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

[deadwenwalking]

That's... well, it's not reassuring, but it could be worse. Wen Ning finally loosens his grip on the man, helping him upright. He remains close.

"In the short time since I arrived in the fog... I've missed you greatly." He gives an awkward smile, attempting to keep the mood light. Wei Wuxian always prefers it that way. "Though w-we had only just separated." There's so much to learn about this set of carriages they're on, but at least one thing he's learned so far is that he can't anyone to be who he thinks they are, or to come from the place in time he thinks they should. For just a moment, even if it proves to be false, he can have time with the one living person who knows him best and things don't seem like such a disaster.

"I hope I didn't grip you too tight. The... train?" he still frowns over the odd word. "It moved unexpectedly." Well he hadn't expected it, anyway. And again, he's only apologetic if he actually caused the man hard. Otherwise there are far worse people he could have grabbed onto.

"I guess... we're travelling."

[weifinder]

He idly pats Wen Ning's arm, aiming for reassuring, already adjusted to the times where the train does shake, versus the many where it seems like it's simply falling through space, smooth as can be. "Sometimes I'm just too charming for my own good." He smiles, inviting Wen Ning into the jest, because charming is so highly relative, and the Yiling Patriarch (who never was a patriarch of much anything, truthfully, but he'd not given himself a title, merely had a world grant it to him in the first place) might better qualify as annoying. Or, minimally, a nuisance, a headache, a too clever, too smart pain in the rear.

Nevermind all that, because here, ah, here...! He nods, takes a hold on Wen Ning's arm properly, and tugs him into moving. This way, this way. Why use words when half of what he wants to do is be in motion? "No, no, you're always fine, I'm a wreck of a cultivator, not a doll made of ceramic." Not easily breakable, he means, and he says it as nonchalantly as ever, again inviting if not a jest, then a lightness. "Come on, let me show you what travelling on this train vessel even means. It'll be headache inducing if you look too long, so try not to, but! It's pretty amazing! See, here, we head down this way and through the doors into the next section..."

So it goes as he leads him along, heading for any of the carriages with a better view out the windows into the Void and all its unpleasant strangeness.

*caused the man HARM /cries

[deadwenwalking]

As he allows himself to be dragged around by Wei Wuxian, Wen Ning is nothing but nods and head shakes. Yes, he would agree that the Yiling Patriarch is very charming. No, his friend shouldn't go around calling himself a wreck (whether or not it's true). But he makes a point not to interrupt Wei Wuxian as they go. He wants to hear any explanations he can from the man's mouth. They're from the same world and will understand the same concepts.

And when it comes to both his and Lan Sizhui's explanations regarding this train he's highly biased.

"What..." he finally stammers as they seem to be reaching their destination. "What are we, ah, travelling through?" Maybe Wei Wuxian doesn't know. Maybe no one knows. It's fine if all he gets is an estimation, especially with a cultivator's slant - this cultivator's slant, specifically.

laughs you're all good don't look at half my typos...

[weifinder]

He's a whirlwind even when tired, but right now he's in a mixed mood from seeing his brother on platform and watching Wen Qing leave, and a thousand other thoughts swirling around into logical conclusions. Wen Ning he feels both immense sympathy for, and is greatly fond of, so off he is tugging his friend toward a window and, spinning back around, planting himself between Wen Ning and the easy line of sight of said window, once reached.

"We're referring to it as The Void, which is part of the name for this vessel—I've heard it's one of a fleet, just like in some sea-faring nations, only instead of navigating seas between land, this navigates The Void between realms. Or... worlds?"

He clucks his tongue and shakes his head, then smiles at Wen Ning. "Look outside, you'll see why staring too long is deeply uncomfortable. This whole thing, Wen Ning, is far too close to Demonic Cultivation if you ask me, but no one does, so let's leave that aside for now. Welcome..." he says, moving to the side and 'revealing' the window in its entirety, "To The Void."

[deadwenwalking]

It's a good explanation! Wen Ning might come from a landlocked part of China with very few waterways to speak of, but he understands the concept of a fleet of ships. This 'train' doesn't look much like a boat, though. He'll have to reform all his preconceived notions of what counts in that regard.

