Over the next few days, life on Utopia started getting back to normal, or whatever passes for normal here. The cleanup and reconstruction efforts in town were well underway. One morning, Ty was at his usual spot in the boardroom, dressed in a powder blue three-piece suit. He was reading through some memos from the city council, when the elevator opened and Deejay walked in the room. His hoodie was unzipped, revealing a yellow shirt bearing the words Outlaw Star, whatever that means.

“Surveys are all done for now,” he said. “We're almost caught up finally.”

“Nice. Find anything unusual?”

“Uh... yeah, you could say that.”

“What was it?”

“Well... hmm. How do I put this?”

Ty slowly looked up from his work and stared at Deejay, who was fidgeting with his zipper in a familiar way, and anticipated a headache well before its actual arrival.

“Now Ty, I don't want you to freak out.”

“Why would I freak out?”

“Um... You know what? Rather than me trying to explain it, maybe you'd better just come up to the roof and see for yourself.”

Ty's stare intensified. Slowly, he got up and walked to the elevator with Deejay. They took the elevator up to the roof together and walked over to the ship. Deejay hit a button on his belt, and the ship opened. Ty glanced inside but didn't see anything.

“Well?”

Deejay held up a finger to his lips and pointed toward the back behind the seats. Ty stepped closer and leaned over the edge of the cockpit, looking where Deejay pointed. There he saw a young woman curled up on the floor, fast asleep. She had very long blonde hair that reached down to her waist, and cat-like ears protruding from either side of her head. She was wearing a red collar around her neck, a red ribbon in her hair, and nothing else. Ty stood up straight and stepped back from the ship.

“...Huh.”

“Yeah, that's what I said.”

After a long pause, Ty turned and shot Deejay another withering look.

“Oh fine.” Deejay looked offended, and folded his arms in the way he was used to seeing Ty do. “I see how it is. So you can bring home random naked girls, but when I do it it's a problem.”

“Not the same thing. I wasn't trying to sleep with Jay.”

Such a gentleman.

“And why do you assume I'm trying to sleep with this girl?”

“Because she's some kind of cat girl, and you're some kind of you.”

Deejay started to raise his hand, then lowered it again. “...Okay, fair point. But I'm telling you, I had nothing to do with this. She must've gotten inside somehow while I was away from the ship. I didn’t even notice her until I got back here.”

“So you're telling me a naked girl with unusual fetish appeal just appeared out of nowhere and randomly decided to take a nap on the floor of the ship?”

“Well, I did just put those new floor mats in. They're surprisingly cushy.”

“Why didn't you just take her back home when you realized she was there?”

“I don't know where home is for her. I stopped off at half a dozen Earths today and none of them have cat girls among the local populace. Believe me, I would've taken note of that.”

“Did you try asking her?”

“Even on the very remote chance that she somehow already understands that parallel universes are a thing, she wouldn't be able to explain to me where her Earth lies in relation to ours. The multivariable calculus involved is pretty complicated, and the only spatial coordinate system for locating other universes that makes any sense to me is the one I made up.” He sighed and shook his head. “Anyway, she's been asleep the whole time, and I was a little afraid to wake her. You know, waking up naked in front of a stranger on an alien planet is the kind of thing that could really freak somebody out.”

Ty glanced at her again. She still hadn't budged. “She must be quite a sound sleeper.”

Deejay smirked and leaned into the cockpit to look at her more closely.

“Hey, maybe she needs a kiss from her Prince Charming.”

“If so, that disqualifies you.”

“Ouch... I guess I walked into that one.”

Ty leaned in as well, bracing himself on the floor as he tried to get a better look at her collar. If it were anybody else, I wouldn't believe that's what he was staring at, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Did you check this tag yet?”

Deejay shrugged. “Just has a number 5 on it. Not a lot of help there.”

“Oh wow.”

“What?”

“You weren't kidding. These mats are really soft.”

“Right?”

Ty stood back up straight and turned to Deejay, who did the same.

“I don't get it. Who climbs into a mysterious spacecraft to take a nap?”

“Beats me. Maybe she's narcoleptic.”

Ty furrowed his brow. “Narcoleptic... That's not the one where they like having sex with dead people, is it?”

“That's necrophiliac. Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder.”

“Ah. Yeah, contextually that makes a lot more sense.”

The girl began to stir slightly, but was slow to open her eyes. The boys hadn't noticed yet.

“You only visited six Earths today, right?” Ty asked. “Couldn't she just describe some unique landmarks to you, and then you narrow it down from there?”

