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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Whether it's because of her relation to Inigo or simply based on personal merits, Olivia has been treated kindly by every single person who's seen to interacting with her. It's a somewhat shocking experience, honestly. Not because she didn't anticipate being welcomed, but more or less because not even everyone in Ylisse is generally so kind.

(Hard and not exactly feasible to be welcoming and kind during the tides of war, admittedly. Olivia doesn't much hold it against those from her homeland.)

The train itself is a bit like a mass labyrinth of various cars with equally various features. From food storage to medical, to the garden, Olivia's passed through what she could, trying to commit it all to memory and knowing very well that won't be happening. At least, not anytime soon. There's far too many things to be looking at. How long has it taken Inigo to get acquainted with it all...?

On the other hand, he's been aboard for eight months, or so he's claimed. Eight months by their time, she suspects. Who knows what that means in Ylissean time.

She's admiring some the fountain in its centre and its accompanying pond when he addresses her. At this point, it's almost no surprise that people know her name. In spite of this, surprise wraps her up in proverbial embrace and she about falls into the pond before she rights herself.

"O-oh!" She exclaims as she struggles to rapidly compose herself (to very little avail, at that). Turning to face him, hands lift to straighten herself out, fix her hair, fix the way garb sits upon her, and in the end, all she's really doing is fidgeting to cover up how excessively nervous she still very much is when she's caught unawares.

"Hello, y-yes. Hi there. Uhm...?" Her eyebrows raise, betraying that she doesn't know him. Tidus is yet another new face. "A... friend of Inigo's, I take it?" Because... it sure seems like everyone knows who Inigo is. And by this point, her too. Simply because of association.

There's a tiny 'whoa!' as he sees her rocking over the fountain, chiding himself too late for duh, good pick for frightening a poor girl! But she finds her footing, the hand he puts out a needless gesture; nevermind the fact he's too far in the first place, and stopping in place helps nobody.

(Maybe though, it helps Olivia, with the way she flusters over herself after.)

"You got me," Tidus admits, hands coming out as if caught, friendliness expressed in the motion, the smile he continues to wear. "I'm Tidus! We room together, and uh- I've known him since I've been onboard here. He's a good friend!" Enough for his expression to brighten further. "And I wanted to see how you were doing. I know this is all...different."

Said, as he looks about them. Nevermind that half-transparent walls aren't a usual occurrence where he's from either, the swirling multi-colour of the void that surrounds them beyond the path of the train, without end.

His hands have already fallen back to his sides, and he takes a lax step towards her. "You know what to do with yourself?"

A 'good' friend.

Those words sit with Olivia for some moments before she decides to weigh in and pretend she didn't almost just fall into a fountain. For a dancer, she's thinking she might display a little more grace, but... It's not like she's on a stage. An Olivia on a stage is completely different than the one currently standing in front of Tidus.

"Different," she parrots with a sheepish smile.

Yes, that's one way of putting it, isn't it? Nervously, she toys with a braid that drapes over her shoulder and down her collar. "It c-could be worse." Of course it can be worse. At least Inigo's here. If he wasn't, Olivia isn't sure how comfortable she'd be. Everyone has been nice, but... is that really enough? If she wanted more, wouldn't that make her selfish? And what more can one really ask for outside of kindness?

His question grabs her, snaps her right out of her pondering. "Uhm... Not..." Her voice softens as she continues. What a strange question, but it does kind of hit everything right on proverbial point. "Not r-really." She offers up her shoulders in a casual shrug before she continues. "I've been looking a-around. Just trying to get to know where I'm at. What's here. What isn't. It's been... uhm. E-educational."

"Heh, yeah, there must be a lot of weird stuff here for you, but you figure out what everything is after a while," he says encouragingly - or aims to, anyhow. "You know about the movies, with the moving pictures? And the music?"

He's gesturing out a hand - speaking with it, by the fact he goes on, not really motioning to anything nearby, or in the carriage.

"You can actually listen to a lot of music whenever you want, no matter the instruments! You can even take it around with you. If you're gonna learn about something, that'd be a fun place to start. You...dance like Inigo does, don't you?"

She could certainly be a dancer, if one's looks had anything to do with their passions. But Tidus thinks he remembers Inigo speaking about it too, his mother being a dancer before him. ...Though usually, they just speak about Inigo's own dancing, and getting the guy to do more of it. (And to not be so shy about it.)

"Uhm, I think I h-heard about them, but I haven't seen them." Rather, maybe she's heard of them, but hasn't gotten an explanation or really been personally involved. That's evidently been part of her adventuring through the various cars today. The more she sees it all, the more she knows he's right. Eventually she'll become familiar with it all.

...There doesn't appear to be a rush. Maybe no one will test her on it.

