video;

[eatsyourscience]

[With the arrival of Bill the Lizard on the scene, Souji has been considering some important things. Naturally, he takes to the network to poll the other residents.]

Bill's new, isn't he? Where do you think they come from?

[He adjusts his glasses, which he is actually wearing for once. They just make him feel more sexy focused somehow.]

Speaking of them... Has anyone seen the Duchess?

[...]

Did she take the sword with her?

[Those who know him can probably hear in his tone that he's legitimately worried about this. It doesn't show on his face, though.]

Comments

[Video]

[cursebreaking]

First time I've seen him.

[That's as good as a 'yes.' Emma frowns thoughtfully at the feed, letting out a soft 'hmm.']

It's been awhile since her last appearance, hasn't it?

... if she took the sword, that's bad news for us. We need that.

[Video]

[eatsyourscience]

Yeah, we do.

[Souji frowns as well.]

If she didn't take it, did she hide it somewhere?

[Video]

[cursebreaking]

Still a pain in the ass if she did, but better for us. We've got time, we can find it if we start looking.

[Hm.]

Where the hell would you hide a thing like that? The natives have to be able to reach parts of Wonderland we can't.

[... oh. Great. A thought.]

The Kid had said something about her giving it to the Jabberwocky, or planning to.

[Video]

[eatsyourscience]

I think I heard about that... Why would she do that, though?

[Video]

[cursebreaking]

Beats me. Your guess is as good as mine.

[She grimaces, giving a shrug.]

All I know is that it's the absolute opposite of what we want.

[Video]

[eatsyourscience]

Yeah. No kidding.

[He rubs the back of his neck then pauses when something else occurs to him.]

The Jabberwocky also ate the shield. We can't just focus on the sword, can we?

[Video]

[cursebreaking]

Yeah, I hadn't forgotten.

[She sighs. He's right: they can't forget the shield, either.]

That seemed to be a case of someone bringing it into battle and being unlucky enough to lose it -- so keeping it somewhere safe and secure and decidedly away from the Jabberwocky needs to be a priority.

[Video]

[eatsyourscience]

Do you think the Red Queen can do that?

[The only time the shield seems to have been safe was when the Red Queen was still entombed. After waking up, she lost it in a chess match pretty quickly.]

[Video]

[cursebreaking]

... good point.

[Emma had been on a 'trip' home during the chess match, but Martha had brought her up to speed when she got back -- she hadn't liked any of what she'd heard.]

Then it's up to us. We shouldn't be putting any faith in the Red Queen, anyway. We can't count on anyone but ourselves.

[Video]

[eatsyourscience]

[Souji nods.]

But I don't know if it'll work if we're aggressive about it. I mean, she's friendlier than the Queen of Hearts, but she's probably still capable of a lot.

[Video]

[cursebreaking]

We'll have to be diplomatic about it if we can be.

I'll admit. Not exactly my strong point.

[Aggressive is much more her style.]

[Video]

[eatsyourscience]

I'm sure we can find someone who fits that description.

[Video]

[cursebreaking]

Let me know if you have any ideas. I'll do the same.

[Video]

[eatsyourscience]

Got it. I'll talk to you later.