video;

[infinitesimalblip]

[ The last thing she remembers is being with Will, exploring the shit cave. No, really, actual shit. So, being here at all makes no sense, she has no memory of how she got here, why she's here, who or what brought her here. All of these people are total strangers. It makes literally no sense that she's here at all. This has to be some kind of crazy hallucination, right? She spends a few hours laying low, scoping the place out, exploring and trying to figure out what she can on her own. So many are just...going about their lives like nothing is wrong at all. There's a kitchen, a diner, an actual pool?? Objectively, it's a normal-ish place, which means, this is all very, very wrong. At least if her family was here, they could...figure this out together.

For a moment, there's a pang because her family doesn't include her dad now. Or does it? Will had been so hopeful, but both she and Judy were more pragmatic. Was there a chance?

Right now, though, she has to deal with where she currently is, which is stuck in some weird place. ]

So, hey, I was wondering how long it usually takes for someone's family to show up here with them?

[ Totally chill. Calm. She's really worried about her family, but admitting that out loud on the device would mean it's potentially being recorded and she can't betray her cool exterior completely. ]

There's five of us altogether. [ Dammit. Again. ] Four of us. Sort of. We were on a ship and we- [ She stops herself abruptly. ] You know what, not important right now, right? I'm trapped here and here is apparently some weird pocket dimension between time and space, am I on the right track?

Random shout-out to whoever kidnapped us, though: I'm digging the closets. Unlimited Oreos? Totally cool. Also laced with something to brainwash me probably but at least I'm going down happy.

Comments

video;

[middlefinger]

It took about six months for my sister to appear here -- than she disappeared again after two months. Needless to say kid but this place isn't super interested in keeping families together.

video;

[infinitesimalblip]

Awesome. Well. Separated again is just the status quo for us now. [ Though she doesn't actually sigh out loud, it's there in her tone, just a sense of weariness and frustration. But just as quickly, she recovers. ]

What is this place interested in?

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[middlefinger]

Honestly? I'm not so sure. Mostly messing with us. Some people think it feeds off our memories and deaths -- but no one has any solid proof on most of it.

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[infinitesimalblip]

[ Hold on. Pause. Back it up. ]

...deaths? Have a lot of people died here?

° video

[beautifullies]

[ Claire can't help but reach out; of course the moment she sees red hair she has hope that it's Brianna, but it only lasts for a half heartbeat as soon as the face registers. And then her heart hurts a bit for this girl. She's young, too young to be separated from her family in any case. ]

Hello. My name is Claire. Sometimes people's families arrive, but other times they don't. Most of us take care of each other, here.

[ She pauses, hoping that wasn't too harsh for the girl. ]

You're bang on about one of the theories regarding where we are; I'm not sure anyone else has a better explanation.

° video

[infinitesimalblip]

[ If Penny had an inkling of the thoughts running through Claire's mind right now, she would insist that she's not too young, she can totally handle this. She's fine. ]

Awesome. Good news. [ There's definite sarcasm in her tone. ] But if everyone here kind of chips in and helps each other, I can vouch for myself. I'm pretty good at that. [ That's basically what she's been doing since they crash landed. ]

Can you give me the bullet points, like Wonderland 101, the stuff I have to know?

° video

[beautifullies]

[ More of something that reminds her of Bree, and Claire holds back a smile. ]

I know it isn't the best of circumstances, but unfortunately, we're stuck here for the time being.

[ She pauses, and this may be bold, but she'd like to offer anyway. ]

Would you like to meet somewhere to do this face to face? There are tea rooms on every floor. I can come to you, whichever floor you've settled on.

video;

[spiritofgoodness]

[ Snow appears on screen and smiles in greeting. ]

My family seems to come and go. My daughter was here, and then she left, and apparently, quite a few people from home were showing up and leaving even before I arrived. I don't know that there's a set timetable, but it's certainly always possible they'll show up.

video;

[infinitesimalblip]

So basically, just expect instability and chaos. Got it.

[ She lets out a breath, settling down on what seems to be a couch. And then she looks around in her room before glancing back at the screen. ]

There were empty rooms so I snagged this one and it's kind of cozy for now. So is that the norm? Just settle in and hunker down, buckle up for the bumpy ride ahead?

video;

[spiritofgoodness]

You've done everything right so far.

