voidtreckerexpress | A new platform [intro post September]

A new platform [intro post September]

For those on the train

“Good morning passengers, it is day one of the month of Bassoon.” The train announces the morning the month changes. It seems the train counts months in days of thirty. Team Points have been updated on the system.

The day continues as most days do, chores, eating, getting ready for another day. But those who suspect that a change of month may bring something else are correct. It is only an hour or two later that there is another announcement.

“Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. Exit from void imminent.”

By now they should know to hold on as the train jerks and jolts. There is only fog outside the windows but the train soon comes to a stop. The doors hiss open.

As they exit into the fog they may notice Evie exiting from the luggage carriage door. Much like Hibiki the last time they were on a platform. She leaves the train, backpack on her back as she walks through the station. She heads no call, reacts to no words and cannot be stopped as she walks to the ticket barrier and disappears through it.

Strange. But even stranger still is that there on the platform that whole time is Evie. Dressed in purple, backpack on back, with her are others. Waiting for the train.

For new arrivals

At first all they can see if 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 your 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 very large, but it hold twelve figures all facing the tracks, all wearing similar clothing. The tracks stretch left and right into steam, or perhaps fog. Nothing can be seen to either side. There is a wall around the platform and the only entrance is a ticket barrier. It cannot be open, nor do there seem to be any staff.

What there is, is a train. Jet black and gleaming where it stands on the rails.Voidtrecker Express is emblazoned in the engine in gold. There is a hiss as the doors slide open.

Out step a selection of people, some less human than others, wearing clothes just like those worn by those on the platform.

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.

Once on board there is lots to explore. Passengers both old and new will hopefully be delighted to see the boredom of this train journey is somewhat alleviated by the introduction of a game carriage. Plenty of games, both familiar and new to play with your new travelling companions.
Each ICP shows the same message. If Red team go and look they will find a box in the luggage compartment that contains their prize. A dralite themed cake lolly each. There are enough for the new members of Red team too, share in your teams previous success!

The food stores have been topped up with new fresh food. Salmon has taken over as the primary ingredient of choice. Hopefully everyone likes fish!

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. For those who boarded two weeks ago they will know what is coming next.

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."

Hopefully someone warns you that you really want to heed that warning because a moment later there is 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 voidspace.

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"Pretty sure we're not dead, no. Pretty sure I'd remember dying." Renee had suffered enough beatdowns in her life to be nigh-unto absolutely certain that yeah, she'd been alive when she'd boarded this train. And she hadn't died of boredom. Yet.

"So by psychic do you mean telekinetic, telepathic, or something else? I mean I suppose a powerful enough telekinetic could be 'powering' the train, but we haven't seen a conductor or anything like it yet, so I'm kind of leaning towards a no, here."

Yeah, have a mouthy, redheaded teenager in a purple hoodie with her left arm in a makeshift cast. But inasmuch as she is being mouthy, she's not being quite so sarcastic or snarky--her interest has been piqued, so she's attempting actual conversation.

"Aha, I see that you're well-informed! Telepathy is possible if it turns out that this is an illusion, but...psychic's intuition is telling me that it's real." Psychic's intuition, or the pain in his back from that takeoff. Same difference, honestly.

"No conductor, though? Interesting...then I'd say that either this train is controlled from the outside by someone with a lot of energy to spare--maybe even a group of people--or the train itself is the fpsychic! Which would mean that the force behind it isn't even human!" He rubs his hands together in excitement, but...good lord, the implications of that are a little unnerving. Reigen immediately shrugs off his own menacing theory.

"That's just a guess though. It could be something completely different."

"I hope so, I went to a school founded by one of the greatest telepaths on my world--I'm not psychic at all, though." Renee shrugged, then. "I know...oh, probably just enough to get me in trouble."

She chuckled dryly at that. Seemed to be the story of her life, there. Still, she listens to the guy's rambling and her brows draw down--she isn't quite frowning, but she doesn't seem happy, either.

