The Path Forward - Prologue Post

Narrator

You hardly knew what to expect from a strange door materializing from thin air, let alone one that seemed to depend on the exchange of small talk for its existence. But a door was a door, and you had no intention of standing around here freezing if you could help it. With a big turn, the handle clicked unlocked, then when it was pulled…

Instead of showing the vast expanse of ice, the doorway opened onto a dull metal platform, semicircular in shape. It had no guard rails, which was particularly concerning when it was at least two storeys down to the ground—the rapidly moving ground. Train wheels the size of a small house spun along a massive track. A single, long walkway—a bit narrow for the situation, you felt, even if it did have a railing—led to a mirroring platform and red door. And beyond that…

…was difficult to describe.

Would you move on to the next car immediately? Or would you try to investigate the dull red wasteland the train was cutting through? Either way, you weren’t sure you wanted to stay here for long, either…

—

[“Car” Reference Post]

Fenna Van Daalen

Fenna felt the blast of warmth on her face as she stumbled through the door and heaved a sigh of relief, immediately opening her coat to adjust the feather boa that had been slowly strangling her (and revealing her truly ridiculous outfit in the process.) As she did, she opened her eyes to survey her surroundings… and stopped dead in her tracks.

“…”

She’d seen Mad Max before, but that wasn’t really what Australia looked like, right? Yet the haunting red wasteland stretched out all around her, without a hint of practical effects or CGI. No, this wasn’t anywhere on Earth, she could feel that in her bones. And this train, with each car tall as a skyscraper, and car after car after car as far as she could see…

It made her head hurt. She reached into her purse and pulled out a cigarette.

Dammit, she’d left her lighter at the club. ’Course she had. Nothing could ever be easy, huh? All she’d wanted was to see her son again, and…

“…A-anybody… got a light?”

R.N.A.

Ah success! They had escaped the cold car! R.N.A. couldn’t help but feel happy that their push to get people to introduce themselves had been the key to escaping. R.N.A. happily took off their coat and slung it over their left shoulder, content in the knowledge that they could repurpose it for later. Robots did not need coats, after all.

Look at all of this-

…Red wasteland? Long looking vehicle that seemed unsafe? They looked across the bridge, only seeing another door, looking much like the one that they had come through. It seemed as though they had more challenges ahead.

Well, to be fair, none of this really made much sense anyway. R.N.A. seemed to just accept that this was some kind of fantastical situation, unfortunately. I mean, the group even seemed to be able to communicate just fine despite very likely not sharing a common language.

“Excuse me… but I shall… take up the flank… when we are to cross the bridge. I would like to ensure… everyone else has safely crossed… before I move on.” R.N.A. would always try to put these humans first if they could.

With that in mind…

Reaching up to the top of their hat, they would quickly pop a latch, opening the top of the metal heat and pulling out a pack of plain band-aids, closing the top hat over once again once they had retrieved what they wanted.

“Jack, Asuka, please allow me… to look over your injuries. I would like to ensure that you are both… tended to.” The people with them had gotten into a fight because of their… lack of care. It was shameful, to R.N.A. to have allowed such an awful thing to happen to these two wonderful people. So it was up to R.N.A. to ensure that they were well taken care of in the aftermath of their fight.

Fenna Van Daalen “…A-anybody… got a light?”

Melvin Greene “I got one.”

R.N.A’s head would briefly turn to look at the interaction between Fenna and Melvin. Seeing the objects in Fenna and Melvin’s hands… R.N.A. shook their head back and forth slightly, seemingly disapproving.

“Smoking is… bad for your health. You should… put that away, Fenna. Do not offer a lighter, either… Melvin. You should not… encourage bad habits. It is not… pro-social.” R.N.A. would say, before turning their attention back to Jack and Asuka.

Atsuko Samukura

Finally. Finally. She would be off the ice, she would be warm. Atsuko didn’t care where she ended up, as long as she was out of that frozen nightmare.

Someone had pulled the door open, she didn’t see nor care who, but she made sure she was one of the first to make their way out.

She was graced by a blast of warm air, and suddenly, she felt like herself again. Her eyes fluttered closed, and her gloved hands grasped her scarves (Atsuko, one of them is Haruka’s. Please.). She let out a breath, satisfied at how her lungs didn’t feel like they were being stabbed by icicles.

