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authorGravatar Chris Xiong <chirs241097@gmail.com> 2024-06-22 19:59:16 -0400
committerGravatar Chris Xiong <chirs241097@gmail.com> 2024-06-22 19:59:16 -0400
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- <h2 id="titleh" class="TText" style="font-wight:normal;">The Station of Elyssima</h2>
- <div id="datetags" class="TText" style="margin-bottom:1em;">2024-03-02<br>#fiction #garbage</div>
- <hr><div id="article" class="TText">
-<script src="https://filestorage.chrisoft.org/blog/data/polyfill.min.js"></script>
-<script src="https://filestorage.chrisoft.org/blog/data/mathjax/mathjax.js"></script>
-<article>
-<p>Chris hung up her last phone call of the day and started packing up.
-She was on her final stop of an important business trip to the capital
-city of Elysionia that lasted a week. She’s having a vacation once this
-trip concludes, and now she’s dying for getting back her cozy little
-home.</p>
-<p>In Elysionia, people get around mostly by trains. There is an
-extremely elaborate railway system that connects every single place of
-importance in Elysionia. Its foundations laid out hundreds years ago,
-the Elysionia Railways has been serving the country loyally and
-contentedly over the years. Being inside continental Europe, it also
-links to other surrounding countries.</p>
-<p>Chris works for upper management of a private company. As part of her
-job she travels around the country frequently and take the trains more
-than a few dozens of times each year. Being a frequent rider of
-Elysionia Railways, she’s familiar with the system enough that she can
-recite the time table of various larger stations. With still well more
-than an hour from her planned departure time, she is not in a hurry.</p>
-<p>Chris is anxious for this very special train ride too, as the new
-train station in the capital began to operate yesterday. She booked
-specifically for a train that would depart the city from the new
-station. She has heard that this new station was designed and built like
-no other train stations in Elysionia, and she was ready to find out
-what’s so special about this new station that supposedly will
-revolutionize railway transportation in Elysionia.</p>
-<p>A taxi is called and Chris tells the driver her destination. “Huh,
-the new station?” Says the driver, “I heard a multitude was there
-yesterday just to check it out. Are you going there just for a visit
-too?” “A multitude of people… it must be really well designed,” thought
-Chris. She’s busy being distracted by her own thoughts and didn’t pay
-attention to answering the driver’s unsolicited question at all except
-letting out an unclear murmur of “yes”.</p>
-<p>Before long she is dropped off at the station. When she laid her eyes
-on the station for the first time Chris was utterly stunned – the
-exterior of the station looks exactly like a gigantic Gothic castle. She
-is standing at least a few hundred meters away from the main entrance
-yet the entire building barely fits in her field of view. A triplet of
-sharp spires with beautifully engraved patterns point straight into the
-sky. Towers surrounding them must still be as tall as the tallest radio
-tower she has ever seen. Flamboyant traceries made up most of the
-exterior openings. Born into a rural farming family, Chris could not
-fathom the sheer amount of work that was put into the construction of
-this station (nor could she understand why the city decided to erect a
-huge Gothic castle in pretty much the dead center of Elyssima). There is
-not a single railway track in sight – they are all cleverly well hidden.
-The square in front of the station is still flooded with a large crowd
-of people, all admiring this gorgeous building.</p>
-<p>But Chris is here to take a train ride and she really does not have
-the time to give this building a good look that it deserves, so she
-proceeds into the station. However again her eyes are instantly hooked –
-the pointed arches, the vault ribs which forms an endless mesmerizing
-geometric pattern, oh and the intricately decorated crystal chandeliers
-hanging around the center of the ticketing hall, which are even more
-opulent than the ones that appeared in her childhood dreams. Chris could
-not take a single step without getting amazed by something new that goes
-into her sight.</p>
-<p>A clock with hands long as a bus in the hallway brought Chris back to
-real life – it’s 20 minutes before the train she is planning to take
-will depart. The railway system of Elysionia works like a massive subway
-– as long as one has paid the appropriate fare, they will be permitted
-to travel between any places below a distance corresponding to the fare
-on that day. Still, trains are run at different frequencies for each
-destination. And in Chris’ case, if she missed this one she would have
-to wait 3 more hours, which would mean she won’t be in her house until
-midnight. Willing as she is to stick around, she still wants to be home
-more, just by a little bit. She says to herself, “I shall give this
-place a good visit someday,” and immediately got back into business –
-looking up the gate on the information display and following the signs.
