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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Tidus has a few of his own reasons for coming into the music cars, even the second floor, where there's not a lot for one to do by themselves. It's not the music that lures him up the stairs, but to check on the curtains of the mini stage, calculations and thoughts going through his mind for someone else, a different kind of performance.

If it was someone else, he wouldn't have thought to really comment on the music being played, not wanting to be distracting. But he also seems to catch Dyme when his playing is in a lull of notes that makes Tidus okay about piping up cheerily.

"Didn't know you were a multi-musical guy. You're good!"

Not just a whizz with the guitar, huh.

He'd been vaguely aware of Tidus entering the car, but he was still a little surprised when he spoke up. Dyme looked up quickly, accidentally hitting a sour note on the piano before smiling.

"Oh, hey. Yeah, I don't usually talk about playing piano, but..." he shrugged. "I figured since we had one, and I haven't played in a while that I'd give it a go."

"Oh yeah? Time to shake things up?" Makes sense, though if he knew how to play the instruments himself, he might've been spurred to play the piano sooner, Tidus figures - there's plenty of time to waste on the train (example: him being up here right now).

"Which came first? Playing the piano or strings?"

"Guitar," Dyme answered without hesitation. "My brother started teaching me when I was a kid. It used to be his thing. I only started learning piano when I was about fifteen." Playing guitar had a special place in his heart compared to playing the piano.

"So you two got to bond over playing guitar, huh? What was that like?" He asks, can't help but to be curious. "Never had a brother or sister myself. I was an only child! All I hear about siblings are complaints," he adds with a fun grin.

Really, that was all he heard about them. At least, back in Zanarkand.

"It was...nice," Dyme admitted. "Our father was never much of a dad, so I think sometimes Nyckel was extra nice to me to make up for it. He was eight years older than me, but he put up with me really well." He laughed a bit. He knew there were plenty of times when he'd been annoying, but Nyckel had handled it a lot better than their father.

"Learning guitar with him are some of my favorite memories."

"Sounds nice," he says - simple, but sincerely. He knew a few things about an absent or distant father, literally at a point in his life, but the rest... he wonders what it would have been like to have family around. A brother of his own to look out for him when he was young.

That's a nice thought, too.

"What was he up to before you showed on the train? You still in contact?"

"Oh. Um. My brother..." he struggled for words for a moment, the most polite way to word things. "He passed when I was thirteen."

He wished Nyckel was still around. Who knew how much different Dyme's life would be with his brother alive. A lot of things might never have happened.

Oh. Shit.

"Sorry," Tidus offers, a hand going to rub at the back of his neck awkwardly. "Eesh. That sucks. I bet he'd love to see your band and where you are now."

Dyme's done well for himself, from what he's shared. He gestures about them. "Well, don't know how I'd explain this part to anyone, family or no family. You ever think about what you'd say if you showed back back where you're from after this?"

It's a subtle move of subject, jokingly asked. Doing his best here.

"It's okay." It'd happened a long time ago; Dyme'd had thirteen years to grapple with it. "He'd be really proud, I think." Aside from all the issues Dyme had, which Nyckel would probably scold him for.

"I dunno," he admitted, latching onto the subject change. "If I told the truth I'm pretty sure everyone would think I was crazy. Even though I don't think my imagination's good enough to come up with half the stuff that's happened." He wondered if even Salem would believe him. "I could tell them I took an extended hiatus, went somewhere quiet and kept my head down." He laughed, then added, "I'm not good at keeping my head down."

Tidus clicks his fingers as he suggests with total humour: "How about you look up the plot of a movie where a musician gets kidnapped and ends up on a wild adventure for months? Bet you can get away with it if you take out the car chase scenes and the cool explosions."

Friends would totally believe someone got kidnapped just like it happens in the movies, right? Totally.

Dyme laughed. "You know, that's not a bad idea. Or I could tell them that I got swept off my feet by an alien and ended up on a different planet for a while." That'd be equally believable, he was sure. It wasn't like he'd never dated an alien, either.

