The surrounding mirror vanished; revealing a vast array of weapons, ranging from swords and axes to guns and bombs. In an instant, she lunged forward and seized the handgun. A dialogue box appeared before her eyes. Including a detailed description of its strength, weight, recoil, formation speed and compatibility with distinct elements. She chose the familiar one, the lightweight option that works well with water, and the rifle suited for windy conditions. Among various elements, such as electricity, space, gravity and others, she chose the ones that met all her needs except for space.
Her excitement faded when there was no option to store them. She considered the possibility that SL could have certain magnetic properties or something similar, but it didn't. All her attempts to store the gun were unsuccessful. While going through other weapons, the handgun slipped from her hand and disintegrated into black particles that twirled around her wrist—fashioning an extraordinary bracelet-like stripe. Her eyes sparkled.
Same happened with other guns. Each of them left a unique pattern on her arms. She had the option to carry one handgun with 4 magazines, where the magazines particles merged vertically over the gun's stripes, 2 throwables in each elbow and knives on her thighs.
Just as she was about to learn how to use them, the ground disappeared and fell in a Slow-Mo field. In the blink of an eye, she landed on her knees on the ground below. The place where all the unranked have gathered. The hangar was filled with hundreds of unknown aircrafts.
"What a fall," she whispered.
"Here! At last," Hemant approached her. "You made me won the bet."
The sight of the crowd reminded her of a rack filled with shiny silver spoons.
"Bet?"
"Kavya and I bet on your arrival. As you'll come before or after the countdown." He pointed at a countdown floating mid-air at the centre, at 2 minutes.
"Ira. Why's your neuro link different?" Sana said.
Manya faced Sana. "Different?"
Sana turned and brushed her fingers against a silver circle patterned on the back of her neck. Appeared as some kind of advance tattoo display with "S" written in the middle. But its intensity was changing with every passing second. The upper curve of the S bend a little seemed like it was blushing.
Kavya moved her fingers over Manya's gun patterns on forearms. "Pretty basic."
"Can you guys tell me something?" Manya said. "How does one equip these guns?"
"You didn't get a tutorial?" Sana said.
Manya shook her head.
"Let me give a demo," Hemant said. He raised his arms towards Manya, palm open. The particles on his wrist moved to his palm and merged into a gun. "Think about equipping a gun."
Manya attempted the same thing, but it didn't work out. She imagined the perfect shape of the guns, but nothing happened.
"This is strange," Kavya said. "Neuro link is different. Didn't receive tutorial. Ira, look at us." Kavya moved closer to Manya. "Can you see any information floating beside my head?"
Manya denied.
Kavya kicked the nearby railing and sooner jumped off it onto the floor below, filled with aircrafts.
"Don't worry about her," Hemant said. "Finding this close to the mission that one of your teammates receive a defective equipment could frustrate anyone."
"Defective? Won't they assign me another one," Manya said. "How can I… ask?" Their expressions made it clear that receiving another was never an option.
Amidst the chaos of unranked settling down, a roar of curses caught their attention. Kavya was speaking her heart out, slight aggressively in the air. Angry but still sane enough to avoid any unnecessary disqualification for officials standing metres away.
"This is weird," Hemant said. She faced him. "There's no info on your SL. Just an article proving its existence. It said that the production of this SL has been discontinued."
Manya sighed. "Leave me," she leaned on the railing. "I'll find my way around it. Don't want to become a burden." She smirked. "It's not like I would be the first solo."
"You won't be a burden," Hemant placed his hand on her shoulder. She felt a sudden pressure from his grip. "And this isn't as defective as we thought. Or it wouldn't have endured my grip. Strong enough to destroy a boulder." He patted on her shoulder. "We are a team, Ira."
'Please get ready for the commencement of the test,' a female voice announced.
"Ira, accept the invite," Sana said.
A dialogue box appeared mid-air. "Would you like to become a member of the Sevians?"
Upon pressing "Yes" the description of the other members, along with their health and SL metrics and the count of total teams and solo, appeared at the corner of her sight. Whenever she glanced at that information, it magnified. "I can see everyone's health and SL info!"
"I think your SL's most basic features are still working," Hemant said.
"It's just like a game," Manya whispered.
She felt relieved to not be a complete burden to them. And as for weapons, she could ask her teammates.
"But what's the mission about?" Manya said.
"It will appear right after the countdown," Sana said. "But we need a baaz first."
"Baaz?"
Sana pointed at the dark stealth-like aircrafts, occupying the hanger.
The massive metal doors swung open, allowing a powerful gust of wind to sweep into the vicinity. The hangar reverberated with the continuous rumble of thunder, while the salty aroma of the ocean filled the air. Such strong winds and no pressure on individuals.
"They could easily stop these irritating winds, but no," Sana said.
The SL prevented the wind from touching her skin. But the powerful wind that can destroy a skyscraper wasn't touching her face? There seemed to be an invisible aura around her face.
'10.'
'9,' Manya's heart pounded in her chest, fuelling her with an adrenaline rush.
'8.'
'7,' Do I have to kill those mercenaries again?
'6.'
'5.'
'4,' Can I pee first?
'3.'
'2.'
'1.'