Throng - Nomadic Railways: Part 3 - Synthetic Terminal: Throng Train Tour Series, #4

Nomadic Railways

Part 3: Synthetic Terminal

By

Kelly STrRedWolf Price

with additional text from

David Tazel Piccola

(and many guest appearances)

Edited by

Ash Franzetti

Cover art by

Hope Strype Ferris

Icon art by

Cherri Lyme

Table of Contents

Chapter 20: Albuquerque5

Chapter 21: Tuscon28

Chapter 22: Los Angeles50

Chapter 23: San Jose76

Chapter 24: Reno104

Chapter 25: Portland, OR123

Chapter 26: Metroberg145

Epilogue185

Acknowledgments & Charity List202

CONTENT WARNING:

The following story contains some violence use of words deemed to be a slur in the 20th and 21st centuries.

As this story is in the future (26th century), it is assumed that hermaphrodite and herm have been re-appropriated back to their technical definitions of being fully male and female at the same time.

Please keep that in mind as no ill will is intended.

Chapter 20: Albuquerque

This is the KZAQ-FM Morning Show, a male, heavy set, double-headed canine host started in the Albuquerque radio station's main studio. I'm your host, Brian Barker, with Sarah Duality in the studio. This weekend is the return of the nation's famous multifur band, Throng, on a new tour at the Kiva Auditorium and city convention center. Today we have Throng's guitarist Yukon...

Yukon, flanking Brian, triple-purred Glad to be back, Brian.

...Throng's drummer Hayden...

Hayden, in front of Brian at the broadcast table, said Hello there.

...and Throng's contributing member and the train's owner, Vox.

"Hello Brian," Vox purred with hir three voices.

Brian said Oh boy, you really threw a curve ball at us here. Yukon, for those who don't know, what is Throng?

Yukon purred Certainly, Brian. Throng is a classic rock-and-roll band bringing new rocking tunes for the times. We're unusual in both how we play and how we are.

A double-headed Siamese female purred You all got together in Metroburg, right?

Hayden said Not all of us here. Yukon, Norse, and myself met in Metroburg and formed the band with the help of our lawyer-slash-manager, who we call Elder. We toured for several years, but our previous train tour, the Going Station to Station tour, we picked up Vox here.

Oh what happened there to get Vox here? Brian asked.

On occasion we hold a contest for one of our back-stage passes. In Vox's case here, I think it was how many times Norse became a priestess?

Vox said with a single voice Nah, it was to list all the times Norse became a priestess. I was surprised I got them all with a lot of digging I did through the Internet Archive's historic collections. That took me a weekend and a few weeknights to get it together... but I won!

So you got the back stage pass, Brian said. What did you do afterwards?

Well, I was already going to fly over to San Jose to check on some servers that I couldn't do remotely for my day job, a senior software engineer at Edge Data. Killer, our road manager, says shi ran into me by accident at the concert hall, as I was running late. I took up the standing back-stage-pass-holder offer of getting multiplied.

Hayden said And you took one look at the code I was using and condensed it down to get all the changes in one fell swoop.

Vox added Yes, but with some happy errors that ended up helping the band.

How are you helping out? Sarah asked.

Shi initially started out with a line-up that proved quite popular in San Jose, Yukon said. We then tested hir range because shi was dropping a bit into three voice mode every so often back then.

I floored Norse, Vox said. Shi asked me to help with the encore... and things started from there.

You wrote Triplication and debut it in Metroburg?

Seattle, actually.

Here's Triplication by Vox, as we break. This is the KZAQ-FM Morning Show with Brian and Sarah.

The ON AIR sign darkened as Triplication played on the radio, followed by some commercials. Brian said with his two heads This is going to be a challenge.

You're doing great, Yukon said. Even better than last time.

It's on your pace, Vox said. You're the host.

You still got me, Brian, Sarah said from the newscaster booth. Good to offload, even if I'm not there.

That's an idea, Brian said. After the next segment, switch places. We'll see how it goes.

Get ready, Sarah said, before the ON AIR light lit up and Train 125 played in.

