voidtreckerexpress | A New Platform [Intro Post February]

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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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"At least a little bit of everywhere has sugar."

That's self-explanatory and doesn't need a description, even if it doesn't always come from a cane. He takes the cup and lets it warm his fingers for a bit, same as he did with the coffee.

"Thank ya." He's polite enough to muster up that statement. And finally he takes a sip. Nods. That's fine. "How long you been on here?"

He wouldn't particularly care if he was polite or not, that fell into a category of things that didn't bother him either way.

"Three and a half months."

Senku reached for the coffee mug. "Done with this?"

"Yeah, go ahead." He is surprised that the kid's being so helpful, though. Makes him furrow his brow over his next drink of tea.

"You been on any of these missions yet?"

Senku took the cup over and added a bit of cream and came back to sit down across from him.

"Three of them." He nodded. "They've all been very different."

He wasn't going to waste the coffee Yondu didn't like, it didn't bother him so he sipped it.

"I stick with my team because the missions tend to be less combat oriented, and that was true the first mission. The second one, combat came to the entire group's camp and then last mission I wound up being one of the group in this fight in a digital setting." Senku explained.

"Well, I reckon that's why I'm here, then. Last time people decided I was useful, it was for combat. I was a battle slave for nigh on two decades, then a ship captain, so..." He says it offhandedly, like it's fucking nothing.

He knows what he's good for.

Aside from a bit of a glance, Senku didn't comment. It wasn't his place, and it wasn't his world, really.

He sipped his coffee again. "Everyone is good at something." He said, which was his personal ethos.

"Typically the most combat oriented team is the red mission, but you can pick whatever one you want to go on. If something sounds good to you, just let your team leader know and go where you want. It's not as structured as you're imagining. I just haven't found a reason to pick something more dangerous than I've already encountered because I can't fight for shit."

"Yeah, that is odd."

He knows he would have aimed people at what they're good at. But you know what? This seems like a very hands-off build. Like they just want it done and don't care much about how it gets done.

"What's blue team even do?"

"It varies from mission to mission. On the train, the chores for the moment are cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms." Senku answered.

"Last mission everyone's directions were identical. We were also far apart enough that once we were dropped off we never encountered someone from another team until the end of it. From what I heard, aside from fending off little mostly harmless robots, they had to stop some animals from getting out of control. The mission before that, they were also looking after animals." He said, sipping the coffee again. "And the one before that.." He paused a moment to consider.

"I think they were rescuing wolves in an icy place, fighting off corrupted fire sprites." There was a bit of a theme there, wasn't there?

"Animals...." His face twists up in the most confused look. Like he'd probably pull somethin' if he got even more perplexed.

He's never owned an animal in his life. He doesn't even have strong feelings for 'em. They're there. They do their thing. So long as they don't mess with him that's fine by him.

He's never been more ill-equipped to handle anything in his life. Okay, probably fighting the little robots and the corrupted fire sprites he could do. But the animals? Nah. He's gonna leave that to someone else.

He smiled, just a little bit at the confused look.

"Like I said, you don't have to go on the blue missions, but we also didn't get to pick our teams so. The orange missions tend to be more about repairing things, technical things or finicky precise work. Purple and red are more combat oriented. Pick whatever you like. A lot of people don't go with their assigned teams."

Senku leaned back a little bit, sipping the coffee again. "Haven't figured out how we're all linked together, or how we get chosen to come here, but it's one of my personal projects."

"That's funny 'cause I'm decent at technical stuff, too. Used to have to rig ship equipment up all the time."

He wasn't the first choice but if it needed done, he could do it. Something break down on one of his group's heists? He could get it running again.

"It's a good skill to have, but not every member of the orange team is into fixing things either. I'm a scientist, and engineer among other things, at home. So that's more in my strengths personally. You might want to try an orange mission maybe. See what appeals to you when the directions come, but we just had a mission, so you can expect it will about another month before we go again." Senku informed him.

