voidtreckerexpress | A New Platform [Intro Post March]

On the Train

Once again passengers are awoken by the morning announcement.

"Good morning passengers, it is day One of the month of Kazoo. 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 is thick, the air is warm and humid and there are rumbles of thunder, the air heavy with the promise of rain.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing as they walk silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers: Alfredo Martini, Daia, Enna Alchiba, Lord El-Melloi II, Natsuno Yuuki, Nita Callahan, Saku Gyousou, Sakura, V and Wen Qing

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, and seems smaller with twenty-seven 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.

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'). Those not new to the train will note the addition of an eighth sleeper carriage. The store rooms have been restocked with fresh ingredients, it seems the month of Kazoo is defined by the tomato and there are plenty of them.

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 as thunder rumbles further and the storm threatens to break. 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

As Demyx is opening that portal, Vexen is stepping out of one of his own...and scowling at what he sees.

"Demyx...what are you doing, opening one of those again without protective clothing?"

Demyx responded by blinking at Vexen. "Going somewhere else?"

He shrugged a little bit, he wasn't that worried, it wasn't like he had anything to lose.

"Somewhere urgent enough to risk the full effects of passing through a dark corridor?"

He gestures emphatically at the portal.

"And here I believed you had a functional sense of self-preservation!"

"Well, not here." Demyx commented with a little shrug. "There's nothing to really worry about, I'm still a Nobody without a heart."

He stares at Demyx for a moment, then pinches the bridge of his nose.

"I thought you had spoken with Ienzo. Did he neglect to inform you that Xemnas is a lying sack of malevolence and Nobodies regrow our hearts? Your emotions are not reflexive emulations, they are real!"

"Not really about that. Kinda busy, you know?" Demyx said with a bit of a shrug.

"Lea said something about it, but I don't think that's true. If it was, my heart hasn't been gone long enough to be regrown or whatever."

Did he truly have feelings? Demyx wasn't sure.

"I know for certain it's true. Mine has caused me far too much consternation over the past two weeks to be a mere figment."

Between his discovery of a new phobia and his stress over Xion, his new heart has been getting an impressive workout.

"And I'm fairly certain you've been a Nobody for longer than I have, this time around."

"Awhile yeah." Demyx agreed, and the portal closed because he wasn't irresponsible enough to leave a portal just open for no reason while they were talking.

"But it's not like years like before."

"But it was years before, as it was for me."

He gestures at himself.

"I retain the portion of a heart I had developed in that time, and I can quite conclusively determine how much of one you possess."

"Uh, yeah, six or so I think." There was something about his memories that was like grasping at half-formed ideas that dissolved into mist the moment he reached out for them.

At least, most of his memories about the Organization were intact for whatever that was worth.

"I'm not really worried about it. Besides, I don't have my coat anyway."

"There is nothing on board this train that demands we travel through the shadows. And besides that, the store offers objects from familiar worlds. We ought to be able to purchase clothing with the protective enchantments, while I work on figuring out how to apply them, myself."

"It'll probably be fine. It's just easier to use the corridors." Demyx said, easily admitting he did it all the time.

"Nothing bad's gonna happen."

"And how can you be so certain of that?! We hardly know anything about partially regrown hearts, but my own studies of the Heartless indicate that they can spring forth from any darkness that clouds a heart."

He wasn't sure if Demyx knew about those experiments or not, but he didn't doubt the younger Nobody knew he'd done some highly questionable research in the past.

"Uh, well, because I use them all the time." Demyx said, blinking a little bit. "Why would bad stuff start happening now?"

He didn't really understand the experiments. Science wasn't really his strength.

"Such things do not happen all at once. Have you never heard of the concept of cumulative damage?"

...Actually, given how little Demyx cared about most things, maybe he hadn't thought about it.

"When one goes out in the sun unprotected, their skin does not immediately burn. If one remains exposed to the sunlight long enough, however, the damage will accumulate until it becomes impossible not to notice."

He looked like he was thinking a moment, momentarily distracted by a stray thought and then he just shook his head.

"I don't think I've ever taken damage from going through the portal. I'm really not that worried about it. I'm not gonna regrow my heart." He waved his hand slightly. He wasn't entirely sure he wanted to. It likely wouldn't happen, right?

"And what makes you so certain of that? It happened to Axel, it...even happened to me." And with how he'd pushed everyone away before, he was pretty low in terms of speed of regrowth.

"Even if you were starting over completely, which you are not, one would expect it to happen faster here, without Xemnas' efforts to discourage it."

"I'm not sure." Demyx said with a bit of a shrug.

"It's the fastest way to get away from my roommate anyway." He had decided he didn't need to deal with her, frankly, and he was going to avoid her. It might sound cowardly, but they'd already had two confrontations.

"Why haven't you at least purchased protective clothing to use while passing through the corridors?"

Was he going to have to buy them for Demyx, too? He already wanted an alternative to his own coat...

"Didn't really think about it." Demyx said honestly. "Geeze, how long are you gonna complain about this?"

If it was longer than five minutes, he might promise to order some to get out of the conversation.

A New Platform [Intro Post March]

Kitchen

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