A New Platform [Intro Post July]

[voidtreckermods]

On the Train

Luckily for everyone the final couple of days of Fiddlesticks are quiet and mostly uneventful. Eventually though they awake to the announcement. "Good morning passengers, it is day one of the month of Grasshopper. 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. Also a loud pattering sound, which they will discover once the doors open are hailstones. They might want to grab their raincoats.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing as they walk silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers. Ann Takamaki, Drizzt, Geralt, Huehuecóyotl, Ignis Scientia, Ivy Wakefield, Jiang Yanli, Lan Sizhui, Maebhrin Tillinath, May Parker, Nie Huaisang, Osomatsu Matsuno, Raven, Roxas, Shaw, The Iron Bull, Ultimo, Wei Wuxian, Yuki Sohma, Yuffie, Yukito Tsukishiro

But on the platform itself there are many new faces. Wearing hoodies and waterproofs, 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. The second thing they will notice is it is cold, hailstones rain down around them, though they don’t last long on the platform ground, melting into slush.

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 nineteen figures all facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. 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.

Indeed whereas usually there is plenty time for people to be met and brought slowly onto the train, the whistles blow a lot quicker this time, as if hurrying the passengers along.

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, it seems carrots have taken over the bacon, though there are plenty of other staples.

Those from blue team who go to investigate will find a box of biscuits. There is enough for the whole team, including new passengers. Join in your team's success!

Those who are not new will quickly discover some changes made to make the train accessible to those who can’t see, including Braille translations of all the signs around the train.

There is of course the new music room to explore. A double carriage, the downstairs has instruments to learn and practice with, as well as a series of music screen points. Those who play around with the screens will soon discover their SCA’s can now store music and can choose their favourites to listen to around the train.

Upstairs is a performance area and holds a piano.

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 over the noise of the hail stones 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

[only_one_wei]

Wei Wuxian blinked. "Okay. If we had any doubts that we are not from the same place....a guqin is a seven stringed instrument that sits on your lap, and you pluck the strings." He mimicked the hand motions. "But we both have flutes, interesting." He grinned at Dyme.

"Oh, that one sounds nice too." He sat down crosslegged and listened with his chin on his fists, one still holding the flute.

[swansongs]

"Yeah, there's a lot of different places stuff going on here. It's kind of-" he would've made a 'mind blowing' gesture, but both hands were occupied with his guitar "-a lot, at first. A guqin-" he said it slowly, making sure he pronounced it right "-sounds cool, though. I'm sure there's a lot of instruments I don't know about. I'd Cloudsearch it to see if it's a thing back home, but that doesn't work here."

Could ask Webmind, he's the internet

[only_one_wei]

"You may get tired of me asking so many questions, but, what is 'Cloudsearch?' It sounds like going outside to see if it will rain," Wei Wuxian said, as he listened to the other play the guitar.

True! Dyme hasn't met him yet, though

[swansongs]

He opened his mouth to start explaining, then realized he was going to have to explain what the internet was. Visibly wilting, he stopped playing. He was awful at explaining things, but maybe this time would be better. Maybe.

"It's like a look up...function...thing. Like when you want to know something, you go to the internet and Cloudsearch it. And the internet's like...if all the information in the world was digital, and stored on a computer, like the ICPs on the train. It's got more than that, too, but that's the basics."

[only_one_wei]

"Look up? Information? Like a library?" Wei Wuxian asked.

[swansongs]

"Yeah! Like that. It's even got digital copies of books and stuff. It has pretty much like, everything, really." Maybe not literally everything, but it felt like it to him.

[only_one_wei]

Wei Wuxian slowly shook his head. "I have no idea what digital is. We just look stuff up, if we have access to a clan library, or if not, ask the oldest person, who has lived through a lot and usually has encountered whatever it was you were fighting before, for the answer."

"We come from very different places," he said while nodding, his eyes big. "Does your world have Lotus pods? Restless Dead? ...rabbits?"

[swansongs]

And Dyme had no idea how to explain what digital was. It would be as bad as trying to explain what a computer was. "Oh, like an oral history kind of thing?" That was what it was, right, when information was passed down like that.

"I don't know what Lotus pods or restless dead are, but we definitely have rabbits," he said. He was pretty fond of rabbits, too; they were so damn cute. "Are restless dead like...zombies?"

[only_one_wei]

"Exactly like that," Wei Wuxian confirmed. "So, digital is...the word in your world for recording it in written form?"

"Lotus, it's a flower and a food? You've never heard of it?" Wei Wuxian was very sad to hear that. It was his favorite of all time and there wasn't any here? How would he survive? "Rabbits?" He gave Dyme a suspicious look. "For food or as pets?" There were some things you need to know right up front.

"As I do not know what a zombie is...restless dead are those died with something unfinished. They are filled with resentful energy, and therefore cannot stay peacefully buried," he explained. "They hunt those who wronged them in life or those like those who wronged them. Most don't move very fast, fortunately."

[swansongs]

"Kind of? It's like...like the stuff on the ICPs." That was the closest he could probably get to explaining digital things without leaping into explanations about computers and the internet.

"Oh! Is it a flower...hmmm." He wasn't well versed in flowers, but now that he thought about it, it did sound a little familiar. "Also, I'm sure people eat rabbits some places, but I'd only want them as pets." They were too cute to eat, in his opinion.

"And that totally sounds like a zombie. Or some kind of ghost...thing." Except ghosts weren't supposed to be corporeal and stuff.

[only_one_wei]

"I'm going to have to take your word for it, you understand," Wei Wuxian said. "This is very foreign to me. But...looks like I'm going to get the opportunity to learn, so I appreciate the help. A lot."

What was it with people not wanting to eat rabbits? They were delicious. Not that he'd had one in...a very long time, since his husband considered them all pets. Better to focus on the Lotus issue. "They grow in water. The lotus do. It makes fabulous soup and the seed pods are good for snacking."

"Your world has them as well? Do you have cultivators to deal with them too?" he asked.

[swansongs]

"I'm probably not the best person to ask about things," Dyme said with a laugh. "I'm pretty bad at explaining things." But he did his best.

"Oh! I think I've heard of lotus now. Maybe." Or was he thinking of lily pads? He wasn't entirely sure.

"Well, I mean, we don't have zombies, they're all fictional and stuff. What're cultivators?"

[only_one_wei]

"They're the people who protect everyone else from the Resentful Dead," Wei Wuxian said.

"They have Golden Cores and certain skills developed over years of training." He didn't think that would help though. Not if Dyme hadn't heard of the Resentful Dead in the first place.

[swansongs]

"Golden Cores?" He had no idea what those were, but cultivators themselves seemed pretty easy to understand. So long as they actually were like zombie fighters, like Dyme was thinking.

Hey, want to wrap for bonus points?

[only_one_wei]

"It's something specific to cultivators," Wei Wuxian said. "Unless it proves otherwise, then I'll show you. But it's spiritual power we use to do the tricks we use."

"May I hear more of this guitar, though?" he asked hopefully.

Sure!

[swansongs]

"Oh. That sounds pretty cool." Then again, everything magical sounded cool to him. Sometimes, when he'd been a kid, he'd dreamed of being magic, himself.

Perking up a little more, Dyme nodded. "Sure. Just lemme--" think of what he was going to play. He mused over it for a few moments before shifting where he sat and started to strum.