Thrice Great

Safe, For Now

Adapazari, Turkey, 2005 AD
An industrial town in the Sakarya province of Turkey. The town may look plain, but its Alternate side is the largest and most important magical city in the Middle East.

The taxi driver hums along to the car radio, his fingers tapping on the steering wheel.

In the back of his cab, Thoth and Hermes sit in an awkward silence. Rini slumps between them in the middle seat, fast asleep.

The plane landed at Istanbul's airport about an hour ago, and thanks to Thoth's connections, he was able to get them a taxi driver that would take them to his safe house in Adapazari for free. And without asking questions.

Upon landing, Rini had woken up from her slumber. However, the hour-long car ride from Istanbul to Adapazari had lulled her back to sleep again. Thoth and Hermes didn't blame her for doing so. They wanted to sleep too.

The silence in the cab grows with every passing minute, smothering everyone and broken only by the soft singing of the radio and Rini's steady breathing. Streets of almost identical buildings sweep past the windows, most of them dark. Few people stirred at this hour.

At long last, the cab glides to a stop at a street corner. The driver checks something in the front of his cab.

"This is where you want to be, no?"

Thoth blinks himself out of his stupor and peers out the window. He looks out at the rows of drab, two-story homes. Near the middle of the street, a street light flickers on and off. He nods.

"Yes, this is precisely where I want to be," he says in perfect Turkish. "Thank you very much."

The driver nods back in acknowledgment, and Thoth and Hermes let themselves out of the cab. Hermes undos Rini's seatbelt and scoops her into his arms. Her head falls onto his shoulder, and she sighs in her sleep.

The cab drives off into the night, leaving only the three.

"Are you sure this is where we want to be?" Hermes asks. "Place doesn't seem like the type of place you'd put a safe house."

"Oh, it is," Thoth replies, walking down the street. Hermes follows him. "You would know if you'd decided to come here with me last time we were here instead of staying at that hotel and sleeping with a girl."

"Hey!"

"Don't get mad at the truth." Thoth stops in front of an empty lot. Behind him stood the flickering light.

He pulls out his wand, disguised as a pen, and clicks it. It expands into his caduceus, gleaming in the streetlight. Thoth holds it in front of him, towards the lot, then moves forward.

The caduceus bumps into a force field of some type. The outline of a wavy bubble appears over the lot, encasing it. The streetlight blinks with more urgency than before. A disembodied voice speaks.

"Password please."

Thoth takes one hand off his caduceus and places it onto the force field. The voice speaks again.

"Magic signature recognized. Any guests to declare?"

"Yes. The Greek god Hermes and Eirena Gavras."

"Please allow them to give their magic signatures."

"Put some part of your and Rini's body onto the force field. It needs to get your signatures."

Everybody in the Alternate worlds has their own magic signature, unique to them. It flows through their body, in every single cell of them, and it cannot be replicated by any artificial means. This allows for a foolproof password that can't be forged, so magic signature recognition is used as a common form of security.