-Everything is still so familiar.</p>
-<p>Chris followed the signage to a three-way junction. It appears that
-each path leads to a different set of gates. She took a sharp turn
-following where the arrow points and heads to a lower floor, not even
-noticing her dress almost being caught in the escalator.</p>
-<p>She finds herself in a delightfully decorated corridor with gates on
-one side and fine art exhibits on the other. She has some walking to do
-though – the corridor is for gates 80 to 1, and her gate is 15 – so she
-really doesn’t have time to appreciate the art, or to think about how
-they managed to squeeze so many gates into a single corridor,
-<em>or</em> why are there so many gates in this station in the first
-place.</p>
-<p>As the station was put into use only a day ago, it’s still early in
-the transitional period: there are not a whole lot of trains here, nor
-are there too many people who are actually taking a train. It soon
-becomes apparent to her that the gates are fairly far apart from each
-other, and even at her fastest walking pace, she will probably not make
-it on time. So she started running. Chris is not good runner. She never
-has been. And the fact that she is wearing an ankle-length dress
-definitely isn’t helping. She looks at the wall of arts and sees her own
-reflection on the fresh glazed wall tiles – her long, unblemished white
-dress flying high from all the velocity that she usually never gets to
-have. Similarly set in motion is her long, black hair, which is
-spreading in midair. The reflection is so clear that she can even make
-out the frills and cutwork on the hemline – even threads on the needle
-lace, which are not unlike the ribs of the traceries she saw moments
-ago, just vastly different in scale. She got a strong sensation of déjà
-vu from what she just saw, as it reminded her of a series of daydreams
-she often had when she was a little girl. But this isn’t a great time to
-fantasize about her prior dreams, is it?</p>
-<p>50, 49, 48 … Chris is steadily passing by the gates. It still puzzles
-her why are there so many gates in this station. She must have seen
-number as large as 200 when she was at the junction. Is there ever going
-to be enough rolling stock in Elysionia to warrant so many gates? Also
-why are they using <em>gates</em> at all? Train stations usually have
-just platforms don’t they? Is this why they said the new station would
-revolutionize railway transportation in Elysionia?</p>
-<p>30, 29, 28 … Chris is running out of her breath. She takes a look at
-her watch and realizes that she still has 10 minutes left. “Surely I can
-make it to gate 15 in ten minutes,” she says to herself. There are few
-people in this section of the station, and all the benches are vacant.
-She stops to take a quick breather. Mindlessly she glances at the floor
-brilliantly lit up from atop and saw her own image. “Holy heck,” mutters
-Chris, “it must take a lot of work to keep this station under such
-condition in the future.”</p>
-<p>When Chris passes by gate 25 she notices something is off. She halts
-her steps and looks back.</p>
-<div class="tf-gates-container">
-<div class="tf-gates">
-Gate<br>27
-</div>
-<div class="tf-gates">
-Gate<br>26
-</div>
-<div class="tf-gates">
-Porte<br>25
-</div>
-<div class="tf-gates-filler">
-
-</div>
-</div>
-<p>The language of the sign changed for some reason. This baffles Chris
-and makes her freeze in place for a good second. She has learned a
-little bit of French in her youth and can indeed understand the word.
-She just couldn’t understand why – Elysionia is an English speaking
-country and as long as English remains the lingua franca of the world,
-there really isn’t a good reason to change the language midway here.
-Maybe this gate is reserved for trains to and from France? Who
-knows…</p>
-<p>It didn’t take long until she notes another change in language. This
-time it’s German.</p>
-<div class="tf-gates-container">
-<div class="tf-gates">
-Porte<br>22
-</div>
-<div class="tf-gates">
-Bahnsteig<br>21
-</div>
-<div class="tf-gates-filler">
-
-</div>
-</div>
-<p>Only that Chris doesn’t know any German and wouldn’t be able to tell
-if the sign stands for “Slaughterhouse 21” with their scary long
-compound words. But she also feels a little bit reassured as her
-suspicion that these gates may be reserved for trains that connect to a
-different country could be right, or so she thought.</p>
-<p>As she assumes the bizarreness would end here, she finds out she was
-wrong, VERY wrong. Because this is what she sees next:</p>
-<div class="tf-gates-container">
-<div class="tf-gates">
-Imbarchi<br>19
-</div>
-<div class="tf-gates">
-INTROIRE·IN·CVRRVM<br>19⅓
-</div>
-<div class="tf-gates">
-INTROIRE·IN·CVRRVM<br>18
-</div>
-<div class="tf-gates-filler">
-
-</div>
-</div>
-<p>“What on earth is happening,” says Chris, “is this station going to
-pull a Platform 9¾ on me? Where would trains using this gate go anyway,
-Vatican City?”</p>
-<p>Just as she couldn’t stop admiring the exterior of the station when
-she just arrived, these signs don’t stop surprising her, and in an
-increasingly disturbing manner.</p>
-<div class="tf-gates-container">
-<div class="tf-gates">
-<p>INTROIRE·IN·CVRRVM<br> <span class="math inline">\(\begin{vmatrix} 3
