voidtreckerexpress | A New Platform [Intro Post April]

On the Train

Once again passengers are awoken by the morning announcement.

"Good morning passengers, it is day Sixteen 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 after lunch. A lunch that may be a bit sparse: between the big eaters and the stress bakers, the stores have been stretched thin the last two weeks.

"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 steam is thin, with blue skies seen above. The sun shines brightly down, warm light pooling on the platform.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing as they walk silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers: Cassie Lang, Glorfindel, Jessie Custer, Olivia, Paddra Nsu-Yeul, S’reee, Thea Queen, Wei Wuxian.

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, open, with a vine-covered wall stretching high either side of the barrier. 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 eighteen 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 doors close behind them.

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'). The store rooms have been restocked with fresh ingredients, including plenty more tomatoes.

For passengers that have bought items, these are also scattered around the luggage carriage in various suitcases and bags. There is a suitcase stocked with spare wash kit items, for those who are running low as well as a box labelled Do Not Use Yet that is full of small 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 who are making the most of the sunshine. 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

"Oh." Makes sense, almost. By not being human-like, he doesn't think like a human, so thoughts aren't as bad, maybe? But at his refusal, she nods only reluctantly. She's not pouting!

She's not. "Can you turn into other things?" Maybe an appeal to pride, get him to show off?

"Pretty much any object I can see," he says. "I can do the mug reflexively, so that's what I usually default to. Not living things, though." Just in case she's getting ideas about him turning into her (or anyone else on the train, really).

"Any object?" That was a concern, what with the amount of people who can turn into animals, but she just nods again. This time less petulantly. Still not with a lot of grace, though. He could be lying, and can turn into people, but she doesn't think so. It seems like a weird thing to lie about.

"What's the biggest thing you can turn into?" It's question time.

He can turn into one person, which is the face she's currently seeing, and that's it!

"Probably something about the size of a table or an armchair," he says. "And on the small end, a coin or something like that." Academic curiosity is good! Give it to him!

She nods, processing the information, and then pulls a pin out of her hair. The rest sags a little without its support, but there are two others also pulling weight in there and her hairdo mostly survives the theft.

She brandishes the pin. It's white plastic in the shape of a branch, with a flurry of blue fabric petals spilling out from a twist on one end.

"Can you turn into this?"

He's never seen it before, so it's a good test. Probably.

Oh, it's pretty. Ghost studies it for a minute, and then gives her a thumbs-up before just -

Space seems to warp a little, and then there's a clatter as an imitation of her hairpin falls to the floor where he was.

Her gasp might be, at least, a little gratifying. The real pin is set down parallel to Ghost, so she can compare them properly. She can't tell them apart; her pin is quickly pulled back so she doesn't mix them up.

"So you could turn into something like that, and get into wherever you wanted just by tricking someone into wearing you..." It raises more questions. And, since he's basically stuck at the end of the train and she's sat between him and the rest of it, she feels pretty confident that she can ask them. "What did you do before you got here? A spy? Do you have a 'true' form? Can you turn into something you've never seen before?"

Wow, give him a minute to turn back, he doesn't have a mouth here! The duplicate hairpin sort of jumps across the floor away from her before becoming person-shaped again. Give him a minute to catch up and process before you pile more questions on him!

"In order: Whatever the people around me needed to survive but mostly scientific stuff or search and rescue; no; yes, but I'm not showing it to you; and no."

Bold of him to assume that she can remember the order she asked her questions in. Yes, no, scientific stuff... (what does that even mean.) Still, it gets sorted out in a few more seconds of visual counting back and matching.

"So this isn't your true form," she decides, looking him up and down. So he can turn into one living thing other than himself, but not anyone or anything else?

Maybe it's the form of his lost love. That's normally how these things go. At the risk of hitting some kind of emotional landmine, she switches topics. "What about if it's described to you?"

Look, if she wants to learn neuroscience, she's found her alien man.

He shakes his head. "It's mimickry, not just whatever I can imagine," he says. "Copying. More like taking a picture than anything else." Assuming she even knows what that is, but the hairpin was plastic, so he's going to assume she knows about cameras!

"Like photography?" She's quick to confirm, because it's something she's ended up highly interested in, and she's happy to show off a little in return. Which, unfortunately, creates more questions, as she perks up. "Oh, what if you turned into a camera? Would you be able to take pictures?"

Can he do moving parts, or is he just the image of a thing? It's not like she's been able to pick him up to tell, yet, maybe it feels weird. "Why won't you show me your true form? Is it weird? Dangerous?"

"Yeah, a mimicked object is generally functional." Generally, because he's pretty sure he couldn't make something out of nothing for objects that make things.

And man, this kid is just an endless font of questions, isn't she? Time to lay down some boundaries. "That's private, sorry."

"Alright." She takes the second refusal with the barest amount of grace, lower lip jutting out for a second before her expression smooths back down to something mild and curious. "So, where'd the mug come from? There's none that look like that in here."

A New Platform [Intro Post April]

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guess who lost this tag and has two thumbs

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