The REALLY Wild Wasteland. (The Fallout RP!)

[Generic NPC 22]

The Enclave Vault: Lucy's Room

Before the Intercom Interruption

Suspended from the ceiling and unable to do a damned thing to save herself, the Cloaked Psychopath in Red could only ponder the little known fact that this wasn't how she had imagined her life ending. She had always imagined being killed during some sort of gigantic chase scene as a city's worth of authorities cornered her and ended her existence in a hail of gunfire or perhaps being torn to itty bitty pieces by some sort of Super Deathclaw with psychic powers. Of all the ways that her violent and short life could have come to an end, Sylph had certainly never imagined it ending this way, at the hands of her would-be cyclopian vicitm.

"Invert controls..." The One-Eyed Gauss girl muttered, as she swung her trademark rifle towards the dangling maniac, pausing long enough to give Sylph a withering one-eyed glare.

"...The Beast" The young looking woman who looked rather out of place in a facility filled with armored, hulking, annoyingly moronic soldiers finished, her rifle doing some sort of strange transformation, making it look even deadlier as it began to buck like a pregnant, bleeding Bighorner.

Closing the Stormy Blue eyes of hers in anticipation of what looked to be the end of Little Manic Riding Hood, Sylph was rather surprised when she heard the girl mutter the word:

"Disengage..."

"Huh?" Sylph huh'd before she realized that the Anti-Materiel Rifle that kept her suspended from the ceiling was no longer keeping her suspended from the ceiling.

*THUD!* The Red Cloaked Wonder thudded against the floor, thankful that the fall only wounded her pride rather than her behind.

"Sorry about that, caught me at a bad time...are you alright?" The Cyclops asked softly as she helped the Red Menace back up to her feet, Sylph pausing for a moment to rub what was surely going to be a bruise in a few minutes time. The fact that the eye-patched woman in the room hadn't reduced her into a puddle of slag wasn't lost on Sylph and so rather than choke the life out of her, like she had intended to, Sylph simply nodded before looking up at the open vent, noting that her new rifle was still jammed up there.

"I'm - fine." The Stormy eyed girl responded slowly as she continued to rub her sore ass in a manner that could have been perceived as her rubbing her sore pride. Looking about the room, Sylph noted that it was rather bare and held no personality, almost as if the girl in front of her had just moved into it.

"Lucy Black, mind telling me why you're sneaking up on me?" Lucy Black said with a faint smile, the glare that had been there previously disappearing in what appeared to be a friendly personality.

It occurred to our Little Girl in Red that it had been quite some time since anyone, save for Master Johnny Truant, had spoken to Sylph in this manner, causing Sylph to further repress her urge to wring the life out of Lucy Black. It also occurred to Sylph that this was the first time that anyone other than one of her Masters or Mistresses that had treated her with any sort of respect, a fact that caused the normally psychopathic 18 year old to look away in embarrassment as she felt her face go red for a moment.

"Um - Sylph." Sylph mumbled looking around the the room at everything except for the friendly person in front of her.

"I was - um - running - um - from a bunch of armored soldiers." She continued, hiding the fact that she was sneaking into Lucy Black's room to smother the life out of Lucy Black.

"I sort of - um - got lost."

It was at that moment that the intercom interrupted the meeting of the soon to be legendary duo, Gauss Girl and the Little Manic Riding Hood.

After the Intercom Interruption

...This concerns your Undertaker friend. #411 is with him. If I were you, I would hurry."

"(Undertaker?!?)" The Red Menace exclaimed internally as she looked at Lucy Black with renewed suspicion. If this was one of the hated Undertaker's friends, then surely she would become an obstacle in Sylph path towards avenging her "Father's" death.

"...G-got it." The One-Eyed Lucy Black responded and appeared to be leaving the room, which gave our once-bladed-psycho an idea.

"Lucy Black? Would you mind if I accompany you?" Sylph asked as she made like she was going to follow, her thirst for revenge clouding the fact that she was still in a rather hostile environment, something that Lucy Black would need to point out.

 

[TheDoctor455]

"Nice work guys, you a recruit or something?" said the diclonius.

Not that Johnny knew what that word meant, let alone why it came into his mind. Another of The Editor's little 'touch-ups' he supposed. After this long, you learn to just run with it.

"I guess that's what Number One wants from me," he answered, trying very hard not to break eye contact with Natsuki, "Honestly though, I have no frakkin' idea. All I know is that Number One thought I was worth chatting up for a bit... and now I'm here. Reminds me... I think your guys restocked me. I'm grateful for that but seemed a bit odd. The bullets I understand... but why on earth did they give me more drugs and hooch?"

A sudden burst of pain shot through Johnny's left leg. In an attempt to keep himself upright, he set his rifle barrel down and leaned on it, grunting a little from the sharp multitude of dagger-like needles poking into his skin and veins at the moment.

"Shit," he said, "Could one of you take a look at that? Please tell me I'm not infected or impregnated or whatever it is that thing does to make babies."

 

[The Harkinator]

"Yep nice work." Said William, though the conversation had already moved past that. Natsuki and Johnny were talking, or rather Johnny was trying to blag his way through something, then grabbed his leg in a fit of pain.

"Shit, could one of you take a look at that? Please tell me I'm not infected or impregnated or whatever it is that thing does to make babies." Said Johnny, leaning on his rifle to keep himself upright.

William began to head for the door, once he was almost there he turned back to Natsuki and excused himself, "Well, I think you've got this one. I'd better be on my way now, this was fun... sort of." He jabbed his thumb towards the door repeatedly as he backed off. Then quickly left through it.

HA HA SHE'S YOUR PROBLEM NOW screamed William's brain as he doubled back on himself, checking his route on the HUD. A quick stop off returned the flamethrower and s he made his way deeper into he thought about the preceding events and shook his head. This had the unintended effect of flicking between displays for different Enclave soldiers further along the corridor. So maybe this HUD thing had some drawbacks after all?

Right, new three part plan:

Step 1: Walk as quickly as possible, it makes us look like we're on an important job and shouldn't be interrupted. Also, if either of those crazy people from the plant room decides to follow us we should be able to lose them for long enough.

Step 2: Find out where the Enclave keeps their databases (ask that EU captain, also shut off helmet speaker for now) and download that data the Brotherhood needs.

Step 3: Get out of here, get this bomb collar off and get back to the Brotherhood.

End Result: Profit, continued survival and a good reason for giving us two weeks off from work, or maybe a month would be more appropriate. To be honest we could both do with a bit of a long term recharge here. I heard Point Lookout is nice this time of year.

Ok, now William had his priorities straight and was heading further into the base, he really hoped he would find a server room or some terminals soon.

===========================================

"Why don't we get one, ya know, for study?" Said Dudley, Evan and Hayes looked at him like he'd just said "Sometimes I paint myself purple and pretend I'm wearing power armour." (Which will be the name of Dudley's biography, written by Scribe E. Ramsey).

See as far as Evan could deduce this pure rain was the cause of these new things. Boogie Man played softly over the radio, the perfect thinking music. Evan finally spoke up, "We're not far from decent sized settlements, we can warn them about this and keep on our way."

"What then?" Asked Dudley, drawing questioning looks from his companions, Dudley pressed on, "So we get back, what then? I 'aint no Brotherhood man, once we get yelled at fer failin' I'm outta there."

"I hadn't thought that far, I suppose I might have to stay with the Brotherhood, coming back empty handed on this one might mean months of boring assignments for me, especially since I lost my Pip-Boy." Answered Evan.

"Well this rain thing seems interestin' enough. I'm gonna check it out once we told your guys what's up. Maybe you can tag along huh?"

"Maybe. But for now let us get a move on, we still have a way to go, better to say we failed than not come back at all."

The three musketeers carried on with their journey, the ominous raincloud disappearing into the distance behind them. A sign of a fresh start?

 

[Souplex]

Marlon smirked.
"Y'know, all told you're probably right and believe you me it's damn tempting but after that little spiel you just rolled out I gotta wonder whose doing the most thinking about it."
"Once I set my mind to something, I get it. It may take time, but I can be remarkably patient."
"What this baby is really about is wanting for the longest time to find an easier way to kill tinsuit bastards. Enclave, Outcasts, Brotherhood back out west, don't fucking matter to me. There's reason to put the lot of 'em down. Just didn't have access to the parts I needed to put this sucker together proper til now."
He smiled darkly as he slung the weapon over his back and leaned against the workbench.
"Let's see how smug they are with suits full of plasma."
"While I do enjoy the thought of giving the 'Clave what they've got coming, should you get any ideas about the Brotherhood here, you know my threat about long-range laser castration still stands."
He frowned a moment, as if something else had occurred to him.
"Tell you what.."
He picked up the plans for the Swordfish from the workbench and rolled them up.
"I'm gonna do something my sister would never've done. Here, the Brotherhood can have the schematics for the gun. No charge.
"Thank you. You know, while it might anger your family to no end, you'd probably be welcome to join the scribes. Most of us are recruited from outside these days, and the average waster doesn't have your mechanical skills."
Not like I could sell it to the public anyway. Raiders get hold of it and it'd be a fuckin' disaster. Designed this thing to punch through power armor. I'd rather not see what raiders'd do to regular joes with it."
[Energy Weapons]"It wouldn't do as much as you might think. Apparently the reason Gauss slugs squash on impact is to maximize the force delivered to the target. Against squishier targets it would probably pass clean through, making only a small hole, and wasting the plasma effect of the specialized ammunition. All the force of the shot would still be in the spike instead of the target." (This is the reason armor-piercing rounds are less effective against unarmored targets in real life. #TheMoreYouKnow)
Hell, no point putting much price on it for the brotherhood either when there's still the matter of winning this damn thing. So the way I figure, might as well let the brotherhood put together at least a few of 'em. Gauss ain't exactly the easiest material to get enough of, but I figure it can't hurt." He shrugged.
"Lyons will be very pleased with this. The scribes will certainly hate you though. They'll be stuck spending hours making custom ammunition."
There was a knock at the door.
"We'll pick this up later."

