Extracted From the Mind of Kai Mayer
Disclaimer: Technically I own nothing, but you could say that my interpretations of character personalities are mine.
Chapter One: Three Dogs, Two Children
Lighting flashed across the livid night sky, torrents of rain bucketed down from the black heavens, with only the occasional streak of white in the distance penetrating the obscurity. It didn't rain often in the area now known as the Capital Wasteland, but when it did, it really chucked it down. This precipitation would do more than just make everything wet however; the lethal raindrops were heavily irradiated, like most other water nowadays. Because of this, trees had ceased to exist; plants in general were a thing of the past, the stuff of legend. Insects still thrived of course, basking in the radiation, mutating into bigger and more dangerous forms. The world is just a hell of a place these days.
Two small figures were sheltered beneath the ruins of an old highway which had crumbled decades ago. They huddled together under a small ragged blanket, sitting on rocks with their knees drawn up to avoid the radiated puddles at their feet. Only the elder of the two was still conscious, he refused to succumb to the cold, to fall into the reaper's grim embrace. Shivering, and teeth chattering, he tried with every fiber in his being to resist the urge to nod off, to sleep, to never awaken. He had to protect his sister, if not him, than who would defend her from the world?
Despite his blurred vision, the boy did see a shadow against the sky as it was illuminated by Zeus' mighty will, he blinked and rubbed his dirty face, surely no one would be dense enough to walk in the acid-rain! But when he looked again, the silhouette was right in front of him. He gasped, and with numb hands felt for the Chinese Pistol he'd discovered on a corpse not long ago.
"Looking for this?" The mysterious figure asked, holding up the weapon, it was a man, and he spoke slowly, but lucidly. The stranger began to spin the handgun on his finger, speaking in a tone which was almost completely flat at the same time.
"Typical Chinese sidearm, but in reality the design is of the German Mouser." He stated, tossing it into the air and catching it, before spinning it again, "Fires ten millimeter rounds, but it's not powerful, wide spread of fire." The shadowy man paused, appearing to look over the weapon more closely. "Known as 'The Broom Handle' for it's distinct shape, best suited to small skirmishes in which the hard muzzle jump can be utilized to create a horizontal sweep, eliminating opposition."
The boy whimpered beneath his cover, but nonetheless shifted so that he was between the stranger and his sleeping sister.
"Please…" He pleaded, "Just go, we don't have anything."
"How unfortunate." The silhouette replied, aiming the gun right at the innocent boy's pale face and pulling the trigger, a click was heard. "Your magazine is empty."
The boy finally collapsed; exhaustion and fear taking their toll at last.
With a low sigh the Mysterious Stranger took a seat and removed his fedora, placing it on his lap and rubbing the top of his shaved head. He tossed the useless Chinese Pistol away, and laid his head against a soft mound of dirt. He donned his headgear once again, but this time adjusted it so that it covered his dark eyes, what he saw within the hat made him smile, as he so rarely did, and it also helped him eventually drift off to sleep.
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"Good Morning Children!!" Came Three Dog's jovial broadcast, his cackling so loud it caused even Wadsworth to jerk and hover into the air, his hibernation protocol interrupted.
"Oh, this insipid Juke-Box has been more bothersome than its worth should allot!" The mechanical butler exclaimed with his posh twang, floating up the stairway and reaching out with a mandible in order to switch the music player off.
"No wait!" Was the soft and unexpected reply. Wadsworth jumped, trying to turn but ending up bumping his outstretched claw against the tuning dial on the jukebox. As the Galaxy News Radio signal was turned to low static, a slender but bedraggled young woman appeared in the doorway of the diminutive bedroom. She had bright sea-green eyes, but hair of a colour unrecognizable due to the darkness of the room. Her form was also petite but shapely, displaying much sex-appeal as she placed her hands on the doorframe for balance as she stretched.
"Ah, Good morning Mistress," Wadsworth greeted politely, "Please, return to your sleep, I was just deactivating the radio."
"Hold on, I wanted to hear that." The woman responded, stepping lightly across the cold metallic floor and adjusting the tune dial. She pushed Wadsworth aside rather roughly as she did so, causing him to scoff in distaste. The garbled signal whirred and whined, picking up random pieces of Three Dog's speech, and the wretched sound continued until the girl finally managed to find the right frequency.
"-once again this is Three Dog -OOWWW!!- on Galaxy News Radio, comin' to you Live from the middle of the DC Hellhole!" The DJ laughed, clearly taking pleasure in the broadcast. "Now, for a bit of News,"
The green-eyed woman listened intently, wondering somewhat self-importantly if she'd be mentioned. When Wadsworth tried to recommend her return to bed she silenced him by pulling out what were literally his vocal cords.
"So children, I've heard tell that the one and only Wasteland Exemplar from Vault 101 has been cracking down on human trafficking -that's slavery if you're an idiot- around Paradise Falls and the surrounding area. She's spreading the word that as long as she's around, there will be no more slaves in the Capital Wasteland. That, my friends, is fighting the good fight!"
Three Dog's words made the woman smile, it was heart lifting to know that someone actually took notice of the things she did for the people of the wasteland.
"So if you see that chick the Exemplar, be sure to show some gratitude, and hey 101, if you're ever in DC, come on by the station for an, uh, one on one interview, Three Dog out!"
The soft but stylish singing of Johnny Cash began to play, causing the so-called Exemplar's heart to swell with appreciation for Three Dog and his radio. Even though she'd never met the man, it felt like he was her best friend in all the wasteland, as his inspirational words gave her more reason to fight that anything else.
I guess I'll have to visit him sometime soon. She thought with a sly smile, hooking Wadsworth's cords back in.
"My!" The robot huffed, "I do believe that you've misaligned my verbal processors!"
"Oh Wadsworth quit fussing," The exemplar giggled, kissing the tip of one of her droid's mandibles. "You'll live."
With that the nude woman made her way back into the bedroom, where she bade Wadsworth a good sleep and asked him to wake her around eight-thirty.
"Of course Madame, sweet dreams." The butler responded, bowing an automaton's bow and signing off.