[closed] what will you write about? how did you find that out?

[normandysbest]

Who: Commander Shepard and the Queen of Hearts
Where: Shepard's bedroom, Fifth floor, room 107
When: September 16th, midmorning
Rating: PG to PG-13? Shepard will probably use the word "fuck".
Summary: When you wake up with a new mirror in Wonderland, after a year and a half of your mirror never making contact, you write on it and see who writes back. This is... strongly not who she expected to respond.
The Story:

She wakes up in her bed to little fanfare, like normal. There was no reason to believe today would be anything different than the ones previous; there had been no event announcement, no midnight explosion, and despite her still feeling exhausted from last week's dreamwalk excursion, she had no reason to believe this wasn't going to be a normal day in Wonderland.

Of course, until she finds the note, and the compact, on her bedside table. Well, half of it anyway.

She immediately flips it upside down- never know who's listening, and she's long since trashed the mirrors in her room- but upon further inspection, it doesn't appear to be anything more. Shepard turns it over in her hands, rereads the note, checks the network for commotion or fanfare, and finds nothing. Logically, she knows she should probably bring this to someone. Make some sort of announcement and see if others have something similar, what she'll trigger stepping into this sort of trap.

She compromises, and scans it once with her visor before she writes on it, if only to confirm it's not a bomb.

When it's not, she finds a dry-erase marker and rushes in.

Hello?

Comments

[onlyredroses]

For a moment, nothing happens. There is a long pause of consideration on the other end. Then, in elegant red handwriting:

You're not Philip.

[normandysbest]

She sees the writing appear, and it takes damn near everything she has not to throw the compact directly at the wall.

(As it stands, she does take a picture on her omni-tool, because she's going to need proof of this later.)

Her writing isn't as curved, or as nice; she's used to typing and voice commands, and it shows in the roughness around her strokes, the way it loops where it shouldn't, one letter into the next where she refused to pick up the pen.

No.
Were you expecting him?

[onlyredroses]

The response comes much more quickly this time.

Of course.
Not because he's here though (since he isn't)
this is the compact I gave HIM, after all.
Frankly, he would know better than to let someone else near it.

[normandysbest]

Son of a bitch. On one hand, there is nothing more validating (and maybe calming) to see those words on the screen. On the other, son of a bitch.

So this is how he talked to you.
He was your informant.

[onlyredroses]

You could say that.
Seems like you could say a lot of things, Shepard.

There is nothing but words on the glass, but Her Majesty has another way of spying on specific places.

[normandysbest]

Shepard takes an entirely too measured breath, shoulders tightening as she shifts on her bedframe to sit cross-legged, back against the wall. No one's sneaking up on her. No ones going to catch her off guard. But there's no doubt who's on the other side now, if there ever was.

I say a lot of things.
Did he tell you I'd found him out?
Were you worried?

[onlyredroses]

Not so specifically. Are you disappointed you weren't worth a mention?

It's always fun watching someone squirm inside when they're trying to be tough. On her end, she grins as Shepard's body language changes.

He'd been unhappy that suspicion had shifted his way, but it didn't matter.
He wasn't my first spy and he won't be my last.
I'm never, ever worried about that.

[normandysbest]

Nah. But the last people who underestimated me paid for it.

All of her has snapped into her normal posture now, despite any previous hesitation. She's business, through and though, as she lets that message sink in before erasing it and continuing.

So you don't know how this got here?
I hope this isn't a job application, because I gotta tell ya, your benefits package isn't the best.

[onlyredroses]

Oh, she's so scared. Shepard isn't the only one ready to get to the point - though, they have very different ones.

Certainly not!
A THIEF doesn't make for a good informant anyway.

[normandysbest]

She arches an eyebrow, one quick flick of the eyes to make sure the note that came with the compact is turned over on her bedside.

Thief?
You think I took this thing?
Now how would I do that?
For someone who just said they weren't worried about me, you sure think highly of my abilities if you think I stole from you.

