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

[theturksway]

Reno threw up his hands in surprise and defensively kept back while Elena yelled at him. That was definitely broken and needed more than a simple splint, but there wasn't anything he could do about it right this second. He made a small face at her but let it go.

Then she bombarded him with more questions. Fair enough, all of this was rather confusing as it was but combined with her ill-timing it had to be way worse. Reno sighed and scrubbed a hand down his face.

"Eh, well. It's a train station," the senior Turk began slowly, biding his time with the answers. They weren't going to be easy to swallow. Even he was having a hard time with the idea that was floating in his head. "And after that it gets a bit complicated. So, let's just say that everything back home is fine. What we gotta deal with now is this train and how it operates. It's some weird shit, yo."

[rookiemistakes]

Well, that sounds ominous. Elena falls silent, holding her broken wrist to her chest to prevent it from any more accidental upsets.

“Weirder than Kadaj and his friends?”

[theturksway]

"Err, let's just call it weird on a different lateral level rather than more or less than those guys."

Reno shifted awkwardly from foot to foot and shook his head. When he stopped moving he threw up a hand to swipe at his hair in an old habitual gesture.

"Look, so, the deal with this train is that whoever or whatever runs it is responsible for bringing us here. And where is here? Who the hell knows! This thing travels all over the place and none of it has looked familiar so far," Reno admitted the last bit with an almost growl-like tone. He shook his head again and continued. "Thing is I've only been here for two weeks but some of the others have been with the train for several months. It does this thing where it takes us to other worlds and gives us a mission. I've been on one mission, on a freakin' water world, and there was a whole ordeal to fix the problems there."

[rookiemistakes]

Elena just stares at him.

"...but I saw you yesterday," she says eventually, still refusing to totally believe him. Had it been yesterday? Or had it been longer? It's kind of hard to tell when you're being brutally tortured.

"How can you have been here two weeks? And what do you mean, 'other worlds?' This all sounds like bad science fiction."

[theturksway]

"That about sums it up," Reno replied sourly. "'Like a bad science fiction' someone had the bad taste to come up with. But it's true."

He took a deep breath and a step back, leaning his weight on his back foot and throwing up his arms to the back of his head. He stared off into the sky as he continued. "When I saw you last, back in Healen, you were already mostly healed up. We'd already beat Kadaj and the others and some time had passed. Geostimga was cured, too, you know, so boss was doing fine."

He looked back down at her, dropped his arms, and shrugged. "I dunno what to tell you. It's just...it's like time doesn't matter, I guess. I can't believe you're from earlier but... I recognize your wounds from back then..."

[rookiemistakes]

It isn't often that Reno can stun Elena into silence, but he has. When she finds her voice again, she asks: "Geostigma...cured? How?" For two years, they've watched the President slowly succumb to a disease with a 100% fatality rate. They'd sat with him through crippling, unfathomable pain, changed bandages, hunted down doctors and medicine (and those who wanted to steal the medicine from them), and tried to pretend that it was all just business as usual when it clearly wasn't. And for all that to just be gone?

"Shit, Reno," she swore, then grit her teeth at her own crippling pain.

"So I'm from the past and in the future everything's...okay? Just like that?" It's hard to believe. Especially given the fact that her last memories from before winding up on this platform are of three silvery monsters beating the life out of Tseng until she'd screamed at them, begged them to stop. Then they'd started in on her.

She looks a bit haunted.

"Just...get me onto the train, okay?" She's too injured to recognize the psychic pull towards the locomotive for what it is. She just knows that she'll collapse if she stands here much longer. "Lend me your shoulder. We can talk this through once I'm sitting down."

[theturksway]

Reno scooped up Elena's arm and threw it over his shoulder without hesitance. He grabbed her wrist gently in one hand and threw the other arm around her back to help keep her steady. Then he worked on getting them inside the train.

He aimed for a carriage with seating in it and kept pace with whatever speed Elena set for them. He was surprisingly careful and focused while he helped his junior Turk with her injuries. It just went to show that even Reno had a serious side from time to time. And his loyalty to the Turks was one of the few things that brought it out from rare time to time.

Once they were inside Reno helped angle her into a seat.

He stood while he got back on track with the conversation. "It wasn't just 'like that,'" he informed her. "There was a lot of shit that went down between there and the end. We made it back to the President and started on a new plan. You two got out with help from an old operative," he decided to omit the fact that it was Valentine and not, say, someone like Veld or Emma, "and healed up enough to make it back in time for the final bout. Helped the President out at least. Me and Rude fought with the two lackeys while Cloud went after Kadaj. And there was the Summon before that. And... See? There was a lot."

Though he had to admit the part about curing the Geostigma was pretty miraculous. The healing rain had surprised a lot of people, Shinra employees included. An investigation afterward revealed it had been another save from the Lifestream for some reason, a nice gentle version of some sort of healing magic. They could guess where that came from but nobody really ever talked about it. (Too many old memories perhaps.) And just took it at face value that it meant Sephiroth had been defeated again and his influence on the energies of the Lifestream had come to an end. Hopefully for good, but no one wanted to jinx that either.

"Anyway, it happened. Will happen. Whatever. I know it's a lot to take in but I wouldn't lie about something like that." He really wouldn't. There would be no purpose to it and even Reno had lines he didn't like to cross.

He was silent for a moment. And then, "Why don't I just go get a doc to patch you up? Ain't got no materia on me and even if I did we'd still need to take care with the larger wounds anyway. Unless you just want me to patch you up myself."

He could. It just wouldn't be the least painful route. He knew field medic types of care, stuff one would do while on the move and with little to no supplies. Temporary stuff for the most part but he could cobble together some extra bit of techniques from all the times he'd been in the hospital. More or less.

[rookiemistakes]

"Reno, you're not making much sense," Elena points out. What Summon? And Cloud was involved? Well, of course he was. Trust Cloud and his AVALANCHE buddies to be right in the thick of any trouble to come Shinra's way.

Pretty typical, really.

Elena wants to argue more, but she's in too much pain for that. Sitting is nice, but she really does need to see a doctor. Though when Reno offers to try himself...

"God, no. Please. Why don't you get me to wherever the hell I'm supposed to sleep and grab me a doctor once I'm settled in?"

[theturksway]

"Wouldn't it be better if...?" But Reno dismissed the idea with a flippant hand wave. He didn't feel like arguing with Elena right now. More important was getting her settled and medically checked. "Fine, fine. Let's go."

That meant picking her back up. Reno grabbed her arm and slung it back over his shoulder. He lead her down the train towards the sleepers.

The stopped once along the way. Reno grabbed some painkillers and a bottle of water from medical and handed them to Elena. "You sure you don't wanna stay here?" he asked before they left.

[rookiemistakes]

At least Reno isn't arguing with her. Or isn't arguing with her any moreso than usual. Probably because of how badly she's hurt. Huh, maybe she ought to get brutally tortured more often.

Not.

"No, but I really just want to lie down a little. I can't remember the last time I slept."

[theturksway]

Technically, there was a bed inside the medical carriage. But Reno was definitely the sort to hate to stay in a medical wing when he could just as easily head to the office or home and sleep on a couch or bed that wasn't surrounded by absolute white and chemical smell. So he didn't bother to point it out.

He helped her get to the Sleeper cabins before slowing down to look at the doors to find her name on them since he didn't ask to see her ticket. Although once he found the door--there it was--he was going to have to do just that anyway.

"Requires your ticket. It's like a keycard for the cabin doors. Only your roommates and you will be able to get in."