"Yeah, I didn't think you weren't going to compensate me or anything. Just wondering what I should do about immediate purchases. How much is the basic income plan, by the way? I guess...put it in terms of rent and food?"

"Well, very sufficient? If you lived somewhere small and ate something cheap, I think rent and food would be less than half the basic income plan."

The car makes its way towards the densely-packed skyscrapers, revealing huge glass facades looking out on the mountainside behind Nira. It's quite striking how the city just suddenly stops, going from skyscraper to rolling hills.

Well, obviously the mountain view is the best. "I guess we'll see. It'll have to be somewhere both Aria and I like, of course."

She gazes around as she gets a closer look. "You build pretty tall here, huh?"

"Yup! Better views, more space, and it lets everything be closer to everything else."

The car starts slowing down on the streets, driving past a police station before driving into a parking garage.

"You'll have to have a bank account for you to have any money. So, we'll get you a phone and sign you up for a new account at the police station, and then we can talk about what'll come next."

Nira nods thoughtfully. She likes the heights too, although she prefers seeing them directly from the mountaintop.

"Ah-how much does a phone cost, here? I wouldn't want to impose too much on your purses. Also, the police station? Wouldn't it make more sense to go to a bank? Unless we're also making a report about what just happened, and it's just more convenient to do everything there?"

"Ah, a phone is 300 hects, don't worry about it; we're all happy to pay far more than that for saving our lives."

"We're going to the police station because you're getting a basic income plan as well, and the police have the necessary equipment for making sure that you're not defrauding the welfare system. They'll just take your prints and your eye scan, don't worry about it."

The man speaking to Nira makes his way into the police station, explaining that someone needs a new basic income account.

It still feels a little weird to be getting paid for saving lives, but for now she's not going to argue. She enters the station after him, Aria trotting along beside her.

"Yeah, that's me," she says, waving a hand at whoever seems in charge of this part.

There's a tall man sitting behind a counter as Nira walks in. "Yup, just come over. It'll take just a few minutes."

He points at a machine consisting of two white squares, with hand-shaped patterns engraved on them, together with a camera placed on a cable.

"Just put your hands on the squares, and I'll use this camera for the retina scan, and we'll start sending you the money immediately, understand? You'll want a phone for actually accessing it, though."

"Yeah, that's up next." She leans her walking stick against the side of the machine or a nearby wall, whichever is more convenient, before leaning forward to place her hands down on the squares, peering into the camera.

The side of the machine works well as a place for placing her walking stick. Nira doesn't feel anything, before the man who was just talking to her nods. "That's everything ready, really. Because you don't have a phone, I'll give you the card with the account number and private key. The private key gives total and absolute control over your account. Please don't lose it?" The card has some kind of special film, that makes it impossible to read anything from it unless you're looking directly at it.

Nira takes the card, tilting it slightly to study the film. "Of course not," she says, frowning a bit as she realizes she doesn't have her bag on hand. Eventually, she just has to slide it into one of her jean pockets.

"Remind me to take that out, okay?" she asks Aria. The Absol nods solemnly, nudging against her leg as she takes her walking stick back up. "And...do we need to make a report about what happened out there?" She brought it up, but didn't get a concrete answer as to whether they were doing that or not.

"Well, not really. I think the local branch of the Insurance Institute Rescue Team will interview people and make all the relevant reports. It's considered good form to talk to them, but unless you, like, used your magical powers to stop the disaster, they don't need to talk to everyone involved."

"..and, um, if that's exactly what I did?"

"Then they really really really want to hear that! Their whole job is to stop people dying in accidents or natural disasters, so if you did something that had a big impact, they'd want to hear about what you did and if you could do something that would help going forward." The officer seems like he's only amusing Nira, as opposed to taking her seriously.

"...how would I get in contact with them, exactly?" She supposes it's natural for them to not believe her, if she's actually the only Elementalist here, but it still feels weird, emotionally.

"Once you've got a phone, you can easily find their number and let them know that you were a witness to the most recent possibly fatal natural disaster and have important information for them to know. They tend to bend over backwards to make room for anyone wanting an interview, and are extremely flexible in terms of scheduling."

She nods. "I guess the next step is getting a phone then?" she asks the person who escorted her here in the first place.

"Yes, that's fully correct. The nearest phone shop is just a short walk away, just head over, look around, and find something that fits well in your hand. They're basically all the same these days, really."

"Yeah, got it." She heads out, Aria still trotting after, and looks for the phone shop. While she's at it, she'll also check out what other kinds of stores or businesses are nearby.

It doesn't take particularly long to find a store selling phones; the phones come in a wide range of sizes, with an all-screen design on the front. The phones seem to be grouped by store size, with the larger options nearer the entrance and screens getting smaller as you get further away. They all use an impressively light, yet incredibly strong-feeling and rigid plastic. They are available with special back covers designed to produce all kinds of sensory textures; silk, wood, soft rubber and glass are just a few of the textures available.

Beyond that, there are various kinds of clothing stores. Some sell dresses, other formal clothes, still others athletic wear, and there's even a store dedicated to selling fursuits and all kinds of costumes. There's enough divers around to support a store dedicated to selling diving supplies, including custom-fit wetsuits and drysuits.

Finally, there's also a wide array of charming cafes. They all compete to have the most charming and inviting interiors possible, with thickly padded armchairs and bookshelves that help create a warm and inviting atmosphere. Quite frequently a robot makes its way through a catflap in the doors into the cafes, bringing outside food to patrons using their tablets with their kickstands, chatting with friends or enjoying boardgames.

Aria starts a little when one of the robots first emerges, barking a greeting at it and then tilting her head in confusion when it doesn't respond. Still, what's important right now is getting an actual phone. She looks through the various covers, trying out the various sensory ones. Is there a stone one?

There are several covers with a stone texture! Granite, limestone, sandstone, and even more kinds of stone.

She'll pick one that's slightly bumpy but not gritty. Size-wise she looks for one that fits comfortably in one hand.

"So I've got a bank account card, and I need to put it on my phone," she comments as she brings it to the counter.

"Bank account cards don't come with the NFC chip to let you just push them against the phone, so you have to enter them manually into your Singleton-card." He scans Nira's phone at the register before tapping a few buttons on it and opening what looks like a terminal window.

 "So, you write in the account number, and then the private key. And now your card is on the phone, so you should be able to pay because your card is on the phone." He guides her through paying for the phone using a terminal program on it. "And then, you should probably start the full setup process. Phones here have to be set up from scratch, to ensure they're as up to date as possible from day one." He explains how to write the short command that installs a non-terminal user interface for Nira's phone.

Nira can follow along with most of that, thanking the clerk as she follows along with the instructions before installing the interface. What does it look like?