Event: Healing Waters

[voidtreckermods]

"Good morning passengers, it is day twenty three of the month of Grasshopper. All passengers of the Voidtrecker Express require rest. Next stop Jema’grethy Island. All passengers prepare to disembark."

It is a very strange morning message that rings through the train on the morning of day twenty three but as the passengers of the Voidtrecker Express wake their screens glow with the colour of the void and a holographic screen pops up for them to read.

World #2554098133741: A world once inhabited by an ancient civilisation and now preserved as a historical site, nature reserve and well-being retreat. It is famous for its relaxing hot springs, calming atmosphere and beautiful beaches.

It is a popular void-traveller destination, particularly among void missionaries as a place to rest and recuperate after difficult missions.

The Voidtrecker Express will spend three days here, arriving today and leaving on day twenty six of the month of Grasshopper. The dressing carriage is open for your convenience.

It is time for a holiday it seems!

Preparation

For those who go to explore the dressing carriage they will find a variety of beachwear and wetsuits. One cupboard has a pile of tents and groundsheets in all four team colours.

One cabinet is exclusively filled with beach towels, in a kaleidoscope of colours, designs and patterns. Another is filled with different shapes and sizes of plain towel dressing gowns. There is even a cabinet with buckets, spades and small rock-pooling nets.

It seems they are in for quite an adventure.

Arrival

"Shortly arriving on World #2554098133741. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

The train lurches and rattles as it leaves the void they will get a glimpse of silver-purple sky and a beautiful ocean below.

However some passengers might be a little more than distracted, one staring at that table for a second too long, another seeming lost in thought for a couple of seconds, a longer than normal pause in a sentence. They see a vision, a glimpse of a life that is not their own. Not all at once, but here and there as the train descends to the island.

But then it is gone and things are back to normal. Just in time, as they come to land.

Jema’grethy Island

The train has landed on a grassy ridge, overlooking a beautiful beach of white sand and the ocean beyond. It is warm, but not too hot, a cool ocean breeze cutting through the heat making it pleasant. Behind them is a grassy plain, changing to forest in the distance. There is the sound of birdsong in the purple sky. To the west the land is more craggy, the silhouette of a fortress in the distance. In a word, it is idylic. A sense of peace permeates the island.

A little more worrying is the volcano-like structure in the north. But even a quick glance will show it is not a typical volcano. There is no smoke and the liquid slowly running down it in rivulets is pink and blue.

Exploring the passengers will find beautiful beaches, ragged cliffs to walk and caves to explore. Where it is more craggy the beaches are made of pebbles- perfect for rock pooling.

The place has no people, but it is clearly maintained. The eastern beaches have racks of shallow boats, both canoes and one- or two-person sailing dinghies. There is also a small building in which scuba gear is stored, along with several waterproofed manuals and instructional literature.

Ruins of ancient houses are scattered across the island, but the main settlement is built into a rocky section in the north-west that has been secured with ropes and stairways cut into the cliffs, perfect for scrambles and hikes.

There are no living quarters, but there are sheltered sections with basic toilet facilities marked as camping grounds in five different sections of the island - by the hot springs, within the ruined fortress, beside the harbour, on the eastern beaches, and on the northern face of the mountain.

Hot Springs

To the west are the hot springs. They have both outdoor and indoor areas; the indoor areas being wooden loghouse saunas, changing rooms and storage sheds, whilst the outdoor areas are a tiered series of pools spilling down the side of the mountain and shaded by brightly flowering trees. The waters are hot, mineral-rich and soothing.

Perfect for overly stressed, world weary Void heroes...

(OOC: More setting information is here, please feel free to go wild with the setting and have a fun and relaxing time. You can use this post as a catch all for your holiday or make your own posts on middleofsomewhere. More information about how the memory event is structured is here!)

Comments

[pleple]

They were a little busy, and he was even busier.

