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

[adregem]

He takes a glance at her reading and nods in some slight interest. Roland leans slightly against her arm to nudge her back, careful not to spill either of their cups.

"Hm. A mining town, eh? With biographies, too. A treat." Roland peers at the back of the magazine with a careful tilt of his head, reading what he can and what isn't obscured. He straightens up and sips from his blackened tea. "You're getting an inside look into a whole other community. That's always the best kind of research, I say."

And it's admirable in a way, to remain dedicated to it even through all the missions they have to go through time and time again. He doesn't discourage it at all, and leaves the air between them free for Nita to poke him with findings as she reads. His company is easygoing as it can be, between offering an ear to listen or conversation to be had if that's what she so chose.

[unfavorableinstigation]

Nita settles - into the moment, into the magazine and, in what is more immediately notable, into the contact.

It's not something she does deliberately, but she relaxes. Again, tea is not spilled, but the food is almost secondary to the whole situation.

There are a few points into her reading where she points out some paragraph or other, or a picture someone probably had taken by hand of their workplace, their family. Places people liked to hide away, or of particularly 'historic' mines.

"Thanks," she says some time later, seemingly without prompting.

"You... didn't have to come hang out with me, Roland. But I'm glad you did."

[adregem]

The family pictures are what make Roland smile fondly at the magazine, and the historical mines pique his attention in a way he doesn't try to hide. They're things he appreciates about reading new material himself, and he's glad that even with the circumstances of their being here on this train, there's still a sense of wonder to be had across the universe.

He's mid-sip when Nita speaks quietly, almost apprehensively. The tea doesn't make it, his hand carefully dropping it down to the matching plate as he studies her closely. A height difference that grants him a view of the top of her head, which he takes a moment for before a heavy yet warm hand pats her once by the hair.

"You would do the same for me. We're friends, right? Don't worry about it."

Besides, nobody comes out of a memorial space just because they felt like it. There's always something, and Roland is attuned to that more than people give him credit for.

[unfavorableinstigation]

Nita smiles tightly - before dropping the 'tightly' part, sighing.

"Friends... can't have enough of those."

And that was more a comment on the day than anything else she'd said so far.