voidtreckerexpress | A New Platform [Intro Post October]

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A New Platform [Intro Post October]

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"The ones in the kitchen show the recipes for the month and the one in the movie theater is how you pick what's playing on the screen." Those are, quite frankly, the only times he ever uses the ICP besides occasionally responding to people on it. Webmind very kindly taught him how to use it and he still refuses just on principle. "Oh, it's also how you buy stuff. Someone taught me how to do that."

Has he made use of that knowledge? Absolutely not. Whatever he wants, he dreams. Part of Ronan is aware that Adam is probably going to want to do things the hard way, though, and will actually buy things from the shop. Points are variable and Ronan hasn't been able to figure out how, exactly, one gets points beyond doing chores and completing mission goals but he has some. The difficult part is going to be convincing Adam that he can use those points and Ronan isn't looking forward to that conversation. That's at least five steps away from the conversation they're currently having, though.

His brow furrowed as he frowned. "How do we buy things?" With what money? He hadn't arrived with any, he assumed so far, and he couldn't imagine that anyone was paying them here. Besides that, what was there to even buy? He wasn't the kind of person who spent frivolously; he couldn't imagine what he would buy unless there was something that would help them get home. Which he highly doubted.

"Train randomly gives out points for doing chores, participating on missions, and whatever else it feels like." It would probably have helped if he explained the missions part first, but oh well. He would have gotten there eventually. "The train goes from world to world and we help out with whatever crisis they're having. So basically what we did at home, but it doesn't involve - nevermind. I think people have died on the missions."

In other words: exactly like what they did at home. Hopefully with less dead Welsh kings, though.

Receiving points for doing things could be viewed a couple of different ways. It was either rewarding good behavior to keep everyone in line, or it was a job. Adam was torn on which one he felt it was, but tucked that aside in favor of being vaguely horrified over people dying. He'd figured it was a possibility when kidnapping was involved, and to be fair, it wasn't too far off from the situations they'd found themselves in at home.

"That's awful." Ronan had better have been being careful. Adam didn't know what he'd do if he lost him. "How dangerous are things, usually?"

There was another point in there that was already nagging at him, though, too. "World to world? As in-?"

"Different planets. They're called 'worlds' and they all have serial numbers." Is Ronan deliberately skipping over the question of how dangerous missions are? Yes. Then, just to make sure that question gets buried and he doesn't have to answer it: "There's a couple books about it in the library."

For as weird as Ronan is about not lying, he has fewer qualms about just not answering questions and casually redirecting a conversation. Talking about the train is easy. That way he doesn't have to bring up Tidus or the bone-deep tiredness that's always at the edges of his consciousness.

"There's a girl - Nita? She has some information about the train. Well, they're the train's memories, actually."

Different planets. Not only had he been kidnapped, but he'd been taken to a magical train that traveled to different planets. That news alone would have been almost enough to make him forget about the other question, but Ronan's comment about the books sealed it. Just give him a moment to wrap his head around the planets thing, because he needed a moment or two.

Was it weirder than Cabeswater and time working weird and everything else they'd lived through? Yes. Maybe. It was even worse when you were skeptical by default, though he'd seen a lot of things that had made him not a skeptic.

If he'd been talking to someone else, he would've asked if they were bullshitting him, but he didn't bother.

"Okay. Planets. That's-" he didn't finish, gesturing vaguely. Crazy was what he meant. "I'll read up on it." Maybe reading about it would help him with the idea of planet to planet travel.

"How does anybody know the train's memories?"

"The train took us to a world for a vacation, and everyone ended up getting someone else's memories. Some of them were from the train." That's the short version, but he doesn't want to explain anything about the long version. "You could also talk to Enna, but Nita is the one that can show you the memories."

Conveniently, Ronan has actually managed to lead them to where he wanted to go. Do you know what's not easy to do, though? Go up stairs while walking backwards. So while Ronan would probably be extra paranoid and grab one of the quiet booths on the upper floor, instead he finds the first empty one on the lower floor and herds Adam into it.

"Normally I would have dragged you in here for something that involved a lot less clothing," Ronan says as he shuts them in, "but we can't all get what we want. Maybe later. What's the last thing you remember before being on the platform?"

