A New Platform [Intro Post March]

[voidtreckermods]

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!

Comments

[saveas]

Asriel lets out a surprised noise (which sounds suspiciously similar to a bleat) and instinctively raises his hands to catch the human that's sort of falling over on him. And yeah, he's not really hidden all that well. His hoodie was really not designed for this at all. His muzzle pokes out of the hood no matter what he does, pretty much, and there's just not much to do about your hands being furry and clawed.

So........this is weird then, huh?

"Sorry!" he blurts, snatching his hands back. Gosh, he didn't get them with his claws or anything, did he? They aren't all that sharp, but y'know - he's pretty great at hurting people, generally!

[nobodys_puppet]

"S...sorry," she echoes, scrambling off of him. She stumbled back a bit, but not before he had the chance to realize she was shaking. Had been before she saw him.

Then again, it was unclear if she had seen him at all, even at this point, given she seemed to be staring at her feet as soon as she was standing on her own.

[saveas]

Ah. Well. That's a thing, isn't it?

Asriel feels guilty almost immediately. It seems like that was probably his fault somehow. But...maybe he can help? Chara was like that a lot, when they first fell, too. "Are you okay?" he asks, forgetting his own anxiety enough to lean forward a little and peer up at her.

[nobodys_puppet]

Why did everyone always ask her that? And not just today. She still didn't know what she was supposed to say to that. She... probably should ask Axel. She glanced up. His appearance got a blink, but that was about it. She'd seen weirder even before she'd been kidnapped to other worlds.

She didn't know how to answer so just stood there, trying to figure it out.

[saveas]

...alright, so this is happening now!

If nothing else, Asriel is definitely that one friend that can set aside his own anxiety entirely if someone else in the group is too scared to ask for extra ketchup or something. Plus, even if she looks like a human to him, she isn't screaming or anything that could get him attacked. "Do you need help?" he asks after a moment, carefully pushing himself back to his feet. "Not that - ha, I can't really help you. I don't know what's going on either."

[nobodys_puppet]

She had been about to answer his question, but when he admitted he didn't know what was going on, she glanced up again. "You're new?" she asked, quietly.

Hey, want to feel better? Ask her if she's human. The answer may surprise you.

"Oh." She considered what to say, trying not to fall over again. Axel was right that she wasn't ready to be out yet, but she had to come out here, to look for Roxas. But Even regularly the Platform overwhelmed her. So she wasn't at her best now. "You're supposed to get on the train. Once a month we get missions." That was information enough, right?

[saveas]

"I guess." He just ended up here and all, so he guesses that qualifies as 'new'.

Asriel tucks his hands into his hoodie pocket, looking around. He's still a little nervous, but since the train stopped, the crowd of humans has dispersed a little bit. Some of them left through the barriers, and some of them got on the train. The people remaining have broken off into smaller groups, and none of them are really looking over here. It's all a little bit less intimidating. "What if I don't get on the train?" Like, he didn't sign up for this train stuff.

[nobodys_puppet]

"I don't know," she said, unsure. "I never tried. But... the Dark Corridors don't let us leave, so I think we have to..." she said.

She wouldn't have tried to stay, because Axel and Roxas arrived when she had. Would she have tried to stay if she had arrived alone? She didn't know. Probably. Would that have been better than being on the train alone? She didn't know.

"You're going to stay?"

If anything could get Xion past her fear, it was curiosity. It didn't always work, but it was working now. Specifically because she was now wondering if Xenas ever showed up if they could arrange to leave him behind...

[saveas]

"I don't know."

Asriel peers around the platform again. At first, he'd been too freaked out to really take it in; he just saw the barriers keeping him in, and all the humans. Now...well, there's sort of not much here, is there? If the barriers hold - and there's no reason to think they won't - he'd just be stuck here with no food or anything. "There's not really anything here, is there?"

[nobodys_puppet]

She shook her head slightly. She really still was uncomfortable talking to anyone other than Axel or Roxas, even though she was pretty sure no one here would hurt her for it and she wouldn't be punished. Even though she was a person now too, she still wasn't sure she was worth taking up a Somebody's time.

[saveas]

"Heh, I guess I'll have to get on the train then."

