There's a kiosk just up the walkway

Jenny looked around, seeing not much recognisable around here. Ramps, some small stalls staffed by alien creatures of every possible size and shape. Not a human anywhere. She began to awkwardly trudge forward, aware that her petite 5'1'' frame was seemingly tinier than any of the aliens here. A little down the way was a large obelisk with a holographic display on it. Jenny turned to look, the green light of it reflecting in her wide eyes.

Text scrolled on it, but she was utterly unable to read it. It just looked like circles and lines and incomprehensible glyphs. The obelisk had a small red orb atop it, the light on the orb suddenly whirred on and pivoted to look at Jenny. A camera of some sort? She looked up at it, a quizzical expression on her face. The obelisk emitted some noises in a synthesised tone. Was it... was it talking? It sounded like a foreign language.

"I don't understand you," she enunciated slowly, before her cheeks flushed pink. "Oh, I'm acting like a tourist. Sorry."

The obelisk whirred, seemingly in thought. And then some of the metal frame at the bottom began to shimmer, sliding together to form a groove perfectly the size and shape of Jenny's hand. Should she? The young woman gnawed on her lip, before resolving to press her hand to the groove... and pulled it back with a cry as a needle jabbed hard into her hand. "Ow! What was that?!"

The obelisk whirred, before speaking again in that bizarre jumble of noise. Only now... Jenny found she could understand what it was saying. "Greetings, traveller, welcome to Station Zurus. As you did not possess a translate implant, one has been provided. We can detect no credit chips on your person, would you like to see a payment plan?"

Jenny put a hand to her chest, shocked. Her first encounter with alien life, and... and... it had injected something into her, and was now charging her? But... she thought, it's not like it could have offered first, she couldn't understand it. And a translator chip in her head was kind of cool, her nerd side was very excited right now. But it must have looked like she wasn't going to pay, as the obelisk again spoke, "Please be advised, non-payment will result in security being called."

Lifting her hands placatingly, Jenny gulped and shook her head. "Oh no, no, I'll pay, I don't want any trouble."

The obelisk's orb-eye whirled, fixing Jenny in its stare. "You seem to be lost and without identification."

Jenny nodded nervously. "Uh, uh... yes. You see, what happened to me was I was going about my day, just as normal, nothing unusual, and then I suddenly find myself here, in this place. I'm from Earth, you see, and..."

The obelisk cut her off. "In my capacity as greeter to the station, may I suggest a payment plan involving a period of work. This would allow you to remain on the station with money for essentials while you file a petition with the local consulate. Station Zurus complies with Federation Regulation 17.3.2 on repatriation of lost travellers in our space. We would include in your invoice an ID giving you permission to move freely about the station, listing your profession and designation."

Jenny blinked a couple of times, a smile playing on her lips. This was... this was so cool, like being in a sci-fi movie. Sure, maybe people'd miss her for the few weeks it'd take her to get home, but... well, what an adventure! "OK, thank you, that seems like a good idea... I think? I'm really very new here, um." She chewed on her lip thoughtfully. "So do I fill out paperwork, or...?"

The obelisk's green holographic text began to whir, forming into new blobs and shapes and patterns. Jenny could understand it as if she'd grown up reading it. A smile spread wider across her lips as the obelisk clarified, "A list of work plans will be displayed, with their salaries and modifications. You will have one hundred and twenty seconds to read and choose, or one will be chosen for you."

"Wait, what?" Jenny blinked. **** work? Wait, what kind of place was this?

"Designation will be applied based on profession and chosen for you, we do not accept appeals. Station Zurus has too many beings from too many worlds for it to be practical to use individual cultures' naming systems and so we use designations."

Jenny opened her mouth to protest, but the obelisk let out a ping noise. "Period of reading and choice begins now." She hurriedly began throwing her gaze over the choices, not having time to argue.