VoidTrecker Express Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
voidtreckermods) wrote2020-08-30 03:04 pm
voidtreckermods) wrote2020-08-30 03:04 pm
Library
LIBRARY
This a double carriage. On the bottom floor there is a corridor running along one side, with a door to enter the carriage itself in the middle of the corridor. Up the stairs on either end of the carriage, the space is open, relatively.We will not OOCly be tracking books being checked in and out. If a book is not being returned, please reply to that book's comment to let people know that it isn't available.
Downstairs appears similar to a public library. The walls are painted brightly and lined with shelves, most of which are empty. Labels indicate that fiction books should be stored here. The wall facing the door is alternating windows looking out into the Void, and posters that seem to be large, blown-up book covers for the more popular fiction books in the train.
Four tables with linked chairs are spaced throughout the car, each one painted one of the team colours, and beanbag chairs similar to those found in the Games carriage can also be seen scattered in a pile in one corner.
A little wooden train with shelves built into it winds its way through the tables, its shelves filled with all of the previously-purchased Merry Little Void Train literature and the first book of several of the encountered but unpurchased MLVT series, including several colouring books. There's room on its shelves for far more than it currently contains. Kheli the rabbit is painted leaning out of the engine window, waving.
Along the far wall to the right are two scanning machines, which can do the following: register new books - as a helpful tutorial on the screen will inform you; provide summaries of books if given a specific title; or check books out if presented with a valid ticket. Passengers can have up to eight books checked out at a time; if someone walks out of the carriage carrying a book not checked out by them, the ICP speakers in that carriage will beep obnoxiously for ten seconds.
Upstairs resembles an academic library. The wall next to the stairs is a similar bank of windows as downstairs, although lacking the colourful posters, instead dotted with landscape paintings of previously visited worlds and unknown worlds both. Rows of shelves divide the space into six smaller workspaces, each with a single-person desk with lamp and bookstand and another window above, bracketed by shelves on either side. The bookshelves muffle sound, creating semi-private spaces around each desk.
The shelves are empty, with labels on each shelf indicating that non-fiction books belong up here.
Please comment below with any books your character is registering with the library computers, using the following form, to either the fiction or non-fiction top level and under the correct genre or subsection with the book's title as the subject header:
BOOK SEARCHES ~ FICTION ~ NON-FICTION
FICTION: Merry Little Voidtrain ~ Action/Adventure ~ Crime ~ War/Epic ~ Drama/Slice Of Life ~ Horror
NON-FICTION: Void ~ Historical/Travel ~ Educational ~ Entertainment ~ Arts/Sports ~ Philosophy/Religion ~ Health
OTHER: Recipes ~ Passenger Documents
PASSENGER MADE GUIDES/DOCUMENTS
Memories/Visions
Description: A guide dealing previous prophetic dreams before missions, and also memories seen by other means.
Link here
TRAIN AMA INFO
Description: Some info was shared and collected about what they asked and found out when the train answered 3 questions by each passenger. (Event: link here)
Link here
MISSION GUIDE [OUT OF DATE]
Description: A mission guide that used to be written by Lightning (
Link here.
IMAGINATION TRAIN MEETING
Description: A write-up of the meeting held during Imagination (Log link: here). Covers what came up, what people offered, etc.
Link here.
CAPTAIN HALO
Description: A document detailing contact with Captain Halo, a void traveller whose world disappeared from existence and all records.
Link here.
The Notes of Senku Ishigami
This notebook contains data gathered, as well as the thoughts and opinions of the author.
Information About the Train and Void - Early Impressions
I’m not sure what to make of this information, or how it might be relevant, considering most ships as long as they exist have multiple crews over the course of their lifetime. It sounds like they met disaster which may or may not be vitally important on this journey, that remains to be seen.
