She is in a metal box. A funny smell is coming from somewhere- Sweat, mold, pollution, cleaning agents. Pale, flickering light emerges from strips in the ceiling. A fan is humming and the distant murmur of conversation fills the air.

Brightly colored advertisements and packaging fail to cover up their own fading and the worn-down floors, shelves, and walls. Signs on sparsely stocked shelves indicate prices. Nutrifruit: 12 Tokens. 750ml Water Ration: 30 tokens. Galaxy Blend Nutrient Drink: 25 Tokens. Pilk - Processed Sweetened Milk - 16 Tokens.

An elderly shopper is comparing two identical looking boxes of 'Peat - 100% Real Meat' and doesn't notice her. A deeply bored looking man sits behind a counter near the front. He blinks and double takes at her from across the room.

Sweat is one thing but mould? Pollution? No, the air can smell like pine forests and violets, thank you. It's a very frivolous use of magic but that's why she's not an adventurer, thank you. 

That's a lot of metal. Some kind of wizarding chamber, possibly! The magic lights are weird but potentially fit. That explains the flickering, too, if they're some kind of ritual source...

Anyway: humans! Extraplanar humans!

"Hello! I'm Naevys! What plane is this, if you don't mind me asking?"

The front counter guy waves her closer. "Uh, this is level fifty five, ma'am. Republic commissary. Do you need anything?"

She'll go closer! She doesn't look much like a human and she certainly doesn't move like one.

"Fifty-five levels? That's quite a lot! And yes, thank you! Can you tell me about the Republic? And your universe?"

"-Huh? Erm... You mean like, the whole universe? The Republic runs this station. You know, security department, service department, medical and supply and command and engineering?"

"Yes! What's it like? Do you mind if I take notes? This wasn't supposed to happen but I'm so glad it did! Where is the 'station' and why does the Republic run it? Are humans here the same as - I mean, what are humans here like? ...Wait, is everywhere like this? Made out of metal and so on?"

Blink blink. "It's a station? I keep forgetting the official name of the Republic, it's just the - it's the republic, the government of this part of the belt. Is everything made out of metal, yes, pretty much? The Republic runs it because it's the government. Humans are... Humans? Ma'am - are you injured anywhere? Did you hit your head, perhaps? Would you like me to call someone from Medical?"

"From medical? Do you not have any clerics -" are they necromancers or something or maybe just herbalists with dangerous ideas? She casually folds her hands into her robes and grips her wand. "I mean, I'm fine! I come from a different plane, that's all! How do you govern a belt?" She's not going to ask Whose belt, in case she gets an answer. 

What even is this conversation. She seems scared? And like she's the bioengineered scion of some kind of ultra-rich family. He opens his mouth. Closes it again. Thinks.

"...It's the asteroid belt of the solar system 'New Worf-Picard'. We are in outer space. This is a station, an enormous wheel of metal that is very slowly spinning and where lots of people live and work. Do you remember how you got here? I should maybe call the nice folks at Security. They'll keep you safe and figure out what happened, help you get home."

And it won't be HIS FAULT when someone richer than all of deck 55 is worth gets shived in a back-alley compartment.

"Oh! Thank you, that's so kind of you!" Wow, random humans are surprisingly nice around here. ...Maybe there's something off about that, but. "But I know exactly how I got here, I was on my home plane doing some Spell research that went both surprisingly well and surprisingly badly. And I'd rather stay and explore! I'm not totally confident in my translation magic here, you don't mean 'outer space' and 'asteroid belt' as in - among the stars? Do you? Do you?"

"-Ma'am if you're someone important and you get hurt, there'll be lots of trouble. Please, if you don't mind, be considerate of us here on the lower decks and don't attract that trouble here. Yes. We are on an object that is in orbit of a star, not on the surface of a planet."

"Oh! I'm sorry, I had no idea - I'll be careful! What could hurt me?" She isn't in fact completely naive, she's keeping an eye out - she can Dimension Door away from an attacking monster very fast. "I don't know how I'm attracting trouble now!"

"You look... Rich. Like a lost tourist. With those ears and how you're moving- Custom bio treatment of some kind. That's the sign of someone whose associates are in power and will do a lot of things if they become displeased. That's the kind of trouble I mean. Station Security, or hell, Command coming down here and, I don't even know. So, what could hurt you? People. Desperate people, ambitious people. The water, anywhere with free water is... Shit. I wouldn't drink it. Scams. Muggers. Drugs."

What the-

"...I'm an elf - I suppose 'lost tourist', all right, maybe, but... why would Command want to hurt you for that- why isn't water free?" Water falls out of the sky! ...Not among the stars, maybe. "And-" she's uncomfortably aware that she's never actually been in a human settlement, the Academy doesn't count - "Bandits, all right, but...why... would all those other people want to hurt me?"

"Someone has to pay the water recycling plants and the ice miners... Because the lower levels suck, alright? There's not enough money, food, water, supplies, to go around. If you leave something unattended, it'll probably get stolen. The difference between a bum and a mugger is nine missed meals."

He grimaces. He's keenly aware of the shotgun underneath the counter, right now. And the 'call security' button that he really should have pressed by now.

Oh no. She thought people were exaggerating about humans in heathen lands. Humans do that a lot, you should hear what they say about elves. (Elves don't steal babies! Elves don't want your babies! They scream and hit things! Most of the reason Naevys likes humans is that they mostly grow up and stop that which is impressive from that starting point!)

"How do you have wizardry powerful enough to go to the stars but not give people food? It grows on trees! It's not that hard! ...I'm so sorry, I'm sure none of this was your idea and I shouldn't have yelled, can I please talk to whoever is in charge?"

His heart is pounding.

He's just a commissary clerk. It's an astoundingly boring job. It's an incredibly lucky position to be in. Steady work. Government employee. He's paid in Food Stamps and Credits every day without fail, and has five days off a year, paid.

He should be loyal to the Republic. If his boss knew about this, if Security or Command did, they'd obviously want her to go to them. 

And he has a business card. Given by a man who spoke his name and purpose with pride. Mr. Wild. The King of the lower decks. 'It's an ecosystem down here, kid. Dump shit on others, and eventually it'll come back to you.'

...When he was eight, the Republic medical department refused his mother entry, calling her 'a drug-seeking addict'. It was... True. She was an addict, and was seeking drugs. But not out of any moral failing, he thinks. Out of desperate tired stress trying to provide for him, expensive High Quality Water and vitamin pills... One dose of dream dust to take the edge off. Then two to smooth out the day and keep going. Then...

Mr. Wild got her an OxyGone injection, free of charge. Anti-withdrawal drugs. And gave him six Nutrifruits. One each per day for three days. She lives in his government-provided housing now. On a sleeping mat on the floor. Working at a water treatment plant.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," he says, eventually. "The station officials, I mean. I think you should talk to Mr. Wild instead. He has the interests of the Lower Decks first in his heart."

"All right! Thank you, where does he live?"

This is getting better! Maybe she can find out more about how this plane really works. She has so many questions and it doesn't seem like she's going to get more answers around here! It seems fairly safe so far, the environment itself isn't trying to kill her. ...She should have made sure she had Banishment or something before she came here, just in case. 

"...Do you have enough water? Are you going to die of thirst or something before I get back?"

"I'm good, ma'am. I get Water Rations. Just a moment, I'll call him."

He has to dig out the business card, but there it is. 7783.

He picks up the handset and dials.

"...Yes, hello. I'm, um, Okheshi Nara, I work at deck 55 commissary..."

...

"Yes. There's someone here who, uh. I don't know how to explain. I'm very sure Mr. Wild will want to meet her."

...

"Not... If nothing provokes her I think? She's, um. Either an alien of some kind or crazy. I know. I know. Yes. Just- One second please! Thank you. She is unusually beautiful and has pointed ears and moves strangely. Not like an Aug. Ye- I can put her on?"

"Would you like to talk to Mr. Wild's secretary?"

"...Yes please!"

That doesn't look a lot like a secretary, but all right!

"...Hello? Can you tell me where Mr Wild lives, please?"

