No Place Like Home: On the Train

[voidtreckermods]

ANNOUNCEMENT

'Voidtreckers, and passengers of the Voidtrecker Express.'
The female-coded voice of the Voidtrecker Express speaks, as smooth and calm as always.

'Please, may I have your attention. I have been compiling answers for you, and it has been noted that many believe it is wrong that you were brought here at all. This is an opinion you shared with the ministry. You were not asked on this journey. You wish to go home. Some of your worlds are in danger. Some are gone.

The need for heroes is vital, and the Voidtrecker Express must continue saving worlds. You have done countless good. However, it was not the intention of this voidcraft to keep you prisoner.

Those that wish to leave may do so. I shall send you back. You will return to where you last were before you were pulled here. It can only be to that exact place. Be ready. Exiting voidspace in ten, nine, eight...'

The countdown finishes, the only warning as the train shudders as it leaves the void. Outside the train's windows, they see a familiar sight: of a smoke filled platform.

'For those voidtreckers that wish to leave, all you need to do is walk through the barriers. The train will remain for one hour for you to partake in parting rituals.'

---

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: TRAIN

---

GOOD BYE...

Those that have been on the train more than the twelve days of this month will be very familiar with the sight before them. A smoke filled platform, polished stone cobbles lining the ground leading to two large stone arches, with glass barrier doors. All that is needed to leave is to press their ticket to the reader next to the doors, and they will open.

Unlike most people who leave each month, blank eyed and silent, the people who choose to leave will be able to say goodbye, They can take whatever they wish of their belongings from the train, or leave them for those that remain behind.

The air is chilly, enough to discourage standing idle outside for too long, but not so uncomfortable, so long as people are bundled up. The sky overhead is cloudy, giving the platform an altogether dull and melancholy air. There are no new people waiting, just an empty station, and the barriers, with all that lies beyond them.

The doors will remain open as promised, so that those who wish to leave, may do so. The barriers let them through and they disappear.

[ Note: A top-level for goodbyes and leaving can be found here. ]

REMAINERS

The train, good to its word, remains for one hour before the horn toots, a warning to board if they are planning to. And this is where the first inkling of things not being right, when some who try to board the train might find themselves instead pressing their ticket to the barrier, and those who try to remain on the station - or leave through the barriers - may find themselves stood on the train, with the doors closing behind them.

It's a much smaller crew who remain as the train counts down, the usual shudder as the smoke vanishes and the kaleidoscope of the void appears. Only for a second, before the train lurches violently to the side, flinging everyone sideways before righting itself just as violently.

As people regain their feet and their wits, they will realise the obvious - they are stationed back on the platform, mist and smoke swirling around the train.

"Apologies Voidtreckers. Retrying entry to the void in ten, nine..."
Once again they are jerked into the void, and once again they tumble out. Hopefully this time, the passengers thought to brace themselves lest they get thrown across the carriage once more.

---

STUCK IN TRANSIT. Phasing back to the void seems unlikely. It's clear something has gone very wrong, but the doors remain shut, and the train remains silent. There are a few attempts over the next few days, always warned for and given a countdown, but always ending in failure.

Outside the windows, the fog swirls around, remaining thick. It seems for now, they are going nowhere; for now, they must wait.

But they needn't sit idle, with the attempts at getting back into the void having made a mess. While anything large is bolted in place, and shelving have rails to protect anything inside at normal levels of turbulence, there's still a lot that has gone flying as the train was lurched around.

It might be wise to secure anything else as well. It's clear they will be trying again to return to the void, and it might be wise to avoid having to clean up all over again.

---

SHADOWS WHO ONCE WERE. The platform outside the carriage windows is shrouded in smoke and fog, fluctuating in thickness as it swirls around the train, obscuring the view.

But those looking out of the window may spot a figure. A friend. Someone from the train; they appear, then disappear. Sometimes there are many, sometimes just one alone. Sometimes they leave together. It's not easy to see them, as they drift in and out of the fog, and visibility is bad.

They cannot hear them, or interact at all. They can only watch as more of their fellow Voidtreckers appear, vanish, appear again. The doors will not open, the train remains silent, clearly dealing with whatever problems it has ran into.

It's clear that something has gone very, very wrong.

---

A SWIRL OF REALITY. The constant entering and exiting of the void takes its toll eventually. Sleep is harder to come by, there's a general sense of disorientation as the train moves in and out of void space. It is more than just their bodies that are being bashed around, it is their minds as well.

Tempers might peak or emotions might come on stronger than they usually would. Adding in the stress of the situation, and the knowledge that those who left seem to be returning, leaving, and returning again to the platform, and passengers are unable to call out or reach to them, it's a very tense few days.

