The term 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 might exist, but a whole lot less on how they even use it. It seems their system limitations are a lot more broad than expected. And without a connection to this 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.

  After cooling down for a moment, the couple agrees that it’s time to get a lay-of-the-land outside. Marin thinks it might even help clear their heads as well. So after stopping in the kitchen for a light meal, they make their way into the armory. The holographic sign over the door confirming the rooms purpose, which Marin appreciates.

  The two enter, Laura heading left for the section of the wall that stores the gear they had access to already. But Marin stops near the doorway and turns to face the right wall, where she wasn’t able to open anything before. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she approaches one of the large hidden compartments. Poking her finger against the now visible icon in the top right corner. It pops up a holographic blue window that lists the contents within. And after skimming over the list, she see’s exactly what she expected.

  “I fucken knew it.”

  Laura turns around from the compartment she had found the environment suits in. “What’s up? Aren’t those locked?”

  Marin puts her hands on her hips and nods. “Well, it was. But now, I wonder…” Her brows furrow as she looks as she wills the compartment open. The icon flashes green, the compartment unseals with a hiss and slides outward. Inside are 3 separated racks. Each rack has 6 white rectangular shapes. The bottom rack having the largest ones, about the length of a skateboard. The middle rack ones are much smaller and the top rack houses the smallest. The top rack items are plugged into chargers like the knives were, but they definitely don’t look like handles.

  Marin reaches down to the bottom rack and unseats one of the large white rectangles. It’s pretty decently heavy but not anything unwieldy. As she’s looking it over, she notices 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-sealed suits she was inspecting and joins Marin. “What is that?”

  Marin accepts the floating prompt. After doing so, a part of the rectangular object pops out from inside it. A grip and a trigger. To which Marin grabs, causing the rest of the rectangle pop open and unfold parts until what she now holds is a pure white angular rifle. Laura widens her eyes at it as Marin shoulders the weapon, left hand settling 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. It doesn’t appear to have any sights on it until she looks down the flat spines and sees a literal hologram sight appear down it.

  Laura clears her throat a little nervously. She knows it will probably be dangerous out there, of course. But the sight of her lover checking over an assault rifle is really driving it home. “Uh—not really. My parents weren’t exactly gun people. Fencing and taekwondo were my extra curricular. 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 towards the top rack and grabs one of the small white boxes from its charging port. Then she slots it into the opening on rifle until it clicks into place. The rifle gives a brief electronic buzz. Marin keeps her finger off the trigger. “Well—I feel a lot safer now.”

  Laura chuckles a bit awkwardly, honestly not feeling as safe as she’d like. “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 translucent, and the listing on the drawer said this was some sort of environmental suit. Seems easy to open as well. Just pull a tab at the top and the bag depressurizes. The suit itself feels rubbery, almost like the surface of a tire. And like everything else in this bunker, it’s colored a sterile white.

  Laura’s brow furrows as she unfolds it. The suit honestly looks pretty baggy. Very stretchy as well. And it doesn’t seem to have a zipper or any opening other than the neck hole, as the suit has built in gloves and shoes. Reaching inside, the interior feels like velvet and her hand glides against it easily. The blonde purses her lips and considers searching for something else to wear, but decides this is probably the literal safest option.

  Marin watches Laura set the suit down on one of the raised floor blocks that acts as a bench. Hooking her thumbs into her simple sweatpants and pulling them down. The blonde strips down to just her underwear and casually glances over at Marin, who seems to have turned around to give her lover privacy. Which Laura finds a bit annoying. “It’s just my underwear. You don’t have to look away.”

  Marin visibly flinches at the remark while she has busied herself with fiddling around with the rifle. Her face a shade darker than usual. “Uh—I know that. Just makin sure the—gun—good…” She stammers in response. Knowing full well how ridiculous she looks, but she can’t really help it. Still having a hard time believing she managed to pull someone this pretty.

  Laura can’t help but smirk. Her minor annoyance melting away at the bashful woman. The blonde tugs open the neck hole of the suit. The material stretches out easily to accommodate her, so she slides her feet down the legs until they slip into the built-in shoes. Then she tugs the suit up her body with her arms gliding into the sleeves. It doesn’t take much effort at all to put it on, but boy is it loose. Unflatteringly so. The suits material bunching up uncomfortably around her. “Well—this isn’t ideal.” She comments as Marin finally turns back around the see her.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  The taller girl covers her mouth quickly to stifle a laugh. The blonde narrowing her eyes as Marin holds up her hands in mock surrender. “Sorry! Were there not other sizes?” She asks, folding the rifle back down and setting it aside for now.

  Laura shakes her head. “Nope. No other sizes. I know this suit will probably do its job, but this is just really unflattering.” The blonde sighs while inspecting 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 conforms to her body snuggly, both girls jolting in surprise.

  Marin stares for a good few seconds, tilting her head. “Oh—wow—get in the robot Shinji…”

  Laura cocks a brow at her girlfriend. “What?”

  The taller girl blanches and clears her throat. “Oh, uh. It’s from a—um—never mind” She chuckles nervously 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 suited up and equipped with belts, harnesses, pouches, and holsters for their knives. The duo perform stretches in the suits to test the range of motion and are grateful to find that they don’t really impede them at all.

  Laura gives herself a once over. “Is it weird to say that I’m surprised it’s form-fitting, but not too form-fitting?” The blonde can certainly admire the contours of her body, and more notably Marin’s, but they don’t compress too deep.

  Marin chuckles as she gives a little flex of her arms, her muscle definition visible through the sleeves. But the suit’s 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, such as 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, picking up the folded rifle, raising her brow at it for a brief moment before she starts searching through the compartments content list.

  Laura notices and approaches from behind, hands on her hips. “What are you searching for?”

  “Trying to find a sling or something for the rifle. I don’t wanna just carry it around the entire time.”

  Laura narrows her eyes at the rifle, taking it from Marin who doesn’t mind letting go. Laura scans the weapon over and doesn’t notice any hook points either. The blonde’s brow furrows as she notices a deliberately padded spot on her lover’s upper back.

  ’If I was a betting girl…’

  Laura lifts the rifle and holds it up to Marin’s back. The white rectangular board snaps onto the taller girl’s back right on the padded space. 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 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 across her chest. “Can you reach it okay?”

  Marin turns to face Laura and reaches back over her shoulder. As if sensing her intention, the rifle partially unfolds so that Marin can grab the main grip and pull the weapon 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 take a moment to assess each other. Making sure they have everything they might need.

  “We are just checking outside first. No exploring too far. Just judging how safe it is around us 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 squeezes Laura’s hand 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.

  And after a few deep breaths, they step back out into the hall and ascend the stairs. Approaching the big red door at the end with a bit of trepidation. But the door unseals and slides open, sensing their intention to leave.

  The two women step into the airlock, the red door closing behind them. Laura takes out the respirators she grabbed from the equipment drawers and hands one to Marin. The masks only cover the nose and mouth, tucking under the chin, and line the jaw. They are fastened by loose harness straps that they stretch over. Once the masks are in place, the harnesses automatically contract to conform to their head shapes.

  As the airlock hisses and cycles, the couple rejoin hands. Their hearts beating quickly. Both flinching as a loud buzz emits 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 at least a familiar, calming sound.

  The sound of birds and wind through trees.