“Maybe. Depends on what the landmarks are.”

“Mmm...”

The new voice interrupted their train of thought. The two of them turned as she sat up and yawned dramatically. She sleepily opened her eyes and blinked a few times, looking back and forth at the two of them. Deejay smiled. She did the same.

“Oh, hello,” the girl said, sounding surprisingly unfazed by the situation.

“Hi,” Deejay responded, matching her cheerful tone.

“Who are you?”

“Well, I'm Deejay, and this is my brother Ty.”

Ty gave a half-hearted wave. “Hey.”

“It's nice to meet you. I'm May.” She shivered a bit, as if noticing the breeze for the first time. “Brr. Why's it so cold?”

“Well, we are close to a mile off the ground, and it gets kind of windy up here.”

Ty looked at him incredulously. “Really? That's why she's cold?”

May looked around with a mix of wonder and confusion on her face. She turned toward the edge of the roof and bent over the side of the cockpit to see further down. Ty averted his gaze, and elbowed Deejay who failed to follow suit.

“Woah! What is this place?”

“We call it Utopia,” Ty offered. “Mostly out of irony. And this is the Tower where we live.”

“We're so high up. I can't believe how tiny those buildings look. How did I get here?”

Deejay stepped closer to the railing, in front of her. “Well, it seems like you fell asleep in the back of my ship, and I brought you back here by mistake. You're a very, very long way from home, May. I hope that doesn't scare you.”

May fell silent for a few seconds, as her eyes pored over the landscape below. She turned back to the brothers and smiled.

“No, I'm okay. I guess it's my fault for thinking I could take a nap in here, but it just looked so cozy.”

Deejay chuckled. “Yeah. Memory foam. I'd put it in everything if I could, except maybe food.”

Ty adjusted his glasses. “We're having some trouble figuring out how to get you home. Where exactly do you live, May?”

She paused, visibly pondering the question. “Um... in a house.”

“Okay, that's incredibly unhelpful.”

“Do you know what country you come from?” Deejay asked.

“America, I think?”

“That doesn't narrow it down much. There are a lot of those in the multiverse. Do you know any major landmarks near where you live?”

“Um... Not really. I'm sorry, I really don't get out much. Today was kind of an exception.”

Ty took off his glasses, which had fogged up slightly, and massaged the bridge of his nose. “Okay, here's an easier question: where are your clothes?”

“Hmm?” She looked down at herself and scratched her head. “Oh. I didn't wear any today. Is that strange?”

“A bit.”

Deejay nodded. “Most welcome, but yeah, little bit strange.”

“Alright, it seems like this situation is going to take a while to piece together. Deejay, think you can find her something to wear while she's here?”

He shrugged. “I'm kind of digging the natural look, but I guess I could.”

“Great. May, why don't you come with me? We'll see if we can figure out how to get you home.”

She hesitated, then smiled warmly at him. “Okay.”

–

Ty escorted May to his room, where he offered her a blanket to warm up, and cover up with. She gladly accepted it. As they sat on the couch waiting for Deejay, Ty attempted to explain the awkward situation they'd just been in. She seemed to be oblivious to it.

“...So, you're saying most people are uncomfortable with being naked in front of other people, and seeing other people naked?”

He nodded. “Except in some specific circumstances, yes.”

“What are those circumstances?”

“Uh... Well, you know, kind of intimate moments, between people who are very close. Like a boyfriend and girlfriend, for instance.”

“Oh...” If she knew what he meant, she was doing a good job of hiding it.

“Also gym locker rooms, but that has never made a bit of sense to me.”

Deejay entered, carrying a handful of women's underwear and holding up a bright yellow sun dress with embroidered sunflowers around the neckline.

“How about this? Should be about your size.”

May smiled. “Oh, that's so pretty.”

“Yeah, you struck me as a sun dress kind of girl.”

At Ty's suggestion, May got dressed in his bathroom, taking long enough that Ty got a little worried but was too embarrassed to knock. A few minutes later, the three of them sat together on the couch to discuss their plan of action.

“So, how are we going to handle this?” Ty asked Deejay. “I don't suppose you can just go back out to all the worlds you visited today and ask around?”

He shook his head. “There's not enough power left for all that, but even if there was, I'm pretty sure I'd just get a lot of weird looks. Wherever she came from, somebody made an effort to keep her existence a secret. I doubt they're going to put up lost kitty posters or anything.”

“There has to be something we can do.”

“Well, while I was getting clothes I did have another idea. May, look at me for a sec. I've got something I want to stick in your mouth.”

