The Terra Express

Arianna and Ethan, her four-year old, were in line for a ride on the historic train for his birthday. Arianna’s husband Mark was a volunteer for the Locomotive Restoration Society, dedicated not only to preserve, restore and operate the heritage tracks and train, but to regenerate the spirit of adventure of rail travel. She was skeptical about the experience and noticed she was a bit in a mood. She felt a bit unnerved that yet again Mark was off doing his thing. His “habit” took a lot of time. Marriage, a child and another on the way had been more of an adventure than she had bargained for, yet, when she looked at Mark in action, she could not help but think that he looked in fine form dressed as a conductor.

Mark called out. “Tickets please” and hole-punched their tickets. Then with a hug and a kiss he left Arianna to share time with Ethan enjoy. However, the thrill of the 10-mile, 90-minute theme experience, re-enacting what had been the epitome of high-speed engineering in 1890, was suddenly over-whelming Ethan. To quell the sudden and unexpected emotions, Arianna spontaneously presented a play-by-play narrative of the experience. When the train blew its whistle, Arianna called out “Toot toot. All aboard the Terra Express. Get ready for an adventure.”

Ethan looked at his mother and said, “Tell me about it.” This was his favourite expression. An elderly woman facing Arianna on the bench, seemed enchanted with Ethan. With a twinkle in her eyes she introduced herself as Kat and began a conversation. “I have loved trains since I was a kid in the 1950’s. Most of the world was affected by railway mania. My friends even had a train set in their basement. It was during the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the set, adorned with miniature trees and houses and cars, was beside the bomb shelter. The train had digital controls and realistic sound systems that sounded like bomb warnings. I used to wonder if this model was supposed to help us know how to escape if there was a crisis.

"There weren't many cars back then. Trains offered an adventure, with more affordability than planes and they were more comfort than buses. Trains held an air of mystery. During my era, trains went through town, carrying grains to the distilleries where hops from beer and whiskey brewed on hot summer days perfumed the air. The conductors always waved from the caboose and the train would whistle pleasant tunes during the quiet of night.

“I had been raised in the lowland gap, between the crests of mountains where the train joined the high and low cultures. The highlanders wore a cummerbund tied round their waists to celebrations and the lowlanders wore vests. I remember the day I decided to take the train and journey to go to the highlands. I was worried that the train would leave the station without me on it. There are moments now, when I wonder why I could not have been satisfied to watch the train pass by and wonder if I could have fought its wild seduction. My desire to ride the rails drew me like a magnet."

The train stopped at a station. Arianna’s voice sang out as she directed the conversation. “Thank heavens trains run on schedules. They ensure things keep flowing. What things are scheduled routines in your day Ethan?” Ethan spoke about his daily routines of meals, going to the bathroom, playing and sleep, going to swimming lessons and holidays.

Arianna believed that a child’s education involves dealing with the environment. It is not the sole responsibility of the government, or what can be taught by parents. A child learns how to deal with what opportunities life offers and Ethan was curious about the old lady’s adventure. Arianna wanted him to be involved in the conversation but was wary of where it could go.

“Did you know that there are books that can tell a parent what to expect their baby to do almost every week until they are three years old? Most children can lift their heads, roll over, crawl and walk, learn things and change by certain ages. Even as you get older, predictable things happen as if part of a scheduled plan."

Kat spoke looking at Ethan. “So true, somethings are predictable. Routines have helped me prepare to get old. I need order and routine to survive. There's a place for everything and everything has a place.

However, sometimes routines are performed in a perfunctory and machine-like manner, but they let me complete tasks efficiently so there is time and space for inspiration and fun. However, efficiency is sometimes like a peacock’s tail; it is considered attractive but becomes a heavy burden that is hard to carry. It can be a challenge to find balance.

"I hopped on the train, along with many of the masses, hoping for an adventure that might give me instantaneous gratification. I was driven by a mob frenzy, to get onto the train in hopes that dreams could come true without listening to the sentiments of unease of the unknown I was feeling. I was naïve and blind to the risks.”