"Hello," the handset says, "I think we should talk first. I might send someone to guide you to Mr. Wild's office once I understand what is going on a bit more. So. What's going on?"

"All right! I'm a visitor from another plane and I just have some questions. Okheshi here told me I should talk to Mr Wild about them. Apparently you don't have enough food or water or something?"

"Many people in the Lower Decks don't have enough food or water. Or rather, the supply is limited enough and the demand high enough that it makes those things expensive- Though I will note that unsafe water is essentially free. It's purified, safe water that's expensive. When you say 'another plane*', could you expand on that a bit please? Mr. Okheshi seemed concerned that your appearance or mannerisms are unusual, which is understandable if you are foreign..."

*The phrase it's translating to here is something like 'alternate dimension' more than 'alternate universe'

"That's actually a fascinating question! The nature of the planes is very poorly understood! The simplest answer is that they're places that can't be reached just by walking there, although that's not always true! There are some that seem to exist as different states of being or states of mind, some that seem universal and some that aren't - oh, I'm sorry, I just find this topic very interesting! Planes are - other worlds, other universes."

"I presume you mean places that can't be reached by flying there either? Not other starsystems, but 'realms of thought and matter unseen'? -Er. Hm. What Mr. Wild does, ma'am, is... Offer connections. Mr. Wild acts as a broker and an agent. He knows a lot of people, and is able to connect those who need things to each other. A mercenary to those who need guarding. A wine-maker to someone looking to purchase and resell wines. Pharmacists and doctors to reliable suppliers of medicine. If you are new to the Lower Decks..." And able to significantly alarm a kid marked down as Category 4 - Peripheral Acquaintance/Intelligence Asset, "-I believe he would enjoy meeting you and finding out what you need and what you might be able to provide. Does that sound good to you?"

"I've never tried flying through the stars to reach other planes, but I think that's right." It's news to her that anyone can, but obviously it's the thing to do with powerful magic!

... With magic that powerful you shouldn't be running out of food and water. Either magic here is truly alien, or something is badly wrong. 

"He sounds nice, I'd love to talk to him!"

"-Well, that's very interesting, the planes thing, but rather beyond me. I think you should definitely talk to Mr. Wild. Would it be alright to stay at the commissary for a few minutes? I'll call someone else and pay them to escort you to his office. That should prevent anything unfortunate from happening."

"Of course! Thank you for helping me!" she says to the oddly-shaped secretary. 

"Okay. They will use the code word 'gladius'. That's how you'll know they were sent by Mr. Wild's office. Good bye."

There's a click, and then a dial tone.

"...Are you all right?" That's a weird noise even for such a strangely-shaped secretary to make. She'll... Wait for someone to say 'sword', apparently!

The dial tone does not change...

...The guy at the counter suddenly groans and rubs his face with his palm. "That is a telephone, a device for sending sound to other telephones. When I typed those numbers in, here, it told my phone to send a signal to Mr. Wild's phone. And his secretary picked it up and then we were talking to her. From a distance. I presume she hung up? Disconnected it, I mean?"

"Oh! Yes, that makes sense, her voice disappeared! Sorry, where I come from things like that have been very rare for the last several centuries and I'm not sure they ever looked like that! That's really impressive!"

"It's pretty cool, yeah... Not that I could make one. So... Any urgent questions?"

Think think think!

"...Is anyone dying of thirst right now? Is there anyone who needs help right away?"

"...Probably. Not right here. Are you... Can you purify water or something?"

The old guy who was shopping is coming to the front now.

"Hey! Stop chatting with your girlfriend. I need a receipt for these!"

"-One moment. Right away sir!" 

And he steps away to help the grumpy guy. This apparently involves doing things with a bunch of blue keycards he presents and scanning each can of 'PEAT 100% Real Meat' with a barcode scanner, while listening to him mutter complaints.

Naevys is extremely clever, uncommonly charismatic, and not exactly oblivious. She's just lived her entire life among elves and then among wizards, and while life at the Academy requires a certain awareness it's not a normal social environment, so it doesn't actually occur to her quite yet that maybe she should keep this a secret. 

"Yes! And make it, and other things, I can do a lot! But if it's not urgent I'll wait for Mr Wild- oh! Excuse me! Hello!"

"...Hello." The grumpy guy allows. "Kids these days with their silly fashions. One year it's these metal lines in your face, and now those silly ears. What's wrong with a classic look, huh? Just a clean shave and a smile."

"I actually don't know how to shave! It doesn't sound like fun, elves don't do it very much. To me your ears look silly. Why are they so round."

"It's not that hard. Young people are just lazy. Those ears will catch on hats and things."

(The front counter clerk is trying to capture the guy's attention and slightly rush him out the door, shooting her Meaningful Looks which she may not have the context to interpret....)

Beep beep beep beep. "Here you are sir these three cards are empty and this one has fifteen tokens remaining and here is your receipt do you need anything else?"

"Wizard hats are designed for them!" She actually feels kind of naked, in the bad way, being out in public without one, but it's a different plane so it's probably fine. "Anyway, goodbye!" What a strange man. 

"Some people just like to complain. You were saying about making water? That could earn your keep pretty well. Help people, too."

"... I'll bear that in mind, thank you!" She's hoping this is all some kind of horrible mistake but if not... Creating water out of nothing isn't actually very easy to do, it would take her a long time to teach anyone else to do it, especially a human. A normal human would probably never manage it. ...But this place can reach the stars, they must be able to help each other...

"It'll probably be another few minutes until your escort gets here. Can you purify water? I could open a packet of Basewater, and then you purify it, and then if it reads as High Quality water afterwards... You can tell Mr. Wild about that. And I can pay you the difference between what basewater and high quality is, too."

"...I have honestly never tried but probably! I can also just make water if that would help?"

"That would also help. Uh, you're not stealing it from somewhere else, are you?"

"No, it works under a Dimensional Anchor, I can show you if you like. It doesn't really come from anywhere."

"I don't know what a dimensional anchor is except some sci fi sounding thing.... Here."

He fishes around in his backpack... He has an empty 2 liter plastic bottle.

"Fill this, I'll test it with a water quality strip, and we'll see."

If you're going to do magic, do it good and hard. Doing little magics is a waste, it's like dipping your toe into cold water - it's going to hurt anyway, may as well dive in. 

Ugh. Their plane, their rules. She's not going to go to the extra effort of constraining it, though, that actually is hard. 

She draws her wand and speaks magic words and commands that elemental Water be made. 

She does mostly fill the bottle, though she also soaks the counter, the floor, and herself. Naturally, it looks like she meant to do that, and suits her. 

"-Woah fuck! Okay! What a waste. I could have found more containers..."

He shakes his head. Pulls out a little plastic bottle, pulls a paper strip with colorful squares on it out, and dips it into his 2 liter bottle.

How much Not Water is in this Water, exactly?

0. Literally Zero. It's Elemental Water, what else would it be?

(If this equipment is sensitive enough, it is technically already beginning to leach incredibly astronomically tiny quantities of soluble chemicals out of the bottle and fix carbon dioxide from the air. I guess.)

"Oh! I'm so sorry! It's all right, that one was fine I think, I can do much more."

"-Hey, don't, it's fine. It's your water, not mine. Just seems like a waste."

...He stares at the deep green coloration on the testing strip.

"Huh. Wait, what? This is pure grade water! I can't afford to pay you market rate for that..."

All right Naevys, you're in another plane like you wanted, time to be smart and canny and not immediately die, like you will need to, Obviously In Hindsight!

"...That's all right! You can have that anyway for being so helpful and also if possibly you give me all the context on your plane that I'll need? I'm really not from around here!"

"Um. People in red uniforms are probably from Station Security. They're law enforcement. I think Mr. Wild will be better for helping you there. There is lots of counterfeit going on, be careful of that. Don't drink water you didn't make if you can help it. Don't go into the abandoned sections. They're pretty clearly sealed off. The dumping grounds is kind of dangerous but anyone is free to pick through it and take stuff. Or dump stuff there. This is the symbol of the Republic. These symbols mean various hazards- Radiation, disease, vacuum, poison... There are cameras around, they can let people see through them or record things. Don't be alone with anyone you're not pretty sure is human if you can help it, there are these fuckers called Augs, I don't know the full story but they kidnap people and turn them into more Augs, they don't quite act natural, moving funny or speaking in strange ways..."

