voidtreckermods: (voidtrain)
VoidTrecker Express Mods ([personal profile] voidtreckermods) wrote in [community profile] voidtreckerexpress2021-02-01 06:00 am

A New Platform [Intro Post February]

On the Train

Three days after the Voidtreckers return to the void after their adventures on the biosphere world, they are awoken by a familiar announcement.

"Good morning passengers, it is day Sixteen of the month of Jelly. Points have been updated on the system."

They have indeed, and everyone can spend the morning shopping. Those who have been on the train for a while will also be expecting the second announcement that comes a few hours later.

"Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." A lurch and a jolt and the windows fill with the fog that means they are at a platform. The fog seems thicker than usual and as they step out onto the platform they will find it is cold, very cold. Icy fog sticks to their clothing, makes it hard to see very far; the atmosphere is dark and gloomy.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing as they walk silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers: Alexis Rhodes, Elfnein, Itsuki Myoudouin, Ken Ichijouji, MT, Neku Sakuraba, Nike Lemercier, Noctis Lucis Caelum, Rainbow Dash, Rei Saotome, Taichi Yagami, Tsubomi Hanasaki, Yuri Tsukikage and Zechs Merquise all pass through the platform, not looking back before they disappear through the barriers and into the fog beyond.

But on the platform itself there are new faces. Wearing hoodies in all four colours, in various states of confusion.

For New Passengers

At first all they can see is steam, billowing around them as they come to their senses. As their eyes adjust, they will see they are on a platform, glass and dark stone rising in sturdy arches around them. Behind them is a set of barriers, and in front of them is a single track extending both ways into thick fog.

They are standing, in clothes that are not their own and a style they might not even recognise. They are carrying a rucksack on their back. For a moment it seems to just be them, alone in the white haze; then the steam begins to fade and they realise they aren’t alone.

The platform is not large with sixteen figures scattered around, all facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. To both the left and right, tracks disappear into the mist. Then there is a roaring sound and out of the fog arrives a train. Jet black with gold writing on the side. The Voidtrecker Express. There is a hiss as the doors slide open and out step a strange assortment of people. Some are human, some are less so. Most are wearing the same hoodie in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple, though some are sporting different clothes in a variety of styles.

The Train

After a short time, the doors hiss open again. Those from the train may encourage those on the platform to board. It’s not like there's anywhere else to go and even if there was, you feel a pull. A need to board, a feeling that staying on the platform would lead to something terrible. If that is not enough, there are plenty of people on the platform now, to encourage them onto the train.

Each ICP shows the same message and next to the screens there are stacks of leaflets written by those on the train, with further information (see
'Publications'). The store rooms have been restocked with fresh ingredients, including several crates of avocados, the ingredient of the month of Jelly, as well as all sundries.

For passengers that have bought items, these are also scattered around the luggage carriage in various suitcases and bags.

New passengers will find their ticket allows them into their cabins. They may need to negotiate for beds, especially if they want a top bunk!

Room is tight but there are storage cubbies at the head of each bed, beds fold up and the bottom bunks double as benches for the small table. There is storage under those benches full of spare blankets and pillows.

Departure

A second horn sounds to encourage any stragglers braving the freezing fog, and the doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, but they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train sets off, the fog obscuring the view again as it picks up speed.

"Welcome aboard, passengers of the Voidtrecker Express." A female-coded artificial sounding voice echoes throughout the train. "Please take the time to read the passenger information displayed on the Information and Communication points and familiarise yourself with the layout and emergency exits."

The train begins to tilt, leaving the ground and rising up into the fog-filled sky.

"Entrance into Voidspace imminent. New passengers are advised to remain seated. Entry into Voidspace in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

A shudder, a jolt, a lurch to the left. A flash of light, colourful and blinding. As quick as it happens it is done. The train seems to steady itself. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever-changing colours.

Welcome to the Void!
happyends: (so it's now or never more)

[personal profile] happyends 2021-02-06 09:36 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh.." It's a small noise of surprise. Like Madoka hadn't considered that part yet, though she knows Alfredo is right. She could name the plushie, right? Madoka may technically be a little too old for it, but at heart she's still young and innocent enough to definitely enjoy giving stuffed animals names...

Her smile remains, though it may be growing slightly more bashful in the moment.

