Laura slowly opened her eyes. Curled up on one side of the bed. The mattress so comfortable that it cradles her without any strain. It's pitch black and her waking mind is a bit disoriented.
What time is it? My alarm didn't go off?
After a few seconds her memory starts to catch up. Marin, the bus, the tunnel collapse, and then…
Laura's heart begins to race she realizes she no longer feels Marin next to her. Her hand searching around the bed, stretching out further and further to the opposite side as her heart quickens. Getting more desperate until they suddenly touch a warm body teetering on the very edge of the bed. The body twitches, cute little mutterings coming from her lips. Looks like Marin had wiggled her way nearly off the bed in her sleep.
The blondes heart races still, but sweet relief washes over mind. Reaching over and gently rolling Marin back inside the bed before she falls off. The taller girl being quite a heavy sleeper so she doesn't wake. But she does emit a few sleepy groans in protest which makes Laura smile. The blonde leaning down to place a kiss on the sleeping womans cheek.
Laura sits up in the bed and looks around at the dark. The cold sterile air that slightly burns her nostrils. The dead quiet and subtle constant thrum of electricity. She might not be able to see the rest of the bunk room in the dark but it's most definitely still all there.
This is real. All of it.
Now that she has had some proper sleep and woke up to the same strange place, it all but solidifies that reality in her mind. Which is comforting more than anything. Because it means Marin is really here with her. Not some dying dream or comatose hallucination. This sobering acceptance immediately puts Laura in a more serious mood.
We need to figure out where we are. The WHY can wait. The first thing we need is to maximize our living space. We've woken up with our survival needs already met. What can we use and not use of it. And most importantly, who else is in the other pods…are they a threat? Are they other people from the bus or someone else?
Laura's mind wanders over their immediate situation. The blonde has always been rather analytical. Her parents are very much the same and made sure their prized daughter followed suit.
Marin's right. Despite how advanced this bunker is it feels temporary. The food storages are well stocked but only for likely a year. Even less accounting for 6 people. If their all awake at the same time atleast. And the gear in the armory definitely feels like it's meant to be used regularly and not just in an emergency.
Laura's brows furrow, folding her arms over her chest.
We need to go outside today…
The blonde reaches over to the warm shape next to her. Her hand petting through Marin's hair gently. The tan girl making content little sighs in response.
Laura leans down a presses a few more gentle kisses across Marin's face before she carefully slips out of bed. Feeling her way around to the door which she wills open. The door even opens up slower than usual as if sensing her desire to be quiet.
The blonde shuts the door behind her and moves across the hall into the medbay. She wants to check up on the pod room and see if she can't view the other occupants. Heading towards the pods she stops when she sees the tray table from the surgical area she knocked over early. Still splayed out on the ground with tools everywhere. She had been terrified and confused at the time. The robotic arms for the surgical table had scared the hell out of her when she was poking around them a bit too much.
She sighs and walks over to the turned over tray table and lifts it up off the ground. Setting it up back on its legs. Then she collects all the tools and the trays that had fallen off as well. Placing everything back onto the table and grabbing the handle bars affixed to it. The blonde starts to wheel it back into the OR area but then a sharp pain shoots up her right leg as she steps forward. Gritting her teeth as she yelps out and grabs her hurt foot, hopping a few times before falling onto her ass.
"Uggggh! Fucking hell!" She growls, her face scrunched up in pain as she looks down at the pair of sharp forceps that were now stuck in the button of her foot. Not too deep and the wound is pretty small. Reaching down and grabbing the forceps. Taking a deep breath and pulling it out swiftly. A slight sharp pain but not too bad. The sharp curved tweezer ends of the forceps had just been unluckily aimed upward on the floor and had been hiding beneath the tray table when she set it back up.
The blonde hisses at the stinging pain ebbing from the puncture on her foot. Red blood dripping out idley onto the floor. Thankfully she is in the medbay so there should be plenty of supplies to clean this up correctly. But it's going to suck to walk on. They might have to put their trip outside off for a bit.
But as she assesses the wound her brows furrow in confusion as the red blood seeping out of the puncture suddenly turns milky white. Her head tilting as the white fluid seems to expand over the wound. A cooling sensation washes over pain until the white fluids form a bubble that turns back to red and drops to splatter onto the floor. But instead of splattering like liquid it SHATTERS like brittle ice.
The blonde sort of just stares at it for a few quite puzzled moments before her eyes look back to the bottom of her foot to notice that the puncture is completely gone. "What the…fuck?" She mutters sharply. Poking around the spot where the hole was and finding nothing but warm tender skin. No scar at all but instead a slight skin discoloration.
