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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Having been prepared for a much stronger attack, getting hit with a snowball to the face of all things was a bit of a surprise. After a momentary bit of sputtering though, he nodded once, accepting it for what it was, and brushed a bit of slush out of his hair before reaching for a nearby tea-towel to dry off his face. Once dry, he replied, "That's fair. Honestly I'd be more worried if you did forgive me right off for something like that, cause it almost definitely wouldn't have been sincere. But given the tight quarters around here, I think everyone'll be glad it's not likely to come to blows, at least." Especially given the fact that they could hurl fire and ice, respectively.

"And yeah... I think both of us probably owe Riku Replica a free shot if he ever turns up here. Though how much that'd likely would hurt depends a lot on when he was from. He... wasn't exactly stable by the end of things in Castle Oblivion." Which while caused with Vexen's support had been exacerbated by Axel's manipulations. That didn't mean he was particularly looking forward to potentially being stabbed by a bat wing-shaped sword.

And speaking of free shots, the remains of Vexen's were slowly melting on the floor near Lea's feet. He frowned at it slightly. "Hmm... better get that cleaned up," he said to himself, summoning a roughly baseball-sized fireball next to it in hopes of melting it more quickly and allowing it to easily be wiped up with a towel.

He sighed at the explanation of the Riku Replica's mental state. He couldn't say he was surprised, given what the boy had gone through. Even worse, since he'd learned his memories were fake.

"I don't know if you're aware yet, but he was also among those Xehanort brought forward from the past to take part in his Keyblade War. I don't know precisely when he was from, we didn't have much opportunity to speak in private while I was working on restoring Xion, but he did seem just as eager to fight as I recall. He-"

His reminiscing grinds to a halt when that fireball forms, and he scrambles back against the closed door of the car. In a flash, Frozen Pride is on his arm, held in front of him as his other hand fishes blindly for the latch to open the door. His eyes are fixed on the fire, wide with a terror that should look very familiar to Lea.

Lea was about to ask Vexen a bit more about the Riku Replica, which would likely turn the conversation to Replicas in general, but that went out the window very quickly at Vexen's sudden terror. But what could- Of course. "Crap!", Lea exclaimed, the fireball instantly winking out of existence. "Sorry, sorry, I just didn't think that-!" That what? Someone who'd died by fire would be afraid of it afterwards? Stupid, stupid Lea!

He cut of abruptly before he could make some lame excuse. Because really, there wasn't one. He ought to have known better. He sighed again, looking away. "...Sorry."

His scrambling stopped as the fire disappeared, though he was still breathing heavily and staring in fear at the spot where it had been. It took him several seconds to calm down enough to at least pry himself away from the wall and speak, though he still clutched Frozen Pride defensively to his chest in a vain effort to hide how he was shaking.

"You would...think that having-" A pause, as he took a moment to breathe. "That having left my heart behind would-would have prevented this, and yet..."

It took Lea those same seconds to look back at Vexen again, his expression a mix of contrite and thoughtful. "Guess some things aren't that easy to shake," he said. Not that losing one's heart was easy, by any measure, but it certainly seemed like it should be a straightforward process. Apparently some things still stuck though.

He couldn't help but notice the way Vexen was shaking, despite his efforts to conceal it, and recalled his expression from a moment ago. "...You really were scared then, weren't you?", he said after a moment.

Edited 2021-02-12 05:33 (UTC)

It wasn't hard to figure out when Lea was talking about. The last time, though not the only, that he'd been so helplessly terrified. He nodded, hesitantly, abruptly very interested in his own fingers drumming on the edge of his shield. Better than thinking about the way most of his body itched and stung at the memory.

"Has anyone informed you yet, that Nobodies slowly recover our hearts with time? I had been in denial about the evidence, but what I felt in those moments was impossible to dismiss as a mere reflexive memory of what it was like to fear for my life."

Thinking back, Lea could indeed recall seeing similar- if perhaps not quite so intense and immediate- expressions of fear on Vexen at other points, most often when in the presence of Xemnas. Of course, being afraid of Xemnas was sensible, especially for someone who wasn't the strongest physically, but still... It made his turn against the new Organization and its even more powerful leadership that much more impressive.

