No Place Like Home: The Return

[voidtreckermods]

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NO PLACE LIKE HOME: THE RETURN

---

a silence broken...

It's been a very difficult few days. Rocking and rolling into the void and out again. Watching their friends out of the window as they wander from world to world. Meanwhile those lost on worlds continue to wander unable to return to the train at all.

"All attempts at returning those who left have failed. This voidcraft cannot do it alone. It is lucky that unlike those that have left before them, I can still sense them.

But I cannot bring them back alone. This is perhaps too advanced for Voidtreckers, but you have done the improbable before. You say you wish to help. This is how you help."

Their SCA's light up with a message. Or rather, a series of instructions:

In the unlikely event a tether gets stranded on a liminal space platform or between their own world and the platform space, you should, in the first instance, contact the Void technicians who monitor their non-travelling self. However, in the case they cannot be reached or there is a mass displacement of tether, an anchoring procedure can be carried out.

Ideally, this will involve two fully tethered individuals to retrieve the lost tether. One should be a stationary anchor. They should be outside of their void craft, if possible, and in physical contact with it. The second should be a roaming anchor reaching to draw the tethers back. In situations of mass tether displacement the stationary anchor can hold mutiple roaming anchors but it is recommended to not exceed five. In this situation, it is recommended that anchors rotate between stationary and roaming.

To start an anchoring of this kind, those anchoring should activate their anchoring program. Those staying station should reach out to the tethers of those they plan to steady. This might cause some emotional upheaval, and they will need to stay steady, especially if connecting to more than one roaming tether. Roaming anchors then must hold the person they search for in their thoughts and move towards them. It is recommended that the lost tethers activate their emergency beacon to facilitate being found and returning but this is not a necessity.

Once the roaming anchor has found the lost tethers they must keep hold of them and guide them back towards their craft, the stationary tethers must draw them back, pulling them through.

There is an additional note at the end, in different font.

It is as Anan told you. Your minds should visualise it. Be strong Voidtreckers.

... a short-lived dream

The doors open and anyone who wishes to try this can leave onto the platform. It is empty, devoid of the figures they had seen before; and, beyond the fog, devoid of anything. But searching requires their SCAs, not a path, and as people get into teams, they can activate their anchors and begin.

For those who will roam, their minds become filled, visualising light, void, voices and chaos; their bodies feel less stable, like they might unravel if not careful. But for those who will stay, when they touch the Voidtrecker Express, they will feel more stable, grounded. The fog shifts, but the world moves around them without pulling them in.

Thinking of the person they wish to keep stable, a mental and emotional link will be established, and they will feel each other as the roaming anchor sets off to find their missing crew.

---

Outside the train...
For those that had left - either by choice or by strange happenings - they have found themselves back at their anchor point during Poi 26, regardless of where they were before. For those unfortunate enough not to have a world to return to, or those who were stuck between in the first place, they will find themselves alone, in a fog filled space where no matter how far they walk, nothing greets them.

All those in fog or back in their world receive the same message from their SCAs.

Hold fast. Press your evacuation button. Your friends come.

---

RETURNERS: FLEETING HAPPINESS

But it's likely before the message arrived, that something wrong has been noticed by those outside the void. More than the bizarre ability to travel between existences, an inability to move far from where they appear. Back at their anchor points, they may notice - in time - colours sometimes flash across the sky, streaking through clouds or making trails in a night sky. At first not much, something to be easily dismissed but it builds. People talk, wonder at what is happening.

For the colours aren't the only thing. Across worlds, in cities, kingdoms, villages, underworlds and space stations, people are dreaming. Bright colours, vivid dreams. Prophets spring from nowhere, people claim to know the future or to have seen the past. Some talk of places and worlds they could not have seen.

Perhaps at first it can be explained away, there are always such people. But more people talk, from urchin children to commanders, people dream and the colours dance.

ANCHORERS: A STEADY HAND

While the stationeries will feel grounded, they aren't blind to what's happening to their roamer. It's as if they're both linked, intimately, meshing together, and they will need to work to keep their feelings separate; hearing each other's thoughts, their feelings. Images of what the other thinks and memories shared between them.

And then there is the search for their teammates, amongst the multiple of realities. Existences move past the roamer, threatening to lose them in the mess, but they must persevere, keep their thoughts on the individual, their stationary anchor to help them. Until finally, they appear - in a world they perhaps know, don't, the kaleidoscope colours of the void faint above their heads.

Speak to each other, keep each other focused, certain, and find who you came to save.