She's following his hand, but doesn't seem to understand what he means. Or rather, there's nothing in their immediate vicinity that seems to correlate to what he's getting at. Eventually, her gaze moves back onto him and she fidgets where she stands, seemingly unable to keep herself still.

"I'll... That s-sounds useful. Helpful? Helpful," she begins, thinking it could be a great way to practise her dancing in her solitude. She nods at his question before she continues. "Uhm... y-yes, though I'm not very good."

And inwardly, she can hear the implied scolding. If Inigo even heard her, she knows he'd be correcting her without a moment's pause. "I didn't know he was dancing here," she admits as her head tilts. "Does he let you watch him?" Because every time she's tried to get a look, he's always stopped. Not... unlike her. Somehow, she's unsurprised.

Nevermind Inigo being shy when he dances. His mother is shy anyway, isn't she? But as it sinks into Tidus that she might be feeling a lil' awkward, he's quick to figure out -- well, who wouldn't? With all this, and from a world without any technology being thrusted onto a train with plenty.

He should probably be slower, he realises -- a thought that's put aside as she remarks on dancing, and-- oh. His eyes lift before his expression turns sheepish, a hand going to the back of his head to scratch at it. Oh, geez... should he have brought up dancing to Inigo's mom?

"U-uhh, sometimes," he admits. "Once or twice. I just told him 'bout using the music room, 'cause there's an upstairs that people rarely go in." 'An upstairs', that comes with Tidus pointing a finger upward. "Not if there isn't a big gathering. It's got a stage."

A rather narrow stage, but it was space all the same. But Tidus pauses, wondering if he should ask the question on his mind -- if he should say more than he already has about Inigo's dancing. But if he has this much...

"He's pretty shy about dancing. He said the same thing you did, but - I think he's great! He really loves dancing." His hands come together, a palm around the fist in front of his body. "I want him to dance more!"

And that's what comes across to Tidus, what he wants to share earnestly, perhaps getting carried away. But is it wrong to feel passionate about a friend's passion? To wish he was a little bolder, for his own sake.

"He's pretty shy about dancing."

Yes. Sounds just like her, doesn't it. Olivia feels warmed at the thought of her son taking after her, though. She's always wanted to watch him, always wanted to see how a future her has affected him. And he obviously has at least one person really cheering him on. Probably more, considering how many people she's met who know of Inigo and how many of those people have some very glowing reviews of how he is as an individual.

It's true; She really couldn't be more proud. A soft little smile creeps its way into Olivia's features and without even knowing it, some of the tension in her frame wanes.

"I always tried to catch him dancing back home," she explains, somehow able to say such without stumbling over her words. "But I don't think he w-wanted me to watch him." Olivia looses a short-lived yet genuine laugh. "Maybe I'll have to sneak in and watch him sometime on this stage."

To say nothing of her using it herself, because she knew very well she wasn't going to take it well to have people watching her do so. At least, not anytime in the near future.

The mood she speaks with is infectious, or encouraging, no smile lacking on Tidus's face, but it sure does pull at the edges. Inigo's mom sneaking in to watch him dance - Inigo'll be dead embarrassed to find out, but how can Tidus not support that?

Especially when there's a very easy method...

"You can see the stage by the stairs going up." A very easy method indeed. "He's got a little friend, dunno if you've seen her. But if she's around, that means he's up there practicing. He won't see you once he gets going," Tidus shares with a shake of his head. "It's like he's in another world. There's nothing he thinks about but dancing."

It may sound like he sneakily watches his pal more than he does, but Tidus doesn't catch himself, thoughts elsewhere - on Olivia, even.

"Is that how dancing is for you, too?"

That sounds like her, too. Olivia's an entirely different person on stage. For some, perhaps, it's like witnessing the true her. She has no idea has she has tried not to ask too much about it. She only occasionally hears the murmurs and whispers that surround her performances.

She can't help holding onto that smile as Tidus continues. He must spend a lot of time with Inigo to know that. Nodding along slowly, she tries to commit it all to memory. She'll have to put it into practise soon enough. And maybe she won't absolutely horrify him if he should ever come to find out what she's up to. He probably will eventually. Olivia may have crept into enemy territory back home, but...

Sneaking is not her strong suit.

"I see..." she begins before she's caught off guard by his question. A pause and she tips her head before dropping her gaze somewhat shyly. "Uhm. I'm happiest when I'm dancing. It's where and when I can feel most like myself. I can tell a story and I don't have to use words. I want the audience to feel everything I put into it. It's easy to get lost in it."

Nibbling upon her lower lip, she continues, "I'm sure it's the same for him."

"Well, it'd be easier to watch him if he was okay with an audience," he jokes, his head tipping to the side. Not that Inigo wasn't getting better about it - but that was where Inigo and his mum differentiated, huh? Maybe in a lot more ways, though Tidus wasn't about to stand around trying to figure out their similarities.

