A new Platform [Intro post~ August]

[voidtreckermods]

For those on the Train

"Good morning passengers, it is day sixteen of the month of Apple." The train announces as always as everyone wakes up the morning of the sixteenth. "Due to your success on Hub World #5739 your team points have been updated on the system. The on train shop has unlocked new stock."

For those going to investigate it might seem like the boredom of the last two weeks will be alleviated a little. More so after a few hours when there is a second announcement.

"Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. Exit from void imminent."

By now they should know to hold on as the train jerks and jolts. There is only fog outside the windows but the train soon comes to a stop. The doors hiss open.

As they exit into the fog they may notice Hibiki exiting from the luggage carriage door. She hasn’t been seen since the Hub World and they might be forgiven for believing she stayed behind. But here she is, backpack on her back as she walks through the station. She heads no call, reacts to no words and cannot be stopped as she walks to the ticket barrier and disappears through it.

It is impossible to follow. But you soon may be distracted because this platform is far from empty.

For new arrivals

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

The platform is not very large, but it hold twelve figures all facing the tracks, all wearing similar clothing, even if one of them is a spider. The tracks stretch left and right into steam, or perhaps fog. Nothing can be seen to either side. There is a wall around the platform and the only entrance is a ticket barrier. It cannot be open, nor do there seem to be any staff.

What there is, 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, wearing clothes just like yours.

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.

Once on the train there is plenty to explore. A new sleeper carriage has appeared as has a medical bay. Neither were there before those already on the train had disembarked to meet their new travelling companions.

Each ICP shows the same message. The food stores have been topped up with new fresh food, though it seems that eggs are still predominately on the menu.

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. Those who boarded two weeks ago will know what is coming next.

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.

Comments

On the platform

[kumoko]

When I said I wanted to find a human settlement, obviously I didn't mean this!

The moment she came around, the spider froze, thoughts racing through her head faster than should really be possible for her poor, overworked synapses. Weird misty place, check. Humans, check, oldschool locomotive like she was about to go to a school for wizards, check. Ah, she knew where she was. It was so simple, so clear.

No way, as if! Of course she had no idea! She focused on the nearest human, and used Appraisal. Or tried to use Appraisal, because the usual information was nowhere to be seen. Huh, wasn't her health bar also missing? Appraisal, where are you? You can't leave without saying goodbye, she thought they had something special! Her most reliable skill, gone? There's got to be a word for this level of betrayal!

To anyone looking at the spider, she'd been standing frozen, and now started to shake a little.

Where was this? Definitely not the labyrinth, or even outside the labyrinth. Could this be another reincarnation? Two is definitely too many for one girl, right? Right? Isn't this too much? And hey, shouldn't she not be a spider any more? Keep her as a spider but take away all of her skills? Wasn't that asking for her to be killed?

The shaking increased.

[happyends]

This whole situation was already strange enough. Sudden train out of nowhere when Madoka was most definitely in the middle of something just now. Weird different clothes. All these people suddenly being here. All of it was extremely odd.

But something just had to top all of it, and that was the fact that when Madoka turned to look to her side, there was just.. a spider.

A huge spider.

Madoka's reaction almost comically mirrored the spider's own. The moment she noticed her, Madoka also froze up, and then also started shaking, as if they were in sync.

Was this one of the witch's familiars? But how was she going to fight it without magical powers? Madoka had no idea, but in this moment all she could do was let out a high-pitched shriek.

"A.. Ah..!"

[kumoko]

The shriek brought her out of the rabbit hole, just a little. She'd noticed the people around her in a theoretical kind of way, but usually her mind was full of information lovingly gathered by Appraisal. The human girl next to her was making noise, though, so she fixed her array of eyes on her and looked her up and down. 'A-Ah'? Isn't that her line?

More to the point, isn't that girl way too cute? It's against the rules to look like that even in just a shapeless blue hoodie, isn't it? If she had to meet any kind of human first, this would definitely be the best.

"Hey," she tried to say, but it came out as a clicking hiss.

[happyends]

Unfortunately the hiss did very little to make the spider seem less intimidating. In fact, it did the absolute opposite, with Madoka wincing the moment she heard it. Things really weren't supposed to go this way - she couldn't die here now in this strange situation, not without finishing what she set out to do!

But with little means to defend herself, she instead just held up her hands in front of her, whimpering, "P-Please don't hurt me..!"

Even Madoka knew that pleading with a witch's familiars (because surely a big spider like that couldn't be anything else, right) didn't do a whole lot, so she quickly started frantically looking around her. "W.. Where did Kyuubey go.." Here he had been harassing her the whole time to make a contract, and now she wanted to do so and defend herself he was gone!!

