It took a moment to notice she wasn't in her bedroom anymore.

It was one of the dorms of the Corner 4E51 school, with the bed specially built for meditation, extra thick carpet for sitting or lying on, and foldaway desk. The lights weren't on, but fumbling around she could easily find the dimmer for turning on the lights.

At first she thinks she's just dreaming again.  But then... She swings her legs out of bed, and notices that she's wearing something she's never remembered wearing before.  And she's never noticed she's dreaming without waking up what seems like a few seconds later...

She fumbles around and turns on the lights.  And by that time, she's decided she's not dreaming.

"Hello?  Fairies?" she says awkwardly with a mix of fear and hope, looking around for anyone in sight who might answer.  "A-are you real after all?  Did you steal me away?"

The light also reveals that there's storage under her bed. It has basically all her clothes: bright blue skirts, leggings, a blazer, several ties, and a snowsuit made of a very slick material, as well as long underwear in multiple thicknesses. Her phone and laptop are placed in a dedicated nook, on a small table in the corner of the room by the door.

Well, the fairies let her wake up on her own?  So it does make sense they're not waiting for her to speak to them?  Right?

And the clothes are all her size.  They're not quite her style - nor fairies' traditionally-supposed style either - but a lot of it is something she's fine wearing... except that slick snow-suit; that looks just too weird...

She goes over to the phone and tries to unlock it with her favorite passcode - the date of her first summer camp.  Does it work?

No, but if she stops for a moment the phone unlocks using facial recognition. It looks a bit... complicated? She can see an unusual-looking phone keyboard instead of a normal home screen, and if she tries using it she goes through her apps very suddenly.

Was that --

If she read that right, the phone said it recognized her face?  Can phones really do that!?

And... did the fairies (or... time-travelers?) leave her any messages in obvious places on the phone?

There are no messages on her phone, though there are quite a few contacts and a lot of notes she's taken over the years, as well as a few photos.

And are those photos of any things she remembers?  Anywhere she's been?

Not at all! They're from museums and beautiful views of nature and interesting building interiors.

But... not any buildings or museums she remembers?

And she's somehow in these pictures?  Wearing... clothes like the ones she was just looking at under the bed?

There are a few selfies, yes, but not many. And she is indeed wearing exactly clothes like those under the bed! The skirt seems a bit... unusually short? Especially as it looks like it's part of a school uniform.

And no pictures of Fairyland either?  Between the strange pictures of herself and that weirdly short specform skirt, this's starting to feel more like time travelers than fairies...

(Something inside her, that'd been rather hoping for fairies, sinks.)

Well, she's not going to get any further on the phone... or at least, she doesn't want to!  It's time to get out there and talk with the time-travelers or whoever stole her away here!

With a little fumbling around fasteners in unusual places, she gets out of her sleepwear, only to notice that the scab on her knee isn't there anymore.

And then with a little more fumbling, she gets dressed in a blazer and skirt and leggings.  She holds one of the... weirdly-shaped sleek sashes?... in her hand, tries to decide whether it's supposed to go around her waist or her shoulder or her chest, and decides to just stuff it in a pocket until she figures out what it symbolizes and what she wants to do with it.

She glances around for a nametag, but doesn't see any of those or any clear name symbol, so decides she'll just go anonymous. 

That done, and the mysterious face-telling phone in her pocket next to the sash, it's time to see the rest of where she is!

Looking around, she sees a long corridor with many doors like hers. If she keeps going, she finds a sign with directions at the end of the corridor. It says there's a pool, a library and a weight room. She can also see that she's very high up, trusting that the 22 above the sign is saying what floor she's currently on!

But are there any people there?  Any windows to the outside?

... If not, she'll memorize any number that's on her door, and try knocking on the door next to hers.

Not from where she can see. The number and letter on her door is 2244. Knocking on the adjacent door results in a boy her age opening the door very soon afterwards, dressed in just his boxers. He's mostly hiding behind the door. "Why are you knocking on my door, aren't you supposed to be asleep?"

Does he know something?

"Supposed to - wait, what's going on?"

"It's pretty damn dark outside right now and us day people are all supposed to be asleep right now, that's what's going on!"

She blinks at the profanity.

Does she want to play the role he's obviously assuming she's playing or -

- nope, she's not going to.

"Day people?  Are there night people too?  What's going on!?"

"You go to this school is what's going on! Did you get amnesia?"

"This's a -- school!?  Not a timeship?  Or -" her mind crosses "school-like place" and "really large place with beds" to come up with "- or a monastery!?"

"Yes and you go here, what the hell is happening to you?"

"Surely not Hell - but -" She throws up her hands.

"Did we get kidnapped by time-travelers or rogue physics-monks or something!?"

"No I was born here, is this a prank?"

"Not by me!"

She stares at the boy's face.  (And tries not to stare any lower.)  She's not that much better a face-teller than most people... but she's pretty sure he's not actually in her school?

"I was at home last night with Mom and Dad, and then I woke up here!"

"That's not very unusual? Many do that around this time of year."

"Many... kids... appear here?"

"After going back to their parents, yes. That's what I just told you!"

"Are you saying I was always a fairy changeling or something!?"

(That... might explain why she kept feeling like she was on a different drumbeat than other people?)

"You have access to this part of the building because you go to this school, right? That's what is happening! You go to this school! What is there to get!"

"But - I've never been here before in my life - I go to Symfire Academy in Birivers..."

"What are you talking about? This is Corner 4E51 School. Symfire Academy doesn't even sound real."

"Corner... four eee whatever - doesn't sound real!"

"Well that's where are. Look around, look it up."

Flop against the wall.  She isn't getting anywhere with this boy, and she'd rather not look things up in the library right now.

(Her stomach rumbles a bit.) 

"So who do you think I am?"

"Jenwy Burell, and I think you're pretty cool."

She opens her mouth in surprise.  That's not a thing anyone says the first time they meet her -

(of course he's saying it isn't the first time -)

"- and who're you?"

"I'm Stephen Johnson."

That sounds like a name, though she doesn't remember ever meeting anyone with it.  She bobs a quick curtsy.

"Speaking of names - where're our nametags?  Or are we all going by signet-badges here?  I used an acorn at camp, but..."

"We don't do nametags at school. I don't know anywhere that does nametags, thinking about it..."

"How do you even have a place this big without it --  Everywhere does nametags!  Unless you're doing signets!"

"People get good with names, is how! And especially with the phones it's easy to know everyone's name and keep track of them."

"That sounds like -- like someone's taken math drills and language camp and figured out how to make it worse!"

She shrinks back a bit.

"Er, if I wear an acorn on my blouse, will anyone have the least idea what it means?"

"They'll think it's just to make you look cooler."

Flop against the wall again.

"So... who runs this school?"  Fairies?  Let it be fairies?  "And what were we doing yesterday?"

"I uhh... didn't actually look up the principal's name. What we did yesterday, well what I did yesterday was practicing diving. So I can fix underwater things!"

"Sounds fun!  I've never been diving!"

Her stomach rumbles again.

"Er... is there breakfast somewhere?"

