Into the Unknown Part Two

[voidtreckermods]

On day twenty-five of the month of Symphony, everyone is gathered together, at least everyone who follows the request for a meeting to be held.

One of the head scientists - named Till - stands before the group, a look of excitement on their face.

"We have found something, an anomaly in the void. We are not sure what it is exactly, but there is a lot of activity coming from its coordinates. More penitently, initial investigations have picked up readings that are constant with a void storm.

I believe from your own reports you have experienced void storms before, and you know they can be dangerous, but always fleeting, never lasting more than a few days. However, this storm seems to be static. It has not moved or changed since we first detected it.

We understand there may be people who do not want to venture into this storm, and we understand. The loops we have added to your tethers will allow you to stay on the base long enough for those investigating to return. You may experience some discomfort and disorientation during the time your craft is away, but it should only be mild and temporary.

For those investigating, we know little of what you will face. Every storm is different, and this one is already stranger than anything we have come across before."

The scientists stick around to reassure people and help them make their decisions. Those going to investigate are told to report to their craft in the morning.

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INTO THE UNKNOWN: PART 2

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SYMPHONY 26-29 ~ OOC POST ~ QUESTIONS ~ FIRST PART

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JOURNEY INTO THE UNKNOWN

Those willing to go will leave on the Voidtrecker Express first thing the next day, with only warnings and well-wishes to be careful to go with them. There is an estimate for how long it'll take them to reach the anomaly, about half a day's travel by the train's clock, give or take. But there's no telling the true time it'll take, nor the effects of the void that will be waiting for them. Keeping away from the windows or putting up blinds is advised as a precaution, just in case, and to monitor each other's health.

"Warning: Approaching Voidstorm, please take precautions." The train warns as they arrive on the edges, all the usual train precautions have been taken, the lab cart has been shut down, the ovens in the kitchen are disconnected. The train begins to shake as it enters the first layer.

LAYER ONE: CHANGING SHADES

They first experience changes by sight - literally. Around them, objects start emitting an aura that's unique to each passenger, colouring it to match their mood towards that particular thing. Coffee machines? Amazing, paint that gold. A boring book? Ugh, the entire thing is turning grey.

It's a small effect at the start, yet objects aren't the only things being affected - so are the people on board. Their own moods are changing their hair colour, eyes, and skin, shifting more rapidly than the furniture's paint job. And as time goes on, passengers will be able to affect one another's colouration and aura, giving away how they may feel about that person at that moment, if their feelings are strong enough. Never noticed how fondly one feels about you? Now you do.

LAYER TWO: LOOSE LIPS

Going into the next layer, there's an itch that starts to gnaw at everyone - an itch to talk. To friends, to strangers, to anyone; you have a need to chatter, and it has to get out. Attempting to isolate yourself only makes the need worse, and you won't be able to sleep it away. It doesn't matter if you don't know what to talk about - you'll find something.

A good chat will subdue the need for a while, but it will eventually return. So while listening to others talk might help keep it at bay, it won't forever.

LAYER THREE: CONFESSION - I THINK YOU'RE OK

The changes become stronger, and with them the urges. Passengers will feel compelled to tell those they know their feelings for them, whether it's as simple as finding them okay, to having stronger inclinations of friendship, dislike, or even love.

These urges can be held back on for a time, but it's easy for it to slip out; and many may still be suffering from the previous layer, where they get the sudden need to talk.

LAYER FOUR: A CAKE FOR MY BELOVED

Talking is simply not good enough in this layer: actions speak louder than words. You want to create ways of expressing your desires, regardless of how creative you actually are. Building a shrine to your loved ones, challenging rivals to duels. You can't stay idle, and your hands and brain need to be at work! What can you manage on this train?

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EYE OF THE STORM

Finally, all of it stops. The colours, the emotions, the compulsion of dramatics; their minds go from being caught in the storm to completely calm (or, as calm as they ever are). It is much like waking from a dream, or going from one very noisy overwhelming place to complete silence.

