voidtreckerexpress | A New Platform [Intro Post July]

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A New Platform [Intro Post July]

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"My sister would say that 'fate' is just an excuse to make people do what they're told, and not ask questions."

Nita pointed this out evenly.

"But, if it is anything like my experience just being a wizard, or being a person... if you have the tools to help, if you know there is something happening and no one else seems to... you feel a responsibility to do something about it, or you've just wasted those tools and knowledge.

"And wasting opportunity is one of the worst things you can do."

Being a wizard meant standing against waste, apathy, atrophy... entropy.

It's tough. Inigo's initial instinct is to immediately push back against Gerome's ideas about fate. He knows their points of view when it comes to that sort of thing are completely opposite - he still remembers very well that they got into a fight over it back in their future as well.

But he doesn't want to do that now. It'd be too unproductive, especially since what's on the line here is important, but bleaks in comparison to the reason why they had the argument back home. Not to mention Gerome still has so much adjusting to do - the least he can do is at least not totally push the other guy out of his comfort zone.

.. maybe just a little bit though.

"Right." He glances at Nita, agreeing with her, before looking back at Gerome with a slight, but relatively serious smile on his face.

"I know what you think about fate and all, but.. I can't just ignore people in trouble when they are right in front of me. If we are being sent there either way, we might as well help them while we're around. I don't think I could ever forgive myself for watching people suffer and doing nothing."

Gerome looked first at Nita and then at Inigo. He'd heard this same noise time and time again. Why people insisted on wanting to change fate was beyond him. And getting involved in the fights of others? Did these people ask for it? These worlds?

Gerome didn't feel responsible for anyone else but himself. But he had a feeling saying that would only cause these two to find another way to be annoyed by him.

He looked away.

"... If I have no choice. Then my fate is taken out of my hands."

"It always hurts, watching someone else walk into the fire for you," Nita pointed out softly.

"And I know I'll see my friends back home in Timeheart, assuming we all get out of this and I live my life. But beyond that... I'm told that where we act, the Powers do, and not the other way around."

That agency drives fate, and not the reverse.

Edited (now with less morning brain, hopefully) 2020-07-16 16:40 (UTC)

Although Inigo also listens to Nita and looks at her, his heart aches the most when he hears Gerome's words. A while ago, back home, he would just have dragged Gerome all over the place regardless of those words, or even snapped back at him just like he did when they had a similar discussion in their future, but right now he can't feel like doing that at all.

Instead he just feels bad, watching a friend struggle so much with every aspect of this place. Inigo keeps smiling, but his gaze softens when he glances over at Gerome.

".. You can stay on the train during missions if you really want to." As long as there's the opportunity to. He wouldn't be the first to do it. "But I.. am going out there."

Inigo is too much of a bleeding heart not to.

"And I would prefer to have you at my back."

Gerome honestly had no idea what Nita was talking about. While her tone was earnest and heartfelt, he wasn't sure he understood her meaning. It was Inigo who caught his attention.

He turned to the other and for a long moment just stared at him.

That... wasn't fair of him. To say that, it wasn't fair. Once again it was taking choice away from him. He could stay and leave Inigo to go off and fight... or... He looked away again, head lowering slightly. This all had a very familiar feel to it. This is almost exactly what had happened back home. Though instead of Inigo changing his mind and insisting he stay behind so that Gerome did not remain alone, he was doing that. How could he say no? How could be possibly say no to words like that. It annoyed him...

"... Then... I will have to go also."

The topic had shifted, just a little, but that was all right with Nita.

No, what was happening here was between these two...

Nita smiled wryly.

"Inigo needs someone who'll be at his side; I hate to say it, but when it comes to missions he and I are rarely in the same space. It's good to know he has people, anyway."

People he can trust. People he knew.

Inigo may not be entirely privy to the exact thoughts going through Gerome's mind, but he can tell it isn't easy for the other just from the way Gerome quietly stares at him for a few moments. He knows it's not an easy agreement, and when the next mission comes around, he'll have to make sure to do his best Gerome is as comfortable as possible in return for dragging him along.

But what this conversation needs right now.. is probably a bit more levity. So it doesn't feel as complicated and hard for the other. And thankfully Nita's sweet statement gives him the perfect opportunity to bring in some levity.

"Nitaaaa, don't say that like I need a babysitter!" He's even pouting. Upping the dramatics is usally a good way to make conversations lighter. "Besides, you could come with me sometime too, you know! Then I wouldn't have to worry about you as much either on these missions!"

