voidtreckerexpress | A New Platform [Intro Post March]

A New Platform [Intro Post March]

PLATFORM STOP: MONTH 17
(QUICKSAND)

BEFORE ARRIVAL

"Good morning Voidtreckers, it is day 1 of the month of Quicksand. Points have been updated on the system."
The voice of the Voidtrecker Express welcomes passengers at the same time as always, sometime after breakfast. With points updated, everyone can spend the morning shopping. Most people will be expecting the second announcement that comes a few hours later, as the colours of the void outside the windows blur more and more.

"Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. The weather is cold and damp. 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.

ON THE PLATFORM

1. THE ARRIVAL

At first, all your character can see is steam billowing around them as they come to their senses. But as their eyes adjust, they find themselves on a platform.
It is cold, a slush of ice and rain on the ground underneath their feet. It's not currently raining though. The platform is made of black cobbles, slippy under their feet, dark stone gates serving as barriers giving the impression of a severe and grim place.

They stand in clothes not their own, in a style they might not even recognise. They're carrying a rucksack on their person, and for a moment it seems to just be them, alone on this platform. Before the fog starts to subside, and they'll see they're one of eleven figures: all facing the tracks, and all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies, the latter in one of four colours. Purple, red, blue or orange.

But then there's a roaring sound to get their attention, and out from the fog arrives a train. A sleek black, it it reads The Voidtrecker Express in gold lettering on the side. Every one of the doors hiss as they open automatically, and out pours a strange assortment of people, over a hundred at least. Some are human, some less so, with a majority wearing the same hoodie of four colours as they do, though some sport outfits in a variety of styles.

The train doors close behind them, and the vehicle is cloaked in the same fog that hides the world beyond the platform. A group of people head towards the gates of the platform, their expressions blank and unaffected by their surroundings. Ansem, Connor, Curufin, Elle Days, Freddy Fazbear, Margulis, Murderbot, Potato, Vexen, Will Stanton and Yota They disappear through the barriers, but no one else can - all people can do is wait until the train re-emerges, finishing whatever changes it's making.

2. BOARDING THE TRAIN

After a short time, perhaps ten minutes or so, the fog clears and the doors hiss open again. Everyone will feel a pull when they do, a need to board, and those from the train may encourage new arrivals to board. This feeling grows into one of apprehension and turns worse the longer they stay off-board.

For those that do board, they may find themselves in a few different carriages, but most likely the standard coach. A row of seats sit available, with a few tables between each. More likely than not, some cookies have been set out with jugs of drink, and cups available for pouring.

For those that don't, however, they're likely to attract attention if they're spotted. And if that fails... an unfortunate end will await them.

3. DEPARTURE

Do a little exploring, if you will. But people will have half an hour total from the train's arrival before a second horn sounds, encouraging any stragglers taking advantage of the fresh air to board. After five minutes from this, the doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, but they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train begins to rumble with activity, and the platform starts to disappear into a fog as the voidcraft moves. A female-coded artificial voice echoes throughout the train.

"Welcome aboard, passengers of the Voidtrecker Express. 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.

ON THE TRAIN

1. EXPLORING

With nowhere to go but through the train's carriages, this is a good time for newcomers to explore. For veterans, it's back to your everyday life aboard the Voidtrecker Express.

¤ New arrivals will notice a screen and console in every carriage sharing the same message, and a stack of leaflets in holders by them offering further information to the curious (see 'Publications'). There are lavatories available on each carriage on one end, with another console with a deposit box under it at the other. This is the train shop.

¤ It'll take some time for newbies to figure out the layout, even if there's only two directions to go in. Go one end, and you'll find the food stores and washing utilities. This month's key ingredient is pineapple, and you're sure to bump into others curious about what's in the stock.

¤ Go to the other end, and you'll find the sleeper cabins. Plaques sit on the wall by each door with the names of their occupants, and one of these will be yours - hopefully, they'll figure out that swiping their ticket against the doorpad will open it up to them. 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.

¤ At the farthest end in this direction is the luggage carriage, where passengers who have bought items from the train shop will find their purchases. There are also medical kits for every one, each labelled with their full roster name. These are scattered around the luggage carriage in various suitcases and bags, but there's also a small fridge and kettle here with bottled water, for those who want a quiet drink.

For those of Purple team who go looking for their reward they will find simple boxes of cupcakes to share out. There's a cupcake for all of purple team, even the new arrivals, share in your new team's success!

