Raya wakes up in a train car designed to look like the last page of a book, with only hazy memories of the previous night. Q’s letter tumbles from her lap. Inside, she finds a pencil sketch that he drew of her, depicting her with the scarf he gifted her. On the back, a note urges her to take the blue memory-erasing tonic but to hold on to her name and face. He signs it, “Your friend or something stranger, Q” (364).

Raya has lost track of time and no longer knows how long she has been on the Elsewhere Express. She still hasn’t taken the blue serum that erases memories. She meets with Dev, the head of maintenance, and quickly accepts his job offer, desperate for a distraction from her obsessive thoughts about Q’s departure. Dev remarks that Raya looks familiar, claiming to have seen her during his own orientation long ago. To prove it, he takes her to his photo-covered compartment and shows her a picture of a woman with Raya’s exact face, lavender hair, and the scarf from Q. Dev says that the conductor isn’t in the photo but recalls that the conductor at the time was male presenting. He suggests that Raya ask Rasmus, who has a better memory.

A passenger record reveals a past timeline in which Raya and Q discovered that the train had mistakenly assigned them the same compartment. Rasmus, then the conductor, arrived and told Raya that her journey ended there. Q threatened to use his dark thoughts to destroy the train unless Raya could stay. Rasmus explained that breaking the rule to let her stay would cause the passengers to doubt all rules, which would also shatter the train. To save everyone, Raya agreed to be escorted off the Elsewhere Express.

Raya learns from a passenger record that she and Q have boarded the train countless times, with each cycle ending in Q’s death. Rasmus reveals that in the very first timeline, Q begged to say goodbye at the back door; when Rasmus opened it, Q threw himself out. He explains that part of this record was intentionally cut out. Raya correctly deduces that the mysterious woman in Dev’s photograph was Lily, the current conductor, wearing her own face, which is identical to Raya’s. Rasmus confirms this and reveals that after Lily cut the record, he sewed the truth into the scarf himself, embroidering it as a song because he lacked enough thread for a knot. He gives Raya the choice to learn the full truth about the stowaway’s origin or to forget everything.

The continuation of the passenger record shows the immediate aftermath of Q’s jump. A devastated Raya—the first version of her, who would become Lily—received the key to the compartment from Rasmus. To help her cope, Rasmus gave her a vial of Mr. Goh’s memory-erasing serum. She drank it, but the single dose wasn’t enough to purge her immense grief and guilt over both Jace and Q. This powerful, unprocessed guilt manifested as a black moth, which took flight and became the first stowaway to terrorize the train.

Raya confronts Lily in her office, located inside a teapot. Lily, wearing her original face identical to Raya’s, admits that she’s the first Raya and has had this conversation with many previous versions of Raya. Raya rejects Lily’s long-held belief that Q brings the stowaway, revealing that the creature was born from Raya/Lily’s own guilt. As they argue, Lily’s reawakened guilt begins to form a new swarm of moths. To force Lily to face the full truth, Raya stabs a needle into Lily’s hand, carrying the complete record from the scarf. Overwhelmed by the restored memory, Lily decides to end the cycle by jumping from the train. Before taking the sake bottle and leaping, she tells Raya that the train cannot be without a conductor, effectively passing the role to her.

An announcement is made over the loudspeaker to the passengers of the Elsewhere Express. It officially informs them that the conductor has retired after years of outstanding service. The announcement wishes her well and assures passengers that a new conductor will be stepping into the role shortly, asking for their patience during the transition.

An unknown amount of time later, Raya is serving as the new conductor. Rasmus has taken the memory-erasing tonic and believes a crafted story that Lily simply retired and chose Raya as her successor. He encourages Raya to take the tonic as well, but she wants to keep her memories. A new passenger boards: another version of Hiraya Sia. However, her ticket is actually an invitation to an art exhibit titled “HERE” by Q Chen Philips Jr. Later, in the private room of Q’s exhibit, Raya finds her own invitation in a nightstand drawer. Printed in small gold lettering on the back of the invitation are the words, “Raya. On the count of three. Jump” (397).

From Q’s perspective, the narrative shows what happens immediately after he jumps from the train to save Raya. He lands on his feet, eyes shut, holding his broken walking stick, which tells him where and when he is. It’s the very night he first boarded. He realizes that he could choose to re-board the train and meet Raya all over again. However, knowing that his presence awakens Lily’s guilt and creates the stowaway, he chooses to break the cycle. To keep Raya and the train safe, he turns and walks away from the platform, sacrificing his chance to be with her.

Raya decides to leave the train. After leaving a song for Rasmus as an explanation, she uses a sake bottle as the train’s back door and jumps, landing in a subway car in the real world. She goes to Q’s art exhibit, an immersive installation that recreates the Elsewhere Express, with sections that must be navigated blindfolded to mimic Q’s experience of blindness. In a private final room designed like her train compartment, she finds a note and earphones. She listens to a recording from Q, who explains that he lost his sight but found a new way to create art. He reveals that he’s speaking from the past and won’t live long enough to complete the exhibit, which he has built in the hope that it will find her in the future. He wanted to meet her in the world outside the train, but their stations were too far apart in time. His final message urges her to live fully. Raya leaves a notebook of her songs behind in the room, allowing her art to join his.

An excerpt from the “Elsewhere Express Passenger Handbook” addresses the question of disembarkation. It confirms that passengers can choose to leave the train at any time. However, it provides a stark warning: There are no guarantees that a passenger will arrive at their destination “on time, intact, or at all” (413). It also adds a note that a passenger is welcome to try jumping again if the train happens to pass through the same day twice.

In an alternate ending, Q lands on the station platform after his jump and is immediately greeted by Raya’s voice. She explains that she also jumped after receiving his invitation. She hands him a Braille invitation to his exhibit, which his hands don’t remember making. Realizing that they have both escaped the train’s cycles, Raya takes Q’s hand and leads him into a vast, sunlit train terminal. She places his hand over her heart and tells him that they have finally arrived at their stop, implying a shared, hopeful future together.