001 ⧗ audio

[araneidal]

​​[ Evenly, ]

How many of you have travelled to other dimensions before coming here?

​​[ a beat ]

Were they worlds like your own or extremely different? How did you get back home, if you did?

Comments

[araneidal]

[ There's a noise in the realm of amusement; her tone returns to businesslike. ]

What went wrong?

[sheriffing]

I've fallen into a portal trying to close it. You get close enough to those things and you can't predict how it's going to turn out.

[The sad thing is ho many portals she's fallen into. Her tone indicates more annoyance than experience.]

There are specific ways of opening them, but sometimes it feels like we're just making it up as we go.

[araneidal]

Better than [ sitting and waiting ] nothing.

I'm not certain we can do anything here that will work — not without an unacceptable cost.

[sheriffing]

The general consensus is there's no way out.

[And it comes from people who've obviously tried.]

I assume there's something that hasn't been accessed.

[araneidal]

Yes. Or something we can't grasp yet. They bring scientists, but they get rid of them very quickly. Not magicians. There might be something to that.

[sheriffing]

Everyone they're bringing in seems like an intentional selection.

[Her, Regina, Gold. They want power, and they know where to find it.]

None of this is random, the same has to go for the departures.

[Like her leaving and not remembering. What did they make her forget?]

[araneidal]

Agreed. If you speak to Evelyn O'Connell, I'm sure she'd be willing to give you more details on the kind of events that happen here. Perhaps there's something in that.

[sheriffing]

Is anyone keeping track of the comings and goings?

[Might be good information to have, though she's wondering if Evelyn O'Connell might be the person who has it. Now that she has a starting place, she's grateful for it.]

[araneidal]

[ Natasha and Sharon usually do, but she's not telling a stranger that. ]

The network's a reliable gauge, if you're looking.

[sheriffing]

Yeah, I've been looking.

[She can start a list, but it'd make more sense to seek out information from before she rolled in, too.]

Thanks.