"Ohhhh, good one. Gonna say there was a messy divorce involved, or the planet was about as exciting as Terra's?"

If Dyme remember that wonderful planet of desert and dirt, and too many large, floaty orbs happy to attack them.

"God, I can't imagine getting married in the first place." He could, but it had to be really right. Special.

"Terra?" He was, in fact, terrible with names and was maybe imagining a person instead of a planet.

"The one with..." Tidus starts, waving a hand. Wait, if Dyme's Orange Team... "The labs? Big floaty orbs trying to kill everyone when it got dark? That mission?"

Hitting any bells there?

"Oh! That one. Okay, I remember that. That was a nightmare." And he distinctly remembered running scared in the dark a lot, including hiding inside a supply cabinet.

"Try being with Red Team on that one. I still get mad remembering the train threw us out with those stupid things with nothing but a tent. Seriously!"

He will never let go of Terra. Worst mission yet? Most likely from everything everyone had to go through.

"Nion and that Great-Season-y place last mission were a breeze compared to that one. Even with the meteorites at the beginning."

"You've got a way better memory for this stuff than I do," Dyme said with a bit of a laugh. "After a while, everything starts blurring together. Though I still dislike the first mission I was ever on. I had no idea what I was doing." It hadn't been that bad, at least not for him, but he knew it'd probably been worse for others.

"Which mission was that one?" Tidus asks, curious. He's heard a few things about the previous ones, but only really remembers something about a snow mission, and...

Oh. His voice brightens. "You do the space one?"

"Yeah, it was the space one. On a space station, and there was a war going on. Everybody was getting hurt and I didn't know how to help." And he knew it was kind of selfish to complain when he hadn't gotten hurt, but he'd wanted to be able to do something to help.

"Yeah, I spoke to Yugi about that one," Tidus shares with an understanding sigh. "I'm interested in seeing a place like that, but all the tech and flying? That's a lot to show up to. But hey." His tone lightens again. "Don't know if you're interested, but we got a few devices that can let you heal people without knowing magic."

Why not bring them up, right? "I can always show you how to use 'em, if you're interested. Maybe we can make it a trade."

A trade he hasn't explained yet, but actually...!

"Being in space was cool, but not the rest of it." And despite living on a place that wasn't Earth, he'd never actually been into space.

"Oh, do we? That's really cool, I'd love to try and get the hang of them." But- "I dunno what I'd offer in return, though."

"Actually, I've been wanting to ask you, if you'd be up for teaching me some basics at the guitar? I got told I need more hobbies," he admits only slightly sheepishly, a smile still on his face.

"I can show you how to use a mana drive for that. It's easy!"

"Oh! Yeah, I'd be totally down for that." Especially since everyone else he'd offered to teach weren't even on the train anymore. Or there were...different versions of them. "It's kind of hard to have hobbies in this place, isn't it?" But at least there was still music.

"Also you say that, that it's easy, but you haven't tried to teach me anything yet." He was joking, but he did slightly doubt his own ability to pick up new skills easily or learn how to use things.

"I just want some freedom, you know?" It's a form of agreement. It's hard to have hobbies, when half of the issue (at least for Tidus) was that they couldn't really move around, go off and just...have space. Even if they had a pool as long as the carriages all were, would it make life any better?

But, they couldn't really do anything about that when their 'kidnapper' was a literal train.

"I'll bet you right now, you learning how to use a mana drive will be easier than you teaching me music." But, he can joke just as easy back. If anything helped the monotony of their situation, it was getting to chat with other people like this.

"But I'm up for the challenge if you are. Knowing how to do a cool guitar solo one day on an electric guitar?" Cue the pretend-play of an invisible guitar. "That'd be awesome!"

...Tidus has very simple ideas about guitars and music.

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A New Platform [Intro Post February]

comes in late with voidbucks

/o/

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