SCRIPT

“I’m passed a cure. Terminal condition” (Alice, cap. 1)

“[…] while smaller you can see things that are nearly invisible to your bigger self” (Cheshire Cat, cap. 1)

“Memories must be strictly managed, Alice. Unproductive ones must be eliminated” (Dr. Bumby, cap. 1)

“My heart is open, Alice. Never closed, never locked. It needs no key” (Lizzie, cap. 1)

“Nanny, my mind’s in pieces. I still have terrible visions, and I need to know” (Alice, cap. 2)

“This unmitigated disaster is your doing. And it will get worse” (Cheshire Cat, cap. 3)

“That vaporous ledge only appears as flimsy and insubstantial as your confidence. It will hold you. Trust

me” (Caterpillar, cap. 3)

“I smoked a cigarette once, Alice. No fun at all. Next time, I’ll try a clay pipe” (Lizzie, cap. 3)

“She who saves a single soul saves the universe. Remember?” (Cheshire Cat, cap. 3)

“It’s Alice! The magnificent, the powerful, the brave, the reckless, the rash, the crazy, the imprudent” (Ants,

cap. 3)

“We’ll keep just one lamp, Alice – as a night-light – But I stays in the upstairs hall, and only till you turn

12” (Mrs. Liddel, cap. 3)

“She’s certainly ill, she imagines odd things. And she has a hero complex: an inherent desire to help others,

being unable to help herself, and a compulsion to make the world right. She’s trying to ‘unlock’ the true

meaning of her life. And she doesn’t know who has the key” (Dr. Wilson, cap. 3)

“The conflagration’s point of origin was obvious. First the library caught fire; And it spread disastrously

when the gas-line exploded” (Dr. Radcliffe, cap. 3)

“Flush the unpleasant from your mind. Reject the painful as you would the repulsive and depraved.

Forgetting is an art” (Bumby, cap. 3)

“The key, Lizzie! Open the door! You’ll burn!” (Mr. Liddel, cap. 3)

“Lovers often exchange a lock of hair to symbolize their vows. The human heart is opened by a vast

assortment of keys” (Dr. Bumby, cap. 3)

“She began to fight against the savage murderers, abusers, and defilers without quite knowing why or for

whose sake she truly fought, or how the struggle would end” (Caterpillar, cap. 3)

“CAT: If I had the time, I’d detail how often you prefer dealing with illusions rather than the real thing.

Problems you refuse to deal with don’t exist. You deny reality.

ALICE: That’s not right! I know what’s real.

CAT: No! And you allow others to tell you what isn’t real.” (cap. 3)

“Time changes us all” (Caterpillar, cap. 3)

“You and this Red Queen cannot both survive. She is a cancer in your body. Excise her or perish” (Chesire

Cat apud Alice, cap. 3)

“A locked room is a little more than a cage. A prison by another name. I despise concealment of any kind”

(Lizzie, cap. 4)

“The flames never got to her [Lizzie]” (Dr. Radcliffe, cap. 4)

“Help us, Alice! Save us, Alice! Don’t leave us alone, Alice! Don’t abandon us, Alice! Stay with us!”

(Lizzie, cap. 4)

“Once a bounder followed me into the Ladies at Waterloo Station. I had to call the attendant” (Lizzie, cap.

4)

“His hand was slimy, Alice, like an eel from the Isis. And his name won’t help! Bumby. If he ever qualifies,

his bed-side manner will require improvement” (Lizzie, cap. 4)

“I’ve set it in motion, I can derail it. This is good for me, I’m not insane! I didn’t kill my family. I am fine.

