voidtreckerexpress | A New Platform [Intro Post October]

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A New Platform [Intro Post October]

On the Train

The train continues its journey

"Good morning Voidtreckers, it is day sixteen 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. Asch, Ayumi Uoshida, Cleopatra Selene, Della Duck, Ghost, Hanuel Min, Jaisyn Solo, Jonathan Sims, Martin Blackwood, Nie Huaisang, Vermouth; 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 four new faces. Wearing hoodies, three in purple one orange, 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 relatively small, a brick wall behind them and cracked flagstones on the floor. It is cold, icy cold but the wall at least shelters them a little.

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, freezing 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 four 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'). The store rooms have been restocked with fresh ingredients, including yadon tail, as well as all sundries.

For passengers that have bought items, these are also scattered around the luggage carriage in various suitcases and bags.

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!

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Thanatos nods. "There are three more Chthonic Companions currently on the train. Cerbie is with Zagreus. Prosera is with Persephone. Lagos is with Ryo. A three-tailed dog, butterfly, and ptarmigan. Respectively."

He doesn't know if Alice has interacted with Persephone and Ryo, but he knows that Zagreus has talked to her at least. Thanatos looks at he scraps of fabric and spools of thread still on the table.

"... I made them. Using what I had seen from my mother making Mort. They got them... before Kamakan." And all those awful illusions. Honestly, given everything that had happened, Thanatos isn't surprised that she hasn't seen any of them.

Zagreus is definitely the only one out of those three that she has interacted with - though not enough to be entirely sure what she ought to think of the other. It's been hard to form an opinion of him, other than the fact that he seems far too nice for his own good.

.. though it would explain why Thanatos would be close enough to him to make something like that for him. If anyone could befriend Thanatos, it's someone who is just wildly too friendly.

"It is very kind of you to make those for your friends," she says. Because it is! After all-- "I can't imagine that they are very easy to make."

Alice wouldn't have any idea on where to even start to make plush animals. If she knew, she'd be making them all the time, since she loves them so much. But Thanatos over here apparently has already made multiple.

"They aren't, but I hope they are worth it. They are meant to help the people they are given to. And are a bit like a symbol of the bond formed between the giver and receiver." Thanatos stacks a few pieces of fabric beside each other, colors similar to the patterns on Alice's dresses.

"I want to make one for you. Truthfully. But I'm having trouble picking an animal. I keep being drawn to a rabbit, but I don't want to make your White Rabbit feel as if it's being replaced." Mort flicks his ear as if to agree that no Chthonic Companion should be the same animal as another. An unspoken rule, perhaps. Or maybe just courtesy.

There is a lot to take in here.

Sure, Alice could be helpful and point out that rabbits aren't the only animal she likes, but any logical thought is momentarily thrown out of the window. She doesn't even have time to note how oddly cute it is that Thanatos is so thoughtful of her rabbit, treating it as if it's more than just a stuffed toy - just like Alice herself does.

No, instead what keeps hanging in her mind is the fact that he's saying that he wants to make one for her. Even though he explained only a moment before that it's quite some effort, and that it's a sign of a bond between the person making it and the person they're giving it to..

It stuns her into total silence for a moment, her knitting work hanging still in her hands, as if she can't even continue it while she's this stunned. Then Alice glances down, unable to meet Thanatos' gaze, and her pale cheeks might even be turning a very faint red.

"You.. want to make one for me?"

Sorry, this is still the part she's stuck on.

"I do. ... Is... that all right?" Insecurity rears its ugly head within Thanatos's heart. Alice had seemed uncomfortable when he complimented her, even without using her name. What if this is too much despite what she's done and her fondness of Mort?

"I also I have a Keepsake that--I need to put more power into it before I give it to you." It's something that should have a use should the worse ever happen. Thanatos avoids looking at where the finished piece is waiting for him to focus upon.

... Or is that only going to make this situation worse?

Thanatos?!

Alice doesn't even have a moment to be surprised at the fact that he wasn't even just thinking of making one thing for her - no, he was apparently planning on two. But maybe it's a good thing, since more surprised might just make his insecurity even worse.

And that's the part Alice is opting to zone in on for now. She doesn't want him to feel like she was rejecting the idea, just because she doesn't know how to deal with people being nice!

