CHAPTER 21: BREAKFAST

The sound of birds chirping brought Hiro slowly to consciousness. Niss's head lay comfortingly under her arm. Her breath warmed her chest from where she snuggled up with her. She felt well resting and calm this morning. Hiro had only been in this world three days, but everything felt less strange with Niss cuddled up on the couch with her.

She gave Niss a quick pet gaging a little as she yawned dog breath into her face. Hiro pushed her gently off the couch and they both stretched as they woke up. The bird sounds slowly faded from her hearing. "Wait, Button, were you making those sounds?" She asked.

"Yes Miss, it seemed the least jarring way to wake you up for your schedule today. You seemed to respond to it positively in the past. Now we're back at headquarters I put in requests for nature sounds from Earth. If you would like something different Just let me know I and will do my best to acquire it for you."

"No, birds are fine. Thanks, Button." She was oddly touched that he had done that. It was probably something programmed into each PGA.

"At your service Miss. You have about an hour before your escort arrives to take you to Medical Services."

"OK, Thanks," she got up from the couch and twisted her torso back and forth popping her back. Niss went and sat in front of the door indicating she needed to go outside. "One moment!" She grabbed her new boots and pulled them on. She took Niss for a spin around the grassy area with the baggies. Several strange people were walking around. She tried not to stare at any being too long. That person must be ten feet tall, and that one had fairy wings. None of them gave her a second look beyond a few cooing at Niss whose hackles raised at the pair of mud-brown short folks with mossy beards.

Hiro called her to heel and she came instantly. She tried to apologize but the pair had already trundled off seemingly unconcerned. Getting back to her room she fed Niss from the bin of food left for her before deciding a shower was in order before whatever medical cooked up for her.

She went up the ladder and grabbed some fresh clothes before heading into the bathroom. The bathroom was more cramped than the one at the out base but it had better water pressure than her apartment, so she didn't mind.

"Hey Button, how come my world doesn't know anything about magic or the multiverse?"

"You will learn the particulars in class, but it hasn't reached the threshold to join the greater multiverse. The civilizations there are still relatively young. It has not generated enough magical concepts and/or technology to join in either capacity. Until it gets to the breakthrough era we will continue to pull the handful of Sparks that show up every so often across the inhabited planets. We keep our monitoring systems away from inhabitants. The fact that two powerful Sparks have been pulled from your system is generating debate if your universe might be close to a breakthrough, but the discussion is leaning toward it being too early to tell."

Hiro soaked for a moment in the shower both in water and in her thoughts. "So are there universes you monitor that have no living people at all and you watch them for anomalies?"

"We monitor all universes connected to the Prime universe. For every universe without life, there are dozens with life. Research suggests anomalies form with greater frequency when there is a high concentration of unstabilized magic or technology in conjunction with life. Most of the uninhabited universes have never had an anomaly form internally. Some have punched through into them but not formed naturally within."

"So that suggests life is required to cause anomalies along with a magical or technologic catalyst." Hiro summerised stepping out of the small shower and grabbing a towel.

"That is the current working theory yes." Button replied. "Thirty minutes until your escort arrives. I suggest getting something to eat Miss. It will be a long day. You will learn about the rest of this in class."

"Alright, Alright," Hiro muttered. She blazed through the rest of her morning routine. The toothpaste had a weird savory flavor that almost made her throw up, but everything else was oddly familiar. Like she had moved apartments. She spent a moment giving Niss a belly rub by the door before heading out to the Mess Hall Ensign Banks had pointed out the previous day.

Hiro once again tried not to gawk at the sheer variety of people getting ready for the day. She spotted a familiar face as she walked through the massive archway into the dining hall. The room took up the pointed oval between two of the rings. Ensign Banks was sitting on a human-scaled table flashing his hands between different species. He stopped and stood up as she walked in staring around in confusion at the bustle.

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"Hey Skylark!" he approached and she waved at him. He smirked at her wide-eyed expression. "I remember my first day too. I just finished breakfast, and I knew you'd make your way here soon. I have to get to class but let me give you a quick run down of the food situation. One of the other students gave me this rundown when I got here and I will pass it forward."

"Ok, what do I need to know?" Hiro said focusing on him.

"Food is broken down into Plant, Animal, and Mineral. Avoid mineral! You're a human and that's for dwarves and rock people. If you have food allergies, options with those ingredients should be greyed out, but you will go to one of the kiosks over there, choose what you want then go to the queue assigned when you order. Wait for your food to come out and there you go. If you don't know what anything is, get the cubes. Cubes are a bit boring but always good for you."

