VoidTrecker Express Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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voidtreckerexpress2022-06-01 05:58 am
voidtreckermods) wrote in voidtreckerexpress2022-06-01 05:58 am
A New Platform [Intro Post June]
PLATFORM STOP: MONTH 18
(RABBIT)
(RABBIT)
BEFORE ARRIVAL
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.
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. There are cobbles under their feet and they stand on a narrow platform at the bottom of a grassy verge. The verge is covered in blue flowers, giving the air a sweet smell.
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 two 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 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. Cipher Nine, Danny Phantom, Kitty Pryde, Link, Persephone, Roland Crane, Silvia Leafe
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.
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 two 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 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. Cipher Nine, Danny Phantom, Kitty Pryde, Link, Persephone, Roland Crane, Silvia Leafe
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, about 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.
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.
a. 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.
b. 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 mushrooms, and you're sure to bump into others curious about what's in the stock.
c. 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.
d. 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. 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.
e. Of course there will be those interested in the new carriage. Finding their way they will come to a carriage with a corridor on one side and doors leading to the carriage itself. Once they enter they will find the carriage split into three dance spaces separated by sliding doors that can be pulled back to create a bigger space. There are no windows in this carriage and instead the outer wall is made of mirrors, with a bar running across it’s length. In each space there are a series of cubby holes, with simple ballet and tap shoes in various sizes. There are also some simple poi and dancing ribbons. All come in varieties of the team colours. There are speakers that connect to their SCAs, allowing them to play music through them.
Upstairs there is a stage, with rows of seats and a curtain. There are also speakers here so that music can accompany their performances. Above the stage there is a simple plaque. It reads. “Olivia’s Studio.”
b. 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 mushrooms, and you're sure to bump into others curious about what's in the stock.
c. 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.
d. 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. 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.
e. Of course there will be those interested in the new carriage. Finding their way they will come to a carriage with a corridor on one side and doors leading to the carriage itself. Once they enter they will find the carriage split into three dance spaces separated by sliding doors that can be pulled back to create a bigger space. There are no windows in this carriage and instead the outer wall is made of mirrors, with a bar running across it’s length. In each space there are a series of cubby holes, with simple ballet and tap shoes in various sizes. There are also some simple poi and dancing ribbons. All come in varieties of the team colours. There are speakers that connect to their SCAs, allowing them to play music through them.
Upstairs there is a stage, with rows of seats and a curtain. There are also speakers here so that music can accompany their performances. Above the stage there is a simple plaque. It reads. “Olivia’s Studio.”
DEPARTURE
Spend your time exploring, if you will. But people will have half an hour 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.
The train begins to tilt, leaving the ground and rising up into the fog-filled sky.
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.
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.
NAVIGATION ~ GAMEPLAY ~ SETTING ~ CHARACTER INITIATIVES ~ QUESTIONS
no subject
Yup, that sure is...a thing that happens here.
no subject
"Not much of a book person!" At least he's quick to bounce back, and his grin returns in full force. "An' I think we get plenty 'f adventures 'round here. But not today-- so I was hopin' to use that time wisely~" he indicates, tugging lightly at Jake's sleeve. Is it just him, or his friend looks a bit down, or maybe tired?
"How about tryin' again? We've gotta be close to that pizza dough recipe, an' I took the last batch we've made outta the freezer so it should be thawed by now." There's a sheet where they've been compiling their ingredients, perfecting the dough just tiny bit by tiny bit. They're getting close. They have to be.
"Betcha this one's a good one!" It's definitely not the first time Jake has heard these words, but there is still room for Esteban's boundless enthusiasm despite the failures.
no subject
"Sure, bud. No better time to sling marinara around the kitchen," he jokes, pushing out of the chair to follow Esteban out. "So much red it's almost a crime scene! That is if we don't coat it all in flour first," he shakes his head. "Did we ever get that stain shaped like a baseball hat off the ceiling?"
no subject
"Also, what would you know what a crime scene would look like?" That seems a bit odd to the half-elf, who hadn't pictured Jake as the kind of person to get mixed up in crimes-- though he suspects crimes don't usually give anyone a choice in the matter. Bad place at a bad time. Generally speaking. There are always outliers, but Jake? No way.
no subject
He smiles just a little awkwardly at the next question. "I'm a detective. I study crimes for a living: theft, kidnapping, a few murders. There's always an interesting story. But please don't worry about me snapping on you or anything. I know I don't have jurisdiction to make arrests."
no subject
But then, Jake's world also seemed to have a lot more people than he's used to. With it's giant buildings that reached out to the sky like needles, some of them even taller than Naming Trees.
