A New Platform [Intro Post February]

[voidtreckermods]

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!

Comments

[weifinder]

"Quarters as close as these, it seems inevitable." Not that he enjoys that sense of the inevitable, but space limitations do tend to mean rubbing elbows in all different ways more often than one might like.

His brow furrows at the unfamiliar words, only smoothing out as the question of his arrival comes about. "Mm, just earlier. I was poking around at what everything is in here." Still inside the limited shower space, he gestures around. "I figured out the sink easily enough, and the chamber pot... thing... is incredibly effective."

[subcircuits]

"Don't remind me," Devero groans, rubbing his face with the palm of his hand. "That's not going to keep my from trying to be as considerate as I can, though."

Chamber... pot... thing? Oh. Oh boy. "Do you not have indoor plumbing where you come from?" Forgive him if he sounds a little faint as he says that. Academically, he knows that there have to be folks on the train from worlds that lack amenities that he takes for granted, like toilets, but this is the first time he's been deliberately confronted with it, and it's kind of a shock.

"Uh, toilet," he continues, making an effort to rally himself. "It's called a toilet. And what you're standing inside is a shower. --Don't turn it on while you're in there, you'll get rained on."

[weifinder]

"Is that so? How do you turn it on?"

New vocabulary yet again, and this much he'll attempt to remember. The idea of being immersed in a sudden rain doesn't appear to phase him, but at the same time, there's not so much room to shuffle out and around for a less potentially wet demonstration.

"Not indoor plumbing, but water flowing through cities or carrying away waste, sure. This kind of thing is common where you come from? What amount of water storage does this train have?"

[subcircuits]

Oh boy. "Ah, yes. Indoor plumbing is ubiquitous where I come from." Well, mostly, but who counts outsiders?

The question about water storage takes him aback, and he blinks a couple of times as he tries to think if he's ever heard anybody saying anything... "I have no idea," he has to admit. "As far as I know, there's never been a shortage of clean water. If nothing else, it must cycle the cisterns at every platform stop." If it even has cisterns? Now he's curious, even if it's unlikely that curiosity will ever get satisfied.

--Anyway. He gestures vaguely to indicate the inside of the shower. He can't actually see the fixtures, but he's familiar enough with the layout by now not to need them. "You twist the knobs to turn it on. The one on the left is for hot water and the one on the right for cold, and you'll want to use them both to find a comfortable temperature. And there's a dial in the middle, right? You twist that to control the way the spray comes out of the shower head."

[weifinder]

"Platforms have cisterns? I couldn't make out anything but the gate," he admits, worried in that sense of letting go of the worry, since... what can he do? Stockpile water in the garden carriage? There's no really sensible thought to any of it.

Instead, he turns his head to the dials (what's a dial) and knobs (interesting word, but he gets it intuitively in looking), running his fingers over them. "Something like how the sink works, isn't it."

Tapping on the small door to the shower, he didn't move to exit it or actually turn the water on. "What about drying cloths then? Where do you find those? Actually, while I have you, who does laundry? How does laundry work. There's no way the streams in the stone garden room are all we have to work with? Do people use the showers for that?"

[subcircuits]

"I don't know about the platforms, actually," he admits. "It doesn't seem like there's ever anything there but us, yet the train replenishes itself at every stop somehow..." He's been chalking it up to magic and trying not to worry about it too hard.

He bobs his head. "Exactly like the sink," he says. "It's just coming out of a different type of faucet."

Speaking of, Devero leans his hip against the sink, apparently settling in for the duration of his stint as train (and modern amenities) explainer. He actually lifts a hand to tick things off on his fingers as he answers questions. "There's a towel specifically for you in the rucksack you arrived on the platform with. If you need more than that one, there's ones for communal use in the spa car and some smaller ones in the kitchen for cooking. The laundry room is at the very front of the train above the stores, and we have machines up there to do the washing."

He pauses for a second as a vision of the laundry deck flooding with soap flashes before his eyes. "--Er, please have someone show you how it works before you use one of those.

"As for who does the laundry, you may have noticed that the train's seen fit to color coordinate everyone?" His voice is so dry as he indicates the purple hoodie he's wearing, in contrast to the new passenger's blue one. "There's four teams, and we're each assigned a chore section every month. This month laundry duty's on--" Another pause, but this time it's so he can lift his hand to the electronic device he wears on his ear, tapping and sliding his fingers against it for a moment before saying, "--orange team. Blue's got cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms, by the way."

[weifinder]

That explains what the extra length of fabric was in his rucksack. His running theory had been extra blanket or pillow, depending on the need. The list of information he's being given has more unfamiliar words, and while he mutters, "Spa car?" his eyes truly light up in curiosity over, "Machines? You have machines that manage things like this? What other machines are in charge of chore duties here?"

He suspects if laundry is tackled by such heroic machines, there have to be other things relegated to their assistance. What invention! How much time must that free up?

He wrinkles his nose at the nod to the colour coordination. Plucking at his sweatshirt, he sighs. "Lan Zhan mentioned bribing someone for different clothing, but yes, I noticed everyone likes running around in underlayers."

A dry statement, and given with a curve of his lips. People's expectations were all wildly different, in the end. Glancing around the bathroom, he quirks up his eyebrows. "Clean this place... how? A kitchen makes sense to me, but... what, splash water everywhere and soak it up with rags? There's no wood to polish, no pots to empty."

[subcircuits]

"Few enough of them, if you ask me," Devero mutters with ill grace. "We have access to washers for the clothes but no dryers. No dishwashwers for the kitchen, just sinks and rags and brushes. Brooms, but no vacuums, not even manual ones that we have to push around! Hardline computer terminals in every room, but no proper network!" Uh Dev, buddy, maybe remember your audience here a little bit....

He actually does seem to do so, and sighs. "Sorry," he mutters. "I come from a place with a much higher level of technology than this. Everything here seems so... antiquated compared to what I'm used to back home."

Devero's lips quirk. "Underlayers, huh? Just wait until you see the bathing suits, then, if this is what you consider underlayers."

He glances around the bathroom too. "There are mops and cleaners that you can use for the floors. The sinks can build up grime pretty quick, and toilets even quicker. There may not be any wood to polish, but porcelain takes on a lovely shine when it's freshly washed." He pats the sink he's leaning on.