Ooh, public library! That's something only the biggest cities like Sothis had in Golarion, and even then the libraries were owned by a temple, not by the government. These people's civilization is really cool, for all its lack of Abadarans.

And that's very nice of her! They offered him $50 per hour, so it should be safe to promise to repay twenty hours' work in a month.

He'll look at the registry of lawyers, to see if any specialize in something surprisingly relevant like contracts with aliens, and if that predictably fails he'll go see the ones O'Brien recommended.

That raises a new problem, though. "This artifact doesn't let me read. Can you help me find someone I can pay for a few hours to follow me around and read things out to me, like the lawyers' registry?"

"Oh! Of course. I'm sorry, I didn't think of that," Mr. O'Brien responds. "Hmm. Nearly everyone can read, so it's not a common thing to have someone on hand for. The librarians may be willing to help, but there should be ..."

He turns to look at Dragon's screen. "Dragon, is there anything like a public TTY service, only in reverse?"

Dragon looks thoughtful. "Not to my knowledge, but perhaps there should be. Let me see ..."

Her avatar turns away from the screen and taps some virtual buttons.

"There's a temp agency you could hire from," she suggests. "They send people to do various odd jobs — you'd probably need to pay $10-$15 an hour, and probably for a minimum period of time."

She considers offering to book someone herself, because she could do it much faster, but now that Ahmose has basic necessities taken care of, she gets the sense that he needs some self-actualization where he actually tackles a problem in an unfamiliar context successfully. If he feels safe and comfortable in his new environment, he's less likely to lash out or flee.

She makes a decision, and his phone chimes.

"I've sent the number for the agency to your phone," she tells him. "You can call them and ask what their rate would be and for someone to come meet you here while Mr. O'Brien is drafting the contract," she suggests.

That sounds like a good idea! Also he feels socially exhausted and this is really challenging. He takes refuge in eating the hamburger Mr O'Brien brought him, since they're done talking.

...It's - interesting? The parts aren't very novel, but the combination is unusual. Why put meat in between pieces of bread, is it just to hold it? He experiments with Prestidigitating a few different tastes onto the bread, but he's too hungry to linger over it.

He calls the agency and tells them he'd like someone to follow him around the city, for the rest of the day but probably for a few days (he'll agree to three days if that's their minimum period), to read out or write down anything he needs, and gets their address since it's faster for him to come to them than vice versa. 

And then... he's done here, for now? 

"I'm not done with the contract yet," Mr. O'Brien notes, looking up from where he's scribbling notes. "It will probably be an hour and a half or so. If you'd like to leave and come back instead of waiting, I can ask Trooper Barret to escort you to get the money Dragon offered, and then out to the lobby."

"Do note that $1000 is a lot to carry in cash all at once. It is not likely that someone will attempt to steal it, but it would be reasonable to be cautious, keep it in an inner pocket, and not let people know you have that much on you," Dragon points out.

Ahmose definitely has a secure inner pocket in his robe! It's so secure it's a bit of a bother even for him to get to. It's also spellbook-sized, which is entirely because that's standard on robes bought in this one shop in Sothis - ahem.

He doesn't have much to do until the contract's done, but in the spirit of not wasting any time, he'll at least go meet his temp worker! If they'll kindly give him a map of the city and point out where the address is that he got, and give him an window with a view of the sky, he'll chain-portal from there.

Finally being able to openly portal places is so relaxing. It dissolves away tension in places he didn't even know he had. It turns out that constantly looking out for anyone who might see him, metaphorically or otherwise, was really bad for him, actually!

Dragon considers for a moment — a few milliseconds — whether to comment, and decides not to. She lets her avatar play out the 'visibly considering whether to comment' animation for a few seconds while she re-designs a thermal shunt, and Mr. O'Brien takes his cue from that.

The city matches up fairly well with the map they provide, although there are one or two blocks that no longer have the indicated buildings. Regardless, nothing prevents him from counting streets and making his way to the temp office.

Then he'll do that! (Wow, look at all those people looking at him stepping out from a portal. Does it count as rude gawking if he's doing it back to people gawking at him?)

