voidtreckermods: (voidtrain)
VoidTrecker Express Mods ([personal profile] voidtreckermods) wrote in [community profile] voidtreckerexpress2020-12-01 06:00 am

A New Platform [Intro Post December]

On the Train

It's only been a couple of days since the Voidtrecker Express took to the void once more, and many of the passengers are still recovering and recuperating after a very hectic end to their latest mission. Nevertheless, they are awoken by a familiar message.

"Good morning passengers, it is day sixteen of the month of Imagination. Points have been updated on the system."

They have indeed, and everyone can spend the morning shopping. Those who have been on the train for 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 the windows fill with the fog that means they are at a platform. It is warm outside with a pleasant breeze that flows down the platform, rustling the light spread of leaves that litter the floor.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing, walking silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers. Akemi Homura, Alfred the Poisoner, Donatello Versus, Chie Satonaka, Joscelin Fitzthomas, Ronan Lynch, Rose Tyler, Tangle the Lemur, Trowa Barton, Wester Mazaki and Whisper the Wolf all pass through the platform, not looking back before they disappear through the barriers and into the fog beyond.

But on the platform itself there are 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 the swirling leaves at their feet, moving in flurries and rattling against each other softly. As their eyes adjust, they will see they are on a platform, cement and packed earth forming a very practical, plain-looking shelter. Behind them is a set of barriers, and in front of them is a single track extending both ways into thick fog.

They are standing, in clothes that are not their own and a style 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 eight 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's 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 lead to something terrible. If that is not enough, there are plenty of people on the platform now, to encourage them onto the train.

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 (see
'Publications'). The store rooms have been restocked with more jars of honey, the ingredient of the month of Imagination, as well as sundries.

A new carriage has been added right next to the luggage carriage. It is a second medical carriage, or triage carriage. Downstairs is more open with beds and chairs, upstairs are two surgical bays for those that need immediate attention.

For those intrigued by the claim of a parcel for every passenger they will find several large boxes filled with small blue bags. Inside each bag is ten dark blue coins imprinted on each side with a silver snowflake. Each bag has a small label with a passengers name. On the other side of the label it reads: Keep these safe for now.

Of course for any passengers that have bought items, these are also scattered around the luggage carriage as well.

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 to encourage any stragglers taking advantage of the pleasant weather and the doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, but they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train sets off, the fog obscuring the view again 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!
light_of_willpower: (long-hair-casual-huh?)

so far you're th eonly one i've used this icon with. it's new :D

[personal profile] light_of_willpower 2020-12-04 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
Wait, what? She knew who he was? But...but...she was younger than when he'd FIRST met her. She hadn't known then.

So he'll be a bit awkward in the hug, and is still kind of trying to hold back some form of joy or panic. "Uh...Hi....Mom?"
subcircuits: (the thoughtful man)

[personal profile] subcircuits 2020-12-04 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
"An old train," Devero insists again, stubbornly. He stares at it through his Interface's eyescreen, moving one of his hands through the connection routine that should link him up to the transport local and public local networks.

Except there are no networks registering to his Interface's scanners. No networks, and none of the little pingpoints that should indicate the Interfaces of the other people he can see intermittently as the mist drifts and swirls.

He looks down at this kid beside him, and for the first time it really starts to sink in that there is something profoundly strange happening here. "Are you not bothered by this?" he asks, quiet and a little disbelieving. He's so flooded with adrenaline that he feels like he could box an exo bare-handed.
consider8: (Trou8led)

[personal profile] consider8 2020-12-04 03:03 am (UTC)(link)
It would figure that she would want to learn more about that, even if Eight really would rather not talk about it.

"It's kinda like what it is right now, but more intense." She kneads her fingers anxiously. "But the worst part is you would hear people. Folks that you are missing. And they'll try to get you to join them."
fashionably_strong: (headache)

[personal profile] fashionably_strong 2020-12-04 03:03 am (UTC)(link)
"Is there time to do some shopping after missions when we stop in dimensions?"

Priorities, Bulla has them.

"Seems kind of unfair to expect us to fight without giving us some sort of reward and off-train downtime. What are we all supposed to do on these missions, anyway?"

She was willing to cautiously keep an open mind. Maybe there was a good reason for all of this that had yet to be revealed to her.
forleaving: (005)

[personal profile] forleaving 2020-12-04 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
He nodded, content to follow along quietly until they reached the kitchen. He hadn't felt like discussing things around so many other people. There was never much privacy on the train, not even in your own room. The kitchen was quieter, at least for now, and he appreciated that.

Taking a deep breath, he rubbed the back of his neck. "My boyfriend left. And things are kind of messed up back home, so..." he didn't finish. "He can take care of himself, but I should still be there."
subcircuits: (avoidant)

[personal profile] subcircuits 2020-12-04 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
While Sanzo's mulling that over, Devero pushes himself up to sit on the edge of the pool, leaving his legs dangling in the water. The air is a shock against his overheated skin and he appreciates it. Closing his eyes, he just breathes for a moment, trying to work through one of the grounding exercises he knows.

