A New Platform [Intro Post June]

[voidtreckermods]

On the Train

The days following the mission are relatively uneventful as people once more get used to the rhythm of life on the train. "Good morning passengers, it is day sixteen of the month of Fiddlesticks. Points have been updated on the system."

They have indeed and everyone can spend the morning shopping. Those who have been on the train a while will be expecting the second announcement that comes a few hours later.

"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 is a cool day, clouds gathering threateningly though it stays dry luckily.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing as they walk silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers. Leviathan, Atsushi Nakajima, Spinel, Peggy Carter, Evie Grimhilde, Cal Kestiss, Gwen Stacey, Renee Corbin, Lan Jingyi, Waver Velvet, Aoko Nakamori, Namine, Jak and Marcus Wright all reach the barriers, show their tickets and disappear through, vanishing into the fog.

But on the platform itself there are many new faces. Wearing hoodies, in various states of confusion.

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 twenty six figures all facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. The air is cool with a slight breeze. 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. Most are wearing the same hoodie in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple though some are sporting different clothes in a variety of styles.

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 plenty more bacon as well as other staples.

Passengers who are not brand new will notice a new carriage. A second gym. This one is outfitted for training with mats, fighting pads, balance beams and even climbing apparatus to help get everyone ready for the missions ahead.

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]

His head jerks up, and abruptly he's smiling, bright and apparently perfectly fine.

"Hey! Glorfindel-san! I see you're still wearing those bells! Ah...this? Eh, it's a bit sparse for what I was hoping for, but I'll make it work."

[laurefindil]

Not fooled in the slightest, Glorfindel nodded as if understanding. "I've noticed the Train sometimes has its own opinion of what we want or need. What exactly is it, and where does the rabbit keep going?"

[stealsyourheart]

"It's a magic kit." At no point does the smile falter.

"I ordered a pro one but uh... I don't think the train quite understands 'pro' the same way I do. Still, it's not TERRIBLE. There's a few bits here I can repurpose, and what's a magician without a top hat, right?"

[laurefindil]

"Magic...kit?" Glorfindel asked. "Ah, the illusionist thing!" He watched the other's face. Kaito realy was good at illusions. Too bad he was facing an elf. But Glorfindel wasn't sure that he was the right person to make Kaito open up about what he was feeling, though he did consider the other as a friend.

"I hear Wei Wuxian got a rabbit from the Train store. Perhaps at the next Dock, you can upgrade your little friend? What have you decided to name him? Or...her?"

[stealsyourheart]

"Yep!" He smiles, a little bit more real, to talk about something he enjoys. That makes him laugh.

"Oh, I could, I guess. But that would make Aoi sad. I'm more a dove guy than a rabbit guy." He snaps and the stuffed rabbit vanishes, replaced by a cooing dove. "Aoi normally looks after Aoko. But I guess... since Aoko's gone, Aoi got left behind."

[laurefindil]

Glorfindel looked down at the dove. It was quite a nice bird. "Perhaps she left him to look after you?" He suggested softly.

"I am here to pick up my purchases as well. I got two hummingbirds to keep in the Greenhouse."

[stealsyourheart]

The dove coos softly as Kaito strokes her.

"Maybe." He shrugs a little, but musters a smile for Glorfindel.

"Hummingbirds?"

[laurefindil]

Distraction it is, then.

"Of course! With all the fruit growing in the Greenhouse, I certainly did not want to have to hand pollinate everything. Persephone I am not. And the Train would not give me bees," he said with a slight pout, his eyes looking up and to the side.

"But they are very delightful. I have put up their cage in the bamboo grove and removed the door so they can make a nest of it. Now I just need to come up with names for them."

[stealsyourheart]

Thank you

"Some people are allergic to bees." Kaito points out, lips twitching up in a smile.

"How are you going to tell them apart?"

[laurefindil]

"The bees?" Glorfindel asked, deliberately misunderstanding. "They pride themselves on their uniformity so it is quite difficult, though I find...oh, you meant the hummingbirds?"

He grinned at Kaito. "One is male and the other female, of course."

"Just for the record, bees are far more allergic to stinging people. A person may or may not die, the bee always will."

[stealsyourheart]

Kaito laughs at that. "Maybe you could tie little ribbons to them!"

He nods. "I know that, but just think of the chaose with people like Peter on board..."

He tips his head curiously. "What's the difference between them?"

[laurefindil]

"That would be a lot of ribbons." Glorfindel smirked a little as he teased Kaito. "I don't know if there are enough colors."

"I've never actually met Peter face to face. Is he really as...hopeless as some make him seem?" He looked doubtful about the whole thing.

"The hummingbirds? The male is slightly smaller with brighter plumage and a slightly shorter beak. Would you like to meet them? They're in the Greenhouse."

[stealsyourheart]

"He's really really not." Kaito shakes his head.

"He's actually really smart? And he's really kind. But he's got Murphy's Own Luck, and zero self-esteem."

[laurefindil]

"Maybe he needs more encouragement and less pessimism?" Glorfindel suggested. "Not that I know him to make that sort of of judgement," he added with a grin. "So perhaps I shouldn't voice an opinion!"

[stealsyourheart]

Kaito pulls a face. "I've been trying. He's utterly convinced he's doomed"

[laurefindil]

Glorfindel raised an eyebrow. He's known a lot of Doomed people in his time, as he is a Noldo. He doubted a Vala had pronounced Peter's fate. "Perhaps if people stopped feeding into his feelings of pessimism?" he suggested.

[stealsyourheart]

"Right?" Kaito throws up his hands, a small spray of confetti accompanying the gesture.

"But nooooooooooo, he's insisting he's just bad luck."

[laurefindil]

Glorfindel admired the sudden spray of confetti with a smile, plucking a couple of pieces out of the air.

"Maybe he needs an intervention."

[stealsyourheart]

"Oops." He eyes the confetti. "Guess I need to work on that one. Eh, to be expected from a kit like this."

He considers. "I dunno. I get the feeling more than anything, he just... needs good friends. And some good luck for a change."

[laurefindil]

"Maybe..." Glorfindel said, slowly, giving Kaito a look, "Maybe if a Magician gave him some good luck? I mean, there is magic, and then there is Magic." He knew he wasn't explaining it well, but he hoped Kaito might get what he meant.

[stealsyourheart]

Kaito eyes him.

"It feels like you are trying to tell me something there, but I am not certain of what you mean. I'm only a high school student, in the end. Nothing special."

Lieeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[laurefindil]

He didn't mean to be rude, but it took a good minute or more for Glorfindel to stop laughing at that. "Ha. Yes, student. But a savvy one, nonetheless. I would not ever mistake you for a naive child, Kaito-san."

[stealsyourheart]

Kaito grins at him, tipping an invisible hat.

"Thanks for the compliment, I think~"

But

"But I still am noooooot entirely sure what you mean?"

[laurefindil]

"Mm, how to put this...it is using non-magic to reset his brain, wire him to look for the positive, rather than the negative," Glorfindel explained. "We had to do it once in a while back home. It's just a little...quasi-ritual to give someone a nudge. They have to be receptive, of course. But I think you would be really good at it."

[stealsyourheart]

Kaito tips his head curiously.

"Well... I don't really... HAVE any magic. How would it work?"