A New Platform [Intro Post September]

[voidtreckermods]

On the Train

"Good morning Voidtreckers, it is day one of the month of Nebula. 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 doors open. As usual, those who leave first notice nothing, walking silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers. A-Qing, Atem, Beauregard Lionett, Casper LeBlanc Jr, Donatello Versus, Frankie Bacon, Ichiban Kasuga, Kumoko, Lena Sabrewing, Mami Tomoe, Mono, Peter Parker, Reno, Shi Qingxuan, Tobari, Wen Ning; all pass across the platform, not looking back. And then they're gone, disappeared 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. The platform is open to a bright blue sky, speckled with a couple of clouds. It's very warm, enough that they will not want to stay in those hoodies for long. Behind them through the fogs is a set of barriers, set in a brick wall and in front of them is a single set of tracks extending both ways into that same thick fog.

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 on the foggy, blistering hot platform; then the fog begins to fade and they realise they aren’t alone.

The platform isn't large, but it is enough to hold the 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, perhaps ten minutes or so, 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'). They will also find a bunch of posters around the train and might notice the new clock in the standard coach.

The store rooms have been restocked with fresh ingredients, the ingredient this month is a strange meat, yaddon tail.

For passengers that have bought items, these are also scattered around the luggage carriage in various suitcases and bags. There is a box labelled for purple team containing a stick of rock for each member of purple team, including those who are new. Join in your teams success!

New passengers will find their ticket allows them into their cabins. In most rooms, the occupied beds are obvious, leaving the spotless, empty spaces for the newcomers. 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.

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

[amnesiadragon]

"Wh - wait, it does? The train is magic?" If it's magic, does it care if they're riding around inside of it?

This only raises further questions. "... I've hid in a box before on a merchant's ship, but these boxes aren't as big as the ones I know."

[irrationally]

There's a hum on Alice's end as an answer to the first question - though a hum isn't exactly a year or a no, huh.

Oh well.

He's asking a lot of questions, anyway, and it's not like she feels like rattling off all answers in a row. It's not her style. So she leaves that hum at just that before she speaks up instead about the second half.

"Have you never seen suitcases before?"

[amnesiadragon]

He frowns and shakes his head. "I've never heard that word before." So very much no. Does his world even have such things? He's not sure. Small boxes, sure, but boxes are boxes. Right?

[irrationally]

.. huh.

Huh.

It's a bit of an odd one to Alice. Sure, she is aware some worlds lack certain things. People talk about stuff all the time on the train that she's never seen before back home, after all. But something like a suitcase felt so simple.

Simple enough that Alice didn't quite imagine a world without them yet. She's pretty sure they had those even in Wonderland..!

"Don't people travel in your world? You would usually use these for that."

Though it would explain why he was putting his hands all over them a moment ago.. He really just didn't know any better.

[amnesiadragon]

"They do, but they have boxes or bags." He shakes his head a little, smiling a bit. "That's how we carry things on the road. It's nothing like these kinds of bags..."

He prods at an empty suitcase. "I don't know how well some of these would hold up on the road."

[irrationally]

"Well, we are not on the road right now." You technically can't call flying through the void being on a road, after all.. Even though the thought of how the train does move through the void then is a little baffling to a Victorian mind, but Alice is just rolling with it. It's not the first flying train she has seen. "So there is no need to worry about it."

It seems that she's finally managed to open her suitcase, pulling out a red dress. Her attention momentarily turns away from Ryu to look at it with an appraising gaze.

".. huh. It seems the train did give me exactly what I asked for. How curious."

[amnesiadragon]

"I guess so." He's not sure what the 'train' is doing, but he's trying to not let it bother him.

"... You can get things from the train?"

[irrationally]

She nods.

"If it decides to randomly give you points to use to do so." Look, it's so not clear to her how it decides who gets however many points. So there's no way she's just randomly going to make up a lie to a new person, even if the whole random aspect of it might not be the best news.

[amnesiadragon]

"And are points like money?" He's pretty sure, but he wants to make absolutely sure he knows what's going on. After all, there's a lot he doesn't know in general.

[irrationally]

That's not an incredibly simple question.

Especially since it depends on your definition of 'money', really. And as someone who's never really had much access to money, Alice isn't too sure.

"I suppose? They are things you can use to order things from the train shop. But you can't do anything else with it."

