middleofsomewhere | What their Eyes See: Optional Ongoing

By day eight the Voidtreckers have made a good deal of progress in all their tasks but there is still a lot to do to help the people of the city.

It is around mid morning when there is a message on their comms. For those that want to help it is easy to either find Anan herself or ask for netpoints and scanners to be brought to them by Chiff.

Illusions have gotten worse, uncertainty and fear are rising across all tiers and the situation is becoming more chaotic by the day. Indeed especially on the first and second tiers it seems that the voidtreckers themselves are being targeted, with creatures stalking them and attacks on their minds to make them believe that what they are seeing is real.

Same inside the Spectura system, the vines seem to almost be on the offensive against the voidtreckers though things are getting better outside the game system as more of the vicitms are freed and wake up.

Almost opposite to the situation on the lowest tier, which is getting more chaotic by the day. Anger is bubbling over, people are frightened and in a place like this the only real way to express that fear is through anger.

There has been a lot of progress but there is still a lot of work to do, especially as many of the voidtreckers have started to realise, this all seems a little too familiar.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

There is a waiting apology on his tongue, perhaps out of courtesy for giving her so much to chew on, but his eyes grow wide at the mention of it -

- he can't help but jump immediately for what she says, standing up straighter like a coiled spring come to life.

"A three-part tether?" Roland is on alert. "Her...traveling self? Hold on, you're speaking in tongues." He shakes his head. One at a time, he tells himself. Keep his level-headedness about him, one at a time.

"What do you mean the tether comes in three parts? Anan, walk me through what you just said."

She groans. "Sorry Roland." She shook her head. "It's like. I'm discussing the intricacies of deep sea diving with someone from a world without water." Hopefully his world has water or he's seen an ocean during his time on the train or that is going to go over his head.

"The void is the between spaces. A different plane almost. Not a place at all. Rather the gaps between places. You can't travel it like you would an ocean or even space. Not safely. So part of you needs to remain connected to where you belong and a tether keeps the part of you that remains on your world, the part of you that travels and your craft interlocked." She twisted her fingers together. "So your travelling self is you. Here before me and you are connected to your craft. The Voidtrecker Express. But you are also connected to yourself, the part of you that does not leave your world. How that has worked with your group, who have entered the void unwillingly and without any safety protocols I don't know."

She shook her head. There are far too many unknowns.

He knows about the void not being a place. The train answered that for them way before. That's not what comes as a shock to him. It's what Anan describes as a literal chain in three links, which is how Roland immediately pictures it upon hearing.

"That explains why the train's able to use points to buy things we know from home..." He shakes his head, not out of disbelief, but because it's all somehow coming together for him. And it feels violating to know he's been taken this way- that all of them have been taken this way, without choice, without warning.

He reels inwardly, but refuses to show Anan. He keeps going.

"Then how do you break the tether? Let's say you don't want to be a void scout anymore, let's say you want to retire early." Roland is more invested in the conversation than he was starting it, taking two steps around the table as he thinks out loud. "How do you get out of the game? How do you, Anan, go back home where part of you is waiting?" Without dying? Like Halo did?

"If I want to not be a void scout, or indeed if I just want to go back to my system for a holiday." Because people not press ganged into void service by rogue void craft got those. "Then I return to the point of entry and am untethered. There are void technicians on my world who can do that safely. On any world that is void active. It's not hard if it's done properly, safely."

She sighed. "How you would get out is harder. How did you get in? How did the tether happen? Is it even a three part tether? There's so many questions. I'll try and find you answers but... It's hard to know where to start."

"..."

It's a lot of information on his part too, which is why he stays silent until Anan finishes speaking. The more he explores the void for answers on their circumstance, the more Roland understands the depths of the train's crime. For what else could be worse than the total and utter intrusion of another force into your deepest, most private thoughts and desires? Fears? Memories?

And now the possibility of being tampered with; of his already fractured soul tethered without his consent, without his choice...

He sighs deeply. It is rare for men like Roland to express things outwardly, especially in the presence of virtual strangers, but in this moment, it doesn't feel that way. It's almost like Anan is the only one who understands, despite all his doubts.

"Anything you can provide is already more answers than the train ever gave us. That the train ever will." He eventually replies, his eyes looking across her set-up distantly. Chiff's little movements stir another thought in him, and he is want to chase it.

"Anan...This can't be coincidence. This planet isn't the first time we've had to talk about memories, or how nobody can remember the Voidtrecker Express. The woman I spoke of, the captain of the Voidflash, she had theories. She didn't exactly like the void ministry since they apparently police the multiverse, but it would be impossible to wipe out en masse. She mentioned passing a void storm too, and that's the closest we've got to one another." Roland closes his eyes briefly. "We once passed a void storm, and ghosts of past passengers appeared as apparitions inside the train." Memories.

"Would-" he hesitates for only a second before courage overtakes him. "Would it be possible that we're in an alternate void?"

It's the firmest theory I've got. Here's to hoping Halo was on to something.

She winced. "Void storms are rough. Sorry you all had to go through that. I've only been in one and..." She sighed, "Suffice to say I needed a month out-of-void to get my head back in the game."

She frowned at his suggestion though and then sighed, giving him a small grin. "You do love asking the big questions don't you? Is this an alternate void? Just thinking about that gives me a headache."

She did seem to be giving the thinking a go though and she was quiet for a long moment.

"The existance of alternate voids is even more debated than the the sentience of void craft. I don't know. Maybe? But it would be a very very far out idea. I'm not sure I believe the void can be replicated in multiples. But as I said. I'm no void philosophers."

He doesn't want to apologize for it, and he knows Anan won't take it against him if he's pulling out the big guns anyway. There's no room to be meek about it. They don't have the time to dart around the issue.

"We won't have the answers between the two of us, I know." Roland walks around, a break in the monotony. "And it's clear we're not entirely welcome this side of the void." Chiff is nice enough to stay still as his hand rests against its cool exterior. He strokes its back as if it were an actual pet, but only out of curiosity for how it might feel.

"Let's go simpler, then." The fingers against Chiff rise, returning to curl up against his hand resting by his sides. "It's been debated, but I want to hear your thoughts on it. What do you think about us attempting to contact the void ministry for help? Surely if anyone in this universe knows how to get people home, especially when they didn't sign up for the trip, it'd be them. Right?"

"I'm not sure." She frowned. "It might be an idea, they might know what to do what to help. But I'm not sure... We say the minstry like it is one organisation and it is but there's a lot of branches. A lot of bureaucracy. Just figuring out who best to contact might take time."

She sighed, "I can start looking into it though. Find out if they have a department that deals with this sort of thing."

What their Eyes See: Optional Ongoing

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject