"I want to know I have the right words. The pointy hat is so you can see that this is one person and this is another person. Sometimes people in the United States of America say that magical people like to wear pointy hats."

"Right, right. Well, you'd presumably want to get something to eat, or meet some people? This simulated war isn't very interesting when you're not fighting in it."

"I want to get something to eat." Outside food! Sometimes it shows up in his dreams.

"Sure, sure. I'll call someone to get you to the city and find something edible for you."

He taps a few places on his phone, and after a short wait, a minivan arrives. It's incredibly spacious and luxurious inside, with three rows of all-black seats.

He is sorely tempted to search the car for mals but he's with a group of multiple mundies who are paying close attention to him and not annoying them is important. He'll … compromise and walk around the outside and glance over all the surfaces and then go in if someone else goes in first.

Is this how New York kids get around when they're at home? Who's driving the car? Is there any license plate, perhaps with Arabic numerals?

Nobody really thinks about Ibrahim inspecting the exterior of the van. Nobody else goes in; they weren't planning on going home themselves, after all. There's someone sitting behind the wheel; the license plate uses something like a super-simple QR code, rather than anything remotely similar to Arabic numerals.

How much attention is the driver paying to Ibrahim and the interior of the car? …never mind. Even if it's a lot, they might drop him off somewhere and start a causal chain leading to him being in an environment no mundie is paying attention to. He needs to actually bring this up.

He checks his language notes.

"I want to be with people who look at things or I think a bad thing might happen. If I go to the city, will I be with people who look at things, and not in a place with no people?"

The driver is just looking around, somewhat aimlessly. "Everyone looks at things all the time, don't worry? The city is far from a place with no people! You're really not making sense, here."

"It is hard to talk. I am not from here."

He'll look to the non-soldiers. "Can you say more?"

"Well, people look at things all the time, and there are people in the city. So if you're in the city, you won't be in a place without people looking at things, and bad things won't happen. ...I'm incredibly confused, here."

"I think in a city there are places that no person is looking at. One kind of place is … some people sleep alone and have a place for sleeping and are not in the place. I think if a person in the city said 'this is a place for one person to sleep, Ibrahim go sleep there', then a bad thing would happen." He sighs. "Talking is hard."

"Well, lots of people sleep without a bad thing happening! I just don't see why we should be worried."

"I don't have words. Does 'animals who teleport like to eat people who teleport' show why we should be worried?"

"Wait, what? I mean, that's no more impossible than anything else! We'll... fix that the normal way, I guess. How common are those animals? Is there any kind of signal that scares them away?"

“I am not good at talking yet. They are different in different places and I do not know Thomassia.”

"We don't have signals because we don't have animals like that! I'm rather sure you won't need to worry about anything."

"You think I am safe alone. I think you are wrong. I am not good at talking yet!"

Ibrahim notices he's yelling, looks pretty nervous about it, and starts taking deep breaths.

"Well, why would we be wrong about that? Will things start working differently, now that you've arrived? How were you safe previously, if you weren't safe alone?"

“I was in a … place to keep the magical animals out. I can’t make one. I can’t say how to make one. I think Thomassia has them. They look not magical to not magical people.”

"Well, it's possible we have one of those, just that we didn't know it yet! We can drive you around a bit, see if you're able to find out where they are. But if you don't know how to make one, then we you'd best believe we don't, either! So you might very well be out of luck."

“If I find one it will have people. I think the people will not be about equality and bringing people joy. And they will not let you in. Or me, if I do not give them things. …also it would be hard to find.”

“If I very well be out of luck, I think I die. Is there not … a place you put people who do things you don’t want where those people are watched? Or a place that has many people sleep in one room?”

"Sounds like finding one of those places isn't a very good solution, then, if they won't let any of us in, or you either. It sounds like you're talking about a prison? It could also be a mental institution, although we don't really watch people in those much at all. We basically don't believe in protecting people from themselves, so why would we need to?"

"Slumber parties have many people sleeping in one room! And we have nurseries, with lots of babies in the same room. Not everywhere has gone over to private rooms for each baby. But I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't want to sleep in a room surrounded by lots of babies!"

“If someone watches the babies then tonight I want to sleep in a room surrounded by lots of babies.” It seems somewhat rude to possibly summon a mal there but he doesn’t have the supplies or mana to ward a new room from scratch.

"Well, sure? Weird request. But we'll set you up with a sleeping bag and some blankets and everything else. I can get you to the hospital early and get you more time to be set up, how about that?"

Neat, multiple blankets. "I like that plan."