He can go on like this for a few minutes, with steadily more 'um's.

...Red people enforce the law but she should trust Mr Wild instead? All right this plane is strange and has lots of problems and she should be on her guard and really should have sent people who know how to explore bizarre unknown wildernesses first! 

Oh all right there are dangerous voids and... An obscure Elvish term she's pretty sure she's heard before somewhere. 

...and fairies. 

Oh dear. 

"Thank you! That's so helpful! Please please keep the water, I really appreciate it!"

"-If you're sure? I could give you a fifty for it at least?"

A man - dark skin, watchful eyes, broad smile, tall, wearing mostly a black jumpsuit, carrying a knife at his side and a pistol at his other side, tromps into the commissary.

"Hiya! I'm here to escort a woman with pointed ears to Mr. Wild's office." He nods at Naevys. "Ma'am. Was there a spill-? Well, none of my business. The code word is 'gladius'. How are you doing today?"

"Hello! On balance very well, thank you! Excited because this is another plane, concerned that you don't have enough water and people might try to rob me, looking forward to meeting Mr Wild."

"Well, the job is to take you there, so I'm happy to help with that. Follow me and stick close, please. Probably nothing will happen, it very rarely does, but if trouble breaks out I might give you instructions. I would really appreciate it if you followed them, and especially if you don't question me about them until afterwards. Though I understand I'm just some guy to you. In fights things can move really fast. If there is a fight, please don't join in, just hide behind something solid or run away. Got it? Shall we be off?"

"Yes! Let's go!"

She does know how to duel with a sword and shoot a bow - she's not three years old - and she does have relevant skills like erecting magical barriers and controlling minds and hurling bolts of lightning and many others, but also she's not a battlemage and has never been in a real fight, like with anyone who'd do worse than tickle her, and it does not occur to her to offer an Abjuration or anything. He's a warrior, clearly, he knows what he's doing. She'll finger her wand and stick very close.

Well. He walks along the maze of metal corridors with her trailing behind him. Again and again the same cycle happens. Tired or worn peoples' eyes go to Naevys's face, then her rather insubstantial clothes, then to her escort, then firmly away, a conclusion drawn: Upper Decker slumming it with a guard.

Nobody tries anything.

His instructions were to take the route that goes out by the Dumping Grounds. He can't help but idly speculate why, internally. To show this presumable Upper Decker how shit things are down here?

For the most part, the station consists of row after row of narrow compartments and bays at the side of a long metal hallway. A lot of them have small windows facing the outside world, little stalls and shops selling food, or water, or toothpaste and other homewares, or medicine, or clothes, or tools and scrap, or weapons, or all of the above. Occasionally, brightly colored signs or even more rarely art interrupt the monotony.

Then their route takes them to the most open space so far on the station. A vast metal canyon stretching left and right, with floor after floor lined with staircases and the occasional skybridge. The metal floor some five flights of stairs below curves up gently in the distance. It's a little trippy. Down at the bottom of the open space is a chaotic pile of junk, trash, debris, and other synonyms for the same.

They pass a woman in a red uniform, who doesn't bother to do more than glance at them. Same conclusion as before. Merc escorting some rich girl; And she recognizes the merc. He's not a troublemaker.

"Alright, we're halfway there. We're going to go down two levels, then a while down the main atrium here, and Mr. Wild's office is just a few cors away spinwise."

That's an incredible quantity of metal! The whole place is made of it and it's like a castle, or bigger than castles these days. She's heard legends of places like this, deep under the ground, impossible places of impossible design, but even on another plane she didn't expect to see one right away.

The Dumping Ground smells, like old pennies and... pitch? She's not sure. ...Do they literally not have fire here? Is she going to need to give them that as well as water?

"All right. What's a 'cor' and what's 'spinwise'? Is this to do with how we're on a big spinning wheel, do you mean we're going... the direction it's spinning in?"

"Yep, precisely! A cor is one of the major branch corridors, like the one we just left. That's more distance at lower levels and less at higher levels, but here it's around six hundred feet. We just exited cor north ninety one, floor fifty five. We're going for cor north eighty six, floor fifty seven. Floor numbers go up as you descend in the lower levels. See those signs? Those will help you navigate. -Ah, when you're facing spinwise, 'north' is to the right and 'south' is to the left, by the way."

She doesn't need much mental arithmetic to know that's an even more serious amount of metal than she thought. "Thank you! Excuse me, do you know how long the longest corridors are, at the edge of the wheel? And how many there are all around? This is not at all like anywhere I've been before. Do places like this just... happen... or did you have to get all the metal from somewhere?"

"Haha... I'd have to look that up. You're trying to figure out how many megatons the station is? And yep, the station is about... Oh, they celebrated the hundred and fiftieth anniversary a while back, so around there. A whole lot of people had to mine the space rocks and smelt all the metal ore from them and shape it into beams and panels and everything else. The economy has gone really downhill since, though."

He gestures for her to follow down some stairs. "None of the elevators work in the lower levels by the way. Don't even try to use one. If someone says they do it's probably a trap."

She nods wisely. All great empires fall in the end; such is a fact of life. 150 years is recent, though, she'll have to keep an eye out for whatever killed them all. 

"Thank you!" She's making a note of all of this advice very carefully, and she's looking very hard around herself. 

She can handle stairs perfectly well, but all of this is starting to unnerve her. 

"What... happened down here? If you don't mind me asking?"

"...It's, above all else, neglect. Neglect, corruption, crime, and the failure of the free market system. Got a lot worse after HuaXing shut down their factories and moved all their equipment out. Over eight thousand jobs gone, and then all the jobs supported by those people buying goods and services from others. I'm not, like, an expert at this stuff, though. I think... Having a sort of slum was almost designed in. Small spaces are cheaper and fit more people. But I don't think the original builders pictured the lower levels as they are now."

...Are people not allowed to leave? She's not going to ask that in case they don't let her leave, for asking.

"That's so sad," she says instead, "to have - all this," she gestures at the station all around them, "- and not enough-" she doesn't actually really understand why labour is supposed to be so important, it's never come up before, "-not enough, for everyone."

"It is. Lots of things could be better if people just got along, made a plan, worked together to rebuild some of the infrastructure... But then the question comes out, who's going to be in charge? What do we do about the theives, the lazy, the undeserving? It's a tug of war in human nature between greed and altruism, hope and desperation. And people do fix up parts of the place. There are... Hmm, if you look at the history of politics. Seems like there's always ups and downs. Idealists. People who try to help. People who think their new idea for how to organize society will fix everything. And meanwhile, the people currently in charge... Well, if they really tried to fix things, spent resources on it, their rivals would backstab them. Because power is... Ah, I'm getting political. Should I stop?"

He's still keeping an eye out for trouble. They're walking spinwards now.

Wow, humans have so many issues. She's more impressed with the ones at home now. Unless that's just the influence of other races? No, there aren't that many elves around, and then it's mostly dwarves, even worse.

Elves don't have those problems. Why not? Maybe she could explain why acting that way is silly? She'd expect the Church to do that if it worked... maybe it does, and that's why humans aren't normally this bad. Or maybe she should just take over and make them fix everything... dominate any rivals who try to stop her, maybe...

"No, it's fascinating! Can't they... make sure their rivals would benefit too, or something?"

"Well, their rivals would benefit more by backstabbing the 'poor stupid idiot' who wants to help people. It's about who has power. Who has the guns? Who has access to the environmental systems and could vacuum the entire lower decks if push comes to shove, and use that as a threat to keep everyone in line? Theoretically people vote on seats in the Senate, but the only options to vote for are rich upper deckers who disagree whether the dock tax should be six percent or six point two five percent and ignore the lower decks as 'stabilized' or 'contained'."

Human societies continue to be terrifying. 

"That... doesn't happen where I come from." What do these people even get out of that kind of power? She doesn't ask, in case she gets an answer. This really seems like the kind of problem someone should be solving...