I’m not mad, I’m innocent… I… I mean, not guilty!” (Alice, cap. 4)

“The Dollmaker will deprive them of what remains of their deranged souls. They need care” (Insane Child,

cap. 5)

“You’re like them… of them, in a way; but not them. I should say not ‘us’, but I’m them, but you are on

your way. The way is clearly marked” (Insane Child, cap. 5)

“All those undergraduates waiting for a word from Papa” (Lizzie, cap. 5)

“Saving Wonderland means saving yourself” (Cheshire Cat, cap. 5)

“I’m no toy! He wanted me to do things I didn’t want to do” (Lizzie, cap. 5)

“I provide a service. In the great and awful metropolis, appetites of all sorts must be gratified” (Dollmaker,

cap. 5)

“The train is your invention, your defense. I merely set its schedule and itinerary” (Dollmaker, cap. 5)

Alice: Doctor Bumby says change is constructive, that different is good.

Cheshire: Different denotes neither bad nor good, but it certainly means not the same. Find the Hatter, Alice.

He knows more about different than you.

Alice: But does he know more about the difference between bad and good?

Cheshire: Making friends, Alice? You're as randomly lethal and entirely confused as you ever were.

Alice: I've managed without you so far, Cat. Return to whatever hovel's home to you. I'll call if I need you.

Cheshire: Predictably rash. It's not a matter of if, Alice, it's when. Now hold on, and as they say, shut up.

Alice: So typical.

DORMOUSE

Abandon false hope! Forget the past, the damage is done!

Caterpillar: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Alice: A single step of London Bridge could end my journey.

[START OF 2D CUTSCENE]

Nan Sharpe Well at least she's not spewing that asylum nonsense. "My past is dead, I killed them, I should

have saved them, I should have died!" Her mind was in shambles. Radcliffe thought familiar faces would

bring her 'round, after a year he lost interest in her inheritance, greedy sod. Still always asking his bizarre

questions, a heavy dose of madness I'd say, but honesty's never the best policy in this life. When she wasn't

comatose she'd gape with eyes like pinwheels, drooled, occasionally screeched, never uttered a sensible

sound. And like the child she was, she kept her secrets close.

Wilton Radcliffe In a huff as usual, oozing with attitude and accusatory flummery. I've "stolen" her

rabbit! Ridiculous pretext. She's here about the fire, again. All the mad child wants to talk about. My report

found her family dead by misadventure, she won't accept it, goes on and on about her killing memories, and

her need to know the truth. The alleged truth is the fire began in the library when the cat knocked over a

lamp. The blaze trapped her parents and sister upstairs. Sister Lizzie never even unlocked her door, died in

her bed. The guilty cat always sets her off, she denies it, "It makes no sense, it can't be, etcetera..." Agreed.

From the outset, Alice was my candidate for the pyromaniac. The girl has a fixation with fire. I once

remarked that I thought she might have had a larger role in causing the tragedy. She suffered some sort of

psychotic episode.

Alice: Did I rip his head off? I... wanted to... What's left of my brain will explode. Is it mad to pray for better

hallucinations? Perhaps I'm fated to expire, right here...

Alice: This bloody Ruin! It's corrupted nearly all of Wonderland!

Cheshire Cat appears.

Cheshire: Seeking refuge from the wicked world? Perhaps things only look like they've gone to hell.

Alice: You're not that good a liar, and I'm not that stupid. But something a bit less calamitous would have

been welcome.

Caterpillar: It's not only about you, Alice! Look at the destruction around you! Consider its cause. Then,

come join me.

Caterpillar: You are familiar with the saying, that "smoking stunts your growth?"

Alice: Adults assault children with that adage, usually while they've got a pipe stuck in their mouths.

Caterpillar: I won't ask you to inhale, let the smoke envelope you.

The smoke envelops Alice as she slowly shrinks.

Elder Ant: Your victories in combat and conundrums suggest your fitness to confront the challenges ahead.

Mental strength will confirm your worthiness, or declare your defeat.

Elder Ant The wicked Wasps lay siege upon us, and control the peaks to east and west, you must defeat

them to reach Caterpillar's retreat.

Alice I suppose I must go to the mountain top, as it won't come to me.

Elder Ant We have faith, that Caterpillar, the strange and wondrous, helps those in need. One day we'll

have proof! Purity of heart is to will one thing, to approach his sacred aerie, you must confront the savage
Daimyos who prevent our access to his power. I'll open the entrance to the Sacred Caves, where your

journey begins.

