voidtreckerexpress | Spring Garden Preparations

Entry tags:

Spring Garden Preparations

Who: Elidibus, OTA
Where: Various, Rock Garden for landscape setup.
When: Evening, Quicksand 13 to Quicksand 15
What: Events leading to the Spring Garden Days Quicksand 16 (Platform Day) to Quicksand 18
Warnings: There's no particular warnings other than the possibility of individual character spoilers.

[An announcement over the intercoms goes throughout the train on the evening of Quicksand 13, after everyone's settled post-mission.]

Good day, this is Elidibus. Some of you may recall the brief transformation of the rock garden into a winter day several platforms ago. This coming platform I'm looking to arrange for a spring season change to the same carriage. Last time was a little spontaneous and short notice. This time I would like to ask for help.

One of the major changes is this will last for three days, including the Platform Day. During that time, those willing to help maintain the spring garden will be welcome. Whether by manual labor, organization, a special talent or other contributions. [After all the carriage is only so large and traffic may be regular.] Like last time, the climate, weather and soil will be present, but I'd like to ask some of those talented with the fast growth of plants and trees to lend assistance. Anyone familiar with planning the layout of a seasonal garden in a relatively small space would also be appreciated.

Those who might be interested in preparing food fit for picnic meals, I would like to ask for your help. Though I have a general concept for this seasonal garden event, I would ask you to bring any ideas you have to me. What I've observed on my star may differ from others and anyone should feel welcome to add their ideas. I may also approach some of you but there is no obligation to agree to my requests.

[This is announced over the intercoms. But there will also be signs posted near the public ICPs in each carriage or in a proper obvious place with this message printed on it.

Questions and the OOC prep links!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Elidibus looks up briefly as Sanzo settles in and offers compliments in greeting. Or would that be a compliment? Certainly the Ascian isn't above a little machination and manipulation to get things to go the way he wants them.

"I thought asking the passengers as a whole if they wish to contribute this time would allow it to become more meaningful, both to the current members and the upcoming arrivals." This is certainly one reason he'd opened up the preparations to volunteers.

Whether he suspects some double meaning or is simply taking the priest's words at face value, the Ascian continues to speak while looking out at those currently working.

"I'm pleased so many were willing to participate. Their worlds and customs bring a perspective I could not beyond the simple season." Or draw from tiny fragments of memory millennia old.

[ooc: sorry this is so darn late. I would still like to back thread this if you wanna]

Edited 2022-04-29 00:28 (UTC)

"Well, I can imagine after being away from their worlds for long enough of a period that people would be just about willing to do anything to remind themselves of some part of it," Hell, even he had managed to fall victim to this group project. It didn't help that, out of all carts on the train, the rock garden held the closest semblance of something familiar for Sanzo specifically.

He glanced towards Eldibus, a rare moment of morbid curiosity taking hold.

"Which begs to ask why set up something so emotionally charged as a premise to bring others together? What do you get out of organizing all of this?"

Did that sound somewhat suspicious?

Whoops.

Edited 2022-05-10 06:25 (UTC)

Others might very well have thought the same thing and with good reason. Sanzo is the first to ask him directly. Elidibus turns his attention from the project to the priest and studies him for a moment.

"Interesting," he muses. He appears... intrigued this stranger is questioning it at all. Nevertheless, an answer is offered. No offense seems to be taken at the implied suspiciousness of this whole matter. It's as if Elidibus is used to people wondering about his motives.

"Since my arrival aboard the Voidtrecker Express there are many who have declined under the mental rigors of this journey. This is an effort to help redress the balance. A biome of this size is simple to produce. And allowing others to aid the effort with ability and personal touches allows them to engage in something that is neither mission, tragedy, nor hidden agenda by outside forces."

Surely, the whole 'help people with their morale and mental stability' could be called a hidden agenda of Elidibus's. But he's here admitting it now. So maybe 'hidden' is synonymous with 'never been asked' in this case.

While his words sound altruistic, the Ascian's tone indicates a certain clinical detachment. Whether this is real or not would be difficult to tell. But it seems the explanation stops there for now. What follows is a question.

"You call it emotionally charged. Are there concerns you wish to address about an unintended outcome?" Elidibus looks at Sanzo with mild interest. It's clear he's willing to hear the monk's concerns. Something perhaps the Ascian himself may have missed as... something of an outsider.

