Scenery: 1

Careful planning was the strategy her family used to survive. Sit back and think. Skillful lies were her food and shelter. Her parents trained her well, so that not a single mistake that couldn’t be planned for would be made. 
So, if they were with her now, she imagined how much they’d be yelling at her.
Let’s count Cory’s sins over the past few hours, shall we?
One, she sealed off her home and left it for nature to claim, only taking a few things with her for survival’s sake.
Two, she wandered off with no map. There wasn’t an up to date one in the house anyway, so perhaps that could be forgiven.
Three, she had planned to enter a random country that bordered her plot of land with no consideration to any previous agreements between her family and the ruling governments.
Four, when she’d come across a strange amassing of energy, rather than immediately turning around, she decided to take a closer look. Cory chose to blame her parents for not teaching her about the potential dangers of unknown magic.
Five, even as the strange phenomenon grew in intensity, she did not back down. In fact, she had gotten so close, that whatever this was engulfed her quickly. Such is life: to live with the consequences of one’s own actions.
Oh, but we’re not done.
Six, once Cory was oriented again, the change in scenery was obvious. So instead of going back the way she came, to a place she was more familiar with, she decided to explore.
Seven, when given the opportunity to start over, introduce herself as someone normal, and hope she can blend in, she did not take that opportunity. In fact, on this strange new floating civilization, she had immediately put on her mask of confidence, declaring her magical prowess.
Eight, when many of these… inhabitants called her into question, rather than passing it off as a performance, she doubled down and sung her own praises. 
Nine, when the inhabitants, “constructs” as she learned they were called, directed her to a very regal and important looking “airship”, she did not decline this and instead went along with it.
Now that her sins have been accounted for, she can readily address her current predicament.
She recognized the appearance of mechanisms from the trinkets she would take apart in her spare time. However, the existence of… flying… land? Ships? Cities? She wasn’t exactly sure how to classify what she was boarding, was very new to her.
In fact, the idea of her being very, very far into the sky sent shivers up her spine.
“Ma’am. This way.” 
Not to mention the residents. They looked like mechanisms themselves. Cory tried not to let the uneasiness show on her face as she strode after the construct. 
As she boarded the airship as she was told, she was almost knocked over by a sudden gust of wind. Stopping in her tracks, the pause gave her just a bit of time to admire the place she’d wandered into.
There was no hope of seeing the ground past the floor of clouds, but the monochrome backdrop made the ship look even more impressive. She couldn’t see all of it from her position so close to it, but the deep reds and golden accents were hard to miss among the white expanses. The sight stole her breath for just a moment.
But never mind that, as for what really shocked her, it was only a few steps away for her.
Bustling chaos. There were more things moving on this “airship” than Cory could keep track of. Not only were the heights making her dizzy, but the voices and clanks and hisses and footsteps and wind and whistles and clatters and¬—
She suddenly felt nauseous. 
Everything was fast. Moving at breakneck speed. It wasn’t even the kind of fast she’d seen in the capitals back home. It wasn’t just bustling, it felt like a madhouse!
“Ma’am. You’ve stopped.”
You don’t say?
Cory had just about had enough. Whatever this place was, it drained her of any capacity of hers to act composed so quickly that she wasn’t sure she could even respond naturally, much less convince anyone to let her abscond while she still could.
She had to focus on something. Anything.
“Uh, s-say, what’s this place called?” she struggled out.
“This is Soujel. The sort of ‘epicenter’ of Avangard.” Her mechanical escort provided.
“Oh. Good. Lovely. Where are we… where are we going?” Cory cursed her failing voice, not that she could hear it well over all the commotion.
“To the registry. I’d like to confirm your identity.”
“What if I’m not on it?”
“Then we’ll put you on it.”
Cory didn’t have much to say to that. Her guide was blunt, to be certain. Based on the cacophony of personalities all around her, that didn’t seem to be the norm for these constructs. Then this guide must just be rather straightforward. Honestly, she greatly preferred it that way. If they’d been peppy or extraverted, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to keep her waning composure.
In fact, she was already reaching her limit, and they’d been walking for maybe three minutes.
“Uh, hey, not to be a bother, but… but is there a quieter place? To rest? Or something?” With all her bravado stripped away by the noise, Cory was now desperate to get some sort of control back. Her guide, thankfully, was unfazed by her request.
“Yes. Follow me.” To the point as ever. Either way, the sooner they left, the better.
They took her to a secluded corner. It wasn’t exactly what she’d call quiet, but it was leagues better than what she’d just come out of. Cory took those precious moments to stabilize her nerves.
“You are distressed.” Said her guide.
“Quite.” She said. There was no point in hiding it.
“Why?”
“I’m just overwhelmed.”
“From what?”
“The noise.”
“Why?”
“I’m just used it to it being quiet.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
“Eh?” that caught Cory’s attention.
“Why?” she asked them. Her guide hadn’t expressed much up to that point, so their sudden change in tone was surprising.
“All cities are like this. I assumed that, if you’re not used to it, then you must have been alone for a while. I’m sorry.”
“Oh. Uh, it’s not a big deal.” Cory sucked in a breath and adjusted her posture. She pasted on her signature look of overconfidence and grinned at her guide.
“Anyway, let’s get going. I’ve got a registry to sign!”