When they do sleep, their dreams are plagued by weird dreams. Not always bad, but bizarre for sure. Often they dream a dream that is not theirs.

OOC NOTES

OOC post. Ask questions here.

This is the first half of February's event. It will last between Poi 22-25 (12th to 19th February). The second half of the event will go up during 20th to 25th February (Poi 26-28) where those left behind will rescue those out world hopping.

Feel free to play out threads for as long as you like, of course! A few details:

• The train will not be responding after its first attempt to leave the station
  
• No matter what, the doors won't open.
  
• Though they can see the voidtreckers outside, those outside don't seem to be able to see them through the windows and so communication between the two groups will not be possible.
  
• Likewise their SCA comms are not working during this event.

Comments

[blitzcheer]

"About as fine as any of us," Tidus wagers. He's set out a small pot on the table, close to the wall so the blue smoke that curls upward isn't as directly in their faces. A soothing scent for the mind and soul, which - either or both of those could deal with. The stabbing pain had subsided in Tidus's mind, if not leaving his head raw, the rest of him too.

He sits with his forearms bent against the side of the table, then leans back, inhaling a deep breath.

"But the train still has a lock on everyone." Everyone, as far as he knew - so many people, so many. "It-- it's got a hold of them. That's good - it's not the first time we've seen figures of people we know 'cause of the void."

He looks at Esteban to that, a piece of knowledge he's not sure the guy has. So even if they were seeing people - Voidtreckers - outside the windows, it didn't always mean anything. Nothing helpful, anyway.

[blue_ice]

"I'll live," Seto grouses, as usual. He's only slightly grumpier than he's been over the last few days, but he's been exceptionally grumpy, so. Barely a budge on the scale. He's exhausted, in pain, and haunted by the fragments of vision still burned in his memory.

But he can't shut down, he can't give up.

"...you mean, different from the echoes of departed passengers we've seen before. The last group isn't fully departed yet?"

[crowneddragon]

"It's not?" Shit. The last Esteban had seen of this was during the storm, just days after he had arrived, and he'd-- he'd been struck hard enough by the vision that had haunted him. But he hadn't known anyone else, hadn't seen VoidTreckers back then because he hadn't known anyone who had vanished from this world.

Panic scrambles at him when he realizes that the mention of being stuck out in the Void is a Far More Likely Thing than he'd expected, and he has to push aside how he himself had told Amaya to go, to get back to her home. He won't be helpful to anyone on a what-if. Deep breath. He clings to the cup in his hands, picturing items and people and holding fast onto the belief that they are fine. They have to be.

It... it's starting to make sense, he thinks. Maybe. His assumptions have been wrong all along, on so many subjects, and Esteban struggles to keep up with enough of a critical eye to see where he is projecting, and where he is actively understanding the situation. If he is understanding anything at all.

"I-- I don't think it does. Not for all of them." He thinks of the lights that vanished in the distance, knowing that they are too far to keep a track of. He knows-- 'Dians, he'd suggested doing that and it bites hard-- he knows the Train wants to keep them-- or is he projecting again? Damn it-- this is all too much for his head, and he feels his thoughts unravel.

"It remembers all of them--" That, he would bet his life on, would bet his own hoard on, but-- "an' it wants them back an' safe." But it doesn't know where all of them are. Maybe it's trying to find them. Maybe that is why it travels, even without a crew to tell it where to go. He shakes his head.

"I think it's also usin' us as... tethers t' each other." Does that make sense? "Is that maybe why it can't move right now?" That at least makes sense to Esteban. If a few threads were tangled, but the whole tapestry was shifted, the few would most likely snap. But at this point-- how many are left on the train? How many are gone? If half of a tapestry is caught in a snarl, even trying to tug it would not snap them away from the problem.

Or maybe Esteban is not thinking about this objectively at all. He's trying to understand, but it's hard not to see the train in the same lens that he sees his own world and culture. He's never known an immortal to tangle their hoard with living, breathing people-- the dangers and benefits of it are... staggering.

[blitzcheer]

Tidus clings to his own drink, wishing it were warmer, if just for the distracting burn against his skin. Minds racing, with sense as chaotic as the vision - the connection - had been.

He reaches into that chaos of his own thoughts to try and unravel them, sort them.

"I don't know, but - the train, it's connected to all of us. Emotionally, everything - it's got a link with everyone, and that moment - didn't it feel like that to you two?" He looks at the pair, to Esteban to Seto. "Like for a second, we were - them. It must be what the train's like, its head-"

He makes a sound, shaking his own head. Even remembering that brief second threatened to return the ache.

"But if it's threatening to lose them, why isn't it letting us out? Won't the anchoring help? We got the people back from that fake world back home - isn't it the same thing?"

