Tomorrowline service suspended
Remain where you are
Await further instruction
No
Get on the Tomorrowline
No sleep, no warning sign
Red lights behind us
Blue fire in front of mine
Get on the Tomorrowline
One way, no borrowed time
They told us stay frozen
I told them
Move when I move
Move when I move
Move when I move
We leave tonight
Came through the east tunnel, quarter past three
Station full of people staring holes through a screen
Every board said delayed, every speaker said wait
Every uniform disappeared through a maintenance gate
Kid with a red bag asked, "Is somebody in charge?"
Old man near the platform said, "Not anymore, not here"
Woman held a ticket like a document of faith
While the map above her flickered every color into gray
Control room locked
Glass cracked
Operator gone
Last transmission looping since the first alarm
"Remain calm
Stand clear
Do not cross the line"
But smoke rolled in
And the ceiling lights died
I found a transit map underneath the console frame
Half the routes scratched out, one line without a name
Ran from Lower Chapel through the arcade district
Past the flooded glassworks to a northern exit
They called it Tomorrowline
Built but never shown
Emergency track for the people they considered their own
I looked at the crowd
Then the locked control door
Said, "They kept one road open
We’re not waiting anymore"
No permission
No reply
When the last signal fails
You choose who survives
Get on the Tomorrowline
No sleep, no warning sign
Red lights behind us
Blue fire in front of mine
Get on the Tomorrowline
One way, no borrowed time
They told us stay frozen
I told them
Move when I move
Move when I move
Move when I move
We leave tonight
Move when I move
I split the room in sections
North stair, south rail
Strong arms near the doorway
Keep a path for the frail
Counted every child twice
Checked the tunnels for heat
Told the loudest men talking
Put their hands underneath
No heroes in the speeches
No time for a crown
Leadership is knowing
Who you refuse to leave down
Found the backup current
Cut the ceremonial light
Fed the whole remaining grid
To the track beneath our feet
Then the radios woke
With a voice from above
"Unauthorized access
Return control to us"
I said, "Control never left you
You abandoned the floor
Now the people you ignored
Aren't waiting for orders anymore"
Static hit hard
Then the bass hit harder
Train lights rose like two cold stars in the dark
Doors pulled wide
No conductor inside
Only one dead screen flashing
Choose the line
Get on the Tomorrowline
No sleep, no warning sign
Red lights behind us
Blue fire in front of mine
Get on the Tomorrowline
One way, no borrowed time
They told us stay frozen
I told them
Move when I move
Move when I move
Move when I move
We leave tonight
I used to stand at the back
And study the room
Then I crossed every road
They said would set me free
Then I saw the game
Behind the prize
Now the lights are dead
And everybody is looking at me
Fine
Follow me
First car packed
Second car sealed
Third car carrying medicine stolen from the field
Fourth held the records
Fifth held the names
Sixth held the people they deleted from the frame
At the rear stood the woman
With the ticket in her hand
Said, "How do you know this train
Goes where you think it can?"
I said, "I don't
But I know what stays behind
And sometimes that is enough
To make a future from a line"
Then the platform doors buckled
Prize district went black
Chapel bells sounded through the tunnel at our back
Control shouted, "Last warning
Stop the train"
I put my hand on the lever
Said
"Remember my name"
Get on the Tomorrowline
No sleep, no warning sign
Red lights