Kori helped Rosa to a nearby couch, giving her an opportunity to rest. Kori and Sophie were both still surprised at what had originally transpired, not having expected such a serious reaction.

“See? The both of you even have something in common. You both freak out in the most random of moments.” “I am not even half that loud, and I don’t faint either!” “Of course not, but you usually can’t sleep after either. You’re still plenty loud. I bet half the difference is that you just aren’t as vocal about your worries as she is.” “I don’t need to be that vocal, no one does!” Sophie just giggled at Kori’s expense, Kori going pure scarlet. Still, with Rosa out, there was a sudden uncertainty in what should happen next. Kori decided that she would just get some work done, silently taking her usual space in the same room to start working on some nanite script ideas after setting aside all of Fiona’s possessions on a nearby table. In all consideration, she was already behind after the commotion of that night, and she really needed something to distract herself with right now. Sophie was understanding, just leaving her two guests to such comforts as she left to tend to other matters. There was plenty they could talk about after a bit of time to relax.

Kori however really wasn’t tired, even considering how late in the night it actually was. The common person of Aestus was awake for 14 hours and asleep for 6, but such was because there were 40 hours in a single day. By sleeping in the 6 hour period of dawn and dusk, waking hours were just drawn into daytime and nighttime intervals. She knew earth had quite a different sense of days, even though Aestus had still copied most of their calendar system. There were still 7 days in a week. Months were based upon the orbit of Aluna, one month occurring every two rotations, and each rotation taking just under 15 days.. around 14.6 days. The months were then rendered into Earth’s own calendar months to define the 365 days in a sidus, even if the passage of a year was only 219 days. With 25 moon rotations in a single sidus, it really felt like the humans were trying to impress an old mold for a new model.. one that just didn’t fit. That said, it wasn’t as if she didn’t like the concept of having a model that structures and organizes her schedule. It wasn’t good.. but it was better than nothing.

Such is why her latest scripts were about time-keeping routines. Nanites were not only hyper intelligent, but also hyper precise. Most routines they accomplished were completed in fractions of a nanosecond. To make sure that nanites could then have a productive and fulfilling training schedule, practice routines would have to be slotted into a frequency much more than just minutes, but actually more like a simple nano second. This itself led to the need for what could possibly be some of the most convoluted daily routines imaginable. Making fine touches on such routines was then more than simply intensive work. Such schedules need to be varied enough too so that no one area would start to suffer neglect, while there was also concern of getting enough rest. Sure, they weren’t actually alive, but rest for a nanite involved both energy optimization and system cooling, both performance metrics that had a significant impact on results.

Of the same concept, Kori understood when it was time for her to also rest, knowing that devoting herself too much could impact her own performance metrics. Rosa however had still not awoken yet, possibly not helped due to excessive lack of sleep. Kori herself was used to keeping sleep down to a slim five hour period, ten hours per day wasn’t bad, but by all accounts Rosa had still probably got no more than three hours in a sleep period. Adjusting.. was another concern. It would take quite a lot to adjust to such a different sleeping routine, to shift her entire daily schedule to match an Aestean schedule. Actually, that really was only a part of the picture, wasn’t it? The poor girl would have to adjust to everything else, such as learning to read. After having just considered schedules for her nanite routines.. it seemed overwhelming just considering how hard things were going to be for Rosa going forward, her having to adjust to so many things around here. Kori herself wasn’t even sure how well she would have handled things in Rosa’s shoes, it was far too much. Was there any other option? The only alternative would be to figure out a way to bring her back home, but who knows how long research on that would take.

Kori sighed, desperately wishing she could just suddenly find a way to Rosa’s planet, right then and there.

Kori’s left hand suddenly shimmered with an inner light, the frost glinting reflectively like a silver mirror, and Rosa’s right hand responding in kind. Instantly the entire room itself appeared frozen, encased in white ice.. before all recognizable textures of their surroundings began fading away, leaving nothing but endless white. Progressing from that state, the white began to texturize again, appearing to be something akin to a white marble which gradually softened into distinct colors and materials. However, at the same time, she found something falling before her vision, obscuring her sight completely. Reflexively rushing to deal with it, she removed the protective suit that had been given to her previously, the one designed to withstand the conditions of the Obsidian Halls. Why.. why was she wearing this again? Actually, where was she now, even? Looking around, she found herself in a very different home, one she did not even recognize.