BOTH: HOLDING ON

Searching for individuals, the anchorers will find themselves at a character's anchor point; if they haven't moved far from here or another world, it will be easy to locate them. Now is the time to convince them to come back, and then the eventual work of doing so.

It can be in agreement, or force. Taking a hold of the person, the anchorer can pull them into the mass of chaos. Just like when they helped the guests return to their worlds from the false Diagad, all parties become battered by images, voices. Voices like sirens; 'Just stay,' the voices encourage. 'Just let go and drift into the chaos. It will be easier.'

But they must be strong, move towards their anchor and towards the craft. The crossing doesn't take too long, perhaps ten minutes each way, and once they get to the craft the person they are rescuing glows gold and vanishes. The anchors will know instinctively that they are safe on the train.

And indeed, the rescued will find themselves within the luggage carriage - exhausted, but safe.

TRAIN: AN INEVITABLE RETURN

Exhaustion is something all parties will experience, once everyone is returned to the train and the adrenaline wears off. Those who anchored will be hit with a total exhaustion, leaving them unable to do much more than eat and sleep for a few days. Those rescued won't be as bad, but if they decide to join in with the efforts, they'll too face the soul-tiring experience that other anchorers are.

There's likely to be efforts, to help soothe people over this time. And as people return to their life on the train, they will see the marks of the last few days for those who stayed behind. Broken ceramics, books out of order in the library; the ICPs in the standard coach, storage, sports and games carriages broken, and some damage to furniture.

But for the scars brought on by this event, surely, they will heal - eventually.

OOC NOTES

OOC post. Ask questions here. New second part OOC post here.

First phase of the event took place during Poi 22 to 25; the second phase takes place during Poi 26 to 28 (20-25th February).

VISITING WORLDS: While during Poi 26, it will be possible to go back to wherever they were, or other spaces. However, they will have increasing difficulty doing this, and will feel themselves getting more lost if they try world hopping too much over the next 3 (void) days. It's like something is trying to pull them back, or pull them, but into nowhere.

SCAs: The SCA's comms will not be active at this time.

Comments

[10billionpercent]

"Let's try it on my body first." He didn't want to subject some innocent person and if he broke his own statue...

He was going to hope for the best.

Senku got to his feet and took the can from Tidus, tilted his head and started walking towards the bridge. When his foot hit the wood of the suspension bridge, there would be another memory in feedback.

Darkness. There was nothing. There was no sensation at all. Just counting. 800,910. 800,911. 800,912... This voice was Senku, but not slightly distorted. It was his proper memory.

Senku felt it, frowned and pressed on. "This way."

[flatteries]

It's worth a try. Inigo can agree with that too - though he wonders if things might just not revert the moment Senku goes back to the train.

But he tries to suppress those more worrisome thoughts, if not just because Inigo knows they're born from the fact that he fusses more about this stuff than your average person. Instead he just focuses on the other two as they start to move, thankfully helped by the fact that he remembers the route he took together with Senku before to go see the other's body.

Okay, just.. don't take too long, he sends over towards the other two. He'd mostly send it to just Tidus here, since he doesn't want to rush Senku while the other is concerned about his own world, but it's hard to selectively send messages when he's so tuned into both of them right now.

There's something.. weird. Interfering.

Or something that's making it harder to tell everything apart and hang onto their bond, anyway. Inigo can't tell that they're memories, after all, but he can hear the memories all the same. He can still suppress them enough to focus on Senku and Tidus in the present for now, but he doesn't know if it isn't going to get harder.

(Especially when his brain is trying so hard to figure out what it is that he's hearing.)

[blitzcheer]

Tidus feels Inigo's worry, reassurance returned in response, like it might be his own worry to dispel. We won't know unless we try. There's the worry already that it won't work, but trying, doing what they can - that's how Tidus is, has to be. Hope, and if it doesn't work, try again, try anything.

But he's following Senku too, at least having enough presence in this place to be able to walk. Really, there's nothing different from when he usually travels to places on missions, but there's that nagging, that something might happen; a worry about this whole anchoring thing, that he'll lose himself if he loses focus. Tidus keeps his eyes on Senku; and when he pauses at the bridge, Tidus pauses too, before he even realises the nothing he sees - hears the voice.

"Se...ku...?" It's strange, odd. "What is that?"

[10billionpercent]

The darkness would clear in a moment, although the sky was still swirling in an odd mix of colours.

"A memory." Senku answered. "Not the most pleasant one, but it's better to ignore it, I think. If I could stop them I would."