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

Lucy's eye absorbed everything about her blue-haired guest. The more she looked at the situation, the less she believed that this girl was sent as some sort of unorthodox loyalty test.

From what she gathered, The Enclave dealt with issues by deferring to a highly militaristic system. There was a chain of command. Their methods were direct and clear, which made something like subterfuge seem unlikely.

The combination of the absolute stress this environment was putting on her, the constant awareness revolving around watching her every action...and the striking resemblance to Lucy's own situation...all seemed to be justification for Lucy's next few actions.

[hr]

"Lucy Black? Would you mind if I accompany you?"

Lucy could understand if Sylph needed someone to cover for her in a place like this. It...was certainly a gamble, but doing anything other than helping this girl seemed more like a hassle. Sylph was her only lifeline for external aid at this point.

However, everything would fall apart if Sylph was actually Enclave or chose to betray her.

So this really was a desperate leap of faith as Lucy realized she couldn't carry out her desire for revenge on her own. One that she was incredibly uncomfortable with.

Initially, Lucy appeared to ignore the question while she suddenly got busy.

Lucy made sure the two of them were locked in her private quarters before inspecting and closing the ventilation system.
Cleaning the dirty patch where Sylph had landed with the underside of a pillow.
Finally, Lucy was relieved to find several repeated sets of spare gray clothing in the single metallic locker that inhabited the room.

"Sylph...I think I may have an idea about who you are..." Lucy opened coldly and calmly while working to cover any trace of a guest being here.

The large rifle that had jammed her guest in the ventilation system was astounding, but it being a conventional firearm, was not one that she had recognized. However, that was a massive red flag for Lucy.

"The guards watching over me earlier, mentioned a silent alert before leaving. A single hostile on this floor..."

The vent-dweller had shown nothing but frustration and anger when Lucy had her rifle pointed at her earlier. Unlike Lucy at this point in her life, Sylph was more of an open window with her emotions. And those particular emotions reflected her own very well.

"You don't look like Enclave and I don't appreciate half-truths." This caused Lucy to stare directly at the blue-haired female, giving a withering glare once more, made even more effective when a single eye was focused on her.

If this girl directly opposed the Enclave, then that put her on Lucy's side, she merely had to choose a way to approach her. Lucy chose honesty for a refreshing change of pace.

Of course, at this point, Lucy was referring to how Sylph had claimed to be running away from soldiers. While that seemed likely...the powerful-looking rifle and the use of a ventilation system did not depict her as particularly innocent in this event. The evidence, combined with the silent alarm that had taken her escort away from her, seemed to point in one direction:

...Sylph

"If you want to come with me...then put these on...take this and tie your hair up in a bun...and clean yourself up..." After a few moments, the glare was dropped and replaced with a calculating look.

Lucy had handed Sylph the dull gray clothing, untied her hair and gave Sylph her large hair-band before finally walking off to the bathroom and returning to hand her a wet cloth and an explanation.

If this girl was to accompany Lucy, then she had better invent a cover story and at least make her look the part. She was throwing caution to the wind, but she wasn't going to hand this girl over to the Enclave...if Lucy's suspicions were correct.

Proceeding to tear up a shirt, Lucy handed her what could be fashioned into a bandana.

"The clothes seem like standard issue for these kind of quarters, so they make you look like you belong here. The hairstyle and bandana should throw most people off and if anyone asks...you're being accompanied by Asset Lucy Black, under the orders of Fallout Jack. They'll hassle me then, instead of you."

Laughing dryly to herself, Lucy couldn't help but wonder how she had the strangest ways of making friends. Regardless, if she could find at least one person to help her, she would be making progress here.

"I'm kinda hated here or at the very best...barely tolerated. So...neither of us can be discovered just yet..."

The anxiety was starting to grow again as she regained her focus for the situation ahead, while waiting on Sylph.

Sylph seemed more surprised that someone wasn't attacking her. Instead, Lucy opted to believe that this girl was much like her, inside the Enclave for all the wrong reasons and lying to her wasn't going to help either of them.

"If you need me as cover, I get it. The best way to move through these people is to have a reason and a story to backup your presence."

Rubbing her wrist from the painful pressure that Beast Mode had put on her, Lucy concluded with a wry smile. "It doesn't hurt to look the part as well...and just call me Lucy..."

[hr]

The interrogation rooms were easy enough to find once Lucy had gotten directions from a passing soldier. Strangely enough, the soldier had questioned her presence and paid little to no attention to Sylph.

Perhaps Lucy should have gotten dressed in what seemed like the trademark casual clothing of the Enclave...then again, her appearance and name was infamous, so there was no escaping recognition here.

Any further questions were deterred by simply mentioning her association with Fallout Jack.

Before rounding the corner for her destination, she turned to talk to Sylph, being careful to keep her voice casual and mindful of anyone around her.

"Stay out of sight and we can meet in my room after I'm done, okay? Be careful, there's a lot we have to talk about..."

Checking once more that the fragile alliance was safe, she left Sylph to her own devices as she rounded the corner alone.

Lucy was taking a huge risk with this Sylph girl. They had barely spoken and knew next to nothing about each other. Lucy was just desperate to build a team to strike back somehow...she may have fantasized about wreaking havoc on the Enclave, but she felt vastly out of her element.

[hr]

Upon reaching the entrance of Interrogation Room #5, she was instantly recognized and ushered into a secondary door.

Walking into what appeared to be an observatory, that viewers of any interrogation could sit in on, safe behind what she could imagine was one-way looking-glass.

How many people had watched her talk with Fallout Jack?

The sight of a physically punished Thomas Shifty Mcgee had instantly horrified her. For all her layers she had put around herself, she had arrogantly thought that her hasty cover for Shifty was enough...

By all appearances, she was wrong, very wrong...

In order to keep up appearances, Lucy stifled her anger before locating an intercom to get #411's attention.

"What the hell is going on?" Lucy declared coldly.

 

[Generic NPC 22]

The Enclave Vault: Enclave Asset Lucy Black's Room

"You don't look like Enclave and I don't appreciate half-truths." The One-Eyed Lucy Black stated bluntly, her one eye drilling into the Manic Red Cloaked Blue Haired Girl's brain as easily as a round from the Gauss Girl's Gauss Rifle would have, the combination of the two causing Sylph to wince uncharacteristically as the Stormy Eyed Girl was mentally dragged back in time to when she was under the training of her "father."

Silenced by the girl's tone, Sylph stood there, unmoving as she observed how this Lucy Black was going to parade her through the Enclave Vault, in the open. In the back of the young woman's mind, something warned her that this Lucy Black could be setting her up with a kind front and that the best thing to do would be to kill her as she preoccupied herself. Her body tensed unconsciously, her fingers twitching in anticipation, her lips parted in a slight smile as -

"If you want to come with me...then put these on...take this and tie your hair up in a bun...and clean yourself up..."

The sound of the woman's commanding voice and the sensation of rough fabric and a wet cloth being through into her hands brought young Sylph back to reality making her keenly aware that she perhaps might have been hungry. Looking at the clothes in her hands and then glancing over at Lucy Black for a moment, the soon the be Grey Menace turned around and started removing her clothing, revealing a cris-crossed network of scars that ran up and down the young blue haired girl's back, as she began cleaning the air duct particulates off of her skin.

----------A costume change later----------​

"If you need me as cover, I get it. The best way to move through these people is to have a reason and a story to backup your presence."

Rubbing her wrist from the painful pressure that Beast Mode had put on her, Lucy concluded with a wry smile. "It doesn't hurt to look the part as well...and just call me Lucy..."

"Very well - Lucy - and - thank you." Sylph mumbled as she followed the Gauss Girl out the room's single door and out into the unknown regions of the Enclave Vault.

[hr]

The Enclave Vault: Outside of Interrogation Room #5

The journey to the Interrogation room was uncomfortable at best as the grey clad Sylph followed Lucy Bl- Lucy through the Vault's drab interior corridors. Each and every time the two were stopped by an Armor Clad Enclave Soldier, the disguised girl became quite aware that she was unarmed and at the mercy of a stranger that was known as an Enclave ASSET. Each and every time the two were allowed to go on their merry way by the Armor Clad Enclave Soldiers, the mistrustful blue eyed, extremely out of her element, extremely uncomfortable girl made a mental tick in favor of not killing the woman that was turning out to be her savior.

Even though the walk was a short one, it took the two nearly 15 minutes before they reached the last corner of the interrogation center, Lucy turning towards Sylph and stopping her from following her.

"Stay out of sight and we can meet in my room after I'm done, okay? Be careful, there's a lot we have to talk about..." The Cyclopian Savior said before disappearing around the corner, leaving Sylph to her own devices. Waiting for a heartbeat or two, the drab clad psycho rounded the corner as well and found a rather welcome surprise: Her backpack and her weapons neatly laid out on a table for examination. Smiling to herself, the girl glanced around to ensure that she was alone before snagging her things and running off quickly down the corridor, back towards Lucy's room, strapping the spring blade to her arm as she walked briskly, intent on climbing back up into the vents and making her way back to the -

*THUD THUD THUD THUD*

"You! Don't I know you?" A voice asked the otherwise occupied Sylph as she passed what could have been mistaken for a vending machine on legs but was in fact the Heavy Trooper from earlier.