A second passes, and then another, and then... there's a feeling. Fear, terror - even those who normally have no ability to feel the emotions of others can feel it, emanating from the train itself.

With it comes an invitation. Hard to describe, but a tugging at their mind. They can push it away no problem, but if they accept...

They are looking out. The familiar colours of the Void are all around them, but they can't turn to look. Ahead is a hole where space should be, nothingness curving and spiralling out from a point deep within that wound in reality, tearing and tugging at the unfortunate observer. The chaotic nimbus at the edge of their vision spins inwards to meet it, and vanishes at the edge of the hole. A void within the Void. And within that terrifying chaotic darkness there are shapes.

The train rocks as energy rushes past it, tossing the craft from side to side. It spins, lurching out of control, the connection snapping as everyone is thrown back into their own awareness as the train starts vibrating to at full speed.

But the tell-tale signs of movement isn't there, and a creaking of metal can be heard. The train shakes more as the view outside the windows shows them inching forward towards where the hole had been, and parts of the roof start to bend inward, water pipes burst and the electricity fails in multiple carriages.

Until there's a rush, a shaking and twisting, and the void flashes violently in the windows. The ever distant choral singing becomes a roar as a kaleidoscope of colours fills the interior of the train itself.

Then there is stillness. It calms, and there is no storm, no terrifying darkness. Just the void, as it ever is, ever changing.

---

OOC NOTES

NOTES: They will be in the storm for three days, each layer takes about half a day.

Comments

eye of the storm

[apokroteo]

Well versed in seeing the colours of people, emotions are something different. The gentle comfort of being around those he best cares for suddenly hits Emet-Selch and leaves him feeling bereft afterwards, his eyes sharp as he moves through the train at pace, stalking.

It does not take long for him to feel entirely overwhelmed, slipping away to push himself into the gardens, to try and find some semblance of peace and quiet, to press away these baring emotions and force himself to simply breathe.

It would not do to be found like this, but it seems as though fate has other thoughts for him.

Glancing up as the door opens, the tension in his shoulders calms for just the barest of moments.

[sharpeyes]

Hythlodaeus chuckles slightly, shaking his head. "'tis no matter, I did merely wish to warn you about the ambystoma that's somewhere near. It might be on the ground, or hovering, or climbed up on something - please do not be alarmed."

The axolotl might not be strictly a cryptid, but it might be curious enough.

[sharpeyes]

Some of the tension in Hythlodaeus also eases at the sight of Hades, present, there, not mysteriously missing.

"You're unharmed?"

A question that he'd usually not need to ask but looking right now is... not advisable. At least not when he can help it.

He does step inside the cabin, reaching to hold on to Hades's elbow, gently. To anchor himself, at the very least.

[likeyouknow]

Pahja doesn't hold things in, and therefore the previous layers were easy to deal with -- there's no point in hiding how she feels on a normal day, certainly not to her nearest and dearest. That there is a sudden, pressing need to confess would be obnoxious, but she's already done that. Being forced to do so, however, is no doubt uncomfortable for someone she knows, so following the itch, the desire to seek out those she cares for will take her exactly where she needs to be.

Brightening up when she sees Emet, Pahja slides into his personal space and stands on her tip-toes to press a kiss against his cheek before waving to Hythlodaeus. "Perfect! How nice of two of my favorite people to be in the same place."

Sorry, not sorry.

[sharpeyes]

"It is quite lovely, isn't it? I quite share the joy."

Hades's personal space it certainly is, Hythlodaeus's arm coming solidly around his back even as he leans in to press a soft kiss to the top of Pahja's head. She will get an arm around her back if she leans a little in his direction, too.

"Have colors have been kind to you two? I think some people were somewhat upset about those."

And, as ever, the primary way he expresses, confesses his affection: concern and care about his people.

Jake Peralta (Orange) | just being a chatty mess

[monkeyinthewrench]

layer two

"Hey, so...how are you? Holding up? It's getting pretty weird in here, isn't it. And did the whole world turn into a drug-induced haze for you back there?"