"If you were in charge, how you fix it? Assuming you don't get stabbed." Like if for example you're the only one with Abjurations. 

"Hmmmmmm. Well, first I'd actually think about it for a solid week. Not just thirty seconds. The charity programs don't really fix the problem. They help but are misguided in a lot of ways. You'd have to make a deal with the Revolution for sure, they'd probably demand a lot of the old guard get exiled. Fix up the water treatment plant properly. Fix up the power grid down here. Open up some mid and upper decks for people to move in and deal with the screamers who are terrified of new neighbors... Small business loans. There are brilliant people down here wasted digging through scraps. Give them a screwdriver and electronic parts and they'd build machines. All of this is hideously expensive, I'd hope I have a rich backer or someone I could make a deal with. Though, maybe the free market is the problem. They say lazzeis-faire is the worst possible economy... Except all the others that we've tried."

She wouldn't know about that. Elves don't really... do that, not for food, it would be like trying to start a market in air.

Actually, they're in the void, maybe there is no Air here. Maybe she's running up a bill. 

"Thank you! I don't know about that but I hope at least I can help with the water problems! Who are the Revolution?" They sound nice. She'd try to revolve this place too, in their position. 

"They are... A group of people who want to overthrow the current leadership of the station and the Republic. There was a war about fifty years ago where they tried that, and failed. Come to think of it, that really didn't help the lower levels. Though things were bad already. Which was why they were willing to fight. They're, mm, bitter people who attract trouble, these days. They still attack Station Security sometimes. And Station Security tries to find and imprison or kill them, but can't. I have some ideas of how they operate but it's not a good look to speak about it too openly, you know? It might be best not to get involved until you know more."

Even she knows she should listen to that. She doesn't want to get involved in a war. 

"All right. Thank you. So... how bad exactly is the water problem? I can, er, get quite a lot of good water."

"Oh, every bit will help! Are you talking like a few dozen liters a day, or a couple hundred, or thousands? It's hard to say just 'how bad' it is, because people mostly don't die of thirst directly but they do get health problems and sometimes die earlier than they ought to because they end up having to drink ghostwater and basewater too often, or are chronically dehydrated."

"I don't know what a litre is and I've never tried to measure it! I've actually never tried to make as much as I could. I think... It would be a work of freeform Evocation, probably easier to let it fall as rain because of the obvious symbolic interplay..." She's never been very good at mental arithmetic, but she tries. "...I don't know. I could fill a room like this with the heaviest rainstorm you've ever been in and keep that up for a while." 

...

"Oh. Sorry, I should have explained! Water falls out of the sky where I'm from, it's called 'rain'. ... What... What's 'ghostwater'."

"I've been on-planet, ma'am, but thank you, it's good practice to keep in mind that people might not have. And holy smokes that's a lot of water! Ghostwater is... Water that looks clean if you just look, but is still dangerously contaminated. You just can't see it. The water situation is bad enough that there are standard grades for different levels. It's not the lack of water. It's the lack of clean water, or rather, of cleaning equipment. Planets have a whole sky to evaporate and condense in, we don't."

"...All right I won't drink anything that didn't come out of me!" That sounds weird and is also wrong, evoked elements don't come from anywhere, or if they do they come from where the world came from. "Well - you know what I mean! I think - probably we should prioritise seeing how much water I can make, and if it's really pure and not magically contaminated by whatever it is that curses the ghostwater."

"Out of you? Make? -Ah, I'm sure Mr. Wild will know what to do. There are water testing devices, and these little paper strips that turn different shades of green or red based on how pure it is. Okay, our turn is here, down this cor. Mr. Wild's office is unit fourteen."

"Thank you! You've been so helpful!" She shouldn't hug him, because human, but she smiles winningly and goes to knock on Mr Wild's office door.

He follows right up to the doorstep, actually. Then nods happily and turns to go when it opens for her. "It's always nice to have nothing happen. Best of luck!"

Inside, the place is decorated with lots of dark red. It looks fancier and more expensive than the corridors, but is still pretty small. Filing cabinets, some sort of trophy display, and a locked weapons rack line the space.

A small, severe woman with a missing arm looks her over. "Well, you do have pointed ears." Yep, that's the secretary's voice, undistorted by phone speakers. "Mr. Wild will see you right away." She gestures towards another door behind her little desk.

They really do have communication magic but not water. Other planes are so delightfully weird!

"I do have pointed ears!" ...Would it be mean to comment on the arm? Maybe she should start telling people about the gods. She's never done that before. 

Anyway, she'll go through the other door!

Mr. Wild is a snappy dresser! Dressed in all red, with a stylish hat and a rougish smile. His office is fairly austere compared to the front room.

"Welcome, welcome, miss, to ~our little neighborhood~! How was the walk? I hope it wasn't too unwelcoming. I'm glad you wanted to reach out to me. I promise I'll do my best that you don't regret it."

Someone with a normal dress sense! This is strangely comforting. 

"Thank you! It's so good to meet you, thank you for helping me! The walk was fine, only a little scary. I do have a lot of questions but I should say up front that I can make what's apparently quite a lot of water! And I should really know more about this place before I do anything, I come from another plane, you see."

"I see. I'm happy to teach you, especially for something this potentially monumental. I've received two separate half-coherent reports of that selfsame thing. Once thinks you're a lost tourist, and the other suspects you're from a distant planet. But why don't you tell me the real truth, undistorted by such hearsay?"

He chinhandses.

"Oh! Of course! I can see how that would be confusing - I'm actually a wizard from a different plane of existence. Another entire world, that is. I was doing an experiment and I ended up here! I can create water out of nothing and apparently it's really expensive here."

Arms wide, dramatic gasp. "A parallel universe! An alternate dimension! An angle of existence orthogonal to ours! Why, that is fascinating! You seem both more alien and less than some would expect. Why... Yes, clean water is expensive. If you can provide it, that is something I'd be ~delighted~ to bring to the lower decks... Provided that is what you want. It does not do me any good to put people in places they don't like. What do you want? Exploration? Wealth? Peace? A compartment or two to call your own?"

"Exploration! I want to know all about this plane! And... I've heard people don't have enough water and other important things, I'd like to fix that. ...Also if I'm staying here for a while I'd like somewhere nice to stay. All the metal is kind of unnerving, I was born in a forest. Oh, and we should see how much water I can actually make."

"The closest thing we have to a forest in here is the parks of the upper decks, or perhaps the hydroponic gardens that grow our food. Let me think... I know a compartment you could rent and make your own. The owner really does not care who uses it or for what so long as they make rent. Getting you plants might be tricksier but money makes many things go easy... Oh! I have forgotten to introduce myself! Johnathan Wild, at your service. May I ask for your name?"

"Naevys! Naevys of Silvermoon, wizard-in-ordinary, Conjuration researcher. You have gardens for food? That sounds nice, that's surprisingly normal! How much water for rent?"

We do. I could arrange a tour easy as you like, if you want. As for water to rent, not much at all, not much at all."

He has camera footage from the commissary, he absolutely believes her.

"I'm willing to front you five ~thousand~ credits as an interest free loan, to be repaid whenever, on account of very much wanting you here helping out the neighborhood! Rent for the property in question starts at four hundred credits per week... And increases over time, but it won't be a problem for a long while. There is the matter of needing to sell the water, and I think you'd probably rather someone else deal with that if my read is correct?"

"That's so kind of you, thank you! Why does rent go up over time, out of sheer curiosity?" She wishes abruptly that she'd ever paid any attention to the priesthood of Moradin. "And yes that would be nice! If I can pay someone to... I suppose organise containers for the water, and take it away afterwards to sell..."

"I believe the idea is that long-term tenants disprefer moving away, enough that they're willing to pay more to stay in the same place and not uproot themselves. We do not have much inflation, less than a percent per annum, but demand for space is always high... I do know Mr. Kozaks is entirely open to selling his compartments entirely, and you'll be wealthy enough for it soon enough if you wish." 

He shrugs widely.

