Samson still is in a bad mood afterwards, but not in an uncooperative way so he proceeds with the bureaucracy.

Stephanos takes him back so everyone can have a reminder that, yes, nearly everyone here is mortal.

Hard to forget. But, that's a good time to remember.

No one really wants to talk about mortality, and the conversation turns towards - of all things - about babies.

To be fair, the concern is that no one picked them up yet. They might need to find the way themselves or get used to staying. Many want to sacrifice shapes to get powers, but any child they had afterwards might not get that shape. The talk goes on and on, but does not produce much result that night.

Legal matters are handled fairly quickly and efficiently, and shortly they receive a message from the local office responsible for research and development, asking to discuss their world, its magic, and its science.

Yes, they would like that very much.

The office they're directed to is in the same governmental complex as the immigration office. They're given a time range when the office is open, though making an appointment would be most convenient.

They make an appointment then. It's only Adam, his parents and four other crewmembers coming.

The office is plainer, the person they meet a local - humanish with no extra additions, dark skin and black hair, simple clothes with no embellishments. He confirms their identity as the Whiteburns, then says, "We heard your airship is propelled by non-magical means?"

"That's correct. We do have people with magic that can help it fly, but it's by designed capable of fly independently of any magic assistance."

"Do you know how it was made, and how it functions?"

"I have designed it myself."

He can explain the basic principles of buoyancy and how his engine works.

He nods. "That seems reasonable. We'll want to make sure it runs on the same physics as us - sometimes places have what we'd call magic, that's simply normal to them, and that magic carries over to the things they make. But it does seem like your world has a better understanding of certain principles, which offers the potential for a rather fruitful partnership."

"I should be able to help with those tests. I also interested in the potential of local magic and ship engineering."

"Knowledge exchange is common, yes. Some things are secret at the request of their contributor, or for national security reasons, but the rest is shareable."

"We are also - unsurprisingly - interested in any information about interworld travel. Though we came to understand our prospects of going home are dim."

He makes a face. "Yeah. Not much that's known can be generalized. Anyone who's had magic capable of getting themselves out either didn't bother saying so, or wasn't able to meaningfully explain it."

The shifters collectively make a resigned grimace. "Well, we figured we should get settled then."

Nod. "Also of interest will be potential combinations and interactions with your magic - I understand that it's unlikely to lead towards interdimensional breakthroughs, but some magics interact in ways that boost one or the other, or have other unprecedented effects."

"Yes, that's another thing we are hope to set up. One of the easiest things worth investigating is anti-pain magic or even non-addictive painkillers. A lot of ours powers are constrained by generating pain as a byproduct. Another constraint is that we have to sacrifice shapes to get powers."

"How much do you know about us? Sacrificed shapes are not inherited, most people wait until they have kids."

"Not much, primarily information about your ship. Some magics might be able to circumvent the sacrifice, or increase your capacity somehow, but that sounds likely to involve higher level things, which is more expensive to commission. Pain suppression is usually relatively straightforward, and available at the vast majority of healing centers."

"How good of pain suppression? It hurts every time we shift. It just hurts less over time and you get used to."

"Ranges from 'enough to relieve a minor headache or muscle ache' to 'conceptually incapable of perceiving unwanted pain' to 'outright unconscious.' Pain relief under a healer's supervision is easier to obtain than portable pain solutions, but medications or potions are not unobtainable, and simply require a prescription for the stronger or more addictive cases."

Sofia makes a note.

A woman with metallic-blue eyes and hair speaks. "Mr. Stephanos over there has a power that lets him have kids with special powers, special to our kind of magic that is. Do you think you have some fertility god, or mumbo-jumbo that could share his power with someone else? So they can have special kids? Shift-dancers are probably our best bet to get out of here and I don't want to depend on Sofia being willing to have his tenth kid."

"Clotilda."

"Fertility deities exist, as does magic impacting it. Some powers can be transferred, though usually not intuitively. You'll likely want to talk to a university, or a temple, for a more comprehensive overview of existing options in that field - we mostly focus on the untested, when known options fail."

"I just want to go home," She who is apparently Clotilda. "I would love to talk to anyone that can give me a slight chance of achieving that."

"I am making note," Sofia says and notes.