"It's okay," Adia says with a small shrug. It's not that she doesn't appreciate Stolas's sympathy, but the conditions on her world have become a fact of life, and she hates becoming a sob story to others. "I at least have the Nexus, if I want to experience nature. There is a forest here, and some other green spaces."

Adia admires Stolas's confidence. Most people are at least a little bit concerned about getting back home after a visit to the Nexus. He must have come through a stable portal. "I have something called a PINpoint. It's a little electronic device that lets you teleport from your world to here, and anywhere else you have the coordinates for. There is a vending machine that sells them."