The idea of memory sharing didn't sit easy with him. He didn't want anyone seeing inside his head, and not just because of all the supernatural adventures he'd been on. "Some vacation," he muttered. He really wanted to ask what Ronan had shared then, but he bit his tongue and waited.

Stepping into the quiet booth, he wished they were in the kind of situation where they could undress and not worry about anything else, instead of having been kidnapped.

The question felt weird since he'd just seen Ronan a few hours ago, but he answered dutifully all the same. "I'd just gotten back to my dorm room. After seeing you for your birthday. Why?" What was he unaware of in this situation?

Ronan says nothing for a long moment, instead looking to the left of Adam. That's what he'd been afraid of, when Adam said nothing about the Lace or the test he obviously passed, because of course Adam would pass his test. Adam is beautifully, incandescently smart in a way that makes Ronan simultaneously want to shield his eyes and never look away.

"I met Bryde," is what he finally decides to say. In the gaps between the words is the larger conclusion: there was a whole period where Ronan couldn't contact Adam, and now he's wondering if this had anything to do with it. "It didn't solve anything."

If anything, Ronan would say that it made everything worse.

In the few hours since Adam had last seen him? That didn't sound like taking things slow, but considering where they were right now, it didn't feel like it mattered too much anymore. He hadn't been sure chasing down Bryde would solve anything, anyway, especially not when that thing, whatever it was, was afraid of him.

"What happened?" He was at once curious and worried, as if he hadn't been worried since the moment he'd blinked and found himself on the platform. This was a different kind of worry, an arguably more important kind since it was for Ronan and not himself.

"You left. I went back to the Barns to dream." Ronan's still not quite looking at Adam. "Bryde told me I was the most expensive thing he ever saved. He said I had to save Hennessy, so I did. Jordan asked me to prove how good a dreamer I was, so I did. Then Matthew called me a liar, because he found out that I dreamed him. Then I dreamed of Bryde again and woke up to Hennessy calling me. Took her to Lindenmere, tried to fix the problem. Instead, we had to call Bryde."

None of this is going to make sense to Adam, and some small part of Ronan is aware of that. He's trying to put it all in order before he fills in the gaps, though. He hasn't taken the time to put the events of what happened into their proper order. At the time, everything was happening so quickly that he didn't have time to process it. Once he ended up on the train, he just didn't think about it because he didn't want to touch the idea that Adam wasn't okay.

"The Lace nearly killed us and that was before Declan called and told me Matthew was in danger. So I asked Lindenmere for something. It gave me Sundogs. You didn't pick up your phone. Jordan didn't pick up her phone. Nobody was picking up. I thought you were all dead, but the Sundogs did their job. Matthew and Declan were fine, so was Hennessy. Made Gansey and Sargent call Mr. Gray, who gave up the information that there's a government-backed group hunting Dreamers."

Technically, he hasn't reached the part of the story where he met Bryde yet. Ronan trails off all the same, though, because the thing he's still stuck on is looking down at his phone to see sixteen text messages in a row, all marked unread. Was Adam not responding because Adam was already here? But if that was the case, how had Ronan been here for three months when Adam had only just arrived?

None of it makes sense. Maybe it's better not to explain that to Adam.

None of it made any sense to Adam. It was a whirlwind of information without proper explanations. His head was spinning and it all reached a peak with people hunting dreamers. The idea of anyone hunting Ronan or any other dreamer made his blood run cold. What was there to gain from that? What purpose was there in hurting someone like Ronan? Even worse was the idea that there was very little Adam could do to stop people like that.

"You're going to have to explain some of that again," he said, his voice wavering a little, "Especially the part about people hunting dreamers." He couldn't offer an explanation for why he hadn't answered his phone; he hadn't been there, he hadn't lived through that moment. Which was a thought that made his head hurt, because how could he have not lived through it if Ronan had? What did that mean about how time worked? Had something happened to him that he didn't know about yet? Was that even possible?