"Yes, absolutely, some of the night people are in the kitchen and are happy to make you something... somewhere." Stephen steps out and uses his phone, showing Jenwy where in the building the kitchen is. "And here are the directions! Take the elevator some floors down and you're there already, there'll be lots of signs and navigation stripes."

Jenwy stares at his phone, at least half to make sure she isn't looking at his boxers.  The other half is that she isn't used to phone maps... her parents use them sometimes, but she's more used to paper maps... but she can follow it.

"Thanks!  And - er -"  She's about to ask "who are the night people?  Talking lizards, like in that one book?" but decides it'd be more fun to get away from the suddenly-awkward conversation and find out for herself!

"Uh, see you in class or something?"

"See you after!"

She heads down the hall to the elevators, feeling a little exposed without her nametag... and, apparently, surrounded by a whole huge schoolfull of expert face-tellers who're convinced they already know her?

Did she somehow replace some other Jenwy Burell?  Is she that other Jenwy Burell, with a different world's set of memories in her head?

If there're any windows, she'll gladly pause there to look outside and think.  Otherwise, she'll head down to the food hall and try to see something of this school-monastery on the way there.

She finds a few windows looking out from the elevator lobby. Looking out, she's only really seeing mountains and forests in the frosty landscape. The windows are also pretty huge, taking up much of the wall.

Ooh!

She feasts her eyes on the beautiful mountains and forests for some time.  That explains the thick underclothes in her room, too...

At home, Dad was always too focused on his gallery to take them anywhere this far north.  She'd begged.  But now, she's here!

And then her stomach rumbles, and she heads down for food.

She finds the way to the kitchens, where there a few others her age sitting around and chatting, savoring a wide variety of foods; the smell in the air is fantastic. One of them looks up and looks at Jenwy. "Anything you want to eat? I'm happy to get started on something just for you."

Are they wearing the same sort of clothes she is?  What're the doing with those weird sashes - do there seem to be different factions in how they wear them?

Jenwy instinctively looks at the girl's collar for her nametag but (of course) doesn't find it there.  "Yeah, thanks - er -" She stumbles over her words, not sure whether to ask for her usual cereal (would they even have it in this world?) or her favorite scones (do they have any already) - and looks around the table.  What is there that looks delicious and maybe scone- or muffin-like?

They wear a mix of workout legging and uniforms like hers, including the boys wearing similar skirts as hers. They have pizza and soups and chicken and chickpeas and fries to eat, nothing very scone or muffin-like though.

Boys in not even robes, but shortish skirts?  Well at least they're wearing something over their boxers.

And they put the sashes around their necks?  Wouldn't that feel uncomfortable?  Not that she'll say anything there for now...

For the food... all right, she'll ask.  "Do you have any bread around?  And - maybe some chicken..."  That's occasionally a breakfast food, right?

"Well... we can try coming up with something! Don't hear a lot of people ask for bread." Says one of the boys.

She couldn't keep her surprise off her face if she tried.  "Oh - no need to bake it for me!  Er, anything breadlike or..."

She casts around mentally; what would probably exist in another world?  Her history classes told her porridge was ancient -- well, that doesn't work; what would her aunts say if she asked them for garum?

"... some sort of cereal?"

"Rice is a cereal, we can do that for you!"

That still feels weird for breakfast?  But - "Thanks!"

She looks around for a good place to sit and listen to the conversation.  What's going on in this school?

The kids are having fun diving and skiing and hiking through the woods, as well as reading and learning, and they think it's really cool how they're going new places thanks to the new technology.

Oh!  She visibly perks up.  This sounds like school's combined with travel!  And so much more fun than just classes!

Though... where are all the adults?  Do they get mentioned?

The adults are around, as much as they have to be, but the kids are expected to do quite a lot themselves so they don't show up too much.

Jenwy feels even more at loose ends now, adrift in the new world.

Maybe she'll feel better with some breakfast in her?  And then... find one of those adults to talk with about who she is?  Maybe?

The rice is ready for her, and looking around she can find an adult sitting nonchalantly at one of the tables. He perks up at seeing Jenwy.

Chicken and rice... how's it prepared?

She takes it over to the table with the adult and gives him a friendly wave and "Hello".

The chicken is cooked in a pot and the rice prepared in a pressure cooker. The adult nods at Jenwy, before asking what classes she's taking and what she likes doing.

Jenwy picks at her food to give herself a moment to think.  The chicken and rice isn't bad at all... it doesn't taste like breakfast, but it's well-seasoned, and would've made a good lunch at home...

Well, here's the moment of choice!  She doesn't have the least idea what classes she's supposed to be taking!  Will she play along with the role she's supposed to be in, or let on that she doesn't have the least idea?

She spares a moment to imagine how boring it would be to be poked at by Physics-Monks in hopes of finding a way to another universe.  And the other choice is just plain more fun...

"I... I'm thinking I might want to change up some of my classes, actually.  I was looking over a play in the evening...  And... I heard something last night; it might've been just a dream, but did anything odd happen last night?"

"No, nothing at all as a matter of fact. Well, it sounds a bit unusual for you to be looking over a play, but I don't know of anything odd happening."

She doesn't know what to say to that.  Well, she's pretty sure nobody would've noticed anything if this happened at home either?  Okay, there was that one story where the Physics-Monks noticed the worldgate from Fairyland, but... she woke up in strange clothes; it feels like there wasn't even any real worldgate here.

And the... other her they're all so sure they know about... doesn't like reading plays?

"Oh?  Unusual?"

She covers herself with another bite of the delicious chicken.

"Yes, the kids here don't do much theater, they do various more athletic and adventurish things? Diving, firefighting, emergency medicine, sailing, expeditions and hiking."

"Ah?  Maybe I could try getting one started..."

... Or was the... other her... doing expeditions?  Like the undercover anti-would-be-utopias work she'd been vaguely thinking of doing herself when she was older...?

"Well there is one, it's just small and there aren't that many people in it!"

"Oh!  Do you know who I should talk with?"

Would it really help here in a world without nametags?  She's really going to stretch her face-telling skills here, isn't she?

"I'll have to ask around a bit, but I can find the right people yes."

"Thanks!  And - how long till my first class, till I can change up my schedule...?"  She glances around for a clock, to cover her waiting for what probably isn't going to be a hint.  Well, worst come to worst, she's scandalized teachers by skipping class before, with less excuse.

"If you tell me your name, I can find your class on the phone app, if you're having problems with yours."

"Thanks!  Jenwy Burell."  She's going to watch how his phone app works, too.

He types a few letters, opens the app, sees her name, taps it and sees a schedule. "Wow, it says your next class starts in 5.5 hours! You should really get some sleep now I think, know your limits!"

Five and a half hours... and the window looked like it was twilight...  is this an afternoon-class-only school?

... or is something weirder going on?

For now, she's going to be peering over his shoulder at the rest of the classes on her schedule.

"I... might try?" she says lamely.

"I'm sure you can do it, all the kids I know are great at sleeping!"

Yeah, but have the kids he knows just woken up in a whole other world!?

