Alexa woke from her troubled sleep; she was lying on her side with her hand beneath her cheek, one leg straight while the other was bent. She would often wake up in unusual positions, she couldn't help but wonder just how much she tosses and turns while she dreams. More than once Alexa had found herself waking up to her lying on her back with one knee up and the other leg crossed over it. As far as she knew it didn't mean anything, but the same can be said for a lot in life.
Alexa yawned and sat up; her mind slowly started to piece together the events of the night and her plans for the day. After the church Overseers suggested their plan to her, they recommended she get a night's sleep and return in the morning for breakfast and briefing on her visit to Amata. She went through her usual morning routine which consisted of the bathroom, and a quick wash of her face and hair, though no matter what she tried her untidy strands wouldn't cooperate. The morning echoes was comforting to her, she could hear small hums of activity outside the walls but the muffled noise may as well as not been there. To her, the noise was more forgettable than pure silence.
Dressing herself in the simple traveller's clothes that Lucas and Harden gave to her, Alexa walked outside into Megaton and made her way to the church. It was odd walking through town and not standing out, the last couple of times she was walking through in her Brotherhood Power Armor, now lying forgotten in her father's armory, or striding through town pretending to be the Lone Wanderer. It all seemed so odd to Alexa, to put such emphasis and meaning into a suit of metal could have only been achieved through decades of myth and legend.
It then struck Alexa how different she felt now compared to last night. She was calm, contemplative, yet almost felt like she was in a hazy dream. But last night? She couldn't remember a time she had felt so wild, so full of herself and her own perceived importance. How she acted yesterday was so different to her usual behaviour that it felt like she was looking at a completely different person.
What the hell happened to her?
Crowds of people strolled through the small town, but the groups never paid her any mind. The occasional male would look her up and down as she passed but as she turned to look back she could already see them doing the same to other women. She was being completely ignored, and that's when it occurred to her. All that attention when she wore her father's armor, it…. did something to her. The simple fact that everything she was going to do was being watched and admired by all got to her head, made her into something she thought she would never be. Is that all it takes? It frightened Alexa to think just how easily she could become a completely different person.
The closer she got to the church the more she pondered about the influence of crowds, Alexa wondered if it was the same for her mother. It's been days since she's seen her, not the longest time they've been apart, but unlike the previous times she doesn't know when she'll see her again. She'll be sure to report back to the Citadel once this potential visit to Amata is finished. Alexa wondered just how much she's heard in the short time she's been away; her mother did always keep her ear to the ground.
At last she reached the church; she stepped through the door and was greeted to the sight of several men and women in vault jumpsuits arguing towards the front of the building. Several other members sat in the pews, listening intently.
"The idea of The Lone Wanderer willingly becoming a vampire is absurd!" One of the men from the left side shouted towards the right. "Good natured or not, the vampire's consumption of blood is an almost cannibalistic practice that The Lone Wanderer's virtuous purity would never allow."
"For the last time, it's not cannibalism," a young woman from the right shouted towards the previous speaker. "It was thanks to The Lone Wanderer that the blood treaty of Arefu and The Family was signed, the only way The Family would willingly allow such a negotiation was if they trusted him with their practices."
"That does not mean he actually took part in those practices!"
Alexa was momentarily shocked by the debate raging on in front of her. She knew about the blood treaty of Arefu but had no idea that her father took part in its formation. Although, after a moments consideration she realised she wasn't that surprised. It was the vampire accusations that interested her the most. Did her father drink blood? The idea made her slightly nauseous, if she was taking part in that debate she'd be on the negative's side. She was going to listen to more of the debate but the three Overseers had suddenly appeared next to her.
"Good morning Lone Defender, did you get a good nights rest?" Mylair politely asked.
"Yes, I did. Thank you for inviting me to breakfast." Alexa was trying her best to be as humble and polite as she should have been the previous day.
"Alright, alright. Let's get a move on before the Mirelurk eggs spoil," Cameron interrupted, clearly not in the best of moods. He moved past Alexa and back towards the Overseers meeting room.
Brant leaned towards Alexa and muttered, "Don't mind him. He had to apologise to the Church of Atom this morning, once he's had breakfast he'll be in a better mood, you'll see."
Alexa smiled and nodded in response. Following behind the Overseers she began to feel a deep appreciation towards them. Despite the embarrassments she caused for them, they were still willing to welcome her back and provide food for her. A sneaking suspicion crept into her mind, were they as kind as they appeared? Alexa had no idea, but so far they've been completely honest with her, she'll have to see what happens.