Gerome looked from one to the other in nothing short of confusion. He truly didn't understand, as he knew Inigo to be a more than capable fighter. Why would he need someone by his side? A babysitter? His gaze turned back to Inigo, the dramatics not phasing him in the slightest, that was nothing new after all.

"Did something happen to rob you of your ability to fight?" He had to ask, because as far as he was concerned they had been fighting most of their lives. If there was anyone he trusted on the battlefield it was Inigo's skills with a sword.

"Depends on the nature of the missions, Inigo," Nita responds.

"Though I can try; plus, we do have the comms to keep in touch with each other with, and those fallbacks we set up a few missions back."

Bringing up her SCA-wearing wrist for reference (not that the proper icon is there right now, for shame), she shakes her head at Gerome.

"And no, least not the last I knew." Which was a good thing, but teasing was teasing~

It's so like Nita to give his dramatics a serious response. Most people would just tell him to cut it out, but here she is entertaining him all the same. Though the answer is a little disappointing.. even if Inigo knows he has to suck it up. Nita is logically right, after all, but Inigo has always been one to follow emotions more. And his emotions are all out of whack whenever so many people important to him are all over the place where he can't see them. Even if he could just call them. It's not the same - especially not to someone who's only used to face-to-face communication back home!

But before he can pout about it or say anything reasonable, he's very much distracted by Gerome's question and Nita's teasing answer.

"What?! No, of course not!"

No, Inigo is well aware of why everyone insists he needs someone with him during these missions.. But either Gerome hasn't caught on to his overworking tendencies - in which case he's like to keep it that way - or he has and it'll just be embarrassing to bring it up.

But since he doesn't want to lie here either, he'll just give an answer that's also true, but marginally less embarrassing.

"I just.. like being around people I know. Of course I can fight by myself if I have to, but that is not the case here."

Not understanding what the two of them were talking about, Gerome just waited for his own question to be answered. And frowned. He hadn't been asking if Inigo could fight by himself, had he? Perhaps a little. Why else would he need a babysitter to watch over him? Was there some kind of injury that had limited his ability to swing a sword and defend himself? That was worrying.

Gerome was still very confused. Fighting beside someone was not the same as needing someone to watch over you. But these two had a strange relationship it seemed, and Gerome felt decidedly out of place.

All he could do was nod, though he didn't truly understand. He supposed there was more that was different than just his surroundings. He would have to relearn a great many things.

Nita nods herself, agreeing.

"True enough. Though, when it comes to fighting, still not sure on the whole 'laser swords' thing; we might want to show Gerome that sometime, see what he thinks," she says, before leaning over to the man in question.

"He asked me about one of my spells, before the last mission we were on."

He'll at least leave that last part between Nita and Gerome, but the first part gets a small frown from Inigo.

"I'm not too sure he's ready for those.." Especially since Gerome is still at the "getting confused by very basic train things" phase. Inigo knows what it feels like. He's been there before. "I mean-- I'm not too sure I'm ready for that!"

And he's been here for months now!

Gerome was moments from just getting up and walking away from all of this. More words he didn't understand. Context that had no meaning to him but was spoken in ways as if he should. There was only word he could really comment on.

"... I do not use swords." He could, of course. But if it was down to preference he knew what he was used to. He was used to the weight and heft of an axe, the reach of a poleaxe. Gerome had trained extensively to master those weapons. Not swords. That was something Inigo had a speciality in, not himself.

He gazed steadily at Nita as the woman leaned toward him and delivered a line he was not even sure he was interested in. But knew he should ask... It was all part of this 'polite conversation' he was supposed to be taking part in. Gerome heaved an inward sigh.

"... Spell?"

Nita shrugged, yet again moving on in terms of conversation. Focusing on what Gerome was interested in seemed a smarter idea, to her.

"And that's fine; I've never used one myself."

As to the other part: Nita fiddled with her charm bracelet (on her non-SCA-wearing wrist), pulling on a seemingly nonindicative charm... and then she had a little linear accelerator in her hands.

It looked a little like a lance.

"We'd been talking about this one - right, Inigo? Moves energy faster than light, though it's not like it's blasting light itself."

Edited 2020-07-27 13:26 (UTC)

Right! Nita's magical bracelet thing! It's been such a while since she last showed it off to Inigo that it had somewhat faded to the back of his mind, but his gaze is full of recognition when she shows it off this time. It's just as amazing as it was the first time.