At the same time, Lyun had found herself going from a spot of slight elevation over the floor, to finding nothing supporting her slumber. A short crash to the floor later, Lyun was wide awake. Wait, what was she doing back in an ashen coat? She looked around quickly, finding herself in yet another home.. but this one felt far more familiar. She took off her Ashen coat, exposing her long violet ponytail, and quickly spotted she wasn’t alone. Ignoring the woman who had been her companion through much of the previous struggle, she went outside of the residence to check outside, almost tripping over a large heavy box at the entrance, a smaller letter acting as its only companion. The entire box claimed it was due for shipping to the Qhtyzaexhiezyhan residence.. she could even read that. This.. this was the home of Yhzia’s sister. She had made it back, even to the place she really had to be of all things. However, her excitement ended when she recalled that she also was not alone. Running back inside, she looked upon her newest friend in all of this chaos, still lost and confused. No, no, why? She had made it back, but everything was still a mess, Kori was somehow there too. No, no she wasn’t. As the woman before her took off her head protection, blond hair spilled out, exposing a blank forehead but with otherwise similar facial features. This woman was undeniably human.

“So it seems we’ve both made it to my world, but you seem to have been left the one in all the unfamiliar shoes now.” “What? That wouldn’t make any sense, how would…” “Your first clue might be the stuff you’re wearing, Yhzia’s clothes, the same ones I lent you earlier. Your second clue might be if you tried to do your little light trick, it won’t work anymore. Third is if you went outside the front door, and noticed our society looking nothing like your own as you tripped over the box left irrationally at the front door. However, it would be the fourth that you would take the hardest, considering what I’ve learned about you. If you found a way to look at your own reflection, you would find that shiny gem of your’s was gone, yourself looking convincingly human.” Lyun didn’t even wait for the human to walk through all of those steps, heading to where she figured the bathroom would be to wait. The human burst into the room quickly after, looking really pale, and saw the large mirror waiting for her. Rushing over, she looked over her body, seeing most of her features still unchanged.. but Lyun was still fully correct. So this whole thing worked both directions, and now her companion was the one going through everything. Wait, just how much did everything repeat going backwards. She rushed to find her cell, it still being in her possession. Online lookup, family registry, Qhtyzaexhiezyhan family tree. Axlnyhqiezrae Qhtyzaexhiezyhan, a new entry she didn’t recognize, listed specifically as Yhzia’s twin sister. Everything had really gone full circle, absolutely everything.

“This.. this can’t have happened. I’m not human.” “In that body, you are. Don’t worry, you aren’t the first person to be shocked that they had become human, suddenly being the twin sister of someone you didn’t even know in a world completely unfamiliar to you. Actually, remembering things, maybe you were the first, it just didn’t last very long.” “You mean…” “Yes, now you understand how I felt. Hells, this means that you’re Yhzia’s sister, that’s ridiculous.” Axln paused for a moment of reflection, Lyun having plenty to think about as well. There were several things to think about with all of this, and not just that the two of them could apparently actively just pass into the other’s reality somehow. Three times now since such a discovery, they find each other chained together as the gateway between worlds open. The way things were, one of them would always need to endure the unfamiliar, they could not both just go home. Putting things to scale though, there were more short-term considerations. Axln here was Yhzia’s sister, that was the design her world had set up, and that was going to be its own disaster. Where exactly was she supposed to start with sorting out this extreme mess?

“Don’t be troubled by any connections you might see between me and your friend, that’s just going to hurt you more. We aren’t the same people, even if we really are twins. Most likely your friend wouldn’t have liked you to just give in, you have to keep going if you want to keep respecting the friendship you had with her. Never forget that.” “My, that was deep, I really didn’t expect something like that from you.” “Sophie.. she’s the one who.. back at the store while you were asleep...” “Ah, Sophie is a very smart woman, isn’t she? She knows all the best ways to deal with stuff as wild as this.” “Wild is just what she does, even her work is called Wildside Outfitters for a good reason.” Axln and Lyun couldn’t help but to laugh at that. Lyun however considered this in depth, maybe Sophie really did have the right idea in this whole thing. The first goal would be to at least make sure Axln was a bit more comfortable, such as getting some exposure to the ways the world works. Getting Axln into an outfit of her own might not be a bad idea either. Lyun rushed around, trying to figure out a proper course of action.. only to suddenly collapse after tripping over her own feet.

