what we usually consider as impossible are merely engineering problems...

[interspatial]

Who: Dr. Jane Foster (OPEN) + private thread for Darcy Lewis
Where: Various parts of the mansion
When: 7-Oct
Rating: PG
Summary: Jane explores the mansion after getting the grand tour from Darcy. Feel free to assume she'd be anywhere inside if you have a different starter you'd like to use!
The Story: At first, Jane's efforts are spent on the big picture. Expansive as her world became almost a year ago, Wonderland is in a class by itself. The mansion alone lends a feeling of reaching for a window and passing through even though you could see the sheen of a pane.

But in all things lie answers and who if not a woman of her studies should seek them? Readily has Jane taken it upon herself to map the mansion, notebook out as she scribbles in a messy hand that only she and a practiced intern can easily decipher. No true map, for topography in this nature is not her forte. Instead, as her first day wears on lists begin to bloom and multiply within the pages.

In the halls she pauses at each window and in the entrance hall gazes up at the ceiling. Loses a few hours exploring the depths of the library, sparing only glances for the books as she looks for accommodations that should be impossible. Another hour lost as Jane winds up calling out beyond stacks she could have sworn lead back out to the halls. While independent, she hardly shies from requesting help -- especially if you've the gift of stature and can reach the topmost shelves.

And even when hunger strikes, Jane is loathe to eat snacks in the tea rooms for fear of wasting her appetite and in anticipation of what might await her in the dining room. It turns out that dinner is not simply a meal but yet another experiment with limitations she can explore. Before she realizes it, there's the equivalent to a four-course meal and the regret of a plate of tripe sat before her. Only one more note for the pages, 'viable: knowing the name of a dish and not what it actually is (DON'T ASK FOR TRIPE)' before her stomach takes over.

Preoccupied and hardly wary enough to prove Dr. Foster a woman whose instincts lean toward self-preservation, she finds herself choosing two rooms on the fifth floor and forgetting to bother closing the doors. She moves between them; one shaping up to be somewhat livable and the other an obvious work space in progress. Any who peek inside will find a concert complementary to the dining room as Jane asks the closets for every manner of item, useful or not. There are duplicates of some, with small differences, the most obvious item a large chalkboard wheeled to the center and already covered in figures and symbols.

Finally, when she should be exhausted and buried in soft things to take her off and dreaming, she submits to an old habit. On the roof, no notebook in hand, Jane sits with a telescope and simply looks. The sky is open and new. Though it's unrecognizable it remains a constant that provides comfort without complacency. If she'd thought to bring up some hot chocolate, it would actually be a near perfect night.

Comments

[savedadance]

The roof has become somewhat of a habit, or a small comfort. The peace to be with her own thoughts, the peace of openness in a place so strange and unknown. A place that - even after spending a few months here - Peggy finds difficult to navigate. It isn't just the time, or how many things are new to her here but the whole idea of it. Portals, magic, things happening based on memories. It's something that's difficult to reconcile even when there are people more than willing to help her do so.

The roof provides solace. Quiet, a chance to think without feeling trapped in this place - even knowing that she is still there. It's the night that does it, the open air, open skies. The night sky provides the same comfort no matter where you are - or the situation.

There's a polite smile to the woman when Peggy steps out, her not currently looking into the telescope at that moment. She's seen many people on the roof before for many different reasons, though this may be the first time she's seen a telescope in Wonderland.

"Do the stars tell you anything?" She's heard that people - ships captain's - use the stars to tell them their position. If these stars said anything it would be that they were far from home.

[interspatial]

"Not so much telling as provoking more questions." A thought that may be daunting to most, Jane's happy tone might indicate her unabashed excitement. It's been a long time since stargazing enraptured her in more than idle thought.

"It familiar enough, though. Making a chart shouldn't be too daunting. You know, if we can get a satellite up there, I could get better readings, closer inspections. But I suppose it'll be better to start long-range and see if we can work out their chemical compositions first." At that, Jane turns back to her journal to start scribbling. Normally she can restrict the babbling to an appropriate audience at the appropriate time, but circumstances are certainly extenuating.

[savedadance]

There being something familiar about this sky wasn't what Peggy expected, other than it being a sky and there being stars in it. That was about as familiar as she thought, but if it was familiar- any part similar- were they that far from home?

"You can recognise some of the constellations?" Some that might be there own, hopefully. She didn't know if getting a satellite up would be possible, or what it would take, but the thought that something may be familiar sounded good to her. It sounded as if it could be a start to finding out where exactly they were.

[interspatial]

"Oh, no. Not at all!" Jane actually chuckles a little as she answers Peggy's next question. She readjusts in the little plastic folding chair to face the woman better and explains that she'd meant that they have the same properties to the naked eye that the stars in her world would.

"Sorry, I get caught up in the minutae. Sometimes I forget that I'm not always looking through a lens. I'm Jane, by the way. Did you want to take a look?" She stands then, gesturing toward the seat and the telescope. Peggy may see nothing truly interesting beyond larger twinkling dots, but Jane's always more than happy to share. Maybe they can even make some of their own constellations.