[ Snow smiles again in encouragement. ]

But I wouldn't say it's always chaos. There are lovely people here, we just had a fall festival with games and rides and incredible food. It can have moments where it's dangerous, and it's true that we can't leave, but we look after each other here.

[video]

[mourning_ghost]

[Yes, that is a bird answering the phone.]

They might not arrive.

[video]

[infinitesimalblip]

[ Ummmmmm....what??? ]

...why are you talking to me? Why is a bird talking to me?

[video]

[mourning_ghost]

...

You posted a message to the network.

video;

[beatupgrass]

Kid, I'm gonna level with you and be real honest.

There's a good chance you might be alone here forever.

[Nice, Rocket.]

video;

[infinitesimalblip]

[ Another talking animal. Wow. What is this place?? ]

That's okay. You know what? It's totally fine.

There was a chance I was gonna die on this planet with a dying sun, stuck inside a cave covered in actual shit, so things are way better for me right now than they were.

[ Is she deflecting her true feelings about everything? Sure. Does it feel better than anything else right now? Absolutely. ]

[beatupgrass]

That's the ticket.

[Rocket accepting deflection at face value because he's in the process of deflecting his own bullshit? SAY IT AIN'T SO.] You're here and alone, aside from a bunch of idiots, but hey, at least you're not dead or surrounded by dead people or living in a galaxy that you failed to save, despite that being your one frickin' job.

video;

[entreats]

[ Aside from the whole thing that sometimes no one you know at all shows up here-- ]

I'm not so sure if you should want your family to be here in the first place, really. It's not the ideal place to get stuck in.

video;

[infinitesimalblip]

[ She's yet to see the downside to them being here other than the fact that being here against their will would suck, so: ]

Isn't it a little better than the alternative? For some of us, I mean?

[entreats]

That depends.

[ On your outlook on life, mostly, as far as Ange is concerned.. ]

My family is dead, and yet I still wouldn't want to see them alive again and stuck in this place. A lot of really dangerous things happen here.

video

[krmvgivv]

Could be they show up tomorrow. Could be they never show up. Could be they show up in a week, leave after a month, then return a week later with no memories of ever having been here before.

[Not that... he's thinking of anyone specific there.]

I'm sorry. There's not really a pattern.

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[infinitesimalblip]

Better than sugar-coating it. [ She wouldn't want anyone to bullshit her about what she's up against here. ]

Are they - safe where they are? I mean, obviously none of us can know for sure, but my brother was - he needed me there with him. If I'm not there... [ Okay. So she's worried about him potentially being in that gross and creepy cave alone. Well, not alone alone, there are others in their group there, but he'd be panicking if she just disappeared. ]

video

[krmvgivv]

Well, that's the good news! Sort of.

[Nothing about this is really good news.]

Time doesn't actually move here. When you go home no one will know you were gone at all. Even if you're here for years and years.

Video

[singloversing]

I'm...pretty sure they're not laced with anything? Like, we probably would have noticed by now.

[He rubs the back of his neck, trying to bring a little lightness to an otherwise difficult introduction. He's not sure if it really helps, but-- well, she joked about it first, right?]

Um, that's-- that's pretty much right, from what we know. Except, we don't really...know when people will turn up, or leave, or when we'll leave.

Video

[infinitesimalblip]

How do you really know, though?

[ Okay, that's about as much as she can stretch that joke out now, so she moves on. ]

So how do you make the best of it? What's the average adjustment period here?

Video

[singloversing]

Uh...I don't know about average, but I guess it depends like. What your threshold for weird is? But between all of the weird stuff that happens it's actually kind of...comfortable, I guess. I-I mean, you already know about the closets but there's definitely other things too. The best way to make the best of it is just...finding the things that make everything else a little less hard to handle.

[He feels like he's not being very clear right now, so maybe an example would help.]

Like...have you seen the library yet? Though, I mean maybe that's not exciting if you're not much of a book person but it's huge. It rotates and I'm pretty sure almost every book that exists can be found in there somewhere.