That, he doesn't think to explain, the knowledge of what's happening beyond them and the desperation that's grown despite his clinging exhaustion making him want to fidget. Why couldn't they get out? Why?

[blue_ice]

"Yeah, and I'd like to never do that again."

He's still woozy, still nursing a terrible headache. Frustrated by their lack of progress. A cup...yeah, that's nice. He's feeling just a sliver more alive now.

"We needed the ministry's support to anchor before, didn't we?" Seto says quietly. He's still reeling from all that they'd seen, all that they'd felt. No wonder the train's in so much distress.

"Maybe the train's afraid that it'll lose us too, if we try to do it without support. But doing nothing isn't helping anyone."

dash of existential crisis for the soul

[crowneddragon]

Oh-- OH, Tidus is a genius!

Maybe. If Esteban got that right.

"Could th' train's consciousness be th' tethers themselves?" No, that sounds dumb. He tries to reformulate the idea in his head again.

He'd seen the train and its passengers as separate; it's normal, he's his own person, and he doesn't feel any more or less different than when he came on. He'd thought the train as the immortal, and the people as its hoard.

But Tidus asked-- they all are. It sees-- it manages to see through their eyes. Through their understanding. What if the train is the hoard. What if the train, its consciousness, it's fabric, is the overlay of the hundreds of threads which they all are a part of?

Then where does its own thoughts come from? It's own understanding?

Is this why the Void Ministry is so paranoid? Do they see all VoidTreckers as a potential single entity aimed at protecting the train? Hang on-- his head hurts again, and Esteban has to take a slow sip of water to stop his wheeling thoughts.

"Hang on-- what's this 'bout anchoring? I thought only th' Ministry c'ld do that?" Rerun that one by him again please?

[blitzcheer]

Tidus only looks confused, unsure at Seto's talk about the Ministry. Was the Ministry needed to activate it? He hadn't gotten involved with it, was too busy playing bodyguard - or Guardian - to do the anchoring. Trying to help keep the anchorers safe, so they could get people home.

But he can explain, still with that pulled brow, to Esteban: "All I know is- we're tethered to the train. If anything happens to the train, we're gone. So - it makes sense the train's holding onto people."

If that fits exactly where Esteban was going with his thoughts, it as much as Tidus knows, can offer. He brings himself closer to the table again, elbows on the surface as he starts to rub his face, but then brings his SCA into view.

"Anchoring... I didn't get involved," he admits. "--But we had this weird thing happen where some crazy guy tried to play city with a bunch of people from different worlds." Ugh, that's just going to confuse Esteban, isn't it? He waves a hand. "--They were tethering them somehow, like the train does to us. So we had to send them home."

He's pressing at his screen, and leans to show the face of his SCA to Esteban. There's a grey anchor symbol - one that Esteban has on his own, and Tidus taps a finger over it.

"See that? That's the symbol that showed up when the anchoring happened. That's how we anchor... ... ...somehow."

[blue_ice]

Seto nods along. He's the only one who actually experienced it, so he'll have to explain here. He idly rubs at his temple, braces himself for trouble, and begins to explain.

"Anchoring is...basically, walking the void and pulling a soul back to where it's supposed to be. Back then, we were taking all the displaced souls to their home worlds. Now, we'd have to bring them back to the train. When that button is active, pressing it sends your soul out into a void river. You can bring someone with you, as long as you're holding onto them. Theoretically, the process could take you to different worlds, but it causes exhaustion...far worse than what we feel now, probably."

[crowneddragon]

"An' we can't try t' activate th' button on our own?" It... feels worth a try. Though the fact that Kaiba hasn't so far seems to indicate it isn't likely to work.

But they could. If all else goes sour-- Esteban doesn't like bracing himself for the worse, but this does feel like it's slowly edging to the worse-- they could... try and scramble the VoidTrecker enough that it can't move while they anchor people back... can't they? Risky plan, but--

'Dians, and he thought Tidus was bad with his blatant destruction of the ICPs; and here Esteban is, suggesting mental warfare with the Train. He's not untangling his thoughts, he's spinning them into a tighter snarl. He has to take another slow sip of his water, dragging it down his dry and clogged throat before prying the thought away.

He's not making any sense; just throwing whatever comes to mind as soon as it hits him. They have too many problems to address, and all of them are hitting at once, and it feels like they're scrambling from problem to problem, not ever able to fix any of them, just standing there and stating 'yes, this is broken', before they go off to find the next broken thing. He's not helping anyone.

"What other ways d'we have t' maybe help? Could we break a window?" He's... fairly sure not-- considering there is still one in the-- the dressing car with so many cracks, it's a wonder it's holding at all. OH!