* Voidstorms appear suddenly and warp the structure of the void. It’s unknown why. It can cause unknown effects on the passengers, including seeing people in the void and being drawn to them despite that being illogical. (source: voidstorm – Horseshoe)
This particular voidstorm left me seeing and hearing from people I have no actual way of connecting with anymore. I felt drawn to the void, and looking into the void during the storm did not make my symptoms void gazing better, in fact I have the worst headache after the whole mess. The pull to look outside remained, even if I was moved away from the windows up until the storm ended.
* There was a pilot of another vessel named the Voidflash, Halo who died out in System #6416. She was from Enrara in System #1015. She reported all records of Enrara are erased and no longer exist. She went through a voidstorm and suddenly Voidflash was on the run from the Ministry. She had many questions, but no real answers in her missive. (source: Roland Crane – message on her SCA – Imagination)
Roland would be much better suited to answer specific questions. Apparently worlds can not just go missing but all records and memories can be erased. It’s peculiar because how can that be? Is that a property or trait of the void itself? Erasing a world, I can imagine, but all of the memories?
Questions Three - Part One
Question asked: How is it that people can be resurrected if they die on a mission?
Answer: Because passengers are tethered to the Voidtrecker Express.
Question asked: Keep in mind I’m a scientist and would like as complete answers as possible. How does time work aboard the Voidtrecker Express, in comparison with how it works with Earth’s twenty-four hour clock?
Answer: Time in the void is not comparable to time out of it. Time is only measured in the void because of those travelling within it. There are places of colour and places of darkness and a craft is programmed to travel within these spectra to simulate a day-night cycle comparable to a world with which passengers are familiar.
Question asked (Asagiri Gen): How does time progress outside of the train relative to us – to the people we visit or even at home?
Answer: Time is complex but passes consistently for those outside the void. For those within the void they can only exit into a point in time that is later than the point at which they entered. The Voidtrecker Express can move to previous points in a limited fashion only to respond to catastrophes. Time on your worlds and the worlds you have visited progresses as it should for those worlds, regardless of interaction with the void.
Question asked (Asagiri Gen): How long are we unconscious for when we’re forced into our beds every night?
Answer: Time is relative. But in terms of the hours that you understand. Six.
Question asked: Considering that we want to help you, and that we’ve heard rumours that people believe we’ve stolen this voidtrain, what are the repercussions should someone with authority catch us?
Answer: You would be arrested and the Voidtrecker Express confiscated. Unknown what the result of such a trial would be but it would not be in your interests. This would not be a desirable outcome.
Question asked (Asagiri Gen): How can we learn more about the void and voidcraft like you?
Answer: There are some useful books in the library. Your fellow passengers have found success purchasing informative literature from the central database.
We’re not thrilled by the fact that time is moving without us. I’ve been gone a long time and while I trust my companions, my Generals, I’m worried about what I’ll come back to. My world is in a state of disaster. It’s unnerving to know how much time we’ve been missing too. I thought I was falling asleep and waking in moments. Six hours is a lot of missing time. I’d like to see if I could break through that and stay awake, but I have yet to find a way to do that.
Questions Three - Part Two
All the worlds they’d visited so far were doing well, save world #27462947582. (source: Madoka)
The previous crew is missing and could potentially be found or recovered. (source: Spider)
Two people from seemingly the same world are not from the same world, the train can only take one person per world. (source: Natsuno)
The library and cinema are meant for recreation, not information. The train pays attention to the feedback post. (source: Webmind)
Captain V was a real captain of a voidtrain and caused a lot of harm (source: Nita)
Anyone from a world that is gone, or has died will not be forced to go back to their death. (source: Mami)
The train cannot confirm where people go when they leave on the platforms, nor is their departure decided. It also cannot confirm the status of someone specific on any given world. (source: Sera)
We are missing from our worlds. The tether is the link between the train and your life. (source: Eva)
There is no end point to the mission. (source: Rich)
The train only knows about Halo what the crew has discovered. (source: Koumyou)
Large items may be available for purchase in the future, the design of the terminals is considered adequate for passenger needs and it doesn’t know why its designed this way. (source: Devero)
Another voidcraft could, in theory, take them back to the time they entered the void. It may be possible to contact their home worlds. (source: Yuume)
It would be interesting to know how the train does time travel, but it’s been especially stingy with its informational books and notes. Talking to it is a dead end. I don’t know if I can believe that Gen and I are from different worlds...it seems completely implausible, but here we are. There’s not much I can do if that’s the case, he seems completely like my world’s counterpart, so much so that although he’s from my future, everything else has been the same. I’m not sure what to make of that at all. I think...it doesn’t matter.
