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Half a year was longer than Mimsy had been hoping for, but it was useful information, even if it was no longer as exciting as she'd thought. Fortunately for Otto, however, the statements he made to inform her of his confusion were very familiar - and she had no difficulty registering that the use of 'fancy' here meant that she had become unintelligible at some point.

"I apologize." She offered a partial, practiced smile as penance, and fished a pen and pocket moleskine from her coat, opposite the side where she apparently kept her stock of candy. "This can be a difficult concept, even for other physicists to comprehend, so please do not feel concerned if it is at all troublesome to process. It may not, ah...'click' for you today, but you are welcome to raise any questions that you might have."

With that preface, she drew three parallel lines on an empty page, then tilted it towards him.

"Suppose that each world that you encounter within a dream is its own universe. There is no singular 'dream land': they are multiple threads, or strings, of existence, each its own dimension. They do not typically interact." She paused to label the center line with 'control', and the line to its right with 'Wonderland'. "The control universe is this one - unless you believe your primary existence is elsewhere. In that case, please substitute your reality here."

The pen bled onto the page as she left it waiting there to glance up at him, just in case he gave any indication that he had some other reality in mind.

"Of course, we know of Wonderland's existence because we experienced it. This means that our universes collided, just long enough to allow for this experience." She began to extend the lines on the page until they crossed, then indicated that they continued infinitely onwards by adding a tiny arrow to each of them. "We can safely assume that this third universe exists, but we have not yet experienced it, so it has not yet collided with ours. Does this make sense? I will add ALICE into the model, if so."

A sigh of relief, though scarcely audible, was Mimsy's only response to his confirmation. As certain as she felt, it was always nice to receive validation for the more important points.

"Well...I will allow you to decide." She retrieved a blue pen, and began to draw in the small notebook again as she spoke, but made no immediate motion to show it to him. "I consider Halloween to be encompassed by...er--to be part of this universe, due to the ease of interaction between our separate worlds, and the fact that their energy is directly connected to us. Much like the moon, for instance, is accessible by specific individuals, and is known to exist to most others in less intimate ways. We have walked on its surface and seen it in great detail, yet the vast majority of civilians know it only for its reflection."

The comparison had been so effortless that it surpassed her attempts to suppress any thoughts of ALICE and the cosmos together; she cleared her throat and simply pretended that she didn't feel ill.

"Now. ALICE--she--" Teeth clenched, she opted to show him the page before continuing. Between each of the three lines was a veritable web of connections, dozens and dozens of blue threads attaching each of the three universe together at once. "I do not know if she originated in Wonderland, or if her power can be attributed to something prior, but she is 'bigger', yes. The blue segments illustrate ALICE's doing. She is capable of creating connections to other universes via dreams, which I suspect may be her domain in itself, and she may be capable of creating new universes themselves. She once showed me the threads that she can access, each attached to separate entities, so I believe that these threads have some importance. In any case, the threads are precisely how she is capable of encouraging interaction between multiple universes, as you said. I do not quite comprehend how this functions, and I am desperate to understand, which is in part why I hope to speak to her again."

She continued to hold the illustration towards him as steadily as she could, but couldn't prevent her hand from shaking.

"Are you relatively comfortable with this thus far?" An owlish blink was magnified by her thick glasses. "Or is there more foundational information that would be required before I explain the significance of the key she has entrusted you with?"

Each confirmation that she had not yet lost him was a bit more encouraging, and Mimsy seemed to calm a bit as she soaked in the pride of knowing that he was comprehending it. Had no one taken the time to do this for him before? Was the lack of satisfactory information why her memories of him were riddled with disappointment?

"Wonderful," she praised him, mirroring his excitement. Now that she knew she could comfortably move along, she withdrew the notebook and flipped to a vacant page, where she began to draw several varied outlines.

"So...with the exception of ALICE's capabilities - or the interference of a similarly powerful individual, perhaps - nothing physically crosses these dimensions. As you noted, they remain separate, and do not continue interacting. This is why I refer to our time in these universes as 'experiences'. It is akin to accessing a virtual reality. The experience can seem very real, but we remain physically elsewhere. Asleep, typically. Generally speaking, the only danger one faces when experiencing other universes is...ah...well. The risk of a comatose state, if one does not wake with the rest of us."

She took a deep breath and continued drawing in silence for a moment.

"But she chose you. You did wake, and discovered something extraordinary. She provided you with an anomaly, something that should not otherwise exist." A bittersweet smile curled on one corner of her lips. "Do you understand thus far?"

