THE MOMENT
"Are you sure?" Gabriela admired the spacious living room. Hard wood floors with a luxurious rug. There were plenty of bay windows letting in warm golden hour sunlight and hand-crafted wood and leather furniture made her feel like she was standing in a catalog. It was everything that she wanted, and nothing like she expected.
"This is the Earth you picked," Liberty nodded. The blue-haired teen in a white suit had been with Gabriela every step of the way explaining the multiverse to her, and informing her of her options. It was pure luck that she was chosen to get anything she wanted, and she was going to take advantage of it to make sure it was perfect.
"It looks so modern...," Gabriela walked to the window with her heels clicking on the wood. Outside, she could see the kind of modern neighborhood she was used to. Quaint houses were lined up neatly with manicured lawns, picket fences, and a few tree swings here and there.
"It's the Earth you chose," Liberty nodded again with the same pleasant customer service smile she always wore. "A 2000's contemporary Earth with magical and fantasy races. This is what a corner of that reality looks like," the teen joined her at the window and gestured out at the normal neighborhood.
"I thought it would be more... fantastical...?" Gabriela commented. She jumped at the chance of a new world just to get away from the normal boring one she came from. That all her needs would be met by Sharp Development for free was merely a bonus to the thought of reinventing herself in a new environment. She was ready to learn magic and befriend dragons.
"You did still want all the modern comforts of technology," Liberty nodded. "If you're not happy with this, we can try again. Sharp Development owns plenty of Earths for you to explore."
"I do like the house...," Gabriela sighed. At that moment, the lighting was perfect and she felt like she could easily make a home there. It was almost a dream come true; but, she still wanted the fantasy aspect. "One second," she said. She plucked her node out of thin air like Liberty taught her and did a quick search. After a few button presses, she was calling someone and brought the node up to her ear like a phone.
"Hello? Animal control? Yeah, I got a dragon in my living room... yeah, a dragon... no, I'm not making this up! Hello? Hello?" she pulled the node away and shook her head. "They hung up..., I don't think dragons are real on this Earth...," she said.
"Uh oh. Be right back," Liberty disappeared into a black portal and Gabriela chuckled. She wasn't upset at the teen, everyone made mistakes and she was still young. But, she was glad she didn't trust the girl's first assurances. Obviously, someone made a mistake somewhere and this wasn't the modern fantasy that she was promised. She was fine waiting for a bit and decided to explore the rest of the house.
It was a large house, furnished with items she picked out and she was satisfied it was perfect, just on the wrong Earth. She didn't spend more than five minutes walking through it and soon found herself back in the living room when a sudden pounding on the door startled her.
"DRAGON CONTROL! OPEN UP!"
"Oh... maybe dragons are real...?" Gabriela looked out the window to see a squad of no less than six tactical soldiers each with a large weapon, some with guns and some with lances. "I should tell them...," she decided to take responsibility for the prank call and moved toward the door; but, Liberty walked out of a portal just in time.
"Wait! Don't open it!" she said. As she dashed to stop Gabriela, a shorter, ancient woman walked out of the portal behind her. The old woman was only slightly taller than Liberty's teenage frame and her face seemed to be made solely of wrinkles. She wore a red satin dress and smiled at Gabriela as she continued to the door.
"That was close..," Liberty sighed as she pulled Gabriela out of the living room and into the kitchen. "So, just to make it clear. Don't ever do that again," Liberty said. "It wasn't that they didn't believe you, dragons are a big deal on this Earth. Instead of wasting time talking, they just dispatch dragon control... and, they really really don't like false alarms. I'm talking prison time for sure."
"Oh, I'm sorry... I didn't know. Did you bring your boss to fix it?"Gabriela asked. She felt bad about not trusting the girl. "I mean, Sharp Development could've gotten me out of prison, right?" Liberty shrugged.
"Could have? Sure. Would have is a whole different story. I told you early on you're kind of a low priority for the company..., I guess I could've also said it's like a private project I'm doing. It's not that they don't know what I'm doing, but it's not super duper official, you know? This is one of the 'independent Earths' that Sharp Development owns. Generally speaking, they don't like to get involved more than they need to. And, it's kind of hard to say if anyone higher up would've thought they needed to get you out."
"So.. she's not your boss?" Gabriela changed the subject because she didn't like the thoughts the current topic brought up.
"No," Liberty smiled. "A friend of a friend," Liberty said. She walked around Gabriela as the old woman joined them in the kitchen.
"Gabriela, meet Donna Chang," she said as the old woman smiled at her with a nod.
"Hi," Gabriela said.
"Hello," Donna smiled. "I explained the misunderstanding, and fortunately the nice gentlemen understood," she said.
"Wow, thank you!" Gabriela nodded. "I hope you don't mind the question, but I'm still trying to learn about this Earth. What did you tell them? Liberty said they don't like prank calls, is it just respect for your age?" she asked, hopefully without offending.
"Oh no," Donna shook her head as Liberty giggled. "A prank call would have been if they showed up to an empty living room. Fortunately, they found someone who carefully explained the misunderstanding. You see, I accidentally arrived for our first meeting in my dragon form, and you were so distraught that you made the call in a panic. By the time I revealed my true form, Dragon Control was already on the way and nothing could be done."
"You're a dragon!??" Gabriela asked. Then, she looked at Liberty.
"You know a dragon!??" she asked.
"I am," Donna nodded.
"Plenty of them," Liberty added with a smile. "But, Mrs. Chang was the only one I could get on short notice."
"Plenty?? Can I meet some?" Gabriela asked. As much as she was looking forward to making new friends in her magical world, it never occurred to her to ask Liberty directly.
"Are you hungry?" Donna asked with a smile as a black portal opened next to her. "Come, eat at my restaurant. There's usually a few dragons there at any given time," she said, then turned to walk into the portal. Gabriela took a step to follow; but, Liberty stopped her.
"Wait. Are you keeping this home on this Earth?" she asked.
"OHHH definitely!" Gabriela nodded.
"Great!" Liberty smiled. "Have fun, be careful, and don't prank call anyone. Our business is done, so I'll see you around," she waved and left through a separate portal.
"Bye," Gabriela was almost as dismissive as Liberty was. She was going to meet dragons.