Quills

"We managed to heal your leg, including your muscle tissue, without any discoloration. You may have noticed weakness. We could not remove some of your old scars. You had a couple of unknown infections we healed you of. We cured you of an odd radiation poisoning, not something that you should have been exposed to. Your burns seem to have healed. That must be itchy? Your teeth were regenerated and aligned, various vitamin and mineral deficiencies have been corrected. How do you feel?" Liem explained and asked. He shifted back to his professional attitude. Nora watched the translation scroll. 

"It has been such a long time since I have felt this good. What kind of radiation was I exposed to?" Nora asked curiously, wondering about the composition of flashing energy that brought her to this world. Maybe it would be the eventual key to going home. 

"One is found in a deep system unknown word explosions and very dirty old radiation from a fuel source. It was in everything. Your clothes. We cannot find a trace of it anywhere. It was buried and should not even exist", Liem explained. It clicked in her head that the dirty radiation would have been from the nuclear weapons used on earth, Chernobyl, Fukushima and medical testing. The mysterious cosmic radiation must have been what transported her. Home, planet Earth may no longer exist.

 "That is what killed them all. It was just a flash, and they were all gone. Just like that. Burned." Nora said. Unless others found themselves in alternate worlds or dimensions like herself with adequate healthcare. Nora's face sunk. She was stuck and lucky to have survived. Mia, as much as she hated her, was most likely dead. Mark too. A concerned look spread across Liem's face after he finished reading the translated words on his own 'augmented reality screen'. The atmosphere was very gloomy in the room. Her stomach growled very loudly and her face flushed. 

"You must be hungry. It has been days since you had a solid meal, '' said Liem, happy to hear the interruption.

"I will have a meal prepared for you. Do you have any dislikes?" He asked. 

"Everything is different here. I do not know what I might be allergic to here. I do not even know what to call the plants and animals. I will have to trust you," Nora said. 

"I see we will play it safe then, and I will have medical staff ready whenever we introduce a new food. You liked the fruit?" Liem said as he pointed at the empty bowl. 

"Yes, they looked familiar, so I decided to try them. Sorry." Nora said, aware of how reckless she had been. 

"I will eat your meals with you to show you how to eat them, use the no match found, and no match found." Liem said. Nora knew he was talking about cutlery. She looked at the night gown like the garment she was wearing. 

"Where are my clothes?" Nora said. She would like to bathe. She was itchy.

"Your original property had to be destroyed during your decontamination. You received some as gifts, but they are too large. We have some appropriately sized garments ordered. There are only five adjustable juvenile sets in the cabinet that may fit awkwardly. The new garments should arrive soon" Liem answered. Nora eyed the cabinet. 

"We also have other comfort garments as well. Less restrictive than the versions you were found in," Liem said. 

"Why do I not feel any pain?" Nora asked. Liem went on to explain the hardware inside her. It was a Matriarch Graded system that consisted of multiple pieces of hardware that were powered by her own body. Several pieces of hardware were installed by nano robotics. The hardware would self-repair itself. The system was installed by multiple injections and implantations throughout her body. He gave her a brief explanation of how to close and how to open and operate different applications. It was important for her to know how to open up the schooling materials. Nora started to wonder what the role of a Matriarch was and why she would need special hardware and applications. A pleasant chime went off her head, it sounded like high-quality headphones. She winced. 

"That was our meal notification. That must have been shocking. It turns off when you sleep. I'll let them bring the food in" Liem said. 

Liem walked over and opened the lock and opened the door. Nora made note of how he did it. Observation was important; she had to pay attention to every detail. How people reacted to Liem and how they reacted to seeing her. Nora listened to the man as the words popped up on the screen as the different parties communicated at the door. Two men in different uniforms came into the room with a cart. No one was wearing rank, but it seemed like the men who were bringing in her meal were in a lower rank than the man accompanying her. Liem was more than a teacher, he was in a position of power to these men. It was evident. The men kept looking at her, but they would only look at Alphem Liem Allari in a manner that conveyed respect and maybe a little fear. It was a respectful skittishness. With all the men around her, Nora started to wonder why she still had not yet seen another woman. It was alarming.