[amnesiadragon]

"Oh. What sort of things can you order from the shop?" Dresses, obviously... but that might not be useful for him. He'd probably get his legs tangled in the fabric.

[irrationally]

"At this point? Pretty much anything you could want."

Alice remembers the days where the offering was much more limited, after all. No weapons, no specific items from back home, no pets, let alone bigger items..

Sheesh, she's been here for truly a long while, she thinks.

"Why, are you already thinking about something you would want to have here?"

[amnesiadragon]

"New clothes... or my old clothes, I guess." He pulls at the weird hooded shirt he'd been put into. "I like that these are warm, but I also really want to have what I usually wear back. If I can, at least."

[irrationally]

Alice huffs.

"That will take you a while. They make these outfits ridiculously expensive." Relative to most other things you can buy in the store, anyway. And it's not like Alice of all people is going to risk her points on a random outfit. Not when she's seen what sort of monstrosities the train sometimes hands to people.

"This dress of mine from back home cost me sixty points." Just for a dress! Okay, and boots, but still. It's ridiculous.

[amnesiadragon]

"Why do they make it cost so much? Shouldn't things like that... I mean, someone took them. So we should just get them back."

Granted, he just took his clothes in the first place, but that merchant had run off and left all of his goods in the first place.

[irrationally]

"Yes," she says, looking over at Ryu. "You've got the right idea."

Of course this entire setup is ridiculous. A train kidnaps them, makes them fight for it, and then even has the nerve to demand payment in return for giving them their basic things back.

"We are truly just being exploited here. But it is not as if we have any other choice but to go along with it."

Especially when half their attempts to contact the train don't seem to do much at all - especially when it comes to the most important things, in Alice's opinion.

[amnesiadragon]

"... What does exploited mean?" That's not a word he's ever come across before. It sure sounds bad, though.

[irrationally]

"You.."

Now she's just looking confused again. Not knowing what a suitcase is, sure. That's only natural. There are so many different worlds out there, of course there are some being represented here that have no concept of such a thing.

But having no concept of the very word 'exploited'? How..?

"You don't know what it means to be exploited?"

Is it because he's been exploited before without even knowing it?! Is this new person that naive?

[amnesiadragon]

"I don't know what a lot of words mean. I..." He hunches his shoulders and looks around, unsure if it's something okay to even say.

... But it's helping him come to terms with it himself, so...

"I only appeared a few months ago."

[irrationally]

There's a slight pause, but then Alice states: "You weren't born."

After all, that's not what the word 'appeared' means. Besides, Ryu looks way too old to have been born a few months ago, unless he's a member of some species that grows incredibly quickly.

"So did you just appear out of thin air?"

Granted, she doesn't sound like she's judging. She doesn't even sound that surprised about it. The idea of someone not knowing the word 'exploited' feels much stranger to her than the idea of someone appearing into existence. The latter is very Wonderland-like, anyway.

[amnesiadragon]

"Yeah... the summoning spell that was used kind of messed up and split the dragon they were summoning into two people. And one showed up when he was supposed to, but it's... been a few hundred years since that. The first thing I remember... is standing naked in a crater with the remains of a merchant's stock. ... He ran away."

That all seems so long ago, now. Huh...

[irrationally]

...

Yes. Okay. Ryu's story is entirely Wonderland-like. That isn't something that just happens in reality. It's a good thing that Alice can roll with strangeness like it's nothing by now. Thanks, all the practice she's gotten from talking to insects..

"I think you might be a bit more careful with how easily you tell that story to people. I imagine most of them would.. ah, what do they call it?" She pauses, seeming to think for a moment, before she continues. ".. 'Freak out' upon hearing such a tale."

Especially the naked part. Sheesh, Ryu, think of people's Victorian sensibilities!

[amnesiadragon]

He nods at her assessment. He probably shouldn't be telling people... for all he knows there are Imperial troops here. "... I don't think I asked your name. I'm Ryu."

[irrationally]

"Alice Liddell." It's a bit of a shorter introduction in turn, but honestly? This is already polite by Alice's usual standards.

She's even withholding a snarky remark about how Ryu would share the fact he was a naked amnesiac before sharing his name. She's being good.

"Perhaps there might be someone on this train who could recognize you."

[amnesiadragon]

"Maybe... it'd be really nice to find all of the rest." Though Nina had tried that before... still, there's no sense in not trying.

"... You're really nice, Alice."