tagann ifreann ina dhiaidh

► her only supernatural ability is being able to keep a straight face when customers ask stupid questions

► she’s dealt with vampires, a demon, haunted dolls, serial killers and plenty more.  you wanting to see the manager doesn’t scare her

► horror movie/book/comic connoisseur 

► hasn’t slept more than 4 hours at a time in 10 years and the bags under her eyes are proof

► hates work but is a complete workaholic

Wren was actually happy with her current arrangement.  She didn’t have to go into work, and that made her absolutely giddy.  It was her turn to check the pool supplies and she certainly didn’t feel like spending 45 minutes painstakingly fixing the pool temperature degree by degree until it was ‘optimal’ -- the optimal temperature changed daily.

Yes, they were going to suffer greatly without her there, but that wasn’t her problem.  She was going to enjoy this accidental vacation while it lasted, lest she end up lambasted by her GM when she inevitably awoke from this coma.  Wren had already decided to dedicate the entire day to exploring the various wards that split this Isola place up.

She was delighted when she stumbled upon the Star Trail in the Archimedes Ward.  Her first instinct was to find the spiciest food on the line; hopefully one that would burn so much it would incapacitate her the next day.  Most people seemed a bit too busy -- or unfriendly -- for her to be comfortable enough to walk up and ask for directions.

There was a young girl bouncing down the street in front of her who seemed free.  She wasn’t sure how helpful she would be in tracking down spicy food, but she probably could point out some place to find ice cream later.  Wren picked up her pace to approach the girl.

“Excuse me!”

She hated the beach, but loved people watching.  The boardwalk was probably the best people watching spot outside of an airport that she’d ever seen.  Wren sat on a bench, one foot resting on top of her other knee as she dug into the popcorn she had bought at a food stand.

There were lots of different people here, although sometimes people seemed like too generous a word.  She’d definitely seen some robots wandering around a few times this past hour, and something she would’ve considered more akin to Cthulhu than a human.  Most people seemed unaffected by the less than human looking creatures walking around.  This was a different kind of weird than she was used to, but it was pleasant.

There was a guy that had been pacing back and forth on the boardwalk for about 20 minutes now.  He looked liked an absolute ball of nerves; probably unsure as to what his next move was.  Wren shoveled another handful of popcorn in her mouth unblinkingly.  Maybe he was new too.  Eh, people acclimated themselves at different paces.

She stood up and approached the vendor selling popcorn to get another bag.  She approached him cautiously, but forgot to make herself known before getting close.  When he turned around he practically ran into her; she shoved the bag of popcorn into his chest and clicked her tongue.

Wren only allowed herself to be disoriented for about an hour before deciding that was a waste of time.  The longer she walked around confused, the less time she had to enjoy this accidental vacation.  She wanted to know more about the mall that existed in the Golden Ward.  She had a sneaking suspicion it would be a nice mall, but she sort of hoped it would be half empty.  Nothing hit quite like a mall that only contained 5 stores with about 30 empty storefronts.

She was half disappointed when she finally reached it.  Ah, yes, a thriving mall.  Boring.  Still, that meant there were lots of places for her to check out.  This seemed like a half-bougie mall; she could afford stuff here, and that was the important part.  The size was a bit overwhelming, but the moment that mall smell hit her nose she felt at home.  Didn’t matter where in space and time you were at, a mall always smelt like a mall.

Wren strode up to the mall directory, but quickly deflated.  She didn’t have a clue what any of these stores were.  It made sense -- this place certainly wasn’t on Earth -- but she was hoping to maybe see something mildly recognizable.  The labels were too generic for her to get a feel for the items the stores were selling.  She was going to have to suck it up and ask someone.

People were moving past her too fast for her to catch someone, but she saw a bit of a seedy looking teenager out of the corner of her eye standing around alone.  Perfect, seedy looking teenagers were always great sources of information.  She approached him without second guessing herself.