She fakes a chuckle.  "And then I might try to change up my class schedule if I can... well, maybe after I talk to the theater group?"

"That'd be great, see ya later!"

She nods and finishes off the chicken and maybe half the rice.  Is there an obvious place to deposit the dishes?

There is a robot with some dishes on it in the corner; it's turned off and just sitting there, but everyone else seems to have put their dishes on it?

Sure, she'll put it there and...

... go find another window and try to play with the other-her's phone and see what sort of things she's been doing?  For lack of any other ideas?  She can't go back to sleep now!

There's a pair of basically wall-sized windows that give Jenwy a beautiful view this late at night.

... It's still twilight?

She's sure she spent long enough in the food hall that the sun would've risen.  Something's weird with the sun here.

Is something weird with time itself?  Some magic? -- no, she hasn't seen any magic -- something about Relativity? -- no, that doesn't matter on her world and if she was on another planet its sun could just be like that...

... She looks down at her phone and confusedly lets the weird face-telling computer unlock it for her.  At least she landed in something that looks like her own body.

Looking up her classes, there are a lot of physical ones: animal management, Expeditions and Mobility, first aid, Dance and Acrobatics and capped off with Healthy Body Building, the last 3 specifically requiring her to wear athletic clothing.

No math!  No literature!  Yes dance!  Yes Expeditions!

She likes this school.

... or she will as soon as she catches up with where this mysterious other her was... 

Jenwy spares a thought of sympathy for Other Her presumably caught back in... what's that other name for the world... in Ev amid math and literature class.

She stands up... and then remembers seeing some notes apps on Other Her's phone.  What was she doing lately in these classes?

She was learning about how to train working animals like raccoons or pigeons, practicing how to save people who have nearly drowned, what kinds of aircraft there are and how they're used on expeditions, flexibility training and some gnarly-looking ballet-like moves, and some pretty intense fixed-time running and weightlifting.

Oh, a lot of this sounds fun - the dancing is lovely - though she winces at the weightlifting - she's never dealt with raccoons, but -

- Most of what she's reading sounds vaguely familiar?  As if she's dreamed it or something?  She knows what it feels like to train a raccoon...

This's going to be fun!

She jumps up (doing one of her dance steps as she does) and heads off vaguely back toward the elevator, looking for someone to talk with or (vaguely, not really looking for this) a door that might lead outside.

On the way to one of the elevators, she runs into someone dressed in quite tight athletic clothes. She turns to Jenwy, energetic and fired up. "Hello! What's your name?"

Oh good, someone -

Hey, she can say that out loud!  "Oh good, someone else's up now!  I'm Jenwy; what's your name?"

"I'm Clara! I just did a bunch of conditioning. What are you up for?"

("Conditioning" is clearly something more physical here than at home in Ev?)

"Tried to sleep; had some weird dreams; don't feel like sleeping again.  I think I feel more like dancing now."

"What kind of dance, you think? I'd rather like a break; it's nice, but conditioning is still tough."

... What kind of dances do they do here?  She's pretty sure she can do the steps, but none of the names come to her tongue.

"You pick?"

"...a short ballet warmup? I'm too tired to do anything now and I was on my way back to my room."

That sounds like maybe the sort of thing she knows from Ev too? 

"Let's do it!  You lead the way!"

"I'm exhausted and it's very late, leave me alone!"

Jenwy jumps back a step and holds up her hands.  "Sorry - I thought you were good with a short warmup? -"

"I wasn't planning on it, and I've danced enough for today, is the thing!"

"Tomorrow, then?..."

Jenwy yawns, to her own surprise.

"Maybe if we meet then!" She starts walking off.

Jenwy waves, and then tries a few ballet steps by herself in the hall.  Her legs...

... are even more flexible, if anything, than back in Ev?

But she's feeling sleepy.  Maybe it's the meal; maybe it's the shock of appearing in a new world wearing off?

Is there an armchair to...  No, she'll head back up to her room now.  She can always poke around up there if she's still awake.

She'd notice that the blanket is a bit heavier than she'd expect, look at how thick it is. And she becomes very sleepy once her head is on the pillow.

... Well, by that time, she's already slipped back on her nightgown.  And marveled again at just how short the skirt she'd been wearing was... she must not have fully noticed right after she woke up here?

... Speaking of waking up...

... hopefully Other Her remembered to set her alarm?  She's not going to worry about that now...

... and (she spares a wandering thought) hopefully she'll still be here in the morning!  It'd be a shame to wake up back home in Ev with so many unanswered questions!

After what feels like a moment, she wakes up. The lights in the room are dimly lit, and soothing, wistful music is playing. Checking the time, she's woken up *well* before any classes.

Even before checking the time, she checks her bed and her nightgown.

Yes, she's still in the other world!

She jumps out of bed and holds up the skirt and shorts she was wearing... yesterday evening, she'll call it.

Now that she looks at it without her initial shock, it's about as short as a tunic.  And you'd wear a tunic over full loose pants, not really tight shorts like these.  (What's more, usually guys would wear them... but this skirt's not a tunic cut, so that isn't a problem.)

Is there anything longer in Other Her's clothes here?

Well there's a pair of athletic leggings that fit *very* tightly, and a black pair of immaculately ironed wool-looking trousers (they don't feel like wool at all!)

Hmm, she tries on the trousers.  Maybe she can wear the skirt over them?

... naaah, that just feels too weird to her.  Even aside from the skirt, she's barely worn trousers for years.  And it would probably ruin her plan to pretend to be Other Her, too.

Okay, how about Really Short Skirt over athletic leggings?

...they're not meant to go together and she can tell. There's a handy, perfectly sized bag for all her gym clothes: the closely-fitted leggings and top, and the athletic underwear colored almost perfectly like her own skin. 

So it seems clear that she's meant to carry them, not really wear them under other clothes.

... Ah well.  Does she want this bad enough to decide to stop pretending?  No.  Not when it feels and looks so weird on her anyway.

Really Short Skirt and Really Short Shorts it is.  And trying not to imagine just what Mom or Kat would say if she wore them at home.

She has plenty of time to get a real nice breakfast before the first class. Clicking at an app icon with a knife and fork on her phone, she can see that she has a Gold Card, whatever that is and a reservation for her breakfast.

There's a dining hall on the way to the classroom where she'll spend most of her day, and she has a reservation ready for Soy Sauce Chicken there.

Soy Sauce Chicken?  All right; that sounds fine.

And a map showing the dining hall and classrooms?  That's better!  She stares at the map for a minute, trying to memorize parts of it even though it's sort of hopeless to try to know her way around as well as Other Her.

And then - out in the hall to see her new friends and classmates!  Maybe especially the guy she talked with last night, to try to head off anything he might be saying?

It's not a particularly long walk to get to the dining hall, which somehow manages to be on the same floor as the dorms. It seems like they try fitting as much as possible onto one floor? Then this building must be pretty huge.

She does see the guy she bumped into yesterday in the dining hall, sitting with a group of friends, although he's not saying anything about her.

She waves at him.  ...Stephen, his name was?

