An unexpected knocking interrupted my concentration as I was smoothing out the last bit of gold needle.  

"What was that? " - Me 

- Right! Probably Sooty. It's going to take a while to get used to having someone else around. 

I got up and walked down to the main hall and opened the door. I started to say hello but stopped short. There was a young woman standing next to Sooty. 

 "I guess that you should come in." - Me 

I stepped back as Sooty nodded then lead them to the sitting room. The woman looked around as she walked in. I waved her to the couch, and stood by the chair waiting for her to sit. 

- She's just as uncomfortable as Sooty was. Well still is apparently. 

I kept my smile to myself as I watched the two cautiously sat on the overly ornate couch. Once she was seated, I also sat. 

 "I imagine you have a few questions, but we should probably start with some names. You have obviously meet Sooty, and you can call me Volt." - Me 

The young woman looked at Sooty with confusion. 

 "I thought you said your name was Kol!" - young woman 

 "It is! Ah, Sooty is sort of my nickname. Sorry" - Sooty  

Sooty looked away from the young woman 's gaze. 

- Looks like Sooty is not so good with the ladies. 

 "Yes, since that's cleared up, may we know your name?" - Me 

 "On yes. Ah my name is Cupe, ah Mr., that is, sir Volk" - Cupe 

 "Volt is fine, you can leave the sirs to Sooty here"- Me 

I smiled as Sooty snorted, then looked away quickly as Cupe giggled at his reaction. 

"So, Mrs. Cupe, how much did Sooty explain about what is happening? "- Me 

 She turned her attention back to me. 

"Mr. Sooty just said that I should talk to you."- Cupe 

I looked at Sooty, he just shrugged. 

"I thought that you would show her the mirror." - Sooty 

I nodded, then looked back to Cupe. 

"What was the last thing that you remember before you awoke here?" - Me 

"I had just got home as it was getting dark, all the women had been out in the fields gleaning. I told my sister-in-law I would draw water, went out the back door, walked towards the well. After that I think I heard the alarm bell ringing when I started to feel sick, then I was here." - Cupe 

 "Then this is going to be difficult to explain." - Me 

 - She didn't have a ' I'm going to die ' moment, I might have to use the mirror for a different reason. 

"If you don't mind, I'm going to ask you some personal questions.”- Me 

I paused till she nodded here head. 

"Why were you living in your brother's home?" - Me 

Cupe looked down at her hands and answered in a small voice. 

 "I am a widow. My brother took me in when my family died from the Red Rack three years ago"- Cupe 

“I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your family."- Me 

 I replied in a gentle tone. 

- Red Rack sounds, unpleasant. And missing family, she is probably expecting to meet with them now that she's dead. I'm going to have to watch out for when it really sinks in, she might just freak out. 

“The mirror might be the best bet to explain, at least a little, about what is happening "- Me 

I stood up and lead them back to the empty room with the mirror. 

- Hmm I never noticed before, but none of these rooms are dark, even the ones without windows. Is it a meta-rule of this place, or do we have something like night vision? 

“Ahem!”- Sooty 

Sooty's timely cough broke my concentration as I was rubbing my nose while staring into the mirror. 

‘Ah, yes. Sorry about that."- Me 

I dropped my hand while smiling apologetically, and stepped aside. 

"Mrs. Cupe, if you would"- Me 

I waved her in front of the mirror. She looked into the mirror and gasped, her hands slowly rising up to touch her face. 

"I look so young, and my skin looks like the noble wives do!" - Cupe 

- Looks like woman are the same here too 

 "Yes, as you can see, a few things have changed when you came her. You won't get tired, if you are hurt no matter how bad, it will heal, and you won't need to eat for a while. You'll stay looking like this for however long you remain here." - Me 

I let that sink in for a while, then held up my hand. 

"I want you to grab my hand in the mirror"- Me 

Cupe reached out to touch my hand 

“No. You miss understood me. I want you to grab my hand IN the mirror”- Me 

I point back at the image reflected in the glass. 

Cupe looked confused. 

“I can't! Sorry but I don't understand what you want”- Cupe 

I waved and smiled. 

"No, you were right, you can't. This world is like the image in the mirror. They are both just reflections of the live world. "- Me 

I lifted her hand and placed it between my two hands. 

- Ok I've shaken her up mentally and sent her floating untethered. Now with her hand feeling something real to give her the new reality. 

“Both Mr. Kol, and I died before we awoke here. I'm afraid that it is the same for you."- Me 

I squeezed her hand gently once then let it go.  

"I don't know why we are here, if the gods know or planned it, or even if everyone else ends up here. I do know that we are here, and how some of it works."- Me 

I pointed back to the room's door. 

“I think it would be a good idea if you sat down for a bit and maybe think about the many questions probably already have.”- Me 

We moved back to the sitting room where I answered what I knew about this world. 

... 

One of the things that I had tried to emphasise to both Sooty and Cupe was that since we didn't get tired, need sleep or have most bodily needs, we could focus for long periods of time. Time was essentially irrelevant, so we could spend days or even weeks learning or practicing a skill. 

I encouraged both of them to find something to do till they decided that it was time to de-rezz.  

- Hopefully they can keep busy without me. I think that I have spent too much time alone here to be comfortable with someone else around. 

Sooty said that he was going to practice his swordsmanship, and hunt in the yard beyond the threshing sheds, we're as Cupe said she would find something as well. 

- Without the need to gather for things like food or work, I wonder how we will change. 

I waved my hand in front of my face, metaphorically moving that topic aside. I looked at the four marbles on my desk. 

- I should finish the gold needle rat marble, before I decide what to do with the raccoon, monkey, or lizard mage.  

 "That sounds like a joke." - Me 

I picked up the good needled marble and headed for the yard. In the square, Cupe was picking through the rubble of the broken building face. I waved and headed out of the square not wanting to stop and get side tracked. 

- I'm not sure if I'm rude or not, but I really don't want any relationship entanglements right now. 

I stepped over a slime as I left the square. I had asked the others to avoid de-rezzing any of the slimes, as they were the ones cleaning up all the grey dust laying around. Squirrels on the other hand were to be considered the enemy. 

 "Marble stealing nut munchers!" - Me 

 I ended up zapping a three-meter-long opalescent snake that came out of a building just past the square. It hissed, I zapped. 

I turned and let Cupe know that everything was ok before she came running.  

She had seen my lightening magic during her introduction seminar. Her reaction had been very similar to Sooty's. 

After zapping the snake's de-rezz, I gathered the soul marble and reached the yard, where Sooty was doing sword forms with his club. I waved for him to continue, and sat cross legged in the centre of the roughly round yard. I closed my eyes and looked down into the ground. 

- It looks like I'm getting better at this, I can reach further, and everything seems a bit more distinct. I wonder how clear, and far I will be able to see in the future before I hit a hard limit? 

The cloud of magicicles was pretty thick and closer to the surface than I had seen anywhere else. I watched how it slowly flowed, where it was coming from and going to. 

- It looks like the roads form a sort of stream bed that the ground magicicles flow along, whereas the stone foundations of buildings seem to become a resistant spot. Maybe the mill stone is acting like a paddle, which is why the magicicles under the grain mill are swirling, whereas here they are all bunched up and rolling. It's kind of like a reservoir being feed by several small streams. 

I opened my eyes to see Sooty beating a dog sized gerbil. I nodded to him, then continued my contemplation. 

-Hmm reservoir... Could I set up a siphon, or aqueduct? 

I started linking magicicles into a tube-like structure.