"Probably," Riya agrees. "But is it the only way to see the magic things?"

"No, just the fastest."

"What are other ways?"

"We could fly, like last time. But the storehouse is very far away."

"I could fly to a place far away." She considers. "Maybe not now."

"Probably best if we leave that aside for now, then."

She sighs.

"... Do you need anything else? Food? Books?" A hug?

"I probably need food," she says vaguely. "...I like books a lot."

"Books are nice. Would you like any particular kind, or should I surprise you?"

"I don't know what kinds there are," she says. "I like most books. I guess not usually sad ones. But even those sometimes if they're interesting."

"So... Surprise you, then?"

She nods.

She vanishes with a smile - then she reappears, clutching a thin sheet of metal to her chest. Though there are lines incised on it, they don't look much like letters.

"Here we are!"

"Is that a book?"

"It's better! It's all the books. The people here call it a magicomp."

She sets down the slab of metal on the small desk, then pokes it: a three-dimensional image of a row of books rises from the metal, little stone gargoyles at each end propping them up.

"This is my custom library application, set on 'shuffle': just tap one of the gargoyles to get a new random shelf of books. If you see something interesting, just take it from the shelf: the books are semi-real and will persist as long as you're reasonably close to the sheet."

"Oh."

She looks at the row of books.

"I like this thing."

"It's a very nice thing! I didn't have anything like it back in my old world. Hopefully I'll be able to take one with me when I go back."

"That would be nice," she agrees. "...This is a magic thing. Are there more magic things that aren't weapons? Some of them might be useful. But I don't know which ones, because I don't know what things there are."

"Um... There are very fast vehicles that hold a lot of people, boxes that keep food cool, lights..." She trails off. "There's a lot of magic, I'm not really sure where to start."

"I'm not sure either."

"Let's table that for now, then. I'll think about it and get back to you with a list of useful things."

She tilts her head.

"... Incidentally, I don't think I ever got your name?"

"Riya."

"Ishmerai."

She smiles. "I hope you settle in well, Riya. I know it's awful at the start, but... you get used to it, after a while. Don't let the shadows win."

"I don't like being in a city. I won't like being in a city. I want the shadows to stop." Pause. "Thank you."

Ishmerai half-smiles. "I didn't say it gets less awful. I said you get used to it."

"Yes."