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

[helborn]

"That's good. Family's a... hard group to change." You can get new friends, but new family is harder. Also it's... nice to hear of a world where two guys adopting a kid doesn't seem to be a big deal.

[labcatte]

"Yeah," Bacon says. They sigh. "God, I hope Abuelito and Abuelita are still okay. Tio Alain said they were when he came in with the rest of the group DARPA sent in after us, but they're getting on in their years, even with nanos. They're both about ninety and while both Abuelita's parents made it that long--hell, they technically outlived Papa's dad, if only by like a year--Abuelito's dad died a lot younger than that." They shove their hand back through their head fur, anxiously. "I've been living with them for about, god, almost half a decade? After we lost my dads, I wanted to be closer to family. And Tia Charley travels too much."

[helborn]

He just stares for a moment. Charley. Alain. This is almost too much. He shakes his head, trying to contain his confusion. "Yeah... I lived with just my dad my whole life. I don't know about any... uh. Mortal extended family. The god side... I mean. One of my uncles is a horse with eight legs."

cw: allusions to the I/O-verse's version of recent current events

[labcatte]

You saw their legal last name on the roster, didn't you, Casper? No wonder your head hurts.

"You mean Sleipnir?" they say. "Jeez, that is weird to think about." Bacon hesitates for a moment, then says, "If it helps, I don't really know much about my mom's family. Or anything, really. I've got a letter she wrote me while she was sick, but I mean, it was at the start of the plague years and people went pretty fast. So it's just the one and she doesn't really talk a lot about her past."

[helborn]

"Start of the... what?" His brow furrows in confusion. "What do you mean, 'plague years'?"

cw: current events are i/o canon for Reasons

[labcatte]

Bacon winces. "Oh right," they say. "You're from the past. Look, um, so there was this whole worldwide pandemic back the year I turned four and, uh, it lasted a while and got pretty bad before the end and basically changed a lot about... well, everything. That's how I ended up with Dad and Papa. Because Mama got sick and if she had any family they were all in Puerto Rico and she was work friends with Dad and knew that he and Papa had been thinking of adopting. So she named them as my guardians."

[helborn]

He sits with that for a few long moments. “Gods. ... I’m so sorry. I know you were young but that doesn’t change the fact that it sounds awful.”

[labcatte]

"Yeah," they say, softly, looking away. "It kind of was and I'd barely turned four, so I didn't have a great concept of what death is anyway. I just knew that Dad--only I didn't call him that yet, I called him Tio Steven--was taking me to his apartment so I could get babysat by them again and I had to stay overnight and then the next day after my nap, they showed me this tablet and there was Mama in the hospital bed and she told me that my Tios were gonna be my dads now and to be brave and good and that she'd be watching over me in heaven."

[helborn]

"I..." Steven. Gods, this is really some sort of alternate universe fuckery and he can't tell if he's amused or distressed or both or something else.

Dammit, he has to focus. "You've obviously had time to process it, so I won't go through the normal spiel. ... You're... if there's any sort of similarity between him and the... um. Steven I know who's related to a Charley... I'm sure he looked after you well."

He sighs deeply - if he hides this for longer he's just going to get them mad at him for hiding it. "His husband's name is Thace, isn't it?"

[labcatte]

Bacon stares at him.

"Papa's avatar name for AWO is 'Thais,' yes," they say slowly. "His actual given name is Thain. Actually, uh, I gave him and Dad a bit of shit over their avatar names. Dad went with his usual name he uses for gaming avatars, which is Barrow Tender, because he has to be an edgelord like that and then Papa just literally changed one letter of his given name and then decided he'd be cute and give his avatar the same surname as Dad's, so now he's Thais Tender, which is objectively ridiculous."

[helborn]

He just rubs his face.

"This is ridiculous. 'Cause you've got a lot of people in the same relationship setups as some of my friends, with the same or very similar names. I would like to file a complaint with the mutliverse and get compensation for this headache."

