Chapter 7: Passengers of the Magnetic Train
The abandoned magnetic rail line suspended in midair stretched out like a ghost shimmering above the desert’s scorching heat. Elias and his team climbed onto the metal bridge beneath the iron framework and reached the station, where rusted cars waited. The solar panels on the station ceiling had collapsed long ago, but the energy radiating from the data crystal in Elias’s backpack was enough to trigger the station’s main generator. Beneath the blinking emergency lights, one of the automatic doors creaked open.
“I don’t think this train can still run,” the technician said, checking the energy key in hand. “The magnetic coils have been oxidizing for years.”
Elias pulled a glowing circuit component from the backpack and inserted it into the empty slot in the console. The instant the component settled into the system’s integrated socket, a sudden hum rose from inside the cars, and the floor trembled slightly. “It doesn’t need to run,” Elias said with a determined look. “We only need to reverse the magnetic polarity on the rails. This is the only safe route that can carry us to the mountain foothills where the second seal is located.”
As the car doors closed, the howl of the desert wind outside fell silent. With a sudden jolt, the train shot forward and began speeding toward the mountains to the west, gliding through the air above the desert. Watching the landscape through the window, Elias knew they had far less time now to unravel the secret of the second seal.