01 - Audio & Action - take your pick! Phone call or gun to the face...

[swooshycape]

[audio]

[ Vincent isn’t normally one to just try calling out of the blue, but he really wants some intel on this place - enough that he is willing to at least try, even if he is quite suspicious of, well... everything about this place. ]

Where is this? And to whom... am I speaking?

[ His voice is deep and quiet and mostly toneless - though there is a dark edge to it. He wants answers, and he expects to be given them. However, he has one last thing to add... ]

Yuffie, if this is your doing... [ ... well, if she’s listening, he’s pretty sure she can imagine the unspoken threat. ]


[action]

[ But even as he waits for any sort of response, Vincent doesn’t keep still. Instead, he carefully explores the mansion, moving quietly as he swoops down hallways, checking rooms and keeping to the shadows. You wouldn’t expect someone in a red cape to be particularly stealthy, but he manages it very well - unnaturally so.

However, stealthy or not, he is expecting a fight, so if he opens the door to a room someone is in, his gun is out and aimed right at them. ... really, he’s too used to a world where every space that isn’t a town or city is crawling with hostile wildlife. Don’t worry, though. He won’t shoot on sight. .... probably.

But you’d also better be careful if you meet him in a hallway - or more likely, he sneaks up behind you - as he is armed and dangerous and isn’t the friendliest looking person...

In either case, he won't waste time in asking questions. Unless he's already had the basics from someone else, in which case he'll probably lower the gun if he's sure you're not a threat. ... probably. ]

Comments

[action]

[selfrespecting]

[Martha had just been minding her own business. It's been a quiet day in the clinic, and so she's been doing the necessary amount of paperwork. It's nothing all that involved, but she still thinks it's a good idea to keep records of who comes in and out and for what reason.

So she's sitting at the desk near the clinic's entrance, engrossed in her work, when someone suddenly throws the door open and points a gun at her.

She can't really be blamed for shrieking, not when that came out of nowhere, and she almost falls out of her chair, instead managing to jump out of the seat as she puts her hands up into the air.] What? What is it? What do you want?

[voice]

[cetra]

[ Seems like it's the day to run into some old friends for Aerith. The voice is just as unexpected as Zack's had been, and the mention of Yuffie has her lips twitching. ]

Vincent Valentine, is that you?

[ She knows it's him, she could pick that voice out of any crowd. Still better to be safe. ]

Tell me where you are, and I'll come find you. This place...well, it's a long story.

[ And slightly strange, but they've run into plenty of strange back on Gaia. ]

[voice]

[swooshycape]

[ There is a long pause before he speaks, for her voice is at least as - if not more - unexpected for him to hear. It's been a long time since last he heard it, but there is no mistaking it. ]

... Aerith?

[ And yet, it still requires confirmation.

But wait - yes, she'd mentioned finding him, so he stops. ]

... a hallway. [ Helpful. ] Between the infirmary and the nearest stairs.

[swooshycape]

[ He almost feels a little bad for scaring her. But he doesn't lower the gun just yet as he looks her over, ascertaining how much of a threat she is. Even if he knew she were a medical doctor, though, that wouldn't necessarily be a good reason to trust... ]

What is this place?

Action

[seekinghome]

::Ed's been spending time in the library again, this time sticking to one book at a time with a notebook for notes.

When he hears Vincent approach he glances up and then back down. Oh, just a guy with a gun. Wait, what?

His head snaps back up to look at him again.::

Uh, hi?

[swooshycape]

[ Libraries are usually quiet and safe, but one never knows. So Vincent doesn't put his gun away right away, as he looks Ed over. He knows better than to dismiss someone just because they are young, short or interested in books. But... Ed doesn't seem hostile, and Vincent doesn't sense any monsters or anything in the library, so after a moment, he holsters his gun. ]

... Hm.

[ Not the most cheerful and friendly of greetings, but Vincent nods to Ed. ]

[seekinghome]

::Ed isn't... overly rattled by the gun, since he's been shot at plenty as a State Alchemist. Still, that was an addition to his day he wasn't expecting.::

Any particular reason you're pointing that at people?

[swooshycape]

... I'm used to monsters lurking in unexpected places.

[ He casts a glance over the room again. ]

I apologize for disturbing you.

[selfrespecting]

[Martha isn't thrilled that he hasn't lowered the gun even though she's clearly unarmed and working in a medical clinic, so she remains reserved as she offers her response. It's clear that he must be new, but honestly, there were better ways to go about obtaining information.]

It's called Wonderland. Wherever you're from, this place is completely separate from it -- another world. Everyone you meet here, we're all in the same position as you. We've been kidnapped.

[swooshycape]

Kidnapped.

[ Sorry, Martha. He's had bad experiences with doctors. ]

By whom? And for what purpose...?

[ Slowly he does lower the gun but doesn't put it away yet. ]

[selfrespecting]

[Vincent's not the only one who's in that boat. There seems to be a lot of doctor bias floating around.