But her attention is taken up as she hears a piercing buzzing in her ears and a metallic chirping. A shiver going up her spine as she tries to cover her ears against the sound but it just makes the sound louder as she realizes it's coming from inside her own head. Almost panicking before the sounds finally stop.
Freezing in place as she notices something odd. Right in front of her. Floating in the center of her vision is a little blue half sphere icon that rotates every few seconds. Then it disappears as right before her eyes some lines of code and words start popping up. But she can't read it. Reaching out her hand to swipe at it but nothings there.
She feels her throat tighten up. Kind of afraid to try what she's thinking next. Holding her hand out front of her where the text is and slowly bringing her hand closer to her eyes. The words and code still staying in front of her hand even when her palm covers her eyes and she can't see anything else.
"It's…in my eyes…or on them…or…what fuck is going on?" She voices aloud, concern written all over her face.
Suddenly her vision is filled with a single word in large blue text. In a language she can't read. She stares at it in confusion. "I…can't read that…"
And as if reacting to her the word changes, the letters become completely different. Still not something she can read as her brows furrow. "Can't read that either…"
The letters change shape again but into something even more unrecognizable. More like hieroglyphics. "Is there…English?"
And to her surprise the text changes shape into the English alphabet. The word simply spelling out Hello in an odd font. Laura's eyes widening. "Yes! Hello! I can read that!"
Her eyes suddenly flash blue, causing her to flinch. Vision blurry for a few seconds before it clears just as quickly. The blonde blinking and rubbing her temples. Squinting her eyes as she scans around her. It becomes quickly apparent that her vision has changed. The room is much sharper. Her depth perception increased. The fluorescent lights are far less blinding.
Another blue swirling icon pops up in her vision. Sustaining its little animation for a few seconds before it vanishes and is replaced by text.
//Network Connection Failed
//Standalone Systems Operational
//Nanite Count Optimal
//Foreign Soul Detected
//Soul-to-Body Compatibility Optimal
//Nanite-to-Soul Preference [Extremely High]
//Foreign Soul Accepted [High Priority]
//SNS Exceeds Standalone Capacity
//Systems Operating at Minimum
//SNR Connection needed for Optimal Output
//System Suggest: Seek nearest SNR lead
//Running Standalone
//System: Welcome Nomad
Laura's eyes kept getting wider the more she read before the words finally disappeared, leaving her vision clear and unobstructed. There were several words of that readout that imply things that make Laura's head hurt. It's confusing but atleast it's a start.
The blonde, still sitting on the floor, sighs loudly as she leans up against the nearby wall. "So…I've got fucken nanites?" She asks aloud more rhetorically than anything. "I mean…I guess that explains the hole in my foot healing like that…but doesn't make my brain feel anymore soothed."
She shakes her head and throws up her hands in exasperation. "And what the fuck is SNS and SNR?!"
In response, the blue swirling pops up for a split second and is replaced by text.
//Host Query: What the fuck is SNS and SNR?
//SNS: Soul Network Signature - The calculable energy signature that determines strength of connection with the Soul Network.
//SNR: Soul Network Relay - An orbital vessel that acts as a long distance connection to the Soul Network when outside of Active Network range.
Laura purses her lips at the explanation. Which explains a little but also poses a thousand more questions. "Ugh. I don't even know what the Soul Network is."She grumbles, waiting a few seconds to see if the helpful nanites fill in the gap but they do not prompt again even when asked directly. The blonde shaking her head. "Maybe that's for the best. I feel like if I got info dumped right now my head would explode."
She picks herself up off the floor and straightens herself out. Setting the sharp forceps down on the tray table with the rest but just keeping it away from the other tools for sterility that is likely already compromised. Just as she's pushing the tray table again she stops and back tracks back out as she saw something in the corner of her eye.
A soft seafoam green light band circles around the frosted plastic dividing wall between the medbay and the OR. And slowly skimming the light band is white letters spelling out SURGERY. The blondes eyes widen again as she turns around the shower area across from her. A similar colored light band on its dividing wall with the word DECON. Letting go of the tray table and walking out into the medbay proper and seeing that it has its own band framing the walls with MEDICAL pathing around it.
Then she turns around to face the doorway to the pod room and freezes. It of course has its own band right next to the door but it's vertical. The word REBIRTH scrawled down it.