"More of what little life I remember... was spent in space, as opposed to on Earth. Although the colonies didn't exactly have a good view." Too much 'trying to emulate Earth' crap.

[myblueskies]

He tilted his head, "You don't remember much of your life either?"

He can't imagine what it would be to live in space most of the time, but it might just be like living in the void, something you got used to after a little while!

"What's a colony?"

[pleple]

"I didn't really have a life before I was woken up not... all that long ago, really." Less than a year of anything memorable to go with. "Or perhaps that's all I've been allowed to remember."

A concern for some other time.

"A space colony. Human habitation built in orbit around Earth."

[myblueskies]

"Oh." He looked up at her. "I don't remember anything before I woke up in the heavens either, that was where I was before the train."

He obviously knew other shinki but he doesn't think Ple Two is a shinki, so he is interested that there is someone else who doesn't remember many things either.

"Oh like the space station, that time we were in space? People lived there..." Soldier people, but people nonetheless.

[pleple]

"I suppose we aren't too far apart, then." Ple Two is just a purpose-cloned child soldier no big.

"Like that, yes, but big enough for a city, with weather and plants." Carefully controlled weather, but weather all the same.

[myblueskies]

He nodded, it was a strange thing to have in common with her. Especially since everything else was so different! Cities in space! With weather and plants!

"That sounds really amazing, I never seen anything like that before!"

[pleple]

"It seems you wouldn't on most worlds. It requires a high level of technological development, as well as a need to remove people from the Earth's surface." Like to let the environment recover! Or to do that, and then lord it over people that you're important enough to stay.

[myblueskies]

"You need to remove people from Earth? Why? Was it broken? Do you know?" She might not, if she doesn't have many memories.

There's lots of things he doesn't know and understand after all and he doesn't know if that place was even her first world or if she'd lived somewhere else before.

[pleple]

"Crowding, environmental destruction... at this point the only thing stopping us from multiplying forever is us." By waging a horrible war yay.

[myblueskies]

"Crowding? But the world is so big?" He spread his arm out wide, "There were so many people they filled it all?"

He can't even imagine that! That is so many people!

"And people destroyed the environment?" That made him sad as well, that people would do that.

[pleple]

"Billions. And only so much of that world is appropriate for dense populations. And powerful people use more than their fair share." Of everything.

"...it started off somewhat unwitting, and people are often unwilling to admit to their mistakes once a problem is discovered." Thus, a drastic solution.

[myblueskies]

"Billions?"

He can't imagine billions. He isn't even sure how many billions is. Except a lot. More than he can count to!

"That's bad! If you make a mistake you should say sorry and then make up for it and make it right again!"

[pleple]

Far too large a number for the human mind. That is precisely the problem.

"One person may very well do that, but when they won't live to see the drawbacks... then selfishness can override any desire to apologize."

[myblueskies]

"It sounds like they need to learn to be nicer."

People shouldn't be selfish, it was bad. "You should want the world to be nice for people after you, you should want it to be better even!"

That's why they saved people, that's why they had answered prayers. To help humans make things better, for them and their families and for the people after them!

[pleple]

"Lots of people are not nice." Ple Two has frankly been surprised by her own niceness. "There's only so much we can do to change that."

[myblueskies]

"I think everyone can be nice if they try really hard. They just got to be reminded sometimes..."

He thought for a moment and then smiled, remembering the first time he had seen a rockpool. With Chikusa. He and Ple Two would get on really well, he thought.

[pleple]

"I think it is... less natural for some people." Not that Ple Two has a good idea of what is 'natural' for her given all the brainwashing stuff, but still.

[myblueskies]

"I think some people just need to practice more. It's harder for some people, so they just need more help."

Like mister Zetta, he needed reminded all the time!

[pleple]

"Don't I know it..." but she'd practiced pretty hard these past few months.

[myblueskies]

He tilted his head, "But I think as long as they try their best! That's okay as well. People make mistakes sometimes but if they keep practising they can be nice all the time!"