Never liked that in his own life, with his own family and strangers. It made him do it too much to himself.

"Why don't I show you the rooms?" he offers instead, voice lightening a little, a few step taken in her direction. "It's three...four cars that way," he corrects, pointing towards the door he's facing.

"I can even show you a way to play the music wherever you are! Some of all this weird technology's pretty cool."

He says it humorously, but Olivia gets the impression that there's more truth in there. Considering she's much the same way, after all. She doesn't normally just invite someone to watch. If there's an actual performance, that's one thing, otherwise... Well. There's a reason she is so easily caught unawares, at times, given how prone she is to trying to sneakily practise her choreography and storytelling.

"O-oh, uhm. Okay!" she pipes up, a bit more cheerfully. She's wanted to get to know more of the train, after all.

Olivia follows toward where he points and she strafes around quietly, as if she's intent on lingering behind him. Perhaps a betrayal of the nerves she's still possessing and aside from the Shepherds, she can't think of many who she'd walk alongside without getting absolutely flustered.

But considering it's Olivia, perhaps she's never not flustered.

"How long h-have you been here? It sounds like you know you're way around really well."

Tidus doesn't mind taking a lead, given that's what he's doing. Head always turned to a side and ready to speak over his shoulder to her, pressing the button leading through the space into the next carriage when her question comes.

"Oh, about... a few months." How many exactly? He walks, voice stuffier in the small enclosed space. Speaking half to her, muttering half to himself. "Gyueran, Terra, Irivar... I think it's... about five months? Yeah, five's right. You get a mission every month."

Tidus waits for Olivia to come through the passage herself before he starts walking again. The new carriage welcomes them with the same transparent walls, a line of lighting flooded from above and grass beneath their feet. Fruits, vegetables and flowers grow in plots every which way, even bamboo rising up in places.

"It feels like longer," he goes on. "But you get a routine. I like watching shows in the cinema car. The one with the big screen and all the seats?"

She can only scarcely pick off portions of what he's listing off. To her, it sounds like a foreign language, but some parts could be familiar with things she's looked at since her arrival. No. She still hasn't quite figured out the timing conventions used here and she suspects it'll... take some time. But admittedly that hasn't been at the top of her to-do list.

It's easy to get distracted when she knows her future son is aboard the very same train.

Tidus makes mentions of missions and she thinks back to the designated teams. She still doesn't know very much about it or what her role is on her particular team. In fact, she still questions if she can bring anything useful. She arrived with nothing, after all, and hasn't been around long enough to have much of anything.

Basically, she still understands very, very little about her situation and is constantly trying to keep herself from being overwhelmed by it.

"Uhm. I've h-heard of it. I might have seen it in passing? I'm not doing a very good job of getting myself f-familiar with things, though," she admits rather sheepishly. Her gaze dips onto the ground and she sucks in a sharp breath before she worries at her lower lip nervously.

"M-maybe we can go see it together sometime." Or she can ask Inigo to take her.

Tidus is the opposite of Olivia's nerves, brightly agreeable as he takes her invitation.

"Sure! Just the two of us, or with Inigo too? I've been watching dance movies with him lately. There's a bunch where different groups do dance-offs against each other. Like this one we watched about cheerleading! They're a team that dance together and make human pyramids, standing on each other's shoulders. That one was cool - we can watch it again!"

It'd be a lie to say he's half looking in any particular direction, when he's walking with his eyes on Olivia, his hands swishing in conversational gesturing: hands shaking invisible pompoms to the name cheerleading, the talk about shoulders getting him to motion to his.

Fortunately, he doesn't collide with any doors or anything else.

"Oh—"

She's horrified. By making the request, did she imply she wanted them to go... just the two of them? Olivia flushes right to the roots of her pink hair and she hastily begins to fidget. It only grows more when she realises that he's looking at her.

Please don't look at me so much.

Nibbling upon her lower lip, it takes her some time to find her voice again. Her gaze fixes on him and she clears her throat. "O-oh. Inigo can come with us. I'm... sure he'd like that very much. Or y-you two can go and tell me all about it afterwards?"

Or she can just simply go find it on her own. Evidently Olivia is not particular.

"Huh?" Just the two of them? He lets out a huff of laughter, as quirky as the single raised brow he wears.

"Well that wouldn't be fun. You have to come too! We can watch it whenever...oh, a movie's on now!"

He hushes at the end, voice dropping as the lights do as well with their passage into the next carriage. Ascending rows of seats greet them and the booming noise of talking and music, lights flickering across the seating. Tidus walks through the darkened theatre by the middle aisle, waiting to get somewhere up the slope before pointing up to the screen on the wall by where they came in.

