Saigid didn't take the man's hand. Instead, he stood slowly, The man's smile falteredjust slightlyas he noticed the way Saigid's jaw tightened.
"...Something wrong?"
The crowd's relieved chatter faded. All eyes locked onto them.
Saigid exhaled through his nose. "You restored the train."
"Yyes?" The man blinked, confused. "I told you"
"With what?"
Silence.
Then
CRACK.
The overhead lights flickered violently. The pristine walls groaned as hairline fractures spiderwebbed across them. Someone screamed.
[WARNING: STABILIZATION FAILING]
[REVERTING TO ORIGINAL STATE IN: 00:45]
The sponsorman stumbled back, panic flashing across his face. "No, noit was working! I paid the coins, I!"
Saigid grabbed him by the collar, yanking him close enough to hiss: "You built this car out of corpses."
The man's pupils dilated. "Whno, that's notthe system said restoration"
"It lied."
The floor beneath them trembled. The carpet bulged unnaturally, as if something beneath it was breathing.
Saigid released him and turned to the petrified survivors. "Run. Now. The train driver's cab"
They didn't need telling twice. The stampede nearly knocked the sponsorman over as he stood frozen, staring at his hands.
"...I didn't know," he whispered.
Saigid didn't spare him a glance. He was already moving, vaulting over seats as the walls peeled apart behind him, revealing glimpses of tangled limbs and hollow eyes woven into the steel.
The intercom cracklednot the driver this time, but a distorted, guttural voice:
"Stabilization requires sacrifice. Always has. Always will."
Saigid stepped out of the wreckage. Hands raised.
"Don't shoot!"
Shattered metal rained down around him, but he stood in the open like it didn't matter.
"I'm not one of them."
An armed man, dressed in the same tactical equipment as his comrades, stepped forward. He didn't hesitate, lowering the gun. "Then who are you, buddy?"
"my name is Saigid. I would like you to tell us to help us, because by now the train is starting to consume people. If it's limited to that, of course," said Saigid, coming closer to the soldier.
The soldier's grip tightened on his rifle, his gaze flickering between Saigid and the shuddering wreckage of the train behind him. Behind the military cordon, hushed murmurs spreadorders being relayed, fingers hovering over triggers.
Then
A woman's scream ripped through the air.
Saigid didn't turn. He already knew what was happening. The train's fractures were widening, tendrils of black mist snaking out, curling around the legs of those too slow to escape. The sponsormanthe one who'd "restored" everythingwas clawing at the ground as something dragged him backward into the collapsing metal.
The soldier's eyes locked onto the horror unfolding behind Saigid. His jaw clenched.
"...Orders are to contain the anomaly. Not save anyone from it."
Saigid took another step forward. Close enough to see the man's name stitched onto his uniform. Cpt. Veld.
"Then contain us," Saigid said flatly. "Quarantine the survivors. Scan us. Interrogate us. Do whatever your protocol saysafter you pull those people out."
A beat of silence.
Then
"Move in!" Veld barked into his comms. "Suppression fire on the dark zonesget those civilians clear!"
The line of soldiers surged forward, rifles raised. Not at Saigid. Not at the survivors.
At the thing the train had become.
Saigid didn't wait. He spun on his heel and sprinted back toward the wreck, toward the screams.
The train itself turns into something.