"So it's a good intention for those who may be suffering any form of homesickness," Just as Eldibus seemed to hold no emotional reaction towards the outright way of questioning, neither had Sanzo. If anything he seemed moderately serene despite the naturally stern expression he carried. Contemplating the motivation and means behind all that was happening.

The whole event did hold an air of nostalgia to it. Even Sanzo had to admit that.

"My main concern, as quintessential as it may be for the sanity of some, is that it may only further insight said homesickness for others," He turned to Eldibus with that, violet eyes settling on the sitting man. "Too much reminder of things people miss, or things they may never even return to, may just end up doing more harm then good."

"You may look at it that way, if you wish." That this is a good intention. For Elidibus, it is a solution to resolving an issue, neither 'good' nor 'evil'. Though in the end it is an effort intended to the betterment of the crew. So this is probably just a matter of semantics.

Sanzo's concern has merit, though a lack of surprise indicates Elidibus had already possessed foreknowledge of the possibility the priest has presented. That and a nod of agreement.

"That is to be expected. A solution for the mental wellbeing of one may be to a detriment of another." Momentarily Elidibus closes his eyes and weighs the matter. And possibly his words before responding further.

"Rarely do the passengers set foot off this train for more than a mission. The benefits for those who can find solace in the next few days are significant and, for the moment seems to be a suitable course of action to follow."

Looking back to Sanzo, the Ascian mildly continues.

"Would it be better not to provide this solace and have allowed those that can benefit live ignorant that it could be provided? I considered the option and found it wanting. It is a simple matter to avoid the garden completely if one doesn't wish to be there. If I observe it to harm more than it helps, I will bring an end to my efforts."

The man turns an analytical eye to the garden and preparations.

"But there is another matter. We all are confined away from our rightful places. And what is reclaimed, however small, may remind them of what we strive to return to. If they are avoided and forgotten, it is likely they will cease to move forward. It takes so little time for mortals to fall into an unending cycle of complacency."

And that at the end of the day is the majority of the crew. Of course there's exceptions.

Sanzo had his qualms about Eldibus's arguments. But there was a particular part of it all that did manage to reach out to him. And what point was there in playing devil's advocate to minor details when Eldibus's overall argument held more than enough merit?

In the end, he was right. Even something small like this may be enough incentive to keep someone moving forward. That did bring up other questions, though, which Sanzo himself had been mentally avoiding for some time now.

"So you think severing our bonds to the Voidtrecker and returning to our original worlds is an entirely possible scenario?"

"Yes." Elidibus answers. It comes concise and it is sincere, leaving little room he doubts the possibility doesn't exist. More particularly, doesn't exist outside of unreasonable grasp.

Of course, Elidibus has a somewhat skewed perception of what is and isn't possible compared to most mortals.

The Ascian's attention is focused on Sanzo.

"There are some who may not wish to return for their lot is better here than it was on their respective stars. Others may not have a place to return to. Or have reached the end of their life's journey before the Voidtrecker Express called them here."

Elidibus turns his attention away. Once again looking at the garden and those working to set up for the event.

"But for those that have a place to return, it is better to be reminded of what they have to return to. It would be... far too easy to lose touch with it, on foreign stars and alien quarters."

There is, for a moment, a undercurrent to his words. As if something had touched close to personal experience. It is, at least on the matter of memories lost in the pursuit of a greater goal. But Elidibus is hardly one to speak of such personal matters.

Experience had complicated Genjo Sanzo's thoughts regarding the concept of returning home. He was torn between what he had attained here and the world that so desperately needed him back. Truthfully, he was still trying to figure out if the version of himself here on the Voidtrecker was even the Genjo Sanzo he thought he was.

Damn intimate conversations with other passengers leading to an existential crisis, as they did.

Nonetheless, the sudden hint of genuine emotion in Eldibus's response had gotten Genjo to turn and look at his conversation partner. Head slightly tilted as he drank in the sight of the other mas expression while watching the gardeners work.

"What makes you so certain? Surely sheer hope can't be enough to get such a determined response. Wouldn't it be better to accept that there is a possibility that our chosen path here among the stars is what we were meant for?"

He hated the concept of 'fate' with a passion. But he also knew better than to hold too firmly onto any possible attachments that may only build him up to disappointment.

The law of Muichi Motsu.