He considered that for a moment, standing before Tidus as he thought. "If you mean the other voice, that's Why-man." He pointed up into the sky. "He's on the moon. He's the one who petrified all the humans. We've had a couple of messages from him."

Senku shook his head slightly. "Not the most communicative...mind you..." He tilted his head back further to look at the sky.

"...We may be running out of time." His tone was grim.

[flatteries]

The worry Senku voices is the exact same thing Inigo is worrying about here. That they might be running out of time, that maybe he won't be able to pull them back anymore. But he knows that Tidus wants to try this, he can practically feel it radiating through his link with his friend, so he just concentrates even more, determined to focus on those two and nothing else.

Just the familiar feeling of both Tidus and Senku. Familiar, yet so far away.

One attempt, at least. Inigo's voice sounds a little tight from the concentration, but it should still be audible. The memory is a little bit more quiet now. If you guys really want to try, we should have enough time for one attempt. Count-- Count on me.

Because even though he's still tired from being pulled back himself, he'll do his darnest to let them hang in there for another moment, if it means they might be able to help Senku's world even the tiniest bit.

[blitzcheer]

There's so much going on, is there? Tidus shouldn't be distracted, eyes up on the sky for more than the 'Why-man' that Senku explains, with the kaleidoscope of colours hovering over them. It was pretty bad around here - worse than some other places.

"Right," he breathes - speaking to Inigo, and Senku both. "Let's hurry, one go."

There's a thanks to Inigo, a reassurance, you can do this that he keeps non-verbal, but coming through the shared lined between all three of them. But Tidus waits for Senku to lead them to where his body is. If this mixture wouldn't work, then maybe another would - but would they have the time to go around, even if it did?

There has to be more we can do...

Wasn't that the desire, always.

[10billionpercent]

One attempt. One attempt.

Senku couldn't even argue, with the way things were going and they could likely feel his tension, frustration and exasperation with the whole thing.

"New tactic. Waking me is a fruitless endeavour if I'm just unconscious. Come on." He beckoned and ran across the rope bridge to the collection of statues.

Short on time, he was looking around for one particular one. She was in the middle of them and he touched the top of her head.

"Try Ruri."

[flatteries]

Inigo seems to be quiet on his end of all of this. It'd be easy to imagine the connection would have fallen away if it wasn't for the fact that the other two can probably still feel his presence in the back of their heads - especially Tidus, but it's there even faintly for Senku as well.

But he doesn't speak up, doesn't want to interrupt this. If they have one chance, then they have to make it count. All he can do is try to let them concentrate, and to pray to Naga for the best.

[blitzcheer]

Tidus doesn't care about the change of plans. He'll follow without argument, until they get where they need to, the sky no less ominous and looming above the heads. Inigo just as quiet, but he feels him anyway; just as he does Inigo, the emotions lingering across their connections.

But as they finally come to their destination - one he now sees with the statues of people, the sight not as unfamiliar as he'd prefer - there's a hard lump in his throat. But he nods, swallows against it.

"Okay."

He raises the spray, and spreads it in a zig-zag motion from head to legs. If it works, the main portion sprayed should start to already crack, spreading out finally crumble most of the front.

No reason not to break everything

[10billionpercent]

Senku was not one for prayer. He didn't believe in a higher power, but that didn't mean they couldn't hear him. Please. The thought is a simple, desperate wish. For someone who didn't look it, he was sending desperation down their connection rather strongly for a change.

When the stone cracked he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

It took a moment, it felt longer than it was and the cracking was loud, but what was once a statue turned into a beautiful woman. She was a bit older-appearing than Senku. She had long blond hair and brilliant blue eyes, as though she were not fully Japanese. She raised her head. "...Senku?"

"Ruri." Senku responded. "Don't panic. I know it looks bad, but it's temporary." He hoped. He hoped the technicolour sky would leave when they did.

[flatteries]

.. it worked.

It worked, didn't it? Even if they don't have time to go around and save everyone like that, especially when the petrification thing might have happened to so many people, at least it seems like one person has been rescued from it.

That makes it feel like they at least did something here. Like there might have been something worthwhile in people being able to return to their worlds, even if it was just for a little bit. Even though it was a generally very miserable experience for Inigo.

The feelings he sends across their link now though are relief. Relief, and something a bit more congratulatory.

She must be confused, his voice resounds in both Tidus's and Senku's minds. Not like Inigo knows what it's like to be petrified and then go back to normal, but he imagines it must be a pretty confusing process.