A New Platform [Intro Post December]

[voidtreckermods]

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!

Comments

Eva - OTA

[mtsilver_conquor]

Closed to Senku (to start with)
This time it worked, and she has something else to her name that she very much doesn't remember ordering, but ok. It's not like she's going to pass up a free gift, even if it is an odd one. More to the point, the bag's blue reminds her of the pendant Satoru wears. Maybe she should get that in the vain hope of him ever showing up... Eh, a thought for later.

One train trek later, with a swing by her cabin to pick up something else, she finds who she's looking for and grins, Roro hovering at her shoulder. "Hey, got a gift or two for you."

Games Car
For all she wants to deny it, Eva is still recovering from her near-death four days ago and those that know her will know there's no way she's as fine as she claims.

Probably why she's curled up on a bean bag in the Games car with her pokemon. Princess has, naturally, stolen his human's lap like some giant sooky baby (or maybe he's keeping her there?) and a dented Lele sits next to her, though there's little indication as to whether the neon green porygon2's online or powered down.

Dancer is somewhere nearby, the red bird probably up somewhere high and seemingly napping while Eva idly goes through one of the easier magic shuffles Kaito had taught her. She's more people watching than focused on the cards or getting the magic rick right though, but if someone does get her attention, she grins up at them. "Hey, what's up?"

Greenhouse Car
She can't sit around forever though, and at some point in the day, she finds herself at the greenhouse, Dancer on shoulder and the other two pokemon tucked away in their 'balls. Less to admire the plants, and more tend and check over the berries she's growing.

Which means -outside talking the ear off of anyone around who wants to know about them- weeding, making sure they haven't been overwatered, checking for signs of disease, pruning off dead leaves, harvesting the pinap berries that are ready to go -15 this time- checking the ones that'll be ready tomorrow (all three; pinap, cheri, oran) and, of course, eat a few pinaps along the way.

And stare contemplatively at her plants once everything is done.

Wildcard
Eva can be found doing various things around the train, including cleaning chores for Orange, making juice out of those harvested pinap berries and in general trying to be a social butterfly and ignore the fact she should be resting or taking it easy. Let me know what pokemon you want with her, too. (the other two will be in their 'balls.)

Games Car

[marriedanidiot]

"Eva?" Nerdanel pops her head in, pleased to see she is resting (even if forcibly)

"How you feeling, my dear?"

Re: Games Car

[mtsilver_conquor]

"Feeling better now I'm not in one place." There's a small laugh at the end. She is feeling better but at the same time, far more tired than she had been. "The trade off's worth it though."

[marriedanidiot]

"Hm."

She smiles at her and comes over, setting down a cup of tea, and rewarding Princess for keeping her in one place with a quick pet.

"As long as you make sure to rest."

[mtsilver_conquor]

There's a hearty purr and a smug look from the clefairy, While Eva just looks amused, if not resigned to her fate.

"Trust me, I don't think I have a choice right now," Eva says with a laugh. "It seems every time I sit down, one of them decides my lap is theirs."

Games Car

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"So what all happened?"

Right to the point, as Edge plopped himself down close by. No diplomacy for this king!

[mtsilver_conquor]

Eva offers him a wry smile. "To me? Or the mission in general?"

She's pretty sure he means to her, but at the same time, it's better to check.

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"I was on the mission, cutie," Edge said, rolling his eyes in equally wry amusement. "But I didn't see what happened to you!"

[mtsilver_conquor]

"Shrapnel blast at close-ish range. Wasn't fast enough to mitigate it meaning my skills are rusty..." Eva says with a shrug. "Not that it would have saved me, but it'd have mitigated the worst of the damage."

[onehandsomeslickninja]

"With what?" Call him crazy, but he hadn't heard of Eva possessing awesome powers up until now.

[10billionpercent]

"Oh yeah?" Senku asked with a grin. "I happened to get you something too."

He pulled out of his pocket what looked like a ring at the moment, but it matched the one he had on his ring finger.

"It's an arms band." He explained, in case she hadn't really been aware of them. "Because I figured you could use the whole magic space thing."

[mtsilver_conquor]

"Eh?" Brilliant response there Eva, and it takes a few seconds for her brain to recognise Arms Band, meaning Storage Tech. Meaning- "Thanks- and yeah. It'll make the missions easier at least." Not to mention all the things she can store in it. "Thank you!"

