voidtreckerexpress | 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

".. I don't know," he answers, softly, after seeming to consider it for a moment. He's frowning, though it's hard to tell whether it's since he's very confused while trying to overthink all these concepts, or if it's just because he's still upset with everything that's happened today.

But he doesn't leave it at that, at least. After a moment he glances at the ground and speaks on.

"I mean, I don't.. mind. To begin with." It doesn't sound like Inigo is lying, especially since that tends to be more obvious when he's upset. Sure, he sounds sad about it as he speaks, but he's never been angry about his fate. He's just getting what he deserves. Nothing. "The world deserves a better prince than how I turned out. So it would be better like this. I don't feel bad about it in the first place. Everything is just turning out the way it has to be, and if that's without me, then it's just without me."

"If it really was 'without you', then the both of you would be dead," Nita says bluntly.

"And I refuse to believe in that."

She closes her eyes with the force of her worlds - though like Inigo, she's not yelling, more sad than outright upset.

"You're just getting- a second start. And you can have one here, too; it doesn't... negate that."

They're still close enough that she can squeeze his shoulder again, so she does.

He's quiet. Inigo has a really hard time thinking of himself and the soon to be born Inigo as the same. Sure, they're the same person, but they don't share the same life. Inigo is getting a second start, he does believe in that, it's just..

What about him then? Who does that make him? In the end he can't get over the thought that there can't be two Inigos. And if his mother and father acknowledge the other one, then.. it's not him. Then he isn't Inigo. Then he needs to become someone else, but he doesn't know who, or where. Or if it's even worth it in the first place if he's going to be all alone.

"This train ride isn't going to last forever though." What good is a second start if there's already such a definite end to it?

"Inigo... I've been in that situation before."

It's quite possibly the only time she's really discussed what happened after Nautilus' purpose was fulfilled, and there's a shift in her expression, her stance, to go with it.

"When everything really was over. In the last place I was, a city called Nautilus, that city's purpose came to an end and we weren't needed as Ascended anymore. But we weren't made to just go home, or to forget. We'd fought for our lives, for the right of existence to be, and grow for its own... and we had a choice. To go to whichever world we chose, to be with friends or even make new worlds on our own. So whatever this train is for, wherever we ultimately end up... I can't make myself believe we'll only have our own worlds to go back to."

“No, I.. I think you’re right about that.”

They’re a bunch of headstrong passengers after all, aren’t they? If anyone could make sure that they would get the choice as to which place they’d go back to, it would be all of them. Inigo is more than willing to believe that, doesn’t argue with her over it.

.. though he still seems to be looking thoughtful over something all the same.

“But I think I’ll still have to go back to my own world first all the same. The world still hasn’t been saved at the point I was at before I ended up here.. and I need to make sure it is saved first. Otherwise I would have gone back in time for nothing.”

"Oh!"

Nita nods sharply.

"In that case, it's still your story to see finished, isn't it?"

Zelda - the one she'd met in Nautilus - had had some reason like that; to find out what happened home first, before she began going elsewhere.

"But... whatever happens after that, you won't be alone."

Inigo nods in turn. He isn't too sure whether or not he'd call it his story, but.. he feels responsible all the same. He travelled back in time to stop it, so he has to at the very least accomplish that task.

Or having gone back, having surrendered what felt like his own shot at life, would all have been for nothing.

He doesn't say that though, feels like it's implied in just his nod. No, instead he focuses on the other thing she says.

".. You think..?" He sounds a little unsure. Inigo always thought he would be alone, after all. That he'd finish his task, and then go out into the night like a nobody, losing all the bonds he once had.

Nita's gaze softens.

"I try not to get in the habit of predicting other worlds' futures, but... you'll always have a place here, with us- with me, even. You don't have to doubt that."

He meets her gaze.

And then slowly exhales.

".. thank you." Even just for the sentiment. Even just for actively wanting him around, which Inigo has always found to be a rarity in people back home. Just the thought that someone is out there, that Nita is right here. Someone he always has a place with.

'Thank you' doesn't even feel like it begins to cover that sentiment.

"I know it's silly, but.. I'm just so scared of ending up alone." No matter whether it's here or back home. Especially since Inigo always imagined his future to be just that. Having to leave everyone he knows behind, being all by himself. It's hard for someone as attached to people as Inigo is, and so it has always loomed over him.

And people leaving, like today, only feeds into that more. But at least he has Nita's words.

Nita goes in for another hug.

"I get that. The fear of being alone..."

And perhaps a lot more people here shared it than any one of them suspected.

"But as long as we remember to reach out to people, life will prove us wrong. In a good way."

She's learned that one herself, several times.

A New Platform [Intro Post October]

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This one's probably wrapping soon? ... They could go get food, maybe.