Ken was nibbling a bit at his forest's edges, and as he glanced the others were eating deeper in... Ken thought back to how he'd used the remote on Kate and she'd seemed disappointed... How little Ken was... Ken could be bold. He could do it, he could eat into this forest and... The further he got the deeper and more concentrated the flavors became until he stopped eating food as much as he was eating thoughts and ideas. For a bit Ken could feel his mind slipping away for a second till he got an idea "I am Me... Me is Sane, Sane is me..." a single word, but it mattered a lot. It was a magic word that wasn't actually Sane but the logic held the same. His sane brain didn't process everything the same but... he felt he got a deeper connection to some base of magic... as his stomach started feeling a little bit ill and then he noticed a straight line he mowed through to the center of the forest. There were so many complicated thoughts and ideas that he'd need to digest... quite literally, and he dared not look near the center.
"That was dumb..." Ken muttered
"No arguments from me" Magnus replied
Joanne said "Yes... as an idea the forest is to more get an idea of how... deep you may go. Really I'm not sure you've gotten to the center exactly, but... Either you've got something protecting your head or you've got a massive aptitude for magic. You'd still need more base fundamentals drilled into you though." Sinclair just stood silent. The salad portion of the meal was ending and not a single plate was cleared except for Christoph's. There were some common patterns of a cone in the forest, the edges eaten away... really only Ken had eaten a straight line to the forest's center. Sinclair, Magnus, and Joanne then stood up Joanne saying "We have others we'd like to talk to while we're here. I think your friend's visitors are doing the same." then the older woman left Ken.
Ken waved over to Kate and sat at her vacated table and asked "Hey... ate with a guy from a peace corp, a witch, and an artist you?"
Kate sighed "Some mechanic who I think wanted to take me apart... or at least one of my nanomachines, a super authoritarian, and a super commie... turns out when you can theoretically assimilate entire populations that makes you a good tool to either make everyone equal or everyone do your bidding."
"Sorry... You're not thinking of-"
"Of course not. I renounced humanity not morality... although..."
"...Although?"
"They did wonder if I had cut myself off from... as they described it Kate's life."
"What do you mean? You are Kate?"
"Yeah, but as they described it Kate's the 21 year old girl who lives with her parents... and I am a nanomachine android who can become akin to a hive mind... Even if I don't mess with everyone's minds I could just leave a Kate to live the life and as a nanomachine android... live in the other world." Kate looked at her hands for a moment "It's... tempting... but I'm not sure... I mean... I might be able to but...."
"Here... I may be getting some sort of... tutor of magic... or maybe more like an apprentice. There isn't a hogwartz but-"
Kate glared at Ken with Jealousy "Ugh... I wanted to be a little witch too, but I had to jump at the first opportunity I got."
"To be fair we didn't know this was a thing, and we kind of... did we luck into getting this meal?" Ken wondered
Two familiar strangers walked up and a slender man said "I'll answer the question if those seats aren't taken yet."
Ken looked to Kate then said "They aren't... wait... you're the guys we stole the reservations from."
The plumper of the two said "If the little wave we gave didn't clue you in, no hard feelings. That little remote of yours is a trinket for changing the mundane, we could've resisted if we wanted to but... Where's the fun in stomping on some new bloods?"
Ken didn't feel very safe in fact he was getting a little queasy as a small burp escaped his mouth as did a miniature egg which rolled on the table, hatched into a chick which quickly grew into a rooster, which then died as it's body scorched into a rotisserie chicken. The 4 looked at it for a second before Ken felt like he needed to... He snatched it back up and chomped on it. Bloodless, tasty, magic... Another word... He felt a lot was lost in translation and he wasn't the best at... digesting magic? Life... that was a word he felt he learned in some core magic language. Not one even needed to be spoken... Still he didn't dare just blurt it out into the world... what would "Life" do on it's own?
The 3 stared at him as Ken said "Umm... having a hard time digesting the forest."
The taller man coughed and said "We should introduce ourselves. We're the Simulation Twins."
The plumper man chuckled "We are identical... but unless you really try you're going to change your appearance at least a bit in our world. I'm Harry, and I simulate all sorts of fantasies that you can or can't imagine in dream worlds that you could visit."
The taller slender man said "And I'm Barry, I use magic computers to simulate realities. A lot of what ifs, potentials... just seeing how changing the strength of gravity reshapes the whole universe and things like that."
Kate's eyes lit up a little and asked "I bet you'd be a great Dungeon Master Harry."
Harry looked a little affronted "I do not create Dun-"
Barry nudged his brother a little "No... I think she's talking about mundane tabletop board games. Not actual Dungeons. Role playing and the like."
"Oh... I guess I could... Maybe..." Harry pondered
There was a bit of silence for a second before Ken asked "So... did you just want to chat? Invite us into a simulation or... something?"
Barry said "Mostly just sharing a meal, seeing what the couple who tried to swap with us were like. I guess if you wanted to we could do some sort of deal for simulations..."
Kate asked "...So... I've heard money isn't really a thing in this community of sorts... what's the money like?"
Harry rolled his eyes "It really just depends on the person. I know a guy who fashions himself as a dragon trapped in a human who'd do nearly anything for exponentially more money or spells to make him more dragon-like. For us... novelty I suppose."
Barry tried explaining "We have a wide variety of skills to test... but if you don't want to step on someone else's toes then... Well what better place than a little pocket dimension of sorts that you alone own?"
"Novelty..." Ken spoke
"Yes. Entertainment in a sense. As long as we don't piss off someone more powerful we can live a long long time, and what better way to pass the time than to be entertained?"
Ken thought out loud "Just... thinking about my goals. Was about to start college but wasn't sure what I wanted to study... I think... even if I got magic I'd still be looking for something to actually do. It's a skill to help to other things and not an end unto itself is it?"
Harry chuckled "Not to some. A few really get lost in the depths of magic as if it is the reason to exist. But I get your point. You're probably not that type. So long as you do what you want you don't need more power, but you don't know exactly what you want yet right?" Ken nodded.
Kate said "I think I'm in a similar boat... I need to get a better handle on what I can do, but then... with this new ceiling of potential... I need to re-evaluate what I want."
Barry smiled and said "Well don't try too hard. You've both got a long time to figure out what you really want. Don't forget to enjoy the present though."
The chief came out and said "Well thank you all for coming, and after the appetizer and our salad we're about to bring out the main course. We hope you all enjoy The World." At which point the kitchen staff came out holding globes... Earths the size of a grapefruits hovering over a plate.
Harry said "Now if you actually stole our reservations truly I'd have to kill you. The Chief really know how to treat everyone when Christoph is around."
Ken stare at his "World" and wondered how he'd try to eat it.