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

[xue_yang]

Xue Yang had actually been heading to the luggage coach to check on a few things. Things had been pretty interesting for him the last couple days and there is just something he had to find out for himself. Just before reading it however, he encounters Curufin coming out of it. Looks like his plans will have to change.

"You seem excited about something."

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin halts when Xue Yang appears in the doorway. "I was just coming to look for you. Your gloves are here, and I made a slight modification that I hope you'll like." He means the wooden finger that now fills in for the missing left little finger. He pulls the box out from under his arm and hands it to Xue Yang.

"Try them on?"

[xue_yang]

Xue Yang quirks an eyebrow as he takes the box. Part of him hadn't actually expected the gloves to really happen. He opens the lid and looks at the smooth leather inside. He adjusts the box in his grip so that he can slide on the glove, noting the piece of wood and how he once again has the illusion of a real finger.

He flexes the other fingers as he tests the leather, clearly darkly pleased by the familiarity of it.

"This will work nicely." He version of a thank you.

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin rarely makes a promise he doesn't keep. But he knows that Xue Yang's past experiences don't foster trust.

He watches with interest as Xue Yang pulls on the glove and flexes his fingers, checking out the gloves for utility and comfort. His dark pleasure in the gift is obvious to Curufin, as is the ambient darkness that is a part of Xue Yang's being. Curufin's own soul has its dark aspect still, and always will, though he no longer acts on his shadier impulses unless he's in the midst of a battle. Because of that, he does not judge but only seeks to help.

"I'm glad," he answers, with a nod and a smile. "So, how are you doing?" They hadn't spoken much in the last ten days, not since the beach party.

[xue_yang]

"I've had a..interesting couple of days. It seems more people from my world have decided to show up." Not that it is their decision but it does make things a little more complicated. More people to hate him and want him dead.

"I'm becoming a bit out numbered in this place."

[so_dark_a_road]

"So I hear," Curufin answers. "It's the same situation as I was in, in the last two worlds I lived in before I came to the Voidtrecker. I understand. Do you want my advice?" There is nothing cold in the tone of the question. He really does see how disconcerting this could be to Xue Yang.

"Have you talked to any of these people?"

[xue_yang]

He gives the other a look and there is a complicated expression that crosses his eyes briefly. "You could say I talked to one of them." He merely observed the others. He has plenty of time to encounter them and the train isn't that big.

"There is only one other that I have much experience with but I imagine he won't like to see me. I did drive some nails into his head and control him for awhile." Obviously not ashamed to admit to what he has done. It doesn't really matter what actions he had on a previous world.

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin pauses briefly, not having expected to hear about nails in somebody's head. But what had he expected? He knew Xue Yang's world could be as cruel as any world could be, and he knew Xue Yang had a dark past, and he knew from experience just how savage a human being could be. In what way was Curufin any more innocent?

"The one you did talk to. . . how did the conversation go? Also, those nails? I take it that's something like an energy weapon, tapping into the other person's energy body? What was the point of controlling him?" If Xue Yang isn't ashamed to admit to his actions, then Curufin isn't ashamed to ask questions.

[xue_yang]

"The nails take away the person's consciousness so that they are easier to control. He was basically a fierce corpse that made for a strong weapon. Having someone who can't feel pain do the fighting is more useful then doing the fighting myself."

Xue Yang isn't afraid to admit he has done terrible things. Most people would probably run away as soon as he said even one percent of the things he has done. But he holds no regrets over any of his actions..save for one.

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin pauses. He notices that Xue Yang didn't answer the question about how the conversation went with the one person from his own world that Xue Yang has actually spoken to. But the topic of the nails is absorbing his attention at the moment. "May I ask who this person was, the fierce corpse who did the fighting for you?"

Curufin wouldn't run away, no matter what Xue Yang admitted to. His understanding of his own purpose in this second life would be enough to hold him here and keep him trying to increase his understanding of others. Xue Yang intrigues him, and it's a sort of adventure to know him.

[xue_yang]

He chose to drop the other subject since there wasn't much talking and more..other activities. And so he would prefer to avoid discussing that arrival at length. But what he did to Wen Ning is certainly up for further discussion.

"His name is Wen Ning. He was a toy in the capture of one of the sects I happened to be employed under for awhile." Which meant he got to play with him. Unfortunately Wen Ning was never a very well behaved toy.

[so_dark_a_road]

"I met Wen Ning on the platform today. He seems very polite and non-aggressive. How did he come to be designated as a weapon?"

Curufin supposed he would find out sooner or later what kind of fighter Ning might be. The train would eventually send the Void Warriors on a mission in which the teams weren't in far separated areas. Blue Team and Orange Team might meet while fighting monsters. He hoped the "toy" was prepared for that.

[xue_yang]

"He's stronger then you would think. Plus without his consciousness he is nothing but a fierce corpse. Just ask Wei Wuxian. He's the one who created the monster."

