Event: Expulsion (Day 24)

[voidtreckermods]

"Good morning passengers, today is the twenty fourth day of the month of Apple." The morning announcement sounds as usual as dark turns to the ever shifting colours of the void outside the train windows. Some passengers may stir. It might be that they are an early riser or bad sleeper and get out of bed the moment the announcement wakes them or perhaps they roll over and go back to sleep.

Either way the morning rolls on for a few hours whatever they might be doing. Until a sudden judder runs through the train, followed quickly by another. Much like bad turbulence. Really bad turbulence. A third follows and there is a crackling sound before an alarm starts going off blaring loudly, the lights begin flashing red, white and red again.

"Warning. Void engines failing. Warning. Void engines failing. Warning Expulsion from void imminent." More shaking, worse each time, enough to knock them over and then a bang, the train plummets into darkness and lurches, sending everyone flying...

… They never crash land. Instead they float, suspended in the air. In the darkness it is hard to orient themselves or even understand what is happening. There’s a roar in their heads as pressure builds, their ears pop. "All systems critical." Breathing is hard, for one terrifying moment there seems to be no air to breathe.

"Oxygen levels stabilising." They can breathe, the pressure in their heads fades, their ears eventually stop ringing. "Pressure levels stabilising." They are still floating, suspended in darkness. "Gravity systems critical".

Emergency lighting flickers on finally, a red glow from either end of each carriage, in the cabins and along floor strips, enabling them to move without bumping into anything. If they can figure out how to move at all that is. Outside the windows is dark. Not the blackness of the void at night but the deep vastness of space. A few moments pass, enough time to just about process that fact before the voice over the speakers is heard once more.

"Passengers of the Voidtrecker express, due to technical issues we are currently experiencing void engine failure. Thank you for your patience as we endeavour to continue our journey as quickly as possible. We ask that all passengers help in securing the train for re-entry into the Void and on behalf of the Voidtrecker Express I apologise for any inconvenience caused."

Then there is silence. Broken only, no doubt, by the passengers on this now stranded train.

(OOC: Event information is here.)

Comments

kitchen - immediately after engine failure

[kumoko]

[ She's in the kitchen when the shit hits the fan, taking a break from the serious business of another day of The Floor Is Lava. The first jolt has her grabbing for the wall, the second has her chirp with distress and a little bit of nausea, and by the third roll she's secured herself - and probably anyone else in the kitchen - to the side of the carriage with threads. They have a secure front-row seat for the next string of emergency alarms.

Systems critical? Engine failure? Oxygen, gravity, pressure-- that's so many flags! Who made this piece of shit train?! Ah, she knew it was too good to last, and now she's gonna die in space--

Like hell! Time for Hero Spider to shine!

First things first, how are the other people in the kitchen doing? Second thing, why is the air full of knives?! ]

[afterburner]

[Briefly, there's a voice. It might not be understandable at first, but it does resolve when the language filter comes back on...] --kind of a jank outfit is this? The engines freakin' failed??

[ Look, it's the fabled spider! But Pete has said she's friendly, so instead of flipping her own shit, Renee has herself locked to the floor--instead of momentum due to lack of gravity, she's using her powers to keep herself fused there instead. It's why she's good at The Floor Is Lava too--why use the floor when you can use the ceiling? If it gives Tony more gray hairs, that's a bonus.]

Oh, hey, 'sup--the FUCK??

[Yeah Renee just realized that those were knives in the air.] Can you even get out of the way of those knives? You might want to. I'm gonna do to them what I've done to myself...

[She's got the grace to wait until Kumoko situates herself, and then in their spin through the air, all the knives just--stop. Gravity doesn't reassert itself--her powers don't involve that particular force--but they don't spin any more and they do seem to be frozen in place.]

Okay, at least we can get them in the drawers again or something--preferably before Pete shows up and impales himself or something. Please don't let Pete show up and run into a knife, dear God in whom I don't believe.