Entering the Overseers room, Alexa saw four plates of food already set up, steam still rising from the scrambled eggs and glasses of Aqua Pura for drinks. The Overseers and Alexa sat down; she waited for a moment before picking up her fork just in case the Church had some meal time prayer. To her surprise they did no such thing and immediately began to eat when they were seated. Mentally shrugging, she began to eat herself.
The noise felt painfully awkward to Alexa. The Overseers never spoke a word while they ate. Alexa was used to the soldiers in the Brotherhood using meals as a chance to swap stories and joke around. The only sounds were the scratches of metal on the plates and the squishing of food being chewed. It felt awfully impersonal. But while she chewed the surprisingly delicious eggs, if a bit too salty, she wondered about the customs of their church. If that was such a heated argument from earlier, why did the Overseers simply walk by like they didn't even notice? Wouldn't they want to defuse any conflicts? For that matter, she had heard so many conflicting stories about what exactly this church believes, was any of what she heard right?
Alexa rapidly finished off the rest of her eggs and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, if the Overseers cared about her etiquette they didn't show it. She wanted to break the silence and clear some details up, so she said the first thing that entered her head.
"How much blood can a human safely drink?"
The sudden silence was enough to make Alexa think she could have planned her words better.
"Excuse me?" Cameron asked with an incredulous look.
"Umm… I was just listening to that debate going on when I walked in, about my father being a vampire. I just…. wondered…" Alexa trailed off into sheepish silence. All three of the Overseers looked at Alexa, then to each other. Mylair gave Cameron a face that said 'give her a chance'; rolling his eyes, Cameron cleared his throat and answered.
"Truth be told, drinking any amount of blood could be extremely harmful. Various diseases can be transferred that way. But assuming the blood is clean; I suppose… about two cups of blood before you get sick." Cameron nodded to himself, sure of his estimate.
Alexa looked up from her empty plate. "I imagine the vampires at Arefu drink more than that." She didn't know if she was trying to make a point or was trying to lead the conversation somewhere.
"Yup, they do," answered Brant. "We've tried warning them several times of the dangers. They'd always scoff at us though, told us their bodies could handle it. Try telling that to the several members of their Family who have died from ingested diseases."
Alexa was briefly taken aback at the familiarity he spoke with. "You've met them?"
Brant nodded. "It was part of my Wandering pilgrimage. I made it my mission to visit Arefu and assist the town and their vampire protectors in any way I can. It was there I learnt about The Wanderer's involvement with them."
"Excuse me, 'Wandering pilgrimage'?"
"It's our Rite of Passage," Mylair answered for him. "We follow in The Wanderer's footsteps and travel the Capitol, doing our best to aid whoever we find." Mylair chuckled to herself. "Kind of like what you want to do, eh Alexa?"
Alexa was intrigued. So they don't just worship her father and start fights with the other church. "Can I ask why you do this?"
"To honour the Lone Wanderer," Brant answered. "Your father did a great many things, he wouldn't have done them if he didn't want to set an example. So that's what we're doing, setting an example for the entire world to follow. Each of our members commits to different goals. Some want to aid thriving communities…"
"Some want to learn and teach, believing knowledge is the key to rebuilding a new world," Mylair said.
"And some," Cameron said. "Some just want to learn about The Wanderer himself. About his life and his motives, and hopefully discover when he'll return."
Alexa was impressed. "Is that what those arguing people were doing?"
Cameron finished his meal and placed his knife and fork onto his plate. He brought his elbows up onto the table and cupped his hands. "We encourage debate and the exchange of theories. Every member who has undergone at least one pilgrimage may take the podium and argue what he or she believes."
"But don't you believe my father was a god?" Alexa asked.
"The term 'god' is… a loose description. We don't believe The Wanderer was a deity, least not an all-knowing, all-powerful kind. When we described the Wanderer's ascension in the early days of our church, numerous members starting throwing the word 'god' around… it stuck."
Alexa knew this part. "This is where the aliens come in right?"
Cameron wasn't sure if that was a subtle insult or a genuine question, he decided to assume it was the latter. "Yes, the three of us witnessed The Lone Wanderer being consumed by light and rising up towards space. When we first saw this, we didn't know what to make of it. But soon afterwards, we made it our pilgrimage to find the same site." Cameron paused. "We found an artefact; it was a large cylinder with flashing lights and strange design."
