voidtreckerexpress | 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

Thanatos still wears his red hoodie and other train-issued clothing. However, he's floating above the ground and seemingly lost in thought until someone calls out to him.

"You've been captured by the train to help worlds other than your own." While others might paint the whole ordeal in a more favorable light, Thanatos still cannot help but consider this being captured. His circumstances differ wildly from others. "But I would ask someone else. I was only trapped a platform before this one."

And he's been in some level of mental and emotional (Why does he have these?!) distress for 16 days straight. Thanatos is really not the best passenger to get an introduction from.

"I was already in the midst of assisting worlds other than my own. If that is, indeed, the goal, then I must surmise that the train has little awareness of what situations it pulls people from. Otherwise, it would have waited at minimum another day, until it was certain my side would have no more need of me."

True, it would have been worse to take him even earlier, but even with his planned role finished, he wouldn't be certain until it was over that he wouldn't need to step in again. He's not at all sure how he would fare in direct combat against the likes of Marluxia or Larxene, let alone any of the actual Xehanorts, but...at least he knew he could have tried, if they needed him.

Thanatos tilts his head at the man. That was an interesting conclusion to draw so rapidly without much information, but there is merit to what the man thinks. If the train was aware, then it would see how important Thanatos is to his world. Instead, he's here.

It still doesn't satisfy Thanatos, however. His world suffers, and the damage will be greater than last time. But then he repeats the man's words in his head again. He was already assisting worlds other than his own?

"You know how to travel to different worlds?"

"I know of multiple methods, to be precise, but I'm afraid the one I can readily use seems incapable of penetrating this Void. I've already made the attempt, and cannot reach anywhere beyond this platform."

It was frustrating, and he felt trapped in a way that he'd never experienced before. Radiant Garden had been his home, where he'd had his family. After the fall of that world, he'd always been able to go where he pleased, even if 'where he pleased' was usually just one of the Organization's castle laboratories. But here, so many of his loved ones were out of reach, and there was nothing he could do about it. This was probably how Lord Ansem had felt, after his banishment, wasn't it? The thought caused his lips to twitch in a hint of a wry expression, before he shook his head and pushed it aside.

"There must be something fundamentally different between the space between worlds here, and the one which I'm accustomed to bypassing."

The man's unable to travel like he once did. It sounds so similar to what Thanatos has problems with.

"I can normally traverse the entire world, but my range has been severely limited by the train." Although, the length and linear layout of the train still makes his way of travel necessary. He tries to hide it, but when he follows someone, it just feels like so much time is wasted. "Have you tried shorter distances?"

"I have. I used the corridors to board the train and return from it, and they worked well enough in those instances. It's only when I attempt to reach through this Void that I discover my portals to be useless."

He'd almost rather the corridors not work at all, but he's certain they'll still have their uses even without being able to travel worlds at will. Still, it feels as though those dead end portals that greet his efforts are simply mocking him in their uselessness.

"It's the same as me then." Thanatos may have inadvertently run into the train's walls during his initial escape attempts. And every time the train arrives at its destination (which has only been twice in truth), he tries to shift back home again. He's probably annoyed most the train with how the lighting changes and a bell toils with his shifting. Or maybe they've gotten used to it by now.

"Something about this Void or train prevents us."

"My inclination is to think it a property of the Void, although there is merit to the idea that the train may be limiting our movements itself. I have already observed evidence that it can conceal things from my magic...unless its heart is hidden somewhere other than the engine, or it truly does not possess one."

Thanatos tries to think of what he's heard of the train. It isn't likely to be a god or other divine being. It's more technologically based. There's a way to talk to the train through the system, though Thanatos questions how useful the messages actually are.

"The only carriage we cannot enter is the engine." If the train had a heart (as strange of an idea that is), it would be in there.

A New Platform [Intro Post February]

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