Page 27 of Shaped to Be Yours

“Agreed. People are already scared. Even though I know they don’t need to be.”

“Well…” Beck shrugged. “Not of us. But there is plenty to be frightened of where we come from. We do not hold healthy fears against anyone. We are sometimes frightened of you!”

I appreciate knowing that, though I wished it didn’t have to be true.

I suddenly remembered my latte, which I was clutching a little too tightly and giving away my flood of nerves. Caffeine might not help steady that, but I took a swig from it anyway before asking, “How many missing people have there been? Do you know?”

They shared another look of concern.

“If someone yesterday went missing… five,” Zinnia admitted. “All adults that we know of, reported in the past several weeks since the town first opened for monster immigration. We assume use of the official portal might be the cause of increased activity in the natural one, but we can only speculate if all who went missing disappeared from the same cause. However…”

“It is seeming more and more likely that the natural portal is to blame.”

“Yes. There is a guard there now and will be twenty-four eleven.”

“Seven,mi bavi,” Beck said, with what I assumed was an endearment in their language.

“Oh! Twenty-four seven. Your days and weeks are arittredifferent than ours.Little?” she looked to Beck, who nodded.

“Because you don’t have day or night,” I added. “Or, I mean, you do, but no celestial bodies?”

They nodded.

“Fascinating. I really hope to see your realm someday.”

“Good news!” Zinnia said, and she and Beck stood. “That day is today.”

“What?” I almost didn’t get up immediately as they headed out of the room. I was definitely holding my coffee too tightly by the time that I did. “Seriously? We’re going right now?”

“To begin your education with our instruments and procedures, it is best to have you, uh… dive right in!” Zinnia announced. “You must see how a created portal behaves in order to understand a natural one, yes?”

“Yes?”

“Yes.” Beck looked back at me with a definitive nod. “You can leave your bag, unless there is something you wish to bring with you?”

“Oh! I don't think so but let me check.” I paused inside the larger lab room to take my bag from my shoulder and opened it. There was nothing I needed, but I did notice a slip of paper I didn’t remember putting in there. I opened it.

I WILL NOT BE A DICK

Not the same note from yesterday. This paper was different.

That’s fifty, I thought with a smile.

“Leady?” Zinna asked.

“Ready,” Beck corrected.

“Ready!” I agreed and hung my bag on a hook by the door to their office.

Zinnia and Beck each picked up devices from a table on our way out of the lab that I could best describe asStar Trektricorders, which in the shows and movies were used to scan readings of things—and apparently to scan portals in the real world.

Beck grabbed an extra one that he handed to me, which meant now I could only hold onto my coffee too tightly with one hand.

“It is best to learn by doing,” he said. “Nothing to fear where we’re going. The portal is painless to pass through, entirely safe, and opens into a protected base. The surrounding lands, which includes our people’s lands, is very welcoming, so long as you stay within certain clearly marked borders.”

I tried to remind myself that the same could be said about many places in this realm. “Cool! I don’t need anything but what’s on my person? And I can bring my coffee?”

The pair chuckled.

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