For in truth it's the beginning of an end, and nothing has changed, and everything has changed.

[caycep]

((Open RP. Picks up after this conversation, post-mayhem and post-opening-of-the-door. Feel free to intercept Cayce at any point.))

After she talked to Ellie, Cayce realized she really needed to pull herself together before dealing with anyone else. She ducked into a bathroom, where she found there was just enough water pressure to wash her face and make herself as presentable as she could. Then she set out across the park, generally in the direction of Tomorrowland and the theatre (and not thinking about who she wouldn't find there anymore, because that would just get her started again), and taking a fairly circuitous route to try and meet as many people as possible on the way.

***

ETA: Cayce makes an announcement.

Comments

[caycep]

Cayce cursed as she tripped over a fallen piece of Sky Bucket. She righted herself and brushed off her hands and nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of a distant, artificially-projected voice.

"Miss Pollard, for park-wide announcement capabilities, please report to the Doctor's TARDIS console room and... figure it out for yourself."

Slightly dumbfounded, she didn't move for a moment, unsure of what to make of the peculiar invitation.

Well, unless the power switched itself on soon, she didn't have many other options, did she? Let's see, the TARDIS was ... right, Toon Town. Where Logan used to—

She took a deep breath and set off towards Toon Town. Shouldn't take long, provided she didn't fall over anything else.

[a-good-man.livejournal.com]

Daniel, looking a bit scuffed and carrying, for the first time in what he assumed were months, his zat'n'ktel holstered at his side.

When he caught sight of Cayce, he shouted her name and ran towards her.

[caycep]

"Daniel!" Cayce ran to meet him, so glad to see him that she nearly bowled him over in her enthusiasm. "God, am I glad to see you. I was just about to—I'm heading over to—to make an announcement. Have you heard? No, wait, you probably haven't, unless you ran into Ellie—" She waved her hands, willing herself to stop babbling. "Want the good news first?"

[a-good-man.livejournal.com]

Daniel clasped her arm

"I haven't heard anything from anyone," he said. "Except heard the Master calling for you about making an announcement, which I suppose means there's something to announce. What's going on, besides the fact that we seem to have either broken the park or really pissed someone off?"

[caycep]

"Well—" Cayce's mouth twisted into a wry smile. "We did break the park, and we've probably pissed someone off. But the door we found—that Quixote found—we got it open. Whatever happened up here, it distracted the security enough that the Master was able to burn a hole through the door."

She took a deep breath. "There's a space on the other side. It looks like ... darkness, emptiness, but you can step into it, and breathe, and it ... it leads home. Psyche took Kira and Setsuna through. And ..." Her voice cracked. "And John. And Aeryn. And Adam's holding the door for whoever wants to go next." She looked up at him with overbright eyes. "And me being me, I came back to make sure everyone knows."

[a-good-man.livejournal.com]

Daniel cocked his head at her.

"How do we know it leads home?" he asked, and then his expression softened at the look in her eyes. John and Aeryn.

"They came by before to say goodbye, in case it worked," he told her quietly, squeezing her shoulder with an empathetic smile.

[caycep]

"I couldn't see them all the way," Cayce admitted. "But Psyche was ... well. You know how she is. She knew what to do. In that ... space beyond the door, only people from the same worlds could see or hear each other, right? If you went through with someone not from your own world, it was like they weren't there. And once we figured that out, everything else fell into place."

Cayce sniffled a little, but she wasn't going to start crying again. "I'm glad John and Aeryn saw you first. I was going to have to find some way to kick his ass if he didn't."

[a-good-man.livejournal.com]

Daniel grinned.

"I bet you would've, too," he agreed, giving her a one-armed hug. "Want some company on your walk to the TARDIS?"

[caycep]

Cayce hugged him back. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd appreciate that. The whole place is a little creepier, shut down like this." She sighed. "God, I have so much to do." She ticked the items off on her fingers. "Got to make this announcement, put up a map on the board so people can find the door, and ... talk to people, I guess." For which read: say goodbye, and for people read Crowley in particular.

[a-good-man.livejournal.com]

Daniel nodded.

"I was on my way to Mickey's house," he explained as he started walking. "I wanted to see if he was still there."

[caycep]

Cayce blinked at him, wondering that she hadn't contemplated that herself.

"You know, I would be really interested to find out what the answer to that question is," she said, keeping pace with Daniel as they went. "Interesting implications for how this whole place works, anyway. Wonder if the Cat's still ... wherever it is when it's not greeting people."

[a-good-man.livejournal.com]

Daniel nodded.

"And what he is, exactly," Daniel agreed. "I mean if he's really his own being or just a manifestation of the control here or who or whatever is really managing the park. I could never figure out if the single-mindedness in the reality of this place was real or just a control. I'd look for the Cat too, if I knew where to." He shrugged. "If Jack were here he'd be telling me this was the wrong time to be looking for the deeper philosophical meaning in all this, but I'd like to know... something. Before we leave."

