Wonderland - Jags

I stood in the room as Christina lowered herself into the bubbling pool. Behind me was Dr. Perrin and four
armed security agents. Before me, Christina met my eyes as she sank into the churning water of the Hydro-
Therapy Tank. Her look was almost alluring. She had a cat-like smile. Doctor Perrin spoke.
“Christina will use a trance-state,” he said—she was already chanting softly—“to induce a mild Episode. We
are testing your reaction.”
I could hear her words—rhythmic nonsense syllables over and over, whispered into the water. I felt gooseflesh
on my neck and arms.
“The results should be minimal and transitory but a CAT scan conducted after the exposure will—“
The chanting was louder now—but her lips had stopped moving. The voices were coming from the bursting
bubbles in the water itself. Christina was looking down.
“And we will—“ Dr. Perrin was still going on—like he couldn’t hear. Maybe he couldn’t. Maybe only I could.
“Doctor?” Christina’s voice was high-pitched with alarm. “Doctor, something’s wrong—we’re too heavy—
I’m—“ I could hear the panic—“I’m slipping.”
Then she just went down, straight down, into the water. I could feel it in the air, like an invisible funnel—like
one of those three-dimensional representations of a black hole—a flowing of reality past me, through me, and
including me. The impression of the drain before me became larger and stronger. I felt the urge to run less than
a second before it overwhelmed me.
Nothing changed—nothing moved—but around me, the four guards and Dr. Perrin were simply gone. The
therapy tank churned and water bubbled over the sides. I felt tremors in the floor: I knew that whatever it looked
like, I was no longer in the therapy room. I was no longer in the world I knew.
Infection
Infection to Wonderland happens through exposure of the person to an
Impossible Thing. This most clearly happens when there is an actual
Bleed or “crack” in reality and Wonderland can come through. If a
person is there and aware when something Impossible is happening
they can be Infected. Fortunately these bleeds are fairly rare. Far more
common is an encounter with other Infected people who are undergoing
Descent (having an Episode).
Usually these people are not contagious: an encounter with a person
having an Episode usually just seems like a meeting with someone who
is, to some degree, schizophrenic. However, under some (thankfully rare)
conditions it is possible to be exposed by another person. Usually this
happens when they undergo deep, catastrophic descent and you are there:
it’s rare, but there may be an actual effect (a micro-bleed) on Chessboard
Zero.
There are several other ways to get Infected. Certain mind-expanding rituals
can do it. There are some techniques by which it is believed one can
be Infected by listening to certain music or taking psychotropic drugs.
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Deeper Mysteries - Overview