"I do not know," Mimsy breathed out, exhaling empty air through her teeth when she ran out of words. "I know that ALICE is the factor of importance. Without her, or the power of an Ancient, I am not entirely certain that this would be plausible."

After a few final details, she turned the notebook back towards him again, hoping that the additional context might help.

"I think that the fact that it is a key specifically may be of note. She required the white key to open this door." She tapped the page with the tip of the pen, pointing towards a dark door with disconcerting tendrils sprouting from it in every direction, spreading outward from a single eye in its center. "This door led to the room filled with our memory-filled vessels, of course. There was a second door, resembling this..."

The pen tapped against the second door on the page, which was far more innocuous: lightly decorated and marked with an 'A'.

"This door did not require a key, to my knowledge. This seems to indicate a particular focus on the white key, and the function of the door it unlocked...though it is not unreasonable to think that it may have been a master key of sorts. Thematically, however, this key, the doors, and threads or strings all appear to correlate with ALICE in some way."

Each of these were listed beneath her illustrations of the doors as well - the only thing she hadn't read was some sort of footnote, written in what appeared to be an indecipherable string of letters. The only legible text read 'Alice?', but she made no indication that it was relevant.

How strange his reaction was, Mimsy thought, for someone who had just learned a great deal of information. It left her puzzled, expression one of nominal concern towards him as she tried to determine where she might have failed.

"It has proven, albeit in another universe, that its function is to open a door of paramount importance, of course." But while opening that door had meant survival, she was not so certain that she wanted to repeat that scenario. She was happy again.

As she considered the potential repercussions of such an event, she idly retracted and extended the pen with a rhythmic click click click.

"My theory as to the transition of the key from external to internal is that it is made of something not unlike FEAR, and that it is through your bond that you are capable of 'holding' it in this sense. I do find it intriguing that you have been weakened as a result, rather than strengthened. I am curious if you are physically weaker here because you have a stronger connection to another universe than the rest of us." The clicking stopped, and she stared in the direction of his hand with envy and grand admiration. "Do...you feel that this might be the case? And is it the strength of your FEAR bond itself, or emotional bond that has faltered? Was it through Tenya that you were made aware of this, or have you been studied in some capacity?"

She sorely hoped it was Tenya.

"Regardless...ALICE chose you. She has the capability to reach into realms that we cannot even comprehend, the access to select from an infinite amount of living beings, and it is to you that this key has been entrusted." Her head tilted slightly to one side as she carefully studied his face, eyes narrowing in thought. "That speaks of incredible merit, Otto, and nothing less. It is not by fortune, or by destiny. Technical details notwithstanding, the key is inside your hand because you are you."

It took extensive effort to not take offense to the statement that he had not let anyone of science near the key, despite assuming that this was an exception, but Mimsy expended it for the sake of everyone present.

"You were right to be afraid." She looked serious, lips pressed together, stare reverting to an unsettling intensity. "Please do not inform anyone that you do not explicitly trust. I will do further research, but will not share this data with my peers either. If you do inform them, and they allow you to keep it, your safety would be of grave concern."

And it might have been now too, had she not crossed directly into shock at his final implication. Horrified, she stiffened and stared at him, waiting for any indication that this was a joke.

Nothing about his appearance indicated that this was a joke.

"Otto," she choked out, his name barely slipping through the cracks of her fingers as she pressed her hand over her mouth. "She would never! Each of her actions that were questioned by others in Wonderland were ultimately for our benefit. And when she has unintentionally hurt us by showing...by giving--well, she is not at fault if what we desire is painful to experience or witness. Her intentions are good. She has wanted nothing but our happiness and success. If this does aid her in some capacity, it is to aid you in an even greater sense!"

The hand slipped away from her face as she noted a decline in Otto's appearance, namely surrounding the subject of ALICE. Mimsy began to fidget too, picking awkwardly at one corner of her notebook with her thumbnail.

"I last spoke to her directly shortly after the widespread experience of Wonderland, but my brother has relayed some information and the assurance of her well-being since then." Her comatose brother. Immediately realizing her error, she hurriedly progressed the subject along. "I have been concerned for her health, so to speak. Her capabilities in regards to the vast expanse of accessible universes is of immeasurable importance to me, and I fear that I may never obtain an enlightened understanding if she no longer exists. This ties directly into what I devoted the latter portion of my life to studying - I hope that I am properly expressing the gravity of this."

Even if she was, she couldn't have any amount of certainty that he cared. He had never been the first to sympathize with her, and she had given him no reason.

"Why do you ask?" There was a rising panic clearly evident in her eyes, with no remaining strength to hide it.