middleofsomewhere | Into the Unknown Part Two

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.

INTO THE UNKNOWN: PART 2

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

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?

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Layer 1

Well, this was different. Leia was used to experiencing the Force as an infinitely complex web of glowing threads, with each person having their own unique color, texture, and vibration but only when deeply in meditation. It was quite another thing to see those colors played out in her normal vision. Or to watch them shift and change with not just her own mood, but the mood of the person she was looking at.

And that wasn't even touching on the colors that seemed to radiate from objects. Soft blues and greens for things she was fond of. Red for things she actively disliked. Dull gray for things she was indifferent to. The walls of the train itself seemed washed in soft lavender; she had mixed feeling about it, but found herself more fond than not, in spite of herself. Regardless, it was certainly making things more interesting.

Layer 2

Leia was known for her speaking ability, but she generally liked what she said to have a purpose. Now though? She found herself with an excess of words that needed an outlet, regardless of topic. Nothing was too minor or too ridiculous to warrant commentary. Like for example, when someone approached her in the library, she randomly asked them, "What's the strangest thing you've ever eaten? Not necessarily the best or the worst, but just the strangest, in your opinion."

Layer 3

Now this was a bit more difficult. Not because she had difficult verbalizing her feelings or because she was shy with her opinions- neither of which were true even under normal circumstances, as anyone who knew her was aware of-, but because there were a few people on board who she knew were going to have to hear some hard truths because of it. And she wasn't looking forward to potentially hurting them, even if it was ultimately for their benefit.

Layer 4

Leia was admittedly not the best with her hands, at least when it came to what she had to work with on the train. And relying too much on Bending felt like cheating; the need was there to set something up with her own hand for those she cared about. In the end she did use Bending for expediency when it came to the pastries, since her cooking skills weren't at all up to the task and the kitchen was fairly busy anyway, but otherwise? The tea party Leia was setting up on the end of one of the dining car's tables was all her own work. Several types of tea, small sandwiches, and a selection of pastries and fruit tarts- many of them made with fruits most of those on board wouldn't recognize- were arranged artfully on platters and there were neat place settings with teacups, saucers, plates, silverware, and napkins for a number of guests. There was even a tablecloth of sorts, though those looking for fabric in the art car would find the basic white cloth provided by the train to now be in very short supply.

"Come, have a seat," Leia said to anyone who approached. "What kind of tea would you like? Oh, and you should really try the starblossom tarts; those ones right there."

Eye of the Storm

Focus. She had to remember to focus. Block out the noise and distractions, focus on the present. On what needed to be done. She couldn't afford to lose herself in the eddies of light and emotion, music and chaos, uncertainty and possibility.

Emotion, yet peace.
Ignorance, yet knowledge.
Passion, yet serenity.
Chaos, yet harmony.
Death, yet the Force.

Even here, the Force was with her. Though she didn't know how long even she could stand amidst the chaos. Still, those struggling to find their feet in the midst of everything might see a translucent blue figure moving through the train, sealing broken pipes and restoring what she understood of severed wiring with a gesture and an expression of effort, a surprisingly steady figure amidst the chaos.

She would also stop to check anyone who looked to be injured or panicking. "It's alright," she said. "We'll make it through this." She would also pause from time to time, rest a hand on the wall, and say the same thing, usually while pulling some damaged equipment back together as best she could, or sealing burst piping. They couldn't have the train panicking either. Not now.

Edited 2022-08-23 06:13 (UTC)

While Hythlodaeus is neither injured nor panicking, he's in some distress, as his Sight does not mesh well with the Void at all, and now the Void is everywhere.

"Ah... thank you." He squeezes his eyes for a moment, then manages a slightly strained smile. "I am afraid I am missing the protection that we had in ways that are... not pertaining to physical hurts."

After a moment, he tilts his head. "I am sorry, I have been somewhat distracted. Are there many who have been hurt?" Usually, he would just Look and know. That's not an option right now.

Leia returned the slightly strained smile with one of her own. "Yes, this situation isn't easy on those of us who are... sensitive in certain ways," she said. "Or rather, it's not easy on anyone, including the train itself, but for certain of us there are added complications."

"Thankfully, everyone seems to be more or less in one piece from what I've seen." Normally she'd be able to get a proper sense of things, but those sense were drowned out by Voidsong, and she didn't quite dare to try and plunge through it without a stable anchor. "But most are afraid, and it's not all because of that thing out there."

That locus of cold, empty terror... If that wasn't a Flaw, it was close enough to one as to make no difference. And if it was a Flaw, or even if it wasn't, were the World Eaters some kind of extension or result of it? It really wasn't the time to be contemplating such things, but her instincts had rarely failed her. And she'd bet any money that there was a connection there.

"Setting up quite the party, aren't ya?" Shadow asked, seeing all the pastries baking and the tables being set up. "I guess I'll try the tarts. Do ya need help or anything?"

Because hey, he can be nice, at least.

And, well, there is also a green and some red around Leia. Green was a lowkey protectiveness, but red was definitely a subtle Fondness.

"Yes," Leia said. "I'm not always the most open about how I feel, but I wanted to show everyone on the train how much I appreciate them. Considering the variety of worlds and circumstances we've all been thrown together from, what we've all accomplished together is nothing short of amazing. Everyone should all be proud of the work we've done."

"I don't need any help at the moment. Though I may if too many people want to do something with fabric; the train really doesn't have tablecloths that I've seen, so I had to improvise with what was in the Art car."

Shadow himself was washed in shades of blue, ranging from a deep midnight blue unique to him to a softer sky blue of fondness. It suited him, she thought.

Into the Unknown Part Two

Leia Organa | OTA

Eye of the Storm

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