A New Platform [Intro Post April!]

[voidtreckermods]

On the Train

Two days after they return from their mission they are awoken as usual "Good morning passengers, it is day sixteen of the month of Egret. The shop has been updated and points have been applied to passengers tickets."

Those that go to check the shop terminals will find they have indeed updated, with the option to buy larger items and also animals. The morning goes on until just after noon there is a second announcement.

"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. Though the fog is thick, thicker than usual perhaps, there are patches on sunlight shining through and it is pleasantly warm.

The doors open and the first few to disembark do so with rucksacks on, hoods pulled up, silent and almost blank faced. Cu Chulain, Dio Brando, Disreputable Dog, Heiji Hattori, Loki Maedhros, Maglor, Naruto, Thor, Tobias Fangor.

They walk to the barriers, show their tickets and disappear.

But on the platform itself there are once again new faces. 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 as people begin to shift or call out it will become apparent they are not alone.

The platform is not large and it holds eighteen figures all facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. It's warm but foggy making it hard to see much, but there are clearer patches bathed in sunlight found across the platform. 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, in case the passengers weren't bored of them yet.

Passengers who are not brand new will notice that the train has gotten yet longer again with a sixth sleeper cabin for new arrivals.

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!

Comments

[irrationally]

[ Nothing of the sheepishness is mirrored in Alice's own expression, but at the very least she's trying really hard to not look all mean and frowny here. Which takes a lot of effort with the way her face naturally is. ]

Well, I'm far from an expert on these things. [ She taps the top of the ICP. ] But I do suppose I'm more of an expert on trains than I'd like to be, and I've never seen anything like this on one before.

[ There's a slight pause, and then Alice pulls her shoulders up into a shrug. ]

Then again, most trains don't exactly travel through the void either.

[draconite]

I'm afraid I wouldn't know either way! [ said with a bit of a laugh. ] I'd actually never been on a train at all before I was summoned here. But by the sounds of things, there must be quite a few of them where you come from!

[ you don't know the god damn half of it, Bryn ]

[irrationally]

Don't get me started.

[ See icon. Alice would be pretty okay with never seeing a train again her life after everything back home, but it seems irony won out in the end. ]

What kind of world do you come from then? Do people still get around there on foot?

[draconite]

Hm, I suppose for the most part we do? If you were traveling quite a distance, you might take a wagon or a carriage, or even make the trip by horseback if you weren't carrying too much with you. I've even heard of merchants who travel by sky! Isn't that amazing?

[ She pumps her fists gleefully, thoroughly distracted from the ICP for the time being. ]

[irrationally]

[ Bryn's excitement is.. something else, really. Sure, it's not like she's the only one on the train who seems to act this way, but even with the many things Alice has seen in her life, excitement was something very rare. It makes her quiet for a moment, as if she's unsure how to exactly deal with the glee.

Other than responding with significantly less glee, that is. ]

I.. suppose so. [ Good job, Alice. Great. Very social. ] That doesn't sound too different from my world though. Trains are still a fairly recent invention. Perhaps you come from a time that mine is only slightly ahead of.

.. which is curious. Most people here tend to come from more.. "modern" times, as they call it.

[draconite]

What a relief! By the sounds of things, you've adjusted quite quick yourself. I'm sure I won't be a fish out of water for much longer so long as I follow your example!

[ For all the enthusiasm Alice lacks, Bryn seems to be doing her level best to make up for it, tenfold. ]

How strange, though! You would think whoever was bringing us all here would want to make sure all of us were on the same page. Wouldn't that make us much more efficient at whatever it is we're going to be asked to do?

[irrationally]

Ah, well.. [ That's definitely another awkward reaction, because.. well. How is she supposed to deal with that level of enthusiasm being thrown at her? Not to mention she doesn't think she's a good example whatsoever, but she manages to keep it to herself.

It's probably better to focus on the latter half of what Bryn is saying anyway, since it's mcuh easier to deal with. ]

If there is anything I have learned overtime about greater forces that like to toy with people's lives, it's that they very rarely actually care about efficiency, even if they might pretend to do so. For one, they could have done a bit more vetting to see whether or not the people being dragged in here as even a good fit for the task at hand.

[draconite]

Oh... I suppose that's quite different, then. I was imagining that... well, if someone had gone to all the trouble to bring so many people here, then they might have been quite thorough in assuring they were the correct sort of people for the task at hand. After all, even running a train like this would take quite a bit of power, wouldn't it? And I can't even imagine what sort of magic someone would need to master to drag people from their homes...

[ To say she's steadily growing less and less impressed with whoever is behind this big ol' train is a bit of an understatement. ]

Perhaps they're quite desperate? And they simply haven't the time to properly look into the people they're recruiting?

[irrationally]

If they had put any proper thought into it, they wouldn't have dragged children here as well. [ She sounds pretty firm on that one. Alice may pretend to be uncaring a lot of the time, but it's much harder to hide her soft spot for children, especially under these circumstances. They should be protected, not thrown into a situation full of mystery and battle like this one.

But the frown on her face fades a little as she looks over at Bryn. ]

You sound like you were quite willing to give who- or whatever is in charge here a chance.