Jake's not really sure what to expect, as he's not super-well versed in void storms, but he's trying to hang in here. He's idly passing from car to car, even more loud and chatty than usual. Even if he doesn't know you, he'll be stopping by to check in.

layer three

"Hey, hey!" And there's a Jake swiveling to try to catch your character's...arm or appropriate appendage, if there is one. "I don't think I ever told you you were awesome."

And he's willing to say that to just about anyone. If he doesn't know them too well, he'll go off impressions. If he does know them a little better, he'll be louder. Please don't go. He needs cool friends. He's using the pleading eyes.

layer four

And then all hell breaks loose. Jake is thrown into a seat sideways from the aisle, and it takes a moment for him to recover from the whiplash. He's pale and clammy, and definitely looking a little worse for the wear.

"...yeah, okay. Definitely something big and scary wants to kill us. Worst---worst part is, probably can't reason with it." They're so up a creek, probably.

((ooc: for layer 3 especially, he is somewhat likely to be in a gushy mood for characters he knows from fiction! if your character was well known to mainstream male geeks in the US in the mid-2010s, a common sight at Comic Con and the like, he probably knows who they are. I have a permissions post related to that here, or you can leave a note opting in. It's opt-in by default, won't add this without permission.))

the eye

[redprayer]

Rezo managed to mostly not get thrown arse over teakettle when the turbulence hit, although the chimes on his staff certainly wound up rattling hard enough that he can still hear them ringing in his ears, not to mention the bruise he can feel forming on his thigh where he slammed into a table.

Unsurprisingly, it’s a rather dazed Rezo who, after taking a few breaths and listening intently for several seconds, finally responds to Seto’s question.

“Damaged, yes, but it’s too soon to tell about anything else.” Everything seems calm, or at least calmish, for the moment though, which Rezo hopes is a good sign. “Did anyone here get injured during all that?”

[blue_ice]

"As long as the damage isn't critical---"

Kaiba's breathing hard as he makes his way over, the sound of his footsteps a little off as he's leaning on the seats. "I see damage to the lights and some pipes. I've heard we can sometimes get hallucinatory side effects if the void leaks inside the train...so I'd be aware of that."

He stops to assess himself. "Head spinning and a few bumps, nothing serious. You?"

Idia Shroud | Orange Team | OTA

[flameinthedarkness]

I – Layer One
Idia’s actually torn between being interested in this all. The scientist in him is curious to see what is going on. The rest of him doesn’t care, however he also doesn’t want to leave his stuff on the Train only for it to head away without him. So… he’s taking part. He’s a little sad he won’t be able to see what is going on by watching the train head into the storm, but is used to that by now.

He’s less used to this whole weird color change! Well… kind of, he’s used to his hair changing color, but no one is supposed to know about that! Well… Jingyi found out, BUT STILL, Idia doesn’t want that known. So having his hair, and everything else around him changing as they go through that first layer… it’s a time for anxiety at first, until he realizes everyone was going through this.

His computer that is forever with him is now golden, it being his most prized possession, as well as his headphones around his neck; his team hoodie taking on a slightly more warmish tone, like fire or autumn leaves, a comfort he can hide within for his main issue; his pink fire hair. It’s so embarrassing! Thus the pink. The more Idia doesn’t want people to see it, hiding within his hood, the more likely it is to stay pink.

II – Layer Two
Idia had tried to hide, tried to stay away from others to get away from this layer… but that itch was impossible to ignore for too long before he has to accept this was happening.

However, it can still be under his rules. “No, no! Nothing personal! Don’t even think about it! Ask me about anything else! Tech equations! Fav band! Favorite manga! I can talk about those! Don’t you dare ask for anything else!” Let him ramble on about those! Idia still doesn’t like it, but it’s less bad than if someone tries to ask him anything he deems too personal, and really, that was a lot of things with Idia.

III – Layer Three
The thing is… Idia’s been pretty honest for the most. Since getting here he’s been told over and over again he should make friends here, that connections were important. But you know what, “I don’t care about you.” Really. Honestly.

“What’s the point in making connections? Eventually someone is going to leave, so why bother? I would add ‘or die’ to that, but the train won’t even allow us to do that.”