2. ACTIVITIES

But of course, there's also everything in-between those two directions, and the people in them.

¤ Areas of note will be the training gym, where there's always regulars training to pass the time. There's a training board offering services, but maybe you'll find someone who catches your eye in here. Or even its gear?

¤ Is your character used to the appliances to be found in the kitchen? Depending on when your character wanders in, they may find someone testing out a recipe, preparing for lunch, or even dinner time.

¤ The library offers a quiet place, with a fair selection of books from fiction to non-fiction. Is your character interested in learning more about the void? Picking up an action or adventure book? Wow, there sure are a few magazines.

¤ There's also media to consume, from the games car, the cinema, to the arts carriage. Ever played a virtual reality game? Wanted to learn how to fly? Have you seen a screen of moving pictures? There's now documentaries to be found in the cinema's catalogues, from How To programming, Void-related topics, and sports.

3. REST AND SLEEP

¤ Time is difficult to track in the void, even with the few clocks around showing a 21 hour time. But the windows allowing a view of the kalediscope void will shift to a pitch black once the time reaches 12, and keep for the rest of the day.

¤ Breakfast, lunch, and dinner time is usually announced by whoever's cooking that day, and when. Sometimes it's decided by the team chores; other times, it's decided by who wants to be cooking.

¤ But sleep eventually comes to all, even if they don't want it to. When 21 hours have finally passed on the train, all passengers, whether they need sleep or not, will see black - only to start a new day in their cabin beds, with the sound of the train's automated voice greeting them with a 'Good morning' message.

NAVIGATION ~ GAMEPLAY ~ SETTING ~ CHARACTER INITIATIVES ~ QUESTIONS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Koumyou is among the last to step off the train when it nudges everyone off for its customary little me-time at platform. He's pulling on his thick, warm, cream-colored cloak and pulling up the huge, deep hood when something...

Registers.

It's impressive that he stops and starts looking around even before he can start whining to the world at large about how it's cooooold out here, and ew it's cold and wet!!

Something...

"The Maten," Koumyou murmurs to himself. And if the Maten is here, pinging his spiritual radar like it is, that means...

Pushing through the crowd of fellow passengers, Koumyou spots familiar golden hair. And then he gets a little closer and registers the fact that Genjo Sanzo is in a train uniform.

"...Kouryuu?!" It's not his first time seeing his boy all grown up, but it's definitely new to see him as a new passenger of the train itself. The only other time had been while on a mission!

Koumyou hadn't been the only one to sense something strange about the entire situation. So much had been racing through the flurry that was Genjo Sanzo's mind that it was challenging to keep up with each thing going on around him.

It was as if he were overstimulated by a plethora of new and strange things happening at once. At this point, he wasn't sure what to expect.

Regardless, he kept his cool. It would have been senseless to panic. No, It would have been useless.

And so he wandered through the curious crowd of people. Eyebrows scrunched and expression stern as he did his best to silently glare down anyone who dared make eye contact with him at that moment. At least, that was the intention, but the moment he had heard a voice speak up, calling out something ridiculous, he froze.

Keeping his distance, he stood still as he looked across the parting crowd only to see something Sanzo thought he would never see again.

"... You have got to be shitting me," Sanzo muttered it with an almost sarcastic sense of humor. A harsh chuckle and wary smirk echoed his words as his eyes fixated upon the man that stood across from him. It felt as if all the people rushing around them seemed to fade out of view at that moment. His guard dropped as a harsh breeze blew past, causing his clothes to flutter somewhat as he took in the sight of a tired older man who looked just as he remembered.

So that was it then, huh? Just what sort of sick joke was he being put through?

It certainly explained the strange feeling he was picking up.

Fuck.

At least, swallowed up in his huge heavy cloak, the gold clasp done up below his throat, Koumyou's not wearing anything he normally might have in an illusion? How often had little Kouryuu ever seen him in anything other than his full robes, or his sleeping clothes?

Not terribly often, surely. Not never, but not often.

The cloak is fully covering the priest's uniform and sutra. He takes in the expression on his son's face, and tips his head a little to one side. Curious and concerned, relieved to see him, full of that background love he'd always had for his boy. There had almost always been a complicated soup going on behind Koumyou's serene or dopey smiles, and that hasn't changed.

