[01: audio] white knuckles

[manhunthotline]

[With oddly apropos timing, given the recent appearance of the traveler, detective Benny Stango has arrived in the middle of a conversation with Mark Meltzer's answering machine--his last conversation with either it or the man himself, in fact. Without his noticing, the ground has changed under his feet from damp concrete to carpet, and the pay phone he's been clutching has been replaced by the Wonderland standard-issue communicator unit.

So the network gets treated to a low voice, sharp with panic and thickly-accented (the Bronx, if anyone was wondering). And he's shouting. Despite years of smoking, the man has a set of lungs on him.]

--Jesus, Meltzer, what is that thing?! I took a shot at it, it didn't even flinch! I ran the whole way back to the squad car--yeah, I gotta remember to clean the seat--jesus, Meltzer, I never believed you were right, I'm sorry! Just gimme a c--

[The voice stops, almost cut off. Stango's looked up, finally noticed the change.]

What the hell...?

[At least he's still blissfully ignorant of the whole hellhound issue.]

Comments

[manhunthotline]

[He seats himself gingerly, patting his pockets as he does so.]

Mind if I smoke…?

[paper_knight]

Go ahead.

[He locks and bolts the door behind them, drizzles a new line of salt across the entrance.]

D'you want coffee?

[manhunthotline]

No, that's okay.

[He's watching Mark put salt along his doorway with an expression of ever-increasing incredulity.]

What the hell are you doin'?

[paper_knight]

[He sets the bag down beside the door and flips his desk chair around.]

All right. So this place--people call it Wonderland. Like the books. A lot of things here don't make sense in the normal way, and I certainly wouldn't blame you for thinking you've snapped--or that I have--but bear with me.

Right now I'm going to tell you about events--or crashes, I heard them called recently. They're temporary phenomena based on the stolen memories of the people being held here. That's something that this place can do--steal, wipe, alter memories, though I am not sure to what extent. With me so far?

[manhunthotline]

Do I gotta be? Meltzer, this is nuts.

[paper_knight]

So I've heard. Sorry.

So...events. They run the gamut from silly, to physically dangerous to...voices in your head kind of dangerous.

Normally, we get a warning when one of these things is coming. Sometimes they're like...little riddles. Cryptic. But this time, the person who warned us was very specific about what was going to happen, and how we could protect ourselves. She mentioned salt at the doors and windows. I'm not sure if this person is trustworthy or not yet, but...I figure it can't hurt. Especially if I'm ready in other ways, too.

[manhunthotline]

[He bites back the urge to ask Mark if he's sure he doesn't just have voices in his head anyway. For once, he's not in a position to cast aspersions on anyone else's sanity.]

Other ways like what? What are these things?

[paper_knight]

Well, I was working on barricading the door when you came. I'm going to wait until tonight to start on the window--I want to be able to see what's going on out there for as long as I can.

[He rummages briefly in the debris on his desk and comes up with a sheet of notebook paper, where he's transcribed the Red Queen's transmission.]

This is what we've got to work off. That and the howling you heard--it's been going on all day.

[manhunthotline]

Oh, that's just great. Can we bathe in saltwater or somethin'?

[paper_knight]

I suppose we'll have time to experiment.

These things normally last a few days.

[manhunthotline]

And about how often do they happen?

[paper_knight]

Once or twice a month.

[manhunthotline]

That's all the friggin' time!

[paper_knight]

Yes. Cute, huh?