entranceway | ( one; voice )

[Emma has read what information has been made available, she’s walked the grounds and the corridors of some of the mansion’s ground floor, and she’s combed through what public postings she could find to look through on the device she’d found in the pocket opposite of where she kept her own phone. She’s been digging for evidence since she got here, but what she’s found?

She’s not buying it. The message that comes through is voice only, not wanting to reveal her face or her exact location right away-- though she’s pretty damn sure that whoever’s responsible for this is watching her and has a good idea of where she is, if not who.]

Look. I know someone is out there listening.

[She doesn’t know exactly who, but someone.]

This game of yours? I’m not interested. I don’t know how you got me here, or how you set all this up. Maybe it’s some messed-up alternate reality game, but I didn’t opt in for any of this. I don’t care how elaborate it is, or how much work went into it-- my kid is at home waiting for me, and I am not screwing around.

[Her tone is hard, angry rather than anxious, determination winning out over uncertainty.]

‘Wonderland.’ Cute, but I’m not impressed. All I want is for you to point me towards the exit. You can do me a solid and we can do this the easy way-- or we can do it the hard way. Trust me, whatever weird stuff you might be into, I can promise you won’t be happy if we go that route.

[She stays on the line, just to wait for any kind of possible response-- but she doesn’t really know what to expect. This entire thing has her out of her depth, even if she’s not willing to admit it.]

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Trust me, not that you've got any reason to, back up on your back up. This place will screw with you and maybe let you keep it, and even then it's not enough.

[But he's glad to hear someone else coming in armed and ready for that.]

Sadly, yeah. Though even if it was just her and another, she would do it.

You mean how many kids are here? Yeah, we've got a handful of teenagers I know of. Dipper and Mabel, and that Redhead they know. Clementine. There's the boys, and one of them is younger than teenager but I don't know how old he is. Shit, I hadn't thought about how many of them their are. I've seen others, but those are the ones I've talked to.

Noted.

[Whatever she can get her hands on, she intends to make good use of.]

So whoever's in charge-- they don't seem to have a particular type they're profiling. Adults, kids, doesn't seem to matter?

[Well then.]

If it's possible that my son got dragged here, too, I need to find him.

Nope. There's no rhyme or reason I've found. All ages, all backgrounds, all levels of magic or not. Some not human, others from past centuries from what I would know. Just whoever suits them, I guess.

[Which is not comforting. Not in the least.]

If he's here, then the device should work, but if he's been here and gone, others might know him. My brother was here when I got here, but disappeared one night.

Past centuries. So you're not only trying to sell me on magic, but time travel, too.

[Jesus.]

Okay, say I believe you. They really keep a running directory of all their kidnapping victims?

Trust me, this shit had me too. My world didn't have this crap, but after like eight months here, I'm tired of denying all the bullshit that goes on here. It just is.

[Which sucks, but it's the best he can do. Eventually everyone learns.]

We all have contact with one another through the devices they give us. They're weird not magical. Nope, not at all.

Forgive me if I'm not crazy about the idea of hanging around for eight months to get to that point.

[That's an impossibly long time-- time she doesn't have.]

Doesn't seem all that different from a phone, at least.

Yeah, I would say no one is. I was when I got here, but now I can't decide. I wanted to stay here when it offered me a lot I was missing.

[And now all he was missing was gone. His brother. Kate. All of it gone.]

A few years behind, but not much different. Movies run on a dvd player too. But that's the last of the technology I've seen that wasn't hand built.

Sounds like you were into the idea of second chances.

[She can see the appeal. There was a time in her life when she might have been desperate enough for one of those that she would have welcomed this place with open arms, too.]

This place has to be rough for genuine millennials.