middleofsomewhere | Under the Sea: Mission start

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Under the Sea: Mission start

After fleeing the strange shapes in the sky the voidtreckers are perhaps not looking forward to yet another mission and indeed the first few days of Fiddlesticks go by without any strange dreams, no warning that another mission might be nigh. Yet on the morning of day five their SCA's will glow with the colours of the void and a holographic message will appear.

Preperations

The dressing room is open once again, though the clothes this time are simple in choice. A wet suit for each void trecker as well as a pair of flippers, a helmet and a breathing pack. It at least has instructions and there will be a little bit of time for them to figure out how to use them. Apart from that there are some waterproof packs for supplies to be packed in.

They will have a couple of hours to get ready for their mission.

Arrival: Blue and Red

"We are now approaching world #7625000129523. Drop order is Red and Blue, Purple then Orange. Red and Blue team to doors. Arrival in world #7625000129523 in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

The train shudders and lurches as they exit the void, the view from the window goes from the ever shifting void to a beautiful deep blue sky. They fly through the air and swoop down to land on a sandy beach. The doors open allowing those who are taking part in the Blue and Red missions to debark. The doors close and the train swoops up into the air.

The beach stretches from one side to the other, in the distance as the beach turns into sloping green hills they can see a village. Beyond that there is a jungle. Any red team who check their SCA will see four points, the rock pools.

The villagers have noticed the huge train sweeping down onto their island and so contact is made quickly. They will be quite accepting of the help and explain the situation. They will help any of red team to the rockpools if asked.

Red

The rockpools are built up and indeed made so the water will reach a persons waist if they stand in them. The water is cold but not overly so. When the water shoots up anyone in them will shoot up also.

They will find themselves in a vortex of water, with anyone else who enters that rockpool. The water itself seems to be fighting them, tendrils of water reaching out of the whirlpool to try and drag them further into the chaos. It takes a whole lot of willpower to stay in the centre, the water can be fought with weapons, even with fists. They feel as if they are falling or flying, perhaps both. Surrounded by the pure chaos of the ocean.

Blue

Hopefully they spend the day helping with preparations because when night falls the monsters emerge from the sea. Terrifying twisted creatures. The villagers only have simple weapons but will tell them that fire is helpful against these water creatures.

Hold off the monsters and keep the people safe.

Purple

The doors close and the train flies off into the sky, flying over the island to the other side where it lands on a rocky bay, near tall towering cliffs.

"Purple team to doors." The doors open, allowing the purple team to disembark before flying off once again.

In the cliff face there is a large cave entrance, over the entrance there are symbols, translated by their SCA's. Clear mind, clear heart. Come those who seek to serve.

There are six people stood by the entrance, looking quite surprised at the new arrivals. One, a woman with silver hair recovers enough to speak first. "Ah. Void warriors. We are honoured by your help."

Once introductions are made the spiritual leaders will happily accept the escort and their adventure can begin.

Orange

They fly up and out across the ocean, a longer flight than before but eventually they descend and there is a slight juddering before they land, floating on the ocean.

"Orange team disembark, please use luggage or dressing carriage doors only."

They will step out onto an inflated platform that streches around the train. Down below are the depths of the water and their SCA's show them at the point of Bui. It is below them so all they need to is dive.

The dive takes a while, and depends on their swimming ability but hopefully with a bit of teamwork they arrive at the silent city of Bui.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I agree," says Curufin. "Some training would definitely have been good. But it looks as though some of Orange Team is staying on the train instead of diving. Normally I'd worry if we didn't have the whole team on our part of the mission. But for this one, I'm glad. Fewer people to worry about. I just hope nothing does happen, since most of us aren't ghosts!"

"That's definitely new, Danny agrees. "Has staying on the train been an option for any of the other missions?"

"Staying on the train is always an option," replies Curufin. "Usually a few people do, though not so many as are staying this time. I always go, but then, I'm a maniac." He chuckles.

"How about you, Danny? Are you up for Purple Team's assignment, the caves and tunnels?"

"I always go on the mission, so I guess I didn't really notice." Danny shrugs. "I thought about it, but I'm not really sure if I'm going to be the most useful for that. Escorting isn't really my strong point, you know? I was thinking about maybe going on the red mission instead."

"Yes, I understand," answers Curufin. "And I guess you'd be escorting the island's spiritual leaders. I wonder if they'd have the spiritual cognition to perceive that you have a ghostly nature? But no matter. I see what you mean, since Orange Team frequently gets assignments that involve escorting people. I can do it, but its not my forté. What I really like is fighting. So, if you go on Team Red's mission, you'd be jumping into rock pools that might have become portals to elsewhere, and trying to rescue people who have fallen into them and disappeared. That does sound like a good mission for you."

"That's kind of a good reason to avoid getting to close to them? People can get weird about ghosts." Although no one so far had had the shoot first, ask questions never reaction that had been so common at home.

A shrug.

"But yeah, that's the other part. I kind of have a lot of experience with jumping into strange portals."

"Maybe so? No knowing how this particular culture feels about the ghost issue." Fortunately, the train's passengers were pretty laid back about most things, including ghosts. And as for Curufin, he had been one himself, and who knows? -- might be one again someday. So, he had the perspective that allowed him to chill. Besides, he was an Elf, and they do understand about disembodied spirits.

"Well, let's hope this rock hole portal thing turns out to be solvable. And yes, I'll bet you've been through a few portals in your time! What kinds?"

Edited 2020-05-16 01:27 (UTC)

"Everyone on the train has been super cool about it so far," Danny tells him. "It's nice, but also weird. I'm never this lucky. So I'm kind of expecting that we run into a world filled with ghost hunters eventually."

