voidtreckerexpress | A New Platform [Intro Post May]

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I'm not certain the train is set up to process future handbags," Dio muses. "No, this vehicle tends to supply only things that aid in one fashion or another, so any crocodiles gained would be less.. likely to devour everyone who belongs here, I am certain. And there would surely be great outcry were anyone supplied live food of that sort."

Murder! Crocodile murder! "It never hurts to learn to pose as a villain," he adds with suspicious cheer. "You never know when it might become unexpectedly useful!"

"You have a point." Senku commented. "About the posing, I mean. I don't see what's wrong with live food."

He was a survivalist hunter, of course he didn't. "Bluffing is an excellent trick to have in your arsenal."

"Of course it is! I am pleased you understand this, many do not." And will argue about it til the end of time, in fact, which drove Dio up the wall. Sometimes a good aggressive front was all that was required to get someone to back down and not bother with fighting at all!

The matter of live food draws a shrug; he's a vampire, he only makes do with the bagged snacks in the kitchen. "In this day and age people are divorced from where their meals come from. If it's not plastic wrapped at a market, it's uncivilized."

Bluffing was one of Senku's favourite tactics, after all he was not strong enough to be in a fight in the first place. He needed to make people believe he could be.

"I suppose that's a thought I might've had a long time ago, however I have to get my own food. The mystery is long gone. It would be nice if there were supermarkets in my world."

The entire thought is waved off. "There will be those onboard who also have no such troubles. When I was young, ah, the butcher worked in the open and there was no question of where food came from! But we did not have crocodiles."

Which reminded him. Not only does Senku not have supermarkets, he considered crocs food to start with. "...Have you eaten such a reptile?"

"When I went overseas and I was much younger, yes, but they're not native to Japan so not terribly regularly." Senku explained. "They taste much better than lion does."

It was his opinion that lion was the worst thing he'd eaten and he'd done it more than once.

"I've not eaten lions either," Dio muses. "Or most predators for that matter, but I've had the benefit of being allowed to be picky. Does a cub taste better than a grown adult, or the lioness different from her king?"

There's some questions he never thought he'd be able to ask someone. Ever.

"Kill or be killed, we'll eat anything that won't kill us." Senku admitted rather openly, which was probably not a popular stance around here, but he didn't have the luxury.

"Cubs are less tough, but in general lions are incredibly tough and they smell of ammonia. Which is essentially what urine smells like, if you didn't know." Senku couldn't help but explain. "So it's incredibly unpleasant, there's no good way of eating it, but if it's that or starve then you eat it."

"Do try to avoid the nervous system of your own species, it can have consequences down the line." ..That's an odd way to say 'don't be a cannibal'. Which likely means he's not actually saying that.

Dio would be definitely calling the kettle black if he tried. "..Ammonia, truly? The few lions I have encountered had no remarkable smell." Maybe those were unclean lions! Maybe his world's lions smelled better, and thus likely tasted better.

He was going to have to find out. "I have heard, though not sampled it myself, that the large birds.. ah. Ostriches? Are truly fine dining. My companion felt it was worth traveling entire countries to taste it.'

"I'm familiar." Senku said. "I'm a scientist and a doctor, but all the same it hasn't come to that, nor would it. We have a strict no killing policy in our kingdom of science."

He hummed a bit and nodded. "Regrettably it's true. Ammonia. It's not great."

His eyebrows shot up. "You know, I've never had ostrich. They aren't in Japan."

"Neither are lions, to my knowledge." AND YET.

"Some things surely are worth traveling for. I, Dio, have rarely done so myself, but if something truly delectable awaited and I had the time.." Yeah he'd definitely go looking for something extra tasty.

Senku was suitably impressed and he grinned, pointing at Dio. "Ten billion points to you, that is correct. They were not native to Japan."

He was thoroughly amused by that bit of knowledge. "When civilization fell however, we had lions in zoos and lions are predators so they adapted well and over time claimed the island as part of their natural hunting grounds. I'm not too sure how many lions we have in the country or anything, but they're dangerous."

He hummed. "Maybe, but travel is quite difficult."

A New Platform [Intro Post May]

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