Then Professor Lorelei will finish her explanation of how to read mathemagical formulae in enough detail to pragmatically activate certain devices. She also writes down the activation steps for Message, a Transmutation cantrip which runs in increments of ten minutes and allows the caster to start up whispered conversations at a fair distance. Like all Transmutation spells it has an unusual somatic component – akin to taking a piece of taffy and spinning it hard enough to produce spiral protrusions, then flattening those protrusions down – but thanks to the aforementioned pile of diffeomorphisms and slerps there is zero ambiguity as to what the final product is supposed to look like.

The only thing Tanya needs to follow up with is some practice, to verify her understanding. This is a problem: Lorelei doesn't have any arcane wands lying around, and she's not keen on letting Tanya experiment with her scroll of Break Enchantment. It's not trivial to replace, and if it goes wrong it could easily break something.

"I have a few hours left before I need to get back in the water," she muses. "We should see about borrowing a suitable wand for you to practice this skill. I just need… hmm."

From one of the cubbies on the walls does she produce a fluffy bathrobe-esque garment. Then she moves away from Tanya, retrieves her staff, and conjures eighteen gallons of water directly over her own head.

"Perfect," she says, pulling her hair back and out of her face. "Shall we?"

Tanya is briefly confused by the Professor deciding to get dressed after all before she realizes it's for water retention. Is she too hot, or does she simply like the feeling of water on her skin? Or maybe it helps her stay awake. (And track water everywhere, but maybe that's not considered a problem in this climate?)

"After you, Professor," Tanya says. "...do you not find it more convenient to fly?" Given how her legs aren't working very well.

She hasn't overheated yet! Why bother preparing Endure Elements when you can just soak yourself whenever you start to dry out?

"Believe it or not, this is less undignified than using Air Walk," she explains. "I don't mind flying, but the easiest way for me to propel myself is to slither. Like a worm. Walking—" yawn "— plays into cultural stereotypes about merfolk who can turn into humans and back; flying makes me look like a great mage who doesn't know what she's doing. I'm allowed my pride."

Is Muad still waiting outside?

The halfling is nowhere to be found in this part of the castle.

If he keeps running away from explosions there are going to be professional consequences.

The once and future mermaid is a little steadier on her feet with the staff as a walking stick— steady enough to lead a walking tour through the storied halls of the temple of Nethys while providing a running commentary. The statue of the mushroom woman outside her classroom turns out to be a depiction of a real creature, created by a long-dead mage with the godlike power to create life and the humanlike inclination to abuse it. So are all of the other statues that Lorelei points out: the hybrid bear-owl, the lizard covered in endless fanged maws, the giant river snake with golden scales, the centaur with the lower body of a spider, the tentacled slime, the cluster of rats joined at the tail… many such cases have been memorialized here, though whether they're meant to serve as a warning or as inspiration is debatable. There are also a larger variety of glowing objects mounted on the walls, some of which are communal magic items and some of which are just for illumination, but Lorelei doesn't dwell on the distinction.

Students are also using the hallways, and if any of them are bothered by the trail of water in Lorelei's wake they don't deign to show it. A few make polite comments about her being out of the fishbowl. More of them are interested in Tanya, who garners a great deal of shameless staring anywhere she goes. She has been exposed to more Detect Magic in this building than most people get in their entire lives, and it's not going to stop any time soon.

The view out the windows is at first the skyline of Sothis, but once they reach the point where they can no longer by any reasonable stretch of the imagination still be inside the building it transitions to a featureless silver expanse similar to the inside of the Rope Trick. This is also the surrounding environment outside the stairwell at the far end of the hall, which appears to extend both upwards and downwards into eternity. They'll be going up, as soon as Lorelei drenches her bathrobe again.

Alien cultural expectations and mores are surprisingly understandable! Lorelei walks because she is expected to walk; magically-lying-to-herself about having legs is an impressive accomplishment but also an expected one, for a mage of her rank. Being bad at it, not enjoying it, those are strikes against her in other people's eyes, which means she needs to be seen walking all the more. 

