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

"From what I remember, most of the trouble he usually ended up in he would cause himself," Koumyou was always one to test the rules and limits of his surroundings. Constantly flowing off in his own directions, outright ignoring the main path most others traveled. Perhaps even he was outright rebelling against such paths on purpose. "I think testing such limits is his way of entertaining himself."

When it came down to it, to be considered a child of Koumyou Sanzo, you needed to be ready to burden the responsibilities of an adult. And Sanzo had meant such criticisms for his late master with utmost endearment.

That might be true. He was the weirdest priest she had ever met. Even if she hadn't met all that many and he was very different than the priests of her world anyways.

"He must be having his reasons."

And she could be very responsible. She was very responsible. "I will no be letting him down."

Or Genjo. Even if she didn't even have any approval of his to lose yet.

He nodded, finishing his bun before letting out a soft grunt of agreement.

"I can only imagine how much he may have tried your patience at times," Why did he feel like a parent apologizing for their unruly child? It showed what it meant to be a child of Koumyou's—he felt a sense of solidarity.

"But you seem to be dedicated enough. I don't have the right to judge anything that you have decided. That is between the both of you."

Now he sounds like he's shovel-talking her—what a strange conversation.

"Whatever he did to make it so that you wish to follow him, it must have been important."

A little. But only because he thought so differently to her. He was a Sanzo after all. But she smiled a small smile when he called her dedicated. She was. She was glad he saw it. Even if she got the distinct feeling that he didn't approve.

He wouldn't judge. That was enough. "He do be being very important."

It's hard to explain. It wasn't one big thing that Sanzo did. But lots of little things.

With a bit of weird void entity mind control but that's complicated. It is what it is.

"Then that's what matters," Genjo knew that Buttercup was probably expecting something from him. Some admonishment or approval. Judgment where it honestly didn't belong. After all, he could not control what decisions Koumyou made, nor could he speak up on who it was his master picked up.

That was a sentiment that both Koumyou and Buttercup should only share between themselves. A personal relationship where no one else's input should matter.

And that included his own.

"Were you following me around simply because you were curious about me?"

That was what mattered. Sanzo mattered. He wasn't going to judge, this son of his. That was what mattered.

She shrugged, taking another bite of pineapple bun, a little more relaxed now. "Yes. I did be wanting to be seeing what you did be being like."

If he was like the Genjo she had known in that fake life. Or different completely.

The answer was both, really. He was familiar and a complete stranger all at once. It was going to take some getting used to.

"Hmn," Genjo nodded his head, his body language keeping that relaxed uncaring presence. He was more amused at how other people's impressions affected Buttercup.

In that regard, she was a very different child than he ever was. She must be quite the exciting handful for Koumyou.

He made sure to put a note aside in his head to ask Koumyou about her eventually. He could imagine his master must have quite a few dotting words.

"And what's your verdict?"

Her very survival depending on being what people expected, or didn't expect, depending on the moment. Knowing how they perceive her is important.

She tilted her head. "You do no be being so like the one I did be knowing before." She told him taking another bite of bun.

"I do be thinking Sanzo will be being really happy for you to be being here."

"Is that so?" Well, perhaps. He had in fact already run into Koumyou Sanzo. He was the very person who had lured Genjo onto the train to begin with. And their reintroduction to one another after all these years had been... Interesting. It most certainly did not go as Genjo had expected. But perhaps that was on himself to begin with for setting certain expectations on his master.

There were still tensions that he wasn't sure either of them could surpass easily though.

"He's spoken to you about me a lot I assume."

Koumyou Sanzo had a habit of talking about him a lot.

Like a doting parent.

It was weird.

"Yes. He did be telling me about you." She nodded and wrinkled her nose. "He do be caring about you a lot."

Her voice is complicated, but that is at least part threat. Sanzo cared about him, so he best not mess that up. He's bigger than he had been, when Sanzo had died from all she knew.

"It do be being a good thing that you do be being here."

It better be a good thing.

"Is that so?"

It was strange.

He knew Koumyou would have doated on him to those he had spent time around. He acted much the same way as Genjo remembered him. Back when he was only a little older than Buttercup was.

And from Koumyou's perspective, that probably wasn't that long ago.

But for Genjo, it had been years, over a decade even. Hearing about someone doting on him in such a way felt strange.

And so he did what he had always done anytime he ran across someone who knew him through some rumor or reputation. He pushed it to the back of his mind and stopped thinking about it.

"Do you think my being here would do some good for my master?"

She nodded, with a frown. Did he think it would not be a good thing? She tilted her head at him, picking up another pineapple bun, thoughtfully. Thinking was easier with food after all.

"Yes." She nodded. "I do be thinking he do be caring about you a lot and he do be missing you. When I did be meeting the other you... I think he do be thinking about that a lot."

So he would do him good. It was good for Sanzo to be surrounded by people who cared about him. Especially considering all that had just happened.

In a way it wasn't a good thing in Sanzo's eyes. Most people's opinions meant nothing to him. But Koumyou's... Koumyou Sanzo was prhaps one of the only people in the world who had truly meant something to him.

