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

Curufin steps out of the train into the fog, and the first person he sees is Merwen, who is evidently trying to struggle out of her clothes.

"You might want to stay dressed," he says to her. "It's cold out here, and you might get hyperthermia. If you don't like the clothing, you can eventually buy other outfits at the train store. Can I answer any questions for you? Everybody's baffled when they turn up here on the platform."

"I would almost rather be cold," Merwen says, exasperated, frightened. "This... this fabric. It's heavy, and coarse, and I feel I can't breathe in it."

But it is cold. She has to admit to that.

"Is there somewhere to take shelter?"

"It's true the fabric is coarse, I guess it's a canvas of some sort. What fabric do you normally wear?" He tries to make his voice friendly and reassuring.

"Yes, we can board the train. If you like, we could go to the kitchen and get something hot to drink. That might warm you up."

"None. We wear no clothes on Shora. I have covered myself in seasilk, for the sake of Valan customs, but seasilk is... Thin, strong. Smooth."

And wearing some hastily patched together dresses in order to avoid trouble with another planet's customs for a week or so is one thing, but... Whatever this is is quite another.

"A hot drink would be welcome, I admit. Please, share the way."

"Shora is your world, then. Are you of the Sea People?"

He was thinking. "Maybe I could get some seasilk from the train store and ask my talented Spider friend weave it into a dress. I'm not sure if the train entity will let me buy something from someone else's world, but it couldn't hurt to ask. If it consents, it won't be available until the next platform, an earth-month from now. Meantime, you'd have to make do with the clothes the train gives you." He snaps his fingers. "Oh wait! Maybe my Spider friend could make you a dress out of spider silk. Then it would be available a lot sooner. She makes amazing clothes. She wove a red silk shirt for me last year."

He leads the way to the kitchen, where he pulls out a couple of stools up to one of the counters and gestures to her to sit down. And then he rummages in the cupboards and finds some tea. He heats water and pours it into the cups over the teabags, and sets one in front of Merwen. Then he sits down next to her and waits for his tea to brew.

"We call ourselves Sharers," she says, faintly amused, "but 'Sea People' is not a terrible name for us, I suppose. My name is Merwen the Impatient One, by the way."

It's definitely better than "catfish" or "moon women," anyway, which she's been called to her face. Merwen listens to him talk, not understanding everything he's saying, but he seems to be thinking out loud, more than anything. She takes a moment to bend over her teacup, to inhale the scent of brewing tea leaves -- a familiar custom, if an unfamiliar plant, with an unfamiliar flavour.

"If we are permitted to sometimes obtain objects from home, why not a silkplant itself? I'm used to spinning and weaving silk, and if your Spider friend," she absolutely does not know what a spider is, "is skilled in weaving, I could learnshare her to work with it as well."

"Sharers, that sounds like a good name for a people. A generous name. Do you live in the sea? Pleased to meet you, Merwen the Impatient One! I'm Curufin the Crafty." Smile.

Curufin sips his own tea.

"I could ask the train if it will provide a silkplant, if you'd prefer that. It could be planted in one of the garden boxes in the Greenhouse Carriage. If you are a skilled spinner and weaver, then you can make your own silk robes, and then they'll be exactly what you want. The Spider might be interested in working with you, since she's good at weaving and good at learning new things."

"A silkplant is more practical than a finite amount of silk," Merwen says.

She sips her tea, wrinkling her nose a bit while she considers the taste, then goes for a second sip. "I would have to see the Greenhouse, of course. I suspect it's different than the branches of a raft tree, but something could be managed."

A project... might be nice.

He nods. "You have a point there. If that plant will just keep producing seasilk, then it would be a good choice."

He takes another sip of his own tea. "We could go and take a look at the Greenhouse, after you've had a chance to warm up. It probably is different than whatever you're used to, but it is possible to grow things there. My friend Glorfindel and many others have their own planter boxes and they grow useful fruits, vegetables, and herbs."

