voidtreckerexpress | 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

The idea of having kids made Adam laugh briefly. It was better to laugh than give in to the deep-rooted fear that he would turn out like his father.

"No. But I remember what it's like to be a kid," he said. "And people, no matter how old they are, are shaped by what they go through. Kids are easily impressionable."

"I was about to say...." he snorts a little huff of a laugh. Not one that he bares his jagged smile for, though.

"Yeah well... Whatever was responsible, he turned out alright."

And he was proud of him. He accomplished one good thing in his trashbin of a life, he supposes, and that's seeing Peter Quill to adulthood.

"Sounds like you got some strong opinions on the subject."

He shook his head. "Yeah, I'm...way too young for kids." He couldn't blame anyone for being surprised at the idea that he might have them right now. Besides, his focus was on school right now. That and Ronan.

"I think everyone should. Kids should be treated well, and the ones who aren't should have the opportunity to be moved into better situations." They should be loved and protected and cared for.

"Yeah, you're not wrong..."

There's two trains of thought. One, that Peter would probably have been better off at home. Was Yondu better? Well, not all dads give their kids spaceships at ten. Yondu did.

The other, he really wishes he had been saved before he was an adult.

"You had that kinda issue?" He asks. "Sounds like you knew a pretty big dick." Either his own, or someone else's.

He'd already lied to someone else about this; now he had to keep the train going, so to speak.

He shook his head. "It's what I want to do with my life. Work with children in abusive situations and make sure they get the help they need. I was lucky enough to have a great family, but not everyone is as fortunate."

"Respectable line of work to be in."

He never would be in a line that decent. Not unless this train somehow forced it out of him, and he still suspects his worst behavior will be required.

"Already talked to a couple of kids on here that need it."

"I think so, too." And more than that, he didn't want others to suffer for so long the way he'd suffered. People deserved better. No one was perfect, but you didn't have to be to deserve not to be abused.

"Really? I don't think I've met them." He would remember kids like that, he thought.

"Got some without families, some kicked out of their families, one that's basically fixed on dyin' when she goes home."

Yondu at least paid attention. He got it, he understood.

"Train's an asshole for pullin' 'em here but sadly, this is a better situation." He deeply resents that.

"Jesus." He definitely hadn't talked to those people. Or if he had, they'd never talked about those kinds of things.

"It is, on both counts." He knew some people felt better here on the train, but a lot of people wanted to go home. He couldn't blame either of them. "I can only hope they end up in better places after this. Mentally and actual places." Places that would give them the chance to improve their lives.

"I'm just startin' to think the entire universe is full of assholes, so I figure that makin' 'em stronger mentally here will about be the only thing that can be done. I'm tryin', anyway."

At least he figured out how some of them were fucked up. Yondu's not mentally strong by a long-shot, but if Peter Quill could turn out a decent man, maybe he could help out someone else.

"I wouldn't be surprised." Adam had stopped being surprised about assholes a long time ago. "At the very least, being here will give them space from their problems." Space to think, to process things, to be safe. Well. Safer. The train might not have been perfect, but at least it tried to prepare them for danger.

"Making friends is important, too."

For them, maybe. But he does get they're the priority here. He's spent decades in the company of assholes having to defend his decision to save one little boy, and toughen up that little boy so that he could stand up to any of his idiots.

Important for the kids to make friends their own age and not be surrounded by dicks ready to sell them out.

Yondu's figured out friends only come with heartbreak.

A New Platform [Intro Post February]

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