Arai slowed down and pointed to a sign beside a stairwell connecting to the hallway. "I need to use the bathroom."

"All right," I agreed. "I hope they aren't too far away from wherever these steps come out."

I hadn't used a gravity toilet since we left Earth, and it had also been a while since I used the water suction toilet when I woke up this morning.

We cautiously ascended the stairs to the museum and peeked out the door at the top. No one was in sight. Even better, the bathrooms were close by. The guys left their chainsaws in the stairwell as we entered the museum.

I quickly began walking to the bathroom doors. "We can regroup in the stairwell when we're done."

Isla followed me while both men went next door. The women's bathroom was small – but it was also empty. When I came out of the stall, I paused as I realized something rather significant.

The hand sanitizer dispensers that were everywhere on Earth were nowhere to be found here. Just sinks and bars of soap in the shape of gears.

Isla came out and offered me an alcoholic hand wipe in a baggie.

"Thanks!" I was grateful for the ability to clean my hands without having to hide in a bathroom stall for a minute or two. My old school backpack always had these wipes, but I hadn't thought to grab any for this trip.

"No problem, I gave Corvus several to share with Arai."

"Good thinking."

She grinned at the praise and went to the door, opening it a crack to check if anyone was around. "All clear."

I quickly followed her, catching up to the two boys who were already heading for the stairwell. Corvus slowed, distracted by the roped-off display beside us.

"Why is the chair on a dais?"

"I really don't know."

It must have been a hard question if even Isla was stumped.

Gears slowly turned the dais like some super important object to be admired as spotlights shone down upon it. The chair was some sort of comfy-looking leather recliner, but I didn't see what was so special about it.

Isla paused to read a nearby plaque. "We hereby present Professor Quimby Stirlingwell's first reclining chair! Entirely powered by steam, its posture correcting design is ideal for after-tea naps... and it just keeps going on."

"Is an after-tea nap like an after-lunch nap?" Corvus asked, eyeing up the chair like he wanted to try it out.

"Possibly." Isla kept reading the rather lengthy description.

Corvus took a step forward. "I wonder if that chair is as comfortable as it looks."

"Let's not try it," I hastily said, "it might piss the curators off."

Arai sagely commented, "I'd rather be pissed off then pissed on."

I rolled my eyes. "No. You'd rather be pissed off than pissed on."

"It sounds close enough," he said, shrugging indifferently.

"Uh, no. There is a big difference between then and than," I retorted.

"Huh?" he asked, staring at me with a blank gaze. Then he blinked as realization crossed his face. "Ohhh... Yeah, I don't want that."

I shook my head and muttered, "Don't worry about it. Those two words are almost as bad as there, their, and they're."

"Huh? Those sounded the same to me."

I winced. "Nevermind. I'll get you a dictionary for Christmas."

The problem there was that he would have to know how to spell those words in order to look them up.

I opened the stairwell door and held it while the others went inside. With a final glance back at the empty building, I passed through the doorway and followed them.

The guys picked up the chainsaws again, and we resumed our cross-city trek.

We rounded the corner and slowed down when we spotted five men working. Well, one was digging a hole beneath the cobblestone floor while the other four leaned on their shovels and watched.

The orange construction signs between them and us did not bode well for our plans.

"Oh, our apologies, folks," one of the observers said, noticing us. "This part of the corridor is closed while we fix a broken steam pipe. However, you can go up this elevator to the spa. The gear works building is next door, and they have a stairwell that continues on the other side."

I really didn't want to take a detour, and the hole only took up half of the hallway.

"If we promise not to fall into the hole," I said, "can we just sneak by and keep going?"

"Sorry, Ma'am, our insurance policy prevents people from being close to a construction site."

"But it's just a hole, and it isn't even knee-deep yet."

"Sorry." He shrugged helplessly. "The rules are the rules."

I groaned. "How many people are going to see us? We don't even have goggles on!" I hoped that he might have some sympathy if these people put as much value on goggles as they did on gears and leather.

"Oh, that is a terrible thing. Wait a minute. We can't let you through, but we might have some spare pairs of goggles you can have."

I tried to hide my shock as he dug through a nearby leather bag. He turned around, proudly holding up four pairs of goggles.

"Here you go! These likely aren't the same quality as the ones you lost, but they will let you get through the two buildings without standing out too much." He paused and blinked, before adding, "Although the lack of gears on your clothing is a different problem. Since you will be in the gear works building, I suggest picking up a few sets."

He passed the goggles over.

"Thank you," I said, taking them and passing them to my group.

"No problem."

We quickly put our goggles on like theirs were, and got into the elevator the men had indicated.

As the doors were closing, we heard one of the men ask his friends, "Were the women wearing tassel cloaks?"

I gritted my teeth. What was wrong with tassels? They were even made of leather, for crying out loud!

The elevator stopped, and the door opened, revealing a desk with a very well-dressed lady behind it. There were five sets of lenses in her goggles and so many buttons and gears I could barely make out the leather of her stylish dress.

"Hello," she began, "we were informed about the construction below, and I will happily tell you how to reach the front door. Face masks are at the front desk, and you may borrow them to go into the next building. Your group will have to split up until you reach the front lobby, though."

"Uh, why?" I asked.

"This is a spa, and the men and women have different areas. Getting to the door is quite simple. Men go to the left, and women go to the right. In both cases, follow the darker brown tiles to the lobby."

I hesitated, then realized there was no sense in arguing with someone with so many buttons and gears. At least we got to borrow face masks, although it wouldn't conceal my fancy cloak or the two massive bundles the guys were carrying.

I sighed and told the guys, "We'll meet you by the front lobby. Corvus, you're in charge of Arai. Don't let him wander off."

"Me?" he asked, staring at me in surprise.

I rolled my eyes in good humor. "Congratulations, handsome. You are the chosen one."

"Cool! What superpowers do I get?"

I smirked. "The ability to know when you've pissed me off just a little bit too much. We'll meet you by the door."

"But that's not a superpower!" Arai protested.

Corvus subtly whapped him with the chainsaw as he turned to leave. "Shush. My dad has wished for that ability for years."

I took a quick peek at the lady, who was pointedly ignoring us as she filed her nails. With a sigh of relief, I went down the other hallway with Isla.

Only when I noticed that Isla seemed lost in thought, did I realize that I had kind of flirted with Corvus. Even worse, he had seemed intrigued, even going so far as to rebuff Arai's complaints.