"Kouryuu? Er, Genjo. I keep forgetting. Never had the chance to get used to that one, you know?" A pause. "Though I'll probably always call you Kouryuu... I called Goudai Sanzo 'Momo-chan' right up to the end, you know? Can't be helped."

He knows that's probably not the problem here. If Genjo recognized him from Diagad, he'd be acting far more casual about his father's sudden appearance.

Edited 2022-03-06 01:29 (UTC)

So that's what was going on, was it?

Never in a million years did Genjo Sanzo think he would once more come face to face with the curious yet casually serene expression of his old master. The minor wrinkle that formed between his eyebrows was the only slight change in his otherwise stoic demeanor as he continued to stare on curiously.

Usually, he would find himself questioning such an encounter. Usually, he would find himself cautious.

But, considering the circumstances, Sanzo had expected anything at this point.

What was another strange thing on top of all that had been going on all around him?

He did not approach Koumyou, though. Keeping his distance as he listened to the older man talking on in that painfully familiar way. An illusion, perhaps? Maybe something was messing with his head? Or maybe he had finally bitten the bullet after all his many lucky attempts at surviving throughout the years.

If so, what a mundane and tedious way to go. What was he doing last? He remembered fighting off that damn god-envoy. The bastard had been going on about how the group of them weren't quite ready enough to fight Gyu-Maoh just yet. Was this a part of the training he said he would put them through?

Sanzo was still pretty banged up from his encounter with Nataku and Kougaiji-- And he never had a chance to recover from those wounds fully.

Well, regardless of whatever bullshit it was he was experiencing, Sanzo accepted what it was he saw in front of him. Fully trusting it or not was a matter of its own-- But he could swear, with that feeling--

It felt familiar.

"... Rambling," It was a single word. Barely uttered out with the low gravely tone his voice. His eyes glanced off to the side casually as he said it.

"I'm good at that, yes," Koumyou confirms cheerfully, with one of those signature dopey smiles. Cautiously, he approaches. Not so slow that it's like he's approaching a spooked animal, but cautious.

"I showed up here... eight? I think? months ago. To me, I'd just died back on our world. Time's very weird, here. And space, and life, and death. None of it's quite 'right', if there ever was such a thing."

Interesting.

So was it indeed some realm between lives? Was this platform of judgment placed onto them by the Buddha himself to review their actions for the next life? Indeed neither of them were righteous or pious enough to have reached a stage of nirvana. That at least was certain in Sanzo's book.

"So we're dead then," Stupid. That was an idiotic way to go. What was it out of all the things he had been going through that finally killed him off?

Whatever there was no point worrying about it.

"The afterlife has lame clothing."

Yeah. That was probably the most Sanzo had to say on that matter.

At least for now.

"Oh, you're probably not dead. I know a lot of people here who didn't die back on their worlds!"

Cheerful thought, right? Koumyou pauses once he's at a reasonably conversational distance, his hands tucked into his sleeves under his thick cloak.

"Kidnapped, I guess? If you want to look at it that way? Some of us are fine with being here, though. I for one am in no hurry to forget everything and reincarnate into someone brand new."

The older priest looks over Genjo's train-issued clothes, and nods. "I hated the hoodie. The sleeves are so narrow? But we get a kind of currency over time, and you can buy better stuff with it. One of the first things I bought was my proper uniform. Now I only wear that stuff when it needs a cleaning."

Koumyou's gaze tracks a little off to one side too, though, searching for something. He keeps coming back to Genjo, and nods. "I think the Maten's in your backpack. The Seiten came here with me, too."

It was weird.

This entire situation was too damn weird. And Sanzo had dealt with more than enough lies in his lifetime to know that he couldn't entirely trust everything he saw or was told.

He listened to Koumyou, of course. He even managed to keep himself from backing up even as his old master walked closer towards him. His body did tense, though. Not quite sure what to do with himself as he clenched his jaw and lowered his head slightly. Sharp violet eyes fixated on the other man as he listened to the strange explanation as it was offered.

He didn't like the insinuation of 'probably didn't die,' but it was better than ultimately affirming it.

It was best to focus on that last bit of information. That part initially caught Sanzo's attention before he even laid eyes on Koumyou.

"So you do have it," His eyes finally averted to the bag that was sitting at his feet— leaning down to pick it up and start looking through it. So the Maten was in there? Thank the gods, as useless as they otherwise were, at least they granted this much. He was pulling the rolled-out scroll before once more returning his gaze to the older man. "You knew right away. Was that how you found me?"

