Another Alice Manor?

Having worked together several times before, Alice skillfully revealed the keyhole on her back and sat obediently on the bed, waiting for the captain to turn the winding key.

Duncan held the brass key with its ring-shaped handle and slowly brought it toward Alice's Clockwork Port. But just then, he suddenly heard the doll speak. "Captain, I have a question."

Duncan immediately stopped. "A question?"

"You said this key is a route to the 'nodes' of the other three gods on the outer barrier, right? And I'm that... Navigator Three, right? That means as long as there's a route, I can take you very far away, even to the end of the world..."

As Alice spoke, hesitation crept into her voice again, as though she could not immediately find the right words for what she was thinking. Duncan did not rush her and simply waited patiently. After a while, the doll finally seemed to sort out her thoughts and continued, "Then, do you think there are other 'routes'? Or rather, without this new key, could I try taking you somewhere else myself?"

Duncan was puzzled. "...Why did you suddenly think of that?"

"I just... suddenly got a little curious about myself," Alice said slowly. "I don't think I ever considered this sort of thing before. Every day, I was busy on the ship, and I was content just doing things I liked. But it seems like nobody else is like that... Everyone knows exactly what they want to do. What was that called again... Oh, a sense of mission. Everyone seems to have a strong sense of mission, but I don't..."

The doll suddenly fell silent and thought seriously for a moment. "Should I have one too?"

"...There's no 'should' or 'shouldn't' about that," Duncan said, shaking his head. "But