Satya found that the door out of her office did not lead to the connecting hallway.  The logical response to this was to drill a perfectly square hole into her office wall.  She stuck her head out and confirmed that the bar that was apparently connected to her office had not occupied the same space as the hallway that should have been behind the door.

Having caused sufficient damage to company property to confirm that this was not some elaborate prank at her expense, Satya grabbed her photon projector and entered the bar.  It was nice, quiet and empty which was how she liked her bars.  She built a sentry for herself out of light at the entrance she used and began looking around.

As she looks at the bar, a napkin abruptly exists where a napkin was not.

Printed on it in a flowing script is the sentence Welcome to Milliways. May I interest you in a drink? First one's free.

"Lassi," she answers, "Mango preferably."  She sits at the bar in front of the napkin, creating an ergonomically perfect chair for herself from strands of light.   "And what exactly is this?  A hallucination, advanced technology or magic?"

A cup of lassi appears, with a napkin reading Magic, though technically I can't confirm I'm not a hallucination from your reference point. (I'm not, though.) The bar exists outside of time and space, and is sometimes referred to as "the bar at the end of the universe" due to the view from the windows. Your home universe is paused at the moment, and will be until either you return, you become unable to return, or you have no intention of returning. I provide food, drink, and other nonmagical items at reasonable currency-dependent prices. Also, someone is likely to enter the bar within the next few minutes; patrons typically cluster somewhat.

(The aforementioned windows show a very pretty view of several dozen supernovae, presumably from a distance at which supernovae are pretty rather than extravagantly lethal.)

Satya nods in understanding, it's a good enough explanation for what she has experienced so far.   "Thank you for the warning," she says to the napkin with persumably neat and small writing upon it.  The concept of another patron is a distressing one for her but the lassi is good and the view outside is rather pretty.  She decides that this would make for a good break from work and sets about molding a small construct on the table, trying to match the shapes she sees in the exploding universe outside.

After a significant period of time, she is joined in the bar by a bipedal lizard in leather armor carrying an elaborately decorated light crossbow and a human infant. He stands at approximately 0.7 Torbjorns in height.

"Deekin thinking Deekin take wrong turn at dead umber hulk," the lizard quavers. "Human lady know where this is?"

Satya flinches at the sudden sound of talking, turning to look for someone at eye level before looking down at Deekin.  In answer to his question she picks up a blank napkin and holds it out to him so that the bar can more easily respond.  After giving the bar a moment to answer and also after collecting her own thoughts, she speaks.  "You are Deekin you said?  I take it that baby isn't yours."

"Tynan not biologically Deekin's, no. Just traveling companion." Deekin scans the napkin, then nods cautiously and hops up onto a barstool. "Magic bar. Okay. Deekin get... cow blood with brandy."

The requested beverage appears before him. He takes a sip and looks pleasantly surprised. He places the baby (Tynan?) on the bar next to him, and the baby receives a bottle of inky-black liquid, which he sucks on with apparent satisfaction.

Satya isn't sure what social protocol is supposed to be in this situation, but that is also true of most situations.  "I'm Satya Vaswani."  She looks and sounds like she is taking this situation in stride.  "I don't think whatever in that bottle is appropriate for human babies.  Is Tynan human?"  She's fidgeting with the light construct she was making on the table, turning it into a much more abstract shape.

"Used to be," Deekin shrugs. "Deekin not sure what Tynan is at this point. Partly made of shadows, Deekin pretty sure."

Looking a bit closer, Tynan's hair is somewhat ephemeral, and his eyes are dark enough that there's no distinction between iris and pupil. It's not quite enough to put him in the Uncanny Valley, but it's noticeable.

"Should I be worried, am I neglectful if I do not become worried?" she asks, both to Deekin and the bar.  The uncanny valley effect is distressing to Satya, so to avoid dealing with it she takes extra interest in her cup of lassi.

Deekin makes a so-so motion with his hand. "Tynan seem okay to Deekin. Hasn't aged in a while, but seems okay in general. Deekin not too worried."

Satya bites her lip and then nods.  "You are likely the more qualified one here about this."  She calms down significantly as she decides that the theoretically demonic baby is not her problem.  "Just to keep everything equivalent between us since you seem to know about humans, what are you?"

"Deekin kobold. Kobolds descended from dragons. Most kobolds kind of mean and not very smart, but Deekin try to buck stereotype."

"Hence taking in the baby where other Kobolds would be mean to it?  Sensible."  She considers her next words for a silent moment before giving up.  "I cannot figure out the nice way to ask this, but how are you to show that you are intelligent?  Do have a field of study?"