It appears as though Halo’s world truly has been erased, at least as far as the train is concerned and what it knows about. It’s something to keep in mind as we continue, but not necessarily something of great importance when it comes to everything.
Encountering Anan - Part One
* Train announcement about future forewarning of catastrophe missions. Missions are chosen by proximity, skills needed and acceptable risk. Catastrophe missions are always accepted. The criteria include the absolute loss of life or world structure, but the outcome can be changed within the narrow parameters possible to this Voidcraft. (source: announcement – Kazoo 21)
* Contact with Anan, night (Llama 5):
She is looking for someone to help with our kidnapped situation. Chiff connected her to our SCA network through Asagiri Gen’s SCA. The broken SCA was turned over to Anan. The security of the system is much tighter than any governments. The train is not being operated remotely, but rather is some form of sentient being. What it is exactly, is hotly debated across the void. The train reacts and responds to the mood of its passengers. Expressed concern over the psychological contentment of the crew affecting our ability to gain information, as the level of open discontent seems to be low.
It’s my opinion that the crew is all too willing to be here, and if they aren’t, they’re definitely playing into what the train wants. The train may not understand discontent in this case, or perhaps, we’re in the minority.
Encountering Anan - Part Two
Question: According to the train, our worlds are not void-active. Would you happen to know how we were collected without ever seeing the train?
Answer: That is the biggest mystery. Tethering someone to a voidcraft is a whole process, void active worlds have whole areas of study, and being a void entry technician takes more study than being a void traveller. Much more considering void tourism. My assumption for how you didn’t see it is that it has camouflaging technology, a stealth mode as such. But that doesn’t explain how it grabbed you.
Question: What is the process of tethering under ordinary circumstances?
Answer: There needs to be a three way connection, to travel in any way that isn’t just going to unmake you or something equally terrifying. Part of you needs to remain tethered to your world and then you. The part of you that travels, tethering is basically taking that part of you, leaving part of you to ensure the connection and connecting you to the craft. For most people you’d go to a tethering point, be prepared by scientists who make sure everything goes smoothly, you are pulled into a liminal space where the actual separation occurs. The void technicians ensure that the world tethered part of you is kept safe as the travelling self moves further into the space, entering the void platform. Platforms aren’t actually anything, they’re designed that way to help ease the mind through the transition into the void.
Additional information: The void is a space between spaces. It’s a place as well, like a different plane? Some worlds have multiple planes, but this is separate from that.
Hypothesis: Either we only have a two point tether, or some part of us is collapsed in a heap where we came from.
Question: Do you know how to sever the tether?
Answer: You return to the point of entry and become whole again. A technician would normally make that connection.
Hypothesis: Is there a connection point for us, if we find it?
Question: [Asked about the SCA, see SCA experiments]
Question: What are the odds we’re being listened to?
Answer: Unlikely. Comms are likely logged, but my train does not have remote listening.
Question: What does a void missionary do?
Answer: That has as many answers as there are missions. Most of the time it’s small things. Sometimes it’s to collect and preserve history. Sometimes it’s to add help if a large disaster happens. Most worlds can look after themselves but sometimes infrastructure is ruined or a small world is threatened by a large threat. Mostly though it’s to add to the efforts that people on the world are already making.
Question: We’re not from the same world. Have you heard of anything like that? Scooping people up from parallel worlds?
Answer: I’ve never heard of anyone being taken against their will. Parallel worlds are common enough, so much that there are laws against visiting your parallel world.
