The catgirl woke up. It was a sunny morning, and the star was already high in the sky. But there was something different; her sister was still behind her. Normally, by this time, she would already be up and running, but this time she stayed in bed, refusing to release her sister from her wide hug.

Chocola wiggled, but Vanilla just hugged her tighter. This told her Vanilla was awake and rather committed to not letting her go. Chocola wiggled a bit more.

"I am coming with you. I wanna be with you when you do this. Whatever it is that you do." Vanilla explained it rather firmly.

"Oh, sure, I could use the company, actually." Chocola cheerfully smiled, although Vanilla could not really see her sister's smile.

Nevertheless, Vanilla softened her grip, and in a few moments, they both jumped out of bed and began dressing up in their usual waitress-like clothes.

"So, what are we doing?" Vanilla asked, notifying her that she was ready.

"Well, I wanted to make a stew in the kitchen, you know, as my last parting gift. But since you want to spend the last hours with me, I have a much better idea." Chocola smiled smugly and paused to build up the suspense. "Let's go camping!"

Vanilla smiled brightly and began preparing her big camping backpack. Vanilla asked if she should pack a sleeping bag, and Chocola nodded. Chocola also asked to bring two big pots.

Vanilla told her coworkers she's taking a day off. She was given permission; everyone knew how close she was to Chocola; it was only fair.

Other coworkers did not really understand why Chocola did not want to 'leave' at the cafe. Chocola did not have a good answer, but Vanilla answered for her, "Chocola wants to try a transformation potion right before leaving," and that quieted everyone. It made Chocola smile too.

Chocola picked up her paper bag with an adventurer's outfit and the potion. The quadruple checked their room in case she missed everything and finally stood at the front door.

"Thank you, everyone. My experience was absolutely wonderful." Chocola announced.

"Thank you! It was wonderful to have you with us! See you back on Earth!" Everyone clapped back.

"See you!" Chocola bowed gratefully.

Her sister, who stood right behind her, also bowed. And with that final goodbye, they both left.

Their first stop was the market. Chocola remembered she bought some vegetables for the stew, but she left those back at the bakery, and she did not want to return to pick them up. So they picked up a few fresh ones, as well as a few pounds of meat.

They then went into the forest. It was pretty. A tiny bit more green than half a week ago, too. After some tedious walking, they reached the river, and after even more walking, they reached the camping place at the waterfall. A circle of stones was still there, untouched, with a few blades of grass already growing into it.

"So, well, we are alone now. Wanna finally tell me the plan? Did you find a contact on Earth who knows something about the portal? Did you figure out how the sphere works?" Vanilla inquired.

"You will see. Help me build the fireplace." Chocola answered.

Chocola collected some firewood, while Vanilla proceeded to light up the fire.

"Did you bring two pots?" Chocola then asked, and Vanilla nodded.

She gave Chocola the smaller pot. Chocola filled it with water, then took out her sphere and carefully lowered it into the water. She placed the pot above the fire.

Vanilla peeked into the pot and saw the milky sphere. She nodded and then took out her own sphere.

"No, Vanilla, what are you doing?!" Chocola tried to stop her.

"I said I was coming with you. I meant it." Vanilla answered without a single hesitation in her voice.

"I thought you simply wanted to stay with me till the last moment." Chocola was quite surprised.

"And I am gonna to do that." Vanilla was firm.

"Ok, I don't think you understand. My plan was to get stuck in this world. I won't be able to return to Earth after I do this." Chocola explained.

"Oh, so in bed, you promised to meet me on Earth. That was a lie, right?"

"I am sorry. I knew you would not let me go otherwise." Chocola sighed.

"I know, and I don't judge you. I am staying with you." Vanilla smiled happily.

"But you won't be Vanilla anymore, and I know how much you loved being her."

