18: Norian City.

"This has turned into a really bad train ride," Irina said, looking out of the cabin window, watching the scenery pass by, though her eyes were rather dull, she even yawned. 

"Nobody expected this, but it's better than in other cases," said Alexis, who was cleaning his enchanted pistol, showing quite a lot of care and appreciation for this weapon. 

"By other cases, do you mean that super weird anomaly that happens on train rides?" asked Lisa, who was lying on one of the cots in the luxury cabin. 

Even though it was deluxe, the space in the upper-class cars was not infinite, so the beds were quite close to the other cabin furnishings, although from what everyone thought after sleeping in them the night before, they felt quite comfortable. 

"Yes, the 'Ghost Train', the last time it happened was 20 years ago and it was a mess," Alexis replied, finishing cleaning his gun, tucking it into his waistband, and then adjusting his glasses. 

"But even though it has the name Ghost, that nickname was the one people gave it after they got the news, based on folklore. The thing is, the train wasn't ghostly... it was scary," Alexis explained, her words catching the full attention of her classmates. 

Even the bored Irina, dropped her hands from her chin and looked excitedly at Alexis, who coughed a little to clear her throat before continuing to explain. 

"It has only happened about three times, but each time this anomaly has occurred, it has caused many casualties among normal people and operators. All because the train takes on extremely strange properties, being able to access unusual and unnatural 'stops'. 

It seems that except for the last stop, which is in a place in our world, all the other stops are in places out of this world, or perhaps in undefined parts of our world. 

But of the things seen and found in these places, the theory that this train is traveling through space to other worlds is the most accepted. Public reports have spoken of strange places like post-apocalyptic places full of ruins and even people with different languages, clothes, and attitudes. 

A normal city, quite crowded and with things only found in ancient ruins. Places where giant creatures fought each other, and one of the deadliest was a cave full of giant spiders that could speak. 

Although we didn't understand their language, their attack on the people on the train made their hostility towards us humans clear" Alexis touched his throat, feeling a little uncomfortable, but Jack handed him a glass of ice water. 

"Has any attempt been made to explore some of these places?" asked Jack, quite intrigued by the information his companion had shared. 

"Not really, no one knows what happens to those who get off the train at those moments, they see everything through the windows. Those who decided to get off and explore might have been stranded in those strange places... or in those worlds different from ours," Alexis finished her story, but it only awakened the minds of everyone who started to think of their conclusions. 

"Other worlds... Could some strange things have crept into our world from those places?" asked Jack curiously, his question making his companions think. 

"Who knows? If the train can cross worlds, maybe something from those worlds has boarded it, as much as we can. Can you imagine meeting a person from another world? What would they be like? Would they use Pneuma?" Irina went the other way and asked about a much more plausible possibility. 

"They would be a danger to us," Laria replied, pausing for a moment before continuing. 

"If someone from another world were to use this anomaly to enter our world, the microorganisms on it would certainly be something we are not adapted to and would cause a deadly plague on our world.

Since that hasn't happened yet, it's safe to say that probably no one has smuggled themselves into our world, but undoubtedly those who have stayed at those stops have done quite a bit of damage to those environments. 

We have so many microorganisms in our bodies that just one person sneezing in a new world would spread deadly diseases. Even if they died... it would only be worse," Laria used her medical knowledge to talk about this topic, freezing the blood of her companions. 

"That's damn scary," Lisa replied with a sigh, who had accidentally held her breath, this topic was really scary if you looked at it from certain angles.

"When you put it like that... it's really scary," Irina mumbled before snapping her fingers because something had occurred to her. 

"Wait! What if those Contamination Zones, which are like separate worlds from ours, are reflections of those different worlds that the anomaly traveled through on the Ghost Train?

Think about it! If those brown ones are other worlds, the incursion of fragments of those worlds into ours would create the most serious Contamination Zones in ours, like Fairy Tale, the zone of children's fairy tales," Irina's words paused the situation in the cockpit. 

