"Oh, thank-you!" Kai called to Delia, as the host went about to check if everyone was comfortable and left Kai in the main hall. She smelled some wonderful aromas coming from the dining hall. She skirted her way around all the guests in the mansion and slipped into a chair at the dining table that would allow her to get a good view of everyone. The feast was being laid out, and the party was trickling from the corners of the mansion to the table. Kai had learned English as part of her studies, so she attempted some conversation at the table, but the food was of such extraordinarily excellent quality that she found talking to be of secondary importance. There was a little cat-looking thing slipping cards into people's pockets, a warm family, and an important-looking woman who was making boisterous conversation with everyone around her.
There was a slient auction, the nature of which one of Kai's neighbors at the table explained. She wondered why, if it was silent, everyone was still talking? She had even won a pair of rubber duckies, which she planned to hang from the ceiling of her machine. They would commemorate this night, reflecting the strange nature of this town.

Suddenly, while Kai was getting a tour of the Ditto Mansion with other guests, there was a great tremor. The lights went out, but Kai grasped onto something, holding the compass tight in her pocket. Someone gave her a candle. She heard some commotion over the nature of the candle, so she blew it out and used the torch on her compass instead.
Now that she had some light, she stopped to consider that tremor. It had felt strange. Usually she would measure such events, but her instrument for doing so was in her machine. Alloysville was built on a large man-made orb, immune to any kinds of faults... was that what she read about in the library back home, those things called earthquakes?
Kai was interrupted from her thoughts by a momentary flickering of her compass torch. She realized that the battery would probably best be saved. She pulled her candle out of her pocket and looked around for an illumined candle to borrow light from. She saw a girl who was looking around for nothing in particular by someone whose candle she was lighting. The woman holding the candle was looking at disdain at the instrument in her hands.
"Excuse me, can someone explain what that shake was? I'm not sure... well, I've never experienced anything like it, where I'm from."

"If we're quiet, we might see a ghost," Delia replied, winking at Neal. "And if you're really lucky, I might teach you how to catch it."

A youngish man with a buzz cut interrupted their planning, however, so Delia looked up at him and grinned.

"Staying inside, well, what's the fun in that?" she replied saucily. "Good thing to see we have a PD officer around, though. Maybe you could calm everyone down and direct them to take a seat and mind their manners? Oh, and make sure none of them go running off. You know, safety and stuff. Maybe Vegan Lady will quit caterwauling if someone with a badge tells her to sit down and stuff it, because she clearly won't listen to anyone else. If there's any traffic problems, I'll be sure to let you know. "

"Do take care not to let that dreadful beeswax drip on my shoes, Lisette," said Cynthia, narrowing her eyes at the dreadful illumination device. "They are very expensive and 100% vegan. Who is in charge around here? I find the humor of some of these guests to be most barbaric."

A girl came up to them, holding another one of those awful candles. "Excuse me," she said, "Can someone explain what that shake was? I'm not sure... well, I've never experienced anything like it, where I'm from."

"I suppose you haven't been in Ditto Town for very long?" Cynthia responded, making sure that there was a minimum of two feet between herself and the beeswax candles at all times. "There always seems to be something shaking things up around here. Overdom wars, intergalactic battles, angry beavers... always something! It is simply dreadful for my nerves.

"While I am not certain, however, I am inclined to think that the recent tremor was an earthquake. You can never know for sure, though. I just hope it wasn't some sort of animal stampede."

Cynthia shuddered.

"But who are you? You seem vaguely familiar. Your eyes look as though they belonged to the Steele clan."

" "Slow down there fedora fella, that's how people get killed 'round these parts." Jeff said, flashing a bright smile as he approached the impressive looking duo. "

"Great, a cowboy-type..." Neal muttered under his breath as the young man approached. As usual, the DTPD officer was planning on following the law "by the book" which typically gave mixed results and were never as much fun as the "rogue" approach.

After listening to Delia's snark filled reply, Decker took a step forward placing himself slightly in-between the woman and young officer. "So, shall we continue to the outside world... if it exists anymore?"

"I'm not much good in a traffic jam, but I'll see what I can do about crowd control. You kids have run off and have fun now, you hear?" Jeff fired back, fighting snark with more snark. Still, he was used to taking orders from arrogant civilians and simply did as he was told and made his way towards the middle of the crowd, grabbing a candle on the way there. Upon arriving at his intended destination, Jeff hopped up on a chair and began to speak.

"Excuse me!" He said in a voice loud enough to be heard over the din of the crowd, but not one that could be considered yelling. Once everyone had finally quieted down, he began to speak.

"Hello everyone! My name is Jeff Evans, I'm an officer of the DTPD and I've been asked to advise y'all of some safety announcements. At this very moment, your hostess is working to restore power to the building. Until that time we are asking you to sit tight and remain calm. I'd personally like to apologize for the distinct lack of vegan illumination devices, an oversight that shall be righted in the future. On a final note, if you could return your candles to their respective resting places, the DTFC would be most appreciative. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask. Thank you."

Mr. Quigley Earnest Dint discovered the horse in the conservatory amidst shattered pottery - irritable, but relatively unharmed for all the crashing she had done.

Mr. Quigley Earnest Dint rejoined the party for a delectable dinner. The music was splendid, and he had just made up his mind to seek out a dance partner when the lights went out.

"Is everyone alright?" said Mr. Quigley Earnest Dint, moving toward the candlelight. He beckoned toward a particularly dark spot which indicated an open door. "Coming, Milady?"

"Aw, he thinks we're little tweens," Delia said as Jeff bounded off. "Cops are so cute when they think they know what they're doing. Let's go."

Delia took a quick look around the room and, seeing people settling down, she moved out of the main hall into the front entry way. There was broken glass all through the entry, but both of them were wearing boots, so it did not bother them. Delia paused, her hand on the door, and looked over at Neal.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Aye, charming as always..." Neal said as he watched Jeff fall into the typical cop routine as soon as he had an audience. A long line of past experiences had led the Darkling to a not-so popular opinion of cops and law officials in general. He mostly viewed them as bumbling and highly misinformed, though occasionally a good one would turn up.

Jeff did not strike Neal as one of the good ones.

Quickly adjusting his gloves and black fedora, Decker gave a short nod. "Ready."

"Here we go, then," Delia said, pulling the door open and stepping outside. The air was cool, the town was gone, and a wide, unfamiliar land stretched out before them. It was covered with a long grass the slouched toward the ground, with leafless beech trees scattered about. They were large, old trees, but further inspection proved them to be dead, just as the grass under their feet was.

Directly in front of the mansion was a large stone well. A bucket sat on the edge, attached to the crank. Delia stepped out slowly, looking around and taking in all of the dust and details.

"This place is old...it's so old it's been dead for years," she said. "What do you think?"

Anna had enjoyed the evening as much as an introvert with a nearly terminal case of social anxiety could manage to. She'd smiled and made polite comments and replies when necessary and struck up mild acquaintances with a few of the more friendly party-goers. Still, when the earthquake hit, she had been just about ready to leave and write everything that had happened in her diary.

"Earthquakes are new," the voice in the back of her head commented.

"Not really. We had one last week."

"No, that was not an earthquake, that was the primordial sloth worm under the town rolling over halfway through its hibernation sequence. Wait a minute, this isn't earth. Why are we calling them earthquakes?"

"Because Dittoquakes sounds stupid?" Anna replied, her temper starting to fray a bit. The room was very dark and the shadows cast by the party guests holding their candles were unnerving her a bit. Some of the shadows didn't seem to actually have a source.

"The weird host is slipping out, along with the handsome man in the hat."

Anna looked around and spotted them leaving. She thought about following and hesitated long enough that she wasn't sure she would be able to find them. Then her hand grabbed a candlestick of its own accord and her feet began to walk her after the two mysterious departures.

"You might not want to know what's going on, Anna, but I do. So let me drive for once tonight."

"Coming, Milady?"

She froze. Earnest was staring right at her. Does he know?

Mr. Quigley Earnest Dint smiled. "I suppose you always have been rather shy...otherwise why would you stay with an old hermit like me for so long? But the invitation was meant for you."

Mr. Quigley Earnest Dint patted her head. Her big eyes shimmered in the retreating candlelight. "You should at least enjoy the party, Milady."

