Well, this doesn't make sense, does it? You walk home, and you randomly show up inside a mystic multiverse bar instead of your apartment? There's a bar that made a glass of fizzy orange juice show up, and rooms for rent (?). But, well. She's not gonna have another hallucination like this. So she might as well enjoy it, eh?
She'll look, fascinated, outside the window. It's good to feel safe.
Maybe... maybe her life will be good now.
As she looks out the windows, she sees wisps of smoke starting to make its way towards the city. The sky turns orange, creating a beautiful, eerie feeling. It's not obvious how, but the air inside the apartment doesn't smell of smoke or anything burning, even though she should probably be able to smell it by now.
She feels tired and should probably sleep, but it's just fascinating to look at the unfamiliar sky color, everything looking surreal.
She reluctantly shifts her attention to preparing for bed, but then sets the bedroom window to show the outside too, and stares amazed while in bed surrounded by her plushies. A frankly ridiculous amount of them, to be honest, but they were so cute, and cheap!
The soft bed, and the thick, warm blankets (the bedroom is noticeably colder than the apartment) lulls Zenobia into sleep. The bed is exorbitantly wide for just one person, and no matter how Zenobia sprawls out over it, her hands and legs always stay under the comforting warmth and weight of her blanket.
Zenobia wakes up, well rested and still surrounded by her fuzzy protectors.
She decides to text William for Winter's Bone.
Hey, want to meet up for Winter's Bone? :)
Happily! I'm just thinking about the, uh, smoke. You'd probably want to get down to one of the tailors and upgrade to a helmet with real anti-smoke filters. I wouldn't want to have you coughing and wheezing on a big holiday like that. I can get you the address to one of them who works a lot with firefighters? He's got all the newest and best gear.
Zenobia's snowsuit, proudly displayed on a mannequin, is cozy and comfortable. It consists of an incredibly soft and fuzzy inner layer, closely fitted to her body, together with a wind-blocking outer layer with a large amount of padding. The snowsuit has its gloves built in to the sleeves. It's warm enough that it manages to keep her cozy and warm even in the biting wind, but it comes with special vents that can easily be opened so she doesn't drip with sweat when indoors. The helmet is designed to interface seamlessly with the collar of the snowsuit and protect her head from the cold just as well.
She puts the snowsuit on, helmet and everything, and puts an additional cloth in front of her mouth to try and avoid the worst of the smoke.
Fully cocooned into the softness, she makes her way to the tailor, to get the modifications applied.
The cloth does an OK of blocking the smoke; at least, the tailor isn't very far away so she doesn't breathe in too much of it. Zenobia feels a draft of air as she enters the tailor, and sees a man wearing a snowsuit like hers, with all vents open. He starts speaking. "Hello, miss. What can I do for you today? Are you going to give me your helmet, so I can get a look at your pretty face... and make it work to protect you from the smoke spreading over the city?"
"I don't think my face is that pretty, honestly. But yes, I'd love to get something more protective. I made do with a wet cloth, but it's really not enough with all the smoke. What options do I have for having my helmet work better against smoke?" And how much would they cost? Zenobia now has a salary, but she hasn't been working for long yet, so she needs to pay attention to her purchases. Cynthia assured her that all refugees have funds assigned to them to help with the transition, but she doesn't want to use that, there are so many people who need it more! She's happy she has a job she enjoys, and that she can earn the things she now has.
"Well, for helmets like yours, I use a fairly standardized wide inflow filter. Unless you spring for a dedicated anti-smoke helm, which is overkill unless you're very sensitive to smoke, that will do plenty. And it's actually rather affordable. If you could bring me the helmet?" He looks over it, shoving a squarish filter that fits over the vents of the helmet in front of them. He nods for a few seconds.
"I'll need it for a few minutes, get all necessary parts 3D printed. And you can wait here." He quotes a reassuringly low number for the modification process to Zenobia. "I'll also have you get a bunch of filters; they should be replaced often for easy breathing and good protection. I could also get a real ultralight exhalation valve for the helmet, think you'd be interested?"
"I'm actually fine with smoke, but I was told it's apparently bad for people? I think I'd enjoy the exhalation valve, how much would it cost?
And... what does it mean to '3D print' something? I'm... one of the Chelish refugees, I still have a lot to learn..."
"Smoke is indeed bad for people! It causes them to wheeze and cough and causes all sorts of lung problems and illnesses. The exhalation valve is really quite cheap, less than the filters, so don't worry about that."
"3D printing means that you use a special machine to quickly create an item, essentially putting layers of material on top of each other. It lets you be more precise than working by hand."
"Sure, why not?" He takes her to a backroom of the shop, with a fairly small 3D printer. After taking the necessary measurements of Zenobia's helmet, he turns it on, and it slowly, layer by layer, creates a clip that's able to hold the necessary filters on the front of her helm's air intake. It's a quite mesmerizing process to see happen.
"There, that's the clip. Now, it's just to put in the filter, and attach it to your helm, and..." it's a fairly quick process. He also puts a disc made of some kind of ultra-light plastic inside another part of the 3D printed bracket. The contraption makes the helmet a bit bulkier, but it can be removed when it's unneeded.
"It should work now? You shouldn't have to worry about any smoke or breathing in anything else unwanted with this on."
"Thank you very much, it's so fascinating to see the technology you have at work."
She pays and gets outside. If she concentrates she can notice the filter making breathing a bit harder, but as soon as she stops paying attention it's almost like not having it. The air that comes through it is completely empty of smell and she can breathe easily and not cough at all.
Hey, I'm done with the tailor, meet up?
Happily! Maybe meet up at the winter fountain? I really think it's the prettiest place in the city.
You can find a route using the subway with your phone. I guess you'd want to save your energy for the walk to the fireworks show?
She checks the maps. It takes her a while (she still doesn't speak the language very well), but she manages to find the fountain. It's only four stops away.
Meet you there in 15.
Zenobia gets off the subway, and starts walking up the stairs. She prefers it to using the escalators, she likes feeling in good shape, and every bit of exercise counts.
The sky is still yellow from the fire of the previous day, and as she steps out of the building, the setting sun bathes the whole world in a deep red, as if everything was still on fire.
The view from up there is incredible, on a clear day you can see the whole valley, but with the smoke still lingering in the air it's like being in the middle of nowhere, a smattering of houses suspended in the fog like one of those snow globes they sell in the souvenirs shop.
It would have been nice to see the stars, but she's really looking forward to seeing the fireworks. William showed her a video on his phone, but also said that the real thing is way more impressive. They looked very pretty, she can't wait for the show to start.
It takes a bit, but Zenobia finally reaches the outskirts of town, together with William, where she will have a fantastic view of the fireworks. After a countdown, a single firework flies into the sky, marking the start of the show as its vast explosion looks like a sun with its rays, slowly making its way down to the ground.