[kumoko]

Wait, that was absolutely Japanese that she was speaking. Is it possible? Has she ended up in another world that actually has the cheat-like ability of universal translation? So many questions.

Don't hurt her? Oh, yeah, humans would obviously still be scared of big spiders no matter where you were. That was natural. Yeah. She skittered around to face Madoka, and then froze again. How was she meant to show she wasn't going to kill them? And with all these people around? She shivered again, sharp forelimbs clacking against the platform, and looked around. Human, human, hu-- elf? Okay, that could be looked at later. Her eyes caught on the thread trailing behind her, automatically spun out without her thinking about it, and an idea came to her. Well, an old idea came back, but if there was a translation system here, then...

She quickly dragged the white thread around to lie between her and the pink-haired girl, and arranged it into characters.

'WHERE AM I'

[tinkerheart]

The train is indeed interesting. The people on the platform much less so...

Whoooah!

The moment he notices a huge spider shaking as if it was to lounge at its first victim Feanor takes a few steps back and exclaims.

"Begone spawn of Ungoliant! Perish in the darkness where you came from, demon!"

Feanor could really use a sword to back his words. Otherwise, these are just empty threats and they all end up dead very soon. He has already examined the contents of his rucksack and is painfully aware nothing inside can even remotely be counted as a weapon.

This... is bad...

[kumoko]

Spawn? Darkness? Demon? How rude! Granted, she's definitely the offspring of an unbelievably powerful monster and sure, this is her first time seeing the sky, but the demon part is definitely untrue. Probably. Depending on how he defines demons. No one here can see her skills, they don't know she has Demon Lord on there. So there, this guy is definitely in the wrong.

But he's not actually attacking, just searching through a bag. Is he casting a spell? She'll show him!

Black Bullet!

..... nothing, huh. Can't rely on the System for magic casting, huh. You got lucky this time, elf.

[tinkerheart]

Given he's not dead maybe the first impression wasn't entirely correct? In fact, nobody is. She did not attack anyone. While it does not mean she's not planning something sinister...there's one more detail that does not fit the demonic image.

Feanor takes another look at the monster. Because that's a weirdly similar object strapped to her back. Similar to what he as. Same design, different color.

Since when spiders, demonic or otherwise, carry backpacks?.

"Are you trying to get on that train?"

[kumoko]

Yeah, you'd better run-- huh. He's not running. Crap. It's rude to call her bluff like that, or maybe... yeah, he definitely wouldn't have known she was trying to kill him, so maybe he just saw her standing there?

Unexpectedly, the danger passed just like that?

Well, thanks, sudden burst of good fortune!

After an awkward pause, she nods.

Re: On the platform

[runs_on_batteries]

A man steps off the train with an air of authority and confidence about him. As soon as he spots the spider, he glares at it and abruptly a metallic suit starts encasing him. It finishes with a clank, leaving him in a suit of armor and he raises a hand to her, something red and glowing at his palm.

"Identify yourself." His eyes go from just seeing the spider itself to the weird thing that might be a spider version of a hoodie and a rucksack that smelled awful. "Let me make this clear, spider. I'm not tolerating any violence on the passengers of this train or on this platform. Tell me, are you friend or foe?"

[kumoko]

What's with the hostility, guy? Why are you acting like some great hero who's going to save the innocent villagers from the evil monster? Haha, just kidding, of course it's because she's a giant spider. Hasn't she been prepared for this since she decided to see the outside world?

He's definitely charging some kind of attack, though. Hmm. A pickle, to be sure.

Sh rears up, the better to wave her bladed forelimbs in a shrug. Hey, smart guy, don't you know spiders can't talk?

[runs_on_batteries]

Tony takes another step, trying to block as many people on the platform as he can when the spider rears upward. There's a hum as his weapon powers up. However.. did that spider just shrug?

Tilting his head to the side, his curiosity getting the better of him. He lowers his hand and looks at the beast questionably. "You can't speak? Can you understand me?"

[kumoko]

Right in one! Get this guy a prize. She nods, the exaggerated motion moving her entire front section up and down, and then lowers herself back down onto all eight legs.

She also holds the magic array she was sculpting, just in case that gauntlet is pointed her way again. But he doesn't need to know that.

[sweetnessandfight]

This one...certainly doesn't look human. Oh, well, she's got the usual four limbs that humans come equipped with--but she also has quite the rack (of horns), and a spiky tail which twitches a bit as she steps off the train, her bow in hand.

A bow that swiftly gets slung over her back--of course she sees the spider, but spiders don't...usually...shake like that. And Sarai's got a very well honed sense of curiosity, as well as the power of the Echo on her side. So she tilts her head, rather birdlike, and gazes at the spider with perhaps a bit of trepidation, but no fear.

