entranceway | voice

[When the feed clicks on, there is only a faint static sound with what sounds like the microphone being covered a couple times. From the turn of the sound, one can surmise the device is being moved in the hand of the person who turned on the feed.]

This crude device is quite deceptive. At first it looked like an antiquated smart phone of sort, but inspection shows a different story. I'm a bit more impressed to learn it connects to a network that everyone is on. A means of communication is interesting... I'm curious as to why it even exists actually. Maybe that question is intentionally open-ended?

[He huffs a quiet breath of laughter out, the number of possible answers already sprouting to mind.]

If I'm being honest, I never really liked Alice in Wonderland. I can acknowledge it's historical value, and it's why I read it, but Alice herself was... fake. Designed as the perfect image of childhood innocence. She went around this new world so new to her without fear, wondered by all around her. Any flaw with her was never designed, but created by those who read the story. The world, much like this one, was of far more interest.

...What do you think of Alice though? Was she foolish for being too trusting of Wonderland, or can she be absolved for her curious nature? I think the answer you would pick, even if you don't say it aloud, reveals what kind of person you are.

If you don't want to share your answer that's fine. However I am curious about what kind of people are here. A melting pot of universes isn't exactly commonplace. I do hope this place won't be as tedious as reading Alice's adventures.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[There's the slightest nudge in the back of his mind as he listens, something vaguely familiar about the flow of the words or the lilt in the voice in a way he can't quite place. But he shakes the thought from his mind because he's probably just being paranoid.]

Little of column A, little of column B? She probably was too trusting of something so new, but kids are that way. Bluntly honest and wildly trusting as long as there's something a little nice to go along with whatever they're doing. And where would the world be without curiosity fueling new ideas? It's the center of learning, after all.

A fair argument. She was just a normal child, who grew up in an environment that didn't encourage self-preservation. In that case then, her only failure was the inability to fully adapt to the world around her.

Do you think Alice learned her lessons when she woke up from her dream?

The world's in a constant state of change, so does anybody ever fully adapt? By the time you adjust to one thing, something new is popping up in it's place to take over.

I like to think she did. There are a lot of lessons that can be pulled from the story, applied to real life. It was relatable to me, as a kid, because I didn't think in the same ways as the people around me, growing up. My parents tended to just accept things as they are, but I was curious, I wanted to know why and how things worked the way they did. I think they'd have preferred if I just accepted things were the way they are because they just are, but I didn't operate that way, you know? But Alice found her way in the world because of her curiosity and...I guess I kind of feel like I did the same.

...So you chose not to blindly accept the world around you, and cultivate your understanding of it. Makes sense. True scientists are never satisfied with what they know, and will always do whatever they can for the next discovery. Only when that thirst for knowledge is quenched... that's when they stop being a scientist.

[He laughs softly, not surprised by the response he was given. Yes, he knew this voice was familiar for a reason. It's the man who came up to his cell long ago, and defiantly declared his role to Eobard. Cisco Ramon. Yes, that's a name he hasn't forgotten.]

To fully adapt means to be able to go along with all those changes. Alice did well, better than most would at her age, but ultimately... she was too stubborn. Too reckless, and forgot her position sometimes. In the pursuit of her curiosity, she forgot that she isn't invincible.

There's always something else waiting to be discovered. That's definitely a cycle that never ends.

She was still just a kid. Don't all kids think they're invincible?

Maybe. But, does that absolve her? All her actions were of her choosing; even chasing the hare was her choice to make. ...When someone goes looking for adventure, can they really complain if it turns out what they get isn't what they expected?

[Well, when he puts it that way...] Be careful what you wish for, etcetera...?

Yes, exactly. [He chuckles quietly.] I think everyone, at least once in their life, has experienced that. The question is if they regret it or not.

Yeah... [If he sounds bitter, maybe it's because he is.] I know what it's like to regret getting what you want.

...And why? The only people who regret getting what they want are those who feel their reward was tainted. Their expectations betrayed. But there's a way to combat that feeling.

[And now a conversation that had started out mostly innocent and about a character in a children's story is hitting on a lot of things he doesn't want to think about. And yet... he's got no one but himself to blame. But he does. He does know what it's like to have the exact thing he wanted ruined by a betrayal of the worst brand and it hurts to think about.

The way Wells--no. Thawne. had given him so many things he'd wanted, desperately needed, even--all that parental guidance, fatherly care, and for what, other than playing a long game of manipulation--only to rip it away when his literal years of lies were uncovered. And added insult to injury, quite literally, when he shoved his hand through Cisco's chest.]

It's not like you can just turn it off and stop caring that you were betrayed. You give somebody the trust to let them in and let them know what you need and they give it to you, down the letter, only to have to break that trust and rip it all away in one go. How do you stop that? How do you stop something you never saw coming?

[And if this suddenly sounds incredibly personal, it's because it is. The smallest tremble in his voice gives that away, if nothing else. Betrayed by his own emotions, as usual.]

...You can't. But you can embrace it. Embrace those feelings of betrayal, and never forget the stinging pain that came from it. Do that, and you'll have the power to stop it from happening ever again. That power will make you the new traitor.

[He can understand Cisco's pain. It's the pain that feels like the whole world has collapsed around you, where everything you ever did was built around a lie. Yet all pain, if overcome, turns into a lesson. A hindsight reminder about what caused the pain, and how to avoid it again. Betrayal is a pain that teaches the victim about the truth, and what trust really means.

Betrayal is what made Eobard into the Reverse Flash. And the pain he suffered turned to hatred, which turned to power.]

What if you don't wanna be a traitor? [His voice is soft and small. These are ideas he usually tries to keep locked in a box somewhere, but here it is, being presented on a silver platter for him to look at and dissect. Cisco isn't sure how he feels about it. He still has morals, and he'd never want to purposely make anyone else feel what he had felt, but sometimes, just sometimes...there's a part of him that wonders. It's that part that makes him see how easy it was for Reverb to make the choices he did, to fall into the power. It's that part of himself he's scared of.]

Is it just a scenario that's doomed to repeat if you don't cross that line? [That can't be true...can it?]

...Hmph. I think that's your decision to make. I only speak from experience.

[He doesn't expect Cisco to ever become a traitor. He's too full of heart, and unwilling to relinquish his humanity. Whether that means Cisco will become a victim is a different story.]

I think this is where we should end our conversation. I'm a little disappointed, but that's my fault. I set expectations too high, believed I left more of an impression. Do forgive me, Cisco.

[Something runs cold in his blood at those last words and the casual use of his name like he knew him. There's a thought trying to sink into the back of his mind, but he doesn't want to accept it until he has more definitive proof.

He doesn't bother saying anything else, though, instead he lets the feed go dead and drops the device on the table.]

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