Note from the author:
That took quite a while. Check the tags before reading, since this chapter introduces new things, or don't if you don't want spoilers.
I hope future chapters will come out faster than this one since going even slower would be an achievement. If you want to shave off a few weeks of waiting I post early previews on my discord.
Anyway, have fun reading.
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I woke up feeling cold.
Not repeating the last time I knew exactly where I was and what I was doing before falling asleep, even if this time I didn't know what should I think of it. What I knew was that the shower I was lying in turned from hot and steamy, pun intended, to simply cold.
The water was still pouring down from the nozzle far up, but thankfully no longer at me. I must have moved aside while I was sleeping. Good to know that I have some self-preservation instinct. I stood up and twisted the knobs, cutting the stream of water for the first time in who knows how long.
Shit, a good question. How long was I here? I opened the doors and immediately closed them. It was even colder outside.
I looked down at my body, noticing the goosebumps all over my skin. I crossed my arms on my chest, in an attempt to somewhat protect myself from the chilly air outside, and couldn't help but feel my stiff nipples digging into the skin of my forearms. Deep breaths, one, two, three.
I swung open the doors and stepped outside, going straight for my outfit. Then I remembered that I was still wet. Fuck, did I bring a towel with me? Was there even a towel anywhere here? I grabbed my suit and skipped on my toes to the other room, trying to minimize the contact between the floor and my bare feet as much as possible, and started franticly searching through the piles of loose items I found in the boxes previously. Towel, towel, towel. Oh, an oversized T-shirt, I guess this will do.
It didn't. I probably should have figured it out sooner, but my hair was dripping wet, and trying to dry any other part of my body was pointless, unless I somehow handled that first. Of course, I tried the T-shirt I found, but it soaked through in an instant. This was infuriating. I started searching again.
Pants, jacket, raincoat. Underwear. I am not that desperate, let's try the next box. Hand towels. At least once the RNG was on my side. I threw the wet T-shirt onto the discarded pile nearby, replacing it with at least three towels. It's ridiculous how much water can be simply in hair. I stood still for a moment, trying to feel if something was dripping down. Nope, good to go.
Another thing I learned is that a good towel makes all the difference. The one I was using was soft and fluffy, nothing like the clothes I used before. I sat down on one of the nearby boxes, taking my time drying my legs. Well, that, and just feeling the delicate fabric glide on my skin. This was the first time I had a chance to pay attention to this stuff.
I felt my face get just a bit hot. The first time, if I don't count what I did in the shower. That was, what, my third female orgasm since I got this body? The first two by courtesy of Veronica, one all by myself, but each felt completely different. The last two were definitely my favorite, and I barely had a finger inside me. I wonder how it would feel to have something bigger...
Nope, no, I do not wonder, not at all. I shook my head. Man, was I daydreaming?! Focus!
I finished drying myself with strict efficiency and went straight back for my suit. Putting it back on proved to be more work than getting it off, since it was made to fit me perfectly with absolutely no slack. It works great once you have it on, but it's not so great when you have to squeeze your legs into it.
Next were boots and gloves. Each element flashed green near the seam when it connected with the rest of the outfit, creating airtight and skintight protection except for my head. And hair, still wrapped in towels. I giggled thinking about a combat helmet for hair, going halfway down your back, keeping your hairstyle in pristine condition even during a battle. Devs, here I am if you are looking for an item or gear designer.
Deeming my hair dry enough, I threw the remaining towels onto the floor. It's not like I will be the one to clean up all of this mess, so why not? I walked back to the room with the shower, to check if I didn't forget anything.
Huh, I guess I must have forgotten to turn off the water before I snoozed off. The industrial-sized tank was missing almost a third of its content, and I am sure it was full when I got here. Having drinkable water for a month, or taking one, good shower, was a deal I was willing to make, especially since I was leaving in a moment. Oh, and the water heater was broken. I may be no electrician, but one side of the machine was burned black, and that is certainly not good. I guess that's why the water turned cold at the end. Despite this being a virtual space I almost felt bad for how much I managed to screw this place up in such a short time.
Anyway, I hadn't left anything here, so I walked back to the main room. There were just two things left to do. Equipment check, and figuring out what that console near the wall is for. I left it as it was yesterday afraid that it would reveal my position or call reinforcements or something like that, but since now I was leaving anyway, nothing stopped me from messing with it a little.
After an EQ check of course. Making some space on the floor I took out everything I had, both my starting items and whatever I found here. One rifle, now with a suppressor and two magazines left from the last fight. Then thirty rounds of ammo that I found, which gave me another four full mags, one round to put in a chamber, because fuck firearm safety, and one more spare, to the used only in an emergency. I definitely did not just make that up because I had no idea what to do with that last bullet.
Also, now I had two sidearms. My default laser pistol and a new regular, or should I say, ballistic one. There probably was some difference in laser versus bullet damage, maybe one was better against shields and the other one against armor, but at this point, I couldn't be bothered. I will figure it out as I go by just shooting stuff. I had enough spare ammo for both of them, and I wasn't planning on engaging up close anyway, so that shouldn't be a problem anytime soon.
Rope, flashlight, arc lighter, two med kits, one energy stim, and a knife. Probably even more generic, but useful survival gear that I had in a bag lying on the ground. This was my Schrodinger bag. Until I decide to check what it contains there is a non-zero chance, that it has exactly what I need for any possible situation. The trick is to never actually open it.
I tapped twice on each of the items and placed them directly into my equipment. Since I was in a secure location I could do it instantly and didn't have to wait for the timer, which was a convenient quality-of-live feature.
After clearing the floor and nearly filling my inventory space there was just one thing left to do. Check the terminal, hope it won't explode or something like that, and then get out of here and find the rest of the team. Right, I managed to somehow forget about that last part until now.
