Ndong.

For three years he had the good shift: the express, with fewer stops and a better schedule, which the office handed him like a prize. Fewer hours at the controls, better pay, and not a single stop where someone climbs aboard with a bundle to ask if it fits. After three years he asked to switch to the omnibus, the train that takes nineteen hours to cover what the express does in thirteen. At the office they asked if he was sure. He said the overtime worked out better, and since the number added up, nobody checked. He's been telling it that way for two years.

The male mandrill has the longest canine teeth of any Old World primate: up to 4.5 centimeters, compared to barely a centimeter in the female. Before he moves the engine, the only thing Ndong shows is a list of names. He says them quietly, in order: Ntoum, Andem, M'Bel, Oyan. If he gets one wrong, he starts over from Ntoum, even if the engine is already running and the conductor is waiting at the next door. If you're looking for something that doesn't change order halfway through the job, this is about as close as it gets.