voidtreckerexpress | A New Platform [Intro Post September]

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A New Platform [Intro Post September]

On the Train

The days after the holiday on Jema’Grethy tick away until they are awoken one morning. "Good morning passengers, it is day one of the month of Horsehoe. 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. When the doors open it is to snow, crunchy beneath their feat and falling from the sky in a light flurry.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing as they walk silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers. Alice Liddell, Arataka Reigen, Dread Thunderstorm, Duo Maxwell, Fandaniel, Guy Cecil, Kaito Kuroba, Khardeen, Rainbow Dash, Sarai Thunderstorm, Victor Creed, Xiao Xingchen, Yuna, Yuuri Wakasa. They crunch through the snow, not stopping for anyone.

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, as snow flurries around them, coating the ground around them in white.

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 five 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, with… teddy bear shaped luncheon meat being the main ingredient to be found. There are plenty of other staples including a lot of fish caught from their island holiday.

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

A new carriage has been added, those that go to investigate will find a library. A double carriage it has a less formal, comfy downstairs fiction area and a more serious study library upstairs. It is devoid of books, though hopefully those who have bought books before will slowly begin to fill it.

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 braving the snow 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!

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He'd been through this song and dance before. The train stops, new passengers get on, although it seemed like this time was pretty short.

He was observing, he'd be greeting people if only to get a sense of who the new people were, and maybe what their skills were at the earliest opportunity. It was never a bad idea to know who were his potential allies.

That voice? He knew that voice.

Senku would wait, patiently enough, and watch as Gen had a conversation with another unknown passenger. When they were exchanging pleasantries and moving to part ways, he came up behind him.

"Oi, Mentalist, you've taken your sweet time getting here."

Gen froze in his spot, smile fixed awkwardly on his face, an odd rictus. He knew that voice too. He turned around. "Senku?!"

"You're - how -" last he heard, Stanley Snyder had thought he shot him. And at least Xeno's people thought that the sniper was very talented and accurate, but this was Senku, too clever for most. "He missed you?"

At some point, he'd figure out how he'd allowed his hands to reach for Senku's chest, as if feeling for a bullet wound made center-mass, when it's clear from the scientist's pallor and grin that he was uninjured. But then Gen blinked as his brain caught up past his surprise. Senku was implying - his eyes narrowed. "Yes, I've just left, and as far as I know, you've been on the Perseus. How long have you been here?"

Senku for his part, had his hands on his hips which wasn't unusual for him. If it was anyone but Gen trying to poke at his chest, they'd get told off immediately, and he'd move out of the way. As it was, Gen was the exception to nearly every rule he had, so he didn't move, he just let him touch him.

He was also confused, but he let his mind wander over the potential options. For one thing, Gen looked distressed, which means he thought something had happened to him. "Missed me?" He echoed slightly, brow furrowing.

"Ah." He said, as he came to that conclusion, that he'd taken some kind of injury in battle and it couldn't possibly be from Tsukasa, as he didn't take any serious injuries there, nor Ibara because the only injury he'd had was his arm. It was curious. When was Gen from?

"Two months." He responded easily enough. "Time here isn't connected to time in our worlds, from my understanding, time doesn't pass there while you're here." He wasn't sure about that.

"You've about confirmed it because I ten billion percent have no idea what you're talking about, except you think I've been injured by someone and I can't think of any reason you would think that. Meaning that you've existed in a time I didn't." He explained his conclusion. "And, presumably, I was there so it wasn't affected by my being here. Fascinating."

"Your company is always arming-chay, Senku-chan," Gen teased like it was a reflex, his smile bright and fake and masking his confusion. Of course he's missed all of them, being captured by Xeno's people to spy on them wasn't exactly relaxing or fun.

But like always, Senku provided an explanation that invited as many questions as it neatly provided answers. Two months, from a different point in time than when he was from. Time was standing still away from the train? How or why was everything happening?

"Ah, I've only heard rumors, my dear, it's very possible they were lies," Gen told him cheerfully. "I don't suppose you can tell me what was happening before you were kidnapped?"