Hope. The word brings a faint smile to Elidibus's lips. It may even be deemed emotion; amusement, some private joke with deep meaning to the Ascian. For a second it may even appear that he might laugh. At least chuckle.

But he does not. The faint smile remains for now though.

"That the possibility exists?" He does appear to think for a moment. Perhaps for the words that would be best used to describe his certainty in reasoned terms.

"Perhaps a matter of perspective. The Voidtrecker Express may have followed its imperative to claim us and is capable of such a task that can even summon those who would be gods or more to mortal man. Yet it is fallible and its systems are not unfathomable. There are powers greater still. Thus, even if it were falsely claiming its intention to find a means to set us free, there are other resources we can explore, if our own prove insufficient."

For a moment Elidibus closes his eyes. He becomes somber. "I chose my calling long ago. To my star and my people. And for that alone I labored millennia in a seemingly endless task for the sake of a possibility, however slim, that would be their salvation." The smile threatens to come back. "...For a singular hope. This is the reason I am certain a possibility exists. There would be few tasks beyond what we nearly achieved."

Weighty matters. Elidibus still tends to speak as one mildly detached from the rest of those gathered as passengers and crew. But it's also something of a glimpse to the time scale the Ascian regards the world with. Though he gives the monk seated next to him a look. "I realize most on this voyage would not be capable of thinking on such a scale of time. Yet mere months are not much to give me cause to consider I would never be free. Regardless, it's not my duty nor place to suggest how one chooses to look at their time on the Voidtrecker Express. I'm sure you'll find many different answers. I would be surprised if destiny were the belief many hold, though they are welcome to their beliefs if so."

Which of course leads rather easily into a question of his own.

"What is it you believe?"

Millennia, huh?

This scenario was far from the first time Genjo Sanzo had interacted with the ageless and divine. So even if only implied, he knew better than to question or be startled by the implication. He had instead decided to take a moment to step closer to Eldibus.

"Perhaps these few months may be but a fragile moment for you. It's only natural with your exposure that you will inevitably find a way out," Eternity gives you the option to expect anything to happen eventually. "But most of those here who have short lives will only lose any sense of hope the more time passes without guarantee. I am not saying that it's impossible that we all go back or that our attachments to the Voidtrecker may one day sever safely. And hope is not an entirely bad thing to have. More so, I think it's best to keep a sense of realism to the concept."

A sense of balance. Yin and yang. The ability to accept everything just as quickly as one can let go of everything within the drop of a hat. One had to assume that the possibility of staying and accepting their lives here was just as much a possibility as going home and returning to their lives as they once were.

"Move over," He wanted to take a seat. The conversation had taken the toll on something more intimate than intended, but Sanzo was intent on following it through. He was a monk, after all, despite his strange behavior.

Sanzo does receive a brief look that borders on some impatience.

"I'm capable of moving within the scale of mortal lives. Nor am I unaware of the constraints of time they have."

Elidibus had heard the monk out however. Without a particularly begruding manner, the Ascian makes room on the bench. It's ample for Sanzo to be seated and give both men space. Once this matter is settled, he continues.

"But the scale of my life and experiences and what tasks I have accomplished was meant to explain why I do not think freedom for those who wish it will come. And within the time of those of us which possess the most fleeting lifespans."

But no, though it sounds like it at first, he doesn't intend to let it stand that he's suggesting he's the sole contributor to finding a solution.

"There are many who have been here far longer than I. Though even that has barely been over a year's time since the first unwilling member of this crew had boarded." Elidibus briefly shakes his head. "The reality is that with the combined resources of the passengers, the possibility is within mortal reach, just as with any other probable outcome."

Including their lives tied to this voyage until the end.

"Is that so?" It was with that that Genjo Sanzo comfortably took a seat beside Elidibus upon the bench. Sighing as he could not help but feel the subtle longing for a cigarette that often came naturally with sitting within a garden.

Damn withdrawals were going to be a bitch.

"So you're certain that with the progress of those who've been here so far that leaving is a fully attainable possibility," Well. He can't really argue much against someone who seemed so assured. After all, Genjo Sanzo was still new to the Voidtrecker, he only had the tales, experiences, and stories of those he ran into so far to go off of. And up until this point, before he spoke to Eldibus, all of those experiences felt uncertain. Perhaps Eldibus had experienced things that those he had connected with so far have yet to realize? "Hmn, if that's the case, I'm curious to see what comes of it. And what may happen to those of us stuck on the train in the mean time."