He fidgets with his hands, worrying awkwardly at the sleeves of his new hoodie. Bad enough to be talking to someone as himself right now, but the human's attitude is really leaving him with no clue what he should do. He feels like he'd have been better at this before.

Well, okay. Just think about it. What would he have done back then?

"My name's Asriel," he offers after a moment. "What's yours?"

[nobodys_puppet]

Hey! Not a human! Um... probably.

"I'm Xion," she said quietly. He had no way to know how much of an improvement it was over how she was when she first arrived in Daitu that she not only answered at all, but used her own name instead of a number. No hesitation either where she had to remind herself to use her name now.

[saveas]

"That's a nice name," Asriel says, feeling faintly like he's play-acting. But that's okay, isn't it? Better to pretend at being nice and good than to just...not do those things at all. Probably.

Let's see, what's next? He can't really take her home with him. If anything, he's the one who just Fell here, and he's still having to do this. He brushes that thought off before he can dwell on it too much. "How...long have you been here?"

[nobodys_puppet]

Oh. She should know that. Should have been counting, since Roxas wasn't here to do it, but... she hadn't. Too many days she'd slept through without shells to mark them.

She considered. "I do not know," she said, finally. "Maybe... a hundred...?" Days, that is.

[saveas]

Asriel, unfortunately, reckons time on a rather different scale at this point. "Years? I can't spend a hundred years here!" Would he even age? Even if he's got a makeshift soul, his parents aren't around.

(Somewhere, he does know that humans don't usually look like her after a hundred years, but then - Frisk and he are both older than they look too.)

[nobodys_puppet]

She blinked, surprised, then shook her head. "Days," she clarified.

[saveas]

"...oh."

Asriel flushes, though it's only really visible as the tip of his nose going a little pink. Right, days. Like a normal person. "That's still...kind of a long time," he ventures, though it's more hesitant now. "Are you...how has it been?"

[nobodys_puppet]

"Am I...?" Oh. She knew what he must be asking.

"No, I'm a Replica," she said quietly.

[saveas]

"What?" Asriel blinks, confused - he hadn't meant to ask what she was at all, actually. There was really no reason to think she was anything other than a human, from his point of view. Really, he was about to say "are you okay" and then just realized it was sort of a dumb question.

But, okay? "What does that mean?"

[nobodys_puppet]

"I was an experiment," she said after a moment, because she was now not quite as sure as she used to be about what she was and why she was. She was still trying to process everything she had learned since Vexen arrived. "We do not yet know what will happen to this body," she said quietly.

Then her head came up.

"But I am a person now," she said, and it was supposed to sound like a firm statement, but there was a slight quaver in her voice. Axel was right, she wasn't strong enough to be out here yet. But she had to come, she had to look for Roxas. He understood that. But now that she was sure he wasn't here... she... should go back. Before she collapsed again.

[saveas]

"....okay?" Boy, Asriel's just got no clue what's going on here anymore, huh?

He's sort of been an experiment, himself, though. That's all Flowey was, after all; no one ever meant that to happen. At least she seems like a more successful experiment than that? "I don't - really know what's gonna happen to my body either," he confesses after a moment. Though he hasn't felt comfortable saying that to anybody else...well, she'll get it. She doesn't seem like it'll upset her anyway. "I'm kinda surprised it's lasted this long."

[nobodys_puppet]

She nodded. "Are you a Replica too?" she asked, but since he hadn't known what one was, maybe not? Then again, she hadn't known what a person was, but she's apparently been one for a while. So she wasn't sure. Would Vexen know? She wasn't sure. But Axel would.

[saveas]

"I don't think so..."

Although now Asriel sounds a little uncertain. It's not really a word anyone in the Underground ever used, but he sure was an experiment. He's definitely not physically the same as he was before, even now. He knows where his dust was spread, after all. "What does it mean, being a Replica?"

[nobodys_puppet]

"I'm... not fully sure," she admitted. "I don't know what is because I'm a replica and what is because I was never supposed to exist." Because other Replicas... wouldn't have been Nobodies, right?

[saveas]

Geez, that's blunt. But Asriel can't really blame her. If anything, it's kinda brave - he, as he is now, definitely wasn't supposed to exist, but as things are now he's not sure he'd want to tell anyone that.

"Oh. You don't know any other Replicas?"