Brian then said KZAQ-FM's Morning Show with Brian and Sarah, and you should see our live stream cast here as we have the beautiful Yukon, the adorable Vox, and the elegant gentleman Hayden from Throng, playing at the Kiva Auditorium this weekend. You're hearing their last train tour's hit, Train 125, on the intro. I have to admit, I'm getting a bit hot here.

It takes a while to get used to it, Hayden says. Having a partner helps.

About the current tour, then. Vox not only is joining, but it's more than concerts. How is it like the past tour?

Very similar! Yukon said. We are on another nomadic journey with help from Rails and Blacklight, our travel partners Amtrak and the railroad companies, and many sponsors. This time, Rails' company, Thomson Rail Skunkworks, helped Vox build the train itself.

Vox said I could geek on about the make-up of the train. We made it so that it's dual-level but can fit into New York's under-river rail tunnels and under Boston's low bridges. It's a bit cramped for me and Norse but for the bands, writers, artists, poets, just perfect.

We heard you had a near incident in Nashville, Sarah said. What can you tell us about the new paint job on the train?

Didn't the new member, Braker, prevent that? Hayden asked.

Braker's my drummer when I'm on stage, Vox said, and she's a synth that came from the train's systems. She can communicate with the train to do some tricks with the display we have on the train's body, make it change colors in reaction to the environment around it. When you got some graffiti artists around thinking about leaving their mark... well, she turned it into an art project for many aspiring young artists. We have a display in the art show, at the Convention Center.

And how do you get in to see it? Brian asked.

Hayden said Get your ticket to one of our concerts, or if you're not going to see us, get an Art and Panel ticket. The concerts start at $30 and the Art and Panel ticket is $2 plus donation to this stop's charity, Paws and Stripes.

That's this weekend at the Kiva Auditorium and Convention Center. How may folks see the train itself?

Vox said Come on down to the Downtown Rail Runner Station. South of the station is the Rail Historic Society's rail yard, where we are parked. You'll see the consist right from the road. Sadly we can't give guided tours at this time.

Yukon said We got the virtual walk-through on our site. An 1-to-1 scale display is too big for the art show.

We'll talk more with Yukon, Vox, and Hayden here on the KZAQ-FM Morning Show right after this break and the news, Brian said as the Morning Show's theme music started playing. The ON AIR sign turned back off again.

Having trouble keeping it together? Hayden said.

Yeah, Brian said as he disconnected himself from the console and Sarah came in.

I'm here, Sarah said. Tag out... oh oh, I don't have the right adapter for my headset.

News is going to get delayed... the producer said.

Got the script? I got a voice for that, Vox asked.

Brian slipped out as Sarah and the producer shrugged. Sarah handed over a script with the news before diving out to get the right equipment.

Can you hear me, Vox? the producer asked in Vox's headset.

Yes, Vox said, imitating a newscaster voice and reading the script over a bit.

Okay, get ready. In three! Two! One!

The ON AIR light sounded and Vox started in the newscaster voice, "KZAQ-FM news, I'm Drake Garrison filling in for Sarah Duality. It just hit 80 degrees this Friday morning, with clear skies and a mild breeze coming in from the north. In local news, police have identified the remains of a person found next to the tracks in Belen overnight as Fraiser Stevenich of Los Chavez. BNSF is cooperating with investigators.

"Throng's Nomadic Railways Tour is in town at the Convention Center this weekend, with local acts including opener Take the Left Turn, art shows, and panels themed around science. Tickets for just the convention start at $2 plus a donation to Paws and Stripes, the event's chosen charity, with concerts starting at $30 at the door.

"News is brought to you by the New Mexico Rail Runner. Skip the hassle of I-25 traffic and relax on the commute or to the concerts, from Santa Fe to Belen. Weekly and monthly tickets available. A service of Rio Metro Regional Transit, riometro.org.

The Canmephian take-over of Russia has resulted in the freeing of political prisoners and corruption charges in foreign countries, as a mandatory audit reveals more findings. The Canmephian governor-general has declared all genetically created people under a military experiment program full citizens of Russia, due full remediation under international law.

