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

"No." She wrinkled her nose, she should have been more observant. She takes the criticism silently and notes to keep an eye on them closer in the future.

"But these do be tasting good."

Aw, no, they'd be embarrassed if they figured out she took it as actual criticism. "Good." They snag a cookie, themselves, because dammit they're always hungry, and they smell tasty. (And, you know, you. ~~So what? It's a safe thing to eat, right?~~ It is, good job.)

For Buttercup, they ask, "You doing okay?"

"Yes." She took another bite and wrinkled her nose. "Priestess Lightning and Peter do no be being alright though."

Easier to talk about them, than talk about her own very complicated and slightly stupid feelings about people walking away and people returning who weren't even the people who were here to begin with.

It's complex and stupid.

And Soldat is even one of those people who isn't the one who should be here. Poor Buttercup. They're going to try anyway, though, after swallowing their bite of cookie. "Yeah? What's going on with them?" They know vaguely who Lightning is, and has seen Peter's ICP messages, and know he's her friend. "Anything we can help with?"

"Priestess Lightning do be being mad because Wen Qing did be leaving, did you be knowing her? She do be being a doctor. And Peter do be being all leaky eyed for lots of reasons but probably because mister Stark do be being here but he do no be being the same."

She hadn't spoken to him yet, it was enough that he was wearing purple.

"Mister... Tony Stark?" they guess, sounding maybe a little worried. They hadn't seen him, but... shit, if he's here... that could be a problem. They might need to warn Steve. Steve knows what they did, he'll have an idea of what they should do. "The one who let you pick your name?"

"Yes." She nodded at them with a frown. "But no really him. Just like you do no be being Bucky who did be being here before and did be looking like you."

Different people, for all that they shared.

They breathe out slow, think a moment about origami folds-- been a while, actually, since they had to do that-- then say, "Okay. Thank you." For warning them. They'll have to figure out how to approach that. "Are you. Are you okay with that? I know it's hard. When it's not your person."

She wrinkled her nose. "I do no be knowing."

She shrugged, "It do probably be being for the best."

Tony was nosy and dangerous after all and she had let him get too close. This new Tony not knowing her was probably a good thing.

"Why for the best?" they ask, tilting their head. "Wouldn't getting a person back who you cared about be better than having to get to know a stranger all over again?" They know plenty about not trusting, but that doesn't preclude being friends, in their mind.

She wrinkled her nose, "He do be being... You do be knowing him right?"

She sighed.

"He did no be liking me fighting, so if this one do be no knowing me, he will no be getting worried."

It's the smallest sliver of the reason, but it is a truth.

"I don't know him. I knew his father." They killed his father. Christ, this is going to be so awkward. "And his father might never have noticed you at all, let alone given you a name and worried about you. If he gave you a name the first time he met you, though, he might worry whether he knows your or not." It seemed like the thing somebody concerned about a child with no name would do. They probably would, themselves, if they weren't intimately familiar with how a six year old could kill you.

"You did be knowing his father?" Tony had a father? She knew now that everyone had parents even if they never met them. But knowing that fact and knowing that a grown adult had parents. That was weird.

"I do no be knowing if he would have been noticing me, but we did be being in the same room and I did be falling on him, when the train did be first moving."

It was hard not to notice. But this Tony might worry too? Was it best then to avoid him completely?

"You fell on him?" Soldat can't help it, they smile a bit, and they tease: "You, little graceful child that you are, you fell on him?"

They ruffle at her hair, if she'll let them. "I wouldn't worry to much about the worrying, Buttercup. Everyone worries about people they care about. I worry about you sometimes. I bet Peter does, too. That's what friends do."

"I did no even be riding on a carriage before I did be being on this train." It's an excuse, she knows. But she had been very much taken aback with how this train had moved, how it entered the void.

She allows the hair ruffling, it feels strange, but not dangerous. "Peter do be worrying about everything, he do be being a leaky eyed baby."

It might be that she worries about Peter as well, maybe they are right. Friends worry.

It's inconvenient.

Soldat laughs at the description, even if there's part of them that's sad. Crying is useful, sometimes, and a kid her age who's been so thoroughly socialized against it reminds them even more of the baby Widows. "Maybe. But that just means he cares a lot. That's not necessarily a bad thing."

"Maybe not. But it do be being... difficult."

Especially since... He was as nosy as Tony in too many ways. Too many ways. She sighed. "Friends do be being complicated."

"Yeah, they are. Took me ages to feel even a little comfortable with the idea. Even longer to feel like it was safe. Worth it, though," Soldat says, warmly. "Life's pretty lonely without friends, yeah?"

She shrugged. It's strange, she never had any friends before. But she had never been lonely, how could she have been?

But now she was. Friends made it better though. The first few months on the train, when she hadn't been able to really trust anyone. That had been tough.

"Yeah."

A New Platform [Intro Post March]

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