A part of Emily thought, hello, you're not in Kansas anymore. Then again, she hadn't been to begin with. No, she hadn't been anywhere close
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It has been a rather long day. I think the upcoming holiday--the village has decided that the library will be closed on 4 July--has the children energetic. There was excess noise in that area. It has left me distracted and I'm sure that's why I didn't notice the woman until I was rather close.
I see her and double-take, before I realise that I don't know her. There is something about her, though.
Staring is rude. I haven't seen her before, so perhaps she's new here.
He's currently feeling a vibe, but he hasn't seen anyone with her face or met her before. He's got a bit of Sophie Neveau on the brain.
There were certain things that Emily wanted questions to. Who, what, where, why... The usual suspects. True, she had received partial answers to date, but none of them were to her satisfaction.
It is that feeling of being watched that eventually drew Emily's attention elsewhere, and in doing so, she noted him. "Hi?"
Well either it was a genuine mistake, or the cheesiest pick-up line Emily had heard in some time. Yet the vibe she got from him wasn't like what she had gotten from Viper. "I am."
No point in saying otherwise. Heck, he might even know that to begin with. "You're from around here then, or?"
"No, I was brought from elsewhere. Just longer ago than most others here." I truly smile. "You must be new here, or you'd know already that I don't entirely fit. Well, I'm not as unusual as many, but my home is very unlike that of most others brought here."
As likely evidenced by my speech pattern, if not the accent. That seems to correspond to upper-class England, I've learned.
"My name is Faramir and my home is the land of Gondor, which is in Middle-earth."
As for what did and did not fit, it did not seem to be so black and white. Things rarely were though. Life was full of shades of grey, when sometimes good wasn't good and bad wasn't bad, and what was up was down...
She blinked, her expression blank for a moment, only to have her brow arch ever so. A joke? He seemed serious. "Emily Prentiss."
"As strange as it seems, I am Faramir of Gondor. I'm aware of the book, though the events in it are past my time." I shrug. "To those who insist I'm not real, I can only say that they're talking to me."
Would they rather they were talking to someone not real?
"Well met, Emily Prentiss." I half-bow, entirely serious. "When did you arrive?"
He was aware...? If he was delusional, it wasn't the sort that Emily had seen before. As for real, or not, it wasn't really the question of that. She could see that he was, but it didn't mean that he was who he claimed to be.
"Several hours ago, to the best of my knowledge. Yourself?" Curious as to what answer he would give.
"I have been here more than five years now, so I understand a lot more of modern things than I used to." I smile. "And wear the clothes, though I still carry a weapon."
I look quickly down to the knife in my boot.
"Did you arrive in the hotel and are just now venturing out, or did someone show you here and begin to explain the village to you?"
"Five years?" By choice, or not? Emily knew if given the option, she'd be home. It might not be a perfect life, but it was hers, although it put a whole new spin on the meaning behind having a bad day.
Running a hand through her hair, she shook her head. "No. I honestly just walked out the door and to the street."
"Yes, five. I suppose the first thing I can tell you about this place is that we return home the exact moment we left. I neglect nothing by being here and gain much." To each their own. "Some have gone home and come back again--myself included. That is how I know I lose no time. I also remembered everything here clearly, while to others it was like a dream when they returned home."
I feel lucky to remember, though it might end up different when I am home for good.
"Some go and return again, remembering nothing. They might be older or younger than before."
I smile sheepishly.
"This is a very strange place and when you arrive someone you don't know has to try and explain it, knowing that it sounds completely mad."
"How... That isn't how the world works." Time moves forward. There was no stopping it and there was no turning it back. All one could do was try to make up for the things that had gone wrong, to make amends to those they might have hurt. Emily knows that well enough.
"Why then?" What reason did it have, and who? Who was behind it?
"Not how your world works, or mine. I don't know how it happens, I only know what I've heard and experienced for myself. There was a woman who tried to explain how this place could exist--a pocket universe--but I did not begin to understand what she was saying."