' Surely women are not this rare? Alphem Liem Allari seemed like he had some sort of high mixed rank. Their names were a little weird, but Miss Nora Elizabeth Quill would be weird to them too. It is a mouthful though. It was construed as intimate in some earth cultures to not use honorifics. Alphem seems to be a rank of sorts. Bitas failed to translate when he addressed his subordinates in the room. Bitas must be a rank as well?' Nora thought as she watched the interaction curiously. 

"Come and sit down," Liem said. He pulled out a seat from the table for her to sit first. 

"Thank you. It looks good," Nora said. The meal was beautifully presented on a large platter. Cutlery in front of her. There seemed to be different portions of the vegetables. The side facing her was less diverse. She understood why. Luckily, Nora had some experience with multiple international cuisines and was quite an adventurous gourmand. She had dined her fair share on all of earth's species and some of their eggs, fermented foods of many types, spicy foods, salted foods and even moldy foods. Nora steeled herself, Liem walked up behind her with a pitcher of an aromatic herbaceous cold brew tea, and poured her a glass. 

"This is Liotte. Smell it first, does it smell of anything you are allergic to?" Liem asked. Nora sniffed the glass. 

"No." Nora said, dumbfounded. Nora's jaw slackened, and she felt a little giddy to have him waiting on her. Nora shook her head. It smelled like peppermint and anise.

 Liem started to cut her meat on the platter. It was red meat cooked to medium temperature. He poured a herbaceous mixture that looked similar to Chimichurri on it, and sprinkled salt on the meat. He was very elegant with his movements. Like he was used to this. Liem then placed a napkin on her. It was large. She felt the compulsion to tell him to stop. She had trained herself not to act roughly from her interactions on Earth, to be cautious, quiet and observe the culture of an area before dining, and it appeared now like she was a respected guest, so she decided to return the respect. 

"What is your full title?" Liem asked curiously, having no idea how to pronounce what they found on her foreign identification cards. Nora looked up and decided to go with what was on her cards.

"I am eighteen years old. My full name is Miss Lenora Elizabeth Quill, but you can call me Nora for short", Nora answered, trying to be friendly and drop the honorifics that they used.

 "Nora Quill," Liem smiled while saying it. Practising again. It was odd, she was so friendly, he was not used to the nice tone, the courtesy and being looked in the eyes.

"Just Nora is fine." She said to correct him. Liem shot her a slightly puzzled look. 

"Don't worry, we have no reason to be hostile to your clan. Nora, you can go by your full name here. In fact, there are many men already that would be honored by becoming part of your clan," Liem said and averted his gaze. Serving her and being this close was not abhorrent. He was trying to respectfully address her and was just dangerously close to flirting with her. He did not know what was wrong with him. It was inappropriate considering what she had just gone through. 

'She has not picked up her cutlery,' Liem thought. He thought that she would at least have used Tongs. Tongs have been used for hundreds of years.

"It would actually make me feel more comfortable being just called Nora, Liem. Is that alright? Liem." Nora said, shortening his name. 

"Yes, friends call each other their intimate names here," Liem says. The Northern people were apparently really kind. The textbooks had mixed information on them as, of course, they were vilified for their political views on rack breeding, gender equality and second naming.

"Oh good, I would like to be your friend, Liem. I cannot thank you enough for helping me," Nora said. She watched for a reaction, only to see a blush starting to wash across his face. She was alright with his reaction, she had nothing to lose other than her life. Nora was happy that she had not had an allergic reaction so far to the food she had ingested. The fruit was delicious. She would have to start making notes. She started to feel more relaxed. 

'The more you like me, the safer I will be.' Nora thought.