"Of course," Koumyou says of the former, while his son digs in his bag for-- yep, there it is in Genjo's hand. Good old reliable Maten.

"I was bound to the Maten for a very long time, I don't think I could shut it out of my head if I tried. You'd have to be quite a bit further away than this platform for me not to feel its presence."

Speaking of the platform, Koumyou glances back at the train and notices the fog has cleared and people have started boarding again.

"Let's go inside. It's too cold out here! And wet! I don't like it..."

Hey look, he got to whine after all.

There was a bit of a pause as Sanzo watched Koumyou turn and cheerfully walk back towards the train. He felt that strange sensation once more returning as he looked at the large convoy—the urge to follow along and get on board.

He didn't trust it. It felt too strange, too contrived. And yet, despite himself, he found himself taking a hesitant step forward. Silently following behind his masters' playful gate just as he once had remembered himself doing so many years ago. Listening almost nostalgically to his complaints, little flashbacks of similar words spoken so many years ago echoing through his head.

He didn't like this. No, he hated it.

So why did he find himself now walking past the threshold of the platform, fully boarding the train alongside Koumyou? Silently glaring all the while as he folded his arms into the hoodie's pockets. Most certainly missing the sleeves to his robes.

"...."

Once they're inside and out of the immediate path of anyone, Koumyou reaches up and unhooks his cloak, pulling it off with one smooth motion.

There he is in those familiar robes, and there's the Seiten on his shoulders. The only things different is a gleaming ring on his left ring finger, his blue-banded SCA on one wrist, and a gaudy golden bracelet on the other. Both sit over the top of the standard Sanzo arm-warmers, only visible when his arms are up enough for the sleeves to fall back.

Without even thinking about it being weird, Koumyou touches his cloak to the gaudy bracelet, there's a tiny flash of golden light, and then the cloak is... gone. Just gone. Koumyou smiles over at Genjo and holds out a hand, also without thinking about it.

"Let's go have tea, there's a lot about this place to explain."

The entire display had been ridiculously extravagant. And yet Genjo seemed moderately unphased despite it all. Instead, his eyes fixated on the scripture that was draped over his masters' shoulders.

There had to be something to it. Genjo knew better than to trust situations like this right off the bat. But the Seiten, it really was right there. He could see it plain as day, and he could feel the intimidating aura that came from it. It felt like the real thing. Or as close to the real thing as he assumed it would feel. It didn't help that he hadn't seen the scripture since he was young.

He hated that he couldn't remember as much about the scripture as he thought. He was around it all the time growing up. He thought he knew everything about its presence.

Genjo felt his grip reflexively tighten against the handle of his bag; if both Koumyou and his instincts were correct about the maten, then it was dangerous to have them so close to one and her. Not that Koumyou himself hadn't guarded them both for years, but with what he had come to realize with Sharak not too long ago, he knew it was best to be careful.

Tea did sound good. And as much as he didn't trust the situation, he was more equating this entire scenario to some strange fever dream than any physical trick being played on him.

"You have your robes," Was the most he could mutter out. His expression was as stoic as ever as he returned his full attention to his master. He was not yet voicing the full of his opinions on the matter. Not until he somehow managed to wrap his mind over at least some of what was going on.

Koumyous wardrobe certainly felt far more fitting than Genjo's did at the moment.

Koumyou wiggles the fingers of his offered hand in the air for a few seconds, then moves on to what Genjo said. "Of course. I started off like you, though," and he reaches for his gaudy bracelet again, pulling out a hoodie just like Genjo's but blue. Same train logo and everything, and just as skinny in size because there's never been a Sanzo alive that couldn't use infinite sandwiches.

"See?"

"Hmn," His eyes glanced down to the sweater before moving up to his master with interest. His caution was plain upon his face as the older man continued to waggle his finger playfully.

Koumyou was just as painfully playful as he remembered him being.

It was weird.

Best to change the subject.

"An interesting bracelet too."

Infinite storage magic? Was it attached to some pocket dimension? If it was, where did it lead?

You know what, Kouryuu?

Koumyou stows the sweater back into the ARMs band, then just flat out reaches to take one of Genjo's hands himself.

(He's met grown-up Genjo once before, after all, he has a hunch his boy has become pretty stunted in this department.)