"It's a lot to take in, I know," she says, kindly. This wouldn't be the first panicking being she had seen, here. First spider, though! "I'm Sarai. Are you all right?"

She'll trust to the Echo to fill in the blanks she's drawing. Let it do some good, for once--she hopes!

[kumoko]

Sarai is short enough that she can actually see eye-to-eye with her, but that only makes her smiling face swim more hazily in the spider's vision as she tries to think of how to respond to genuine sympathy.

Look, it's not like there's been anyone to be all nice to her since she was born, okay?

It's an agonising three seconds that feels more like hours to her, before she flops down with a dramatic hiss. The Echo picks up a plaintive wail.

Are you kidding? What part of this is okay? I was so close to getting out of the labyrinth and getting to eat gourmet food! Isn't this totally unfair?

[sweetnessandfight]

Sarai takes a step back as the spider flops--but only to give her room, it seems--that certainly seemed like a feminine wail that issued from that spider. Her eyes are wide, but only because she's startled. Thal's balls, this was about the last thing she expected...

"Well...the bright side is, you do seem to be out of the labyrinth? Though I am not entirely certain this is better, from your perspective." Because if this were a normal situation? Sarai would expect most of the rest of the train to be understandably freaked out by a giant spider.

This isn't a normal situation by any means, however. And Sarai isn't really the type to be afraid of spiders, large OR small. Though she does give voice to a slightly breathy laugh at the spider's food obsession.

"I'm not egotistical enough to call my cooking gourmet food, but I suppose it might be a sight better than what you might get in a labyrinth!"

[kumoko]

From rolling around in distress to perfectly still in a heartbeat, Sarai suddenly has eight eyes fixed unerringly on her. How did she know about the labyrinth or her plans to go on a world tour of delicious food?

Telepathy? This has to be telepathy, right?

[hashtagparkerluck]

Of all the things Peter expected to run into out side the train a giant spider honestly just about eighth on the list. He has a moment of 'whoa' because what is a giant Spider doing here... wearing an orange hoodie and back pack? Yeah, okay. So fellow passenger?

So far, everyone else on the train could communicate with each other just fine, so what's not to say this Spider can't talk? It looks like it might be difficult. It also looks scared with all the shaking it's doing.

"Uh... hey-hey calm down. It's okay. It's not that scary."

[kumoko]

And with that, she's reached her absolute limit of people for the day. With a jittery side-step, she constructs her teleportation spell and tries to get back to somewhere she can be alone.

The spell works. She flickers, and moves a whole three metres to the left. Hmm. Again. Three metres to the right.

...

Is this some kind of special spider dance? Is she performing, here? Isn't this super embarrassing?

[hashtagparkerluck]

Peter doesn't mean her any harm and right at the moment his Spidey-Sense isn't going off so he's not on guard and just holds his hand up in a nonthreatening way as she tries to get away.

"O-Okay, okay. You don't want me to come any closer. That's fine. We can talk like this-I'll stay here. I'm Peter-I'm actually Part Spider-well pretty much part Spider."

[kumoko]

Please hold, spider is panicking--- wait what did he say.

Spiders can't look sceptical, but if they could, she would be radiating it. Part-Spider? He doesn't look like an Arachne, and he doesn't look powerful enough to be done kind of exalted existence beyond it, so... unless he just means he's some weirdo human who really likes spiders and... ugh, too much thinking.

She folds her front legs and leans back. Prove it, guy.

[thebiggestguy]

Was that a giant spider?

Were he back on Eorzea, Dread would instantly be on guard; the monsters of that world were united in aggression towards the spoken races, after all. But this wasn't Eorzea, and so far the train had picked up many different people from many different worlds. And even among the beast tribes, there were kobolds, goblins, sahagin...

Dread approached slowly, hands at his sides. "Excuse me."

[kumoko]

Tall, dark skin, white hair, a beard, eyes two different colours... He's gotten the spider's full attention, but only because he's related to her new Goddess of Food, Sarai.

This has gotta be Dread!

[thebiggestguy]

Dread paused as the words came through, thanks to the gift he possessed -- then laughed, leaning over to rest his hands on his knees as he did. "Of course you've met my wife. If anyone hasn't by now, I'll be shocked."

[kumoko]

He's... He's so nice. What's with this lovey-dovey couple? Ah, she feels like they're the kind of people who have a lot of personality, the kind that always used to tire her out back when she was a human... But for good food, anything is possible! These are people she absolutely needs to keep on the good side of!

Shaking a little with the strain of it, she thinks, how nice it is to meet him. And does a little bob up and down, just in case.