VoidTrecker Express Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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middleofsomewhere2022-08-14 04:26 pm
voidtreckermods) wrote in middleofsomewhere2022-08-14 04:26 pm
EVENT: Into the Unknown
"Good morning Voidtreckers and passengers of the voidtrecker Express. Today is day twenty two of the month of Symphony. As you are aware we have some guests on board and our next task is to deliver them safely to the void hub. The tethering kits can only keep them tethered to this craft for a short space of time. We will be arriving at the void hub tomorrow."
Until now the scientists have kept themselves to themselves, remaining in their room and rarely exiting out. However after this announcement they emerge more and more, interested in asking about the void hub, the ministry workers and what they might expect from the situaion.
The next morning, just before lunch, the train makes another announcement.
"Approaching Voidbase now. Prepare for docking."
There is no shaking, not leaving the void: instead those who risk looking out of the windows will see a large structure ahead of them. The void turns to metal around them as they enter the structure, and for a moment, there is nothing outside the train but darkness.
"Welcome Voidtreckers." A voice speaks over the ICPs. Not the voice of the train, this is a male voice, sentient. "The filtration process takes a few moments, so please be patient. Meanwhile, I am sending some information about our void base over to your SCA's."
They will receive a small pamphlet on their SCA's explaining about the void base, this is the same pamphlet as last time but will be useful reading for those who are new, or those who didn't pay attention the last month. It explains that the base was set up as a research base and has been expanded to provide living quarters for some of those rescued from system #78961112094711. It explains that they had made the decision to invite the voidtreckers there to further unravel the mystery surrounding them. They would be quartered in ministry sleeping areas, and have free access to the ministry part of the base. Anyone who wished to visit the citizens of system #78961112094711 could do with good reason.
It's not too long before the filtration process is completed, and the doors of the Voidtrecker Express open. This time they are greeted just by the scientists who welcome them back.
AT THE VOID BASE
~ VOIDBASE INFO ~ OOC INFO
SETTLING IN
They are shown to their sleeping quarters first. They are in small suites, which match their room assignments on the train. They will be given time to unpack and rest, and told that their SCA's have been programmed to allow them access to the general ministry parts of the base.
Their time here is their own, And though the ministry hopes that they will help out with the various experiments and research programs they have going on, they do not need to. If they wish to take the time to rest and enjoy the amenities, they can.
1. MULTIMEDIA. There are a few types of lounging rooms, chairs and cushions, tables for sitting at. Slim televisions sitting on walls, a few tables - that can be lowered or raised - joined with screens that can be more privately watched. Shows and movies are available in some rooms, gaming equipment in others. There is also a more quiet room for lounging in, with access to e-books and screen readers for them, audio options also available. Relax, or get into a multiplayer game -- games that break friendships are available in the void.
2. FITNESS AND SWIM. For those looking for more activity in their 'rest', there's the fitness gym and swimming pool. In separate rooms but nearby, the fitness gym is larger than the train's gym, and more well-equipped. Muscle training, speed; there will be a Ministry worker to show how to use the variety of equipment, so that nobody has an accident.
The same will be for the swimming pool, with a shallow and deep end. Balls, floating pads and more can be grabbed. It's a swimming pool - what's not to love?
3. TRAINING. Beside the pool and fitness gym is the combat gym, where they will find small groups already exercising in a variety of fighting styles. Voidtreckers will be left alone to train if they wish, but any who take interest in partners will be allowed to join in with the ministry training. Magic, energy, weaponry; some of them use special batons, Ministry-issued, and the Ministry workers will show how to use them. If a Voidtrecker becomes well-trained in how to use one by the end of their stay, they can be given one to use on void missions. The Ministry fighters will also introduce them to a special training tool, the hard- and holographic courses and 'dummies'. Quite a few fighting styles can be set to a holographic opponent, or even one made to mimic a voidtrecker after fighting them - they're surprisingly quick to adapt. The hard-light partner can listen and read sign-language, and will change on command. Want them to move faster, focus on attack, dodging? Now they will.
4. GREEN THUMBS, OPEN AIR. The last room in the relaxation area is a curious one, reading simply 'GARDENS AND SIMULATION' on its front. Opening it will lead to a simple and long corridor, five more doors on each side. Four devoted to gardening, labelled Hydroponics, Hot Houses, Ice Houses, and Land. Entering, each space will be larger than should be possible. But it is, with each an indoor type growing space except for land, which mimics a farming field. There's a sky above, a wind in the air; sometimes, it might be raining when you enter.
It might be a shocking experience for some, the first time round.
The last six rooms simulation rooms are less specific, but with plenty more options. Rooms of prayers, beaches, cities, open valleys; with some time spent learning the menu, people can recreate a realistic area. The rooms can be set to private, but some people may leave the spaces they've created - on purpose, at random, or on accident - free for others to wander into. Sharing is caring, and there's only six of these rooms, you know.
EXPERIMENTING
A lot has happened since they were last here and the scientists of the base will be happy to share their news as well as here reports on what the voidtreckers learned in their last mission.