A shrug. "My world has a mirror dimension. Its where the ghosts spend most of their time. Sometimes portals open up between the human world and the ghost zone. And portals open up inside the ghost zone all the time, and they can go literally anywhere. Other places and other times too. I kind of halfway expect to see one open in the void some day."

"I really hope not," says Curufin, as regards a world full of ghost-hunters. He wouldn't like that for Danny, and he wouldn't like that for himself, in case they were sharp enough to realize Curufin had been a ghost.

"Your mirror dimension sounds very interesting. So, you could cross over any time you wished? Did you get to travel to other times and places while you were there?"

He smiles and shakes his head, but not in disagreement. "A portal into the Void? That would be a hoot. Ghosts from you world suddenly appearing in the Void around the train? We'd have to pick them up and add them to the passenger roster. It would be very unkind not to."

"Most of the time," he says. "My parents had a permanent portal in the basement. I could go through it anytime as long as no one was watching."

He shudders a little at that idea. "I really hope not. This train is not big enough to deal with some of them."

"Oh, I see," says Curufin with a smile. "You were going through your parents' basement portal without their permission or knowledge?" Curufin was the same kind of child, so he approves.

"Well, in that case, I guess we'd better not pick up all the ghosts from your world. But hopefully, chance is in our favor. The meaner ghosts will end up someplace else."

"Well yeah," Danny says. "They never went through it themselves. They said it was too dangerous, so there was no way they would have let me go."

A wince.

"And if I told them why I needed to go in there, I would have had to tell them I was half ghost."

"Your parents had a portal in the basement, but they never used it themselves? Odd. Why did they have it in the first place, if they weren't going to use it?"

A curious nod.

"You never told them about being half ghost?" Although Curufn can see it, the need to keep certain secrets from loving but over-zealous parents.

"I think they wanted to study it." A shrug. "And to see whether it could be done. I know they worked on it for twenty years."

And now he shifts awkwardly. "Uh, they're kind of ghost hunters? And ghost scientists who spend all their time inventing weapons that can hurt ghosts?"

"Your parents do sound like scientists, rather than explorers. Or whatever is the magical equivalent of a scientist."

And now it's Curufn's turn to wince.

"Your parents are ghost hunters?? And they make weapons to kill ghosts with? I can see why you didn't tell them! Even if they love you and would never do you harm, it might look bad in the community if the word got out that their child was a ghost. Or even if they never told anyone, they might be embarrassed." Not fair! A child should not have to worry about such issues.

Danny's turn to wince.

"Actually ghost hunters don't get that much respect in my world. Before they proved that ghosts actually exist, most people in my world thought they were nuts." Danny shrugs awkwardly. "The problem is that they think that all ghosts are evil. That's what most of the ghost hunters in my world think. And you know, I'd like to believe that they'd give me a chance to explain. But I don't know for sure."

He believed that they'd accept them. He really did. But the doubts were hard to get over. And... how was she supposed to tell his parents that he was the ghost they'd been shooting at for the past year?

"Ah, so your parents were never upstanding members of the community in the first place. That might make it harder, not easier, for them to soften in the case of their own son. Why do ghost hunters believe that all ghosts are evil? Do they never communicate with the ghosts? Do they shoot and ask questions later, as the saying goes? I hope they'd give you a chance to explain, but I can see why you'd prefer not to find out the hard way."

Family. However loving they meant to be, there were always troubles that no one knew how to resolve. Curufin shook his head. It was the same in every universe.

"Actually, I don't know why. Its not like any of the experts have ever talked to a ghost." A beat. "Let me rephrase that. They've talked to me. Just long enough to tell me to shut up. Its like they assume that anything that a ghost says is a lie or a trick."

Danny frowns. "Mom and Dad always thought all ghosts were evil, even before they started showing up in the human world. Though I have to give it to them that most of the ghosts who show up in the human world are there to cause trouble. There are lots of ghosts who are friendly or just want to be left alone, but they're smart enough to stay in the ghost zone."

Curufin shakes his head. "What's the matter with these experts? How are they experts if they have never actually had a conversation with a ghost? And if they would not even talk to you, except to tell you to shut your mouth, how will they ever know that some ghosts are neither liars nor tricksters?"

He shakes his head again. "Even if most ghosts who come to the human world are troublesome, shouldn't it be a ghost-hunter's responsibility to seek out the other kind and ask for their point of view? By the way, can living humans travel to the ghost zone?"

"That would require asking questions before anyone starts shooting." Danny sighs. "Basically the whole situation is a disaster, and I've got no idea how to even start getting anyone to listen. I've thought about just telling my parents what happened so many times. But then they invent a new weapon or start telling me about how they're planning on experimenting on the ghost boy, which is me. And I chicken out."

Danny brightens up at the change of topic.

"Oh yeah! Its actually really cool. See the ghost zone is basically the flip of the human world. So when humans go there, they become the ghosts. It actually got me out of a few tight situations, because ghosts can't walk through walls in the zone, but humans can."

"I can see why you wouldn't take the chance," says Curufin, rolling his eyes in chagrin, as regards the values of these ghost-hunters. "They don't recognize you as you when you're in ghost form?"

But as for the ghost zone. . .

"The ghosts are the real people, and the living humans who visit suddenly become the ghosts? It's a mirror world, then." He chuckles. "I wonder what would happen if I visited there? I have the ability to revert to unbodied spirit form, at will. I don't do it very often. But I wonder who I'd be in your ghost zone? Would I be able to walk through walls, or would that zone interpret me as a ghost, and I'd get a solid bump on the nose if I tried to pass through a wall?" He grins.

Danny rolls his eyes. "Observant, they're not. They think I'm just some ghost boy that they take shots at."

A frown. "You know? I've got no idea. I can switch back and forth, and it treats me as a ghost when I'm one and as a human when I'm one."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Under the Sea: Mission start

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