[caycep]

"Well, you know. Some of us have been hacking at the possibility of a 'deeper philosophical meaning' for practically the entire time we've been here? Why stop now?" It was a joke, albeit a somewhat feeble one. "I can't decide if I'm hoping he'll be there or not. Or, if he is there, if he's just as confused as we are."

[a-good-man.livejournal.com]

"A lot, lot bigger," Daniel agreed from behind her. Just then he spotted the Doctor, on the opposite side of the console with his head in his hands. The Doctor looked up at the sound of their voices; his eyes were red, and he looked exhausted.

"Hey, Doc," Daniel said, lifting a hand.

[a-lonely-god.livejournal.com]

"Hey, Doc," the Doctor repeated. It'd become something of a joke between them lately; John had a tendency to call them both by that nickname so now they sometimes called each other by it, with humorous results.

He looked at Cayce with a bit of a smile.

"I could've made some sort of announcement myself, I suppose, but I thought, well, it ought to be you, after everything."

[caycep]

"Oh. Um. Thanks." She looked down at the grating under her feet, partly out of some kind of embarrassment and partly because the dissonance in her brain between the TARDIS's exterior and interior was making her a little dizzy. She forced herself to look up at the Doctor. "I, ah, I also wanted to apologize. For being such a complete ass ... back there. It—it's been a long day," she concluded lamely. A pause, and then, "Are you all right?"

[a-lonely-god.livejournal.com]

He blinked, as though surprised to hear such a question.

"Me? 'Course I am." And then, with a slight tilt of his head and a smile of concession, he added; "It's just been a very long day. She seems to like you, by the way."

[caycep]

Cayce took another few steps inside, trying to convince her unwilling brain to accept it all and stop with the swimmy sensation behind her eyes.

Her turn for a confused blink. "'She'?"

[a-lonely-god.livejournal.com]

A shrug upward, indicating the space around them.

"The TARDIS. She always likes it when I bring sensible people on board." Another shrug, and an innocent expression. "No idea why." There was a slight smile threatening at one corner of his mouth.

"You alright?"

[caycep]

The bit about "sensible people" earned a little smile from Cayce.

"I'm okay. Mostly. Just ... well, I'm kind of worried. Okay, really worried. After Psyche and the others went through, I thought that was more or less it, you know? But on our way over here, Daniel and I ran into Mickey, and he was completely flipping out. Something about people getting ... 'archived'. Or—or lost." She glanced at Daniel, in the event he had anything else to fill in. She ran both hands through her hair anxiously. "Couldn't get any details out of him, of course. But I wanted to make some kind of announcement anyway, just to make sure people had some idea of what was going on. And then ... I kind of want to go back and look. Especially if Mickey's going to be there. Maybe we can get some answers then."

[a-good-man.livejournal.com]

"He said they went into the vault," Daniel added. "And he really seemed more concerned about their safety than the fact that we've broken the park. For what that's worth."

He shoved his hands into his pockets, looking thoughtful and also bit worried. "You don't think it's... like a real representation of the figurative Disney Vault? It would certainly make sense with the 'archive' comment." He glanced at the Doctor. "I asked him about the people who've disappeared, if they'd been archived, but he wouldn't answer."

[a-lonely-god.livejournal.com]

The Doctor closed his eyes and reached out along -it was a sign of how tired he was that he needed the visual cue to reach- his connection to Psyche, letting Cayce and Daniel's warning trickle through.

"I'm telling her," he murmured, without looking up. "John's good with that pop culture stuff, maybe he'll have an idea."

[caycep]

"Telling—? Oh. Right. Thanks." Cayce shoved her hands in her pockets and rocked back on her heels.

The dizziness wasn't as bad now. She managed to look up at the vaulting ceiling, the quietly glowing Time Rotor, the strange curves of the columns, and she started to understand a little bit of John's fondness for—

"Are they okay?"

[a-lonely-god.livejournal.com]

"So far, yeah," he answered, a little distantly. "Nothing much to report."

He opened his eyes and gave her a smile.

"They'll be alright. Everything's ready when you are, just hit that button there to activate the speakers."

[caycep]

"Okay. Thanks."

She stepped up to the console, took a deep breath, and hit the button.

"Hello everyone. This is Cayce Pollard, coming to you by way of the Doctor and his TARDIS, which, as you may have noticed, is probably one of the few things with power right now.

"First of all, let me just say that all the chaos and destruction, whatever you guys did -- it worked. It distracted the park security enough that we were able to make a hole in the vault door. Psyche, Kira, Setsuna, John, and Aeryn offered to go through first, and Adam Young is holding the door, as it were."

She paused, rubbed her hand across her eyes, and then continued.

"We think the door leads home. We're pretty sure. But we're not 100% certain how. We're, ah, we're trying to get Mickey to shed some light on it.

"In the meantime ... please, everyone stay calm and hang in there. I'll report back as soon as I know anything. And if you want to talk, come find me; I'll be in one of my usual haunts." A cough. "Thanks."

She pressed the button again, then shot an inquiring glance to the Doctor, as much to ask, that's how you turn it off, right?