voidtreckermods: (sparkly train)
VoidTrecker Express Mods ([personal profile] voidtreckermods) wrote in [community profile] voidtreckerexpress2021-05-01 07:50 am

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!
fightcreamsundae: (056)

never ever worry about changing wording or whatever you're good <3

[personal profile] fightcreamsundae 2021-05-26 03:29 am (UTC)(link)
Cherry listened to Entrapta with big copper eyes. She didn't really pay any mind to the commentary about how the naming works wherever Entrapta was from except if the naming was literal what did that say about Ms. Entrapta herself, but listening to the Fright Zone was... It sounded a lot like how Cherry understood the Garlean Empire to be, and it occurred to her somewhere along the way that Mr. tol Scaeva was from the Garlean Empire, and he was okay, for the most part, once he was taken to task...

She frowned and lowered her gaze to her hands - now resting on the table - as she considered what Entrapta said, needing a moment to process it.

"I... But..." She blinked and looked back up to Entrapta. "I wouldn't think he's weak for asking for help? And I wouldn't hurt him? And..." Cherry didn't appear to be taking it seriously, but she also was struggling to wrap her head around the idea of a world where someone was driven to such extreme lengths.

"And why doesn't he like his body? What's wrong with it?" She could probably come up with a hundred more questions but they would all be slight restatements of each other, really. What she didn't want to do, however, was jump to an immediate decision on what she wanted to do with this information: whether she would choose to hate Jack over this, or otherwise try to figure out how to reconcile it and remain his friend.
sciencegirl: (075)

[personal profile] sciencegirl 2021-05-26 08:16 am (UTC)(link)
"Well... this is exactly why I brought it up. I understand robots more than flesh and blood people, that's what I was going to say. And that's why I understand why Jack did what he did. He has the memories of a man who did a lot of terrible and desperate things, and I think was probably very unstable. The problem is that he's an unstable being place in a stable mind with a body that has no nerves. He has all the memories of someone who's eaten, who's loved, who's fought and he feels nothing. He misses it.

"But asking for help- I'd already thought of proposing a new nervous system using the hard light technology, but he never approached me for it. He wouldn't approach anyone for help because he thought it would make him look weak. The solution was to control Rich, not just to feel something again, because it made him feel strong again.

"I think... I don't think he wants to be someone considered bad, but I think he's too afraid to put his well-being in someone else's hands. But... remember, by being too sympathetic towards him, you could hurt Rich. I'm not one to take acts of desperation personally, but Rich is different. You can't apologize for someone who hurt someone to that someone. That's up for them to do."

After that long-winded explanation, Entrapta notes her smoothie is half melted and tries to catch up on it. It's almost funny after all the mind-control talk that she makes a point of that.

Once she's done with that. "This isn't a 'who do you love more' situation, but it's absolutely a 'how do you want to hold them accountable' situation. You have to figure out a way to do that."
fightcreamsundae: (045)

[personal profile] fightcreamsundae 2021-05-29 02:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Cherry was upset as Entrapta told her all of these things, yes, but there was a particularly pained expression that crossed her face once Entrapta pointed out that being too sympathetic towards Jack could hurt Rich. She was deeply conflicted about this and Entrapta taking a moment to nurse her soupy smoothie left Cherry in uncomfortable and unhappy silence.

The explanation behind Jack's motivations was so far out of Cherry's experiences that she did not understand in the slightest, and she wasn't sure she ever would. She didn't understand the fear, the aggressive need to always appear strong and never show any vulnerability.

"I'm supposed to be mad, right? Isn't that what I'm supposed to feel right now?" She lowered her gaze to the table and pulled her arms to her sides so she was now just fiddling with her hands.

"I'm just sad. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to, um, hold Mr. Jack accountable, and I don't want to hurt Rich, but also I don't want to lose Mr. Jack either..." Ignoring that she was roomed with him.

She looked back up to Entrapta. "I know you already decided to be friends with Mr. Jack and help him, but if you were in my shoes, what would you do? I know I need to make my own choices, but I don't know where to even start..."
sciencegirl: (090)

[personal profile] sciencegirl 2021-05-29 04:48 pm (UTC)(link)
"I don't have a clue."

She says completely and brutally honestly.

"I'm not very good at dealing with emotions. Practically everything that I've learned, I've learned from friends being honest with me. I'm no good with subtlety and I have to be told what's on someone's mind.

"So I'm not going to tell you how you should feel. What I feel is unique to me, my life experiences, and the boundaries I'm still learning to recognize. You really do have to figure that out."

It's a lot of information. But she also knows that Jack is a little like Catra in his need to survive and be on top. And Jack doesn't have lifelong loyal friend like she did to lead him through it. Catra manipulated her by convincing her that her friends disliked her. He assumes that Jack might do the same of Cherry.
fightcreamsundae: (044)

this seems like an ok place to wrap up if you're good with it?

[personal profile] fightcreamsundae 2021-06-03 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
That response was not the one that Cherry had hoped for, but she knew that it was not out of the realm of possibility. She also knew somewhere inside of her that this wasn't something that someone else could tell her what to do, which Entrapta had already said. She just hoped for something.

"Thank you for telling me, Ms. Entrapta. I, um. I'm not happy to know about this, but I am glad you told me." She sounded deeply discontent as she said it, but she genuinely was glad to have been told. She fell awkwardly quiet, unsure of what else to say.