Atsuko only opened her eyes as the others’ shocked reactions finally reached her ears, and she opened one eye… and then another.

“…Ah.”

She didn’t remember the train being this large when she stepped on it. Nor did anyone else, it seemed. Where exactly were they, and how was that seemingly infinite frozen hellscape a train car, as large as it was?

She just stared, blankly, out into the vastness. Was it worth trying to escape? Probably not. And besides, she sincerely doubted anything would be worse than the ice. So she was prepared to move ahead, although several of the others appeared dumbfounded and stopped in their tracks.

Fenna Van Daalen “…A-anybody… got a light?”

Melvin Greene “I got one.”

Her attention was diverted by the exchange between Fenna and Melvin, who was from Wowitt’s, wherever that was. Presumably in America. Her expression didn’t change, but her eyes slowly drifted between the two of them, suddenly interested.

Everything around her was gradually tuned out as she looked at them, including the smoking debacle, which made it hard to parse her reaction to anyone who was actually watching her. Likewise, Jack doing… well, Jack things, was of no concern to her. Her eyes were trained on Fenna and Melvin, watching them with a blank expression.

“…”

She didn’t (and couldn’t) listen in to their conversation as the two of them stepped away, and so she just stood there with her eyes on them, one hand securing her scarves around her neck (once again, not yours, Atsuko) and the other holding the leather strap of her purse around her shoulder.

Still no motion to return Haruka’s scarf. Let’s be hopeful and say maybe on the next car…?

Melvin Greene

After a certain point, one starts to think: surely it can’t get any god damn weirder. Melvin thought he had reached that point around when they’d been working to get the door open in the first place. That was the absolute peak of it, everything would make a little more sense once they got it over with and got out of there.

The endless expanse provided neither comfort nor clarity.

“What the hell…”

Sure, he wasn’t ungrateful to be out of the cold, but seriously, what the hell?

Actually. Yeah, you know what, that might have been it. If this was hell, wouldn’t that just figure? That train (had it looked like this when everyone else saw it, had he really missed that, if it was even the same train?) was a one way ride to a neverending nightmare.

Hadn’t he learned by now? It could always get worse. Thinking otherwise was just tempting fate to come kick you while you were down.

… Man, whatever. Fenna had the right idea - if he’d come prepared, he couldn’t say he’d have reacted any differently.

“I got one.”

It was an almost automatic response, the way he dug his lighter out of his pocket and offered it over to her. Didn’t have to think about it. Didn’t want to think about much of anything at the moment.

Fenna Van Daalen

Melvin Greene “I got one.”

“Thank you, dear.”

Fenna smiles faintly and lights her cigarette, looking Melvin over as she hands the lighter back. Everyone really did just rag on him for no reason, huh? No respect for pizza delivery guys, the backbone of our society.

“Ya want one of these–”

R.N.A. “Smoking is… bad for your health. You should… put that away, Fenna. Do not offer a lighter, either… Melvin. You should not… encourage bad habits. It is not… pro-social.”

Speaking of, there was that robot again, talking as if they’ve got lungs!

“Ey I’m ganna stand downwind! Aren’t there bigger problems than me havin’ a smoke?!”

She gestures around wildly at their surroundings as she moves towards the back of the group, leaning against the wall.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Though he at least made it onto the platform without shoving anyone out of the way, Jack wasn’t in the mood to hang around. Once there was metal underfoot instead of ice, he let out a breath.

R.N.A. “Jack, Asuka, please allow me… to look over your injuries. I would like to ensure that you are both… tended to.”

Barely even registering his own name, he turned just enough to raise an eyebrow.

“‘M not even bleeding, what’s a band-aid gonna do?” He jerked his head toward the rest of the crowd. “Plentya other people for you to latch onto here, so take your pick. I’m good.”

The infinite desert stormscape barely got any look of acknowledgement before he went on forward to the connecting bridge.

Not that he was getting ready to walk on the bridge. No, he just hopped up onto the thin railing to walk along that instead, arms held out like a small child traversing a curb that was much less likely to incur a lethal fall.