Does anyone seem to be waving at her like they might be friends with Other Her?  If so, she'll go say hi.  If not, she'll pick up her Soy Sauce Chicken (and any other food?) and go look for a seat with...

... Well, she doesn't know anyone else here except that guy and the girl she bumped into last night.  So is there a spare seat at Stephen's table?  There are other girls sitting there, right, it's not a guys-only table?

Nobody is waving at hear, though there is a table of mostly girls and a few boys that are paying her a bit more attention than the others, so it seems they know her at least a little.

That's a good start!  She'll wave to them.

She reflexively taps below her collar to make sure her nametag is in sight...

... except she doesn't have one.

No one has one.  Ouch.

Well, if no one's talking with her, time to see the Soy Sauce Chicken and whatever sides there might be here.  Preferably something breakfastable like bread or muffins or cereal or porridge?

The breakfast is nothing but ordinary meals like she'd have for dinner, and in pretty big portions too. The closest thing to sides she can get to sides are pizza slices and containers of chickpeas, lentils, and rice with with sauces separate. She's not seeing any red meat in any of the meals either.

She shouldn't be surprised after last night, but she is.

She grabs a pizza slice with the chicken, and doesn't think anything of the lack of red meat - maybe it's just chance; maybe it's a breakfast tradition here?

So, back to the table that was waving at her before!

They have a seat ready for her, and she can sit easily enough. They're eating full-course meals just like her. "Are you thinking of working with anything, and getting a bit of a break for school? Maybe actually perform instead of just going to dance class?" asks one of the girls at the table.

Time to ad-lib a role!

"Oh, sometime, sure!  But... maybe not just yet?  I was thinking of branching out some more first; trying a few more things.  What about you?"

"I sorta want to try... Welcoming a baby. Just for a short while; I think they're adorable you know? But I don't think I can make it a proper long-term thing."

Some sort of babysitting???  But Jenwy's ad-libbed before; she runs with it and gives a slightly humorous grin.

"If you like adorable, sure!  But... just how young babies are you thinking of?"

"I mean, it's called welcoming a baby? They've basically just been born."

Just been born?  But wouldn't the parents be caring for the baby... all right; she knows some churches and nations in Ev have ceremonies around newborns?

Unfortunately she can't ask her questions, because Other Her would probably know the answers already...

"I don't see how anyone could really make that work long-term!"

"Well, the welcoming is not a long-term thing? But it's a step to making childraising a career, for those who want that."

Childraising... career... being a full-time mother could be described that way?

"Anyone want to do that?" Jenwy glances around the table, with what could be a joke or could be not one, depending on what Other Her might know about her friends.

"There are sort of... better schools and places for that so not many of the here. But there are a few!"

"Yeah, I'm sure.  Not that I'd like to go to any of them..."  That's absolutely true, and only in part because most of the Schools of Motherhood in Ev are run by specific small religions.

She can't think of what to say next, so she folds up some of the Soy Sauce Chicken in the pizza while listening.  They're both good food - different from what she's had before, and absolutely not what she'd eat for breakfast, but nice.

(What exactly are these things on the pizza?  She's been trying to piece them out...)

As is standard, pepperoni, pineapple, corn, onions and jalapenos.

It takes her a little while to identify the jalapenos and pineapple - she hasn't had either one that often, and they're both cut up differently from how she's always seen them.

But again, it's pretty good once she's used to it.

The breakfast is a lot of food, too, so she becomes quite full once she's done eating.

And also because she's not used to such a large breakfast.

"So where're you going next?" she asks, trying to distract from her stomach.

"Class, duh? I'm on my way to the massage and physiotherapy class."

Jenwy reflexively makes a face at the idea of massages.  She never liked Mom dragging her along there.  "Well, have fun."

"I guess I'm off to manage some animals!"

And that's a brighter thought.

When she shows up, the classroom has a very nice and soft mat on the floor. The room smells of hay, and there are no desks, only pillows or stools. There aren't that many others in the classroom, maybe another ten or so. Today they have a very relaxed raccoon standing under the teacher. She begins talking, in a rythmic and artificially enunciated way.

She talks about what raccoons eat and what treats they like, and the pace they work at, waving her hands in an even rhythm. Then she tells the raccoon to get the red ball, from a pile of simple shapes, in a patient and friendly voice, and after getting it two times herself the raccoon grabs it whenever she puts it back.

"Raccoons need more instruction and display, explaining what to do is very difficult. It's possible, but they're not quite the right animal for that."

This's the closest Jenwy's ever been to a raccoon.  She's seen them from a distance lurking around shrubbery and parks, but nothing more - and not looking anywhere near that relaxed!  She's excited.

And, the animal training demonstration isn't totally new - she's seen a friend trying to train her dog - but she's never heard of anyone trying it with raccoons before!

Eventually, one of the others in class bends down to pick up and stroke the raccoon, being told to so by the teacher and giving Jenwy a bit of an eyeful of her shorts. The teacher continues.

"To keep the raccoon happy and obedient, it's important to give it rewards, especially after it's done with its current work. The best rhythm is exactly the slow, even and light touch that it's being stroked in right now. Maybe someone else wants to try?"

Jenwy shoots up her hand.

She's feeling a bit nervous, but also excited.

"Certainly you're free to try Jenwy. Now put it down..." the other girls leaves the raccoon on the floor again. "It's your turn now. And your touch tells you if the raccoon is pleased, so try focusing on that sensation of touch."

"It'll be relaxed if it's pleased?"

Jenwy squats down (not showing her shorts anywhere near as much as the other girl), and cautiously strokes the raccoon.  She wants to let it sniff her first, like a strange dog or cat or guinea pig, but the other girl didn't do that.

"Yes and it'll keep its muscles soft. It's tough to explain..." The raccoon doesn't really sniff her, but she can tell that it fees great in her hands.

Oh!  Then she scoots her hands under it something like a cat, and picks it up and continues stroking it.  She tries to focus on how it feels.

Again it's an experience thing that's tough to explain, but she knows she's doing it right. "Great job Jenwy! So the raccoon is probably the most common trained animal used in factories because it's so wonderfully low maintenance and it's not hard to train for the things it's good at..." The rest of the class is mostly theoretical, about which animals to choose for what work and why, and what their strengths and limitations are. There's also a mention of therapy and rescue dogs, and some of the other working animals in thomassia.

Working animals... feel right to that part of her that remembered how to dance last night, even though she's never heard of them in Ev for anything modern.

She's excited.

She's so excited about the concept she's not bothering to take in the details.  Somewhere most of the way through the class she gets the idea that she should really pay attention because if she ever does get home to Ev she'll want to tell everyone how to train them... but by then it's too late to really bother starting to take notes.

The Expeditions and Mobility class happens in a normal classroom; it's not too much of a walk (in this pretty huge building, she's starting to realize) and this class has more students, about 25. The wall is painted to work as a projector, so the slides can take up the entire wall. The class has info on basically as many different ways of moving around and getting places as possible: walking and hiking, motorcycling or cycling across multiple days, mountain climbing, skiing, swimming, scuba diving and even flying in airplanes and gliders. Eventually, you're meant to get specialized classes for the kind of Mobility that you actually intend to use yourself. Today is mostly focused on flying: both controlling drones and using planes, and what they get used for (firefighting, surveying, tourism, air rescue). Gyrocopters get talked about a lot because they can fly slow and land anywhere, while being far simpler and safer than helicopters.

