"Oh, don't worry. It may not be illegal, but there's a fair number of real parental types 'round here. The for-real grown-ups." Older adults, ones who were usually in some form of caretaking positions back home. Abby isn't the youngest person here, but she's close, which means that there are definitely people who will try to keep an eye on her. Julie is probably the best shield Abby can hope for when it comes to that.

Head cocking slightly, Julie takes note of Abby's movements. Most women are touchy about their stomachs, their hips, their boobs. But that's not what makes Abby fidget. Hm.

The robots finish, and the seamstress directs Abby behind a screen to undress and hand off the clothes for actual alteration, promising that it will only be a few minutes. Julie primps in the mirror while they wait, speaking through the screen.

"Mm, no real clues yet," she explains, sucking her teeth. "It's more complicated than you need to know right now, but basically, you got pulled through a door that only opens one way, least as far's we know. There's only two ways back, and neither of 'em are somethin' we control. Sometimes, people go home in their dreams, live for months or years just like normal, then they wake up back here with the memories but no lost time. All of 'em said they didn't remember bein' here. The only way out permanently is... well, you just vanish. We can't be sure people actually go home. Anyone they've Summoned back after that doesn't know what happened."

It's a simplistic explanation, for a question to which they don't truly know the answer. There's been a handful of times where the re-Summoned do seem to retain some memories of their first summoning, the people and the experiences, but those are the exception, not the rule.

"Goin' home is sort of a sensitive subject here. We don't all agree on if or how."