A New Platform [Intro Post October]

[voidtreckermods]

On the Train

"Good morning passengers, it is day sixteen of the month of Horsehoe. Points have been updated on the system and new stock is available."

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. The first thing they may notice is that this platform is inside a basic shelter, making it warmer than the last couple at least.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing as they walk silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers. Adora, Alex Hashimoto, Catra, Cloud Strife, Elizabeth Midford, Feanor, Gerome, Gladiolus Amicitia, Glimmer, Ifrit, Isabella D’Oro, Maru, Nari Reno, Noctis Lucis Caelum, Prompto Argentum, Scorpia, Siobahn Chereshei, SXT-2, Tamamo-no-Mae, Tony Stark, Uta, Zidane Tribal

But on the platform itself there are many new faces. Wearing hoodies in all four colours 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 gloomy, even without the steam and fog. They are in a wooden building, open to the tracks on one side. It in a creaky shelter, cobwebs hang from the rafters and there is a peculiar whistle as wind finds its way through the cracks.

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 gloom 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.

A new carriage has been added, those that go to investigate will find a room full of lockers, designated as the Armoury. Even for passengers without weapons it is somewhere to secure possessions. There are instructions on how to use the lockers and enough for everyone to claim one.

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!

Comments

[10billionpercent]

I'm not in school, they don't really exist in my world anymore.

[ He might look young enough to pull of senior year in high school, or more accurately, university student, but alas not meant to be. ]

The summary is mainly we're all from different places for the most part, you get on the train, it takes you through an unexplained, fascinating void from world to world.

[fionnuisce]

Well, that's all an alarming statement, but sure. Today's just going to get stranger.

[At least he could mostly take it in stride.]

I'm in deep shit when I get back and someone finds out I've been world traveling, but it's not like I can help it.

[10billionpercent]

My world is a very strange place at the moment, not much I can do about it being that I'm here right now.

[ He can make so many more alarming statements, but he doesn't. ]

If it helps, it will be like you never left, and the world is sort of on pause for you, so no one will be the wiser. I was told this hypothesis, and now I have a friend from my future, so it appears to be true.

[fionnuisce]

...Oh. So my sister won't break my neck the second I get back, then, that actually does help quite a bit.

[Go figure.]

Didn't catch your name--just call me Professor for the moment, if you don't mind.

[10billionpercent]

[ It's an interesting choice to request a title that has meaning to Senku and he's not sure he wants to bestow it on a stranger. It would be like asking people to call him by some of his titles, which since they don't really apply to these people he would never ask for that.]

What do you teach? [ He figures he can at least ask. ]

I'm Ishigami Senku, but you can call me Senku. Nearly everyone does.

[fionnuisce]

...Chemistry.

[not technically or entirely a lie.]

Nice to meet you, though I could stand for better circumstances.

[10billionpercent]

Really? What kind of chemistry do you teach?

[ He sounds like he might be measuring his skill with his answers, because he's not terribly subtle. ]

[fionnuisce]

Essentially? Organic, inorganic, analytical, and physical. Little theoretical, too.

[lot of words for 'alchemy', but still technically the truth.]

[10billionpercent]

I meant more what kind of level you were teaching, but that works, I suppose.

[ He's been learning a bit about alchemy too, but in that space he's not an expert like he is in the non-magical hard sciences. ]

[fionnuisce]

Oh--I'm a university professor in London.

[that part's actually even true!]

[10billionpercent]

Ah, interesting. Anything in particular that catches your interest?

[ He sounds moderately less hostile, he can believe this man might know a thing or two which would please him more than anything. Most people can't keep up with him. ]

[fionnuisce]

I study a fair few things. Mostly keep to my own specialties, but I've had my share of idle research now and again.

['I am a nerd whose apartment looks like a library.']

Why do you ask?

[10billionpercent]

[ That tells him absolutely nothing in a way that reminds him of his mentalist friend and he sighs a little bit. ]

I'm something of a scientific specialist. My favourite subjects were always astrophysics and aerospace engineering, but I've studied rather extensively in all of the hard sciences. There used to be schools in my world, although I've long exceeded what they teach, I just went because apparently credentials mattered, at least, they did back then. Something about JAXA requiring post-secondary education and it was my fallback for my future plans.