"If so, this assumption has certainly been taken into account by the higher-ups. But the Fairy Tale Zone has strict rules, as we explored. For example, you have to speak in a sing-songy tone or you will be called 'dark' and harassed by oddities beings," Jack replied, using the available knowledge about this contamination zone. 

"True, we must keep in mind that the Contamination Zones may seem worlds apart... but they are not. They are zones with their own rules and functioning, flaws imprinted on our reality, where everything is gradually distorted, and molded into something else. 

Many Fairy Tale explorers have been transformed into creatures similar to children's characters and fables, talking animals for example," Alexis clarified, so Irina's hypothesis had no real basis. 

After all, would there be a world so crazy as to be entirely a children's tale?

...

After discussing topics ranging from the possibility of other worlds to the taste of ice cream, an announcement over the train's loudspeakers caught the team's attention.

"Attention, passengers! We are five minutes away from our next stop, Norian City. A place full of beautiful forests with giant trees, an active nightlife, and places with rich history," the female voice of the announcer prompted Irina to look out the window. 

"Wow, it is a beautiful city from a distance," Irina's words made her teammates look out the window as well and see the splendor of the city. 

When the advertisement mentioned giant trees, it was not a euphemism, you could see huge trees with leaves of an intense golden color, as if they were made of molten gold. 

The sun reflecting off these leaves only made the city of Norian appear to be bathed in a layer of gold, making the view from a distance exceptionally beautiful. 

"We have to take a picture under one of these trees, I hope the UNMSO branch has a camera, they are expensive, but the organization can afford it," Alexis muttered excitedly, he had to adjust his glasses at this point, but even without them he could still admire the beautiful scenery in front of him.

"We have to, every one a copy," Lisa said before she started to check the luggage, not wanting to leave anything behind. 

"At least this time we can go to the hotel without something strange showing up when we get there," Irina said as she stretched, but the eyes of her companions fell on her. 

"You just cursed it," Jack touched his face in frustration as his sixth sense seemed to react slightly to something in the distance.

"If someone else said that, I'd think you were just complaining about my words, but you? Did you feel something?" Irina quickly noticed that Jack had tensed up a bit, even bringing one of his hands to the gun at his waist. 

"Nothing dangerous, but something probably annoying," Jack replied before going through the luggage with Lisa. 

He didn't want to leave anything behind and wanted to prepare some extra bullets in case he needed them. Laria on her side started to put several bottles of potions in her belt, while Alexis checked his body and counted the bombs he had stashed in his pockets. 

"We have no peace," muttered Irina, who took one last look at the huge golden trees before approaching Lisa and Jack.

Even though she usually didn't use her pistol, she should at least have a magazine or two ready for any situation. Then the train began to stop as another announcement came over the loudspeakers. 

"We have arrived at the Norian City station! Please exit through the doors opened by the train staff and follow the instructions of the station staff.

We hope you have enjoyed the ride. We will remain in this city for two hours before resuming our journey. Next stop, Sunflower City!" the female voice announced before the instrumental part of a soft song began to play. 

"Ah, that city with a lot of sunflowers must be a sight to see!" said Lisa as she carried a large suitcase. 

"It's because of a Bienen colony near the city. They make the soil excessively fertile, and someone neglected some sunflower seeds hundreds of years ago, resulting in that situation," Laria replied, looking intently at a test tube. 

"The smelling potion?" Alexis asked Laria curiously. 

"Yes, remember to put some on so you don't fall for the Mimic's tricks, I don't want to have to suffer the cliché of guessing who the real one is," Laria said before smearing one of her fingers with the potion and then applying it to her neck.

Laria then approached Jack and smeared the potion on his neck in the same way. Alexis took the bottle and did the same before passing it to Irina, who smeared the potion on herself before applying it to Lisa. 

"For 12 hours, if you take a special potion, we'll be able to smell that special aroma, remember the time, and let's synchronize our watches to be sure," Jack said, taking a pocket watch out of his jacket.