At this point Arianna once again felt unease. Worried that this stranger could upset Ethan, she gently steered the conversation. “My husband was telling me that there are few international regulations for building trains. One is that trains need to use the same size of rails to make the tracks. Rails, made in England, used the same jigs and tools as for building wagons. The width of the wheel ruts was just wider than the behinds of the two horses that pulled the Imperial Roman war chariots. This distance was used when making roads for cars, trucks and trains, called the Iron Horse and even the solid rocket boosters attached to the Space Shuttle that need to be shipped from the factory. That goes to show that it is important to pay attention to the size of a horse’s butt.”

Ethan and Kat started laughing. Ethan looked at Kat and said, "Can you tell me about the risks?”

Kat nodded. Arianna cringed and listened carefully as Kat explained. "Freight hoppers can board the train. These are passengers without their own destination. They have no intention of paying for the ticket. Humanity often looks for a good deal, but it is another thing to want to go for a free ride. I believe people need to pay their dues. Often the freight hoppers were vagabonds who rode the rails and jumped on and off at cities where they knew they could get a free meal. Some looked for honest work however, many were ready to bend the rules creating problems without really understanding how things work. and the consequence of not having brakes.

“As it happened, I was on the train with Robert Brout, my husband. He was called ‘the Gardener of Eden.’ He planted the seed of curiosity in me, and I eagerly ate the apple of knowledge he offered. As a statistical physical chemist, he looked within the boundaries of nature as it was known and observed how the law of the lever, where many small things can have the same effect as a large thing, can affect a greater network of interdependent systems.

"Robert appreciated the bizarre contradictory complexity of nature and fabricated a tale of what could be. He observed Schrodinger’s cat that held the potential to be dead or alive until someone looks, and then and the truth is revealed. He was open, loved humanity and shared his unique thinking in good faith. He investigated how the universe began.

“Little did I expect to find how easy it was for the train to hop the track and be derailed by those freight hoppers who can upset the balance enough to cause a runaway train that sometimes carried dangerous materials that could cause disasters if not properly handled. I did not know what they meant to do, or even know it was happening before my eyes until I saw it unfold.

“Along the ride, I wandered through many of the cars on the train. Some compartments held the complex opulent design of the Orient Express. The train shared the track with freight cars that carried cows, chickens and pigs, raised to go to slaughter and raw metals, minerals and grains, or products they had been transformed into. Most disturbing were the cars that held slaves, used to generate currency. I realized that the Terra Express could be used to exploit resources. This caused the train to lose balance.

"It is easy to upset the balance of Nature. Every action had an equal and opposite reaction. Nature always finds the path of least resistance. The effects of abuse led to loss of operator control. Just because something can be done does not mean it should be done. In the past, humans have often exploited resources and disturbed the natural balance. Nature extends beyond social, financial and ethical relationships, and being a romantic place of inspiration. It is more than a utilitarian storehouse for resources that can be exploited. Nature is based on relationships with give and take.

“When the connection between organisms and ecosystems is broken, it rips nature’s fabric and leads to accelerating unpredictable effects as populations and the universe expand. The lack of balance has led to atomic bombs, global destabilizations of climate, social structures, food and shelter and the Earth becomes a runaway train. My adventure with Robert helped me realize that there is no way of slowing down a runaway train without resistance. Many people do not see how freight hoppers looking for opportunities through exploitation, without accepting personal responsibility can derail a train.

“Often culture creates a tsunami effect. Long wavelength, barely noticeable, move as fast as a jet plane in deep oceans, but when it slows down as it surfaces in shallow waters, the waves grow in height and currents intensify.”

There was a clanking noise as the train switched tracks. Arianna took advantage of the distraction to change the topic. She handed Ethan a set of toilet paper cylinder binoculars as the train curved round a bend. He cried out, “Each train car stays straight as it turns round the bend momma.”

She replied, “You are the wide-eyed Daruma Bodhisattva, with one eye opened! A circle is made up of a series of straight lines! Did you see the wheels and axels?”

Ethan replied, “They are lined up.”

Arianna replied, “That’s right darling. However, forces cause resistance in the train. Did you see the smoke from the exhaust chimney? The wind blows it.”

He asked , “Can the smoke affect the plants and animals?”

Arianna replied, “My darling, it took people a long time to open their second eye to see that this could happen. The effect of trains on the environment caused plants and animals to change.

Ethan said, “Tell me about it.”

