"It's like there's something here."
Claire slowly nodded her head in agreement with Hannah's words, feeling as though something was drawing her to it. As she made her way to the other side of the playground, soon she was stepping on the grass.
Close behind Claire was Hannah, who's face looked as though it were possessed. She clutched her chest as though being led by her heart.
When they walked several more feet away from the playground, Claire felt a strong pull deep inside of her body. Looking down at the grass, she bent down and reached out with her hand.
The grass felt cool to the touch, as it gently brushed against Claire's hand.
Startled, Claire felt metal instead of dirt. The problem was how she didn't see anything metallic, but the feeling was clearly metal and not the wet soil. With both hands, Claire parted the grass to get a better view of the ground.
Unfortunately, due to how dark their surroundings were, Claire wasn't able to see anything.
"There's something here," Claire said to her friend.
Hannah moved towards where Claire was touching the ground. Bending and reaching to the ground, she gasped in surprise. "Its metal?"
"Yeah." Claire began searching the ground for some kind of clue as to what they were touching. It wasn't long before she could feel something indented into the material. "I think I found something," Claire muttered as she traced the indentation. In her mind, she tried to imagine what she was feeling, and soon, her eyes widened in surprise. She knew what she was feeling, having seen it before.
"What is it?" Hannah asked, her own hand searching the ground for any clues.
"It's Star and Moon's logo!" Claire exclaimed, remembering the logo from when they went to Star and Moon Studio with Han and the others. She looked at Hannah.
Hannah raised her head to meet Claire's eyes. Her own eyes were open in confusion, "Is it what I think it is?" Her voice was quiet as she whispered her thoughts.
"Yeah. I think it is." Claire tried to grasp the strange thoughts flooding her mind. "I think we found one of the shelters designed by Star and Moon." She pressed her hand against the symbol, feeling the familiar image.
There was a loud hiss as the ground next to the two of them raised up, revealing an entrance.
"How did you do that?!" Hannah shouted, tumbling back onto her butt.
Not paying attention to Hannah, Claire could only stare at the mysterious opening in the ground.
Taking a little time, the entrance began widening, while caution-lights began flashing as though warning people to stand back. After some time had passed, the opening was large enough for a truck to drive into it without having any issues. There were even lighted lines pulsating forward before repeating as though signaling them to enter.
Hannah asked, "What do we do?"
"I don't know," Claire stared at the transformed area, not sure what their next action should be. Though she felt draw to enter into the shelter, a part of her was worried about getting in trouble since the shelters weren't meant to be opened when the Modified Humans hadn't overwhelmed the Fort's defenses.
"Do we go back? There's going to be another patrol passing by pretty soon." Hannah pointed out what Selene had mentioned.
Stolen novel; please report.
Remembering the Military Police coming around, her eyes flickered to the flashing lights, which could be seen from the road and would alert the MPs that something had occurred. Claire then made a decision, not caring, whether it was the right decision or not. "Let's go inside."
"Go inside?!" Hannah repeated as though confirming what she had heard was correct. "Are you sure? We could get in trouble for going inside this place."
Claire shook her head. "There must be a reason why it opened up for us, maybe it has something to do with what Raven gave us that night. I know she wouldn't have given us something if it was going to hurt us, meaning this opening up for us must mean we're meant to go inside." She looked at Hannah, her eyes focused on what they needed to do.
Remembering that night, Hannah's expression hardened with determination. She nodded, "You're right."
Claire reached out to Hannah, "Let's go."
----------------------------------------
Grasping Claire's hand, Hannah got up from the ground. Using her free hand, she began patting herself down to get rid of the dirt on her pants.
Claire released Hannah's hand and slowly began walking to the entrance, her eyes mesmerized by the flashing lights.
Soon her footsteps were no longer silent as she stepped onto the metal surface. Behind her, she could hear Hannah's footsteps following.
Staring at their surroundings, Claire didn't know what to think about where they were currently. "I thought Star and Moon Studio was impressive," Claire stared at the walls and ceilings.
Near the entrance was the sound of alarms going off, more flashing lights turning on, and making a racket.
Startled, Claire turned to look at the entrance. She witnessed the opening beginning to close, folding in on itself to return to the original size. Past the entrance, there were two large sliding doors, which slowly closed, and open meeting in the middle, large round locks began turning. It gave the impression that nothing would be able to breakthrough.
"Are we locked in here?" Hannah asked as she looked back at Claire, having stared at what was happening.
Claire shook her head, "I don't think that's the case. It's likely due to it no longer detecting any additional people entering the shelter. It makes sense the shelter would seal itself since it's designed to protect the people entering the shelter."
Looking at the solid appearing doors, Hannah muttered, "I don't think even the Modified Humans would be able to get through that thing."
Continuing down the sloping hallway, Claire said, "It shows that we have nothing to worry about."
On the walls, screens began turning on, there was the outline of a woman, though the face couldn't be seen. It only allowed Claire to recognize gender.
"Welcome to Star and Moon's Emergency Shelter, designed to protect you from any dangers." The woman gave a reassuring smile to the viewer. "In cooperation with the military, we have been given permission to design a few of the shelters. Rest assured that this shelter was designed with comfort in mind, superior compared to the typical shelter."
"Is Star and Moon trying to brag about its technology, compared to the military?" Hannah wondered out loud.
Ignoring Hannah's comments, the video continued, "This shelter was designed to allow large equipment to be brought into the shelter." As though anticipating questions that the viewer may have, "But don't worry. Each of the shelters is connected to one another through a series of tunnels. We request that each individual registers themselves with our system in order to help reunite families on the off chance your loved one entered through a different entrance."
Listening to the announcement, the two of them continued walking down the hallway. To assist them, signs were pointing to the direction they needed to go to register.
After a certain amount of time had passed, the video began from the beginning, the woman explaining the process in an attempt to calm the likely frantic survivors.
"I wonder whether it knows that only the two of us have entered this place?" Claire wondered as she occasionally looked at the monitors.
"Do you think the military knows how advanced this place looks," Hannah interrupted Claire's thinking.
"I'm not sure. Judging by how everything looks, I'm getting the feeling as though the military had no hand in creating this. The only thing I'm confused about is how Star and Moon was able to pull off something so massive right under the military's nose." Claire noticed a sign in front of them, directing them to go down a slightly smaller hallway.
In front of them, the hallway ended. Seeing signs warning of the floor descending, Claire had a feeling that it was designed to transport larger vehicles to the lower levels.
As they turned into the new hallway, Claire understood that it was meant for people only instead of having it shared with vehicles. What shocked her, even more, was how the sides of the hallway showed a calming forest.
"What is this place supposed to be?" Claire asked, wondering whether what she was seeing was part of some kind of dream.