And that sure is a burst of literal 'Squee' from her as she accepts it and slides it onto a finger. Then she unwraps the first package to reveal a pink and purple 'ball. "It's yours, though we can let out here or go nab one of the quiet cabins for a bit."

[10billionpercent]

"You really got me one?" Senku asked with a bright grin, he was kind of thrilled, she'd feel that in the bond.

"Wherever's more convenient, I can't wait to see it." He was so curious about her pokemon and he was going to have one of his own.

[mtsilver_conquor]

"Yep!" She's so glad she's recording this so that when or if he ever gets a phone, she can send the video over, never the bond aspect.

"Well, it's an ESP-type -psychic-, so... I think a quiet cabin is probably better so it can recognise your mind to start with."

[10billionpercent]

"Alright, that sounds good." He held the ball gingerly and led the way, genuinely excited, which didn't seem to happen very often around there.

"Does that mean it will have a bond with me, like you do?"

Greenhouse car 🌻

[fun_thementalist]

Gen wanted to do a lot more exploring of the Greenhouse car, considering for himself if he wanted to start to order seeds to grow things here. He really wanted to get some of his favorite plant - but he did not trust nightshade to exist here, available for anyone to grab, and not be used for a nefarious purpose. Even if death was temporary.

It's something he wanted to think a little more, on.

But he saw a familiar face, and gave her a bright smile. "Ah, hello there, my dear. Are those the berries you've told me about?"

Time to learn so much about berries!!!

[mtsilver_conquor]

Eva grins and nods.

"Yeah, and I'm thinking I should get more, or uproot two of the pair plants to make room for another oran and kurabo, though maybe two kurabo, as while the oran is useful for pokemon, it's not exactly useful for human healing. Tasty though."

[fun_thementalist]

"So, which is what?" Gen asked, moving so he could look at the plants along with her, at her side. Willing to peer in at the plants and take a closer look, as she pointed them out. "You mentioned one was citrusy and spicy, right?"

[mtsilver_conquor]

"That's an oran," she says, pointing to the blue orangeish thing that looks almost ready to harvest. "That's a kurabo," she points to the red cherry-tomato looking thing that's also almost ready to harvest.

And then she grins and points to the yellow ones she's collected. "That's the pairu. You can eat it as is -though the skin is a bit on the hard side like jerky- and it's probably better, as then you get a burst of sour with the spicy. But we'd need to cut it into bite-sized pieces first."

Each is roughly seven to eight centimetres long; easily the biggest of the three berries.

[fun_thementalist]

"I'm excited to try them all, I'll be honest with you!" Gen told her, and might just slip one of the yellow berries she'd already collected into a sleeve, playfully. He wasn't quite as smooth as he could be, because it's meant to be a game right now - but if she didn't notice, he'd reveal it with a flourish later on.

"Unless any of these aren't really good for humans, since I believe you mentioned these are primarily meant for your pokemon," Gen noted.

Wildcard

[strawberryprotector]

Ichigo had a sour look on his face as he stalked toward Eva. "What," he asked, crossing his arms, "are you doing out of bed? You nearly died. You have no business being up, team leader or not."

[mtsilver_conquor]

There's a small flinch at the reminder she'd almost died. She'd been trying to avoid thinking about that, thanks.

"Making pinap juice?" Still, she offers a grin, if not somewhat brittle. It's a legitimate answer given that is what she's doing. "And I have been resting here and there."

Mostly because every time she sits down, the pink shadow -who's definitely looking Displeased with Eva- with her decides her lap is his and enforce a rest.

[strawberryprotector]

Ichigo arched an eyebrow at the fluffy pokemon in her lap. "Which one is this and are they pressing on your stomach?" Even though he'd had help healing her, the one pint of blood hadn't been enough. And the assistance had mostly been to help remove shrapnel. He'd had to give Eva a lot of stitches, inside and out, and didn't want her to rupture any of those sutures.

[mtsilver_conquor]

"Princess," Eva says, finger's curling into the pokemon's fur. "Long furred fluffball that he is, only fur's against me. It's as close as he'll come when he can smell I'm not 100%. Give it a jun and then he'll start."

She means 'ten days' but she can't be bothered to convert her week into numbers.

[strawberryprotector]

Nodding at that, Ichigo reached to scritch Princess's head. "At least it looks like he's helping make sure you rest a lot. Are you having much pain?"