Tanya has a somewhat similar relationship with walking. She's barely half the height of some other people, has to crane to look upward at them, and creates the impression of being a child, and her short legs make it hard to keep up. Flying everywhere and hovering at eye level is much more convenient, but in any meeting with people of equal or higher rank it would parse as rude or, worse, deliberately rude, almost bordering on the insubordinate as body language goes. So she sympathizes with any other mage who finds walking a hard necessity. Luckily for her, cultural expectations from aerial mages include 'flight' in at least some situations. Not that it makes the risks of army service worth it, of course.

The wizard experiments are terrifying! Or rather, the wizards behind them are. Insane magic engineers are bad enough without bringing biology into it! And not clearly condemning it can't be helping -

oh. The implication belatedly hits her.

Tanya will be extremely polite and taciturn on the subject as long as Professor Lorelei is around, and probably afterwards too.

Detect Magic is fine! More than fine, it's a welcome distraction! People should stare at her so she can avoid staring at Professor Lorelei!

(The extradimensional space is an obvious application of an established principle and Tanya doesn't spare it a second thought. Of course you'd build up valuable real estate if you could!)

Hopefully Professor Lorelei's lying legs don't have a problem with strength, only coordination, and so stairs are not a particular obstacle?

She can go up the stairs without any more difficulty than crossing level ground. It's still painful to watch.

They'll be going up to the third floor, east wing, which is where the wizardry classrooms are located. There's one floor for each branch of magic, which Nefreti Clepati expands horizontally into the Astral Plane as the department grows. Do they add new floors as the need arises? They do! There's a circle of Nethysian druids situated in the basement – one of the only druid circles with an institutional affiliation in the world, they're normally highly secretive and even this one has had to excommunicate members for violating taboos – and a pair of Tian ritualists from Songbai teaching lessons out of the new northeast tower, and at one point back in the forties they had a Professor Bulero, who refused to teach classes outside of dreams. His students were allocated a spot on the roof.

The third floor is similar to the second floor, apart from the herd of animals roaming around while their masters study. Most of them are recognizable domesticated pets, some are bizarre critters with no particular Earthly analog, but all conduct themselves with an eerie level of purpose and self-consciousness. It has the atmosphere and noise level of a university despite looking like a crowded veterinarian office.

Tanya can't tell apart pets from professors! She was told people who look like animals will make themselves known if they want, which means she has to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Anyone she encounters is reasonably likely to be able to lie about their species. As far as she's concerned, this is a multicultural multispecies prestigious institution of learning.

Their destination is a classroom belonging to "N. SYTHEN."

Inside is lit by an enormous bronze lantern fitted with rotating glass panels. Inside is an indistinct object shining with harsh yellow light, filtered through the spinning glass windows like rays from a lighthouse. Narrow strips of darkness flit across the room like living shadows.

There are people (humanoid and otherwise) sitting in lecture hall chairs that encircle the stage, where a wizened old man with star-spangled robes and a broad-brimmed pointy hat is assisting a student with a circle of runes drawn on the floor.

Inside the circle is obscured by a pulsating wall of illusory noise, which soon abates to reveal an ordinary human man wreathed in magic.

Hmm. Hopefully they're not interrupting anything important?

The magic-university-or-whatever is running its own program on contacting Earth?! (In a classroom setting?!) Targeting people she knows -

Tanya tears ahead of Professor Lorelei and hovers menacingly over the old man on the stage. Her rifle isn't quite pointed at him, pointedly so. "What is going on here?" she demands. "Major Weiss, can you hear me?" Is he reacting to her presence or their surroundings at all? 

Whoever is watching with Detect Magic will see a moderate Universal aura (or is that multiple auras in the same spot?) rapidly growing Stronger, and pulsing alarmingly.

His head snaps around abruptly to look at her.

"Lieutenant colonel! I can hear you, but I can't— I don't know what is going on, sir!"

"That is an excellent question, young miss," says the elderly man, sounding unbothered by the interruption. "Can anyone tell me what mistake was made in this anchor diagram?"

Everyone else in the room remains deathly silent.