[labcatte]

"You're not the only one who thinks this is ridiculous," Bacon says, crossing their arms in front of them. "Tell me about these people you know and how you know them."

[helborn]

"Uh. The short answer is that the place I was at last was like this, and they were all there. Though uh. I'm guessing your world... it doesn't have supernatural stuff, does it?"

[labcatte]

"As far as I know, it's all significantly advanced technology," Bacon says, giving Casper an impatient look. "Who was there?"

[helborn]

"Charley - uh. Thorne is what she preferred to be called. Alcuin, Anafiel, Thace, Gil, Jules, Raidou... I ran into Steven, too. ... A lot of people, but out of the people you mentioned and those related to them... yeah."

[labcatte]

"Thorne is the name of one of my cousins, actually," Bacon says, arms still folded. "One of the elemental siblings. Flamma, Sylphan, Meredar, Delvar, and Thorne. Tia Charley and the rest of the AI Gang each took one to put a little of themselves in and Thorne was hers. Which is kind of blatantly obvious if you've ever seen both of them, actually, since Thorne looks like a younger, pixie-shaped version of my aunt. But you do know that just giving me random names isn't going to tell me if they're people's counterparts, since we've already established that they don't have a one to one correspondence on names?"

[helborn]

"Thorne's a young hispanic - uh. Sorry. Uh. She's a young latina person with pink in the front of her hair. Always curious, always poking into stuff. Alcuin's tall and graceful and sort of French -" He's not going to try to explain the Angel France thing. "- and very kind and very silly when he wants to be." There's the faintest hint of pink on his cheeks.

"Anafiel is from the same place as Alcuin. He's tall and his hair's reddish. He's a lot more serious and he's sort of guarded, but he's nice when you break through his shell. Thace is... uh. The Thace I know is purple?" He pauses a moment for them to take that in. "He's a sort of space cat alien. He can be a little shy at times but he's also very good at being serious and rounding people up when he has to. Gil's a big short guy - stocky as hell, a lot of scars. He's one of my best friends. He's Australian and likes dicking around with me and trying to smoosh my face into pillows."

Casper pouts for a second, but it's clear it's not serious. "He's really smart... I think he has some kind of space science degree if I remember right. Jules is... probably one of the best hackers in our whole group, but he's so full of anxiety it's hard to tell sometimes. He screams a lot and is terrified o everything. ... I don't know Raidou that well. He's very serious and dating Gil - he's Japanese adn old-fashioned. He's probably nice, but things are awkward between us because I fucked up."

[labcatte]

Bacon frowns. "Okay. There's a guy working on the LeGuin project who's Australian and good friends with Tia Charley, but I don't really know him so well, so I couldn't tell you his name off the top of his head. He and his partner could be your Gil and Raidou, but then again, maybe not.

"Papa... well, he rolled up as Ubastim for AWO, same as I did, but he was blue, not purple. I suppose the rest follows? I don't know so much about the whole 'shy' thing, though. Your 'Thorne' sounds more like my cousin Thorne, but part of that might be that Tia Charley's nearly sixty and also changes her hair sometimes." They frown deeper. "But... 'Alcuin' does sound like Tio Alain and I could see how 'Anafiel' could be Oliver and hell, 'Jules' does sound like Julian, although pretty much everyone in the AI Gang besides Tia Charley are really good hackers. She's pretty much the only one of them who got hired by DARPA in a normal way... back when they all worked for DARPA."

[helborn]

"... Yeah. It's... weird. The multiverse likes to fuck with people."

And give him lots of headaches.

[labcatte]

"Evidently."

It occurs to Bacon that they've probably said enough for Casper to be able to dox them at this point, were they actually from their world... but they're also starting to actually believe his multiversal bullshit.

They smooth their headfur back with a sigh. "So what am I supposed to do with this," they complain.

[helborn]

"I have no idea, man." He pauses. ".. Person? ... I need to find more gender neutral... things like that."

He's doing his best.

[labcatte]

"Man is fine," they say. "I get that you mean it colloquially."