THE CONSTRUCT: In The End

PART EIGHT

12.

The day for a conductor on a train like the one Nigel and Josh so happens to be travelling on typically begins well before the passengers even think about coming aboard. Arriving early, the conductor is responsible for checking the train's readiness, ensuring all carriages are secure, clean, and properly supplied. They verify the schedule, coordinate with the engineer and station staff, and review safety protocols before departure.

Once the journey is underway, the conductor moves through the carriages, checking tickets and assisting passengers with seating or queries. They ensure everyone's safety by making regular announcements, monitoring for any disturbances, and being the point of contact in emergencies. The conductor also keeps a careful eye on the train's timing, works closely with the driver to manage stops and departures, and oversees the boarding and disembarkation process at each station.

Throughout the journey, it's the conductor's responsibility to maintain order and comfort. They handle any incidents or complaints, provide information about connections or delays, and sometimes assist with luggage or accessibility needs. At the end of the line, the conductor helps with final checks, ensures the train is secure, and completes reports on the journey's events before ending their shift.

There is a certain element to this train's conductor, as if he were a non-player character in a sophisticated and realistic game, someone self-aware yet not self-aware but what if he were to become self-aware to the degree that he actually knows where he really is and who he really is, a conductor in in a virtual construct created for the most part by someone who is only partially aware of this fact.

But what would it mean for the experience of the passengers if the conductor's awareness shifted? Would his actions remain the same, or would subtle changes in his behaviour begin to emerge, shaped by this newfound understanding? This blurring of boundaries between programmed purpose and independent thought invites questions about routine, agency, and the nature of reality itself.

It a most odd of odd carriages a body lays still in a low-lying fog like mist that swirls in reaction to any and all movement which comes through it, a carriage with dimmed flickering light. Steve the barman, a colleague in another world, lost to the moment and the ominous certainty that all may not be well.

Creator and creations aside, messages sent and delivered, if not completely understood, how to combat a threat when so much is unknown and unknowable is somewhat of a mystery. Help would be something greatly appreciated and it may just come from an unlikely source. A dangerous man may have departed one end of the carriage, but another man arrives from the entrance Nigel and Josh had come from. He is the train conductor, and he may now be a conductor of other things too.

'Gentlemen ...' speaks the conductor, '... if you would kingly follow me, please.'

Nigel and Josh look one another in the eyes for a moment. What else could they do in this moment other than do what was suggested to them?

They gather themselves, feeling the peculiar weight of the moment, and step forward into the swirling mist. With each stride, the veil of uncertainty seems to thicken, yet the presence of the conductor offers a fragile sense of direction, as if his awareness reaches beyond the rails and routines. The journey ahead may hold answers, or only deeper mysteries, but for now, they follow, trusting that help .... however unconventional it may appear ... might be found in his lead.

Nigel feels a certain guilt in leaving Steve lying on that carriage floor, realistically what could he do. There was a disappearance. Steve had vanished ... for some reason or other, Nigel believes that Steve is still right there. In the moment that is, the conductor is not hanging around, he is not waiting for no one so it's either follow him and see where they are led to or stay and become even more lost than anyone can be, if that is at all possible.

13.

Beyond the confines of the construct, Steve might have been someone with a parallel existence moving right along this virtual realm ... a barman in another world, grounded in the ordinary rhythms of daily life. Perhaps he was a figure marked by routines, hospitality, and familiarity, someone whose skills in listening and managing the unexpected translated into a subtle resilience within the construct.

His presence here, lost to the moment, hints at a backstory where he was a confidant, an observer of people's stories, now caught between realities and searching for meaning in this new, uncertain space. He had appeared as if he belonged here, perhaps he himself some other kind of non-player construct entity based upon someone from the real world.

If this were true, then what could he potentially have provided to Nigel and Josh? A general non interactive element whose actual interaction was limited to providing liquid sustenance. He wouldn't have been destroyed if that is all he was around to provide, would he have? There must be something more.

And in such a thought, is he therefore dead at all? Can he regenerate, come back and have an impact? If he could then the one who took him out would surely have known, or maybe not. That other fellow is from the outside, right? The attacking force, he is part of those who have invaded, himself in some divided. And perhaps that lady, Una, attempted to interject herself, and in doing such, she has been removed.

As it is, the conductor leads Nigel and Josh through three carriages, ... as this occurs, it has become clear that outside of the train have fallen to darkness. It may make for an interesting thought as to what exactly is on the outside of the train. Nigel and Josh may soon get to find out, for as they move through those three carriages it is clear that the train is slowing.

'Gentlemen ...' speaks the conductor addressing the two men he had come to. 'I'm afraid this is the end of the line for you both ... not the end of your story ... just an end as in how far this train can take you. I would ask you to depart the train when it comes toa full stop.'

Confusion is ever growing though two men remain silent as the conductor imparts a few more words to his passengers.

'I see two that need to be one. This is of upmost importance, two that need to be one ... preceded and succeeded. You have it within you both to see all this through in a successful manner, so I wish you both all the luck and I do hope you consider travelling with us once again in the near future ...'

The conductor departs the present company and Nigel briefly consider following him though the train has almost come to a complete halt. He and Josh will need to depart to go where exactly? Such is the great unknown. Onwards and upwards or in this case ... onwards and outwards ...

As the wheels ground softly against the rails, a hush seemed to fall over the carriage, heavy with anticipation. Nigel glanced at Josh, searching his companion's face for any sign of clarity or resolve, but found only the same uncertainty mirrored in his own eyes. The dim light flickered overhead, throwing brief shadows across the worn floor, and for a moment, the world outside the windows pressed in ... nothing more than a deep, impenetrable void.

They both wondered, not for the first time, what waited for them beyond the threshold, and whether the journey ahead would demand more from them than the train ever had. The familiar confines were about to be exchanged for the mystery that lay just out of sight, and with each slowing breath of the engine, the future drew closer, insistent and unknown.

Did they have any kind of luggage or belongings? ... something neither are considering or paying any particular attention to. Josh certainly doesn't, whatever Nigel might have had is of no consequence otherwise it would play on his mind to some degree. If Nigel created this construct and if Josh had any part in its building, then wouldn't there be built in provisions available to them, even if it is just at certain points or locations.

There is no particular need for any consideration for such in this moment. The more immediate consideration at hand is the alighting of the train and what to do once this is done. Once step at a time, take it from there and see where it goes.

With a low shudder, the train finally came to rest. The silence that followed was thick, as if the very air inside the carriage held its breath. Nigel swallowed, feeling the weight of possibility pressing in. There was no going back ... the doors would need to be opened soon, and whatever waited outside would be theirs to face together. The moment seemed suspended between the known and the unknown, a threshold neither of them could yet see past, but one they must inevitably cross.