Haruka Yukimura

Haruka had shuffled very slowly through the door, the cold and her caution both making her move with more trepidation than usual. When she saw the great expanse before her, she gasped and stumbled back, her back hitting the metal of the… train carriage…? she’d just exited. That was at least a little reassuring, allowing her to get to grips with the vertigo, but it was still a pretty big shock. It would definitely take her a good few moments to adjust.

“…Oh, goodness.”

R.N.A. “Jack, Asuka, please allow me… to look over your injuries. I would like to ensure that you are both… tended to.”

R.N.A offering help to the others helped snap her out of it a bit. That was something she could help with too, after all.

“Yes, if anyone here is injured, or f-feeling any ill effects after that cold… ah, Mx. R.N.A-” she looked a bit unsure about how she was addressing the robot, but whatever - “I can help, too. If this place is safe enough to rest…” With those beasts in the distance, she wasn’t sure. And were those her teeth still chattering? Maybe she should look after herself first.

“And I would agree, smoking isn’t the best for you, or us either…”

She doesn’t know if she’s still in earshot of Fenna and Melvin when she says that, but Haruka still wants to make the point. Her own issues might not usually involve breathing, but she would like to keep it that way…

Roadie 🪶Jack No, he just hopped up onto the thin railing to walk along that instead,

Viper She does, however, follow after Jack as he makes a move onto the railing, and leans over herself,

And then she had two more people to worry about. “Please be careful!” she cried out towards the people by the railings. “That’s an awful long way to fall, and I’m not sure how easily we could get down to help you! Let’s all be cautious as we figure things out, okay?”

She wasn’t even sure she wanted to start crossing that walkway yet until she knew everyone was safe and sound.

Vinzent Mayer

As soon as they got out from the bitter cold to… Whatever the hell this is, Vinzent was still confused, simply put. Was this just another way to mess with their minds? While not complaining to have been finally out of the cold, he couldn’t say that he was pleased with this wasteland. Because this was anything but reassuring. Whatever was going on with the doors, these were sure that it would give the group a miserable time, or something like that. Safety, who? Taking a careful look around, he faintly was listening to some people talking.

And here goes the robot disapproving. While Vinzent wasn’t a smoker by any means, he gave a small look of “dude, c’mon” at R.N.A.. Can he really blame Fenna and Melvin for dealing with this situation in their own way? It was jarring enough.

“Yeah, uh. I don’t smoke, but… I wouldn’t make it a big deal at this moment for others who do. We have enough problems on our hands, we don’t need to add more with berating people about their choices, alright?”

If the smoke bothered him that bad, he’d simply just step away if possible, but otherwise… Looking back at the wasteland, he figured he could comment about it for now. … To himself.

“That’s just more fucked up if not equally as earlier.”

… And now? He may give it some time to think on what to do next. Should they go ahead soon, or recollect a bit…? He’d prefer the latter if just for a few minutes. Everything Happens So Much.

Viper

After struggling to force her teeth not to chatter for the rest of their time spent on the ice, Viper is more than relieved for the rush of warm air that hits them once the door is opened. But the sight that meets her eyes is much more bizarre. It’s…a desert? A wasteland?

“Yo… It’s just like Fallout…” The comment is mostly to herself, but anyone even remotely close to her would probably hear it. Her gaze then goes to the bridge. “…Eugh. It’s like they want us to fall to our horrible deaths.”

How lovely and not morbid.

Roadie 🪶Jack “Plentya other people for you to latch onto here, so take your pick. I’m good.”

“Hey, it’s what they’re made for. Laws of Robotics, Simple stuff really.” Viper rolls her eyes a little, before looking over at RNA and stuffing her hands into her pockets. “…‘S okay, Robot feller. I appreciate what ya puttin’ down. I’ll humour ya.” She does, however, follow after Jack as he makes a move onto the railing, and leans over herself, looking down at the red sands all around them.

“Anyone else kinda fancy lookin’ around down there before the rest of us head out?” Well, Viper isn’t going to wait for anyone to answer before she sits herself on the edge of the platform, trying to search for a way down. Perhaps those slits in the edges of the cart were close enough to climb…

She couldn’t deny that this place was equal parts unnerving and fascinating.

Taran

Taran rushes through the door when he sees it open. Alright! Portals are real and he is no longer at risk of dying of hypothermia! Just falling it looks like, which isn’t as inevitable. That’s a win.

