Does it seem like someone actually uses the place? Is it completely unfurnished? Or just... Empty of people?

It's a mall the various storefronts don't seem to have accoutrements yet there are some store logos up but not much else.

...She tries to find the place where the elevator shaft is supposed to go.

There are elevator call buttons on each level next to the stairs but none of them are functional.

Hm...

Let's try the elevator itself then. Maybe there's a hidden hatch to go with that weird keypad.

The elevator seems to be lacking any escape hatches. It does not comply with safety codes.

She would go try her crowbar on the doors upstairs but she's burning hours. Not many of those left.

...She enters one of the codes and hits the button.

The elevator doors will slide closed behind her. And she'll get a splitting headache combined with vertigo. That'll last for about a minute until just before the elevator doors open again onto a lounge that looks wholly unlike any of the upper floors she explored.

A couple people are sitting in the lounge and talking. They look up as she enters. "I thought the elevator had turned off," says an african american guy with a polo shirt on.

"Apparently not," says a hispanic girl. She gets up and walks over to Gren. "Hi there, it looks like you didn't have one of the drinks."

She leans back in the corner, the bug out bag pressing against her back.

The hastily-padded hoodie and balaclava maybe doesn't make a great impression.

"...The fuck was that?"

"Riley says it was a teleporter, an interstellar teleporter. And she seems to know what's going on better than anyone else."

"The mall that party room was in is totally empty, I climbed up the emergency stairs... This isn't it. Unless there was a, uh, tunnel or something. God that was weird."

GPS signal lost, chimes her phone. "...Well then."

"Yeah, none of us have service either."

"I'm assuming you can't go back or there would be a mad rush to that place, you'd evacuate people. Fuck."

"No, we don't know what code would get us back. What's this about evacuating people?"

"...The. Neutron star? You guys don't know? Well, Earth is maybe done for, sorry to break it to you."

The woman gasps and numbly finds her way back to a seat. "Well that might explain why we're here."

"Yeah, I guess so." says one of the men.

She punches the elevator wall. "If I'd known about this two minutes ago... Oh, mom..."

"Oh, shit yeah. My sister, and my parents."

The others make similar comments.

"I want to talk to this Riley, if she knows what's happening."

"She'll either be in the clinic or the library. I'll take you."

She takes off her balaclava and flips the hoodie's hood down. "Thanks. I'm Gren."

She smile, "Joanna."

"I'd say nice to meet you in better circumstances, afraid it'd be a lie right this moment. Lead on?"

"Yeah, I understand." Joanna leads the way out the door at the back of the kitchen and down a spiraling ramp. On the next floor down she opens the door into a small library. There are a few more people walking in the stacks and sitting at worktables or in chairs. There are also a few people sitting at the computers along the wall they enter through. Joana steps over to one of them. "Riley, this is Gren, she just came from Earth."