"HAHA! I found y- *GURGLE GURGLE GURGLE*" The H.T. started to say before the impatient girl's hidden blade slipped into man's throat, his helmet having been removed due to him being on break.

"No. You don't know me." Sylph said as passed the stricken Heavy T's body.

[hr]

The Enclave Vault: Interrogation Room #5

"What the hell is going on?" A voice asked through the room's intercom, causing #411 to pause as she prepared her next surprise for Undertaker McGee.

"Ass-et Black. Prisoner Thomas McGee has requested your presence. I would have been inclined to decline his request but he's proven rather - stubborn." #411 said as she depressed a button on the remote, causing the room's single hidden door to open, allowing the bookish looking Enclave Asset entrance into the room.

"Word from the top is that you can be trusted." #411 said derisively before adding "We'll see about that. Why don't you keep the prisoner company, Ass-et Black. I have to go to the requisitioning office for a moment."

Leaving the remote and a set of torture tools for Lucy, #411 strode out of the room before the door slid shut.

"Lucy," The Tall and Pale Undertaker said softly, almost too softly to be perceived as he gestured towards the remote, motioning for his visitor to turn off the room's cameras and audio pickups, waiting for Lucy to turn them off before continuing.

"She's here - Sylph's here." The Undertaker said quickly, his voice louder this time as his mangled and just healed hand tried to reach towards an object that had been placed on top of the interrogation room's single table, a single red gem that had been mounted to a choker.

"My brother's slave, the brother that I killed, the one who was trained to be a killer by my brother, she's here. You have to - you have to keep her safe." Shifty continued, her face drenched in sweat from the exertion and the hours of torture that he had endured at the hands of #411.

"Give that to her. It's - it's the only thing that'll keep her under control." he continued his hands finally reaching the choker and shoving it towards Lucy.

"I'm sorry that I won't be around to help you like I promised. But they're not buying that I'm here to help start up business with the Enclave." Undertaker McGee said, his ears picking up the sounds of #411 returning from where ever it was that she was coming from.

"Keep yourself safe." He said before grabbing a scalpel off of the table and ramming it into his arm as the door to the observation room slid open, allowing #411 back into the room, along with 2 guards that carried a rather large gas cylinder.

"Well I see that things are going well. I'm not even going to bother asking if you got anything remotely valuable from the prisoner, since I'm sure that you two are working together. But on the off chance that you're not, I'm going to give you the pleasure of encasing our little friend here in Carbonite." #411 said as the cylinder was loaded into a receptacle in the wall.

"Now, Ass-et Black, if you would do the honors." #411 said as she handed Lucy the remote as Shifty was placed in the room's Carbonite Freezing Chamber.

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

"Word from the top is that you can be trusted." #411 said derisively before adding "We'll see about that. Why don't you keep the prisoner company, Ass-et Black. I have to go to the requisitioning office for a moment."

"There's a reason those words come from the top, *****." Lucy retorted poisonously at #411's mocking tone.

Shifty had uttered something barely audible before gesturing to the remote on the table and made a small indication towards the surrounding cameras and audio devices.

"Thomas, what the hell did they do to yo-..." Lucy hadn't taken a seat, instead she had rushed to the remote and was subsequently interrupted by the bruised and battered Undertaker.

"She's here - Sylph's here." The Undertaker said quickly.

SYLPH!?

She had completely forgotten! In the flurry of recent events, she had lost sight of her single promise to the Undertaker. They were to find Sylph, the girl that Shifty had orphaned, in an attempt to redeem the guilt-ridden Undertaker of his past mistakes.

They were meant to do that...together...

"I...I kn-..." Lucy's voice was filled with horror after realizing that she had inadvertently found Sylph only mere moments ago. The Undertaker interrupted her once more, indicating haste.

"My brother's slave, the brother that I killed, the one who was trained to be a killer by my brother, she's here. You have to - you have to keep her safe." Shifty continued with obvious effort and severe strain while shoving a jewelled choker across the table to her. "Give that to her. It's - it's the only thing that'll keep her under control."

Lucy slammed her fist on the table, growing furious at the Undertaker's defeated tone. She reached inside her leather armor to retrieve the silver key that he had given her back at the Citadel. Hoping to spark any sense of motivation.

"We were meant to do this together! We were - we were meant to take care of her...together! This is your story, not mine. So keep fighting dammit!"

"I'm sorry that I won't be around to help you like I promised. But they're not buying that I'm here to help start up business with the Enclave."

Lucy could read between the lines, unfortunately.

"They aren't...going to let you live...are they?"

Biting back tears, Lucy wrapped the choker around her wrist before falling back in her seat and clutching her head. Trying in vain to come up with a plan...

"Dammit, why did you ever follow me in the first place, you idiot...we were meant to write our own story together - our lives..."

Her single visible eye changed from a conflicted glare to an agonizing horror as his final words of resignation hit her.

"Keep yourself safe."

This was his goodbye before wounding himself, which lead to Lucy almost instinctually leaping forward to remove the bloodied scalpel.

Clever. The Undertaker had made her look like the aggressor.

[hr]

"Well I see that things are going well. I'm not even going to bother asking if you got anything remotely valuable from the prisoner, since I'm sure that you two are working together. But on the off chance that you're not, I'm going to give you the pleasure of encasing our little friend here in Carbonite." #411 said as the cylinder was loaded into a receptacle in the wall.

"Now, Ass-et Black, if you would do the honors." #411 said as she handed Lucy the remote as Shifty was placed in the room's Carbonite Freezing Chamber.

At this point, Lucy's blood had turned cold.

Despondently, she replied to #411, her voice held none of her previous flair as before. "For what it's worth, he was telling the truth..."

Lucy slowly stepped towards the chamber, remote in one hand and the other was placed on the glass. Her face didn't change as the tears made their way down her cheeks.

"Maybe you'll think of me when you are all alone. Remember?" spoke the emotionally-crippled Lucy, she took care to mouth the words slowly afterwards.

It was their song, their moment.

Wiping the tears away with her forearm, she finally pressed the button, but turned her back as soon as the freezing procedure started.

Hauntingly, she could only stare at #411, the one responsible for this and her face twisted in anger when the soldier removed her helmet to mockingly smile at her.

"...perhaps...perhaps you should be worrying about gathering MY trust." Lucy's voice grew in rage, reaching a certain peak. "This was unnecessary. I've followed your orders for so long..."

Lucy seized the opportunity to punch #411 squarely in the face.

"...and this is how I'm finally fucking welcomed into the fold!?"

Of course her actions had consequences, Lucy received a rifle-butt to her spine by one of the guards before being escorted out of the interrogation room entirely.

"You're lucky to be alive at this point, Asset. Now walk it off and get yourself in check! We won't tolerate any more of your little tantrums."

[hr]

The pain had barely registered as Lucy slowly made her way back to her quarters. Stopping for a moment to lean against the wall in a quiet passage.

She could only rationalize that she did what was necessary.

Yes...necessary...

She couldn't compromise her cover, even using her remaining friend's death as justification for her emotions.

It had to be done...

She had to leave her feelings behind in that room. Forever.

[hr]

Lucy passed some nearby commotion, not even noticing the single armored body with blood pooling around the neck. Armored soldiers appeared to be inspecting the scene. Heads turned to her, but having noticed who she was and where she came from, chose to ignore her. Not that she had noticed.

Meanwhile, Lucy was glancing down at the choker with a single red gem, adorned on her wrist. Her blue eye lost any indication of emotion as she flatly spoke to herself when she entered the hallway to her quarters.

"This world is cruel. I can't pretend to keep ignoring it."

From that point forward, she felt the strangest sense of control over herself, after paying a very high price.

Primarily with her emotions, it seemed.

Was this merely shock...or something more permanent?

She chose not to answer her own question as she entered her quarters. The manual lock thankfully engaged upon her entry.

 

[ImSkeletor]

Thing go bad 2: Things go badderer
Ones being is a rather complex thing and its destruction brings the loss of something irreplaceable. Many would rather die than have a new personality encoded into them. This body had it's mind rebooted so often in recent times it had to have suffered some permanent damage. But this was equivalent to a factory reset if we are going to stretch a metaphor way to far. Nearly every glimmer of what was once there is now gone. "Bring the patient to the medical bay," said the mad doctor who has essential sold another man's soul for the mere possibility of personal gain and occupational advancement. The beaten, battered, and broken husk of a man was dragged to the medical bay.

He went under the knife for his fractured bones and his severe electrical burns were doted over by doctors who did not ask the hows and whys. They went to work with all the incredible medical technology had that the brotherhood could only imagine in the most insane of imaginations. Barry would be at peak physical condition for the first time in years. But now he was more machine than man: preprogrammed and set to obey all orders. Some people's idea of a perfect soldier. He awoke many many hours later with a certain psychiatrist sitting by his side.

 

[Generic NPC 22]

The Enclave Vault: Interrogation Room #5

"(Life is filled with ironies, cruel, needlessly cruel ironies)" The Tall, Pale, Wounded and Bloody Undertaker thought to himself as the two Power Armor Clad and Burly Enclave Soldiers hauled him out of his chair and into the chamber that was to provide the means for his end.