IV – Layer Four
Even with saying that all, even with Idia’s honesty that he doesn’t care about others, at all, he’s still making little trinkets. They’re small, made of little bits and pieces, but also personalized. And light up! Really, they basically a fancy keychain light, but with an Idia flare to it all; highly detailed painted decorations on them to represent the people he gives them to.

He doesn’t care about you, but yeah, he likes you enough to make something still. Caring and liking are two very different things.

V – Eye of the Storm
…Idia hates everything which had happened. He should had stayed behind. It was all so embarrassing.

But he doesn’t have long to dwell on that, not with that imposing, overbearing, crushing sense of fear. It’s not the first time he’s felt this, something that freezes you in your place, makes it so you can’t move, just shut down and do nothing. And right now that invite, no matter what else it may be, is better than staying in this terror. It’s how Idia finds himself staring out at that Void, but also not the Void. It so much more. His brain wants to make sense of it, to try and figure out a point of focus and break it down and work it out. But it can’t.

Is this what Overblot feels like? To be completely and totally lost within something that has the feeling of no end to it?

Not that it matters in a moment, the train thrown around and parts straining and breaking. No time to go looking at whatever was out there, they need to get through whatever was doing this to the train; Idia snapping into action, a hand going one way to use magic to shove a water pipe back closed enough to keep most of the water flowing and off the floor, his other hand lit throwing out fire around the cabin to keep it lit despite the darkness. “Watch out! Keep your head down and watch your feet!”

VI – Wildcard

layer three

[blue_ice]

Kaiba's heart lurches when he hears that. He's so familiar with the feeling Idia's expressing. He's felt it himself so many times. The pain is undeniably part of him now. But there's another feeling bubbling to the surface, and that's what he ends up voicing.

"You're right. It hurts. It feels pointless. I want to stop caring. But...I can't," he ends up admitting. His voice is uncharacteristically quiet. "I still care. I take what I can and I deal with it. Whatever you think."

[gathersnomoss]

"And do you know why?" Zelgadis said. Rezo's calm is being noticed, but it's just giving Zelgadis more of a head of steam.

Yes, he expects that Rezo knows, but he wants to hear Rezo say it.

B

[gathersnomoss]

Zelgadis is trying to keep moving to avoid dealing with feelings (which he's going to fail at), so he's not exactly paying attention to anyone else. Until he realizes Daia is talking to him rather than anyone else. It also might explain why Zel's brain is failing to make any sort of connection about what this is about.

"Yes?"

[redprayer]

Rezo is the calm, ever regal and ever rational great sage. Not at all the sort of person you would expect to scream and destroy his own laboratory out of anger and despair over a failed experiment.

“Yes, of course,” Rezo says. “You have also told me of that before. So what is the point in speaking of it now?”

He knows that this voidstorm has been having peculiar effects, making people open up, but…

[gathersnomoss]

"I don't know!" Zelgadis meanwhile, while capable of calm under other circumstances, is failing now. "I don't care. You derailed my life for your own stupid, selfish ends, and if I hadn't been pulled onto the train with someone who could fix it, I'd be stuck like that forever. Not to mention your own hubris unsealing Shabranigdu and getting Zolf and Rodimus killed, or that copy you left in your lab in Sairaag, or putting us through yet another fight with Shabranigdu, or all the fallout from Taforashia... I have more than enough reasons to hate you."

oh man, i forgot that rezo doesn't know about what happened with copy rezo :'D

[redprayer]

Rezo tenses, just a little, as Zelgadis begins listing off his various crimes in this place where other people may hear. There’s a dreadful irony in that, when Rezo had first arrived, he wouldn’t have cared at all what anyone here thought about him. But now that he’s been here for a few months…

And then Zelgadis will get another reaction out of Rezo as, the moment Zelgadis mentions the copy, Rezo jerks back, clearly stunned. How the hell did Zelgadis find out about that? Even if Zelgadis had thought to investigate Rezo’s old haunting grounds in Sairaag, surely Erisiel hadn’t kept the thing around, had she?

