Zain followed Kendra down a series of hallways, and they slowly made their way out front.

  So far, Zain had not seen anything too outlandish, besides the bubble which contained the city; it was an incredible sight, however, his childish sense of whimsy desired more.

  Soon, Kendra led him to the outside, where he saw the city for the first time.

  The best word that came to mind was underwhelming. It would seem that he was in the part of town that was quite dilapidated and abandoned.

  There was hardly anyone walking around, and those who were had their heads down and looked as if they wished to be left alone.

  Many buildings were boarded up or run down, walls were covered in graffiti, the streets were filled with potholes, and the street lights were not properly maintained.

  He would say that it would not be wise to walk around here at night, but it brought to question: What time was considered night here?

  There was a city issued vehicle parked in the street and Kendra quickly ushered him inside. After pushing his now sizable backpack (which was brimming with all he possessed in the world) into the back seat, he sat shotgun.

  “So how do you guys tell what time of day it is? Is it just always dark like this?”

  Once she heard the click of his seat-belt, she pulled away from the curb, nonchalantly answering his question, which she had likely heard before.

  “It’s nighttime now. You may not be able to tell, but there are lights at the top of the city. It’s like a mix of artificial lights and bioluminescence - or something like that. It alternates in 12 hour cycles, so it mimics regular daylight down here.”

  Zain pressed his face against the window, hoping to see the sky better.

  At first glance, there was just pitch blackness, but upon closer inspection, small glimmers of twinkling lights were speckled in the false sky. It looked similar to the tiny creatures found on the coral tree, with the bugs following each other in a random line, with no real destination. The aimless creatures created a Van Gogh-like starry night in the dome, slightly animated as they flickered on and off.

  He looked at the passing buildings and cityscape, absorbing the differences between his world and this one: In place of normal flora like trees and flowers, there were coral, sea sponges, and sea anemones found in shallow pools of water; They had likely evolved so they could survive somewhat above water as they resembled the sea plants seen in coral reefs.

  Despite having run down buildings all around, the surrounding area was rather vibrant in color because of the otherworldly plants; splashes of pinks and blues could be found in the cracks of the sidewalk, mossy grass overran the abandoned plots of land, and small reefs thrived within every puddle.

  “So…where are we going?”

  She turned a corner, heading towards a larger building, which looked like a community college. “There. Where you’ll be stayin’ for the foreseeable future. You’ll be living in the dorms for now and taking those mandatory classes I told you about. I’ve already picked out your roommate. I sent him an email and text that you would be coming and he would be free to greet you once you arrived, but he's probably sleeping right now so I don't think he will. You’ll probably just set up you room when you get there.”

  Roommate, huh? I guess it’s too much to be given my own room…

  “What kind of person is my roommate...If you don’t mind me asking?”

  She pulled a weird face as she answered, “Not sure, I just put your answers from the personality quiz into the computer and he was chosen as the best match. You guys are close in age, so that also probably contributed. “

  “Can you at least tell me his name?”

  “Eeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhh………Oh, look we’re here.” Kendra pulled in front of the college, avoiding his question.

  Zain heaved a heavy sigh. At least it didn’t really matter if he knew his name beforehand because he was probably asleep anyways. As long as he learned it before tomorrow, he should be fine.

  They exited the car and made their way to the college; Kendra used her facility card to navigate through the buildings. After ten minutes of walking, they finally made it into the lobby of the dorm.

  An RA was sitting there alone, watching some videos on his phone. He looked up as they approached, and began to stretch out as they neared.

  Yawning, with his arm still in the air, he greeted them, “Hey Kendra, you got a newbie?”

  She rolled her eyes in response, “Yeah, Cole. I sent you an email about two hours ago, man…”

  The RA looked over to his monitor, clicking a few times before he found the email, “Oh, yeah. I guess you did. Sorry, nothing usually happens with night duty so I wasn’t checking my email. Just a moment. “

  He began to read the email, skimming over most of the information. Once he finally got the jist of it, he popped his back and rose from his chair.

  Turning to the room behind him, he left briefly before he reappeared with a key, which he then handed to Zain.

