Marin and Laura finally step out of the medbay. Thankfully no one else lives in here or else they would have been hearing confused yelling for the last hour. Both of the girls look even more tired than when they went to bed several hours ago. Mentally drained by the sheer weight of knowledge they have noidea what to do with.
The words Magical Abilities lead to an entire rabbit hole of questions for their respective brain computers. And sadly they get significantly less out of it than they wanted. A lot of confirmation that Magic does in fact exist and a whole lot less on how exactly they even do that. It seems their systems limitations are a lot more broad than expected and without a connection to the mysterious Soul Network they basically have no hope of a direct answer. And that is not even to mention the Spiritual Abilities thing too. Asking about that lead to mentions of Lesser to Greater Terrestrial Deities and both girls agreed to stop there before their brains melted.
Now the girls have decided that today is the best time to get a lay of the land outside. After stopping at the kitchen for a light meal they make their way into the armory. Which they now know for sure is an armory as that is the exact wording on its signage out in the hall besides the doorway. Signage that Marin can now greatfully see.
The two entered and Laura headed left for the section of the wall that stored the gear that they had access to. But Marin stopped near the doorway and turned to face the right wall where she wasn't able to open anything before. Her curiosity getting the better of her as she approached one of the large hidden compartments. Poking her finger against the icon on the top corner of it that only the nanite eyes can see. It pops up a holographic blue window that lists the contents within. Skimming over the list she saw exactly what she expected to see.
"I fucken knew it."
Laura turned around from the compartment she had opened where she found the environment suits were kept. "What's up? Aren't those ones locked?"
Marin puts her hands on her hips and nods. "Well it was. But now…I wonder…" Her brows furrowed as she looked at the compartment and willed it to open. The green light flashed in the corner of the compartment before it unsealed with a hiss and slid outward. Inside was 3 separated racks. Each rack had 6 white cubic and rectangular shapes. The bottom rack having the largest ones, about the length of a scateboard. The middle rack ones are much smaller and the top rack being the smallest. The top rack ones are plugged into a charger like the knifes were but they definitely don't look like handles.
Marin reached down and unseats one of the large white rectangles. Lifting it up with both hands. It's pretty decently heavy but not anything unwieldy. As she's looking at it she sees some red text pop up next to it in her hands.
//Do you wish to link with this equipment?
Laura sets down one of the air packed suits she was looking at and walks over curiously. "What is that?"
Marin mentally accepts the floating prompt. After doing so, a part of the rectangular object pops out from inside of it. A grip and a trigger. To which Marin grabs, causing the rest of the rectangle to begin popping open in places and unfolding parts until what she now holds is a pure white angular boxy rifle. Laura widening her eyes at it as Marin shoulders it, left hand settled on the mid-point of the rifle right in front of where an open slot is. "Do you know how to shoot?" The taller girl asks the blonde, giving her a glance as she brings the rifle up to an aiming position. The top part of the rifle is pretty flat but she's gracious to see when she aims down it she can see literal hologram sights down the spine of the weapon.
Laura clears her throat a little nervously. She already sort of knew that it is probably going to be dangerous out there. But the sight of her lover checking over an assualt rifle is really selling it home. "Uh…not really. My parents weren't exactly gun people. Fencing and taekwondo were my extra curriculars. Aside from studying for med school most of the time." She would answer with a sheepish smile. "Sorry…"
Marin lowered the rifle to look over at Laura. "There's no need to apologize. Can't be a sick badass at everything." She responds with a teasing smirk, then turning the rifle over to inspect the empty slot between the rectangular barrel and the grip. "Definitely looks like where a magazine goes." She would mutter as she looks to the weapon racks storage list. "Oh!" Then reaching over the top rack where the small white rectangles on the charging ports are. Pulling one out as the light in the port turns red. Then she slots it into the opening in the rifle until it clicks into places. The rifle giving a brief electronic buzz that mellows out. Marin keeping her finger off the trigger. "Well…I feel a lot safer now."
Laura chuckles a bit awkwardly, honestly not feeling as safe. "Let's just hope you won't need to use it." She would say before turning back to the equipment she was looking at. The blonde focuses on the compressed package she had been holding. The plastic is see through and the listing on the drawer said this was some sort of environmental suit. Seems easy to open as well. Just pulling a tab at the top and the bag depressurizes and decompresses. Taking out the suit, it feels thick and rubbery. Like everything else in this bunker it's colored a sterile white.
Laura's brows kind of furrow at the suit as she unfolds it. It's honestly pretty baggy. And is very stretchy as well. Doesn't seem to have a zipper or anything either. The only opening being the neck hole as the suit has built in gloves and shoes. Reaching her hand inside the interior feels really soft and her hand glides into the suit easily. The blonde pursing her lips as she considers searching for something else to wear but decides this is probably the literal safest option.
Marin watches as Laura sets the suit down on one of the raised floor blocks that acts as a bench. Hooking her thumbs into her simple sweat pants and pulling them down. Stripping to just her underwear, Laura glances over at Marin who seems to have turned around to give the blonde some privacy. Which Laura sort of feels a bit annoyed at. "Its just my underwear. You don't have to look away."
Marin visibly flinches at the remark while the taller girl has busied herself with fiddling around on the rifle. Her face a shade darker with blush. "Uh…um…I know that. Just…makin sure the…gun…good…" She stammers in response. Knowing full well how ridiculous she looks being so shy but she can't really help it. Her girlfriend is very pretty.
