It Had to Be You, Log 1/??? [Audio]

[libraritology]

Hello?

[The audio crackles, buzzes into the correct tuning, and there's the click of a dial. A distinctive, very proper, English voice speaks over the comm unit. At least she's familiar with radio enough to manage this much.]

Is anyone there? This is...my name is Evelyn Carnahan, and this is not Cairo or Hamunaptra.

[A pause.]

I don't know where I am, and I was right in the middle of something very important, and this is exceedingly inconvenient. If someone could-

[Rustling noises.]

-if someone could please tell me what's going on, I need to find my brother, Jonathan, and our guide, Rick, as I was in the midst of an expedition, thank you, I'm in...I think it's a foyer.



...anyone?

[For those interested in seeing Evelyn in person, seeing as the last thing she can remember was falling into a river off of a boat, she's wearing a soaking wet nightgown. This. This will not stand. This is scandalous.]

Comments

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

[Evelyn is unsure as to whether or not "in-dated" is a reference to chivalry and etiquette or the dress, but regardless, it was very nice of him.

The garment seems fitting for the 1830s and '40s, perhaps, but certainly not for 1926. That's just ridiculous. The door clicks shut behind Mr. Daniel LaRouge, and Evelyn moves behind a changing screen.

When she emerges from the room five-or-so minutes later, she looks more presentable (http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x408/dashboardlite/ariane179254_TheMummy_0829_Chapter03_TheKeyToHamunaptra.jpg) and is more comfortable; hair still damp, but pinned up.]

Much better. Thank you for showing me to the wardrobe.

[Although everything he's done so far begs the question:]

Someone was telling me about all sorts of dimensions and things, and that everyone here is from a different time. Is that correct?

[blimeyjamwalls.livejournal.com]

[ ...man those clothes are weird. ]

It was no trouble.

...You know of that already? [ Oh man, that makes things a lot easier. ] I admit: that's something of a relief. If I were to broach the idea, I would have been worried that you'd think me mad.

[ Totally convincing laugh? Haha why would anyone ever think him mad though, what an idea. ]

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

[Her clothes are weird? Take a look in the mirror, my good man.]

Believe me, Mr. LaRouge, I've heard plenty of strange things before - this wouldn't be the first, despite it being the most odd.

[Seating herself primly in one of the parlour's many chairs and folding her hands in her lap, Evelyn addresses the subject in a more toward manner.]

That being the case, I suppose it would be beneficial to know what year you're from.

[You first, sir.]

[blimeyjamwalls.livejournal.com]

[ Some time when women weren't quite so ready to be forceful, though thankfully that's something else that Wonderland's gotten him a little more used to than he was.

...He can't help but wonder what strange things she's seen plenty of. Perhaps he'll even ask at some point, though looking at his relationship with Philip we wouldn't put any bets on it. ]

For my part...

[ He sits on another chair opposite Evie, free to look at her directly now that she's fully clothed. ]

The nineteenth of August, eighteen thirty-nine.

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

[How strangely specific. Not that she can talk - she came exactly today in her own time, and it corresponds with whatever time is here. There's no way she could ever forget that. But...1839.]

Oh, my. You are from rather far away, aren't you?

[Evelyn gives him an apologetic look, because things have definitely changed since the early 1800s. It must have been much harder for him upon arriving here.]

Today is - was - July fourteenth, nineteen twenty-six, for me.

[Now that that bombshell has been dropped...]

Where are you from, if you don't mind my asking?

[blimeyjamwalls.livejournal.com]

Rather far, yes. At least from most others here.

[ He tries to sound chipper about it, or at least as though it isn't rather isolating. Thank goodness for people like Philip and Dean.

A flash of a smile. ]

It's a little like seeing into the future.

Ah... I lived in Mayfair, London. What of you, Miss Carnahan?

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

My profession tends to lend itself more towards the past, but that's an interesting suggestion.

[Seeing into the future? Perhaps she ought to look at it from that perspective.]

I grew up in Oxfordshire, actually. My father owned an estate there. He was a very famous archaeologist.

[Evelyn smiles at this, because she actually hasn't talked about her parents in quite some time.]

[blimeyjamwalls.livejournal.com]

An archaeologist?

