Layla sat back in her seat and basked in those wavelengths of radiation that were filtered out by the time they reached the ground. Decades of research had confirmed that the extra radiation from flying so high wasn't dangerous to people, but it was enough that she could see it. The sun up here was brighter and clearer. She loved the days when sunspots played havok with electronics. To her eyes, the interference looked like aurora even in the southern parts of the United States. So she smiled as colors danced around her in ways no other could see.
Meanwhile, Thomas gripped the arms of his seat, leaving finger-shaped indentations. Sure, he would survive a crash, but it still scared the bejesus out of him. Not to mention he had to sit next to the creepy girl in the movie star clothes and dark sunglasses. She wore the strangest smile ever since they took off like the freaking plane relaxed her. It was enough that he had been captured and dropped into a place of freaks. Now, they expected him to go help them on a mission to subway in New York. He hadn't payed much attention to the briefing, but he got that no harm should come to the girl since she had some sort of superpower that let her see stuff like no one else. Whatever, he got to leave, so that was something.
Cities could be blinding. They were filled with so many different frequencies that Layla could hardly keep it all straight as a child. Long days of practice taught her which ones to filter out and how concentrate to see the ones that mattered from one moment to the next. Luckily for her, wifi signals were above the range of her sight. She probably would have gone mad if she could see every hotspot in the Greater Chicagoland Area where she used to live, or the Five Burroughs where she was heading now. She felt the plane decelerate, and the beautiful grew dimmer as the plane glided down toward the runway.
"Hey, are we there? Are we getting off of this thing anytime soon?" Thomas said loudly but below what could be called yelling. "Hey, are we landing yet?"
One of the agents in front turned around and cleared his throat with a hard look in Thomas's direction.
"I'm just wondering, okay?" Thomas sat back in his seat. The seatbelt light flashed on with a ding, but he hadn't taken his off. He leaned over toward the girl as the engines whined down. "So, what's this about a ghost train?"
"It is a time-traveling train, and we are supposed to retrieve someone from it." She was curt and her mouth had fallen into a thin line of disappointment. "Did you pay attention at all?"
"Yeah, sure. We go in and we get someone."
"That's what I just said." She turned to him. "I'm Layla, by the way. Thanks for asking."
"Thomas." He held out his hand and she took it without hesitation. "So, are you blind or something? I mean, the glasses. I knew a blind person once."
"I have a sort of blindness and a sort of sight."
The wheels hit the ground with a small bump that startled both of them. The plane taxied to a stop and the door opened.
"Come with us. We don't have much time." One of the agents hurried them out of the plane. The four of them piled into a black sedan that pulled off with a squeal of the tires. Thomas looked up at the skyscrapers looming across the river. Layla saw a city of light that extended from the sky to the ocean to the land.
---
Thomas put his hand out to help Layla out of the car. They were going to work together so he might be a little nice. "So, this is a subway train?"
"For the love of..." Layla trailed off. "Yes, Thomas."
"Huh. That's strange."
"Were you expecting something normal?" Layla grinned.
"I guess not." Thomas followed the agents down the stairs and into the station.
"It's so much darker down here." Layla looked back and saw the lights of the radio waves and x-rays and such fade as they walked farther from the stairs to the surface. Here, she was back to being nearly blind. "I'll need your help to navigate. This place is beyond my sight."
Thomas grabbed her elbow as gently as he could, but she still drew in her breath sharply at the vicelike strength. "There are all kinds of lights. It isn't even dark."
"It is to me." Layla felt more like a child than she had in a while. She didn't want to trust this brash man with an iron grip and loud voice.
"We are coming up on the rails. Everything looks normal to me."
Layla nodded. "I can see the electrical lines now. It was so bright outside. I think I can see the third rail, too."
Thomas guided Layla through a door that one of the agents unlocked with a keycard. As they stepped through, the station grew silent. He hadn't seen anyone on their way through. No passenger, at least. A few maintenance worker in orange reflective vests had milled around the stairs, but they moved too stiffly to be city employees. Whatever this phantom train was, the Foundation didn't want anyone near it.
Layla felt the change, too. The glow of the third line had become nothing more than a faint glimmer. If she turned her face, she could feel the heat of large lamps, but she did not see the power lines that fed them. Thomas stopped and loosened his grip. She was blind and immersed in a dead silence. A few moments passed, and an agent spoke.
"In a few moments, SCP-052 will appear at this platform. A passenger may or may not be thrown out of the doors. When we give the signal, you will both board the train and attempt to find its conductor. This conductor may answer to the name 'Trainman'. He is to be considered dangerous, but he must be subdued. Subject 2652, your task will be to subdue him and take him from the train when it next arrives on this platform. Subject 2911, you will attempt to discern the method of the time travel capabilities and disable the system if possible. Do you understand?"
"Yes," they said together.
"Subject 2652, protect her at all costs. We need the data she will collect."
"Yeah, nice to know where I stand on the totem pole." Thomas opened his mouth to say more, but the agent's look stopped him once again.
A point of yellowish light appear above the tracks in Layla's sight. The light rippled and grew until a hole burst open and the train burst through. It sent off waves of radiation in different parts of the spectrum as though the metal skin of the cars were heated by its passing from one time to the next. The shadow of a body stumbled forward out of the open door and collapsed on the platform a few feet from the train. Two maintenance workers rushed forward pulled the person to safety.
"Enter the train now." The agent's voice had the sound of urgency.
Thomas guided Layla to the door and they stepped into the train known as SCP-052.
End Part 1.