He held a finger up to make the next point very clear, "Don't go adventurous in ingredients unless you have some time to dedicate in a bathroom afterward if it goes poorly. Never do that before an evaluation. Cubes only before those." He swiped his hand out in a definitive gesture, "Most of the food is printed, but at the end of the week, there's a chef who will make special dishes for people to try from various planets. You can make requests for him to do something from your homeworld if you want."

He pointed at some screens, "Kiosks are over there, you can order from the PGA but the kiosks are more reliable and if you leave your tray too long someone else might grab it and eat it. Some of the big guys will eat anything." He hooked a thumb at some gigantic troll-like characters. "I have to get going or I'll miss my transport. Ping me if you need anything!" He said tapping his gemstone."

"Thanks!" Hiro said. "That was an info dump and a half.' She murmured as she walked to one of the kiosks thankful he took the time. It didn't take her long to figure out how to order or get her food with his helpful instructions. She found a quiet spot to sit in and eat her cubes that tasted vaguely like eggs and fruit mush.

A few people looked her way, but she wasn't the only one sitting by themselves. She people-watched as she ate, identifying people and getting used to the overlay when she got curious. Button had just given her the ten-minute warning when a young man with silver skin walked in.

He was in the standard uniform of black and blues with an untidy open jacket over the whole thing. His face caught in the sunlight as he walked in flashing like a disco ball for the brief second in the corner of Hiro's vision drawing her attention. She watched him as what could only be called an entourage followed him. One blue-skinned lizardfolk strode next to him and the rest followed him like fan girls at a concert.

She watched the man lean over and whisper something to the blue lizardfolk and the seven-foot-tall lineman of a guy turned around and the gaggle of people following them both took an involuntary step back.

"We will dine by ourselves." His deep voice ground out. The groupies looked around the massive lizard with hope in their eyes but the silver man had continued to an ordering kiosk without a look back.

Hiro identified the lizardfolk. "Cadet Thoz; He/They, Unranked." She looked past him to the silver-skinned man and used her identity on him as well. "Cadet A.P.E. Smith; He/Him, Unranked"

"Unranked like me, they must be new." She murmured to herself, "My wall plaque also said unranked."

"Indeed it does Miss Skylark." Button agreed, "Unranked means they have not gone through formal evaluation yet. Rankings happen every ten days. The next one will be in seven."

Hiro kept watching the pair of them still curious why a few unranked folks were getting so much attention. After the Lizardlfolk had scared off all but the bravest people the two of them had talked quietly between themselves. They got their food from the widows and began looking around for a place to sit. Hiro quickly looked away to the left. She didn't want to be caught staring or seem like it was an invitation to come over. As she did so she noticed the dining hall had filled up. She only had a few more minutes to go meet the Professor, so she started stacking her cup and napkin back onto her tray to be recycled.

"Excuse me?"

Hiro whipped her head up to stare directly into the silver-grey eyes of the silver-skinned man she had been watching. He had short croped white hair barely visible on his head. Like it had been shaved a while ago and just started growing back.

"Um yes?" She said awkwardly. He had spoken in a clipped language that her translator had no issue with, but it gave an interesting rhythm behind the words as she listened to him.

"I see you are cleaning up. My friend Thoz and I were wondering if we could use this table next?" She had been sitting at a two-person table near a wall.

She pushed herself back from the table and picked up the tray. The towering blue-scaled lizardfolk arrived in the next moment. He seemed to swell almost protectively as she faced them. Thoz had a short green-blue frill running from the center of his forehead and down his neck like a mohawk. She rolled her eyes. He reminded her so much of one of the jocks at her high school with more muscle than brain. He always hung out with his smarter friend the quarterback and acted just like this. "Yeah, I have to go, you're welcome to it." She said to the smaller man looking back at him.

His tray was balanced on one hand and he had reached out a hand toward her face. She leaned back from him and froze. Was this some weird alien custom or what? "Excuse me?" She said eyeing his hand and then his face.

"Sorry, I was curious," He pulled his hand back to his own head and tapped behind his right ear turning his head so she could see. A flash of rainbow caught her eye before he spoke, "We have the same one. You must be Hiro." The same rainbow gemstone she had sparkled at her from behind his ear.