A/N:: Written on request from my sister after a holiday in Wales. Don't own Matix, Red Queen, the quotes, etc. Do own the deck of cards and the Idea. The seat stone does exist; I have sat on it and checked the compass trick. The geography is all muddled up but both the beach and the field are real places (whatever 'real places' are). This is not a self-insert; it just didn't feel right with a boy's voice. On the other hand, it's very probably my sister's voice. Make up your own mind.

SOLITAIRE

You are not alone.

The wind isn't exactly cold, more fresh and crisp, blowing away the grey clouds that had clung to the bay all afternoon. The little Welsh hamlet is bathed in creamy light from the setting sun; the last tourists begin the climb up the pebbles to the car park. The tide has crept out and lies in wait across the mirror-like wet sands, seaweed swelling in the foam.

Something else is bobbing in the waves also. A small leather case, circular and soaked, bound by a straggly line of kelp. Watch as a teenager, striding along the sands, notices it.

Unconcerned about the weed, she wades in, the cold wavelets sending a shiver scurrying up her spine, and retrieves the object. Shaking the salty brine and sand from her sandals, she retreats to the firm orange sand and examines the case. There is a button clasp, and she opens it.

Inside is a circular pack of cards, untouched by the water. She tips them out into her hands and spreads them, counting quickly. A full pack. The figures are typical of a deck of cards: Jack and King, Club and Diamond.

She looks along the beach, searching for another with their head cast downwards, searching for their lost object, but there is no one save a lone fisherman casting a line to the grey-blue waters. She knows what she should do with such a find, but she disobeys her better judgement and slips the pack into her pocket, tossing the case back to the sea. With the opening undone, the cover fills with water and sinks.

Back at her parents' home, she takes a closer look at the cards. Strange, on the back of each card is a quote, written elegantly in gold ink. Jack of Spades: "The hardest thing is to see what is in front of your eyes." -- Goetho.

Three of Hearts: "Is not the dreamer, sleeping or waking, one who... puts a copy in the place of a real object?" -- Plato.

Nine of Clubs: "All that we see or seem / Is but a dream within a dream." -- Edgar Allen Poe.

A great sense of satisfaction floods her being; at last she has found it. Quotes that prove her thoughts and her dreams, her musings and her arguments. Her gaze rises from the cards to the computer. Yes, this will show them.

She switches on and logs on to her favourite cyber hangout.

!! USER LOGON !!

WHITE ROOK:: I found a pack of cards at the beach this evening.

JABBERWOCKY:: Really?

WHITE ROOK:: Yes. All the cards have quotes on the back.

JABBERWOCKY:: Like what?

WHITE ROOK:: Like "The hardest thing is to see what's in front of your eyes". It's a godsend; this is what I think about every night.

RED QUEEN:: Is there an entire pack?

She fans through the cards, all face down to her. One card catches her eye: there is no quote on the back. She turns the card over and drops it in shock. The serene features of the Queen of Hearts stare up from the carpet. Red Queen...

WHITE ROOK:: You know what's really weird? It's a full pack, and they all have quotes except you, Red Queen.

RED QUEEN:: Then I will give you a quote.

RED QUEEN:: 'Do not adjust your mind. There is a fault in reality.'

!! JABBERWOCKY HAS LOGGED OFF !!

RED QUEEN:: Take a compass to the second midsummer stone and the needle will swing thirty degrees out of true.

WHITE ROOK:: What does that mean?

RED QUEEN:: It means nothing is certain. Rules can be broken by the most simple of objects, even bluestones.

WHITE ROOK:: Stonehenge is made from the bluestones here in Wales...

RED QUEEN:: Go to the stone circle tomorrow morning at sunrise to see for yourself. For now: play solitaire with the cards and see if you lose a game.

!! SYSTEM FAILURE !!

She pushes back from the table and picks up the fallen card. Then she clears the keyboard and shuffles the deck, dealing out a patience hand.

-=--=--=-

The alarm beeps five times before her searching hand switches it off. Fully dressed, she tumbles out of bed and snatches her backpack, grabbing the torch from the hook behind the door. She exits the house silently and begins the trek up the hill, excitement burning her initial tiredness away. Her research proved her hunch: there are two standing stones and a stone circle near her village. Deeper research revealed the magnetic strength of one of them, and the alignment with the midsummer sun.

She reaches the field just as the sun is due to rise. The rusted sign flashes dully in her torchlight, and she enters the field through the swing gate. The sky is lightening dark blue on the horizon. A copper light flares, heralding the approaching midsummer dawn.

Walking straight ahead takes her to a small-ish circle of stones, and turning to the north, she makes out two dark shapes. Traversing the coarse grass and avoiding gorse bushes, she comes across the two standing stones. They are unremarkable to see: two large hunks of stone set upright in the grass, rooted there by the passage of time. The second stone bulges curiously at the bottom, forming a crude seat shape. She casts off her rucksack and perches there, leaning her head back against the cold stone.

The sun breaks the horizon, and the two stones shake off their grey drab and bask in the gold light. The back of her head is touching the stone, and the base of her skull, where the "mind's eye" is supposed to lie, touches the secret magnetic spot.

If she had been standing in line with the stones, she would have seen them through a gold halo as they lined up exactly with the midsummer sun.

As it was, the Matrix misread the ancient power running through the bluestone's veins; the exposure of the mind's eye to the magnetism, and began the downloading process.