He's asking good questions, though, and that alone allows Martha to let her guard down just slightly. Her hands are still in the air, though. She won't relax completely until he stops pointing that thing anywhere near her.]

It's unclear. At first we thought it was the Queen of Hearts, but that's seeming less likely. The reasoning for us being here is also fuzzy, though I think the leading theory is that this place is feeding off our memories. Don't think that's been confirmed, though.

[swooshycape]

[ The more she explains, the lower the gun goes, and as she speaks about the place feeding off of memories, he blinks at her and casts a glance around the room before sighing and holstering his gun. ]

Hn. ... is the Queen of Hearts in charge here? What indicates that memories are the target?

[ He doesn't really question the idea of a place being semi-sentient, no coming from a place where the very planet itself possesses a degree of sentience and awareness. And feeding off of memories? It doesn't seem outside the realm of possibility, either. ]

[seekinghome]

Nah, no monsters currently running around.

::Aside from some of the people running around trapped in Wonderland, anyway.::

There were a couple around two weeks ago though.

[swooshycape]

Hm.

Was there warning or did they simply appear?

[ In other words, how wary does he need to be? ]

[seekinghome]

::Ed leans back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest.::

They showed up in reaction to people answering the riddle on a door than randomly appeared and getting the answer wrong. Basically screwing over everybody, not just themselves.

[selfrespecting]

[Once the gun is holstered, Martha relaxes, leaning herself against the desk that she's standing next to. She understands him being cautious upon arriving in a new place, but had that really been necessary?]

I'm not sure if in charge is exactly right. In fact, most of the people you'll come across here have never met her, myself included. That's because she's on the mirror side of the mansion.

And people have guessed at that because every few weeks an event will happen, and supposedly each event is based off of the memories of someone captured here.

[If their memories are being used in that way, then it's not such a great leap to assume that they play some part in them being kidnapped.]

[swooshycape]

A riddle.

[ The more he hears about this place, the stranger it seems. He winds up mirroring Ed a little, leaning back against a nearby shelf and crossing his own arms. One thing that may interest Ed is that his left arm is... not entirely real. The lower portion seems to be some sort of metal prosthetic claw. ]

[seekinghome]

Yeah. I wasn't one of the ones trying to figure it out because I was uh, unavailable at the time. Anyway, people were trying to find out what was on the other side of the door. So were people's Mirrors.

::Yes, he does notice Vincent's arm actually, although given a couple of his own limbs, it's not a huge shock or anything.::

So, you're an automail, too?

[swooshycape]

[ It had absolutely been necessary. Being wary and prepared is always necessary especially in a new, unknown location. ]

Mm.

[ He shifts a little, taking a step to the side, a little closer to the wall, still looking absently around the clinic. He's not really at ease, but well... jumping worlds does that to a person. ]

What is the mirror side?

[swooshycape]

Mm.

[ He wonders what Ed means by 'unavailable' but he doesn't question it. Instead he pays more attention to the mention of Mirrors. Martha had told him about the mirror side, and he isn't sure he likes the idea of it. He's avoided looking at any mirrors he's passed since, still adjusting to the idea too much to want to investigate.

But he looks up at Ed, lifting his eyebrows. ]

Automail...?

[seekinghome]

::Ed strips his glove off his right hand, raising it so the fact it's made of metal can be seen.::

My entire arm is automail. I guess you don't use the term where you're from. They're mechanical prosthetics that work really well. Of course, what they're like depends on what an individual needs. Someone that just needs to be able to do day to day stuff can do with something less... sturdy. Soldiers on the other hand...

[swooshycape]

I see...

[ He flexes his claws a little as he glances down at his own hand before looking over at Ed's again. ]

... this was ... an experiment by the one who removed my arm.

[seekinghome]

::Ed sucks in a breath.::

I hate people that experiment on others. I've seen results of that. They're rarely pretty and break a whole lotta ethnics standards.

[swooshycape]

[ Vincent laughs just a little at that. It's brief and bitter, but it is nonetheless a laugh. Congratulations, Ed - you just heard something very rare. ]

Hojo was... never held back by ethics

action

[petabytes]

[ Coming from around the corner, a small voice steadily grows louder. ]

...so I think this will be a good opportunity. Come to think of it, I remember John mentioning her before, as well.

[ The voice is joined by another - indistinguishable from the first, save a barely perceptible electronic twinge. ]

Really? I don't remember... that must have been before I was activated, right...?

[ Closer observation would reveal that the girl is talking into her communicator, which is replying in her own voice. ]

Ehehe... sometimes I forget that we don't share memories! Come to think of it, one of those musketeers offered to train me too, didn't he...? ...Though... I'm still worried about what they... what they think of me...

But D'Artagnan made a man's promise with you! He wouldn't have told anyone!

...You're right... I know I don't have any reason to worry. Hm... if Oogami-san isn't too busy, I should ask her, too, shouldn't I? I mean, now that we're not at the school anymore...

[ She continues walking down the hall, seemingly talking to herself (?), completely unaware of Vincent's presence. ]