"Rebirth…" She whispers to herself, a little put off by the phrasing. Her thoughts winding back to the readout that was shown in her eyes a few minutes ago. "Foreign soul…"
Laura had to be honest. The thought did cross her mind that they may not be on earth anymore but she passed it off as thinking too wild. But now that silly pet thought is starting to scratch its way back in. But her thought process is broken by the sounds of a door opening across the hall and a loud yawn.
"Laura? Where are you? We were supposed to wake up together…" Marin says in between a few more yawns.
Laura's face gets red and her serious mood fades away at the sound of her girlfriends voice. A little bit of a guilty pang hitting her heart at what the taller woman said. The blonde moves across the medbay and into the hallway to see Marin standing there slouching a bit and rubbing her eyes. Her chin length black hair all messy and tangled. The blonde smiles warmly and a bit apologetically. "I'm sorry baby. I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep so I decided to walk around. Tried to clean my mess from earlier but then some stuff happened…"
Marin's expression looks a little concerned as she moves closer and slides her right arm around Laura's back. "Stuff? Everything okay?"
The blonde blushes more at the arm around her. She smiles up at the tan girl. "Yes I'm fine. But I do need to fill you in on some updates to our situation. Why don't we head to the kitchen and maybe we can find some coffee." She says a little awkwardly.
Marin raises a brow. "Updates?"
———————————————————
"So everything in here is actually labeled…but I just can't see any of it…because the possibly millions of tiny bug robots living in my body aren't AWAKE YET?" Marin asked, her face sort of scrunched up as she processes everything Laura filled her in on. "And now you think we might have actually gotten Isekai'd to somewhere else…"
She sighs, leaning back in the kitchen table chair that she is currently slumped in. "I guess…that would make sense given how different everything is. But it just seems way too out-there to be real."
The smell of coffee brewing in the drink dispensing unit that had been hiding inside a compartment in one of the counter spaces. Thanks to Laura's new found nanite vision she can not only see labels for all the amenities now. But she can also pull up little menus that list all the options and items for each hidden compartment in the bunker.
The blonde gives an honest shrug, arms folded while she leans against the counter. "I mean that is all just my guesses. My…Iunno…HUD elements I guess, didn't activate until after I got hurt. I think it woke up because it sensed I was bleeding and needed to fix it." She surmised but really wasn't entirely sure. "The…uh…Isekai thing or whatever…is just a thought that I had that got some sudden confirming notions. I mean the whole foreign soul thing and soul body compatibility. And not to mention the pod room being labeled REBIRTH." Laura emphasizes but just shakes her head. "But again. It's just guesses. It could just be bad translation or something. We are fully in the dark here." Sounding a bit annoyed.
Marin frowns as she sits up straight. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it sound like I was questioning you."
Laura's expression softens. "No it's okay. I wasn't sniping at you. I am just getting pretty overwhelmed with all of this right now." She assures, standing up straight and pacing the kitchen. "I mean…this is real…I understand that atleast one thing now. And that understanding has put me into survival mode…and my mind is going every which way trying to figure things out."
Marin nods slowly, her shoulders settling from the bit of tension she held. "You're right. We need to be careful."
The two heard a chime from the drink machine, Laura taking the two metal mugs she had and setting them up in some deliberate slots in the machine. The sound of liquid filling them. "First we need to get your nanite thing active like mine. Then I think we need to see what's outside." The blonde suggests while removing the mugs from the machine and bringing them over to the table. Setting one in front of Marin. Both cups are filled with coffee of some strain they aren't familiar with. But the machine already had options for things like cream and sweeteners.
Marin gave the coffee a testing sip and seemed atleast satisfied with it. Honestly to her it tastes basically like what you'd get at a hotel breakfast. "Sooooo should I like…step on a nail or something?"
Laura purses her lips. "Honey…I don't think it's activated exclusively by your foot."
The taller woman sighs. "I was kidding. But I don't particularly like the idea of hurting myself to do this anyway."
Laura reaches across the table and grabs Marin's hand. "You don't have to. I was just thinking we'd go into the medbay and I can just…you know…give you a quick jab with a scalpel or something."
Marin shudders a bit and almost rejects the idea but then honestly thinking about it makes her face kind of heat up. "Well…I guess that's fine. But when couples play Doctor I don't think this is usually how it goes." She teases to overshadow her nervousness.
Laura with a genuinely playful smile gives her girlfriends hand a squeeze, sips her coffee, and responds. "Don't worry…I'll be gentle." Which just makes Marin look away, hiding her burning face.
———————————————————-
"Are you sure there isn't a better way to do this? Maybe like an on switch or something?" Marin says, her voice cracking a little as she nervously fidgets while sitting on the edge of the table in the surgery area. The tan girls face is a bit paler while she's watching Laura tug on a pair of green exam gloves she found in a dispenser.
Laura gives an apologetic expression. "From what I was reading on the computer thing there is supposed to be a specific tool for this but it essentially does the same thing. A small puncture to get the nanites woken up and also makes sure they are working properly." Laura had poked around for a bit in the medbay looking for info on how to activate the nanites properly. Turns out the odd black rings in the desks in the medbay and the bunk room are some kind of emitters for holographic screens. Laura was actually able to activate them and skim around. But it had basically nothing saved on it other than records of supplies in the medbay and a few instructions on how to use and maintain some of the equipment. Which lead to finding instructions on Advent Orientation procedures.
The blonde walks over with a small tray that she sets down on the table next to Marin. The taller girl glancing at it to see a sleek futuristic looking scalpel and a little spray gun tool. Laura adjusts the cuffs of her gloves and picks up the small spray gun with her right hand and gestures with her other. "Which arm would you prefer?"
Marin pulls her arms close to herself and clears her throat nervously. "I…I don't think this is really necessary. I can probably just wait for them to wake up naturally." She would say, her voice cracking. A bit sick to her stomach at the thought of having her arm cut open. Embarrassed that she is feeling like this in front of someone she respects. Trying not to meet Laura's gaze.
Laura frowns a little. The blonde has never seen Marin like this before. The tan sporty girl is usually pretty boisterous. But now she's sort of shrunk herself a bit, appearing smaller and more vulnerable. It's kinda…cute. But Laura quickly punches that thought deep down into her mind. Right now Marin is obviously very offput by doing this so the blonde needs to take things easier on her poor lover.
Laura sets the spray applicator back on the tray and moves in close to Marin. Placing herself to stand right between her lovers knees. Settling her gloved hands gently on Marin's shoulders, giving them a light comforting squeeze before her left hand smoothly slides up the side of her girlfriends neck and settles against her cheek. Thumb caressing beneath Marin's right eye. The taller girls face instantly getting a shade darker as her face heats up. Laura smiles, leaning in to place a few brief kisses against her lovers opposite cheek. "Hey. It's okay. I know this is a little scary. But we wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't the quickest way. And I don't want you to have to be moving around here blind." She explains, her voice quiet and soothing.
Marin nestled her cheek into the gloved palm against her face. "I…I know. I've never been good with going to…the doctor or anything. Needles make my skin crawl so this just…feels even worse." She admits, her eyes glazing over a bit as they stare down at the floor to the side. "And now I feel really…embarrassed…cause I'm being such a coward in front of you." The tall girl says a bit more quietly.
Laura furrows her brows, sliding the hand on Marin's cheek to her chin so she can tilt the woman's head up to look at her. The tan girls cheeks darken a bit more with blush as a nervous lump forms in her throat. The blonde takes in a very stern expression. "You are not a coward. It is entirely valid to be scared of something like this…" She assures, moving her hand back up to Marin's cheek as the blonde smiles. "Plus I like being able to see you be a bit more vulnerable with me. You tend to put on the air of a selfless tough guy all the time. Which is very attractive, but this just feels way more genuine." She giggles a bit.
Marin's eyes look off to the side, a bit guilty. "I just…want to look cool in front you." She admits, twiddling her thumbs in her lap.
The blonde smirks and leans down, putting her face inches away from her girlfriends. "You do look cool. But I can also be pretty cool. So let me take over for a bit this time." Laura teases a little before moving her hands back and reachs down to gently but firmly grab Marin's left arm and stretch it outward. The taller girl sucks in a deep breath and looks away. Letting Laura do what she needed to do. Marin's right hand reaching out to clutch onto the hem of Laura's shirt, which the blonde is happy to let her do as she picks up the spray applicator again. Holding Marin's arm steady with her left hand while she sprays a small area on her upper forearm. The spray comes out as a white frothy foam that coats the skin. But after a few seconds it loses volume and turns clear as it seems to sink into the area.
Laura sets the spray applicator back down on the tray. She glances over at Marin's face to see how she's doing. The tan girls face is a bit scrunched up into a grimace, her eyes closed and her head turned away. Her body lightly shaking a bit which makes Laura's heart ache a little. The blonde takes a deep breath and grabs hold of the other woman's arm again with her left hand to steady it. Then picking up the sleek electronic scalpel which she hovers the point above the area where she had put the spray. Her brain computer thing told her that the spray is a local anesthetic and should numb the area completely for a few minutes. So Marin shouldn't feel this at all. Atleast Laura hopes so.