"I believe," Tanya says icily, "the mistake lay in not approaching the existing representative of the Germanian military before attempting to abduct any more of its officers."

"Major Weiss, in case we lose contact again, you will report immediately and directly to General Zettour that I hope to contact him shortly via... a novel means, mantis one four seven five." That's one code burned. She really wants to get a status report, but this setting is far too public.

"As for you, sir," she swivels back to the old man, "I can inform you that the last wizard to do what you seem to be attempting is now as a direct result a fugitive wanted by the Osirian crown. I suggest you release Major Weiss immediately and cooperate with me and the authorities. If he is in any way harmed or delayed from his duties as a result of your actions, I assure you you will be held responsible." Tanya can't (legally) threaten him with force or even a non-citizen's arrest, but she can very much threaten him with the force of the law.

"You need not worry on my account," the wizard reassures her. "There are superfluous failsafes in place to protect everyone in case the primary magic circle fails. Why, it's been over sixteen years since a Planar Binding was sabotaged to the point of catastrophic failure during a live demonstration! Nor is there any risk to the subject, as you can see."

Major Weiss looks tired and disoriented but not injured or incapacitated. His gaze bounces helplessly between Tanya and the wizard.

It really annoys Lorelei when the students don't pipe up during situations like these. This poor kid has made a serious procedural mistake, and everyone is letting him suffer up there instead of contributing to the learning process!

She clears her throat pointedly. "The far side, between section seven and section eight. You missed a spot. This diagram is permeable to certain spells."

The student brings his palms to his forehead and groans.

"Precisely," the older wizard says cheerily. "Thank you for your insight, Professor Lorelei."

He looks expectantly at Tanya.

"I am not concerned with danger to the kidnapper," Tanya says flatly. "Abducting Germanian citizens, let alone an officer in active service of the Germanian Imperial Army, is a hostile action I am obliged to remedy - with all military force at my disposal if necessary. The only thing presently staying my hand is my belief that the Osirian authorities will agree with me. All the better for us, since if they did support you in this it would be an act of war by Osirion against Germania, which I have been assured the Pharaoh does not want. So I very strongly suggest you release Major Weiss immediately."

While Tanya is thus engaged in attempting to resolve matters diplomatically, most of her sped-up attention is free to consider other matters. Normally this would mean tracking all remotely-plausible threats, but in this particular case she can't understand any of the magic around her and so her paranoia finely honed senses bring to her attention the fact that she can't, actually, sense Weiss using his orb. Well, it might be sensible of him to not to power it up when his body is covered in unfamiliar foreign spells, but it means she can't sense his familiar presence and is irrationally disinclined to turn her back on him and - 

He didn't acknowledge her command earlier. That's not like him. He shouldn't be distracted by the conversation, since he can only understand what she said to him in Germanian. Maybe she's discounting how disorienting the whole situation is to him. Or maybe they did something else to him.

"Major! This is not a combat scenario and I'm working to keep it that way. Status report, are you injured or restrained in any way?"

He raises one arm towards the circle of dust on the floor, and his fingers brush against a hidden barrier. A polygonal ripple of magic flows outward across the invisible surface. He pulls back, frowning.

"Uninjured but restrained, sir. And, I can't use magic in here. It's just not working, sir. Nothing else to report – I just appeared here with no warning… this isn't a combat situation?"

Why is Tanya acting as though this is real? The magic circle should still block Enchantments, and she hasn't lit up to Enchantment Sight, so this isn't a Suggestion. That would be bad, no question about it. Divinations, though…

Take it as given that it's reading Tanya's mind, and that's how it managed to pick out a face she recognizes. Take it as given that Tanya doesn't know what a Magic Circle Against Evil looks like, that fits with what Lorelei knows, she just hadn't put the pieces together—

The wizard raises a singular bushy eyebrow. It is not a raised eyebrow which says 'I am perturbed by your suggestion that today's capers may escalate to the level of outright war between civilized nations.' It is a raised eyebrow which says 'I have noticed that you do not have a Contingency or a headband or even any magic items at all, really, which means the outcome of a fight in my own classroom is a foregone conclusion.'

"Young miss, have you considered—"