Deekin doesn't seem offended. "Deekin write books. Already wrote one book, Shadows of Undrentide. Sold big, got little Deekin very famous. Currently in process of writing second book, Hordes of Underdark. Deekin think this one better, but who knows what invisible hand of free market decides."

Satya shrugs.  She isn't fidgeting as erratically and her light construct is starting to become less abstract and more geometric.  "Marketing departments and the people in them claim they do?  I know nothing about it beyond that somehow me refusing to smile during client meetings makes their job more difficult"

"Nobody can tell if Deekin smiling or not because mammals not know how to read reptilian expressions. Solution: be kobold."

Tynan stares at the light construct, enraptured, as he sticks his entire fist in his mouth.

Satya moves the light construct so that it is surrounding Tynan, dimming it so that it does not risk damaging his eyes.  She isn't sure what babies like but floating geometric cubes should entertain him.

She laughs at Deekin's joke.  "Good solution...I sort of did that once.  At a company Halloween party in our New York branch. I was mocked for coming in just my work attire.  Two years later, I was pressured into attending again, so I wore this."  She displays an image on her palm, a model of herself in heavy makeup and prosthetics to look like some sort of dragon.

Tynan burbles with delight.

"Impressive," Deekin says of the costume. "Deekin working on spell to turn self into dragon permanently. Slow going, though. Also, spell will probably kill Deekin, but that not necessarily insurmountable."

"Magic would at least be more comfortable then makeup so there is that at least."  She seems actually comfortable with this conversation now.  The baby seems to be simple to amuse, which is and ideal quality of a baby.  "This shadow that the baby was exposed to, it won't react negatively to my light show will it?"

Deekin shakes his head. "Baby not sensitive to light except sunlight. Sunlight not great. Magic light fine."

"Hard light is not magic, it is..." Satya takes a deep breath to stop herself from just reciting her dissertation.  She has done that before. Word for word.  On dating attempts.  "Complicated science.  I can alter the light's intensity and permeability at will."

To demonstrate she quickly makes Tynan a simple rattle, using her prosthetic hand to mold it out of light before passing it to him.  It is very purposely designed to be quieter then most rattles.

Tynan gamely shakes the rattle a couple of times. Then he eats it. His sclera glow brightly for a couple of seconds, then the light vanishes as if it had never been.

Deekin stares. "That... not happened before."

Satya very quickly reaches forward, pinching the air in front of the baby's face.  She scowls when her fingers close on nothing.  "The light is gone.  Not just dissapated or shattered."

She just as quickly pulls her hands away and starts deconstructing all the hard light she has left on the table.  "The baby seems to be fine.  Can you confirm as much?  I know nothing of this magic."

Deekin hums a few notes; his eyes glow, and he squints at Tynan. "Deekin not healer, but baby seem okay to Deekin."

Tynan makes a disappointed noise at the vanishing light. He crawls into Deekin's bag and retrieves a large gold coin, then slaps it down on the counter in exchange for a rusk, which he gnaws sulkily.

Satya tilts her head at seeing thr baby engage in capitalism.  "He is very smart and I feel emotionally blackmailed by the look he is giving me.   With your permission I can make him more light constructs.  I lack the information to know if that is safe."

Deekin considers. "No solid constructs, but light show like before should be fine. Deekin think eating light okay, but not sure if eating too much light bad, not want to risk it."

Satya presses her palm flat on the table and then begins to lift it.  Strands of light float from her fingertips, knitting themselves into lotuses.  The split into petals.  She idly puppeteers them around Tynan, keeping them connected to her fingers with strands of light.

"These are intangible but I will keep them out of his reach just in case," she says, unaware of how much the whole display makes her look like a sorceress.  "Chasing them should occupy him."

Tynan burbles delightedly again and crawls after the lights, the rusk held firmly between his gums. Deekin watches him with a very paternal expression, taking a sip of his drink.

"I should likely head back to work.  Thank you for the conversation Deekin, it was much more pleasant then anything I've had in a while."

Deekin looks up. "Deekin have favor to ask. Deekin and Tynan... go to Satya world instead of Deekin world?" He worries his claws against each other. "Deekin... not in good place right now, in Deekin world."

"I... Have no idea if that is even allowed..." She looks at a napkin for guidance.  "You seem friendly enough and unliekly to try to dominate the world or some other such nonsense.  But I will warn you that we do not have magic.  No that is a lie, we do have magic dragons but so far as I know we do not have kobolds.  Are you okay with that?"

Deekin shrugs. "Kobolds mostly not so great. Deekin mostly just want to not raise baby surrounded by monsters all the time."

"In that case, feel free to come along.  A new operative recently appeared who is supposedly a hamster so I don't think you would be too unusual.  My world isn't entirely peaceful but there are plenty of beauty to be found... Smuggling you through company security might be difficult... but I think I can make it work."  She stands up and starts moving to a door, opening it back up to her office.

