<div align="center"><strong>Phaerbryn</strong></div><br/>Driving back into town, Phaerbryn finally notices the police station. She parks her jeep and hops out. Inside the station, everyone is bustling about frantically. Phaerbryn scoffs at the absurdity of not being prepared for a simple blackout. She walks up to a woman seated behind a large desk. The woman is fiddling with the phones, obviously beyond frustrated.<br/><br/>"Excuse me," Phaerbryn fiddles momentarily, trying to get her latest ID free from the back pocket of her skin tight leather pants. She pulls it out finally, glances at it briefly, and with relief audibly in her voice she says "Hi, I'm Vanessa Mills. I'm apparently completely lost. Is there a phone or map around here that I could use, by any chance?"<br/><br/>The lady behind the counter looks up with fury in her eyes, "Does it look like I care who you are? Do you see that waiting area over there?" Phaerbryn narrowed her eyes at the lady's tone but looked anyway. Her mouth gaped to see the overflowing waiting room. "Take a number and a seat and someone<em>might </em>be with you this century. What the hell is wrong with these damn phones?" The woman muttered as she turned back to her problem at hand.<br/><br/>Phaerbryn sighed annoyed, replaced her ID, and left through the entrance from whence she came. Outside she took a deep breath of the fresh night air and glanced about her. Directly in front of her she saw an ice cream parlor. She shrugged, got back in her jeep, and pulled it in front of the parlor. Getting out once more, she headed for the ice cream parlor's door.<br/><br/>Upon entering, she walked up to the man behind the counter and asked if she could use the phone. The man politely picked the phone from his side of the counter and rested it on top for her easy use. Phaerbryn nodded politely, wondering why the town had not yet switched to wireless phones, and picked up the receiver. There wasn't the slightest hint of a dial tone. She played with the button on the phone, flicking it a few times to no avail. It seemed to be disconnected.<br/><br/><br/><hr/><br/><div align="center"><strong>Viviana</strong></div><br/>Viviana had examined every foreign object in sight for the first few paces but had become exceedingly overwhelmed rather quickly. She felt as if she'd stumbled upon a whole new world. In a state of awe, she moved through the streets as if in a trance, until suddenly noticing a gathering in one of the many strange buildings she'd seen along the way.<br/><br/>Holding her head confidently high, she approached the building. It was obviously a store of some sort. She advanced and began peering into the long rows with glass tops, trying to figure out what had everyone else enthralled. Big bins filled with colorful goo it seemed. These were obviously humans that surrounded her and this goo seemed to be a staple in these humans' diet as none seemed to be able to get enough of it.<br/><br/>She placed her hand on top of the glass to steady her for a better look, but jumped back just as quickly as the glass was extremely cold. So this goo must need a frozen environment or else it most likely melts, she thought to herself, still studying the goo intently.<br/><br/>"May I help you?" the man behind the counter asked, making Viviana jump. She just stared at him completely confused as this was a language she'd never heard in all of her years of studying.<br/><br/>"Excuse me? I'm not sure I heard you correctly. Could you please repeat that?" Viviana asked in her native celestial tongue. By the confused look on the older man's face, she assumed he did not understand her either. Taking note of his human origin, Viviana tried asking the same question in the human trade language to no avail. Then she noticed other humans around her looking at her with the same confused look as the man behind the counter. The complete confidence she’d had her entire life, left her in one fell swoop. She became suddenly very unsure of herself and quite a bit humbled. This had been a bad idea. Arkon had been right for once. She should have listened to him. She suddenly felt very alone surrounded by so many strangers that stared at her as if she were the strangest person on the planet.