-&amp; 5 &amp; 7 &amp; 4 \\ 1 &amp; \pi &amp; 6 &amp; 3 \\ 0 &amp; 7
-&amp; 5 &amp; 9 \\ 5 &amp; 4 &amp; 6 &amp;1 \end{vmatrix}\)</span></p>
-</div>
-<div class="tf-gates">
-<p>INTROIRE·IN·CVRRVM<br> <span class="math inline">\(|\mathrm{e}^{(\ln(61)+\mathrm{e}i)(-4-\frac{7274}{1024}i)}|\)</span></p>
-</div>
-<div class="tf-gates">
-<p>ᚷᛠᛏ<br> <span class="math inline">\(\displaystyle\int_{3}^{\frac{45}{7}} \sinh^{-1}(x)
-\cosh^{-1}(x)\,\mathrm{d}x\)</span></p>
-</div>
-<div class="tf-gates-filler">
-
-</div>
-</div>
-<p>Chris wasn’t good at math when she was in high school. She doesn’t
-even know what half of these symbols could ever mean. She doesn’t think
-she has seen the symbols on the last sign in any of the languages alive
-in the world nowadays either. What is this now, a time machine? As her
-confusion reaches the peak, Chris hears from the PA system:</p>
-<p>“Dear passenger Chris Xephyr, the train you are taking is departing
-in 3 minutes. Please board the train from Gate 15. Thank you.</p>
-<p>Cara Chris Xephyr viatrix, currus qui veheris abibit in tribus
-minutae. Amabo te, introi vehiculum ab porta XV. Gratias tibi.”</p>
-<p>“Who designed this godforsaken place…” exclaims Chris, “how does it
-know my name? This isn’t an airport is it?” She checks the gate closest
-to her, and there is no jet bridge to be seen, only rail tracks. Chris
-has never heard a single word from the PA system ever at any station she
-has been to in Elysionia. She scrambles to find her booking information,
-only to find out that it does say “New Elyssima” there. There is no time
-of departure or name of the passenger, as the booking system never asked
-for them. The station should never have known her name <em>or</em> which
-train she is taking. Her confusion grown into fear, Chris starts running
-again, even faster than before, almost like she’s being chased by a
-deadly monster that would instantly consume her if she gets caught.</p>
-<p>As Chris runs on, she feels the passing of time is slowing down, her
-limbs increasingly heavier, and gates seemingly becoming farther
-separated from each other. She could not hear a thing, not even the
-sough of wind passing by her ears. Her vision becoming darker, Chris
-starts to wonder how long she could keep running. She hasn’t seen a
-single person since the signs started speaking nonsense. She starts to
-contemplate her life choices, as one would inevitably start doing under
-such situation: why she couldn’t end the last call a bit earlier; why
-she had to book a ticket from the new station; is it really worth the
-agony she is experiencing right now; what if she went down the wrong way
-at the junction; why she wouldn’t choose to inherit her family land and
-be a farm girl staying at her hometown – after all if that were the case
-she wouldn’t have to endure any of what she has gone through in the last
-20 minutes. She no longer has the desire to revisit this place
-afterwards – if this is the future of railway transportation in
-Elysionia she might also avoid travelling by train altogether in the
-future – still she’s kind of curious what could be inside those tall
-towers she saw when she was outside the station. But obviously this is
-not the time to find out. The only thought in her head right now is to
-get out of this cursed place somehow.</p>
-<p>Chris runs into a person when she’s deep in her thoughts. She
-apologizes for her carelessness and is about to move on, only to realize
-that she would likely be able to find nobody that could help her if she
-missed this chance. Desperately she asks the person whether they know
-where gate 15 is. The person, not to Chris’ surprise at this point,
-started to speak complete gibberish in response.</p>
-<p>Chris doesn’t want to give up this easily. She continued, with the
-heavy breathing she got from all this running and almost in a pleading
-voice:</p>
-<p>“Did you hear the PA? <em>I</em> am that Chris Xephyr. Does hearing
-the PA calling out your name in a train station seem perfectly normal to
-you?!”</p>
-<p>Again, the person started to speak gibberish. Their demeanor seems
-confident, so they probably understood Chris just fine. But she isn’t to
-able to make out anything whatsoever from their speech, not even their
-body language. Frustrated, she thanks the person and resumes her
-seemingly impossible quest for gate 15.</p>
-<p>Before she is able to run more than a couple of steps, Chris
-collapses to the floor. The hem of her dress, still moving under
-inertia, flies ahead and covers her torso. A gentle breeze from the deep
-side of the corridor, presumably for the purpose of ventilation, blows
-it back to where it belongs, with the cutwork flapping around in the
-breeze. The person from whom she just sought help is now nowhere to be
-found, almost like they have never been there.</p>
-<hr class="tf">
-<p>Chris wakes up finding herself in the warm afternoon sun lying
-against her broom. She was again daydreaming during her housemaid duty.
-Fortunately there isn’t anyone home to catch her in the act. She rushes
-to the living room to find today’s newspaper, its headline reading “New
-Elyssima Train Station Project Dismissed”. She lets out a sigh of relief
-and continued her work.</p>
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