Sly Key: Part I

Beau Train

By Jem Morgenstern

Beau Train was unquestionably the most pathetic character in xer own life, but only by xer own standards. By another person’s standards, xe might have been the second most pathetic character, only nearly pathetic, or not pathetic at all. Xer drab sense of reality was likely a result of xer heightened expectations of life that came with a childhood filled with exploration and adventure. Beau’s parents were international explorative pirates who crossed lands and oceans without a crew’s assistance. They were beyond measurable credibility. Beau’s life after childhood had been nothing but credible. It was depressing.

By the time xe learned to walk, Beau had discovered four lost lands: Paititi, Ys, Shangri-La, and Mu. Of course, xe wasn’t aware of why these places mattered and only has brief memories of these places from xer parent’s final world tour in which they visited each of their favorite places one more time before retiring from piracy. However, this tour only inspired them to leave Beau with xer grandmother as they continued their career without the pressure of keeping a child safe.

Beau Train has since thirsted for the return to a life of exploration and constant danger. This is why xe now stood on top of a speeding armored train going across the Trans-Siberian Railway with misaimed bullets threatening xer life as xe shot some back in their direction. The wind was blinding, deafening, cold. The next railcar had a rooftop hatch. Inching closer, watching xer steps as closely as xe watched the ill-trained pawns of corporate villainy inch their way closer, too. Exciting, dangerous, heart pounding, childhood renewed: this is what Beau had wanted. Xe went three steps closer to the hatch and opened it with a relieving but disappointing ease. Beau was in.

The interior was elegant and perfectly crafted, aching with the essence of wealth. Spotless tables and chairs crafted from zitan wood, garnet red curtains, pearl white rug flowing down the aisle with no marks or stains. This sort of brilliance was only ever found in the lost worlds and the property of evil. Beau questioned their need for luxury, often. The grace and delicacy served no purpose and was a needless expense. Every notable villain xe had met and heard of in xer parents’ stories were keen on grandeur and presenting themselves as nobility, however, it would be more opportunistic for them to spend more on protecting their investment in capital greed - as xe had always thought they should do.

The train shook and a man fell from the top of the train. His cry for help sounded like the countless others Beau had heard in xer life. Work as a pawn in the scheme of evil corporations seemed to attract a specific kind of person. A very specific kind of person: same build, same height, same vocals, same disrespect for the historical and architectural significance of ancient cities. These people are found nowhere else. They don’t exist beyond the villainy. This made it somewhat easier for Beau to live with the fact that xe is responsible for the deaths of possibly hundreds of these people. Even with it right in front of xer eyes, this life still felt like a dream. Reality waited in the past.

Heavy soles pounded the car roof as the militarized pawns rushed towards the hatch. Beau passed the wasted elegance, towards the door to the next car. The train shook again; another man fell with a near identical cry for help. Xe opened the door and looked down at the tracks: rocks and dirt, metal and wood, speed and danger. Xe hopped to the next car, but its door was locked. Weaponized heavy-clad men now stood in the magnificence of the previous car, staining the white rug with their unwashed boots. Beau was at a dead end. The men took aim and stood in that idle formation for what seemed to be a few seconds. Just before they had the chance to tear through xer with their copper and lead, xe swung onto the side of the speeding train.

These last-minute escapes litter the trails to lost worlds and bountiful treasures. Without them, a true explorer would know they are going the wrong way. The struggles, complications, and obstacles mark the path.

Only seconds ahead, a tunnel waited for the train, with Beau still hanging on its side. Hand by hand and foot by foot, xe made xer way towards the lonely window at the center of the car. When at the window, xe bashed against its glass with the hilt of xer gun. It began to crack, but wouldn’t break. The train still sped quickly towards the tunnel ahead; Beau took a glance. Xe hit the window glass harder, until it began to shatter. Piece by piece, the window broke apart. With the window gone, Beau could climb inside.

The interior of this car was much different, compared to the last: less windows, no needless elegance, no pack of weaponized mercenaries. Besides a few wooden shipping crates, it was empty. Beau broke them open with a sturdy kick from the heel of xer boot. The crates were hardly at capacity, each had either one item or less. In all, xe found only two cases of bullets and a simple medical kit.

The mercenaries were now trying to get in. The small platform outside the door allowed for only one of them to slam his shoulder against the door’s solid wood. Beau made xer way to the door at the other end of the car, somewhat expecting it to open without challenge. It wouldn’t budge. Anger and frustration washed over xer, then worry. Xe knew escaping through the window again wasn’t an option; the tunnel passage was uncomfortably narrow. This door was the only exit. Xe tried breaking it open with the force of xer entire body, shot at the door’s handles and hinges, pushed and pulled. Nothing helped. The door wouldn’t move. Xe stopped the strenuous effort to open the door and took deep breaths, thinking. The meager calmness was interrupted by a loud crack at the other door. The mercenaries were getting in. Xe tried ramming into xer own door with xer body again, again, and again. Four times more until the  door at the other end tore open.

Beau looked back, knowing but not wanting to believe that xe had less than seconds to escape. Xer mind went blank and xer body stiffened. The mercenaries walked towards xer. Every sound they made was amplified by fear: their heavy footsteps, ruffling of their clothes, clacking of their guns. By the time xe regained xer sense to survive, it felt as if minutes had passed. Xe glanced over every foot of the car for way to escape. Feeling the thuds of the footsteps as they pressed closer. Xe could feel the energy build inside, as xer body readied itself to flee. It was too late for that. The mercenaries were within an arm’s distance. Beau focused xer attention on one of the menacing figures and felt the vivid memory form in xer mind. A terrible pain shook the side of xer head and xe felt ximself fall to the floor.

An ocean of green water meets the edge of a white-sanded beach. The sounds of the rolling waves stir with the rustles of wind through the trees. The sky is covered by greying clouds, with a bright blue seeping through the cracks. Rain begins to fall, slowly and gently. A strong gust of wind drags fallen leaves and loose twigs across the ground. Scents of heavy wood and iodine coalesce, inducing the air with the smell of salty oak. The clouds darken and the blue becomes less apparent with each second. Thunder intermittently drowns the sounds of waves and wind, despite the both of them increasing greatly in power as the storm twists the tranquility of the beach. Gusts of wind bend the trees and tear leaves from their limbs.  Waves crash, instead of gently flowing up and down the slope of sand. The ocean darkens with the sky.