She gave him a puzzled look. Ty looked mortified.

“Hah.” Deejay pointed at Ty. “Wow, that face was so worth it. No, seriously...” Deejay pulled out a small plastic bag from his pocket, which contained a cotton swab. “I figured I could do a cheek swab and run some tests. I'm really curious what her DNA looks like, and it might give us some clues about where she came from too.”

Ty loosened and straightened his tie. “Well, I guess it can't hurt.”

“Alright, say ah.”

“Ah?”

She seemed to be asking as much as agreeing to the request. Deejay quickly ran the swab across the inside of her cheek, and slipped it back into the bag.

“Perfect, thanks. If you're up for it May, I'd love to do some blood work later too. You're not afraid of needles, are you?”

She visibly stiffened at that, but still gave him a polite smile. “Maybe a little, but I'll be fine.”

“Sweet. Thanks. Alright, for now I'll see what I can do with this.”

Ty nodded. “Sounds good. I've got some more work to do myself. Let me know what you find.”

“Will do.”

They all stood and exited Ty's room. Deejay headed to the elevator, while Ty made his way back to the head of the boardroom table. He took his seat, and looked up to find May had followed him.

“You're not going with Deejay?”

“I wanted to see what you were doing.”

“Uh... Okay? I mean, it's nothing exciting. Mostly correspondence with people in town.”

She smiled and pulled a chair up beside him. “Do you mind if I watch?”

“No, I guess not...”

His face said the opposite.

–

Ty expected May to get bored within a few minutes, or Deejay to come back wanting to run more tests on her. Neither happened for most of the afternoon.

“So, you each have your own bedroom here?” she asked him.

“Yes.” He was still skimming through a virtual pile of memos, which he was pretty sure only demanded half of his attention anyway. “Deejay and I shared a room growing up. By the time we moved out, I was dying to get my own space. The Tower has plenty of space.”

“Why did you want different rooms? Didn't you have fun together?”

“Deejay has a tendency to get under my skin. I love the guy, but living together and seeing each other all the time can be a pain. When we set up shop here, separate rooms on separate floors were kind of a given. We spend most of the day working apart, too.”

“That seems like it would get really boring, sitting at a table by yourself all day.”

“I guess it can some days. Deejay never seems to have that problem. Between all the science stuff in his lab, and all the gadgets he works on in that hangar, sometimes I don't see him for days.”

“I don’t think I could do that. I don’t like being alone.”

They both fell silent. Ty went back to focusing on his screen. May shifted in her seat.

“Can we do something?” she asked.

“I am doing something: working.”

“Well, I'm bored. Can we do something together?”

“Like what?”

“I don't know. Something fun.”

“Can't you find something to do by yourself?”

“But I want to do something with you.”

“And I want to get some work done without any distractions, so clearly we can't all have what we want.”

She leaned closer to him, giving him the saddest pleading puppy-dog eyes (or I guess kitty-cat eyes) that she could muster.

“Couldn't you just take a break for a little while? Please?”

He sighed and looked at the time. It was already close to 4:00pm, and his self-imposed office hours ended at 5:00. He finally turned to her.

“…You know how to play chess?”

“No.”

“Wanna learn?”

“Okay.”

–

The two of them spent the next couple of hours playing chess. Ty had an old set with wooden pieces in his bedroom, and set it up at the table in the boardroom. They spent over an hour on the first game, May attempting to learn the rules by example and Ty attempting to remember them. The next few games went a bit faster as Ty started to remember what he was doing. May lost every time but seemed pleased enough just to play.

As it started getting dark outside, Ty escorted May down to the guest room and showed her around.

“You'll be staying here for the night,” he said. “There's food in the pantry if you get hungry. If you need anything, press the button on that thing on the table and I'll come check on you.”

May looked around slowly, taking everything in. “Where will you be?”

“In my room, hopefully getting some sleep. Please try to do the same.” Ty turned to leave, then stopped and turned back. “And I don't want to sound overly dramatic, but we've had trouble with curious guests before, so let me just say this outright: don't go wandering off.”

“Okay...”

“In fact, let's just make that a rule for the rest of your stay: don't go anywhere unless you're being accompanied by me or Deejay. I'd love to explain all the reasons why going off by yourself is a bad idea, but you're kind of joining us 'in medias res' here and it would take all night to catch you up, so for now I really just need you to trust me and stay put.”

“Well, if you say so.” She sat on the bed and smiled sweetly at him. “I trust you, Ty.”

“Thanks. I'll see you in the morning. With any luck, we'll get you back home tomorrow. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”