"O.. Of course it is alright!" She quickly says, though it sounds like she's stumbling over her own words. Oddly so, considering Alice usually speaks in a much more straightforward way. "I merely.. did not anticipate it, that is all. People usually don't make things for me.."

Quite the contrary, really. Most of the time they're too busy trying to insult or hurt her instead, which is why his gesture seems so wild to her. It's such a dramatic opposite from what she's used to. It's kindness that she doesn't even know how to place.

"They're meant to help. I can't give boons really, and the only favor I can give is..." He lets himself trail off there. Thanatos has probably said it a million times, and people don't like him saying that the only favor he can give is to stay away. Why should he repeat it again?

"I don't expect anything in return. Just... use their power if you need to. These damned missions aren't getting any better." People don't make him things either. Only his mother has, and that was Mort. Zagreus says he's going to... but Thanatos isn't going to hold him to it. Just being able to be near Zagreus again is enough.

This is so much for her. But at the same time.. it doesn't feel right to act all cagey about things when Thanatos is being so open here. So nice to her. Willing to even make something for her by hand - and not even something simple. What kind of person would that make Alice if she wouldn't at least be honest with him in turn?

Even though being honest is hard when it doesn't involve being blunt for once. She tries to look back over at Thanatos, but her gaze is a little shakey, occasionally shifting away, like she's nervous.

But despite nerves, she speaks.

"You have already done me a great number of favours." She sounds very sincere about it. It's too vulnerable and open to sound like anything else. "Just by speaking with me. By lending me your company. By being my.."

Alice fails to hold his gaze at that, instead staring at the table between them.

".. friend."

"Friend," Thanatos repeats, though he doesn't know why. Some part of him now dreads how much it'll hurt when Alice leaves because she will leave. Or he'll leave to go home. It's inevitable. Still, another part of him hopes that she'll at least have some help once they part.

He has to finish the items first.

"So... an animal. That wouldn't make your White Rabbit jealous." Even as Thanatos has been struggling with his emotions and communication, he feels like he's at a limit of honesty and frankness that is unsustainable. For both of them. One of them is likely to just disappear from nerves alone... and Thanatos has the actual ability to.

".. I like cats," she slowly says.

At least that's a lot easier to discuss than anything that's much more related to her feelings for actual people. Cats are animals. They're safe. Liking cats is pretty normal, and doesn't have anything to do with vulnerability.

So if he's changing the subject back to what they were originally discussing, Alice will gladly go along with it, glancing at the materials he was working with.

"Unless.. you already made one." He did say they were all different, after all. And when Thanatos is being so considerate towards her, Alice wants to be at least as considerate in turn.

Even if animals sometimes run from him because they sense Death, Thanatos likes them. Maybe it's because Mort was Thanatos's first friend, and animals are less complicated, more honest.

"No, I haven't made a cat, and my mother hasn't either." He's made a three-tailed dog, which is the closest to a cat. "A cat could work." A design starts to form in his head about how this cat might look. It'll still take him time to sew the companion and imbue it with his power. However, now he has a direction for it.

The girl actually smiles a little when he mentions that a cat could work. After all, it takes just the mention of cats to already put Alice in a brighter mood, let alone the idea of owning an adorable cat companion like how Thanatos has Mort.. It's just one of the nicer things on this occasionally miserable train journey.

It's a faint smile, though, a small smile, sure.. but by Alice standards? That's already a lot.

She turns her smile towards Mort, gently petting the tiny thing with a finger.

"Do you hear that too, Mort? You aren't scared of cats, are you?"

Mort squeaks and wiggles his nose at Alice. No, he's not afraid of cats. He has to protect Thanatos, and so he needs to be brave!

Thanatos gives a small laugh. "I would hope they would be friends. They've no reason to fight each other." To that, Mort chimes up that Lagos is rude and implies that Mort doesn't do his job, and he will not let another insult stand. Thanatos sighs. "Yes, I know you and Lagos have your differences."

Alice, of course, has no idea what Mort is saying - but thankfully Thanatos is here to serve as a translator of sorts. Even though what he's translating right now seems pretty surprising to Alice, making the girl raise her eyebrows as she looks over at him.