"Yeah," Lea said. "Xemnas and Xigbar taunted Sora with it when they had him cornered, and I found out from Sora later. Turns out Xigbar was in on Xemnas and Xehanort's plan, so he knew all along- or at least for quite awhile- and was gonna sell us all down the river anyway." He scowled at the thought; Xigbar would have a lot to answer for if he ever showed up there...

"I was under the impression that it took awhile for it to happen though. I had one flicker of emotion in Castle Oblivion, but after that, it took months before I really noticed anything else. I enjoyed spending time with Roxas and Xion. Felt guilty about lying to Roxas about certain things. ...Was scared of losing them. And missed them when I did. I didn't realize I was really feeling things at the time, but looking back, it's pretty clear." His path back to his heart had been much more gradual and faltering than most of the Organization's had been, for a variety of reasons. But still, he wondered how he'd missed the signs for so long.

"Xigbar...?"

His voice faltered with something other than fear, and his expression looked as though he had been slapped in the face...before anger gradually took over.

"I thought Braig seemed different after Xehanort's arrival, but..." He took a breath and shook his head. Frozen Pride vanished, and he stalked over to where he'd left his coffee. "Never mind, you wouldn't know him well enough for any speculation to mean anything to you.

"The subject of Nobodies and hearts, however...yes, ordinarily it does take a long time for a heart to even begin to regrow. But the key thing to keep in mind here is that hearts are not actually material objects. Sora is a perfect example of this, with the way he housed so many other hearts within his own. When I recompleted, the portion of a heart I had developed did not need to be discarded to make room for the original one I had lost."

He paused to sip his drink, only to give it a look of distaste. "Eugh, room temperature."

Without letting his own interjection slow him down, he continued, "When I gave my heart up to infiltrate the Organization, I was able to take advantage of the fact that I still had that fledgling secondary heart, independent of my original one. Rather than returning to being the completely emotionless shell of myself that I had been at the start of my first time as a Nobody, my feelings were merely muted. Quiet enough that I had been able to ignore them when I dreaded the idea of having a conscience once again, but present enough that I can use them to remain true to how I would behave if I hadn't made the sacrifice that I did. And, evidently, present enough that I still have to deal with the sort of kneejerk emotional response that phobias represent."

Lea quirked an eyebrow at Vexen's reaction to the information about Xigbar, but then nodded slightly. He was right; Lea hadn't known Braig well enough to make any comparison with Xigbar's behavior, so he let that subject drop. It was enough for now that Vexen knew about Xigbar's betrayal.

The rest of it though, was interesting. And could be potentially useful, even if he couldn't think of any specific circumstances where he might need it at the moment. "Huh," he said. "Makes sense, I guess." He glanced down at his chest. "Wonder if I've got an extra part of a heart in there too somewhere?" Would that make him feel things more intensely now that he was whole again? Or would it just be sort of dormant, like Roxas and Xion had been in Sora's heart?

Glancing down reminded him of the remains of Vexen's snowball again though, now largely melted into a small, slushy puddle without his help. He snagged the tea towel to mop it up, but before he did... "You know, I can heat up that coffee for you," he said to Vexen. "No fire, just direct heat, promise. Fire would take longer anyway, and might damage the mug."

He hesitated for a moment, as an irrational fear of letting the same person who had roasted him alive handle his drink grabbed him. But it was just that, irrational. If Lea wanted to end him, he could have already done so, easily. So he nodded and held the cup out. While he was at it, he looked the former Nobody over with a thoughtful expression.

"Without a proper scan, I can only estimate, but...it seems to me like you were halfway to developing a completely new heart by the time of your recompletion."

Lea stepped forward and put his free hand on the outside of the mug, channeling a bit of magic into the liquid within. Almost immediately, Vexen would feel it getting warmer and in a moment it was once again gently steaming.

He blinked in surprise though as Vexen mentioned how much heart he'd developed before becoming himself again. "Huh?", he glanced down at his chest- as if checking to be sure some sort of sign bearing that information hadn't suddenly appeared there- before looking back up at Vexen. "You can tell that just from looking at me? Could you always do that, or is this a new thing?"

"Not always, it is a learned skill. But I've been able to read people's hearts for a long time, longer than I've been a Nobody."

He sipped his coffee again, and nodded in approval.

"How do you think I designed the Riku Replica to be so similar to the real Riku's personality? I can't get such fine detail at a glance, of course, but the broad strokes are evident enough."