Kat asked, “May I?” and with a nod from Arianna she explained. "The first trains were pulled by human power, then the ox and horsepower. Then prospectors discovered seams of coal, deposited in pits. Some stories say, Old King Coal was a merry old soul who called for his pipe and bowl.” Looking at Arianna she added “likely of Opioids because tobacco had not yet been introduced” then continued. “He called for his fiddlers three.” Looking at Arianna again she said, “Romans invaded the north of Britain, and the original King Coel likely knew that Nero played the fiddle when Rome burned.

“Later stories said King Coal moved the Earth and became rich. Coal was burned to power the steam engines in trains and boats that were used to transport people and goods for trade. This action caused the world to undergo an irreversible change testing the limits of tolerance for the Earth.

“Coal exhaust, containing carbon, turns the atmosphere acidic and causes many problems. To survive, humanity needs to support actions that are not intentionally negligent, or thoughtless. Conductors, engineers and passengers need to accept that the costs of efficiency and economy have long term effects that are more valuable than money. It will take a lot to stop the runaway train. "

Arianna noticed that Ethan was captivated. Perhaps it was by Kat’s voice. When she paused, he added, “Tell me more” and as if reading his mind, Kat continued and helped Ethan and Arianna see through the third eye with an awareness of what cannot be seen and yet flows with the universe.

“The conductor used to sit in the way car also called the caboose, which means the ship's kitchen in Middle Dutch. It was also called the crummy shanty. It held a pot belly stove, where the conductor could keep warm as he cooked up meals, and how to make sure that the train did what is needed to keep a steady pace to a given destination. It was located at the hind end of the train.

"From the caboose, the conductor did the paperwork and looked out of the cupola, an elevated roof that was custom designed, and therefore called the bespoke house of God. From here, the conductor could get a better view of the earlier coaches on the track and signal when to send out the brakemen who applied the backward push of brakes on each coach to slow down the momentum.

“The conductor needed to make mechanical calculations so the train would have the optimal drag so the future can unfold and maintain control as it curved or shifted rails without causing a runaway train. Now technology does the work. Integral motors are synchronized with an entanglement of realities. Remote radio end train devices have replaced the brake men who had once adjusted the brakes on each car.

“The world has experienced an explosion of rapidly accelerated changes because of technology. Automative technology provides unnatural means to obtain artificial strength and intelligence that can enhance human capabilities. Mathematical calculations and clustering algorithms tailor how nature can do what is needed using what is available.

"Trains leave the station on tracks engineered to satisfy the seductive curiosity of providing something that might be better. Technology typically tries to master nature, despite unknown and unstable effects. Sadly, this is often corrupted by short-sighted greed, that sets up a competitive arms race driven by profit, while claiming it defends personal, national or global economic interests.

"Oh my, I have gone on said Kat.” Ethan was busily looking at the passing scenery and Arianna asked her to continue. Her voice was soothing, and her story captured their attention as she continued.

“The world is now viewed from a post materialistic train that barrels forward on a branch of technology formed in the quantum world. As the originator of quantum theory of energy, Max Planck described a quantum mechanical world. Hydrogen originates by virtue of a force, formed from a balance of a single proton, electron and neutron that vibrate, and hold the atom together. The proton and electron have excited states. The electrons can be separated into quanta of energy, that can be transferred along the path of light in spherical waves.

"A slight change of length, at the smallest the Plank scale 10-33, can have profound long-range effects. At these smallest scales, time and space do not exist and the flap of the wings of Nietzsche’s butterfly can affect large scale distances, such as the Hubble scale. We observe reality while suspended between places.

“We get things done without knowing how or why and or what might happen. What can exist is found everywhere, hidden and ready to change. We must be careful about what we wish. Runaway trains happen all of the time, far more often than previously thought. There is a fuel cut off switch installed on trains. This replicates how Nature stops the runaway train."

"Technology supports a new branch on the evolutionary tree and is changing the basis of moral order. We are seduced to board the runaway train. Often we forget to listen to primal instincts and gain necessary skills. Technology can melt the pig iron in the blood so it could be cast into a mold. People are willing to trust technology, even though it can be gone in a blink because of solar flares, volcanic debris or other disruptions.

" It is easy to ignore to understand the source of the wisdom. In my opinion, we need to understand the source of wisdom, not ignore it. We need to couple and release what might help the train become part of a social movement that favours enlightenment and avoids what damage as unattended rolling stock rolls out onto the main line and causes damage.”