Anyway, he tries to find the relevant office. Since he can't read signs, they promised someone would be waiting at the entrance; can he find them, or manage to be conspicuous enough himself that they'll flag him down?

Opening a portal onto the street is plenty conspicuous, actually!

When Janice was assigned to work with someone who couldn't read, she didn't really know what to expect, but this wasn't it. A bit of nervousness stirs in her stomach, but whether it's because he might be dangerous, or because he might be a hero she's not sure. Villains don't just walk around in downtown like that, right?

"Ah, Mr. Ahmose?" she calls, waving at him. "I'm Janice Brooks — you spoke to my boss Peter on the phone."

When he steps a little closer she asks "Or is it just Ahmose? Is that a cape name?"

'Is that an adventurer name?' the translation artifact has her say.

"It's - just my name? I don't know what an adventurer name is but I am not an adventurer." Ahmose is very definite about this.

"As you can see, I can't speak English. This translation-artifact lets me speak, but I'll need you to read and write for me, and probably explain some words that don't translate well." He'll hand over the agreed-on payment. (Ahmose wrote down the ten digits in English and Common on a bit of paper, and Trooper Barret helped him prepare the right amount of tokens. He's proud of himself for thinking ahead! It will probably be a lot faster to ask Janice to help him with small change for the next while, though.)

"I have the next hour free, I'm waiting for, um, some papers. Is there anything you want to ask me, or - to figure out how to best work together?" He isn't actually paying her for anything but reading or writing and explanations of what things mean, which seems straightforward, but she might also be confused and need to adjust a little before starting.

And Ahmose also has a very  important question for her, which is - how can he work with a woman? Is that legal here? Would it, uh, reflect on his character? Did Dragon set him up for some sort of personality test?

"Error: Irreducible vocabulary conflict on cape/adventurer/mage," the translation artifact informs them.

Janice scratches her head. "Uh, right."

Apparently when she was considering the hero/villain cape dichotomy, she somehow overlooked the third possibility: in denial. Although he does have the right skin for it.

"I ... don't have any real questions already prepared," she says. "I often do assistance work with people who need some additional help navigating the city or doing daily tasks. I guess your situation is probably pretty different from theirs, though?"

She glances around at the people watching them.

"Look, let's find somewhere a little less public, and then you can tell me more about your situation, and maybe that will give me more idea of what I should ask? I mean, if that's okay with you."

That's a good idea which is suspiciously not okay for Ahmose!

"There's something I need to ask you first. In my home country, it's not" - well, no, it's not illegal, but - "normal, or - customary, for a man and an unrelated woman to be alone. Is that, um. Normal here?" He's blushing.

Her eyebrows jump.

"Oh! No, I mean, it's pretty normal? Like, I wouldn't go off somewhere with a random man, but it's not the same when you're employing me. I mean, if you tried threatening me and doing ... that ... the boss has your phone number, and the police would know where I went, and since you're a mage the PRT would get involved and you'd get caught for sure," she babbles. "But I'm not — I mean, you've definitely only hired me to help you navigate the city and read things. I'm not that kind of woman."

Oh no, this is terrible! At least she understands the problem and he doesn't have to be terribly embarrassed by being the only one who thinks a man and a woman alone are - at risk.

"I didn't mean to imply you are that kind of woman!! And - I wouldn't ever do anything like that! I'm just, at home people think men and women shouldn't be alone because, um, that might happen, so when you said we should find a private place I um, I didn't think you were offering me that!!! I just - wanted to know if anyone else might think so, and speak badly of you for having been alone with me. Because at home people would do that."

With his portals he can in fact get them everywhere they need to be without ever being alone, or at least without ever being out of sight of random strangers on the street, but - that might not, actually, stop people from speculating whether they were ever alone during the day.

That explanation calms her down a bit.

"Oh, no, people wouldn't judge me just for being alone with you," she reassures. "Well, maybe the really fussy old woman who lives in the apartment across from me would if she knew, but it's not like she would find out. It's ..."