Laura can't help but smirk. Her annoyance melting away as she remembers how much of a bashful dork Marin is. The blonde pulls open the neck hole of the suit. The material stretching out easily to accommodate her she she slides her feet in and down the legs of the suit until her feet slip into the built in shoes. Then she tugs the suit up her body and slides in her arms. It doesn't take her much effort at all to put it all the way on but boy is it loose. Unflatteringly so as she stands up and the suits material bunches up uncomfortably around her. "Well…this isn't ideal." She would say as Marin finally turned around the see her.
The taller girl covers her mouth quickly as she stifles a laugh. The blonde narrowing her eyes at the other woman. Marin holds up her hands in mock surrender. "Sorry. Was there not other sizes?" She asks, folding the rifle back down and setting it aside for now before walking over.
Laura shakes her head. "Nope. No sizes or anything. I know this suit will likely protect me but this is just really unflattering." The blonde sighs as she looks at the very loose material around her arms. Just as she does so a prompt appears in her vision right next to her hand, just like the rifle did for Marin. Laura purses her lips and nods, mentally accepting it. And in an instant the suit beeps and sucks in. The material comforming to her body snuggly. Both girls eyes widening at it.
Marin stares for a good few seconds. "Oh…wow…get in the robot Shinji…"
Laura cocking a brow at her girlfriend. "What?"
The taller girl clears her throat. "Oh…uh…it's from a…um…never mind" She slumps a bit before stepping past Laura to grab a suit for herself.
For the next few minutes the two girls gear up with whatever useful items they can find. Eventually they are both suited up, equipped with the tactical belts that even had holsters for the grips of their laser knives. Marin and Laura doing stretches in the white environment suits to test the range of motion and finding that it doesn't really impede them at all.
Laura giving herself a look over. "Is it…weird to say that I'm surprised it's form fitting but not TOO form fitting?" The blonde certainly can admire the contours of her body in the suit. And more notably Marin's but she's trying her best not to stare. But the suits certainly do conform but don't compress too deep which is nice.
Marin chuckles as she gives a little flex of her arms and can definitely see a bit of the muscle definition. But the suits outside material is decently thick. Feeling like the surface of a tire with good traction. And it's not fully smooth all over and instead has clear design to it with visible bumps, recesses, and layered sections. Some parts thicker than others like armor where vitals are. "Yeah this kind of suit would definitely be riding up in places a lot more if this was some sorta raunchy sci-fi anime."
Laura snorts and shakes her head. "I never even got to watch stuff like that. My parents kept me far away from a lot of entertainment. They thought it would just distract me from my studies."
Marin grimaces briefly. "I mean…they aren't entirely wrong. It is pretty distracting. But that is kind of the point." She would remark back as she picked up the folded rifle, raising her brow at it before she starts looking through the menus for the compartments.
Laura noticed and approaches from behind, hands on her hips. "What are you searching for?"
"Trying to find a holster or sling or something for the rifle. I don't want to just carry it around the entire time."
Laura narrowed her eyes at the rifle, reaching out to take it from Marin who didn't mind letting go. Laura looked the folded up weapon over before look at Marin. The blondes brows furrowing at the taller girls upper back where a deliberately padded section is on her suit. Laura bites her lip.
If I was a betting girl…
Laura lifted up the rifle and held it up to Marin's back. The white rectangular board snaps onto the taller girls back right on the padded space of her suit. The force of it causing Marin to stumble forward a step before she looks over her shoulder. "What the fuck?" Seeing a short portion of the folded weapon from over her shoulder. "Oh! Oh shit that's just like those sci-fi rpgs I used to play."
Laura steps back and smirks. "Well with everything we've seen so far I just figured that might be how it works." She would say, folding her arms over her chest. "Can you reach it okay?"
Marin turned to face Laura and reached back over her shoulder. As if sensing her intention the rifle partially unfolds so that Marin can grab the main grip and pull it off her back. The weapon unfolding completely by the time it made it over her shoulder. "Oooooh wow…that is super handy." Marin looks over the rifle before stowing it on her back again. Giving a few hops and quick lunges around to see how well it sticks. She is astonished at how secure it is with no straps or anything.
The two geared up women look at one another. Taking deep breaths. Waiting a few moments to collect themselves. Laura finally breaking the silence.
"We are just checking outside first. No exploring yet. Judging how safe it is around us. Just so we can get an idea of our situation. If there is anything immediately dangerous we run right back in." The blonde states slowly, joining hands with the taller woman.
Marin gives Laura's hands a squeeze and nods. "We stick together at all times. No wandering off. In and out. Five to ten minutes tops. Just a trial run." She answers back in kind.
The two of them give each other a satisfied nod before they finally step out of the armory and make their way up the stairs. Seeing the big red door at the end which does give them pause but they take another breath and approach it. The door unseals and slides open with their intention to leave.
The two women step into the airlock, the red door into the bunker closing behind them. Laura taking out the respirators she grabbed from the equipment drawers and handing one to Marin. The masks only cover the nose and mouth, tuck under the chin, and stretch all the way back along someone's jaw. They are attached to loose harness straps that the two stretch over their heads. Once the masks are in place the harnesses automatically contract to conform to their head shapes.
Marin and Laura join hands, fingers threading with the others. Eyes glancing to one another as the airlock hisses and cycles the air. Their hearts beating quickly.
The women jolt as a loud buzz comes from the door. A light above flashes red before the door splits and opens. Humid air rushing into the chamber that brings sweat to their brows.
And the first thing they hear in the breach to their new world is atleast a familiar calming sound.
The sound of birds and wind through trees.