Senku snorted in amusement. His company was charming? Hardly.

He raised two fingers and then tilted them in the direction of a bench, wordlessly suggesting they needed to sit down and have a conversation. Then, he walked in that direction.

He dropped onto one of the benches, and angled his body so he could still look at Gen, his back more against the wall than the seat.

"The Perseus was about to head back to the village, to wake Tsukasa up of course." Senku answered, as though he figured it was obvious to Gen as much as it was to him.

"I'm interested in hearing what was happening to you."

"You were successful, of course! Tsukasa has returned to his cheerful self, good as new, all thanks to your planning and the petrification weapon," Gen assured him brightly.

That was ... that was a while ago. Before they decided to set sail to America. Before they came up with an elaborate plan to convince the ship a hectic, stressful path taking a short route to that continent was the best plan. Before the dirty cheat that Senku was beat him in cards. He was still sore about that.

And he could take advantage, attempt to manipulate Senku so if he went back, Gen would win at that game - but to what point? His memories were that he'd lost. Did that mean, if they ever returned, they wouldn't remember this place? What if they did, though? Could he take the chance and change the future?

It seemed too risky.

Gen shrugged and looked a little helpless. "I can't say it was too interesting, my dear. How many people have already opposed the Kingdom of Science? I know the you I left on the Perseus has everything well in hand."

"Good." Senku responded easily enough, because he preferred it when his plans worked out, thank you.

Gen could certainly try and manipulate Senku, but the unfortunate side effect of knowing each other so well, it would be extremely hard to do. Not that Senku was well suited to being manipulated in the first place, because he was a rigid, logically minded person.

"Uh huh." Senku responded blandly. "That's why you were trying to cop a feel when you got here." He stared at him a little bit.

"Consider it an exchange. I'll bring you up to date on the events here if you tell me what's going on." It was unlikely they could change the future, and ultimately, they may not have wanted to. Bad things didn't happen in a vacuum, there were probably unseen benefits around the circumstances.

Gen fluttered his eyelashes at him. "I couldn't resist after being gone for so long, my dear!"

But he sighed. Gen could fool most people; he could even fool a lie detector. Yet he didn't usually manage to fool Senku, not about anything important. Small little misdirections, sure. He was pretty sure those worked against his friend. It's been a long time since he lied to him about anything important, however.

His smile was bemused. "That seems unfair, cruel, even. I'm in the dark and stuck on a strange train filled with odd, possibly dangerous people. If I tell you about your future, who's to say it won't turn out like all of those movies? What if giving you that knowledge means things will turn out rather poorly for all of us?"

Gen received another amused snort in return at the comment and a bit of a smile.

It wasn't Gen's fault that he was a bit hard to fool in the first place, and least of all by him. They just simply spent too much time together for him to think that was possible.

"Give it a moment's thought. Do you actually think I would do anything differently than what I'm doing if I knew the outcome?"

Senku was bluffing, he would give Gen a full update and picture anyway, but he wasn't above manipulating people either.

It's very odd, for Gen; even before the world turned to stone, he hadn't known anyone quite as well as he did Senku. Or perhaps it was better to say - he hadn't trusted anyone quite like he did Senku. His manager and agent perhaps was closest to him. It was easier that way, because if people weren't close to Gen, people couldn't read him like the scientist was able to.

It made friendship a rather pesky thing, but there were a wealth of benefits.

He smiled, bemused, and shifted so instead of leaning on his chair, he was leaning closer toward Senku instead. If his friend shifted, they could more or less be leaning against one another. Senku might be bluffing. But he was still stubborn enough he'd try to get the information from Gen some other way.

"It depends on what the outcome is," Gen pointed out wryly, but shook his head. "I was partly honest. We'd been heading to America because you determined corn would be a worthy crop for the amount of food and alcohol we needed to obtain. But there's a settlement of people un-petrified there - I've been tasked to look in on them, of course. So I don't know exactly what's happening on the Perseus."

Gen wasn't wrong, there was not one millimetre of a chance he was going to let it go, if he truly wanted to know. He was worried about time he wasn't aware of, so naturally he wanted to make sure everyone was okay. He wasn't going to say that, though.

