251 Borough Station

A storm brewed, painting an entire city black with somber. What was actually left of Oaneson resembled ruins. Here was no different. On this rainy day, Weeds protruded from every track and ivies scaled its slated walls. Muculent concoctions of dirt and sludge oozed from the slightest of crevices, disturbing any chance of silence with each echoing plop.  Despite this, the abandoned station was home to a few, and in particular, an orphaned girl traversed its dank halls to reach what she considered home. Fearful she was not, but all that guided her were the stations cold, damp walls and a misty mental map of the station. Her head lowered, sensing something irregular and instantly her body froze in anticipation of a sound she had not heard since she was young. A train was coming. 

“How could this be?” she thought. She was scared, but beset with the urge to continue forward. She navigated the station enough to be by the platforms edge. To her right she could see the tunnel illuminate with a faint purple glow. At first it didn’t strike her as odd but the closer the train the further she became witness to something indefinitely strange. The train was completely translucent. Through its frame she could see a mysterious passenger anticipating his stop aboard. 

From the natural luminance the car gave off she could finally see the entirety of the station for the first time in her life. The train came to a stop and long before the doors opened she figured it was too late to run, hence, she waited. The person who left the train before her wasn’t menacing by any means, but to be honest he wasn’t really a person at all. Sure, he was dressed somewhat in 80’s detective style atire with his long overcoat and brimmed hat but the fact wouldn’t change that he was some sort of humanoid cat. His pure black fur resembled obsidian and currently he wore glasses, though she couldn’t determine if they weren’t just for show.

“Greetings young lady. I don’t suppose you were waiting for that train were you? I don’t think you want to aboard that. Carry on now.”

The girl was completely baffled by his existence. She’s never seen a walking cat before, let alone human sized. How else could she respond other than asking for his name and so she did.

“Wait!” she screamed, attempting to stop him before he left. “Who are you?”

Normally, asking this bizarre individual of his name was a question that went unanswered. Since she was no older than eleven he thought nothing of it and decided it didn’t matter. 

“Merse Granstrum is the name. Now if you don’t mind I’ll be off to some personal matters.” Peculiarly enough, he didn’t receive a response. Not one immediately at least. Halfway up a flight of steps he could sense the girl was following him. Before he could turn around he heard a voice that that was profoundly different from the one she originally addressed him with.

“I was expecting you.”

Jolting his head around, the girl ran off instantly before he could say anything in response. Something was undeniably off and Merse was certainly aware but his thoughts couldn’t process anything other than that. Perhaps he’d find out later but he arrived at 251 Borough station for a reason. It was a check point he previously created to support his otherworldly method of transportation. The truth is, many times he had come to this very location for business. He might also have something to do with their fall as a civilization. If one thing could be inferred from this, Merse was a dangerous man. As a galactic information broker his job entailed many things to ensure profit. Morality often fell short.

When he did reach the top of the stairs he succumbed to a feeling mystification. Merse’s ears twitched and eyes twiched as he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Often he prided himself on practically knowing almost too much and here he was suddenly standing in a city almost utopia like after he took deliberate measures to sabotage and succeeded in taking down this culture years ago prior. Apparently it rose up again without him even getting so much as a clue.

A perplexed expression filled his face and for a moment he pondered about turning back. Curiosity would get the best out of him however. He calmly paced towards the nearest café in hopes of grabbing a newspaper. You would think as a enemy to the people of Oaneson someone was bound to notice him but much of what he did was behind the scenes. Very few people who knew his involvement and less than a handful were even expected to be alive. Nevertheless he did shift his appearance rather precariously. His appearance was that of a middle aged human male. It was a wise mood to hide his identity but either way he could very well be walking directly into a trap, not that he knew…