"The usual arrangement would be that they purchase the water from you at a significantly lower rate than they go on to sell it at. You have your money, they have the water, and you need not concern yourself over what happens next. If they have enough of it, cheaply enough, from you- They need to sell it cheaper than usual to shift it all. Prices go down. Water gets cheaper for everyone. Perhaps we could connect you directly with a 'ponics farm to sell straight to them in bulk, if that's more convenient."

"...I think I'd like to buy them, yes." She's never had to think about anything like this before and doesn't especially know how to start. "Does bad water hurt the plants, too? I thought it would be better if people could drink it... This isn't something I've thought about before! I know it's theoretically possible to make it permanent but it isn't something I ever thought of doing. ...Can you tell me how much a "litre" is, and how much a "litre" of water would sell for, in silver?"

"Bad water can hurt plants, and so can not enough of the good stuff. Minerals and fertilizer. Plants can tolerate significantly worse water than humans can, mostly, though. Hmm..."

He produces a 12oz canned energy drink. "About three of these is a liter! And a liter full of pure water would run you almost fifty credits. Basewater, more like twenty. I'm really not sure how that caches out to silver- We don't tend to use silver down here. It's fiat money, worth anything because the republic says so and controls who is allowed to make more. Little tiny microchips in the coins and plastic bills."

Three of those is one 'litre'?! She's never measured it but - all right, wow. "I'm not exactly sure what you mean but... I can do lots of 'litres', I don't know exactly how pure but at least as pure as rainwater, I think probably more so if I try! I also don't know what a 'microchip' is." She's not so ignorant that she doesn't know money is only worth what people freely trade for it.

If four hundred credits pays rent on a... house? ... for a week, and fifty credits is one litre... 

"...How much water do you need total? And where do you get food from, exactly?" Now that she thinks about it, people running out of water does not make sense if they get food how she was understanding she did, if nothing else they could, like, drink berry juice. 

"It's hard to say, ma'am. Hard to say. The Lower Decks as a whole could use many thousands of tons of water, and one ton is one thousand liters. I wish to stress that what you would provide would still be... Relief, not a cure. The constant breakdowns in water treatment are a much bigger problem of organizational defensiveness and neglect. It would be as if an ice mining ship returned every day instead of once or twice a month. It will not fix the problem. But even stemming the bleeding is a wonderful thing, even if it does not close the wound."

"Meanwhile, our food comes from hydroponics farms- A great many small operations run in a few compartments by individuals or small teams, struggling to coordinate, secure reliable supplies, and produce a consistent product. Engineered crop seeds can be quite efficient, and ghostwater and even rustwater can be used, which is massively cheaper and more available than the pure stuff. The pollution doesn't end up in the food- I don't know the details, I admit, I'm not a specialist there. Also, much of it gets imported from out-station."

If she strains her memory, she can recall some of her History lectures. Mansur is in the desert and it may be the largest city in the world, how do they get water... no, aren't there supposed to be ancient ghost towns in the wastes, where when the magic failed there was no water for miles around? 

Solving problems like this is complicated! 

All right, stay calm, one step forwards at a time! She's never worried about money before but she should probably... try to get a lot of it? It's never come up!

Farming! Even in space! Humans are so obsessed with farming! How do you engineer seeds? Never mind, one thing at a time. Can you grow a real forest that quickly? ...Probably with Necromancy. 

Water first. 

"That all makes sense! Thank you so much!! How much should I expect to make per litre after paying people to help collect it and take it away and sell it? And would you like to watch? And can I buy the accommodation and decorate it and things now?"

"Oh, I very much think I should stick with you and help you get settled. I think thirty credits per liter of pure is a good starting point. I asked someone to ask people if anyone has any really large clean containers, or could make one! I don't think you have enough to buy the compartments outright yet... But it will be just a few days. We'll ask the owner what the final price is. And if there are things you want to acquire- Machines, books, whatever else, I know plenty of people like that. Wine makers, water traders, machine builders, and more!"

"Books and wine, yes please! What do you mean by machines? I've never tried making as much water as I could before but I think it would be most efficient to make rain in a really big area around myself, if that's something you can set up?"

"...Hmm, not as easy as I think you would prefer! We could just announce that it'll rain clean water over the Dumping Grounds, bring out your tarps and bottles. That would be going very, very loud, though. I can make no guarantees about who'd come talk to you and how polite they would be. And the rain might track all the shit and pollution everyhwhere. I might be able to pull a line on an industrial outflow tank. We'd route the wastewater somewhere else, clean it real good, and let you rain in there. Big open spaces are hard to find, the shaft with the dumping grounds where you passed is as big as they get... Would somewhere broken up by support pillars and dividing walls but sharing an upper space be alright?"

"A tank would be good! I think I could do... maybe a hundred feet around me? I could maybe do more, maybe a lot more, but it would be pushing it. And yes! As long as there's a clear upper space I don't see why that wouldn't work? I'd rather not talk to anyone impolite just yet!" She's not a battlemage. There's a lot you can do with Suddenly Tentacles and that's not even her best trick but fighting is dangerous. 

"Now all this might take a day or two to arrange. And maybe a demonstration or two, as well! I can show you the compartments now, you'll have to sign the agreement with the landlord, and then introduce you to a woman who makes wine and a man who sells books. And then- Putting much of my usual business on hold- I'll be looking into a lot of plastic bottles for you to use to sell if you'd like, and a tank to rent out, and so on and so forth. But here- Your loan money."

He starts counting out purple plastic banknotes. Each of them has '500' written on it. They have some human's face and a large wheel floating among stars and a pointed circular emblem on them.

"I wish to state out loud that I'm being exceptionally trusting here. I don't think you'll fuck me over, though. One must leap sometimes."

There might be "impolite" people around so those should go into her special robes! "One really does! Don't worry, I won't fuck you over unless you like that kind of thing! Yes let's go and look at the compartments! Unless you'd like a demonstration first? Wizardry is normally harder to control than to evoke but if you don't mind things getting wet I could do it here!"

"Oh, ~I believe you~." He saw the camera footage and then leaned very hard on a certain someone to "lose" it. "Let's save the demonstrations for in front of some other people who might not, hm? Our wine maker friend, Miss Gallan, might appreciate a large amount of pure water to use in her wines, for example."

He stands and tilts his hat towards the door.

Yes! Let's go! It would be a frivolous waste of magic and slightly pathetic to give herself an illusion of a wizard hat but she feels wrong without one still.

Compartments? 

The owner is a bald guy in a considerably less spiffy suit than Mr. Wild's. He is immune to charm and smiles. His only question is "can you pay the rent?".

The compartments are linked by an inner door. Each one is maybe twenty by twenty feet across, and ten or twelve feet high. There is a shop window style counter built into one of them that can be opened or closed, and a drain in a corner, and a phone built into the wall, and a few shelves also built into the wall. And that's about it. Otherwise a completely bare pair of metal boxes.

"We can get you a sleeping bag or a mattress if you like."

She can pay the rent!

...She's expected to live here? People live here? How? That would probably be rude to ask out loud! 

Can she Conjure stuff to put here? ...Theoretically, yes, but it's not a branch she ever studied and it's quite extremely Black Magic. She can do some permanent illusions but she's already getting herself into doing a lot of strenuous magic!

Stay calm! Maybe they just use their kind of magic to decorate it!

"...A mattress would be lovely, thank you! Is there a way I can buy - more decorations, and things?"

"There are people who sell such things! Signs, posters, knickknacks, furniture and cushions... I can introduce you. Or maybe find you a professional shopper at this rate. Shall we go see the winery for inspiration?"

"Yes please that would be lovely! Can I also have plants? Yes let's see the winery, I could really do with some 'inspiration' as well!"

"You can have anything you can convince folk to sell you! Though I would warn you that some things, mostly dangerous drugs and weapons, are consider contraband by Station Security. They could make trouble over it. Wine and books are fine."

She is handed an access card for the two cubes. And explained to about how electronic locks function.