Whether he succeeds in taking a hand or not, Koumyou turns to lead the way down the train aisle. If he has a hand, he gives it a squeeze.

"This way! And it is, isn't it? Not from our world, it's from another passenger's. Ah... Roland, I think. We can't even buy them anymore, just him. I got mine in the nick of time!"

Panic mode initiated.

Koumyou's sudden attempt at an arm grab was not at all what Genjo was expecting in what was initially a basic conversation. And because it was so unexpected, and because Genjo had managed to drop his guard just enough at the sight of his master, Koumyou has managed to succeed. The reassuring squeeze and playful tugging only further caused the sirens in Genjo's mind to go off.

Eyes wide and alert, the fear (the first authentic expression he had managed to show since he had gotten here) made itself more than apparent.

And then the reflexes kicked in.

He was barely even thinking as he did it. Years of instinct took hold as he gripped back at his master's wrist, instead of following him, turning away from him, and using the older man's forwards momentum to pull him back with a slingshot-like reaction. He was procedurally attempting to grab his beloved master's arm instead and flip the entirety of his body over his shoulder to pull off a perfectly choreographed seoi otoshi.

That's okay, son. Dad has instincts of his own when surprised!

In the flash of an instant that Koumyou is over Genjo's back and in the nanosecond where he starts to be flung forward, Koumyou suddenly lifts off of his son. Fast and hard enough that if Genjo doesn't let go of his arm, he's taking a trip up with him.

Where?

Oh, just up to the ceiling. There are Seiten tendrils everywhere, pressing against the walls of the narrow hall hard enough to make them creak audibly and keep one or both of them up there just with sheer pressure.

There's a second of surprised silence from the older Sanzo, and then Koumyou bursts into a fit of giggles. "Sorry, sorry! Are you okay? I shouldn't have grabbed you like that."

Thankfully the shock of the entire scenario mixed with Sanzo's survival instincts made him more than aware enough to let go upon feeling the retaliation. Instead, stumbling forward slightly, his eyes still wide with alert as he immediately looked up with panic-- Only to see the Seiten's sheer display enact before him.

The sight had left him in a moment of stunned silence. Simply starting at the scripture as it expanded and moved across the cabin's walls. His eyes fixated primarily on the figure that summoned them.

A beautiful yet horrifying sight, the view of his master descending from above with the full extent of the scripture sprawling out from him.

Even as the scene calmed itself and merely ended with Koumyou landing upon his feet and letting out a soft laugh, Genjo could only stare on in dazed wonder. Instead, he slowly returned to his feet and gave himself time to compose himself during the others' giggling.

"It is you."

He couldn't deny himself this any longer, could he? As much as he wished he could. He would be a fool not to accept Koumyou Sanzo for who he was.

"Well, I sure hope so. I'd be really bad at being someone else!"

Now that the older Sanzo is on his feet again, the Seiten's many, many extra tendrils vanish, back to laying quietly on Koumyou's thin shoulders once more.

"Now that that's settled," Koumyou holds out his hand again, palm up, wiggling his fingers, "take my hand so I don't get thrown this time? That was well done, by the way! Very smooth and efficient, as always."

And not at all surprising. Even as a kid, little Kouryuu had been kicking full grown adults' asses in the temple in practice on a regular basis.

It was still pretty cool though.

Amazing.

So little in the world was capable of leaving Genjo Sanzo awestruck. But this was one of the few genuine moments that had left him stunned on what to do. Koumyou's familiarly playful attitude did not aid in the plethora of confusing feelings that Genjo was experiencing.

This time, as Koumyou reached out, Genjo did not fight. He winced. He could feel his chest racing, a surge of strange and unfamiliar emotions rising, fighting for escape. His pulse pounding in his ears like a sense of panic one would experience while fighting on the brink of their life. But he didn't fight.

It took every bit of will he had to suppress that urge alongside every other desire he had felt.

But instead, he kept silent, and his head lowered obediently despite the compliments Koumyou gave as he dragged him along in tow.

His gaze instead just fixated on their hands where the fingers interlocked. Koumyous voice felt like white noise upon his ears.

Koumyou glances back around that point, but he doesn't let go of his son's hand. He just leads him to the quiet car with its myriad of little rooms that lock from the inside, and leads him in. Once there, he actually tugs his grown-up son to one of the benches along the walls, then lets go to go lock the door and throw something out of his ARMs band over the window.

