Day 19 | Video | Incoming missive

[voidtreckernpcs]

[Towards the evening of day nineteen of the month of Quicksand there is an announcement.]

Voidtreckers and Passengers of the Voidtrecker Express. We are receiving a communication attempt from the Void Ministry. Please stand by.

[The ICP screens crackle for a few moments, before it settles and a picture emerges, of a young woman sat at a desk. She looks a little bit nervous behind her professional smile.]

Greetings crew of the Voidtrecker Express. My name is Lia Nine, I am a junior minister under Commander Orlaith and she asked me to follow up on the reports that you submitted following your mission on system #5739. Thank you for those who filled them out, I know paperwork can be tedious but it does help us monitor situations.

[She moves her hands on the desk, as if she is using a computer or tablet device on her desk.]

I hope this isn't a bad time but I have around an hour if any of your crew are available to talk. There were a couple of queries your crew had so I'll go through those first.

I've got a report from a Yondu Udonta of the blue team asking about the bio fusions and what causes them. It's basically the void itself. Organic matter is not made to move through the void, that's why we have voidcraft and why anchoring takes so much mental energy. I can elaborate if anyone wants the science in more depth.

He also asked about setting your SCAs up to register Blutz waves. I've looked in my databases but can't find any energy waves called Blutz. Are they system specific?

I filled an equipment request form out on your behalf but can't promise anything. Elidibus I have also filled a book request for you for the information you seek.

Bruno Madrigal of the Blue team and Thanatos of the Red team I will happily speak to you about your requests.

Tidus I've passed your request about a communication line to the ministry on. Faux I am not sure there is anything to be concerned about regarding the alphabetical nature of the months. Most voidcraft have a simple time monitoring system that is based on what would be natural to their crew.

Faux also mentioned your craft was in need of maintenance. Do you have any details on that?

[She looked up from her tablet.] I think that's all the questions but I've got an hour if anyone has any more for me. While we're at it I wanted to ask for a report on the experiment with your tethers. We have some data from the site but I don't think anyone has actually asked you what happened yet.

[OOC: If you were planning for your character to have filled out a report for the mission and hadn't yet it is not too late. Even though Lia only has an hour IC there is no such thing as too late to this post OOCly! If you don't have time or don't wish to do an NPC thread but feel your character would say something feel free to give us a quick summary in the top level below!]

Comments

[voidtreckernpcs]

Indeed. I'm glad for it though, it's more exciting than typing up reports.

[She smiles.] Your own experiences are what we are wanting. We've been able to gather detail from the platform but having your eye witness reports is important in figuring out what happened.

[motherofresistance]

[Leia gives a bit of a wry smile at the comment about it being exciting.]

I imagine it is. Hopefully it continues to be the positive kind of exciting, at least.

With regards to what happened, it's best to begin at the beginning. On Poi 21, the Voidtrecker announced that it would be attempting to send those who wished to go home back to their original worlds. Or for some, to the other dimensional hubs they were brought to the train from. I imagine there was a great deal of thought put into it before that announcement, but for us it was quite sudden. Many of those aboard had been rather vocal about their desire to return home before that, of course, but there was nothing in the train's actions prior to that that suggested it was considering attempting it.

The next day, Poi 22, we arrived at a void platform and all those who wished to leave got off the train, many saying what they believed would be their final goodbyes to friends they'd made on their journey. I admit, I had something of a bad feeling about the whole thing, but not enough of one to try and stop anyone, and said a few goodbyes of my own. It turned out that I should have trusted that feeling though.

From my perspective- as someone who'd planned to stay on the train- the first sign that something was amiss happened when the train tried to leave the platform. It failed, apologized, and tried again. And that was the last any of us on board heard from the train for several days; it even stopped providing automated announcements for date changes and generic messages to providing feedback, which was very concerning. It kept lurching to one side over and over again during that time, as if it were stuck in a cycle of trying to reenter the void and failing. Sometimes we could see shadowy figured moving around on the platform outside, sometimes we could only see fog, but all contact was lost with those who weren't on board during that period.

Needless to say, tensions on board were high during those few days. None of us really had any idea what was going on, and we had little to no means of finding out, and the persistent lurching of the train made it difficult to rest or collect oneself properly. It wasn't until I spoke with a few others during that time that I found out some of those who hadn't planned on leaving also vanished from the train at the first initial lurch, though so perhaps I should consider myself lucky in that regard. We spent those days securing various supplies, and generally trying to plan and keep calm, with varying levels of success.

Then on Poi 26, the train finally seemed to break out of the cycle it was trapped in, and spoke again, letting us know it had been trying to retrieve those whose untetherings had obviously failed. It also provided us with instructions on anchoring, and that option became available on our SCAs. I spent the next few days acting as an anchor as much as possible and helped to rescue several of my friends and return them to the train. Then I spent the following few days after that dealing with the exhaustion that come with anchoring; which for better or worse seems to be becoming a trend with me.

[Leia thinks a moment.]

I think that covers everything, but if you have any questions about any of it, feel free to ask.

[voidtreckernpcs]

Thank you, that is very detailed. It must have been a very concerning time.

I know that your crew have anchored before, in the false system created by the entity known as Chaos. Where you one of those people?

[motherofresistance]

Yes, I was. Given that I'd already had a degree of mental training back in my own world that included maintaining a centered, focused state while under duress, I felt I was fairly well suited for it. And it has been helpful when I've needed to do it, though that doesn't make it any less exhausting afterward.

[voidtreckernpcs]

Yes it is a very exhausting process. But it is good that you had training. I know many of your crew have not and it must be even more difficult for them.

I hope you have recovered now.