voidtreckerexpress | A New Platform [Intro Post February]

Entry tags:

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

"Yeeahhh," he answers pitifully, hand coming to rub the back of his...hoodie, half-forgetting it got put up.

"You're not off the mark. We all got dragged and signed up to this the same way - you can't talk to anyone in charge, unless you wanna talk at a train." Which doesn't help. Tidus pauses, then asks, "You been through this before?"

"Intra-dimensional trains? No. Service to another? Yes. Hopefully these...train beings or whatever they are prove better."

"Depends on what's better for you," he says with a small tug of his mouth. "We get food for the month, but it gets kinda tight at the end. It expects you to go on a mission every month too - you just missed this one," he explains. "Anyone can tell you 'bout the missions we've been on before - fighting, investigatin', collecting. That kinda thing. But we don't know what they're about 'til we have to go."

"Oh. Well, I don't have to eat," she replied casually, as if that were a completely normal thing to say. She really only does so on rare occasions when it's socially required to do so. Which, in its way, is a shame, really. Her designer had gone to quite some lengths reproducing the digestive system.

"Interesting. Those parameters are all well within my skill set - do they choose people for those specific reasons?"

She doesn't have to? ...well, okay. You know what? There's weirder things about people, and that's better than hearing the usual 'I have to eat for five people' that they usually get. He blinks at the news, but takes it in stride fairly easily.

"Seems like it!" He shakes his head a little. "We got answers recently from the train, or whoever you think's in charge - it's not a chatty thing." One way or another. "But the gist is, it needs heroes and it grabs whoever it can get to do a role. So we..."

He swings a finger pointing between them, specifically the colour.

"We're Purple. Every team has a specific task, and we normally get, like... fighting things. --well, 'cept last mission," he admits, "but last mission before that was-- oh. Actually, we had to clear up some stations that got overgrown..."

Wow, his examples are going great so far.

"You mean like gardening?"

She thinks about that for a moment.

"I think I could like gardening."

She's never gotten to, after all.

He chuckles. "The rate we're going, gardening will fit right in! If you're actually interested, one of the cars is a greenhouse thing." He juts a thumb back out to the train. Which, speaking of the train-

"You don't wanna go inside, do you? Warmer in there than it is out here!" He shakes his arms some, hands shoved back into his pockets. "Though, we won't be off again for another two weeks. Platform stops and the missions are the only time we get to be out!"

She is still thinking about the possibilities of a greenhouse when he speaks again, distracting her. The idea of creating life rather than taking it...

"Oh, I hadn't noticed. Please, lead the way if you're uncomfortable."

Hadn't noticed? He wonders what to do, but screw it, it is cold, and he can always poke his head out later, maybe, if he's lucky.

"Alright. I'm Tidus by the way," he introduces, taking a step to turn for the train. "Sorry you got kidnapped, but welcome aboard? There uh, anything you do need, if you don't need food? What were you up to before you showed up here?"

"I am known as Guri," she replied, following a step behind him, hands folded behind her back.

"And I will hope to find more fitting clothing," she remarked, seemingly the only thing bothering her, "but other than that, I have minimal requirements. And before this, well. I had scarcely had time to adjust to any new role, but before that I was the Lieutenant and chief assassin to the largest criminal operation in the known galaxy."

Well, he might have something to say about the clothing, but it's the latter that takes Tidus interest. Or puzzles him, wondering- did he hear her right?

"Wha- you're a bona fide criminal?" Uh- "Wait, do you mean you hunted criminals?"

Maybe he misheard? Platform stops aren't exactly quiet, and she's being pretty cool about telling him her credentials if that's what she is doing...

"Oh, no, I was - not by choice - one of them. I have since shed that past and am attempting to be a useful member of society."

"I feel it only polite to be upfront about what my skills were used for in the past. Thankfully, I had those memories erased. Too many people wanted to know where all the blackmail material was, the hidden money stashes, and so on."

Given the size of Black Sun when it fell apart, each of those could easily fill warehouses.

"Sounds complicated!"

Which might be an understatement, but also, what else do you say to that? 'I had those memories erased'--was that a good thing? Maybe on one hand, but having your memories erased...eesh!

The doors are opened into a long aisle, booths of seats and tables pressed by the walls on either side and carrying the entire length of the car. There's a screen on the wall by the entrance, a computer sat nearby, yet opposite from where they enter.

Tidus points down one direction, after shaking his hands free from where they hid.

"That way goes to the dining and kitchen and all that - case you need to go that way." Even if she doesn't plan to eat. "There's a quiet car too. They're just small rooms with doors you can see-through, but you can't hear nothing. But then you got-" he points and faces the opposite side, "-sports gym, medical, games car, and then the plant cars! Well, one's more like a rock garden than a fancy green garden. And you're stuck walking through them all alllll day."

Yeah, he's not a big fan of the same old, same old.

She was, probably, the only being who would greet the concept with pleasure, frankly.

"The rock garden is that extensive?" she asks, not quite understanding the point he's trying to make.

"The rock garde--? No, not that!" Tidus shakes his head, a small huff something like a laugh leaving him. "I mean you have to go through all the cars to get anywhere. You can't jump from the music cars to dining, you know? But we have a spider pal who hangs out in the dressing car who makes a teleport to the dining car in the mornings, for breakfast."

To add a positive note at the end there.

"Teleporting?" she asks, eyes widening a little in surprise. "They make an...organic teleport?"

"Organic? ...well, they're organic." That counts, right? The spider is very real, but he realises that's probably not what Guri means. Still-

"She uses magic! That's...a kind of organic?"

Maybe? Probably?

She arches an eyebrow. "Magic," she repeats. "As in, wave a wand and pull a womp rat out of a hat magic?"

She shakes her head.

"I suppose, though, seeing some of the natural abilities in my universe, something like actual magic could exist anywhere."

...That sounds like magic where Tidus is standing, but he can get that there's something about it that apparently isn't. Still he isn't put off, waving out a hand.

"Check out the training gym sometime! You get people practicing magic in there now and then, swords, the whole works. I know some tricks too, but we've got some real pros around."

It would be a long story, and it would have to involve explaining Darth Vader in detail.

"I will. It will help me maintain my own professionalism."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A New Platform [Intro Post February]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject