when the men on the chess board (open)

[ofletters]

Who: Sam Winchester and YOU
Where: Alice's former room, firs floor, room 865
When: 3/7
Rating: PG
Summary: Sam is still a hunter and a researcher even after all his time in Wonderland. It's easy to forget that there's still a case at hand, but when opportunity knocks, he comes running.
The Story:

[ When word gets around that Alice's room, which has apparently been on the ground floor all along, has suddenly revealed itself, the younger Winchester heads off in a hurry. With a bunch of notes, papers, pens, and his sort-of phone, Sam hurries from the fifth to the bottom floor, silently hoping someone else hasn't ransacked the place or removed any crucial clues before he has a chance to note it all.

Sam's been after information regarding the famous blonde since his arrival. Alice knows a lot about their situation, obviously, but is extraordinarily tight-lipped about it. He's tried to engage her on more than one occasion about answers to their many questions, but the girl is smart and unwilling to divulge. In the almost-three years since he showed up in Wonderland, Sam (and the others, really) have learned next to nothing about the place or its inhabitants. The memories have helped, of course. Alice's memories, if that's what they really are, rather than convincing red herrings, showed bits and pieces of the strange past of the place. Still, though, there are so many gaps in time and explanation that he couldn't pass up the chance to see her room for himself, to explore the space that had belonged to the Alice who still had eyes and to see if there could be anything to glean from it.

Sam stops at the door, hovering momentarily, and then pushes it open. Inside is a lot of blue and a lot of dust and a lot of mild crazy. There isn't anyone there, which is a relief, and it seems to be mostly untouched. As such, the wary hunter steps in and begins quickly taking pictures of the place, snapping up every detail on his device's camera and jotting down notes after about it all, in case the images end up unable to process, as with many paranormal photos. He doesn't bother trying to sketch it all, considering his art abilities are vastly sub par. ]

Comments

[uncaging]

[Elizabeth sticks her head round the door rather hesitantly, curious ever since she'd heard that the room of the famous Alice herself had been found -- or rather, that the mansion had chosen to let it be found, she supposed -- but knowing that in this place that curiosity was the very thing that was likely to get her in trouble. She takes a deep breath to steady herself as she steps inside, and all that gets her is lungfuls of dust. Coughing and waving the dust away from her face, she realises she's not alone.]

Sorry! I didn't realise anyone else was in here.

[ofletters]

[ Sam looks up, not exactly surprised that he'd be joined, but surprised to see a face he recognizes. Elizabeth had cropped up on the network recently, but hadn't seemed to remember Wonderland. Rather than confusing her, the younger Winchester straightens up, offering a friendly smile and a nod. ]

It's no problem. There's enough room for a few investigators. [ And there isn't much that he would want to smuggle out of the place that he couldn't come back to later or get details on now. ] Come on in, if you can stand the mess. And, uh... the dust.

[uncaging]

[She ventures in, running her finger over a surface then rubbing her fingertips together as they come away covered in a thick layer of dust, which in turn makes her find she's holding back a sneeze. She's a little surprised - she's never been troubled by dust like this before - and then it occurs to her that she's never really encountered it; it wouldn't have taken much at all for her observers to wait until she'd gone into another room and then send someone in to clean. The contempt for her captors rises up in her once more but she tries her best to shrug it off, knowing she was a million miles away from them here, even if she had found herself a prisoner once more.]

How long has it been left like this? It feels like forever. Sat here all this time while everyone went about their business just outside.

[ofletters]

[ He knows a little of her history, but isn't about to bring it up at any point. Instead, she considers her question, nodding vaguely and then, instead, shaking his head around at the room. ]

Years. Can't say how many. [ But a lot, obviously. ] But that might just be what they want us to think. It's all magic, remember, so... it could just have been 'designed' to look this way.

[ Finding evidence in that direction might be difficult, though, depending on how well the illusion had been crafted. ]

[uncaging]

Right. That's taking some getting used to. [There was a lot about Columbia that she was sure would seem magical to the untrained eye, but everything from the Vigors to the way the city floated was achieved through science, and therefore followed specific rules. She felt quite unprepared for the unpredictability of magic - but then, her own power was inevitably unpredictable itself.]

It seems a lot of effort to go to, to design it to look like this. What would they even gain by that?

[ofletters]

You do get used to it, though. I know it's not easy.

[ Understatement. Because the supernatural world isn't exactly the same as magic, though some of it is involved, and a lot of it is... hard to believe. ]

That's a good point. I just mean, we can't know for sure why this is here, or what the purpose of it showing up now is. Not until we have more information.

[ He's gathered what he could from this particular room and hasn't uncovered enough to explain, anyway. ]

Want to take a look around, see what you think?

[uncaging]

[Elizabeth kneels down, opening drawers and rummaging around inside, though not finding anything she feels is significant.]

Have you found much information about her before now?

[oversight]

[ Leave it to Blake to be interested in all things Alice. Having spent a decent amount of time with the little girl — much more than any other resident of Wonderland — he can't help but wonder what more there is to discover.

Lingering in the doorway, he observes Sam for a moment before knocking on the frame, hoping to avoid startling him. ]

Need an accomplice?

[ofletters]

[ Sam isn't easily startled. He'd heard someone approaching, but the knock on the frame is an appreciated courtesy. ]

Usually. [ He chuckles, looking up from the notes he's putting together, adopting a lopsided grin. ] With Dean busy adjusting... again, I've been doing a lot of solo work, recently.

[ At least the guy came back, as most everyone figured he would. ]

Been in here yet?