"You don't have mages--" Right! They don't have mages. Esteban's world of law enforcement is far, far more loose, with how few people there are across it. Each Naming Tree only supports a few thousands at most after all.
"Ooooh~ I see." He doesn't understand it outright, but he can see how it might work. "That's a strange thing to d'cide to study though?" He wonders aloud, tilting his head to the side. It's not quite a direct question, but he is curious after all.
no subject
He smiles sadly as he thinks of her. He wishes she could see what her boy's up to now.
"It's fun to solve puzzles too, it's just...making sure people feel like someone's got their back is the most important thing."
no subject
Hearing a bit about his family also makes Esteban grin, glad that Jake has that person in his life still-- at least he hopes, since he's using present tense. When his companion falls quiet, the half-elf nods to show he's heard him, and hesitates a bit, not sure what to add. There's about a hundred words crammed up in his head, but they've all scattered the moment he tried to find his tongue, and it's a bit frustrating, but--
"You love her very much." He beams as he fills that statement in, but Esteban is content in simply saying aloud what he reads from his friend's mention, and he moves on just the same as his companion had.
"So you solve crimes... by solving puzzles?" he asks lightly, his head leaning ever so slightly to the side with his obvious question.
no subject
Oh well. Nothing he can do from here. So he shrugs and gets back to explaining his life's passion.
"Yeah. Crime solving's like solving a puzzle. You look at the suspect's motives, contacts, tools they had access to, any marks they left behind...and you figure out how they did it. Here's a simple example."
They finally reach the kitchen, and Jake heads for the cabinets to pull out their supplies. He grabs a ball of dough and rolls it out, rolls it again, then starts messily spreading sauce.
"Let's say somebody stuck a pizza on the ceiling and a detective squad's been called in to solve the case. The team would rope off the kitchen and take some pictures of anything that looked suspicious."
He drops a puff of flour, and it scatters around his pant legs and the floor. Splatters of pizza sauce are on his wrists.
"They might measure the flour footprints, get a sample of the sauce splotches. Sweep the kitchen to look for fingerprints or hairs. Then they'd try to figure out whose shoes matched the flour footprint, interview witnesses to see if anyone saw us come in here, ask other suspects what they were doing this afternoon. You whittle it down until, hopefully, you find the guilty pizza partiers."
That's Jake, now covered in flour and sporting a fair bit of sauce. They....still have to make the pizza, don't they.
"
no subject
It kinda does sound fun. Only; they're clearly the perpetrators in this case, and there's little else to do but to erase their traces. Which actually prompts him to ask;
"What if they clean up? What d'you do then?"
He lets the water run until it is hot before wetting a cloth and handing it to his friend, so that he can at least clean the sauce from his hands before they go on. The broom and the dustpan are going to stay in their corner until they've at least gotten the pizza dough ready, seeing as they'd be sweeping the floor way too often otherwise.
As he listens, Esteban pulls out a second ball of dough to roll, and he tries his best to spread it out evenly as a circle as Jake had been insistent that it was the best way to eat pizzas.
no subject
"Glad you asked! See, criminals usually aren't as good at hiding evidence as they think. They might wear gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints, and they might wear caps to avoid leaving hairs...but there are still ways. You check for security cameras. You interview potential witnesses. And if all else fails, interview passengers and cross-check them for alibis."
He looks over at the dough and nods his approval then, dipping a large spoon in the sauce jar. Looks like someone's eager to spread it. "Should I teach you how to erase evidence, or is that knowledge too dangerous?"
no subject
There's a curve to his lips that is just this side of cheeky, but he hasn't done anything that would-- too obviously at least-- give him away on the train as far as he knows. So maybe fishing on Jema'gerthy might be prohibited, or maybe getting in contact with a dubiously sentient AI onboard wasn't technically a supported action by the Void Ministry, but Esteban didn't know any better, right? Right?!
It's not like they're handed a pamphlet of laws each time they drop at a new place. And it's not like he'd read the pamphlet anyways, to be honest. His snicker finally pierces his attempted facade, and Esteban tries another avenue instead.
"Well, I'd never use any knowledge t' put anyone in danger." And that, at least, he can be honest about. He'd never want to place danger upon anyone-- friend or foe-- if he can help it after all. "So; tell me?" He'll be on his best behavior. Promise!