[ Yes, Alice, it's called not expecting the absolute worst in every single situation.. You should try it sometime. ]

[draconite]

Well, from what I've been told, they haven't done anything truly awful so far, have they? Yes, the circumstances are a bit inconvenient and it certainly would've been nice to be asked if I wanted to come here... and really, if they were going to bring me here, then it's quite rude to leave my companions behind as well...

[ Okay, maybe she does have a few complaints in her. But just a few! ]

But aside from all that! Isn't this a wonderfully exciting adventure? Now I'm here on the train, I'm getting the opportunity to see and do all sort of things that I never would've gotten to do back home. How can I be angry about that?

[irrationally]

[ At first Alice just looks like she's simply taking in what Bryn is saying.

.. until the other arrives at that last part. When she starts mentioning the word "exciting", Alice's expression just slowly dissolves into something more and more confused. Sure, she herself may have had that mindset too once upon a time, but that childish side of her is way too deeply buried within herself to agree with that so easily. ]

.. well, you certainly are.. optimistic. [ How else is she supposed to reply to that! Honestly, Bryn's attitude about this is about ten thousand times weirder to her than the whole flower-eye deal.. She's hardly even paid attention to that so far! ] I suppose it's not a bad thing in all possible ways, but you should pay attention so that people won't take advantage of that sort of thing.

[draconite]

[ And in the face of that? Bryn just laughs, merry as anything and completely out of touch for what you might expect from someone shoved into a situation like this. ]

I'd certainly like to see them try! [ the brazen and 100% unearned confidence in this statement is... kind of amazing. ] And besides, even if they could – what exactly could they take advantage of here on a train? I don't imagine there's much space to cause much trouble.

[irrationally]

Don't say it like that, you'll jinx it.

[ Her tone is mostly still flat - even with the confusion at Bryn's relentlessly optimistic attitude from a moment ago. Mostly since she's trying really hard to keep any sign of actually caring out of it, despite her words. (After all, if she truly didn't care, why would she butt in to give that advice in the first place?) ]

People always find ways to take advantage of each other, no matter the place or circumstances.

[draconite]

[ She shrugs offhandedly. ]

Thankfully, I'm not very bright! So I'm sure I wouldn't be very useful to anyone who got it into their heads to try.

[ She says this with a certain amount of cheery pride that makes it SOUND like light-hearted self-deprecation, but you really can't be sure. ]

Is there anyone on the train you're suspicious of, then?

[irrationally]

[ Bryn?!

There's just so much confusion at this point. Alice has ran into a lot of people with confusing attitudes on this train so far, but this girl has got to take the cake. It's not even that she suspects Bryn of faking it or anything, it's just.. confusing?! Who self-depreciates like that? And that's coming from a constant self-depreciator! ]

.. you're most definitely the most suspicious person around.

[ That's a joke, at least. Because it's really the only thing she can think of to say in the face of all of this.

It's hard to tell it's a joke though, Alice's sense of humor is so dry.. ]

[draconite]

[ Joke or not, it gets another peal of cheery laughter from Bryn. It's not the first time she's been told something like that and she has a pretty good feeling that it won't be the last. But it's still pretty funny whenever she hears it. ]

I'll take that as a compliment! Oh dear, though, I suppose that just makes me even more suspicious, doesn't it?

[ She giggles. Her total lack of concern for her reputation is at once worrying and almost weirdly admirable. ]

[irrationally]

It truly is.

[ Funnily enough, the more suspicious-seeming Bryn makes herself, the less suspicious she actually feels to Alice. In her experience it's always the people you don't expect it from who are the worst. Anyone who is open enough to act that suspicious wouldn't hesitate to hide their worse traits in the first place.

.. probably. ]

What is your name? I should probably remember it so I know who to blame when something goes wrong.

[draconite]

Brynhilde Pendragon. But please, do feel free to call me Bryn! I'm certain it's what everyone else will be shouting when things do inevitably turn on their heads. It's much shorter, so it's much quicker to shout in a pinch!

[ She beams proudly. Unbelievable. ]

And yourself?

[irrationally]

[ Amazing. ]

Alice Liddell.

[ Just.. slightly more simple of an introduction! ]

I'm sure I won't forget your name anytime soon, Bryn. [ Because this whole interaction has been Wild. It's impossible to just forget it that quickly. ]

[draconite]

Oh, I'm certain of it! After all, we're going to be here on the train together, so we'll have an awful lot of time to get to know each other!

[ She gazes up at Alice as she says this, eye sparkling. There is no escape. ]

[irrationally]

[ This is her personal hell.

She just stares at Bryn for a moment. Her expression is pretty unreadable, but she's dying on the inside. ]

.. Sure.

[ Doesn't she just sound enthusiastic. She has no idea what to even say in the face of all this positivity. Alice needs to olly out. ]

Good luck trying to figure out that thing.

[draconite]

That thing–?

[ she fuckin forgot all about the ICP. ya love to see it. Of course, a second later, her train of thought rerails and she immediately beams again. ]

Oh yes, thank you! I'll be sure to let you know as soon as I have some success with it!