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

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Okay, that was a heck of an entrance speech, and one Edge had to consider. Other worlds? Sure, he believed that -- the Lunarians had come from one and were off to another. That was plausible. Some sort of teleportation magic that could cross worlds? That stretched believability, but, well, here he was...

"Everyone here, huh? No one's been aboard since before the rest, then?"

[runs_on_batteries]

It's what he does. The man loved to hear himself talk, so he should be at least fairly good at it.

"Not that we can tell. Everything on the train seemed new when we boarded. We haven't seen anyone else on there and only get messages from someone claiming to be the Voidtrecker, so I'm assuming it's the conductor. Trains from my world either have one or have an AI running them."

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"Right," said Edge, who refused to admit he had no idea what an 'AI' was, let alone how iffy he was on a lot of this other terminology. Well, whatever the case, autonomous machine meant Lunarian technology, which meant... "So whoever is controlling it is probably doing it remotely."

[runs_on_batteries]

Tony would be impressed. The man responds just like he knew exactly what he was talking about, so he just goes with it.

"Yes, that's a possibility." He holds out a hand. "So.. might I ask who you are?" They likely still had a good ten minutes or so before needing to get off this train. That gave them a few more minutes they could do this small talk before Tony would need to make certain things happen.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"The name's Edge!" He swept a dramatic bow, which would have looked properly awesome had he been wearing his cloak. The hand just got kind of skipped, what with his more medieval leanings. "King of Eblan, leader of the Eblan ninja clan, hero to all people and all-around incredible guy!"

[runs_on_batteries]

"Edge, huh?" He could see this guy pulling off that name. The rest of it though was straight up amusing. "A ninja king?" Did ninjas usually have kings? The last part of his description gets a chuckle. "Well, Mr. Incredible, just don't expect me to bow to you and we'll be alright."

He looks down at the platform for a moment then back at Edge, or Mr. Incredible, he hasn't decided if that was sticking or not. "Are you feeling well enough with my answers to board the train?"

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"Formalities are a waste of our time," Edge said, dismissing them all with a wave of his hand. "How I feel about your answers doesn't really matter, does it? It's the only path there is, so I get to take it."

That attitude of determination lasted only a heartbeat, before he idly rubbed at the back of his head. "Though yeah, it doesn't seem so bad even so."

[runs_on_batteries]

"There are far worse fates than this as far as I can tell yet." He gestures toward the door of the train. "Would you like some help finding your cabin?"

He could feel at the edges of his consciousness the desire to get in the train was there. He didn't know why it was, but he could feel it's presence nonetheless.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"Cabin?" But this was a train, not a log house in the woods somewhere. "Uh -- yes, that might be wise! Wouldn't want to take a wrong turn or anything."

[runs_on_batteries]

There was only one way when you boarded the train, but he decided not to hurt the man's ego and mention it. The important part was simply getting the man off the roof of the train and into it.

Once his feet hit the ground again, his suit falls away, morphing back into a silver disk. He gestures for the ninja king to follow and he decides to give the man a really brief tour. It mostly consisted of- see, this is obviously ___ kind of car. Once they reach the sleeper carriage that makes him have to slow down and look where the guy's name is.

"Edge, right?" They come to one of the doors with Edge's name. Tony points to the one right next to it. "This is mine. Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you."

[onehandsomeslickninja]

The tour was immensely helpful, truthfully -- more so than pride and vanity would ever let him admit, and he did a lot of nodding and agreeing when the cars got their names. Once they reached his cabin, which was NOT up to the standards of Eblan royalty but more than suitable for a ninja on a mission, he turned quickly to Tony before the other man can make his escape.

"Yeah, there's something. What was THAT?"

'That' being the silver disc he waved at, and presumably the armor's stunt in turning into it.

[runs_on_batteries]

Tony was all prepared to head back to his room or perhaps his 'study'. However, Edge picks the one thing that will most definitely keep him from leaving.

His expression shifts from surprise to pride. "It's a suit of armor I fashioned in my world. I'm part of a group of warriors called the Avengers that defend our world from anything hostile outside or within it." He pauses and looks at the disc. "Do you want me to put it back on and show you?"

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"The armor is weird enough, but what magic is it that summons and dismisses it like that?" Even Lunarian technology didn't perform that sort of wonderwork, so magic it had to be.