Question: Can the train lie?
Answer: I’d say a voidcraft can’t lie. They are machines at the heart of things and not intelligent in the way you might think of an artificially intelligent being such as I have seen on other worlds.
Question: Do you have access to your engine carriage?
Answer: Yes. Most voidcraft run on autopilot but pilots have access to the controls. On a large mission craft I’d guess it would just be the captains? Leaders? It wouldn’t be everyone.
Question: Do you have a mandatory sleep period? How many hours a day on board your craft?
Answer: Yes. Resting periods are standard for voidtravel. My voidcraft is synced with the planet I trained on, with eight hours of light and ten hours of darkness. I grew up on a spacecraft with unnatural light, but it’s meant to help those that are used to a planet with rest and general health. Small craft have shorter rest periods, larger craft have longer ones.
Question: This world is where your non travelling self is being kept?
Answer: Yes.
Question: Could you tell me about voidsickness. What is it, how do we prevent it and more importantly, how do we treat it?
Answer: Voidsickness can happen if the a tether is unsecure, but also if you’re in a voidstorm or voiddust gets into your craft. Symptoms include dizziness and nausea, hallucinations, memory loss, emotional instability, mood swings. Lowering the risk is done through good diet and exercise, keeping yourself busy, sleeping well. If someone has voidsickness, get the person on solid ground as soon as possible, off the craft. The only way to cure a bad case is to fix the tether.
Hypothesis: The train doesn’t want us to understand this. But why?
Question: What do you know about the Void Ministry? Should we really be afraid of them?
Answer: I don’t know. Their job is to keep everyone safe, but if they think you’re a threat..I’m wary of involving them until we have more information.
Hypothesis: The train is hiding other factions from us. No reason why. Including Void Missionaries.
* A report was made to the other passengers on board, by me, based on my conversation with Anan. The psychological effects of being warm, safe and complacent are especially strong. They were not very interested in hearing what I had to say, nor are they interested in entertaining any potential danger from the train itself. (Llama 6)
I find myself frustrated to no end over this development and I’m hesitant to pull people into this further when they so clearly are uninterested. I probably just need a good night’s sleep. I’m used to people arguing and debating with me, but they’re so stubborn and not willing to listen, it actually annoys me.
An Open Chance For Questions
* The mission from Nebula 21 was a ruse. It took place on system #903849 and was a test by the Ministry to see how we would act and adapt. Unknown what the consequences of this will be. The train left rather quickly once it realized. I did not encounter the Inspectors myself.
* The train opens itself up to questions on Orchestra 14.
Questions asked:
1. What is making our tether unstable?
2. If we had a stable tether, could we not uncouple and return home?
3. Why do you control what information we have access to?
4. What qualifies as a catastrophe?
5. Why does my world not qualify as a catastrophe?
6. You know I’d be a lot less apprehensive helping you if things were settled at home, don’t you?
7. How did you come to pick us up?
8. What makes you think those we know aren’t actually from the same place?
9. What scientific information do you have to back up those claims?
10. What is your point of origin?
11. What’s stopping you from returning there/our origin points to refresh our tethers to head off voidsickness?
12. Are we not at risk the longer we’re in the void?
13. The time in the train is based on your origin point, is it not?
14. Why is the engine room inaccessible?
15. What harm would it do to allow us access?
16. What would you do if we decided not to participate in your missions?
17. Why can’t we have documentaries in the cinema?
Information shared: It will note my objections to the entertainment available. It is not omnipotent. It does not necessarily have access to things we want. Time and space works within my world because of my tether to it. The train only knows what I have shared about my life and situation. It’s listening all the time. The tether is confirmed to be a three point tether and non-travelling self is left where it was. It is not in the care of void technicians. The train is concerned for the non-travelling selves of the passengers.