"(Carbonite Freezing. Sounds like some sort of Data Backup or something from a long time ago in a Galaxy far far away.)" The soon to be frozen in a slab of carbon victim thought to himself as he was unceremoniously tossed into the chamber, freezing air causing goose bumps to rise on his skin as he watched the clear glass door seal itself shut.

The irony of the situation was this: While the Undertaker's job was to bury the dead in a coffin for their eternal sleep, the Enclave was going to seal him up in a coffin of his own while he was alive and he would remain so for eternity. Hearing #411's guards slide the cylinder of Compressed Carbonite Gas into the Chamber's reservoir, Thomas "Shifty" McGee had only a few more minutes before he would be frozen.

He hoped that Lucy and Sylph would make it out of the God Forsaken place known as the Enclave Vault alive. He hoped that they would find their peace, where ever they could, however they could. He briefly mourned the opportunity lost to spend more time with Lucy, perhaps finish their dance and perhaps finish the mission that they had agreed to take on together. He knew that if Lucy was unable to drop her anger against the Enclave, she wouldn't be alone in the Herculean task that lay before her. Mister Frank would be there to help her, the bastard. Mister Marlon would be there as well. Having seen what the three were capable of, The Friendly Neighborhood Undertaker had no doubt that the Enclave's days were finished.

Looking through the glass door, Shifty saw Lucy Black pick up the remote control that would start the process, beliefly imagining what he would have said if his bookish dance partner had said that she loved him.

"I know." He muttered to himself as the chamber was activated, a blast of cold gasses surrounding him and blinding him but not before he had the satisfaction of watching the Tough Young Woman desk the ***** known as #411.

fin

[hr]

Epilogue:

*SLAM!* Went the strange looking monolithic coffin as it was put in its place in a storage room somewhere in the Enclave Vault.

"He's alive and hybernating." Reported one of Mommy Natsuki's Armored friends as a pair of eyes looked from their place in the air vents mounted high in the storage room.

"This bastards a lucky one. Not only did he manage to not get executed, did you get a good look at that Piece of Ass-et that he was hanging out with?" Said the Armored Man's partner as they started leaving the room.

"Man, give me a minute with that girl and I'll -" *WHISH!* The storage room's door cut off the man's words, letting the room's single "living" occupant climb out of her hiding spot.

("I wonder what Mommy sees in those friends of her's") Lilith thought to herself as she unfurled a pair of dragonfly like wings, allowing her to gently set herself on the floor of the storage room and get a better look at the strange looking block of stone that the Armored men had set in the room.

"Hi there!" The humanoid 5 year old looking "girl" "said" without moving her mouth to Shifty's frozen form, "are you okay in there?"

"(Who - who said that?)" Came a thought in response from Undertaker McGee's Carbonite Coffin.

"I'm me! Can't you see me? I'm standing right in front of you." Said the Genetically Modified Kadouclaw Matriarch in response, "I'm Natsuki Manriki's daughter, Lilith!"

"(How? How are you talking to me? This has got to be a dream? Where am I?)"

"Well Mister, you're stuck inside a rock or something but don't worry, I'm sure you'll get out sometime soon. Mommy Natsuki and Grampy Jack are real nice and they'll figure out how to get you out of the rock. Anyways! I'm gonna get going before Mommy Natsuki's friends show up to take me back to my room."

"(Wait!)" Shifty's thoughts called out as Lilith started to flutter back up towards her playground, otherwise known as the air ducts.

"Don't worry Mister! I'll come back and we can talk later. Something tells me you like to talk!" The little girl said with a shark like grin before SHUDDER-SHUDDER-SHUDDERing off.

[hr]

The Enclave vault: Asset Lucy Black's Personal Quarters

Despite claims to the contrary, Life isn't all irony and cruelty. Not everything is dire, glum or tragic. Take for instance the scene that greeted the One-Eyed Gauss Girl upon her re-entry to her Personal Quarters. One might be under the impression that if you were trying to reach an object located high above you, wedged in an air duct, a chair would be a good improvised ladder. One would be quite mistaken, especially when the chair is balanced like a Jenga block on top of a bed, a night stand, a couple of books and a throw pillow or two. In this case, a chair certainly does not make a good improvised ladder.

*CLUNK!*

The sound of the door to Lucy Black's quarters closing surprised the once dreary grey, now splashed with bright bloody crimson clad girl that was perched upon such House of Cards stacked chair, books, pillows, bed and night stand ladder, shattering her concentration with what could have been catastrophic results.

*THUD! CRASH!*

"OMPH!" Omph'd Sylph as she toppled off the top of Furniture hill, bouncing off the bed and landing on her rear end in front of Lucy once again. It shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone by now that the first thing that the little blue haired Psychopath thought about doing was jamming her spring blade in the chest of whomever it was that had snuck in on her, only there was a minor issue.

Somehow during her fall, the Stormy Eyed Girl's favorite weapon had been activated, springing out from its hiding place and piercing the wooden bed frame and getting stuck. Had it been anyone other than Lucy that had walked in on her, this might have been unfortunate for the Lucky Girl in the Jackson Pollocked clothing but since it WAS Lucy, it caused Sylph to pause for a moment, remembering that the Woman that stood in front of her, with a drained look on her face, was NOT someone that should be killed.

Picking herself off the floor, Sylph started trying to extract her blade from the bed's wooden frame.

"Something wrong?" The girl asked as she placed a foot against the frame to get a bit of extra leverage. It wasn't that the girl truly cared, mind you, but it seemed like the thing to ask. She was aware of what manners were but had never really had to mind them since her existence was more about doing what she was told by her "Master."

*CRACK! THUD* The bed frame finally decided that it had had enough of playing tug of war with the blue haired psychotic and let go of her blade, sending the girl back onto the floor where a familiar sparkling cause her attention, the sparkling came from the red gem that adorned Lucy's wrist at that moment.

"My - my choker? How'd you get that?" She asked as she remained on the ground, sure that the reappearance of the choker meant that she was going to stuffed back inside the Ditzy ***** Sylphee's head once again.

 

[Souplex]

Frank and the gang came to the Bethesda ruins where Super Mutants of all sizes were mulling about in the distance.
[Endurance]While Frank was in incredibly hardy man, he felt off.
Frank removed his helmet to see that a large portion of his glorious hair had fallen off, and he vomited out the window.
"Hair loss and nausea? That's radiation poisoning."
Frank put his helmet back on.
"Well that was awful."

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

The Rabbit Hole The Enclave Vault: Lucy's Private Quarters

How could she have not made the connection that this Sylph was the very Sylph they had intended to find. Lucy had gotten so wrapped up in her own business that she had forgotten about her single promise to her dear Undertaker.

Lucy couldn't decide whether the returning memories of the moments they had shared together as either a blessing or a curse. For the moment, she had recalled everything the Undertaker had confessed to her about Sylph at the Citadel.

The brother, the slavery, the murder, the abandonment, the guilt...

Perhaps if she had the proper time to deal with the events revolving around Shifty, Lucy may have been more compassionate. However she couldn't share the burden of truth and responsibility more tactfully at this point.

"You know, it was my idea to find you." Lucy opened coldly, after ignoring the questions of the red-splashed menace. "Thomas Shifty Mcgee - was - an Undertaker. In fact, he was the very man that had taken your father, Henry, away from you."

Lucy's unblinking eye never flickered as she pierced Sylph with the information at her disposal. "He killed Henry, his own brother, because he was ordered to. As a fellow Undertaker, Henry crossed a line when he took his business to some slavers. One day he received one of his own as payment - a slave girl called Sylph."

Lucy started to loosen her leather armor while she spoke firmly.

"He couldn't kill you though, but he probably couldn't take you with him. He had pleased his family, where the order came from, but he lived with that guilt until now." Lucy's eye returned to Sylph's while she revealed her bloodied hand from earlier.

"When he told me that, I proposed that we find you and make sure that you're safe. What he did wasn't right, but leaving you was - even worse. We couldn't make things right, but we could try, or maybe I could..."

Lucy proceeded to pull the leather down to expose her shoulders. The numerous scars and skin discoloration formed by many forceful injections of med-x and stimpacks. Permanent reminders of her time spent as an Enclave punching-bag.

"...believe me, I know exactly what it's like to watch your father die right in front of you. I know exactly what it's like to beg for him to wake up, or for the nightmare to end. I know exactly what it's like to look at his murderer and swear revenge."

[hr]

"NO! DADDY! PLEASE WAKE UP!!!"

[hr]
As Lucy shifted her body to cover up, her hair fell over her eye, before continuing with an edge of ferocity to her voice.

"So it's not hard to believe that we're here for the same reason. To destroy those that ripped our world out from under us - "

Hauntingly, Lucy drilled a piercing look towards Sylph, a look she had perfected at this point.

" - but the Undertaker is gone, my only friend here, by my hand." The look shifted from emptiness to a poisonous glare. "Dying for me and you."

Lifting her wrist, with the jewelled choker adorned on it. "Give that to her. It's the only thing that'll keep her under control." Recited the shadow-haired woman fiercely. "Care to explain, Sylph? Was that man really your so-called 'father', really think about it."

 

[RobDaBank]

Wayne watched as FalloutDavid rammed the door, entered the room, then exited. He waited behind not wanting to get in the way, but desperate to see what secrets it held. He soon regretted falling prey to his curiosity when David read the note and said "Gentlemen, I don't mean to alarm you...but there's a man living there in a that cannot exist and he twists and flails around in a manner which should not be."

What? What the hell? "What are you talking about?" Asked Wayne.

