Chapter 7: A: Lily’s Keycard

👉 Previous Decision: You chose to send Ethan to wake off-duty Officer O’Reilly while Maya guards Lily.

“Find O’Reilly, Ethan!” Maya shouted over the roar of the train, Lily clutched tightly to her hip. “Tell him everything. We need help now!”

Ethan nodded, his face grim with newfound understanding. He took off, sprinting toward the front of the train, toward the passenger cars where Officer O’Reilly might be. Julian, still rooted in the corridor, simply watched him go, a smirk playing on his lips. He knew Ethan had seen the conductor. His game of gaslighting was over with her brother, but not yet with the world.

Maya pulled Lily closer, trying to shield her from the terror. The train rocked violently, groaning under the strain of its speed. Julian, seemingly unconcerned by Ethan’s actions, casually slipped into an empty four-person seating area nearby, pulling a discarded newspaper from a seat and spreading it open. His own coat, a heavy wool overcoat, was draped over the back of the seat, slightly ajar.

Lily squirmed in Maya’s arms, then pointed. “Da!” she babbled, her tiny finger extended.

Maya looked. Lily wasn’t pointing at Julian, but at his coat. The little girl had spotted something. Maya set Lily down, guiding her. Lily toddled toward Julian’s coat with surprising speed, her small hand reaching into a pocket.

With a triumphant giggle, Lily pulled out a small, metallic card. It glinted under the dim emergency light, marked with a distinctive train logo and the words: “ENGINE OVERRIDE – MANUAL ACCESS.” It was a keycard, specifically for the engine. A keycard Julian should not have.

A new twist, a chilling piece of direct evidence. The engineer’s keycard. Julian had it.

Just then, Ethan returned, breathless, with a tall, broad-shouldered man in tow. “Maya, this is Officer O’Reilly. He’s off-duty, but he’s here.”

O’Reilly’s eyes were sharp, scanning the accelerating carriage, then Julian, then Maya and the small card in Lily’s hand.