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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"You're telling me," Gen looked at him with disbelief, and it's not feigned, "that there's an unknown, unexplained phenomena that has clear intrinsic but unexplained properties - and you don't want to study it to find out how it works?"

That was a low blow Gen, really and truly.

"Of course I want to know how it works." He responded. "But that doesn't mean I have to do magic, if I even could."

"How would you experiment and verify your understanding of it," Gen asked cheekily, "if you didn't cast a few magic spells of your own?"

He let out a very put upon sigh that just screamed a teenaged 'I hate you'.

"I am highly skeptical that I could learn magic even if I wanted to. Isn't some kind of ability required? You would think so."

He tugged on his sleeve again. COME.

"Let's go, I should show you around the train." He declared, getting up with a grin and started leading the way out. He wasn't going to give him a full tour, he was going to get them into the quiet car so they could slip into a private room.

"I haven't the slightest clue, but we could find out. Agic-may ... isn't it exciting?" Gen asked in a sing-song tone.

Gen didn't need the message in Morse to understand what Senku wanted, easily following along with him. He already guessed that his friend wanted a private place to interrogate him about the future. And he smiled blithely as if that didn't worry him at all.

"I've never been on a train quite like this one before," Gen mused as they walked.

"You certainly would think so." Senku observed dryly as he relocated their discussion.

The quiet car had several small room-like structures, and he selected one in the middle, so as not to draw attention. It wasn't just the future he wanted to hear about, but he had things to convey to Gen that he didn't want an audience for as well.

He entered and sat on one of the benches. He trusted Gen to know to lock the door, and he gave him an open option as to where he wanted to sit, leaning against the back wall.

Gen moved to sit right next to him, of course. It was never a good tactic if you were negotiating with someone to sit across from them. And one never knew when it was necessary to strike a deal with the smartest person alive. Or at least that's what Gen would tell anyone if they asked.

Plus, he had no idea that the rooms were soundproof. It's just easier to speak quietly with each other if he sat close beside him, wasn't it?

"Two months?" Gen finally brought up again. "It's a relief to see you're still in one piece, my dear."

Gen was right about that, he wasn't sure they were soundproof either, he'd never tested it and it would be easier to speak in quiet voices the closer they were.

It wasn't quite whispering, but it wasn't much louder than that.

Senku knew that Gen was opening with that in the hopes of deterring him. He hoped he knew he wouldn't be deterred, but he would take the bait for now.

"I managed." Senku offered with a bit of a shrug.

"So you're off spying on an unknown group and I'm, presumably, still on the Perseus, apparently injured. Ryusui is probably running everything then, I would think. You don't know about Chrome or Ukyo. That a full enough summary?" He paused. "I'll bite. What happened to me?"

Gen's expression shifted slightly, away from his bright and cheerful grin, often teasing his friend. He still smiled, but it was more subdued now. Admittedly, that was a rather weak attempt at deterring Senku.

The scientist was one of the stubbornest people he'd ever met.

"... I can guess that they're likely uninjured," Gen admitted, "but I can't say for certain. We're using a cypher to communicate, just in case our transmissions are intercepted - otherwise, I might have been getting chattier details from Perseus."

The mentalist definitely hesitated. "I can't say for certain. But there's a person in this group who claims to have injured you."

Senku was quiet a moment. They were using a cipher? He wondered which one, but they were in America and perhaps betting on their opponents not speaking Japanese. Morse code used English as a basis, but their cipher likely wouldn't if more people needed to be able to communicate.

"They have communications technology." He realized aloud with a murmur. "Interesting." It was a similar reaction to the one he would have when he was there.

"You don't want to tell me more than that." Senku observed. "I'll drop it. I suppose it doesn't matter, I was just curious." He sighed.

"So." He said, looking up at the ceiling idly. "The island had that tricky downside with sharing memories with someone else. Mine were shared with a woman named Eva."

"I am sorry," Gen told him, perhaps surprisingly honest. "I don't know if telling you will prevent the attack - or will just lead to ..."

He had no idea if Senku was alive now. Well, alive there. Back in America. Where and when he'd been taken from. Senku could likely tell he was clearly conflicted. Gen had to believe, however, that as brilliant as he was, that he did something to survive. He grimaced and then flicked on a smile and tried not to show how bothered he was by it.

... Senku effectively distracted him. Gen's eyes went wide. "Your memories were shared? What did she see?"

"Three different memories, actually." Senku responded, but his tone dipped into a teasing range to try and lighten the mood a little bit. "Don't worry, you didn't feature in a single one." He quirked a little smirk at him.

"Aside from those, and I'll get to them in a minute, we seem to be...connected now?" He mused thoughtfully.

"I can sort of tell where she is on the train." He wasn't sure what purpose that served, but there it was.

"I don't know whether to be relieved or offended," Gen said lightly back, grinning, teasing. "And here I thought we had some manner of iendship-fray."

But then he sobered. His expression lost a lot of its bright, teasing edge, even if he never truly lost his smile. Senku knew him well enough, however - Gen was concerned. Very concerned.

"Which means she can sort of tell wherever you are on the train as well, I'd imagine," Gen pointed out. "What else can she likely do?"

"I expect so." Senku agreed. "That's only a logical conclusion." They hadn't really talked about it. "When we're in close proximity, I can get a sense of her feelings. As far as I know, that's it."

It meant, of course, that the link went both ways. It was imperative that Gen knew that this link existed, even if he had no intention on telling anyone else.

"I won't tell you her memories." He hummed. "It's an invasion of her privacy, but I can tell you mine." He trusted Gen to keep them to himself.

