I've never seen anything quite like this place, even the most modern buildings we have where I come from are nowhere close to this. It's disconcerting to say the least.

[Evie returns the other woman's smile with a polite, grateful one of her own. It's a relief to find someone willing to help, even if the knowledge that her new acquaintance has been aboard the ship for quite some times strikes her as a blow. If people have been here for a long time, there's no telling how long it's going to take them to find a way to send everybody back.

So much for getting back to London quickly.]

But I would really appreciate the help, I'm supposed to find my lodgings in the Mero barracks. Do you know if they're far from here?

[And then she remembers her manners and extends a hand with a sheepish smile.]

I'm sorry, I should have introduced myself. I'm Evie Frye and this-

['Is my brother, Jacob' so often follows an introduction that it's almost a reflex now, and Evie catches herself before she adds it unnecessarily. She falters for a split second before she adds:]

- is quite possibly one of the strangest things that's ever happened to me.