"Howdy"

"That guy" replied FalloutDavid, pointing to the man stood just on the other side of the doorway. 

The two looked at each other, then looked back. He was gone. David pulled up his PlasmUzis, Wayne followed suit, they both scanned the room. 

"Howdy"

"Behind you!" Shouted Wayne. FalloutDavid quickly threw a roundhouse kick full circle, sending the creepy man flying back to the room. Wayne was a little confused, either David had kicked him exceptionally hard, or the man was made of helium. Nobody could have flown that far from a kick. David and Wayne both took aim and fired, and the man absorbed every shot, being forced backward from the impacts until he disappeared into the wall.

"What the fuck have we gotten into now?"

 

[Generic NPC 22]

The Enclave Vault: Asset Lucy Black's Room

*THUNK*

The Blue Haired girl with the Pollock inspired wardrobe's wrist blade was released from the bed's wooden frame, allowing Sylph to listen to this One-Eyed Gauss Girl's story about the Bastard Undertaker and his supposed guilt over taking her "father" from her. She listened to the story of how her "father" had belonged to some sort of organization that prided itself on robbing the dead and then burying them and how in order to appease this very organization that had pledged to respect the dead, the Bastard Undertaker had killed her "father" and as she listened to this story, she looked for signs that the woman telling it could have been lying to her, covering for the Bastard Undertaker and allowing him to escape. As she listened, though, she noted the coldness of Lucy Black's voice, a coldness that mirrored the icy storm reflected in Sylph's eyes. The woman wasn't lying.

"When he told me that, I proposed that we find you and make sure that you're safe. What he did wasn't right, but leaving you was - even worse. We couldn't make things right, but we could try, or maybe I could..."

The Girl of Singular Vision proceeded to pull the leather down to expose her shoulders. The numerous scars and skin discoloration formed by many forceful injections of med-x and stimpacks. Permanent reminders of her time spent as an Enclave punching-bag.

[/b]"...believe me, I know exactly what it's like to watch your father die right in front of you. I know exactly what it's like to beg for him to wake up, or for the nightmare to end. I know exactly what it's like to look at his murderer and swear revenge."[/b]

The Stormy Eyed girl looked at the scars, those that were reminiscent of the scars that she bore, and concluded that here was someone that, against all odds, she had found that understood or at least had an idea of what she was going through and had gone through. Turning away as Lucy covered back up, Sylph was taken quite aback by the woman's next words.

"So it's not hard to believe that we're here for the same reason. To destroy those that ripped our world out from under us but the Undertaker is gone, my only friend here, by my hand." The look shifted from emptiness to a poisonous glare. "Dying for me and you."

Standing there, Sylph found herself unable to decide what she should do. Part of her wanted to sink her teeth into Lucy's neck, rend her limb from limb for having been associated to closely with the Bastard Undertaker. Another part wanted to drive the butt of her Anti-Materiel rifle into the one-eyed woman's face until it was nothing but a bloody pulp for having robbed Sylph of the vengeance that had driven her all the way to the D.C. ruins. And yet, there was a part somewhere in the Stormy Girl's mind that was glad that it was over, glad to be done with those accursed Undertakers but it asked the question "now what?"

Standing there in silence, Lucy next words seemed to echo in the small room.

"Care to explain, Sylph? Was that man really your so-called 'father', really think about it."

And she really did think about it.

[hr]

Somewhere in the Midwest: 4 Years Ago

"Ahhh Jean-Claude, you pompous french bastard, come - come have a seat." "Daddy's" voice seemed to boom as Sylphee dined on her favorite dish, RadScorpion Stew, so content with the meal that she didn't bother looking up as she dipped a piece of bread in the creamy broth.

"Henry. I'm surprised that you're still walking around. Word is that your family's put a price on your head." Some man, Mister Frenchy-French John-Cloud responded paying the Slurping Sylphee little mind as he joined the Dark Skinned and Weather Man in Black at the table.

"I'm surprised that you're still walking around with the amount of Caps you owe me for that last shipment that I sent your way." "Daddy" said in turn, edging closer to Mister Frenchy-French John-Cloud, his voice taking on a slightly menacing tone.

"Pah. You think that I would pay for that box of corpses that you sold me? You practically killed half my stock with food poisoning."

"That's what happens when you leave bodies out to spoil in the sun, asshole. By the way, have you met my daugher?" "Daddy" said, nudging Slurping Sylphee a bit, causing her to look up with a stew covered smile.

"Daughter? Don't make me laugh. Not even one of those brain rotted zombies would let you mate with it." Mister Frenchy French John-Dirt-Clod said, making Sylphee not like him, at least until she returned to her stew.

"You're right, of course, but still I'm glad you came today." "Daddy" said, pausing for a moment to rub his goatee, "I'm about to show you what my Daughter can do if you don't pay."

"Hah! Her? Don't make me lau-" The suddenly voiceless Jean-Claude started to say before a blade seemed to materialize in his chest, his stricken eyes looking at "Father" as he twirled Sylph's choker around his index finger.

"Yes - Her." "Father" said as he watched the life flee from Jean-Claude's eyes, his smile suddenly turning into a frown as he backhanded Sylph, causing her to land on the ground, the world spinning as she landed.

"Idiot! You killed him too quickly." "Father" roared as he proceeded to kick the girl in the ribs repeatedly, the sound of bone cracking under the onslaught of steel toed battering rams that assaulted the girl's chest.

"Master - I'm - So" Sylph began to say, causing her "Father" to intensify his attack.

"Master? I told you, you stupid fucking cow, you are to address me as 'FATHER!'" "Father" screamed, his spittle landing on Sylph's face as she tried to withstand the assault. Looking around, she could see that none of the other patrons of the restaurant were moving to help her.

"Father - I'm - sorry!" The Girl in Red yelled before the world seemed to close in on her.

[hr]

The Enclave Vault: Asset Lucy Black's Room: The Present

"No. I know he wasn't my 'Father,' but he was the closest thing." The Blue Haired girl said with a sigh as she snatched the choker from Lucy's hands. She was suddenly feeling very tired and felt like going away for a while. She felt confused by all that had happened and why it was that this woman was telling her what she had told her and why she was defending the name of someone that had taken Sylph's father away from her.

Looking down at the Choker and the back up at Lucy, Sylph place the jeweled ribbon around her neck.

----------Change Over----------​

*Blink*
*Blink**Blink*
*Blink**Blink**Blink**Blink**Blink**Blink**Blink**Blink**Blink**Blink**Blink**Blink**Blink**Blink**Blink**Blink**Blink*

"That's wierd." The girl with the suddenly blue sky colored eyes said as she looked around the room unsure of how she got there or who was standing in front of her. Whomever she was, she looked kind of mean, the way that she was looking at Sylphee.

"Um - Hi!" Sylphee Hi'd with a wave and a smile as she looked at the strange woman with the eye patch. It occurred to Sylphee that the woman with the eye-patch might have been mad about something or sad about something. Maybe because she only had one eye? Or maybe because she had to carry that giant rifle around with her. The ridle looked really really really really heavy, like about as heavy as a Brahmin.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Are you okay? You looking kinda mad. Are you mad? Are you mad because you lost your eye? Are you mad because you have to carry around that big big big gun? Oh I'm Sylph by the way. Who're you? Do I know you? You really shouldn't stare. Hey! What happened to my cloths? Whose clothes are these? I'm hungry. Do you have any radscorpion meat? Wait! Wait! Wait! I might have some in here!" The suddenly full-of-energy-and-annoyance blurted out as she saw her backpack laying on the bed.

"Rad Scorpion meat is the best! Have you had any? Would you like some? I think I've got some in here. Wait! What's your name again? Did you dress me up in these clothes because they're kinda boring colored." The girl-with-the-runaway-train-for-a-mouth kept going as she dumped the entire contents of her backpack on the floor and started sifting through the rather large pile of things.

"You don't talk very much, you know that? Are you a mute too? Did someone cut out your tongue too? That sounds like it hurts. Did it hurt? You know, when you lost your eye? Maybe you should have kept a better eye on it. That's kinda funny, keeping an eye on your eye. I lost a finger once, but Daddy put it back on. I dunno how I lost it but it kinda stung for a bit." Sylphee looked up at her future-Big-Sissy-Lucy-Goosey-Black and held up an object in her hands for a moment.

"Hey lady! Do you know what this is? I found it in a cellar somewhere with Daddy Johnny Shakes and Mommy Meryl Barrel. I dunno where they are? Have you seen them? You'd like them but Daddy Johnny Shakes talks a lot and tells a lot of stories. I like him but of course you'd like your daddy right? Everyone likes their daddy right?" Sylphee blabbed as she held up a small cylindrical object in her hand, an object very recognizable to Big-Sissy-Lucy-Goosey-Black, a scope for a Gauss Rifle.

"YAAAAAAAY! Rad Scorpion Meat!" The Girl in Red Yay'd as she picked up her bag of the dried meat and started messily munching and started changing into her old clothes at the same time.

"I'm sorry you can't talk much but you look like you've got the grumps. Oh wait! Maybe you don't speak English? Habla ingles? Sprechen Englisch? Spreek die Engelse? 講英語嗎?"

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

The Enclave Vault: The room of Gauss Girl and Manic Red

Lucy was ready to bite back, to twist the emotional blade deeper under this girl's skin if she had resisted in any way - however, no retort or insult had been thrown her way. What she had received was simply an exhausted and almost frustrated reply.

"No. I know he wasn't my 'Father,' but he was the closest thing."