The physics behind it is far too complicated.
"I know not why anymore than I know how or who. As far as I know, no one has found out those answers." I recall another new arrival who asked similar questions.* Emily already knows where the hotel is, so there's no need to show her that.
"All of us brought here stay in the hotel. We need not pay for it or food or other items for a while, then we are expected to work." I shrug. "If this is a prison, it's a very strange one."
"It's free? For how long?" While Emily cannot say she planned to remain for five years, she also didn't like shooting in the dark if she could help it. No, she would rather have some plan of action, even if it wasn't one she could lay out in all its completion.
"I'm not sure. I found work right away, but I needed to be busy. My lord father is here also and he waited months before the village decided he should run the school. It may have been nearly a year."
I don't recall.
"I've never known anyone to not be allowed to stay in the hotel, and work is loosely defined. Students of course do not have to work." The gods and goddesses have temples and shrines and that seems to count.
"I haven't seen a student in some time." At least not by the normal sense of going to school. People were always learning, but she had her job, back home that is, and wasn't attending any educational systems. No, those days were behind Emily.
"Do they give eviction notices?" Still a touch confused on that matter. Maybe the whole conversation would prove to be moot, but in case it wasn't, the more that she could learn, the better it would be.
I see her and double-take, before I realise that I don't know her. There is something about her, though.
Staring is rude. I haven't seen her before, so perhaps she's new here.
He's currently feeling a vibe, but he hasn't seen anyone with her face or met her before. He's got a bit of Sophie Neveau on the brain.
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It is that feeling of being watched that eventually drew Emily's attention elsewhere, and in doing so, she noted him. "Hi?"
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Not at all, now that I see her.
"I'm sure I have not. Are you new here?" She doesn't look lost, not really.
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No point in saying otherwise. Heck, he might even know that to begin with. "You're from around here then, or?"
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As likely evidenced by my speech pattern, if not the accent. That seems to correspond to upper-class England, I've learned.
"My name is Faramir and my home is the land of Gondor, which is in Middle-earth."
Reply
She blinked, her expression blank for a moment, only to have her brow arch ever so. A joke? He seemed serious. "Emily Prentiss."
Reply
"As strange as it seems, I am Faramir of Gondor. I'm aware of the book, though the events in it are past my time." I shrug. "To those who insist I'm not real, I can only say that they're talking to me."
Would they rather they were talking to someone not real?
"Well met, Emily Prentiss." I half-bow, entirely serious. "When did you arrive?"
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"Several hours ago, to the best of my knowledge. Yourself?" Curious as to what answer he would give.
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I look quickly down to the knife in my boot.
"Did you arrive in the hotel and are just now venturing out, or did someone show you here and begin to explain the village to you?"
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Running a hand through her hair, she shook her head. "No. I honestly just walked out the door and to the street."
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I feel lucky to remember, though it might end up different when I am home for good.
"Some go and return again, remembering nothing. They might be older or younger than before."
I smile sheepishly.
"This is a very strange place and when you arrive someone you don't know has to try and explain it, knowing that it sounds completely mad."
Reply
"Why then?" What reason did it have, and who? Who was behind it?
Reply
The physics behind it is far too complicated.
"I know not why anymore than I know how or who. As far as I know, no one has found out those answers." I recall another new arrival who asked similar questions.* Emily already knows where the hotel is, so there's no need to show her that.
"All of us brought here stay in the hotel. We need not pay for it or food or other items for a while, then we are expected to work." I shrug. "If this is a prison, it's a very strange one."
*It was David Rossi.
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I don't recall.
"I've never known anyone to not be allowed to stay in the hotel, and work is loosely defined. Students of course do not have to work." The gods and goddesses have temples and shrines and that seems to count.
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"Do they give eviction notices?" Still a touch confused on that matter. Maybe the whole conversation would prove to be moot, but in case it wasn't, the more that she could learn, the better it would be.
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