"Chocola, Mary, the only reason I liked Vanilla's role so much is because of you. I am sad that it took me so long to realize this. But I am happy that I still did, in time." Vanilla explained, and her eyes became slightly teary. "If you can't be Chocola, I can't be Vanilla either. So, please, let me stay with you."

"Is there really nothing I can say that would change your mind?" Chocola smiled; she understood Vanilla's feelings.

"Nope. It's final." Vanilla smiled and finally dropped her own sphere into the pot. And so the orbs were cooking.

"So how does it work? Apparently you plan to activate them the old-fashioned way." Vanilla inquired; her mood is now slightly better than a moment ago.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Yep, and you will see. For now, let's just wait until they charge up. I actually wonder how long it will take. On Earth, it was eight hours." Mary added.

"And once they are charged?"

"Then I plan to activate one at a distance while standing away from it. If everything goes well, the orb should return, leaving its user stranded." Chocola proudly explained.

"I see. And you know it will work, why?" Vanilla added.

"I don't. Maybe I won't be able to activate at a distance. Maybe it will activate and teleport me with it. But I am willing to risk it. You don't have to do this with me. Very likely, I will end up on Earth with nothing, and I would be much happier if you still made use of your time here." Chocola sighed.

"Nope, I am doing this with you. If we both end up back home, oh well, it will be two of us." Vanila giggled. "But, you know, it's a bit weird: you're such a control freak, and yet for this, you're really willing to take a risk."

"I have a good feeling about it." Chocola smiled too.

And they continued to cook the orbs for quite a while. Vanilla washed vegetables and cut meat, ready for the stew. They both then looked for mushrooms to pick. They did not venture far; they always kept the pot in line of sight, but luckily there were a few edible mushrooms growing right in the grass around them.

Vanilla washed those too, and Chocola nervously looked into the fire.

"Getting nervous about it?" Vanilla commented.

"A bit. But not about the plan. Whatever happens, I will accept it." Chocola smiled, yet she was troubled.

"So what are you worried about then?"

"Theft, actually. Remember we were told never to steal, and there's a magic that will activate to punish us? Was that a lie?"

"Nope. It's the truth. You can't steal in this world. It's not just us; locals are affected by it too. But why? Are you planning to steal something?" Vanilla inquired.

"No, but I have these clothes; wouldn't that be like stealing them from the house?" Chocola spilled the beans; she was truly concerned about it.

"Hah, no, silly Chocola, not at all. Theft protection does not work like that. It punishes the immediate action only."

"Huh?!" Chocola was surprised.

"Yep. For the lack of a better word, this magic is very transactional. If you take an item without permission, you will be punished the same moment you try to take it. If you borrow an item and don't return it, you won't be punished. That's why no one lets you borrow their items; people would steal them." Vanilla proudly explained.

"I see, so I should not worry."

"Nope. Besides, what would you worry about? The clothes are yours; you came here with them. The backpack, the camping stuff? I bought them with my own funds."

"Wait, really, you bought it?!" Chocola got surprised.

"Yes, Mary, I did. You really helped me a lot in the beginning; you gave me strength and increased my self worth. I really wanted to repay you; at first, I did not know how, but then I realized I could take you on a camping trip. I know you love this world a lot, so I thought it would be fun to camp together." Vanilla's voice was kind and happy.

"That trip… was amazing!" Chocola thanked her with all her heart and gave her a hug too.

Little by little, the time passed, and about five hours later, the orbs became invisible in the boiling water. They were ready.

Chocola tried to drain them, but she was too afraid of touching the sphere, and her hands were shaking. Vanilla helped and drained the water with the lid. They then moved the orbs far away from the fire. The last thing Chocola wanted was to set her old flat on fire; the chance was low that it would transport the campfire, but she took zero chances.

Finally, two orbs were laid on the grass next to each other. The sisters moved away from them, and Chocola paused, thinking about it. The sphere activation radius was three meters, so they moved at least fifteen.

"How do you plan to activate them? They require touch, right?" Vanilla inquired.