The others did the same, taking out their watches to synchronize them and, by the way, to know what time it was, 11 a.m. Soon they got off the train, although a peculiar situation arose.

Many of the passengers were moving away from the equipment, leaving an empty area. When this situation caught the attention of others, the fact that they were not only operators but also members of UNMSO spread.

The simple fact that they were members of UNMSO was not serious or important enough to cause this kind of reaction, but when you added the story of the murder of a woman, as well as the fight against an unidentified oddity, it made people feel some awe and fear. 

People preferred to give him space, they didn't want to get involved in anything that had to do with them. What if they ended up fighting at the station? It was best to just wait for the UNMSO agents to leave, then no one would be in danger. 

"What a stupid thing to do," Jack muttered, uncomfortable with the situation. 

"That's the thing about this job," Irina replied, a little saddened by the citizens' actions. 

But she could understand them, if she were in their situation, she would do the same without hesitation. Still, this reality did not make her feel comfortable, no one liked to be isolated, and these actions were certainly isolating them. 

"Let's just get this over with," Lisa muttered, unconsciously quickening her pace, she didn't want to be exposed like an exotic animal. 

As if sensing the hustle and bustle of the atmosphere, the station attendants allowed the group to leave the station as quickly as possible. The group ended up on the outskirts of the station, where some carriages seemed to be waiting for customers. 

One of those carriages approached them, and the driver was an older man with a long beard who looked at the group with some concern but simply greeted them with a nod before speaking. 

"I don't care much for the strange reputation that UNMSO agents have, I just hope you can protect me if anything happens," the man said with a nervous smile that seemed to ease the uncomfortable atmosphere. 

"Just for your courage, I'll have no problem protecting you, old man," Alexis replied before loading all of the group's luggage into the carriage next to Jack. 

The women had already climbed into the carriage and soon Alexis followed. As Jack was about to enter the carriage, a strange sensation appeared in his metaphysical 'sense', his sixth sense. 

It seemed as if someone was looking at him, so he slowly turned around and his eyes met a person hundreds of meters away. He couldn't see the person clearly, but he could feel their scrutiny. 

"Laria, it looks like someone is spying on us," Jack said, causing Laria to stick her head out of the carriage and look into the distance as well. 

"Lisa is also looking at the other side, she'll give us a description of this person later," Laria pointed out before looking at Jack. 

"Let's go, whether it's the Mimic or something else, right now we need to get to the hotel," Laria pointed out, causing Jack to nod. 

"We'll worry about such details another time, I want to rest on a soft bed," Jack replied before breaking his neck and getting into the carriage. 

The coachman drove the carriage through the streets of the Norian City, which were not only crowded with locals but also with tourists. 

In addition, there were many carriages, as well as the occasional steam-powered car, for although they were rare and expensive, there were people who could buy them and obtain a license to drive them. 

Although the models were different from those used by the military, lacking in power and size, these steam carriages were showier, with different colors and ostentation worthy of a luxury object. 

"Look at that car, it's a Serikos product," Alexis, a machine fanatic, pointed out. 

His finger pointed to a metallic black-colored steam wagon, rather low compared to the steam wagon, but the details showed how luxurious this vehicle was.

Its body was less clunky, its paint showed no scratches or dirt, and on the sides was the logo of the manufacturing company, a sign only seen on Serikos. 

"It's a lot more discreet than the others we saw, but discretion is part of the Serikos culture, reflected in their products," Alexis said before looking at Irina, who was of Serikos descent. 

"Not everyone is discreet, don't make that a stereotype," Irina replied to the look Alexis gave her, making the redhead smile.

"I doubt you could be if you suddenly became discreet," Lisa added sideways, causing Irina to lunge at her and bite her shoulder. 

"What do you mean by that?" asked Irina in a muffled voice as she bit Lisa, who tried to pull away from her teammate.

"You know, you're very lively," Lisa replied, and Laria next to her visibly clicked her tongue. 