His preasence meaning so much to Koumyou meant that he had expectations to fulfil. That every action he had held an impact of some sort.

It felt like a heavy weight, one he wasn't actually sure he could fulfil.

"I see..." He tried his best to remain neutral with that. But his face had betrayed itself with the way his eyebrows seemed to untense and the way his gaze went to the side.

"It seems we share something in common then."

Koumyou had chosen Buttercup as well. That must mean she was something special. That she stood out to him in some way.

It actually managed to make Genjo all the more curious about her.

"Yes. We do be having something in common."

More than one thing it seemed. Because she could see that slight change of facial expression. Wondered about his question, wondered about how he felt about being here, about Sanzo being here.

She remembered how she had felt just a week ago, after being anchored by Soldat and Sanzo and learning that Sanzo was alive once more, not dead and left in his world as she had feared.

How would it be to feel that after many many years. To believe him dead and become an adult, just to face him again?

"Do you be thinking it will be being good for you? To be being here with him?"

What a question. Straight from the mouth of babes.

It left Genjo with a moment of silence. He was inwardly contemplating those words with deep seriousness.

Would it be good for him?

"... Truthfully, I cannot fully say," It was with dour resignation that he had admitted this. The strange scene of meeting Koumyou Sanzo once more was not one he thought he'd ever encounter. He humored the thought in his head plenty of times. How could he not? Even after all these years, the vulnerable part of Genjo that was left so deeply scarred by that night was emotionally raw. Koumyou Sanzo was his father, the one he loved most and the person he failed the most.

He had already had this conversation with Koumyou. They couldn't come to terms with the shared guilt they had faced that night. Perhaps they never will.

"Koumyou Sanzo was someone who died when I was only a little older than you. I spent much of my life learning to live without him. It's... strange... speaking with him again."

That made sense. Being all muddled about feelings. She could understand that. It was something she felt a lot. Not being able to tell.

It must be very weird for him. After all if she saw her sister again... What would she say? do? She's not the same person anymore.

If Genjo was as young as her when Sanzo died then he wasn't the same person now either. He couldn't be.

"You will be finding out. I do be thinking."

Because she knew Sanzo and knew that he would not avoid his son.

"Inevitably so, it seems," He was resigned to thinking that things wouldn't be so clean-cut. Genjo and his master would have to deal with harsh confrontation and realizations with this reunion.

In the end, he couldn't make Koumyou realize how much pain his sacrifice had brought. How he knew he could have survived if he weren't so worried about the child who had been hiding behind him.

He couldn't get Koumyou to admit that, at that time, Genjo was nothing more than a liability for the prestigious monk.

"Well, I suppose all of that is bound to figure itself out. I'm more curious about you."

She tilted her head at him. "You do be being?"

Curiosity could be dangerous. Especially if this Genjo Sanzo was anything like his father. But she just looked at him steadily.

"What do you be being curious about?"

Perhaps not exactly like his father. But it would be a lie to say that he didn't pick up some of his masters' bad habits throughout the years he was raised under him.

He lifted his gaze, eyes settling on the peculiar young girl across from him. Gauging her expression as he said his following few words.

"You stood out to Koumyou. He's a bit of a strange old man picking up things that interest him," Like himself. "You must have caught his eye due to something interesting. How did you two first meet?"

"We did be meeting... On Nion. It did be being a place where there did be being pandas and robots and we did be having to be smushing the robots."

A while ago now. But that was where they had first met. "He did be drinking tea. Off on his own in the jungle. I did be spotting him and he did be giving me tea. Then we did be smushing robots together."

"Smashing 'robots' in the woods, huh?" How fantastical. Even Genjo couldn't keep the corners of his lips from tugging up lightly at the thought. How like Koumyou, to be seen minding his own business with a one-person meditative tea party in the middle of the forest. Quirky as he always had been. "Sounds like quite the meeting."

Especially with his master being as he was. He could only imagine how such a fight must have gone.

"So you were taking pretty good care of yourself even before you met Koumyou."

"Yes it did be being an interesting meeting." She nodded. He had fascinated her from the start.

She nodded with a nose wrinkle at his observation. "Of course I did be. I do be being very good at taking care of myself."

She didn't need anyone to look after her, not really.

"Hmm, I see," Good on her. Sanzo enjoyed seeing resilient kids. Kids that knew the world and how to take care of themselves through it. Perhaps it wasn't very objective since he was much the same way. But he couldn't help but respect people like that. "And I bet, despite that, he couldn't help but dote after you, right?"

"Yes he do be always being weirdly nice." She sighed. It was just Sanzo. How he was. Doting on her, even if she could look after herself with no problems.

"It did be being the same with you?"

"Unequivocally," He responded bluntly, his shoulders slouching somewhat as his eyes went hazy. It wasn't often that Sanzo found himself lost in the throes of nostalgia. Usually he much preferred to keep his mind in the present. "He's an annoying old coot. But he's a good man if there ever was. I only wish he was as good at taking care of himself as much as he was at taking care of others."

Was... Was that a moment of genuine concern coming from Genjo Sanzo of all people?

Nah.

A New Platform [Intro Post March]

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