He reached out for the sleeve of Gen's horrible orange sweater, which completely didn't suit him at all and began tugging at it slightly. The first tug was subtle, then a sharper one, followed by several more lighter tugs, varying only twice more. L I A R he told him in morse code, but didn't speak on the subject again for the moment.

"Fair's fair, I need to catch you up, of course. We went to a tropical island, I'm sure you would've had fun." Senku said with a wry little smirk. "There were hot springs."

Edited 2020-09-01 16:24 (UTC)

Gen shifted just slightly so most people passing by couldn't really see Senku tugging on his sleeve. He hugged himself with his other arm, so his fingers could brush against Senku's hidden side, able to tap replies against his ribs through his shirt in turn. F A I R he'd tap back.

"I missed hot springs?" Gen whined a little, complaining, "I needed to show up in the snow and cold in the ugliest clothes designed, and you had a tropical paradise with hot springs?"

E A R S, Gen told Senku, because he really didn't want to get too far into detail about what they were up to - if nothing else, because then other people would realize what they were capable of.

"It isn't air-fay, Senku-chan," Gen continued to whine.

That was about the response he expected and he grinned at him, his tone moving into the teasing territory. "Hot springs, building tools, collecting rocks. You missed out on a real fun time." He snickered. "And you got snow."

He didn't shift away from the tapping, accepting the comment easily enough and he didn't even nod to acknowledge to Gen he understood his concern. He did, though. The tugs shifted. R C U. A simple request for a status update on the other generals. If he was out of action, at least between the rest of them they'd manage, he believed that. If all of them were out of action, that would be a mess and a half. Gen was spying, obviously, since he said he'd been away.

"It's completely fair, but you are right." He huffed an amused sigh. "These clothes are just an assault on the eyes. It doesn't suit you any better than it suits me."

"Building tools? Collecting - Senku-chan, you were given a vacation, and you turned it into work?" Gen asked in a disbelieving tone - if that wasn't the most predictable thing he could imagine Senku doing. He sighed like the very idea exhausted him, "I don't know if I'd prefer the work or the snow."

He didn't let on, but part of his chest twinged. Of course that's the first thing Senku would ask about. That's the sort of person he was - no matter how much he'd deny it - he'd be concerned about his friends before asking about himself. Likely didn't think getting hurt was really too much to worry about, as long as the others were okay.

I D K, Gen had to tell him honestly. He could lie. But he really didn't know. R USE TRANS. So he could at least verify Ryusui was doing all right.

"It's the ugliest thing I've ever worn, and that includes the brush I walked around with when I first woke up," Gen continued to complain. "You're happy in tan hides, no one expects you to look fashionable - but this is going to give everyone who sees me a terrible first impression."

"It was a very productive holiday!" He protested with a bit of a laugh. "Don't worry, Mentalist, I'll be sure to come up with lots of work for you before long."

It wouldn't even occur to him that Gen might not want to work with him now that they weren't in an end of the world scenario. He didn't doubt him for a moment.

He would feel the slight shift in Senku's posture being that close to him, a small sag of relief. If Ryusui was alright, then probably other people were too, he just had to believe that for now. O K He answered easily enough, accepting it for the moment.

"What? My clothes are comfortable, and give me a full range of motion, that's what's good about them." Senku complained. "This." He gave a tug to Gen's shirt, but not on the sleeve, with his free hand at the collar in the middle of his chest. "Is just trying to blind me."

"Senku-chan," Gen drew out his name in a long whine. "Isn't this the perfect chance to take a break?"

Gen didn't mean it, not even a little. There's an incredible amount for him to do. He had to find out about this train, and its inhabitants. Who were potential allies, and who were potential threats. Who's already started to work with Senku - if anyone - and who Senku had already ticked off, which was unfortunately more likely.

He knew he had his work cut out for him.

