Storyboarded by Kellye Perdue & Sam Spina
Over the course of several train cars, Tulip has been growing more and more frustrated by One-One's "help", with his alternating absent-minded behavior and pessimistic attitude complicating every trial they've faced. When trying to remind him that her situation onboard the train isn't a game, explaining her work ethic to the robot, Tulip discovers that the number on her hand has gone down from 115 to 114. She starts to panic, not helped by One-One seemingly confirming that once the the number reaches zero, she will die. In desperation and anger, she picks up One-One and races towards the next car.
The new car is home to a beach location, where Tulip takes some time to observe a talking cat from afar, watching the feline con a sentient blob of water named Randall into buying an ordinary pipe under the guise of it being a "doughnut holer". To further convince the water blob of her pyramid scheme, the cat claims that the pipe was certified by her "close acquaintance", the Conductor, prompting Tulip to run over and ask for help getting home. The cat first eases Tulip's concerns about death, pointing out One-One's questionable intelligence, before agreeing to help her in exchange for the robot and Tulip fixing her transportation device.
After fixing the shuttle-craft, Tulip starts to feel guilty about letting the cat take her companion, with Randall's poor attempts to sell her the "doughnut holer" making her realize that she gave away a "teammate" out of selfish desperation and fear. Realizing that she must correct her mistake, Tulip bargains with Randall to take her to the cat in exchange for buying the pipe. They give chase, and Tulip is able to recover One-One after Randall destroys the vehicle, with the feline threatening Tulip in response and leaving in a huff. Tulip apologizes to One-One, admitting that she has come to consider him as both a teammate and a friend, and One-One forgives her.
Tropes:
- An Aesop: Even in your most scared and hopeless moments, never forget the people who have your back.
- Con Man: The cat tricks Randall into buying a pipe she advertises as a doughnut hole maker. Despite witnessing this, Tulip still trusts her claim that she knows the conductor.
- Deadly Euphemism: If your number goes down to 0, you're "gone forever"!...supposedly. The Cat points out Glad-One is probably just spouting random nonsense.
- Did You Die?: Sad-One asks about Tulip's name, and she explains that there were "complications" when she was born. Glad-One's response?Glad-One: *Gasp* Oh no! Did you make it out alive?
- Exact Words: Glad-One only states that if the number goes to 0, Tulip's gone forever. He never said anything about dying, Tulip just thought that was what he meant.
- Foreshadowing: This episode has the most foreshadowing about the events of the final episode.
- Glad-One (not Sad-One) suggests Tulip will be "gone forever" if her number hits 0, suggesting that's something to be happy about.
- Before the cat says how she's great friends with "The Conductor" to Randall while advertising her "donut holer", she has a look of utter disgust on her face. This shows how she dislikes One-One for important reasons.
- Tulip's number only goes down when she mentions good times she had with her parents (most notably it went from 115 to 114 when she brings up building go-karts with her dad). It turns out to play a significant role later on.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Tulip's number can be seen changing throughout the episode: when she talks about her family, the number goes down, but when the Cat flusters and upsets her, the number goes back up.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: The cat wears a vest, but not anything resembling pants—she's the only animal on the train with anything resembling clothes.
- The Load: One-One goofs off during the various cars and sets off various traps/dangers, which is part of why Tulip sells him to the cat.
- Me's a Crowd: Randall can split into multiple copies of himself. This comes in handy when stopping the cat from taking One-One.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: The Randalls do this to Tulip as they try to sell their pipe to her, making her feel guilty about hocking One-One for a chance to get off the train.
- Pokémon Speak: The gnome-wizards shout "Spell(s)" constantly.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Randall's only episode in this Book...but his two significant roles (the guilt slinging on Tulip and helping chase down the Cat) are the starting point in Tulip's growth as a person.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Subverted. One-One gives Tulip the idea that the numbers on her hand are counting down how long she has left to live. The cat demonstrates that One-One is prone to jumping to random conclusions and probably doesn't know what he's talking about.
