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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He closes his eyes, comfortable with the contact - with having an anchor on a day that's set him so far adrift - and listens to Inigo hum. It's...nice.

The question doesn't quite land, though - Ryo had had a difficult time on the mission, and that doesn't quite fit with anything here. "What do you mean?"

"The flying!" Inigo is quick to reply, even though it seems that Ryo didn't exactly follow what he was saying just now. "You know, to get to the other islands?"

At least, he's assuming that Ryo also was flown over - the other doesn't have some sort of innate ability to be able to cross a gap like that, right? At least.. Inigo thinks so. He has to admit to himself that he isn't exactly 100% sure.

"It's always a little scary, but a little fun at the same time."

"Oh." It makes sense, now that he's there, though he hadn't exactly been able to follow the trail of logic without Inigo's guidance. "It is, but I trust Jingyi. He's good at it." He knows Jingyi won't drop him, and that makes the experience of flying so much more enjoyable.

"I didn't like the mission much, though." He trusts Inigo too, which means he's far less worried about his filter failing.

Ah, so thankfully Ryo had at least been flying, or this would only have gone further over the other's head.. And thankfully on Jingyi too, which is a flying experience that Inigo knows very well, even if it isn't how he got from one island to another back in that place himself.

But the topic is rapidly shifting away from that specific mission detail when Ryo mentions the next part of what he's saying, causing Inigo to shoot a small smile his way.

"I don't think people are supposed to like these things."

They're still missions, after all. They're still all worlds balancing precariously right on the edge of total destruction, left to them to fix. Inigo doesn't think it's something any normal person should be enjoying.

(Even if he can't help but be glad for every single person he can save.)

".. Or was there something in particular about it that bothered you?"

"The whole thing bothered me."

Very helpful. He sighs and tries to put his thoughts in order, because he owes Inigo a better explanation than that. "I mean- they're not exactly fun, but I don't mind missions as long as I know what I need to do and I can do it. The world with all the demons wasn't great, but what it needed from me was to be a healer - to make sure people were fed and healed and taken care of - and I can do that. This world-" He shakes his head in frustration. "Nothing worked. My magic didn't work right, the mana drives and potions didn't work right, I tried to connect with a sali to see if I could heal them and it hurt them, and I just-" He stops, tries to get a hold on his emotions, and the wind abruptly goes out of his sails. "I spent most of this mission feeling frustrated and upset and useless," he says, voice small, "and I hate that." Who has two thumbs and tied most of his self-worth to his abilities as a healer? This guy.

For a moment Inigo isn't sure whether to go down on this path when it's just another thing getting Ryo down, and it's probably the last thing he needs at a moment like this.

.. on the other hand, Inigo feels like this is infinitely more fixable than the other problem. Which is to say that it's still not easy to fix, but it's at least possible. If Inigo had even a single solution for or a way to cope with the way people leave, he sure would have a whole lot happier himself, after all. It's something nothing can be done about, and that's the worst part about it.

But at least he can say something about this topic instead, which makes it feel so much better to talk about.

"Hey," he says. His voice is a little more quiet now, and with the way Ryo is already leaning against his side, Inigo moves to wrap an arm around the other's shoulders, squeezing the shoulder further away from him.

"What I'm hearing is that you're blaming yourself really hard for something you didn't even have a choice about being thrown into in the first place."

And woefully underequipped when it comes to the information department, but boy, does Inigo ever not expect much else from the train at this point.

He leans a bit more into that side hug - after everything that's happened today, he could use the contact. "There's always a choice," he says quietly. "I could choose not to go. But if I did that, and something happened, I don't think I could live with myself." He needs to go where his skills are needed - what kind of healer would he be if he stayed away?

(He may also be arguing out of guilt. The situations are always difficult; he just needs to do better.)

"You didn't have a choice in being brought here though."

None of them did. It was mostly that choice he was refering to - because it's something that's so constantly on his mind, with how long Inigo has been stuck in this place.

"And I know a guy like you can't choose to stay behind when people need help." At least.. Inigo feels like that's the kind of reading he's got on Ryo so far. The other always seems so desperate to help out wherever he can. Throwing him onto a train where they are constantly supposed to help out people is like throwing a mouse into a cheese stall. "So you basically have no real choice but to go out there. And then you go, and you feel inadequate, because.. what? Because the train doesn't inform us well enough about what's being expected of us for us to be able to anticipate bad things before they happen. Or because the train didn't send in an adequate enough force in the first place."