This time, Jenwy makes sure to cross her legs as she sits.  Maybe it's the different classroom; maybe it's just that everything's not quite so new this time... but she feels more exposed.

She listens with fascination.

Cycling multiple days, mountain climbing... yeah, she's heard of those and talked with people who've done them.  (She's not seeing quite as many different sorts of bike here as in Ev?  Or maybe it's just these are the ones most adapted for Expeditions?)  Skiing and scuba diving... She's not sure they even exist in Ev?

And she wants to try them all.

The teacher lectures in an over-enunciated, rhythmic way that makes everything easy to remember. There are also a few mentions of impressive or important expeditions, like some really impressively long flights. There's also a strong emphasis on safety gear and protective equipment, which gets a lot of the other students excited. Emergency beacons, drysuits, motorcycle suits with airbags and similar.

Oh, but how long are those long flights?  She remembers a few from Ev that were impressively long...

... and she doesn't remember safety equipment anywhere near as good.  Maybe she just hadn't heard of it, but at least a lot of it wasn't common.

Also she realizes the rhythmic way is new.  And... she does have pen and paper for taking notes longhand, right?

She does not have pen and paper; here that's considered "messy". She can use her voice to very quickly dictate into her phone, there's in fact a special language designed to just let voice dictation work fast and she can be quite enough to not really disturb the other students while speaking into it. Although she has noted that this Jenwy only took a few notes...

Well, this Jenwy is taking even fewer.  She activates the voice recording system once, and by reflex says something that probably means "get padded suit before skiing; check that suit in my room" - but she doesn't trust it enough to use it again.

Hopefully she'll remember everything important.

And presumably fewer people here die on long flights?  There'll be no Rivards and Erics Memorial here...

It's a theory class, but Jenny gets a lot of information about traveling to new and remote places and safely. She can get many exciting jobs working with scuba diving or plane pilot or in forestry or even doing adventures!, the slides mention. But she gets the impression that this class is taken done for the fun of it rather than the career opportunities.

Oh, she's hardly thinking of career opportunities yet.  But she's happy they're there.

Does it sound like they'll actually be doing any of that traveling?

How do the other students in class seem to be reacting?

They seem excited and fascinated, clearly thinking about what would be cool and fun to do.

Oh good!

And then the class ends without much fanfare. Her next classes are all meant be done in sportswear; she can easily make her way back to her dorm to change into them there.

She joins in with the crowd of students, trying to listen to what they're talking about.

They're talking about their futures, actually! They want to start working in hospitals, or with kids, or in factories or with building things or making food.

None of those sound really interesting to Jenwy, except maybe the building things, so she stays more quiet.

Except... wait, the "working with kids" sounds a lot different from the sort of schoolteaching or babysitting or daycare or therapy she's used to in Ev?

It means being there as the kids' parents, raising them with a group of other adults. They tend to raise a lot of kids together, too, often 15-20 in one household.

"That sounds like a lot of kids to be raising!" she says aloud, sincerely.

"Well, the parents all work together and the kids start raising themselves pretty quick? And when they're really young, they don't have quite so many kids to think of."

Jenwy forces a chuckle.

That feels really weird... but Other Her presumably went through that herself, so she needs to pretend she's used to it?

She really wants to talk with Other Her now.  But she doesn't see how she could.

The girl she saw in the Animal management class notices her reaction. "You seem... shyer than usual? And I mean... you grew up in that kind of family your whole life, like everyone else? Weird."

"Really, when was the last time I played with babies?"  Surely Other Her wouldn't have either.

"But - I guess I've been feeling weird today," she says, repeating the same line she'd said earlier.  "Had some weird dreams last night."

"That would explain things, huh. Anyways... I'm having a class that requires athletic clothes next, so I think I'll head off to change into them. See you later then."

"See yah!"  She raises her hand in farewell.

Hopefully she swallowed Jenwy's explanation?  Which reminds her, she still needs to make sure... what was his name, John Stefson?... doesn't go telling anyone about her initial confusion. 

And then she glances back at her planner to see what her own next class is.

Her next class is first aid, and it explicitly mandates athletic clothing. Stephen Johnson is in the dorm where she first met him, wearing a skirt just as short as hers, and she can easily find him to talk to him.

Athletic clothing.

She drags her feet a bit walking back to her dorm to change, not sure whether she feels more self-conscious wearing this Very Short Skirt or just leggings without any skirt at all.

And then she sees... John?  Sten?... whatever his name is.

She reflexively straightens her collar around a nonexistent nametag, and says awkwardly, "Hello... Thanks for listening last night."

"Sure, you weren't too annoying."

But she doesn't go in just yet.  She's got something more to say to the guy... but how to lead up to it without hinting the wrong things?  "I'm, well, feeling more at home here today.  Did you tell anyone?"

(As soon as she says it, she realizes it's exactly what the changelings would've said in Oaken Conspiracy.  But then... she isn't really not a changeling, is she?)

"No? It doesn't matter that you were randomly weird one time, why would I tell anyone about that?"

"Thanks!  Just, er, I'd rather not have anyone else hearing.  Thanks for being so nice then."

She suddenly realizes that "don't tell anyone else" probably does ring differently and more normally when tons of kids are living together in a large dorm without parents.

"I'm not telling anyone. Your... weird moment is safe with me."

"Thanks!"  She flashes him a smile, and then if he doesn't have anything more to say, ducks into her room.

Oh good, at least the underwear is colored not to call attention to itself.  At least something isn't as bad as it could be.

But... it shows off her legs almost as much as if she isn't wearing anything at all!

Does her room have a mirror so she can stare at herself with horrified fascination?

The room doesn't but she does remember that the training rooms do, and she does have the time to sneak a glance before the first aid class.

But to do that, she'd need to walk out in public wearing this.

But Other Her must've done it all the time.

Everyone else's doing it.

She needs to do it to fit in.

What would everyone she knows in all Ev think if they saw her -

 - they'd think she'd have to have joined a weird cuddling-utopia like that one Cloddidot wrote that article about, right?  Or maybe that she's infiltrating one of them as a spy?

Which is sort of not totally unlike what she's doing?  Right?

She walks out, and tries to head for the training room.  But she can't help looking a little nervous.

She doesn't look noticeably nervous that anyone casually walking by notices. And once in the training room, she takes a look... and is pleasantly surprised, she is in very good shape. But well... her clothes make it quite easy to tell!

Well, that part's a pleasant surprise.  Unlike the clothes.

Though it also drives home to her this isn't the same body she had at home.

But... nothing to do about that aside from play the role she's been playing, and go to class...

The first aid class gets done in a normal classroom; this one has more students in it than her other classes. The class begins with a fairly brief introduction from the teacher, before all the practice begins quite suddenly. She does chest compressions, learning how to keep a steady rhythm and not waste energy, practices how to bandage wounds and stop bleeding, and practices carrying people around. The last bit can get a bit heavy, and she switches between carrying someone else and being the person carried on someone else's back.