"Hennessy's name is Jordan Hennessy. She gave half of her name to the first sister she dreamed. There were eleven more, but not all of them were alive when I met her." Jordan told him about the others and he could tell Adam, but that's for Hennessy to explain. If Hennessy ever shows up, which he's beginning to think might actually happen. "People came and gunned down every sister but Jordan then came after Matthew, all while another attack was happening in South Africa. There's a lot of dreamkillers, apparently, and they're not going to stop until we're all dead."

He's been sketching the Sundogs on a scrap of paper while he talks and he slides it across the table to Adam when he's done. It looks exactly like something Ronan would dream: wild and slightly unhinged.

"The Sundogs wiped them out. The ones looking for Matthew, anyway. Hennessy and I fought the Lace with swords Bryde gave us then more came after us." Ronan fiddles with the pen in his hand, flipping it end over end like the action of doing something physical will ground him. It's not working. "They said a Dreamer was going to end the world and we tried to negotiate but it was like trying to reason with Kavinsky. They weren't listening, and they just kept asking for stupid shit like for us to stop dreaming. We ran. I don't know what happened to Bryde and Hennessy, but I ended up here."

Ronan breathes out, something between a sigh and an exhale. The pen stills. Then, a touch sarcastically:

"Any questions?"

Adam both did and didn't have a lot of questions. Rather, he had a lot of them but he wasn't going to ask any. He stared at the sketch of the Sundogs, blinking a few times before looking away. It was heavy information to take in. Killing every dreamer just because one was going to end the world (if that was true) was... some part of him said 'efficient' and he hated himself for it, but it was also awful. He'd thought this was the dangerous place and back home was safe, even if there had been a monster lurking (the Lace? He wasn't sure), but now he thought he had it backwards.

What was he supposed to do to keep Ronan safe? To protect anyone? He swallowed, staring down at his hands. "God," he said after a moment, but then fell quiet again.

It was worse than he could have imagined chasing after Bryde would go, and he'd imagined a lot of terrible outcomes. He didn't know why Bryde was doing what he did, either. Why help other dreamers? Out of the goodness of his heart? Adam doubted it. The real question was...what were they going to do?

"This whole time, I'd been thinking how much I wanted to get us home. But now-" he shook his head. He was sorry he hadn't been there, for all the good he would have done. He was sorry that, for whatever reason, he hadn't picked up his phone. He'd checked it when he'd gotten to his dorm, so he didn't understand. He was sorry any of this had happened in the first place.

They had to get home though. They couldn't leave everyone else in the lurch, not knowing if they were safe or being hunted.

"We'll get through this." They'd always gotten through things before, they'd get through this, too. He didn't know how right now, but give him time and he'd try to figure something out.

"Don't we always?" Ronan forms the words like knives, all edges sharp enough to cut. That's still the natural state of him, even now that he's figured out ways to express himself other than anger. Then, like a confession: "The nightwash has gotten worse."

The thing about the nightwash is that Ronan knows how to fix it: all he has to do is sleep. On paper, it's simple. In practice, they're stuck in a tiny metal box hurtling through the vast expanse of the void and he doesn't know what he'll bring back if he actually tries to sleep. His attempt to follow Adam to Harvard and the fallout from it is still fresh in Ronan's mind, and it was already bad enough in the cramped space of Adam's dorm. He doesn't want to think about what might happen here.

He really hoped the bad news stopped coming eventually. One thing after another after another...no wonder Ronan hadn't wanted to talk about things on the platform or where other people could overhear. It was exhausting to hear all of these terrible things, as if Adam hadn't been exhausted to start with.

"Have you been sleeping?" he asked, frowning. The nightwash was dangerous, but it was relatively easy to fix. If Ronan was sleeping and he was still suffering from the nightwash...Adam didn't really want to think about that.

"I've been dreaming." Were Ronan anyone else, it could be taken as an answer to Adam's question. Normal people need to sleep to dream. Technically, Ronan also needs to sleep to dream too but there's a marked difference between sleeping and dreaming in Ronan's case. Saying one when asked about the other is as good as tacit admission that no, he hasn't really been sleeping. "You know what happens when I sleep, Parrish. That shit's not as easy to hide without Declan's silver fucking tongue."