Ethan was content listening to the conversation without total understanding. Arianna was drawn to listen to the essence of what Kat’s was saying. She asked, “What do you think is the source?”

"Shaman, Guru, sages and wisdom teachers of various societies once looked to commune with Nature by connect to the source. They did it with rituals and breathing. They controlled elemental magic to help Humans. Being a perfunctory pragmatic individual, I looked to the source of matter that is described in the periodic table. Robert helped me appreciate the importance of Hydrogen.

“From all standards known in the chemical world, Hydrogen is the first atom of matter. Hydrogen unites all living and nonliving matter and non-matter, with dark and light energy. Hydrogen, the oldest and simplest atom, and is the source of all elements of matter. Hydrogen can be created throughout the universe and is transformed in the dark middle ground, between the flashes of the light that forms a cubic cone.

"Wordsworth’s worthy words, say ‘come into the light and let nature be our teacher'. In the visible world, between the spectrum of ultraviolet and infrared light, Hydrogen makes up what some say is 75% of the matter in the universe. The other 25% of matter is made of the quarks and gluons, the Higgs boson and perhaps a Majorana, or some other exotic particles that have existed for billions of billions of eons that humanity cannot observe. High speed collisions likely have exotic effects.

“Flammable hydrogen creates a blue glow when it combusts and combines with other elements. Energy changes in Hydrogen are electrostatic in nature, and can be seen with four lines of colour, red, green, blue and violet. However, Hydrogen does not always interact with electromagnetic radiation, which is the main component of light. Small shifts occur invisibly on the small bead of the blue planet.

"Slow moving interstellar and intergalactic neutral atomic hydrogen is thought to be cold dark matter. It does not interact electromagnetically and therefore cannot absorb, reflect or emit light. However, dark matter does interact gravitationally and can carry energy and momentum.

“Dark energy is thought to be the cosmological constant, that is the estimated value of the quanta that control the strength of gravity. Dark energy is explained by an electrostatic repulsive force that counteracts gravity and is thought to push things apart and accelerates the expansion of the universe. Dark energy is calculated as the square root of the product of the acceleration of gravity, that moves outward in all directions from the source creating the maximum Entropy or disorder in the universe.

“There is no getting off the Terra express but we can try to stop it from becoming a runaway train. It is accelerating in speed as it hovers on invisible orbital tracks. Artificially altered chemicals, and materials made through Biotechnology, can apparently augment the sensitivity, strength and sensibility of mankind. They are designed to be used and often the masses ignore the likely biological interactions and future effects.

“Casanova sperm and receptive eggs that contain mitochondria, are spliced and edited and genetically engineered to increase probabilities of optimal genomic pedigrees. Surgery can be used to transplant body parts, including heads, with nerves between the spinal cord and brain cut and glued to a robotic body, creating a cyborg. Patents are in place for robotic pollinator drones and genetically engineered insects that can carry viruses, and photosynthesizing symbiotes that alter genetics.”

Arianna took a deep breath and heard the regular bass notes of the train chugging. Ethan said, "The Terra Express whispers ‘chug-a-chug-a-choo-choo’." Both adults agreed.

Arianna said “Our body is made to function automatically. Automatic mechanical processes, control the Breath of Fire, that some call pranayama, or in Sanskrit, Kapabhati, the skull shining breath that is thought to cleanse lungs, energize the body and helps healing. During pre- birth and in the early months of life, humans have small rapid breaths that release life’s energy. As a baby grows and learns to walk and talk, then enters kindergarten, then elementary and secondary school, and becomes an adult and senior, their breath becomes longer and less frequent. Breath can alter how emotions flow through the chakras and meridians."

Kat added. “While the earth spins on its axis, animals, plants and microbes exchange gases. In daily pulses, between each sunrise and sunset the earth takes a long wide wave of a breath. Plants are called the ‘lungs of the planet’. Forests on land, lakes and oceans hold plants, algae and cyanobacteria that use Carbon dioxide and release Oxygen, as animals do the opposite. Daily pulses of Oxygen and carbon dioxide gases change over the seasons, as the Earth follows the elliptical orbit around the sun. There are annual pulses of gases during the summer and winter when the sun is near and far.