PROGRESS They have done a lot of research into time and they think they have managed to replicate the Voidtrecker Expresses' ability to respond to catastrophes, they currently have a test crew on a new voidcraft furthering that experiment. They also believe they have found a way to stabilise the tethers of the Voidtreckers enough to loop them to the void base, this will give them an extra level of protection should anything happen to their craft. They are also very interested in speaking to the scientists found on system ##3721010010. They will once again take any help in research or experiments and will be very interested in doing health checks on the newer voidtreckers.
2. REACHING OUT. At the top of the void base is an area with a clear domed roof, allowing in the light of the void. Here voidtreckers can attempt to reach out, to strengthen their connection with the train and through it try and find those that have left the train.
For those that did this last time they will find it easier now, practice and a lot of atuning make it feel easier to do, easier to reach out towards those specs of light. Those who put in a lot of work feel like they can almost touch them now, just a bit further and they could reach out and pluck them from the vastness.It is still very hard work. It's easy to get lost in the void, though the room has ministry workers who are highly trained and will be able to help anyone who needs it.
They do say it might be easier to go in pairs, to meditate together and help guide each other, using each others tethers as a touch point. Anything is worth a try.
OOC NOTES
~ Questions.
~ This part of the event runs until the 19th August (Day 25)
~ Part Two will go up on the 20th August
~ This part of the event runs until the 19th August (Day 25)
~ Part Two will go up on the 20th August
Letting her react to it, before he goes on.
It's not... a perfect replica. It's not exactly right, it's not quite what he remembers of his world. But it's close enough that Esteban had wanted to share it, wanted to show it to his friend, so that she could see where he'd come from.
The space is wide, and almost entirely empty. Distances far greater than the mind can conceive stretched out before them, filled with nothing but the grass that smells of salt, its russet tones tickling at elbows and hands, while rice-white clusters form at the tips of their stalks. In the distance, far over a hill, the sun is setting, throwing the reddened-glow of a thousand fires dancing across the vast plains with the wind.
Overhead, a large moon glimmers faintly, perched into the lush branches of a single tree. Its limbs stretch wide over the fields, its trunk is twice as large as the foot of a giant. An ancient watcher, that stands solitary in the far expanse of the nothing that surrounds them.
It's a poor replica. It's a poor replica, but Esteban doesn't care; it's warm, and it's enough of his home that he'd felt delighted into seeing it. He stretches his arms when he turns to Amaya, beaming as bright as the setting sun behind him, showing the land that he's found to his friend.
{My home world, mine.} He signs lightly, before words come to replace what little the signs show.
"This is parts of my home. I thought maybe y'd like t' see it." He grins, a bit apologetic, and his hand comes to rub at the back of his head, a little embarrassed. It's... a bit more than he thought, to show this to her, somehow, but he's proud too, in a way. But his eyes close as he grins, and shakes his head, brushing the thoughts away.
"C'mon!" Even now, he's too quick to really stop and take things slow, darting along towards the tree and leaving trails in the grass that sways and dances with a gentle wind.
He's not... entirely sure what he's doing. There was a thought-- something about her coming home with grasstains, her and her sister both, and he'd wanted to gift this to her, but now that he's here, he's not so sure there's much to do for Amaya to enjoy it. Maybe he should have shown her an actual town. Maybe he should have gotten something else; just an area that she could enjoy better. But Esteban is the kind to act-now, think-later, and, not for the first time, he finds it biting him now that he considers it.
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Then, slowly, she lets herself fall back onto the grass with a sigh, laying there and moving her limbs open and shut a few times, with a happy look on her face. Her hands grip gently at the grass, enjoying the feeling of a strange, beautiful world. Imperfect or not, it's new. And she's going to experience all of it.
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There's a vague memory to his father being mortified when he used to dart into the grass as a sproutling. He winces a bit at how easily it is to lose someone in the stalks, the wind rustling away any passage that he may use as a marker. It takes him a minute or two to find her again, sprawled into the grass, and the smile on her lips has him keep quiet-- as a reflex-- while he sits nearby, crossing his legs and leaning back onto his hands.
Overhead, the sky shifts in flame-wreathed glows, before the night shrouds the horizon in deep purples, far over the hills. The smell of warm grass is all the more strong, so close to the earth, and somehow, even the dirt has its own undertones, as if it had been baked by a relentless sun all day. It's so, so surprisingly real, in itself.
His knee bounces aimlessly while Esteban watches the clouds drift overhead, breathes in the air that tickles the fields with phantom fingers. Gently. Gently, the world breathes around him. And Esteban grows calm with its quiet soothing, the night that slowly encroaches over the enormous nothingness that surrounds them both. He misses this.
He misses this.
Amaya was right to slow him down. To make him stop. It's a pang of nostalgia and just a bit of pain, but he's thankful. He'd needed this.
Blue eyes glance at her regularly as he unwinds himself from these coils, the need to move. There's no need for speech-- not right away. But he's attentive to when she shifts, to when words-- or signs-- can add to her knowledge of the world that has seen him grow up.
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Finally, with a smile, she sits up, signing so she can see him.
This place is lovely.
