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

[blitzcheer]

"Oh." Oh(????????). With none of that meaning anything to Tidus, he nods (blankly) once, then starts walking over close to where the luggage carriage door is, the ICP console nearby.

"Well, lemme show you how to use that ticket you got. The piece of paper? You can do a few things with it - I'll show you Raven's face and you can ask her if you see her. She has like...spellbooks, and all that. She'll know."

Maybe. Possibly. ...Probably not.

[katzenpfote]

He follows Tidus and takes out his paper - his ticket. And then he stares at it.

"Scheisse. That's not the name it should have on it..."

[blitzcheer]

He taps the slot by the screen, folding his arms as he steps aside to give Caleb more of the room. "Stick one end in here. It'll take it."

...but as for that latter part, he is thinking. "Hmm. You wanna try changing it?"

[katzenpfote]

"Yes." He sticks one end in and tries to not let his hands shake at the revelation that his old name is just there for anyone looking at the ticket to see.

[blitzcheer]

The passenger roster shows, but Tidus figures they might as well try this name thing first, so he taps out of it on the screen, searches for a particular section and brings up a a different one, with a keyboard function showing.

"...I don't know if this is gonna work," he warns, just so the guy knows, but then goes to type in a few words, before backing off again. "Just press the letters on the screen, there-" gesturing to the keyboard. "It'll make it appear where the other text is."

That text being:

change my name to

[katzenpfote]

The letters on the - oh. Huh. They're all scrambled, for some reason, so it takes him a minute or two to type in 'Caleb Widogast'. "Th... there." Hopefully this train will listen. He can't have just anyone knowing - even if the more dangerous people already know that his old name is not his current one, if other people can see it they'll also know. And who knows what would happen?

[blitzcheer]

The feedback goes through, an automated message popping up, and Tidus shrugs, hands lifting a little.

"Guess we wait. Might take the next platform stop for it to update; that's when things change around here. But hey," he says, tone lifting encouragingly, "if you say your name's Caleb, that's what people'll use. I haven't heard anyone giving someone crap about their roster name here. Heck, there's even people with numbers for names on there! It doesn't matter, you know?"

[katzenpfote]

"... All right. It is less the name itself and more... I realize this is some other plane of existence and therefore scrying is more difficult, but I have lost my defense against it and there are people in my world who want me dead."

He's pretty sure that's still true, at least. He's not totally sure how to process the dinner he had with his old mentor. It's going to take some more time to pick apart everything that happened.

[blitzcheer]

Well, that's a concern. Not the first time Tidus has heard something like that, but it's not any less of a bummer when hey, people want you dead, hey?

"Scrying? Is that some kinda magic thing?"

Magic scanning? Not magic...something else?

[katzenpfote]

"Ja, it's spying on someone magically from a distance. It can be countered with certain items or spells, though the spells need a target and a scrying orb is usually invisible unless revealed by another spell."

Despite how frustrated he is, his eyes light up a little bit as he talks about magic.

[blitzcheer]

"Oh." That sounds...good for the job it's meant to do, and kinda interesting. "Well, would one of those matter if you're stuck in a place like this, you think? Can you turn an orb into something deadly?"

'Cause, an orb following and spying on someone is creepy, sure, but the real danger's a fireball to the face, right?

[katzenpfote]

"I am not certain if it can see across planes. And information can be more deadly than any weapon, if used correctly." He's never looked into Divination as a specialty all that closely.