Cupboards and Cryogenics

Chapter 9

"Where is it?" Harry the Handler asks, looking around in confusion, clearly disappointed that there is not a train on the tracks. "Wanna take the twain."

"The location of the train is unknown. If we follow the tracks, we will most likely find a train eventually." That is, if these tracks are still in use. The Asset does not know if they are.

FIND A TRAIN.

He walks along the tracks for another 1.3 hours, while Harry eventually dozes in his arms and Nighty pads along beside them, occasionally stopping to eat grass for some reason.

The Asset uses his lock-picking kit to unlock the handcuff ring from around his flesh wrist. He had removed the cuff from his prosthesis to check under the wrist plates in the shed, but hadn't bothered with the one around his flesh wrist at the time.

At 2018, the sound of a train can be heard. It grows louder and the distant form speeds towards them, Harry the Handler blearily wakes up, nuzzling the Asset's neck. When he notices the train approaching, his eyes go wide with excitement.

Harry the Handler bounces slightly in the Asset's arms, chanting excitedly. "Twain! Twain!"

"Are we taking a twain?" It is clear that Harry the Handler still wants to. "'cos you don't have the Batmobile?"

"Affirmative, Harry."

The child smiles and talks about the 'Thomas stories on da telly' that he could hear from his cupboard when Dudley was watching it and how he could hear the whole story, not just people talking.

The Asset has no idea what his handler is talking about while he walks along the train tracks, but he listens to every word and stores the information for later. Are Thomas, Annie and Clarabel potential future targets? From the sound of it, they'd more likely become allies or possibly other handlers since Harry the Handler speaks of them fondly.

Except, from the boy's words, it seems that Thomas is a train.

As the real train nears, the Asset sees it is a freight train instead of a passenger train, which is fortunate in that there will not be other people riding it.

"Hold tight, Harry." The Asset says quietly, trying not to make it sound like he is commanding his superior.

"Yessir." The boy nods and wraps his too-thin arms around the Asset's neck while his legs tighten around his waist.

The Soldier keeps Harry the Handler tucked tightly to his side and holds onto the scruff of Nighty's neck with his flesh hand.

Harry the Handler goes back to bouncing slightly in the Asset's arms, chanting "Twain!" The movement makes the boy more cumbersome, especially in the Soldier's wounded flesh arm, but the Soldier cannot tell his superior to stop. He grits his teeth. Nighty is squirming even more from the Soldier's fist.

Jumping onto a moving train would kill any ordinary human, but the Asset has jumped on and off moving vehicles before. The Asset would easily be able to do it alone, but it will be trickier since he is functioning at 65% right now. In the past 24 hours, he has slept only 2.4 hours and sustained a gunshot wound. It is made even more difficult by the fact he is carrying a boy and dog with his injured arm, as well as several bags.

Still, the Soldier will not fail. Failure is unacceptable.

You miss that window, we're bugs on a windshield. A new voice in his mind says. It is partially incorrect. The Soldier would most likely survive, but Harry the Handler and Nighty would be splattered as the voice said.

He will not miss, but this is going to hurt when he makes it, though pain is hardly a novel experience to the Soldier.

As the freight train barrels past, the Asset takes a running leap and Harry screams. The scream sounds more excited than scared.