Kai noted that for someone with very particular taste, the Candle Lady was quite open.

She asked, "But who are you? You seem vaguely familiar. Your eyes look as though they belonged to the Steele clan."

Kai jerked her head back when she heard her last name. "Yes," she nodded, "how did you know? I suppose you'd know from my great grandfather, Captain Steele. He was the one who told my father about his excursions to Ditto Town. He said that it was a place where many unusual things happened, as you've apparently described. Ditto Town seems to engage with other parts of the universe more than other towns around here, huh?

"But, anyways, my name is Kai Steele. My profession is similar to my greatgrandfathers--I tour the galaxies looking for lost cities. My curiousity in that regards is what lead me here. I wasn't going to come," Kai looked around at the shadowy mansion, the only light being the moonlight flowing through the stained glass windows. "I'm wondering if it's a bad idea if I came. What's your name?" She asked the Candle Lady and the more timid girl standing by her.

Their conversation was interrupted by an important-looking man who introduced himself as Jeff Evans and who spoke with a tone of authority. He said that if anyone had questions, they should talk to him. Kai noticed the hostess and another young man rolling their eyes and making their way towards the door. Kai excused herself from her current company and made her way towards Officer Evans. She wanted to ask if there was anything she could do to help--after all, she had the machine. She strolled over to the officer, taking care not to spill the running wax.
"Sir, thank-you for your reassuring speech. My name is Kai Steele. I am from the city of Alloysville. I'm a professional of sorts in the area of finding things. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Initial thoughts? It's a dead planet or world and no ones suppose to be here anymore." Neal replied as he examined the ground they were standing on. The dirt was a musty grey color, similar in many respects to ash. "Even the dirt is dead."

With that, Decker turned around to examine the exterior of the mansion, more than half expecting it to be invisible or the like. To his (somewhat) pleasant surprise the Mansion was still there and roughly intact, though it appeared to have aged considerably in a matter or minutes. Cracks, vines and displaced stones were rampant on the exterior of the previously well kept estate. The unmistakable white wisps of millions of cobwebs were also evident scattered over the building.

"Seems everything has died or aged incredibly except us. Care to hypothesize on that, madame?"

----------------------

Shortly after securing some candles and matches, Malcolm and Selena's attention was commanded by a young officer of the law of Ditto Town... Jeff something. After listening to the short speech which consisted of the usual "stay calm and keep going" sentiments, the duo found an unoccupied corner of the room to sit and discussion the current situation.

"So no one knows exactly what happened or what is going on. There was an earthquake, the lights go out and then we're... here. Wherever that is." Lawrence recounted while sizing up the room.

"It's not in Ditto Town or anywhere else that I'm familiar with. Malcolm, there's no water here. At all." Selena leaned in and whispered the last part.

"No water? That's very odd. Are you sure?"

Selena gave her companion a perturbed look, though whether he could she it clearly in the candlelight was a bit of a gamble. "You can read minds and do your shadow teleport/levitation thing. I can control and manipulate water. I should know when there's none around."

"Heh, touche." Lawrence replied with a smile as he leaned back in his chair.

Anna peeked out the doors at the dead world the Mansion had been transported to and shuddered with dread.

"Please don't make me go out there," she begged.
"Even the trees are dead. What are we getting our air from then? This place is weird."
"Not weird, scary! Can we go back to the others now?"
"Not yet. I'm finally enjoying myself."

"You are a terrible sister," Anna complained.

"My name is Cynthia Ridley. I am the heiress of Petrid Co., an animal activist, a patron of the arts, an ambassador for veganism—"

Cynthia stopped and pouted as the young time traveler rushed away before she could even finish her sentence. What flighty young girl. And to think of leaving in the middle of an introduction with someone as important and well-connected as she was! Goodness.

The heiress was distracted a moment later, however, when a loud, masculine voice finally registered in her brain.

"... We are asking you to sit tight and remain calm. I'd personally like to apologize for the distinct lack of vegan illumination devices, an oversight that shall be righted in the future...."

"Well!" Cynthia said, turning to her maid and raising her eyebrows. "At least someone around here has some manners. Let us go introduce ourselves to the man in charge, Lisette. I am sure he would like to meet me."