"Still, your theory might be worth telling train boss about--I mean Tony Stark. He's not exactly the boss, I guess, but he's smart and he has people's best interests in mind, so..."

Couldn't hurt, either. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say.

"They have schools for that kind of thing? And here I had to do all my own reading." Reigen would have to get more info on this telepath Renee's talking about sometime...might be worth having a reference of the real thing to add to his repertoire of fraudulent phenomena.

He squinted a little in thought. "Train boss, huh? I'll give him my thoughts...have you really been on here long enough to form a whole train government?"

"Sort of? I guess? It's kind of a long story, I guess." Renee's not lying, just being evasive--which isn't entirely out of character for a teenager, especially one with a secret that has gotten her ass deep in proverbial alligators before. She's not the type to trust easily, either.

"Eh...sort of. He definitely named himself leader, but he's got a decent head on his shoulders." Even sort of grudging, there's a note of respect there. She gives Tony shit on the regular, but if push came to shove, she'd be there to back him up. "I think he's working on a wider council or something, so he's not the only decision maker, though."

Reigen notices that she's avoiding telling him something, but hey, everybody had to keep secrets. He'll have to withhold his curiosity until she's ready to tell him that long story out of respect for a secretive teen's need for privacy.

"Well, I guess I came in at the right time! You know those anonymous suggestion boxes people can write down their concerns in? Let's get 'Tony Stark' one of those."

"That sounds perfect! Yeah, we oughtta do that--I don't know if we've got any boxes though--waiit I bet we've got a small suitcase or a hatbox! That should do it!"

All right, she likes this guy already. Even if it's mostly because the suggestion box thing might just be a pain in Tony's ass--though it really is a good idea in the long run.

Probably.

"You're good at this," she laughed. "So what's your name, guy? I'm Renee Corbin."

"Yeah, you just cut a slot into the hatbox to slide the paper in, and there! It's perfect."

Renee's laughter is contagious, and being complimented makes it easy to go to his head. Hey, there are some cool people on this train after all! Maybe he can have a good time here.

"Renee, then? Strong name! French!" At least, he thinks it sounds French. He offers a handshake to her. "Arataka Reigen, at your service."

"No, that's a great idea. This way they can sign the paper if they want to, or it can be anonymous if they don't! I like it. Tony will probably like it. But you probably ought to be the one to tell him."

Mostly because he thinks she's not the brightest bulb in the box. But she's not gonna tell Reigen that, not at all!

"You from Japan?" She takes his hand carefully in her good one and gives it a healthy shake. "I'm only asking because I'm not sure...which one's your first name? I don't mean to offend you."

This time, at least. She's not gonna make any promises.

"What, did he take your suggestion privileges? But alright, I gotta prove he can trust me anyway."

What better way to get on the good side of the self-proclaimed leader than innovative additions to democracy? Reigen will take that credit. He elects not to ask what happened to her hand so early into their relationship, and focuses on the name thing. That's always a barrier with Western people: huh, funny that he can completely understand her, now that he thinks of it. Is it the power of the train in work? Probably.

"Oh, yeah, it's no problem. Arataka's my first name."

Don't worry Renee, there will likely be plenty of opportunity to mess with him later on.

"No, he thinks I'm a dumbass. I suppose I deserve it a little bit, since I punched the train." Renee shrugged at that. "Nevermind my best friend did too, but he doesn't think she is." There might be a little pouting there, but it passes quickly. Oops, she told. Well, he might find out anyway. Better to warn him now.

"Okay. Do you prefer Reigen, or? I mean I like Renee myself. It is French, my dad's from Canada but I was born in the States." And that's about as much as she really wants to talk about herself right now--at least as far as her family is concerned.

Only if he deserves it though! "So you need any help finding your cabin or anything?"

