A century ago: Room 14
A century ago: Room 14, the Radcliffe Asylum,
T he March Hare had just arrived back from the Mush Room. He was tired and confused and thirsty as usual. The cap on his head had been installed a few back, and they promised him they would not take it off. It hurt and itched and made him feel uncomfortable, but it made their job easier. Every time they needed to torture the truth out of him, they didn’t need to install the system all over again.
And they had planned to torture him many times, especially since Black Chess had secretly acquired the asylum. Tom Truckle didn’t know it, though. He was just a messed up director trying to make a living. As long as he was paid well, he did whatever they asked of him.
The March leaned on the chair. The room was dark, the way he liked it. The so-called shock therapy made him not know who he was sometimes. Just flickers of a memory of a place called Wonderland attacked him sometimes. All he knew was that he supposedly had been told the whereabouts of the Six Keys.
Lewis must have told him years ago. But the March had forgotten.
Years ago, he still remembered Lewis’ secret. He swore not to tell anyone, so he never did. Even when they caught him in the real world and shocked him daily in the Mush Room, he kept his mouth shut. A secret was a secret.
But then the repeated shock therapy made him forget again.
The irony.
Now he was being tortured for something he’d forgotten from torturing itself.
Double irony.
Tonight, however, someone entered his cell. Not Waltraud. Not any other warden. This was someone in a hood. Someone who wasn’t going to show his face.
“How are you, March?” the someone said.
“I want to go back to Wonderland,” the March wept. “I want to meet the Hatter again.”
“You will someday,” the someone said. “But not now.”
“Why? I don’t remember where the Six Keys are anymore.”
“That’s why I am here,” the someone said. “The Six Keys are nearer to you than anyone would have ever imagined.”
“That couldn’t be,” the March said. “Where would they be. The room is empty all around. They’d have found them if they were near.”
“Have you ever heard of Closer Blind?” the someone said.
“Nah.”
“It’s a Wonderland scientist who once discovered a great secret,” the someone said. “Closer discovered that the closer and more obvious a secret is, the harder it becomes for humans to figure out.”
The March blinked.
“Let me explain,” the someone said. “Humans tend to complicate things. They have theories and tactics and all kinds of studies, trying to figure things out. Life is much easier, and the truth is much closer. So what Closer Blind meant was that, in slang terms, the best place to hide a leaf was always a forest.”
“I don’t see a forest nearby.”
The someone smiled. “No, there isn’t, March, but the Keys are just right above your head.”
The March looked up, squinted against the dark. “You mean the ceiling?”
“I mean your head.”
“I don’t understand.”
The someone slowly touched the March’s head. The March bowed it and let the someone touch the cap made for the electric prods, “Vicious machine, isn’t it?”
“It hurts,” the March says. “Can you help me take it off?”
“I wouldn’t do that,” the someone said. “You see this cap has screws.”
“I know,” the March said. “Six of them.”
The someone tilted his head, a smirk showing through.
The March’s eyes dilated, “You mean…?”
“Six Screws,” the someone whispered. “Hold this cap. Six Keys to open your mind.”
The March couldn’t believe it, “You mean…?”
“Yes,” the someone nodded. “The Six Keys are in the cap in your head. They can’t be removed because now they’ve been tightened so much that taking them off will hinder your mortality.”
“That’s incredible.”
“Black Chess will be using them as prods every day,” the someone said. “For centuries, without knowing that what they are looking for is right under their noses.”
“I have to wear it that long?”
“I’m sorry but yes,” the someone said. “You will also forget everything I told you once I leave this room.”
“How will I remember then?”
“When the times comes.”
“When is that?”
“When you see the mushrooms.”
“And?”
“The Keys will glow on their own when you see the mushrooms,” the some said. “They will glow in numbers. It will be easy for anyone to know how to screw them the right way. I mean to turn the keys in the right order.”
“And then? What will happen?”
“Your mind will be free, March,” the some said. “And when it’s free you will know exactly what to do to protect the children of the world.”
“I will.”
“You will find something that will tell you how to save the children, the most precious thing from Mr. Jay.”
“You think so?” the March giggled. “I can save the children of the world?”
“Yes?”
“Will I be able to play with them?”
The someone smiled, “All of them, March. All of them. They will love you dearly.”
“I guess I can happily fry in the Mush Room now,” the March said.
“I guess so,” the someone patted him and left. “Soon they will take you to the Hold. So hold on, my friend.”