"She called you out loud," Laria added, and both Irina and Lisa began to romp around in the carriage. 

During the ride, they noticed that Norian's giant trees, the so-called Golden Trees, were very popular. They were everywhere, their enormous size providing shade as well as shelter.

It could be seen that some of these trees, even when alive, were adapted to build buildings, either in, on, or around them. Jack even saw what appeared to be a school on what appeared to be the top of one of these Golden Trees. 

Likewise, the city of Norian seemed to be in almost perpetual shadow, but the golden color of the leaves reflected the light in a way that did not make it unbearable, compensating for the need for sunlight. 

It was a city that had been built and adapted around the Golden Trees, but strangely enough, they seemed to have no flowers or fruit, something Jack noticed, so he looked to his friend, someone who could answer that question. 

"Do these trees bear fruit?" asked Jack, attracting the attention of his companions. 

"They do, but on a special day. Two months before that day, the first blossoms appear, which give off a very pleasant aroma, and some of them are often used to make perfumes. 

Soon the fertilized flowers will begin to gestate a golden-skinned fruit that can reach the size of a watermelon, its flesh is red and its taste is quite sweet. Strangely, although these fruits have seeds, Golden Trees can only grow in soil enriched by the Bienen," Laria explained to Jack, her answer even making the coachman look back in amazement. 

"Young lady, you seem to know a lot about our trees. Our relationship with the Bienen is high enough and that is why they help us to harvest the golden fruits, together, our species, we hold a festival that day to celebrate our relationship," the coachman told him, raising his hand in a salute in a certain direction.

The one who answered him was a creature more than three meters tall, with a stocky but slender body, with some details that indicated her gender, female. Her body was covered in black and yellow lines, plus what looked like white fur around her neck. 

A pair of transparent wings were folded on her back, and her face was thin, and delicate, with features that could be considered beautiful. Huge black eyes adorned the face, as did a gentle smile. 

Long antennae waved on her head, and on her back was a stinging sword, black but with yellow lines on the metal body. 

"Bienen are so beautiful," Lisa murmured, also saluting what appeared to be a Bienen soldier, indicating that it was the sword she was carrying, only that kind of Bienen could carry that kind of weapon. 

"Yes, I remember when I was able to dissect one that had donated its corpse to UNMSO." Laria's answer made Lisa tremble a little, but she soon pulled herself together. 

"It seems that Bienen has assimilated much better in Norian than elsewhere," Jack said, noticing more and more of this race during the journey. 

He saw soldiers, much shorter workers, and even the very strange guardians, huge Biene, over four meters tall, using enchanted hammers; but it was impossible to see a Biene Queen or Princess on the street. 

"We love them very much here, too bad they are female but asexual, I know that saddens a lot of men who wanted to have a family with them," the coachman said with some reluctance in his voice, but surprisingly Jack and Alexis nodded.

"They are quite sexy, but only the Queen can reproduce, technically all Bienen in a hive are sisters. Still, it is said that if you impress the Queen of a hive, she can create a custom child for an interracial couple if they love each other, which I think is beautiful," Alexis said after a sigh.

"So, do you like tall women?" asked Irina with a mischievous smile on her face. 

"Yeah, who isn't? Look at Jack, Laria is almost his height and he's 6'4"," Alexis pointed out to Jack who was relatively tall, but Laria was no slouch either.

"So you don't like short girls like me?" Irina, still eager to tease her partner further, kept asking, even putting one of her hands on Alexis' leg as she approached him, doing her best to show off her cleavage. 

"Unless she's my height or taller, a short woman is sexually strange to me," Alexis said coldly, touching Irina's forehead and pushing her back to her seat. 

"I'm not that short! I'm 5'6", that's a normal height," Irina justified herself, making Alexis simply deny it before looking at Lisa, who was holding back a laugh at the absurd situation. 

"Lisa has a similar height to me, I would fuck her," Alexis said, shaking his shoulders. 

