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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I don't need to mod it, I created it from scratch myself," he pointed out with a hint of a smile. "And it is mostly tech, but there is some magic as well, to make it easier to use and to remove the requirements of electricity and the danger of overheating." A small magical charm was so much more efficient than a large fan.

"Oh," she says dully, privately wondering if he was trying to show off. Ah well. "So still not Wiztech, but Magitech I suppose."

She's heard the term thrown around from other worlds. It probably fits.

As he gets into the details however, her enthusiasm slowly creeps back. "Oh yeah, Spot's like that. Not needing conventionally charging can be such a lifesaver for long-distance trips." By which she means off-planet trips.

"Did the train provide you with the parts?"

Not so much show off as not having his friend's sister think less of him.

He shook his head to her question. "One of the other passengers was kind enough to provide me with a refresher on the internal workings of what constitutes a modern portable computer in his world, and from a combination of that and my own memories I was able to extrapolate what I needed to craft and assemble the parts myself. I would rather spend points on books that I have not yet red and thus cannot create than on saving myself some minimal effort."

And also, he was just like this.

Unfortunately for Clef, being 'like this' was precisely what was getting under her skin. Nothing got to Dairine quite as quickly as flaunting one's own extravagant project... especially when it fell into her territory. He was reminding her just a bit of Roshaun back when they first met. That and a quick reminder that this was Nita's friend helps Dair bite her tongue from any sharp retort.

"Shame. If you had I would have asked you how you'd gotten that many points so quickly. That PC system wasn't cheap." And Dairine would love to be able to get some more fun things for a change.

"So... did you scavenge the train for materials, or are you somehow able to make matter out of nothing?"

"I have a plan in the works to perhaps gain the equivalent of a lot of points, but that is beside the point," he said, waving that away. He would have presumed that Nita would have filled her sister in on Bending, even of she had not discussed the powers specific to him.

"I have two separate sets of powers that allow for the creation of items, not from nothing, as you put it, but not from similar materials either. Bending, like the magic of Ceiphro requires will, effort, focus, and practice. With those four building blocks, most things can e created or destroyed. While they are not physical items being transformed or modified to another purpose, they are far from nothing. In Ceiphro those four elements are the foundation for everything, including the world itself."

"Hey, you can't just say that and leave it there!" she exclaims. If he has an idea on how to game the system, Dairine wants to know. "Share with the class, what's your plan?"

Nita has given Dairine a run down on life in Nautilus, including Bending. She even provided her Wizard's Manual information on the subject. Yet Dairine has continued her nasty habit of skimming over the reading material in favor of asking more directly.

"I mean, those are all important parts of wizardry too. However, a spell isn't gonna work with only willpower and knowledge alone. We need something to power it." She frowns, her face scrunching up, "I thought Bending was tied to Nautilus. So the skills you had in your home world worked similar to Bending? That must'a helped smooth out the learning curve."

He was tempted to say "Sure I can" and leave it at that. If it had been anyone other than Nita's sister... well no. Not anyone. He considered what to say and finally settled on "I am under nondisclosure at the moment, so you'll have to wait for Kaiba's big announcement." That should work, right? There were reasons he was never the media person back in the Storm when he had worked on Angel tech.

"We are what power the spells. Those who cast it and the energy of the world or worlds around them. In the case of Bending, Chaos energy. Bending is tied to chaos, and while the chaos was stronger in Naut, it exists in all places where life does." That last battle had been all about that, after all. But he nodded. "Yes, seven hundred and change years mastering my magic and teaching others did make learning Bending quite simple, once I understood the basic similarities. The finer differences did take longer, of course, but that is as it should be."

"Ughh, fine. Keep your secrets," she says, rolling her eyes. But hey, at least she's not pushing it. "Didn't realize it was some high-clearance project."

Dairine would have commented that it still sounded a lot like wizardry, but something else distracts her from it. She stares up him incredulously. "So... is seven hundred years young for you or...?" Wait, is this a Powers situation? Crud, should she have been calling him Elder brother all this time??

"From what little I recall about finance, value comes in part from scarcity and suspense. If we tell everyone, then no one will pay in books for what we are selling and the effort will have been wasted."

"In Ceiphro one stops aging once one achieves a certain level of power and control, unless they actively chose to continue aging. Without physically advancing in years, one cannot perish from them. I am among the oldest on my world, but there have been those older than I and doubtless will be again. I for one have no plans of ending my life, or aging, any time soon."

"Didn't think we needed more capitalism on this train," she comments. Bad enough they have to purchase non-food needs with currency no one is certain how they earn. Sure, it was less fishy than Paradisa's wishing system, where you could get anything you wanted but were never sure if there were strings attached. But sometimes Dairine missed being able to get things when she wanted them. "We're supposed to be a team! If everyone knows, then we'll have more points to spend on books in the first place."

"...Huh." Dairine sounds thoughtful. The idea sounded better than her world at first glance, but it reminded her uncomfortably of Logo's old proposal to 'preserve' slowlife while stopping time. The one that was actually the Lone One trying to pull one over her little Mobile buddies. "And for those who don't have enough power? It's just entropy as usual for them?"

"People already know that we need books, few prioritize it," he pointed out. "This will encourage that priority."