[onlyredroses]

Being worried and being irritated are hardly the same thing.
I don't care HOW you did it. I only care that you DID!
In fact SEVERAL of my belongings have found their way out of my quarters!
My Mirrors would never risk it, and my sister is

She hesitates as she decides exactly how to put it.

...incapacitated, at the moment, so it couldn't have been her.
And you've decided to contact me, which is as close to returning to the scene of the crime as you could possibly get!

[normandysbest]

Any piece of hesitation is something she feels the need to record, and she snaps a picture of these messages, too. Just in case.

You don't think if I knew who I was writing to, I'd have picked a better opener than 'hello'?
Anyway, what'd you lose?
If you don't have any informants to tell you, that is.

[onlyredroses]

Not really. None of you have a lick of respect for authority.
And you already know what you've stolen but if you're going to insist on playing dumb
I'm missing this compact, two eyeballs, and some...yarn.
Just a bit, but frankly it was rude of you to steal ANY of it.

[normandysbest]

Mmmm. Interesting. One more picture, for a list. She wants not to waste this opportunity, to ask some questions and get some real answers, but she doesn't quite know how to segway there, so she moves into testing one of her theories.

Guess so.
I'd apologize, but wasn't me.
Sure one of your informants isn't trying to frame me?
Or has no one died enough to get there?

[onlyredroses]

I have no reason to believe you, so I won't.
Also, frequent dying doesn't have to be a requirement.
Some Reals just know where their allegiances should really lie.

Probably not where she was trying to go, but true nonetheless.

[normandysbest]

But you don't get off after 5 deaths without it?
Or do you just visit whenever you think someone might be desperate and cut them a deal?

Frankly, she kind of thinks if the Queen had more informants, she wouldn't have asked for Phillip by name. But that requires giving away her hand, and she intends to keep this game going as long as she can.

[onlyredroses]

No. You don't. Not with me.

Shepard is right in her assumptions, and it irritates the Queen of Hearts to no end. However, her information is hers and hers alone. She certainly doesn't have to reward a thief with more than that if she doesn't want to.

[normandysbest]

She quirks an eyebrow, wishing this message would make sense out of context. She takes a picture anyway, just in case.

So is that the whole point of bringing us back to life?
You get your hands on us more and more every time?

[onlyredroses]

Ha!
Do you really think that's how it works?
That your revivals are all some grand scheme of mine?
Hardly!
If that was my plan I'd do it immediately, the moment one of you died.
Do you even understand why it takes you lot so long to revive each time?

Probably not, since so many assumptions and character judgments are being made right now. How rude of her.

[normandysbest]

Well, you do make it seem like you know anything.
So I'm sure you're gonna tell me.

This is going... wholeheartedly better than expected, honestly. At least she's getting something, and it's more than she had yesterday. Now let's see how long she can keep this going.

[onlyredroses]

Just when it seems to be going well, the conversation takes a sharp turn.

ARE you sure?
Because I'm not.
I think I'd like to hear you confess first.
Confess your thieving ways at once!

[normandysbest]

Ah, son of a bitch.

What proof do you have I took it?
How would I even get to your room?
I don't even know where it is.

[onlyredroses]

What proof do I have that you're not lying?
Any nitwit could say they don't know something when they do.
The proof is clear! My missing compact is in your hand!

Frankly she doesn't even know why this is a conversation when Shepard so obviously did it. If she were on trial, she'd be found guilty immediately!

[normandysbest]

Shepard chews on the inside of her lip, just a little. This isn't the first time she's made a powerful enemy- it isn't the first time she's squared off against it seemingly alone, either. But back home, she had resources- military connections, a powerful ship, a top-notch squad. Here, she's got her gun, her armor, and Legion; maybe a few others she's picked up along the way. But ultimately, they're civilians. Didn't sign up for this. Didn't need to be involved in this fight.

