"Nnngh... Holy crap, my neck is as stiff as a board. Freakin' hate sleeping on trains like these..."
With a somewhat-weary sigh, Michael groaned as he woke up, rubbing the back of he neck as he opened his eyes. The tech conference was interesting, to be sure, but some of the objects seemed to be a bit too abstract to be of any use in daily life. Regardless of their usability, though, most of them seemed to do their intended job well enough...
But, quite frankly, all of them could be improved further. That was the life of an innovator, after all: making things better and better, then letting someone else pick up the torch and keep doing it.
It wasn't as if he was trying to get lost in his thoughts trying to rationalize this entire mess. Nope, no way. That text was a prank text. Had to be. So much so to the point where he didn't even take a look at the second message. He had simply fallen asleep and was at the train yard or something. Or maybe at some random stop somewhere along the line. Those were the only logical things that could've happened... Right?
"Okay, this is nice and a- shit, is my stuff all still here?" he muttered to himself as he checked his pockets for his valuable and his backpack to see if everything was still there.
It was.
"...Phew. Okay, well... I guess I might as well see what stop I'm at, right?" he continued, still muttering to himself as he grabbed his stuff and walked out of the train car. He didn't hear the engines running, so it seemed as if the 'random stop along the line' idea was probably wrong. It seemed as if a few other people had slept on the train, too. Well, it was everyone's fault for sleeping here, then... And, quite frankly, probably also the fault of whoever was conducting the trains. Wasn't there protocol in place to not let something like this happen?!
Saying that his expectations were thrown out the window after he stepped out of the train car would be a bit of an understatement. Rather than a plexiglass-covered dome or an underground station (or, well, both in one), Michael found himself in the middle of a forest, with nothing but a simple dirt road in front of him stretching to his right and left.
...
"...The hell?!"
Turning around to look at the train, Michael's eyes nearly bugged out when he saw that the train car was tucked quietly in between the trees--ONLY the train car, actually.
"...Is this a dream or something...?" he muttered to himself before pinching himself in the arm. Nope. Pain. Totally real.
"Okay, not a lucid dream. Huh. Damn. Does this mean that text wasn't just some prank thing? I swear, this is the craziest thing I've ever had happen to me..."
With a sigh, Michael casually pulled out his phone again and went to read the second message--the one that he had written off just moments ago. Things were becoming more and more surreal with every passing moment. As far as he knew, there were no forests anywhere near the city, so... How long was he out for?
"Hm. My tablet got... Upgraded? Well, whatever. I think getting somewhere safe takes priority right now. Is there still anyone sleeping in that thing? It's dangerous out here, after all," he said, stepping onto the dirt road before turning towards the train car. At the very least, he wasn't alone here; that was as good of a saving grace as any.
With a somewhat-weary sigh, Michael groaned as he woke up, rubbing the back of he neck as he opened his eyes. The tech conference was interesting, to be sure, but some of the objects seemed to be a bit too abstract to be of any use in daily life. Regardless of their usability, though, most of them seemed to do their intended job well enough...
But, quite frankly, all of them could be improved further. That was the life of an innovator, after all: making things better and better, then letting someone else pick up the torch and keep doing it.
It wasn't as if he was trying to get lost in his thoughts trying to rationalize this entire mess. Nope, no way. That text was a prank text. Had to be. So much so to the point where he didn't even take a look at the second message. He had simply fallen asleep and was at the train yard or something. Or maybe at some random stop somewhere along the line. Those were the only logical things that could've happened... Right?
"Okay, this is nice and a- shit, is my stuff all still here?" he muttered to himself as he checked his pockets for his valuable and his backpack to see if everything was still there.
It was.
"...Phew. Okay, well... I guess I might as well see what stop I'm at, right?" he continued, still muttering to himself as he grabbed his stuff and walked out of the train car. He didn't hear the engines running, so it seemed as if the 'random stop along the line' idea was probably wrong. It seemed as if a few other people had slept on the train, too. Well, it was everyone's fault for sleeping here, then... And, quite frankly, probably also the fault of whoever was conducting the trains. Wasn't there protocol in place to not let something like this happen?!
Saying that his expectations were thrown out the window after he stepped out of the train car would be a bit of an understatement. Rather than a plexiglass-covered dome or an underground station (or, well, both in one), Michael found himself in the middle of a forest, with nothing but a simple dirt road in front of him stretching to his right and left.
...
"...The hell?!"
Turning around to look at the train, Michael's eyes nearly bugged out when he saw that the train car was tucked quietly in between the trees--ONLY the train car, actually.
"...Is this a dream or something...?" he muttered to himself before pinching himself in the arm. Nope. Pain. Totally real.
"Okay, not a lucid dream. Huh. Damn. Does this mean that text wasn't just some prank thing? I swear, this is the craziest thing I've ever had happen to me..."
With a sigh, Michael casually pulled out his phone again and went to read the second message--the one that he had written off just moments ago. Things were becoming more and more surreal with every passing moment. As far as he knew, there were no forests anywhere near the city, so... How long was he out for?
"Hm. My tablet got... Upgraded? Well, whatever. I think getting somewhere safe takes priority right now. Is there still anyone sleeping in that thing? It's dangerous out here, after all," he said, stepping onto the dirt road before turning towards the train car. At the very least, he wasn't alone here; that was as good of a saving grace as any.