"I do remember us talking about how amazing it is that you can pull these things out of nowhere!"

And he remembers being bummed that he couldn't learn it! Clearly he should have picked up magic rather than the sword all that time ago..

Although he does give a concerned look in Gerome's direction. This is still wild to Inigo, so he can't imagine how extra wild it must be to Gerome, while he's still so new.

More strange words. More things that he just didn't understand.

And then suddenly something was in the woman's hands, and Gerome gave a sound that was part gasp, part... something he would refuse to accept later, and near slipped off of his chair.

He managed to catch himself just in time and scramble to his feet, and with as much dignity as he could muster he straightened up and... didn't know what to do. Inigo acted like it was an amazing thing. And perhaps it was. But it was like no magic that Gerome had ever seen before and it was... unnerving.

"..."

"... I.. I see... Very well." Was his voice a little higher? Drat it, he needed to sort that out quick. "... Thank you for explaining." Not that he'd understood a damn thing but that didn't matter at all.

Well, Nita'd known Gerome was out of his depth, but not by that much!

"Ah, sorry," Nita said, and hastily reverted the charm, its energy unspent.

"I'll, uh, give you a moment..."

She looked away, let Gerome have a moment (or two, or twenty) to recuperate, settling back on looking at Inigo's face.

"I can't make things out of nothing, though; even wizardry can't do that. The energy for it has to come from somewhere..."

.. Oh, sweet Naga.

For a moment Inigo is startled, worried that Gerome might really fall off his chair.. but he doesn't. And he has to try so, so, so hard to surpress a laugh. He knows it'd just piss Gerome off, but it's so tempting to laugh. That sight was hilarious. Gerome will never know just how much effort Inigo has to make right now to maintain his pokerface. It's killing him.

Thankfully Nita talks. A distraction! He sucks in a deep breath, willing himself to calm down.

"I think you might just kill poor Gerome if you give any more details than that right now, Nita. I don't think he's quite ready for wizard lessons."

"... Wizard lessons...?" Is that what was happening? Gerome wasn't finding any of this the slightest bit helpful. Hadn't that been the reason for meeting this woman in the first place? They were supposed to help him understand this world he found himself in, but all he was finding was more questions, more confusion... and he was doing it at the amusement of those around him. He was feeling like the butt of a joke he was not privy too.

"... No. Thank you." Polite. Someone who could pull weapons from thin air should be spoken to in such a way as to not aim those weapons at him. But he thought that it was now time to go. "... I should take my leave. Thank you for... your help."

"Maybe when I'm up, I can show you what the deal is with the plumbing or something. If Inigo doesn't want to do that himself," Nita added, having turned to face Gerome again - and give Inigo a sidewise glance.

"It is good meeting you, though, all the same."

"Hey, wait--!"

Inigo's jaw drops open as he suddenly sees this interaction play out in front of him. Sure, it's not entirely unexpected.. to call Gerome not very social would be a wild understatement. But he thought that he'd at least be able to get along with Nita, considering she's not quite as wild as Inigo is, not to mention she's smart and serious.. but somehow it seems to have gone wrong for the moment anyway.

"Gerome, come on, I was just joking! Don't be like this towards Nita because of what I'm saying!"

Inigo alternates between shooting the other guy a pleading look and giving Nita an apologetic one. Somehow he feels like he's the one who messed things up here.. but then again, isn't he usually the one doing that in any given situation?

".... Be like what?" Was he being like something in particular? Gerome gave Inigo a puzzled look that just seemed more like a frown seeing as how his mask covered up most of his features. In his mind the conversation was going nowhere at all, he had not learned much. And hadn't that been the intent? For him to learn more about the world he now found himself in, not to be mocked, laughed at or for strange conversations to crop up that he had no understanding of. Even the explanations made his head hurt.

Gerome wasn't sure what else was wanted of him.

He had tried. And he had failed to understand. What good was forcing the issue?

Nita lets this one be between them - since they were still standing by her bedside, though, it probably looked somewhat awkward.

It's not Inigo's fault, though, and she gave him a Look in return for saying that.

A New Platform [Intro Post July]

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I need a proper '???' emote for her, I swear.

having limited icons sucks!

I'm sorry Gerome is full of suck!

Wrap for Nita! Though Inigo+Gerome can continue, ofc. ^^

thank you! <3

Yes, thank you!

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