Deekin picks up Tynan and follows along. "Deekin can be invisible and inaudible if that help."

"Significantly actually."  She is happy to find that as promised, time has not moved forward. "I'll take the rest of the day off and walk you out.  I'd prefer you not permanently stay at my home but I am willing to host you until you get acclimated."

"Thank you for the lassi." she says to the bar as she walks back into her world.  She heads straight for her desk and starts typing on a hard light keyboard that appears in midair.  Holographic displays appear around her, she dismisses all but one with a wave of her hand and then types out an email announcing she is taking a half day.  The wall behind her is one big window, showing the glittering city of Hyderabad.

Deekin whistles a note past the human range of hearing and vanishes from sight. The only indication that he's followed Satya through the door is that it takes a second longer to close than it otherwise might.

"City very impressive," his voice notes from thin air.

"A good portion of the newer buildings are my designs."  She shuts down her holo desk and then tinkers with her earpiece.  "When we get to street level I will be unable to hear you, this headset tunes out all noise past a certain level and the street gets very loud.  Just keep with me until we make it to my vehicle."  She starts walking towards the elevator, moving quickly so that no one would attempt to make conversation with her.

Deekin follows, humming within a bubble of magically enforced silence.

Satya could not drive but this was far enough in the future that her car could drive itself so that was fine.  "Close the door behind you," she requests to the air, laying back in the seat furthest from the open door.  She takes off her headset and massages her temples to deal with her headache.

Deekin clambers into the car, baby in tow, and reappears. "Deekin have headache potion if Satya need?"

She holds out her hand because answering verbally feels like too much effort.

Deekin rummages around in his bags for a glass phial containing a shimmering green liquid, then unstoppers it and hands it over. 

Satya takes a large gulp  of the mysterious liquid, leaning her head back against the seat as the potion provides relief.  "Just for that you may stay at my place as long as you wish."

Deekin grins toothily. "Yeah, headache potion always a big hit."

"I apologize in advanced for when I end up going through your supply."  Thankfully the car knows to park itself inside a garage and Satya doesn't have to deal with the outdoors.   Satya is the sort of person who uses her garage only for her car and nothing else.  "What will you both require?  Food, bedding, what else?"

Deekin gives it some thought. "That most of what Deekin need, yeah. If Satya know any healers to look at Tynan, Deekin think that be good too. Deekin want to make sure Tynan doing okay besides being shadow baby."

Satya thinks back to the people she trusts to be qualified.  Anyone in Vishkar is out of the question, at least until she decides if she trusts them completely.  That leaves two women who weren't attached to the orginization, both of which she had made out with at some point in her travels.  She goes with the less visibly evil one.  "There is a woman who might be qualified.  I could send her the results of whatever scans I can make of Tynan.  Actually finding her would require a bit of travel and also figuring out which warzone she has found herself in this time."

"Good, good. Deekin can find her if Satya likes? Deekin not constitutionally opposed to warzones."

Satya's apartment seems very utilitarian at first, the tables, chairs, cabinets and walls are all a sterile white.  And then she snaps her fingers and hard light constructs appear on every surface. It is a mess of unfinished projects and unfinished artwork, with no easy way to tell which light constructs are hard and soft.  They aren't just the blue constructs that she can create with her hands either, the hardlight generators in her home can create constructs of all colors.

She quickly swipes away most of the ones at ground level before the baby can swallow her unfinished work.  "My apologies for the mess, I usually do not have people over."  A screen appears in front of her, showing her a list of peoples of interest.  She swipes past a few, all of whom have threat assessments attached.  Some of the ones Satya has met personally have her own thoughts on them.  The women on the list have significantly more extensive notes then the men, especially the women Satya has made out with.  Those ones have reviews.  She gets to the entry for Angela.  "This is the woman, she is a brilliant doctor and has possibly raised the dead at least once... I might still have her number somewhere.  Would you have some sort of magical way to track her down?"

"Deekin have All-Seeing Mirror in backpack, let Deekin find..."

He burrows into his satchel, then comes up with a gilt-framed mirror about the size of a dinner plate. He breathes on its surface; when the mist clears, it shows a blonde woman with a pistol engaged in a shootout, currently hiding behind a conveniently placed stack of barrels.

"That be healer lady?"

"I think so?" she says, fighting her own face blindness to try and make sure.  It was difficult.  All the white women she encountered seemed to have the same face.  "Either way she seems to need some sort of help.  Can you get a location?  I might know someone close enough who can help deal with her problem."

Deekin zooms out, revealing the scene to be taking place somewhere in Rio de Janeiro. Then he zooms back in and pans around until he can get street names.