He feels a little more even when Koumyou speaks, a little more in-control. "Mostly the second one," he says. He's not self-conscious about admitting that much, at least. "I don't... really know many religious folks, though. It's considered something very private, where I come from."
fashionably_strong: (doe eyes)

I like it! Poor confused Briefs

[personal profile] fashionably_strong 2020-12-04 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
At being called 'Mom', Bulla sighed. She'd gotten her hopes up, but it seemed like he didn't know her after all.

"Not Mom, but we are related."

She released him from the hug after a moment, letting herself hover to punctuate the point that she was definitely not their mother.

"So...um. Oopsie. I forgot for a moment how much I look like Mom and assumed you recognized me. Short version is that we're alternate timeline siblings. Hi! I'm Bulla."
nutkrusher: (Default)

[personal profile] nutkrusher 2020-12-04 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah," Cassie says. "There's an on-train store that sells clothes. Only takes train points, though. You earn those on missions. Sometimes we've gotten to shop on the worlds we help out. Got a couple of really nice dresses at one of the last places we went to."

She smiles a little.

"But the missions we get are all...noble ones. We're not overthrowing democratically elected leaders so we can steal their space oil or whatever the fuck."
light_of_willpower: (long-hair-casual-huh?)

Re: I like it! Poor confused Briefs

[personal profile] light_of_willpower 2020-12-04 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
Trunks blinked, head tilting as he took in that news. "Wha...how..." Kind of dumbfounded, more by the fact that... "Wait, I have a sister? HOW!?" Because from all he'd seen of his parents, it was a miracle HE existed.
fashionably_strong: (shocked)

[personal profile] fashionably_strong 2020-12-04 03:13 am (UTC)(link)
"Well, that's creepy. What happens if you try to join them? Something bad, I'm assuming."

Considering the other girl's obvious discomfort with the topic, Bulla didn't want to press the issue too much, but she did want to know what seemed like important information.
melodiouspacifist: (Real Villains Use Cue Cards)

[personal profile] melodiouspacifist 2020-12-04 03:15 am (UTC)(link)
"Is there a difference between this train and some other kind of train?" Demyx didn't really know, but Devero seemed perturbed by it.

"Sure, but I'm not planning on sticking around, if anything this'll just be some weird dream I'm having later or whatever."
10billionpercent: (Sentimental)

[personal profile] 10billionpercent 2020-12-04 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
"No, I can't tell you to do that. I'm not in charge of anything." Senku said with a wry chuckle. This wasn't his home after all. "You can do what you like, but it's better if everyone works together in my opinion."

"Ah, yeah I don't really have that. I kind of live between a storage shed and an observatory, mostly with the Mentalist, but we usually stay with Chrome in the winter, it's too cold otherwise." Senku hummed. "And they're public areas so people come and go." The lack of privacy no longer bothered him. "If anything I get more privacy here, if not by a little. You have roommates though, probably."
fashionably_strong: art by unknown, if this is yours let me know and I'll credit (yeah whatever)

[personal profile] fashionably_strong 2020-12-04 03:21 am (UTC)(link)
Bulla arched an eyebrow. "Trunks, you don't really need The Talk at this age, do you?"

He probably didn't, but then, she didn't really know all the details of his struggles and what he'd been taught in his timeline. She knew who the threats were, and that he'd suffered a great deal of trauma.

"In my timeline, Mom and Dad are alive and married."
light_of_willpower: (long-hair speaking)

[personal profile] light_of_willpower 2020-12-04 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
"No, I do not need the talk thankyouverymuch." With actual snark; now he was acting like her sibling. "Just--having met Dad..." This was the part he was having trouble believing."....how?"
its_dad_sanzo: (quietly)

[personal profile] its_dad_sanzo 2020-12-04 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
"Ah," Koumyou sighs, and leans his head back again, shutting his eyes. "...I suppose it can't be helped, then. The sutra and I are bound until my death. Or longer, as it turns out."

'Sanzo' is not a job one retires from, and to be around Koumyou Sanzo, is to be around that which he protects.

It stings a little, and he immediately pins the feeling down in his own mind, examining it, his expression flattening as he thinks. He hasn't known Devero long enough for this to be a problem, surely? People come and people go, and often they go in a spray of blood and tragedy. Why should this be any different? Peaceful, for once, but otherwise... no different?

But he also hasn't met many people who can keep up with his antics, here or at home. Or rather, people who are willing to keep up with his antics.

It was nice, he realizes dimly, to feel a little more than merely tolerated, for once. He sighs heavily, turning the feeling over in his mind a few times, picking at it like a sore tooth, and then... releases it.

Hold nothing.
fashionably_strong: art by unknown, if this is yours let me know and I'll credit (calm smile)

[personal profile] fashionably_strong 2020-12-04 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
Bulla breathed a small sigh of relief as Cassie explained the missions. While part of her just wanted to go home, at least she knew she wasn't going to be pushed into doing anything terrible.