Alice Dinah saved my life! I survived because...

Dinah Mrow!

Alice ...She showed me how to escape!

Dinah Mao!

Alice I didn't leave the lamp in the library, and Dinah didn't knock it over! The lamp, and Dinah were

upstairs when I went to bed! Dinah was in the room with me when the fire started!

Alice I've come all this way to find a simulacrum?

Caterpillar If I had the time I'd detail how often you prefer dealing with illusions rather than the real

thing. Problems you don't refuse to deal with don't exist. You deny reality!

Alice That's not right. I know what's real.

Caterpillar No, and you allow others to tell you what isn't real. Now, come inside.

Alice My memories are shattered. This wicked train has ruined nearly all I can recall, and Wonderland will

perish completely as I lose my mind. So much has changed. I can't help Wonderland if I can't help myself.

Caterpillar Much has changed. But you've got it backwards! Save Wonderland and you may save

yourself. Carpenter was on to something, but he was hiding from the real. Your goal is to accept it!

Alice Where should I go then? What shall I do?

Caterpillar The Queen must be served, Alice. The Queen, in all her guises, must always be served.
Alice How can she stem this growing corruption or assist my search? What does she know that I don't?

Caterpillar She is someone you once knew and loved. Time, changes us all.

Alice Not all change is good.

Caterpillar Remember that, when you find the Queen.

Caterpillar [Echoing] Time, changes us all....

ALICE Lizzie hated locked rooms! Her room was further from the fire than mine! Smoke could not have

killed her, she never locked her door. And besides, she knew another way out of the house, out of the

window. Someone incapacitated or killed Lizzie, then locked her door, then took the lamp downstairs and

started the fire to cover up their crime! Their plan was to kill us all!

Alice: I was expecting someone else.

Queen of Hearts: You don't know your own mind.

Alice: It's nearly a complete stranger.

Queen of Hearts: I'd need a better reason to respond than what's currently on offer!

Alice: If you don't we're all doomed.

Queen of Hearts: Not doomed-forgotten. I may survive here, but you're finished! You see the pattern of

destruction, I know you do. The Train is trying to destroy all evidence of your past, and especially, the fire!

Now, who would want that? Who benefits from your madness?!

Alice: The destruction of Wonderland, is the destruction of me?

Queen of Hearts: Indeed! And vice-versa.

Alice: I've set it in motion, I can derail it. This is good for me. I'm not insane, I didn't kill my family. I am

fine. I'm not mad, I'm innocent. I-I mean, not guilty. What's happening? What are you doing?

Queen of Hearts: The Train must be stopped. But there's more to do. Your view conceals a tragedy. The

whole truth you claim to see eludes you because you won't look at what's around you!

Nurse Cratchet: The instruments are gruesome, but a hole in the head gives the troubles more space! Just the

thing for your stone of madness! Good for seizures too, maybe. You must be as sick of those as I am,

hearing you whinge about them!

Nurse Cratchet: Some mental conditions are relieved by bloodletting. Doctor thinks it won't be effective

against your symptoms, but I'm at the end of my tether, and these leeches need the work!

Dr. Bumby: Come now, Alice. Am I not to be as much honored and obeyed as the Queen? Is that asking too

much? I want what she wanted. Give yourself over to that. Trade the tentacles for the Train. It's altogether a

better ride. It's that, or back to Rutledge!

Pris: Never a kind word or reward for services rendered. Don't I deserve a bit of luck? Don't piss on what's

right and owing to me, I say. Brought you out of the asylum, now you go back of your own accord!

Nan Sharpe: I told your mother, dear. You were a distant and stubborn child, too content in her own world.

Young women need to leave their Wonderlands. The real world is not so wonderful. You'll need to grow up.

Perhaps some more time in care?

Wilton Radcliffe: You look decent enough, but appearances deceive. I know you for an unstable and violent

person. I can't say I'm surprised you've been incarcerated in the asylum again. A long stay under supervision

would serve you right.

