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

Lea nodded. "Yeah, a fair number of people tend to go with their friend unless for some reason they can't," he said. "Like say, a mission involves swimming and diving and the person can't swim. But if you couldn't go with him, he could go with you. Or both of you could go with a completely different team; whatever works."

"Aside from missions, teams are also used to decide who takes care of what chores on the train. There's not really any staff, so things like cooking and cleaning are up to all of us. It rotates monthly though, so no one team gets stuck doing one thing all the time. But like with missions, nobody really minds if you wanna help out with another team's chores; I know I like to help out in the kitchens sometimes, even when its not Blue team's turn to cook."

"That's okay though, I don't mind doing my team's chores. I just...well he's my best friend and I don't think my job ends just cause we're not on Eos anymore." It was kind of a lifelong vow kind of thing, but fortunately it sounded like Lea understood.

"I can probably help with a lot of things, I learned how to do all that stuff." Prompto said cheerfully. He'd been looking after himself forever, after all. He didn't want people to think he wouldn't help, he would.

Did he think Noctis was going to do his own chores? He kind of doubted it.

Lea nodded. "Yeah, best friends are something special," he said. "I'm lucky enough to have one of mine on the train with me, so it's always nice to know someone else does too."

He just nodded regarding the chores. It was always good to have more people around who were willing and able to lend a hand, since not everyone was. "Cool. And there's a lot of fun stuff to do on the train too, which is a good thing given how much time it spends just traveling through the Void. There's a games car, two different gyms- one for sports and one more for combat training-, a cinema car- though since there's only one screen, you may have to negotiate if there's something specific you want to watch-, and a library though it's a bit empty at the moment, since we have to order the books ourselves from the on board shop."

"All of that sounds really fun." Prompto gushed. "I like being in the gym." Noctis didn't like that so much.

"And games are great. Noct and I are huge fans of some video games. It's all we used to do when we were in high school."

It was quite possible they were just a pair of dorks.

It's also quite possible that Lea was just as much of a dork. "Nice," he said. "What kind of video games do you guys like? I'm mostly into RPGs, but if I just want something more casual to kill time for a couple hours with, I generally pick up a platformer or a racing game."

"RPGs are totally cool. We did some MMOs too, and Assassin's Creed is like the best series that was ever invented in Eos!" Prompto gushed a little bit. "We used to kill time at the arcade too. I'm best at shooters. A-And everything else! Don't let Noctis fool you!"

That was a big lie if anyone had ever heard one. He was the best at shooters though.

Lea chuckled at the obvious lie, but didn't call Prompto on it. "Right," he said.

"Never heard of Assassin's Creed, but it sounds cool. My friend Isa and I were more into the Ultimate Illusion series; the first couple games were pretty basic, but from the third one on the stories started getting really good. What's an MMO, though?"

"Oh!" Prompto said cheerfully. "It's a game where you go online and play with your friends instead of having to be next to them side by side. That's how we could play together when we couldn't have a sleepover or something. School nights, you know?"

"Man, I wish we'd had those back in Radiant Garden," Lea said. "Isa and I would've been able to spend a lot more time playing against each other then. Online anything wasn't really much of a thing then though." There'd been talk of getting their school computers hooked up to an online network, but well, that hadn't happened, for multiple reasons.

"That's really kinda too bad." Prompto said with a bit of a sigh. "It would be so much more boring if we didn't have that. Iggy was pretty militant about not staying over too late on school nights."

"Yeah, Isa's an my parents too," Lea said. "That's why Friday nights were our game nights. Sometimes if we found a really good one we'd have whole game weekends, but most of the time we had other stuff to do." Like, say, sneaking into the castle or otherwise finding trouble and getting ice cream after.

"That sounds really fun though." Prompto said brightly. "We played games like that a lot, especially when there was a new one or something."

"Yeah," Lea said. "Nights that were just pizza and video games are kind of the best. Especially when you're spending them with your best friend."

A New Platform [Intro Post March]

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