//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4-So, you See, you have to Try 
// Story: Thomas and Friends: a New Generation 
// by The Blue EM2 
//------------------------------//

Sunny popped open the door and let Izzy inside, before closing the door behind her. Once they were safe, she walked backwards, keeping Izzy in sight. "Welcome to my home, such as it is. Excuse the mess. I wasn't expecting visitors!"

Izzy nodded. "It's OK. I am kinda dropping in uninvited."

Sunny indicated to a seat. "Would you like something to eat? Have you two travelled a long way?"

"Rather!" said Porter, somehow able to hear the entire conversation. "We started in Swindon!"

"Well, a little further north than that," Izzy said as she sat down. "Eugh. This is itchy. Do you mind if I get changed? This boilersuit wasn't exactly designed as casual clothing."

"Oh sure," Sunny replied. "You can use my bedroom. First room on the left after the stairs."

Izzy vanished upstairs and went to get changed, singing to herself as she went along. Sunny shook her head and prepared her notebook, as well as some pens. Once she had gotten the items, she went outdoors to speak to Porter.

"So, Porter," she said. "I was wondering if I could ask some questions."

"Fire away," Porter replied. "As long as they're not about Genesis, in which case they're all no."

Sunny glance down her list. "None about Genesis," she said. "So, first up; how are you sentient?"

Porter snorted. "What sort of a question is that? I just am. Something tells me you're not familiar with sentient railway vehicles, not that I blame you. There aren't many."

That interested Sunny, so she turned to the next page. "Could you tell me a little bit about yourself?"

"Of course," Porter replied. "I was built at Derby Works in 1929, and spent almost all of my career allocated to the docks up and down the LMS, later the Midland Region. Quite fun places to work. I was mostly used for shunting and collecting stock, as I lacked the power to work trains over a long distance."

"What happened after that?" Sunny asked.

"I was bought right out of BR service by some northern chap and taken to a place called Bury, which is somewhere to the north of here. It was there I met Izzy many years later, who was this man's daughter. I've lived there ever since, and this is probably the longest journey I've ever undertaken."

"You telling Sunny about our trip?" said a voice, that of Izzy. She had since exited the door, and was now wearing black and white shoes, white socks, a purple dress with a pleated skirt, and a deep maroon jacket. "It was quite the trip."

Sunny glanced over. "Porter mentioned you're from Bury."

"Yes. It's in Lancashire."

Sunny then had an idea. She dipped inside, and grabbed a cake and ran back out. "Eccles Cake?"

"It's a bit early, isn't it?"

"I thought all people from Lancashire ate Eccles Cakes."

"I appreciate the gesture, but I'm not a fan of raisins. They make me feel funny."

Sunny put it away. "So, what brings you down here?"

"Well," Porter started, "we were going to the Paignton and Dartmouth Railway for a special event, and went via Swindon for some routine maintenance. However, I'm pretty certain we took a wrong turn and ended up here."

"I should probably have brought a map with me," Izzy admitted. "Oh well. There's somebody coming."

Sunny walked to get a clear view of the path, and saw her father walking towards the house. "Oh no."

"Sunny?" Argyle called. "There's was some sort of commotion in town, and I couldn't find you in town. But how did this get here?"

Sunny knew her cover was blown. "Dad, I can explain-"

Argyle walked around the front of Porter and smiled. "It's been a very long time since I last saw a Non-Faceless Vehicle," he said. "What's your name?"

"Porter," the tank engine replied.

Izzy then spoke up. "Wait, you're Albert Starshine, the author of the NFV books! I'm a fan of yours!" She leaped forward. "It's great to meet you!"

"I prefer to go by Argyle, but I'm not too fussed," Argyle replied. "And you are?"

"Isabelle Moonbow, but I prefer to go by Izzy," Izzy replied. "It takes less time to say. And Sunny and I have had a great time ever since we got here!"

Sunny shook her head at Izzy as a signal to stop talking.

"Oh, you should have seen it! There were cars and people running about and rolling freight stock into our way. It was so much fun!"

Argyle facepalmed. "So it was you three that caused that commotion. Oh well, live and learn." He then saw Sunny scribbling something in her journal. "Sunny, can I speak to you in private?"

Sunny gulped. She could figure where this was going as she got up.

Once indoors, Argyle closed the door, peering at the journal. "Sunny, I know you're curious and want to learn about them, but please remember they are both people with feelings. This is also true of Porter."

"And one of the few sentient machines around!" Izzy said.

"How did you get here?" Argyle asked.

"Window was open." Izzy shrugged. "I was wondering if you guys wanted lunch. I can cook something in Porter's firebox. How hard can it be?"

"DON'T SAY THAT!" Porter said.

Argyle indicated upstairs. "Girls, I've had an idea. Follow me."

The trio trooped into Argyle's study, which was filled with maps and papers. "Ooh! Cool!" Izzy said. "I like the spooky vibes of this place!"

Argyle unrolled a map. "Many decades ago, some sort of disaster happened, and since then the number of Non-Faceless Vehicles has been falling throughout Britain. Based on my research, they are clustered in the following places." He pointed to three locations on his map. One was Sodor. Another was somewhere in the Southwest of England. And another was in the Northwest.

"Hey!" Izzy said, pointing to the top circle. "I live in that area! Maybe that's a place to look."

Argyle nodded, and stood up. "I don't normally like to keep secrets from people, but the time, I feel, has come to show you. Follow me. I'm going to introduce you to an old friend of mine."