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

[yondu]

[Yondu pulls out his own ticket, letting Asriel see it.]

I'll be perfectly honest, Squirt. I don't have the slightest damn clue. And I wish y'all were at home and not here.

[Yondu's not exactly hero material himself. But...]

It means we're all in the same boat... Train... whatever. And way too many of y'all are real young. Some of these people are idiots but I don't think they'll do wrong by ya.

[saveas]

[Home...Asriel's muzzle twitches a little at that. It's not like anything good was gonna happen to him back there anyway. Which brings up another worry. When he turns into a flower now, it sounds like he's not gonna be able to just be alone somewhere. They're gonna expect him to be a hero, but that's definitely not gonna happen.]

I don't - [He clutches at his chest. Is it gonna happen soon? He can't really tell, and - yeah, he's starting to freak out a little again, he can't even focus enough to try and feel out how much soul-stuff or whatever is left.] - I don't think I can do that.

[It's funny. Being taken to some magical world where he was a cool hero is exactly the kind of stupid fantasy he would have loved Before.]

[yondu]

Hey, hey, hey, [Yondu raises his hands placatingly, palms out, to calm him down.] Nobody here is gonna make you do nothin'. And if they try and you're not in the mood, just burn their shoes or somethin' I don't know. So the train, it gave ya a room number on your ticket- that's the only cabin your ticket'll let you unlock. Works like a key.

[The whole 'enforced sleep' thing is something you explain when the situation is marginally more palatable. Not that it should be at all.]

Hey. I'm Yondu. [He thumps his fist against his own chest twice in a Ravager salute.] What's your name li'l' man.

[saveas]

...I'm Asriel. Asriel Dreemurr.

[Not that his name means anything here, apparently, which...is actually kind of nice? It's scary too, sure, but if he has to be around people, Asriel thinks he'd rather have it like this. There's probably nobody here that he's ever even met, much less hurt and betrayed a million times over.]

I guess I can just...stay on a train for a little while.

[He'd wanted to spend those last minutes with Chara, but - well, that's not something he wants to think about right now. He'll just wait around, and then once he's Flowey again, he'll...do something. He guesses. Who knows?]

[yondu]

Whaaat? Tough guy with a name like Asriel? Sure you can handle this.

[He gives him a wry laugh, baring his teeth in their jagged smile. See? You totally got this.]

You want I should show you where the cabins are? Get you outa here from all these people? Now, you're gonna have roommates, but only a few of 'em. I got 'em too.

[saveas]

[Asriel returns the smile, still a little uncertainly. At this point, though, at least it's more the uncertainty of a kid who kinda wants to retort that he's like a million years old, actually, but also doesn't quite want to deal with any of that.]

Sure, okay. Thanks.

[He stands and, for the first time, frowns down at his hoodie. It's not even striped. Part of him feels like he's grown out of stripes anyway, but the rest of him really doesn't want to be treated like an adult by everyone when he's...sort of not.]

[yondu]

[It's a hell of a state to be caught in, needing to be both big and little. Yondu was harsher before getting here. He had to be. The moment his crew would- the moment they did- see him going soft his life was practically forfeit. Peter Quill suffered a lot because of that. He doesn't really need to show off, but it still leaves him feeling exposed and vulnerable. He can still show this little goat child some leniency, without realizing he's older than he'd expect.]

[He gestures for him to follow to the luggage end of the train.] Come on, this is closer to the cabins.

[saveas]

[Asriel's age is a bit of an odd thing; sure, he's lived through a lot of time, but it's not like he ever really got a chance to grow up. Frankly, he hasn't really given it much thought. No need, when he was about to become a flower again in a little bit.

Asriel still shows a bit of trepidation about boarding the train, but ultimately does it without needing to be coaxed again.]

How many people are here?

[yondu]

Over a hundred? Hundred-twenty? Somethin' in that odd range. There are people that look and sound about your size. [He says 'size' instead of 'age' because who knows how old goat kids get.]

You're up in Four. I'm in One. [He heads through the first few cars, the luggage, the triage, the dressing. Then into the sleeper cabins, checking to make sure that the kid's following him.]

You got someone at home that's gonna be worried?

[He regrets asking that question more often than not, but he best ask before he says something more damnable later.]

[saveas]

No.

[He just sounds resigned about that. It's not really new information. There's no one at all. Frisk might worry, just generally speaking, but they shouldn't even notice he's gone. They've got a lot more to worry about than some jerk flower in a mountain.]