She doesn't know Lagos, but assumes it's one of the other similar creatures Thanatos has made.

"Differences? Does Mort argue with them?"

How could such a sweet little bean mouse have a problem with anyone!

"Mort took offense at the implication that he wasn't doing all he could to protect me. He's sensitive about that." Thanatos hadn't been fully... present during this conflict between Lagos and Mort. He was still deep in the numbed, disassociating state after Jinnjar's mission. He had stayed like that for a while longer after.

"Lagos seems to be a special case, however. Mort gets along just fine with the other two I made." Although, Cerbie acts so childish and innocent that he is given extra leeway. Prosera hasn't had much of a chance to argue with Mort.

For a moment she looks surprised, but then Alice is quick to turn towards Mort, giving the tiny thing a few more pats on the head.

"I have never seen Mort do anything but his best for you." In his.. own limited capacity, anyway. There's only so much a little bean can do for Thanatos, but Alice has seen him squeak around Thanatos enough to figure he's probably encouraging the other all the time.

"Perhaps he felt like his efforts were being ignored because of that accusation."

Mort gives a number of strong squeaks in confirmation to Alice's words and headpats. He's doing his best! And he doesn't like when Thanatos is hurting. And--! Thanatos picks up Mort and brings him to his cheek.

"I know, Mort. I know." Thanatos wishes he could do more for his friend. All he can do at the moment is try to pour more of his power into the mouse in hopes of granting him more freedom. It's not Mort's fault that he's connected to someone who is such a mess.

Alice may have no idea what Mort was just trying to say with that series of squeaks - especially when Thanatos' own reply gives her very few clues to work with - but she can guess at it just a little. After all, considering what Mort is like, she's pretty sure he agreed with her.

"Come on, you two.. Don't be so fussy."

With other people those words may have taken on a more scolding edge, but Alice's tone sounds warmer now as she looks at the two of them.

"You make a great pair. I always see you trying hard for each other in your own ways."

Alice's words along with Thanatos's closeness calms Mort down. He stops squeaking and only wiggles his nose a little. "I hope that will be the same for you. When you meet yours."

As soon as Thanatos finishes both the keepsake and Chthonic Companion for Alice. He starts to picture the same of this new companion like picking out a constellation from his mother's night sky. For now, he puts aside the fabric and sewing needles. He brings out his knitting that he started with Alice on the resort island. It's thin in width, but its length has grown.

"Since... you're working on knitting, maybe I should try to finish this too." There's an unsaid reason for it.

"Oh, you got further with it on your own," she remarks.

Of course it's something she notices. After all, she spent a while helping him back at the resort, and she definitely remembers it well enough to know it was shorter back then than it is now.. It seems that Thanatos has been pretty busy, somewhere between thinking of making her a cute companion, of all things, and even managing to continue the knitting project he was having so much trouble with.

.. It makes Alice smile a little, in that rare sort of way for her. It's just nice.. to see him doing things like this, especially how badly he seemed to be doing before. It makes her feel like he's getting a little on the right track again.

"Did you think of something you wanted to knit?"

Thanatos may not know what he's doing, but he's trying different things between gardening, making keepsakes and companions, knitting, reading, and attempting to play the lyre. Something has to stick and feel "right" for him. At the very least trying different things is taking up his time.

"A tiny scarf. I think it should be simple, so I can finish it." Thanatos doesn't even know how to end this and take it off the needles.

Sssh, Thanatos. You've got her fooled about your newfound knitting knowledge since the last time they spoke.

But while Alice seems to approve of his idea, a small smile on her face, it's Mort she reaches out to, giving the tiny thing a few playful little scritches.

"Oh, I bet he is going to look positively adorable with a tiny scarf."

(Apparently it's just what Alice instantly assumes this is for.)

Mort squeaks, almost mischievously. He knows what Thanatos is planning, but he's not telling Alice. Thanatos only gives a single soft laugh. "I'm hoping it'll look adorable."

His needles begin to click together, slowly and precisely, as he knits each stitch carefully. He may not be a fast knitter yet, but his tension and gauge has greatly improved. He'll be able to finish the scarf in the next few days.

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A New Platform [Intro Post October]

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