Lake (Infinity Train)
Lake,[1] originally known as Mirror Tulip and later MT,[2] is a fictional character and protagonist of the second book of the Cartoon Network-HBO Max anthology series Infinity Train, previously featured in the episode "The Chrome Car" of the first book. The character is voiced by Ashley Johnson,[3][4] first appearing as the reflection of the first book protagonist, her "prime", Tulip Olsen, whom Tulip sets free so she can live her own life. MT is the focus of the second book, as she seeks to escape the titular train after avoiding Mirror Police Officers Mace and Sieve for six months, who seek to kill her for abandoning her role as a reflection. Adopting a new appearance, MT joins forces with passenger Jesse Cosay and silent denizen deer Alan Dracula.
| Lake / MT (Mirror Tulip) | |
|---|---|
| Infinity Train: Book One, Book Two character | |
 | |
| First appearance | "The Chrome Car" (2019) |
| Last appearance | "The Number Car" (full appearance, 2020) "The New Apex" (pictured, 2020) |
| Created by | Owen Dennis |
| Voiced by | Ashley Johnson |
| In-universe information | |
| Nickname | Chrome Girl (by Jesse Cosay) Sliver (by Mace and Sieve) Null (by Grace Monroe) |
| Species | Cracked Reflection |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Reflection (formerly) |
| Prime | Tulip Olsen (formerly) |
Background
Lake entered existence as the unnamed reflection of her "prime" Tulip Olsen, intended to reflect her throughout the entirety of her lifetime, with the option of either having her memories erased to reflect a new prime, or keeping her memories and becoming a mirror officer to protect and enforce the barrier much like Mace and Sieve. Despite their roles, reflections in mirrors are actually sentient beings that are bound to reflect the prime world counterparts for their entire existence, with any reflection to deviate from this path being known officially as "cracked reflections" and unofficially by the slur "slivers". The appearance of a reflection is usually identical to their prime but with a reflective metallic body and reversed appearance, much like a "reflection on a mirror". Because of their metal bodies, their physical strength and endurance to pain are much stronger than that of a human. Their weight is heavier because of their metal bodies which would cause them to sink in water. However, if they make contact with a sander, or anything that can sand or grind metal, they feel pain and start bleeding metallic blood. The character's Book Two redesign was partially inspired by Eleven from Stranger Things and the Reflection from Skulduggery Pleasant.[5]
Role in Infinity Train
In her debut episode, Mirror Tulip initially serves as an antagonist as she attempts to permanently switch places with Tulip after unlocking the Chrome Car in which they were trapped. Subsequently, the Mirror One-One calls the Mirror Police on her, additionally placing a bounty on her head. Tulip expresses that she doesn't wish any harm upon her mirror counterpart and decides to try and help her.
After using One-One and Atticus to keep the police, Officers Mace and Sieve, at bay, she talks to Mirror Tulip about her feelings in an attempt to help calm her down. However, Mirror Tulip, being bound to the reflective surfaces of the Chrome Car, cannot leave, and in her desperation begins berating Tulip about how reclusive she has been, never letting anyone talk to her about her issues, and even about how she herself is a "nobody" and "doesn't even have a name". Tulip is able to convince her reflection that she can help her, swapping back to normal positions and letting her live in the Prime World via the mirror of her Swiss army knife, enabling her to escape the police and go to the next car.
She, Tulip, and her companions end up in an accounting car full of sentient pencil people, which sparks an interest in accounting in Mirror Tulip. She stays behind and bids Tulip farewell. From this point forwards, Tulip has no reflection, confirmed in the epilogue of "The Engine", set seven months later after Tulip has returned One-One to his position as conductor and left the train to her home in North Branch, Minnesota.
In the second book, set four months later, Mirror Tulip, now going by "MT", is on the run from Mace and Sieve, who are attempting to kill her as punishment for abandoning her Mirror World role as Tulip's reflection, being able to track and follow her through any reflective surface in her vicinity. After fleeing into a sentient family tree train car, she teams up with Jesse Cosay, a new train passenger, as well as Alan Dracula, a silent deer with a variety of powers who befriends both.
After helping Jesse leave the train by learning to stand up for himself, she finds herself unable to leave the train with him, and after almost being killed by Grace Monroe and her Apex, she is ultimately knocked off of the train with Mace and almost eaten by Ghoms. After returning to the train, managing to kill Mace, MT decides to acquire a number for herself and commandeers a new passenger pod to bring her to the number car, where she encounters One-One again and learns from him that Jesse has returned to the train. Upon tracking down Jesse, One-One and MT learn that Jesse now has an irrational number, as MT would have to be able to leave the train with him in order for him to leave again, given she was the reason he returned and was able to return at all.
As One-One ponders a potential solution, an arriving Sieve attempts to again kill MT. Upon seeing Jesse's hand reflected on the wall, MT realizes she can reflect his number against her own hand due to her metallic reflective skin, and One-One opens doors back to Arizona to both of them, Alan Dracula incinerating Sieve after he attempts to pull MT back. After meeting Jesse's younger brother Nate and looking at herself reflected in a lake, MT decides to name herself Lake, formally introducing herself as such.
In Book Three, Lake is briefly glimpsed onscreen in the memories of Grace after she is trapped within them by her former lieutenant Simon.
References
- Infinity Train: Book Two – Cracked Reflection – "The Number Car"
- Infinity Train: Book Two – Cracked Reflection – "The Black Market Car"
- W., Brittany (September 6, 2019). "You're Never Too Old". Medium. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
- Bonilla, Alex (January 18, 2020). "Book 2 Identity Discussion – Infinity Train". Overly Animated. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
- Kim, Allison (April 8, 2020). "Allison Kim — I finally found an old MT/Lake/Eleven crossover drawing I drew years ago for Halloween". Pocket Spell. Retrieved April 8, 2020.