Velcro gets two masks after asking the owner if he has two. You should have known something is going on. Everyone is still wearing one.

You both leave, and walk down the street, wondering what to do next, and wondering why everyone is protecting their chins instead of their bodies, and you wonder why people don't just stop wearing the masks if they are going to do that. Anyway, for some reason, Covid is still a problem here, so you both keep yours on while you are here, in this place.

New York still has people in it, but at about 1/10 the amount. Some people are even waving at each other like they are familiar with them. You have been to New York before, and no one did that. The streets are practically spotless for New York. There are a few papers blowing in the wind. One is orange and describes a band playing next Thursday. The paper hits a pole in front of you, and then blows off in the breeze.

"Well?"says Velcro.

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you think we are here?"

"I don't know. You're the one with the staff."

"It doesn't work that way." Velcro looks flustered. "You were supposed to follow me on the river. The staff is kind of like a mining cart,  and the stream and the raft is kind of like the rails. You now have us falling down a steep slope on a mining cart, no rails, out of control, with no way to guide ourselves, no brake, and we have no idea where we are going in the so called mountain. Congratulations, you've given us a questionable future. We have no idea where we are going, and we could be heading to a dead end where we might meet certain death. " 

"Well, what do we do now?"

"When the the staff can't go where it's supposed to go, it chooses what it finds in your frontal lobe."

"Do you mean it can read your mind?"

"Well, no. It can read yours.  It's tuned to your mind. It was supposed to know when I found you, and take you to a particular place. You ruined that, so it's doing the only other thing it knows to do, listen to your head. I have no idea why, but the Conjurer believes you are special."

"Conjurer? What, is he a magician like David Copperfield or Gandalf or something?"

"What are you stupid? He's not part of a magic act, and he's certainly not a freaking wizard. If anything, he's more of a scientist."

You frown. You can't believe you are stuck with this woman. You can't even walk away from her. She is abrasive and annoying. 

At the same time, upon thinking about it, this whole scenario is kind of your fault. You realize, you were only trying to help her, but from her perspective, you have only created more trouble for her. Apparently, she was sent out on some kind of trek to find you and reel you in because you are needed. "What is so special about me?"

"I was found by a man. He tried to find you but he found me first. I may look human, but I'm actually from all the way across the universe. If you go far enough from your home, there is a place very similar to your place. The only difference is that as soon as reality was conceived, it starts rearranging itself based on chance and probabilities. What you perceive as New York is actually my version of New York. For every particle you have in your world, there is a similar particle being conceived across the universe. At that point chance takes over. Understand?"

You want to satisfy Velcro. It would be so easy to say 'yes'. But you know that will bite you in the butt later. "Well, no."

"Seesh. Didn't you even take quantum physics?"

"I don't think my world is at the same brilliance level as yours."

"Obviously."

You look around. "I think we may be ahead of your people when it comes to medicine." This got you thinking. Before you have time to say anything, Velcro speaks up.

"We had to use up the energy of half of the planet at my home for an entire day to get me to your home and back last time. No, we can't go to your planet, pick up a vaccine for Covid, and return. We are stuck here."

At first you are disappointed. For a moment, you think this whole mishap might be useful in some way. But then the whole mess of this scenario sets in. You are stuck here. "Do you mean you picked me up with no chance of returning me?!" You are furious. "Didn't you even think of me?"

Velcro looks like she is steaming. "This wasn't my doing!"

"Well, it wasn't mine either!