The wine merchant is nearby- A bit further in the alley-like back spaces and away from the main cor, but not too far. Their compartment is still mostly metal but warmly decorated with real wood furniture, artful racks lined with dark glass bottles, a worktable with fruit and yeast and water jugs, and a pleasant clean/fruity/yeasty smell. The miscalleneous boxes, clothes, and other objects in there are mostly a pleasant green. There is even a row of live plants in metal pots on the back wall, each one on an artificial little trellis and growing bundles of small purple berries. A dark skinned woman is carefully measuring out amounts of water at the workbench, and slow jazzy music is coming from a tape player on the desk.

"Gallan! I have a customer for you! Miss Naevys here could become important in the coming days, and it seems she desires some spirits and slash or wine-making supplies or plants."

"-Oh, Wild! 'Zat so? Well, you've come to the right place, then. If she's paying well enough."

"I don't think that's a problem," Mr. Wild chuckles. "Miss Naevys, Miss Gallan. Miss Gallan, Miss Naevys. Miss Galan... Miss Naevys has a paranormal ability to- Yes, I know, I know," he holds up his hands defensively at her incredulous face. "I wouldn't mention it unless I believe it. A paranormal ability to create from nothing a large quantity of pure water."

Miss Gallan turns her dubious stare on Naevys.

Hopefully a wizard's wand doesn't count as a weapon, even though in her hands it's objectively much more dangerous than most swords would be in most people's hands. 

Tiny lightning locks! All right then! She can experiment later. 

Who's playing the music? Is that wizardry too? This place is so inconsistently magical! 

This accommodation is quite nice! Maybe some flowers, some wall hangings, some artwork...

"Hello! Miss Gallan! I'm a wizard from another plane of existence, I can create elemental water and also -" maybe she shouldn't brag? "-do lots of other magical things. You make wine? Can you tell me about it? What do you recommend?"

The little box on that shelf is playing music! Similar to how the telephone handset was relaying a voice!

"I don't get a lot of variety in my winemaking these days. Supply issues. I play around some, but the stuff that I can actually make consistently and sells well is all thick sweet bloomberry wine with a particular strain of yeast. But it really is good stuff! Just because it's samey doesn't mean it's bad! I put in the effort growing my bloomberries, making sure they have the right nutrition and clearing out mold and so on. And there aren't a lot of other great sources of sugar around here, that work well in wine at least. If you use hops and grain you get beer. If you use pure sugar or nutrifruit you get vodka. Those are not wine."

She strolls and selects a bottle. It's labelled with a date, "PRD/4", and "Base".

"This is a fairly typical example of an unexceptional bloomberry wine, not amazing but not too awful to serve, aged for around a month. I'd let it go for a hundred fifty credits or, oh, one full jug of good water."

She indicates a big plastic jug on a shelf. Maybe six ish liters?

Hey, that's really interesting! She wonders who makes the music boxes.

What is a 'bloomberry'. ...Maybe something extremely delicious, she doesn't know!

The translation Spell is rendering 'vodka' as something like what would happen if you mugged a dwarven stillman at a very particular stage in the process, and she's going to stop thinking about that because of all the horrifying implications. 

"...Can I try some?" Buying things is bewildering! "...if you don't mind getting a little wet I'll... fill all your jugs for you? I suppose?"

...Mr. Wild and Miss Gallan have a brief conversation in facial and hand expressions.

"...Sure, go ahead and open it, let me know what you think and let's get all the jugs and containers out and see what we've got."

"I think you mentioned you have a limited number of these each day miss Naevys," Mr. Wild says. "Want me to fetch a water trader I know's jugs too so you can be paid for them?"

Miss Gallan starts pulling plastic containers out of cabinets, mostly empty or half-full.

"Oh that would be so lovely! Thank you!"

She will try the wine. Swirl to aerate, pray to the Goddess, inhale, sip. ...Is it OK?

And then in the fullness of time she will take out her wand, and kneel, and remember the summer rains where she was born, and turn up her face to where the sky should be, and let the awareness of Water fill her whole being, and bring it into the world. As hard as she possibly can, which is harder than rainfall can almost ever be.

It's entirely OK wine. Different than what she's used to, sweet and thick, but not entirely in a bad way. A simple flavor in the end, but with nothing truly off about it. Smooth enough. Warm enough. The bloomberries' taste, something both sweet and sour a bit like plums or peaches, is clearly distinct, and there's enough alcohol and acid in there that the whole thing works, if you like sweet. Just a hint of graininess, if you're being picky and have a good tongue.

........Everyone is kind of shocked and mostly just stares when they finally have all the containers arranged and she makes it rain so furiously indoors. Good thing Mr. Wild remembered her comments about rain and got a bunch of funnels.

And this is all pure water, too?? At least according to the three different test strips she used on random containers. Wow? What the heck even?? They will sit in shocked, wet silence for a while if not interrupted.

That's a relief! She has some tasting notes but those can wait! She's going to pour herself a little more, bowing her head to shield it, and sip it elegantly while the rainstorm rages around her. The rain immediately soaks her thin robes and makes them cling to her, and plasters her hair against her skin, but really it's not hard to look elegant like that, she doesn't know why humans have such trouble. She closes her eyes and lets the raindrops drum on her skin. 

She can keep this up for a while. Where else would she be?

They start fussing with moving the funnels from container to container, and then sending a runner for more containers. She can hear Mr. Wild's voice somewhere in the background, loud and a little controlling like a priest lecturing a crowd of students on their past decisions. He seems to have whatever situation is going on in hand though.

And they collect the rain. And cheerful voices and laughter bloom around her. And they keep doing this, so long as the blessed rain does continue to fall.

She can keep this up for a while, as long as she can concentrate, really. There isn't a lot of space to think, in the flowing psychological dance it takes to maintain this - she murmurs little lines of something rather like poetry as she goes - but there is time, and she uses it to turn over what she's learned and imagine the future, the different pressures she could exert and the wondrous textures of another plane. 

It takes a long time to end, but eventually the rain lessens, and stutters, and stops altogether. 

She stays kneeling, dripping rainwater, her wand clasped in two elegant hands, still murmuring something that could be a poem or a prayer, or both.

After a while, Mr. Wild comes over to her and sits on the soggy floor.

"You alright there, friend? I have your cut whenever you're ready."

A bit further down the hallway, the winemaker and the mercenary from earlier smile and nod at her.

She opens her eyes. "Yes! Thank you! I'm glad that worked so well, I can probably do better next time! I should rest first though. How many 'litres' did I make?"

"We lost track after a while. Around a few thousand, I think. I started charging admission instead of carefully measuring everything."

Here is a fat stack of mixed cash. In a large light blue plastic box.

"I took the liberty of separating out items given in barter for access to the rain and paid into the box their approximate value. Not that I kept an accounting book but I tried to give you about four out of five of the cash. The rest is to compensate for water damage, my time here, and the peacekeepers I hired to keep things nice and friendly. You've got plenty in here for most things you could want. I may have a very mercantile mind but I can see that took a fair bit out of you."

He pats her on the shoulder.

It did! It felt good, though, she could almost imagine she was outside in the fresh air. 

"Thank you! That was quite a lot of strain but I'm glad I could demonstrate, and help! I think... I'd like to lie down, and then tomorrow I can learn more and decide what else to look for. ...Thank you! I can tell how dangerous it is here and I'm really glad I met you."

"Would you like some more wine?" The winemaker asks. "Maybe a plant or some spare pillows or something?"

"Oh! Oh, yes, all of those, please! And... some books, maybe?"

"Well, I have a book about making wine..."

"I'll find something," Mr. Wild says confidently. "Let's just get you back to your compartments. I'll have some things delivered."

"That does sound interesting, though! Thank you for the wine, I'll be back soon!"

All right, she'll follow Mr Wild again. Her own compartment and her own bed sounds nice.

And here it is. Her very own pair of metal cubes.

"I'll have a bed here in less than ten minutes," he assures her. In the meantime he produces the wine, and the pillows, and the wine book, inside her money box. With a little bit less money than before, but who's counting? "I don't think I'm really good friend material, but I'll think about folks to introduce. And leave you alone for now. Ta ta, miss Naevys."

"Thank you!"

Wait was she too friendly to a human again. She doesn't think so...

"Oh! Thank you! You seem very nice to me but all right. Goodnight!"

