to me!” She said. “Would you *please*—GOD.” Direct hit to her shoulder. “Stop, you psycho *bitch*!” She scrambled onto all fours and lunged at me, knocking me over again. I clawed at her face, scratching from her cheekbone down her neck, until my hand caught the chain around her neck, which I pulled. Her head jerked forward violently. “No stop!” She screamed. I could hear the desperation in her voice. “Please stop! I’ll do anything, I swear.” I yanked the necklace as hard as I could, breaking the chain. The woman rolled off me and lay by my side gasping. “Please,” she panted. “Just don’t take her. It’s all I have left.” I sat up and looked at the pendant I’d snatched from the villain. And what I saw was horrifying. “Is that… A *finger*?” ### Paloma Haulita #3 Coming soon! # Missy Sweetluck Take a break and chat with this dynamite conversationalist ### Character Bio ![](/files/ojBk4jjge4aB9pQnbOUQ) Given Name: Melissa Sweetluck\ Age: 30\ Home Region: Trevithick Pines\ Favorite Food: Hot wings (flats only) Don't let her signature overalls fool you—Missy Sweetluck has a firecracker personality. Literally. A fan of explosions and fireworks since childhood, nobody in the Sweetluck family was surprised when Missy got a job in quality assurance at the Firebird Explosives factory. What was more surprising was that she quit her dream job in exchange for life on the rails. Missy's outlook on life underwent a major shift after her experiences with [Shayan Kahree](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/shayan-kahree), instilling her with a determination to offer help to any and all who might need it. But one thing remains the same: She always keeps a couple of bottle rockets on hand. Just in case. ## Tales From the Rails ### Missy Sweetluck #1 “It’s an honor to meet you,” the man said. He was dressed like a train conductor, but from the way he said it, I could tell he hadn’t always worked on trains. He was nervous. “My name is Shayan.” “Shayan, huh?” I said, looking him up and down. He stood with his arms behind his back and waited patiently for my introduction. When I looked him in the eye, he blushed and looked away. “I’m gonna call you Shy,” I said. He turned back to look at me and scrunched up his brow. “Okay, then,” he said. “What can I call you, Blue?” He tilted his head to indicate my overalls. “Blue works,” I said and shrugged. I could tell I was gonna like Shy, even if I didn’t want to. We were at a bar in Trevithick Pines. I’d just gotten off my shift at the factory, and I was ready for a cold beer. When I tried to leave the bar, Shy had stepped in front of me and said some cheesy line about how he couldn’t let a beauty like me get away without saying hello. Normally, I would have told a guy like that to beat it, but something was different about Shy. He sort of bounced on his toes a little bit, and kept fidgeting with his hands behind him. “Alright, Slick,” I said, feeling a smile stretching across my face. “One drink.” “I thought you said you were going to call me Shy?” he fired back with surprising confidence. “Isn’t that what I said?” I teased. After we’d each had a few drinks, he said he wanted to show me someplace. “Now, Shy,” I said, poking him in the chest. “I’ve known you for all of one hour. What makes you think I’ll follow you to a secondary location?” He looked at me and blinked a couple times, apparently choosing his words carefully. “I work at the butterfly conservatory,” he said, finally. “We have a rare Jovian Monarch, right now. I though you might like to see it…” He seemed sad to think I’d assumed he would try anything with me. I considered him, in the dim, golden light of the bar. He worked at the butterfly conservatory and dressed like a train conductor? My hand traced the outline of the pack of firecrackers I always kept in my pocket. Worst case scenario, if he tried anything… “Alright, Shy,” I said. “Show me your rare butterfly.” We walked to the conservatory, and he scanned a keycard to let us in the back door. “Guess you really weren’t lying,” I said. “Of course not,” Shy responded. He led us through the public viewing area, where butterflies flitted from tropical plant to tropical plant, sailing weightlessly through the air in the moonlight that filtered through the glass ceiling and walls. The streetlamps outside the building filled the conservatory with an ethereal glow. We came to a door marked “STAFF ONLY,” and he scanned us in. The door closed behind me with a click. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled at the sound. The lab had solid walls, to keep conservatory guests from seeing into it, but the ceiling was glass just like in the rest of the place. The room was dark, lit by the moon and the light coming from a caterpillar incubator. “So, where’s this spectacular butterfly you just had to show me, Shy?” I asked. I shoved my hands into my pockets. In my left hand I clutched at a firecracker; in my right, a lighter. “Before I show you, I want you to see something else…” He reached into his pants. “Now hang on, mister!” I barked. I pulled the firecracker and lighter out of my pockets. Shy’s eyes widened. “That’ll be perfect,” he said, almost giddy. He pulled something out of his pants—a bouncy ball?—and casually tossed it at the floor between us. Instead of bouncing, it spread out in a wide, flat circle. As I stared at it, the circle flashed, and suddenly it was reflecting the night sky above us. “Throw your fire cracker into it!” Shy urged. “Into it?” I asked. “Trust me, Blue.” He flashed a wide, confident smile. All traces of his earlier nervousness seemed to have vanished. I lit the fire cracker, dropped it onto the circle, and ran for cover. Shy laughed when he saw me run. “Look up, look up!” He said. I looked up towards the glass ceiling and braced for the firecracker to go off at Shy’s feet. And then I saw it exploding in the sky above the conservatory. Shy laughed a hearty belly laugh. “Boom!” He said and cheered. “Try another one.” I couldn’t believe what I had just seen, but my hands moved on their own. I lit a second fire cracker. This time I watched as it fell from my hand and through the circle on the ground. The explosive detonated in the impossible space below the floor, and the room around me lit up with the light of the blast above it. I lit another one. And another one. And another one. Me and Shy stood in the lab of the butterfly conservatory, laughing and lighting fireworks until I ran out. In that moment I knew that I would follow him anywhere. I didn’t love him—didn’t think I ever would in the slightest—but I knew that wherever he went, adventure would follow. And I’d been thinking of quitting my job at the explosives factory, anyway. … That’s how I wound up on his train with him. Turns out he worked at the conservatory *and* on a train. I never really understood what he did on the train; I was just happy to see the world. We’d stop at a station, he’d disappear for the day, I’d explore the local area, and at the end of the day we’d meet back on the train and be on our way. It was nice. We made each other laugh. He’d cook me recipes he’d learned from his mother, and I’d tell him stories about my time at the factory. We were on a big adventure, and I’d never been happier. Until the night he came back to the train soaking wet and covered in wounds. “It’s nothing, Blue,” he said. He tried to sound casual, but I could tell he was barely managing the pain. “This isn’t *nothing*, your arm is almost completely shredded. Let me look at it.” He backed away, but I followed him and took hold of his arm. He winced. The arm was covered in deep cuts that oozed dark blood. When I got a closer look, though, I noticed something else in the cuts. I felt my stomach turn over. “Shy, you’ve got… Are those roots under your skin?” Shy grunted and pushed me away. I stumbled back and watched him bury his hand in his pocket. He took out something small and pink, which he put on the back of his tongue and swallowed. “Hey, mister,” I said, voice trembling. “What’s the big idea, huh?” And then the floor disappeared beneath me. I had the wind knocked out of me when I landed flat on my back, ten feet beneath the floor of the train car. The surface beneath me was cold and wet. It felt like stone. I stared up at Shy’s face peering through the portal. He looked like he was going to cry. “I’m sorry, Blue,” he said. The portal closed. I was alone. ### Missy Sweetluck #2 “Are you *shitting* me, Shy?” I shouted at the spot on the ceiling where the portal had been. My head was spinning. “Are you *shitting me*?!” I knew he couldn’t hear me, but I couldn’t think of anything else to do. What just happened? Where was I? Why did he send me here? I sat on the hard ground until I caught my breath, then stood slowly, wincing as the pain in my back sent sparks through my body. It looked like I was in some kind of cage, or a holding cell. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of concrete, and the light in there was pretty dim. There were light strips on the floors by the walls, and some of the walls had deep scratch marks on them. And there was no door. “Are you…” I started to say again. “Are you shitting…” I felt lightheaded and the room began to spin. And then it hit me: Shy must have planned this a long time ago. The hot pain in my back turned to ice as my eyes traced the lines of the scratches on the walls. I wasn’t the first person to see the inside of this room. Shy had sent someone here before—or some*thing*, if I had to guess based on the size of those marks. Had he just been waiting for the right time? When he got bored with me, was he going to trap me here, like an animal? Maybe even *with* an animal? What was this, Danielle in the lion’s den? The questions came faster and faster, and I realized I was having a panic attack. I leaned my back against the wall and slowly slid down it until I could feel the ground beneath my butt. I closed my eyes and took a slow, deep breath, holding it in, feeling my heartbeat in my ears. “*FUCK YOU,* SHAYAN KAHREE,” I screamed, letting out all the air in my lungs. And, wouldn’t you know? That helped a little bit. I tried to remember the check list I’d learned to help ground myself during an episode. Five things I could see. The scuff marks on my boots. The light strip on the other side of the room. The bumps and cracks in the floor on my right. A set of claw marks on the wall to my left. A second set of claw marks on the wall to my left. Four things I could feel. The roughness of the ground under my hands. The pain in my back. The firecrackers I always keep in my left pocket. The lighter I always keep in my right pocket… I didn’t finish the checklist (which was probably for the best: What was I supposed to taste in that place?)—there was something else in my right pocket. Something I didn’t put there. A handful of Shy’s portal drops. He must’ve snuck them in there when I was distracted by all the cuts on his arm… He’d sent me here, but he hadn’t trapped me here. And suddenly, all my rage felt premature. I mean, yeah, it sucked that he’d tricked me into a weird pocket dimension, but clearly there was more to the story. His arms, and the plant roots growing beneath his skin? The pills he took before I fell through the portal? Yeah, I was gonna get to the bottom of it. I had no idea where the portals would take me. I didn’t even know how they worked, but I didn’t have time to learn. I stood and tossed one at the wall. It spread out into a disk, flashed with light, then opened up. I stepped through the portal and found myself in a room that looked a lot like the one I’d just left. But in this one, the walls were covered in feathers. Millions of feathers, all different shapes and sizes and colors, gently waving on a breeze I couldn’t feel, sending ripples of motion across the walls. As I looked around the room, my eyes landed on a door handle in the middle of the far wall. “Well, at least there’s a way out,” I said to nobody. And it was the weirdest thing: When I said it, the walls came to life, like they responded to my voice. “Hello?” I tried. The walls fluttered with activity. “Helloooooooo!” I said again, causing the walls to shudder even more aggressively. Some of the feathers on the wall came loose and flew toward me. And then more, and more, until they completely surrounded me, like a tornado. That’s when I noticed the room was getting brighter, and in the new light I finally realized they weren’t feathers—they were butterflies. And they hadn’t been clinging to a wall: They’d been piled on top of each other so thick, they just *looked* like walls. The room around me faded away as the rest of the butterflies joined the gentle tornado, spiraling high into a bright blue sky. I couldn’t help but laugh. It was so stupidly beautiful and unreal. “Alright,” I said. “Butterfly room. Why not?” The butterflies disappeared into the sky, leaving me in a big, open field, standing in front of a door. It wasn’t connected to anything. Just a free-standing door, like you see in movies when the main character is dreaming. “Are there more butterflies in here?” I teased the door as I pushed it open. Nope. Once the door was open, it was like the room rushed forward and swallowed me up. An old lightbulb hung down from a cord in the middle of the ceiling, lighting up an empty chair. The floor around the chair was covered in dark splotches, like some kind of dark liquid had been spilled and left to dry. The air felt thick and smelled like iron. I couldn’t take my eyes off the chair, so I reached behind me, hoping to find the door. But there was nothing there. I slowly turned around. There was no wall at all. Just darkness. When I looked at the chair again, there was something sitting in it: a heap of fabric that hadn’t been there a second ago. And it looked like there were thick leather belts sewn into it. “And we’re done here,” I said, reaching into my pocket for a portal drop. I threw it at the floor in front of me at the exact moment the light went out. I lowered myself through the portal and looked at the chair one more time—just in time to see the light turn back on. There were shadows of people flickering all over the empty room. I let go of the floor and watched the portal close above me as I fell further and further, glad to be out of that nightmare. For some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to look down and see what I was falling toward, but I really hoped it was water. Or at least something soft. I held my breath and closed my eyes as I felt my feet slip beneath the surface of…something. It wasn’t water. It wasn’t liquid at all. Hundreds of round, solid objects pushed past me like people trying to board a train. And surprisingly, it didn’t really hurt, like you might think it would. When I finally stopped sinking, I opened my eyes and laughed. I’d fallen into a gigantic ball pit, like at one of those pizza places for little kids. I swam-climbed to the surface and took a long look around me. The ceiling looked like it was miles away, and I couldn’t see any place I could climb out of the pit. “Alright,” I said. “Time to try another portal.” But the portal drop bounced off the plastic balls. No matter how hard I threw it, I couldn’t get it to open up. “I guess it only works on flat surfaces,” I said. That’s when I heard a rustling in the balls behind me, and I turned in time to see a dolphin pop above the surface. An honest-to-goodness dolphin. I promise you, I’m not making this up. The dolphin opened its mouth and said, “Wish your driveway looked smooth and crack-free?” Its mouth didn’t move at all when it spoke, which was weird. It was almost like a pre-recorded message was playing from a hidden speaker. “My driveway?” I asked. “Boost your home’s curb appeal by calling Connie’s Concrete for a top-notch driveway restoration!” “I’m not…” I looked around me. Still nothing but ball pit. “You got the wrong gal, Dolphin. I don’t even own a house.” “From flatwork to stamped and stained concrete, our team has the skills to make your driveway look beautiful.” “Listen,” I said, “it sounds like Connie runs a great business, but I need some help finding a flat surface around here.” The dolphin got quiet for a few seconds. Then… “Ready to make your neighbors jealous? Visit our website to schedule a service date.” And then it dove back below the surface of the balls. I didn’t even have time to think before I felt the dolphin position itself between my legs, lifting me halfway out of the pit. “Be sure to ask about our military discount!” it said. Then it took off swimming, carrying me on its back. The dolphin chattered on as it swam, telling me about all of Connie’s services and special offers. When we finally reached the edge of the ball pit, it had pretty much sold me on investing in a stamped concrete patio for my back yard (which I didn’t have). I thanked the dolphin as I climbed off its back and hoisted myself onto the plastic deck. “Take the first step toward designing your dream patio by calling us now. You won’t regret it!” The dolphin disappeared into the depths of the colorful pit and I disappeared into a portal. … I must have gone through a dozen different realities, just trying to find the one where I belonged. Some of them were more normal than others. Some of them even had other people in them. In one of them, people’s arms were longer than their legs, and they walked on their hands while their feet dangled. In another, everybody looked normal, but they were all addicted to tracing the wood grain on their floors with their tongues. In one reality, everything was covered in grass. Everything. The buildings, the trains, the people, the toilets. Everything. In one, all of the grass was just tangled-up Christmas lights. In one reality, juice boxes were worshipped as holy, and in another I almost got arrested because of my overalls. Apparently, wearing denim had been outlawed after somebody murdered Pope Blue Jeans. One of them was just an empty white space with stained concrete floors stretching on and on, probably forever. I wish I could’ve built a ball pit there. I think the dolphin would’ve liked it. I spent a long time there, in the empty universe. Or at least, it felt like I did. You know? I kept walking, hoping that eventually I’d find something, anything that would make it feel like there was a reason that place needed to exist. And that gave me a lot of time to think about things. What if Shy never had a plan after all. Why did he give me so many portals if none of them connected back to our reality? I thought he’d sent me to that first room for some reason that he’d explain once I finally found my way back to him… But what if I never did? What if the portal drops wound up in my pocket completely by accident? Could that even be possible? If there could be universes where people worshipped juice boxes and dolphins swam in ball pits, surely anything was possible. I was laying on the cold concrete floor when I started to feel the panic set in. Five things you can see. Four things you can feel. Three things you can hear. Two things you can smell. One thing you can taste. But there was nothing. Just me, a pocket full of firecrackers, two portal drops, and infinite nothingness. I had to do something to distract myself from my anxious thoughts, so I threw a portal at the ground and sat on the edge of it with my feet dangling through it. Below me, I saw a starry night sky peeking through a rock formation. I lit one of my firecrackers and tossed it in. After falling for a few seconds, it exploded with a satisfying *BANG*, sending a shower of sparks raining up toward me. “Huh,” I said. “Upside-down gravity is a new one.” I threw in another firecracker and got the same result. So I lit another. And another. Watching the sparks fall toward me was kind of calming. It felt like I was sending a part of me out into the universe and the universe was sending back something beautiful. That’s when I heard it: a tiny voice in the too-quiet silence that follows an explosion. But I couldn’t tell what he was saying. I tossed in another firecracker, held my breath, and waited. *BANG*. And then… “HELP ME, PLEASE, SOMEBODY!” I pulled myself forward and tumbled through the portal face-first, feeling gravity shift as I re-oriented myself. I was sitting on the floor of some kind of cave. The portal closed behind me. After spending so much time in the empty universe, this new place had my senses firing on all cylinders. I could feel the cool, damp stone surface beneath me. I could smell mildew, stagnant water, and gunpowder. I could hear something screeching and snarling—or maybe a lot of somethings. And I didn’t have time to taste something, because I could see a man hiding behind a rock on the other side of the cave. “NO, GOD, NO!” he screamed. And then I saw the somethings making all the racket: dozens of green-ish turtle-things scrabbling across the cave floor towards the man. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what I *could* do. I just knew that in this universe, someone needed my help. Without a better plan in mind, I lit a firecracker and chucked it towards the monsters. It soared in an arc and landed in a puddle. Some of the turtle things stood in front of the guy while the others climbed over the back of the rock he hid behind. “HELP ME, STACY!” he yelped. I lit another and tried again. It left a trail of smoke as it flipped and tumbled through the air, landed on the ground, and skittered across the stone toward the man and the monsters. *BANG**.*** I pushed myself to my feet and started running toward the poor fella as the explosion knocked back the creatures surrounding him. My hand closed around the last portal drop in my pocket. “I got you!” I yelled, throwing the portal at the ground next to him. He looked up at me just before I could tackle him. “Hold your breath!” I said as we fell through the portal. But it turned out we didn’t need to: We landed in a pile of hay. “Sorry,” I said, standing and brushing myself off. “I’m always worried those things’ll open into water.” I stuck out my hand to help the man up from his back. “Who—” he started to say. He was soaking wet and had a funny, confused look on his face. “Who are you?” “Name’s Missy,” I said. “And you?” The man took a few deep breaths, and I waited for him to calm down. “I’m Billy,” he said. “Billy Clover.” ### Missy Sweetluck #3 Coming soon! # Brute Force Tobias Meet the force of nature, himself ### Character Bio ![](/files/mBgOlJHo24zdKzCoblK1) Given Name: Tobias Holt\ Age: 25\ Home Region: Outside the Centuryverse\ Favorite Food: Shopping mall soft pretzels Originally from the Munich, Germany you and I know, Tobias was transported to the Centuryverse after being recruited by the JGRE. He's loyal to anyone who treats him well, and contrary to his intimidating size (6'5", 260 lbs) he's quite gentle. Well, gentle when he's not on assignment. Now that he's defected from the JGRE, Tobias often acts as a body guard to other people targeted by the organization. When he's not on rail runs, he enjoys spending time with his friend [KC Jones.](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/kc-jones) ## Tales From the Rails ### Brute Force Tobias #1 When static clear, something is…how you say? Off. I can tell. I am in station, as was plan, but something about station is different. They say, “Is different world, Tobias. Is like our world, but don’t be fool, Tobias. It will be warm area, so dress light, Tobias.” But people at station were not dressed light. People at station were dressed heavy. I look stupid. *I must be in wrong place,* I think. *Must be glitch in system.* I look for train schedule, to find out where I am. At this time, I am JGRE enforcer. Dispatch told me I was going to place call “Dallas” to apprehend temporal anomaly. I don’t question. I don’t need to prepare. I dress light, casual, so not…how you say? Suspicion. I take Matter Containment Unit and Chewable Cloaking Capsule. I ask dispatch for the grape flavor and they give me the cherry flavor. Typical. Then dispatch hit me with static. But am not in Dallas; am in place call “Chicago.” “*Scheiße,*” I say. I do not know how to get to this Dallas from Chicago. Is different world, you know? Different universe. “You are in wrong place,” a person say next to me. Forgive my English, he say it better. But I look at him and he have static flitting above his head. He sees me looking at it and he smile. He is from JGRE. “Ah, yes,” I say to man. “Hallo, friend.” I cross my arm over my chest in customary JGRE salute. “Am supposed to be in place call ‘Dallas’ for S-and-S mission. Can you help me?” The man look confused, but return salute. “What are your S-and-S orders, soldier?” I snort. He is funny. I am not soldier, but I let slide. “Standard search and subdue,” I say. “Intel says temporal anomaly will appear in Dallas today. I close rift and secure Anomalous Matter.” The man nod his head. “Good, good,” he say. “I can send you to Dallas.” He pinch bridge of nose. “Those idiots send you a thousand miles away.” “What can you do, you know?” I shrug. It nice to have someone from own universe here in strange place. “Hold your breath,” he say. I know drill. In moment, the static covers my eyes and then is gone. I squint. It is dark here. And hot. The ground move, and I fall on butt. “*Scheiße,*” I say for second time. I don’t like curse, but today had been…how do you say? Doozy. I feel pocket to make sure MCU not broken. I sigh relief when I feel it in once piece. When I stand, I get better look at surroundings. *A train car?* That make sense. Dispatch told me The Enemy had been using Railroaders to do dirty work. I laugh when I think of word. *Railroader*. Stupid word. Train car is dark, but my eyes adjust and I see the chairs of the rocking. Maybe…*ein, zwei, drei…*fifty of them. I sit in chair and chew cloaking gum. They call fancy “capsule,” but everyone know is gum. I chew gum. I sit in chair. I do the rocking. I wait. ### Brute Force Tobias #2 In all my time working for JGRE, I haven’t seen the explosion like that before. I didn’t know was possible. Every other time, I simple turn on Matter Containment Unit, collect anomatter, radio HQ, and go home for dinner time. But every other time, I was alone. This time, there were the two others. The—how you say? Bumpkin? And the other JGRE man. But now I am thinking he does not work for JGRE. Who was he? Why he stopped mission? When static clear, I see plants. Tiny plants, huge plants, fancy plants. Plants everywhere. I’m in hot, humid room of glass. The bumpkin man is next to me, screaming for his mama. “Hey, man, is okay now,” I try to calm him. I reach for shoulder and he flinch. A butterfly land on his hat. The bumpkin look at me then rub his eyes. “You do this to me!” he shout in bumpkin voice. “You do this and now Mama gone forever!” He grab his hat and throw it on the ground. The butterfly that was there just float away like nothing happen. “And now where we are?” he ask. I shrug. “I don’t know,” I say. “This is butterfly conservatory,” say the JGRE imposter man. He appear in cloud of static. “Explains butterflies,” I say. Imposter Man laughs. Even though he’s imposter, I can tell I like him. He have kind eyes. “Forget butterflies,” say Bumpkin, “you two take Mama away!” His face get very red and he stomp feet, like child. Imposter Man wave hand and send Bumpkin Man away in cloud of static. “Where you send him?” I ask. Imposter Man jerk his chin toward other side of building. “To my office,” he say. “He’ll be safe there until he calm down.” I squint ears and can hear pounding on door from direction of office. I laugh, and that make Imposter Man laugh. “So who are you, JGRE imposter man?” He explain his name is Shayan Kahree and that he used to work for JGRE, but that he defect. He say Researcher make him sick, trick him into hurting good people, but he won’t do anymore. Shayan met with Stranger Man and they team up. “I know Stranger Man,” I say. “They say he’s Enemy Number One. They want kill him.” “Of course they do,” Shayan say. “He try to stop them from taking over multiverse.” Shayan and Stranger Man steal Static Reality Displacement chip and implant in Shayan. Stranger Man can already control time, for some reason. Together, they working to undo evils Shayan cause while working for Researcher. “So why stop me from collecting Bumpkin Man’s ghost mama?” I ask. Shayan let out deep sigh. “Because we calculate it was best chance to keep him safe from JGRE and get you on our side.” “You want me to quit JGRE?” He shake head. “We want you to be double agent.” I like the sound of that. Working for JGRE is just job. It wasn’t ever goal for me. You know? Somebody recruit me when I beat up thug in alleyway, back in hometown. It was woman with pink hair in lab coat who find me. She say her company need someone with brute strength to take care of bad guys. And I had no family, no work, no money, so I say, sure, why not. They treat me well at JGRE. I make good money. But after a while, being brute get boring. Capture people. Steal from people. Punch people in face. I ask if I can try sales job, and they say “Shut up and be brute.” But I’m not *just* brute. You know? I like nice things. I like the puppies and the kitty cats. I play the piano. I like going to shopping mall for big pretzel. Brute work is just work. But maybe Shayan could give me work where I can be brute for good. Or maybe sales job. “I go on one mission for you,” I tell Shayan. “And then I decide if I stay with you or go back to JGRE.” This is—how you say? Bluff. “Is all I ask,” he say. “What can I do for you?” Shayan shift on feet and scratch his nose. “We need you break into JGRE HQ at Research Bay.” “No need to break,” I say. “l use front door.” … JGRE in this universe called Johnson Group. Is funny because it sound like shampoo company from home universe. When I get to front gate, I nod at guard and show employee badge. He make scrunchy face. “Ah, you from Extradimensional Branch,” he say. “Watch out for Spatial Delineation Policy.” The guard man open gate for me. “Check in at the front desk, they’ll help you out.” I have no clue what “Spatial Delineation Policy” mean. We don’t have that in home universe. Must be new tech. I don’t care: silly policy won’t get in way of mission. Shayan tell me he and Stranger Man have number of friends who were kidnap by Johnson Group. He say I only need focus on finding two people: tall, Smart Boxing Man and short, Loud Boxing Man. They being kept in parallel realities, but Shayan think finding one will lead to finding other. Front lobby of Johnson Group is nice. Sleek. Stylish. There are the little pools of water on the floor, with the lily pads and the fishies. The light is low and glow like gold in reflection on shiny black floors. At front desk, I tell the woman cover story Shayan come up with. “I am here from Universe Delta-823. They send me for brain chip upgrade.” Woman at desk raise eyebrow then type on keyboard. She hand me device that look like cellphone. On screen is map of lobby. A flashing arrow point to door in back of room. “Follow arrow,” she say without looking at me. “Arrow will take you to Cognitive Prosthetics Department. If you stray from programmed path, Spatial Delineation Policy activates. Do you understand?” I nod yes. She wave hand to shoo me away, and I leave to find door on map. On other side of door is huge, dark, empty hallway. The map flicker and change to show the new room. The arrow point to door near end of hallway, and I start walking. There are doors on my right and left, and all have department name on them. The map want me go to “Cognitive Prosthetics,” but I need to find place where Smart Boxer or Loud Boxer are. Which door is right door? I pass door to Portal Technologies. I pass door to Climate Technologies. One for Plain Technology, one for “OOP Studies.” I pass cafeteria. I get the curiosity when I see door for Creature Containment. It is six doors away from where map say I should go, but this sound promising. I remember Shayan say water creatures took Smart Boxer… … Where am I? I don’t remember how I come to this place. I am standing in big, dark room. Huge windows line one side. I am holding device I don’t recognize. It look like cellphone, but screen is fuzzy like static. I look for buttons, I poke at screen: nothing happen. I’m not sure, but pretty sure I come here for reason, but I don’t know what. I feel like… I’m looking for somebody? Maybe two somebodies? That feel right. I walk slowly into room, feeling like I’m in wrong place. I get to first window and look at room inside. It is like animal tank at zoo. I see small pond in middle of rocks. I see cucumbers all over tank. And small…human…turtle-thing sleeping in corner. Next tank is filled with ice. I see penguin bird waddle toward fish flopping on ice. Then white part of penguin bird’s feathers open up like huge mouth, with sharp teeth and slimy tongue, to slurp up fish. Next tank is hot like desert. I see big swirl of sand in middle of tank, like small tornado. When I tap on glass, tornado look like it turn toward me. It move toward window like it can see me. None of the tanks have people, just weird creatures, so I look for door to leave. … Where am I? I am in huge, dark hallway, but I don’t know why I come here. Or how I come here. I am holding cellphone, but screen is fuzzy. I see nobody else in hallway, but feel like am looking for somebody. Who am I looking for? “Hello?” I yell down hall. I hear voice echo off shiny black floor. Nobody yell back. One of the doors say “Cafeteria” on it. Maybe the people all on the lunch break? … I am in big room with lots of people. But I don’t know why am here or how I got here. The people all wear long, white coats. They sit at short, round tables with trays of food. They talk and laugh and wave hands. Is this cafeteria? I am not hungry. Why come to cafeteria? I remember I look for someone, but not who. I am thinking… Someone smart? I look around room and see woman with pink hair sitting at table. She look at me with strange look on face. I wave at her, then she smile and walk to me. “Tobias Holt, from Universe Delta-823,” she say, shaking my hand. “What pleasant surprise!” “I’m sorry, Miss,” I say, “I’m having trouble with memory today. Who are you?” She look at me like I am crazy, then she say, “Would you mind showing me your locator, Tobias?” She look at my pocket. I reach in and am surprise to find cellphone. The screen look broken—is all fuzzy. Pink Hair Lady take phone from me and look at it. “Ah, you trip Spatial Delineation Policy on your way to Cognitive Prosthetics,” she say. She is smart lady. She must be one I’m looking for. “I am sorry,” I say. “I get lost.” Pink Hair Lady smile. “Is okay, Tobias,” she say. “I help you find way.” ### Brute Force Tobias #3 Coming soon! # Big Break Osipov Come one, come all, and meet the great Big Break Osipov ### Character Bio ![](/files/AJiy5Kr4VCF0SzmZJvXW) Given Name: Kirk Osipov\ Age: 32\ Home Region: Outside the Centuryverse\ Favorite Food: Syrniki Kirk Osipov is a third-generation bounty hunter from St. Petersburg—the version of it that exists in our reality. Rather than hunting criminals, Kirk's focus has solely been on proving the existence of mythological creatures and objects of power (OOPs). In fact, it was one of these OOPs that transported him to the Centuryverse: a television that allows viewers to pass through its screen into parallel realities. Luckily, the Centuryverse is bountiful with mythical beasts, OOPs, and other curiosities, all of which Osipov has capitalized on to build a successful career. He recently struck a multi-million Tocium deal to co-produce a film series based on his paranormal adventures. ## Tales From the Rails ### Big Break Osipov #1 My father was a bounty hunter and so was his father before him. You could technically call me a bounty hunter, too, but I like to think my career is a little more…refined. I’m a collector. I travel the world in search of oddities and curiosities. Things that are dangerous and things that are fantastic. Objects of power and other-worldly creatures. Oh, yes, they exist. Most people quit believing in the paranormal around the same time they quit believing in Santa Claus, but they’ll pay a pretty penny to board my train and gawk at my collection. That’s how I make a living. I travel, I collect, I entertain. “Come one, come all,” I say into a megaphone, standing in the middle of the train stations I visit. “Peer beyond the veil and witness the miracles that exist just outside the natural world, only on Big Break Osipov’s Train of Curious Cargos.” The people eat it up. In one train car, they stare at the coffee cup that changes patterns when you blink. In the next, they take turns playing with the floor lamp that makes the entire car pitch-black when you turn it on. In the mirror car, they stare into silver glass panes that show what they’d look like with a different hair style, or a different nose, or if they were a different ethnicity. Some guests scoff and say the mirrors aren’t mirrors, but digital screens. They are mirrors. They just reflect an alternate reality. The fish in the aquarium car aren’t fish; they’re mermaids. They don’t look like what people expect mermaids to look like, so to commoners they look like fish. The boulders in the garden car aren’t just boulders—they’re a huldufólk village—and the man in the straightjacket behind the plexiglass wall in the swamp car is not a man. He’s a monster. … I discovered Louis Garou the same way I found the other items in my collection: with help from an informant. I’d been paying the same man for information for years. I didn’t know where he got his intel from, and I didn’t care to ask. I’d never even asked him for his name, but somehow over the years I learned it was Moreau. “*Merci*, *monsieur*,” Moreau said, pocketing his payment. “You’ll find Garou in his home on the banks of the Righteous River. It should be easiest to reach him via the Pawpaw Plains.” I nodded and left without a word. The next day I set a course from Centuryville to the southern reaches of the Pawpaw Plains. On the day I arrived, I spent the afternoon gathering hunting supplies. Moreau hadn’t told me exactly what Louis Garou was capable of. Only that he was to be handled with extreme caution. I managed to find rope, a flash light, a baseball bat, a smoke grenade, caltrops, two flares, and a human-sized burlap sack. Don’t ask me where I got it all. On a whim, I also decided to purchase a wooden crucifix and silver bullets. You can never be too prepared when entering a confrontation with an unknown, reportedly supernatural entity. I should have bought galoshes. The Righteous River had recently flooded, and the floodwaters had turned the nearby woodlands into a swamp. I always did my collecting at night, and the full moon reflected off the murky waters where the tree canopy was sparse. I trudged slowly toward the location Moreau told me I’d find Garou’s home, flashlight in hand, occasionally stopping to wrench a foot loose from the muck. When I spotted the shack in the distance, I turned off my flashlight. My heart rate rose, as it always did before collecting a treasure. I loaded the silver bullets into my revolver and tucked the crucifix into my waistline, just in case. I approached the shack as quietly as I could, barely even breathing until I stood at the man’s door. The name LOU GAROU was carved into a nameplate to the side of the door. I could hear a fire crackling inside. I kicked down the door. A dog yelped and scrambled across the square room, knocking over a chair and an unlabeled jar of what I assumed to be liquor. The fire I’d heard from outside flickered in a fireplace centered on the far wall of the room. To the left of it was a ramshackle kitchen and to the right of it was a toilet. In the corner opposite the kitchen was a bed, unmade, and in the remaining corner was a table. The center of the room was occupied by the toppled chair and now-empty jar. There was no sign of Lou Garou. “I’m not here to hurt you,” I said gently to the animal cowering in the corner near the toilet. I took a cautious step towards it. “I’m