34 // videos // locked to ALL THE PEOPLE (one at a time)

[40410]

The mirror in Alex's room has been covered for months, but the one in the bathroom gets a pass. His double can stare at the tiled wall till the cows come home if it makes him happy; from the bathroom, he can't see Alex.

But he can write ominous messages on the other side of the glass.

Alex's messages are hastily locked and quietly panicky, making them hackable with some effort. The first goes out to Sofia Lamb.

"Sof', are you there?"

And after he's spoken to her, he sends the same message to Mark. "Mark, you there? Pick up."

Then he calls J.

Comments

[echo-of-utopia.livejournal.com]

And he said...?

[40410.livejournal.com]

[ A bunch of things that, astonishingly, Alex doesn't feel like bringing up. ]

That someone's in the forest.

But he didn't have anything to do with it.

[echo-of-utopia.livejournal.com]

[ Let's quote Alex's narration on that, shall we? ]

What are you going to do about it, Alex?

[ And let's add a little something to spice things up. ]

What do you want to do about it?

[40410.livejournal.com]

I want to help, [ he mutters.

It's an outright lie. He wants the person to be out of the forest. He feels obliged to help. But what he wants is to stay as far away from the forest and the Operator as he possibly can. ]

[echo-of-utopia.livejournal.com]

[ She considers this for a moment. ]

What else do you know? What has Markus told you?

[40410.livejournal.com]

[ He's turned around so that he stands with his back to the door, staring into space. ]

He - didn't know anything else. [ Except for the part where he probably did but then Alex yelled at him.

Alex is still trying to psych himself up to go find this person, but - if he's to go, waiting and thinking about it is the worst thing he can do. He just keeps picturing getting three steps into the forest and seeing the branches around him move like arms. ]

[echo-of-utopia.livejournal.com]

[ She starts pacing the room slowly, never moving far away from Alex. It takes a moment before she speaks again. ]

Will you allow me to write a word to your mirror?

[40410.livejournal.com]

[ That's a good idea, actually. Alex wonders if he misjudged his mirror's reliability. Someone who's his opposite must be a pretty good guy. ]

Sure.

[echo-of-utopia.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[ She fetches a pen and disappears in the bathroom. If Alex cares to follow or take a peek he will soon find her blatant lie exposed and observe the writing of not one, but two whole words to his mirror.



Alex's own message has been discreetly removed as it does little to inspire cooperation. ]

[40410.livejournal.com]

[ He follows her, standing by the bathroom door like a guard, but he doesn't interfere.

Mirror Alex, all this time, has been sitting on the other side of the glass and sniggering at his counterpart's very audible freakouts. If only Mirror J were here to agree with him that his regular is so dumb, this moment would be perfect.

He tries to ignore that thought. It'll spoil his fun. Instead of focusing on it, he salutes Lamb through the glass (never mind that she can't see it) and wipes off his original message with a paper towel.

Soooo... how to respond to that?

]

[40410.livejournal.com]

[ A moment's thought.



There, that ought to strike the right tone. ]

[echo-of-utopia.livejournal.com]

[ Wrong. The proper tone on this side of the mirror is and always will be 8|, especially after that response.

...Which by the way came faster than Lamb expected. She meant to clear a few things with Alex while waiting, but those will apparently have to wait until she is done here.

One more attempt, once more in pre-mirrored writing for m!Alex's convenience:

]

[40410.livejournal.com]

[ Alex over here is just going to be quietly disturbed that the answer came so fast, and glad that he's been covering his main mirror.

Alex over there is still happily trollin'.

]

[echo-of-utopia.livejournal.com]

[40410.livejournal.com]

[



Yeah he really has no idea. But he loves that the timing made it look like he does.

Meanwhile, regular Alex is highly unamused by these shenanigans. ]

Tell us who it is!

[echo-of-utopia.livejournal.com]

[ By now Lamb is fairly certain that they will not get any information out of him, whether it's because he can't or because he won't give it.

Alex's comment does away with her idea of appearing entirely composed, but once said she might as well wait for a reaction.

She turns to the side just a little, hoping to signal that it's his question she wants answered. ]

[40410.livejournal.com]

[ Mirror Alex has run out of people who it's definitely not, so he amuses himself by doodling hair on the head and making the glasses derpier, then adding an out-of-proportion bee, plus some icicles for shits and giggles.

Regular Alex makes an angry noise in his throat, then draws back and very deliberately stays by the wall rather than trying to punch his opposite in the face through the mirror-glass. ]

This is a waste of time.

[echo-of-utopia.livejournal.com]

...I agree.

[ Lamb takes one last look at the mirror, turns around and exits the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Summary time! ]

I doubt your mirror withholds any more information. You said he may have wanted you to think that the body was J's. I believe that is the case.

Now I wonder, do you think it possible that Markus was lying as well?

[40410.livejournal.com]

[ Alex is only too happy to exit the bathroom and leave his mirror to draw whatever the hell he wants without the pleasure of their attention. ]

I don't know. [ He hates having to say that. If only he could just say yes and believe that there's nothing to worry about. But that won't bring someone in out of the forest. ] I've never heard him lie before.

He told me J'd gone home as well.

[ Mosa is floating in his terrarium, eyeballing the two humans. Only his eyes and nostrils are above the surface, but the rest of his little trailing body is still visible through the glass sides. ]

[echo-of-utopia.livejournal.com]

[ And another round of deliberate pacing. ]

Alex, I'm afraid at this point there is little we [ That's right, we. ] can do to help.

If the Operator is involved then our chances of finding whoever is lost in the forest and returning with them to the mansion are marginal at best.

[ Through this dire piece of information little Mosa remains sadly undiscussed, though Lamb did make a note to bring him up during a time when Alex is not on the verge of plunging himself into semi-certain death, as she fears may be the case now. ]

[40410.livejournal.com]

But--

[ Alex isn't looking at Lamb, or precisely at anything; his mind's cartwheeling. If he goes out, then he'll likely get killed or even masked. If he doesn't go out, the Operator has another victim. If he does go out, then he'll likely get killed or even masked. If he doesn't go out, the Operator has another victim - the latest in a lot of victims. Another thought, even more dreadful, strikes him. ]

He's going for everyone. He's working his way through everyone in the mansion.

[echo-of-utopia.livejournal.com]

[ Lamb understands that it's not easy to sit by and she is willing to accept criticism of that choice. However she is not willing to entertain a thought that sounds like it needs an immediate paranoia intervention. ]

We have no reason at all to believe that, Alex.