entranceway | ❄ eight ( video & action )

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❄ eight ( video & action )

[ Snow White, resident 500+ year-old mom, is at work again. Since she rarely ever stops working, it isn't much of a surprise. Today, the dark-hair woman is in one of the tea rooms, half-looking over a series of papers, half-talking to the communicator. ]

What does it mean, that memories which aren't our memories are falling from the sky? [ Well, 'fell,' past tense. She hums low, thoughtfully, pauses in the middle of her note-taking. ] We're given glimpses of the supposed past of Wonderland on a silver platter, and not only are they full of moments from a past that none of us remember, but some of them belong to Alice...

[ Again, she pauses in her writing, considers the camera. ]

I don't know the Fable, Alice. From my world. I wonder how different they are... [ Snow lightly clears her throat, then begins folding up and setting aside the notes. ] I'd like to know what you all think about the 'memories' you saw. How likely is it that we were all here and don't remember it? Considering that people come and go with and without their memories on a regular basis... hmm.

If you'd like to speak in person, I'll be in the first-floor tea room for another hour or so.

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[ Philip starts typing, but never quite makes it to hitting send. He tries again, once, twice, th-- that's it, okay, he'll make this up as he goes along. The memories still bother him. Part of him doesn't want to talk about it at all. The other part makes his way downstairs to the tea room. He knocks, and walks right in. ]

Still got time for your network questions? Because I've got a few answers for you. Or theories, anyway.

[ Truthfully, she's glad that someone shows up in person rather than just calling over the device. It's much easier for her to get things done while talking to someone face to face instead of having to hold the little box. ]

I have time. [ Snow smiles politely, looking up at Philip as he walks in. She gestures briefly to the chair opposite her. ] Would you like something to drink?

[ The choices are tea or water, the two beverages set out on the table. ]

I'm happy to hear that someone here has answers.

Cheers.

[ He sits down, and reaches for a cup of tea. Briefly considers spiking it for the occasion, but maybe the occasion calls for sobriety for a change. A sobering thought. Hah. ]

Well, like I said, I'm not sure how much of an answer they're going to be, but here's what I know: You were wondering about how likely it was that we've all been here before. I don't think it's news that it happens, that people leave and come back with their time here gone, but-- Usually they've got someone around who still remembers, right?

[ And it's not pretty for time. Christ, is it ever not. Philip takes a drink of his tea. ]

I've been here for over five years, I've watched it happen a lot. We're talking months, usually. But a while ago someone came back here-- He used to be a friend, he hasn't been here in years, and I think me and one or two other people are the only ones who remember him at all--

[ He turns the cup in his hands. Sets it down without drinking, this time. ]

What I'm getting at is that it doesn't seem impossible that an individual's multiple stays in Wonderland could be years, if not decades, apart. They'd come and go without anybody left to attest that they did. But they did-- We did, or at least it's feasible that we could have.

[ She wouldn't have made a comment if he had added a little something to the tea, but it might be good to be clear-headed for this particular instance. It isn't a light subject, after all. Not for many. ]

I would say so. [ It hasn't happened to her, aside from these recent 'memories,' but others have always had friend, family, or just acquaintances to welcome their returns even when they didn't remember it. ]

So, you think it's true. [ Snow says, once he's finished, after taking a few, thoughtful sips of her own drink. ] And you would know, I think, given your time spent here already.

[ Philip is one of the few that she considers to be a resident expert, whether they actually have solid answers, or not. ]

But, as far as we know, there's not a sure way to tell. [ They can strongly believe one way or another, but without any solid evidence... ] Those visions could have been crafted by Wonderland's magic. Sorry to play devil's advocate, but you have to admit it's a likely possibility.

[ Toward what end, though...? ]

I think it's a possibility we should consider. But so is yours, you're right. To be entirely honest, I'd be happier to know they were just fabrications, because-- [ A drink. ] Because I'm really starting to like the idea of camping here for good, and 'surprise, we've kicked you out before after all' doesn't really fit into that picture too well.

[ But that's about him. Not about the truth they're trying to set straight here. ]

I guess the follow-up questions we've got to ask ourselves are those: If they really were memories of our Wonderland past, how did they get here? Why did we get to see them now? And if they were just crafted visions, what was their point? I use point loosely, because I know Wonderland's means don't always lead to an end, but at least they do usually have a theme of sorts.

