Liarae has been having a bad few weeks. On top of the long list of bad decisions that led to sleeping with her employer, and the discovery of this which led to her being both fired and blacklisted in the security field, somehow, by said employer's father-in-law, she's also recently discovered that she is pregnant. 

With twins.

What kind of absurd luck does she have, anyway? Contraceptive failure is ridiculously rare, and twins, on top of that? This is the kind of contrived shit that only happens in trashy novels. 

But ridiculous or not, it's happened to her, and she needs to figure out what to do about it. Her options are limited, though. The credit auction has been and gone, and she can't afford an aftermarket credit. 

Practically speaking, she only has two options. Go to Arel for help... or terminate the pregnancy. Both of these options turn her stomach to even think about. 

Before she can think too much on them, her stomach turns for an entirely different reason. She gets up, reaching out to open her bedroom door, planning to head to the kitchen for a snack. 

However, the door does not lead to the rest of her apartment.

"...Excuse me, what?!" She demands of the unexpected bar room(?) on the other side of her door, and of the man sitting at a table nearby in particular. 

"Hey, there. Don't turn away, please and hear me out. The place took your door temporarily, but it might be gone forever if just walk away. Please, come in and let me explain the situation?"

"Um."

...She thinks she'll stay where she is, actually.

"The place took my door?" She shakes her head, leaning on the doorknob. "This is just... the stress, right? It has to be."

"Stress about what?"

"...A lot of things," she says, rubbing her forehead. "I was fired earlier this week, and no one will hire me in my field, and I'm pregnant, and I don't have money for a credit and the father might pay for it if I ask but I don't know what he'll want in return- and I don't know what his wife's father will do to me, if I ask- he's already ruined my life this much but I'm sure he could do worse-" 

She gets this all out in one breath, looking a half-step away from bursting into tears. She's been holding this in for a while now, and having someone ask just sent it tumbling out. 

"Please, take a seat?"

"Okay," she agrees quietly, stepping forward and letting the door swing shut behind her. 

She sits.

"What... what is this place?" 

"I know it's hard to believe, but it's some weird interdimensional hub, it will occasionally replace the destination of a door to lead to inside itself. People from all over the multiverse show up and patronize the place."

"Thats..." what, ridiculous? She shakes her head - assuming she isn't hallucinating, there's definitely something strange going on. Denying it won't help anything. 

"And it happened to pick up two greys from Eleseo?"

"It happened to pick a grey from Eleseo and then his three girlfriends and after a bit it picked another grey. My understanding is that weirdly thematic days happen from time to time."

"Three girlfriends?" Normally she wouldn't be wary of this - her brother has two girlfriends and they're all very happy together - but given her recent experiences.... 

"Yes. It's no problem to you, directly, we are working things out." He is not at all comfortable talking about it. Or at least he looks like it. "The important thing is that we are hanging out here waiting for opportunities. The patrons are just as impossible as the place itself, and some might have things to offer to give and trade."

"...I hope that works out for you, I suppose," it's not really any of her business, anyway. She shakes her head, moving on, "Opportunities for trade? I don't know what I'd offer in return for something which could give me enough... Aftermarket credits are expensive." 

"You could take a job as security here and save up money - uh, time usually stops when the door is closed. For some reason in Amenta it's just slowed down, but way, waaay down. It has been a few minutes there, and we have been here for at least three days. And the patrons are very varied, from worlds with all kinds of technology, one might pay a lot for a pocket everything or something else that we find cheap."

"Time is slowed?" She asks, bewildered. She shakes her head, "This is mad." She takes a deep breath, calming herself. This claim is easy to prove true or false. "If I go check the clock in my room, it will say that no time has passed at all?"

"Yes. Well, about one thousandth of the time will have passed. But close enough."

So she stands and goes back to the door, opening it and looking over at the old clock on the dresser beside her bed. 

It's the same time as it was when she checked it before she left the room. While she watches, it ticks over to the next minute, proving that it still works. She has definitely been inside for longer than a minute. 

"...Okay," she says, accepting this new reality. She shuts the door. "How do I get hired as security here?" She asks the other grey, sitting back down at his table. "Security is my field," she adds, and then introduces herself, "Liarae Aradin. I've never tried getting hired at a door-stealing, time-pausing bar before, though."

He uses his thumb to point behind himself. "The countertop is a sentient magical artifact and manages - but doesn't control - the place. You should be fine for hiring, I am not security and got it. My name is Istevi Garon."

"Nice to meet you, I guess." 

Okay. She will go up to the sentient magical bar and... ask about job opportunities? 

The Bar will offer her a free drink. And explain the particularities of her job and its benefits: payment, a room, a backdoor. Food is technically not included, but the prices are reasonable. Threats are bound by mysterious probability to be something she can deal with, though this is not necessarily true while off the cloak, and she shouldn't intervene in such circumstances.

She takes all this in, and folds up the napkin it came on to keep on her person in case she forgets anything. It's quite simple, so she doubts she will, but it doesn't hurt to be safe. She will take a free drink, as well. Non-alcoholic, but other than that she'll take whatever the Bar recommends. 

When is her first shift?

She can start soon, but she can have a meal and a shower. Bar manifests her a working uniform. Not at all identical to the sort she used to wear, but recognizable as such.

Oh good, she was about to get some breakfast before she wound up here. She'll go to her room to shower, first, and then come back to order something to eat. She waves to Istevi on her way out of the room, offering him a small smile. 

Istevi smiles back at her.

It follows a few hours of tedious doing nothing and waiting for something, which is the norm in most security jobs.

Then Istevi comes in to both relieve her of her shift and. "Hey, another Amentan, a blue, come in. I explained things already."

Despite the boredom, she's in a much better mood after spending a few hours doing paying work.

"Oh!" She stands from the security desk, "Gee, a blue. I guess it's nice to have someone who might be more qualified for dealing with all of this around. Are they from Eleseo, too?"