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Charlie shook herself out of her reverie. Everything seemed to be catching her attention at once. Alongside the wonder shefelt (and still a bit of terror), she noticed something else entirely when her gaze continued around the room. The light source was integrated into the structure itself, not mounted on it. The materials on the wall mounts beside her were nothing she'd ever seen. This engineering was...

Really, Charlie?She was sitting on the floor of God-knew-where, covered in God-knew-what, surrounded by creatures that should not exist, with a soldier having just pointed a weapon at her, and her brain wasadmiring the architecture.

But the truth was, she was absolutely fascinated.

The terror and the fascination sat side by side in her chest, neither one willing to yield. She was scaredandshe was curious. But if she was being honest with herself, the curious part was gaining ground fast.

This wasn't a nightmare. Oh no, Charlie knew nightmares didn't have engine vibrations you could feel through the floor and integrated lighting systems with no visible source. Nightmares didn't have engineering thisgood.

Movement pulled her attention back. The blue soldier was approaching again, but this time, he wasn't holding the weapon. In his other hand was something smaller and flatter, a faint light running along its edge. He held it up and moved it toward her slowly, as if Charlie was an animal he approached and didn't want to spook.

Charlie went rigid.Okay, another device. But this one didn't look like a weapon.

He ran it over her methodically. It made small and quiet beeps as it went over her head, shoulders, arms, torso, legs. Charlie held still as she realized it was obviously scanning her, her eyes locked on the blue man's face. She attempted to search for any signal of what the device was telling him, but his expression gave her nothing. However, there wasn't hostility,but there also wasn't reassurance. He was the epitome of pure, mechanical focus.

Charlie heard the scanner give off three beeps quickly, and the man pulled the device away, the scan apparently completed. He straightened and turned to the woman with the constellation markings, speaking to her. Charlie couldn't understand the words, but she could read his posture and body language. It was safe to say that whatever the device had told him, it wasn't alarming. She watched as his shoulders settled while the woman nodded up at him and stepped aside.

The blue dude moved and Charlie noticed he'd holstered his weapon. As he took a stance by the door, he continued to watch her.

Charlie's eyes moved on from where he stood, drifting past the group of...nothumans... and saw a small, porthole window.

It was at the far end of the room, wide and clear. But it was what was outside of it that made Charlie's heart stop full in her chest.

Stars.

And these weren't the stars you see from a backyard in a remote small town or a rooftop in a bustling city. These weren't ones that sit politely above you in the sky, shining and providing inspiration for artists and musicians and scientists for millennia.

No.

These stars wereeverywhere. Above, below, to the left and to the right, with no horizon, no sky, no ground. Just an infinite field of balls of gas scattered across a darkness so complete it looked solid.

Charlie stood up, but if you had asked her how she got to that window, she wouldn't have remembered. Her legs just moved for themselves. She walked toward the window without looking anywhere but straight ahead, coming to the glass and pressing her palms against it.

It was cold, the same temperature Charlie would feel if she rested her palms against her refrigerator. This wasreal. It wasn't a screen, or a projection. This was a bona fide window, and on the other side of it, was fucking space.

She was in space.

She wasin space.

She pressed her forehead against the glass, closed her eyes, and let the cold ground her. She was shaking because,holy shit she was in space, but she was smiling. When she opened her eyes, she caught a faint reflection of herself in the glass, wild-eyed and grinning like a lunatic, and she actually chuckled at how completely insane this was.

A sound behind her broke her from the window. Right... there wereothershere, beings shuffling and murmuring. Reality setting back in, she turned around and looked at the room full of creatures that were, Charlie realized,aliens. She looked over at the woman with the constellation markings, who she realized was watching her with careful eyes.

The terror came back again, in full force. Sure, she was in space, but how? And why? And... withwho, exactly? So she went back to where she had been and sat back down on the floor, figuring movement may be a bad idea for the time being before figuring out what the hell happened, and what was in store for her next.

This was when the woman approached. Charlie fidgeted with unease, an involuntary pull backward, because whatever else was true about this situation, this was still agreen woman,and the beings around her still didn’t make any sort of sense. The woman came slowly, hands visible, taking care not to make sudden movements, and her face carried a gentle, soft smile. Charlie let the woman's face overtake her entire view, her nervous system registering her as safe before her brain could run the analysis.

The woman sat down on the floor, cross-legged, right in front of Charlie. She was still smiling, still gentle with any movements she made.

Charlie watched as she reached behind her and produced a cloth. It looked soft, was pale, and seemed to signify that it was meant for this kind of situation, or at least something close to it. She held it out to Charlie, gesturing at her own face, then pointed at Charlie's.

Charlie understood enough to know it was to help her clean up the batter stuck to her hands, arms, and face. So, she took it. The fabric was warm and damp in her hands, and started wiping. Her hands first, followed by her face then her neck. The batter came off easier than she expected, peeling away in soft sheets. She could move her fingers without them sticking together and feel air on her face again.

She looked down at herself. Her clothes were still an absolute mess, including her flannel, the coat, her jeans even, but at least her skin was clear.

She looked at the woman and held up the cloth, now covered in batter. "Thank you," she said, realizing after that the woman couldn't understand the words. She hoped, if anything, that her tone carried.

Something in the woman's expression shifted. Warm.You're welcomedidn't need a translation.