Glancing at Senku out of the corner of his eye, he gave him a theatrical pout. "I can't really help it, my dear. It hurts me more than it hurts you, looking like ... a traffic cone ... when I've so many new people to meet and befriend. But they give you the barest amount of money when you arrive on this train, I'm stuck in this offensive thing until I resort to going nude."

Since that was an amusing, ridiculous idea, he pretended to look like he was considering it.

He rolled his eyes at the question, Gen likely knew what he thought about that, there was no way his life was never working, and there were new things to work on during this unusual voyage.

"Oh my god." Senku groaned. "Are you going to whine incessantly about this?" That was a rhetorical question, of course Gen was.

"I'd like to call your bluff." Senku said with a smirk. "But to spare the entire train, you should look into it." He sighed. "I have points, I'll get you something, just order what you want and tell me how much it is."

He tugged on that sleeve again. 45 He conveyed his points to Gen briefly, and then looked thoughtful. "Something strange happened on the island. People were seeing other people's memories. It was an odd place."

"Cruel," Gen continued to pout. "I'm not whining, I'm only pointing out how difficult my life now is, uprooted for a second time to a brand new world where I again have nothing."

I O U, Gen tapped back, because if he repaid him the points later - provided he got more, the pamphlet had warned that people didn't know how it worked - Senku couldn't call in a more troublesome favor later.

Gen hummed. "Surely there's some enterprising person who'd be willing to make me something less offensive." He glanced at Senku, "Wouldn't you be interested in something more comfortable?"

"Join the club." Senku drawled sarcastically, and at the tapping, he responded with a shrug of one shoulder. He didn't know if points could be passed to people, but he did think Gen would help him if he needed something, just like he was doing for him.

"I know there's a spider that makes yukata, because I got one on the island." Senku said, with an amused smile.

He shrugged. "Sure, but I was like you and didn't have any points. There's probably more important things I need. These clothes are very...well nostalgic in a way I guess, but I'm not at all used to it."

"Yes, yes," Gen mused, a little more soberly now, "it does seem everyone is exactly in the same situation. If there was a single person who asked to be here, I would be surprised."

Of course, some people could very well be glad that they were on the train and not somewhere else. Gen could easily imagine that. But it didn't seem that the kidnappers particularly asked anyone.

Gen hummed. That was his reasoning as well. What if they required something much more important than clothes? It was a shallow thing to want. Then again, if he was going to maintain a 'shallow' persona here, to fool others ...

"A spider?" Gen sounded a little apprehensive, but sighed and shrugged. "We should see how expensive it is. An outfit for me is a worthy investment; if you already have a nice yukata ..."

"I haven't met anyone who said they volunteered so far." Senku reported, although he hadn't exactly asked that, had he? That seemed like a valid question, he'd have to try and work that in when he spoke to people.

"There are some non-human sentient beings here." He explained. "...I have not asked any how that works. Even I know that's rude." He said with a blunt little chuckle.

"There's at least a percentage of people from worlds with magic that may or may not have rules similar to science, and that I do ask about. It's quite fascinating."

He sighed a little. "The yukata was nice for a change, but it's not much better for range of motion, it's more restrictive than this is."

"Yes, I've spoken with someone who looks like a dragon, so far," Gen pointed out, a little wistful. "I can feel my seven-year-old self get intensely jealous on my behalf. It's rather ... fantastical, here."

Which is why he shouldn't have been surprised to hear that - and he was instantly distracted by the fact - "There's actual magic to be learned, here?"

There's no artifice, no lie, to his bright, eager expression. Like Senku would look if someone promised him his own personal Saturn V rocket to play with.

What had he just done? He groaned.

"I have no idea if you can learn it. But you can certainly learn about it." Senku clarified. "There seem to be quite a few people who know how to use it.

"My dear Senku," Gen told him with the brightest grin, "you said yourself - these magical abilities may or may not have similar rules as science would."

"If there are rules and systems that determine how they work - surely, there's ways others can learn those rules and systems," Gen reasoned, a little smugly. "Logically, then, even you could learn magic."

"I did..." Senku said, sounding a lot more apprehensive at the expression on his face.

Then, he fixed Gen with a flat stare. "Why on Earth would I want to do that?"

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