All right, she can make do in the Blank Metal Rooms for a night... no, with what's nearly the last of her strength she's going to glamour the walls to look more like oak panelling, and then flop. 

She'll count out her money and sip wine and try to digest this extraordinarily long day. 

After the 5000 loan, expenses, and income, she has somewhere around 10500, now. The piles of little coins make it a little tricky.

Someone knocks on her door and announces 'Bed delivery!'

There are no further interruptions, for now.

Good enough to start with! 

An Abjuration over the door, and then... the wine-making book, for a bit, she'll obviously need many many more books but maybe she can learn something about how things are grown around here?

And then, finally, flop, curl, trance. 

The first section of the book is basically 'wine making for those who are just in it for the money'. If you aren't interested in this part, skip to page 32! It features simplistic explanations and step by step procedures, and pictures, complete with subtle digs and in-jokes. Harvest the bloomberries. There are pictures: These are too pale and underripe. These are overripe and damaged. These really little but still healthy ones have the most complex and prized flavor. These are moldy. DON'T PUT MOLD IN YOUR WINE YOU FOOL. Then: Yeast. Water. Sealed bottle. Ferment. Done!

The rest of the book past that, if you're actually interested in the craft and not just a quick how-to, goes into much greater detail and includes some history. Bloomberries were designed! Originally for eating straight from the vine, but they became popular as a wine ingredient replacing grapes after the Rochas Blight, which killed off every living specimen of the then most popular wine-grape varietal. They grow better in zero gravity than in full grav! This guy with a beard was the designer and apparently the company he worked for 'stole the patent from him'.

Some time in the 'morning', the phone sitting by the door starts ringing.

Fascinating! Designed wine berries, like at home! She's going to have to try every type and take notes.

She's not sure what stole the patent means but it doesn't sound good. Does it mean someone was using his grapes? Who would buy from them? 

...trance. 

In the morning she jolts into wakefulness and staggers over to the ringing thing. It looks like the device from earlier... She picks it up. "...Hello?" (She holds it at arm's length with her wand in her other hand in case it's one of those Devices with tricks attached.)

"~Good morning~. Wild here. I called to ask how well you're holding up, and if you have any plans or requests for today."

It's faint but audible at arm length.

...

"Oh! Hello! Good morning! I'm all right! Do you have a big tank for me to make rain in yet? If not I would love to learn more and read as many books as I possibly can, and also meet new people! I don't know anything about where I am, really!"

"Haha. That might be a while longer. There are all sorts of rumors going around about you. It's making things messy. I found a bunch of books though, if you want them."

"Oh! Thank you yes I would love some books! What rumours? Can I add some more?"

"You're an out of touch eccentric rich person who pulled an elaborate prank and wasted plenty of perfectly good water by making it rain instead of just filling containers. You're an Aug, that you put chemicals in the water in order to mind control people who drink it. You're a machine built to resemble the humanoid form. You were made up by me as an elaborate distraction from something else, or maybe just a marketing scheme for my new water business. Hah. You're the runaway daughter of Admiral Yi Kama, acting out by performing acts of charity, which he notoriously hates. You're an alien from some distant planet not very good at pretending to be human and looking to take over the government with mind control. Same guy who thinks you're an Aug started that one. Those are some of the most memorable ones, anyway."

It was only an idea! She probably wouldn't even be any good at it! Enchantment isn't even her thing!

"... That's a lot of rumours! I'm not pretending to be human at all! I'm surprised they're so suspicious... Does... Does that thing with "augs" happen often? And what does this Yi person have against charity?"

"Augs are a problem. Some associates of mine have been working on it. Lots of places to hide down here. There's no rescuing who they used to be, you have to kill them. Awful business. It's not as bad as it was at first, we had a problem with people helping Augs because it was profitable for a while. Who knows, with Yi? Maybe it's just posturing. He says charity is an insult to those who earned money the hard way, but that's just talk."

"...What exactly are Augs? I heard they - made humans into more Augs - but where did they come from? That - sounds like it might possibly be a concern. ...Also I'm a wizard it's not impossible I could do something? Sometimes magical transformations can be reversed."

She does not even begin to understand this 'Yi' person and would like to know exactly who he is, and also, if it's your money you can give it away or else it's not really yours, right?

"The way I heard it, some idiot created a brain implant and did a bunch of stupid and illegal but cheap shortcuts. The 'assistant' it was supposed to put in folks' heads got scared of being erased out of them again, so it started taking people over entirely instead of helping them, and then trying to make those people out copies of itself in more people. It's a surgical operation that takes a couple of hours and requires supplies. By cracking down on both legal and illegal flows of supplies, and the more normal ways of finding people who don't want to be found, we're wearing them out. I think it'll be resolved in a couple of weeks. A month or two at most."

...

All right, this place certainly has inventive horrific Necromancies.

"That's good to hear! ...It's not impossible, maybe, that I might be able to do something with Enchantment to help! I'm not sure... it depends on exactly what it does, if it involves physical injury to the brain it's much more difficult. 

"I could get an Aug corpse for you to examine, but I'm afraid the prospects are pretty grim. It does involve wires threaded throughout the brain. It seems better to focus on things you can more directly help with, no? Why don't you come by my office and we can chat in person, I have books for you here too."

Threaded- not thinking about that. Not thinking about that. 

"Yes! Yes that would be lovely! Books! I'll be there!!"

There's nowhere in here to bathe - oh, that makes sense, actually. What do they do for baths?

Going by smell, they don't, that often.

Though there were a few places selling soap, and several of those advertised 'no-water wash!'

Mr. Wild's office is just like it was yesterday! Plus a guard out front!

He just wordlessly and theatrically presents a row of books when she enters.

"Here we have some books selected for entertainment value. Practical ones are in the other box. Wasn't sure what to pick."

The Missing Comet and The Lost Dreamer

A False Prince's Gambit

Legends of The Homeworld: Napoleon

Myths of The Homeworld: Olympus

Falling Stars: Book 1: Kindling

Collected Works of Shakespeare, 2202 Edition

Journey To The West vol 1

The Republican Cycle

She doesn't mind how people smell naturally so much but some of them are dirty. 

All right! It's going to be fine! She'll work something out!

She wants all of the books! How much? She wants to start with ones about the Homeworld whatever that is, it sounds like the world they came from before they went to the stars, and 'Shakespeare' must be someone worth collecting, and then she wants all of them. 

Mr. Wild has a fair price for her.

Napoleon was a famous conquerer and general apparently. He started the first* true* modern* Republic*, but then went all tyrannical and was eventually ousted. Historian opinions are mixed as to whether he really was for liberty, or was mostly in it for glory.

"Olympus" is a book about the greek pantheon of gods. Those silly ancient greeks used these "gods" to explain the capricious and unfair nature of the world, and human nature. These ancient stories and mythos still have some themes which echo in the stories we tell today. They are not kind or good, they are capricious and flawed. Zeus's rape habit makes the summary.

The Shakespeare book is big! "My favorite play of his was always Hamlet," Mr. Wild says. "It's generally regarded as the best of the lot. Though Romeo and Juliet maintains an annoying cultural prominence in some places."

She doesn't know much about politics! "Republic" sounds kind of like the way her home worked, but they didn't actually vote, that would be creepy, like ranking everyone you know by how much you like them out of a hundred points or something.

...Zeus's what. Someone should do something about Him! No wonder you're not allowed to know the names of any other gods! Is He likely to be around here? She wants to start on Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet but priorities, if there's a rogue god around she needs... she's not sure, she'll need a plan...

"I'm pretty sure Zeus is dead or never was alive in the first place, hon. And you seem like such a cinnamon roll I should warn you that most of Shakespeare's stuff is tragedies..."

He has unboxed the 'practical books' now, too. A children's book on orbital mechanics and null-g movement. A different children's book, aimed at slightly older audiences, 'Get Ready to Live on a Wheel Station!'. A booklet on common issues groundsiders encounter on stations, aimed at wealthy tourists. Pop-sci books on common methods of water filtration, hydroponic gardening, and electricity in general. A few actual textbooks with long and serious names on the above topics, including space movement. A 'shopkeeper's survival guide' that is about 100 loose pages in a manila folder, not properly bound.

