The World behind the Yellow Train

“Excuse me.”

The bus driver drove down the busy highway as the Louisville skyline passed by on the right.

“Yeah.” She responded without taking her eyes off the road.

“Do you know where I need to get off to get to Buechel bank Rd.?”

“The only route I know is the one I drive.” She responded shortly.

I leaned back into my seat and looked at the screen on my phone. The date read May 20, 2020, my screen was dark and in battery saver mode. I only had 5% battery power left. I knew I should have never let my daughter play on my phone. I had to be at work at 10 and I only had 30 minutes left to get there on time. I hated working so far out but working as a temporary Nurse aide, I had to take hours where I could, and my 1998 Ford Escort had a bad transmission. So, with no car, and a severe fear of ride sharing, my only choice was to take the bus. It was beginning to be one of the worse choices I had made in a while, other than making the choice to move to Louisville all together.

I felt a strong kick in my belly. I was only 5 months pregnant  with my daughter, but either she was going to be one hell of a fighter or taller than me or either of her other siblings. I rubbed my belly and sat up on the edge of my seat. This usually helped my discomfort.

“How many months are you?” a heavy set, elderly Black woman wearing tattered clothing asked me.

I looked over at her. “I’m 5 months.”

“Oh, you look small for 5 months. Are you eating?”

This lady had some nerve. I wanted to respond that I was eating just as much as she probably was since she easily weighed 350 pounds, but I kept it respectful since her mane was fully silver. She was homeless, but she had learned how to panhandle enough to stay fed.

“Yes, ma’am. This little baby is gonna be strong.”

The bus made a sharp turn onto a dark road that was dimly lit with only a few streetlights along the pavement. I saw a landmark a few blocks back that I remembered from the last time I had worked at this facility and was desperate to get there on time. I pulled the yellow string above my head to get off. I knew I would have to walk to get there, but maybe I’d be able to find a shortcut.

Ding

The bus gently pulled over in front of a lofty tree and a black streetlamp. The woman who had asked me about my pregnancy stood up to get off at the back exit.

“Thank you.” I said as I walked off.

The driver never responded. She kept her eyes straight ahead.

I stood and watched the doors close slowly and the bus drive off into the distance. She turned left and that was all I saw. I had a feeling that I would have to walk about 5 blocks to get where I was going but if I could find a back way it would be less. I glanced to the left and the elderly woman was nowhere in sight. She had vanished.

I massaged my belly as I began to walk towards my destination with the muggy night air encompassing me. For it to only be May the weather was extremely warm. Sweat began to trickle from my face down my chin. For 15 minutes I walked before coming to a main road that was seemingly a bit closer to my destination, but there were no signs of cars, only buildings. I crossed the quiet street and walked into a residential area; The lights lit the neighborhood in a peculiar purple hue. I paced the violet pavement and grew anxious as I looked down at my phone and noticed it was at 2% and the time was 9:45. I picked up my pace as I was determined to just walk straight until I ran into my destination. 5 more minutes passed, and I came to a dead end. But it wasn’t entirely dead because there was a huge yellow train standing in my way. My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out.

Goodbye.

The screen went black.

“Damn it.” I muttered, putting it back in my pocket. I turned to look at the ground I had covered.

The air felt unusual around me, as I returned my eyes to behold the great obstacle in front of me. I was petrified, frozen in my tracks. I had dealt with anxiety in the past, this constant feeling of impeding danger. The constant what ifs. This train, this obstruction, screamed danger. But I couldn’t turn back. There was something I had to get to on the other side.

I cautiously scaled the rock-strewn hill and slithered between two of the big yellow cable cars. Instantaneously I fell into a dark abyss. I threw my bag off my shoulder as I curled up into a ball to protect my baby from the violent blows of such a long fall.

I careened onto a smooth concrete lot and with a hard thump, I had arrived. Undoing myself from my protective state, I stood and winced in pain. The site in front of me was bizarre. I saw a massive white industrial building. I looked behind me. The train rested above me at three hundred feet high.

Atop the white edifice was a watch tower. It noticed my movement and a hazard noise and red light began to flash erratically. Suddenly strange creatures in red hazards suits came towards me. I turned to run but three more cornered me. They seized me and placed a cloth material over my face. I jerked violently and fought to escape but to no avail. I felt limp, tired from walking and from the fall.

Inside I could smell a strong, sterile smell like that of a hospital. I could hear machines, robotic voices, and the footsteps of the unknown creatures that apprehended me. Finally, I was placed in a chair and the was removed from my head.

The room was so white, it was almost blinding and then I saw it.

There she was, standing in front of me.

The woman from the bus. She had a long black ponytail, and she wore a white linen business suit. She looked far from homeless, or elderly.

“It’s you.” I spoke. “The woman on the bus.”

She clasped her hands and placed them on her chin.

“Yes, it is me. Nice to meet you…again.” She said smiling.

I didn’t return the gesture. “Why am I here? Why are you doing this?” I asked.

“I am not here to hurt you. We are not here to hurt you.” She assured me gesturing to the creatures that stood at attention behind her.

“You are needed. You are wanted. You and your seed have been chosen.”

Sweat beads began to form on my brow. “What. What do you mean?” I stammered in fear and confusion.

She pulled up a chair in front of me, straddled it backwards, and looked at me eye to eye.

“I have been tracking you since 2019. Your charisma is admirable. I love how you are determined to live a life that gives you all authority. You want to be your own boss; you want to run things. One can only imagine that a woman like you would bear children with the same qualities.”

I shifted in my seat. “Thank you, I guess.” I replied coyly.

“I work for M.P,C.I.A. and we have a need for you and your child.”

“What’s the M.P.C.I.A?”

“Melanated Post Covid Intelligence Association.”

I nodded slowly. “Ok.”

She stood from her chair and began to walk towards a large podium in front of the room.

“It doesn’t take a genius to know that Covid is a complete setup. Just look at how it’s attacking our people. Our children aren’t getting the education they need. Social injustice is on the rise. Covid is attacking our people at an alarming rate. Our children are dying educationally, we are all dying physically at the hands of the police, and we are dying of this disease. They are trying to end us. But we are twenty steps ahead.”

“So, what do you need with me?”

She clasped her hands on the table of the podium.

“Artificial intelligence is something that is about to explode immediately following this pandemic. Years ago, there was a man by the name of Marcus Ndium. He was  a south African exchange student on an externship in Washington D.C with the C.I.A. He knew about all of this. The Pandemic, and the injustice. The pure disdain for our people within the criminal justice system sickened him so much that he vowed that if it were the last thing he done, he would find a way to avenge us and make sure injustice did not stand the test of time. He created a plan to create Artificial intelligence law enforcement to overthrow the traditional law enforcement. They would have our values, and our morals. The only problem is once it was discovered that he was doing this, he vanished.”

“That sounds like a good plan but when did he vanish? And why didn’t anyone hear about it?”

“Because the idea was so powerful, the government could not take a chance on anyone learning of it. But this is where you come in.”

I grew increasingly nervous. I was all for a change in the criminal justice system, but I didn’t want to take part in anything dealing with the government.

“How?”

She moved from behind the podium and walked over to me. She leaned down and touched my belly. My baby kicked, and she smiled.

“Your daughter, on her 20^th birthday will be the commander and chief of the M.P.C.I.A and our own Melanated Artificial Intelligence Law enforcement. She will be in total control and will change how this world operates. As her mother, you too, will be in control. We have selected nineteen other Pandemic born children to be on her committee. This is the beginning of a new life for you, and for all of mankind.”

I felt the temperature in my body go up to one hundred. The pressure of the moment was too much.

The room went from white to black.