[savedadance]

There's a nod at what Jane says, a little curiosity in what was explained even if she isn't certain about it. Stars have properties? That can be seen? Thankfully she's never needed to use the stars for anything otherwise she might have been in trouble.

"Peggy." There's a thought as to whether accept or decline the offer before Peggy gives a small nod, standing to take the seat. "I may not see anything other than stars." Not without guidance or explanation as to what this other part is. And that's even if their worlds were the same.

[interspatial]

"Do you stargaze in your world?" Jane stands beside the telescope, allowing Peggy the freedom to look into where it's set -- a cluster of stars that Jane's been slowly tracking through the sky. Her notebook rests beside the chair, open to a page that mirrors the cluster Peggy's watching, with a list of numbers and scribbles below it.

[savedadance]

"Nothing like this." Peggy adds before looking through the telescope, letting a little silence for a few moments as she takes in the sight - and adjusts to what she's looking at. Peggy might have looked up at the stars before, on a quiet night, but that's the scope of her stargazing.

"If none of these stars are familiar it certainly adds credit to us being somewhere else." Not on Earth, not any home. Any home they know of.

[interspatial]

"Oh, they're familiar." Jane smiles, head tilting back as she watches without telescopic aid. "They twinkle, and they move. They might not form the same patterns humans have traced for centuries, but they're stars. And that means they'll tell us something, if we start asking them the right questions."

Fondness and excitement make Jane's voice quiet but fervent. Despite being sent back to the drawing board, she can't help but feel exhilarated by this opportunity.

[savedadance]

"Then you know what to ask?" It sounded like a silly question, and maybe it was. It sound silly - talking to stars, expecting them to answer. Peggy didn't think that they would actually talk but she didn't know what answers you could expect from stars.

"Do you think you could find out where we are - how far away we are from home?" Peggy knew that it was far - it felt far just based on what happened - but she wanted more of an answer. If there was one.

[interspatial]

"It depends, but at the very least I'll be able to say we're far enough that I can't say how far we are." Which she gets isn't a real answer, but considering the discussion could lead into the very technical, Jane thinks it'll suffice for now.

"As far as what to ask, it's more like-- well, I'll just start recording data. Like when I said they twinkle, that's an answer. It matches what I know from home. And once I get them charted, I'll be able to start tracking their properties more specifically. What chemicals make them up, and how far away they are. Eventually, we'll get a satellite launched and hopefully get even better data."

[savedadance]

"It makes being told that there's no way out a little easier to hear." Even if it wasn't a real answer it was answer enough. The stars were that different that Jane wasn't certain where they were, which meant that they had to be quite far away.

"But it sounds like you have something to do if you were here for a while." Because none of that sounded like a speedy task.

pretend the link isn't the pleiades ;)

[interspatial]

Jane watches Peggy, a fleeting thought that she seems both capable and lost. Her ability to jump into the logic of Jane's process is impressive, but it doesn't hide what seems like hopelessness. As she talks, Jane bends to adjust the telescope. She turns it just the slightest bit and then checks the scope before gesturing to Peggy to look again.

"And I've been here barely a day." She chuckles to herself, shrugging away the realization that she'd given herself no time to adjust to this massive upheaval. Not 18 hours ago, Jane herself had felt very lost and hopeless. "But this is my job, and my life. I guess I don't really know who I am without it, you know? Whether I'm here a week or a decade, I don't think I have a choice."

[savedadance]

There's a momentary pause before Peggy leans in again, looking at the stars and seeing- stars. They do twinkle, but to Peggy all they are are stars.

"You need to find answers." Peggy wants answers but she has no idea how to go about finding them. It's not just the time when she's from, the advancements here that make her feel out of depth but the mentions of magic. So many things that build up to add confusion - magic, alternate universes, the fact that they won't remember when they leave. None of it builds a feeling of help.

"Everyone seems to need them."

[interspatial]

"Maybe we could ... make some." Jane sounds unsure but hopeful, voice lilting up as the suggestion comes out. She reaches down under the chair Peggy's in to pull her journal and pen out, opening to a fresh page.

[savedadance]

"Make some?" There's a pause, and Peggy pulls back from the telescope again. "Find the answers based on this?"

Whilst it was a good sounding idea, and Jane had certainly seemed knowledgeable about what she was talking about, Peggy didn't know if every answer could be found this way.

"There is a lot that is unanswered."

[interspatial]

"Yeah but there was a time our world was exactly the same. And people made up what we know as facts. The Big Dipper, Orion? People decided to name constellations, right? That's not science that's just human nature." Jane smiles, eyes glinting not with light but excitement. She gestures at the telescope again, her stubborn nature lending itself to encouragement.

"Come on, I'm sure there's a name that means something to you. We could name this one ourselves. And there are plenty more up there that need their dots connected."