Honestly, Gaia seems unaware of the particular attention Barnabas is paying to her. She's aware of his presence and is probably keeping some sort of eye on him; they're strangers in the end and a stranger offering largess is someone to be mindful of. But if she's catching him regarding her, then it's no less of what she's doing to him. It doesn't bear much more thought than that.

Gaia considers his question after the man offers confirmation of the lack in a native population.

"Well, yes. At least a little. A place empty of anyone but the people pulled here to determine how much of reality might be saved?" She crosses her arms, but it's more of... wrapping against the chill of her thoughts, not of the winter air.

"It's all well and good to think of that as meaning there's no natives with a self-interest and bias. But then who set this up in the first place? It's either artificial... or lonely."

Or something else she doesn't have a grasp on so early.

"Perhaps it's just me. I was pulled from my world to another before this one. And at least there were people who had a vested interest in calling on an outside force to help them be saved or... recover. Whatever else was going on that caused us to be summoned there."

Gaia lets out a huff.