Round 1: Return from Ankh's Heart to the Hub

[worldkeys]

Who: The Alices, and the White Rabbit.
What: Everyone is returned from Ankh's Heart. YOU CHEATERS, YOU.
Where: The World Hub.
Warnings: A lovely bunch of cheating cheaters that Rabbit is, frankly, not sure if he should applaud or be exasperated about.

When they return, the White Rabbit seems like he can't decide if he's annoyed or impressed.

"... Another one, is it? Well... that was at least marginally faster than I'd expected you to go, compared to last time. Maybe I'll get them all back in a decent amount of time. I'll unlock the next Door for you, then."

As always, of course, he fully expects they're going to pester him with random, stupid questions. At the very least, he seems in a better mood than last time.

Comments

[notsogreedy]

"Tch. So you don't know, then." What a useful guide you are. Though if they are people who were here before like them, then maybe that's the most reasonable guess. Something that would only make sense to that person because it was from their world. But then why did it stand out?

It takes him a second to think that through and come up with a question the Rabbit would have a better chance of knowing the answer to. "The cat said something about people like us having been here before. How many?"

[apatheticguide]

He shrugs when Ankh asks that. That's a question he couldn't answer even if he wanted to. He doesn't bother keeping count.

"Only one person might know the exact number, and that would not be me. A number of lost Alices have passed through here and left this place behind; too many to count. Sometimes it is quiet for many years, sometimes they're frequent. It depends on the whims of him."

You know. The Cheshire Cat. Don't make him say his name. He hates him.

[notsogreedy]

He can guess who well enough. At least this is one point on which he and the Rabbit can agree. And that raises a few other questions, but first-

"How many of them didn't leave?"

[apatheticguide]

Well, he may as well be level. His smile might seem cruel, but...

"If they did not leave, it was usually of their own making. Breaking the Rules will do that. But generally, a small number of them remained behind; most left. Usually the stupid, impulsive ones that don't bother listening."

[notsogreedy]

So he only has an expression when delivering thinly veiled warnings. Noted.

"What happened to them?" The cat said they died, and he doesn't have a reason to doubt that, but between it being attached to these Rules and the way there seems to be something left over that still wants to live (assuming that's what those are; it's only a guess but it's the best one he has for now), he suspects there's a more specific answer. He tried to ask what happens to people who break the rules when he first got there. Maybe he'll finally get an answer.

[apatheticguide]

... Well. This is a more simplistic answer.

"In a fanciful dream like this one... well. They did not wake up, simply put."

That's all. It's easy enough to answer.

[notsogreedy]

It's a simple answer. Too simple.

"You said people can't survive here. Is that all there is to it?" They just get stuck and stay here until they... what? Die, presumably, but how and why? Knowing this place, he doubts it's anything painless. "Or is there something else that happens to rule breakers?"

[apatheticguide]

"... No, it's not. People cannot survive here. It's inhospitable. But those who break the rule will be broken in turn. Suitable punishments to meet the act, deemed by the Guides."

When he says this, he should hope his answer is easily given enough.

"Although I should think it obvious by now, I do not hesitate to defend myself... but this is true of him even less so. I do not like people touching me. Moreover, that is against the Rules. Manhandling the Guides... or harming them in any way without their permission... that's not allowed."

[notsogreedy]

"You've said that much already," he replies flatly. Though now that he hears that phrasing, he wonders if the Guides ever give people permission to harm them. Though he supposes he overheard something about Sebastian shooting the cat back in the first heart.

"Are any of them still here?" The previous Alices, who didn't leave. There don't seem to be any that are around and alive like the current bunch of them, but there's something left behind, for all those desires to be so present.

[apatheticguide]

"They are dead, or they left. Why would they be?"

He says it giving Ankh a flat look right back. Come, now. The dead can't talk... right?

[notsogreedy]

Not usually. At least, he's never noticed that before, and it's not as if there aren't plenty of dead people around somewhere on Earth. He's not entirely surprised by the skepticism in that reply, though it's interesting that he seems to be aware of something that the Guides aren't.

Still, if the Rabbit can read his mind, then he should already have an idea of the reasons for the questions. Ankh looks back just as flatly. "I can't tell if you're being intentionally dense now."

[apatheticguide]

He's starting to look annoyed; it's clear the White Rabbit doesn't seem to believe anything is left here.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I wish you'd stop being so irritating. I've already answered your question, haven't I? If you sensed something, it was likely nothing more than a trick of the World itself."

[notsogreedy]

"Is it still that if it's been that way since I got here?" He'd easily believe this place playing tricks if it was a fleeting thing, but this is something he's been ignoring this whole time. It's only now that he tried to pay attention that it faded out, but even then, there's still the rest of them, whatever they are. Something else, if not former Alices. Or a trick, maybe, but if that's all it is then he wishes that supposed mass of presences would just quiet down already.

[apatheticguide]

A light shrug of his shoulders in exasperation.

"How should I know? I cannot even see or feel whatever it IS you think you are sensing, and I am the Guide here. You are likely just being tricked by the World's atmosphere. It IS heavy."