Shash booked the cheapest night train to Garud, which should have warned everyone that the destination was not entirely regulated by reality. Invictus brought snacks and spent the first hour telling the group to stay active, even though everyone was trapped in the same compartment. Vespera took a photo with the window reflection, liked it immediately, and said the lighting was “supernatural but flattering.” Ravenhart kept asking the conductor whether the ppl living ther accepted coins, credit, or experimental investments. quantam_voyager appeared halfway through the journey despite never boarding, while Kaiju sat silently in the corner he was holding a ticket which dated 1894.
At 2 47 am, the train entered a tunnel. The lights died. For three minutes, nobody spoke except the speakers
"we take no responsibilities for ppl that leave this train"
when the train stopped, the sign outside read "Karachi"
Shash stared at it. “This is not Garud.”
The sky was red and the platform was empty except for pale figure who was holding a broken sign which say "no returning trains"
The conductor smiled.
"Garud was the destination” he said. “Karachi is where cheap tickets take you first”
The ghost passengers began boarding.
Invictus whispered to others “Guys please be active.”
Something had scratched the windows.
Vespera looked at his reflection.
It smiled.
He had not.