Lucy's glare had dropped instantaneously as she internalized the meaning behind Dark Sylph's response.

It had taken her awhile to grapple with how her own Father had belonged to the very organisation she hated. At one point she had felt like she had never known the man, before - Shifty - had helped her to realize that she had known a loving version of her father that was unique only to her.

It had become apparent that Lucy was taking her grief out on Sylph...the one she was supposedly meant to protect?

What she had brought up was necessary, but it felt needlessly cruel in execution.

Before she could muster a hasty apology, Sylph had changed - dramatically.

[hr]

There was talking and then there was noise pollution.

Having grabbed the nearest book that was scattered on the floor, Lucy bopped Sylph on the head, not hard enough to hurt, but with just enough force to stop the broken hyperactive holotape of a girl mid-sentence.

Lucy gestured with a finger to her own lips. "Stop it! Stop! Just ssshhh! Can it, zip it, shut it, put a sock in it...- one question at a time!"

The lack of subtlety and an indoor voice was going to earn Sylph a much harsher treatment with the book if this continued.

The scene was comical for the most part -

[hr]

"You have to - you have to keep her safe."

[hr]

- and, admittedly, this version of Sylph was strangely endearing. Plus, she did have a promise to keep.

Fetching a spare set of clothing, Lucy sat across from Sylph and the mountainous pile of oddities littering the floor. Lucy proceeded to answer Sylph's questions, to the best of her ability, growing somewhat kinder as she continued.

"Um, hi there, Sylph...I'm - uh - Lucy! I'm going to be taking care of you as much as I can." The awkward words had escaped her lips before she could revise them. Did she just go from Behemoth-Slayer to Baby-sitter?

Lifting her eyepatch briefly, Lucy blinked with both eyes a few times, squinting slightly as the light harshly affected her vision.

"I lost an eye, but I got a replacement. I can speak english perfectly fine, thank you very much, I just don't like being bombarded with questions and -..." Lucy's stomach growled loudly while in the presence of food, ruining any attempt at trying to sound mature and dignified. It had been awhile since she had eaten. " - I'd love something to eat."

Taking a large piece of rad scorpion meat that was offered, Lucy started fiendishly wolfing down mouthfuls before the bitter aftertaste devilishly danced on her tongue. She tried in vain to conceal a very pained expression.

*cough!* "I prefer Blamco Mac & Cheese, but thank you!" *cough!*

Nudging another set of dull gray clothing forward, Lucy pointed at the blood on Sylph's clothing. "Are you okay, what happened? Either way, you should get changed, I can't have anyone else catching you like that."

Strangely enough, this tea-party-esque situation had made Lucy grow increasingly kinder in disposition with who she had dubbed 'Light Sylph'. This girl reminded her of a younger version of herself.

"Can you tell me a little more about that choker of yours? And you mentioned something about a Mommy and Daddy here??" The last part had Lucy particularly confused.

You would think that this dramatic shift in personality would have Lucy questioning reality, but her mind was grounded in theoretical explanations. The only feasible explanation of 'control' relating to the choker had to be psychological in nature. If she had her mother's books, perhaps she could find an explanation. Unfortunately, it had been years since Lucy had committed any psychological knowledge to memory since her mother's departure.

Regardless, perhaps this 'version' of Sylph could tell her anyway.

That's when Lucy spotted the very familiar object still held in Sylph's hands, slowly taking it from her.

Lucy quickly turned it over to see the letters 'LB' etched into the scope. "It's a scope for my rifle...how...w-were you in Springvale? You were in my house?"

Lucy was astounded to say the least.

Her father, Isaac, had made this for her. Since she couldn't play with the Gauss Rifle, Isaac Black had produced a scope seemingly from memory in their little workshop in the basement as a consolation present.

Lucy smirked when she looked through the scope, noting that at the center of the reticle was a pink cat face instead of the traditional red dot.

"Thank you, Sylph." Lucy thanked her gratefully and kindly. Sylph had thrown her completely off guard. "How did you get here, by the way? Is there something you want to do?"

 

[Generic NPC 22]

The Enclave Vault: The Mad Hatter's Tea Party Personal Quarters for The Gauss Girl and Red Menace

*BOP!!* Mister Book Bopped as Miss Lucy Caboosy bopped Mister Book against Sylphee head, messing up her twin blue pony tails.

"OW OW OW! Hey! That hurted!" Sylphee Ow'd as she started rubbing her head while Miss Lucy Caboosy started saying a bunch of stuff that included the words ""Stop it! Stop! Just ssshhh! Can it, zip it, shut it, put a sock in it...- one question at a time!" as Miss Lucy Caboosy put her finger up to her lips in a motion that Sylphee knew quite well. Placing her own fingers to her lips, the Manic Girl in Red nodded ferociously, making herself temporarily dizzy for a moment and causing her to tumble against the wall with a loud:

*THUMP!* Sylphee thumped

*CRASH!* Mister Anti-Materiel Rifle crashed as it was knocked loose from its perch in the air ducts and fell in the lap of the fallen Sylphee. Not embarrassed by her tumble in the very least, what so ever, at all, period, end of story, the Blue Haired girl with the sky blue eyes sat for a moment and listened to Miss Lucy Caboosy talk.

"Um, hi there, Sylph...I'm - uh - Lucy! I'm going to be taking care of you as much as I can." Miss Lucy Caboosy started out saying. Had Sylphee not been playing Library Voice, a game that her Daddy had invented, BIG SIS Lucy Caboosy would have instantly been tackled, squee'd upon and hugged until she turned blue in the face but, of course, The Happy Happy Red Menace was quite content playing Library Voice, knowing that at the end of the game, she could let everything that she was storing up in one big explosive explosion of - well - something.

Sylphee had never had a sister before and the way that Big Sis Lucy Caboosy was talking to her and answering all her questions and being nice and sharing Rad Scorpion with her and being awesome, it made the Girl in Crimson wonder why she'd never had a sister before or a brother. Was a brother any different? Would a brother be as awesome as a Big Sister was?

*cough!* "I prefer Blamco Mac & Cheese, but thank you!" *cough!* Big Sis Lucy Caboosy coughed, making Sylphee lose her train of thought for a moment and start paying attention to Big Sis Lucy Caboosy once again.

"Are you okay, what happened? Either way, you should get changed, I can't have anyone else catching you like that." Big Sis Lucy Caboosy asked as she gave Sylphee another set of those BOOOOORING clothes that were the color of BOOOOORING. Looking around the room, it seemed that where ever they were was really BOOOOORING. She knew that it was the same place that Daddy Johnny Shakes and Mommy Meryl Barrel had arrived at since it was BOOOOORING but still, if it had some sort of BOOOOORING dress code, Sylphee thought that she would have to follow the rules at the very least, that's what a good lil sis did right?

Shrugging in response to Big Sis Lucy Caboosy's question, the soon to be BOOOORING Menace quickly put the clothes on without a second thought as Big Sis Lucy Caboosy asked more questions.

"Can you tell me a little more about that choker of yours? And you mentioned something about a Mommy and Daddy here??"

*SHRUG!*
*NOD!!*

Apparently Big Sis Lucy Caboosy had ammonia since she had completely forgotten that they were playing Library Voice and Sylphee, intent on getting whatever the prize was, was playing for keeps. She just continued to wolf down her Rad Scorpion Meat and smiled as she sat there, her legs kicking the air as she continued to smile and nod and shrug and shake her head at the questions that Big Sis Lucy Caboosy sent in her direction.

It was at that point that Sylphee's Big Sis Lucy Caboosy picked up something from Sylphee's Treasure pile, an action that made Sylphee freeze for a moment as she felt a bit of panic that Big Sis Lucy Caboosy was one of those evil Big Sisses that liked to take stuff from their Lil Sisses.

"It's a scope for my rifle...how...w-were you in Springvale? You were in my house?" Big Sis Lucy Caboosy said, a smile forming on her face, a smile that made the BOOOOORING Menace forget taht they were playing Library Voice.

"I dunno if I was in Springvale but I was in this town that was outside another town that had big walls and some guy named Mister Moriarty wanted to play doctor and then there were these Mister Black Whirlybirds that started flying all over the sky and dropping these Lil Mister Floaty Soccer Balls that went KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM! When I accidentally bumped one and then there was this other Mister Black Whirlybird that got hit by Mister Grenade Launcher and it went REEEEEEEOOOOOW CRAASH! And then I was on a Mister Black Whirlybird with Daddy Johnny Shakes driving but he must not have been a very good driver because he drove it into the ground and Mister Black Whirlybird didn't like it very much because it went KERPOW!!! into the ground but I found that thingy, Missy Scope, in a house in that town that was outside the place with the big walls. I'm not sure if it's still around though because the Lil Mister Floaty Soccer Balls started were trying to get into it." The BOOOOOORING Menace explained enthusiastically complete with hand motions as she did so. Pausing for a moment, Sylphee realized that she had forgotten that they were playing Library Voice and that she had jus lost, which meant that Big Sis Lucy Caboosy, won the prize, which must have been Missy Scope because she seemed very happy to have it.

It occurred to Sylphee that not only was Big Sis Lucy Caboosy totally nice and awesome and purdy, she was smart since she had fooled Sylphee into losing at Library Voice.

"Thank you, Sylph." Big Sis Lucy Caboosy thanked The BOOOORING Menace gratefully and kindly. "How did you get here, by the way? Is there something you want to do?"