She likes this when it's new, but... as the practice keeps going on, it starts feeling more tedious, just like her schoolwork in Ev.

Also, she's pretty sure she couldn't have carried someone this size in Ev.

It's also impressive how well the others in the class carry her when it's her turn to be the one carried around; this has to be a special kind of first aid class, for people that are really strong. Like she apparently is!

Yeah, impressive... It's probably from all the practice they're doing in this school?  How did Other Her end up at a school like this after all, she wonders?

But she can't very well ask that question while she's pretending to be Other Her.

She keeps practicing.  It's still less tedious than math back in Ev!

Eventually, she's done with the class after going over some explanations of what to do in different situations, with lots of mnemonics and lectures told in easy-to-remember rhythms.

It's a strange pattern of mnemonics, though, when she thinks about it.

Though - just like raccoon handling - it feels right to her.  She ends up mumbling through some of them - to herself, but audibly if anyone's close to her - as she walks out.

And hopefully she'll have a chance to change out of these super-tight leggings?  She's even longing for the Very Short Skirt now!

There are lots of private places for her to get changed, and she can get back to her dorm without rushing too much, but they, or another set just in a different color, are all the clothes she has for the more athletic kinds of activities like the rest of her classes for the day!

... oh.  Then there's no reason to bother, is there?

(Nobody else's moving to change clothes, right?)

What's her next class?

Only a minority of the boys bother to change clothes, though Jenwy thinks they look pretty much the same after as before.

Her next class is an actual honest-to-god dance class that also has some acrobatics in it! Some of the moves require her to really stretch, but she feels quite sure that her leggings will manage keep up with it in spite of seeming like they'd be so frail.

Oh, this's fun!  She stretches and twirls with a big grin, grinning even broader as her muscle memory's a lot better than it was back in Ev.

By halfway through, she's even mostly stopped double-taking when she's not feeling the swish of skirts on her legs.

There's also moves having her jump and spin, moving more like a ballet dancer than anything else, and some somersaults and rolls when she gets to the acrobatics part. Mostly, the class is about practicing moves instead of learning any specific dances.

Still, that's far more moves than she's ever gotten in Ev!  Even when she did dance there, it was pretty much all footwork!

The class is largely uneventful; people are quiet and paying close attention to their moves throughout, and some of them can get quite precise. It ends with doing the start of a routine, so it feels more meaningful and relevant than if it were *just* practice.

After the class, the chatter starts up. One of the boys gets teased about him "being found in the woods", so he's probably going to go on some cool fantasy adventure and find out he's the secret king once he's all grown up!

Oh!  That sounds just like so many fun stories -

Except that if they're playing a LARP, they're doing a really good job of staying in character and... it really doesn't look like that?

Was Guy-Without-A-Nametag really found abandoned in the woods!?

Time to join in the conversation!

Without trying to sound weird because if all these people know about it already, Other Her quite possibly knew too! 

"Hey!  So - king of where, is the question?  Wouldn't it be embarrassing to end up trying to claim a totally-wrong kingdom?"

"Well, he has to get the sword from the stone or something? Usually there's some special thing you have to do that only the actual king could!"

(Sword in the stone?  Does this world have the exact same story?)

"Yeah, and I wouldn't want to go marching up to the sword only for it to stay stuck in there, would you?"

"No that'd be awkward..."

"And you can't really set up a test sword.  I mean, you could, but..."

(How's Guy Whose Parents Maybe Literally Abandoned Him In The Woods taking this?)

He seems a bit confused and like things are getting awkward? He isn't saying anything.

Oh - that's looking like his parents really did abandon him in the woods!  And... she has utterly no idea what to say even if she wasn't trying to pretend to be Other Her.

What's a good change of subject -

"Speaking of which, do you like swords when they aren't stuck in stones?  I wish I had more chance to get comfortable handling one..."

(Unfortunately, it'd just been a couple weeks of spring camp.)

"Swinging them around can actually be super-fun yes! I do that a little with my friends, but now I'm thinking I'll maybe do a fencing class on top."

Fencing... apparently that's something done with swords here?

"Sounds fun!  I've already been thinking about adding a theater class, or I'd want to do that too!"

"Great! Well, next you have conditioning right? Let's start going there now so we can be more warmed up I think!"

Conditioning...?  Is that something outside in the cold?  Or something about mental habits where it'll be obvious she's not Other Her?  (Unless it won't be?)

She glances down at her phone to cover her confusion.  "Sure!"

(What's Guy With The Almost Worst Parents Ever up to now?)

He waves at Jenwy before making his way down to the gyms.

Oh good, she didn't epically fail there.  And if he is the lost heir to somewhere, she still has a chance of joining in the quest.  She reflexively searches for his nametag or symbol, remembers nobody has one here, and tries to fix his face in her memory.  It might work.  

And then she follows her new friend to Conditioning Class, while trying to remind herself that it probably won't be weird mind-games since this school isn't run by Fay after all.

There are multiple conditioning classes, and she manages to remember that she's not in his. Hers has more girls like her in it, and it's a bit further down the hall.

(Convenient how she half-remembers some things; she wouldn't be able to keep this up without it.) 

More girls like her... in what ways?

Similarly strong when it comes to lifting the weights and running on the treadmills!

Oh!  So it's physical exertion "conditioning"! 

She's never seen a treadmill before, but fortunately Other Her's instincts can make it clear enough.

... It turns out that running in place gets old fast.  Even on a treadmill.

At least Jenwy is in incredible shape, judging by how well she can run on the treadmill. And in the weightlifting part afterwards, she's lifting some really heavy weights. The boys and the girls in the class are mostly wearing similarly tight leggings to her, though there are a few wearing skirts reminiscent of the ones she wore in the classes she had earlier in the day. They can look a little funny when people lie down to do the bench press or some of the other exercises.

... Yeah, she'd really like to be in some skirts for this.  Longer skirts, not the Very Short Skirt from earlier today.  Maybe they'd be inconvenient - but she's managed to tree-climb and swordfight in skirts; there has to be some way to manage it here too!

She tries to keep her eyes on her own weights.  It might be obvious.

Most people do, as a matter of fact. And they could probably find a way to make a longer skirt work great; Jenwy is quite impressed by how well her active clothes have worked in all the classes! 

Well, she's not sure how much is the Very Tight Shorts and how much is Other Her's body...

... At least no one's looking at her.  She might drop her weights if someone was.

All the exercises are familiar, so the class goes by fast. Jenwy gets really tired by the end of it, though; it was an incredibly exhausting workout.

It feels weird.  She would've been tired long, long before now if she had her own body... and she would've been running someplace real instead of on a treadmill.

But while she was running, she got an idea.

She pulls out her phone.  Did Other Her make any notes about people whose parents had left them in the woods?  She's not searching any libraries, just Other Her's notes...

Nope, looking at her notes mentions nothing about anyone found in the woods.

