Rehearsal 1: [Text, from Astralfield]

[forgotten_vows]

[The text is written in long, loopy handwriting, and displays as a dark blue -- the color of the chalk he's using. Victor's not even close to figuring out the video function yet.]

I -- I don't even know what I'm doing. . . Apparently this chalkboard can be used to talk to other people? Like letters, only more -- instant? Oh dear, I'm so confused. . .

Is there anyone out there who can explain this to me? All I know is that I was in my room, preparing to draw, when suddenly I blacked out and then. . .

[And he just can't help asking the question that's been on his mind since he first woke up here.]

Is this Wonderland?

Comments

[Action]

[forgotten_vows]

[Victor's right where he said he would be, still fiddling a little with the chalkboard. He is indeed tall and pale, with big eyes, long hands, and little feet. A grey-blue sketchbook rests on the seat next to him -- his most prized possession, which fortunately came with him on his unexpected journey.

He looks up at the sound of footsteps.]

Oh, hello -- Mirai?

[His accent betrays him as English.]

[Action]

[seewithyoureyes]

That's me! Are you figuring out your device yet?

[Action]

[forgotten_vows]

Good to meet you in person. And I'm trying. . .

[He turns it over in his hands.]

At least I can communicate with people, I suppose.

[Action]

[seewithyoureyes]

Don't worry! You'll get the hang of it. What have you found yet?

[Action]

[forgotten_vows]

Well, I know how to send text, obviously. . .and I've seen how the moving pictures work with others. . . Still figuring out how to do it properly with myself, though.

[He feels a little embarrassed calling it "moving pictures" -- he's sure it has a proper name, but being from the 1870s puts him at a disadvantage.]

[Action]

[seewithyoureyes]

Huh? You mean like the video? I can help you with that! See, you do this... *She demonstrates starting it up without actually posting.*

[Action]

[forgotten_vows]

[Victor watches intently, nodding as she demonstrates.]

Oh, so that's the button you push -- and that means it's capturing the picture, right?

[Action]

[seewithyoureyes]

Uh-huh. Your world must be really different.

[Action]

[forgotten_vows]

Yes, very. We don't have anything like this at home.

[Pause.]

Well, we have chalkboards, just -- not ones that can somehow capture moving images. And if you wish to send someone a message, you write a letter and wait for it to arrive. Not that I dislike this curious "instantaneous" version. . .

[Action]

[seewithyoureyes]

It's sort of like what we have in the human world back home, but different, too.

[Action]

[forgotten_vows]

The human world?

[You have Victor's attention.]

What other worlds do you know?

[Action]

[seewithyoureyes]

Well, there's Makai, where the demons live, and Heaven, where the angels live. Have you been to other ones?

[Action]

[forgotten_vows]

Ah -- yes. I don't suppose you've ever heard of the Land of the Dead. . .

[Action]

[seewithyoureyes]

Not yet.

[Action]

[forgotten_vows]

[Okay, that gets a little laugh.]

It's part of the afterlife in my world. Heaven's supposed to be part of it too, but -- I assume it works differently where you live.

[Action]

[seewithyoureyes]

A little. Maybe a lot.

[Action]

[forgotten_vows]

Well, having never been to Heaven, I couldn't say for sure. . . The Land of the Dead is populated by walking corpses. It's sort of a -- undead, off-kilter mirror of the living world. And about five times more welcoming, depending on where you live.

[Action]

[seewithyoureyes]

I see. I haven't really been either, but I've spent a lot of time in Makai, and there are a lot of different things.

[Action]

[forgotten_vows]

Have you? If -- if you don't mind me asking, what was it like?

[Because he's always been told demons were absolutely horrible. . .but he also always been told the dead can't rise again, and we know how that turned out.]

[Action]

[seewithyoureyes]

It was a lot of work to get through, but that was because of a couple of different problems. But even though humans say that demons and devils are bad, they're really just like anybody else.

[Action]

[forgotten_vows]

[Victor nods.]

That's how it worked with the Dead. Some people might say they're evil, but they're just people in the end.

[He may sound ever-so-slightly bitter.]

[Action]

[seewithyoureyes]

Did something happen?

[Action]

[forgotten_vows]

Oh -- well, the local pastor. . . It's a complicated story, but I may have helped the dead rise for a night, and he didn't take it well.

[Action]

[seewithyoureyes]

I'm sorry...

[Action]

[forgotten_vows]

It's all right. I suppose I can understand why he was afraid -- I just wish he hadn't reacted so strongly. They really were harmless, and -- and they deserve better than being called evil.