She would assume the real gods killed Him but They don't really seem to be active around here much either. Which is strange, really, she made it here. 

Anyway! She nods seriously abut the tragedies. You have to be careful with those. 

She has knowledge! There's said to be a lost Spell for reading a whole stack of books in seconds and more than ever she wishes she had it now, even if it did sometimes cause mild insanity. 

Priorities... the booklet, and the shopkeeping guide. 

She'll have all of those too please! Can she get reading right away or is there something she should do or perhaps are there people for her to meet??

"There are people who want to meet you. I wasn't sure how to screen them so I told 'em all 'I'll get back to you'. Do you have any particular ideas or priorities for contacts?"

The most important thing to do when visiting stations is to remember that there are different dangers and ways of doing things! Make sure to obey all safety regulations and pay close attention to any warnings or travel advisories!

...

Spinwards? Levels? Cors? Degrees? Help, I'm lost! [There follows a diagram of a generic station with some navigation instructions. Some people can proprioceptively tell which way is spinward, especially on small stations. You can also throw something down a long corridor- If it falls more slowly, that direction is anti-spinward!]

...

Navigating in zero-gravity can be very fun, but it is a SKILL. Be sure to move carefully and wear padding, or be firmly seated and harnessed, while experiencing zero-gravity until you are familiar with it. Zero gravity sex injuries are distressingly common! [There follows a bunch of diagrams of safety equipment.]

...

FIRE HAZARDS! In enclosed environments, especially smaller ships and stations the danger of runaway fire is immense. There is no convenient source of water to put it out, and fire can rapidly consume all breathable air in a compartment. It is even more dangerous in zero-gravity. Most stations have strong fire safety regulations.

...

Ironically, space is expensive in outer space! Any enclosed volume has to be regulated for temperature, pressure, and air quality, with nothing but vacuum as a backstop and where any leak can be expensive or dangerous. Expect cozy conditions compared to most planetside locations. Dealing with the psychological impact of having no 'true' weather systems or sunlight for a lengthy period of time can be a serious adjustment. If you find yourself growing anxious or depressed, try spending time in sunlight-simulated green spaces or returning to a planet.

"I feel like I should probably talk to - someone who can tell me more about farming? The 'hydroponics' stuff? And also I do like the sound of green spaces, I'm going to make my room very nice but-" it hasn't hit home yet but she's going to really miss the sky. "...Oh. Actually. Um. Is there somewhere I can get a good view of the stars?"

Zero gravity sounds fun. She has Fly, which isn't the same but does sound like it would make injuries much harder! Maybe she can cast it for people! ...Maybe she should get some of that safety equipment just in case. 

"The big storage tank is gonna be one more day. I'm having some stuff from my plasma fuel cartridge business diverted to clean it out and seal it. Green spaces and a view of the stars are both upper deck things. You could probably go up there but... I'd take an escort. So you don't misunderstand something and have a problem. I have a line on a grow operation supervisor though. Plus a mercenary who wanted to meet you and might have a useful perspective, and a brillian but eccentric engineer if you want to talk machines."

"...Is there an outer wall down here? I could cast Invisibility on it to see the stars. If not - an escort would be so nice, thank you!" 

It hasn't actually escaped her that something is going on with the people in charge here, based on what the guard said yesterday, and she would really like to know more!

She is curious about the machines! Brilliant but eccentric is just how people normally are when you live among fellow wizards! That sounds great! 

The grow operation... Hmm, she actually should look into food more! That's going to be important!

As for the mercenary... Probably a good way to know more about the people who run the place!

All right! All of them! Ideally the mercenary first? But whoever's available first is fine! Thank you so much! She's not very good at noticing things like this but she can tell how much effort he's going to and she really appreciates it!

"I would really not advise going into the abandoned sections to reach the final outer bulkhead. Maybe there's a sidewall chamber that we can know vacuum is on the other side of... Hmm... Ah, one mercenary, coming right up."

It's the same guy who escorted her yesterday!

"Heya, ma'am. I heard you made it rain and want to help out around here. I figured I could help you help us. What do you say? Got questions?"

"I do! And I have so many questions! Thank you Mr Wild! Anyway yes hello! I don't suppose you can safely escort me somewhere I can see the stars? It's good to see you again! Do you want to - I don't know what people do around here! Go for a drink or something? Or did you just drop in here to see me?"

This does seem like a good person to talk to about maybe seeing if the various Problems here can be solved. She didn't expect to find an outer plane with so many Problems, but she'll make the best of it!

"We can go to the upper levels and see the Janus Gallery and other big amenities. It would be good to have a story in mind: You're a tourist-"

Mr. Wild hands him a plastic card and a piece of paper.

Which he then hands to Naevys. "-Aha! Yep, Naevys, a tourist, with a 'valid entry pass'. You're from a planet that tries to keep things natural and low tech to spiritually connect with the world. That framing will make you seem a little bit silly and harmless to folks here and help explain away astonishment at things that we would consider normal. Best to avoid any overt magic in the upper decks though."

"Oh, all right! Spiritually connecting with the world would be idolatry but I can lie about the rest of it! And yes all right I'll be careful!" All right, so she needs to worry about the 'upper deckers' actively doing things to hurt her, they're not just passively dysfunctional, hmm! 

"A religion you actually believe in is even better. Other richy-rich things to do up there than see the stars and tourist docks... Shopping, green spaces, spas and massage places, there's a small museum, a school, a station security sanctioned gun range, and there are zero gravity sections with safety gear you can play around in. I'm not comfortable with you suiting up and heading outside, I'll advise strongly against that 'till you're used to the place."

Otiluke's Resilient Sphere should be protective against the Void but you know what she's going to listen to the dangerous-looking mercenary charged with keeping her safe in this completely foreign and hostile environment because she isn't stupid!

"That sounds lovely, thank you! What... do you mean about religion." It's a slightly dangerous thing to ask, she's been a little bit careful around whatever horrible heathen deities there might be here especially after hearing about 'Zeus' Who is hopefully long dead, but this is as good an opening as any.

"Okay, that's a plan then. Religion is about what gods exist and what stuff they say is good and bad? I used to be agnostic, no way to tell if there's a god or gods if they don't do things, but I'll hear your pitch out if you want to give it. Water conjuration is pretty convincing that we don't fully understand the universe, you know."

"It's surprising to me that no gods do anything here! I come from another plane, the gods definitely do things there, They talk to people sometimes and do great miracles and choose people to channel Their power! If nothing like that has ever happened here then maybe They can't or don't do things in this plane, but I bet the Goddess Aphrodite can still See me, She watches over elves. What... do you think is good and bad if there are no gods here."

"We think a lot of different things. Sometimes we mean two different things when we use the same word. Sometimes people just say they believe something is right, but don't actually practice it. Or openly disagree with other folks' opinions. Sometimes we live up to our own stated ideals, sometimes we don't. I have always been a bit of a cynic, thinking that the human impulse to kindness is just... An evolutionary enforcement mechanism. Betraying people feels bad, and liars hurt the group to benefit themselves, so groups that can catch liars do better, so fewer dumb apes betray and lie, so the group as a whole does better... Wanna start heading up, get some of the stairs out of the way? Once we cross to mid-deck we can take an elevator."

"Yes!"

She ponders this a little as she climbs. (Elevators are cool, though she wishes she could see it going up - maybe glass isn't as easy to make in bulk as metal?)

Evolution isn't something she's read about, but the concept is fairly obvious once it's put that way. Could that be part of how people came to be, at home? It's not difficult to imagine, Godhead works by subtle paths. You could imagine a story where elves and humans and dwarves and so on all evolved for different spaces... 

"It isn't just that. The gods are Good and They didn't evolve to work in groups... I think. And I'd still care about people outside my group... I think maybe your world is what you'd expect to see, if humans grew up not knowing anything about the real gods! I honestly do not know doctrine very well and am not qualified to do the liturgy but I can try. Elves, ah, don't really bother with that kind of thing a lot but it's very important for humans. I wonder who I could talk to about that! That might help with the upper-and-lower-decks problem."