A New Platform [Intro Post May]

[voidtreckermods]

On the Train

Like clockwork, the Voidtreckers are awoken by a familiar message this morning.

"Good morning Voidtreckers, it is day one of the month of Llama. Points have been updated on the system."

With points updated, everyone can spend the morning shopping. Most people will 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 air is sticky and warm, the windows almost immediately dewing over with the humidity outside.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing, walking silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers. Azula, Prisoner, Amery Vallet, Dyme Graydon, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Yoite, Piccolo, Bulla Brief, Xie Lian, Kurosaki Ichigo, Hua Cheng, Renee Corbin, and Ran Mouri; all pass through the platform, not looking back before they disappear through the barriers and into the fog beyond.

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 find themselves on a platform, rich wood and pale stone forming a natural, tree-like structure overhead. Behind them is a set of barriers, and in front of them is a single set of tracks extending both ways into thick fog. The air is rainforest-hot, and the sound of frogsong can be faintly heard over the drip of the artificial canopy.

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 fog begins to fade and they realise they aren’t alone.

The platform isn't large, and seems smaller with twenty-eight figures scattered around, all facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. Then there is 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 pours a strange assortment of people, over a hundred at least. 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.

Behind them, the doors close, and the train is cloaked in the same fog that hides the world beyond the platform.

The Train

After a short time, the fog clears and 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 several crates of nori, the ingredient of the month of Llama, as well as all sundries.

For passengers that have bought items, these are also scattered around the luggage carriage in various suitcases and bags. For each member of Purple Team, a small silver box with their name on it contains a glittery cupcake.

New passengers will find their ticket allows them into their cabins. They may need to negotiate for beds, but at least they won't be alone in their confusion - since the sleeper carriages are now double-decker, and experience isn't going to avail the passengers in finding their rooms.

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.

The new double carriage's transfer ICP is active, allowing people to move to a double room should they meet the requirements with another person, though they'll have to move their belongings themselves.

Departure

A second horn sounds to encourage any stragglers taking advantage of the fresh air, and 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

II sad time :(

[fightcreamsundae]

Cherry hadn't been too far behind Soldat as people left, though her tugging was on Grimmjow. She was making noises like a sad kitten mewling to catch his attention. It was for nothing and she ended up not too far off from Soldat as she watched Grimmjow and Ichigo both leave. Her ears were low, her tail drooping, and she hugged her elbows. She eventually moved closer to Soldat - not touching him, just standing beside him.

"Do you think they're going back home?"

She sounded so small and sad, the opposite of her usual. She knew she probably knew the real answer better than Soldat considering her own time away being completely excised from her memory, but she just wanted to be comforted.

[worthallthis]

"I don't know. Maybe." They stare out wearily into the fog. They can't help but imagine what it would be like if Steve made that trip. Or Raven. They don't imagine walking out there oblivious, themselves; it'd result in a very visible freak-out if they tried, they're pretty sure. "I know the train has said she won't send people back to places they were in danger."

[fightcreamsundae]

It was a little funny, maybe. Cherry wasn't so sure she'd react the same way if it had been Q'uila walking off the train and to wherever those that left went, but maybe it was because of the comfort that she knew that no matter how wayward they may be from each other and the rest of the family they would always find their way back. Grimmjow and Ichigo, however, had no such reassurance.

"But... What if their home puts them in danger? Where do they go then? What about their families and friends at home?"

What about them? Every person who left had affected her, but this was the first time she was losing people she considered herself relatively close to and she was taking it very hard.

[worthallthis]

"I don't know," Soldat says. "Nobody does, really. Everyone who's left and come back doesn't remember, and the train's answers are. Not very clear." And also, they've come second- and third-hand to Soldat themselves, so they can't even properly make a judgment about it. "All we know is she doesn't send them back somewhere dangerous."

[fightcreamsundae]

It was no comfort, though Cherry didn't really expect much comfort to come of it. She hugged her elbows more tightly as Soldat spoke. This was perhaps the unhappiest Cherry'd ever felt.

Her ears quirked at the reference - again - to the train as a she. There's a momentary silence between the two of them before Cherry eventually looks up to Soldat and speaks again.

"You keep calling the train a she. Does the train talk?" Was it like Alexander or Omega? That thought was a bit scary.

[worthallthis]

"There was a question and answer session thing while you were away," Soldat says. "Before my time by about a month. Kind of like how you can ask the train for things or do feedback I guess, all through the ICPs. But apparently somebody asked the train's gender, and the answer was 'she', so." They shrug a little. "I try to be polite and use what she'd like us to use. You know?"