Viper “Yo… It’s just like Fallout…”

Taran nods. “Damn, true.”

The new environment is eerie. It has the ambiance of a wildfire, but causeless and unchanging. Beats breathing smoke, probably… He takes a step forward into the wind as Fenna and Melvin light up their cigarettes. But it still feels sick.

The train cars are… brutal? Cyclopean. Unwelcoming. Spooky! And endless, which is the most worrying thing of all. There was another door into another car across the bridge, and nothing else. If it was like that forever..? Taran shudders. And it probably beats the wasteland off to the sides!

Viper “Anyone else kinda fancy lookin’ around down there before the rest of us head out?”

“I’m kinda good up here,” for about 7000 separate reasons, his mind keeps racing, “but if you really want to get a closer look at the tracks I’ll spot you or something.”

He steps over to the edge as well. Between the unimaginable mass and constant speed of the train there wasn’t any travel-motion to throw either of them off balance. If he zoned out for half a second he could imagine that the train was still, the air and the earth being the things that were moving.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Viper

While Jack wasn’t totally onboard with her defense of R.N.A.—there were laws? What, and he was supposed to know those?—Viper did get a scoff-ish laugh or two out of him.

“Yeahhh, wouldn’t advise going down without at least some rope. Maybe a grapplin’ hook. Or were you planning to come back?”

Haruka Yukimura Let’s all be cautious as we figure things out, okay?

At Haruka’s fussing, he paused to look back, like he was considering something. Whatever it was, apparently it wasn’t getting down, since he just turned around and kept walking.

“What’s there to figure out? Keep movin’ forward, or don’t.”

Dexter Blanche

Now, Dexter wasn’t sure what was about to happen. Granted, he adjusted to this horrific, paranormal happening pretty quickly, but a materializing door in the middle of a frozen lake was still… curious. Dexter made it a point to not trust doors where you could see the space behind them.

But what was behind that door was… nothing short of spectacular. Sure, to some others, it could be anywhere between horrifying or boring; but for Dexter, the sheer contrast brought him to his knees.

He quickly fished out his camera and took a photo. It was flat, desolate, nary a rock nor resource to break it up. This was the kind of thing that deserved to be immortalized. Even if the situation was drastic… this sight was nothing short of phenomenal.

Still, the others discussed. Going down there? He held his tongue, but he personally saw no such reason to. Anyone could see that it was nothing but flats for miles and miles. And while Jack’s antics on the railings caused him to glance… no, he’d probably be fine. There was something about him that could tell he was seasoned. That he too respected the force of nature. Those scars are sure to tell a story.

What was of more interesting to him was both the next car over… and the situation in general.

“Ah, It looks like we aren’t in Kansas anymore- ahah… forgive the reference. Still, is this not quite spectacular? The warm tones on the horizon… Its like the world itself has lit ablaze! And the wastes themselves…”

He thinks he spots something… shadowy, moving about, through the magnification of his lens. No. It was probably just his mind.

“…I would ask what part of the world this is in, but my friends I am… concerned that we are not of this world anymore.”

Abel Lazarus

Abel was glad to get out of the frozen area and all, really he was, but seeing the new area… He did consider stepping back in for just a moment. Too many areas to fall from. Too many places one wrong step sends him to his death- It really took remembering it’s the same if he goes back to keep him where he stands.

He keeps his back pressed to the wall for a moment. Just. Taking deep breaths. He does make a face when the smoking conversation comes up. Disgusting. People are so quick to let their vices get the better of them.

Abel starts taking his coat off and folds it neatly. Even if he doesn’t appreciate the color of it it’s still fine enough of a coat and he worries they could need it again at this rate. It feels a lot better with it off- since the rest of his outfit was pretty warm as is. Not warm enough for all that ice, but still warm enough for a place like this.

Once he’s calmed down enough Abel glances around and starts up a speed walk across the bridge. it has purpose- isn’t so fast he’s jogging but isn’t slow either. The exact right pace for someone who’s put together to travel quickly. He wants to get Across that bridge and stay away from anyone in the process until his back is firmly against the wall of the other train car. Technically he’s approachable but he certainly is hoping you won’t.