"There, privacy."

The older Sanzo nudges the little table in the room closer to Genjo's bench, and produces a few nice cups and... yes, a steaming pot of tea, from the gaudy bracelet next. He pours for them both, then sets the pot down, and then sits down beside his son. Not touching, but not pulling away either.

"Please tell me what's wrong? No one else can see or hear us in here."

It was all too much. Even in such a small and secure room, just looking up at Koumyou was difficult. Genjo felt more incentive to trust him, but looking up at him and making eye contact? Genjo felt himself getting little flashes of a life he thought had long since gotten over.

A calm smile. The soft breeze of autumn leaves. An orange paper airplane along a blue sky. And his face- lifeless- bloody- yet oh so oddly serene.

Genjo felt his body tense up once more, simply sitting down as requested and focussing instead on the tea that Koumyou poured out. His head tilted away, arms crossing around his torso as he was asked the inevitable question.

"... It's nothing," He was adjusting. He had to adapt and get past this. People who didn't cope and push forward didn't survive. "How long have you been here?"

Best to focus on the present. Best to figure out what the hell was going on. Fixating on old questions would solve nothing.

"Kouryuu," Koumyou says gently, his concern writ on his face, "Genjo. I know you've lived a long time without me, now, but I'm still your-- I still think of you as my son."

He's not sure he ever put it so bluntly in words, before. Couldn't, really, in Kinzan temple.

"I don't know if you do -- if you can -- trust me. But I wish you still did, if not. You can tell me anything, I won't say a word to anyone about anything private like this."

He picks up his tea, and clears his tight throat.

"I noticed how you were on the way here, with me holding your hand. I want to at least know how to not make you miserable, now that you're grown."

How horrible was it that something like Koumyou's admission of a parental role was enough to get Genjo's shoulders to tense up? His fingers dug into the fabric of his hoodie as he listened intently to his masters' pleas.

Genjo didn't wish to bother him. He understood the concern which that tone of voice held, the pain shared through mutual years of gods only know. They understood so very little about one another now, didn't they?

It was stupid.

Genjo wished to tell him, but even thinking about it brought up so many different and conflicting emotions that he wasn't even sure what to express.

He hated seeing Koumyou give him that look.

"I... Will need time," It took all of his power to keep his voice calm, to keep it from shuddering out as he spoke. His sheer stubbornness of will was the only thing keeping him together. "This is a lot to take in."

Koumyou nods, and takes a drink of his tea to ease his throat.

"I can give you that, sure. Just... it's okay to tell me, if I'm doing something that makes you too uncomfortable. Okay? I promise."

He lets that sit for a moment, then continues, "As to your earlier question, I've been here for about nine months."

He digs into his ARMs band again, and pulls out a steaming bowl of rice and cooked fish, along with a set of chopsticks. "Want some fish from an alien world? They were fun to hunt, and they're super tasty. The locals there showed me how to cook them."

Yeah, hunt. Not fish. Alien world.

He sets the food and chopsticks on the table for Genjo to take if he wants, and pulls out another for himself.

"Okay, so the gist of this situation is that this is a magic space train that not only goes to different worlds, but different versions of different worlds, too. I've met a 'you', from another version of our world. He was real; the Maten was real then, too. That's why I'm not more surprised to see you all grown up and big, though it's totally going to get me sometimes anyway."

Koumyou offers a smile, and stuffs a big bite of rice and fish into his mouth, chewing for a few moments and getting it swallowed before he continues.

"So, the multiverse is a thing! Little layers of reality piled on top of each other, too thin to perceive. There are quite a few people on the train now, or who have been on the train before, who are also from 'Earth'... but wildly different than the one you and I know. Shangri-la is just a story to them, a myth, not even a real place. I assume that means their layers are further from ours in the... I don't know, infinite cosmic stack of magazines?"

Koumyou gives that all a moment too, then adds, "So, we go around and save worlds that need it. It usually involves a good deal of violence, but other things, too. We're not restricted to our teams -- ah, you're in purple, I'm in blue -- so whatever you feel like doing is pretty much fair game. Diplomacy, herding scared civilians somewhere away from the chaos, fixing things... all kinds of stuff comes up, depending on what's needed to fix the situation on that world. I mostly stick to the violence, myself, it's what I'm best at."

Edited 2022-03-19 09:43 (UTC)

Wildcard version of ARRIVAL

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whoops

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