not gonna hurt you. I’m here for your master.” As I got closer to the creature, I realized it wasn’t a dog after all. It was covered in fur and had the head of a dog, but with features that more closely resembled a wolf. The thing sat up, revealing humanoid limbs and the torso of a man. It had a severely curved spine, and its ribs were clearly visible beneath its skin. “What the hell are you?” I asked the creature. “That, *mon ami*, is Louis Garou.” I spun around, drew my gun, and pointed it in the direction of the voice. In the doorway stood Moreau. I hadn’t heard him approaching. It was like he’d materialized out of the moonlight. “Lower your gun, Osipov,” he said. “What are you doing here, Moreau?” I asked. I didn’t want to lower my aim, but something in the man’s voice compelled me to obey his command. “There’s been a change of plans,” Moreau said. “May I come in?” “What?” I asked. “Come in, come in,” I said impatiently. I felt my face begin to flush. Moreau entered the shack and shut the door behind him. “What do you mean ‘there’s been a change of plans?’” Moreau looked at his feet, scoffed, and shook his head slowly. “Oh, my friend…” He looked up, and I met his gaze. In the flickering firelight, his eyes appeared to glow red. Or… No, they were actually glowing red. In an instant, Moreau had covered the ground between us. He stood inches away from me. “I’m afraid I will be the one claiming this bounty tonight,” he said. And then Moreau opened his jaw wider than humanly possible, revealing a glistening set of fangs. ### Big Break Osipov #2 Modern depictions of vampires span the range from fearsome to fanciful. From silly to savage. In one corner of the spectrum, you’ll find the classic vampire that sleeps in a coffin, lives in a castle, and can transform into a bat. “I vant to suck your blood,” he says before doing just that. In another corner are sparkly-skinned, angel-faced teens, frozen in time, hiding among the students at the local high school. In a third exists a strapping blond man who gaslights the women of a wealthy, southern community, steals their husbands’ money, and feasts on the children of the impoverished neighborhood next door. And in a fourth corner is an arrogant Frenchman. Moreau stood before me with fangs bared, ready to prey on the exposed flesh of my neck. He held my shoulders in a vise-like grip and tilted his head back and to the right, preparing to sample my blood. His showmanship gave me a few precious seconds in which to act. I twisted free from his grip and burrowed my right shoulder into his chest, knocking Moreau off balance. “*Merde,”* he shouted, stumbling backward. Lou Garou—who I now knew must be a kind of werewolf—howled at the noise. Before I could even think about collecting the man-dog, Moreau had regained his footing. “You’re not the only bounty hunter in this swamp tonight, Osipov.” he said before lunging at me. I attempted to dive out of his path, but it didn’t matter: he was there. His hand wrapped around my neck and he lifted me off the ground with ease. The strength in his fingers made it impossible to breath. I kicked my feet pointlessly as the borders of my vision went dark. “Jus…ta…Garo…” I gasped. “Ah, ah, ah,” Moreau tutted. “*Je suis désolé, mon ami.* My prize is not the werewolf, *non non*.” In an instant, he crossed the room and slammed me against the wall next to the roaring fire, pinning me there. “My prize is you.” Moreau released me and I collapsed into a heap, sending the werewolf skittering towards the center of the room. “Mr. Garou here was lent to me to use as bait,” said Moreau walking towards him. “And now that his work is done, I suppose I’ll save him for later. In case I get hungry.” Moreau stood in the center of the shack with Garou cowering at his feet. The two stood in the puddle of whatever alcohol had been spilled when I entered the building and startled Garou. In the liquid lay my gun, which was painted in shifting hues of red and orange as the fire reflected off the puddle. I mustered my strength and crawled toward it. I knew Moreau wouldn’t let me reach it, but that didn’t matter. I just needed him to believe I was stupid enough to try. “Pitiful man,” he said as I reached for the weapon. “Do you still think your gun can save you?” He kicked it into the fire, just as I hoped he would. I lurched forward. With one hand I grabbed his outstretched leg, and with the other I reached for the crucifix tucked into my waistline. I pulled him to the floor (which sent Garou scurrying away), heaved myself on top of the vampire, and held the wooden cross to his neck like a switchblade. Moreau laughed under his breath. “Who sent you?” I demanded. But he only laughed louder. “WHO SENT YOU?” The sound of his laughter hung heavily in the air, mingling with the scent of the fire and the spilt liquor. “Is that a crucifix, *Monsieur Osipov?”* he asked. “Nobody has tried to kill me with a crucifix in over one hundred years!” Garou started barking wildly in the corner of the room. “For a man who prides himself on his ‘creature collection,’ you really know nothing about vampires,” said Moreau. I flipped the crucifix around, revealing the sharpened end, and drove it into the vampire’s neck. His blood sprayed across my face as wood sank through flesh. “NO!” he screamed. I removed the cross and stabbed him a second time. “NO, NO, NO!” Blood filled his mouth, transforming his shrieks into gurgles. I stabbed him again and he spat his blood in my face. “Dear God, you’ve finally done it!” Moreau’s clawed at the crucifix sticking out of his neck. “You’ve finally slain the Horror of Harperdeen Heights!” The vampire’s eyes rolled back as his body went limp. I wiped the blood from my face and let out a deep sigh of relief. “And now to deal with you, Lou Garou,” I said to the still barking werewolf. The animal’s eyes were trained on something on the far side of the room. “What are you so mad about?” I followed its gaze to the fireplace. The flames had found their way to the trail of liquor Moreau had made when he kicked the gun. “Oh look.” My eyes darted back to Moreau. “You’ve set the damned building on fire.” “But I…” I stammered. “Killed me? *Non, non, mon ami*,” he said. *«* There was never any chance of that happening. I will commend you, however: I didn’t expect you would fight back.” I didn’t know what to do. There was nothing *left* to do. “Are you going to kill me now?” I asked. Garou continued barking and howling as the flames crept up the side of the shack and the temperature climbed higher and higher. Moreau pushed me off his chest and pulled the wooden dagger from his neck. He held it in front of him and watched as his own blood dripped onto him. “No,” he said flatly. “But the fire will if we don’t leave now. Come. We’ll talk outside.” … Moreau used the rope I’d brought to fashion a leash for Garou, and the three of us evacuated the house. I had to support Moreau’s weight as we walked through the marsh outside. I hadn’t killed him, but I’d apparently weakened him fairly well. I was beginning to realize he was right: I didn’t know very much about vampires. For instance, he’d asked for permission to enter the house, which I granted—but it wasn’t my permission to grant. It was Garou’s house. I asked him about it when we found a fallen log to lean against. “All of that invitation stuff is fake,” he said. “Really?” I said. “Really. *Un vampire tres pompeaux* started doing that centuries ago so people would think he was elegant, and others started doing the same so they would be associated with him.” “You don’t say…” “Over the years, people convinced themselves it was a supernatural rule all vampires had to follow, or else we’d die.” “And I suppose it’s the same with garlic, crucifixes, and sunlight?” Moreau snorted. “Garlic and crucifixes, yes. Sunlight isn’t *lethal*, but the majority of vampires will need to take a very long rest after being exposed for too long.” “So there’s really no way to kill a vampire?” Moreau took a deep breath and shook his head. He watched Garou sniffing at the marsh grass for a moment before responding. “I’ve been looking for a way to die for hundreds of years.” We sat there not speaking for what felt like a long time. Lou Garou’s tiny shack became a massive bonfire, casting a flickering orange light in a wide radius. Everything outside that radius was bathed in cool blue moonlight. When the roof fell in, a plume of sparks erupted into the night sky, billowing toward the stars before fanning out and lazily making their way back to the earth in crazy, spiraling arcs. “So who sent you after me?” I finally asked. “The Johnson Group,” he said. “The medicine people?” Moreau nodded. “Believe me when I say they are not medicine people. I’ve been around long enough to know when someone is hiding something. And the Johnson Group is hiding something.” “Why did they want you to bring me in?” “*Did?*” My eyes met Moreau’s. They no longer glowed red. What I saw there instead was firm determination. That, and a deep sadness. “They still do. And I’m planning on doing it. Just not tonight.” I nodded my understanding and Moreau continued. “The Johnson Group has been one of my intel sources for years. They have a keen sense for when and where one will encounter extra-dimensional activity, and they pay me for helping them collect their artifacts and creatures, whether I did the work myself or not. They knew I was a vampire, and they didn’t seem bothered by that. They offered to pay me extra if I would agree to let them perform tests on me, but I declined. Recently I slipped up and made a comment that I wished to find a way to end my life. And then my contact told me about a particular object of power that might be able to grant that wish. She promised to give it to me when I bring you in.” An OOP that could kill the un-killable? “As a collector of such objects,” I said, “I’m interested in hearing more about this clock.” In truth, I owned several clocks that created all kinds of strange anomalies. And there was one in particular… “She said it’s an ordinary alarm clock—the kind with the bells and hammer on the top—and that winding its gear lets the owner travel through time.” “Travel through time in what sense?” It sounded like Moreau’s Jonson Group contact had promised him… “Apparently, when you travel, you’ll inhabit your own body as it existed in your destination moment of time. And since I’ve lived for a very long time, I could potentially use that ability to—” “You’re talking about the Clock of Misery,” I said, cutting him off. Moreau looked skeptical. “I’m disinclined to believe you know about this clock, considering your lack of basic vampire knowledge,” he said. “No, really,” I said, sitting up straight, “I know exactly what I’m saying. It’s painted blue and the glass on the front is chipped.” Moreau’s eyes widened. “So, you really do know of it?” I nodded. “Your friend at the Johnson Group lied to you, Moreau.” “What do you mean?” he asked. “That clock is locked away in the restricted car on my train.” Moreau blinked in disbelief, then sprang to his feet, seemingly having regained his strength. “You will take me to it at once.” I stood. “I’d be happy to be rid of the thing,” I said, “on one condition.” “Well, I should hardly need to turn you in to the Johnson Group if you can just give me what I’m after, instead,” the vampire said impatiently. He stuck out his hand for me to shake. I could have accepted the deal then and there, but there was more I needed to tell him. Even though he’d nearly just captured me, I couldn’t help but feel bad for him. Moreau had been used and lied to. He was arrogant and snide, but he’d also been in pain for who-knows-how-long. I had to tell him the truth before I let him take the clock. “The thing is, Moreau… They didn’t tell you everything about how the clock works.” “Oh?” he said, not retracting his hand. I scratched the back of my neck and let out a sigh. “The Clock of Misery can only take you to the worst moment of your life. No matter what you do, over and over, it’ll take you to that worst experience you wish you could forget and make you live through it again and again.” Moreau nodded. “That’s convenient,” he said. “That was my exact plan.” ### Big Break Osipov #3 Coming soon! # Johnny Quick-Knuckles Strike up a conversation with the cantankerous former athlete ### Character Bio ![](/files/ALuUbc2XvzKW6q00FxbT) Given Name: Jonathan Lombardi\ Age: 30\ Home Region: James Park\ Favorite Food: Double bacon cheeseburger with jalapeños and extra mayo If you're a boxing fan, you either love or hate Johnny Quick-Knuckles. His feisty, disagreeable personality doesn't allow for middle grounds. But those who know him closely insist that deep down, Johnny's a good guy who cant watch "save the animals" commercials without crying. It's hard to talk about his career without comparing it to that of his long time rival's, Wesley Strike. However, after their much-hyped revenge match was mysteriously cancelled, the two boxers seem to have finally put aside their differences. Lombardi and Strike now both work as Conductors and have been seen in public trading stories about life on the rails over a cold beer. ## Tales From the Rails ### Johnny Quick-Knuckles #1 Last time I boxed Strike was two years ago. We went for 10 rounds. Bloodied each other up real good. Swear I would’da won, too, if he hadn’t cheated. Ref didn’t say nothin’ ‘bout the jab below the belt. I crumpled and Strike won the match. Won the whole damn championship. It was the last match of both our careers, so of course it was this huge media circus. Hundreds of thousands of people got to watch Wesley Strike steal his place in boxing history, while I lay on the mat, barely breathing, watching my legacy go down the drain. I didn’t box for a year after that. Couldn’t bring myself to. But it ate at me, the way he cheated. I called Strike and challenged him to a rematch, to settle things once and for all, and surprisingly the dummy accepted. This was supposed to be the fight where I could finally get even. Y’know, we didn’t always hate each other. Before we were screamin’ obscenities at each other on pay-per-view promos, we were friends. Strike was my neighbor when we were kids. We went to the same school; both joined the wrestlin’ team; helped each other cheat on tests… Hell, we even asked twin sisters to the friggin’ senior prom. Yeah, we were close. Life just took us down different paths, y’know? I mean, the paths were side-by-side—we both ended up fighters, for cryin’ out loud—but just different enough. “Maybe once I beat him, we’ll be even. Maybe we can start again.” That’s what I thought before the match. Stupid… … The match was at the Centuryville Event Center. Huge arena—80,000 seats, jumbotron, TV cameras, the whole shebang. It was the same venue as my last fight with Strike, and this time I would leave the champion. We didn’t talk before the match. The MC riled the crowd into a frenzy with the usual fanfare, introduced me, introduced Strike, and the match began. Even though I’d been training for six months, I felt rusty. Strike seemed rusty, too. But as the match wore on, I felt my muscles waking up, remembering how to jab, slip, roll, and pivot. Round one: left jab, left jab, cross, slip. Right jab into a left uppercut, then roll. Bell. A clap of thunder booms outside, loud enough to hear over the roar of the crowd. Round two: right jab, cross, right hook. Pivot then telegraph a left jab, but throw right. Bell. A second clap of thunder rumbles outside the arena. Round three: Slip and prepare for an uppercut… And then the power goes out. The audience shouts in surprise. I stand up straight, frustrated that I didn’t get to surprise Strike with my uppercut. A third clap of thunder shakes the building, but this time it sounds like it’s coming from inside the arena. It’s the loudest sound I’ve ever heard. I closed my eyes and covered my ears, but only for a second, because in that second two things happened. First, the lights came back on. Then a wave of static—like TV static, I can’t make this up—moves across the arena. When it’s gone, it’s like I’m in a different place. I mean, I wasn’t, it was the same arena, but suddenly the audience was quiet and Strike wasn’t in the ring with me. Instead of Strike, there was this big, plain guy. That’s the only way to describe him. You’ve never seen a guy this plain. It was like someone had gone into his DNA and erased his skin tone and hair color and hit reset on his face. “Who the hell’re you?” I asked the guy. He turned his whole body to look at me. Remember, during all of this the audience is dead quiet. “Jonathan Lombardi,” the guy said, in the plainest voice you ever heard. But that was my name. “The hell you are,” I said. I cocked my fist, ready to land one right between his eyes. “Tell me who you are, and exactly what is going on here.” “Jonathan Lombardi,” he said again. “Alias Johnny Quick Knuckles.” He took a step toward me and looked down at me. Jeez, this guy was at least twice my size. “We have good news!” The words were friendly, but with him towering over me, they sounded like a threat. “We?” I asked. “Who’s with ya? You gotta a turd in your pocket?” The guy didn’t laugh. He didn’t respond at all. But I did hear his voice coming from outside the ring, from where my coach was standing. It wasn’t my coach: it was another completely plain…person. If these guys were even human… And then I heard the voice again, teeny-tiny, like it was far away. It had to be coming from the stands. “Jonathan Lombardi,” said 80,000 of the same voice from every seat in the stands. “What the hell is this?” I screamed at the big guy towering over me. I threw a left hook at him, and he grabbed my fist with lightning-fast reflexes. “Greetings from the Johnson Group Research Foundation,” he said, calm as the dead. With his free hand, he punched me in the gut, sending me flying into the ropes. A wave of cheers came from the crowd of clones. The brute slowly walked toward me. “Wes—” I spluttered. I could taste blood. “What did you… Where’s Wesley?” The big guy grabbed my arm and pulled me up. “Ms. Fletcher would like to offer you a career opportunity,” he said. Then he punched me in the face, harder than I’ve ever been hit. He dropped me, and I crumpled to a heap on the mat. Memories of my defeat during my last match with Strike flooded my brain. The room was spinning. I was starting to get tunnel vision. I could hear the thunder again, but when I found the strength to look up, I saw it wasn’t thunder. The clones in the crowd were climbing out of their seats, falling over the rows in front of them, scrambling toward the ring. “S-somebody…help,” I croaked. The clones were starting to crawl under and over the ropes. “My colleagues and I would be happy to assist you,” said the big guy. “You’ll be escorted to the Research Bay, where Ms. Fletcher will—” And then everything went black. ### Johnny Quick-Knuckles #2 I woke up feeling like I’d just been punched in the head. The ringing in my ears and the pain in my jaw made me think that maybe I actually had been. And as I squinted, blocking the blinding light from reaching my throbbing brain, I remembered. I had been punched in the head. Quite a few times, actually. The doc was probably gonna be pissed at me for failing another concussion test. “Ah! Lovely. He’s finally awake,” a woman’s voice said. I slowly opened my eyes, seeing the outlines of two people in front of me. The one on the left was smaller. The one on the right may as well have been a gorilla. “Thank you, Unit C-602,” said the woman. “You’re dismissed.” I heard the distinct cracking of knuckles and the hulking figure on the right backed away. “Where the—” I started to say, and was surprised by how shitty my voice sounded. “Where the hell am I?” I tried to sit up—I didn’t even realize I was laying down—but found out I was strapped to whatever I was laying on. “Ope, ope, ope!” the woman tutted. She sounded like my grandmother. “You’d better save your strength, dear. We’ve got a long day of testing ahead of us.” I kept trying to break out of the bonds. “I