middleofsomewhere | No Place Like Home: The Return

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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

A short bright laugh follows as she listens so intently, hands out. And then--a brush of a fingertip against him. Looking much as she left him, she grips his hand tight. A smile just as bright as her laugh meets him.

"Where have you been? It's been weeks, love."

There! A familiar hand, in a familiar color, and obstinately at right angles to him. What the hell was going on with perspective in this place? Was he on the floor or was she?

"Not for us! You've barely been gone. Suddenly we get an emergency and they're sending us out to save everyone's asses!"

"It's been at least a week and a half!"

Okay, she doesn't really like this anymore. Not that she liked this place at all, but it's starting to feel weird. Is she flying? She doesn't feel like she's flying but it's hard to tell. Ugh.

"We could tell straightaway something was wrong. Our bodies are still at home." More talking, more talking to keep this going, to ignore how weird this whole situation is. "And then we could visit other worlds. I'm...I'm glad you didn't come. So you can come find me now." A quick squeeze of her hand, "But also you should not visit my world with your temper. I already did some damage to other worlds with my own."

"I'll conquer wherever I damn well want!" Zetta said, reflexively, before he remembered that Persephone was one of the very few people whose world he wouldn't conquer just to spite them. "Uh, I mean -- I got an anchor back to the train. The kid's on the far end of it, and I don't want him sticking there longer than he has to. It's weird train stuff again."

"Hey!" Persephone almost yanks her hand back, just out of annoyance, before she remembers she needs it. Getting lost out here sounds like a nightmare. And--gods, Romeo is helping him anchor isn't he? She bites her lip and dismisses this slight annoyance at him for a small smile.

"Then lead me back. If I remember right, he'll be exhausted. So will you. So--let's go home."

"You ready? This is kinda gonna suck." His hand tightened on hers, just a touch -- offering what support he could, along with an absolute refusal to let go.

"I'm ready."

Persephone squeezes back, offering up another smile.

"I havent been sleeping well alone. So I'll put up with a little more suckiness to get back to the train and you."

Somehow, probably because of the circumstances and the strain and the notion that he might be communicating to Romeo more than he'd like, Zetta didn't make a joke about sleeping with her.

"All right. Hold on..." Zetta muttered, reaching behind him to try to grab onto absolutely nothing. Possibly the weirdest part was that he succeeded, and began to pull them both essentially perpendicular to everything.

It's weird. It's so so weird. Grabbing onto nothing, holding it tight and pulling them both home--it's weird. She doesn't respond more than a soft affirmation, too worried about his hand slipping or her hand slipping. A vine creeps along her arm and wraps tight around his wrist, then back around her own. Not letting go.

Zetta paused for a second -- not because he was worried, or because he was having a problem. Rather, he'd just had a highly-inappropriate thought regarding the potential of those vines.

Shaking it off, he gave a gentle tug, the better to ease them both slowly into that plane of chaotic madness that separated Here and There.

Proving that nothing will stop Zetta from an inappropriate thought. Blissfully unaware, Persephone follows, trying to keep up, as much as movement is a thing she can do in relation to everything else. Her power has her floating, maybe? Or perhaps standing. Or perhaps nothing, since they're moving into a whole other thing, she thinks. Was it this weird last time?

Just like that, they were through -- and into a swirling maelstrom of chaos, like the images racing behind your eyes when you had them shut. But this chaos was loud, oppressive in its volume. Why bother? Just stay.

If Zetta heard the voices, he didn't acknowledge them.

Persephone hears them. It makes her glad that she thought ahead enough to twine them together, because it's tempting. After a few minutes, it's so tempting. At the same time, it might as well be white noise, because she can't give it meaning. Staying in this is like staying in nothing.

As they move through the chaos, the vine thickens, sprouts flowers and leaves and tendrils to help hold them fast together.

Not that she had to worry. Zetta's grip wasn't painful or anything, but he wouldn't let it break until he himself did. And that wasn't gonna happen.

"So are we on board with not trusting the train's stupid experiments any more?" he asked, determined to drown out those voices and try to establish some sense of normalcy between them.

Persephone closes her eyes, focusing on his voice.

"Well it--it didn't really work entirely, sure. Our bodies are still there. But I got things done. So--maybe?" The voices start to press in, "But, you know, I don't know that I plan to go back. I--I don't fit in there anymore."

"Yeah, call me crazy but maybe let's not make any decisions on that score at the moment." Considering the circumstances... he totally got where she was coming from, but this freaking chorus of idiocy just didn't make for good rational thought. "The important thing is getting you back to the train now!"

"Hey, I've been thinking about the whole time I was home."

Though, he's right. Getting back is important. She falls silent until--is that solid beneath her feet? Gods, it's hard to tell after walking on what might have been nothing and might have something for so long. She peeks an eye open to look.

"Argh!"

It must be something solid, because Zetta had somehow managed to slam into it face-first. This was not the noble, heroic rescue he had planned, damn it!

Persephone bursts into laughter--until she whacks into it herself. Hey wait, that's illegal! He's supposed to be the only one with slapstick nonsense!

Color Zetta shocked, too, for the same reason. That wasn't supposed to happen to her? "Hey, are you okay?!"

Persephone rubs her nose, checking if it's broken or just bruised.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Clearly she has spent too much time around him!

"Serves me right for laughing at you."

"But -- that's never true! There's never any karmic punishment for laughing at me!"

Zetta was in such a state that he could admit things out loud that ordinarily shouldn't be said at all.

"What's a karmic punishment?"

Persephone inches her way forward to Zetta, hoping to touch more than his hand for once. This whole leading ahead and walking behind thing is boring and not how she likes to live her life. Honestly, she'd rather be carried.

"Just desserts? Like what just happened." He tugged on Persephone as he felt her move, bringing her towards him despite what seemed like a cosmos's worth of resistance between them.

When Persephone can feel his shoulder press against hers, her arm lined up alongside his, pressed to his jacket, she stops straining against it all. It's not relaxing, not really. Relaxing in this place would feel like giving up, just like it wants. Instead, she takes comfort in this touch.

"I'm your girlfriend, I shouldn't laugh at you being hurt." A pause, "You know, unless you did something stupid to yourself. And the wall did that to you. Wall. Or is this a floor? Which way is up?"

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