When Wei Wuxian releases Wen Ning on someone, you don't stand a chance. Which was why Xue Yang tried to be the one who controlled him. Perhaps it was just an experiment for future attempts at more obedient subjects.

[so_dark_a_road]

"Considering how dangerous are the missions we are sent on, it'll be a good thing for Wen Ning if he is stronger than he looks. But he has his consciousness now, so he won't be lacking the ability to make his own judgements. What do you mean when you say Wei Wuxian created the monster? I don't know Wei Wuxian well, but he doesn't seem like the sort who would take away another's autonomy."

Still no judgement in Curufin's voice or glance. He remembers only too well how he tried to take away the autonomy of all the people who came to his cousin Finrod's assembly in Finrod's hidden city of Nargothrond, by casting a very dark and lasting vision-spell upon their minds. The purpose was to keep them from accompanying Finrod on an extraordinarily dangerous mission, in the hope that Finrod would die for lack of the support of all his warriors, and Curufin and his brother Celegorm would then usurp Finrod's kingdom and thereby become the most powerful of the Nolderin princes. Finrod departed with only a few fighting men, and he died. If Curufin was going to be judgmental, he'd be an awful hypocrite.

[xue_yang]

"Wei Wuxian brought him back from the dead and made him into it." To bring someone back is taboo. The dark arts are against everything normal cultivation stands for. And both him and Wei Wuxian have taken that path. In a way, the other is his senior in the arts and could have been his teacher if their paths had been aligned.

"You could say he saved him from death. But most would say that never should have been an option."

[so_dark_a_road]

"The cultivators of your world have the ability to bring a person back from the dead? I didn't know that." He didn't know that mortals in any world could come back from the dead ever, in any form. Elves can come back, but that's different.

"You're saying that a resurrected human being pays a steep price for coming back?"

[xue_yang]

"Not everyone. Only those of us that use the dark cultivation methods." So basically..two people.

"The price is mostly on the head of the cultivator. Bringing people back is taboo, against everything normal cultivation stands for. The one who is brought back has to serve the one who brought them back. But they are stronger then they were when they were alive."

[so_dark_a_road]

"I understand the use of dark cultivation methods. I certainly immersed myself in something of the sort, back in my world. But I never tried to bring anyone back from the dead, except myself."

Very different world, this world that Xue Yang hails from.

"So. . . Wei Wuxian paid that price, and not you? Even though you drove those nails into Wen Ning's head in order to control him and get him to fight for you instead of for Wei Wuxian?"

[xue_yang]

"I'm merely using the tools that were provided for me." Of course he did make his own fierce corpse. And he was quite the useful tool for many years. And far better behaved then Wen Ning was.

[so_dark_a_road]

"Hmm," said Curufin, scratching his head. He couldn't say he hadn't done the same.

"Xue Yang, if I may change the subject, I was wondering. . . what do you really want, now that you're not in your own world and therefore not bound by the limits of the old life? Do you have thoughts or dreams of what this new life might become?"

[xue_yang]

Xue Yang quirks his eyebrow at the question. He's never really had any desires of his own. To simply live and carry out his revenge is what drove him. He always was merely the tool for carrying out the desires of others.

"Life on this train is just like any other imprisonment, but at least here they let you out once in awhile.It's not really freedom to live how we want. But I have no dreams and there is nothing I want that can actually be obtained."

What he wants no longer exists.

[so_dark_a_road]

"I agree it's a prison of sorts, but I don't believe that prevents us from dreaming. But you're implying that there is something you want that you don't believe can be obtained. Are you completely sure of that?"

People and dreams fall into nonexistence, and yet, Curufin has never given up hope. Or at least, the kind of hope he can still have.

[xue_yang]

"Can anyone be completely sure of anything with the train? But there are certain limits that everything must have. Even this train is not all powerful."

And it might have the power to bring people back from the dead..but can it really collect a scattered soul and reassemble it? He has yet to find anyone that can.

[so_dark_a_road]

"I'm sure the train is not all-powerful. I don't believe that it is entirely responsible for everything that happens to us, for everything we receive when we're here. I leave open the possibility that the impossible can happen, not because of the train entity, but because of us."

Curufin's soul may well have been flung into the Everlasting Dark after his death, and yet, he got out somehow. Whether it was due to his determination or to intervention on the part of powers unknown, he cannot know for certain, but he believes it was due to his own efforts. And he does know for certain that he reintegrated himself and decided his own path. This is why he believes that people do not have to be content to have no desires of their own, and that a return to life and consciousness is not necessarily impossible.

And then he remembers something. "I meant to give you something. Want some more candy?" He pulls out a bag from his jacket and offers it.

[xue_yang]

As if he would turn down candy. He reaches out and snatches the bag, opening it up to look inside and pick out the ones he determined he liked the most the last time he had it.

"Then I suppose in time I will see if the impossible happens. But for now I am content to believe any desires I had, died with me." He has nothing else he would want and even with the freedom this train has given him in this new life, he still wonders how he should spend it.