"Also dormant. So it'll keep. I can try some things. I know where to start now, probably."

"Indeed. I like you, you're smart. I'm a little surprised you don't seem to be more curious about me, honestly."

"I think I have the broad idea. And there's not really any point, is there? I have a project again, that's what matters."

"Oh good. Do you have what you need Hours-wise? Should I nip off to pick up supplies and then bring you back to the Royal Society?"

"Sure. Don't bother finding exact matches." She lists off various things, about half general living supplies and half more serious hardware, plus a few Hour geodes.

She gives her a thumbs up and goes off to do the shopping, listening for relevant gossip while she's in London anyway. 

The stock market has been suspended. Bands of ruffians and ne'er do wells are savaging lower London; Stay on the main streets and carry a weapon. Something attacked the Clockwork Sun. It's the same thing that attacked the Workworlds. It's the Mountain of Light's daughter. It's the Mountain herself. She swatted aside Her Majesty's finest like flies. She can't be all bad, everyone knows the Workworlds are horrible and they say that New Winchester has declared 'Resurrection Day' after her visit. But she's throwing everything into chaos and making the authorities panic and crack down.

...Can she get an idea of what the authorities cracking down looks like. 

Looks like the police had an understanding with many of small gangs that run the side streets, that's been suspended and they're rounding up petty criminals so as to be seen to be doing something. There's also been an official rationing order on steel and processed Hours, and there's talk of an emergency tax.

Not as bad as it could be. She'll hold off for now. 

She collects the supplies and returns to the engineer. 

She has carved some mathematics and the sigil The joy of immersion in sunlight into the rock with a knife. Looks like the first attempt at a sigil combusted, though. She's not great at stonecarving.

"Hello again."

"Hi! I brought your stuff." 

"Why, thank you. Off to the Royal Society now, then?"

"Yep." 

So does her room have her name in it?

Her room is...

In the Garden. The massively overgrown garden that was once the pride of the campus and now more closely resembles a hostile jungle than academic decoration. Babbage Hall has been abandoned to the vines and thorns and seems to host a pack of some sort of rat-wolves now.

"What...the fuck."

"Oooh, they've really let the place go. The groundskeepers were always more like a military force than anything else, but they've lost a few too many battles." She cackles.

"What the fuck???"

"There was a phase where Reach flora was all the rage. We imported a lot of it, did many studies and experiments, and then couldn't quite control it anymore. And then the clockwork sun debacle happened, and then there was the invasion of scrive-spinsters and the rise of piracy, and anarchists, and there were so many other interesting research avenues, so it sort of got left behind. But it's gotten so much worse than I thought, my word. This entire section of the Royal Society appears to be abandoned!"

"I see." 

She starts breaking her way through the flora, deeper into the section. 

The engineer follows along, commenting about flora.

Her room is somewhat intact. Enough to find some old odds and ends, slightly moldy books, and a smattering of dubiously useful scientific equipment. The old engineer's name, apparently, is Clementine Grainger.

"Doesn't sound familiar," she says, disappointed. "Though I do recognize this alembic."

"Well, it's pretty, at least." 

She kicks a chair. "Well, I can't stay here. And you've probably triggered an expedition to try and find out where you landed. Let's go back to the main campus and figure it out from there?"

"Sure. Anything you want me to carry?"

She salvages a single bag's worth of cleanable lab equipment. "I'll still figure out how to study light for you, but I might need some Sovereigns now."