taxonomites | [holo] oh how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way

[Mattie feels the ground give way under her feet, panic closing off her throat as she begins to fall, scrabbling uselessly at dirt and brush-]

The holo feed shows a small figure dressed in too-large, old-fashioned clothes appear in mid-air, then fall to the ground with a hard thump that knocks the wind out of her for a moment. She lies still, gaping up at what should be a blue sky or at least the darkness of earth over her head, and then hesitantly brushes the fingers of one hand against the unyielding surface of the floor.

“Mr. LaBoeuf?” Her voice is embarrassingly weak, and she takes a deep breath and tries again, more loudly. “Mr. LaBoeuf!”

There’s no answer, of course, and common sense tells Mattie that although she doesn’t rightly know where she is, it’s obvious where she is not, and she shouldn’t expect any response. That realization urges her to sit up, the hat falling off her head as she slowly pushes herself to her feet and looks uncertainly around.

“Hello? Can anyone hear me?” She approaches the nearest wall and runs her hand along it, then turns her head to take in the others, just as blank as this one. Raising her arm, she pounds her fist against it, voice taking on a more forceful (but also more desperate) tone. “Whoever’s out there, open up this minute! You have no right to hold me against my will, I’ve embarked on no wrong-doing.. I have a good lawyer, and I will write him and you will hear how the law looks on the incarceration of innocent children!”

When the wall doesn’t give way and door doesn’t appear, Mattie steps back with a sigh. “Papa, I believe I have found some trouble for myself.”

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"More than a year now. There's a city outside that room you're in, designed for us to live in, but inescapable. And escapes have been tried. We hear from our abductors from time to time, but they are unreasonable."

He observes her a moment, wondering at the wisdom of telling her everything, but knowing it's ultimately impossible not to do so. "Would it frighten you, Mattie, to know that our captors are not of our world? That we are, as far as we know, no longer on Earth?"

He hopes it doesn't, but for all her apparent strength, Mattie is a young girl from Yell County, Arkansas, in what looks to be the late 1800s or early 1900s. Godric doubts she's ever concerned herself with matters beyond her home, much less her planet.

Well that's a strange and unexpected bit of information, and Mattie finds it difficult to maintain her composure. The idea of places outside of her own world is just fantasy, and fantasy has very little place in the lift of Mattie Ross.

"But I cannot..." She swallows hard and glances away, looking very young for a moment. "I have fifty dollars and a California gold piece. It belonged to my father but I believe he would not begrudge me parting with it in such circumstances. Perhaps if they cannot be reasoned with, they may be bribed."

Her words sound plaintive even to her own ears, but Mattie even imagined such a situation, let alone having to face it by herself.

Godric shakes his head, sympathetic to Mattie's desperation, but unwilling to let her entertain fantasies of her own making.

"If they craved money, they would simply have taken it. They easily have the power." He shifts in his seat, bringing attention to the fact that up until now, he's been strangely still. Most people would fidget.

"If it's a comfort to you, the people here are often returned to their place of origin, with no time having passed. Should you escape this place eventually, Mattie Ross, you'll find your life unchanged, and find Tom Chaney as you left him, though I am at a loss to say how it's possible."

Mattie isn't pleased at all to hear her captors wield such power. Things are looking only more and more distressing, and were she alone, she might already let herself indulge in a moment of tears.

"How can you know?" She takes a deep breath to steady herself, grasping onto the distraction provided by arguing and questioning. Godric can't possibly know how grateful she is inside for his willingness to put up with it. "Unless they send word to say so, and if that is true then why do they not send help as well?"

"Sometimes they return. They tell us they had no memory of being abducted once sent home, but upon returning here, they often remember everything, and can tell us what occurred in their lives since we last saw them. No one knows precisely how it all works, but these are the truths as we know them."

Godric is accustomed to these questions by now, and resolves again to compile a guide for newcomers. Too many things are often lost in translation when it isn't written down.

"I'm sorry I can't return you home, Mattie, but I can tell you how to leave that room and find your way in the city."

There's little argument Mattie can offer against that, and she feels certain Godric isn't lying to her.

"I am relieved to hear that there is a way out, even if it will only lead me further into this place. If you will point me in the proper direction, I will be much obliged."

"If you lift the tablet -- the communication device -- and bring it with you, a door will open. It will lead you to the stairs into the Sanctuary. From there, you have your choice of where you might go. There are temporary rooms to be found in the Sanctuary, or in hotels. You may claim an empty house if you please, but you may wish to wait until you're more familiar with your surroundings."

There are many more things to explain, such as the bracelet and how currency works, or the hatches, and he has every intention of getting to them in time. A place to settle simply seems the most important to finding one's feet, and he's fully prepared for Mattie's shock when she sees the very eclectic -- but at least partially modern -- city of Taxon.

Mattie considers this information, along with what she's gleaning from others talking to her, and begins to formulate a plan of how to proceed. Of course, she's sure there will obstacles (including the other residents of this place, some of whom seem to have very set ideas on how she should proceed), but Mattie tends to get her own way in the end.

"A gentleman has proposed to meet me outside, I suspect because he feels I am not capable of finding my own way. But I suppose it will be helpful for someone to point me in the direction I may best proceed." She pauses, and lets some of that (slightly defensive) pride slip away. "Perhaps I may seek your guidance as well, on occasion?"

"Certainly, you may. I am always available through the tablet, you simply need call. It's quite intuitive to operate." He has faith that she'll figure it out. She's still young, and capable of learning and adapting easily.

Even if Mattie can't figure it out, she'll find someone to browbeat into showing her, which amounts to same the thing. "Is this how folk here keep in touch with one another? By speaking through a tablet?"

It seems odd, to someone used to communicating only face to face or in writing, and to whom the telegraph is a marvel of modern invention.

[holo] oh how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way

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