The blonde swallows back her apprehension and lowers the scalpel, hand unwavering as the tip meets Marin's arm and pierces through like nothing is there. She pushes the blade in a few centimeters before cutting down atleast half an inch or so before pulling the blade out. She sets the scalpel down on the tray and watches. It does take a few seconds but the small incision begins to seep with red blood. Then it suddenly changed white as the wound begins to stitch itself back together. Once the wound closed the white blood left outside shifted back to red.
Marin huffed in frustration, brows knitted together and still had her eyes closed. "Just do it already! I can't take this waiting."
Laura lifted a brow in confusion. Then she smiled and giggled. "Baby. I already did it." She would remark, a bit amused. The anesthetic spray worked wonders it seems.
Marin opened her eyes in surprise and turned to look at her left arm that was still being held by Laura. She grimaces again at the little bit of blood she sees. "H..how? When?"
The blonde grabs a sterile wipe from the tray and cleans off the glossy red crystals that had began to form from the red blood. Which Laura is still a bit curious about. But she will leave that for later. "Just a moment ago. The spray stuff was really effective I guess. You didn't even flinch." She then gave the spot she sprayed a few pokes, which did make Marin shiver a bit. "Did you feel that?"
Marin's expression looks so confused as she watched Laura poke and rub the numb area on her arm. "I can't feel it at all but everytime you touch it it makes my brain freak out."
Laura stops teasing and let's go of Marin's arm. "Well you should get feeling back in a couple minutes. Atleast that's what the instructions say." She says as she strips off her gloves and sets them crumpled up on the tray. Turning back towards her girlfriend who looks deep in concentration, staring at the floor. "Oh! Is it popping up for you now?" Laura asks as she realizes what's going on.
Marin is seeing the little floating symbol in the center of her vision. She even tests closing her eyes and is still able to see it. But the symbol she sees is red. Then large bold symbols show up. "Uhhhhh…I think I see…I don't know it's like symbols."
Laura smiles. "Oh right! Tell it to translate to English."
Marin does so and watches at the red symbols turn into HELLO. Her eyes widen. "Okay…I can read that now. Uh…hi?" And in response the loading symbol appears before lines of text begin to read out.
//Network Connection Failed
//Standalone Systems Operational
//Nanite Count Optimal
//Foreign Soul Detected
//Soul-to-Body Compatibility [67%]
//Nanite-to-Soul Preference [Extremely High]
//Foreign Soul Accepted [High Priority]
//SNS Over Exceeds Standalone Capacity
//Body Requires Hardware Upgrade
//Systems Operating at Minimum
//SNR Connection needed for Optimal Output
//System Suggest: Seek nearest SNR lead
//System Suggest: Seek Soul Weave Implant
//Running Standalone
//System: Welcome Nomad
Marin's face got a little more concerned as she read through the readout before it disappeared. Laura noticing the less than positive extension. The blonde steps into Marin's view. "Everything okay? What does your readout say?"
Marin folds her arms over her chest. "Well…I feel fine…but it's saying my body isn't compatible with my soul. It says it's only about 67% compatible and that my body needs an upgrade." She would explain carefully, not really what all this even means. "It says the nanites really like me though. And it suggested I find something called a Soul Weave Implant?" She shrugs at Laura.
The blonde gives a low hum in thought. "Ask it what that is."
Marin clears her throat, her mouth forming a thin line as her brows knit. "Uh…hello…nanites?" She asks awkwardly, sticking out her tongue at Laura who was giggling at her. "What is a Soul Weave Implant?"
//Host Query: What is a Soul Weave Implant?
//Soul Weave Implant - A biomechanical body modification that increases the durability, capacity, and output of a biological form in order to effectively utilize a more vast SNS.
Marin read this off as it was answered. Laura looking lost in thought. The blonde finally shakes her head after a few moments. "I just cannot wrap my head around this stuff yet. There is so many strange mystical words mixed in with all this science fiction stuff."
Marin nodded along with Laura's confusion. The tan girl considered what else she could ask and settled something straight forward. "Since my souls compatibility isn't good, am I in danger? And what happens if it gets lower?"
//Host Query: Since my souls compatibility isn't good, am I in danger? And what happens if it gets lower?
//System Answer: Host body is currently stable and can function normally at the Minimum output in Standalone. But performing any medium to high output spiritual or magical abilities can overwhelm this body's durability. Losing body durability risks soul ejection.
Marin read the response. Then read it again. And again after that. Doing a double take and feeling like she's going blind. Laura watching such an array of confused emotions flash over her girlfriends face before Marin finally cries out.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN MAGICAL???"