[oversight]

Not yet, no.

[ Blake steps inside cautiously, glancing around as he does so. ]

How is Dean? [ John's yet to reconnect, although he's heard at least a little from Crowley, of course. ] And how're you?

[ofletters]

Dean. [ He repeats, idly, taking time to look up again from the notes and to frown at the other man. ] ... He's fine. Not a demon, but he doesn't remember anything. Not a big surprise.

[ Sam knew he'd come back eventually, but whether or not his brother remembered Wonderland at all had always been a toss-up. ]

Doesn't seem to be in a bad shape, though. Could always be worse.

[oversight]

[ Blake certainly knows that much — Dean could always be worse. ]

And you?

[ Because he hadn't answered that question, Blake finds it suspicious. Latently suspicious, really, because Sam's fairly low-key and pretty decent at taking care of himself compared to his brother. ]

[ofletters]

'And me,' what?

[ Sam knows what he means, but feigns an innocent look. After a minute, though, he offers a shrug. ]

I'm fine, too. I'm not sure what to think. And... I mean, this happened before. It's not the first time.

[ Does that make it easier? Yes. Not simpler, though. ]

I'm more worried about other people.

[lightgunhustler]

[Jo shows up not long after Sam, knocking on the open door before crossing the threshold, with her own tiny notepad and pen shoved deep into her back pocket, prepared to take whatever photos might be useful on her own device. She has to give a lopsided smile when she sees Sam doing exactly that, though it fades a moment later.]

Looks like we had the same idea. Find anything good so far?

[Sam has always been a thorough investigator. She's glad he's on the case-- of course he would be.]

[ofletters]

[ Somehow, of the visitors he's gotten since entering Alice's mysterious, old bedroom, Jo is the most surprising. He starts a little, then straightens up as if addressing someone above his station. The smile is genuine, though, if hesitant. ]

Depends what you mean by 'good.' [ He indicates her drawings, laid out in some kind of order on the table amidst layers and layers of dust. ] The place has been here for years, or at least it was made to look that way. If it's shown itself now, there's got to be a reason, and... knowing Wonderland, that means something big is coming.

[lightgunhustler]

Useful.

[It's the only clarification she offers, but he's not wrong-- this place has to have made itself known for a reason, which means that they won't be walking out of here without something that will help them get closer to some real answers. She braces her hands on her hips, frowning as she walks to the center of the room and turns, taking it in from all angles.]

There's so much dust in here. Makes you wonder when the last time it was used was.

[She pauses, inclining her head towards the nearest mirror before walking over to examine it.]

Pretty urgent-looking message.

[ofletters]

If it was used. [ Sam corrects her, frowning faintly. ] Like I said, it's possible this is just a scene we were meant to see. Can't say why I think they'd want to lead us on this way, though.

[ Unless they're being misdirected? Distracted from another piece of the puzzle that's actually more important? Hmm. ]

Not a good sign, knowing what's on the other side. [ He and Jo know firsthand how nasty the Mirrors can be, like most other residents of the mansion. ] Could the original Alice, the one with her eyes, have gotten switched with her Mirror? Is that the girl we see on the network all the time?

[lightgunhustler]

Right. If.

[Probably a good thing to keep in mind. Misdirection is always an option, and assumptions are dangerous in this place.]

It's definitely possible. If she got switched, and there was nobody left who remembered it happening-- if they ever saw it in the first place-- then it would be easy for the other Alice to keep everyone fooled, potentially. Why would any of us think otherwise?

[ofletters]

We wouldn't. The biggest problem here is that we've got no idea what's real and what they want us to think, and there isn't a lot of proof in either direction.

[ That's what frustrates him the most. Because Wonderland doesn't work in the same way as their own world, its logic... barely exists. It makes finding answers almost impossible even though many of them have been around for years. ]

What's the benefit of having her Mirror here, though? It's not like we knew the real Alice in the first place and... I dunno, trust her implicitly.

[mourning_ghost]

[It takes longer to fly through the halls than it does to fly around the mansion. It's no surprise. Wonderland is, in many ways, like a dream.

Nageki wasn't expecting someone to already be there. He looks... familiar. Like Nageki has seen him somewhere before. He stares at the human as he tries to remember.]

[ofletters]

[ Well, that's a bird. ]

... Hey? [ Sam questions, feeling as if he'd spoken to this particular bird before, which... makes him feel slightly more crazy. ] Uh. You can come in, I'm just looking around.

[ He gestures to the rest of the room briefly. ]

Not much going on in here, though.

[mourning_ghost]

Alright. [He closes the door behind him and begins looking around the room. He decides to look at the mirrors first.] It's very dusty.

[ofletters]

Yeah. Enough to make anybody sneeze.

[ Almost too dusty. Maybe that's just his conspiratorial mind at work, though. ]

There're more messages, besides the mirror. [ Sam nods his head at the drawings. ] Alice kept herself busy in this place, that's for sure.

[mourning_ghost]

[He examines those papers, looking at the labels and the scribbles that must have been written over later. Things that Alice had forgotten. He'd already known that Wonderland took memories, but this is the first time he's seen any direct evidence of it.]

Mm. Do you know what happened to her cat?

[ofletters]

To Dinah II? [ Hadn't that been what Alice called her? ] The original got left behind in the real world, of course, and the second one... I wonder if that's what eventually turned into the Cheshire Cat.

[ Hard to say. It's a disturbing thought, though. ]

If they both got warped by Wonderland's magic, or taken over to the Mirror side...