(Hey! Message from the Author here! I encourage everyone to swap around between Chapters, since different chapters get updated at different times)
In 23 568's sleep, they dreamed an uneasy dream, and that was where they saw clouds of smoke bursting, many mirrors of themselves, void of a face or even life, all painted in the dull 'factory-new' grey colour they were.
They were haunted and terrorised repeatedly in that dream until they woke up. they were revived by a vial of glowing red liquid injected into another opening; however, this one was different. 23 568 pulled open their face, and like a door popped open, and it quickly swung and hit the side of the smokebox.
23 568 felt a minor fracture in the… What would he even call this? His mask? His door? His sealing? This feeling felt strange to them; they could still see through the cutouts of the… metal plate or his 'face', but they felt something had fractured almost. they shortly afterwards rotated their… 'face' to face (hah!) the right direction,
They saw their body was now attached to a 3-axle carriage; it had 2 "fence panels" that sloped at 1/4th of a square (90-degree angle), and several workmen were holding bags, beige bags with an image of a black rock pasted onto them, and black mineral was being poured into the bin between the 2 panels, and there was a container with a cap.
The cap was open, and there were several men, some in white coats, pouring red liquid, similar to the one in the syringe; their bodies were no longer their dull factory grey colour but rather black.
Black was in uniform with the rest of the other engines he met at the sheds, but what about those other colours? another worker, this time dressed in a different uniform, held onto 23 568's 'face' and sealed it onto the cutout where 23 568's 'face' sealed and pressed and twisted 23 568's nose; it hurt alot for a bit, feeling its delicate stiff structure moulded onto their body being twisted with so much pressure.
23 568 for the first time felt actual pain—pain for the first time. Their nose then "rewinded" back into its default position, and it reverted back to normal.
Then 23 568 met 2 engines, further up, amidst the other engines, many engines resembling himself, and others being taller, larger, smaller, diminutive, and some with varying shapes and sizes.
2 Tall Green-Wooden Doors opened up and smoke billowed out, on the left-track, the same black engine 23 568 met earlier pulled in, but this time with a grotesque expression twisted upon their face, however a twisted grotesque expression of joy, were they happy to meet 23 568?
Then their number became clear; 23 208, and the other engine looked similar to the 'Pug', another ugly looking engine with a low-body with a stumpy tank mounted above their boiler, and a tall funnel, this engine carried the number 41 525, but 23 568 themself weren't sure what these symbols meant, they all seemed foreign looking, they knew how to count, that was for sure.
But they never knew what these symbols meant- "He's alive!" shouted 23 208, laughing, their painted-on pupils this time seemed different, they were jittering rather quickly, and cracked a bit, however this time, 23 208 seemed actually happy.
"Alright, yes! I know, I know." said 41 525.