But it's okay. I wouldn't want anybody to be worried, anyway. [This is very much not the way he'd have chosen to do it, but he'd wanted to disappear anyhow. No way he can break their hearts again when he's not even in the same world anymore, right?]

[yondu]

[Well, shit.]

[This train knows how to pick 'em, doesn't it? Poor damn kids, they shouldn't be here but it's damnable when there's not much reason for them to be at home, neither.]

Well, if you need somethin'. [He taps the sign beside his door as they pass through sleeper car one.] That's where I'm at half the time. Luckily this thing is a line, so you won't stand much chance of gettin' lost. But let's head up to four.

You probably noticed a lotta Terrans are on this train. They just stare, maybe ask 'why are you like you are', but they ain't done nothin' harmful yet.

[saveas]

Terrans?

[He's never heard that word, but just from the description and having been around here a little bit, he can take a swing at it.]

Are those humans?

[yondu]

Yeah... Though I don't 'call the ones from Terra that 'cause a few other races call themselves 'human' on different planets.

[Translators make a mess of things.]

But pretty much. Alright, the door to your cabin should have your name on it.

[saveas]

[On different...sorry, this is immediately super distracting.]

You're from space?

[yondu]

Yeah. [He says a little more brightly.] I was a Ravager captain before I was brought here.

[Boy, that's a whole heap of baggage. Doesn't let himself dwell just yet. But he repeats the light chest bump from earlier.]

This is how the Ravager fleet says hello.

[Essentially, this man is a space pirate.]

[saveas]

[Asriel imitates the motion, though he's still back on the other thing. He's always been interested in space! He's never even seen the sky at night, but that just served to make it seem more mysterious and neat.]

What's it like in space? Is it cool? Do you go to a lot of other planets?

[For once, he actually looks his age!]

[yondu]

[Yondu's been stuck in this quagmire of self-hatred since not long before his arrival. His death, essentially. But there's something of an ego boost every time he sees someone excited to meet a space pirate. Like he actually did accomplish something in his life.]

[But he cracks a grin.]

Sure did. I lived on a ship, so all I did was go to other planets. Some of 'em for fun. Sometimes we did big heists.

I think I'm pretty much retired now. ['Retired', what a way to put it.] But yeah, it's a whole big universe out there. All kinds of shapes and colors and ways of thinkin'.

[Now where is this weird kid from that he knows about humans and space but isn't from space?]

[saveas]

[A whole big universe...gosh, it's so much to think about. Even just the Surface seemed so huge and different, and that's only one planet.]

Wow. I always thought space sounded cool, but I never got to see it. The only time I ever saw the sky, it was daytime.

[Which wasn't bad - it was so huge and bright and blue - but it had been hard to really appreciate it. It had been hard to appreciate anything, with Chara unmoving in his arms.]

[yondu]

Well, if nothin' else, you'll get to see the sky here... Maybe once a month. But you'll get to see it.

I wish I could show some more of y'all how to fly. Showed my boy when he was ten. [Peter Quill was... not a blessed child, but Yondu Udonta was still the sort of unspoken father who would give his son his own ship at that age.]

[saveas]

That'll be cool.

[Asriel's pretty unconcerned with the sky only being a monthly thing. At least he'll get to go outside at all.]

Like, fly a spaceship?

[yondu]

Yup.... Probably a li'l' easier than teachin' to drive a car. I could override the controls if I needed to and there wasn't all that much to bump into when you was just startin' out, so....

[He taps on Asriel's door.] You should get settled in there. See if they put somethin' in your bag. They did with me.

[saveas]

Oh, yeah...

[He'd sort of forgotten about the bag, even as it's been securely on his back this entire time. There was just a lot of other stuff going on, and honestly he's gotten kinda used to not really having stuff?]

Okay. Um... [Asriel rubs at the back of his neck, a little awkward.] ...thanks for helping me.

[yondu]

Hey, no problem, fella. If'n you still need some help I'm pretty easy to find. There's only two men that are blue an' the other one's kinda dickish' an' a hologram.

This train is pretty much a big ol' straight line. You walk all the way this way- [he points in the direction he's meaning.] -it'll get you to the kitchen an' stores. In case gettin' your ass booted across dimensions emptied the tank or somethin'.

[saveas]

Huh. [He's sort of forgotten about like, eating?] Okay, thanks. I, uh, I guess I'll see you around.

[Presuming he doesn't, like, turn into a flower or something. We'll see!]