*PERK!*

Big Sis Lucy Caboosy was going to take Sylphee on a trip and go somewhere and do something the way sisters should? The sheer thought of going out with her first and only Big Sis made Sylphee internally squee in excitement as she remembered that Big Sis Lucy Caboosy had asked her a question. This called for a super quick answer so that they could discuss the more important topic, the thing that Sylphee wanted to do.

"Well, after Daddy Johnny Shakes drove Mister Black Whirlybird into the ground, we met this man covered in guns and metal. He called himself Mister Fallout John, but I think I should call him Mister Fallout John Boom Boom since he has so many guns attached to him that're bigger than your Missy Miss Rifle or my Missy Miss Rifle but he gave Daddy Johnny Shakes and Mommy Meryl Barrel a ride here. I know you live here but the people here are kinda mean because they pushed me into a room by myself. Oh! Oh! Oh! You're welcome, I mean you did win Library Voice so you should win a prize for winning Library Voice." Sylphee responded now thoroughly excited that she could get onto the next topic.

"I wanna go to a zoo! Do they have a zoo here? That would be awesome if they had a zoo here with Brahmin and Big Horners and Mole Rats. Oh I can't wait to go to the zoo with my BIG SIS LUCY CABOOSY!. Maybe they have Deathclaws that we can ride on? Oh! Daddy Johnny Shakes told me about this time that he went to this place called Australia and renamed it Cazadore Island but I don't believe him because Cazadore sounds as made up as Australia. Maybe that's where Daddy Johnny Shakes and Mommy Meryl Barrel are right now? Maybe they're at the zoo!" Sylphee exclaimed as she noticed that Big Sis Lucy Caboosy seemed to be getting the grumps again.

"But if you think we're too cool to go to a zoo, I understand." Sylphee said, with a understanding nod. Maybe Big Sis Lucy Caboosy was one of those cool sisters that was too cool to go to the zoo.

"Do you have friends here Big Sis Lucy Caboosy? Maybe we could go play hide and seek with them or maybe we could go play golf! Mommy Meryl Barrel loves to play golf. It's where she hits a ball really really really far and I have to go chase Mister Golf Ball. That's how I met Daddy Johnny Shakes."

"Oh oh oh! I can't wait! It doesn't matter what we do Big Sis Lucy Caboosy because we're going to have fun no matter what!"

 

[Ruedyn]

"Well that was awful."

"Agreed." Jackson muttered, slowing the car down. Mutants in the distance, sick people to the right. He remembered the pain of radiation sickness. Though, power armor usually had filtration systems. Should probably check up on the rest of the group, make sure their breakfast stayed with em for a little while longer.

Rest of the group looked okay-ish to him. Maybe nervous or antsy? Most were wearing helmets, he couldn't actually tell. Turning back around, he eyed the opposition, doing fuck all in some ruins.

Mutants were... well, they saw him as a brother in some odd way, but driving by might upset the smoothskins in heavy armor. And, chances were, they were probably doing awful shit anyways, so filling them full of lead wouldn't really make much of a blip on the karma meter. He stopped the car and turned to his passengers.

"Right, let's wipe em out on foot. I get the feeling at least one of those motherfuckers has a rocket launcher, and it's easier to sneak up on 'em on foot."

 

[Souplex]

"Right, let's wipe em out on foot. I get the feeling at least one of those motherfuckers has a rocket launcher, and it's easier to sneak up on 'em on foot."
[Sneak 10/25][Failure]"I'm not sure that would work so well for me."
[Intelligence]"I'm pretty sure the robot is Enclave. Radio says the Enclave and the Doc don't like each other.
[Tactics 65/40]"We make our move once they start blowing each other up."

 

[Rip Van Rabbit]

The Enclave Vault: GG & MR

"I dunno if I was in Springvale but I was in this town that was outside another town that had big walls and some guy named Mister Moriarty wanted to play doctor - "

"That's Megaton-..."

"- and then there were these Mister Black Whirlybirds that started flying all over the sky - "

"You mean, Vertibirds?"

"- and dropping these Lil Mister Floaty Soccer Balls - "

"Those are called Eyebots..."

"- that went KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM! When I accidentally bumped one and then there was this other Mister Black Whirlybird - "

"Vertibird."

"- that got hit by Mister Grenade Launcher and it went REEEEEEEOOOOOW CRAASH! And then I was on a Mister Black Whirlybird - "

"Vertib - I give up."

[hr]

Being an avid reader in the past, Lucy had to clench her teeth whenever Sylph butchered the English language for the sake of personifying nearly everything in her story. Although it was a minor irritation, Lucy had eventually adapted to Sylph's unique brand of storytelling, mostly for the sake of not grinding her own teeth into dust at the end of every conversation.

It was charming though, like a Mole Rat wearing a straw-hat.

Aided by eerily accurate hand-gestures, Lucy patiently listened to the rest of her story, intent on understanding Sylph and how she came to be here.

Lucy could have potential allies on her side and that was going to be her point of concern for now.

In this place, she would take all the help she could get -

"Oh I can't wait to go to the zoo with my BIG SIS LUCY CABOOSY!"

Did she miss something or had she just inherited a little sister? From behemoth-slayer to babysitter indeed.

Regardless, the promotion was unexpected and very sweet but it had said so much about Sylph at the same time.

This version of Sylph, Lucy theorized, seemed all too eager to elevate the status of anybody that showed her even rudimentary forms of affection. It suggested that this version of Sylph had probably suffered severe bouts of loneliness and merely required kindness and attention.

This theory also put Lucy's mind at ease over the confusion at the introduction of a 'mommy and daddy'. Johnny Shakes and Meryl Barrel were either kindly traveller's or perhaps even an actual couple that had adopted Sylph.

Lucy hoped for the latter, if she was to take care of Sylph, she would preferably not want to do it alone. Although part of her wanted to take Sylph, leave this place and fulfill her promise...she knew that she would never rest easy until she had put a severe dent in the Enclave.

[hr]

"I don't think they have a zoo - " Sylph's large grin had started to drop immediately. " - but but...w-we can definitely look around, who knows what they might have here? What do you think about a little exploring, huh? We can go aaanywhere - within reason." offered the eye-patched woman hopefully with a small one-sided smile.

Cleaning up the room and stashing Sylph's rifle back in the air-vent, Lucy explained. "I can't have them knowing I've got what looks like an unauthorised weapon here, or you walking around in the open with it. I'm already on thin-ice here, so I'm risking a lot with you."

Once the bloodied clothes were stashed away and the room was relatively sorted. Lucy addressed a previous question rather gingerly. "Friends? - um - I just got here as well and people kinda - well - they hate me or tolerate me at best...so that makes you my only friend - and unexpected sister."

Retrieving her hairband, Lucy tied her shadowy hair into two loose pigtails. Growing a little serious before venturing out, Lucy asked a question and let it hang for Sylph to answer.

"I am really curious, Sylph. Do you know anything about that choker of yours and what it does exactly - to you I mean? In return - um - ask me anything, I guess."

Once ready, Lucy took Sylph's hand, leading the dynamic duo into the hallway. Strangely, she was becoming overly-protective by glaring at any soldier that walked past Sylph. If she were a cat, she would hiss. If she were a dog, she would probably pee on - nevermind.

Part of Lucy really liked the thought of having a female friend once more. She wouldn't feel so alone.

"Maybe we can find Mr Johnny Shakes or Mrs Meryl Barrel, like a reunion, can you tell me what they look like Sylpheee?"

The cringe-worthy nickname had escaped Lucy's mouth before she could contain her leaking joy, she was actually taking this role pretty seriously, but why?

[hr]

Because the last time someone got involved in your life, they wound up dead, by your hand no less.

Do you remember what happened to Vikki? Who knows if Frank is still alive? Remember what you did to Shifty?

Face it. People die or get hurt around you. You're volatile, a burden.

Was Sylph really any better off with her?

[hr]

Those thoughts stopped Lucy dead in her tracks before wheeling around to face Sylph with an initially cold but ultimately an extremely heartbroken expression as the guilt weighed in on her.

"Why do you want to come with me? Are you sure that's what you want...and I'm talking to the both of you. People - they get hurt around me."

She couldn't take her grief out on Sylph. That would be unfair.

Could she continue to suppress her grief by aiding Sylph. Or was that too selfish?

 

[Generic NPC 22]

The Enclave Vault: Big Sis Lucy Caboosy and the BOOOOOORING Menace go for a stroll

"I don't think they have a zoo - " Big Sis Lucy Caboosy said, causing Sylphee's large impish grin to fade for just a fraction of a millisecond," - but but...w-we can definitely look around, who knows what they might have here? What do you think about a little exploring, huh? We can go aaanywhere - within reason." offered Big Sis Lucy Caboosy hopefully with a small one-sided smile.

"Within reason" The phrase echoed in BOOOOORING Menace's mind for a moment as she considered what "within reason" meant. Did it mean that she could go look at where they kept all of the Mister Black Enclave Whirlybirds? Did it meant that she could go look at where they kept their Missy Miss Plasma Shooters? Did it mean that she could go meet Mister President of the Enclave? There were just so many options that were possible that Sylphee's mind went spinny spinny with the possibilities.

From big Sis Lucy Caboosy's perspective, it was as if Sylph's brain was stuck in an infinite loop as her expression didn't change for quite some time which gave Big Sis Lucy Caboosy quite a bit of time to do her chores. Big Sis Lucy Caboosy must've been super duper responsible if she was going to do her chores before they went out to look around, which made Sylphee rather happy that she had found Big Sis Lucy Caboosy, which meant that the Blue Haired girl dressed in BOOORRRRING clothing would do her best to make Big Sis Lucy Caboosy happy, which made her smile even most bigger, if that were even possible since it felt like the top of her head was about to fall off of the bottom of her head from smiling so much from having met Big Sis Lucy Caboosy.