"Good, because if someone was trying to make us do that, they'd learn exactly how much of a stubborn pain in the butt I can be when I set my mind to it. It runs in the family."

She offered her hand. "Anyway, hi. I'm Bulla Brief."
fashionably_strong: art by unknown, if this is yours let me know and I'll credit (daddy's girl)

[personal profile] fashionably_strong 2020-12-04 03:36 am (UTC)(link)
"Ooooooh, that."

She'd heard stories, but having grown up with him wrapped around her little finger, it was as hard for to envision their father not caring as it was for Trunks to envision their parents married.

"From what I've heard, Dad mellowed out a lot in between when you were born and when I was born. He still trains hard every day, he's very proud and can be kind of grumpy...but he's a really good dad about the important things. Any time he doesn't spend training, he mostly spends with us and Mom."
light_of_willpower: (long-hair-armor-smile-confident)

[personal profile] light_of_willpower 2020-12-04 03:40 am (UTC)(link)
Trunks blinked...and blinked again. Clearly he was having trouble absorbing this information. Part of him was jealous, but he was also very happy. Maybe he did help make the alternate timeline a better place. At least one of the alternate timelines, anyways.

Shaking his head to clear it, he offers a smile. "I'm glad to meet you Bulla, and glad I have a sister and some happiness in at least one timeline." A pause. "You don't seem shocked by any of this though, so you know I'm the one from the future with the androids, right?"
nutkrusher: (Ooookay then)

[personal profile] nutkrusher 2020-12-04 03:40 am (UTC)(link)
"Cassie Cage. Nice to meet you."

She shakes the offered hand, practically a reflex. Then her brow furrows for a moment. Then widens. As though her brain was still catching up to what she'd just heard. Those eyes do look a little familiar.

The name sounds a little familiar, too. What was it he'd said his mom's name was again...?

"I, uh...I've met someone else here who's got the same last name."
consider8: (Ponder)

[personal profile] consider8 2020-12-04 03:42 am (UTC)(link)
"You know..." Now that she thinks on it, which is a good way to push back the uncomfortable feelings of what she saw that day. "I don't think anyone actually ever managed to make it outside."

"It can't be good though. Near as we can tell that is the space between dimensions."
consider8: (Scrutinize)

[personal profile] consider8 2020-12-04 03:48 am (UTC)(link)
"Hmpf!" Eight pouted. "Calling me not an octopus is like me calling you not a daikon. And Gen not a mochi." She's pretty sure she was wrong about Gen. And only 90% sure she's wrong about Senku. Still her pride was wounded and she wanted to retaliate in the most petty way possible.
consider8: (8eaming)

[personal profile] consider8 2020-12-04 03:50 am (UTC)(link)
"It's an ink tank!" She beams. "I use it to store ink!"

That wasn't evident in the name, Eight??
subcircuits: (kinky bastard)

[personal profile] subcircuits 2020-12-04 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
Devero is watching him sidelong through half-lowered eyelids. He can't help himself. There's something magnetic about Koumyou; he'd felt so... so buoyant around him in those few hours they'd spent together, as if he'd been able to put down a burden he hadn't been aware of carrying. (Put a pin in that, Dev, you'll want to revisit that concept.)

And so he sees the reserve that comes over Koumyou after his confession. It makes his stomach twist-- not in a Madame-related way, but somewhere deeper. He doesn't want the Sanzo to think poorly of him, to think him so weak as to run from something he doesn't understand.

"It's part of who you are," he says quietly. "And it's part of what makes you so fascinating." Oh, he shouldn't be saying this. He should just be shutting his mouth and creeping away like a good boy. He certainly shouldn't be continuing, the words coming quicker: "It makes me nervous but that's just because I don't understand it at all. The power of your sutra has no equivalent in my world, and it intimidates me. But I want to know more about it-- because it's part of who you are, and I want to know more about you. That's the problem."

Oh fucking hell. Devero crams his fist against his mouth, biting into the knuckles like he needs to physically plug the flow of words. How could he have said that much, why lay himself so open when he can't possibly continue to be around someone who fascinates him so much. It's not fair to Sanzo when Madame won't allow it.

He scrambles inelegantly to his feet. "I'm sorry, I've said too much, and it's not safe--" oh holy shit what. He rushes on as if he didn't even notice that. "I mean I can't, I-- I need to go. I'm so sorry."
azrthmtrnznthos: (Default)

[personal profile] azrthmtrnznthos 2020-12-04 03:57 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm sorry." Raven said, and despite her calm tone there was genuine sympathy in it. "I wish I'd been there, maybe I could've helped." She meant that too. "Should you be up and about? Are you in any pain?" Because Raven was prepared to do a pain-block for the other if she needed to.
azrthmtrnznthos: (....really?)

[personal profile] azrthmtrnznthos 2020-12-04 04:01 am (UTC)(link)
"Definitely weird." Raven replied in her deadpan tone. "I'm trying to make sense of it."