“Pfft—Is that what happened to your hand?” He’s trying not to laugh at her out of courtesy for her busted knuckles, but the mental image of Renee gearing up to punch a train is kind of funny. “Don’t worry, there are worse ideas you could have. It actually helps to know you did that: it’s extra proof the train exists and isn’t a telepathic illusion!” See, he’s trying to be supportive!

“Reigen works, yeah. I’m more used to it at this point.” The only people who used his given name on a regular basis were his mother, and the occasional friendly client.

“Sure, I’ll take you up on that. Which way are the cabins?”

"Wrist, actually, but yeah. It's not like it's a giant secret." Renee shrugs at that, mostly because it'd been pretty stupid in the scheme of things--especially after she'd seen Tony and his funky super suit do no good whatsoever. But she snorts a little.

"I've had some training to break that sort of thing, even before I punched the train, so yeah, it's definitely not a telepathic illusion. Promise."

Renee tilts her head in the direction of the cabins. "I'm in 2A, it's just me and another girl right now named Jessie." Heading off towards them. "You need your ticket to access the sleeper car and all that, so it's good to keep it on you if you can."

Oh right, he does have a ticket, doesn't he? Reigen actually takes that out and gets a better look at it. "Alright, I'll keep this to avoid getting locked out. Let's see, it says my cabin is...huh, look at that, 2A."

There are probably worse roommates to have than this girl, who seems relaxed enough and not much of a pain. "Guess we're seeing more of each other whether we want or not...you don't snore, do you?" He gives a small laugh, clearly not serious.

"Uh...sometimes but only if I have a cold? I had my tonsils out when I was little," Renee admits, a bit sheepish. But it was a question worth an answer, or so she thought.

"You don't, do you? I kind of have a hard time sleeping sometimes, but I usually don't stay in the cabin when I do." Because Jessie also has issues with that, and Renee's not the type to exacerbate that type of thing, for all her trolling.

"Yeah, getting locked out would be bad, but honestly it's not like I wouldn't open the door for you or anything." She's slowly coming to terms with how they're all stuck on this train, and they ought to at least look out for each other, as much as they can

"Oh, it's fine, I don't mind--no! I don't snore." At least, Reigen's pretty sure he doesn't: he wouldn't be able to tell and he's lived alone for years now, so working off the fact that he didn't as a teenager, he's probably fine.

"But yeah, don't worry about waking me up or anything. I'll just make sure you don't get locked out either if you leave or don't have your ticket." He doesn't really feel the need to mention his own insomnia right now, since it's not like he has violent nightmares. Really, all he can trace it back to are his lifestyle choices or caffeine consumption, and neither are changing any time soon.

"Good, we're in agreement then!" She offers out a fist to him for a bump. Renee's nightmares aren't violent, thankfully--but they are frequent, and so she tends to jerk awake at random times and then she can't get back to sleep.

"I usually wander around the train when I can't sleep, and I don't always remember my ticket. I just found someplace to lay down when I locked myself out earlier, because we always get teleported back to our bunk eventually. It's kind of weird. Like the train's got a bed curfew or something like that."

That was something Renee can say she's never had to deal with, before.

Reigen almost seems confused for a split second, as if it's been ages since he's been offered a fist bump (he's not that old, but...old enough). After his hand appears to cycle through various other positions in thought, he settles it into a fist and bumps it with Renee's.

"The train puts you back in your room if you get locked out? Interesting...I haven't seen anything that could physically teleport people from anywhere on it." He rubs his chin in thought, pretending he's putting pieces together in a puzzle when in reality he has no clue what the picture is supposed to be in the first place.

"Daily. Every morning. It's really weird. You can fall asleep somewhere else--I've done it in one of the quiet cars before. But regardless of where you conk out, you wake up in your own bunk."

She's not even sure how the train knows whose bunk is whose, Renee isn't. It creeps her out just a bit. Well, more than a bit, but she doesn't really want to admit that. Since she's tough and independent and all.

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A new platform [intro post September]

Departure

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