"I dunno," Lea said. "I don't really know how Replicas work. Even your notes weren't much help there; you have really terrible handwriting, you know that? I mean Xion definitely has some quirks that a human or even a Nobody doesn't, but I don't know how much is a Replica thing, how much is just a Xion thing, and how much is something that's not supposed to happen at all."

"That heart-reading ability though... is it something you could teach to other people? Or does it require some kind of special training or high-level magic ability?"

"You are not the first to comment on my handwriting, no. I'm not surprised you couldn't make out much, you wouldn't be familiar with the shorthand I use within my own personal notes. Fortunately, I have my records of the entire project with me, so I ought to be able to discern the underlying cause of whatever problems you're concerned about."

Whether he could do anything about them or not, though...that was up in the air.

"My ability does require a decent aptitude for magic, it is not something Aeleus would have a chance of mastering. Why are you so interested in it?"

"That's good to hear," Lea said. "However you feel about me, it'll be good to have someone around who actually knows what they're doing with regards to Replicas. And I'll be sure and tell Xion that she can ask you if there's anything like that she's worried about too; whether or not she'll listen remains to be seen, but I'll tell her, at least."

When asked why he was interested in the heart-reading ability, Lea rubbed the back of his neck a bit awkwardly. "I've spent a long time now trying to convince Xion that she's a person and has a heart, but I honestly can't tell how much it's working sometimes. I think she accepts that she's a person now, but I don't know whether she believes she has a heart. So I figured that if I could honestly go 'yep, I'm 100% sure you have a heart because I can see it right there' maybe it might help, you know? Though I might not have enough magical clout to be able to do it."

"Hmm..."

He stirred his coffee, seeming lost in silent thought for once.

"When Xion and I spoke earlier, and I told her I was her creator, she seemed...distraught. Thinking about it gave her an intense headache, and she clearly regarded me as an enemy to begin with, so I decided it best to give her space. If she decides she still wants answers, I will of course provide them, but..."

He sighed, and didn't finish voicing his thoughts.

"Anyway, she most certainly does have a heart. In truth, she's had one from the beginning, although it was a very sparse one at the start. All my efforts to create a functioning Replica without a heart failed, so I constructed a basic framework to fill the role. Since then, Sora's memories and her experiences have shaped it into a full and unique heart that is solely hers. If you want to try to learn how to see it, so you can tell her this firsthand...there is no harm in attempting to learn a new skill and failing. Advanced scan magic is hardly going to destroy the train if you fall short on it."

"Yeah, that sounds like a Xion reaction, alright," Lea said with a bit of a sigh. "She tends to react badly to things that overwhelm her, but she's probably more just scared than anything else. Giving her some space was probably a good idea, at least until I let her know that you're definitely not a threat, but I wouldn't give her too much or you might not get it back later. She tends to avoid interacting with most people even on a good day."

He nodded a bit at the information about Replicas, though his expression shifted from thoughtful to a slight, wry smile at the last bit. "Unlike when I was first trying to get the hang of my fire magic, you mean? It's a good thing the Castle That never Was was mostly made of stone and metal, or it might not have lasted long."

"Or a disappointment, depending on one's perspective. Had I possessed enough of a heart back then, I would have enjoyed watching Xemnas deal with having to rebuild his headquarters."

He has enough of one now for it to be an entertaining mental image, but his amused smirk quickly fades as his mind shifts back to Xion's reaction.

"Xion seems quite protective of you. Do you think she would even want to associate with someone who still regards you as a potential threat?"

"Eh, maybe," Lea said. "Though you'd have been out a lab and the whole lot of us would have been out a place to stay for probably weeks or months, so I doubt a bit of schadenfreude would've been worth it."

But at the question of Xion, he sighed. "Honestly? Most likely, no, at least not at first. I'm not sure how much you considering me a threat would matter, but getting her to willingly associate with anyone aside from me and Roxas- who isn't on board the train any more- is tricky. I can only think of one or two people she regularly talks to other than me. I've been trying to get her to branch out and make more friends, but... I don't know. It's hard to tell if it's really doing any good."

"I mean, if I didn't push her to put herself out there a bit, she'd probably just spend all day hiding in our cabin, which I know isn't good. But it's hard to tell how much pushing is too much or too little, or if I'm even doing it the right way. I know what would work for me, and a bit of what might work for Isa, but neither of us is really that similar to Xion when it comes to stuff like this, you know?"

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A New Platform [Intro Post February]

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