Axln had this figured out in a heartbeat. Of course, no matter what else, everything needed enough rest in order to perform optimally, especially people. Lyun here was under-rested, she was making too many mistakes. However, there would be little Axln could do either without more information, so maybe the most efficient thing for her would be to also get some rest. Lyun had shown that she knew the way around this home, it was familiar to her, she was behaving as if they were allowed to be here, even as she got their ashen coats away and found a place to stash Yhzia’s possessions. If they would be fine for now, they should just start with some rest.

“Is there any place here that would be good for a nap? I think everything is complicated enough that I would rather tackle it all after a good rest. We just finished dealing with all of this once already, I would rather not rush into a second iteration so quickly.” “I.. actually, maybe a nap would be nice. Yhzia and I were supposed to come here around now actually, this is her sister’s place.. which I guess would mean technically also your sister’s place as you are right now. On that note, your full name here would be Axlnyhqiezrae Qhtyzaexhiezyhan, your last name was on that box outside. Here, I’m called Lyun, and you would probably go by Axln. Of course, just like your world, Axln never existed before this night.” “Like I said, let’s not go over all of this stuff now, it would be far better to get some rest first.” “Right… Well, like I was saying, we were supposed to be here, but I don’t know where anything is. As far as I can tell, the living room might be the only sure fire bet.” Axln shrugged, not of the mind to complicate things right now for Lyun. Axln gestured for Lyun to take the first pick of spots, waiting for her to find a choice couch before picking from the remaining options. Lyun however grabbed a blanket and pillow to just curl up in a corner under a table, not being fond of thinner sleeping arrangements. Axln gave in, taking her pick of a couch across the room. Lyun was asleep almost immediately, with Axln just closing her eyes until she might eventually catch up.

By the time Axln finally woke up, Lyun had long ago awoken. Axln made her way to a window, watching the break of dawn beginning outside. Of course, on her planet, this was when people went to sleep, not when they just woke up. Of course, this wasn’t her planet, was it? She had just woken up in the land of elves, Fiona would have loved to see this place. Then again, she never would.. Fiona wasn’t anywhere, this world or her own. Of course, she would have to do the seeing for Fiona. That really wasn’t so impossible either, she really was in a body that wasn’t quite her own, she was even suddenly a human like Fiona. In truth, not even Kori was here, her body had another name, Axln. How do you even say that?

“As-in? That wasn’t quite right, was it? Ah-.. silen?” “Axln. It’s much shorter, you’re using too many sounds, don’t draw it out. Everything is very soft sounding. Don’t worry though, I can’t even say my name from your world either. Ruxa?” “Rosa, but I see your point. Nothing about this is so easy.” “Maybe not, but I still have some ideas. I got things organized while you were sleeping, took care of a few things waiting here, found some requests were left for Yhzia to take care of, so I did that stuff for her. In all accounts, staying here is too uncomfortable, even though I still have access to the place. We were only supposed to spend the night, so I’ve been looking into somewhere else to go. We could return to my workshop, but I figure that wouldn’t have been much comfort for you, and the place is quite far away from here. Instead, I called in a friend from someone I know, someone who might be a good sort of support in all of this. First though, we should probably eat, Yhzia had been left some food from her sister and I don’t remember either of us having anything to eat during all of this, so you should be as hungry as I am. We can leave after eating.” Axln discovered that, after hearing about food, Lyun was not incorrect, they were both actually very hungry. Axln followed Lyun into the dinning room, surprised at how things both remained unfamiliar and yet made sense. Axln wasn’t even certain what the floor was made of, it certainly wasn’t wood, but it wasn’t quite as hard as stone. Tables and chairs followed the same sense of design. The room itself was lit by what seemed like a crystalline chandelier that simply gave off light for no apparent reason. The room was itself scattered by a number of devices she simply could not identify. The most normal thing present she found though was a book that had been left on the table.

Axln picked up the book, finding the whole thing covered in some sort of protective material. So, this would be like something between lamination and a way to simply help the book stand the test of time? The book had some oddities.. but it was still very obviously a book. The cover had a title she couldn’t hope to read, the pattern of words more like a scrawling art than letters, no image gracing its cover. Flipping the book open showed pages filled with more scrawl. However, at one point, she found a picture rendered in simple black, a scene which looked vaguely like a primitive brick building surrounded by an electric fence, the building supporting what looked like solar power panels for backup power. It looked like a scene out of a human history book.

