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[Jane appears to be sitting in the middle of the woods. It's raining, though not terribly hard, and she doesn't appear too bothered by it as she shelters under a tree with an irritated-looking bird fluffed up on her shoulder.]

I've been thinking about something... and indulge me, because sitting out here waiting for the rain to stop is terribly dull.

[She doesn't use the network too often and rarely for a casual query, but she is bored.]

There are a good many people here from other worlds, yet I often notice that most seem to be... hmm, heroes of some kind, I suppose? Or people who were already powerful in magical ways, or people of high political influence. Some are gods, even. [A little shrug follows this, and she hums thoughtfully.]

So I wondered, then, just how many are not. How many were pulled into this from perfectly ordinary lives where nothing magical or horribly dangerous really happened to them, and they were certainly never anticipating having to halt some multiverse-ending calamity.

[A fat raindrop hits the top of her head and she flinches, looking up and then shuffling further back against the tree.] I'm sure I'm not the only one who often wonders which capricious higher power thought they had the skill set for this.

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Oh, well... I'm sure there must be more interesting things about it than just animals, right?

[She sure hopes so, or what a dull world it sounds indeed for the people who live there.]

That'd depend on what you find interesting though, wouldn't it? There's a lot going on my level of the tower. People just living their lives, the occasional trouble maker that's got to be put in their place, the odd rumor here there about so-n-so sleeping with someone's wife or husband. It may not have a lot in terms of animals, but the people always find a way to keep things interesting.

[ And Noah is nothing if not a people person. ]

And like I said, I'm a courier, so I meet all sorts of interesting folks in and around the towers. Like the other week - [ A beat. ] - the other week before I got here I mean, I was out at this hamlet - a really large one - and the lady there was growing this new kind of corn. They were as long as me forearm, about as thick too, and orange! Really facinating stuff, and she got really excited explaining how she did it though I didn't understand anything - bless her.

Hehe... people can be like that when they have something they're excited about.

[Jane does the same sort of thing, and she isn't ignorant of the fact.] But you didn't mention a tower before. Do a lot of people live there?

I didn't? Well yeah, the world everyone lives on the towers, save some brave few who take part in the hamlet projects.

I come from....Avalon towers. [ There's a pause and a clearing of his throat. He doesn't like comparing his home to here. ]

Avalon towers?

[How funny that they would have the same name. She looks curious about it.] Are they named after the myth?

[Not every world has the Arthurian legends in them, she knows that much, but some of them do and it stands to reason that some of those places might be worlds entirely unlike what she knows.]

Myth? I don't know anything about a myth. The Architects named the towers. Avalon, Elysium, Kunlun, Mu, Asgard, Takama-ga-hara, they were all named by the Gods. Not sure

Supposedly the names that were given were places of importance to the Gods, but mortals like meself aren't privillaged to that kind of intimate knowledge.

Oh--! No, I mean... some of those places, maybe even all of them... they're names of places in mythology where I come from.

[Ah, how to be delicate about this...]

In Earth history, Elysium was a level of the ancient Greek underworld. Asgard was the place where the gods lived in Viking myth. I'm sure that I know the others, too.

Earth history??

[ Now that is bizarre. ]

You come from a very different Earth if these places are myth to you. These are very real places, though I've never been out of Avalon myself. This is probably....the furthest anyone from my world has gone.

[She can't help the giggle that pushes its way out of her. It's more a nervous sound than anything else.]

I would say we do come from different versions of Earth, even without knowing that. [The animals thing told her that much.]

And I might have thought that terribly strange at one point... but I think that when you come to somewhere like this, and you meet people that you were always taught were only stories... you really do have to open your mind to a lot of possibilities. Don't you think so?

[ He gives it some thought and what she says is reasonable, but he still struggled to really wrap his head around it for many reasons. ]

You're right, and I know you're right, but...

[ He scratched his head. ]

Its all really a bit much, heh.