[tinkerheart]

Elves may not sleep like humans but they do rest. Feanor was dodging it far too long. So there finally came an hour that he found himself drifting into the visions of the past.
It is already enough that he hit the upper bunk bed while trying to sit up in his place to make him upset as he’s still a little spaced out. Then everything around him shakes and than starts to float. And the howling doesn’t improve his mood.

By no small amount effort he’s able to get out of the cabin. Slowly, grabbing every possible support he can, he’s able to propel himself through the corridor in direction of kitchen. This is completely ridiculous. What kind of devilish trick that is?

The situation in the kitchen is even more dire. To his horror Feanor spots the spider, and Renee and all the cutlery free floating in the air. He knew that!!!
He knew she was up to something sinister! But no, everyone else insisted she’s friendly! Now they will see!

What are those bundles on the wall? Are they people? What is planning to do with them? What is the purpose of all those knives?

“It’s you again! Release these people immediately!”

[kumoko]

[ Yes, yes! Exactly! Is this train made of tinfoil? Isn't its main job not to break and kill everyone aboard? She could go so far as to say that that's the only job of a train, and it still managed to mess it up? Ms Conductor, this spider has a complaint!

Well, whatever, she throws out a fan of threads, each one with a blob of adhesive web on the end, and snags as many of the floating objects as she can while they're still being held still. Sure is convenient that this girl has telekinesis, but she'll take it. Her accuracy isn't as good as it was when the system's aim assist was around, so it's good that she can even snare half with her help. And another spray of threads for the rest--

It's just that... suddenly there's an elf? Ah, crap! She automatically aimed a thread at him when he started yelling! Miss, thread! She's never wanted anything to miss so bad! ]

[afterburner]

[The nice thing about her kinetic powers means she can stop other things, too. Renee could tell by the look on the spider's face (face? mandibles? okay?) that she did not want to throw that blob of web at the LARP reject. That it was Not a Good Thing. Especially if it hit the guy...

So she stopped it. Probably a little too close for anyone's comfort, but it didn't hit...]

I don't think the spider's got anything to do with this, mister--she wasn't threatening me and the knives were like this when I got in here. [Also, Renee's not floating. She's got her feet on the ground as if she were a normal person--which isn't the case, since both the soles of her feet and her eyes are glowing a vague ruby color as her mutant power manifests itself.]

[tinkerheart]

[He's not fully convinced that the spider is not plotting something. Most probably she is. Why would she attack him otherwise? The lady, indeed, is in no danger.]

She's definitely not fond of me.

[He points to the ball of spider silk floating mere inches from his face. It would have hit him if she didn't stop it.]

Thank you.

[He can hear, and see, the Power singing in her. A strange song. One he does not know nor understand. One that's not exactly human but also strangely is. One that she's comfortable revealing. That's interesting in itself. His attention no longer on the spider.]

What are you, if I may ask?

[kumoko]

[ Whew, her entire disappointing life just flashed before her eyes. She doesn't like the elves much, but she doesn't want to fail her special ongoing quest 'don't kill anyone' just like that.

Anyway, they're entertaining themselves. Excuse her while she just... tows all of the cutlery down. And then looks from the floating objects to the drawers, and back again, and then just stuffs the whole lot into a drawer, thread and all.

Sorted. That can be a problem for future her. Or future anyone but her. She hopes Feanor has to sort it. ]

[afterburner]

That kind of makes me wonder why. [Though her tone is one of challenge, a "what did you do, but not in so many words. She reaches out to pluck up the spider silk near him, and send it sailing with a gesture back towards Charlotte.]

You're welcome. [Though his next question is met by a grimace--using her powers was more of a necessity in this instance than something Renee had wanted to expose, but...]

I'm a human mutant. Homo sapiens superior. Usually on my Earth, they just shorten it to 'mutant'. It means I have extra genetic code that gives me powers.