“That was the book Yhzia was being given a chance to read when we got here, her biggest compulsion for making the trip, a book she won’t get to read anymore. She always loved stories about the Terran Mythos.” “A book that tells history like it was fiction.” “Here, that is fiction, just like your world makes elves out to be fiction. Your gem thing is gone, so I expect what you are is fiction to my world too.” “Conduits are real though!” “You’re still missing the point. This isn’t just another world, it seems we live in two very different kinds of realities, the actual rules of existence being completely different. Somehow though, each of us are aware of the other as nothing more than a simple fantasy. I actually wonder if there might have been something that inspired that originally, that maybe we weren’t the first ones to cross the border. The Terran Mythos has been a major inspiration for everyone here since a very long time ago. Our realities are not just unknown to each other, we remain established forms of imagination to the other, like there has always been a connection.” “So now, you and I are connected. It had to be by that anomaly.. but the thing is gone now. Actually, I wonder if this is a mark of such a connection then.” Lyun looked at Axln pulling back her own sleeve, revealing the ashen white arm beneath it. Of course, Lyun had a similar arm as well, they both shared such an oddity. A mark of their connection, the theory might actually hold up very well. However, nothing in any records she knew of spoke of anyone with similar marks. As such, that theory left more questions than it did answers. With that, Axln set the book back down and ignored it further.

With plenty to consider each, the two of them ate the meal that was provided to them. Axln had little idea what she was eating, but it tasted well enough at least. It was some kind of sandwich, though she had no idea what was doing the sandwiching nor what was inside. She was mildly curious to dissect the entire thing and check closer, but she figured such might appear disrespectful. In all accounts, it wasn’t as if she had any nanites handy to get any specific details with either, her observations could easily hold substantial bias in that regard. It was probably best to just be aware that it at least tasted well enough, and just leave it as such. Most of what she was being exposed to was seeming similar, her scientific bias being unfounded if the premise was wrong. That’s how significant Lyun’s claim was, that the laws of science as she knew it were no longer valid on this side. Physics, Chemistry, Biology, it all needed to be proven once again, and any laws may fail such a test. That was no light claim, certainly, but she had grown up devoted to the ways of science and technology, such ways also included the ways of discovery. If nothing else, there were things here she could not prove or explain, but things she could question. This world was then an open book, waiting for her to make discoveries anew. In a way, while still terrifying, that idea sounded.. exciting.

Once they had finished eating, the two girls left in plain clothes, with Lyun locking the door behind them. The process wasn’t automatic, but it wasn’t primitive either. A quick swipe motion near a sphere-shaped object beside the door had the door visibly fuse with the wall. It was probably a process she could try to emulate with a holo, but this was all real material. They had just left the house and already Axln had something her science could not prove. However, Lyun had claimed that the laws of reality were different, not that they no longer existed. This place then still had laws, ripe for Axln to discover. With such, she turned to the area before her.. and realized that the process of discovering all of such laws might make designing a complete nanite schedule very easy in comparison. Everywhere she turned was yet another piece of local technology doing something different, the entire perspective was actually making her dizzy. The lamp posts out front, just as weird as the chandelier from earlier. The buildings themselves look like they were stone that someone had grown in some kind of stone garden. Vehicles on the road.. at least things that seemed like a mode of transportation.. more resembled an opaque glass that had decided to ignore all laws of friction and momentum by just sliding across the ground.

It was even to one such vehicle that Lyun was leading them, in a communal location with several other people waiting. The science behind the process was different, but it seems the psychology remained constant. This was obviously a place of public transportation, even though Axln herself had quite the history of avoiding such things. Then again, she currently did not have her major reason for such evasion, she wasn’t a Conduit right now. Axln looked around at those around her, a fairly even spread of people with and without pointed ears she’d learned represented elven folk could be found present. Meanwhile, both sets of people were mingling like the entire idea really didn’t matter. A large glassy transport thing arrived, with everyone climbing inside. Lyun then passed Axln a small golden crystalline shard, clearly an important step in this process. Axln made sure to follow behind Lyun, trying to follow her example as she brushed another similar shard beside a glass sphere. Without problems, she found herself waiting on a seat, still not sure which part was more surreal.. that she had done everything correctly or that no one especially seemed troubled by her presence. She did notice though that not many people were getting on this vehicle, and that they had chosen seats in the quiet far back where few people sat.

The two of them continued their trip in silence, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention. With curiosities overflowing, Axln decided that the best way to proceed would be to not focus too much on the oddities of her trip right now, it was becoming a bit too much for her to take in.