Adam took a moment, let that sink in, and then groaned, pressing the heels of his palms against his eyes. "Ronan." He sighed, dropping his hands and for a moment looking as bone tired as he felt before gathering himself back up again. "How long have you been here? You can't just avoid sleeping."

"And what do you suggest I do instead? Just tell my roommates that sometimes I wake up covered in blood and god knows what else, because everything I dream becomes real and all my dreams are actually nightmares? Don't worry, though, my nightmares only want to kill me."

Ronan spits the words like acid, each of them dripping with a nameless fury that he hasn't had an outlet for since he arrived. He's not angry at Adam, exactly, but Ronan has been standing in a sea of gasoline for weeks and now seems like as good a time as any to drop a match onto it. Later he'll feel guilty about lashing out at Adam. Right now he's frustrated and so, so tired.

He does sleep, occasionally. Usually on missions where he can be far enough away from other people to avoid explaining why he wakes up with claw marks across his arms and drenched in sickly black ooze. He hasn't brought back an actual nightmare yet, but it feels like a ticking time bomb until he does. None of it's enough. Sometimes it feels like nothing will ever be enough.

"I don't have Lindenmere. I don't even have a ley line. I'm not powerful enough to fix whatever I fuck up, here."

Roommates made things harder, and Adam had expected that since almost the moment he'd stepped foot on the train. There was no way they weren't going to be at least doubled up with as many people as he'd seen. They were cramped, crowded in, far from home, without a ley line... He wondered how strong he was without it, how much more effort things would take. The fact was though, he'd go through any amount of effort for Ronan.

"Is there anywhere else to sleep?" He was as calm as he was going to get right now. He wasn't angry in the slightest, but he was still uneasy from all the information he was still processing.

"Maybe I could help. I could join you when you dream. Try to keep things on an even keel." There was a risk, he knew. There was always a risk. He'd seen what Ronan's nightmares could do, but he'd brave the danger. Danger was nothing when you were willing to give your life for someone.

"There's beds in medical, but the doctor-types are always fussing in there. You're sitting in basically the only place that might work."

His qualifications are essentially a place that's quiet, and relatively private. Are the quiet car's booths the ideal place to actually sleep? Not really. You could probably take a nap in one, but they're not exactly designed for sleep. Fortunately, for the purposes of this conversation, Ronan isn't a person who cares about where he's sleeping. He can fall asleep anywhere.

Between Adam and Chainsaw, though, sleep might be almost manageable. He doesn't want to say that, because that's a huge thing to ask and Ronan knows that if he asks Adam will do it, even at his own expense.

He surveyed the space they were in. It really wasn't ideal, but he didn't have any other options to suggest. He didn't know the train and Ronan did, so Adam was going to trust his judgement on this. Things could be worse, location-wise.

"It's worth a shot to try it here. If anything goes wrong, it was my idea." And he would accept the blame for it. He didn't want Ronan to beat himself up over it if something happened, but he also wanted him to give sleeping a try.

"You've been awake for almost as long as I have." Ronan's not entirely sure exactly how long Adam's been awake, but he knows Adam drove to meet him and then drove back to take a fucking test. "I'm not letting you try to dreamshare when you're as tired as I am. Besides, I don't know where Chainsaw is."

He could find her fairly easily, if he wanted to. That's more of an excuse than an actual reason.

"I'm not tired." He had been, before, but then scrying had woken him up. Then being kidnapped had done the trick. There was too much going through his head for sleep right now. As if just resting wasn't an option. Like he couldn't tuck himself away in the library or some place and read about the void and the train and whatever else until he inevitably fell asleep over the books.

"I can sleep after."

"No." Ronan gently tosses the pen he's been holding at Adam. He's sort of aimed it at Adam's forehead, but really he just wants to see what Adam's reflexes are currently like. "There's not going to be anyone to cut the circuit if shit goes south. I'm not gonna try it while you're dead on your feet, Parrish."

The very idea of saving Adam Parrish from his own damn self is a Sisyphean task, but it never stops Ronan from trying. He doesn't even want Adam to change, exactly, just to actually be willing to take a break when forced to. In that sense, Ronan supposes, Adam was made for the train in a way that he isn't.

A New Platform [Intro Post October]

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cw: mass murder and gun violence

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