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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Quatre hadn't been having good luck recently. It seemed that each new platform meant that more people he knew were leaving. But he spotted Curufin, who had gone to the barrier and he couldn't help but follow him over. When his space heart was being bombarded on all sides, a calmer "voice" felt better.

He smiled, watching as they all left, giving a wave as well. "That is a nice sentiment."

Curufin turned to Quatre and gave him a smile. "I try to say what I think they would need to hear, if they can hear me at all." He, too, had lost people he knew, with each platform. It was nice to see a friendly face at a time like this.

"Did you lose anybody this time, Quatre?" he asked.

Quatre nodded. "That is what I think they should all hear... since we don't know if they can hear us or not anymore."

He nodded again at the question. "I did. I knew Zechs. He was from my world."

"I think such gestures are important," agreed Curufin.

"Zechs was from your world? How interesting. I didn't know him well, but he and Roland and I had a short adventure together on that mission during the month of Imagination. Did you have much interaction with him before you both came to the Voidtrecker Express?"

"It is. I do agree. They are our friends, our family, and we don't know when we are going to see them again."

He will likely start doing this too.

"I didn't know him well from back home actually. We were frequently on two different sides of the fighting in our world. Even if we had the same goal in the end, our methods did not agree. But... I enjoyed speaking with him what time he was here. I feel I got to know him better here than I did at home."

"They are. If being Void Warriors together is not enough to make us family, I don't know what is enough!"

Curufin would appreciate it if Quatre joined him in his monthly farewells. He would not feel so alone then.

"That's nice, that you and Zechs were able to get to know each other here on the Voidtrecker Express. It seems that is not unusual, people who were opponents in their own world becoming allies on the train."

"Exactly. I don't know what else we need."

Quatre would have to start joining him. Even though platform day almost physically hurt, it was nice to be able to send others off. Even if they hadn't been his friend, they had been someone's.

"It makes sense, removing the thing that caused the problems in the first place. There was no war here, no conflict, nothing to keep us at odds. I hope that when I do get to go home too, I can actually talk to him more."

Curufin would be very pleased if Quatre could join him. And Curufin had the same experience: platform day caused him an almost physical pain, and sometimes he had to sit down against the barrier and clasp his arms around his middle, just to wait for the hurt to diminish enough for him to go and greet new passengers.

He nodded. "We are so far removed from our worlds and all the complexities of living there. The problems seem to be left behind. I hope that you and Zechs will be able to use your experience of being allies here to connect in your own world, once you both have returned."

He looked off into the distance. "We all talk so much about what we will do when, or if, we return to our own worlds. I think that provides us with a stabilizing mood. Quatre, when you return to your home, what will be your first priority?"

For the longest time, Quatre hadn't even left his cabin on platform day until everyone had boarded and the strong emotions had begun to settle once again. Since Trowa left though, he had been coming out even though it was hard.

"I hope so too. He's a good person. He was rather protective of me here after my friends left." He remembered preparing for the mission and Zechs handing him a gun for protection.

Quatre thought about that for a moment. "If I remember how long I've been gone? Calling my friends and all my sisters just to hear their voices once again." He smiled. "That will take me at least a few days if I have a decent conversation with each of them."

He's not even kidding there...

Curufin sometimes left it up to Eva to greet new passengers, but generally not. He usually chose to endure the emotions and get on with the greeting process. Also, he had known Trowa, and he missed him.

"That was kind of Zechs, to be concerned about you."

He nodded. A civilization that uses the telephone or cell phone makes it easier for people to re-connect after an absence. "That sounds like a great way to spend the first days of your return! I'm sure your friends and sisters will be glad to hear from you, and happy that you have come back to them."

"It was. I was pleasantly surprised. Since he had no obligation."

Quatre had never asked for the assistance, but he was not one to turn down another's kindness, especially when it came without being asked for it."

He nodded. "I'm sure that they would. They worry about me."

Of course, it had started out with people just being overprotective of him, but when he started fighting, it proved that he really did need some of that.

"People can always surprise us. We make one set of assumptions based on what we know of them, and then it turns out we didn't know as much as we thought we knew." Thank goodness!

"It's a good thing, to have people to return to. Even though they worry about you in your absence. I see that as a strong reason to hold tight to the hope that you'll go home someday."

"That is definitely true. Many people were surprised by us, seeing that we were only teens fighting for our colonies to try and stop the problems. We assumed things about them, they assumed about us. Some of our best allies now started out as our enemies."

He nodded his head. "I am certainly hoping that I will be able to go home. I want to see them again. What would you do first thing when you got home?"

Curufin smiled. "A teenager can be a force of nature! When he or she has a good enough reason to launch off into action with a goal in mind. I'm glad other people came to recognize your worth."

He nodded thoughtfully. "I'm still not one-hundred-percent certain that I would go back to my world. I'd have so much to make up for, and I'm not sure that everybody I ever wronged would be willing to accept reparations from me. But I suppose that if I did go back, I could help my people achieve their goals, to defeat the Dark Lord and create a better world for Elves and mortals to live in. Of course, that would partly depend on what point in the timeline of my world I arrived at. And as for the very first thing I would do, I think I'd go searching for my brother Maglor, who was rumored to be wandering the coast of Middle-earth, still a musician, but now a hermit. I love him and owe him so much, and he'd be my very first concern."

He nodded. "They did. Of course, it helped that eventually, they realized we were fighting for the common good. We started protecting the colonies and in the end, ended up saving the Earth."

Their world was quite complicated sometimes, but then again, weren't they all?

Quatre smiled as he listened and nodded. "I hope that you are able to go back and they are able to forgive you for what has happened. Everyone deserves a second chance."

"I'm not surprised you saved the Earth. You and Trowa and Duo seemed so competent, and I'm sure that whatever you attempted, it worked out well in the end."

All the worlds were complicated, as far as Curufin could tell!

He smiled at Quatre. "I hope so, too, actually. I would like to deal with all the unfinished business, and try to make up for my wrongdoing. Thank you, Quatre, for your compassion. I, too, believe that everyone deserves a second chance."

"Thanks. It wasn't just us. We had Heero and WuFei and so many others behind us. It took a lot of people to bring peace to our world."

Quatre smiled. "I know that you will be able to do when you go home." He glanced once more at the gate before turning. "Come. Let's greet those who just arrived."

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A New Platform [Intro Post February]

Farewell to departed

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Okay if we wrap this thread and catch up later?

Sounds good.