"Maybe I should.. Or we should, since you got it, Alfredo. Do you have any good ideas for a name..?"
flatteries: (a rhythm for the songs)

[personal profile] flatteries 2021-02-06 09:40 am (UTC)(link)
The hand on her knee raises and then lowers again in a pat. It's a small one, though, as if it's meant to be more soothing than anything else. A reminder of his presence right here with her, especially as Inigo watches her deflate a little like that.

"I kind of thought so already," he admits, his voice a bit softer. It's not like there's anyone around to overhear them, but it still feels like a private thing, something meant between just the two of them in this moment.

"Do you want to talk about it?"
irrationally: (a little more now i'm awake)

[personal profile] irrationally 2021-02-06 09:42 am (UTC)(link)
Oh.

Oh.

That's explaining a whole lot. Sure, Alice's experience with anything artificial or robotic tends to be more on the 'they attack, Alice smashes them' scale, but it still gives her enough knowledge to realise what the other must mean when she's saying things like this. She's not human - not truly flesh and blood. And none of the robots she ever saw seemed very emotional either..

Then again, rather than wondering that about the other, Alice could just ask. She's curious enough for it, and hasn't always mastered social norms in this regard, so she just goes right ahead. No matter whether others may perceive it as impolite.

"So do you not feel things the way regular humans do?"
guru_clef: (Uplifting smile)

Re: Library

[personal profile] guru_clef 2021-02-06 09:44 am (UTC)(link)
"That depends, I suppose, upon what you think it is," he said, glancing up as he paused in his work.
thawed_pride: (Nort-Why am I still here?)

[personal profile] thawed_pride 2021-02-06 09:45 am (UTC)(link)
"My heart is elsewhere." A pause. "The metaphysical one, entirely separate from the physical organ. The overlapping terminology has caused confusion in the past, and I assure you that it is quite the important distinction."
guru_clef: (Dramatic)

[personal profile] guru_clef 2021-02-06 09:46 am (UTC)(link)
"A little of both. We had finished what we had been brought to do, and the world gave us the polite version of a request to leave. Zelda, Link, and I were about to do just that when I wound up here instead." He was still trying to figure out why.
thawed_pride: (Nort-This seems worth my while.)

[personal profile] thawed_pride 2021-02-06 09:50 am (UTC)(link)
"I doubt it would be strictly necessary, but...I must admit to a certain amount of curiosity. For as long as I've been aware of the existence of other worlds, I've found the differences between them fascinating."
guru_clef: (Insecure)

Re: Library

[personal profile] guru_clef 2021-02-06 09:53 am (UTC)(link)
He nodded a bit at the apology and relented "My son is forever trying to convince me that studying is deadly," he said dryly. "That I should stop reading and stop trying to teach him to read and enjoy the outdoors instead. I do think that while he would love to help on the worlds we are brought to... he would hate the train itself. Nowhere to ride his horse and more than me to stop him from playing with bombs as though they were toys." he sighed. He missed Link. He did. But he had to admit... Link being here would probably be more for Zelda and himself than for his boy's sake. He just did wish that they could be together.

"I work on projects with others from time to time, and those who wish to study with me know where to find me, rather than having to search for me. In fact, one of them is due here soon so that we can work on a project together. This is for that, actually," he said, nodding to the mostly completed laptop floating beside himself. "This way I have access to the testing environment without having to borrow or risk Kaiba's laptop whenever I wish to make a change to the code."

"As for getting lonely, as I have said, those who wish to study or work together know where to find me. I do get lonely for the company of specific people, but that can hardly be helped when we have so little say as to who is on the train or when they are from."
miseris_socios: (blankly)

[personal profile] miseris_socios 2021-02-06 09:57 am (UTC)(link)
"I... guess? All of this is because the Kirijo Group messed up and... I know they had something to do with studying Shadows. Minato told me that they went crazy and wanted to end the world, and they tried to summon some sort of godlike thing and that's why they were gathering Shadows. But they messed up... there was some kind of explosion that split the thing up into the Arcana Shadows - big boss monsters, basically. And... that's what made Tartarus and the Dark Hour."

He's quiet as they move, thinking. "A - and that's bad, but most of the work we do is during the Dark Hour. Training, stealing stuff we can't buy because security cameras don't work, and... the others don't let me go on their assassination targets... that's what the website they run is for."
thawed_pride: (Nort-What IS that?!)

CW: PTSD flashbacks in here

[personal profile] thawed_pride 2021-02-06 10:33 am (UTC)(link)
At the words 'wanted to end the world', Vexen's stride again falters. His mind abruptly shifts back to nine...no, ten years ago, when he had been the madman watching with cold fascination as the creatures he had helped to create surged through the streets of his homeworld. How he'd felt nothing when people ran to him, desperately crying for him to call the royal guard to protect them. He'd only scoffed, the guard had already been converted, their hearts even among the flood of creatures laying waste to the castle town. None save the three who had also studied the heart under Ansem had produced anything more than Dusks, but maybe the townsfolk would be different?

He vaguely registers the word 'assassination', and it pulls him back to the present. He stops walking and blinks several times, rubbing at his eyes as he tries to process words he'd only half heard over his own memory.

"Pause right there. Did you just say that your friends run an assassination website?!"
miseris_socios: (huh?)

[personal profile] miseris_socios 2021-02-06 10:42 am (UTC)(link)
... Shit. He looks up at Vexen, tugging his sleeve slightly while he's lost in thought and then lets go when he seems to come back.

"Y... eah. I mean, I'd prefer people go through the justice system, but... these are usually people who'd escape the law. Minato does research to make sure that the people they're going after are actually guilty. I know Sakaki got kicked out for making an unauthorized hit... I think there was collateral damage, too. ... I know Minato wouldn't go after someone who didn't do something wrong. They pull them out of their coffin and confront them. I think they run sometimes... either way they die and the Shadows make sure there's nothing left to find."
makeadragonwannaretire: (Look at me!)

[personal profile] makeadragonwannaretire 2021-02-06 11:12 am (UTC)(link)
That's enough to get her attention. Azula whirls on Raven starring her down as fiercely as she can.

"And what is that supposed to mean? What happens if we stay on the platform?" As if Raven herself was the one threatening something tragic.
makeadragonwannaretire: (Where is harvey dent?)

[personal profile] makeadragonwannaretire 2021-02-06 11:17 am (UTC)(link)
Azula had been told of the point system, though how it worked exactly was vague at best. Watching someone operate the shop terminal seemed like the next logical step to trying to understand why she would want to play along here.

"What did you order if you don't mind my asking?"

Sometimes watching quietly was the best way, sometimes the direct approach was faster. And as much as she didn't want to deal with people right now she needed information.

makeadragonwannaretire: (I'm not crazy.)

[personal profile] makeadragonwannaretire 2021-02-06 11:22 am (UTC)(link)
"Well that's...horrifying frankly." Not just the idea of experiencing death but somehow waking up in a suitcase seemed almost as bad as the death itself.

"Useful I imagine but horrifying." She specified. "This train seems very determined to get what it wants if it's able to defy death in the process."
makeadragonwannaretire: (Wanna see a magic trick?)

[personal profile] makeadragonwannaretire 2021-02-06 11:26 am (UTC)(link)
Weird green fruits.

[She sighs but accepts her fate for now at least. She won't be labeled a picky eater just because she's got high standards for food. It seems for the time being though her standards for food...and company, are going to have to be lowered.]

Just promise me we have some spices to cook with? One can't live on bland foods for long. I mean you can but is it really living?
makeadragonwannaretire: (Gasp!)

[personal profile] makeadragonwannaretire 2021-02-06 11:27 am (UTC)(link)
Azula's eyes boggle and she grips the bed she had been inspecting to keep herself from stumbling backwards. Her body wants to put some distance between Cassie and herself while her mind is desperate to learn how she's doing it.

"That's...very impressive! And you learned that skill here? As in others can be taught to do it as well?"
makeadragonwannaretire: (Threaten)

[personal profile] makeadragonwannaretire 2021-02-06 11:32 am (UTC)(link)
She is on edge at first reeling back from the frankly adorable creature, but the aura it's putting out seems to calm her a little. She at least stops looking like she's gonna run away.

The explanation does leave her lacking through and she frowns a little "A piece of your soul? How does that even work?" It's not as if Azula didn't believe in the concept of a soul, she also just wasn't entirely sure she had one. But that was perhaps a discussion for someone she hadn't just met.