[ INTEREST: PIQUED. ]

What was his field of specialty?

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

[By showing interest, Daniel has now doomed himself to having conversation with an avid lover of archaeology.]

Egypt, mostly. He was a remarkable adventurer. It's where I was before coming here, actually. Our boat was a few hours' travel south of Cairo, upriver.

[And she only sounds a little put out when she says:]

It was my very first expedition.

[blimeyjamwalls.livejournal.com]

You have an interest in the field too?

[ If she was a dude it would be 'you work in the field too', but you know how it is. ]

Why, some months ago I helped to oversee the excavation of a fourth-century tomb in Africa.

[ He even remembers some of it! ]

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

[Oh, you men and your silly, out-dated ways of thinking about women's rights.]

Yes, I'm an Egyptologist myself.

[The smile returns.]

A fourth-century tomb? Where in Africa?

[Oh my goodness this is so exciting she has to lean in closer.]

[blimeyjamwalls.livejournal.com]

Algeria. The fighting there made it something of a risk; but I suppose Herbert, whose expedition it was, thought the find worth the danger.

[ A little from recovered memory. Most of it from careful study of his own diaries. It feels strange to speak of Herbert - he can tell they were friends once, but now the man seems as much a stranger as a character in a story Daniel's only half-read.

Daniel falls silent, suddenly wishing he hadn't brought the subject up. ]

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

[Oh, no. Oh no, did she bring up the wrong sort of conversation topic? He seemed all for it, and now...

A distraction. Yes, one was certainly in order.]

You know, our expedition wasn't going to be a walk in the park, either. The whole reason I was thrown into the Nile was because a group of men in black attacked us for the map to our destination.

[blimeyjamwalls.livejournal.com]

[ ...okay, that sounds interestingly ominous. Bet it was more of a cakewalk than HIS expedition. ]

What on Earth was so valuable as to cause that?

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure. They weren't the usual Bedouin people - they had tattoos on their faces, symbols of...well, my most educated guess would be the Medjai.

[But they haven't existed for thousands of years, so that simply doesn't make sense.]

We were heading towards Hamunaptra, though, which might have had something to do with it. It's the City of the- Oh!

[Oh. The puzzle box. She had taken it from Jonathan while they were flailing about in the river. She'd slipped it into one of these pockets...there!]

They might have been after this.

[Evelyn pulls the box (http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x408/dashboardlite/ariane179254_TheMummy_0766_Chapter03_TheKeyToHamunaptra.jpg) out, holding it up to the light.]

[blimeyjamwalls.livejournal.com]

[ These names, he really really wishes they meant anything to him.

The box would probably be more ominous if he knew that it was a mysterious artefact rather than just Evie's jewellery case. He peers at it with interest, though. It looks super old. And the lid is all fancy. ]

The box itself, or its contents?

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

Well, when the men boarded our ship, they asked for the map that I had found contained within it.

[Fingers searching over the little box, waiting for a part of it to give, she explains.]

Our guide found it - the box with the map - in the City of the Dead, which is where we were headed. They said they wanted the map and the key. But...we never had any sort of key.

[With a little SNAP, the box lid flips open (http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x408/dashboardlite/ariane179254_TheMummy_0775_Chapter03_TheKeyToHamunaptra.jpg). It's empty, but still important as artefacts go. She holds it out to Daniel for him to take.]

[blimeyjamwalls.livejournal.com]

[ He reaches out for it, but then draws his hand back slightly before it touches the box. All of this sounds a bit mysterious, and he's had nothing but bad experiences with mysterious things found in ancient places of death. ]

Er--

[ Then again, he doesn't want to look like a pussy in front of a nice young lady. And horrible shadowy doom clearly hasn't befallen her since she found it yet. He carefully takes the box, and turns it around, examining it. ]

...What was your guide able to deduce of its origins?

[libraritology.livejournal.com]

Very little, I'm afraid. He's a rather uncouth man, and couldn't tell us more aside from the location he'd found it in.

[Cue explorer sigh.]

All is not lost, of course, because he knows the way there, and I'm sure we'll find plenty of artefacts upon arriving, but it's still somewhat disappointing.