  “I’ll be taking you to your dorm room now, if you have any questions, ask your roommate or the RA in the morning. For now, I recommend setting up your room and then sleeping so you can figure out your classes in the morning. “

  For some reason, Zain felt like this guy was deflecting the responsibility of answering his questions to other people. As long as someone answered his questions, he supposed that it was okay for now…

  So much had been hurled towards him at once (pamphlets, documents, forms, cards, information..) he couldn't think of too many questions he could ask off the top of his head. Even now, he was expected to set up his room, meet his new roommate, and start attending classes basically immediately. He was much more worried about those immediate things than anything else.

  Cole motioned for him to follow, so Zain obliged. After walking a few feet, he noticed that Kendra was not following. This was likely as far as her job required her to accompany him.

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  “Thank you ma’am, for helping me.” He dipped his head to show his gratitude.

  Kendra had an expression of slight surprise as he gave thanks. She let out a slight huff of amusement, “It’s nothing sweetheart. It's my job.” She leaned against the wall near her, and started to scratch her cheek, her face reflecting confliction as she continued, “To be honest, you're holding up much better than most people who pass through here. I didn’t even have to pull out the taser or anything.“

  Zain’s eyes widened at that statement.

  Do people really cause that much trouble? ...I guess if they die, they would feel a certain type of way…

  He himself had just decided not to dwell on his own death; he was raised to focus on more important things in the moment, emotional things could be discussed later with people he trusted.

  “Is it really that weird for someone to act normally?” He asked, feeling a bit self conscious.

  Cole and Kendra met eyes with one another, not really wishing to answer. It was Cole who decided to talk next. “It really depends on what they were doing before they ended up here…”

  “You mean before they died?”

  Both of them loosened their shoulders hearing Zain’s response. Kendra nodded, holding her hand over her heart. “A lot of people vividly remember things and have a hard time accepting things. Some are catatonic when they end up here, because of the things they remember and they need a few days before they can fill out paperwork. Don’t worry though, there are others who are as nonchalant as you when they come here.“

  “Yeah, it’s usually the kids that act normally. The really young ones don’t really understand what is happening though…” Cole added, shaking his head. After a moment of silence between them, he clapped his hands together, to snap them back to attention. “Enough about the sad stuff. Let's get you to your room so you can set up your stuff and rest.”

  He started again towards the back, and Zain again began to walk with him, making sure to wave Kendra goodbye as he left.

  Cole started to lead Zain up the stairs. As they ascended, Cole began to recite his own scripted speech.

  “This building was established about 50 years ago, for those who were displaced through transmigration. Through the Babin education foundation, funding for this particular section was provided. It is through their generosity that transmigrants may transition somewhat seamlessly into their new environment. “

  Zain started to tune him out as he explained the different donors like some sort of mid-role advertisement. The building looked rather old, with older equipment and supplies stored off to the side of certain floors. The brick walls on some floors had some visible leakage near the pipelines leading downward and paint chipping off of the walls on others.

  They climbed and climbed, and after the 4th flight of stairs, Cole finally shut himself up as he huffed up the stairs.

  “How far are we going? Couldn’t we… take the elevator?” Zain strained himself to ask as they continued onward.

  Cole grabbed the railing, and paused a moment to answer. “Your…dorm is on…the tenth…floor.” Slight annoyance tinged each break in his sentence, he gasped for breath as he continued, “Elevator…is..broken…might be…fixed…next month….”

  Groaning and heaving all the way up, they finally made it to Zain’s dorm room. It took a few mississippis before they could talk again.

  Cole leaned on the wall with one hand then motioned Zain towards the door with his free hand. After lightly knocking first and waiting a few moments to see if anyone responded, he began to unlock the door as quietly as he could in order to not wake his roommate.

  Before he could open the door himself, however, the door fully swung open.

  On the other end, was a boy around his age, in his pajamas holding party poppers in his hands. He pulled the end of the string and cracked a great big smile as the confetti slowly cascaded around him.

  “Welcome!” The boy jovially greeted them, hurriedly motioning with his hands trying to beckon them inside. “You must be tired, feel free to sit. I have some snacks and there’s some water for you to drink.”

