A/N: Posting two chapters today because I won't be able to on Friday! Enjoy this. :)
Ridley's P.O.V.
I scrambled backward, eyes wide as Edward slammed the door in my face. What was his deal? It wasn't like the simulation was about him. Maybe he overreacted because it had changed. Maybe that surprised him, or he thought it was an insult to his intelligence somehow; he was a perfectionist after all.
I clung to the memory of the end of the simulation, running it over and over again in my mind as I wandered back upstairs. How accurate was it though? That whole simulation was based on the original technology, which belonged to Mad Hatter. If that didn't make me leery enough, I didn't even remember my own mother. If I didn't remember her, then how did I know if the simulation was actually the truth?
I could probably track down Mad Hatter if I wanted to and ask him about the accuracy of his 'Wonderland', but I would rather not. That man was disgusting; vile. Besides being a schizophrenic pedophile, he had a fetish for hats and an affinity for Alice in Wonderland. If that didn't scream crazy, I didn't know what did. At least Edward and Jon were somewhat sane, and Selina seemed like the sanest to me.
Speaking of Selina, she was sitting on the couch reading a magazine as I walked into the living room.
"Ridley," she said, setting the magazine down and looking at me, "is something wrong?"
No, why would you think that? I signed.
Selina sighed and patted the seat next to her, "Why don't you sit down?" She reached over and grabbed a pad of paper that Edward must've left on the coffee table because a few riddles were written out in his neat handwriting.
Sitting down, I picked up the pencil that was also sitting there and wrote out what I'd said.
"Something is wrong." Selina insisted. "Call it want you want, mothers intuition, sixth sense, a cats ability to sense human emotions, it's all the same. Plus, I can read you like a book, it's all there on your face. What. Did. Edward. Do?"
Nothing that bad, I wrote, he just got mad about something. It surprised me because it was during a simulation.
"A simulation?" Selina asked, raising an eyebrow.
To help me with my training, I wrote. It was to meant to get me to use my imagination more.
Selina snorted as she read that.
Apparently, he thinks that my mind is too logical and analytical.
"That's ridiculous," Selina said, "I mean, who thinks like that? It's impossible to not have an imagination, and even if it is limited, you still have one."
I nodded in agreement before writing, That's just who he is though, you can't change it.
"I suppose not," Selina sighed. "Did he get mad about that?"
No, I think it was because of what he saw in my simulation.
"He put you through one of his simulations?" Selina said, raising an eyebrow. "That was only an experimental thing. He wasn't actually supposed to use it until he was sure that it would work. Tell me, what happened?"
I proceeded to explain to her what had happened. It was good for me because it helped me remember, and I had it written down as well. I stopped when I got to the Wonderland aspect of it and hesitated. That whole thing seemed off like something was trying to prevent me from writing about it. Eventually, I managed to, and an array of emotions crossed over Selinas face as she read over my shoulder.
"So from your understanding, the system glitched and went back to the original program, which was Mad Hatters Wonderland?"
I nodded, I think the glitch was what add him mad.
"But he reacted towards you, not the simulation," Selina pointed out.
Well, yes, but it could go either way. He could be mad at me or the simulation. I was the only other person in the room with him at that time. It was only logical that he'd lash out at me specifically.
Selina gave a slight nod as she read what I wrote. "Now that I think about it," she said, "he might've been mad at both you and the simulation, it not in the way you think."
What do you mean?
"Well," Selina paused, "the simulation changed to your Wonderland, right? That comes directly from your subconscious because it's literally showing you what you want in your life. You were actually lucky that Edward took you out of it, but never mind the fact. Maybe he wasn't mad at you per seem but rather at what your subconscious was showing."
But why? I wrote, it's not like he knows the people that were in the simulation, right?
"It's complicated," Selina said. "The simulation drew off of your subconscious, and your subconscious drew off of your suppressed memories. Since it was your Wonderland, there were only happy memories or fabrications of them."
Well, that's a pleasant thought, I wrote. I'm wondering who the last person in the simulation was though. I never got to see their face, but they sounded familiar. They were the only one that I felt connected to, you know? Like I'd met them before in real life and I remembered it. In fact, if I had to say, they remind me of—
A door slammed and I jumped violently, the pencil sliding across the page making a heavy mark.
What was that? I scribbled down.
"Most likely Jon," Selina replied. "He goes out sometimes to blow off steam when he can't handle things."
Not Edward?
Selina shook her head, "Edward rarely goes out by himself. Only on certain occasions does he do that. Speaking of Edward, I'm going to go and make him explain and then apologize for how he treated you, it wasn't called for."
It's really fine, I wrote, shaking my head, not a big deal. It was a big deal though, and the whole thing was bothering me, what had I done wrong? He'd already been belittling me because of my "lack of imagination", what else was there?
Selina read my expression and frowned. "We are going to go and talk to him," she said firmly, standing up and gently pulling me to my feet. "I'll be with you, so don't worry about it."
I reluctantly followed her out the living room and down the hall when I heard the door open again. Turning around, I saw two brunette women walk in. Both wore matching green leotards and black fishnet stockings.
"Query, Echo," Selina greeted them.
"Selina," the one on the right, Query, said, "is Edward around?"
"He should be around here somewhere," Selina told her.
