Yup. That's what it is.

I can take either, but the first drink is free, says the bar on a napkin. It appears with a coffee.

She takes a sip. "Ah, good stuff. I have no idea what this place is, but you have coffee so it can't be bad. Do you also do food?"

I do! And most other things, too.

"Interesting. Food variety is a bit short where I'm from." She puts down a little torn-off square from the ration card, good for one meal in the base. "I'll take something that doesn't have fish or rice in it. And as much explanation about this place as you feel like giving?"

Gren receives sizzling buttery steak and pesto gnocchi and spicy-lemony mixed vegetables and a dish of strawberry ice cream. Milliways is very complicated; is there anywhere in particular you'd like me to start?

I don't remember how I first came to exist, alas. I'm comforted by the fact that this is a trait I share with most people. The door to your break room has temporarily been replaced by the door to Milliways. When you exit the establishment and allow the door to close, you will find the door has resumed normal behavior and, most probably, that no time has passed in your world. I can't say why that door or why now; I don't control its movements.

"So there are lots of worlds, huh? Can I buy things from them? Something to turn the tide on the Neuroi would make my year. Nasty buggers that like to reduce everything they meet to ash. Weapons, a portable telegraph or something, better steelwings, something to track them from long distance?"

I don't sell weapons, but I can help you on some of the other items.

"I'd love to read through a list of examples or something when I'm done with this delicious food. Is it usually so empty here? This is a fairly big bar, but I'm the only one."

Not usually so empty, no, but sometimes. I don't like to produce lists. Recommendations yes, menus - no.

"As you like. What can you recommend in terms of communication devices likely to last a while without otherworldly maintenance? And possibly books from places who've had longer to science things, now that I think of it."

Bar produces a napkin about solar powered chargers for long-distance earpiece communicators -

- and the door opens.

She stops reading the napkin. "Hullo! Please don't be alarmed, this place is weird but nice."

"Is it. Nice how?"

"The bar is a person, the first drink is free, and since it's between worlds she likely has interesting food and devices you've never heard of. And you get to meet interesting people too, apparently. You've got magic that's really exotic to me, I can smell it all the way over here."

"You smell magic?"

"Yeah, I smell it and copy it, that's my special. Oh, something in here is translating for us by the way so the word might not sound familiar, but have you heard of witches?"

"The word does sound familiar, but probably as a translation artifact."

"Well, I'm a witch. It's a thing I was born as, not something I learned, in case that was in question. What kind of magic are you?"

"Several. I'm a magician, which means I study multiple kinds of magic more than casually. Witchcraft of my native variety among them."

"Ooh, you get multiple kinds. Nice. I wonder if you can make any more sense of this place's magic than me?"