But if they're part of a fleet, then where are the other trains? Is his sister on one?

He holds off on actually looking out the poorly blocked window until Wei Wuxian invites him too, so as not to detract from the explanation. Then he smiles, attempting to look suitably impressed. "Is it called the Void because it's endless?" Because it certainly isn't empty. There's plenty of color and who-knows-what to be seen as they move through it at an incomprehensible speed.

[weifinder]

"Or endlessly difficult to understand the hows and whys of it working," he says, smiling as he also looks out into the swirling, discomforting mass of dark and flecked light. Too long and he'd be nauseated again, but he tests himself at least once a day anyway.

"Void of explanations useful to any of us, at least." He snorts, crossing his arms over his chest and shifting his gaze toward Wen Ning's face. "This whole vessel acts like a practitioner of demonic cultivation. If anyone's going to understand some of that... we can't leave. Our souls can't leave, even when we die. We get reconstructed, still here, until something about this vessel lets us go."

Until they're dismissed to go on, or back, or whatever it meant when this train held bodies and souls out of time.

[deadwenwalking]

"What... happens when we're let go?" In other words - what had happened to his sister? Wen Ning knows of Wen Qing's past presence here by now, having heard from more than one source. When the train decides to send them away, where does it send them to? Another train? An afterlife of sorts? Does Wei Wuxian even know? Does anyone know?

There are already so many of his questions than even long term passengers don't seem to have the answers for. This is likely going to be one of those, and it's increasingly frustrating.

He doesn't want to turn their conversation into a depressing one and tries not to sound too desperate when he asks.

[weifinder]

Does anyone know? There are theories, reincarnation cycles they more or less believed in, even if not strictly following certain paths of spiritualism or religious thought. What's being asked is something he can only speak to as an outsider, but...

He reaches out, clasping his friend at his shoulder, and then supporting his forearm, holding it at the elbow.

"We return to the world we're from, in theory. No one can say if it's the time we left, or if being here means we do go missing there. I don't know that any one of us who recognises each other even necessarily shares a world." He pauses, then offers Wen Ning a tired, apologetic smile. "I'm sorry I don't have a better answer for you, Wen Ning. You deserve one."

He deserves the hope of his sister, not just the reality of her loss all over again. Hesitating, because he's genuinely not good at this, he then steps forward and pulls Wen Ning into a nice, boney, slightly less awkward hug.

Sixteen years ago, he'd been too late. He might not have anything to say for that, but here, he can guess at what Wen Ning has already been told. Here, he's not too late for that.

"So does she."

[deadwenwalking]

Wei Wuxian offers possibilities, but the answer is inevitably what he'd already assumed - no one knows. No one knows where she's gone, what's happened to her, or if she was even from the same world as his to begin with. Though the latter point matters the least. Wen Ning will love any version of his sister he might come across.

The hug takes him by surprise. It's the second he's received since his arrival. Despite the depressing turn the conversation has taken, the gesture is very welcome. Affectionate human touch is something the puppet has lacked since his sister died, and the swell of emotion brought about by this whole turn of events causes a noticeable shudder to run through him.

His tear ducts still won't function for him, even though he's gotten his body to move less corpse-like since his original reawakening. If they did he would have soaked Wei Wuxian's shoulder by now.

"I-it's alright..." He closes his eyes a moment, calming the churning anguish in his gut. "Thank you."

[weifinder]

It really isn't alright, and it's not meant to be. They both know that, in the mapped landscapes of their losses, in the ways they've learned to live with answers being less than satisfactory, in happiness being hard won and found in unexpected moments.

He's not an experienced comforter, but he's tried, sort of, to figure out hugs. He's given out more on this train than before, and the only one not to his son being--to Wen Ning's sister.

He can't make up for the unfairness of them not being able to meet, even here. So what is it in hugs? What did his shijie do, a lifetime ago so close he might touch it still if he closes his eyes?

He strokes his hands over his hair, figuring he'll leave it to Wen Ning to end this hug.

"It's not, but... you're not alone, either. Not here, not back home."

[deadwenwalking]

[To overflow!]