we find ourselves in the strangest places, down the strangest roads

[duology]

There's a pop, like the sound of a bubble bursting, and Dev appears in Grant Park, standing just on the edge of Buckingham fountain. He stumbles a little, blinking furiously against sudden daylight, and almost dropping the duffle he's holding into the water. He has a moment to take in his surroundings and then he's dodging, rather quickly, as a toaster falls from the sky and almost clocks him in the head. It bounces off the edge of the fountain and rolls off across the ground.

Dev is still and quiet as he contemplates both the toaster and the sudden appearance of a lake and what seems to be a Chicago skyline. A few moments pass.

"Not New Babylon, is it? Not in Kansas at all anymore, Dorothy."

Anyone nearby with psychic or telepathic abilities might be able to hear the young woman's voice in his head that actually responds.

{An illusion?}

"Bit elaborate, innit? Night to day and all. Odd to go to all this trouble to spring a trap and then not come out and say hello."

{Well, then?}

Dev fidgets a little, looking uncomfortable and frustrated and out of his element.

"Dunno," he says finally with a sigh, and he sits down on the edge of the fountain. "Don't like this, Ace. Don't like this at all."