voidtreckerexpress | A New Platform [Intro Post December]

"Good morning passengers, it is day sixteen of the month of Catfish." The voice woke them as usual four days after they had rejoined the train, leaving the dying world, the scientists and evacuees behind them."Team Points have been updated on the system and the shop has been updated."

. A few hours into the morning there is a second announcement. "Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. Exit from void imminent." Hopefully everyone knows to hold on, though if they do not they will be in for a bumpy arrival to the platform. At first all they can see from the windows is steam.

They step out into blazing sunshine, heat hits them. There is still steam, but light breaks through, dazzling at points, reflecting off the smooth surface of the platform. As the doors open the first four people off the train are wearing their rucksacks and dressed in purple hoodies. Yuki, Amelia, Harry and Richie. All walk steadily and unhurriedly towards the barriers at the back of the platform, show their ticket and disappear.

Those looking over the platform will recognise Ash, dressed in purple. With her are ten other people, one seems to have fire for a head, another is a book. Two are elves. All four teams are represented but Red and Blue are dominant with four new members each. Time to be welcoming.

For new arrivals.

At first all they can see if steam. Billowing around them as they come to their senses. They are standing, in clothes that are not their own, styles they might not even recognise. They are carrying a rucksack on their back. For a moment it seems to just be them, alone in the white haze but then the steam begins to fade and they realise they aren’t alone.

The platform is not very large, but it holds eleven figures all facing the tracks, all wearing similar clothing. The tracks stretch left and right into steam, or perhaps fog. Nothing can be seen to either side. Patches of sunlight break down and it is very warm.

In front of them is a train. Jet black and gleaming where it stands on the rails. Voidtrecker Express is emblazoned in the engine in gold. There is a hiss as the doors slide open.

Out step a selection of people, some less human than others, wearing clothes just like those worn by those on the platform.

The Train

The doors hiss open. Those from the train may encourage those on the platform to board. It’s not like there is anywhere else to go and even if there was, you feel a pull. A need to board, a feeling that staying on the platform would not be a good thing, as nice a day as it is.

Each ICP shows the same message. If they are near an ICP they may find a piece of paper stuck to it, for further reading. The food stores have been topped up with new fresh food, there is still an abundance of sweet peppers.

New passengers will find their tickets allow them into their cabins. They may need to negotiate for beds, especially if they want a top bunk!

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 and you will hopefully find a pillow for your bed if it has not been nabbed by a roommate, there are also spare blankets for if it gets cold.

Departure

A second horn sounds to encourage any stragglers and the doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train sets off, the fog obscuring the view as it picks up speed.

"Welcome aboard, passengers of the Voidtrecker Express.” A female-coded artificial sounding voice echoes throughout the train. "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."

Hopefully someone warns you that you really want to heed that warning because a moment later there is 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. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever changing colours.

Welcome to voidspace.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Hey." Sitting there on the wall, surrounded by a faintly sparking dome of purplish mana, she had the faint, regretful feeling that this wasn't going to help put an end to that 'priestess' thing. The damage was done, though, and she was still in an excellent mood, so she gestured her over.

"Jump up, it's safe."

"Okay, priestess." If she said so, she trusted Lightning though so she walked closer until she was in the purple magic and then jumped.

She floated upwards, it felt a lot like it had done when they had been in space and the gravity magic had been broken. She tried to remember what Peter had taught her about moving.

"Why do you be being up here?"

"Just testing out a new toy."

She held out a hand, just in case the kid wanted guiding towards a surface. In her other hand, she held out the core of the grav-con unit. "If the train breaks down again, this should help."

She took it cautiously, she never really had gotten the hang of stopping properly. She peered at the device with a frown.

"How will it be helping?" When the train broke the gravity magic stopped working, and this felt like the gravity magic had stopped working as well but only in the purple bubble.

