Since her arrival about twenty-four hours ago, Max has had to learn a lot- about mirrors and events, and all sorts of other things she'll have to sort through for days. To start, she'd begun reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. But it was hard to make any real progress. It was just too... surreal, like she's being made fun of.

Part of her still thinks that's the case. Seriously, how much can someone's life and entire way of seeing the world change in just a handful of hours? She'd been struggling to deal with returning to normalcy back home, and now the universe throws her the strangest thing it possible can. She doesn't know how to feel about that.

But some things did carry over- whether in Oregon or in Wonderland, sleeping is still hard, especially in the dark. Too much baggage. So around midnight, she shuffled out of her room, Lewis Carroll's book stowed away in her sling bag.

The place is kind of creepy at night, but poking around is better than lying awake in bed. In her hand is her old Oregon phone- it's just about useless but she likes to keep it around- with the built-in flashlight on. Aiming it down the fifth floor hallway, she catches sight of someone- a woman. Okay... definitely creepy, she thinks. Relax, Max, it's probably someone new, like you. God I hope I don't regret this.

"Hey," she half-whispers, half-calls. "Are you lost?"