After all, this train seems to draw in powerful people all the time. Then why keep guys like them around?

"You always go out there and try your best. What more do you expect of yourself?" There's nothing scolding about his tone though. Not even a moment, this entire time. It all sounds gentle, like a tone someome might use to coax an animal to come out of hiding.

He's quiet, listening as Inigo talks. Inigo's definitely got the correct read on him. He's a healer. It's an axiom on his world: people die when the healers can't help. On one side, it's the reason healers are protected; on the other, it's a promise that healers will help whenever they can.

And he couldn't, on the last mission. Not much, at least, even though he'd tried.

Inigo also has a point, however, and it's defanged his previous argument somewhat.

"My best wasn't enough." His voice is still small. "I know that happens sometimes, and it's still my best, but it just..." He trails off and shakes his head a bit before turning and burying his face into Inigo's shoulder. He knows that his best won't always be enough, and there won't always be something he can do about it, even if he feels there should be. Running up against that wall still feels terrible, though, and this has been a day for feeling terrible.

But it's still hard. When you do your best, but it still isn't enough.

It's a sentiment Inigo knows absolutely everything about. Wasn't that all he did in his own future? Constantly fighting, constantly trying to protect the last remainders of humanity, and yet nothing he did was ever good enough. He recalls all the nights he spent in tears, so frustrated with himself and his inability to change things.

So he knows this feeling won't clear up within Ryo that easily. But doing nothing doesn't feel right either, so..

.. after leaving Ryo to lean against his shoulder like that for a moment, Inigo slowly speaks up again.

"Hey, Ryo. I think a little friend of mine might be able to help you a bit."

Ssh, look, he knows it sounds random, but he's going somewhere with this.

...that's not where he's expecting this conversation to go, but okay? He trusts Inigo, so he'll follow along. He doesn't move from where he is, though - it's a comfort, and he's not giving that up yet.

"Okay?"

"Hold on."

Inigo doesn't move, considering he can feel Ryo not moving either, and he figures that's deliberate on the other's part. So he's trying his best to not jostle him, letting him remain leaning against him - even though Inigo turns a little so he isn't turned towards Ryo.

Mostly so there's space for a tiny creature to slip out of his chest - though Ryo might not notice that detail if he's not looking at Inigo.

Once it's out of there though, the creature stands on its stubby little legs, bouncing a little as it lets out happy little 'hig, hiig!' sounds.

"That's my friend, Jumblie. She always helps me when I'm feeling down."

With his face buried in Inigo's shoulder, Ryo doesn't see the creature enter; he does, however, note something new in his Sense that hadn't been there a moment ago. It's when something squeaks that he lifts his head and looks around, gaze settling on the creature.

...he can't say he was expecting this when Inigo mentioned a friend, but it's not exactly a bad thing. Honestly, he's not exactly processing it right now. "Oh." He extends a hand to the little creature, palm up. "Hello, Jumblie."

It's a hand!

The little creature looks happy in its own little dopey way.. or maybe that's just how its face is permanently stuck, who knows! Either way, Jumblie seems very happy about this hand being held out to her, and she quickly waddles over to put her own little stubby hand on top of Ryo's own.

It feels warm, and there's an odd cozy feeling that radiates from her. It doesn't exactly make sadness disappear, since it doesn't force a feeling upon anyone, but it feels like an odd source of instant external comfort.

"I think she's happy to meet you," Inigo says, a smile on his face. "Do you want to hug her? It's really comfortable."

(And maybe he knows from experience, because sometimes Inigo hugs her when he cries himself to sleep. Ssh, don't judge him.)

That little hand in his, and the feeling of comfort from it, bring a smile to Ryo's face - small and quiet, barely an upturn of the lips, but it's still better than he's felt since the train offloaded its departing passengers at platform. "Yes," he says, and then remembers himself. "But only if she wants a hug." He's learned, at least.

"Of course she does." Inigo first seems to be saying that to Ryo, but then he turns his attention towards Jumblie. "Right?"

It doesn't seem like Jumblie even has to answer. She's already eagerly climbing up onto Ryo's lap. And though her stubby little arms are way too short to even get close to reaching his sides, she still spreads them as she leans against Ryo, like she's trying to hug him in her own way.

She is, apparently, super eager for hugs. And, when held, seems to have the same effect as when a small kid holds a loved stuffed animal.

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A New Platform [Intro Post October]

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