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

[shadowslipping]

"....In...normal capacity?" Yuume blinks. Wait a minute- "AH- You know of duel monsters..!? H-hold on then...I need to ask, what year are you from? I probably shouldn't be talking to you about what the future might hold after all..!" Ahh...

"...For example, whatever you're talking about is probably extremely outdated..." she determines, sighing. "...Shadows are...a part of a person's soul. That much, I should be able to explain..." Yuume admits. "Because of their appearances, and their connections to duel monsters itself, the method used to dueling had to change for them- 'Shadow Battles' allow them to take part. 'AR Dueling' however, allows them to be present, and watching the duel, without interfering with the technology. A Shadow's presence at an old Solid Vision duel...it could ultimately be catastrophic."

The woman coughs. "T-That said, I should probably not say too much..."

[storms_eye]

Dueling could mean different things to different people but that concept clearly wasn't getting across. Silvia was about to further explain it when the thought was derailed. "Yes, I do." Honestly, when asked to say the year she was from it gave her pause, just like it had on the orange team survey. On the one hand it might offer some clarity, allaying some confusion but on the other... she wasn't sure she wanted to know? Plus, what if there was a negative stigma attached to being from the past? Would someone else think she was primitive compared to them or unable to grasp newer concepts?!

Basically she was completely overthinking it, just like she had taken to leaving out much of her upbringing in school. "I ... uh.. for what it's worth... don't really think that should be an issue? You most likely aren't even from the same dimension so you couldn't influence mine." Though there really was no way of telling in some instances.

Somehow that was like verbal daggers being lobbed at her. Though she tried not to show it. If the technology was outdated than everything about her was too. Why did the train select her, over someone else anyway? It was probably just random lot, but that didn't do much for her self esteem. "Are shadows like.. monsters? Or like literal shadows... or what?" The word could be used for anything. "So it's a piece of the soul that has some weird connection to the game?" Clearly getting lost. "How is a shadow battle different than a solid vision battle?.... do they need their own AR device to see the AR duel.. or.. since it's a part of a person's soul can they just.. see what you see?" In her mind she was envisioning some really weird stuff.

[shadowslipping]

Less that the concept wasn't getting a cross and more that it was derailed before Yuume could consider that. Silvia said duel monsters. That alone told her enough. Silvia was familiar with dueling as Duel Monsters, rather than duels of old eras long passed.

Yuume studies the other for a moment, frowning. "...If it means much to you...I would rather not take that risk. The world itself was reset twice in my world's history- I don't have the luxury of assuming another 'duel monster' world won't be connected some how. Even if the past differs significantly...if enough is similar, it could simply have been one of those 'reset' realities."

As it is. Outdated was far from an insult- she certainly didn't mean it that way. Just that...people weren't using those things anymore. That's all.

She fights with a sword, so it would be hypocritical to use it as an insult. "Ah...monsters, would be closer. They reside in the shadow typically though," she explains, before blinking. "Ah- The latter. They can see what their partner see. As for influence..." Hmmm. "I'm not sure...but I suspect what they're doing is drawing the spirits of other monsters out through the solid holograms...it makes them more real. Augmented Reality however, isn't made with anything that bears presence in reality- so they can't do the same thing."

[storms_eye]

Had the thoughts been voiced Silvia might have wondered if a variety of sports had fallen so far out of favor in that alternate timeline to also be considered eras long old. Duel monsters wasn't the only activity that used the term, it was merely the most popular.

"Reset... like in a video game?" She nearly laughed when the sound caught in her throat. This woman was being serious. The concept was so foreign to her on a whole. How could a world be reset in the first place? Obliterated, sure, but like flipping on and off a switch? Not that the victims would really be aware of it... would they? "If it's that easy to trigger then your world must be a highly unstable place...."

Swords had never fully fallen out of favor with a select set of people, though they were mostly of the decorative variety. Instinctively Silvia angled her head slightly to glance at her shadow with suspicion. Then she returned to looking at the stranger. "That would make it easier.." The idea of a shadowy creature with some high tech equipment strapped to it's head vanished. "... but how could a soul reside in a hologram anymore than it could in a three dimensional image?".. and that was assuming a lot in itself! Like the monsters really existed to have souls.

Somehow, that portion was the most believable but she didn't express why.

"They're both just... images....right?" The woman had already stated that she didn't know for sure, so Silvia should stop the line of questioning but somehow it made her more antsy not to know.

at the very least this first statement is how it is where I live so like if that's different uhhhhh

[shadowslipping]

Duel as a term might be but less so for challenging one to a duel- as it is.

"As in 'reset'. Time run backward, and people made to forget- for the most part, obviously." A wry smile. "If people hadn't remembered, we wouldn't have known it happened after all neh?"

As it stands, she crosses her arms. "The hologram is a vessel. The card a contract- whether those holding them realize it or not. When the spirit of a monster comes forward, it doesn't matter how aware of things another was- what matters is that it's occurring. Duel Monsters, as a card game, was derived from carvings of things which existed in other realms- ultimately, that does not make them any less real now that their images are printed on card paper."

[storms_eye]

"Unless there was some other evidence left behind... I wonder why some people remember and others don't." Though maybe she shouldn't ask it officially. This woman had already stated that she didn't want to go into too much detail, just in case.

"I see." So, what could they talk about then if there was likely so much off the table already? "You're.... new to the train right?"

[shadowslipping]

"It's largely a matter of who's involved ultimately- over all, the people who were present at each 'reset' remembered what had happened prior- by so much as speaking about it, others in the same time period were able to remember themselves, leading to the collective understanding that a 'reset' had changed. It might be easier to take in if I note that each 'reset' wasn't to the end of time though," Yuume adds gently. "It was a significant amount of time, but at the very least within the same century."

She does give a sympathetic smile with the awkward spot the matter of monster spirits and cards has brought them though. "I just want to be careful, ultimately..." Anyway. "Ah..." Yuume blinks, nodding as Silvia asks the question. "Yes- I just arrived," she answers, nodding. "Yuume Souryuu," she introduces with a small nod of the head. "University student of Japan." And 'Duel Doctor', but that one feels a bit less useful here.

[storms_eye]

"So a reset has an epicenter?" Breaking it down further into more relatable terms. Resets in general would return to a preset time or save point, if she stayed to the video game theory so the rest of it wasn't so surprising. Sheesh, how she hoped her world would never experience it however, with her luck she would be one of the people who remembered it, then with her seeming inability to filter her thoughts she'd come across looking crazy. "That would be..... really disorienting." To say the least.

Silvia had been exposed to enough sci fi to know better that to push it, even though she really wanted to. Curiosity was overwhelming at times. "I guess I should say welcome to the train, but I'm still unsure about whether being here is a good thing or.. not." Laughing a bit sheepishly. "Nice to meet you Yuume, I'm Silvia Leafe." Mirroring the nod with her hands folded in front of her. "I'm still in high school myself, also Japan, but only recently."

[shadowslipping]

"Something like that?" Mmmm...she tries to think of a good way to explain it simply. "Both incidents had focal points that ultimately affected the dimensional state of things- splitting the world into four planes of reality, and then repeating the process when they had started to re-merge. The people involved in each event were the first to remember, but ultimately each time, people over all were relocated to suit...By now of course, everyone who would be alive at this time hasn't experienced that, but I imagine you're quite right for those who were there back then."

Extremely right! Ah- "Oh...Recently?" She beams. "Then did you perhaps move from elsewhere? ...It sounds exciting...I have a lot of respect for people who manage themselves through classes after moving to a foreign country..." Learning any language is difficult after all! Though she supposes it could be that Silvia was raised bilingual...

Well, still.