Well then, time to catch up with anyone around who might've known Other Her.  "Wow," she says aloud, panting a bit.  "That was tiring!"

"Yup, but it feels really nice after, don't you agree?" says another girl.

It...

She hadn't really noticed it before, but it does!

"Yeah!  When you pay attention to it at least!"

"Well, I've gotta deal with the laundry and probably get some steam started in the bath. See you tomorrow, then!" She starts heading off, leaving a clique of people who stand deliberately close to Jenwy; they seem incredibly familiar.

"Hey!" she says with a large smile.  It's nice their faces seem familiar... but their names!

(She makes sure to keep her eyes well away from the Very Tight Shorts... well, as much as she can.)

"What's up?  Now that we're all tired out?"

"Well... I'm in the mood for reading some science, just while I'm still awake" says one of the boys. One of the girls talks about finally being able to do some real nursing in a hospital, while another talks about trying to start doing one of the self-sufficiency things. "Anything fun you want to do?" the first boy asks.

Science in another world - she's got a fleeting thought of how Kiri would really love to see that.  But Kiri's not here.

"Oh, I was thinking of trying some fencing.  But -" she rubs her arms "- maybe when I'm not so tired.  For now, I heard there was a small theater group somewhere around here..."

"Yes, that's right. They have you sign up via like. The app."

"I haven't had a chance to check it out yet - what're they doing?" 

She takes out her phone and taps on The App - the same app that showed the menus, unless her instincts point her somewhere else - to try to search for "theater."

"Some like... sappy drama about a man saving the world but having to leave his adoptive daughter behind? It's the obvious one that everyone knows."

Jenwy wrinkles her nose.  "Sappy...  But still, if it's the only theater - there need to be some non-sappy parts there."

She doesn't like too much sappiness either.  But she can't hold herself back from trying to hear what this obvious story is!  A new story she's never heard ever before in all Ev!

She can find the theatre group, and find the play they're performing. It doesn't sound very interesting, so to speak, but it's clear that it gets performed a lot.

Well, she's not going to dive into reading the whole plot arc now in front of everyone, but she opens up a page for later...

... "Who does like sappiness, really?" she says with a slight laugh.  "I wonder how it gets performed so much!"

(It's a really frequent subplot in Ev too, for some reason she could never make out.)

"I guess because it's like. Not weird or different?"

"Weird?  Like, oh, it turns out half of them are time travelers?"

"That'd make you have to re-think a lot and would be weird, yes." They seem to be surprised at how Jenwy came up with that suggestion.

Well, see, last night she was half-thinking she'd been kidnapped by them...

... and that was because she'd seen them in several books and films.  Not that she'd really wrapped her head around the puzzles some of them had tried to write with multiple timelines and -

"Well yeah, sappiness isn't weird, but there're other non-weird things you could do.  Like, oh, wilderness camping or nursing."  She gestures at the people who'd mentioned those two things.

"In a theater show? People don't just... do things from everyday life in theater performances, they have to be about super-important things to people!"

"And sappiness is?"

"Being forced to abandon your daughter to save the world is super-important to people!"

"Oh, now that's different!"  (It is.)  "But getting all sappy about it -"  She shakes her head, still grinning.

They get more and more weirded out and confused by Jenwy. "What's making you act this... schizotypal?"

"What!?"

Just when she'd let her guard down a touch about imitating Other Her -

How can she recover - no, she doesn't know, she doesn't know what Other Her was like -

"You... don't think you sound weird, a lot?"

"... Yeah, I guess I've decided some things in myself need to change..."

"You somehow seemed more... Shy than usual, as well. Like more careful with how you move?"

"Y...yeah.  I'm not so sure of myself as I thought I was..."

"You'd want to talk to one of your parents, I think."

An adult.

Presumably not her parents; she catches the reference to what's presumably the 'Group-Parents' she's heard of from utopian projects.

An adult who's presumably not a fairy or time-traveler, and who'll probably hear of her sooner or later.  And if she refuses, she'll probably just sound more suspicious.

"... Yeah.  I think I should.  Let me see..."  She glances down at her schedule on her phone to see when she'll have a free slot.

There's one early tomorrow? But the schedules are very flexible here.

"... Maybe tomorrow morning.  Once I've done some more thinking myself."  And tried to figure out more of what Other Her is - was? - like.

And she'd want to send her gym clothes to the laundry too! She can see a few boys making their way over to the changing rooms by the gym, casually pulling off their tops on the way.

Okay, just imagine she's outside by the lake at camp -

Or just don't pay attention and get into a changing room herself where she can get back into a Very Short Skirt, right?

And... she saw on the phone that supper is soon; she can book ahead a meal for that.

Luckily enough, the changing rooms have their own rooms behind curtains for privacy! There's a bit of a line to use them, but it clears fast.

While waiting in line, she flips through her phone.  Other Her was into museums and nature photos, yes... she took notes on her classes... anything on her friends that Jenwy can quickly see?  So as to be less like the different person she is?

It says who they are, mostly people she grew with when she was in a Real Big Family! Some of them have pictures on her contact list, but she hasn't taken notes on her friends, that'd be silly.

Yeah, she didn't think so.

Which means... she might not be able to keep this roleplaying up for too long without raising even more suspicions.  At least, she'll need to tell someone.

But that's for sometime she isn't taking up one of the changing closets.  She slips on her Very Short Skirt, more relieved than she ever thought she'd be at something that Very Short.  And, what's on the menu for supper or whatever it's called here?

Her list of options is pretty long actually, just about anything that comes to mind! They try to be pretty careful about designing cities with a population big enough to support almost all kinds of businesses, so there's an incredible variety of restaurants that she can order her food from, as well as those made in the student-run kitchens of the school.

Restaurant?  That's more special than she was thinking - surely there'll be some mention of money?  Anything that looks like... maybe some sort of fish, or pasta?

Well it's not a lot of money... and pasta, as well as fish, has a huge range of options just by itself! She can look up something she's had before on the app; it looks like this Jenwy has similar taste to her, so she won't have to eat anything unfamiliar to blend in. 

... Sure!  She'll spend the money to celebrate her first full day in another world!  Some pasta with meat and red sauce that Other Her had before, and that doesn't look unfamiliar at least at a glance.

Does it say where to pick it up?  The dining hall, right?

Yes, that'd be correct, just on the counter in an orange bag with a green diagonal cross on it.

Jenwy can't be upset as she makes her way over to the dining hall.  She's (almost) made it through her first day in another world!  She's kept up her disguise!

... though it's going to fall apart soon unless something changes.  Maybe she'll need to actually talk to that Group-Parent?

Or maybe she can recruit someone else into her plan.  Like that Steven guy?

Or before then... she can try to find out more about Other Her.  What does the phone show?  Anything like a diary?  Weekly planners?

(From the outside, she was staring into the distance walking down the hall almost on autopilot, and then brought out her phone to stare at it, leaving just enough attention to keep from bumping into corners and walk in the right direction.)

