Tapping her bracelet on the display next to the door, Claire waited for the computer to read her information. Flashing green, the screen finished processing the information on her bracelet, and the door to her temporary room opened quietly.
Claire stood at the entrance, soaking everything she was seeing as she stared at the interior of the room. The first thing she saw was a short hallway before reaching the living area. On the left of the hall was a door, likely leading to the bathroom and an entrance on the right that could be the kitchen.
Compared to her home, she grew up in and the place inside of the Fort; what she was seeing was of a higher quality. Even something as simple as the lights on the ceiling was different, giving off a clean feeling compared to the yellowish tint often given off by home lights.
As she entered the room with the door closing behind her, she looked down and noticed the stone floor and a rubber mat that seemed to be meant for shoes.
Taking off her shoes, Claire bent down and set the pair on top of the rubber mat. Though it wasn't something she was used to doing, it was a nice feature, and she imagined it would help keep the rest of the room clean.
"It really gives off a different feeling. I wonder if that's the elevated level of energy causing such a sensation?" Claire talked to herself out loud.
Claire wondered how Hannah was going to react to entering her room. "I'll need to contact her later after chatting with my family." Thinking about her family, Claire said, "Darlina mentioned that they were already situated inside their own living space, so I just need to dial them on the computer." Shaking her head slowly, the idea of just contacting people on the computer and talking to them face-to-face just seemed too bizarre.
Stepping into the main hallway, she walked towards the entrance on the right.
Peering into the area, she said, "Yep. I was right." There was a small cooking area. Though there was a narrow wall facing the hallway, most of the kitchen area was opened to the living area. Inside of the kitchen was things to be expected. The only difference was how the equipment appeared more advanced than what was available in the world above ground.
"Though there are commercial kitchens available to test out various dishes, I could technically use this kitchen to practice. I can just bring the various ingredients from the simulation out of that place and bring it to the rooms or the commercial kitchens that can be rented out from the Guild." Claire walked over to the stove and brushed her finger on top of it. "In order to build something large enough to help us to do more than survive, we'll need to enter into more fields than just building equipment."
Sighing, the idea of creating a business wasn't something she was anticipating while studying during school. "The plan was to head off to medical school, whether the same one as Hannah or a different one. But this entire time, I had only thought about entering the medical field."
Checking the cupboards, there were plenty of cooking tools. Enough to get a person a decent start with trying out new recipes after coming out of the simulation with supplies gathered or purchased from either the Guild or the Auction House.
Nodding at the kitchen, Claire decided it was time to check out the computer and get in contact with her family. There would be plenty of time to think about what other things she'd need to prepare in getting ready for the future.
Leaving the kitchen, she entered the living area. Like the kitchen, the area was filled with comforts such as a sofa, chairs, and a small table. Her eyes opened upon seeing a screen on the wall. Just like the displays they had passed while going around the Guild, it had artwork images being switched out. The colors were vivid and bright.
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"Is this because the room is slightly higher than the cheaper rooms?" Claire wondered at the reason for the higher-end products.
Darlina had informed her and Hannah that they'd be receiving rooms that were one-tier higher than the ones that adventurers could afford.
"I'm suspecting that it's to get us to become motivated," She shook her head, unanswered questions floating in her head.
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End of Part 1
Going over to the display, Claire tapped on the screen and activated the computer. A menu appeared with various applications available. On the menu, her eyes went to look at a square icon with coins that had "GP" on them and the words "Guild Store" below it.
Tapping on the application, the screen changed to list out numerous items that appeared necessary to have for having a successful journey inside of the simulation. There were things such as swords, armor, and miscellaneous supplies. It seemed to have everything that could typically be found in the store inside of the Guild but on the computer.
"This makes things a little easier. I'm assuming they'll either deliver the purchased items to the room or be picked up in the store?" Claire tapped her chin as she marveled at the thinking of Star and Moon.
Looking around the screen, she saw an icon that seemed to be a house. "I'm guessing this takes me back?" Claire wondered out loud as she pressed the icon.
The screen changed to the initial screen, confirming her thoughts.
"It's very intuitive in how it was designed," Claire congratulated Star and Moon for how it was set up. "Compared to the computers at school, this is a lot easier to navigate and understand." She smiled and shook her head in wonder at how quickly technology had progressed.
As she scrolled through the home screen, she noticed an icon with a phone handset.
"Based on how the home icon took me back to the main screen and the coin icon took me to the store, I assume this is what allows me to call or video talk with my family?" Tapping on the screen, Claire decided to see what would happen.
The next screen had an empty screen aside from a plus symbol with "Add Contact" on the side. Tapping on the plus symbol, a menu popped up with the original display in the background. There was a place where information could be inputted with "Search" on top of it. Another option below it said, "Display Contacts Connected with Bracelet."
Claire's eyebrows raised at the second option. "It can't be that easy, right?"
Tapping on the second option, a spinning circle appeared in the middle of the screen with "Detecting Bracelet. Please Wait." below. A few seconds later, it disappeared, and a list of people she knew could be seen. On the menu were all her family members, even ones that she hadn't talked to in ages.
"It even included extended family?" Claire thought.
As she looked through the list, she noticed that some of the names were greyed out.
Still trying to process the list, she didn't think much about the greyed out names and what it meant.
Going back to the top of the list, she noticed that all her family members weren't greyed out. Tapping on the one for her mom, the screen switched to display a recent picture of her mother with information about her. Below were several options, one of them being "Video Call."
"I wonder how mom feels about her information being available on this thing, though it doesn't seem like anything that wouldn't be too hard to track down," Claire wondered to herself as she tapped on the option for "Video Call."
Soon she was seeing a video of herself staring at the screen. On the right side were more options, such as share image, invite others, and access store. Superimposed on her video was writing saying, "Connecting."
A soft ringing noise was heard, letting her know that the call was in progress.
Though she was waiting for a time, it soon changed to an image of her mother and father.
"Claire!" Her mother exclaimed with relief in her voice. "You're safe!" Tears began forming in her mother's eyes.
Her father, next to her mom, had an arm around her. Looking at Claire, he said, "One of the people inside of this place had informed us that both you and Hannah had already entered the shelter." He took a deep breath, filled with relief as though just seeing Claire had lifted a burden from his shoulders.
"I'm okay, dad. Mom, is everyone else okay?" Claire asked about her siblings.
Nodding, while wiping away the tears, her mom said, "Yes. We had plenty of time to enter the shelter. Due to our work, one of the entrances into the shelter was built beneath the building to make it easier to escape in case something were to happen to the Fort."
Hearing that her family was well, Claire smiled and didn't feel as though the events that took place in the Fort was as unfortunate as it actually was. "As long as my family is safe," Clarie thought to herself, trying not to think about the people who likely hadn't made it safely into the shelter and were swarmed by the Modified Humans during the fall of the base.