“How do you know about the copy?” he asks. And perhaps it’s a peculiar thing to focus on, when Zelgadis is here unloading all of this, but the shock of it stands out amongst all the vitriol that Rezo has been aware of all along, but pretending not to notice.

It just occurred to me when I was writing it out that Rezo also wouldn't know about that

[gathersnomoss]

"Eris decided to put out a bounty on our heads after you died and apparently having a copy of you she could control was too damn useful. Or else she was just unhinged. He got free and was partially merged with the Zanaffer beast sealed below the city. He also blew up most of Sairaag. Which surprisingly didn't completely ruin your reputation, O Great Sage. Must have been because there were relatively few survivors."

Yes, Zelgadis is bitter that Rezo is still seen as a good man, and he doesn't mind seeing if he can jam the knife in.

/tosses in some hc while we're here

[redprayer]

Zelgadis bringing up the copy had been a shock. Everything else? He can’t even process it right away.

Rezo had spent a great deal of his life living in and working in Sairaag. The city had existed even before he was born, and he’d vaguely assumed business would continue there as usual

“That can’t be right,” he says. “Eris is an intelligent young woman, surely she would have destroyed the copy once we were done with it. And to put Sairaag itself in danger-”

-except Erisiel, much like Rezo, had been willing to endanger and harm others if it was necessary for an important goal. She had helped Rezo with the Taforashia project, because she believed that the research they were doing with the Hellmaster’s Jar and the disease was important enough to be worth any deaths incurred before Rezo was able to put the civilians in stasis.

But what could she have possibly sought to gain from putting a bounty on Zelgadis and his allies, as well as pursuing such destructive ends?

“There's no reason for any of that. That can’t be right.”

Xue Yang | OTA

[xue_yang]

Layer One
He doesn't understand fully what is going on but the colors of things around him are changing. Most of it is just washed out of all color. But every once in awhile he encounters something with far more interest. The candy he keeps in his pockets are still bright colors but almost seem to shimmer gold. The rest of the train is all shades of gray until he walks through the garden car where the plants he has grown himself stand out against everything else.

"Is this permanent or just the fact we are going through something crazy?" Does it really matter either way?

Layer Two
He doesn't immediately notice anything different. Mostly because he tends to avoid talking to very many people. So anyone who does happen to encounter him better be prepared for an unexpected mouthful.

Fear
Xue Yang doesn't believe he is afraid of anything. But he definitely is feeling something as they reach that place in the void. He won't fully admit it is fear but it is probably written across his expression.

chicken chicken chicken

[flameinthedarkness]

The thing is, Idia knows all about this chicken (or tofuken) well before Jingyi appears in the Lab where Idia is working away on a bunch of small parts that is covering his desk, having 'heard' the other's joy at the existence of the food and sharing it with others. He supposes it's only fair with how often Idia's thoughts interrupt Jingyi... but it's still annoying!

So as Jingyi appears in front of his desk, Idia looks up at him from where he is hunched over his work, silently annoyed at it all... but really, he's right, chicken was pretty good. Or maybe he's just gotten real hungry with how much Jingyi has been 'talking' about it. "Ok." Brushing his hands off on his pants before reaching out to take the offered food. However, "You're not going to keep doing this all day, are you? It's annoying." Srsly, stfu. Plz.

confesstions: wildcard

[weisexual]

Lan Wanji has never experienced anything quite like what is happening as they travel through the void. It is clear that it is effecting the colors around him and although most things are fairly monotone, every once in awhile there is splash of color. It becomes very clear that the things he likes are brighter then others.

He comes upon Wei Wuxian and as soon as his eyes land upon the man it is no surprise to him that a bright golden color seems to start coloring over the grey. The bright red of that hair ribbon more clear then anything.

"Wei Ying..." He hears what the man says about the wine of home and the smallest of smiles tries to tug at the corners of his lips.

Jin Ling | OTA

[to_rise_above]

L O O S E . L I P S (layer two)

[ Ever since he stepped into this layer, Jin Ling’s mouth had been constantly twitching.