Sarah returned with the right equipment and plugged in as Vox finished with "In weather today, breezy but warm, highs in the upper 90's and lows in the 70's. The weather continues into the weekend, with Saturday also in the 90's and lows in the 70's. A slight chance of rain on Sunday as a cold front moves through, highs in the 80's and lows just reaching the high 60's.

We now return to KZAQ-FM's Morning Show with Brian and Sarah.

Sarah said Thank you Drake! Sarah Duality here trading places with Brian Barker, and with us is Throng's Yukon, Vox, and Hayden, who are the main headline at the convention this weekend. Thank you for covering the news there, Vox. Have you done voice acting before? That was a great newscaster voice.

Not before I met the band, actually, Vox said in hir normal voice. I did have some minor roles afterwards during the pandemic. And before anyone asks, my real last name isn't Garrison.

Sarah Thanks again for reading the news. One of the stories was out of Russia and I wanted to ask Yukon about it. On the band's blog, you mentioned that you were a gene-tweaked clone from the Russian military. What is your reaction to the news?

Vox looked at hir Globalcomm while Yukon said Well, I don't know how it would affect me. I came in under the political refugee program and naturalized here. Braker's been helping me navigate the news, so as soon as I hear from her I'll have a better understanding.

Breaking word from Braker and our band manager, Killer, Vox said. Yukon's got dual citizenship, Russian and US, as of today. The Canmephians are clearing up any legal issues.

How did you get that info? Sarah asked.

Oh, I have a GlobalComm device, invented by Drake RedWolf, the Canmephian Ambassador to this planet. Shi invented the underlining quantum tunneling communications technology years back. I'll have a panel on the basics at the convention.

Any panels you'll have, Hayden?

Actually, yes! I'll have a basics of multiplying yourself at the convention this weekend. A lucky volunteer will get transformed right then and there and win one of my back-stage passes... which reminds me, Sarah. Hayden then pulled a pass out of his pocket. I have one for you, regular back-stage conditions.

Yukon said I'll have a panel on train technology over the centuries, which is in line with our theme for the convention.

What is that theme? Sarah asked.

"SCIENCE!" Hayden proclaimed.

Vox then said in a mad scientist voice The Mad Scientists Local Union 3.14159629 encourages voting for 'Weird Science' as Throng's encore song at the concerts.

The Oingo Boingo original faded in as Sarah said Oh boy... more to come as we check in on Brian here on KZAQ-FM's Morning Show. I'm Sarah Duality. The ON AIR sign turned off as the song faded in... and the producer asked for Hayden.

Hayden stumbled his way into practice rehearsals at the Kiva Auditorium, barely making it to Killer.

About time you came, Killer said. Vox is in your position but you better explain yourself, Hayden.

Hayden responded by collapsing onto the floor.

"SHIT! Killer cursed. With hir tails and tail maws, shi gently lifted Hayden up. Shi spoke into hir radio Killer here. Drown it, Hayden needs a medic."

Vox quickly hit the scratch-record sound effect that brought rehearsals to a halt, as Killer moved Hayden to the green room. Norse, Vox, and Yukon quickly followed, but found the members of Take the Left Turn moving him to a properly seated position on one of the couches.

Hey Lawrie, one of cast members, a Mexican wolf, said. Get some water for Dante here.

Sure thing, Murrie another member, an ocelot, replied, before grabbing a few bottles from the in-room fridge.

Do we have a medkit nearby? the third member, a gray fox, barked.

Here, Candy, Vox said, opening a cabinet and pulling out a full kit. Shi handed it over and said Dr. Dante Hayden always keeps one around.

Getting back to work in a way, Dr. Candice? Lawrie said as Candy opened the medkit and grab some smelling salts.

I'd bill if I were on duty, Candy said, waving the smelling salts on the passed-out Hayden. This revived him.

Ugh, Hayden said. Where am I?

Green room of the Kiva Auditorium, Killer said.

Oh good, made it, Hayden said. Listen, Vox...

I'm taking over for you today, Vox said. You're in no condition to play.

I was about to say, Candy said as Lawrie handed Hayden two bottles of water. Where's your regular medic?

"Cass is flying about advertising the