She frowns and thinks for a moment. "I think it sounds like where you're from people worry about the ... appearance of the thing instead of the thing itself? And we definitely do also worry about not having a, uh, reputation, but I don't think anyone would just ... never go anywhere without a chaperone about it. That sounds a bit extreme. If the other girls in the office started a rumor about me, it would be because I ... kept coming out of the printer closet with my hair mussed up, or something like that, not because I didn't want to make a client explain their situation on the street with people listening."

She forces herself to stop rambling, and nervously smooths down her slacks.

"People definitely worry about the thing!! And also about the appearance! Which is supposed to be because of the thing, but it - kind of takes on a life of its own? Um. Anyway, it's - the threat is really to your reputation, not mine. I'm a stranger here anyway. So if you're sure it's alright, and it's - normal here, or at least common, then... I guess we can do that?"

He did hire her as a local guide but, well, he'd be less worried if she'd laughed off the whole thing instead of worrying about it herself! 

"How about we go somewhere we won't be overheard but where other people can see us from far away, or can definitely hear you if you scream, or whatever is... considered appropriate here? I mean, I'm not actually going to tell you any secrets." He thinks so, anyway.

"And then I'd like to go eat before we go back to get my papers," because one hamburger was not enough after all, "and then I need to get a lawyer."

"Oh, well if you want to get some food anyway, we could just get a table at a restaurant?" she suggests. "That's out of the street but still public. There's an Italian place on the corner that's pretty good."

"Alright - I'm confused because, um, you suggested going somewhere less public? Maybe that was a bad translation." Which is exactly the kind of thing he needs her to help him with! But at least the immediate crisis seems to have been averted.

(He's having to work through some belated anxiety and mortification. Sometimes even if he knows intellectually there's a big problem, the somatic emotions take a few rounds to kick in.)

He'll take her recommendation for the restaraunt. She can read him the menu as her first task as personal assistant! Ahmose has never had a personal assistant before and is feeling a little giddy about it.

"I just suggested that because it seems like a bad idea to talk about your personal business in the middle of the sidewalk after you had attracted a bunch of attention by arriving via magic!" she explains. "Usually people don't want to spread their business around in public, even if it's not secret per se."

She reads him the menu. There are several variations on the theme of pasta with various sauces, the possibility of a personal pizza, or some seafood. It's a little pricey for Earth food, but still cheaper than an equivalent amount and quality of food in Golarion, if he uses the wage he was offered as a conversion factor.

He doesn't really want to distract himself with culinary experiments right now. Pizza it is; you can't go too far wrong with 'flatbread, with stuff on top'.

"So. I'm from a different world. Which is - very different. So there's a lot I don't know or understand yet about America, not just the language. Customs, like - the thing, before. So besides reading things out - and writing them down - I'll need to ask you to explain some things. And please let me know if you think the translation artifact might have gotten something wrong."

"For the next few days I expect to mostly be - arranging things for the next month. My work contract, a lawyer to consult about it, lodgings, probably a bank account. Maybe other things I haven't thought of yet. And then I'll probably start working but I don't expect to need your help on the job. Do you, um, have any questions?" He doesn't like how he worded that but he can't figure out how to put it less, uh - brusquely.

She nods along with his explanation.

"So you just need help sort of getting all the basics set up, that makes sense. Are you also going to want help, like, going to the DMV for a driver's license? I guess I don't really know how that works for people from other worlds instead of, like, New York. Probably the PRT takes care of it?"

As they're talking, a waiter comes and deposits a glass of ice water in front of each of them, and asserts that the pizza should be ready in a few minutes, before gliding away.

Oooh, ice water! It's not actually hot enough to need it (he assumes it's local winter); it's probably a display of their wealth.

After asking a clarifying question, Ahmose reassures her he is not going to get a driver's license, for several reasons!

"I don't know what other things I will need to do, but there will probably be some? I guess a driver's license is not a bad example of the kind of thing I'll need help with." The local 'cars' are frankly terrifying when seen up close. Man was meant to teleport or fly - slowly! - not hurtle along at breath-stealing speeds constantly risking a crash!

Does Janice have any other questions?