"I suppose it's worth further investigation," Gen remarked quietly, thoughtfully. But he didn't trust it. How could he? He didn't know who she was - he had no idea if this Eva could be trusted. Even if it's the same Eva who wrote the welcome pamphlet, actually.

He gave Gen a wry smile. "If she could be an ally, that connection could be used to tell if you were hurt or find if you went missing. But she could also use that connection to purposefully hurt you. Time will tell."

Then, he blinked. Gen might not trust this unknown woman farther than he could throw her - and he couldn't really throw anyone - but that didn't mean ... "I wouldn't dream of asking that of you, Senku-chan. But I admit, I am curious. What memories of yours did she see?"

"I'd say she's an ally, at the very least. I'll explain how it worked and you'll understand why I think so." Senku could even call Eva a friend, at that point, but Gen didn't have the contextual data.

"When we arrived, I saw a memory that was hers, so I presume that was when she saw mine. For me, it was a discussion I was having with a woman, she said, about Byakuya. So I would presume Kohaku." He responded. "It probably wasn't a very significant memory, just something that happened in the morning before we left for the village."

He hummed. "It got more interesting after that. The second memory she saw was just an ordinary discussion with my old man. When I was in preschool. It's not an unpleasant memory." Senku sounded a bit guarded when he spoke about it, though, it was a memory that hurt him now in context.

"After that we were trapped in this cave, until we discussed our memories." He pressed his lips together.

Senku had the very irritating tendency of trusting and befriending people who had very recently attempted to murder him. It was what Gen thought could quickly turn the rest of his hair white. But he'd just remain a little skeptical for them both, until he could be sure she's trustworthy.

Gen listened to Senku, considering that. Two memories tied to his father. He had a feeling that Senku might even still be mourning him - unlike the rest of the petrified world, Byakuya had lived and died already. He'd never see him again.

"You mentioned three memories, Senku-chan," Gen pointed out, not unkindly. He'd comment on the fact the cave trapped them until they had a heart-to-heart in a moment.

"So I did." Senku believed that as long as they weren't actively trying to kill him it was probably going to work out fine. Probably.

He hesitated. When something was bothering him, he wasn't nearly as good as Gen at hiding that, even if normally he would just leave, have a moment in private and be done.

He fidgeted, but then stopped himself. He met Gen's eyes. "The third memory was about killing Tsukasa."

Senku presumed that was all he really needed to say. He and the other man had been alone, certainly, but the connotation probably carried enough weight.

"It was the same. Trapped in the cave to have a discussion."

"Not quite the same, I'd imagine," Gen acknowledged softly.

It's a very subtle thing, but he shifted his leg just a hair, so that his was pressing against Senku's. Just repositioning, a coincidence if this would give Senku a little grounding contact.

"I'd imagine she'd have quite a few questions," continued Gen in the same tone, "as even with context, what you'd needed to do was difficult."

"The third memory was different in that we saw them both, together, from the outside. Hers was a similarly difficult memory. I don't understand the purpose, but..." Senku was avoiding that context.

"In any case, we were trapped until our discussion satisfied some sort of unknown variable, particularly surrounding, ugh, feelings I would guess and then we were released, and we had this bond."

He sighed. "Aside from that though, Eva and I spoke a couple of other times, which is why I would tentatively say I trust her." Trust was a lot harder than the friendship he offered so easily.

"The purpose would seem to be to place you both in a very emotionally taxing situation - for what ended up being a literal bonding exercise," Gen speculated aloud, not joking at all.

Don't think you're getting out of talking about those feelings, Senku. But Gen first thought, begrudgingly admitting, "If she's earned your tentative trust, I should meet her, give her a chance as well. We do need allies here, if we'll be here for months."

"Accurate." Senku agreed with a bit of a sigh. Not that he'd wanted to bond with someone, or even knew her beforehand. He hadn't.

He certainly was intending on not discussing feelings, if he could help it.

"It's been two for me already. I have a few allies, I think." He hummed thoughtfully. "Eva, certainly, and I'm sure she wouldn't mind meeting you. Roland is another. He helped me with my collection of items from the island."

He didn't mention that Roland also wanted to fix his manners, or get him to do small talk. Gen would enjoy that far too much.

Gen would try to subtly nudge Senku's leg with his own. "It's not a situation I would've volunteered for, sharing all of that with a stranger. It could've been anyone in that cave. But perhaps, if she is someone we could trust ... it might've helped you."

"You would've needed someone to rope into gathering all your materials, I suppose, without Chrome or myself here to help you," Gen agreed with a bit more cheer. "Is he another eager student of science?"

Senku nudged him back with a little shrug. "I didn't say much, don't get excited, there's not much to say about it. I just explained what happened and that it's going to be fine. Which you're telling me it is. So there's nothing else to say about any of it." He hadn't talked about his dad either, or let on he was still upset about it when he thought about it.

"I don't need help with it." It had been more than long enough, right?

"Ah, no, I don't think he is, but he's certainly willing to let me talk his ear off about the wide variety of rocks I found and what I discovered about them." Senku hummed. Who did that remind Gen of? "He invited me to this party and then proceeded to torture me." He grumbled.

There's a thing about people; if you tell them to do something, many people will say no just to be contrary, or even do the opposite thing. It's a trick Gen used a lot on others, demanding one thing so they'll decide the other. But that kind of trick rarely worked on Senku. He did what he wanted regardless of what others said.

"Ah, forgive me, my dear," Gen said light and mild, "you're aware it's not often I volunteer to give a hand. And usually you're dragging me into something you're capable of doing on your own, but help eases the burden."

But his description of this other ally, made Gen genuinely chuckle. "Oh how cruel of him, Senku - did the party have dancing?"

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