On it shows a scene of people coming out of car, sky-high buildings and traffic buzzing as the rather ordinary scene of the group of three being followed inside a building. They appear to be talking about some big upcoming event they need to prepare for, about someone named Daniel being there. Oh, scandalous.

"O-oh. Uhm. Okay..."

She sounds uncertain, but who is she to question? Chances are if he and Inigo were together, they'd both be in on it. Does it seem a little awkward? Yes. It absolutely does, but maybe her future son won't mind. She still doesn't exactly feel like a mother yet, anyway. And a mother isn't the only way to define her.

Olivia follows after him, though she's uncertain, using her hands to find her way because she knows it'll only take her stepping wrong once to trip over herself and create a spectacle. Or something. Yet she pauses when she's drawn onto the screen and for several long moment, she simply stares.

...She's never seen anything like it before. How does it work? It's like a moving painting, except... unlike any painting she's ever seen. Not quite as scary as the loud laundry machines, but still jarring in its own way. Pink eyebrows knit together as she watches.

Olivia has no idea what they're talking about. "...Who's Daniel?" she asks aside to Tidus, as if he might have an idea.

"Dunno." He should be using his library voice, but Tidus isn't bothering. Hand resting on his side, watching the women continue to talk. "Whoever it is, bet he's rich and fancy."

If the group chatting now were to give any indication, and the suite they then headed on into. Large glass windowpanes showing the high-rising buildings above, a sea of skyscrapers amidst a blue sky.

He walks farther on, meaning to continue, though if Olivia's distracted, he'll have the unfortunate honour of having to interrupt her movie viewing with a call - "Hey!" - that's at least friendly before pressing. But he'll promise once she meets him at the top of the carriage, "We'll watch something later!"

Promise promise. Nevermind they had already been speaking about watching a movie with Inigo later... they can watch more than one!

For now, they have a music carriage to get to.

Were it not for Tidus calling after her, Olivia would remain rooted to where she stands. Yet at the mere address, she moves to follow after him quickly. She'll have to come back later to see the rest of this.

...If she can figure out what it's even called.

"S-sorry about that," she manages to squeak out when she rejoins him, a subtle shade of pink falling over her features. "I didn't expect to get so caught up in it. I've never seen a-anything like that! It looks like a moving painting, but... it looks... real? A living painting?"

She's in so much awe over what, to some, may be so very simple and trivial.

"It is real!"

Tidus is at least used to this, coming off from knowing Inigo, and the way life changed for him back in Spira. They have the long hallway of the training gym now just to get through, and Tidus turns himself to face her, walking backwards and talking. As you do. Arms brought up over the back of his head.

"It's kinda like a painting. Kind of... imagine you could catch a dance performance, and watch it over and over. It's like that - that's what movies are! It's complicated how they do it," and nothing Tidus would be able to adequately to explain ('glass and wires'), so he won't attempt, "but you can do the same for dances. For anything. You get the right equipment for it - you could even see yourself dancing on a screen like that. Or Inigo!"

The wonders of technology.

He says it's real and she can't help looking over her shoulder back toward the direction of the screen again. Next time, she'll have to get closer to it to touch it. But maybe that isn't what he means when he says 'real.' It looks like a moving painting to her.

As Tidus begins to explain, her attention focuses on him intently. To watch a dance over and over again... To catch Inigo in a dance and have it to watch it whenever she pleases... She prods at her chin thoughtfully, undeniably pleased by the idea.

"O-oh, I don't think I'd like that," she laughs a little nervously. "But maybe we can convince Inigo to do so! I'd love to see him dance on a big... screen like that." That's what it's called, right? A screen? She doesn't quite understand, but the idea of Inigo having something that lifts his confidence seems like a positive to her.

Never mind that she could use that herself.

"Well, it sounds like it'll take as much convincing him as it will you."

To record a dance. If she won't, and they know Inigo can already get flustered if he knows someone's watched him dance once. But he says it like it's a goal for the future, nothing to pressure about now. But maybe once everyone's more comfortable, getting settled and wooorked on slowly...!

But they're finally there, at the carriage; a narrow hall that leads from one end to the other, but then there's doors that Tidus walks in first, cocking his head to be followed, and they enter into the first floor of the carriage. Musical instruments have a home at different parts of the room: multiple types of stringed instruments, flutes, recorders; and small screens on a section of the wall as they walk in, that Tidus heads over to without caring to make Olivia follow him. You know, in case she wants to take in the room first.

There's some creates on the floor, of small square containers, one that he picks up in purple. If and when she joins him, he'll take their focus to the screen, an option for artists, categories, playlists and so forth displayed.

"So there's a lot of music in here, but you're used to...stringed music, right? Er-- folksy."

Is that a good word. Why did he never ask Inigo.....!

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A New Platform [Intro Post February]

Tidus, never change.

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