[runs_on_batteries]

"It's very specialized technology." He holds out the disc so Edge can see it. A second later, the armor quickly encasing Tony's body again. Once it's fully on, he flips the helmet back and gives the other man a grin.

"It's nanotechnology- it's the manipulation of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale. Everything is a collection of certain material, known as atoms. This is people, plants, rocks, everything. They're all made up of atoms and those atoms also have minute aspects. This technology compresses the space between these atoms and in some cases even the neutrons and protons within the atoms to condense an object. It's the same principle as changing ice to water and the water will occupy a larger space than the ice did. They're the same thing, but there's more space between the atoms and it generates heat, changing the object to a certain extent. I can show you some diagrams if you'd like."

[onehandsomeslickninja]

Put up a facade as Edge might, Tony could practically see the explanation dribbling out his ears after failing to find any purchase in his brain. The main thrust the ninja took away was 'makes large things small for Reasons', and he supposed that was all he could hope for.

"That seems very handy, especially since it let you keep your armor here... considering I'm missing all of my gear." He glared down at his own clothing, which wasn't a patch on his proper ninja garb and very certainly wasn't loaded down with throwing weapons. "So are you just a warrior, then, or have you had special training?"

Edge was still betting 'Dragoon'.

[runs_on_batteries]

At least Edge tried, so Tony can respect that. Forgive him if he is slightly judgy about intelligence, but he's that way with everyone who isn't a certified genius like he is.

His gaze follows when Edge gestures downward and he gives the man a sympthetic hum. These outfits were awful, he understood. He was still simply refusing to think about how they were put in the clothes without their knowledge. "No, I'm not a.. warrior exactly. Well, I suppose I am not, but my main roll is an engineer and philanthropist." Wait, he's not going to know that second word. "I give assistance to different charities and help those in need."

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"Engineer, huh?" That was of much more note than anything. So this guy was like a different world's version of old man Cid! Just like that, Edge felt he had a much better handle on him. He jerked a thumb at himself with a confidence borne of, quite possibly, pure ego. "I'm in the trade myself, as it happens! Aside from my many other titles and qualifications, I'm also Eblan's chief airship engineer!"

[runs_on_batteries]

"Right." Yep, soooo believing that one. Either way, he was beginning to get a good idea of what this man was about. He was certainly amusing. "And who is Eblan? A friend of yours or a region?"

He leans against the wall, casually crossing his legs at the ankles. He didn't have anywhere else he needed to be, so he was making himself comfortable talking to this peculiar man. "How do the airships work?"

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"Hi-speed rotor technology!" Edge said confidently. "Turns out it was originally Lunarian, but we've become proficient in working with such devices in our time as well." Never did it occur to him that their views of airships might be completely different.

[runs_on_batteries]

This guy was going to make this train more interesting, wasn't he?

He tilts his head a bit to the side, thinking. "So, you have airships but you're unfamiliar with trains? How does that work? The airship I'm familiar with has a deck you can park tanks on." He understood his mental image was likely off given their time differences, but he had no idea what Edge was referring to by that name.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"Tanks are Underworld tech, the dwarves use those." Impressively, he had to admit, considering they hadn't had the advantages of Lunarian technology leaks.

But an airship that could have a tank on its deck? That was one big airship, Lunar Whale-sized at least. Edge folded his arms, hunting for something to compare. "Baron's flagship, the Enterprise, was adapted for hovercraft transport, but that was using a hook system on the bottom."

[runs_on_batteries]

Tony stared thoughtfully at the ninja king for a moment. "Do any of your glorious achievements include art? I'd be interested in even a rough drawing of these airships of yours. There are writing utensils and paper in your bag."

He couldn't be sure, but he was starting to question just what kind of technology this man's world had if it had hovercrafts but no trains. Very curious.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"Ha! I can do that standing on my head!"

Shrugging his back off, Edge opened it for the first time -- and promptly came out with not paper or a pencil, but a large curved blade.

"Oh hey! What's this doing in here?"

[runs_on_batteries]

Tony grins, pleased he was going to find out if this fellow was all talk or if he could back some of it up with results. However, they're both surprised by what Edge takes out of his bag.

"Is.. that yours?" He asks. He was just going to mentally jot that down in case Edge doesn't fill out a questionnaire. He needed to know who all had weapons that work.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"Oh yeah. Just a shuriken."

With a flick of his wrist, Edge unfolded three more blades so that they snapped together round the handle. A shuriken indeed, although one with a span wider than his chest.

"Wonder why I only have one."