[ He thinks back to golden figures above the water. His theme he knows, but is it the same for everyone? ]

You saw plenty of them too, right? Any you recognised? Anything they meant to you?

You're in that camp, then. [ She states, nodding vaguely. ] I wonder if there's a clean split down our population of those who would stay and those who would go, given the choice.

[ Snow, naturally, wants to return to her family, though her time here hasn't been terrible, all things considered. ]

I have the same ideas. It could be random, but it's much more likely that someone or something wanted us to see these. Whether they happened or no, they were shown to us on purpose for... an end. One that'll soon be made obvious, if the past is any precedent.

[ Which it is, fairly reliably, in Wonderland. ]

Bigby and our children were in one that I saw. [ Snow says, smiling wistfully. ] There weren't any others I found with myself in them, though... admittedly, I wasn't hunting them down. What about you, Philip?

I'm not sure the choices are that simple to begin with. For some, absolutely. But others want to go home, just not without the memories they made here-- information. Or skills, or people, or all of it. And then you've got- I'm trying to remember who mentioned something like that, but you've got at least a few people who don't want to go back home, but Wonderland isn't really doing it for them either. They'd want out, but only if they can find the door to some other dimension this place connects to. [ He pauses on that thought. ] Wouldn't mind that option terribly either. Could be fun, stretching my legs in a different universe.

[ Right, there was an actual discussion they were having though. ]

--Anyway. I wonder, too. Might be worth a poll sometime, and if it's just for kicks. Bet somebody did that already, but I... couldn't exactly tell you... the last time, erm...

[ So. About that. Stay or go, that's one thing. The purpose of those memories, that's another thing, an interesting point he'll acknowledge without needing to say anything else about it, but. That last thing. Philip trailing off, when it sinks in what he's being asked. And who is asking. And what that means his answer should be.

He reaches - sort of lunges, actually - for the tea, downs the rest of it. Because his throat is closing just a bit, and he thinks maybe something hot and painful will help with that, bring him back where it doesn't. Only burns though, and makes his hands feel warm. Slick. Covered in blood. The copper smell choking him. Same bloody room, too.

Philip looks away from Snow. ]

--Hey, erm. Mind if I smoke in here?

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[ elena is a product of the twenty-first century. she is more than comfortable around technology. at the same time, she doesn't entirely trust the devices they are given, preferring face-to-face interactions if she can manage them. snow is asking all the questions elena has asked herself, so she figures it's worth a shot to meet her.

knocking on the door of the tea room, she pokes her head inside tentatively. ]

Hello?

Hello. [ Snow smiles politely. She's still seated where she'd recorded the broadcast, papers shuffled out in front of her, a cup of cold tea to one side. ]

Are you here about my message? You can sit down, if you are. [ She chuckles faintly, then adds: ] You can sit even if you aren't, of course.

I'm here about your message. [ a lone nod of confirmation follows her elena's answer.

she flashes a smile of her own, friendly and open in its approach. she'll take a seat close by, once it's offered to her, and clasp her knees with steady hands. ] I'm Elena. I'm still new-ish to Wonderland, but I've been asking myself the same questions about the... memories.

[ if that is indeed what they are. ] Do you think they're real?

It's nice to meet you, Elena. I'm Snow.

[ She'll leave off the 'White' to avoid the usual, fairytale-based conversation, though she fully expects it to come up eventually. ]

Everyone is new at some point. [ Snow offers, smiling kindly. ] But even the residents who have been here for years don't seem to have answers.

[ Unfortunately. ]

I think... it's difficult to say. It's completely possible that they happened that way and we don't remember them. It may even be more likely than the other possibilities, considering how often our memories are changed within Wonderland. It could also be that we're being mislead, but I couldn't say toward what end. None of the... figures here seem to be that kind of manipulative.

It's nice to meet you too, Snow.

[ really, elena is grateful whenever she meets someone in wonderland that's willing to show her the ropes. she doesn't waste anyone's time lightly. when snow speaks, elena listens, nodding attentively throughout. ] That was more or less my thinking. If Wonderland is a place that runs on our memories—a place that consumes our memories—then I'm not sure we can say definitively that something hasn't happened.

