"...do we stay in there?"

"- oh. No. It - you'll see."

"Okay."

She and Penumbra step in.

So do a few of their escort, but not all of them because it really is a small room.

There's a swooping sensation. The door opens on somewhere else.

"Whoa."

"We can't fly and otherwise it would be so so much walking up to get to the tops of our buildings."

"I guess! They're really tall!"

"They are! They are so tall we actually are trying to invent a better kind of that - it's called an elevator - and we need that before they can be any taller."

...giggle.

And they show her to her room! It is ridiculously extravagant and has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. "Do you know what kind of food you would like them to bring?"

"I don't know what you eat! I'm not allergic to anything and I'm not picky."

"Then I will just have them send up something they make very well. We have the room right across the hall if you need anything, should we leave you alone?"

"- oh, can they also bring Penumbra food, she doesn't have to eat but she likes to - and can you show me how all this, uh, stuff, works?" She gestures at appliances and plumbing.

"They will definitely bring you both food. And yes -" and he demonstrates a toilet and a shower and a coffee maker and a microwave and a minifridge and the bar - "drinks in the bar are, hmm, if you have too much you will be giggly and maybe your head hurt later -"

"Alcohol? I'll skip it."

"I don't like it either. And this is -" he presses a button and the screen flickers to life - "called a television, people with things to say - stories to tell or true things - can use a special thing to send from their -" he waves his pocket everything - "out to the whole world and then we can all scroll through the ones that are available - this is how you scroll - and learn about them. The ones you can watch from here are ones that lots of people like, if someone just starts one and talks about their cat and no one watches it then you need a pocket everything to find it and watch it."

"...their cat." She giggles. Penumbra starts channel flipping in fascination.

All of the news channels have variously sharp footage of the aliens and yellow-haired newscasters excitedly speculating! This channel has dancing. This one has singing. This one is about the aliens too. This one has some sport played with rackets. This one has a very pretty purple-haired woman sobbing heartbroken on the floor of her apartment while snowflakes drift in through the window. "That's one of the ones that is telling a story, not real," he says.

"Oh, good," says Maurabel. "Wow. We're very exciting."

"Aliens! Other worlds!"

"Yep."

"Should I leave you be?"

"For a little while, thank you."

He leaves and goes across the hall and improves on the notes he was taking and corrects the pronunciation of the blues who were valiantly trying to keep up with the conversation in the car. Someone with purple hair brings them food.

Maurabel and Penumbra eat their delicious food. They talk quietly.