don’t have time for your tests, lady!” “Oh, come now, you’ve got all the time in the world,” she said. Whatever she’d tied me down with wasn’t gonna budge. I gave up and caught my breath. “Could ya at least tell me where the hell I am? And who the hell you are?” “Now that I can do!” she said cheerfully. “How about we get this awful light out of your face?” Turns out it was one of those lamps like you see at the dentist office, hanging over me. She reached to turn it off, and when the blind spot in my vision started to fade, I finally got to see the room around me. It looked like some kinda high-tech science lab. The floors were black and shiny, and there were all kinds of… I dunno, science stations all over the place. The ceiling looked about a mile away, with rows of bright fluorescent lights filling the room with office lighting. “And let’s get you seated properly,” the lady said, reaching for a button somewhere below me. The thing I was laying on started to buzz and raise me up, kinda like one of those chairs you sit in—also at the dentist office. “Is this, like, some kind of psycho dentist office?” I asked. That made the woman laugh—and it sounded like she meant it, too. “No, Mr. Lombardi, you’re not at a dentist office,” she said. A big smile stretched across her face. “My name is Maureen Fletcher. You’re in my lab.” Maureen was wearing a long white coat and sitting in a rolling chair next to me. I’d heard that name before. “You’re the lady from those press conferences,” I said. She didn’t say anything. “Yeah, I know you! You work for that health company in the big, black building. Is that where we are right now?” Maureen stared at me while I talked, her smile stretching wider and wider. It was really creepy. “That’s exactly where we are, Mr. Lombardi,” she said. “But I don’t get it,” I said. I moved my hand to scratch my head, then remembered it was strapped down. “I’m not, like, uh… Sick, or anything.” Maureen laughed again, but this time it didn’t sound like she thought anything was funny. “Of course not, dear,” she said. Behind her, I saw the same huge gorilla-shaped outline blocking the exit. And then it hit me it was the same plain guy I saw in the arena, the one who knocked me out. These people musta kidnapped me… I needed to think of a way to get outta there. But, you know, I was still beat-up pretty badly. I couldn’t do anything on my own. “Now, let’s get started with the test,” Maureen said. She hummed some kind of jaunty tune and rolled her chair over to one of the science stations. When she came back, she was dragging some kind of robot arm-looking thing behind her. I didn’t know what it was, but I hated it anyway. “Nuh-uh, lady!” I shouted, thrashing around on the table. “If you think I’m gonna let you probe me with your crazy machine, you got another think comin’!” Maureen pressed a button and the table lowered me onto my back again. “Don’t be a Fussy Filbert, now, Mr. Lombardi,” she said while she positioned the arm over me. It was pointed at me like the dentist light had been. “Or I’ll have to have you sedated.” “Oh, a sedative! The lady is gonna sedate me now! That’s rich.” I saw Maureen nod at someone I couldn’t see, and then it felt like a semi-truck crashed into the side of my head. … I woke to ice-cold water pouring over my face. “Thank you, Unit C-602,” I heard Maureen say. “Now, are you done struggling?” She was hovering with her face inches above mine. If the water hadn’t been enough to wake me up, the stench of her stale perfume could’ve worked like smelling salts. I could barely see straight, but I managed to spit water in her face. “Excellent,” she said, wiping it away. “I’m going to subject you to a laser, now.” She stood and walked around to the back side of the robot arm. “Though I suppose ‘laser’ is the wrong word for it. You can’t see what comes out of it, like you can with lasers. It’s sort of like… Well, it’s almost an x-ray machine. Only, this machine emits a different kind of radiation, and you don’t get to wear that neat lead cape to protect yourself.” “You…bitch…” I managed to mutter. “What was that dear?” she said, turning on the machine. “I can’t hear you over the sound of the machine.” Maureen was right: I couldn’t see anything coming out of the machine. But I could definitely feel it. I gotta be honest, it actually felt kinda nice. My whole body felt warm and sorta tingly. As far as super villain death lasers go, I think I got pretty lucky. And also, I tasted vinegar, which was weird. After a while, she switched off the machine and raised me to a seated position. Maureen sat down with a clip board and immediately started taking notes. Without looking up, she snapped her fingers over her head, and Unit C-602 appeared next to her. I saw a huge fist winding up for another powerhouse punch, and braced myself to get knocked out again. But it never happened. My head jerked to the side like I got punched hard, but I never felt the impact. What I did feel, was…something else. Something worse. I felt something wet and powerful wrap around my legs. And then another something. And suddenly, there had to be dozens of things wrapped around my legs, cutting off the blood flow. I felt rows and rows of suckers digging into my skin, eating me alive. Yeah, of course I screamed. You would’ve too. But when I opened my eyes, the only things wrapped around my legs were the belts binding me to the table. I kicked my legs, and as I watched the belts strain to keep me tied down, I saw dozens, no, hundreds of red circles appear on my skin. Sucker marks. “Now how did that feel?” Maureen asked. “What the FU—” I couldn’t get it out before her lackey decked me again. And that’s how the tests went on for years. I mean, it wasn’t actually years, but it felt like years. I got punched, but I felt tentacles trying to rip my legs off. I got a hot poker pressed into my palm, but I felt a cheese grater scrape against my shoulder. I got bee stings all over my chest, but I felt the tip of my tongue splitting open. “That’s enough,” Maureen finally said, standing up from her stupid little chair. She tapped her fingers to her temple and said, “We need to let them rest before the next round of radiation and testing. In the meantime, you know what to do.” She nodded to Unit C-602, who began undoing the belts keeping me on the table. “You’re just…gonna…let me go?” I wheezed. “Of course not,” Maureen said. “You don’t seem like you’d have the strength to walk, anyway.” I had to admit she was right. But I was still dead-set on escaping, somehow. “No, Mr. Lombardi,” she continued, “my associates and I need to compare notes. For now, you’re free to roam this room, and this room only. The door will be locked, and I promise there are no other ways in or out.” She turned to leave. “Wait,” I said. Maureen stopped with her hand on the door and turned to me. “Aren’t you worried I’m gonna, like… Destroy your lab? Mess up your equipment?” The scientist looked me in the face, and I swear I saw a twinkle in her eyes. “No, I’m not worried, Mr. Lombardi,” she said. “I’m expecting it.” ### Johnny Quick-Knuckles #3 Coming soon! # Wesley Strike Jump in the ring for a tête-à-tête with the legendary boxer ### Character Bio ![](/files/hVtEAoXVdiHfDXdHPr4k) Given Name: Wesley Strike\ Age: 31\ Home Region: James Park\ Favorite Food: Chicken marsala Boxing legend. Harperdeen College Alumni. Savvy entrepreneur. These are just some of the words that have been used to describe Wesley Strike. After triumphing over his long-time boxing rival, [Johnny Lombardi](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/johnny-quick-knuckles), Strike put his economics degree to work, opening Fripp's Haberdashery with then-girlfriend, Imogen Fripp. After his mysterious disappearance around the time of his revenge match against Lombardi, and after his subsequent breakup with Fripp, Strike changed career paths, opting to become a Conductor for unknown reasons. ## Tales From the Rails ### Wesley Strike #1 I would imagine Johnny was still upset about our championship match two years ago, and that’s why he thought up the rematch in the first place. I heard he still tells folks that I bribed the ref to let me punch him in the groin. It’s funny how he remembers the match so differently than how it happened. Damn fool… I mean, come on. Like I’d risk my reputation with a cheap blow like that. I won that fight fair and square, and his ego was hurt so he couldn’t let it go. He wasn’t always that way. I’d go as far as saying we even used to be close friends. But we made different decisions when we were kids, and that made all the difference. Most boxing fans know we grew up together. Just two kids in a bad neighborhood in the foothills of James Park. That’s in all the documentaries about my career. What they don’t tell you in the films is how much I looked up to him, when we were kids. I wanted to be just like Johnny Lombardi. He showed up to school wearing a newsie cap, so I went home and begged my mom for money to buy my own. He joined the wrestling team at school, so I joined too. And when Johnny wanted to learn how to box, I went with him to sign up for a gym membership. But the scene at the boxing gym changed as we got older. Johnny was hanging around with a bad crowd, and I started to wonder why I had looked up to him for so long. He had so much promise, so many opportunities to succeed, and I wanted those opportunities, too. Johnny just wanted to box, but I knew I needed more from life. So I moved across the Righteous River to study economics at Harperdeen College, in Pemberton Heights. I kept up with boxing while I was at school as a way to stay in shape. Competed in a few matches and did pretty well. Caught the attention of a scout, who invited me to enter a tournament in Centuryville. And the rest, well… You’ve seen the documentaries. … The rematch started like any other highly-televised boxing match, with the pyrotechnics and the confetti cannons and the screaming fans. All of Johnny’s moves were predictable. I could tell he was rusty and relying on his old patterns, and I handled them easily. For two rounds, we do the squared circle tango, fans screaming, MC booming over the speakers. And something else is booming: a thunderstorm raging outside the arena. But the noise doesn’t distract me. Lombardi telegraphs an uppercut, and prepared to dodge it and hit him with a strong jab. And then the power goes out. The audience roars, this time in surprise, and the lights are back on in a flash. I turn to Johnny and smile—you gotta laugh at times like that, even in the middle of a showdown with your rival. But when I look at him, I saw something sweeping in from behind him. Like some kind of shock wave, or a glitch in the system, but in real life. Just beyond the threshold of the wave, I saw that it was raining inside the stadium, and as the wave advanced so did the storm. I don’t know why, but I held my breath and shut my eyes before it hit me. I opened my eyes again when I felt the rain hitting my face. Johnny wasn’t there. “What in the hell…?” I muttered, turning to look around the arena. I was completely alone. No Johnny, nobody at ringside, no fans in the stands. I started towards the edge of the ring to climb out and investigate the situation. My feet splashed through puddles that were forming in the fabric of the mat. I snapped to attention when I hear a loud *crack* directly overhead, and I rolled out of the way in time to dodge a bolt of lightning. Static crackled through the air and I felt it on my skin as I army crawled to the edge of the ring and slipped under the ropes. When I regained my footing, I sprinted toward the entrance to the stadium’s service tunnels. Electricity arced from one side of the ceiling to the other, bringing with it a boom I could feel in my chest. I saw a shower of sparks in my peripheral vision, and when I turned I watched the jumbotron fall onto the boxing ring. I winced, waiting for the sound of the impact, but instead of the raucous screeching of flattening metal, I heard…a splash? The giant screen landed on the mat and sank through it, like a space ship’s return capsule crashing into the ocean. A wave lurched over the edges of the ring and a moment later a colossal spike of water rose from the center before falling back down. I didn’t have time to consider the possibility of the spectacle. The ground beneath me opened, and suddenly I was sinking into the water. I caught myself on the edge of the puddle, kicked hard, and hoisted myself out of it. That’s when I noticed the shrieking. It was different from the cheers of the fans. It sounded…wet. Unearthly. Something grabbed me from behind and pulled me backwards into another impossibly deep puddle. I barely had time to hold my breath before I was careening headfirst, down, down, down into the depths. I writhed and jerked, trying to shake off whatever had grabbed me. I forced my eyes open. With blurred vision, I saw I was being dragged toward a brilliant white light one hundred yards below me. In the light, I could see the thing dragging me was some kind of monster with a shell on its back and a dented skull. And when I looked up, I could see hundreds more of them circling like sharks above me. I started to lose consciousness. And for some reason, the thing that was on my mind wasn’t the monsters pulling me god knows where. I was thinking about the neighbor kid I used to play with on the gently sloping plains outside the neighborhood. What had happened to Johnny? ### Wesley Strike #2 After the first round of tests, the Researcher said I was free to roam the lab. It felt like a trap. I didn’t see cameras anywhere, but the room felt like an observation tank, and I was the animal inside it. Or, rather, I was *one* of the animals inside it. There were six enclosures scattered around the space, all containing different biomes, seemingly designed to best suit their inhabitants’ needs. And none of the “animals” in them resembled anything I’d ever seen before. I had already been personally introduced to three of them while I was being tortured. And I’d already made memories with another of them. The turtle creature that brought me here was in one of them, greedily gnawing on a cucumber. I shuddered when I thought of the massive swarm of them swirling in whatever watery pocket of space it had dragged me through. When it pulled me through the ring of light into this laboratory, I was immediately sedated, then woke up bound to the table in the center of the room. The pungent flavor of vinegar coated my tongue. A man wearing a white coat and dark glasses stood over me, smoking a cigarette. “Sorry about the vinegar taste,” he said through a cloud of smoke. “Side effect of the drug we gave you.” “Where am I?” I asked. “The Johnson Group Research Foundation.” He spoke deliberately, in an even tone, like every word was practiced. So, I’d been kidnapped by the Johnson Group. I always wondered what it was they were up to in their ominous, sprawling compound. Of course, I’d heard the rumors. And I didn’t like any of them. I knew I needed to find a way out. “Who are you?” I asked. “The Researcher,” he said. “Is that your birth name?” “Of course not.” “Why am I here?” The Researcher took another long drag from his cigarette. “For testing,” he said finally. “Testing for what?” “I can’t tell you that information.” “It was worth a shot,” I said. “If you say so.” The man snubbed his cigarette and wheeled over a machine that featured a long appendage with numerous joints. He aimed the arm directly at my torso and switched it on. I don’t know what I expected the thing to do to me, but even then, what happened was not what I was expecting. An invisible warmth poured out of the device, and I felt like I was floating in a gentle current. Interestingly, I could smell a woman’s perfume, though I couldn’t tell where the scent came from. “How do you feel?” asked the Researcher. “Fine,” I said. I wasn’t going to give him any more information than he needed. “Excellent,” he said. He walked away and returned pushing what looked like a fish tank on wheels, positioning it at the end of the table near my feet. The Researcher pulled a salted cracker from his pocket and crushed it in his hand, letting the crumbs fall into the tank. For a moment, nothing happened, and then a long, red tendril shot out of the pool. Or rather, it was dozens of smaller tendrils woven together in the form of a singular, larger one. It wrapped around my leg. “Oh SHIT!” I yelled. “What IS that?” “Patience, Mr. Strike,” the Researcher said in his same, even tone, completely unphased by what he was seeing. A second braded tentacle shot out of the tank. Then a third. And a fourth. As the slithering limbs wrapped tighter around my legs, I began to feel something else. I felt the surface of the tentacles shudder against my skin, and hundreds of sharp suckers latched onto me, digging into my flesh. “How do you feel?” the Researcher asked. “Are you KIDDING me?” I spat. “I feel— I feel—” I didn’t feel the tentacles at all. When I paused to truly consider what was happening to me, I realized I had only anticipated pain, and thus assumed I was in pain. “Actually, I—” *WHAM.* Suddenly, I felt an explosion in my left temple which fractured and radiated throughout my skull. It felt like someone three times my size had sucker-punched me from point-blank range. I gasped for air. The Researcher’s lips curved into a horrible, toothy smile. “Good,” he said. What followed were a series of “tests” in which I was harmed by one of the creatures but the pain I experienced did not match my injuries. It started with the tentacles, which made me feel like I was being punched in the jaw. Next, a small, hairless, cat-shaped creature with a forked tail climbed onto me. In place of a mouth, it had a bony protrusion filled with holes, like honeycomb. When it ground its face against my shoulder, it felt like hot coals had been placed in the palms of my hands. After that, my mouth was forced open and a shimmering black insect was placed on my tongue. I would later learn it had cut into my tongue with a sharp protrusion on its thorax, but at the time it felt like hundreds of needles had been forced into the skin of my chest. And then it was over. “I’ve been instructed to grant you a fifteen-minute break,” said the Researcher, peeling off his rubber gloves. “You’re just…” I panted, “Leaving me alone?” “I agree, it’s unwise,” he said. “But my superior has insisted. Do whatever you want. Just don’t die. We’re not finished with you.” I heard a mechanism whirring inside the door as it closed and locked behind him. … I wavered on whether or not I should look into habitats of the remaining two creatures. Would it be better to be prepared for the next round of tests? Or would knowing what was going to happen to me make the anticipation unbearable? For that matter, even if I knew what the creatures looked like, who’s to say I could begin to guess at what kind of unrelated pain I’d endure while they toyed with me? In the end, I decided it would be better to know. I slowly walked to the fourth tank, stopping 6 feet away from it. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to steady myself. “Whatever’s in there, you can handle it,” I said to myself. I took another step toward the tank and stopped again—this time because of a noise. A deafening metallic clatter erupted behind me, and when I turned, I saw the machine I’d been irradiated by on the ground. “What the—” I heard a different noise, a sparking pop, as the fallen machine’s appendage detached itself from the rest at the base joint. A muffled crunching accompanied the metal siding bending itself out of shape, as if an invisible person were striking it with something heavy, again and again. “Is someone there?” I shouted when the commotion died down. I didn’t know what to believe in that moment. Hell, there really could’ve been someone there. Getting no response, I cautiously approached the machine. It looked completely busted. “So much for round two of testing,” I said under my breath. Just then something caught my eye. A folder resting on a rolling tray near the torture table, labelled “CONFIDENTIAL.” I opened it. Attached to the top page was a picture labelled “Subject 1,” featuring me raising my arms in victory after my championship bout with Johnny Lombardi. Behind it, I read the words “Anomatic Entanglement in Parallel Realities.” I quickly closed the folder and scanned the lab. Still no cameras. