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

"I don't know, actually, but that's what it does. I think almost everybody makes the same mistake though, so you're not alone." Adam wished he could understand the void better.

"Though I think it'd be worse if there was something out there," he added. "A space leviathan or a whale or something."

"Depends if it was angry, or just minding its own business," Noctis imagined. "Some sign of life - at least creepy alien signs of life - would at least be something to look at, instead of ... a nothingness that gives you migraines."

Though fighting a giant space whale, or a non-Astral leviathan, wasn't exactly something Noctis wanted to do. Didn't most whales leave people alone, though?

Before he got too distracted by his own thoughts, he gave the stranger a small smile. "I'm Noctis, by the way. Err, as you've guessed, I've just gotten here."

"That's true." Adam just always imagined both ends of the spectrum--good things and bad things. Peaceful space whales would be a delight, but an angry leviathan would be horrible. "It's pretty, at least." The void, that was.

"I'm Adam," he added, "It's nice to meet you. How've you been settling in?"

Noctis wasn't sure he'd call the nothingness pretty. It actually made him feel incredibly uneasy. But he shrugged, a non-committal agreement, instead of voicing that thought aloud.

"I guess I'm settling all right?" Noctis looked a little skeptical. "Though I don't know what 'all right' is when wake up to find yourself boarding some kind of magic train thing."

"I know the feeling," Adam said sympathetically. "I've been here a few months already but it feels like a lot longer. There's so much happening at home that I should be involved in instead of being here." He was sure it was the same for Noctis, too.

"You've already been here for a few months?" Noctis asked with almost a yelp, surprised and not in a good way. His stomach twisted, panic gripping his chest.

Though at least Adam understood - "I can't be here for a few months. I can't even really be here for a few days. I've -"

He cut off what he was going to be doing out of habit. Certainly it was secret. Shaking his head, he corrected, "- people need me."

"It's an understatement to say it sucks." Adam didn't want to be here, when back home Ronan could be dying. Adam couldn't do anything to help him from here. At least when Ronan had been here Adam had worried less.

"People are working on figuring out a way to get everyone home, but. No success."

"Damn it," Noctis swore, closing his eyes for a moment, trying not to imagine.

Luna, expecting him. Gladio and Ignis, worrying about and looking for him and Prompto. The covenant, not fulfilled. The Empire ...

It's too easy to imagine. And what they might say. Would they think he - that he ran, and abandoned them? That he was kidnapped? (Most accurate.) That he was dead?

How else were they going to ...

Noctis pushed away those thoughts with effort. "Do you know the longest anyone's been here for?"

Adam considered the question for a moment. "I talked to someone once who was one of the first people brought on board. That was in the month of Apple." He knew. He knew the months had weird names, don't even get him started about that. "We're in Kazoo now, and if they go in alphabetical order...that's a long time."

Noctis winced. “A really long time.”

He had to somehow figure out a way back. While not thinking about the situation he was in or he’d kind of freak out. Delicate balance there.

“Six. Well. At least ... people have to be closer to an answer now than they were in Apple. Right?”

Adam nodded. "I hope so. There are a lot of really intelligent people here; they have to figure out some kind of solution eventually." If they didn't...well, Adam was doing his best to keep his hopes up. They all wanted to go home, or most of them did, at least; he wanted them to be able to have that. "Or maybe it's a magic thing, but we've got a lot of magically inclined people here, too."

Not a magic that Noctis understood, unless some kind of god was messing with them. Hm. Though with so many different kinds of people here, some magic or god that Noctis never heard of messing with them didn't seem too crazy.

He sighed. "I guess we just have to wait, then. Either for someone smarter than us to work through it ... or for the right chance to act."

"I've been helping when I can. There are a lot of books in the library about the void and stuff, but nothing about anything that would help us get home." As far as he was aware, anyway.

He mulled over that for a moment. "I wonder if it'd be possible to order a book with the kind of information we're looking for."

"That'd be helpful," Noctis thought so, anyway, even if he was not really the research sort of guy, and yet, "but wouldn't someone have already tried that?"

He sighed. "I dunno. Don't listen to me, I ... don't really have any experience solving a mystery like this."

That was a good question. "They probably have. But it couldn't hurt to try again." Just to see what would happen.

"Everyone's input is valid," he added, "Even if you don't have mystery solving experience." It was never too late to start getting mystery solving experience, either.

A New Platform [Intro Post March]

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