WEEK 4

[whimsicalism]

Even as the castle--is it even right to consider as a 'castle'?--continues to grow more accessible more of the group is whittled away. Even your own memories fade as the Alices continue their 'game'. As the new nautically themed area opens new residents of the castle seem to have appeared. A family of living dolls has moved themselves into the dining hall while a lovesick apple tree familiar from Friday seems to have taken root in the garden. Along with the graveyard in floor three the Alices seem to want you to remember your fallen friends in some very... different ways.

Maybe the upcoming holiday will distract the Alices from moving their game along? Only time will tell.

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

[Welcome to Week 4! Don't forget to submit your memory losses and your weekly AC here. The Alices can be found in their audience hall. As always, don't forget to turn in threads forfabulous prizes.]

Comments

[octopups]

I-it's okay! I've just never seen you except for when... um... [when people are dying lol]

[NO HE IS TRYING TO BE NICE ALLEN SAID THE QUEEN WAS NICE.]

Oh! Um, no, that's fine! I like pets!

[twinverses]

Yeah... I know... I'm trying to get out more. [She hates the dying, too. She kneels down on the floor. Holding out her doll-like hand gently for him to get a sniff before gently scratching one of his ears.]

It's only polite to ask first, right? I didn't want to spook you.

[octopups]

Um, that's good!

[He blinks and stares from several angles at the doll hand — he'd kinda forgot about that detail — but he doesn't move the member away and he sniffs her hand obligingly.]

[When she pets him, depending on how much she can sense through her porcelain arms, she may she may feel a distinct high-frequency buzzing sensation from his nearby forehead tympanum. He is routing a lot of mental "traffic" through this member, paying very close attention to everything Alice does.]

[That said, though he's a little stiff, he does seem to appreciate the scritches.]

[twinverses]

[For being a porcelain doll, she's surprisingly like a human. She can sense things just well and in fact is very warm. Almost like any of the other human kids.

She giggles a little at the buzzing sensation as she marvels at it.]

There! Thanks. [She lets go and gives him a little curtsy.] It's very nice to meet you, Amdiranifani.

[octopups]

[The warmth does reassure him a little! She sure doesn't seem like a dead person.]

Um, you're welcome!

[He doesn't know quite what to make of the curtsy, cocking a couple heads in puzzlement, but he seems pleased.]

It's nice to meet you too!

[twinverses]

[She's an old fashioned girl in some ways.]

I know you've probably been asked a bunch of questions but you seem really smart. Alice said you were measuring the castle--I wouldn't have thought of that!

[octopups]

[He drops some heads in half-sincere humility.] Hehe, my teachers do say I'm pretty smart.

[Several nods] I was! It didn't really help much, though. First my parallax calculations of the castle walls from the garden didn't line up with the new interior dimensions of the media room, and then in the first trial the elevator went down right through the volume of the dining hall!

[Yes, there is a shade of "complaining to the management" in his voice, but he's not nearly as tweaked out or salty about it as he would have been if they'd met a week or two earlier. Honestly at this point he's mostly just pacing around talking to himself.]

But then the room doors started opening to different rooms and the other big areas appeared and I decided that this place probably operates on some kind of nonstandard geometry has or excess spacial dimensions. But I haven't learned a lot about experimental physics yet so I don't really know how to suss it out.

[twinverses]

[Wow! She doesn't understand any of this but she listens. Nodding in places. Alice doesn't get this geek stuff at all but:]

It's neat, isn't it? I can't jump around like I used to back in wonderland and things don't seem as simple as they were back there but this place can be really fun!

[She's... trying?]

[octopups]

[Stops his science nerd pacing and stares at her.]

What's "wonderland"?

[twinverses]

Wonderland was the place where Alice and I were at before here. It was our home. [She sighs.] It felt more like home than the castle does... we were one.

[She stops herself. Then gestures at Amdi.] I mean. It shouldn't be possible for one of you to hide secrets from the others, right? It was like that for me and Alice. Now we're... different.

[octopups]

Oh. [Thinks about that for a sec.] So... you're kind of like fission-siblings?

[twinverses]

I... guess? I'm not sure what that is but we're supposed to be two and one. I was lonely so I wanted a friend. [And when you're lonely all the time, 'you' are your own 'best friend.] That's when we met. She is me and I am her. We are Alice.

Or we're supposed to be. I dunno anymore.

[octopups]

Um, fission is when one person has too many members and so their mind gets too big, and they decide it would be better to be two people instead. [Or something like that. Amdi's never done it he's just been told about it in his equivalent of health class.]

But... [A couple of him walk up and nuzzle her legs a little.] I know how you feel. About being lonely. I was... really, really lonely, before Jefri came.

[twinverses]

Oh! So it's how new... um, tines group up, right? [She thinks. Alice is a naive girl and maybe not as smart as some here but that seems... kind of clear. Maybe? She's not sure. She smiles down at him and kneels again.]

...Yeah. It's hard to be lonely. I couldn't talk to many of the people I saw. It was like I was behind a curtain and they couldn't see or hear me. [Touching his head she closes her eyes briefly.] I think.. I wasn't the only one like that. It was nice finding people like me.

[octopups]

Yeah, usually. A lot of packs assemble out of unrelated members though. [In the past he would have said most packs, before he found out how... unorthodox... Steel and the Movement were. He droops at the thought and snuggles her more.]

That... kind of sounds like how I grew up. Tines can't be too close to each other, so the grown-ups just talked to me from the balconies and never came down. But... at least I had people to talk to.

[He presses the head up into her hand and makes a deliberate comforting buzz, like a purring cat.]

[twinverses]

[She giggles slightly at the buzzing on her hand. Then stopped because she wasn't laughing at him, of course.]

Mm... that sounds like the hospital, really. The adults there ignored me. They didn't talk to me at all. All they cared about was -- [She grimaces.] Well, hospitals are evil places. Wonderland was lonely but it wasn't painful. I felt like I could do what I want so I started calling myself Alice.

[octopups]

Hmph. That's really rude of them to ignore you. Most of the people in the rest of the castle didn't talk to us a lot either, but I think that's because I was with Jefri all the time then and he's a human so they were nervous of him.

[He nuzzles her some more.]

I'm glad you found someplace better. You even took a new taken name! That's really cool.

[twinverses]

I think I know why they didn't. It's hard to talk to someone who doesn't talk back. [Her mind seems to wander a bit before she focuses back.] Friends are good!

Mm. I did. I thought since I was in a new, weird place I'd call myself Alice after the stories.