Kellin advanced forward, drawing his rifle again from his right hip and moving cautiously despite how giddy he felt. It felt wrong to have this much more luck than he'd ever thought they'd have, all things considered.
"How do you think it got here," he asked in wonder, a cool blue and white lighting shining softly from above as they descended into the passageway.
"Unsure. Set into mountainside. Unlikely it was swallowed by portal. Intentional placement," she reasoned back. "Fortunate."
"That's an understatement," he responded.
Reaching the bottom of the short staircase, Kellin stared around at the room they'd arrived in. It wasn't very large by any means, maybe twenty by thirty at most, but it was everything Kellin ever dreamed of even though he'd never dreamed of a Life Hutch once in his entire life. He also realized it was a bit sad for this to be his dream but... here and now, he could cry.
"A repair bay, a kitchen, a bed, a med table... a built-in computer? Even surveillance equipment..."
"-Welcome, Individual Kellin Finnel/Gypsy, to Life Hutch #42 of planet Terranis. First Individual to come across a Life Hutch on Terranis: No connections to be made. Would you like to claim ownership of Hutch #42?"
"Even an AI!" Kellin cried out in glee, Gypsy accepting ownership of the Hutch before he could even think about it.
[Congratulations Individual Gypsy, Kellin Finnel on being the first to claim ownership of a Life Hutch! Credits rewarded based on Threat Level: 10]
"-Individual Gypsy/Kellin Finnel registered as owner."
"Unequip," Kellin stated, suit suddenly no longer holding his body in place as its front began to open.
Unlike the usual process of the legs splitting apart at the crotch and the chest piece lifting directly upward, each individual panel seemed to recede back over the top of one another from the centerline of every front-facing point of the suit to the sides. Kellin could feel, see the process happening, blown away at the efficiency and speed, a small step even forming between the two legs for him to step down upon, which he did shortly after.
[Congratulations! You've unequipped your Combat Suit for the first time. Credits Rewarded based on threat of environment: 1]
[Warning: Status severely reduced in this state]
Kellin couldn't care less, knowing his [Stats] had fallen yet feeling as if they'd increased instead, feeling that much more light and free. Without thinking much about it, he moved toward the bed and sat down on the small portion not set in the wall, taking in the room and a deep breath. After he'd stared at everything around him for a few more minutes without actually looking at much of it, his forehead fell into his hands, elbows rested on his knees.
"Finally," he whispered, hearing the sound of Gypsy closing up but remaining at the door.
Kellin felt his shoulders slowly begin to loosen, back and chest following shortly after as the rest of his body slowly untensed itself for the first time in months, since the last time he'd been home in fact. The feeling was... overwhelming as it always was when in a constant state of war and awareness, only to be suddenly allowed a moment to yourself. Not needing to continuously be aware of what was behind you, around you. A fear of something around every corner...
A moment of peace.
Another ten minutes of sitting still in the silence of the room passed, ending when Kellin chuckled to himself a bit and rubbed at his face, standing up and looking around again. The bed was set halfway into the right wall, closest to the door with a second bed set above it further in the wall. He'd had to walk past the surveillance monitors to get to where he'd sat, a bit further taking him toward an area of kitchen counters and a fridge.
The back wall sported a large metal desk set all along it with a plethora of drawers and cabinets all above and below it. If he had to guess, they'd likely be filled with a plethora of different crafting tools, meant for making modifications and repairs to any number of modifications for Combat Suits. To the right of it lay the kitchen, but also one sink set in between the two areas like a divide.
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The left side of the large desk met a cylindrical repair bay jutted outward from the back left corner a good four feet. This was Gypsy's space, where she would be going to repair when not doing it slowly in the field.
On the left wall, closest to the repair bay was another desk, but set with a plethora of screens in front of it rather than space to work on. A normal looking chair was currently sucked into the leg space of said desk, taking almost no extra space in the room while tucked away.
Closest to the door on his immediate left when he'd entered sat a large, sectioned off area of the Hutch with a screen currently opened, showcasing the bathroom inside. He was happy to see it was of the variety that offered privacy when utilizing, though he was unsure if that meant anything anymore in the current situation. Still, even back home when Gypsy was a normal AI, he'd made sure no cameras or links to her were active while using the bathroom. It was his time.