"I can't have them knowing I've got what looks like an unauthorised weapon here, or you walking around in the open with it. I'm already on thin-ice here, so I'm risking a lot with you." Super Responsible Big Sis Lucy Caboosy said, which made lots of sense to Sylphee, the last thing that she wanted to do was make trouble for her newly new Big Sis Lucy Caboosy! Breaking out of her frozen statue state, the Manic Girl dressed in BOOOOORING nodded quickly and understandingly. Of course what she didn't understand was why Big Sis Lucy Caboosy would be on thin-ice around here. The girl with the sky blue eyes would have to ask her One-Eyed Big Sis Lucy Caboosy about it later when they were exploring. She didn't have to wait long for an answer, however since the chores were just about completed.

"Friends? - um - I just got here as well and people kinda - well - they hate me or tolerate me at best...so that makes you my only friend - and unexpected sister."

"Aww, I'm sorry that no one likes you here Big Sis Lucy Caboosy, but you're so nice and awesome and cool and responsible and clean and you smell good and - and - I think they're all just a bunch of jerky jerks then. But that means I get my Big Sis Lucy Caboosy all to myself. That makes me happy =D!!" Sylphee exclaimed as they started getting ready to leave.

"I am really curious, Sylph. Do you know anything about that choker of yours and what it does exactly - to you I mean? In return - um - ask me anything, I guess."

The girl with the apparell the color of BOOOOORING shrugged for a moment as she thought on the topic really Really REALLY REAAAAAAALLLY hard.

"I really don'tknow what it does, Big Sis Lucy Caboosy. Sometimes when it gets taken off, I fall asleep and then I wake up in strange places that I've never been." Sylphee said, remembering that the last time she had her Choker taken off was by one of the Mister Enclave Armored Men before he was about to shove her in the empty room then next thing she remembered was waking up in Big Sis Lucy Caboosy's room.

"Sometimes I wake up and my body aches like someone's been punching me in the face a lot. Sometimes I wake up and there's dead people in the room and I get to look through all their stuff and put the treasures in my bag." Sylph continued until it was time to go, a fact that Sylphee found very very very very very entertaining, especially when her Big Sis Lucy Caboosy took her hand like they were about to cross the street. Maybe where they were going there were a lot roads that they needed to cross and Big Sis Lucy Caboosy was making sure that Sylphee wouldn't fall and get run over or scrape her knee or anything. She liked her Big Sis Lucy Caboosy.

The hallways that they walked through were equally as BOOOOORRRING as the BOOOOOORING clothing that Sylphee wore the only entertaining part of the trip was the faces that Big Sis Lucy Caboosy would make at the passing people. Maybe this was how people in this BOOOOORING place said hello? Playing along with Big Sis Lucy Caboosy, the BOOOOOOORRRING menace glared at all the passing Mister and Miss Enclave Power Armored People, causing more than a few of them to look at them, probably strangely, though you wouldn't have known it unter all the BOOOOORRRING colored Power Armored Faces.

"Maybe we can find Mr Johnny Shakes or Mrs Meryl Barrel, like a reunion, can you tell me what they look like Sylphee?" Another question? YAY!!!

"Welllllllllll - Papa Johnny Shakes likes to shake a lot, especially when he hasn't taken his inhaler or his needles or anything like that - oh oh oh - AND he wears a lot of ripped up clothes that are the color of grime BUT he's super nice and likes to tell lots and lots and lots of stories. He's got spikey hair that red like my clothes, not these clothes but my normal clothes and he's kinda tall but not too tall and he doesn't know how to shave too well since he's got whiskers. He looks like he kinda needs to eat more but he never likes to eat any of the Rad Scorpion that I've got in my bag, even though when he had some, he sorta gained some weight but he complained that he couldn't breathe. Mommy Meryl Barrel calls him a junky all the time but he doesn't carry any junk on him, I should know since I checked to make sure that he wasn't carrying junk at all, he just carries a bunch of inhalers and needles and stuff. Mommy Meryl Barrel likes to play golf a lot and carries around Mister nine iron with her a lot since she can't walk too well but she likes to play fetch the golf ball a lot with me. I like her since her face is made out of clay and I can wiggle it around and stretch it and make her look like she's smiling even though she never smiles that much. Daddy Johnny Shakes is always saying that Mommy Meryl Barrel would sell her grandma if she could but I don't think that Mommy Meryl Barrel has a grandma anymore because she just continues smoking and doesn't say anything about it. Oh oh oh! Her hair's made of silver too, at least it looks like it's made of silver since Mommy Meryl Barrel doesn't like me touching her. Mommy Meryl Barrel and Daddy Johnny Shakes like to yell at each other a lot but I think it's because Mommy Meryl Barrel has something called the crogedies, at least that's what Daddy Johnny Shakes calls it to me, but he said that she's a ***** a lot, but Mommy Meryl Barrel isn't a dog, she's really a nice lady that plays with me." Sylphee said before inhaling deeply as if she had exhausted her air supply, allowing Big Sis Lucy Caboosy the opportunity to ask another question.

"Why do you want to come with me? Are you sure that's what you want...and I'm talking to the both of you. People - they get hurt around me." Big Sis Lucy Caboosy said, though the BOOOOORRING Menace found it strange that Big Sis Lucy Caboosy had said "both of you" as if there was someone else there, a comment which made Sylphee wonder if there was someone there that Sylphee couldn't see and only Big Sis Lucy Caboosy could see. Deciding that that must be the reason why she said "both of you," Sylphee smiled and nodded before answering, hoping that Big Sis Lucy Caboosy's unseen friend wasn't speaking at that very moment.

"Well Big Sis Lucy Caboosy, I wanna come with you because you're my Big Sister and I would never ever ever ever ever ever leave my Big Sis Lucy Caboosy alone, especially since you said that no one around here likes you because they're mean and stuff and I don't want you to feel lonely and I think that you're the most awesomest Big Sis that a Lil Sis like me could ever have and I think that we could have lots and lots and lots and lots and LOTS of fun, even though you like to dress me up in these BOOOOORRRRING clothes, I think that's fine but they're still BOOOOOORING and they make my skin itch but I've never had a Big Sis before and I think that this is the best thing ever and I hope that you like having a Lil Sis as much as I like having a Big Sis and since we're sisters, that means we always make sure that the other one is happy." The Manic Girl in BOOOOOORING babbled as she passed a window, pausing for a moment to look in and noticing that there were a bunch of Missus Dressed in White Enclave Scientists wandering around a bunch of Sleepity Sleeping Deathclaws in blue cylinders. Looking over at Big Sis Lucy Caboosy for a moment, she noticed that Big Sis Lucy Caboosy seemed to be deep in thought and had kept walking for a moment, allowing Sylphee to prop herself up on a console to get a better look inside the room that seemed to be filled with Sleepity Sleeping Deathclaws and Sleepity Sleeping Mutants and things that Sylph had never seen before.

*BEEP BEEP BOOP!* Mister Console chimed as Sylphee propped herself up and saw the blue cylinder thingies disappear and the Sleepity Sleeping things wake up before they started running around the room as the Missus Dressed in White Enclave Scientist started banging on the doors that seemed to be locked.

As she turned to say something to Big Sis Lucy Caboosy, she noticed that her One Eyed Big Sister was further away, causing Sylphee to run down the hall before she lost her Big Sis Lucy Caboosy, who seemed to still be in thought. Going back to the previous question, Sylphee probed her Big Sis Lucy Caboosy's head for a moment.

"Big Sis Lucy Caboosy? Do you think that it's bad that people get hurt around you, because people always get hurt, even if they're not around you but isn't it better that they're around you so that they can see a friendly face when they do get hurt? When I wake up in strange places and I see people that have been hurt, I feel sorry for them since it doesn't look like they were around people that they knew when they did get hurt but maybe you think that people get hurt because of you which doesn't make sense because people are always getting hurt even if they're not around you so doesn't that mean that it's better that you're around them so that they can see you smile at them and tell them jokes and stuff? I had a Daddy that died once and I cried and cried and cried and asked him to wake up and when he did, he told me that everything was going to be okay because there were nice people in the world and even though he was mean to me a lot, he love me and he told me that I should find people who would be nice to me and now that I found you and Daddy Johnny Shakes and Mommy Meryl Barrel, I think that he'd be happy. So I'm glad that even though my Daddy got hurt, I got to talk to him before he died." Sylphee said as she followed her Big Sis Lucy Caboosy.

"IS there anything that you want to do Big Sis Lucy Caboosy? Maybe there's a map of this place and we could find something fun?"

 

[The Harkinator]

Server room, server room.... how hard is it to find a room where all of the Enclave's data can be instantly downloaded? Turning off the helmets microphone, William privately conversed with his bomb collar, "So where can I download Enclave data? Any advice so I can map out a route, you know like setting little markers that I can go to each of them?"

Let's try and invent quest markers shall we? All these rooms look the same, they've got scientific consoles that don't seem to control anything and are full of people who don't seem to do much. Then again, William wasn't much of a scientist so none of this made sense.

So while we're going around indistinguishable rooms William thought about who could be in this base, considering Johnny Truant seemed to be from outside too. How many others were in the base? Could there be other wastelanders around? Could they help?

Guess what happens when you start daydreaming in a location you don't know? You get lost. Four corridors at a cross road that all look the same... damn.