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"It's the saltgrass sea," he explains, before breaking a stalk and bringing it to eye level. The clusters of grains at the tip of the grass are white, and pinching one between a finger and a thumb, Esteban crumples it into salt. It won't taste like anything-- not in this simulation, but it shows the grains for what they are-- salt.
"My home. It's called the Wanderin' Seas continent, 'cause when the three moons align, this is all covered up by the sea. Here-- there's Eriat-- the mirror moon." She's easy to spot, even before Esteban points her out, the wide pale moon of crystal and ice. He makes the sign for {Moon} followed by the number {three}. Repeats it after a moment.
{Moon, four, dark-black, moon} "Iiyeta is the hidd'n moon. There." It is far, far harder to spot her-- a tiny thing, the size of a coin, as opposed to her sister's width. In the deep night's purple, across from the sun, she is a hole where there is no colours in the sky. Esteban judges its distance, before adding another sign.
{Moon, two} "Khaari won't be around for another ten days or so. That's when the floods w'ld start." His hand rises, tickles through the stalks before him, sending them swaying along with the gentle wind that sweeps through the vast wilderness.
"When I leave the cities-- there's nothin' but grass 's far 's the eye can see." {Eye/See, far} he signs, the motion exaggerated with extreme emphasis. His snicker is light, and he returns to his gentle smile as he settles, drinking in the peaceful calm that surrounds him when he finds these.
"So-- I thought y' might like them." He'd remembered her mentioning it after all. How she used to run everywhere with her sister, with Sarai, and come back with grasstains on their clothes.
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Like? I love it. I'm so thankful you decided to share this with me.
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{I am happy you like it.}
He'd speak more, tell more... but there's not really a point. Or rather; he doesn't want to take away what she has of this, right now. The moons and the stars and the fields stretching endlessly. The sun dipping slowly over the horizon, the wind cresting across the tall grasses. It's been so long since he's enjoyed the outside like this.
It's fake, it's not real, but Esteban drinks it nonetheless feeling better-- more at peace with himself. His voice is softer when he speaks again, not as loud, even though it doesn't make much of a difference for Amaya. He is still careful to make sure the dimming sun is clear enough to see though as he speaks.
"At this point, anythin' livin' on the plains w'ld go back to the mountains." There's so many things he could say. And yet they all stumble onto his tongue, all inconsequential. "Sometimes, we get sunset eclipses-- those 're really special t' see." He's filling the silence, mostly; the last words he can tell her while they still have daylight. No matter how bright the mirror moon is, he knows it won't be enough.
"... I wish I c'ld show it to you for real." Eyes close, his head turning to the sky, taking a deep breath of the air that shimmers through the russet grass. "But this is a great way t' go 'bout it!" And that is true! They have this-- he can show it to her this way. Not in a long season as he would like, but these shards of a moment work well enough!
"Tell me of a place y' loved?" He asks instead. She'd told him of the Dragon Queen last-- but was there ever a place that Amaya would show him? Would want to share with him?
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Banther Lodge, she signed in return, carefully spelling out the first word. Family lodge, out in the wilds. Mountains for days and rivers so clear you can almost see right to the bottom.
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"Bett'r th'n a river of lava?" He asks lightly, though he can already guess the answer. One of these she can swim in-- the other... not so much. His smile is still gentle, and he prods further.
"What did you do out there?" He asks while his right hand flicks through the signs. {B-a-n-th-e-r} The movement is not quite smooth with the new word, but he manages it within a few seconds, and repeats it three or four times more, just to make sure he's understood it. "Run in the grass? Climb trees?" Mischief glimmers at the edges of his smile, easily imagining it. It must have been fun, especially if the land is as beautiful as she describes it.
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She sighed a bit, nodding.
It needs life in it, again.
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It all flies so far above Esteban's head, he doesn't know what to say to all of this. But it would be ridiculous of him not to try-- he knows he can find something that might work, that might bring some comfort from these thoughts, if only he gets the words right.
"Well." His signs are still clumsy, but he tries them anyways. He wants this-- he likes this after all. {Small, king} he signs, before adding his name. {E-s--} His hand wavers as if to brush away his misspelling. {Ezran.}
"Maybe y'r nephew can... get you some more time t' spend with him? Them?" He's not... sure how much freedom is granted in court life. Esteban's never been one quite inside these circles, and all he knows is that his father stepped away from them, for his own reasons. But if her nephew is king, surely he can manage something? To spend time with her?
"He must know y' miss them? He's gotta miss you too, the same way?" If her nephews know anything about Amaya, it must be how much she loves her family, right?
He's stepping out of his reach. But he does hope she get some comfort from this, from his hopes for her. He just wants Amaya to be happy after all. And her happiness seems quite intricately linked with the wellbeing, and the sharing of time with her family. So he hopes she gets to have that soon.
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Maybe. We're on the verge of a new world, back home. All the old ways are changing. Who knows what's going to happen next?
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He stands up instead. Stretches both hands out to help her up.
"C'mon! The best place t' see the stars're from the Namin' trees! Hope y'r ready t' climb?" her companion cheers, grinning wide enough to be seen even in the slowly encroaching darkness.
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