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

[stealsyourheart]

"Not really." He shakes his head. "Unless you count the engine room. Though that's a physical can't. As in, people have tried everything from picking locks to hitting the door to physically blasting it. You literally can't. I'd be careful in the garden as there's a weird book who claims to own it, but since he can't actually stop anyone... and I'd be careful about Tony-san and Feanor-san's experiments. Knock first. Apparently things do blow up in there."

[mynameisallen]

"Noted. I won't try to get into the engine room and knock." He figured there was a reason they couldn't get into the engine room and odds was a very important reason. But right now they had no possible way of knowing and he kept that to mind.

"Thank you for answering but uh... Actually first things first I should ask a bit about this room. These are sort of like an arcade type place, right?"

[stealsyourheart]

"This place? Yeah! We call it the games room. There's board games in the corner over there, and that weird contraption there is a video game setup. Mostly racing games, although they do have a few options. There's a baseball bat and a glove and ball somewhere, and a soccer ball too, although there's not much room for those. And card games, of course, although I've got a basic deck already."

[mynameisallen]

He had heard of the various games before but had honestly never tried them, having been too focused on work-related things meant he never really got to try it. he figured here maybe he should really try and act more his age, maybe. But he just didn't know the first thing to do.

"Do you have a favorite game here? You mentioned your deck, but anything else?"

[stealsyourheart]

"Other than cards? Yeah, I quite enjoy NotMario-Kart! Peter and I play that one pretty often. There's a Jenga kit as well which is a whole 'nother sort of hilarity."

[mynameisallen]

Allen once again showing his lack of understanding games was trying to figure out what Jenga actually was. The other he could at least figure out.

"What is Jenga?"

[stealsyourheart]

"It's awesome~!" He laughs and bounces to his feet, beckoning Allen over to show him.

"Basically, it's a game of dexterity and steady hands. See these blocks? So they come out of the pack in this tower, see? So the aim is to remove blocks one at time and build the tower higher. Person who makes the tower fall is the loser."

[mynameisallen]

He had gone to follow the other to learn about what it was, figuring might as well. As he looked over the block tower he figured the game seemed easy enough and probably a good way of seeing if he can keep his hands steady.

"So there is some static to it as well because you need to play for a way to get the other to knock it before you."

[stealsyourheart]

"Yep! And also luck - especially on a moving vehicle! After all, you could have the steadiest hands in the world, but if the train hits a bump as you take your move... BOOM."

[mynameisallen]

"I don't think trains would do that, that often though unless they have to break or something." From what he knows about trains anyway. Void trains are probably different.

[stealsyourheart]

"Eh." He shrugs. "It's the rattling back and forth on rails normally. But you're right that we dunno how this train runs! We don't get many jolts, fortunately!"

[mynameisallen]

"But it will make the Jenga game a lot more interesting in that way." With the neve5r knowing something will cause it to fall over. But Allen at this point was understanding a little bit more about games.

"I guess while I am here I might try at least one game. Do you have a suggestion for what you think is the best?"

[stealsyourheart]

"Depends on what you wanna try first? Jenga is pretty straightforward, and no two games are the same - if you want to try something easy to learn but hard to play well. Otherwise, the racing games are good fun - a bit of a steeper learning curve, but they're a lot more forgiving than Jenga!"

[mynameisallen]

"Racing game? Is that the type of racing that involves cars or horses?"

Because he was at least aware of what both actually are, so it might be easier for him to maybe ease into.

[stealsyourheart]

"Cars! Well, go karts, technically. Peter & I call it not-MarioKart, as it's very like the game from our worlds, but not quite right."

[mynameisallen]

"Quite likie the game but not exact. So games here are based on what you know, but have things that make it different?"

[stealsyourheart]

"Yeah. The play style is VERY reminiscent. But the characters aren't the same, the tracks are different... and that is very definitely not an xbox, a playstation, or any of the other consoles either of us know sitting there."

[mynameisallen]

"Then what are they called here? I assume a variation of what you know instead." If he was understanding this whole thing correctly. "I wouldn't know those types of things as I've never played any of them in any place I've been to."

[stealsyourheart]

"No clue." He shrugs. "They're clearly consoles of some sort, but ... eh. They work, so that's fine. If you've never seen 'em before... here, lemme show you how the controllers work. They're pretty intuitive, but there are some quirks."

[mynameisallen]

"I've never played a console before, so someone showing me what it does might be a good idea." Though how hard was it really? He figured he was going to find that out soon enough.

[stealsyourheart]

"Basic buttons are basic!" He says cheerfully and demonstrates.

"These are almost always the same on every console, and it proves through here too. This one, right here, is your main button. Mash it to accept quests, shoot things, do anything that seems to be a 'main' thing for the game you're playing. This one here is essentially used to cancel things, go back to the previous screen on a menu... essentially the opposite of the first one. These are your main two. Arrow keys are for movement, obviously - up, down, left, right. And these here, these are your trigger buttons. They won't work for every game, but as an example, in NotMarioKart, the right one is acceleration, and the left one is brake."

[mynameisallen]

Allen watched and nodded now and again. O(kay, this seemed extremely simple that someone like him could get it. Though he didn't know what exactly he was going to do with this information, but he figured he would give games a chance for once.

"Okay, so the basic buttons really are basic. I think I get it."

[stealsyourheart]

"There's all these extra stuff they do, but most of those are game specific. Wanna give it a shot?"

[mynameisallen]

"I'll give it a shot and see how it goes." if he likes it, then he figured he can do this in his downtime for once instead of just trying to keep busy and working out or something. If not then at least he knows.

I'll leave it up to you how far you want to get into this lol

[stealsyourheart]

"Cool." He grins and boots up the game.

"Okay, so each of us chooses an avatar - it's purely a cosmetic choice, so you can pick whoever who like."