  An audible slap from behind Zain sounded off. He turned to look, seeing Cole with his hand on his forehead. “I forgot! It’s freaking Brayden!” He let out a deep groan as he rubbed his temples. He leaned in closer to Zain as he began to whisper in his ear, “He’s a good kid, but he’s a little much. Asks too many questions. It can get on a lot of people’s nerves…”

  Brayden turned towards Cole, still smiling. “You want to join us Cole? I’m about to engage in an informative discussion about the intricacies of new life within Merverre. It would be a boon for our discussion if the perspective of a local was provided!” Without Cole even confirming his invitation, he began to set up three places at the small coffee table at the center of the living room.

  To this, Cole held up his hand and declined his offer. “Nah. I’m almost at the end of my shift and I got stuff to do, so you fellas will have to have this talk without me. I will take one of those waters though.” He scooped up one of the waters without waiting for Brayden’s reply and gave Zain a few hardy pats on the back, his eyes filled with pity as he quickly departed from the room.

  Have I been sacrificed?

  Zain was having mixed feelings about being abandoned so readily. He was not given too long to dwell on this thought as Brayden hastily approached him, hand outstretched.

  “I’m Brayden Nguyen! We’re gonna be roommates from here on out! It’s great to meet you!”

  Zain couldn’t help but recoil slightly at this forwardness; Brayden’s face just radiated eagerness and his actions just showed his excitement for the coming discussion.

  Only faltering for a moment, Zain put his hand forward and offered a smile in return.

  This guy is just trying to be nice and he put in all of this effort in order to welcome me. I should at least show some appreciation.

  “My name is Zain McArthur, pleasure to meet you too, dude.”

  Brayden beamed a happy smile at his response, relaxing his shoulders for some unknown reason. With both hands, he shook Zain’s hand vigorously, and nodded just as fervently.

  “There’s so much to discuss! I have so many notes and things to tell you! I’m also compiling an anthology of sorts, mainly of the stories of those transported here! Here! Check out my notebook!” From under the table, Brayden revealed multiple notebooks which were written completely front to back. “The college is a hub of sorts, for those who were transported here. They offer many services which many can come back to, no matter how integrated they become.”

  He started to ramble a little about the intricacies of the college, how often those who migrated there came there, and how even locals used it. Zain would have to admit that it was rather informative and thorough, but Brayden seemed to stay on the tangent for quite some time.

  It was hard to interrupt his passionate spiel, but after an hour of trying to let him naturally conclude his rant, Zain had to put his hand up.

  “As much as I would love to continue this discussion, shouldn’t I set up my room now? I also have to sign up for my classes and set up my phone and all that…”

  Brayden halted in his tracks, then looked at his phone briefly. Remorse painted his face as he started to apologize to Zain, “I’m sorry. I’ve been told that I tend to ramble…sorry if I’ve been a bother, I’m trying to work on that…” The papers that had been strewn about were quickly tidied up as he tried to hide his obsessive scribblings. His eyes looked like those of a puppy who had just been scolded, which only made Zain feel guilty.

  “No, no. I actually think all of the things you talked about are interesting. I can tell that you put in a lot of time into it and that is admirable. It’s a relief to have someone able to answer any question I might have, it really puts me at ease. The thing is..” Before Zain could finish his sentence, his stomach growled especially loudly as if on cue. It had been making its warning calls for some time now, but since there was less noise in the room now, its loud vocal rumblings could actually be heard.

  Whether it should be considered impressive timing or poor timing, Zain could not tell.

  He placed his hand over his stomach in slight embarrassment, trying to stifle the noises emanating from it. “I’m really hungry…”

  A light chuckle escaped from Brayden, and he now possessed a more light-hearted aura to him. “Yeah, let's get some food in ya. I’ve got some ramen, cereal, or takeout leftovers, which do you prefer?”

  “I think I could go for some cereal now. Oh…wait…what brands do they have here, though…”

  “I could tell you our Earth equivalents. Ah, but I will actually hold back on the explanations this time. “

  Zain gave a small smile to his offer, “Yeah man, that sounds great.”

  They both made some cereal, conversing about their favorite brands in their previous life and the new world equivalents in this life.