voidtreckerexpress | life is like this box of lentils [OPEN]

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life is like this box of lentils [OPEN]

Who: Manabu, open
Where: Dining car, upper level
When: Month: Apple; Day: 4
What: Effectively this, but with foodstuffs
Warnings: mention of death

Four whole days on a mysterious voyage with next to no new knowledge about...well, about most anything, really! Manabu is antsy by nature, and this is really pressing the lengths at which he can sit on his hands and avoid really pressing for answers.

...Well, the whole sealed-off engine room is the real block here; he's already had a peek under the drop-floor to find next to nothing, and that barely counts as action in his book. The view outside isn't familiar space, but he can't rule out the possibility of a time warp, so he holds his breath on making any sweeping conclusions there.

In fact, maybe best to avoid making any sort of solid assumptions for now. Very frustrating.

It's a poor consolation, but the longer time passes without any forward movement in solving this mystery, it means he's had more time to clear out the fog of his past. He'd been so sure that he was just boarding a train to work! But, thinking and sleeping on it...that couldn't have been right. And meeting another Pokemon only made that clearer: He wouldn't have had a though about Pokemon if he'd just been going to HQ.

For someone who made a living traveling planet to planet, re-remembering a whole world he'd up and lost track of shouldn't be that jarring! But it is. It comes in waves -- stopping to recall a particular memory or city or friend. Or Brendan. All of that, and no means to do anything about it...all of this here and no means to understand it!

Yet Manabu is still Manabu: if he isn't doing something remotely productive, he's at a loss. Feeble an effort as it is, he's going to try to get his bearings.

He's doing so with his lunch.

Lacking paper and pen, he's taken to segregating portions of his meal into worlds: one of his hard-boiled eggs is a stand-in for HQ (and the universe it hails from), another (decorated with a sprinkling of parsley for variation) the Earth he'd inhabited with Kaidan and Brandon and Archie and the lot.

This train, though?

Well, he's not certain this is a new universe or not. All he's seen is this train, and not even all of it! So he decides that's a baby carrot.

What is now going on is some half-coherent mumbling and pointing, item to item, as he puzzles out the timeline that brought him to baby-carrot train.

It just kind of looks like a crazy guy berating his meal, though.

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"Uh..."

She honestly didn't want to engage with whatever Manabu was doing with his meal, but at the point that he started with the baby carrot, she could no longer resist. That said, she'd only overheard maybe one word in ten, so she was lost.

"Is that vegetable meant to be us?"

"Eh-?!"

He'd been so absorbed in puzzling out his own timeline that he'd failed to notice anyone else coming or going for lunch, so hearing a voice prompting him startles him out of his thought-trance. Manabu blinks owlishly, needing a second to find and focus on the woman staring back at him.

His face started to grow red.

"Uh...um...yes," he admits, mouth twitching. "Sorry. I'm just--trying to figure out where I was before..."

He weakly gestures at the carrot-train.

She followed his motion towards the carrot, and squinted. Kind of like a tactical diorama... except she couldn't follow it at all.

"... Right, and which egg is where you were before?"

She slid along the bench until she could see the Madness properly. Talking about different worlds generally just made her eyes glaze over, but she'd make an exception for the guy who'd turned it into a science fair project.

Manabu scoots in turn to accommodate her, feeling more foolish by the second. This is really childish, isn't it? But just trying to puzzle it out internally wasn't working! Seeing things worked better.

As for the matter of the eggs...

"That's...that's what I'm trying to figure out." He grimaces. "This isn't the first time I've been...magically transported somewhere against my will. But for some reason, my head's still fuzzy as to where I was in all this before the platform."

He points to one egg.

"There's my home universe -- Tabito, HQ, the whole Galaxy Railways..." Then to the parsley-sprinkled one. "Then there's that other universe, the one with that...that weird machine. Pulled all sorts of people in. It's really strange. I can't tell if we're still in that universe, or..."

He just realizes he missed something, letting out a pained sound through his nose as he grabs another carrot, bites it in half, and plops it between the eggs.

"Or back in time again," he grumbles, mid-chew.

"Universe could've reset- or you've forgotten about it. That's what happened between cycles in the last place I ended up in."

She's leaned back now, considering, nodding along. She still doesn't get the diorama, but it's similar enough to the conversations the warriors of Cosmos used to have that she can fill in the gaps. She points, first to the plain egg, "Say that's Gran Pulse," the parsley egg, "The realm of battle," and the carrot, "... and here. Same experience, different worlds, and I don't remember much either, so maybe it's us. Dunno about time, though."

"Did you say a realm of battle?"

Manabu, who had been watching her gestures curiously, looks up, head tilting like a dog who'd just maybe heard vague mention of a walk.