"I'd like to see," she says, agreeably. "I'm not sure what is eaten here, typically, but it will be good to see my options."

She takes a deep drink of tea, wrapping her hands around the mug. The mug is strange, but it's still comfortingly cup-shaped in a way that makes sense, and not a lot makes sense, just at the moment. "'Greenhouse.' An interesting word, but I understand it. A house filled with greenery. I like that."

"The train provides us with most of our food, but some people like to grow things and make tasty dishes to share with the rest of us. And as for your options, in the Greenhouse, there are slightly raised beds of soil to grow things in. It would just be a matter of which one you think would be best for a silkplant. I suppose it would be possible to build a planter box if you think that would be better."

He takes another sip of his tea. The warmth is very welcome, after the cold Void platform.

"I like the world Greenhouse too. It is rather poetic, even if it merely describes a practical kind of arrangement. So, if you're agreeable to the idea, I'll go in the next day or two to the train Store and attempt to order a silkplant."

Merwen is quiet for a moment. "I choose not to eat flesh," she says. "Do you think that will present a problem?"

She hopes not. It would be a hard choice to make.

"We grow silkplants directly on the branches of the raft tree we live on," she says, doubtfully. "Still, they aren't parasitic. I should be able to figure something out."

"Probably not. There are other people on the train who are vegetarians, and the train does provide a lot of nutritious food choices that are not meat."

Nobody should have to eat things that would be against their values to consume!

"Ah, I see. The silkplants like to grow up high, and they like a solid foundation for their roots. We might be able to build a structure that is something like a tree, or maybe the silkplant could adapt to growing in a bed of soil."

He takes another sip of tea. "What's your world like, Merwen?"

Merwen considers how to describe it for a moment. A world is large and encompasses much.

"Shora is all ocean," she says. "We live in warm waters, on the raft trees. Raft trees are not high, but they grow in a tangle of branches floating on the sea's surface, large enough for us to build our homes in them. Nor are we the only ones, as many plants and animals also live there, many insects, many amphibious fish that come out of the sea in search of food. We leash our rafts to starworms so that we may go where they swim, and that we may coax them to swim where we wish to go. We have or can make all we would need."

"It sounds like a very interesting world to live in," says Curufin, nodding. "Those raft trees must have been HUGE! And what a wonderful environment to live in, always rocked by the waves, and always hearing the music of the Sea. Those starworms were your horses, I guess. They pulled your raft trees and were friendly enough to do it. The Sea must have been a great provider of food and materials, too."

He thinks about what he knows of the ocean.

"I grew up not far from the Great Sea, and we Elves sailed ships and boats, but we didn't live on the ocean. There were sea-beings who were servants to the gods, belonging to the race of the Maiar. They lived in the Sea and would sometimes climb out on the beach and sing or play their harps. Did your people make music, too?"

"Of course. We sing, we play our instruments, for joy or celebration. What is more human than to make music? It's true the sea shared with us all we could need, though sharing goes both when a storm darkens the sky."

She listens attentively, and honestly hearing the phrase "Great Sea" is refreshing, because it's the sort of proper reverence due the ocean.

"Elves. That is what you call your race?"

"That is well. Music makes for a joyous existence, or at least for joyous times. And indeed, to make music is very human."

He does have reverence for the ocean, as do all Elves who have any experience of it.

"Yes, Elves. We actually didn't invent the term, it was invented by our gods, the Valar. We're also called the Firstborn, because in our world, we were the first sentient beings to come into existence. Mortals are the Secondborn, as they were next. We were supposed to be the teachers of the Secondborn."

"Learnsharing is a noble purpose. You were supposed to?"

This is fascinating. It's worlds different from the history she knows; she can make comparisons between Elves and the Ancients, but she can't imagine an Ancient would be so peaceable a person to chat with. Well, maybe that's unfair.

"Do you mean you did not learnshare?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A New Platform [Intro Post February]

Platform

Re: Platform

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