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

[subcircuits]

"It's-- it's where kids live! Community raised, community-minded," he recites. "They're too precious to risk in the care of just-- just one or two people!"

[firewalled]

"They're too precious in your world, maybe," Rich points out. "In mine, we have too many people in general. Who cares if a couple kids get beaten or starved to death, right?" He says it bitterly, in case Devero was worried he actually believed that.

"Sounds like your world's solution was a lot better."

[subcircuits]

Devero doesn't respond right away. Instead he asks, "How many people are there, on the Earth you come from? --It is Earth, right?"

[firewalled]

"Around 7 billion, I think? And yeah, it's Earth, as far as I know." Rich squints at Devero curiously. The reference to children as 'precious' makes him think there must be less where Devero is from.

[subcircuits]

"...Almost as many as Before," Devero says softly. He slumps back in his seat, his eyes going distant. "You're from before the pathogen, aren't you? What year is it for you?"

[firewalled]

"Before... what pathogen? It's the end of 2018 for me..."

He knows Devero is from the future, but he didn't imagine it was an apocalyptic one...

[subcircuits]

Devero closes his eyes and whistles, long and low. "You are from Before," he says. "That explains some things..." Everyone where he comes from knows that Before was a barbarous hellscape, after all.

[firewalled]

"From... before whatever pathogen you're talking about, I take it? When did that happen, for you?"

Rich, for his part, thinks that a future after such a catastrophic event has to be worse than the past, so his attention is mainly on Devero.

[subcircuits]

"Twenty-- twenty-one seventy-something?" He used to have the date memorized, but the specific year escapes him now. He looks away. "There was a plague."

[firewalled]

"A plague? Jesus..." At least it's way past his time, but it's still scary to consider... "How many people died from it?"

[subcircuits]

"There are less than a hundred thousand people on the whole planet," he says. Which means almost all of them, if not stated so baldly.

[firewalled]

"...Fucking hell. You're talking a full blown apocalypse, then?" And here Rich had been freaking out at him?

retcon: "There are less than 300 million people on the whole planet."

[subcircuits]

"Yeah," Devero says. "Happened a long time ago now, but. It changed everything."

[firewalled]

"No shit it did. You've got maybe the population of one country spread out over seven continents. It's gonna be lonely."

[subcircuits]

"And the moon," Devero adds absently. He shrugs. "It's all I've ever known. And most folks live in the cities anyway."

[firewalled]

"And the moon, apparently. At least you guys still have space travel then. Still seems... I don't know if it's better or worse than my world." Considering overpopulation and pollution... "Honestly, probably better, so long as you've got company."

[subcircuits]

"But at what cost?"

Sorry Rich, that response is almost automatic. Because his world is better. Everyone knows that. The history units they teach about Before are almost as horrific as the the ones covering the plague and the dark years immediately following it. It would be so easy to write off Before and live happily in their pleasant present--

But they are also taught that their pleasant present could never have come to pass on the world Before. It took the death of 99 out of every 100 people to set his world on the path to modern communitarianism.

So as privileged as he is, as all of the citizens of the World Government are, they are also never allowed to forget at what cost.

[firewalled]

"...At the cost of a bunch of innocent lives, all because of a really shitty system caused by some shitty powerful people."

Rich knows the answer to that too. Even if it hasn't been drilled into him, it's hard not to feel... unsettled by the possibility of a better world created by so much loss.

Sure, he'd been willing to pay the price, but he was just one life.

[subcircuits]

The question had been a nearly-rhetorical call-and-response, so getting an actual answer-- the actual answer-- out of Rich is unexpected. "Exactly," he says, a little taken aback.

[firewalled]

"What, you think I didn't know? I know how bogus capitalism is when I'm living it... I have no doubt that if something happened to my world, no one would bother doing anything to help the little people until it was too late."

Which would certainly result in a disaster like what Devero describes.