Alice I had a role in my family's demise, but I did not start the fire. Centaurs don't live in Oxford, but a

certain Doctor did. I saw him, a preening undergraduate. Now I remember him! That key belongs to Lizzie's

room!

Alice Am I not the most wretched and selfish of fortune's fools? Oblivious, I live in a training ground for

prostitutes; my mentor is an abuser and purveyor; I've been complicit with my sister's murderer, and the

killer of my family, as he corrupted my mind! I sought relief from my pain and you turned me away from

the truth!

Dollmaker: You were almost there, almost free from what you fear. You could have been cured. You could

have forgotten.

Alice: Abandon the memory of my family!

Dollmaker: They are dead, and you should be too.

Alice You misbegotten abomination... murderer! You blood sucking parasite! The damage you've done to

children... The abuse!

Dollmaker I provide a service, in the great and awful metropolis, appetites of all sorts must be gratified.

Alice My family, my mind, the Infernal Train!

Dollmaker The Train is your invention, your defense. I merely set its schedule and itinerary.

"The train is coming with its shiny cars

With comfy seats and wheels of stars

So hush my little ones have no fear

The man in the moon is the engineer"

Alice I'll stop that Train, if it's the last thing I do!

Dollmaker As you wish, it will be. You're lost. And where your body is your mind will follow, perhaps

it's already there.

Alice You oozing sore of depravity... children wearing their names around their necks, as if they're

breeding livestock!

Dr. Bumby A declaration of their pedigree. You could use one, they're proud to display their provenance.

Hahaha!

Alice You brute! They can't remember who they are or where they're from. How many minds have you

twisted into forgetfulness?

Dr. Bumby Not enough. Yours would have been a triumph. Still, you're an insane wreck. My work is

done.

Alice You've used me, and abused me, but you will not destroy me!

Dr. Bumby No? The damage is done. The old Alice and her Wonderland retreat are demolished. You

can't even recognize what's happened, and you're powerless to change it or move against me. I've made

certain of that.

Caterpillar Come to receive your punishment then?

Alice I know I'm guilty of something, but punishment never suits the victims of the crime.

Caterpillar Abuse is a crime the strong visit on the weak. And you're right, Abusers are insufficiently

punished for the damage they do. Those who witness abuse without seeking retribution for the harmed, pay

a penalty. Your own pain mitigates your failure to act earlier, but you may not have paid enough for

witnessing the pain of others!

Alice You corrupted my memories, but you failed to make me forget.

Dr. Bumby I could've made you into a tasty bit. Clients out the door waiting for a piece from a raving

delusional beauty, with no memory of the past, or no sense of the future. But you wouldn't forget; you

insisted on holding on to your fantasies. You're mad. Like your sister.

Alice Don't you speak of her! You didn't know her...

Dr. Bumby Your sister was a tease. Pretended to despise me. She got what she wanted... in the end.

Alice I'll see you charged. In prison, some half-wit bruiser will make you his sweetheart... and then you'll

hang!

Dr. Bumby Indeed? A hysterical woman, former lunatic, roaring outrageous accusations against a

respectable social architect and scientist. My god, Alice, who would believe you? I scarcely believe it

myself.

Alice You monstrous creature! Such evil, will be punished!

Dr. Bumby By whom? By what? Psychotic, silly bitch. Your madness will be punished. Now leave. I'm

expecting your replacement.

Alice shoves Bumby into oncoming train after taking back Lizzie's key and changing into her Wonderland

form. Alice slowly walks out of the train station and sees that Moorfields Street had changed drastically.

Alice walks down the street as the camera pans out to show Londerland.
Cheshire Ah, Alice, we can't go home again. No surprise, really. Only a very few find the way; and

most of them don't recognize it when they do. Delusions, too, die hard. Only the savage regard the

endurance of pain as the measure of worth. Forgetting pain is convenient. Remembering it, agonizing. But

recovering the truth is worth the suffering. And our Wonderland, though damaged, is safe in memory... for

now.