There was no point in making an argument out of it after all. Genjo had just as much belief that they may be able to leave as he had considered that they just may be stuck there. Truthfully, he was surprisingly indifferent on the matter.

Or perhaps it was that he just didn't wish to consider the implications too much?

"Do you mind telling me how long you've been stuck here personally?"

"It's possible, yes." Whether all the potential will be used to its fullest and in concert while it's available? Those are other matters and ones Sanzo didn't ask Elidibus to weigh in on. But the simple fact remains; finding a solution for those who want to return to their worlds free of the train's tethers is not an unrealistic possibility.

Besides, there are other, more troubling concerns related to this whole process if one were to be honest about it. Such as whether those with corporeal bodies will have them on returning. There's several on the train who would find their life's end waiting for them because of that simple 'problem'. Some who can't return because unlike Elidibus, their very existence is because the train's tether is holding them together in the first place. Ah, but these are matters that aren't really part of this conversation.

After a pause to think, the Ascian gives Sanzo an answer. "A little over four moons by the train's calendar. I arrived in the second half of Llama." Which.... makes no sense but fortunately there are probably archives somewhere of the months. Or be around long enough to understand there's an alphabetized system to the name scheme!

"Llama. Really?" Sanzo could not help but seem in a little bit of disbelief with that way of wording. Whether or not it made sense within an alphabetized monthly format, it was a bit of a strange word to choose. "... Are llama's important to void travelers for some reason?"

A bit more of a lighthearted question, yes. But perhaps lighthearted was something both Elidibus and Sanzo needed after such a heavy and dower start to their meeting.

Edited 2022-07-22 06:20 (UTC)

"You'll have to speak to the Voidtrecker Express on that matter," Elidibus answers. Whether he knows (or knew when he arrived) what a llama actually is in the first place... well there's no reason for him to confirm or deny that.

"It's only recently we've been in wider contact with resources other than what the train chose for us. Or that it has been greatly forthcoming. It seems to be rectifying the matter, albeit haphazardly."

Sorry, Sanzo. Elidibus has a tendency to not engage in lightheartedness. Though he does appear to recognize it.

"Though I wonder if the answer to that question holds as much interest to you." It was a very blatant divergence from the weight of their prior line of conversation. The Ascian studies the monk before beginning to rise.

"I should return to my duties, unless you have any further questions you'd like to ask about our earlier conversation?" He'll politely wait for that at least.

Well, he could say he at least attempted to ease matters slightly. But it was pretty apparent Eldibus wished to keep their conversation on more existential issues. A soft sigh left him as he relaxed his shoulders. His expression mellowed as he watched Elidibus rise from his seat beside Sanzo.

"You're the first one I've spoken to who seems so certain in the possibility of severing the Voidtreckers tether on us. Before you leave for your work, I wish to know, what have you experienced during your time here to make you keep such an optimistic thought? Is it due to someone else who made you think such? Or was it something you experienced yourself?"

Elidibus pauses. It's a reasonable question to ask, so an answer is deliberated. He turns around briefly, focusing his gaze down on the still-seated monk.

"My own experience. I won't speak for others, but I have personally executed acts both terrible and wonderous. Bound to a train made by the hands of mankind, even if they are one on par with my people or greater, seems a far less burdensome puzzle by far for many of the events in my life."

And.... the Voidtrecker Express is especially further by far than the most terrible thing to have happened to Elidibus. This is nothing compared to the worst.

"Understand I don't intend to dismiss your view of the matter or those of others. But that is why I can stay, as you call it, optimistic."

Edited 2022-07-29 02:01 (UTC)

"So you base it around experience as well as the weight of things you have seen over time," It was a surprisingly grounded and realistic response. And truthfully, although Sanzo did not have the years to back up a shared experience, he understood it to a degree. Indeed there were much worse situations they could have all ended up in than attached to an interdimensional train that traveled from world to world on various short adventures. "I suppose if you've solved harder problems, it would make sense that a situation such as this isn't too stressful."

Which begged to question--

"I take it you have things to do back in your homeworld that make this a problem that needs solving."

As opposed to those who would much rather stay for some reason or another.

