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!
soldier_blade: (MKX_enquiring)

Room for one more? Library

[personal profile] soldier_blade 2021-05-02 03:36 am (UTC)(link)
She wouldn't be the only one seeking refugee in the library. Sonya did as much as she could to help the new arrivals get settled, but the chaos combined with the changing train wore at her patience until it was either head on board earlier than usual or risk snapping at some poor sap who's only fault was being too close.

The book was just some 'air port' novel, the sort of easy read that she wouldn't have to think too hard on, when the woman entered. Under normal circumstances, unless that person was on her team, Sonya left well enough alone; in this case, however, it was seeing someone who actually 'looked' around her age was enough to get her attention.

The elves were no longer on the train, and she supposed being around so many younger people made her feel her age even more.

"I'm afraid the books aren't entirely in order." For the most part it was a matter of 'catch as catch can'.
motherofresistance: (Small smile)

Always!

[personal profile] motherofresistance 2021-05-02 11:50 pm (UTC)(link)
It was indeed good to see more people apparently in her own age group in this place, and Leia smiled. "Well, maybe something can be done about that later," she said. "But for now, I wasn't looking for anything in particular. Just something to read while I let everything settle. Even if this isn't my first time being suddenly transported across time and space, it's been quite a day."
soldier_blade: (Default)

Re: Always!

[personal profile] soldier_blade 2021-05-03 03:35 pm (UTC)(link)
"I think there are a number of people here on the same boat-so to speak." She certainly knew of a few who'd been sent to one dimension or another fully against their will. "Doesn't help I'm sure that the new arrivals come in all at once, and used to it or not, it's always disorientating."

She wasn't sure if people arriving over a period of days would necessarily be better, since it was still pulling in people against their will, but atleast things wouldn't be so chaotic.

She set her book down and held out her hand. "Sonya Blade, but here eleven months."
motherofresistance: (Small smile)

Re: Always!

[personal profile] motherofresistance 2021-05-14 02:15 am (UTC)(link)
"It certainly is that," Leia said. "Though at least this place has the courtesy to provide us with some basic luggage and supplies. The last place, I stepped through a door expecting to be in my command center and wound up in a forest, with nothing but the clothes on my back and the datapad and cup of caf I'd had in my hands." Granted, supplies weren't exactly hard to come by in Nautilus, but there was something reassuring about being provided with all the basics.

Leia transferred her tea to her left hand and accepted the offered handshake. "Leia Organa; good to meet you. Is a stay that long typical?"
soldier_blade: (30-not buying it/unhappy)

Re: Always!

[personal profile] soldier_blade 2021-05-16 03:50 am (UTC)(link)
"Longer, I think." If her own experience was anything to go by. "My daughter was here for a month or two longer than I've been, but in regards to 'how long', I don't think there's a set time."

Certainly it seemed that those chosen for departure were selected at random. If there was a set time, she'd never thought of it or saw the pattern.

"Shit," Being pulled was one thing, that part would never sit well with her, but atleast they were provided for in this place. "Considering the state I was in when I arrived here, it would be a different outcome if this was just the middle of a forest."

The train had a medical car-but how long would she've had to wait if in the middle of nowhere.
motherofresistance: (Small smile)

Re: Always!

[personal profile] motherofresistance 2021-05-22 04:06 am (UTC)(link)
Leia nodded, making note of that. "One of my daughters actually arrived on the platform with me earlier today," she aid. "Her name is Jaisyn, and meeting up like that was... something of a surprise for both of us." For several reasons.

"Granted, supplies weren't exactly hard to come by in Nautilus," she admitted. "And there were medical facilities available. But yes, if somebody came in seriously injured it could pose a problem if no one found them in time."
soldier_blade: (mkx_profile)

Re: Always!

[personal profile] soldier_blade 2021-05-23 02:02 am (UTC)(link)
She was tempted to ask what the surprise entailed, but it was never in her nature to be that nosy-especially with someone she just met.

"What sort of place was this?" It dawned on her that Leia wasn't just taken from her world without her say, but then taken to another realm all together after that. The implication wasn't a comforting one. "And how long were you there?"

motherofresistance: (Small smile)

Re: Always!

[personal profile] motherofresistance 2021-06-02 12:17 am (UTC)(link)
"Three years, and counting," Leia said. "Probably will remain counting for awhile, honestly; I've left my original home in good hands and have generally settled in there. But I'm very much in the minority in that area, as most of the others who were there with me moved on."

"As for the kind of place it was, well, Nautilus was called the City of Change, and it tended to live up to the name. You couldn't live there for long and remain entirely the same. It was a place that was literally suspended between Chaos- which was a well of infinite possibility- and Light- which imposed order. Its position between the two mean that reality was... significantly more flexible there, and among other things, it gave the city's residents the ability to Bend, or shape reality with a combination of imagination, will, and practice. There were a lot of uses for Bending, but the most common was to create objects that people wanted or needed, which was why supplies were easy to come by."