"What's that? It's...how on-the-nose is that name, I mean?"

"It is what it is. Just, constant fighting, until there's no one left to fight. Then the whole thing'd start over." Anyway. She shakes her head, and pokes one of the carrots on her own plate absently. "My point is, maybe you don't have the right information to understand it yet."

What, like...a big brawl fight? In like an arena or an alleyway? Manabu's watched a bit too much TV growing up to not sit and wonder on it -- it sounds exactly like that: like TV.

"R...right..." He looks back down at his plate with a soft frown. "Even so, just...sitting here, not knowing...I'm not sure how long I can stand it."

Cage matches to fuel an artificial magical reality, really. But who's counting.

"Yeah, well. Sitting still like a good little captive isn't my favourite plan either," She considers, then throws out one of the obvious plans she's been thinking over. One of the ones that sounds less ridiculous, anyway. "We could wait for the train to stop somewhere with air, then break into the engine."

That sounds like the sort of plan Manabu would make before someone much smarter than him nudges him and reminds him to ease up. As it stands here, he has to ease himself up...and apparently others with similar veins of action-first, think-second.

"Aa, true. Unless stopping somewhere does give us a chance to see whoever's driving this thing." His eyes wince. "I'm really hoping it's not entirely automated...even the best systems need a careful eye to make sure nothing goes awry."

He scratches at the back of his neck, fidgeting in his seat.

"I popped open a panel to see under the floor of my cabin room, and the infrastructure looks very...very empty? Compared to what I know. It didn't look mechanized enough to be run autonomously. But all we've got so far was that voice over the speaker..."

Oh it was train officer man who had claimed he knew maybe more about what was going on and would find a way off the train. Well he hadn't and now they were in a crazy colour void and it had been four days. So she guessed he hadn't found another officer.

Little One had looked all over the train by now, there were only ten people on it. Unless they were hidden really really well.

Just ten, a huge train ship and a colourful void. Hunger had won over her distaste for food and she was sat eating eggs, watching him play with his food.

"Did it be being bad?"

"Hm-?"

Mid-mumble, Manabu cuts himself off short and looks up, blinking and exchanging a stare with the little girl with no name. He barely lets a beat go by before doing a double-take back at his plate, mouth starting to twitch into a sheepish grin.

"Ah, no! No, it's fine, actually." He demonstrates by grabbing the carrot-that-would-be-a-train and popping it into his mouth. After he's crunched and swallowed it, he grins back at her.

"Didja think up a name you wanna try out yet?"

She smiled, amused at him. She still has no idea why he was telling the food off. But everyone here was strange and maybe he was just bored. It was easy to be bored here.

"Oh. Yes you can be calling me Buttercup if you do be wanting."

Since Tony had told other people the name he had given her she might as well use it. It feels weird to have a name, one thing that everyone called her. It felt weird, like those boots that were now discarded somewhere in her room. Heavy and clompy and not quite hers.

"Buttercup, huh?" His smile warms. "Like the little flower? That's pretty nice!"

It had occurred to him, much later, that there was the possibility other people could give her ruder names. But since she had an aversion to brat anyway, maybe that was never a risk. In any case, a flower's pretty suitable in his opinion! He's relieved.

"You've been getting along okay so far, right? I'm sorry I haven't found much yet. It's been tricky."

"Yes it do be being like the flower." Pretty and painful. Everyone she's met so far seems to like it so even if it doesn't quite feel like hers she will keep it for now.

"I do be being tricky, this train do be being stupid and even if we could be getting off I would no be wanting to be going out there."

Out where there's nothing but colours, could a person even survive out there or was it like the ocean, where you would drown and die?

"I do be being fine though, so you do no be having to be worrying."

"I'm glad you're being--are--do, be...being fine..." Manabu's mouth twitches, face reddening as he fumbles over thinking on her wording and just outright blabbing it right back. He laughs weakly. "Sorry. That's good, though! We had others having some troubles here and there; I'm glad it's not everybody."

She laughs as he trips over his words, she is not sure whether he is trying to mock her but even if he was he has ended up sounding stupid, so it's fine. "Who do be having troubles?"

There was the lady with the magically appearing sword, she had not been alright. But most people seemed fine, just bored.

"Oh, uh--"

It's probably not very polite to be airing out other people's dirty...vomit-covered laundry. Manabu scratches at his cheek, considering that.

"Well...it was more, uh...seemed to be something they ate? Like having a weak stomach. But they're fine. I wouldn't want to embarrass them, telling all the world."

"Oh, did they be having an allergy?" One of her new words, but it sounded like it. Hopefully that and not some kind of illness, she didn't want to get sick, especially not on a train-ship going to an unknown destination.