A simple nod is given at first. Though the query Sanzo then asks seems to take away the... ease, if one could call it. It's not anger or despair. But a single, sobering change of Elidibus's presence seems to bring the burden of ages momentarily to their tiny corner of the garden.

The burden Sanzo queried after, that he should wish to return home to, was not so easy set down. In addition to that, the small changes he'd been making to the flow of the garden's energies may, if only for a moment, waver. Everything swiftly stabilizes again, even though Elidibus doesn't look away.

"...When we were given an opportunity to try and return to our respective homes, we were unable to move far from the place we had been first summoned. I could not leave to fix events which unfolded in my absence and that threatened the fate of my star. Thus, I resolved to hand over its fate... and future."

There is probably more to the tale. But will Sanzo actually press for it? It seems it would be a dangerous road to tread.

Odd. It couldn't have been just himself who noticed, could it? The overall aura of the train cart around them seemed to shift and fade into something negative. And with the sudden change in Elidibus's demeanor, there was no way he was the cause, was he?

"I see, so when you went back to your world, time had passed without you," He had heard briefly about the return to each Tethered's worlds. His old master had at least shared that much with him. He heard tales of how the older priest had returned to Shangri-La at a time much further in the future, how he then proceeded to confront Ukoku Sanzo himself. "But that was only a 'version' of your world if my master had told me correctly. That there are many variations of not only our worlds going through different timelines and situations, but there could even be different versions of ourselves."

He had learned that first hand. He had heard of the first Genjo Sanzo that those on this train had first encountered.

Just for a short while. It would be something that others may have picked up but it lasts very fleeting and Elidibus has the awareness to steel his control and focus once more. The matter seems handled and the garden's energy flow returns to normal. As normal as anything can be on the Voidtrecker Express anyway.

"So it seems. Though for me, it was fleeting." Not because of his immortality, this time. "...Compared to the time I've spent on the Voidtrecker Express. I am used to experiencing the uneven flow of time. There were others who seemed to find their worlds aligned consistent to the time they've experienced on this journey."

Which seems to mean nothing to Elidibus when it comes down to it; with infinite possibilities comes very little confirmation from patterns after all.

"As to differing realities and time, you have been informed correctly. Even now three different people bearing the same essence of one of my enemies are on this train. Not one of them possesses even the corporeal form of the person I know."

Timelines and realities. Well the former is within Elidibus's experience. The latter, the concept of voidspace seems to have layered on top of it. There is a moment when the Ascian seems to pause and mull over what the monk has said before next responding.

"Perhaps there is some small comfort in knowing somewhere, I succeeded, my brethren and people returned to me and my star made whole. Or that the world need not have been saved at all. But while I might take advantage of knowledge I can gain from the possibilities, I would not knowingly forsake my own version of reality and travel to another. For better or worse, my only world is the one I come from, its past and its future and the changes wrought to both. I will leave the decisions on what to do with the knowledge I can give or aid I would offer to those that come from that reality."

He looks at Sanzo again.

"How you come to view the others you encounter here, whether from other worlds entirely or the reflection of your reality is your choice. But it is one worth taking time to think over."

It was a complicated experience to face. The concept of not only an infinite number of universes, but an unknown number that could be so very similar to his own that only skew in ways to make situations different enough. It made his mind race. Were he and his master even from the same universe? He remembered the words of someone he met here on the Voidtrecker, someone who had met the 'other Genjo' before him.

'Youse be being the same but different.'

The thought unsettled him.

But this was nothing that needed to be pushed upon a complete stranger that he met while setting up a garden. Instead politely nodding his head in response to the words of advice.

"I appreciate the warning," with that he looked up, violet eyes meeting the gaze of the mysterious man. "And I will do my best to keep your words in mind as we continue this journey."

"You're welcome," Elidibus answers graciously. He hears the monk out and also nods. There is neither approval or satisfaction in his manner. Nor does he appear grateful to have Sanzo take his words seriously.

There is only a small matter of further advice.

"In the end, they are words. What you choose to do, how to feel about your circumstances will remain ultimately a path you must decide for yourself, regardless. I hope you will find the path which leads you best."

This time Elidibus will leave, that as his parting farewell.

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Spring Garden Preparations

I mean it's a thing required by law on any construction project, right?

Always gotta have those two guys just standing there on the sideline, sipping their coffee.

Was that the foreman? Whup gotta go.

Oh snap here comes OSHA

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Oh noes, backdated math!

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