Finally, the center of the room housed a long table: the Med table. Probably the second most important piece of technology in the entire structure after the repair bay.
All in all, it was a space he could feel comfortable in.
"Well, Gyps. Welcome to temporary home for now," he said.
"Request Captain Finnel move Combat Suit to the repair bay now that emotional outbur-"
"Easy, easy. I just needed a moment. It's been a rough few days," he said, holding his hands up towards the cruel suit. "Why not walk there yourself, anyway?" he asked, silence taking hold of the room for a few seconds.
Eventually, he watched the suit make a jerking movement with an arm, nearly toppling it, before it stopped and became inactive once more.
"Unpracticed in maneuvers related to automated movement."
"What? But you moved us around plenty fine when you were trying to stop me from leaving that clearing," he pointed out.
"Unrelated instance. Different... unsure," came the eventual response. "Easier with... Captain Finnel."
Kellin considered the statement for a bit, eventually conceding that he vaguely understood what she was trying to convey. He hadn't really thought about it until now, but the ease of moving the suit without his [Skills] and [Stats] from his years and years of service was definitely unnatural. It had become a simple, basic Combat Suit with the loss of all his modifications and abilities, yet it moved almost... smoother than when he'd been an [Expedition Captain]. Intuitively. Like it wasn't him moving the suit but the suit moving with him.
"Well, try just moving the right half of your body forward with one stepping movement. You've done it before, so just try to imitate that and we can practice more tomorrow."
About another minute went by in silence. After the first few seconds of him watching Gypsy and seeing nothing happening, he turned away to move toward the sink. Washing his hands with cold water had never seemed so appealing to him before in his life. After this, his mind considered how nice a hot shower would-
*Crash*
Jumping and turning around, Kellin was greeted with the sight of the Combat Suit lying on its back with its right leg extended directly upward, like it had just tried to kick the everliving shit out of the Med table. Luckily, it had missed.
"What in the hell was that? Are you ok?" Kellin asked immediately, stunned at the notification that the suit had just lost one more integrity.
"Attempted movement," came the curt reply, the AI almost sounding embarrassed and sending Kellin into hysterics as he rested his hands on the other side of the med table, doubling over.
"Unamusing," Gypsy complained at him, ignored entirely as he continued to laugh even harder. "Captain Finnel's suggestion."
Tens of seconds of laughing turned into a minute, Kellin eventually reigning it in to spontaneous bouts of giggling. Taking a deep breath and looking upward for a moment, he rounded the med table and stood above his Combat Suit.
"Comforting to see Captain Finnel finds mirth due to AI inexperience," came a seething statement from below.
Guilt and more laughter immediately ran through his body in equal parts as his hands came up.
"Alright, alright I'm sorry," he stated with a chuckle, getting no response. "As I said, it's been a rough... yeah I guess it's rough for you too. Ok, I'm sorry. I needed that but... let's get you up," he finished, pushing the lifted right leg back down slowly and leaning over the suit carefully.
Gypsy did not respond, the next minute tense and awkward as the silent treatment dug into his consciousness viciously, Kellin unsure if the AI even knew what the silent treatment was. He'd even briefly wondered whether or not she'd try and hit him as a form of petty revenge but it was unfounded, Kellin able to lay atop the suit as it slowly opened itself and allowed him to regain control of its functions, silent all the while.
Two minutes and another couple of apologies later, the suit was in the repair bay and Kellin was feeling appropriately abashed, finding it hard to even look toward the silent bay. Eventually, he turned his attention away from his upset partner and looked toward the computer.
"Hutch AI, do you have a special designation?" he asked, wondering if its creator had imparted a name upon it.
"-Affirmative, Redacted. Primary user Gypsy/Redacted has designated this one Flip."
Kellin's mouth opened as his eyebrows rose, glancing toward the repair bay and then back toward the computer.
"Well then," he began after a few moments to collect himself. "It's nice to meet you, Flip. Please give my apologies to Gypsy for me and set the shower temperature to 104 degrees. I'd like to rinse."
"-Shower temperature set to 80 degrees at request of primary user. Apologies sent. Do you require anything else, Redacted?"
Kellin took a deep breath and shook his head, looking toward the bath area.
"No, that's... that's about it," he sighed out, accepting his fate as he trudged toward what was supposed to be his first pleasant evening in months.