Alice stopped at the door of the captain's cabin. The doll raised her head and looked at the dark oak door in front of her, noticing a line of beautifully written words on the doorframe: "The Door of the Lost."
It was no surprise to see such words on the doorframe of the Lost ship's captain's cabin, but Alice instinctively frowned. She was not curious about the door itself, but rather about how she knew the "words."
She had no memory of learning to read, in fact, she had no memories of "learning" at all. She couldn't recall ever gaining experience from being outside or talking to people, yet this knowledge existed naturally in her mind.
She could understand the letters on the captain's cabin doorframe and knew what the various items in the room were for. There was no way she could have learned this just by lying in a wooden box and listening to people talk outside. So where did this knowledge come from?
Before today, Alice had never thought about this question. But for some reason, after talking to that "Captain Duncan," the concept of "curiosity" suddenly popped up in her mind, which should have been calm forever.
She recalled that the change seemed to have occurred after Duncan asked about the origin of the name "Alice." In that moment, she began to question some things she had taken for granted in her mind and tried to remember where her name came from. Then, something within her mind started to shift.
Alice didn’t know if this shift was good or bad, but she didn’t like the feeling of confusion. So she quickly shook her head, pushed that doubt aside, and adjusted her mindset at the door of the captain's cabin. She then placed her hand on the oak door handle and gently pushed forward.
The door didn’t budge.
Alice was taken aback and tried pushing again, but the wooden door felt as if it was made of solid steel, unmoving.
Just as she was about to try again, a voice suddenly came from inside the captain's cabin. The voice was hoarse and deep, like it was coming from a piece of rotten wood: “The door opens outward, madam.”
This was not Captain Duncan's voice, and Alice was startled. But she quickly reacted, hurriedly saying "Oh" before pulling the door outward. This time, it opened easily.
Only then did she remember that when the captain brought her here, he had indeed pulled the door outward.
It seemed that the "life knowledge" that had suddenly appeared in her mind was just knowledge. After lying in a wooden box for so long, she still lacked real survival experience. Alice reflected on this a bit and cautiously peeked into the captain's cabin.
The cabin was empty. The prominent navigation table sat quietly under the light, the surface of the sea charts shrouded in a thin mist, and the dark wooden goat head sculpture was turning its gaze away from the edge of the table, its eyes carved from obsidian staring blankly at her.
“Please come in, madam. The captain is busy; you can wait here for a while,” the goat head spoke, sounding even more polite than Alice had imagined. “Also, try to avoid peeking around like that. It might make some overly sensitive folks on the Lost feel like they are being disliked, and calming them down can be troublesome. Plus, if your head happens to fall off again, that’s a problem. I don’t have hands to help you pick it up…”
It really spoke! The wooden sculpture was actually talking!
Although Captain Duncan had mentioned before that the goat head on the navigation table could talk, hearing it suddenly chatter away like this still left Alice stunned. After a moment, she realized she needed to respond: “Ah, okay. But my head isn’t that easy to fall off, and when I was installed last time, I specifically… wait, did you say there are some overly sensitive folks on the Lost…?”
Alice suddenly realized the implication in the goat head's words. She looked around in surprise and tension, feeling as if everything in the captain's cabin, and even the entire Lost ship, was shaking in the dim light, turning into strange things like that eerie goat head. The goat head's voice then reached her ears: “Is that strange? It takes quite a few hands to operate such a large ship. Do you think the great Captain Duncan would personally wash the deck?”
The goat head actually made a good point. Although Alice's mind, still waking up and not very sharp, felt something was off, after thinking for a while, she could only nod: “That's true… so there are many like you on the Lost…”
“The captain has only one loyal first mate, and the rest are a bunch of not-so-bright fellows. You don’t need to worry about communicating with them—they have no interest in talking to people,” the goat head interrupted her before she could finish. “But since you’re new to the ship, it’s normal not to understand many rules and principles. As the captain's most loyal first mate and second mate and… I need to tell you some basic knowledge necessary for survival on this ship. After all, the captain won’t lower himself to explain these things to newcomers… Are you ready, madam?”
Alice listened, stunned. She had forgotten her original purpose for coming to the captain's cabin, feeling like every time the goat head spoke, it was a long string of words. After a few exchanges, the rhythm of the conversation was completely out of her hands. Especially when the goat head suddenly listed off a bunch of titles, she felt her head buzzing. When the goat head finished speaking, she could only instinctively nod: “Ah, uh, okay…?”
“Very well. Next are a few rules that every crew member on the Lost must know. This will help newcomers adapt faster and receive the protection of the Lost and the great Captain Duncan while navigating the dangerous, boundless sea…”
The goat head seemed quite pleased with Alice's response. As it spoke, it shook its wooden head, its tone filled with obvious pride—
“First, Captain Duncan is the absolute ruler of the Lost. Captain Duncan is always right. Even if reality conflicts with what Captain Duncan says, you must defer to his judgment.
“Second, no crew member is allowed to operate in areas not permitted by Captain Duncan. You must not step into any area that the captain has not ordered to be open, as those areas do not exist.
“Third, if you step into an unauthorized area and somehow survive, you must stay where you are and wait for Captain Duncan to bring you back, or calmly await death—returning on your own is absolutely forbidden, as you would not be returning to the Lost.
“Fourth, the Lost always sails on the correct course. Do not question the captain's navigation plan. If you find that the scenery around the Lost is different from what you expected, or if you realize the Lost has entered a 'deeper' sea, then that is part of the normal navigation plan.
“Fifth, the captain may occasionally leave the ship, but he will definitely return. During the captain's absence, the Lost will continue to sail normally, but all crew members must not approach the helm at the stern—the steering system will lack security when the captain is away, and the ropes at the stern will strangle anyone who shows signs of 'usurping' authority.
“Sixth, there are only six basic rules for crew members on the Lost.
“Seventh, the door of the captain's cabin opens outward.”
The goat head seemed to have shared this "common knowledge" with new crew members more than once, delivering these rules very smoothly and naturally. But when Alice heard the last two rules, she immediately sensed something was off: “Wait a minute, Mr. Goat Head, you just said…”
“Sixth, there are only six basic rules for crew members on the Lost.” The goat head replied immediately, not hesitating at all when mentioning these basic rules.
For a moment, Alice doubted whether it was her or the "first mate" in front of her who was confused: “But you just mentioned the seventh rule…”
“Seventh, the door of the captain's cabin opens outward.” The goat head answered very naturally.
Alice stared blankly at the dark goat head sculpture on the table. After doubting her ears, she began to question her own mind—but soon she realized she didn’t have a mind, so she confirmed again: “These two… don’t contradict each other?”
“Not at all.”
Hearing the goat head's confident answer and looking into its hollow, black eyes, Alice opened her mouth but suddenly swallowed all her questions back down.
(End of this chapter)