There's a planner with info about her classes, but not any more info. This Jenwy used special software that lets her track what she wrote in her notes when, and a very thorough history of what she's written and read on her phone going well into her past. She's learned a lot about bodybuilding and nutrition, and also clothes and makeup as well, actually. There seems to be a weird obsession with... wearing clothes that seem like they wouldn't be very comfortable and also making her feel exposed? Outside that, she's studied up on the things she does in classes: animal training, dancing, first aid and healthy-body building. She's also done theater, but not recently, and she thought about skiing for a bit before changing her mind and doing more indoor activities.

Jenwy wrinkles her nose at the clothes, but nothing more; she didn't expect anything else.

Giving up theater and skiing?  Other Her must've had some reason, if she's anything like herself... what sort of indoorish activities was she doing?  And... was she in this school all her life?  Anything about her friends?  Her parents (blood-parents, not group-parents... though, okay, anything about group-parents either?) and sister?

Theater was fun, but so is dancing and expeditions and theater is demanding. She'll be doing skiing Any Day Now, but she's also doing many other things and wants to get used to the school a bit more. She moved here very recently, previously going to a school that was more... tropical, with a few other friends who wanted to live somewhere with more snow, and one of her group-parents came with. The phone has many old pictures of her with her parents, but it's not really labeled who is who, though Jenwy can be quite sure that the man and woman hugging her without any other kids in the background of the photos are her blood-parents. One of the group-parents, a man, came with a few of the friends she grew up with. Jenwy does have a biological sister, as well as her family via group-parents, some of whom joined her to this new school!

Yeah, theater is demanding if you want to do it right.  And she does.

... Though Expeditions feel like they're demanding too.  And looking at what Other Her wrote, and remembering the explorers of old she's read about from back home in Ev... she's starting to feel like there is something there too, that Other Her saw.  Maybe.

But she's really not surprised Other Kat didn't come to this school with her.

She's still musing over things when she notices out of the corner of her eyes not on her screen that she's coming to the dining hall, and she shoves her phone back into her pocket.  Hopefully no one will want her to sit with them at dinner so she'll have more time to think...

People somehow know that Jenwy wants to sit by herself for now. A few people glance at her like she's familiar, but they leave her to her thoughts. The bags with food are put into small baskets on a counter, and people grab bags in pairs while someone working behind the counter brings new bags. It doesn't take long before the app lets Jenwy know it's her turn to grab her food.

Jenwy reflexively runs her finger over her blouse's collar to check that it's signaling that she doesn't want to talk, but then remembers this's another world (and her collar doesn't have the right marks anyway), so she gives what she hopes is a polite nod imitating them back without signaling anything more.

... Okay, how is the pasta?

Shockingly great!! It comes in a pretty standard steel container, and it's a big portion, but Jenwy's done a lot today. It tastes mildly... drier than usual.

Dry with red sauce?  That's strange... but not bad!

After diving into the food some (and realizing she's a lot hungrier than usual in Ev), she takes out her phone again.  Anything about what this group-parent's like?  Any friends Other Her was especially close to... especially anyone who might be interested in conspiring with her on this plan to keep pretending to be Other Her, if she does decide to go through with it?

He's called Howard and he hugged her a lot, even by group-parent standards. He's quite friendly and mostly wants people to be happy with themselves as they are; kids naturally push themselves to be the best and contribute, but he always dialed down the pressure a bit. Mia and Neil, who both go to her new school, were both really... serious and can be trusted to keep a secret, they're on cop track, and are probably willing to help her as a friend.

Dialing down pressure is... probably good if she's meaning to suddenly go in a different direction from Other Her?  Or if she is going to tell him everything?  Though she doesn't want to do that?

She picks at her pasta a bit more, thinking.  Why does she want to keep pretending? 

Well, obviously, it's become a Project.  And she doesn't just want to give it up!

... and also (she realizes after a bit more picking) this school feels like the sort of utopian project that might get unsavory with someone from another world to try to control the worldgate or something like that.  Even though she can't think of any reason it'd do that, it feels like that.

... Are Mia or Neil in sight?  (She does have labeled pictures of them on Other Her's phone, right?)

She does have labeled pictures of them on her phone; or at least, she remembers well enough how they play-acted at "protecting" her and the other kids and used toys to simulate and practice with pepper spray and batons to protect people like her, and can quickly photos of them training and being super-dutiful on her phone. They were 2 of the people familiar with her before!

(Batons are familiar from Ev too; pepper spray takes a minute for her to place, but she's heard of it.)

So does she see either of them in the dining hall?  If so, she'll quickly finish her pasta and try to say hello... at least as they're leaving; that might be better than trying to talk in front of other people.

Yep, she sees the two of them at one of the tables, talking to each other and relaxing.

... oh, one more quick check on her phone, just in case:  This world doesn't know of any real aliens or other worlds, right?  At least not publicly on the internet?  Yet?

After all - she imagines Kat saying - now that she at least knows they do exist, she'd better check!

...all aliens are fictional, from her looking things up on her phone, and any possible aliens would be too far to ever meet them anyway.

Alas.  Here too.

She finishes off her pasta, and arranges to walk by their table on the way over the dish-collecting robot.  "Hello!" she says with a wave and grin.

...they perk up, though Jenwy doubts anyone else would notice them doing so.

"Hey; got some time to talk?"

They look at her, nodding slightly and saying "sure".

"So I was wondering..."  She speaks softly.  "What would you do if you heard a kid from outside somehow ended up in this school without any of the adults realizing?"

It's technically what's happened, but nothing anyone would think of when it was posed that.  And if their interest does go in unwanted directions - like her fears about a utopia are suggesting - she'll be able to hide just as much as she would've otherwise.

"Make sure they were still for the tuition and everything? And also not crashing any classes or doing anything else they're not supposed to."

"And... the adults?"

"Would help us in getting those things done."

"So you'd tell them."  She's not surprised.

"Yes? Would we be supposed to work with them to help violate the school's rules and trespass?" Part of being on "cop track" is wearing a special kind of all-black dress, designed to conceal all the police equipment and body armor as they try to "keep violence as foreign as possible." It makes them sit somewhat rigidly, fitting their current mannerisms.

"Yeah, when you put it like that I guess it's the obvious answer..."

Can she argue that she is the same person as Other Her?  Well, sure, if she twists the statement the right way she can in good faith; she has the same name and family after all, and she has no idea how her world and this one relate...

"I'm surprised you've apparently managed to not learn or realize this!" Neil sounds like he's amused.

"Do I look like someone who pours over the rules?" She mirrors his amusement.

(She absolutely wasn't in Ev.)

They're both extremely confused at Jenwy's reply.

Uh-oh.

... This would've happened sooner or later anyway even if she hadn't talked to them.  Or something like it.  Might as well keep sounding them out from a different direction.

"So if something didn't break any school rules..."

"Well, lots of things don't break school rules, a few of them can still be bad. So it depends on what that something is."

"Tell me..."  Jenwy shakes her head.  There had never been any school rule against "stomping so hard in an impromptu dance that it bothered people on the floor below," either.  But she'd still gotten written up for it.

And it's getting in her way again now.

Well, she's already gotten them suspicious, but...

"Well, we'd have to know what to tell you?"