[fionnuisce]

That's definitely a little beyond my field of study, I'm afraid.

[A shrug.]

Do I...want to ask why schools 'used to' exist?

[10billionpercent]

Sorry, right, chemistry, well probably the most advanced things I've done chemically is creating a few drugs, you know analgesics and sulfanamide, dimenhydrinate are the biggest ones, lately. In the past I was working on Ebola research as a student internship in Africa.

[ He was a very atypical student. ]

That depends on if you find mysteries fascinating. Sometime, over 3700 years ago, all of the humans and swallows turned to stone and remained that way until I broke free in 5738. I counted the entire time, I can tell you exactly how long I was petrified.

[fionnuisce]

...I like you already, kid.

[but also, what.]

Well...fuck. Can't claim that I don't love a good mystery, but that's one hell of a thing to lay out like that. How'd you stop from going crazy?

[Because you know what, he's heard weird enough that makes this believable.]

[10billionpercent]

You know, I think that's the first question everyone asks. I have a couple of theories on that. The petrification is fascinating and when it breaks it has a regenerative property which we've used to our advantage, meaning that any condition that isn't genetic can be healed through the depetrification process. So one theory, would be that if I was losing my sanity, it would've been fixed when I broke free.

[ He grins though. ]

The other theory of course, is that I am not that sane, and I certainly get that a lot, but no matter what so-called crazy thing I say I'm doing, I always deliver. I mean, sure, telling people I'm making a cell phone in the stone age sounds crazy, but I did.

[ Kid huh, well, he's glad enough he looks youthful and all but he's physically pushing twenty at this point. ]

[fionnuisce]

[What in god's name is your world even, kid.]

...Eh, you don't seem any worse off than me. It's up to you if that's a compliment or not. I can at least respect the intellect enough to put in the effort to do something that crazy.

[10billionpercent]

Could just be a fact at this point. That was just the beginning though, we've been racing towards the future as fast as we can, but you need to know a lot about how you get from one compound to the next if you're going to make everything from scratch. Fortunately, Japan has a lot of natural resources.

[fionnuisce]

Quite. Chemistry is in a sense the basis of nearly all else, one could say. Without much knowledge of that, you're out of luck before you even start.

Can's say I would know how to get to cellphones from scratch, but I suppose it isn't completely impossible.

[10billionpercent]

Of course it wasn't impossible, but you're probably thinking of a modern one. This one is the size of a backpack and operates on radio waves. Batteries, of course, manganese ones.

We haven't moved into serious manufacturing too much yet, but we did for our ship. It's not mass production by any means yet, of course, then again we're dealing with a population of about a hundred and fifty. It's not necessary, yet.

[fionnuisce]

You've got me on that one, looks like I was assuming something a lot more ambitious. Still...that's one hell of a project, especially if it actually functions.

[10billionpercent]

Not ambitious enough, huh?

[ He hums a moment. ]

The only invention that's truly my own is the revival fluid to break people out of the petrification.

[ Aside from that, he's just running humanity through its paces. ]

Radar? GPS? A full scale ship 18th century ship? Paved roads? I guess it depends on what you find ambitious.

[fionnuisce]

Oh, I think even a rudimentary cellphone is ambitious as hell. Engineering's definitely not my wheelhouse, so I wouldn't know where to start on most of those. Paved roads sound doable, if a lot to ask in regards to equipment and workload.

[10billionpercent]

Also, it does work, my radio tower has a range of a hundred kilometres. It connects to some others, got a tiny network going.

We only have one paved road, because you're right, it's a pain in the ass, but it will allow the car to drive from the mine to the water so we can move materials around. We had to upscale a lot when building the ship.

[ Engineering is one of his passions and building things is just so fun to him. ]

I studied all of those subjects vigorously when I was younger, and I have an excellent memory, so I memorized all of that. We've used the cellphones a lot. Calling them that is a big generous but it does work.