It's one thing if the target is her. Another entirely if she can't protect the people close.

But she needs this. The Queen already knows who she is- she's made enough of a presence for that, and she's wholly unwilling to throw anyone else under the bus unless it's herself.

She'll try one more.

What would you do if I said I did?

[onlyredroses]

I haven't quite decided.
I suppose it depends on how much trouble you make for me.
You've already seen what can happen to those who cross me.

Or, perhaps she in particular hasn't put that part together, but Alice's punishment has been very effective thus far. The Duchess has done fairly well for herself without a head as well.

I want to know where my other missing items are.
So how about this
Either you tell me where they are or you tell me who gave them to you
(if you really expect me to believe you didn't rob me)
or I will PERSONALLY see to it that you suffer like no Real has suffered before.

[normandysbest]

Well, shit. This has gone tits up incredibly quickly, and she breathes, measured. She'll give away a little more. See if it's enough. Keep her last ace up her sleeve.

It came with a note, but it wasn't signed.
I'd say the rest of your stuff is over here.
But I don't have the rest of it.

[onlyredroses]

Hm. An interesting consideration that the Queen of Hearts had not expected. She waits expectantly for a moment, but then starts making demands again.

Well?
What did the note say then?

[normandysbest]

In a very practiced motion, Shepard reaches over to the bedside, placing her hand flat on the back of the note and picking it up so it rests against the inside of her palm, facing only the wall. The Queen knew who she was talking to- she could see through the mirror, or something else. If she's going to lie here with any effectiveness, she needs to be careful. She shifts, propping the mirror up on the bed, and looks between it as she writes, as if being sure to copy exactly.

"Make use of this. Do what you know you must."
That's it.

She pauses, and puts the note in her pocket.

So I'm not your thief.
But it sounds like somebody is.

[onlyredroses]

The Queen of Hearts is indeed watching...and, from her angle, she has no reason to believe it would say something different. She watched Shepard read it, and that is enough for her.

It does indeed.
Very well. I will demote you from 'culprit' to 'suspect'.

Written as though this should be some sort of distinguished honor.

[normandysbest]

She doesn't take a telltale exhale, or shift her posture in any way. She has to keep this poker face, at least while she's in the spotlight.

Thanks.
So keep up your end.
Why does it take so long for people to revive here?

[onlyredroses]

Ugh. She doesn't like being forced into anything, but she she supposes she can say this much.

Fine, if you need to know so badly.
It takes more and more effort for your soul to pull away from the Core.
Once things are in there it does not like to let them go. Your distance from it saves you, on your side of the glass.
Without interference your fifth deaths would be permanent. Your souls would burn into nothing in there.
So, for all your complaining, I'm doing you Real Things a service.

She could have just let him die in there, without any interference at all. Real Things can be so ungrateful.

[normandysbest]

Oh, holy shit. Her mouth opens just a little, and snaps a pic of this, too.

We go through the Core when we die?
So its lives in there.
Souls.

Not memories. Literally pieces of yourself, of who you are, until it's gone.

Fuck.

[onlyredroses]

There are many things in there.
More than you could ever know.
And more than you ever will know
(If you're lucky, that is).

Abruptly after that, the glass on the compact cracks into hundreds of splintered shards. On her side, the Queen of Hearts pitched her half of the compact into a nearby wall. Carefully, she walks over and picks it up, examining it to be sure it's broken enough.

"I think that's enough entertaining a Real Thing for this year," she says to herself.

Then, for good measure, she drops it on the floor and steps on it.

[normandysbest]

She does her best to photograph that, too, but she's not quite fast enough- instead, she copies it down as quickly as she can, trying not to forget any of it as she goes. The compact is useless now, and she knows that- but she tucks it into the drawer on her bedside table, just in case it reforms later like the rest of the mirrors in this place.

Finally, she lets out an actual sigh, and lets her shoulders fall.

She has a lot of work to do.