“I’ll be putting on a smile, running this train, and making sure that no one on board has any reason to doubt that everything on the Elsewhere Express is anything less than perfectly normal.”
“How do I use the Archive?”
Frequently Asked Questions
The Elsewhere Express
Passenger Handbook
Raya
Concentric layers of carved white jade formed the Archive’s domed ceiling. Moonlight trickled through a pattern of chiseled trellises and flowers, painting a delicate lace of light and shadow on the jade floor. Apart from a pair of black onyx pedestals beneath the center of the dome and a handful of red lacquered reading tables and chairs, the only other thing that occupied the cavernous room was a silky, contemplative quiet.
“This place looks like a cathedral.” Raya’s voice echoed through the train car. “Or a temple.”
“It sounds like one too.” Q gazed up at the ceiling.
“I’ve practically moved in here since I retired,” Rasmus said. “The Archivist position is vacant at the moment and so I’m filling in. I assist the occasional visitor, and in return I get the space to work on my little hobbies. My projects have taken over my compartment. I don’t remember the last time I saw my floor.”
He gestured to a miniature railway that looped in the shape of the train’s eternal knot over four reading tables that had been pushed together. Tiny crystal trains, three cars long, quietly made their wayto nowhere, little puffs of steam rising from their faceted smokestacks.
“That’s quite the setup.” Q’s eyes followed the little trains on their endless route.
“Thank you.” Rasmus smiled. “I built it out of the childhood memories that board the Elsewhere Express. The train didn’t have much use for them, and it was a shame to let them go to waste.”
“You made these?” Raya raised her brows.
“If we can’t shape our thoughts, what can we shape? But this train set is quite literally child’s play. Wait until you see how the Archive works.” Rasmus made his way to the onyx pedestals.
Raya followed him.
Q held her back. “We’ll catch up,” he called after Rasmus.
Rasmus nodded and walked on until he was out of earshot.
“I think you’re right,” Q whispered.
Raya lifted her face to meet his eyes. “About what?”
“About why Lily chose us. I hate to admit it, but weareexpendable.”
“I was hoping you were going to disagree with me.” Raya sighed. “But disposable or not, we need to stop the stowaway.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Q glanced over his shoulder at Rasmus.
“What are you talking about?” Raya narrowed her eyes. “The stowaway will destroy this train if we don’t catch it.”
“But that’s just it. That’s not going to happen. Rasmus said it himself. He and Lily may not remember how they caught the stowaway, but that doesn’t change the fact that they did. There’s no reason they’d fail now. I’m going to help them because I’m desperate to stay on this train.” He clasped her hand. “But you shouldn’t have to.” He turned her hand over, exposing the knot unraveling over her palm. “You’re running out of time, Raya. Lily told us that finding our compartment is about finding our true selves. I highly doubt that’s something any map in the Archive can point you to. Is chasing the stowaway around the train a risk you want to take when you have no idea how much time you have left?”
Rasmus stood behind the twin onyx pedestals. A carved white jade sphere nested on a simple wooden stand on top of one of them while a blue notebook that had seen better days was displayed on the other.
“Welcome to your crash course on how to use the Archive.” He gestured to the sphere. “Do you know what this is?”
“My grandmother had one,” Q said, “but it was a lot less intricate. I believe it’s called a Generation Ball.”
Rasmus nodded. “Correct.”
Raya stared at the frayed knot on her palm, half listening to Rasmus and Q. The gold flecks floating around the knot had doubled, bumping into the name of her subway station and the date and time she had boarded her train. She gripped her bag. The only way she was getting home was if she bought herself more time.