This kind of conversation was not uncommon between them, all because of the trust they had as friends, gained from so many experiences between life and death. That alone made it possible for them to express their thoughts without any trouble or cover-up.

"But you know I don't strike like that," Lisa stuck out her tongue mockingly and looked sideways at Irina. 

"I know, right when you met Laria, you hit on her," Jack said, causing Lisa to look away with a slightly red face. 

"If I hadn't been with Jack, I would have given you a chance," Laria added, making Lisa's blush even deeper. 

"Lisa has good taste, really," Irina assessed Laria's body questioningly before clicking her tongue and looking at Jack.

"Lucky," Irina's words only made Jack smile before he spoke. 

"Yeah, I'm pretty lucky," Jack said, putting his hand around Laria's waist, pulling her closer to his body. 

...

Soon the carriage arrived at a large hotel that seemed to be merged with a particularly large golden tree. The reception of this hotel, as well as many rooms, were inside this gigantic tree. 

When they entered, they noticed that all receptionists were Bienen workers, and one of them greeted the group of UNMSO agents in a very good mood. 

"Welcome to the Hotel Golden Flower! My name is Hydrangea, how can I help you?" the worker Biene, who was about six feet tall, introduced herself. 

"We have a reservation, we are UNMSO field agents, here you go," Alexis stepped forward to the group, showing a piece of paper with a complicated code. 

Worker Bienne's eyes seemed to sparkle for a moment before one of her hands pulled out a pair of numbered keys, along with a large logbook. She opened the book before offering Alexis a pen. 

"Good! Two rooms have been reserved for you, please sign here to check in, and also sign these forms to indicate that our service has been rendered," the worker also pulled out several sheets of paper, indicating the lines where Alexis was to sign. 

"Thank you, beautiful," Alexis replied, winking at the worker before signing.

This compliment caused the worker to emit a soft buzzing sound, similar to a song. Bienen buzz differently depending on the emotion they are feeling, and to Alexis, a buzz like that meant she had accepted his comment. 

"Quite the Casanova," Irina whispered to Lisa. 

"Every girl likes to be told how beautiful she is, no matter what species she is," Lisa said in a low voice, although she didn't seem to lower her voice much.

As the buzzing of the Biene that was attending Alexis became more erratic while the worker looked down at the floor, she heard Lisa's words, and that made her feel embarrassed. 

"Thank you for preferring to use our hotel," Hydrangea said as she took the documents, though she surreptitiously placed a piece of paper in Alexis' hand, who noticed it and smiled confidently. 

...

As the group was ushered into their two rooms by the hotel staff, Jack approached Alexis, placed his hand on his friend's shoulder, and with a raised eyebrow, got right to the point. 

"Aren't they supposed to be very romantic?" Jack's question might seem out of context to anyone who heard it out of the blue, but knowing that he was referring to the Bienen, Alexis was able to answer quickly. 

"Yes, they are, and since only the Queen can create new members for the colony, they can't have children...but that doesn't stop Bienen from enjoying sexuality, does it?" Alexis noticed that Jack didn't seem to know these things, so Alexis shook his head. 

"You got a girlfriend quick, my friend. Bienen are every lonely man's or woman's dream, because in their culture, sex is not for procreation, but for pure pleasure, so they are more open with this subject than we are," although Alexis had to ignore the deadly look Laria was giving him, he shared this piece of wisdom with his friend. 

"So... that piece of paper?" Irina put her hand on Alexis' other shoulder and looked curiously at the piece of paper her companion was holding. 

"Oh, an address I plan to visit when our mission is over," Alexis smiled, making Irina jealous. 

"Ask her if she will accept someone else," Irina whispered to her, but Alexis shook her head. 

"You're too short," Alexis teased, causing Irina to nibble on her arm in retaliation. 

Amidst laughter and jokes, the team was finally able to rest on a soft bed, knowing that they would have to fulfill their duty as UNMSO field agents until the next day.