[ All he could do is smile bashfully. ]

[Her expression turns sympathetic, and she nods.]

I know. It can be terribly overwhelming sometimes. [Then she really has to chuckle at the tone of her own voice, because where does she really get off trying to sound like the adult in this conversation?]

I don't think this is something that many people would have signed up for if they had the choice. But we're here now, so I think we should make the best of any opportunities that we have.

....Probably should. Mayhaps start of with...getting a job. Then we could go on and chase animals or whatever it is zoologists do.

[ And he means a good solid paying job. ]

That shouldn't be too difficult, right?

[Careful Jane, your privilege is showing.]

What are you good at?

[ He surprisingly has an easy time getting a job, just not the kind that is stable. ]

Well, like I said, I'm a courier by trade so I'm good at that. Not sure if this place needs something that though since - A - I don't know the lay of the land yet, and - B - I don't have any wheels to get around. So that's gonna make things a bit difficult.

Ah, well, I might be able to help you with the 'lay of the land'.

[She has been around a while and has done a fair bit of exploring, making rudimentary maps where she needed to.]

As for... wheels... are you talking about motorised vehicles? [A damn shame they don't have those here, when Jane had just learned how to drive one in the last world she was in.]

Oh I can make sense of the directions meself, no offense. I'm pretty good with terrain.

[ Being a scout and cartographer for a time would do that. ]

But aye, motorised vehicles is a way to put it. I mean, I'm gonna need other things as well, like capital for one, but having something to get me from A to B quickly would be fantastic.

Hmm. I've seen several different kinds of mounts being used by people here. [Not just horses, and she's been a little excited to perhaps try to acquire one herself... at some point.]

Perhaps one of the ones with wings would be useful to you?

[They... have those, she thinks?]

At least when it comes to surveying the area.

[ He tilts his head in confusion. ]

I don't follow. How is an animal with wings gonna help me?

[ Then it hits him and his eyes go wide as saucers. ]

You mean ride them? An animal??? Are you serious????

[ Hell to the No. ]

[Jane can't help it - she lets out a little 'pfffffffff' of laughter and covers her mouth with her hand as she smiles. Oh, dear.]

Of course I'm serious!

[Is their selection of animals really so small that they have nothing large enough to use as a mount?] What ever did people do before motor cars? Oh, you simply must let me take you out riding. Perhaps something on the ground to start with.

Riding. Riding an animal.

[ Do you see how much he's bothered by this? His people just pulled the damn carts, it was faster and literally more efficient. ]

Wait, you ride them?

[ She's gotten really pretyt with how excited she is, but he also at the same feels nothing but the urge to stay very far away from her. ]

Me? I learned to ride when I was a little girl.

[She does see how much he's bothered by it but it doesn't really click in her mind exactly why he would find the idea so disturbing.]

Daddy insisted, and I've always found it to be a terribly attractive quality in other people.

....

[ He can't even picture it. What in the world would she even ride? All that comes to mind is his motorbike and truck, how he misses them so suddenly. He's never forgotten how lucky he is to have them but boy does he want them to be there now. ]

...You're yanking me chain.

I most certainly am not!

[Jane does get the impression she's missing something here. Some link in the chain that she isn't seeing... or that just isn't there. But once she sets her mind on something it's really hard to divert her away from it.]

Don't you think this would be a terribly odd thing to, uhm... yank someone's chain about?

Yes! Riding animals, I've never heard of such a thing! Like, do you ride a dog?? Or a cat???

[ Certainly since he arrived he's seen odd creatures, some actually big enough to ride on. But still...it's so strange to him. ]

How'd you even tell it where to go? The stupid dogs around me neighborhood only listen to "git" and "scram", don't think they'd understand left from right.

Do you remember the animals in the stables at the bay? The ones that pull carriages? You can ride those!

[He kept having a weird reaction to her saying the name of them, so she doesn't say it again.]

You put a saddle on their back and sit in it, and tell them where to go by guiding their head with a halter and reins.

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