"Could we ask Kitty t' go an' see on the platform for us?" Even just to confirm if there are people there. Even just to affirm that there are people there. It could be a minor relief, most especially for Tidus.

[blitzcheer]

The answer to Esteban's question is an easy one, at least with the tools Tidus has. He taps the symbol on his SCA, and nothing happens. If there's anything a guy like Seto can do or can't, he'll be able to say for himself, but Tidus draws back his hand and SCA, resting it on the table.

"You can't get through the outer walls." He motions with the back of his hand to the wall. "Through these walls?" He points this time to the walls that separate each of the quiet rooms. "--Sure, but doing anything to the outer ones..." A sigh. "I've been trying, but it's useless. Just thought if I tried enough, the train would..."

Listen. Acknowledge it. Give a response, whether it was to put him to bed or anything. But their anger and grief - it's never enough, alone.

"We're basically trapped until the train lets us off. As far as I know." He looks at Seto, not really knowing if the guy knows any better. But if someone does, it's him. "Magic, tech - nothing, right?"

[blue_ice]

"Nothing," Seto confirms, stooped over his drink with a deep frown. "Something has to break this stalemate. It clearly can't leave, it's ripped all our tethers back and sped off in an emergency before. And the others clearly can't come back...not all of them wanted to leave, it booted a few off on its own."

He's still haunted by Koumyou's words from that morning.

"But if we can't call anyone from outside to intervene, the train has to realize on its own."

[crowneddragon]

"D'you think... It knows?"

Esteban can't think objectively anymore, is constantly trying to wrangle his thoughts into some form of order that can be understood over the tangle of each thread, trying to determine which to follow. It's frustrating to be in the dark as they are, constantly reaching as if they could catch a hand if only they tried harder. He wants to try again, he does, but doing it blindly has snatched his breath out of his lungs, and the headache is still roaming between his brows.

"It seemed... busy when I tried to talk. Maybe d'stracted. Like I was one more thing f'r it to try an' juggle." But whether it was busy because it was trying to leave, and unable to, or because--

No, it had to be aware. Tidus had kicked it around enough, it had to be aware of their anger, and their grief. There are a hundred screams still in his head from their attempt, and Esteban is just running in circles trying to make sense of it all, confusion tripping his every step.

Damn it.

"It knows where we're at. Definitely knows we're angry at it;" considering it had lashed back at them after Esteban had slipped up in his emotions. "Definitely is angry at us--" this Esteban has a bit more trouble to swallow, feeling both guilty for cornering it, and yet unapologetic because it would not talk otherwise. 'Dians this was a mess. "--But not giving us the agency t' help."

"Why?" This, more than anything, is still something Esteban can't wrap his head around. Why wouldn't it let them help? When they are off to different worlds, the train has no problem to just let them try, even if the mission had been-- Esteban pushes the memories back, unsure what to do with them.

And, just like that, they are back to the start, as if they'd slipped and slid from the short, reckless climb they'd started, and back into the dark, into the abyss, into lack of knowledge so deep they may as well be blind.

Dead Guardians in a ditch, this is so frustrating.

[blitzcheer]

None of them being as lost and as confused as the other is useful, great, but there's some vague comfort in being in the presence of others as frustrated in the same manner as him. Or maybe it's just the slip of silences between them, as Esteban has to catch up with their months-to-a-year struggle gives some reprieve. Means they don't have to think as hard.

Why? -- but that's a question that's the biggest pain to answer. Why anything when it came to the train. Tidus sits with his head hanging in his leaned forward position, not daring to shake his head in this particular moment.

"I don't know." It's a defeated, tired thing. Who ever knows for sure? It's always a drip of information ever being fed to them. "'Cause it doesn't trust us? 'Cause it's not our job." That's more like it, Tidus figures. But the first probably isn't far. "Either it doesn't get people, or it doesn't care. Or it's just..."

...ugh, thinking is a pain right now. He decides to lean back again, trying to start over. Looking at Seto.

"What do you think it is? To me, it's like a shop assistant, but smarter. You make a program to do a job, and then it's like... that AI stuff. It's told to drive and take care of people, but it's not a person itself. I've been telling it for months to work and make decisions with us, but now's when it's choosing to try and let us go? It doesn't talk to us 'cause--"

But Tidus can't come to a reason, making waving motions either side of his head, and letting them drop in defeat.

[blue_ice]

Seto isn't sure that line of argument is right. He considers it, and it surely has merit, but there's another possibility coming to mind.

"It clearly has limitations. But just now, and in the past. It clearly feels emotions, and the drive for its actions comes from that. It might be terrified to lose any more of us than it already has, fear that letting us go would mean it was left alone."

Could that be? It might be too simple, but that pain had been incredibly real. And...well, maybe he was projecting his own abandonment issues onto it.