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t being watched. And if they felt confident enough to leave me alone, they probably didn’t think I could use the information in this file to threaten them—let alone escape. I opened it and continued reading. *The goal of this study is to determine the plausibility of the synthesized anomatic entanglement of two subjects existing in overlapping realities. Each subject will be exposed to controlled anomatic radiation, and then will endure a series of tests design to inflict pain. Their reactions will be recorded and compared. Lab technicians will then confirm whether each subject’s pain sensations are transferred to their entangled dyad.* I didn’t have time to think about parallel realities, because at that moment I heard the electronic lock in the lab door buzzing. But I did have an inkling of an idea. Without hesitating, I folded the page and tucked it into my waistband, praying the Researcher wouldn’t find it. “I hope you enjoyed your break, Mr. Strike,” he said entering the lab, pulling something behind him: a new radiation machine. “Sure did, boss,” I said. I bit my lip to hide my smile. ### Wesley Strike #3 Coming soon! # Gutshot Gauthier Tune in to the dreadful details regarding the life of Gauthier Moreau ### Character Bio ![](/files/CTCP75dAiuIVba9zkDVy) Given Name: Gauthier Moreau\ Age: Biologically: 42, Chronologically: 263\ Home Region: Harperdeen Heights\ Favorite Food: Coq au vin Unbeknownst to them, when the Moreau family got caught in a vicious storm while sailing from France to America, they'd actually sailed directly into a space-time anomaly. Thus, when they landed, they disembarked on the shores of the Centuryverse, in the region that was then known as Harperdeen Heights. Years later, Gauthier Moreau would become a vampire after receiving a mysterious telegram and attempting to rescue a man who fell from the sky. Unable to die, he's witnessed two centuries of progress consume the Centuryverse, giving him a uniquely jaded perspective on life. His motives are gray at best, and his proclivity to violence means many people find him unpleasant to deal with. Luckily, Moreau prefers to be left alone. Yet, somehow he keeps finding himself at the center of important events... ## Tales From the Rails ### Gutshot Gauthier #1 I have been known by many names over the years. I’m told that people of this era call me “Gutshot.” Gutshot Gauthier. Although, I must laugh when I hear this name, because I can’t imagine how that moniker could have resurfaced. I thought I had been very careful… My given name is Gauthier Moreau. I’ve just been beaten in a gambling competition by a man who calls himself Tommy Two-Pair. Not only did he cheat, but he managed to convince my hired help to stand down. I say “hired help” like I paid the men. The truth is: I used my vampire powers of persuasion to hypnotize them into doing my bidding. And somehow, the scoundrel managed to break through my influence… *Oui*, I am a vampire. Or, actually, I believe I once heard the term *daywalker* sometime in the late 1900s? I believe that may be a more appropriate description of what I have become. I have no feud with the sun, which is convenient because that means I can more easily dissolve into society whenever I have to uproot and move. Whenever my true nature is discovered. My life has been long and marked by misfortune, as well as triumph, with the occasional decades-long stretch of mundanity. Recently, I have supported myself by selling information. I’ve allied myself with an organization called the Johnson Group Research Foundation—certainly a front for something more nefarious; I’ve been alive for over two centuries, I know a cover when I see one. They provide me with information regarding anomalies and abnormalities, and I sell that information to the highest bidder. Then, I take that money to the casinos and use my powers of persuasion to cheat at the poker tables. I’m aware that I could simply hypnotize the bankers at the casinos—or at actual banks, for that matter—and have them simply hand me all the money they’ve got. But where’s the honor in that? And besides the meager pay, the Johnson Group has promised me an even more valuable prize. An object of power I can use to step through time. All I have to do is…mislead another client of mine who the Johnson Group seems to have an interest in. And while there’s no honor in deceiving an associate, I would do far worse than deceive a man for the chance to return to the moment that has plagued my dreams for the past two hundred years… It was a temperate day in October—I believe October 14th—in the year 1801, and it must have just rained as I seem to remember the scent of it hanging heavily in the air as I strolled through the park. I was living in Harperdeen Heights (what is now called Pemberton Heights) at the time. When I returned home from my walk, my brother Sebastien was waiting for me in the drawing room, reclining in my favorite arm chair, legs draped over the side. My hunting rifle rested on his lap. This was a common occurrence, finding him there like that, and seeing as he lived next door, I figured I had no need to stop it from happening. I knew he meant no harm with the rifle. I kept it mounted over my fireplace mantle as a display of power, and kept it loaded with one bullet, in case of an emergency. I think holding it filled Sebastien with a sense of gallantry. “I’ve come up with a name for my miracle elixir,” he said. “Oh?” I said, raising an eyebrow. Sebastien was always chasing get-rich-quick-schemes. I offered him a position within my company numerous times, and every time he’d turned down the offer in favor of some other ludicrous business venture. I crossed the room to the small table where my maidservant would set the telegrams I’d missed while I was out. “Imagine it, Gauthier,” he said, standing. He returned the rifle to its mount then, turning in my direction, spread his hands in a wide arc as if he were projecting his words onto a large canvas. “Sebastien’s Curative Revival Formula. We’ll sell it for 75 cents.” “That’s a terrible name,” I said without looking up. I picked up the message on the table. “It’s an excellent name,” Sebastien said. “It’s redundant; are we curing something or reviving the drinker? Surely not both.” I stared at the telegram in disbelief, thinking it a joke. The message read: *Gauthier.* *This evening, you will be attacked by a monster. You are to let it happen. You will survive. Leave your home at sundown and do not return. Do not attempt to contact Sebastien again after this evening.* *We will meet in the future.* *A stranger.* “People will line up from here to the town square to purchase Dr. Sebastien’s Elixir. I’m sure of it. Are you even listening?” Sebastien was at my shoulder, craning his neck to read the message. I crumpled it in my hand and stuffed it in my pocket. “What was that?” he said. “Who was that from?” I waved my hand to dismiss his curiosity. “Business. Just business.” I had received threats from business competitors before, but this message felt different. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Of course I wouldn’t be attacked by a monster. That was nonsense. So, it must have been meant as a metaphor… But what was I meant to glean from the message? These were my thoughts as I left my house later that evening. I had asked Sebastien to watch the house for me. He protested, of course, but he agreed after I insisted. I wasn’t sure where I was meant to go, but my curiosity got the better of me, and I decided I would retrace my earlier steps through the park. I’d considered taking my rifle with me, just in case, but even back then one couldn’t easily get away with carrying a loaded rifle through town. Not in Harperdeen Heights, anyway. The moon was hidden that evening, so I carried a lantern with me. *You will be attacked by a monster. You are to let it happen.* The only monster I could think of was that William Emmerson, who had just imposed a tariff on all exports leaving the port, dealing a serious blow to my profit margins… Just as I began to work myself into an emotional state over business affairs, the park was lit by an ethereal blue light. I scanned my surroundings, alarmed, and found the source of the light was a glowing ring that had appeared in the sky. Within the confines of the ring, I could see the moon shining brilliantly. But outside the ring, the sky remained dark—as if the space defined by the unearthly halo belonged to a different sky. As I marveled at this, something fell out of the ring and plummeted to the ground two hundred yards away from me. Something compelled me to run toward the thing, and when I reached it, I found that it was human. A pale, emaciated man lay at my feet, remarkably unscathed by his fall. “Please…” he whimpered, to my surprise. “Help…me.” As I reached to hoist him off the ground, the blue light of the ring faded. I looked to the sky and confirmed it had gone. ### Gutshot Gauthier #2 The withered man clung to my shoulder as I helped him across the threshold of my home. “Sebastien,” I called. The house was quiet. The darkness outside poured in through the windows with no candlelight to challenge it. My maidservant had been lazy again, and I thought I would reprimand her in the morning. The only light I saw came from the lit fireplace in the parlor, illuminating my brother sleeping in my armchair, hunting rifle across his lap. “Sebastien!” I said again. He stirred and rubbed his eyes. “Gauthier?” he asked, groggily. “Sebastien, quickly,” I said. “Send for a doctor. This man needs urgent help.” Though in the dark I couldn’t see any physical injuries on him, the man on my shoulder had fallen from the sky. What man walks away from a thing like that uninjured? And above all that, it was plain to see he was elderly, even in the poor lighting. As if on cue, the man broke into a rasping, wet cough. I ushered him into a seat. “Send for a doctor?” Sebastien asked, standing. He held the rifle lazily in one hand, letting it point toward the floor. “Gauthier, I *am* a doctor!” “A *real* doctor,” I said, turning towards him. “The man suffered a tremendous fall! He needs a surgeon!” “I could be his surgeon!” “We don’t have time for your fantasies,” I said, returning my attention to the man to better asses his condition. “I’m serious, Gauthier,” he said, “I’ve watched surgeries before. You find a cloth he can bite on, and I’ll fetch my saw…” “SEBASTIEN,” I barked, letting my anger get the best of me. I stood and took him by the shoulders, staring directly into his eyes. “*You will do no such thing!* Do you understand me?” My brother’s face scrunched in fear, but I couldn’t stop myself—his foolishness could cost a man his life. “You are *not* a doctor! You *cannot* perform surgery! And you will never amount to *anything* until you stop chasing your schemes and fantasies like a child!” “Gauthier—” My brother said, stepping back. “No, you listen, Sebastien,” I continued. “We may still save this man’s life, if you’ll just send for an actual doctor.” “Gauthier, you—” “Someone who can *actually* help!” “GAUTHIER!” “WHAT?” It didn’t occur to me that my brother’s fear did not come from my diatribe. I sensed a presence behind me. Hot breath on the back of my neck. The quiet, wet crackling of jaws opening wide. The pressure of teeth against my skin, and the delayed, piercing pain of fangs penetrating my flesh. I screamed in pain, flailing my arms to ward off my attacker as everything I saw took on a sanguine hue. But the man held tight. With one of his hands on my neck and his other arm wrapped around my torso, I wasn’t able to shake him. I don’t know how long we stayed connected, but I felt something change in me. I felt a new strength. A new hunger. A new darkness. And still, I could not shake the man. “I can help you Gauthier,” my brother cried, pointing the rifle toward me. He closed his eyes and cocked his head to one side. “Sebastien, *NO!”* I shouted over the roaring in my ears. And then the assault was over, the roaring replaced by ringing. The man released me, and when I whirled around to plant my fist in his face, he was gone. The adrenaline left my body and I collapsed to the floor. “Gauthier—” I heard my brother whimper. And then: “GAUTHIER.” He fell to his knees and crawled toward me. “I… I… I didn’t… I don’t…” My vision returning to normal, I saw a deeper expression of fear on his face. One mixed with grief. And revulsion. He was staring at my stomach in horror, and when I followed his gaze, I found that he’d shot me. A cannon ball-sized hole had been torn through my body, leaving my innards exposed and glistening darkly in the dancing firelight. But I felt no pain. Nor did I feel any form of shock, nor disgust; despair nor fear. I felt… Famished. “I’m sorry, Gauthier, I…” Sebastien cried, shedding tears over my ruptured organs. “I thought I could help! I… I only ever wanted to help.” “Sebastien,” I said quietly, a feral sensation beginning to blossom in my chest. “I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry…” he sobbed. “Sebastien, get away from me,” I warned. “No!” He leaned in close to my face. “I won’t leave you to die alone.” “Sebastien…” “Gauthier, I’m sorry, I—” I couldn’t suppress the feeling any longer. I pushed off the ground with my elbows and lunged toward my brother. I *needed* his blood. I needed it more than I had ever needed anything before. More than I needed air. We collided, and Sebastien rolled away from me, scrambling to his feet. I did the same. We regarded each other from opposite sides of the parlor with only the crackling sound of the fire to break the silence. But then another noise invaded the space. It began as a thick gurgling, then became a visceral squelching. My entrails were possessed by a flurry of motion, squirming and writhing wildly, flinging my blood in all directions, slowly but diligently knitting themselves back together. The squelching was replaced by a dry, organic sound, like the shattering of glass, but softer, duller, heard in reverse. And then the room was quiet. Even the fire dared not make a sound. I turned to my brother—my dear but foolish brother whom I loved, whose blood I had been ravenous for only moments before—and I saw him break. “M-monster…” he mumbled from behind hollow eyes. “Sebastien, I’m sorry,” I started to say. “MONSTER,” he shouted. “MONSTER! HELP!” I backed away from him. “No, please!” I urged him. Whatever dark urge I’d been consumed by was gone for the moment. “Please, brother, don’t. I…” “HELP ME,” he screamed, voice cracking. Sebastien brought his hands to his eyes and let loose a painful wail the likes of which I’d not heard before. “Somebody! Please!” Before I knew it, he had fled the house, running into the night. I didn’t think it wise to follow him. … After that, I closed myself off to the world. I cloistered in my home for months, sliding in and out of madness. My worthless maidservant quit after only a few days, and I ran out of provisions shortly after that. The food I ate did nothing to satiate me. The hunger gnawed at me, whispering to me every day, growing louder and louder, shrieking at me from within, commanding me to feast on the blood of mortals. But the memory of my brother’s face, his fractured look of unspeakable pain and terror, kept me tethered to humanity. I could no longer live as an ordinary human, but I refused to accept what I was becoming. I heard the gossip of the townsfolk as they passed my home, lowering their voices to whispers, believing I couldn’t hear them. “Did you hear what happened to that Sebastien Moreau?” “The one who sells ‘miracle elixirs’ and calls himself a doctor?” “I heard one of his tinctures drove him mad, and he nearly killed his brother.” “Gauthier Moreau? The businessman?” “His brother veritably tore him in half with his bare hands!” “I heard it was Gauthier who went mad, and attacked Sebastien, so Sebastien shot his brother in the stomach in self-defense.” Eventually the rumors transformed into urban legends. “Don’t stare at that house for too long. Gutshot Gauthier will tear you apart, if you make eye contact with him through the window.” “Didn’t Saint Moreau used to live in that house?” “Saint Moreau?” “You know. The man who lost his mind and pedals crucifixes on the banks of the Goldengulch River. He claims there are *vampires* in Harperdeen Heights.” In that way, the gossip was actually useful to me: I hadn’t seen or heard from my brother since that awful night. He lived next door to me, but I couldn’t bring myself to visit him for fear of causing him more pain. Or that I might lose control of myself again. But when I learned that Sebastien was allegedly living on the riverbank in squalor, I decided I had to see him again. The moon shone brightly on the evening I made my way down to the water. I didn’t bother to conceal myself, nor to stick to the shadows. I felt confident that none of the townsfolk was capable of truly harming me, were I to be spotted. I didn’t have to search long before finding my brother. He’d fashioned a ramshackle lean-to in the rocky sand, made from an overturned rowboat and a number of coats, shirts, and other garments. The boat’s oars had been discarded next to the boat. “Sebastien?” I whispered, peering into the structure. I saw a man gone wild, asleep on the ground. His hair had grown long and was matted with wet sand, and his beard stuck out in all directions. He wore loose-fitting pajamas, which I recognized as a birthday gift I’d given him, though they were now torn and stained. “He won’t wake up,” said a heavy voice behind me. I turned and saw a man standing with his arms behind his back, eyes glowing red. He looked different from how I remembered him. Though he appeared elderly, his face was no longer withered. All traces of visible weakness had been replaced by tightened skin and sculpted musculature. “I’ve put him in a deep slumber.” “You…” I said slowly. “Yes, Gauthier Moreau. I have returned with another gift for you.” “Gift?” I scoffed. “What gift did you ever grant me?” “The gift of power,” he said, smirking. “The gift of longevity.” “You made me into a monster!” I spat. “You drove my brother mad!” The vampire shrugged. “If you choose to believe what the mortals say.” I stood to look him in the eye. “But that’s neither here nor there,” he said. “You’ve not eaten in months, Gauthier. You must me on the brink of madness, yourself.” At his words I felt the gnawing in my chest return. My body cried out for human blood. “And I supposed you’ve brought an innocent here for me to prey upon?” I asked. “I won’t do it.” “I’m afraid you’re mistaken, my friend,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve brought you to the innocent.” I looked to where my sleeping brother lie. “I—” I stammered. “I won’t do it.” But my feet had begun moving of their own accord. I approached Sebastien, driven forward by my dark thirst. “I won’t…” I remembered his face on the night when I turned, when I tried to prey on him in an outburst of rage. I had to stop this. “Good, Gauthier. Let the feeling fill you.” “No!” I shouted as I came to my senses. I reached for one of the oars on the sand, and spun around, swinging it at the vampire’s head. It landed with an earsplitting *thwack*. I struck him again. And again. And again. Until he began laughing. “You should know by now you cannot kill me, Gauthier, just as you cannot die!” I hit him again. “But by all means, keep trying! I do love a fun game!” I jabbed the oar at him like a spear, knocking him off balance. He stumbled backward and fell onto the sand. I leapt at him, pinning him beneath my weight. “If I cannot kill you, I’ll just have to make sure you’re incapable of cursing