Based on the interactions with the train thus far, I’m skeptical these questions will ever be answered, but on the off chance they will be, I asked as many as I could think of, things that were lingering for me, loose ends that haven’t yielded any results. It should be noted the train is only one single source, like Anan is one single source. The veracity of anything in this book is to be questioned.
Things Involving The Ministry
Hypothesis: I need to find out how to make my world void-active. I suspect it may not be that difficult, but I also suspect most people won’t be able to tell me, or won’t tell me. I’ll have to seek out as many sources as possible.
* The cooperation with the Ministry begins truly in earnest Poi day 5, as we’re now being recruited on their missions. I’m not sure the Ministry is much more trustworthy than the train itself, but outside of using caution and fact-checking what we get, I wouldn’t advise not to follow them. They clearly have more information than we do. Fortunately we’ve been cleared of being unwilling criminals.
* Disaster struck Poi 21 in an attempt to go home. I’ll write my testimony on a different page about that, if nothing else than to preserve the information about my world. This had a ripple effect of sorts. Voidtears and voidblobs appeared on system #5739. Coincidentally, we’ve been there before. I was under the impression we couldn’t go back to places we’d been. It’s unclear exactly what the train did to conduct the experiment but it sounds possible that it caused damage to the void. (source: Quicksand 7 mission)
* The train finally responded to the questions I asked some time ago.
The answers are mostly satisfactory. It highlighted the restriction to the engine room meaning that a proper captain was needed to gain access, so I asked about the process of becoming a voidcaptain for the sole purpose of gaining access to assist with our mysteries. I just want access temporarily. The train has informed me there’s no way to do that, no test I can write offhand. I may investigate that further.
* On Quicksand 19, Lia Nine contacted the Voidtrecker Express. Lia Nine confirmed that what I know about the void is true, if succinct. She likened traveling to skimming across the surface of the void, and likened the voidtears to dragging someone through it. I reported my personal account of the attempt to return home, and my exploration of the homes of others, for her data sets, including all of the restrictions. I requested of her some books on becoming void active, studying to be a voidcaptain and developing voidtravel.
Lia Nine’s job consists of monitoring the void for anomalies and disturbances. They also work carefully with void nexus worlds or void hubs, making sure the void activity does not grow too dangerous for those living there. They also assist those who are displaced through void activity.
It should be noted that she admitted our actions have turned many void theories on their heads and that’s exhilarating, is it not? The initial outburst also appears to be stable. Our worlds appear to no longer be affected by the void itself.
Notably, this is relieving because the colours and strange impressions in my world were disturbing and unsettling, as well as completely out of the ordinary. I have no desire to see my world swallowed up by the void. Lia Nine reports to commander Orlaith, which means much of this is under their purview as well, most likely, which correlates to the other information we have on the Ministry. This friendly tone and interaction don’t make me feel any better about whether or not they’re trustworthy. The data points require more research and thoughts.
I’ve been thinking about the problem surrounding the train’s missing time and data and I have a few ideas about how to get that information.
If the train will not let us come to see it, let’s see if we can get it to give us the data we need.
The SCA Experiments
The SCA in question very obviously acts as a communicator when we are not on the train. It also offers a beeping alert when there is danger nearby and there’s no way to shut that off even if you’re trying to resolve the danger.
Observations from System # 6416:
The temperature and mugginess was significantly higher once my SCA was removed, and it also operates in a translation function. Fortunately my companion at the time, Seto Kaiba speaks Japanese and this was not a problem in the slightest. It can be concluded that the SCA does some climate control as well, somehow.
Observations from World#5562102022:
I was still without an SCA. It is my good fortune that most people speak English or Japanese. There was no real discernible effects from not having it, outside of the lack of translation. I cannot compare to what it would’ve been like if I had the SCA on my wrist. I did borrow Gen’s for a brief period (more about this later), but there were no ill effects outside of a bit of an uneasy feeling from using his SCA over one designed for me.
Observations from System #2207385:
I recruited a few others to attempt the experiment with me as a control to ensure nothing was outside of my experience alone. There were no noticeable effects to removing the SCA on this world.
