The prompt for this piece was “A ride on a train.”
It Happened on the Overnight Express
It was to be a long train ride. Jeremy had never been on a long train ride before. The longest ride he’d been on was for a couple of hours. But this one was an overnight ride. It had sleeping compartments and catered meals. It was a big deal for him. The best part was that his company was paying for it. Also, as a part-time storyteller, he hoped that the trip and meeting he was to attend would be fodder for stories he could use when he performed.
This meeting was of top executives and planners involved in creating a new form of communication. It was known as the Let Individuals Attune Reality System (L.I.A.R.S.). It allowed one to send instant information to the global community that was authenticated and factual based on research and public interest – sources withheld. Jeremy’s boss managed to get an invite for Jeremy.
The L.I.A.R.S. had been tested in Russia, China, and the U.S. for how it could be used to impact real-time knowledge, with much success. Now, Jeremy’s role was to become part of it.
There were several strange individuals on this voyage. Some were well-dressed males with slick-backed hair who must have been going to the same meeting as Jeremy. He overheard several conversations in the dining car reflecting on the recent election’s results and how it turned out so positively for them.
There were also a few women involved in these conversations. They were inputting some rather radical ideas into the discussion. Jeremy didn’t believe they were active implementers of the L.I.A.R.S. project but that they certainly had participated as subjects.
It was overnight, when all were in their sleeping compartments that the incident occurred. There was a scream, and as Jeremy rushed out to find out what had caused it, he tripped over a body on the floor. He recognized the person immediately as a reporter for the Times. The reporter was dead.
This train ride now became a Murder on the Orient Express event. There happened to be a famous detective on the train. All the passengers were interviewed about their knowledge of the deceased, where they were when the scream was heard, and any connections they had with the reporter. Unfortunately, Jeremy became the lead suspect as he was the one who found the body first.
Something about the L.I.A.R.S. project was the motive for the person who did it. Jeremy, being a storyteller, meant that his testimony was considered unreliable.
Jeremy’s cover had been blown. He was not a supporter of the Let Individuals Attune Reality System, and it was clear that he was at the meeting for some other nefarious purpose.
As circumstantial was the evidence. He was taken away and charged with the murder.
Of course, Jeremy’s boss at the Telling Rational Underlings True Happenings (T.R.U.T.H.) company denied all knowledge of him or why he was there.
Guess that is the way the world works now.