anyone ever again.” “And how do you plan to do that?” he asked, flashing a smile, revealing his fangs. I looked around me, and laid eyes on a palm-sized stone half-buried in the sand. Its edged looked sharp enough. I began cutting. “Gauthier, Gauthier,” the man chided as his blood sprayed into my face. “These are the pitiful actions of a desperate man!” I continued hacking until I reached bone. “Cease this, now.” “No,” I growled, placing both hands on either side of his face. My own strength surprised me. I removed his head with a sickening *crunch*. “See?” the head said. “Even now. Still alive and well.” The body lay bleeding out on beneath me. “Good,” I snarled. “That’s my plan.” I detached a coat from the structure of Sebastien’s shelter and carried it and the head with me as I patrolled the beach. When I found a rock that looked suitably heavy, I used the garment to bind the head to it. “Hang on,” it said, a hint of panic seeping into its tone. “You don’t know what you’re doing.” “Of course, I do,” I said. I returned to Sebastien and knocked down the rest of his shelter, careful not to let anything fall on him. I dragged the boat and both oars to the head and the rock, putting them in the craft before climbing in and disembarking. When I felt I had rowed far enough from the shore, I tossed the head and the stone into the water. Returning to the shore, I buried the body in the sand. “Who’s there?” I heard my brother’s voice call behind me. The vampire’s sleeping curse must have finally broken. I turned to my brother. He was too far away for me to clearly see his face. I felt the hunger stirring in me again. I took a deep breath to calm myself, then called, “Nobody. Go back to sleep.” I felt power flowing from my eyes, and Sebastien lay back down. … I left Harperdeen Heights after that. And I believe you can imagine the trajectory my life took on after that. But that is a story for another day. What matters is that I began to cooperate with the Jonson Group. They promised me a mechanism by which I could revisit that fateful day when I was cursed, and when I became a curse to my brother. I failed to capture the Llewinson man, and was given a second chance with Kirk Osipov. And through a twist of fate, Kirk Osipov is the one who to bless me with that gift I’d been seeking for so long. And it was through another twist of fate I realized the worst was still ahead of me. For you see, when I activated the so-called Clock of Misery, I was not transported back to the moment that damned me and my brother. I opened my eyes to a moment that existed outside of my centuries-long recollection. I awoke in a time that was yet to come. ### Gutshot Gauthier #3 Coming soon! # KC Jones Slow down and catch up with KC Jones ### Character Bio ![](/files/L8a5eRzXEWED7tJK6sAB) Given Name: Kenneth Conrad Jones\ Age: 35\ Home Region: Centuryville\ Favorite Food: Centuryville-style pizza with bacon, basil, and pineapple It's difficult to interview KC Jones due to his ongoing memory loss incurred during his encounter with the JGRE. What we know is this: He's originally from Centuryville, where he previously worked in marketing for the music streaming service VersEra. He seems to be much happier as a Conductor, and often spends time with his friend [Tobias Holt.](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/brute-force-tobias) Several reports indicate that [Thomas Llewinson](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/conductors/tommy-two-pair), infamous professional gambler, has sought an audience with Mr. Jones on numerous occasions, but nobody seems to know whether they've met or what they've discussed, if they have. ## Tales From the Rails ### KC Jones #1 Every day, I wake up to the sound of my alarm going off at 9:00. I know that I’m lucky, being able to sleep in that late. Here’s how my days typically go. I roll out of bed, put on my robe and slippers, and follow the aroma of coffee into my kitchen. It’s a hassle setting up the coffee pot every night, but I’m always grateful I did it by the time morning comes around. I take my first sip of coffee and, right on cue, I feel something playfully tugging at the hem of my robe. It’s Bear, as it always is. My dog—all 20 pounds of him—practically shaking with excitement, anticipating his breakfast. He lets go of my robe as I stoop to scratch behind his ears. “Good morning, dummy,” I say in the voice everyone reserves for dogs. I scrunch up his face and he stops moving, blinks twice, then wriggles his head out of my hands. “Ok, sir, let’s get you fed.” After Bear devours his breakfast, I let him out in the backyard. If it’s warm outside, I’ll lean in the doorway, enjoying the sun on my face as the Shiba Inu sprints to his favorite tree in the fenced-in yard. A cardinal descends from a higher branch to perch just outside of Bear’s reach and chirp inquisitively at him. Bear sits still, looking up at the bird, head cocked sideways. “Excuse me, small creature,” I say in a dopey voice, narrating my dog’s thoughts. “But what the hell are you?” Then the bird flits away and Bear is off, jumping, barking, and chasing after it. “Be nice to the birds, Bear,” I say as I turn to get ready for work. I live in a small town called Darlinville, population 2,000. Everyone who lives here was born here. Everyone except for me, that is. I moved to Darlinville two years ago… Or maybe it was three years ago, now? Well however long ago it was, the locals have long since accepted me as one of their own. I like it here. Life in Darlinville is slow and uncomplicated. My small cottage is within walking distance of the library where I work, so I never worry about leaving Bear alone when I leave for the day. I get to the library at 10:55, right on time for being early, greet my coworkers, put my lunch in the fridge in the staff lounge, and take my seat at the circulation desk. Work is always uneventful, unless you count my daily conversation with Margie Rockport. Around 2:00, she’ll walk up to the desk with small, quick steps that make her permed old-lady-pink beehive bounce like a very tall flan and say, “I’m sorry to be a bother, Mr. Jones.” “Oh, it’s not a problem at all, Ms. Rockport,” I say. “And you can call me KC, if you’d like.” “That’s nice, Mr. Jones,” she says, nodding. “Well, what can I help you with today?” “I’m looking for a particular book, but I’m afraid I can’t remember the title of it.” She never can. “I see,” I say. “And you wouldn’t happen to know the author’s name?” I already know the answer. “Afraid not, Mr. Jones,” she says. “I see,” I say. “Well, maybe I can put some key words into the computer and see if we can find it that way.” I start to type before she even begins speaking. It used to bother me that this exact same conversation happened every day, but eventually the feeling went away. She’s a sweet old lady, and maybe her memory was starting to go. How could I not go along with it? The words she gave me to look up, as always, were: stranger, time travel, static, anomalous matter, revolution. And, as always, there were no results. Then I’d apologize, tell her we didn’t seem to have any book like that. She’d say Thank you, Mr. Jones, I’ll try again tomorrow. I’d try to explain it didn’t work that way, she’d smile and shake her head, towering hair swaying ominously atop her head, then she’d leave the library. I’d finish my shift, walk home, grab dinner to-go from Joe’s Diner, play with my dog, watch TV while eating my meat-and-three, then prepare the next morning’s coffee and go to bed. Life in Darlinville was normally perfect. But today I woke up naturally. My alarm hadn’t gone off. I looked at the clock on my nightstand, and did a double-take. It was 11:00. *I’m late!* I thought. As I felt the panic rise in my throat, a sort of…glitch happened to my alarm clock. It was like a cloud of TV static washed over it, just for a fraction of a second, and when it was gone the time read 9:00 and the alarm started blaring. I was still thinking about it when I poured my coffee. The clock on the coffee pot said 9:02, which seemed right—the coffee had brewed on time, after all. I pet and fed Bear, then let him out in the yard. He ran to his usual tree and then… And then the bird was different. I mean, of course the bird was different, who’s to say what particular bird should be where and when, but for years it had *always* been a cardinal. And today it looked like a dove. Bear started barking. “What is it, bubba?” I asked as I watched him jumping at the branches of the tree. His tongue darted out of his mouth, and I realized he wasn’t trying to catch the bird: he was trying to catch the snowflakes. It was snowing under the tree, and *only* under the tree. I looked down at my robe to see if snow had fallen on it, but no, where I stood it was sunny and warm. When I looked back at the tree, the snow had disappeared and the dove had resumed being a cardinal. I rehearsed how I would tell the story of my morning to my coworkers as I walked to work. I got to the library, prepared for my shift, and sat down. “Kevin, you wouldn’t believe the morning I’ve had,” I said to my coworker. He didn’t respond. He didn’t move, either. “Kevin,” I said again. I waved my hand to get his attention. Nothing. It was like we were in a movie and somebody had paused it. “He can’t hear you, he’s paused,” said a woman on the other side of the desk. It was Margie Rockport. “Ms. Rockport,” I said, surprised. “You’re here early, today. What can I help you with—” “Oh, shut up, Mr. Jones,” she said. There was an edge to her voice that I’d never heard before. “God, you’re useless.” She massaged her eyes with her thumb and index finger. “Well, excuse me, Margie,” I started to say. “No, don’t sass me,” she said, snapping her fingers. “You’ve never been sassy before, and today’s not the day to start.” I looked at my coworker to see if he was catching this, then remembered he was paused. I shoved his shoulder, and he didn’t budge. He was immovable. “The simulation has finally been deemed a failure,” Margie said. “We gave you ample time to give us the information we were looking for, but you just had to play dumb for nine years, and now you’re scheduled to be terminated.” “Terminated?” I said. “Like… I’m losing my job?” She shook her head, which made her tall, cylindrical hair sway. The movement was welcome, compared to the paused world around me. “Wait, did you say nine years?” I asked. I started to feel the panic in my throat again. My hands were sweating. “Don’t worry, Mr. Jones,” she said, retrieving a pistol from her purse. “It’ll be over in just a moment.” She cocked the gun and aimed it at my face. “WAIT,” I shouted. My eyes were glued to her finger on the trigger. “Is this because I couldn’t find your stupid book? I’m sorry, I—” I screamed and closed my eyes as she squeezed the trigger. I must have screamed for 30 seconds before I realized I was still alive. “KC,” I heard a new voice call out. It sounded female. I opened my eyes. Margie Rockport still stood across from me, the library circulation desk between us. She was paused. I briefly went cross-eyed as the bullet hovering in front of my nose came into view. I scooted my chair backwards and to the left of the bullet’s trajectory. “Thank god I’ve finally broken through,” the new, disembodied female voice said. It sounded like she was everywhere, but I couldn’t find her. “W-who are you?” I asked, looking at the ceiling. “My name is Janelle,” she said. “You’re safe for now.” “Okay…” I said. “Am I in a simulation?” “We are,” she said. “We?” I asked. “Yes, we’re both trapped here.” “I see… And where, exactly, is ‘here?’” Janelle hesitated, but after a moment she said, “KC, your consciousness is currently stored on a virtual server that’s been embedded in my brain. My conscious mind was shut down to make room for the simulation. The voice you’re hearing is a manifestation of my subconscious. We’re trapped inside my mind.” Suddenly, the issues with my alarm clock didn’t seem like such a big deal. ### KC Jones #2 I had never been a fan of science fiction, but I knew exactly where you could find the most popular sci-fi books in the library. And now I wished I’d gotten around to reading some of them. Maybe Asimov? Or Philip K. Dick? Or something about simulations and self-aware super computers. Maybe then, I would’ve been prepared for the news that I’d been trapped in a computer embedded in someone else’s brain for nearly a decade. “KC? Are you okay?” asked Janelle, her voice filtering to me from everywhere and nowhere all at once. “I, uh…” I didn’t know if I was okay. “I have questions,” I finally said. “I’m sure you do,” she said. “But we need to act fast and find a way to get you out of here before they realize I’ve taken over the simulation. Can you walk and talk?” “I suppose so,” I said. “Good,” she responded. “I think the first thing we should do is search the library.” “Got it,” I said, leaving the circulation desk and the paused Margie Rockport behind. I walked to the popular fiction section and stopped. “Hey, um… What am I looking for?” I asked Janelle. The silence in the library felt like a long sigh. “To be honest, I don’t know,” she admitted. “You don’t know,” I repeated slowly. “Hey, man, this is a new experience for me, too,” she replied. “I’ve been trying to break into this part of my mind for years, now. I knew you were in here, and I knew they had you in some kind of simulation, but this is my first time actually *seeing* it. Or experiencing it, I guess…” I started removing books from the shelves as she explained, opening their covers, rifling their pages, examining their shelf spaces for secret buttons, then carefully returning them. “They think you have top-secret information locked away in your brain, and they’ve been using this simulation to try to break down your mental barriers and get it out of you,” she continued. “But apparently you were too stubborn to give it up.” I snorted a laugh. “Or too stupid,” I said. “If there’s any top-secret info in here,” I knocked on my skull, “then this is the first I’m hearing about it.” I finished searching the shelves in front of me and moved on to the children’s reading room. “Well,” she said, “Do you have *any* idea of what they could’ve been looking for?” “I got nothing.” I felt under child-height tables for hidden keys and shook a stuffed bear, hoping to hear a metallic rattling that would give away some kind of clue. “Come on,” Janelle said impatiently. “It’s probably not in the kids’ section. Let’s keep looking.” I was flipping through one of those “find the hidden object” puzzle books as she said it. *Find the snowflake.* *Find the bird.* *Find the book.* “KC?” Janelle said. “We don’t have time for this! They could shut down the simulation at any second!” “Hang on,” I said. “I’ve got an idea.” *Find the book*, I thought. “Margie Rockport came in here every day to ask for a particular book. You don’t think…?” “Woman seeks book in library,” she said like she was reading a news headline. “Groundbreaking.” “No, really,” I insisted, turning to walk back to my desk. “She was here every day, asking me to look up the same bizarre keywords. That has to be—” A sudden angry squealing interrupted my thought as I tripped over a rather large pig. Why was there a pig in the library? I caught myself before faceplanting on the carpeted floor. “What the?” The pig trotted off a toward the display of newspapers at the front of the library and returned with one it its snout. The pig dropped the paper in front of me then ran off. “Kidnapped software developer rescued by giant and his farmer companion,” I read out loud. “What is that?” Janelle asked. “I don’t know,” I said. “This pig tripped me and then brought me a newspaper. This isn’t even today’s headline—the news from this morning was about the annual hot wing eating competition…” Just then, Janelle gasped, and the lights in the library flickered out. A massive trembling shook the foundation of the building, and then the lights returned. “Janelle?” I asked frantically. “What’s happening?” She didn’t respond. “Janelle!” I shouted. I began to panic, when finally, she returned. “KC,” she panted. “We have less time than I thought.” “What do you mean?” I scrambled off the floor and ran toward my computer at the circulation desk. The paused Margie Rockport was no longer there. “I can feel my conscious mind waking up,” she said. “I think I’m being disconnected from the network. We’re running out of time.” “Can’t you buy us more time?” I asked, waking my computer. As if in response to my question, the power surged once again. “Right,” I said. “Speeding things up!” I typed in the search terms that Margie always gave to me. *Stranger, time travel, static, anomalous matter, revolution.* No results. Duh. I tried combinations of those terms with new ones I thought might yield results. *Stranger, time travel, secret, KC Jones.* No results. The floor began shaking again, and I heard the ghostly sound of thousands of pages of books rattling in place on their shelves. Somewhere in the distance, I heard glass shattering. *Anomalous matter, static, KC Jones, top-secret.* “Hurry, KC!” Janelle urged. “If the simulation shuts down before you can get into safe mode, you’ll be erased! I won’t be able to bring you back!” “WHAT?” I shouted, looking up from the screen. Of course, I didn’t have anyone to look at, so I just stared at the swaying chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. “You didn’t mention that I could be ERASED,” I said. “I was hoping we’d be able to find the information and get you out before it came to that!” she said. “That’s a lot of optimism for a woman whose been sleeping for nine years!” “It’s only been three years,” she retorted. “But Margie Rockport said she’s been at this for nine?” “Oh my GOD, KC! Now is not the time!” I shook my head. She was right. “Ok, I’m sorry,” I said. “But I really have no idea where to find this book, if it even exists.” A howling wind picked up outside the library, and through the front windows I saw the sky had turned black. “Can’t you look in, like… The restricted section?” Janelle asked. I shook my head. “The computer would’ve found it, even in the restricted section.” “Well, isn’t there an Extremely Restricted Section you can check?” “That’s not a thing!” I yelled over the noise. I heard a crack and a surge of electricity, and looked up just in time to see the chandelier overhead falling toward me. I managed to dive out of the way just in time. The light fixture crashed into the circulation desk, destroying the computers in a shower of sparks. The lights went out, and this time they did not return. “Janelle?” I yelled. I could barely hear my own voice. “Janelle!” No response. I turned in circles, unsure what to do. She’d tried to help me, but I wasn’t able to act in time to save myself. Bookshelves collapsed on all sides. More windows shattered. Foam ceiling panels fell down and exploded into hundreds of pieces on the floor. And then I saw it. A door I’d never seen before, standing freely in the middle of the library foyer. The gold and black plaque on it read: EXTREMELY RESTRICTED SECTION. It had to be Janelle. There was no handle on the door, and when I touched the surface of it, the wood felt like ice. I watched as the door melted away from top to bottom, revealing an empty black space beyond it. I leaned my head through the frame and squinted, letting my eyes adjust. And interestingly, letting my ears adjust. The Extremely Restricted Section was absolutely silent. In the distance, I saw what appeared to be a podium illuminated by a lone spotlight. There was no other light to be seen: I couldn’t even tell if there was solid ground to walk on. I gingerly stepped over the threshold and found solid ground. “Sweet,” I said and set off sprinting toward the light. When I reached it, I found that what I’d seen was, in fact, a podium. Resting on the podium were two books. On the cover of one of them were the initials K.J. Kenneth Jones. And on the other book… “A.P.” I said under my breath, taking the book. The light above me flickered out, and when it returned, I was once again standing in the darkened library. The ceiling had caved in during my absence and the walls had all but crumbled. From where I stood in the ruined library foyer, I could see the town square of Darlinville falling to similar destruction. The crashing simulation seemed to disregard the laws of physics. Buildings exploded into clean-cut cubes, some floating in the air, some crashing to the ground. The light from street lamps oozed out of their bulbs like syrup. And a dark mist billowed out of the fountain in the center of the square. I watched as the mist covered the fragmented Town Hall. Each piece of the building vanished as it was covered by the miasma. This is what Janelle was trying to protect me from. This was the end. What had she said about safe mode? I didn’t know much about computers, but safe mode sounded simple. Make sure you save your data before turning off the machine, and all that. And then, when you turn the computer back on, all your data is present and accounted for. It made sense that going into safe mode would give Janelle a chance to try to reboot me at some point in the future… But when? And how? Furthermore, how was I supposed to go into safe mode? I looked at the book in my hand. They’d kept me here—whoever *they* are—because they needed this book. And they’d captured and used Janelle like a piece of software to get to it. I didn’t like the sound of being “switched off” for an indefinite length of time, but if it meant the bad guys didn’t get what they were after… I had to do it. The mist continued its march across the town square, swallowing everything it touched. The void was spreading and I was out of time. I took off running. What makes me feel safe? The ground beneath me began to ripple and crack. I leapt over a fissure as a parked car slid backwards into it. The library used to make me feel safe. But the library was gone. I used to feel safe in Darlinville, but seeing it dark and twisted set my stomach churning. I looked behind me and saw the mist was closing in on me. My home makes me feel safe. Maybe it wasn’t real. Maybe it was always just lines of code. But it was real to me. My morning routine was real to me. Making coffee. Watching my dog chase the birds. Those things were my safe mode. I changed course and tore through pristine suburban yards until I saw my house across the street. I braced myself and threw my body at the front door at full speed, crashing through it. “Bear!” I shouted, looking for my dog. “Bear, where are you boy? Come here, boy!” I held my breath, unable to look behind me to face the encroaching darkness. And then I heard a familiar then I heard a familiar *yip.