Observations from System #86525656412355:
Removal of the SCA occurred in the city by myself and Asagiri Gen. The SCA was assisting with keeping the supernatural, mind control at bay. As such, both Gen and myself were completely lost under the illusion that had enthralled the inhabitants of the town. Our participation on the actual mission was minimal due to this effect. Revisions will have to be made to the testing process. Trying this at the start of a mission is just a bad idea. Going forward the sole test subject will be Asagiri Gen due to his belief that I may be able to fix what goes wrong if something does. There is no suggestion this will affect test results, or render the experiment invalid.
Observations from World #398050:
Removal of the SCA led to a sharp, intense migraine with nausea and dizziness. It was only off Gen’s wrist for 73 seconds, and yet he remained in a delicate condition for hours after the fact. It is unclear what caused the reaction, but it may have been related to the river itself, as the SCA beeped when approaching the liquid itself.
Observations from System #93426194992:
Removal of the SCA made the world significantly hotter, and made breathing far more unpleasant, even for the briefest of moments, suggesting again that climate control is part of what it does.
Observations from all platforms visited between Imagination and Llama:
Every single one has been completely unremarkable. The air has been normal and there appeared to be no real difference from wearing it or not, outside of translation purposes.
After the experiment concluded on System #93426194992, it was determined it was unlikely to yield any further results of interest, and so this experiment was abandoned.
During this time period, the destroyed SCA was taken apart, but nothing of note could be gleaned from it. It looked like a regular piece of machinery. The broken SCA was handed over to Anan on System #93426194992, as we have no means or material to repair it and she might make better use of it than we would.
The SCA Swap Experiment
Once the limits and abilities of the SCA were determined, I wondered how exactly they were tailored for each person, and if they would adjust to the person wearing it even if it had not been designed for them.
The initial idea came from borrowing from Asagiri Gen on World#5562102022, I wondered what would happen if I was exposed to a severe allergen of mine, if the SCA on my wrist would adapt.
I recruited Tidus, Inigo, Handsome Jack and Asagiri Gen to participate in this experiment. The experiment was simple. We would trade SCAs for 180 seconds, place our hands near the allergen in question – urushiol – and see how the SCAs would react.
At first, the SCA belonging to me began to beep on their wrist, but well within this window the one on my wrist began to beep in return. Outside of this was a very uneasy feeling that continued to needle at you the longer you were wearing the strange SCA.
Asagiri Gen was recruited to push the limits of that feeling experiment, and despite from being from essentially the same place, that persisted. Our limit before it was too uncomfortable was twenty-two minutes.
Upon meeting Anan, I engaged her in the latter experiment, but with the 180 second limit, without the allergen. I wanted to see if the shift and strangeness would happen even though we were not tethered to the same void vehicle.
It did.
At this point, the SCA experiments were concluded, for the time being.
Conversations With the Train
There was no response.
I requested more questions to be allowed by the train, and informed it that I don’t find fictional things to be fun or relaxing.
There was no response.
In Merriment, I requested respite with a beach for Tidus and a field of stars. I appealed to the train’s desire for our help. I informed it that we needed to work together, withholding information would not be helpful. I requested more materials be sent in the library. They did not appear. I mentioned finding its old crew.
It responded. Find them.
I continued to try and argue our point, but this was not fruitful in any way.
I attempted to contact the train on Poi 27, after my return to my world, disastrous as it was. Regardless of what I said or asked, I received no answer.
At the beginning of Quicksand, I finally got a response. The train confirmed that it has nothing to do with my world’s poor state. It was not an illusion, it’s an actual state of affairs, but it was not because of the train. Valuable information. My tether is not affected by the state of my body, on my world.
Later in the month we discussed my desire to become void active, due to the departure of Asagiri Gen. The train is unable and unwilling to assist with that. It feels I need to be protected from myself. I disagree. I have deep concern about the train’s admission to missing time in its data banks.
We’ve agreed to no longer be adversaries.