[Entranceway IC Inbox]

[mypartnerintime]

[Her voice is light and cheerful on the pre-recorded message.]

Do the thing!

Comments

[pseudological]

A baseball "mit".

[He is a liar. That's the common thread there. But he can tell a damn good lie or he can just lead her along the nose until she runs into whatever conclusions she'd like to make. He wouldn't describe her relationship with Tim as "favorable," but that works well enough to his favor.]

[mypartnerintime]

[She looks back and forth between the writing and where she assumes his face is on the other side of the looking glass.

She doesn't like Tim. Does that mean she'd like his mirror?

Does it at least mean she should give him the benefit of the doubt?

Well, yeah. Shouldn't she?]

Okaaay... [She takes a step closer to the mirror.] So what do you know about Alex? What happened to him?

[pseudological]

Gonna have to be more specific.
Here or from where he comes from?

[He can only know so much about what happened to Alex here. But he has Tim's memories of home. Of what Tim did to Alex.

He can only imagine how much she might hate him in response.]

That icon scares me for some reason

[mypartnerintime]

[She almost talks but stops short.

She could ask him about what happened to Alex before Wonderland, and during his short trip home. About that monster thing. The thing that slowly drove him nuts.

But he didn't want her to know. Tim (the real Tim) doesn't want her to know.]

Here. For now. He died, didn't he? Do you know who did it? Was it that... thing he was so scared of? The one from back home?

8)

[pseudological]

[Does he know who did it? Gosh, that's a laugh.]

Oh, that old thing? It hasn't got a name.
Or maybe It does actually. I wouldn't know.

But it's rude to talk about something that's listening.

[mypartnerintime]

[Her brow furrows as she takes in the writing.]

You, and Alex, and Tim... you all think it's actually listening. Like some sort of... creep. [The flash of it on that one tape she saw, during the event- long-limbed and blurry.] Why?

[pseudological]

It always watches without eyes.
It sees many things. Doesn't matter when. Doesn't matter where.
Once It sees you once, It sees you forever.
And you become Its eyes.

[mypartnerintime]

[Woah, major weird alert.

He sounds like a... cultist or something.

Maybe that's exactly what they all are.

What a creepy thought.]

And that's why nobody wants me to know about it, right? Because then I... "become its eyes".

[pseudological]

Presumably it's to protect you.
Pretty pointless.
You're already involved, of course.

[Time to start that little game of "three lies and a truth." 'Round and 'round the wheel goes, and where it stops...

Well, Tim knows.]

[mypartnerintime]

...So, at the risk of being "rude", is it the thing that... I mean, did Alex die because of it?

[She's pretty resigned to not getting a clear-cut answer. But the more he talks, the more she has to go on, right?]

[pseudological]

Probably.
The guy never had a talent for self-preservation.

[But she made it clear she was talking about how it went down here, and this is how he's going to treat the conversation. Unfortunately for Max, his answers regarding how Alex met his end in Wonderland are probably going to be unsatisfying at best.]

[mypartnerintime]

[She sighs, disappointed but agreeing. He wasn't exactly a clear-thinking survivalist, was he?]

You really have no idea, do you? Were you even around when he disappeared?

[pseudological]

Hey, you can't blame me for that.
You're asking all the wrong questions.

[mypartnerintime]

...Okay, fine. What- [She hesitates, suddenly self-conscious and scared. How much does she really want to get involved? How much can she screw this up?]

What happened between Alex and Tim?

[pseudological]

They disliked each other.
Heartily.

[Is that a lie? No. Is it anywhere close to the truth? Also no.]

[mypartnerintime]

[She can't help but roll her eyes a little, out of habit more than frustration.] Yeah, I think I got that from the video tape. But why?

[pseudological]

Alex made terrible movies.

[That's hardly the half of it. But he kind of wants to see her reaction to it anyway.]

I literally got 0 notification of this reply :|

[mypartnerintime]

[Her brow furrows. She stares at the words in confusion, not comprehending. Her words come slowly and full of doubt.]

...Like that tape? But... he didn't make that tape.

shakes fist at dw

[pseudological]

[Oh my god. This is priceless. She's never seen his footage either. God, if only he could find some of it. He could show her sometime. Prove how little Kralie's loss was much of a loss at all.]

His troubles began long before that tape.
He was quite the filmmaker.
Didn't you know?

[mypartnerintime]

[It's not lost on Max that she's now the one answering questions.]

He told me about it. He was planning to finish this one film, about-

[She doesn't remember. It sends a pang of guilt and sadness through her. She shakes her head.]

But then the whole static thing happened.

[pseudological]

Film critics these days.
Didn't even wait for the theatrical release before they decided the thing was a piece of shit.

[Honestly, It must've had pretty damn good taste.]

[mypartnerintime]

[One thing It's good for!

Max reads the whole message again, and her confusion mounts.]

Okay, so... Alex was bad at making films. So what? What does that have to do with Tim? [She looks down, thinking: what might the right question be?]

It had something to do with the static, didn't it...? And that... thing that was on the tape. The one that caused the static. [Her expression brightens, feeling like she's come closer to a straight answer.] It gave Alex his static, too?

[pseudological]

Wuh-oh, looks like we got a smart one on our hands.
Looks like that bullshit about a virus wasn't all bullshit.

[It was actually pretty accurate, all things considered. Even if Alex didn't explain it very well at all. But his exposition was always shit.]

[mypartnerintime]

Oh lord. [She mutters to herself. The temptation to point a camera at herself and check for static is very high. But she fights it off for now.]

And... Tim thought that was Alex's fault? So he was mad?

[pseudological]

I think someone we both know could say it very well.
At some point, you get a choice.
It's kill or be killed.