Understanding her predicament

The moment Jentorra hit the ground, something felt wrong. It was blue, a muted shade not unlike the view she’d had of the building’s interior before, coarse and firm and all too structured for her tastes. It also made her hop back hastily to her feet, from where she’d landed face-first.

It tingled. It wasn’t actively painful, not at first, but it was certainly unpleasant - she shifted from foot to foot, moving first for what looked like some strange sort of bed, only to feel the sheets feel just as uncomfortable at a slight touch.

“Jen?” Cassie said.

Jentorra darted from side to side, trying to find some place she could bear to stand - her gaze settled on an open door, a room with a floor that was smooth and solid and pale. She dove for it, relieved to find her feet no longer protesting the contact as she made it inside.

She relaxed, slightly, catching her breath.

“Er. Needed the bathroom?” Cassie said.

“That… material,” Jentorra said. She eyed the floor around Cassie. “What is it?”

“Huh? It’s just a carpet,” Cassie said. “Oh, I guess you don’t really have it in the quantum realm. Feel strange?”

“It feels… wrong,” Jentorra said.

“I have a pair of sandals you can borrow?” Cassie said. She paused. “Oh! Wait, first, you probably want a change of clothes.”

“Would be appreciated,” Jentorra said stiffly.

“Right! Um, I don’t have any warrior-lady chic, sorry, but I hope this’ll do.”

Cassie vanished from Jentorra’s view for a moment, and returned holding something more ordinary. One arm still over her chest, Jentorra reached for it-

And yelped, snatching her hand back and stumbling away. She bumped into a soft, fuzzy sheet that had been hung up in Cassie’s ‘bathroom,’ and felt it hiss against her skin, and toppled over onto her front, landing on the tiled floor that seemed to be the only thing in this building that didn’t hate her.

Cassie stood overhead. She cleared her throat, looking down at Jentorra.

“So. Er. They’ve invented squats in the quantum realm?” Cassie said. She paused. “You look good. Not that you didn’t before, I mean, just- um.”

Jentorra quickly rolled back, shifting her weight back onto her butt, sitting and crossing her arms. She was still flushed, still adjusting.

“What material is that?” Jentorra said. Cassie shrugged.

“Don’t know exactly. Gotta be cotton, polyester, something like that,” Cassie said. She hesitated. “Why, what was your outfit made from? Side note, it was badass by the way. Kinda miss it.” She paused. “Not that you don’t still look good! I mean, you look awesome, and believe me I appreciate it, just it’s a different vibe to- I’m gonna stop talking now.”

“It was just an organoloth extrusion,” Jentorra said. “Normal clothes.”

“An organo-what?” Cassie said.

Jentorra paused.

“We don’t have those here,” Cassie said.

“Cyto-silk?” Jentorra said.

“Never heard of it. Probably,” Cassie said. She lifted her spare shirt awkwardly. “So this stuff… feels weird to you?”

“Hurts to touch too long,” Jentorra said. She eyed Cassie’s carpet warily.

“Wow. That’s unlucky,” Cassie said. “I mean, how many people come from the quantum realm to here? Only to find out you’ve got, what, some kind of allergy to something common-place up here? That just. Sucks as luck.”

“I am aware,” Jentorra said.

She crossed her arms more tightly.

“Oh. Right,” Cassie said, joining Jentorra in a blush. “So. Er. Why are you here?”

“I don’t know,” Jentorra said.

She shifted. The tiled floor was less unpleasant to touch, but it was still clammy and strange, especially against her bare skin. Still, at least in here she only had to worry about one person staring at her.

“I was clearing out the ruins of Kang’s citadel,” Jentorra said. “We’d been doing that for weeks. I reached some machine of his that was still active, and ended up here when I touched it.”

“Huh. And you were, er, doing that naked?” Cassie said. Jentorra reddened.

“I… used my clothes to distract a motion sensor,” Jentorra said. “I’m used to needing to improvise.”

“Oh. Wow you are so cool,” Cassie said.

She blinked, and stared for a few moments. Jentorra shifted, wishing there was anything she could actually afford to cover with.

“What?” Jentorra said. “You’re staring more than Veb does when he’s trying to count holes and thinks I don’t notice. Do I look that different to your people?”

“N-no! You look. Really similar,” Cassie said. Her gaze wandered down. “Like, shockingly similar actually. Probably a scientific paper on convergent evolution in there somewhere, just. Wow.”

Cassie blushed, cleared her throat, and with some effort returned her attention to Jentorra’s face.

“So Kang had a machine that transported you to this world?” Cassie said. “That… sort of makes sense, he was trying to find Janet, and he managed to piggyback off my quantum satellite. Good thing you ended up near me, then.”

“Quaz said it responded to thoughts,” Jentorra said.

“A lot of his tech did, apparently,” Cassie said.

“You crossed my mind while I was in there,” Jentorra said. “Perhaps that directed me?”

“Oh! Maybe,” Cassie said. She tilted her head. “Wonder if Kang planned to use it himself and never got the chance, or if he didn’t know if he could get back once he left. Hm.”

“What?” Jentorra said. “Can I go back?”

“Oh! Oh, yes, you should be able to - we did, after all,” Cassie said. “My quantum gateway’s still mostly intact.”

Jentorra breathed a sigh of relief.

“Good. Where is it?” she said.

“Ah,” Cassie said. “Back in San Francisco. It has been a bit since our whole quantum adventure. I’m closer to New York for college.”

“I know what none of that means,” Jentorra said.

“It’s… a bit of a journey away,” Cassie said. “But don’t worry! Um. I can call dad, figure something out - I can’t drive yet, don’t have my license, but ought to be able to get a lift back. Should only take a few days. Week tops. Unless something else goes wrong. Then you’ll be back in the quantum realm, no problem.”

Cassie smiled hopefully. Jentorra fidgeted. A week? Veb was usually pretty decent at translating timespans.

“Still, I’ve got to have some outfit that you can actually wear without that reaction,” Cassie said. “Probably. Yeah. Er. You probably won’t have to spend that whole week naked.”

Jentorra’s flush deepened rather impressively.

“Er. Maybe better you hide in my room?” Cassie said.

“This is your ‘world above?’” Jentorra said, eventually. She swallowed, suddenly very conscious of the strange air against her exposed body. “…I’m not a fan.”