"Welcome and welcome back, everybody!" Lana said when they gathered at Portalocity. "My sincerest apologies for missing last week; I'm afraid I had miscalculated my time spent back home. So, introductions will be this week, but we'll still be traveling. And apparently spending extra time and adjusting the portals is something we can do," thank you, Raiden and radio! "so we'll still have plenty of time for our explorations."

She led them through the portal. "We're back in Italy today, but quite a bit drier. This is the Colosseum in Rome. It's the ruins of what was apparently quite a spectacular site a couple thousand years ago, holding gladiatorial combats and other such contests. Not far away, you can also view the remnants of the Forum, the center of political, religious, and commercial life at the time, and the Palatine, which houses the remains of the earliest settlement in the area and later palaces."

She handed out tickets. "I've never done this time-adjusting portals before, so I've arranged for four hours here, and we'll be back at the end of class. We'll see how it works out."