"The Sun is the pacemaker that is used to establish intersecting routes along which the Terra Express hurtles around the spiralling Milky Way Galaxy. The rhythm of the rambling train is part of a larger system where Meteor showers occur at predictable times of the year and foretell changes on the Planet Earth. As the Universe pulses and expands, matter and energy transform one to another, recycling the finite number of atoms of the universe, as it moves round the Sun.

“The inner fire within Hydrogen atoms form nebulae that form stars. Hydrogen is formed in the interior of the stars and is transformed by Electromagnetic forces. Hydrogen clouds envelope comets, where hydrogen can combine with Oxygen that is formed by nuclear fusion and are released when the star explodes as a supernova.

“Some groups say life came from extraterrestrial aliens. The truth, generally agreed upon, is that we are made of star dust formed after the big bang. We harbour ancient alien life forms, extraterrestrial in origin. They have symbiotically become embedded into life. Animals, including humans, holds ancient genomes in female mitochondrial DNA and P protective proteins that exert an integral control in behaviour.

"Differentials of weak hydrogen bonds exist in electromagnetic vibrations of the planets, and moons, and in the inter-membrane space of the mitochondria and chlorophyll, where hydrogen turns the smallest gear in the Terra Express. Hydrogen differentials cause protons to flow resulting in the production or use of a molecule of energy ATP in the hemoglobin and chlorophyll found in each cell, identical except for the Iron and Magnesium core.

"Hydrogen interacts with other chemicals and forms visible markers where the power of Hydrogen or pH is measured at regularly spaced intervals. Oxygen binds to Hydrogen generating water. Water cannot be grasped. It can only be held in the soil or in a vessel such as an ice lattice. Ice draws dust into a comet’s tail by gravity. Hydrogen also produces nitrogen oxide emissions that can cause another wind of change.

" I recall visiting CERN at the onset of the newest highest energy impacts. At CERN, the underground channels under the Swiss Alps were specifically augured to let groups of stacked protons from Hydrogen stripped of electrons, go the speed of light in two opposite directions and collide at the speed of light squared, forming new mass. Creating or destroying matter makes the news.

“ One evening, I awoke because of a repeating beep, beep, beeping. I looked out the window and saw a red blinking beacon. I heard thunder gently roll across the alps and sheet lightening wave across the sky, as if it was preparing to be folded. I realized that there is no way of knowing if these were small ripples of change because of the accelerator.

“We can see the signs because we are on the backward end of the train. We need to heed the warnings whispered from the past that resonate from the genes imbedded by our ancestors, and the symbiotic aliens, and try to make things right.If we have to jump off the train, to escape the full impact of an inevitable train wreck, it will spin us out of control."

Kat stopped talking as they approached the final station Ethan and Arianna looked up as they heard an audible buzz as cacophony of wind and rhythmic rattling went to and from their hearts and the universe. Arianna said, " Thank you for this lovely visit. I feel like I have been a time traveler. Your stories have moved us over large and small scales. Everything is becoming fluid, with distinctions of gender roles, race, economic status and political affiliations blurring at the edges. I felt like I slipped through a slipstream of superfluidity in a semi-material world, where matter and energy are interchangeable. I really enjoyed the ride."

Mark was waiting as Ethan and Arianna left the train at the end of the line. Ethan introduced him to Kat. "Dadda, this lady told us lots of stories that were fun to listen to."

Later that night, Arianna realized she wanted to ensure she put on the brakes of her coach on the train. She said to Mark, “Meeting Kat on the train ride today made me realize why you invest your time and energy as a volunteer on the train."

Mark and she talked about her conversation with Kat and how she had felt resentful of his time as a volunteer, but riding on the Terra Express and sharing time with Ethan and Kat had made her realize she needed to rethink how she wanted to shape the world. She alone could characterize the performance of the train based on precision, accuracy, sensitivity, linear dynamic range, detection limit and selectivity of how well her primal nature is tuned to nature.

With a deep breath they talked about the runaway train and how to harness the energy in the coiled conductors within their blood, that escapes the marrow of the bones. They had little control over how they were drawn and dragged in a pulse that connects to the network of inter-permeable systems of the living and nonliving world and the web of the universe. Then, they talked about being joint conductors surveying the tracks ahead from the caboose to see what had gone before. They discussed some ways they could safely get where they wanted to go and what they might do as partners, to put on the brakes so they could join or detach as needed to other engines and change tracks as needed to avoid another runaway train incident.