Lunch was nice. Kevin took her to his office, which was all sleek metal and polished chrome. He ordered out from a cafe in the nearest town, which was still a ways away from the official government Lost project, Kevin told her. They chatted amicably, though Gemma was eager to meet a face that was from her own world.

“Do you have disposable diapers here? Because I couldn’t handle washing those cloth things.” Gemma took another bite of her sandwich. It turned out Kevin could eat normal food just fine, though there were some species with particular dietary needs.

“We do, though I don’t know if the make up is the same as yours. In fact, if you like, I can Inspect some of the items you've bought from Earth and if any are unique, you could make a lot of money producing and selling them if the demand is high enough.”

“Apart from the stroller, the diapers, and my phone, I don’t think I brought anything amazing. Do you have phones here? They’re one of the most innovative and life changing inventions of my home world.”

“May I see it?”

Gemma pulled her phone out of her pocket and handed it to Kevin.

“Very interesting. We have something similar, but if there is unique information stored on here, you could sell that.”

Gemma thought, “I’ve got some e-books, I think. But they’re copyrighted back on Earth.”

“That wouldn’t matter here. Give me a moment while I Inspect it.”

Kevin Inspected Gemma’s stuff.

“When you get to the city, go to a publisher and make a deal with the books. You should be able to make a decent profit. These books are registering as high quality reading for those that like novels. And the unique music you have here should also go for a lot.”

“That’s great,” Gemma said, happy that she might be able to provide a cozy life for herself and Nellie.

They finished lunch, and Gemma prepared a bottle for Nellie. She was surprised Nellie had managed to nap for so long, but at the same time relieved she didn’t have to deal with all the sudden changes in their circumstances while also taking care of her needs. She also took a plain slice of bread, figuring it was soft enough for Nellie.

Kevin escorted Gemma back to the transport and they headed to meet his manager, Fiona, and the other human from Earth that had warped when Gemma did. During the flight, Nellie woke up and took her bottle with a happy, sleepy smile. When she finished her lunch, Nellie insisted that she wanted to see the action too. Gemma picked her up, and Kevin kindly pushed the stroller for them once they got off the transport.

Kevin parked the stroller outside the doorway to Fiona’s office and said, “Let me see if she’s ready for us.”

He tapped on the door and opened it.

An angry female voice drifted out, which Gemma assumed belonged to Fiona.

“If we catch you getting violent, we will put you in a detention center. I don’t care if you thought you were ‘eesekai-ed’ or whatever, but cannot go hunting down citizens because they look like ‘cthulhu’ or a ‘werewolf.’”

“Yes ma’am,” came a subdued male voice.

“And Travalar is not being held hostage by a demon lord or some other nonsense. We have a perfectly functional democracy, which seems similar to whatever you had in your home world.”

“Yes ma’am,” the voice sounded even more beaten down.

“Fiona?” Kevin asked, as he walked through the entrance.

The male voice let out a startled yelp and a curse, “What the—”

“DO NOT ACTIVATE YOUR SKILL, YOUNG MAN.” Fiona’s voice boomed out.

“Sorry, sorry!”

“Hi, Fiona,” Kevin sounded a little nervous, and Gemma understood completely after hearing the lecture that Fiona had given to her fellow human. She was also thankful and glad Kevin was the one in charge of her case. Fiona sounded terrifying. Her fellow Earth-ian sounded like one of those young men that loved to watch anime and read light novels. One of Gemma’s friends had been into those genres, but Gemma had never gotten into that type of story herself.

“I’ve brought Gemma here to meet Skyler, since they both seem to have come from the same dimensional warp,” Kevin said.

“Come on in,” Fiona sighed.

Kevin held open the door and Gemma stepped into the room, clutching Nellie closely to herself. Gemma was happy to find that Fiona was a normal human woman, at least on the outside. Fiona had short, neat hair, tired eyes, and was middle aged.

Skyler looked to be about her age. His hair was dyed a shade of midnight blue, and whatever dome they’d put him in had been rough, because Gemma could smell smoke wafting off him, and his clothes were dirt covered and torn in places.

“Hi,” Skyler stood, his hands in his pockets, “My name’s Skyler Taylor. Nice to meet you.”

“Gemma Dale,” Gemma said,thinking his name was a bit much, “And this is Nellie Morris. She’s my friend’s daughter, not mine.”

“Dang, you got stuck here with a baby? That kills all the adventure,” Skyler made a face. 

“Adventure?” Gemma raised an eyebrow, “You don’t want to go home?”

“Go home? Are you kidding me? This is the best thing to ever happen! There’s magic and crazy technology--they’ve almost broken through on making teleportation a common mode of travel, right Fiona?” Skyler, it seemed, had taken very well to suddenly being far away from home.

“Yes, Skyler.” Fiona sounded exhausted, “Here, I have some extra chairs, please sit.”

Gemma took a seat and placed Nellie on her lap. Fiona passed Nellie a tiny, shiny ball to keep her distracted. Kevin took the couch nearby, seeing as his back tentacles made regular chairs uncomfortable. 

Skyler sat back down in his chair, next to Gemma, “What Classes did you get?”

“Hmm? Oh, Babysitter and Musician.”

Skyler’s face dropped, “I don’t know how you’ve managed to make the thrill of a lifetime so boring.”

Gemma shrugged, “I needed a way to take care of Nellie, and I am an actual musician. If it makes you feel any better, I could’ve chosen Ember Mage or Technopath.”

Skyler lit back up. “Those sound awesome!”

“What Classes did you get?” Gemma asked, partly out of curiosity, and partly because he wanted her to ask.

“My main is Wrath of the Brilliant Hunter and my secondary class is Furrier,” Skyler said with obvious pride.

“That’s a mouthful,” Gemma said.

“Classes like that, the ones that are more like titles, tend to be extra dangerous and offer unusual skills,” Kevin said.

“You got that option because of your actions while you were in the dome, right?” Gemma asked, wondering what exactly he’d done.

Fiona answered before Skyler could say anything, “Yes. Normally, we put the beasts and other features in there to see how capable a new Lost is, how they react under stress, and to help them get a stronger class. The beasts we set in there will always leave a new Lost alone after they’ve been beaten. But,” Fiona’s tone grew very dry, “Skyler actively hunted them down—Every. Single. One.” 

“I thought I was in an isekai novel, where it’s typically kill or be killed, and you gain levels and stats and all that.” Skyler shrugged. “I was kind of bummed that there are no stats, like strength and intelligence, you know, like in a video game? But it’s still pretty cool.”

Now Gemma shrugged, “I didn’t think about those things much beyond being a means to get home. Which is apparently not happening.” Gemma’s voice went all tight on that last sentence.

Gemma’s Danger Sense all of a sudden activated, and tensed.

“I didn’t think of it like that,” Skyler said, his frank excitement dimmed, “My family sucks, and work was meh. But you had a life back home, didn’t you?” he nodded to Nellie, “And her mom must be worried about you two disappearing.”

“Yeah,” Gemma whispered. 

“I’ll help you two get home,” Skyler said, “I promise.”

Gemma knew he meant it, since her Danger Sense had activated. Skyler was a nice guy, if a bit of a game freak.

“Thank you,” Gemma said. She brushed a hand across Nellie’s soft hair. Nellie cooed and handed her the shiny ball, before snatching it back.

Fiona and Kevin exchanged a look mixed with pity and resignment.