* Ever the loveable dummy, I saw my dog push his way through the doggy door leading to the yard. “Come here, buddy!” I knelt down and spread my arms wide. With the mysterious book in one hand, I wrapped my arms around my silly dog in the place I felt safest. Then the mist swallowed us whole. ### KC Jones #3 Coming soon! # Passengers Meet the Modern Century citizens you can transport around the Centuryverse ### All Aboard! Not everybody in the Centuryverse is trying to make a living transporting cargo. Some people are just looking for a ride. But that doesn't mean they don't lead exciting lives!
Click to learn more about the Modern Century Passengers: * [Lulu Gillespie](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/passengers/lulu-gillespie) * [Frankie Melton](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/passengers/frankie-melton) * [Shakia Washington](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/passengers/shakia-washington) * [Raul Romero](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/passengers/raul-romero) * [Beth Sawyer](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/passengers/beth-sawyer) * [Connor McSweeny](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/passengers/connor-mcsweeny) * [Dansby Crickmore](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/passengers/dansby-crickmore) * [Aparna Athavale](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/passengers/aparna-athavale) * [Jasper McNair](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/passengers/jasper-mcnair) * [Shadow Kaze](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/passengers/shadow-kaze) * [DeMarcus Brown](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/passengers/demarcus-brown) * [PNLOP](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/passengers/pnlop) * [Andrea Harperdeen](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/passengers/andrea-harperdeen) * [Marisol Martinez](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/passengers/marisol-martinez) * [Felix Appleton](/centuryverse-lore/the-modern-century-compendium/people/passengers/felix-appleton) # Lulu Gillespie Get to know your new bestie, Lulu ### Character Bio ![](/files/PBJN96THyOAgtFwaTAAv) Given Name: Louisa Gillespie\ Age: 22\ Home Region: Pemberton Heights\ Favorite Food: Anything worth posting on social media Most people who take a "gap year" do so between finishing high school and beginning college. Lulu Gillespie is taking hers fresh out of Harperdeen College, because, according to her social media, "traditional jobs are just SOOO soul crushing." She's eating, praying, and loving her way across the Centuryverse, stopping here and there to snap a cute selfie, experience the world, and tell her followers all about it. But beneath her polished, chronically online exterior, Lulu is just as lost as the rest of us. She's eager to prove herself and isn't afraid to seek help from people more accomplished than her. So what do you say? Will you help Lulu get where she's going? ### Citizen Stories #### Lulu Gillespie # 1 Coming soon! # Frankie Melton Take a moment to pick Frankie's brain ### Character Bio ![](/files/Mn4JpDbdFxtL4wihrCHe) Given Name: Francis Melton\ Age: 27\ Home Region: Pawpaw Plains\ Favorite Food: Roasted cauliflower Frankie Melton knew from a young age that he wanted to be a farmer. When his friends grew up and left the Plains for corporate jobs in the big city, he just smiled and said, "I'll be here when y'all get back." He started his career milking cows for Bleeker Farms and worked his way into Jeremiah Bleeker's good graces. Now, he oversees crop production and is beloved by his fellow farmhands. After this year's cauliflower crop is harvested, he's got big plans for buying a house of his own and settling down. You'll have to ask him about it the next time you give him a ride! ### Citizen Stories #### Frankie Melton # 1 Coming soon! # Shakia Washington Educate yourself about Shakia Washington ### Character Bio ![](/files/2Iqt2yltQjBVfoc4Hz45) Given Name: Shakia Washington\ Age: 38\ Home Region: James Park\ Favorite Food: Chicken pot pie They don't just give the Educator of the Year Award to *anybody*. Shakia Washington worked hard to earn the title. And she's not planning on slowing down. Her devotion to educating springs from her experiences in academia. While studying for her education degree at Centuryville University, Shakia discovered the majority of her colleagues refused to take jobs in the impoverished James Park region. After rejecting several prestigious job offers from schools in Pemberton Heights, she vowed to only ever teach in James Park. Want to know how you can help support the James Park School System? Ask Shakia the next time you spot her on your train! ### Citizen Stories #### Shakia Washington # 1 Coming soon! # Raul Romero Find out how Raul Romero can help keep your HVAC system in good condition ### Character Bio ![](/files/enVfHhegjF9C6XTFWhX7) Given Name: Raul Romero\ Age: 46\ Home Region: James Park\ Favorite Food: Tacos al pastor *Summer is just around the corner, and that means high temperatures. Make sure you beat the heat with HVAC services from Raul Romero & Sons. Our team will hop on a train to provide same-day service any day of the week. From forced air, to whole-house and mini-splits, we've got the experience to get your unit working like new. Call today to get a free estimate on services!* Not convinced by the web copy we pasted directly from his website (with permission, of course)? Be sure to ask Raul about his business the next time you give him a ride. His passion for providing excellent customer service is infectious. ### Citizen Stories #### Raul Romero # 1 Coming soon! # Beth Sawyer Get a taste of what Beth is all about ### Character Bio ![](/files/LvtObi9ngQ9sMhYKakFE) Given Name: Marybeth Sawyer\ Age: 41\ Home Region: Pawpaw Plains\ Favorite Food: Chicken-fried steak and sawmill gravy If you're looking for buttery biscuits, delightful donuts, and perfect pies, you ought to talk to Beth Sawyer. Known across the Pawpaw Plains for her famous baked goods, Beth is practically a household name among housewives in the region. After taking first prize at the Low Country National Park pie baking contest, Beth has her sights set on opening a storefront so she can turn her passion for baking into a career. Interested in hearing how the bakery is coming along? You'll have to ask Beth when you find her in your Passenger Cars! ### Citizen Stories #### Beth Sawyer # 1 Coming soon! # Connor McSweeny Grab a pint and have a chin wag with Connor ### Character Bio ![](/files/AXB5jH7Q6Ylm0mMF8sqZ) Given Name: Connor McSweeny\ Age: 32\ Home Region: Trevithick Pines\ Favorite Food: Shepherd's pie Connor claims he was born and raised in Trevithick Pines, but can that be true? For one thing, he's got that thick accent—and patrons of his bar, The Dirty Flask, say he often tells stories about life in "the Pale." No geographical area of Trevithick Pines has ever gone by this name. Despite his questionable history, the residents of the Pines welcome McSweeny as one of their own. Lab workers at the Johnson Group Research Foundation (or "Labbies," as Connor calls them) often meet at the Flask after work for drinks, bar food, and a good-natured ribbing from their favorite bar proprietor. Maybe he could give you some pointers on how to playfully roast your other Passengers? ### Citizen Stories #### Connor McSweeny # 1 Coming soon! # Dansby Crickmore Plant a seed of friendship with Dansby Crickmore ### Character Bio ![](/files/LA54MxtwZIfcoQAu0eGW) Given Name: Dansby Crickmore\ Age: 67\ Home Region: Pawpaw Plains\ Favorite Food: Raw, salted tomatoes Dansby Crickmore is the definition of "It ain't much, but it's honest work." Well, except for the fact that he runs the most successful farm in the Centuryverse. But the massive success hasn't affected the way he treats his work, or the way he treats people. And folks around the Plains certainly seem to appreciate his character: They've elected him Head of the Development Committee year after year. After Ned left the farm to hunt down his missing pig, Mayhew, Dansby set aside his plans for retirement to avoid bequeathing the farm to someone outside the family. Naturally, the development has lead to a strain in his relationship with his son, but despite the tension, Dansby ultimately wants what's best for Ned. If you ever send the two on a rail run together, make sure you give them plenty of space so they can catch up. ### Citizen Stories #### Dansby Crickmore # 1 Coming soon! # Aparna Athavale Discover the secret formula to Aparna's winning personality ### Character Bio ![](/files/CnkNvoLdySUg4RBDl8x0) Given Name: Aparna Athavale\ Age: 29\ Home Region: Trevithick Pines\ Favorite Food: Edamame with garlic salt If curiosity kills the cat, then Aparna is the cat with just one life to spare. Her passion for discovery makes her an all-star asset for the Chlorophix Botanical Research Institute, where she researches "botanical circuitry." If you haven't heard of it yet, you will soon: Aparna is convinced her work will save lives some day. When she's not at the lab, she likes to spend time conducting social experiments (read: Sitting at coffee shops, working up the courage to talk to the interesting people around her). But despite her initial shyness, once you get Aparna talking, she often forgets her inhibitions, revealing a bubbly, chatty personality. You should try to strike up a conversation with her the next time you find her on your train! ### Citizen Stories #### Aparna Athavale # 1 Coming soon! # Jasper McNair Read what Jasper has to say about himself ### Character Bio ![](/files/wl5Lqt1KYabwKLplkyXT) Given Name: Jasper Cornelius Percival McNair the Third\ Age: 32\ Home Region: Pemberton Heights\ Favorite Food: Anything cooked by Chef László Kovács that costs more than 500,000 Tocium Luckily for you, Railroader, my daddy is an investor in this silly game, which means that I, Jasper Cornelius Percival McNair the Third, get to write my own autobiography. How quaint! Although, I must say it's ridiculous that Conductor John insists I can only write two paragraphs... I mean, honestly, how can a highly valuable man capture his worth in just two paragraphs? And at the same time, I suppose my reputation *does* precede me. Here's what I'll say: I have taste. I'm stylish. I know how to have a good time, and I know exactly what to order for my dates when I take them to fine restaurants. I'm used to women clearing a path for me when I enter a room—presumably because they know how to respect a man of my stature. And if you can appreciate my worth, then I think we'll get along swimmingly. Just make sure your train goes fast. Time is daddy's money. ### Citizen Stories #### Jasper McNair # 1 Coming soon! # Shadow Kaze Catch up on the latest Shadow Kaze rumors ### Character Bio ![](/files/vizb7KdXPJDjFHtlFBuZ) Given Name: Unknown\ Age: Unknown\ Home Region: James Park\ Favorite Food: Mangos Not much is known about Shadow Kaze, including his real name, age, or place of origin, but most people in James Park know not to get involved with him or the people who work for him. All that is known for sure is that he loves mangos and his pet cat (who is named Mango). The list of crimes he's allegedly committed range from money laundering, to bank robbery, to purchasing the James Park Examiner to control the local news media. Of course, none of these claims have ever been substantiated with evidence, so Mr. Kaze walks free. But recently, the people of James Park seem to have a higher opinion of his operation, for some reason... Maybe you could find out if you keep mangos and cat treats on your train? ### Citizen Stories #### Shadow Kaze # 1 Coming soon! # DeMarcus Brown Stop in for a fireside chat with the Mayor of Centuryville ### Character Bio ![](/files/S8ktNfKx6sv0LaMxJ6UX) Given Name: DeMarcus Brown\ Age: 39\ Home Region: Centuryville\ Favorite Food: His grandma's macaroni and cheese It isn't easy being the leader of the largest city in the Centuryverse, but DeMarcus Brown sure makes it seem that way! After winning by a landslide in the last election cycle, Mayor Brown set straight to work making good on his campaign promises. Included in his platform was an overhaul of the Centuryville Public Transport system, the poor condition of which had become an in-joke for many Centuryville citizens. That said, a portion of his voter base seems to be turning on Mayor Brown, citing concerns that his focus on transportation has begun to feel redundant, with the rising prominence of Railroaders and train travel. Chances are high that he'll ask you to weigh in on the issue, if you happen to give him a ride anytime soon. ### Citizen Stories #### DeMarcus Brown # 1 Coming soon! # PNLOP Get to know Centuryville's favorite bad girl popstar ### Character Bio ![](/files/Kjr926HPZwz45uH2rCXy) Given Name: Kim Seul-ki\ Age: 24\ Home Region: Centuryville\ Favorite Food: Crickmore Farms strawberry ice cream PNLOP (pronounced "Penelope") has been on the rise ever since her debut album, Text Me Back, released two years ago. Now she's back to promote her sophomore album, Imugi, which she describes as "indie, singer-songwriter lo-fi with K-pop influences for sadbois and sadgirls." Ms. Kim made news headlines recently when she arrived to Andrea Harperdeen's annual Charity Awareness Gala dressed as The Carrot Man, a popular cryptid from the Pawpaw Plains. Footage of Ms. Harperdeen reacting to PNLOP's attire has since gone mega-viral, attaining classic meme status almost overnight. You're sure to gain social media clout if you can get a picture with her the next time you give her a ride. ### Citizen Stories #### PNLOP # 1 Coming soon! # Andrea Harperdeen Raise your awareness of the life and times of the famous heiress ### Character Bio ![](/files/PRGFHJIdSRlACZIuA0ZI) Given Name: Andrea Harperdeen\ Age: 32(?)\ Home Region: Pemberton Heights\ Favorite Food: Water with lemon and cayenne pepper What is there to say about Andrea Harperdeen that hasn't be covered before? Pemberton's most talked-about not-celebrity is the constant subject of news articles, short documentaries, and recently an episode of the popular TV series, CPD: Pemberton Homicide. The great-granddaughter of Eustace Harperdeen, founder of Pemberton Heights, is most known for her philanthropy. Every year, her Charity Awareness Gala raises millions of Tocium to spread awareness of charities across the Centuryverse. She's also a staunch advocate of the Stop James Park Immigration bill which is currently being voted on in the Pemberton Parliament. You can find out exactly how she feels on this issue and others the next time you see her in your Passenger Car. ### Citizen Stories #### Andrea Harperdeen # 1 Coming soon! # Marisol Martinez Unwind while chatting with the dynamic spa owner ### Character Bio ![](/files/s1deQNM19yCttRcbppO9) Given Name: Marisol Martinez\ Age: 41\ Home Region: Pemberton Heights\ Favorite Food: Ceviche In 2018, Marisol Martinez quit her job as an astronomer at the Amberly Observatory to pursue her life-long dream: She opened a health spa. And not just any health spa—she opened the very first Cosmea Wellness Center. Martinez opened her first spa in Trevithick Pines to cater to her fellow scientists who she saw were, "over-stressed, over-worked, and under-happy." After finding wild success in the first year of operation, Cosmea expanded to seven locations between 2019 and 2021, with three in the Pines, one in Centuryville, and two in Pemberton Heights. Ever the entrepreneur, Ms. Martinez recently announced the Comsea Expansion Initiative, intending diversify the Cosmea brand with the launch of the Cosmea Wellness clothing line and the publication of her autobiography. As the brand continues to grow, more and more critics are beginning to label Cosmea a "new-age cult," a label Martinez takes in stride. "Of course we're not a cult," she says, "but as they say, there's no such thing as bad press." If you're lucky enough to meet Marisol in one of your Passenger Cars, there's a very good chance she'll invite you to one of her spas for a free hot springs session. Surely someone so kind couldn't be the leader of a cult? ### Citizen Stories #### Marisol Martinez # 1 Coming soon! # Felix Appleton Have a word with the Centuryverse's leading innovator ### Character Bio ![](/files/hBYNXb7lBh9qYgXpywsW) Given Name: Felix Appleton\ Age: 52\ Home Region: Trevithick Pines\ Favorite Food: Freeze-dried green apple chips Felix Appleton famously only eats fruit. He claims he became a fruitarian after he was visited by God in a dream. "After that dream, I only ate apple chips for a week. Just the ones made from green apples—that's important. And after a week, I slipped into a trance. That's where I got the idea for the first Sky Phone." And a transformational piece of technology it was. Since then, Harvest Technologies has become a household name, selling everything from phones and TVs to cars and coffee makers. Appleton himself has become more of a recluse as his wealth has grown, leading some to suspect he suffers from paranoia. If you ever catch him on your train, be sure to make him as comfortable as possible. ### Citizen Stories #### Felix Appleton # 1 Coming soon! # NPCs Discover the Non-Player Characters who will help you along the way ### Coming Soon! To avoid spoilers for the Modern Century campaign, NPC profiles will be added at a later date, once a sizeable portion of Railroaders have experienced the story. # The Future Century Compendium Explore the stories of the Future Century ### Life looks different in the fabulous world of the Future. That doesn't necessarily mean it's better. This section of the compendium chronicles what we know will happen in the future of the Centuryverse. **It would be best for you to suspend your disbelief before you click ahead.