middleofsomewhere | No Place Like Home: The Return

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Her voice seems to echo in her mind, through the hazy rainbow lights that dot the sky.

"Mom? Mom, is that you? I mean...train you?"

She wrapped the tether tighter around her wrist, using it as both a real and mental anchor from the train.

Cassie's voice sounded far away, or rather she couldn't tell where or how far she was from the shout alone. Part of her feared it wasn't her, that it was just some lure like with the other voices to pull her in as well.

She tried again. "Pumpkin! Cassie! Walk forward..follow my voice!"

Cassie begins to do as she asks before she even responds.

"You gonna lead me outta here? If so, good, because shit's fucked here."

"It's why I'm here!" She called out, the voices around her almost seeming to drown out her voice. "I need you to reach for my hand."

She kept holding it out, trying to make sense of the swirling mass that seemed surround both her vision and in her head.

Cassie nods, smirks, and salutes.

"Wilco, General."

Sonya's hand takes a bit of lunging to reach for - they're right at the edge of the mist. She reaches out with all of her strength and flexibility for the faint outline of her mother's outstretched hand.

She can just hear the optimism in daughter's voice through the fog and distortions surrounding them all. The atmosphere seemed claustrophobic, even as she could barely make out the others around them-she assumed they were all around here.

Her eyes narrowed, just able to make out the form of her daughter through the changing lights and fog, and she clung to that as much as the tether. She could just make her out the hand reaching for her.

"Just a little farther." Though if she was saying this to Cassie or herself, she couldn't be sure.

Cassie lifts into the air, reaching for whatever she can grab.

She believes there's a way out. She trusts her mother.

There it was. She couldn't exactly reach her daughter's fingers, but they were close enough she could just nearly feel their proximity. The near brushing of air is enough that she grits her teeth, pulls herself tigher.

She can feel her finger tips, and perhaps the grip would've been awkward, but it's there and she could feel her daughter's hand in hers. She doesn't give herself a moment to relax, but quickly pulls on the teather.

The entire time she could see visions through the void; their home..but not home, could hear voices beckoning her to just release the strap and let go. Sonya forces herself to ignore them and pulls both of them onto the platform.

"Move!" She shouts, not even allowing Cassie a moment to steady herself.

Cassie lands hard. But she knows better than to question orders when she's being pulled out of a negative interdimensional wedgie. She even knows better than to ask "where are we going?" She's up on her feet and following her mother as quickly as possible.

"The train." She gripped Cassie's hand, perhaps too hard, but she doesn't trust the Void to pull them apart again. Their surroundings rushed around them, the voices still going around, urging her back, tempting her when it wasn't all just grey fog.

The actual run back was hard to judge. There were no markers or directions, all she did was run, following the long tether that she wrapped around her wrist.

No sooner did their feet reach the platform, the two of them would've found themselves not actually by the train, but inside the luggage carriage.

Sonya was only vaguely aware of the sudden fatigue, but chalked it up to the venture from the train.

And in that moment, Cassie is still. She exhales deeply, shutting her eyes as she acclimates to the solid ground.

It's a few seconds before she notices that she's carrying just a little of her mother's weight as well.

Fighting against it, Sonya forced herself to stand straight. There were still people out there, and though Cassie was now safe, that didn't mean she could rest just yet.

"For once, stay here till we start traveling again." Of course, Cassie could get a tether and help with the rescue, but she couldn't be sure if the void would take her or not.

And until her name was called up, there'd be no way she'd loose her.

Cassie exhales deeply. "Yeah. Okay."

She might think about helping out in a moment. But she'd like to take a little breather first.

She goes back to the platform, fighting back any fatigue she might've been at risk of acknowledging. Tired as she might've been, there was no way she'd settle until everyone was back in the train.

It's not till a few hours later, the train would be leaving, and Cassie would find Sonya very nearly dragging herself back from the luggage car.

Cassie will be waiting for her. It's clear she's been waiting for a while.

"Need some help getting to bed, or would you rather I get out of your way?"

Because there is absolutely no question that Sonya needs to get to bed.

For anyone else, or perhaps had she been younger, Sonya would've bristled and forced whatever energy she had on her own. Yet, this was Cassie, and this was the void, so perhaps neither were valid excuses.

"I may need help." This was muttered, either lack of energy or still not quite willingness to accept she was this tired.

She was so tired. There was the strong feeling in her gut that just one mistep or one small item in her way would be enough not just to ground her, but perhaps she just might fall asleep then and there. Lord knew she'd done so in worse circumstances.

"Tomorrow's definitely going to be a sugary cereal morning." If she didn't find herself sleeping the entire day away.

"Pot of strong coffee, too, right? That's always important."

Cassie doesn't offer a shoulder or arm for support - because the word "offer" would imply that Sonya had a choice in the matter. She won't be hearing any objections.

No Place Like Home: The Return

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