Instead she turned her attention back towards the creature and seemed satisfied that it liked her fire bending. Of course it did, she was amazing. She sent another burst of flame out into the mist to placate it. This one slightly bigger then before.
longforgottenpromise: (thoughtful)

[personal profile] longforgottenpromise 2021-02-06 11:32 am (UTC)(link)
He nodded, he often forgotten that Roland hadn't been here that long, or more he had been here a long time but only half as long as Taiki and Lord Gyousou...

"I'm alright. Me and Lord Gyousou have been here about six months I think. It seems so much longer but also not that long at all."

So long for them to be away from Tai and yet even now there was so much of his king that was unknown to him.
makeadragonwannaretire: (sepia tone)

[personal profile] makeadragonwannaretire 2021-02-06 11:35 am (UTC)(link)
"Seems like a design flaw to me." Azula mused trying to wrap her head around sci-fi concepts while having spent her entire life in a fantasy setting.

"Even if it aids in you being more humanlike the potential for deterioration is a weakness that could be exploited. If they went to all the trouble to create you they should have at least strove for perfection."

Insulting? Maybe a little but Azula hadn't learned to care yet and it didn't seem likely to change.
makeadragonwannaretire: (Fwoosh!)

[personal profile] makeadragonwannaretire 2021-02-06 11:38 am (UTC)(link)
"I presume a gun is a type of weapon?" One they didn't have in her world, something to add to the increasingly longer list of "Stuff they don't have where I come from" that she'd have to investigate.

As for Fire Bending Azula actually smiled faintly "Precisely that. Well deduced."

She took a step back and made a simple gesture with her hand, swishing it back and creating an arch of blue flames from her fingertips. When it finished she held a fireball hovering in her palm just as easily as one might hold a fruit.

"You can see where I might prefer it to a simple blade."
makeadragonwannaretire: (Shoulder glare)

[personal profile] makeadragonwannaretire 2021-02-06 11:42 am (UTC)(link)
Azula's eyebrows knitted in confusion at first and then she relaxed a little. Magic? Of all the things to seem ridiculous to her on a day like today why should magic be the one thing she was about to reject out of hand?

"Yes well, you may be right about that. This isn't exactly the most welcomed I've ever felt." But also strangely not the worst welcoming she's received in her life.

She still feels on edge, like this woman might turn on her at the drop of a hat but the distraction is enough to steady her breathing, keep her eyes focused on Zelda and not the swarming mass of strangers milling about nearby.

"What else can you do with your magic?"
makeadragonwannaretire: (Pouty meh)

[personal profile] makeadragonwannaretire 2021-02-06 11:46 am (UTC)(link)
"Very strange." She confirmed and then sighed before climbing up onto her bunk and trying it out.

"No, this won't do at all. I'll have to replace all of this." She decided "The blanket, the sheets, the pillow it's all too cheap. You'd think we were in the military." She grumbled before sliding back down.

"It's going to be hard enough to sleep with...three room mates? Are all these beds spoken for? The least this train can do is offer us proper comforts."

It wasn't often she played the "Spoiled Princess" role but after spending almost a year locked up she missed her royal bed more then just about anything.
makeadragonwannaretire: (Now that was unexpected.)

[personal profile] makeadragonwannaretire 2021-02-06 11:50 am (UTC)(link)
Her own anxiety becomes a moment of horror as she considers the implications of that fate.

"So the Train just...casts them out? And they never return?" Is that what happens to those who don't play along? Suddenly her indignity is starting to feel more like a defense mechanism against the crushing lack of control she has here.

"When you put it like that I guess I have no choice after all."
longforgottenpromise: (confused)

[personal profile] longforgottenpromise 2021-02-06 11:50 am (UTC)(link)
He looked angry, but he did not seem angry towards Xion. Indeed all his words up to this point had sounded like he was sympathetic towards Xion. He still did, especially when he spoke up again.

A traitor? To the people who had hurt Xion?

He reached his hand up to place it on Xion's own, to comfort her.
makeadragonwannaretire: (Starting to crack)

[personal profile] makeadragonwannaretire 2021-02-06 11:52 am (UTC)(link)
Somehow through the constant stream of "Nope" Currently running through her brain Azula registered the bird woman's words and had to stop herself so she could regain her composure.

"I can't believe I'm actually going to ask this but, do you mean to tell me there are entire worlds out there that are populated by turtle-ducks instead of humans?"