For his part, Hakuro had to agree that none of this was really creepy, as Ava had asserted.  No, as much as the train was weird and the hosts were kind of hard to place, he did not feel threatened at all.  This place was more-or-less relaxing, and the company entertaining.  The only thing that he wasn't sure about...was whether Amari was female or not.  Alex seemed to think so, and the Attendant did absolutely nothing to dissuade him.  But then...there was no [i]confirmation[/i] at any point, either.  It was all very ambiguous, like the state of the exterior of the train.  He'd looked out the window and thought he saw Big Ben out there, and that it was rotating...only the train was also [i]turning[/i], so were they going around it, or was it moving on its own?  It's like when you stare at a lake and wonder if the opposition shoreline is actually mmoving while the lake is actually still.  Stuff like that, optical illusions.

What this all came down to, as Alex explained to Ava, was something Hakuro had heard about in class, and before that other places.  In philosophy, in psychology, there is a concept: Everything is unconsciously connected to one other.  Our thoughts and memories, our habits and mannerisms, our teachings, our history, and everything down to the first instinct - it is all linked in one place that we all share that's in the back of our brains and existent all over the place.  In Philosophy Class, you'd be asked things like "Where is the human mind, as opposed to the human [i]brain?[/i]", because the brain is just the organ that manages our body.  But where in all that gray matter is the mind?  The frontal lobe?  The pineal gland?  We don't know.  The human mind doesn't seem to [i]have[/i] a location.  You may as well be asking "Where is the human soul?", because you won't find it on any map.  But here...in the Velvet Room and whatever this place it resided in was...maybe you [i]could[/i] find it.  Maybe here was where it truly existed.

And that was the point, basically.  The Collective Unconscious was the full gathering of all of our minds, our dreams, our perceptions of reality.  This was deep stuff, deep enough to create a [i]world[/i].  Igor had come all this way to give them a heads-up, that things might be going down.  They were taking a romp through a world unlike their own, and he cautioned them to be careful out there.  Once Alex was done informing Ava of what he thought was going on - what seemed as good an explanation as anything else - he turned back to Igor once more, asking the how and...  Yeah, he'd had those cards out and...they looked like Tarot Cards.  What was up with that?

[b][color=004b80]"Oh, [i]these[/i] cards?  They're yours."[/color][/b]

He raised a hand, and they flew out into the open air, facing the three, side-by-side at first, but then moving to rotate around each other.  They were The Priestess, The Emperor, and The Fortune, respectively.

[b][color=004b80]"This journey has already taken its first step.  Three forces of personality have come in contact with one another, and soon they will draw in more and more to their place, to come here."[/color][/b]

More cards appeared, taking on orbits around the three, yet also changing their respective trajectories in a harmonious fashion.  Hakuro saw The Chariot, the Tower, the Hanged Man, and so on...  And then, at the center, there appeared [i]another[/i] card: The Sun.

[color=004b80][b]"Each person has their place in the world, and they are both driven and influenced by the force of their own existence and the interaction of others.  They are confidents, friends, cammon associates, and the like.  They orbit around each other, each with their own path in life that can be altered at the drop of a hat."[/b][/color]

Igor ignored that Hakuro dropped his hat for effect.

[color=004b80][b]"What is our purpose, our reason to exist?  Why are we here?  Where are we going?  We ask this of ourselves all the time, even if we do not know it.  Perhaps we are [i]looking[/i] for purpose, or perhaps what our goals were have been dashed, or perhaps we've known all along and work ever-so-quietly towards it.  Ultimately, the greater purpose may elude us because the outline of it is so great that we cannot see the entire picture, or that it was staring us in the face the entire time that we simply did not notice it."[/b][/color]

All the cards vanished, except for the original three...and The Sun, still hanging between them.  And then, The Moon appeared!

[b][color=004b80]"I give you...your starting point, to see the whole picture, to see what the influence of your lives and others do to this world, to see its purpose...and to know your own."[/color][/b]

The Priestess, The Emperor, and The Fortune flew over and landed in the hands and hat of Ava, Alex, and Hakuro respectively.  Hakuro looked down at the card as he picked up his hat, then back at Igor and Amari.  The Sun and The Moon were still there in mid-air.

[color=00a651]"Who are [i]they[/i], then?"[/color]

[b][color=004b80]"One you must seek and one you must find.  The Moon will wander along the path to this world.  The Sun will guide you in this place.  Look carefully, all of you.  Your lives may depend on every detail you see.  There are those that make it here, without guidance and purpose, without hope or help, and they have fallen..."[/color][/b]

The three of them could now feel the train coming to a halt, and saw that Amari had produced an old-style microphone from...somewhere.  The outside looked EXACTLY the same as when they first came in here.

[b][color=fff200]"Now arriving at Velvet Station!  Everybody off!  And please remember to [i]mind the gap![/i]"[/color][/b]

[color=004b80][b]"This is the end of the line, for now, but the end is also the beginning, and we will meet again when you enter this world of your own free will.  'Till then...farewell."[/b][/color]

The doors opened, everything got all foggy, and soon...they would awaken where they had fallen asleep, prior to arrival.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Hakuro found himself with his head on his desk, by the computer.  Oh, he must've blacked out.  Too tired or something.  His head hurt a bit too.  Should be more careful...  Ah well.  A quick look around the site, and then to bed for real, this time.  He had a funny dream with this train and a big nose and...  He paused, then.  There was a response to his question about tree-climbing in London that struck him, suddenly, as familiar: 

[b]"It's not really proper, though.  Pip, pip!"[/b]