"Watch." Chocola smiled.

Then she took out the tiny stick and placed the finger near the top of it. Suddenly, a red dot appeared a few meters away from Vanilla. Vanilla gasped in surprise and immediately jumped onto the red dot.

"Heh, I knew you would jump on it." Chocola giggled. "But can I suppress the urge to jump on it?"

Vanilla looked uneasy, but nodded.

"How did you get it anyway?!" Vanilla was shocked.

"Kate made it for me. I don't really understand how it works, but it works."

"So what now?!"

"Watch!" Chocola said it again.

She pointed the laser dot at the orb. They were far away, and it was hard to point. Mary used Vanilla's shoulder to place an arm, so she could aim more precisely. Vanilla stood still—well, as still as a catgirl could while watching a laser pointer. But it was still enough. Chocola managed to hit the orb with the pointer.

But nothing happened. Mary was prepared for this. She knew it would not be that easy. She pointed the dot again, but this time she obstructed the beam with her finger. Just slightly. So that her finger covered roughly half of the dot. She counted to three…

And it still did not work. Mary began shaking and panicking, then suddenly Vanilla interrupted her.

"Try the other orb." Vanilla offered, reassuringly.

Chocola did as told. She partially covered the dot with her finger, aiming at the orb, and at the count of three, it exploded!

A sphere of blinding white light swallowed the area around it. And in less than a second, the orb was gone. Fully gone. Done.

"Wow." Chocola gasped and fell to the ground.

Vanilla smiled but quickly took the laser pointer from her. She repeated the process, and soon her own orb was gone. She then sat on the ground and hugged Chocola.

"Wow, it worked." Vanilla gasped too. "But, what the hell, how did you know it would work?"

"It's a long story." Chocola gasped, still unable to fully comprehend that it worked.

"Well, we have time—all the time in the world, actually."

"You are right; we do have time. Well, I don't know where to start. I remembered the first time I used the orb. It did not activate the moment I touched it, but rather a second later. It was very brief, but there was definitely a delay. I remember I was nervous and so excited; I could hear my heart beat, and there were definitely three heartbeats between when I touched it and it activated." Chocola smiled.

Vanilla simply smiled back and nodded.

"So I figured it was not the touch that activated it. But a living heartbeat. Do you want the nerdy stuff?"

Vanilla nodded again, eagerly.

"So there's many ways to detect touch. Capacitance and resistance change. But that would hardly work on an orb made of hard glass. The last one is to detect tiny changes in light. It had to filter out big changes in light, like when removing it from the pot, but detect something tiny—like a heartbeat." Chocola explained.

"Oh, wow. But how did you figure that out? I mean, how did you figure the laser would work?" Vanilla asked.

"Ah, so that's the second part of the story. See, before I came here, there was this big pandemic on Earth. I caught the virus too. Mary added, but Vanilla interrupted.

"Wait! I hope you are alright!"

"Oh no, it was years before coming here. I am fully healthy. But when I was sick, it was pretty nasty. The doctor told me I should measure my blood oxygen frequently, so I did so every now and then. With this little device that you put on a finger, it shines a strong red light through the finger. After a week of nightmares, I got better, but I kept the device on my table for years after. And I kept fiddling with it occasionally; it sort of became a part of my table ritual. I even disassembled and reassembled it a few times. Even when I came here, I kept thinking about it. But see, it is not just blood oxygen; it also measures, you guessed it, heart rate." Chocola smiled very proudly and smugly.

"You really are a nerd, Mary. Wow. I have no words." Vanilla twitched.

Chocola just kept smiling.

"Ok, so what now?!" Vanilla added.

"Well, now we make the stew. I am awfully hungry." Chocola answered.

"Deal!" Vanilla quickly jumped up and rushed towards the campfire.

She added some firewood, and now that the pot spot was empty, she placed the pot with the stew ingredients.