closed } it was the truth that fell from these lips

[choosetruth]

Who: Georgia, Shaun, Tim W, Jay, and the Red Queen
Where: the Hedge Mazes
When: 6/12, afternoon
Rating: PG-13 for the Masons' swearing
Summary: Tim's been holding on to the red queen chess piece he got for months, ever since they freed the Red Queen from the core. It's time to use it.
The Story:

[Perhaps Georgia's being paranoid, insisting they meet all the way out in the Hedge Maze away from any mirrors. After all, the White Queen has claimed that Mirrors no longer need spy for her. Perhaps they could do this in public, somewhere free for anyone to walk in and hear. Perhaps the Red Queen's magic would be enough to hide them anyway, and this is just excessive.

They have a chess set. They have a piece. They have a fuckload of questions. They're one person down from their original group, but there's nothing they can do about that. It's finally time to use the piece.

Georgia puts the chessboard on a bench.]

The white queen piece was activated by setting it out on the chess board. Try that?

Comments

[alltheways]

[The Red Queen looks at George with narrowed eyes for a moment and gives a decisive nod.]

You're a persistent journalist.

[And then she promptly turns her attention to the other questions.]

My other sister's disappearance was not the expected outcome of that match. To tell the truth, I was not entirely sure what would happen--though I should have foreseen her... [Is tantrum too strong a word?] objections prior to my victory.

[choosetruth]

[She's not sure if that's meant to be a compliment or an insult, but she takes it as a compliment. It is is her general aim.]

You didn't answer my question.

[alltheways]

The answer is this: Of course I have specific memories of her. But I have no intention of sharing them.

[postictal]

Even if they might help us? We're running blind here. If we can help, wouldn't it be...beneficial to share what you know about her?

[He's not the diplomat here, christ. But why?]

[choosetruth]

She has no specific memories.

[Georgia glares at the Red Queen. She doesn't specifically care about the memories themselves, but clarifying exactly what they're working with is important.]

Not of being an adult, anyway. She remembers her role was keeping the peace between you and your other sister, but she doesn't remember any specific instances. She doesn't remember the Duchess, and she has no memory of ever ruling anything.

I'm just trying to figure out how much of this is her memory being fucked with and how much of it is us being lied to.

[alltheways]

[The Red Queen looks at Tim, but then she hears what Georgia has to say and her eyes narrow. She gives Georgia a searching look.]

"Keeping the peace"? My, she certainly has forgotten a lot.

[choosetruth]

Or she's lying.

[This! This right here! Is why she asked!]

So what was she really like?

[burntvideocassette]

[Jay's eyes widen. The eternal goddamn quandary, isn't it?]

And did she have, like...memory loss normally?

[alltheways]

The White Queen was....sweet.

[Perhaps the best word.]

But not artificially so.

[Sugar, not Splenda.]

I do not believe that forgetting was common for her. But it has been a long time.

[choosetruth]

You think her sweetness now is artificial?

[burntvideocassette]

[Jay chimes in, a little too quickly.]

D'you think it's not really her?

[adaptiveimmunities]

Liiiiike the Mirrors, maybe? Manufactured?

[choosetruth]

[George doesn't add anything to that, but she glances away, just for a moment. She's manufactured too.]

[alltheways]

I cannot say on any of those counts. It would be...premature to try.

[postictal]

Or...maybe...

[He stops. Theorizing out loud might not get them anywhere, but it's better than bouncing questions off the Red Queen and getting vague answers.]

There were those donation boxes. Ever since last Christmas. Those were for her, weren't they? She said she had no idea where they came from, but the Christmas before that, there were all those dreams where she was in charge, and none of us remembered.

[He doesn't know where he's going with this, really - just hoping that if he lays things out in a way that he can parse, maybe something else will become clear to someone smarter.]

Someone was setting those up. Someone knew this was coming. Someone made sure it would.

Someone who knew how forgetting words worked, and how to use that to bring someone back from the dead.

[choosetruth]

Yeah, but we don't have the first clue who. Or what, as the case may be.

[She tugs her sunglasses off and looks at the Red Queen again.]

Do you?

[alltheways]

[The Red Queen tilts her head back a little, meeting Georgia's eyes before looking at the others each in turn.]

I will say this: There are many forces at play in Wonderland. Some of them cannot be known until they reveal themselves. It seems that they have begun to do so, but only partially.

[adaptiveimmunities]

And is there anything you can tell us about these forces? Just... in the interest of preparedness. [He grins one of his best camera grins.] I'm all about being prepared.

[alltheways]

It is likely your guns will do little against it, whatever it is.

[adaptiveimmunities]

[Shaun looks deeply dismayed. There are very few problems he's had that a fun couldn't solve in one way or another.]

Well, that sucks.

[choosetruth]

[Georgia gives Shaun a sympathetic shoulder squeeze. He does love his guns.]

So is this a magic thing? Or will our scientists be able to counter it?

[alltheways]

That has yet to be seen, my dears. I cannot predict what will happen from here on.