Following the previous events, little Aliss jumped into a rabbit-paw–shaped hole, while a certain Oz followed her, wearing a black rabbit-head mask that completely covered his face.
An instant. A single instant. And she felt the world change all around her. All points of reference vanished. She fell into something that could only be compared to the void. She was suspended, without bearings: no up or down, no right or left. Just a simple, inevitable, continuous descent. Yet she did not panic. I would even go so far as to say that she felt joy 😊 at the sight.
Beneath the mist, pillars that seemed to be made of wood rose up, as if welcoming their guest. Seeing this reception, she accepted it and landed in perfect balance atop one of the pillars.
She found herself standing on the pillar, the surrounding void seeming to wait for the slightest mistake to swallow her whole. And yet, the little rabbit Oz, in his small gray jacket, stood on her shoulders as if he had always been there.
Oz spoke with a knowing smile:
— Welcome to Wonderland, very dear administrator.
To which little Aliss did not respond.
— Oh! Yeah, yeah—now open the hat, or I'll do it myself. We're all administrators here.
Oz showed a hint of disappointment 😞.
— Okay… you're in such a hurry. Does that jewel interest you that much?
Aliss still did not react. She did not answer either. Faced with the sulking rabbit, Oz nevertheless threw his hat forward. It expanded until it reached Aliss's size, then stopped, forming a portal into which she stepped without hesitation.
As she entered the hat, everything turned black for an instant—then she found the light again.
She found herself on what looked like a bridge, a passage leading toward the center of a circular building. But she immediately passed through a door just behind her, set into the wall, which led her into a corridor that seemed to run along the perimeter of the circular structure.
Aliss, slightly irritated, spoke:
— Oz! You did this… You really sent me to the wrong floor. Just you wait.
— Hey! Take me to the right one, now.
The motionless corridor then seemed to rise on its own, obeying the administrator's orders.
At a certain height, it stopped and allowed Aliss to enter a new room—one that clearly seemed to be the one she wanted. A new circular chamber appeared, smaller, with silvery walls and a perfectly smooth black floor.
She walked slowly toward Oz, who seemed surprised to see her.
— Oh! Aliss, where did you go? I was worried when I didn't see you arrive.
But Aliss did not answer. She did not react until she came close to him, passed him completely, and then spoke in a serious, heavy voice, her piercing gaze fixed on Oz:
— I know perfectly well it was you. You did it on purpose. It's just that now I can prove it.
After that, the two of them walked straight toward a door. But before entering, Aliss changed her school uniform for a new outfit.
She now wore a high-collared top with short, outlined sleeves. A dark band of fabric crossed her torso, forming a crescent moon.
They then entered a second room, also circular, but far larger than the previous one. A great number of screens were arranged throughout it, and straight ahead stood the largest screen of all, shaped like a rabbit's paw.
Upon entering, Oz began to speak:
— First. Today, you have come to further conquer Wonderland—this fragmented world whose fragments you must all possess to become its true queen.
— You already possess the rabbit's burrow thanks to the hat. Now you are aiming to conquer the palace. But to do so, you need the crown of its fallen mistress. To assemble the crown, you need the jewels that compose it.
— You wish to claim a lost treasure, but its traces still remain. This is your chance. It is time for you to take the first jewel on the list. Are you completely ready… all by yourself?
Aliss replied without particular emotion, but with absolute confidence:
— I don't need the others who wear the mask.
Oz remained skeptical, but accepted letting her proceed as she wished to continue:
— Very well. But there's still a problem. It's in a museum. A museum in a small village.
— You'll understand that difficulty isn't the issue—but we should avoid giving good ideas to those watching us, those who are not our allies.
— Stealing in a place like that won't be easy. You can't wear that mask. It could plant harmful ideas in their minds—ideas dangerous for us, for our organization. You're not the only one who wears a mask.
— You won't disguise yourself. No. You'll return to your former activities. That's the safest method.
Aliss was immediately taken aback. She trembled, shivered slightly, and began to stammer. Her cold expression froze in place.
— No. Send someone else.
Oz grew insistent:
— I know what you're afraid of—that they'll take you back to their home. But that won't happen.
— In fact, they're surprisingly respectful of family privacy. If you take on that identity again, they might try to reclaim you, but that's all. And if you manage to escape them, they won't continue the hunt.
— Your two parents will almost certainly never take part. Unofficially, they decide everything—but officially, they must keep their affairs running, just like those at the very top, who handle administration and their many businesses across countless fields.
— And besides, before they even have time to identify you, you'll have finished this little job and be far ahead already.
Aliss, wearing the same expression but now calmer, replied:
— All right. But only because it's you. Even though you know that in a city, I would have been finished.
She raised her head toward the sky.
— But maybe… just maybe, with a bit of luck, our timing won't be bad. Otherwise, things will spiral out of control very, very fast.
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