[ it's an unsettling thought, but one that elena does not want to dismiss altogether. it would be careless. ]

I think a lot of people are understandably mistrusting of the timing. Why now? [ it's a rhetorical question, as it would be unfair to expect anyone to have the answers. ] I was almost wondering if... [ her voice trails off. ] Someone mentioned that Wonderland had recently gained a lot of arrivals; more than it had in a while. I was wondering if maybe the influx had something to do with the stars. [ like it was shedding memories to make room for new ones, somehow. ]

[ Snow, a mother hen to many people both in and out of Wonderland, is equally as happy to be able to help someone, especially one of the newer arrivals. As such, she's consistently pleasant and with a strong air of both patience and kindness as their talk. ]

I said to someone earlier that it could be possible we've done all this, spoken about it, and... forgotten it. Who can say conclusively that we haven't without proof? And... there isn't likely to be any of that. Wonderland isn't a place rooted in logic.

[ She tuts disapprovingly aloud, though she also cracks an almost-amused smile. ]

It could be. We haven't found any pattern to it drawing in new arrivals, not that I know of. The stars, or memories, might have been its way of saying that there's more to come. We'll need to wait and see if it means we'll be losing some people in exchange, though.

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[It's totally not his old-mom radar that draws him to Snow, really -- it's the source of her words. He'd caught a glimpse of the memory that was supposedly his and promptly drank himself into a near-coma over it, unsure whether he should be happy because it could've potentially happened ... or angry because someone had used his wife against him. Again. So ... yeah, he's interested in the content of the video.]

Th'alternative is that whoever's running this place decided it would be a funny joke, which makes me feel a lot more murderous than the thought that maybe we were just all here an' up and forgot about it. Not that that's much help.

I think it's less likely they did it for the joke and more likely for... another purpose.

[ Not that she can say which purpose, exactly. Wonderland is unpredictable like that. ]

It's possible they were created to draw a certain reaction from us. Or, it could be a sign that something even bigger is going to happen next.

[Well, it wouldn't be the first time that things falling from the sky had triggered the coming of something worse.

Fallen angels, anyone?]

'Fraid of that last one. What could it be a sign of, though? Some sort of -- paradigm shift that's comin' up?

[ Angels might even make more sense than this, since they can speak for themselves and explain their presence. ]

Maybe something like it will happen again. Wonderland as we know it will change and the old way will take our memories with it. What if we've had this conversation before?

[He thinks on that, brows furrowed.]

Then there'd be some sort of noticeable inconsistency, if it's anything like losing your memories in my world. With this many people, it'd be -- real damned hard.

If any place could do it, though-... I mean, you have to think about how much power alone it takes to draw all of us here from so many other worlds. People with strength and magic, people with abilities. That would be difficult in itself, but the way it shapes our memories and its environment to reflected them suggests it could have that kind of power. I don't think we can discount the possibility.

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One of the memories I saw with me in it had people I didn't know. But they had to be from the same place as me. It seemed like we were friends but... I've never seen them

And one of the people I saw is... she's dead. At home. She died a long time ago and I never even met her.

Well - and I don't mean to be indelicate - people can come back to life in Wonderland. They can arrive here even if they were dead at home, or they can be revived within the mansion. It's happened to me.

[ The former, that is. ]

Did you catch any of the names of the people? The ones you don't think that you know?

I- I guess. I just never expected to see her. Remembering her is more than enough.

Caboose and Tucker, I think. They look like sim troopers. But I've never spoken to them. Never met them.

I know it can be... difficult. More than uncomfortable. [ Her expression is gentle, sympathetic. ] I hope you're able to work through this. Those kinds of experiences can stay with you, and not always in the nicest ways.

'Sim troopers?' [ She questions, but presses on. ] Hmm. Unfortunately, there's so much that we don't know about the way that memory works, here... I wish I could offer you better answers.

You have no idea. [They weren't even his memories. He's pretty sure of that right now.]

Sim troopers are... they're low level soldiers the military project I'm part of stations at random bases. They're training bases for me and the rest of my team. Not that the Sim Troopers know that they're just there for training us.

I have some idea.

[ Though the shards she saw were kind, they still hurt. Images of her husband and children in Wonderland after going so long without them stab at her like tiny pieces of glass. Not enough to do major damage, but enough to stick. Enough to be difficult to remove. ]

Ah. Can I ask what it is that you're training for? With so many people in all these worlds, our... battles are often fairly different.