"I will no be asking more then, if it would be being embarrassing for them."

Ah...so she knows of poor Peter's problems. Manabu's mouth quirks, a chuckle wavering his voice.

"You haven't had any troubles with the food here or anything, right? All's well?"

"No I did no be having no allergies." She hadn't had much apetite recently but that had been the case before she had even gotten on the train so it's nothing Manabu needs to know about.

"Everything do be being fine except I would be liking to be going home."

"Oh, I hear that." Manabu's head bobs in a heavy nod, punctuated by a sigh. "I'd even settle for our current destination at this point, but the ideal is to get everyone where they're wanting to be."

He rubs at the back of his neck, looking about the near-vacant dining area, his eyes lingering at the window parallel them.

"No sign of a star field, either. Not that I was ever really good at tracing my location by stars regularly, but...it would've at least looked a little familiar..."

"No it do just be being all stupid colours." No stars. Not that she knew how to tell where they were by stars either but she knew it could be done, by people who were trained in that. It was interesting to know he was trained in that.

"Maybe we do no be going anywhere. Maybe we will just be being stuck in this colour place forever."

Manabu shakes his head, his nose scrunching for a moment.

"That wouldn't be right at all. Even if we're here on accident, we're not where we were to get here either, right?" He pauses, looking up and repeating that statement to himself in his head just to make sure it...made sense...

Seems to.

"That is to say, this thing was made to move things. People. And it must be moving, because why else would it have picked up people in the first place?"

He pops some food into his mouth, remembering he has food at all and that he's hungry.

"There wash a boish ad tha stard n'everthing." He gulps. "Right?"

"A boish? It did be bumping yes, I did be falling off the bed." A bit embarrassing but then again Tony had also fallen down. "So we do definitely be moving and the colours do be moving..."

It must be going somewhere then... Or it wouldn't have picked people up. "But I do no be knowing why we did be being with this train in the first place, we did just be being there. You do no just be being places, people do be putting you there."

"Right, yeah."

All this time gone by and still no clear answer to that. No conductor, no staff...no medbay...

Manabu finishes another mouthful in silence, and the little carrot-train is gone. Venting his frustrations to someone like Tony or Sarai was fine, but Buttercup here was too young to get mixed up in worries like that! She should still be free to roam around, play, all that sort of thing. Whenever he finds out who was behind this, there'll be a lot of explaining to do to justify kidnapping a little girl...

That has to wait for now, though. He sighs a little, then glances back over at the girl.

"That just means it's a matter of time before we figure it all out. I know it's annoying and...and kinda boring for now, but don't think it'll go on forever like this. None of us will let that happen, okay?"

"It will no be going on forever, we will be running out of food before forever."

There's a lot but it won't last forever so they will have to stop eventually or starve. At least if they stop they can try and escape.

A lot of people have been promising to fix this. She's not sure how they are planning to do that but good luck to them. She will try and help, she wants to go home as much as they do!

Ah...the food stores...

Manabu shouldn't be that surprised to have it brought up, but he kind of is surprised it came from her. He scratches at his cheek, shooting a guilty look down at the food he'd been using for graphing purposes. None of this better go to waste in that case! Maybe he shouldn't have gotten extra eggs...

No matter. He grunts, one of the said eggs into his mouth and making a quick meal of it. After slamming back some juice, he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and exhales.

"All the more reason to stock up on the energy now to get to the bottom of this! Right?"

"Yes and we can no be leaving some things because they will just be going bad." Some of the dried food would be find but others would go off very quickly.

So eating them whilst they could wasn't a problem, she turned back to her own eggs. "To be kidnapping people, putting them in weird clothes, putting them on a train, putting that train in a sea of colours and then be letting them be starving do be being a really convoluted way to be killing someone so I do be thinking we will be stopping or something will be happening before we do be running out of food."

Manabu blinks back at her, silent for a beat.

"Ha..."

It's not actually funny, but for some reason, sitting there, listening to the girl go on about the practicalities of the situation...For some reason, it kind of figures! He's the grown-up here, and yet...

"I think you're right about that," he replies, a bit of a laugh wavering in his voice. "It'd be weird to be using a train like this just to drive a bunch of people into boredom and starvation. There's definitely more to this than we've gotten so far."

She blinks, wondering if he is laughing at her, but then he says she is right and she relaxes, smiling a little. It would be weird to use a train like this just to starve them. It doesn't help them know what the purpose is, but at least it is a reassurance that they probably won't die of starvation...

"I do be being sure we will be figuring it out. There do be being lots of smart people here."

And a couple of idiots, but that's fine. The smart people can do the work and not listen to the idiots.

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life is like this box of lentils [OPEN]

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