Narciso Anasui (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
disassemblies) wrote2024-04-23 02:27 pm
disassemblies) wrote2024-04-23 02:27 pm
ignore this
CW: grief, depression, bullying, parental neglect, isolation, hopelessness
A blue-black-gold crack in the world greets you, hovering ominously in Caleb's front yard. Several of the mochi cat creations lay in tower-pile nearby, crying out mournfully while a concerned Delcatty tries to calm them. Every so often, a strange almost-spark crackles from the entrance and sets them off again. Caleb's Dewott seems to be trying to guard it, or at least keep the creations out of it. He'll stand down when you approach, though. You, at least, aren't likely to end up so much squished mochi cat if you go in.
So. You go in. And maybe you want to go back out almost as soon as you step in, because the place before you is unsettling in the worst way. You now stand on a dilapidated and unsafe train station platform, looking out over what might be a black sun and the ruins of a space station. There are holes in the platform and it looks like it might give way at the slightest provocation. It is dead silent. There is not a soul around.
At the end of the platform stands a train that once upon a time might have been gorgeous. Now it's rusted and dingy, the lights broken and the doors sealed shut.
And then you approach. What lights aren't broken flicker to life and the doors start to slowly, painfully creak open. A recorded voice rings out: "The Astral Express is now boarding. All passengers, please make sure you have all of your belongings and step aboard." The recording crackles, and then repeats. And repeats. And repeats and repeats and repeats, each repetition more and more degraded. By the time you all step on board, it's barely words. It's barely a voice.
You step aboard. The doors creak shut. The train jerks, and then off the Astral Express goes.
The interior of the train is...somewhat better than the exterior. The interior is covered in trash with a narrow path going from one end of the car to the other, but the benches all seem perfectly safe to sit on. The lights in the parlor car all work, as well.
Unhinged laughter comes from the stairs leading up to the platform at the other end. There stands Caleb, tired and clearly not doing so hot, and...another Caleb? It looks a little like him, but instead of a shock of black hair and bright blue eyes like the real Caleb, this one has half-silver, half-black hair and glowing gold eyes. His clothes look like they were run through a shredder before he got them.
The Not-Caleb laughs again. "Oh, great," he says with a sigh. "Guests. And here I thought we'd have all the time in the world to break you down, Caleb! Eh, whatever." He opens the door, tugging Caleb (who you can now see is tied to this Not-Caleb) along after him. We'll just continue our conversation somewhere else while they rot. Toodles~"
"No, wait, lemme--" Caleb's pleas are silenced by the door slamming shut behind him.
He looked terrified.
A blue-black-gold crack in the world greets you, hovering ominously in Caleb's front yard. Several of the mochi cat creations lay in tower-pile nearby, crying out mournfully while a concerned Delcatty tries to calm them. Every so often, a strange almost-spark crackles from the entrance and sets them off again. Caleb's Dewott seems to be trying to guard it, or at least keep the creations out of it. He'll stand down when you approach, though. You, at least, aren't likely to end up so much squished mochi cat if you go in.
So. You go in. And maybe you want to go back out almost as soon as you step in, because the place before you is unsettling in the worst way. You now stand on a dilapidated and unsafe train station platform, looking out over what might be a black sun and the ruins of a space station. There are holes in the platform and it looks like it might give way at the slightest provocation. It is dead silent. There is not a soul around.
At the end of the platform stands a train that once upon a time might have been gorgeous. Now it's rusted and dingy, the lights broken and the doors sealed shut.
And then you approach. What lights aren't broken flicker to life and the doors start to slowly, painfully creak open. A recorded voice rings out: "The Astral Express is now boarding. All passengers, please make sure you have all of your belongings and step aboard." The recording crackles, and then repeats. And repeats. And repeats and repeats and repeats, each repetition more and more degraded. By the time you all step on board, it's barely words. It's barely a voice.
You step aboard. The doors creak shut. The train jerks, and then off the Astral Express goes.
The interior of the train is...somewhat better than the exterior. The interior is covered in trash with a narrow path going from one end of the car to the other, but the benches all seem perfectly safe to sit on. The lights in the parlor car all work, as well.
Unhinged laughter comes from the stairs leading up to the platform at the other end. There stands Caleb, tired and clearly not doing so hot, and...another Caleb? It looks a little like him, but instead of a shock of black hair and bright blue eyes like the real Caleb, this one has half-silver, half-black hair and glowing gold eyes. His clothes look like they were run through a shredder before he got them.
The Not-Caleb laughs again. "Oh, great," he says with a sigh. "Guests. And here I thought we'd have all the time in the world to break you down, Caleb! Eh, whatever." He opens the door, tugging Caleb (who you can now see is tied to this Not-Caleb) along after him. We'll just continue our conversation somewhere else while they rot. Toodles~"
"No, wait, lemme--" Caleb's pleas are silenced by the door slamming shut behind him.
He looked terrified.
Bitch At The Shadow
After a minute or two, the intercom system crackles to life. You hear a sigh. "You people just can't take a hint, can you? I told you to rot, not try and bang down my door! You're not gonna get him back, so go on, just give up. Maybe we'll let you off at the next stop or something."
He stops speaking, but notably you don't hear the intercom shut off. He'll probably respond, if you yell at him loud enough. Or you could ignore him and focus on the door again. There seems to be a star-shaped impression, but no stars anywhere to be seen. Maybe try throwing trash at it?
And wow, is there a lot of trash here. It's not piled too high, maybe about calf-deep, but there's still so much of it. At first glance, it looks to be only trash, but if you dig around (or even simply take the time to look at it more closely) you'll realize that for every empty bottle or broken television there's things that seem a bit more...sentimental. Report cards from kindergarten to graduation, souvenirs from theme parks, a kid's fishing rod, a complete box set of some book series--all of it in good condition. If you dig around, you might even find a map of Kaisou, though it's been scribbled out with bright red crayon.
Eventually, either from digging or just being really luck, you'll find a collection of stars-and-moons toys, like you might buy from a gachapon machine. They're all still in their capsules. It's just a matter of getting them open and finding the start that fits the door.
Continue?