** For after all, the events of the future may yet be changed. # The Ahriman Reports Everything has changed. These lab reports were procured by TARI of the Modern Century. According to the research team there, these documents were recovered from a lab fire which will occur in the year 3031. The numbering system on display in the "Experiment Number" section of each document would seem to suggest these pages represent an incomplete set of data. It is unknown what the missing pages document, or if these pages depict true events. Read at your own caution. * [Ahriman Report 1](/centuryverse-lore/the-future-century-compendium/the-ahriman-reports/ahriman-report-1) * [Ahriman Report 2](/centuryverse-lore/the-future-century-compendium/the-ahriman-reports/ahriman-report-2) * [Ahriman Report 3](/centuryverse-lore/the-future-century-compendium/the-ahriman-reports/ahriman-report-3) * [Ahriman Report 4](/centuryverse-lore/the-future-century-compendium/the-ahriman-reports/ahriman-report-4) * [Ahriman Report 5](/centuryverse-lore/the-future-century-compendium/the-ahriman-reports/ahriman-report-5) * [Ahriman Report 6](/centuryverse-lore/the-future-century-compendium/the-ahriman-reports/ahriman-report-6) * [Ahriman Report 7](/centuryverse-lore/the-future-century-compendium/the-ahriman-reports/ahriman-report-7) * [Ahriman Report 8](/centuryverse-lore/the-future-century-compendium/the-ahriman-reports/ahriman-report-8) # Ahriman Report 1 ![](/files/MUglESFJplYnjV2dBnCu) ### Transcript Centennial Sciences Research Laboratories CONFIDENTIAL LAB REPORT EXPERIMENT NUMBER: 10-32D SUBJECT: Material XU9 TECHNICIAN: A. Thyone \======================================================================= HYPOTHESIS: An implement exposed to the material XU9 will not succumb to the effects of anomatter and can be used to safely handle anomatic particles (AMP). CONTROL VARIABLES: One common, household tea cup (Tea Cup A) that has not been exposed to XU9. One identical tea cup (Tea Cup B) that has been exposed to XU9. PROCEDURE: 100g of XU9 will be atomized in a collider and the resulting gas collected. Tea Cup B will be placed into a vacuum chamber and exposed to the XU9 gas for 3 minutes.\ \ Tea Cups A and B will be placed into the chamber of the Alternity Condenser, and the anomatter extraction process will be initiated. The harvested AMP will be allowed to dissipate within the chamber and the tea cups will be inspected. CONCLUSION: Success. Tea Cup A transformed into a bowl of flowers. Tea Cup B remained unchanged. NOTES: An amount of AMP was found to have liquified and settled in Tea Cup B. This leads me to believe the inert properties of XU9 could lead to the creation of tools and vessels that can safely interact with or store anomatter. Perhaps we create some kind of Anomatter Vial? There is still much we don’t know about these substances, but we remain optimistic. The lab is finally in full functioning order after the accident. I still suffer from lapses in my memory, as does Praxidike. The lab notes left behind by the late Aricus have been instrumental in advancing our understanding of XU9 and anomatter. It’s a shame he’s no longer around to assist our research, but we press on in his name. Praxidike thinks he should get to name XU9 since he discovered the lab notes. He wants to call it “Praxium.” I told him the idea was praxi-DUMB. Ahriman Thyone # Ahriman Report 2 ![](/files/PIvH6nxzvA6smUnh0TT8) ### Transcript Centennial Sciences Research Laboratories CONFIDENTIAL LAB REPORT EXPERIMENT NUMBER: 15-21B SUBJECT: “Portal” pod membrane integrity TECHNICIAN: A. Thyone \======================================================================= HYPOTHESIS: The reduced amount of praxium in the v3.2.2 membrane will decrease “portal” expansion time by at least 1.2 seconds, and increase “portal” diameter by more than 0.5 inches. CONTROL VARIABLES: 10 v3.2.1 “portal” pods. 2 identical flat surfaces (6’ x 6’ drywall, eggshell white). 2 automated propulsion cannons. PROCEDURE: The target surfaces will be arranged vertically, 10’ feet apart. A cannon will be positioned facing each surface. Cannon A will launch a v3.2.1 pod while Cannon B simultaneously launches a v3.2.2 pod. The launches and impacts will be recorded by attospeed cameras and anomatic discharge sensors. The measurements will be compared. CONCLUSION: Failure. The first v3.2.2 pod couldn’t withstand the force of launch, rupturing in-chamber. Cannon B was transformed into an ice sculpture of a hiking boot. NOTES: I’m still uncomfortable calling these “portal” pods. They’re not portals; they’re soft-membrane anomatter containers. Praxidike insists we’ll one day be able to use AMP to open gateways across long distances… And I must admit I’m enjoying these tests. Speaking of Praxidike, I made a bet with him that this would be a successful trial. I can already hear him gloating. At least this time I only promised I’d buy him dinner. And anyway, it’s nice to not eat alone every now and then. I’m interested in continuing to compare our missing memories. And perhaps we can even discuss his “portal” dreams. Who knows? Maybe our dinner will lead to the birth of a truly life-changing idea? Ahriman Thyone # Ahriman Report 3 ![](/files/kDKAd7wKfSEfWMSo4Im8) ### Transcript Centennial Sciences Research Laboratories CONFIDENTIAL LAB REPORT EXPERIMENT NUMBER: 23-19A SUBJECT: Anomatter-assisted rain production TECHNICIAN: A. Thyone \======================================================================= HYPOTHESIS: Water vapor exposed to AMP will condense outside of standard conditions CONTROL VARIABLES: A 3’ x 3’ pressurized atmospheric chamber calibrated to match desert conditions. 1L distilled water vapor PROCEDURE: 12 units stabilized AMP will be introduced to the chamber. Simultaneously, the water vapor will be introduced to the chamber. Atmospheric conditions will be monitored for 5 minutes. If no change is observed, 3 units of praxium will be introduced to the system, neutralizing the anomatter, ending the test. CONCLUSION: Failure. Rain formed, but not in the expected way. NOTES: During the test, the atmospheric control settings were not touched. And yet, at the 2:42 mark of the test, the system showed optimal conditions for rain had been met. It would seem that rather than alter the water vapor, the anomatter altered the space *around* the water vapor. We expected rain and we got rain, just now how we expected. Aricus had the word “intelligence” circled in the margins of his notes. Is this what he meant? Surely the anomatter is incognizant, but perhaps in can become entangled with the observer’s mind via quantum coupling? In the meantime, anomatter shows a promising capacity for weather control. Praxidike is ecstatic. He wants to explore anomatic applications in agriculture, but I must say I’m more interested in the unintended results of this test. Does intention affect anomatic interaction? Ahriman Thyone # Ahriman Report 4 ![Front](/files/ju4ujatamEkjtHwoRHQl) ![Back](/files/umo1jAQ1uIKlRFUoE0wb) ### Transcript Centennial Sciences Research Laboratories CONFIDENTIAL LAB REPORT EXPERIMENT NUMBER: 40-26A SUBJECT: Anomatic ability in humans TECHNICIAN: A. Thyone \======================================================================= HYPOTHESIS: Regular exposure to anomatter has given me the ability to interact with atmospheric anomatter in such a way that I can shift between overlapping realities CONTROL VARIABLES: PROCEDURE: Unknown CONCLUSION: Success. NOTES: I am out of breath, bleeding, and at a loss for words. There isn’t yet a scientific explanation for how I was able to accomplish what I’ve just done. In the weeks leading up to today, I’ve noticed windows into other states of being. A glass of water will be full and empty at the same time. A dog in the park will simultaneously be fully Labrador and fully Dachshund without being a breed of the two. I have looked in the mirror and seen myself as man and woman, hideous and beautiful, human and inhuman. This was different. It was like I reached into myself, and through some multiversal gymnastic, I pulled out another world. An exact copy that was entirely different. In that reality, everything I touched began to melt, as if my body heat were the highest temperature ever recorded there. And yet, the world around me didn’t feel cold. The scientists in that lab watched in fear of me as their equipment melted at the grace of my fingertips. Tears came to my eyes unbidden, and when I wiped them away, I found blood on my hands. I knew then it was time to leave, so I grabbed the nearest object—a thermometer, ironically—and receded into myself. Back in our universe, the thermometer continued to melt in my hand, suggesting an object will continue to abide by the laws of its universe of origin when transported to a new one. I’ve stored it in a freezer. This experiment was not authorized, but now that I’ve succeeded, I can’t keep it a secret. I must tell Praxidike. He was present at the accident, just as I was, and he’s pored over Aricus’ notes as thoroughly as I have. He’s been exposed to anomatter as often as me, and I believe he may also have the chance to develop anomatic abilities… Everything has changed. Ahriman Thyone # Ahriman Report 5 ![](/files/avFnI5x1W5Ri6woSPK7E) ### Transcript Centennial Sciences Research Laboratories CONFIDENTIAL LAB REPORT EXPERIMENT NUMBER: 42-01A SUBJECT: Anomatic ability in humans (2) TECHNICIAN: A. Thyone \======================================================================= HYPOTHESIS: Repeated exposure to anomatter has given the subject (Aster Praxidike) the innate ability to travel through time CONTROL VARIABLES: One sealed envelope. The participation of an unbiased third party (Madison Sayers). PROCEDURE: Under my supervision, the subject will be prompted to travel to the future to learn the outcome of the test. He will ask M. Sayers to name the three objects she chose during the test, then return to the present. At this point, the subject will write the list of objects on a slip of paper, seal it in an envelope, and surrender the envelope to me. M. Sayers will then be brought in and asked to choose three objects at random. When the selections are made, I will unseal the envelope and read the subject’s prediction. CONCLUSION: ~~Failure. The subject did not accurately predict the outcome of the test.~~ Success. NOTES: After drawing my initial conclusion, the subject prompted me to flip his prediction over, revealing he’d written my response to the perceived failure verbatim. “Are you sure you traveled to the right day?” I shouldn’t be surprised. I know the man well. After all, we spend countless hours working side-by-side. Though something seems to have shifted in Praxidike after this test. Where I was thrilled to observe we could now fully explore alternity, as Aricus described it, he expressed fear. The fear of irreparably damaging the time stream. The “butterfly effect.” But I’m not concerned with the past: Our path forward lies in the future. There is nothing left for us to learn from the past. After some discussion, Praxidike agreed to continue experimenting insofar as he is able to better understand the anomatic nature of his abilities. And that’s all I need from him for now. Ahriman Thyone # Ahriman Report 6 ![Front](/files/GbHyt3izjfMsjKWgVsLi) ![Back](/files/qJJKxM1TZ2NjHT23ra0r) ### Transcript Centennial Sciences Research Laboratories CONFIDENTIAL LAB REPORT EXPERIMENT NUMBER: 61-08C SUBJECT: Sustained chronological thinning TECHNICIAN: A. Thyone \======================================================================= HYPOTHESIS: The inclusion of praxium transistors in the structure of the gate will stabilize the residual anomatic discharge left in the wake of Praxidike’s time travel, thinning the fabric of time within the gate. CONTROL VARIABLES: PROCEDURE: Praxidike will stand within the arch of the gate. The gate operators will charge the praxium transistors, and Praxidike will activate his ability. Anomatic discharge meters will be used to measure the stability of the flow of time within the plane of the gate. CONCLUSION: Success. A translucent ripple was observed forming in the gate. The gate operators were ordered to increase the energy flow to the gate, which resulted in the ripple expanding to fill the arch. NOTES: The gate itself collapsed and was destroyed when I sent one of the operators through it. However, a phenomenon resembling the “static” seen on ancient televisions was observed crackling above the ruined gate. The operator’s voice could be heard from within the static, leading me to believe the static connects to an interstitial realm between time and reality. Further investigation is needed. When Praxidike returned, I told him the experiment was a failure. The gate experienced a power surge, leading to its collapse and the death of the operator. My word was not challenged by the others who were present. Praxidike was horrified by the report and left the lab without another word. I did not tell him about the static. I know he is hiding something from me. We’ve learned that we’re each unable to exert our power on the other. I cannot send him to new realities; he cannot send me through time. It’s possible each of us is incapable of experiencing the realm we have no control over. But suddenly he claims to know this theory is a fact, the nature of which harks back to Aricus’ experiment? That he and I were, in fact, *created by the man’s death*? This is why I don’t believe Praxidike when he says he’s not been experimenting with his ability outside the lab. After all, I’ve done it. Why wouldn’t he? And I’m certain the strength of his conviction in this “origin story” must have come directly from speaking to Aricus. Perhaps he even watched our creation. Well. If he can hide things, so can I. Ahriman Thyone # Ahriman Report 7 ![](/files/eP8EcPwAnxpPPouJn6hp) ### Transcript Centennial Sciences Research Laboratories CONFIDENTIAL LAB REPORT EXPERIMENT NUMBER: X SUBJECT: Interstitial static production TECHNICIAN: A. Thyone \======================================================================= HYPOTHESIS: The “static” observed during the destruction of the time gate was created through the interaction of anomatter, activated praxium, and organic matter, and the phenomenon can be reliably reproduced. CONTROL VARIABLES: The bees used in the experiment will all come from the same apiary, and precisely fifty (50) bees will be administered in each test. PROCEDURE: Ten rabbit specimens will be put into cryogenic sleep, then encased in a semi-permeable praxium membrane (see Experiment 15-21B). Each rabbit will then be subjected to gamma wave radiation to energize and activate the praxium membrane. The technician will generate a spatial displacement field, and the rabbits will be accelerated into it. CONCLUSION: Success. The static phenomenon was able to be reproduced in all tests. NOTES: My research has continued unhindered, despite Praxidike’s continued absence. Quite successfully, I might add. It’s likely I never would have discovered my ability to generate spatial displacement fields were he still in my ear, urging me to exercise caution as I explore my capabilities. I have no inkling as to what he’s been doing all this time in his new lab, nor am I particularly interested. While he cowers in fear of his power, I have charged headlong into the unknown, creating history in my wake. And yet I can’t help but wonder what there is left for us to discover together. We know that Aricus first described the infinite mingling of alternate realities, calling it alternity. And with the discovery of this static, I’ve described the ultimate interaction of life, change, and stability. Imagine the scientific possibilities, were he and I to join together and represent alternity in a new equation, with this static acting as our tool. Surely Praxidike would be eager to be a part of that, if only I could teach him to celebrate his power, rather than flee from it? We wouldn’t just be doing science, then. We’d be the authors of alternity. Ahriman Thyone # Ahriman Report 8 It should be noted that this particular document seems to have been written after the fire occurred which damaged the other reports. It appears to have been written by the same author. ![Front](/files/DQrImKDUxHDJyf2MHRNE) ![Back](/files/Aasu3Uh2iNfTSC0s8Rcr) ### Transcript ~~Centennial Sciences Research Laboratories~~ Jovian Anomatic Research Laboratory CONFIDENTIAL LAB REPORT EXPERIMENT NUMBER: 01 SUBJECT: Finding myself TECHNICIAN: A. Thyone \======================================================================= HYPOTHESIS: In infinite alternate realities, there must be an infinite number in which I already exist CONTROL VARIABLES: PROCEDURE: I will visit an undecided number of realities seeking that reality’s version of myself in an attempt to recruit like-minded individuals to join my cause CONCLUSION: Experiment ongoing. NOTES: By definition, this is not science, but I must treat it as such if I hope to continue moving forward. Centennial Sciences is no more. The lab was destroyed and the event deemed an accident, but the decision was made not to rebuild. Amazingly, nobody was harmed. But one person is missing. Aster Praxidike. Whatever the man once was to me—colleague, friend, anomatic twin—he is no longer. His actions were those of a stranger. But I won’t let his petulance slow my progress. We, as a species, must continue to learn as much as we can about the nature of alternity, if we wish to remain the preeminent actors within it. And to that end, I christen my new laboratory the Jovian Anomatic Research Laboratory, named for the planet we orbit and for that ancient deity who ruled all. The science we do here will some day lead humanity to follow in Jupiter’s footsteps, and to hopefully surpass even him in knowledge, influence, and power. It is truly a goal that sounds impossible. But thousands of years ago we though mechanical flight was impossible, let alone space travel. And now I stand alone, the singular pioneer of multiverse travel. This is the thought which gave rise to this inaugural non-experiment: Am I truly alone? Why haven’t I met other versions of myself in all my multiversal travels? In an endless volume of overlapping realities, statistically, I must be out there, seeking my other selves, eager to begin my research in earnest. There must also be other Praxidike’s. And there must be realities in which he never succumbs to fear, never abandons our experimentation, and the two of us have begun to unite alternity. Or maybe there isn’t. Maybe we are the cruel result of some infinite cosmic improbability, are each completely unique, and without him I am utterly alone. In that case, the only way to improve the status of humankind is to win Praxidike over to my way of thinking by any means necessary. But he is nowhere to be found. If my suspicion is correct, he’s overcome his fear of his anomatic abilities just in time to escape to another part of the time stream. Clever man. He knows I can’t follow him through time… But he doesn’t know about the static, or its potential to send *other* people across time and reality. And as long as he remains ignorant of it, I maintain the upper hand. Here, then, is the start of my mission. To continue seeking my selves, in the hope they can share their knowledge and assist in my stewardship of humanity. To continue developing anomatic technologies that will support my endeavor and expand the realm of human capability. And to find Aster Praxidike. To bring him home. And as a dyad, take our places in the equation that perfects alternity. Ahriman Thyone