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!

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Nita nods again.

"Exactly. And that's okay. The pace isn't so important as the reading, if that makes sense?"

Being a bookworm herself gave her no right to lecture people on how much or how often they should read, after all.

"... I guess?" He's not sure. It just makes him feel awkward. So many people here are way smarter than he'd ever hope to be, and it's starting to make him feel slightly uncomfortable. Academics aren't his thing, though...

"I'm trying... to be a little better at it, at least."

"As long as it's something you're doing for you, and you're not being forced..."

Nita shrugs, or as best she can while holding the books - not that she will be for much longer - and smiles.

"You'll get where you want to be. We've got the time, at least."

"... Yeah. I'm not sure where 'where I want to be' is, though. ... I've got the time, though. You're right." He's doing his best with what he's got, at least.

"You should probably put those down..."

Again Nita nods, flashing a smile... and then, embarrassed, rushes over to the check-in station.

"Oh! Yeah, give me a minute to get these in the system... Feel free to grab them or anything after, though."

He nods and picks through the books idly. He's nto sure what he's looking for - or even at, in some cases - but it's at least something to do other than stand there and stare awkwardly. That makes most people uncomfortable.

There's a few minutes' clacking - less obnoxious on an ICP than it would be on, say, a regular desktop computer - before Nita gives a profound sigh.

"Okay, good, that's done. Now, we'll need your ticket if we're checking them out in your name..."

He wanders back over, remembering this kind of process from school. He holds his ticket out, ignoring the given name on there, and waits.

“... You really like libraries, huh?”

This part takes much less time.

Nita gives Otoha a helpless smile at his observation.

"... Yeah. They were some of the places I felt the safest, back in elementary and middle school."

Away from bullies. Home had been okay, but it wasn't the same.

The unspoken is kind of obvious. He won't deny that he's bullied people before, but... he was expected to. It doesn't make it okay.

"... You couldn't fight back? Or didn't want to?"

Nita makes a wry face - but she's willing enough to talk about it.

"More the latter. I'd talk myself into all sorts of situations, usually by pointing out things certain people didn't take well to hearing. Being so much of a reader didn't help, then, even if I did get self-defense lessons."

She shrugs, leaning back against the ICP counter now.

"I learned how to break myself out of that cycle, though, and that itself made a world of difference."

Being able to do spells as a wizard had only been part of it; she had learned more about the world, and what she could see in people, too.

"... Mm." He leans against the counter next to her, closing his eyes.

"I don't know how it was for others, but I was expected to bully. To push others around to show that I had a place and was going to fight to defend it. My heart was never in it... I wanted to hep people up, but I never knew who might be keeping an eye on me." It's not a good feeling, looking back at it.

"... I think a lot of kids bully because they don't feel like they have a space that they've carved out in the world. So they lash out and try to fit into other spaces... drag people out if they need to. But someone else's place never fits, so they keep going."

Nita wasn't sure what she was expecting, really, but she isn't expecting that. The surprise is clear on her face, though she does her best to adjust quickly.

"Peer pressure... it's never easy to manage, I'll tell you that. Though at least as far as I know, the leader of my bullies grew out of it."

But some people never got to, and the people they hurt in the process... Nita shudders.

"Being able to get physical distance in, or just social, can make a lot of difference."

"That's good. ... It does help, I think. I'm... learning that, too. I didn't really stay a bully... I got teased about being too soft outside of fighting."

He can't say that they're wrong, but it did hurt at the time. "... I got picked on a lot, I guess. Yakuza's got a strict hierarchy and I would have been lower-rank if I wasn't the boss' biological rather than metaphorical brother. I got shit for that, for my refusal to use guns, for not being able to feel pain..."

A lot, honestly.

Nita winces.

"Not a healthy place for you by any means," she summarizes.

"And... no place for you to go if you weren't Yakuza, I take it?"

"No. Sometimes penalties for defection are enforced and sometimes they aren't, but they absolutely would be in my case. You wouldn't just leave a weapon out for someone else to pick up, would you? ... Same with me."

He takes a few deep breaths. He's a person. A person. "A lot of places have laws that make it so they won't do business with yakuza members or ex-members. I wouldn't be able to get a bank account. I wouldn't be able to own property. I'd have to do business under the table and... well. That's where the yakuza are."

The envelope in his room... "Reiji and I were going to run away to New Zealand. Not too far, but warm and not really yakuza territory. We stole money from the safe but got caught, and I got shot off the rooftop. ... I ended up making a contract with the city when I landed through the roof of the warehouse." Not... a pretty sight.

"... He got killed later when I tried to rescue him from where they were keeping him. I knew it was going to be a trap, but I had to try anyway."

"Hell of a rock and a hard place."

Several emotions - though pity is not one of them - flicker through her face as she listens.

And then comes the 'climax' of the tale.

"... Holy shit. No wonder you went with it."

It must have been nothing short of a lifeline, at that point.

Nita gets up off the counter at that point, not entirely sure what to do but feeling she should do something.

"I'm sorry, though. That even trying anyway didn't work."

Because some people were just worth doing that for.

"He's the only friend I ever had."

there's a long pause and a very small smile.

"... Until here, at least. Still... it at least gave me the chance to kill the person who killed him. Which I know isn't the 'right' solution according to a lot of people, but the law would never be able to hold him."

Nita nods, briefly lifting a hand as if reaching for Otoha... then, for the moment, drops it.

"It was something. Something that would stop the same happening to someone else too, probably. I can't fault you for that much."

He doesn't respond to the hand, but he does note it. "It did prove just how afraid of me they were. His backup brought rocket launchers."

Nita snorts at the unexpected fact.

"Definitely overkill... kind of funny if even those didn't work, though."

Biting off more than one could chew and whatnot.

"It didn't, but only because another Karas stepped in and pulled me out. In armor, we can move so fast everything else is basically standing still." How?

... Magic, probably.

"Huuuuh."

Again: one hell of a firefight.

Nita shakes her head after a moment.

"Is that something you can turn on and off, or- wait," Nita pauses.

"Maybe I should ask if the other Karas ended up helping with the rest of that fight?"

"I think they assume I died. Even if they didn't, even I'm not stupid enough to try to deal with a bunch of rocket launchers without powers. The turning on and off... no. Our yurine let us use the armor. We're their protectors, after all."

He has no idea if it's draining on them... it'd be fun to just bounce around in armor.

"So it's just a feature of the armor, not something you direct," Nita concludes, though she doesn't sound certain.

"And yeah; if you can't make it so there isn't a rocket, you'd need at least a shield on you against that sort of thing."

Perhaps worryingly, it sounds like Nita is speaking from experience. Not rockets, true, but other destructive things.

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