"Excellent," Query said before focusing on me. "Who might this be?" she asked.
"This is Ridley," Selina said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "She's the newest addition. Ridley, this is Query and Echo, Edwards henchwomen."
I nodded absentmindedly and started hard at Echo. She seemed extremely familiar, like really familiar. Put her in some fashionable clothes, add some different makeup, and I was looking at someone from school. I then realized with a jolt, that I was looking into the face of none other than Astrid Greene, as I knew her.
###
Just as the shock was registering in my mind, Edward walked down the stairs.
"You're here," he said, "that's great."
Hold on, I signed, waving my arms to get his attention, Echo's Astrid? Or rather, Astrid is Echo?
"Oh, that issue," Edward said, scratching his head. "Well, I placed Echo in Gotham High to keep an eye on you."
"Are you talking about me pretending to be someone else?" Echo asked.
Edward nodded, "It was in our best interest."
I did a quick calculation in my head, You were watching me for the past eight years!? I remembered distinctly when Ast— er rather— Echo hadn't been exactly the nicest person in the world. She hadn't been exactly the nicest to anyone, and to me in particular. Why'd you do that?
"Like I said a few days ago," Edward said spreading his hands, "we've been wanting you for a long time."
Because that doesn't sound creepy at all, I signed.
"More like you were the one that wanted her to be with us," Selina responded from her place beside me. She glared at Edward, obviously still annoyed with what he'd done.
"I'm not going to deny that," Edward said, "but it's not something to be that concerned about."
Um, excuse me!? I signed, it kind of is! You were stalking me!
"Not stalking," Edward corrected, "researching you."
That's even worse! And why have the person be a complete bitch to me? Why not have her be my friend or something? She also looks a lot older than a high school senior!
"Was she really that bad?" Edward asked, glancing at Echo.
"I may not have been the nicest," Echo admitted, "but it all worked out in the end, right? I promise that I'm not that bad once you get to know me. I'm actually a very pleasant person to be around."
"And to answer your question about her age," Edward added, "Echo is only a few years older than you, it was surprisingly easy to put in fake documents when enrolling her."
"You think everything is easy," Selina retorted, practically bristling.
"The friend issue is different though," Edward continued, ignoring Selina, "you already had someone that was somewhat of a friend, and we were pretty sure that he was working for someone else."
So I had two stalkers!?
"Please don't use that word," Edward said, "it's not the politest thing to call someone."
"Like you know that 'polite' is," Selina snapped.
"What's your problem?" Edward asked, finally acknowledging her.
"My problem?" Selina demanded. "What about what you did to Ridley?"
"I didn't do anything to her!" Edward said exasperatedly.
"Then what was the whole simulation thing about? You know that you weren't supposed to use it until you were sure that it'd be safe to use! Mad Hatter's Wonderland is not something to be trifled with!"
"I know that!" Edward said, "I thought that it would be ok to use and that I got it figured out!"
"Well, you clearly didn't!" Selina said with a scowl.
"Echo, Query!" Edward said, unnecessarily loudly. Clearly, Selina was getting to him. "You guys know where to go, right?"
"Yes," Query said, giving me a curious look, "do you want us to go and-"
"Yes," Edward interrupted, "preferably now."
"Sure," Query said with a nod, "come on Echo."
The two of them left, and once they were gone, Edward turned back to Selina and I.
"What do you want me to do," he asked, "apologize?"
"That, and explain why you acted like that," Selina said, crossing her arms, "it was uncalled for."
"If you'd known what it was then you wouldn't say that it was uncalled for," Edward replied, removing his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose.
"That's a load of crap," Selina snapped. "Apologize. Now."
Edward sighed and replaced his glasses. "I-I'm sorry for how I treated you," he said. "Do you accept my apology?"
I accept your apology, but-
"But...?" Edward prompted.
Let me finish! I signed before continuing. -but, I don't accept the way you treated me.
"I understand," Edward said gratefully, "and I won't-"
"Don't say it won't happen again," Selina interrupted, "we all know that it will. Don't make promises that you can't keep."
"Fine," Edward said, crossing his arms.
"Why treat her like that in the first place?" Selina continued. "I'm going to put aside the fact that you shouldn't have done the simulation because I already told you that, so why lash out at her? It wasn't her fault, it was yours."
"I can't talk about it," Edward said, turning around and walking away.
"Can't or won't?" Selina demanded. "Don't walk away from me!"
"What do you want me to do," Edward rounded on Selina, "explain my reasoning with everything?"
"No, not everything," Selina conceded, "but at least enough so that Ridley actually can understand something!"
Understand what? I signed. I had the feeling that this was going far beyond Edward getting pissy at me for no reason. There was something else that was going on, but what was it?
"Nothing," Edward said, "I need to go and make sure that Query and Echo are doing what I asked them to do."
He started walking away again and Selina made to go after him. I grabbed her arm and shook my head.
He obviously doesn't want to talk about it. Let's not pressure him.
Selina scowled, but I knew that it wasn't at me, she was still irritated with Edward.
I was near the end of all the secret keeping, but I could at least give Edward a chance to explain things before I started demanding answers. I could even start digging into things myself if I wanted to, Barbra had given me enough information to get me started, and I had a visual of things from the simulation to help me put names to faces. A lot of material was there for me to work with, I just had to exploit it.