voidtreckerexpress | A New Platform [Intro Post March]

On the Train

Luckily there are no more crises after the strange dreaming, except the ones passengers created for themselves and soon the month is turning. "Good morning passengers, it is day one of the month of Egret."

Those that have been on board a while know that new months usually come with new people and so the message a few hours later will not be a surprise. "Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." A lurch and a jolt and they are soon surrounded by the fog that means they are at a platform. It will come as a relief that it is not raining this time. However it does seem to be quite blustery.

The doors open and the first few to disembark do so with rucksacks on, hoods pulled up against the wind. Amery Vallet, Steve Rogers, Darth Vader, Peggy Carter, Bran Corbie and Ash. They walk blank faced to the barriers, show their tickets and disappear.

But on the platform itself there are nineteen new faces, or rather seventeen new faces and two that some people have definitely seen before. All are stood, waiting for the train.

For New Passengers

At first all they can see is 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 large and it holds ninteen figures all facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. The air is cold and the wind is strong, blowing their hair, if they have hair, across their face. Both left and right the tracks disappear into the mist. Then there is a roaring sound and out of the fog arrives a train. Jet black with gold writing on the side. The Voidtrecker Express. There is a hiss as the doors slide open and out into the cold step a selection of people. Some are human, some are less so. They are wearing the same hoodie in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple.

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. If that is not enough, there are plenty of people on the platform now, to encourage them onto the train.

Each ICP shows the same message and next to the screens there are stacks of leaflets written by those on the train, with further information. The store rooms have been restocked with an abundance of onions! Any of blue team who who go to check the luggage cart will find a parcel containing rainbow macroons. One for each of the blue team, including new members, come share in the reward!

Passengers who are not brand new will notice that the train has gotten yet longer again. A transparent domed carriage, with a grass aisle and soil beds, ready for the passengers to do with as they wish. Crates contain bulbs and seeds ready to be planted and there are all the tools a budding gardener would need for this task.

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. 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. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever changing colours.

Welcome to the Void!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

".. Alice Liddell." Although she doesn't seem to echo the last part - it's not a personal thing, really, she does that with everyone - she at the very least doesn't seem in the slightest annoyed by Ivy's rambling or belated introduction. If anything, it almost seems as if Alice is listening patiently for once.

"You're rather optimistic for a ghost. The ones I spoke to before weren't quite as pleasant." Yes, that's a compliment for Ivy. Just.. carefully wrapped up, since god forbid Alice ever directly compliment anyone, right.

"If you ask me, it's common sense to be optimistic as a ghost. After all, the worst thing already happened to me, so there's nowhere to go but up!"

The logic checks out, sort of.

It does. In fact, Alice is so used to dealing with completely illogical beings that Ivy is like a breath of fresh air. A.. really, really weird breath of fresh air. Because Alice is so unused to this much optimism that it just makes her stare and blink for a moment. Like her brain is trying to find a reply, but coming up with nothing.

"Some would be worried about there being yet another way down somehow."

Like Alice. Definitely like Alice herself.

".. don't think I hand out compliments lightly, but I suppose most people would call your attitude amazing."

Ivy laughs vaguely, a bit embarrassed at the direct compliment. "I'm not all that amazing, really. Surviving my death was more or less luck, and I've just been soft of floating about ever since."

That last part seems to draw her interest. (And also makes her able to move on from actually having given anything resembling a compliment before she gets too awkward about it..)

"Does becoming a ghost or not depend on luck?"

"I'm not really an expert, but I suppose it depends on how you die. There was a great deal of dark magic involved in my case, and I was terribly upset, and it must have all mashed together in some way that let me stay a tiny bit less dead than usual."

She's hardly met any other ghosts, so the mechanics of it are still a bit mysterious to her.

"Dark magic?"

Alice frowns. It's not that she thinks magic is necessarily bad.. After all, her own little world is full of it. But the idea of that being twisted and turned dark feels a little less safe to assume is fine.

"It wasn't forced upon you by anyone, was it?"

She's starting to look uncomfortable again. No matter how much she pretends otherwise, even after 200 years, this is still at least a little hard to talk about.

"Well, I was being murdered for it, so I wouldn't exactly say I was thrilled about the idea."

.. yeah. That'll do it. It's sad that the admittance doesn't even really surprise Alice. She's seen so many terrible things being done to children, even ones younger than Ivy. But it still hurts to hear about it each time.

"Despicable. To think of how much vermin there is out there doing such things..!" Okay, so maybe she can't entirely contain her anger either. It just hits a little too close to home, despite Alice having nothing to do with ghosts. "The person who did that isn't present here on this train, or are they?"

Because. You know. Alice will go smash their skull in.

"Oh, dad's been dead for ages. If he was here, I'd be too busy haunting him to chat with strangers."

She lets that detail slip quite casually.

"Your father did that?!"

That's even more ridiculous. For all the terrible things in her life, Alice is so fond of her family, no matter how long ago it's been since she's been able to be with them. Her family were the only people to never betray her. It felt like the last bastion.

But for some people apparently even that bastion isn't safe anymore.

"How could he do that to his own child?!"

A New Platform [Intro Post March]

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