The room is small but comfortable and clean. I drop onto the bed and stare at the ceiling. Some part of my brain reminds me that I need to meet Sefon in not too long. I sigh and roll onto my side.

I bolt upright with a start. I have no clothes but the one’s I’m wearing! I have nothing to wear tonight. I look down at myself in misery.

I drag myself up, toss my clothes into a launder,[1] and toss myself into a shower. I can at least be clean.

That accomplished, I map the way to the restaurant and realize I have more time than I thought. I reopen the reading I was doing on Cal Varmia and settle back on the bed.

Professor Varmia has been researching energies of the Realms for a bit more than a decade, focusing mostly on runes and Inductors. A lot of their work looks at older rune alphabets that have fallen out of use due to inefficiency or negative connotations. There’s some information on ones similar to mine but, more exciting, is mention of an upcoming paper delving into these runes specifically.

Switching pages, I pull up the repo for Professor Varmia’s research institution. A bit of digging lands me on a profile page about them, which I skim until I find their contact information. I send them a short message saying that I have some information on runes they might find interesting and would like to meet. Then, the alarm I set on my holocom gently chimes. I turn it off and head out to meet Sefon.

I offer Lahdika and Divys a wave on my way out.

“Have fun,” Lahdika calls. Divys just smiles.

I give them a quick wave but don’t stop, knowing I’ll probably be roped into another conversation otherwise.

The dancing energy in my chest seems to flood into my feet, since I arrive earlier than intended.

The restaurant is small and tucked away. It offers a range of dishes from across Cona—none from the region my family is from but a few from where I was raised.

I wait in front of the restaurant, alternating between looking around and checking my com. Despite this, Sefon manages to startle me when he says “Hello” from my left. I jump a little and offer him a smile.

“Hi.”

“Did you wait long?”

I shake my head. “Not at all.”

“That’s neat,” he says, pointing to where my holocom is shrinking to fit on my bracelet.

“A gift from an old friend.”

“A friend I’d like to have! That must get through all kinds of detectors.” His eyes are wide and shining.

“Most of them.” I manage to keep my smile steady. “Shall we head in?”

“Let’s do it.”

We’re greeted at the door and led to a small table near the back. I choose the seat facing the entrance, and Sefon gives me a knowing smile.

“Worried about bumping into the wrong person?” he asks.

“Something like that.” I open the menu as a pretence to look away.

“How’s your hotel?”

I let out a slow exhale and muster a smile, explaining unimportant details about the room and the building. Then I turn the conversation back to him, asking about which dimensions he’s visited.

He seems happy enough to spin me tales of adventure, so I spend some time listening to his stories. It’s fun pretending the places he describes are new to me. I ask questions that help him explain exciting landmarks or dispel commonly held false beliefs. I enjoy how he dances around including details that indicate the areas he’s describing are part of grey or black markets. It’s fascinating to hear about places I’ve seen so many times from a new point of view.

After a bit of this, I start chiming in when he mentions an innocuous dimension, explaining that I’ve been there for work. We discuss it in a bit more depth, and I am intrigued by the places our experiences diverge and intersect.

Somewhere in the middle of our conversation we order and, as Sefon winds down a story about stargazing on the rooftops of Noir, our food arrives.