Instead of an explanation, which would be frustrating for both of them given how little Light really knew of the science behind AMP drives, she just tucked their hands more securely together. "Like this-"

When she snapped her fingers together, she did it obviously and made a needless gesture towards the section of ceiling to which she was attaching the new gravity well. Once she was sure it had taken correctly, the mana swirling in smooth waves 'down' to the ceiling, she pulled Little One away from the wall in a short hop. Halfway through the jump, they started to flip into the new gravity.

Oh. Well this was quite useful. It was... a gravity magic controlling device?

Or something like that. She was pulled along by Lightning until they were floating towards the ceiling. "So if the train did be breaking you would be being able to be controlling where you did be going? Can it be making more gravity magic if that do be being broken?"

Magical items she understands at least.

"That's the idea," she agreed. Of course, with the void being what it was - or what it wasn't? - she had no way of knowing for sure unless they had another breakdown. But even a little bit of hope was better than none.

"It works with the, uh, 'antimatter manipulation principle', but it's as much magic as anything." She regretted mentioning AMP immediately; she'd have no way of explaining further if pressed. Hurriedly, she continued. "Normally it's used to fall from any height safely." She remembered the arguments after Little One had almost fallen to her death on Ciyesia, and decided she was going to buy her one as soon as possible.

It's alright Lightning, she's learned her lesson about asking questions from Peter. Namely don't unless you want the explanation to be twenty times more confusing than the original word was.

She knows she should try to learn things, but also she is happy to accept magic as an answer.

"So it do be turning off the gravity magic so you do no be hitting the floor and dying if you do be falling from high up?"

That was an incredibly useful magical item.

"Right again." The field seemed stable, so she touched down properly on the ceiling. "Did you have anything like this back home?"

Magical items, she supposed, or-- well, she wasn't sure. But it wasn't like it was uncommon on her world, so she didn't see why other places wouldn't have invented something similar.

"No. We did no be having gravity magic at all."

Or perhaps they did. Something made them stick to the ground but she had never ever heard of it breaking and she didn't know any magical items like this either. But then again she hadn't seen many magical items at all.

"We do be having items that can be being used for magic though."

"Like manadrives?" She squinted. Wasn't she from somewhere pretty low-tech? "Sorry, it's been a while since we talked about your world."

"I do no be knowing what a manadrive is." She admitted with a small shrug. "It do be being alright, I would no be expecting you to be knowing." After all she barely understood anyone else's world, not even Peter's and that's the one she knew most about. Because Peter talked ten times as much as everyone else on the train.

"But in my world objects can no be having magic in themselves. You do be having to be being alive to be having power and you do be needing power to be using magic." She spoke almost from rote. "But there do be being some items that you can be using magic on or through. Sometimes they do be storing magic. Like a light rock. If you did be casting magic to be making light into the light rock then it would be glowing for a long time and you could be using your magic on something else."

"Sounds about right." She considered the explanation, and decided that it meshed well enough with what she knew of manadrive theory. Which, admittedly, wasn't much. "Can anyone use magic there? ... Can you?"

She shook her head. "No. Everything that do be being alive do be having power but no everything with power can be using magic. Some humans can be using magic. I can no be."

It was a little more complicated than that but honestly she didn't know what made people have magic or not have magic. Someone might. A priest or priestess might have studied it. But she didn't know.

The fact that she didn't volunteer the difference between mages and non-mages was enough that Light assumed it was simply a matter of ignorance, and left it alone with a simple, "Got it."

But, still. "At least that means you'll be able to use this, or something like it, if you want to. I know I'd feel better if you had more than just a knife for the next mission."

"I would be able to be using it?" She's pretty sure people without magic can't use magic items in her world but Lightning's world is different. She knows that.

She a bit confused at why Lightning would feel better if she had more than just a knife? She would be more effective she supposed, if she could ignore gravity magic she would be able to get around monsters or catch those that were flying.

"I do be thanking you then if I can be borrowing it."

A New Platform [Intro Post December]

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