"I cannot compare the rate at which they age to that of aging on other worlds with a high enough degree of accuracy that I feel comfortable answering that directly. However they do all age more or less at a consistent rate with each other." And there were some few people he suspected would stay looking the age they chose out of sheer stubbornness, but then will power was a power, in Ceiphro.

"Hey, you can hardly blame them right now. Books aren't going to make our missions any safer, so why prioritize them over bigger purchases when points are hard to come by?"

"I see." That does strike her as a pretty unfair system, but his answer isn't conclusive enough to comment on it too directly. "So despite the optional aging, entropy is still running in your world, yeah?"

"Books can do exactly that!" he yelled, voice raising. He winced, coughed. Tried to cover his lapse in temper by forcing himself into a teacher like mode, to keep his voice even and controlled. "Through books we can learn skills and abilities that could well save our lives and the lives of others on missions. The priority is not only to purchase books, but also to read them. To learn. To share that learning."

He took a few more deep breaths. Reigned himself in further. Sorry, she just hit a nerve given his arguments with his son, back in Naut.

"Entropy is a thing where will allows, in my world. If one does not wish it, and no one with stronger will does, then they shall halt it. It is a part of the function of the Pillar. To see to the state of the world, to decide what shall and shall not be."

Dairine scowls, not really liking the teacher voice much better than the raised one.

"Look, I'm not dissing on the value of books. I'm as big of a bookworm as my sister." Well, really Nita was the bigger bibliophile of the two, Dairine having since focused on technology for her reading when she could. "But learning skills takes time, often more than one months' worth. And those skills won't mean much without the resources to implement them! Given it's our lives on the line here, wouldn't it be faster to focus on tools and weapons first?"

She wasn't softening her stance much, even if he was Neet's friend. Dair was stubborn and thus very good at hitting other people's nerves.

"Hm. Must be nice," she comments. However, there is a shortness to her response that at least hints her opinion on it is not so simple. Dair just doesn't want to pick another fight.

"The longer you put off learning, the longer before you have learned. And you still need to learn the skill that goes with the tool or weapon. If you put someone who has never seen a computer at a computer, they will probably break it. Give someone who has never held a sword a sword, and they are likely to harm themselves and others. So even focusing on weapons and tools, you still need to learn the skills that go with them. And if you dedicate yourself to learning a weapon... if you then lose that weapon then what you have learned comes to far less. And each weapon and each tool if it is not mass produced has its own peculiarities. It is far easier to learn to use A sword than to use any sword. My son can pick up any sword and be capable. More than capable. But he has spent most of his life training with various swords."

No, a month is not sufficient to learn any specific skill, but if you are going to spend the time to learn any skill, why wouldn't you choose one independent of a physical thing that could be stolen, broken, or misplaced?"

Dairine makes a sour face. "Has it occurred to you that the other passengers are already skilled? We didn't get brought here for no reason. Someone saw potential in the people here, and in many cases, they already know how to survive against the odds! By tooling up, we can use those strengths to save lives here and now!"

"I bought a computer because I know them like the back of my hand. Yes, someone could break it, but they'd have to go through me first. Meanwhile, we have information storage that can be shared and passed down to further passengers."

"Besides, not every skill can be learned from books." She gives a pointed look. "You can read up on as many blades as you want, but the only thing that'll bring real skill is experience and practice." Yes, it sucks. Dairine had been rather put out to find that reading up on archery hadn't cut back the awkward learning period a bit. She's just lucky to be a fast learner.

"And now you sound like my son," he said with a bit of a huff. "I was not putting down any of the skills already had. But that does not negate learning new skills. And not all useful skills need be martial. And even if they were, books are useful alongside the physical practicing."

"Hang on, you have a son?"

Dairine could keep arguing, but that little detail seems more important right now. And rather unbelievable, considering that despite his hundreds of years Clef looks like he's seven.

He blinked at the topic change, then smiled. He was always happy to talk about his boy. "Yes, his name is Link. And much to my annoyance he is taller than me at current," he added with a hint of a chuckle. There was warmth there. Love. He missed his son so much, though he was sure the boy would hate this place.

This is an odd side to see of Clef. Nice, but odd. Dairine could certainly understand the longing to see others from other pocket worlds, even while knowing they would be better off staying home.

"That's not exactly hard," she says without thinking.

He huffed again and crossed hit tiny little arms. "Where I'm from this appearance is an indicator of my power and wisdom, thank ya very much!"

She grins, vaguely reminded of Conan's indignation. Perhaps that's what inspires her to be just a little more bratty. As a treat.

"Maybe it does, but you're still short."

"And you're still young!" snapped back.

He had vowed to be nicer to the Magic Knights if he met them again, to appologize. And she reminded him a lot of Umi. And yet... his temper which he had been fighting so hard to control was rising again.

"Uh, yes? What of it?" she asks, clearly suspicious but not angry (yet).

If he was expecting her to be outright offended by the implication that she is young, he was gonna be disappointed. Youth is what made new wizards more powerful. And while Dairine might not have the power boost of a brand new wizard, she still had the quick wit and fire of youth to find ways around it.

That said, he might not have to work much harder. Dair knows an attempted insult when she hears one.

"There is nothing wrong with being short!"

A New Platform [Intro Post February]

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