He’s been trying his best to not say anything aloud and it’s not exactly helping his case. The harder he tried to ignore and forget about the feeling, the more the feeling bothered him. It was like trying to itch something and the itching doesn't go away.

He wonders when the train will stop its ridiculous torture of the passengers. He’s gotten so tired of it and only wants to curse it with every fiber of his being. He bit his lip briefly, clenching his jaw. Someone may see a rather conflicted teenager with flattened wolf ears and tail grumbling to himself and most of it was directed to his spiritual dog as if she can understand what he’s saying.

He hopes that talking to her might get rid of the feeling, or maybe he’ll tell someone a story or two if they get nosy enough? ]

C O N F E S S I O N S (layer three)

[ The third layer only made things worse. Jin Ling went from wanting to talk to some random person, to almost spitting out words he’d never say to someone else. It was like he's more impulsive than usual.

He’s literally avoiding every single person that he knows. At least, with strangers, he can say whatever and it doesn’t have much ground. He’s more affected by his loved ones hearing embarrassing things come out of his mouth.

Since he wasn’t paying attention to where he was going, he flounders into a unsuspecting individual. ]

W I L D C A R D

[ooc: anything you like to do? Feel free to let me know or ping me on plurk: kagaminokakera or discord: Tarei#2407 ]

[blue_ice]

Watching this makes Kaiba smile a little. Daia is so sweet and kind. He deserves the world. And...he's also probably right about this, so Kaiba joins in, laying his hand next to his friends.

"I'll patch you up as much as I can. We're here for you."

And he squeezes Daia with his other arm. "You're not hurt, are you?"

Two for the feels and maybe able to find some common ground

[renegadeprince]

[Despite that need to talk, Vegeta somehow manages to pause during this rambling from the Doctor. It's difficult, but he really is well aware of the need for dramatics at time, even if he doesn't seem like it. It's mostly behind him, his younger days he enjoyed making sure he came across in a certain way; intimidating and wild. Less so as he's aged, but it's not totally gone.

So there is that pause, then,] That certainly explains much about what you've said and how you've acted so far. [No sense of judgement behind it, just that pieces were falling into place to help explain it.

Vegeta then offering back,] I'm from a people of warriors, our purpose is to fight, and for much of our history, to destroy and kill. It took me years to understand how pointless and damaging that was, how empty it was to kill off those who couldn't really oppose me, to accept that there was no need for needless killing. For any joy I had felt for it becoming hollow and pointless compared to what I really needed. It didn't make me stronger, didn't make me better, it was all pointless. But it was the way of my people before they and our planet was destroyed.

I may not had killed them like you did your own people, but I know my universe is better off without the Saiyans. We did too much damage, and would only continue to destroy. My people were destroyed out of fear and greed, yours were out of a need to prevent a worst situation. [Despite all of this, Vegeta seems unmoved from this. He's accepted this long ago. His people were gone, the damage they had done, the legacy they had left. And if they had learned what he had over the years, the power of Super Saiyan and above, it would not end well for their universe.

On saying that,] Though there is one I would enjoy meeting his end again and again at the hand of a Saiyan. Not my own, yet. Next time though. [Freeza will die from his hand the next time, not Trunks', not Goku's, but Vegeta's.]

eye of the storm

[longforgottenpromise]

"Shuǐlóng!"

Taiki is close, having just seen, whatever that was. A hole? In the void? The shapes? What was going on? The train was shaking and lurching and it's hard to walk but he has spotted Jingyi and so he is struggling towards him, reaching out.

"Are you alright?"

Was anyone alright?

[longforgottenpromise]

Taiki is someone who holds his feelings deep inside him, hidden behind walls and barriers. He lowered them sometimes, more often now, around those he knew well but there was always a wariness, an expectation of hurt.

But now it's hard to reign it in, to hold it close when he wanted to speak of his feelings, tell people, declare how he feels about things.

He smiles when he sees Lea, "Of course. What do you want to talk about?"

It's politeness that stops him blurting out his feelings right now, to wait for Lea to speak first.