... "Fair... enough. What do people do when something confusing and unexpected occurs? Do institutions exist for managing this?" Is there a path to bypass, are there people he needs to negotiate with, shoot or flee?

"I'm not sure. The time someone released a pig into my high school I think eventually Animal Control caught it but this probably not an animal control situation at all."

NO, no it is NOT.

"You have people who can control animals?"

"They have nets and things, I think. I've never actually seen one at work. When they came for the pig I was in math class and the pig was not in math class."

Nau is getting an impression of this world's technology level, which is 'primitive, but not as much as the last one.' "Do you know if there are generally-believed-to-be-universal laws of physics that prevent the creation and destruction of new matter and energy?" That will probably be the most important bit.

... Why would there be such things?

"Yeah, I think you showing up like this will be a huge surprise mostly for that reason."

Huh.

" - Is there a formal procedure for rewarding inventors for their work?" Even if this place is primitive, they might want not to be.

"I think they make a lot of money unless they wind up with the rights belonging to some corporation somehow."

???

Nau is only slightly less confused, because although he is fantastically stupid he still knows that there are countries that, unlike where HE was born, are terrible.

"I see. How does currency work?" Can he just open a gold mine?

"The Fractious States uses dollars. They look like this. Change is coins and looks like this," says Sophie's mom, pulling out a bill and a handful of nickels and quarters and pennies.

"Is the value of the currency based on the material making it up, a fiat declared by the government, or neither?"

"Uh, let me see." She squints at her five-dollar bill to read the fine print. "It says 'backed by the fact that the FS Government will accept this currency for transactions and so will most other people' so I guess the second thing. I wasn't sure because I remember they make it out of special paper that's partly fabric and maybe that's expensive but I guess not."

Did that... translate right?

This place is very strange.

"- So, the whole thing only functions because people believe it does? Well, because the government says it does?" She's honestly been confused about that for a while -

"It saves on digging up gold if they'll believe you when you say it."

"Well, of course we believe it."

"I would be glad if my administration was that trustworthy," he says drily.

She looks like that's a pretty weird thing to say. Then there are the sounds of a child conflict around the corner and she smiles apologetically and goes to deal with whatever that is.

"Does this place seem exceptionally bizarre to you, Rinara?"

"It is neither of the two places I have lived in and does not resemble any of the three places I have read about?"

"Mmm." Is this a simulation? He's asked this question before but is becoming increasingly clear that if it is he wants a REFUND. He'll look around for other people to talk to.