! 

OKAY this Rift is Aggressive she was NAPPING.

She lets out a yipe and goes invisible as she goes through, and looks around in slight panic.

The walls are packed earth, scored all over with neat parallel claw grooves, and every few yards someone has shored up the ceiling with salvaged two-by-fours, rebar, and, in one place, a street sign reading BROCKTON BAY ZOO. A few yards ahead the passage forks three ways. Over the middle branch hangs a badger-lettered cardboard sign:

"WARNING: PIT TRAP AHEAD, ACTIVATE HOVER MODE"

Past the sign, there's a circular area planted with flowers spelling "TRAP", lit by sunlamp overhead. Right next to it is the portal, half-open but still pushing air through into Earth Bet at a rapid pace. 

There's a long corridor with many round doors here, and just now a rather short human woman in black-and-white makeup runs out into the corridor, selects another door, opens it, and runs inside. She's followed by four large robot badgers. When the last badger is through, both doors close automatically. 

Wat.

Is she dreaming? She doesn't think so...

Yeah no definitely dreaming.

But a sudden plan wells up in her. She's pretended to be a horse before. Why not a horse sized badger? It's clearly the expected format here. And if she never has fun with illusions what's the point?

She goes up to the door the troupe went through and tries to open it herself to follow!

Just as she gets there, two humans in capes and armor exit through the same door the badgers came from, slide underneath her belly, and run into through the door that the badgers disappeared through

As soon as they disappear, the woman in badger makeup exits through a third door further ahead in the corridor, flashes a grin to the giant badger, and leaves through a fourth door.

Hehe. She'll participate in the scooby doo chase scene too, picking a door and just running through the maze. What a fun dream.

Eventually, if she goes that way, she'll arrive at the badger break room.

It has nine badgers, all relaxing by reading, playing video-games (all of which are pirated versions of 80s classics, but with all the sprites replaced by badgers).

There's several unopened boxes of shortbread, as well as an unopened, still sealed coffee machine and water cooler. 

"Hello!"

"Hi! Ooh, video games. Is that Contra?"

"We renamed it Bontra when we changed the sprites. Hello, I'm Edgar!"

She snickers. "I'm Weiss. Do you have Super Smash Badgers Melee? That was my very favorite."

"Of course! But Dr. E feels that "Super" isn't a good enough superlative." 

"Hey!" It's in a woman's voice, from the other side of the break-room door. "Did you happen to see a giant non-robotic badger? The heroes don't want to play anymore."

"Nope, never seen such a thing in my life." She says, sweet as can be.

Edgar, and several of the other badgers emit muted robotic giggles. 

"Okay! See you later! Love you!" 

Dr E's heavy boots tromp away. 

"I gotta say, this is a really fun dream. I haven't played Supreme Smash in... Gosh, how many decades?"

"Gosh you must be old! And from the future! I'm only three! And not from the future!"

"Maybe I'm actually from the past because I got sent back in time. I think I'm about... Ninety? That sounds about right. I haven't kept track. I guess Dr. E is the boss around here?"

"We are a confederation of equals. But Dr. E makes us- she's a tinker. Did someone make you, or are you autopoietic? 

"Viva la revolution! Tamamo made me. She usually does foxes but I guess she was feeling poietic one day."

She wants to actually move towards and try to play one of the games, this kinda dream is not to be wasted...

One of the games is free, and so playing a demo loop.

SO much nostalgia.

She'll wile away some time playing! It doesn't even need to be a good video game, it's not like she has anything to compare it to. This one does seem fun enough, though. Her paws - under the illusion - are a little bit challenging, but she's being careful.

Edgar goes "bing" and one of his lights changes color for a second.  

"Just got a badgermail on badgernet. Dr. E asks if anyone wants to go prank the mayor?"