Gaspery, a time traveler, explicitly wonders, “what makes a world real?” (206). Reality is explored in terms of the natural world and a manufactured, or simulated, world. There are several avenues of thought, such as sensory experience defining what is real. On Earth, Olive notes, “Everything that can be touched is real” (71), but she distinguishes between plant life that grows naturally and “biotech” (71) that is created by humans. The sensory experience of touch is important to her, but it is not a way to determine what is created by nature and what is created by humans. However, when Gaspery considers if his reality is a simulation, he groups human-made objects and nature-made objects together. “The desk is real [...] The wilted flowers on the desk are real [...] Zoey’s hair. My hands” (128). The desk is manufactured and the flowers could be biotech, but the human body (rather than an AI) is usually considered natural. 

Gaspery asks, “How do you investigate reality?” (130). This question is complicated by advanced technology. Both Olive and Gaspery are from a moon colony (Colony Two), where people are aware that humans create nature. To Gaspery, Colony One’s “dome lighting still looked like theater” (117).