The train began to move slowly, then gradually picked up speed, soaring through the sky.

  Outside the window, the stars streamed past, forward to aft like a cosmic river.

  [KENT: SHIN, can you hear me?

  Looks like you successfully met up with MAI.

  What you’re seeing flowing past the window—that’s dopamine.

  A neurotransmitter... uh, I’ll explain it later.

  Anyway, we’re counting on you.]

  "I like you, SHIN.

  I like you because we can dream together like this."

  Her words were direct, yet somehow… rehearsed.

  It felt like she was reciting a script—careful, unnatural.

  "SHIN likes trains. He always has, ever since we were kids."

  "That’s true. What about you, MAI?"

  "I like being with SHIN.

  Honestly, I like SHIN more than trains."

  "Because I like SHIN, I like what SHIN likes."

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  The conversation was starting to sound... off.

  She was smiling, but her words were oddly formal, like a performance.

  While I was struggling to find a reply—

  [KENT: You’re in the prefrontal cortex now.

  That’s the region responsible for knowledge and decision-making.]

  Why are we starting there?

  [KENT: If we begin with emotion instead of reason, her consciousness could destabilize.]

  Makes sense… I guess this is MAI’s inner database version of me.

  "You remember that time when you forgot your textbook and I let you borrow mine?"

  "...Yeah, I remember that."

  "You looked at my doodle-filled mess of a book and said something funny."

  "What did I say?"

  "You said, ‘Now I know more about the Galactic Railroad than the actual lesson.’"

  "Haha… I did say that, didn’t I..."

  She finally laughed.

  [Impulse activation confirmed. Subject emotional variance detected.]

  "Whoa... We got a neural response! Log it."

  [Saving data from 2 seconds before event. Continue?]

  "YES."

  [KENT: Great job, SHIN. That’s a key moment—when a memory transforms into a feeling. Keep going.]

  "You know, MAI, you never talked much about your early childhood."

  "That’s true..."

  "What kind of kid were you?"

  Suddenly, the world around us turned blood red.

  Meteors began to rain down on the train.

  It shook violently.

  MAI’s demeanor changed.

  "I won’t forgive them..."

  "I was here all along... but no one ever looked at me.

  They pretended I didn’t exist!"

  Her face twisted with rising anger.

  "Look at me!

  I’m right here!"

  She slammed her fists against the glass, desperate to be seen.

  Was she angry? No… she was hurt.

  "…Hold me…

  Tell me you love me... the way my friend’s mom says it, every day...

  Like my friend’s mom does..."

  Tears slipped silently from MAI’s eyes.

  "At kindergarten, I was happy to eat lunch with everyone."

  "But at home, it was a shelter. Meals came on trays.

  I always ate alone.

  There was no one to talk to.

  There just wasn’t anyone."

  This was the first time I’d heard about MAI’s past.

  And it hurt.

  "The man in the white coat would tell me to eat properly,

  but after that he’d just log everything into a tablet—how much I ate, what I didn’t like..."

  Darkness swallowed the scene. Not a single light.

  Floating in that darkness, I could barely see… a younger version of me.

  That ‘me’ had known nothing back then…

  I took MAI’s hand, and tears welled in my eyes.

  "It’s okay.

  I’m here now, aren’t I?"

  MAI seemed a little comforted. She smiled faintly.

  And suddenly, the world around us burst into a bright, open sky.