Mylair interrupted, she seems to do that a lot. "We took the artefact and studied it, it seems silly but the only explanation is that it is alien technology. We were arguing what it was, when through our arguments we realised the truth. That Perry had been chosen by intelligence beyond our own, that he was worthy enough to be rescued from this dead planet by superior beings and became, what we already described, something more than human, that we simply describe as a god."
Well that explains that.
Alexa was glad to finally get some insight into these people. They seemed strange and even aggressive at first, but that was only due to their passion and her… less than ideal behaviour. She nodded in understanding.
"I see."
In truth, she didn't believe a word of it. Aliens? Really? She'll study everything they know about her father's life but anything to do with this 'ascendance' and 'aliens' she'll just ignore, without insulting them of course.
"Thank you for sharing all this with me, I'll be sure to return the favour and find out what I can from this Amata."
"You're welcome, dear," Mylair said kindly.
Once the plates had been cleared away they sat back down at the table and discussed the workings of 101. Alexa already knew about the small town that was built outside the vault, but according to the Overseers the majority of its citizens lived inside the vault itself.
"Old habits die hard, right?" Brant joked.
The community of 101, the small town outside consist of traders, couriers and shelters for travellers. Cameron admitted that they purchased their vault suits directly from 101 both in respect to her father and in the hopes that their business would improve Amata's relationship with them.
"She's not fond of us, or the Brotherhood of Steel for that matter," Cameron said with an annoyed voice.
Alexa was confused by this. "But why? The Brotherhood and your church have done so much good."
"You have to understand, Alexa," Mylair said while patting her on the shoulder. "Amata was your father's oldest friend. She had to exile him herself when she became overseer of the vault, our church probably brings up a lot of sour memories."
Alexa nodded. "And the Brotherhood?"
Mylair shrugged. "Do they have something against your dress code?"
"Truth is," Brant spoke, "Is that we don't know why. But whatever this Brotherhood tech is could be of interest to you."
"You mentioned that, what kind of tech are we talking about? Guns? Power Armor?"
The Overseers looked at each other. Brant finally said "A canister."
Alexa raised an eyebrow. "Why would a canister be important?"
"That's what we want you to find out. Along with anything else she might reveal, like any photographs, hobbies or journals your father may have kept."
Alexa pondered all the information they had given her. Eventually, she nodded and said, "Okay, I think I have everything. Thank you for all your help; it's time I headed off to one-oh-one."
"Shouldn't take you too long, it's literally right next to Megaton," Mylair chirped in.
Alexa stood up from her chair; she shook hands with each of the Overseers and thanked them by name. "I won't let you down." For the first time that morning, Cameron smiled at the young woman.
"I know," he said softly.
Brant leaned towards Alexa and whispered, "That's the most you'll get out of him, I'd suggest you take it."
Alexa chuckled then made her way to the door. She gave the Overseers a final nod then left. As she walked back towards the house to put on her father's armor, Alexa felt strangely cheerful. Even though all she had done this day so far was talk and plan, she still felt like she accomplished something. There was no thanks involved, least not to her, but there will be.
She felt more thankful of what she had now, of the chances she's been given and the guidance she is offered. She had not been in Megaton long but already there have been so many people that are eagerly waiting to see what she will do. She made a mental promise to herself not to let them down. She may even join the Church of the Wanderer at some point. Despite their difference of belief they are decent people who all strive to do one thing; make this world a better place like her father wanted. Isn't that exactly what she wants to?
There was a sense of potential she never felt before, potential of the future, potential for her as a person, potential in the people she has met. It made her excited, and she couldn't wait to see what would happen.
While Alexa held her head high, walking through Megaton as an anonymous traveller, she passed a man wearing a sheriff's hat, a duster coat and who possessed a large black moustache above his lips sitting by himself with a guitar in his hands. He played slow, singular notes which Alexa ignored completely; she never even gave him a second thought.
The man waited for Alexa to pass and then watched her walk through town.
Didn't take long to find her after all. Good thing I happened to be in Megaton when I heard the news. Sorry pops, you abandoned me, I'm not going to let the same thing happen to Perry's daughter. You were the one that took him away from her, so it's only fair that I spit on your work. Hope you'll be able to see what comes next, you son of a bitch.
A/N: Seems Alexa already has a fan, with a bit of thought you should be able to figure out who he is. Stay tuned, the story is just getting started. Comments and criticisms appreciated, thanks for reading.