"That is a hell of a wait between missions."

He didn't usually do something like that unless he was planning a big ol heist. It makes him think they're maybe sending people ahead for info.

"So we just sit here an' twiddle our thumbs 'n' such?

"Tell me about it." Senku snorted.

"Well there's a lot of diversions on board. None of them interest me, so I come up with my own work to keep on top of. I'm going to be focused on making some survival knives from some bones I have, among a few other projects."

It's a long-shot, but, maybe if he could find something, he could augment his arrow a bit in the meantime. He's still getting used to the fin on his head.

"There any metal workin' tools around here for public use or do I gotta find someone willin' to share?"

"Depends on what you mean. I've got a decently stocked toolbox that I'm just keeping an eye on that's meant for public use, but it's not really metalworking specific, and there's no forge or anything." He explained with a bit of a thoughtful noise.

"You're welcome to borrow them if you think they'll help. A forge would be nice but ventilation is a problem because we can't pierce the train."

"I've done weldin' on my ship, I ain't too worried. I just need some uh... small scale stuff, y'know? Ain't lookin' to build somethin' large."

Though he does find himself wondering how secure that hull is. Is it a case of 'can't' or 'shouldn't'.

It'd be good to know.

"I believe you, but I can't think of anyone who has welding equipment." Senku did stand up though setting the coffee cup aside, leaning away from the chair and then he made a toolbox appear out of thin air.

He set it down on the table and opened it up.

"Any of this what you're looking for?"

"Okay now how in the hell did you do that?"

Cause that was just out of nowhere. Bam boom, it's here.

Senku smiled and indicated the ring he had on his ring finger. "It's an item that lets me carry things around with magic. It's not from my world."

"Somethin' like that woulda made my life a lot easier. Looks like it does like a Flerken's mouth... They got these pocket dimensions in 'em? They can eat like, ten people at once an' they're about yay big."

He makes a space between his hands that's basically adult cat size.

"That said, yeah, looks like some stuff I could use in there." He squints at some of the smaller tools. "Need to see what kinda metals y'all got."

"Never heard of them." Senku said with a shake of his head. "But it's something like that."

He considered the question. "I'm not sure we have metal for public use. We might have some scavenged robot parts left that haven't been used or claimed. Otherwise it could be something people are using for personal use. You can borrow the toolbox for now, you just can't keep it indefinitely." He felt the need to add that since someone had already asked him if they could keep the tools before.

"I've got iron, but it's one of the items I barter with. I don't withhold things like food or water, or necessities of other kind, but I do barter with other things." Senku explained.

"S'alright, I don't need anything right yet, anyhow." He doesn't take the smaller tools, just looks.

He had a good five minutes to get his new fin installed, and that was by a raccoon. A genius raccoon? But still a goddamn raccoon workin' at high speed, and that puts him in a position of uncertainty.

He's probably gonna have to go to medical, too. He's pretty sure most everything got patched up, but he did get shot in the head.

"I'm lookin' for somethin' lightweight. Probably a mesh with somethin' else. Can you order real specific types of metal? Like can they get the ones that only turn up on one world?"

If you can he might put that way on down his list.

"If you have the points and don't mind waiting a bit. We usually get deliveries like that every two weeks." Senku explained.

"And I haven't seen any restrictions aside from restrictions around what books and knowledge we want. The train seems to be censoring what we can know about the train and the void outside."

"Do they? Sounds about right."

But hey, that means he can get some Yaka metal and maybe some other small supplies. It's backburner stuff. He knows that, at the moment, his arrow works just fine. It'll do him until he has some stuff saved up and he knows a little better what's around/what he's up against.

"You ain't gonna know the truth until you hear five differ'nt people tell it to you. Just in sayin' fact, the way the words come out, you're hearin' a version of it from one perspective no matter how sterile they try to be. So let's say you get around the censorship one day, I'd not count on knowin' the truth about this thing if you only find a source or two. Settle in for a long haul."

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