No one knew what to say, as they just looked at the woman dressed in an outfit that looked like it belonged in a fantasy book. His mother was unsure how to proceed, with the wound in the woman's stomach.
Being inside the simulation, none of them had the need to bring in medical supplies or equipment. If they were injured, the suit was able to provide temporary medical aid but any severe injuries would just lead to them fading away and appearing at the beginning.
Han remembered the times he had died in the simulation, waking up near the entrance to the village above them. Aside from the slight disorientation from being killed to being alive, the experience was simple and efficient.
Those that died would head back down into the dungeon, killing any newly spawned creatures and reuniting with the group ahead in the lower levels. As they got deeper, the process took longer, making it so that sometimes multiple people would rejoin the group as one of them got stuck with dealing with a monster until the recently revived member teamed up with them.
"What are we going to do with her?" Jennifer wondered and unsure about their circumstance.
Jackie pulled out a vial out of her suit's pocket. "Do you think this might help?" She held up a vial containing a red liquid. "It was in one of the drops from way back, in the previous floor."
Standing next to Jackie, Lacy reached out her hand. After Jackie passed it to her, she intently observed the liquid. "I think I saw this at one of the shops. The man at the counter mentioned something about drinking the liquid to heal wounds... but I didn't pay much attention to him."
Several in their group looked quickly at Lacy, startled by her words.
"Wait... You mean if we were to drink that it would heal our wounds?" Jae-Hwa asked in disbelief.
As Han listened to Lacy describe the function of the liquid, he was intrigued by the simulation. He then remembered his teacher barging in and talking about how these simulations weren't simulations but actual worlds.
Looking to the woman in his mother's lap, the idea of running into someone else down here was no longer surprising when placed into that context. It was then, out of the corner of his eyes, that he noticed someone that was behaving somewhat atypically. Ji-Min looked to be interested in what Lacy was talking about.
"This would have been helpful to have when trying to push to the lower levels," Ji-Min mentioned.
Liz nodded. "Defeating enemies would sometimes be decided by how wounded we were, which such a vial would've made the difference." Her hand was near where her mouth would be behind the helmet. Compared to how she acted, the action looked unintentional as Liz thought about the implications.
His mother, feeling the woman shuddering and still whispering about leaving people behind, looked up at Lacy. "We should first try and figure out what's happened with this woman. I have the feeling that something time-sensitive is taking place."
Nodding her head, Lacy went over and handed over the red liquid. "I was told that you could either drink the substance or sprinkle it over the wound."
Taking the liquid, his mother nodded her head. The vial looked to just be the glass container with a stopper, to keep the substance contained. Seeing nothing special about the stopper, she popped the stopper with just one hand, while the other was used to help the woman up. "Here... Just drink this and you'll feel better." She whispered to the woman comfortingly.
It didn't seem like the woman could understand what his mother said, but she still opened her mouth. Soon the red liquid was poured into the mystery woman's mouth, a little dibbling down the corners of her lips.
When the vial was emptied, all of them were curious about what was going to happen. Han carefully watched the woman, to see what would occur. Would the liquid react instantly or take some time.
Some time passed before the woman's eyes slowly fluttered open. Judging by the way she looked, there was some confusion as to what was going on. "Who...?" She asked, looking around at each of them.
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Jennifer's helmet let out a hissing noise as it opened up. "Sorry about that. It must have been strange waking up to all of us, still inside of our suits." She laughed embarrassed. Placing a hand on her chest, Jennifer explained, "My name is Jennifer. We were exploring this area when you came stumbling out of the grass."
Seeing what Jennifer was doing, one by one, they revealed their faces so the woman could see them. Judging by the look on the woman's face, being able to see who they were was preferable compared to their former ominous appearance.
"You mentioned about leaving people behind..." Amanda asked gently.
Opening her eyes wide with fright, she turned her body quickly and stumbled out of his mother's lap. Her breathing quickened and she looked up at all of them, terror plastered all over her face, remembering the reason why she was running. "You have to help them!" She screamed, pleading to all of them.
Squatting to better look at the woman, Amanda asked, "What happened? Who do we have to help?"
"My friends! We ran across dozens of monsters we've never seen before, and they..." The woman began sobbing, unable to continue.
Standing back up, Amanda looked at each of them. "What should we do?"
His mother got back up, dusting herself off. Her face was stern after hearing the woman's words. "I think we should help them."
Jackie looked torn as if trying to decide what she thought they should do. "Do you think she's one of the people in the simulation?"
"Even if she's part of the simulation, I think it's not a bad idea to go and help her group out. It'll give us a chance to see what we'll be facing." Lacy chimed in.
Looking at the woman still pouring out her emotions, Han joined in on the discussion. "I think it's not a bad thing to help someone out, even if this may be a simulated environment."
"I agree. We should still...," Jennifer started to say before being interrupted.
"This place is a simulation?" The woman asked, her voice thick from the crying. Her eyes were wide and her brows scrunched up.
"Um...," Jennifer looked hesitant to continue.
Grace ended up being the one that approached the woman and attempted to answer her question. "What's your name?" Grace asked, in a voice likely the same one she used when being on duty as a police officer.
"Abigail," the woman answered.
A smile appeared on Grace's face, hearing the woman answer. "Okay, Abigail. Though you may not believe us, my friends, and I, come from a place outside of this world. To us, this place is a simulation, not a real world."
Abigail looked even more confused, hearing Grace's words.
"It's okay if it sounds strange and unbelievable. We'll help you and your friends out." Grace added in, likely worried that the woman would think Grace was saying that they wouldn't help her and her friends out.
Even after hearing Graces words, Abigail looked to be trying to understand something. She looked at each one of them, her mouth slowly moving as if she was talking to herself. "I don't understand. How is this a simulation?"
"It's inside of our facility, where we can travel here when we want to train," Lulu tossed in her words, surprising everyone. Lulu noticed the reaction and said, "What? It's not like it matter if she knows, right?"
Looking at the ground, after hearing Lulu's words, Abigail began mumbling, "That doesn't make any sense." Over and over again.
Worried about the woman, Grace placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Abigail? What's wrong?"
Lifting her head up, Abigail looked straight at Grace. She seemed to be stuck on some idea, before stating, "But... My friends and I aren't from here either. We just entered that doorway inside of that abandoned building, to get away from those zombie creatures. I think they're called Modified Humans?"