4. Circuits and Drugs

The explosion set the husk of a car ablaze. Cutter grabbed a fistful of Edge's sleeve and pulled the synth away, blindly, in any direction he could possibly find. The ground gave underneath them and they rolled down, coming to an abrupt halt against a dead tree.

'Fore …'

Cutter held Edge firmly in place. 'Is beyond our reach right now! They didn't look as if they'd kill him immediately, whyever that is. We'll find him, but we're no use to him dead.'

The entire mission couldn't have gone any worse. They should have met a contact at an abandoned house, a man who would have given them a big job. Only he'd not been there. Now Fore was in the hands of a bunch of lunatics that had shouted something about needing to protect them, and Cutter and Edge had barely escaped them and a number of super mutants.

At least Edge had the sense to be silent. They heard the mutants above them, muttering about puny humans trying to hide. Cutter's heart was racing with no clue how to handle the situation and no plan at all. They had fallen down to a small river. Cutter swore. 'Don't touch the water, Edge.'

'I don't think …'

'I don't care! We're … we're dead is what we are.'

'Cutter, I refuse to accept that, and so should you.'

He looked at the synth, who kept his face perfectly settled and picked himself up from the ground. He did eye the water with mild apprehension, however. 'I believe that settlement is inhabited. There's fire under that pot over there.'

Cutter nodded. He took Edge's proffered hand and let himself be hauled to his feet. 'Thanks.' He smiled, keeping hold of Edge. 'For being here. I couldn't do this alone.'

Edge looked back behind them and apparently decided it was safe enough for the moment. He pulled Cutter into an embrace. 'We will find Fore.'

'We have to find a safe place to make some sort of plan.'

Edge released him. 'We have to survive, most of all. If we can't find safe water and a shelter, we don't have very long.'

'Talk about settlements,' Cutter said pointing to the other side of the river. 'Devil or deep blue sea, Edge, what do you say?' The synth inclined his head. 'The green devils behind us or through the river.'

Edge pressed his lips together. 'I believe they haven't pursued us. But I don't know how well these … creatures can hear.'

'Quite well, I'm afraid. So hush, let's go.'

Edge helped Cutter up the steep slide. Only now he felt how bruised he actually was. If he couldn't rest soon, Cutter's ankle would swell to twice its size after one of the huge dog-things had nearly ripped his foot off, that much he was certain. Once they were up, Edge supported Cutter by putting one arm around his back. His free hand rested lightly on his gun, and Cutter could practically feel him listening to his surroundings. 'I won't let anyone harm you,' the synth said quietly.

Cutter smiled at him and brushed his lips over his cheek. 'I know, love.'

The village ahead of them was destroyed. And yet, as they moved closer, Edge slowed to a crawl and gestured to his ears. Apparently, he heard something. What that was, Cutter wasn't sure. They left the path and tried to make their way around the clustered buildings. They didn't get far. Soundlessly, someone stepped into their way, out of the shadow of a house. Cutter took a sharp breath at the sight of the Gen 2 they were facing. At least he thought that was what this was. Cutter wasn't exactly an expert on synths except for the one supporting him.

Edge had his weapon half drawn but had frozen in mid movement. 'Not an inch,' the Gen 2 said in a drawl, a revolver pointing straight at Edge's face. 'Please put that on the ground and step away. You too. And don't try anything, you're covered.' A deep growl very close behind Cutter confirmed those words. 'Move. Don't keep us waiting. He's rather hungry, you know, and with his mistress gone, I'm not sure I can control him.' The growl turned more vicious behind Cutter's back, and he slowly put his gun down.

'If I take a step back,' he said quietly, 'I think I'll get eaten.'

'You'll have to take that risk.'

Licking his lips, Cutter backed away. Nothing happened.

'Thank you.' The synth advanced, its gun steady, and picked up their weapons. 'Oh, those are good. Thank you so much.' At another growl, it interrupted its scrutiny of their guns and glanced at its two captives as if it had forgotten about them. Cutter didn't buy that for a second. 'Oh. What do I do about you? Who are you anyway? Are you synths? What's with those uniforms or whatever they are?'

Edge stared silently at the Gen 2, while Cutter felt anger boiling up in him. 'You've got some nerve, thief! You … you … Tin Man! We're not synths!' There were some synths, Cutter knew, that were responsible for recovering lost ones. Those weren't Gen 2s as far as he knew, but you couldn't be careful enough.

Their captor opened its mouth and closed it again. 'Well I'll be … Are you vault dwellers? No. No, you wouldn't be.' It gestured towards the village with its gun. 'You're either putting on a rather convincing show, or you need help. I'll find out either way. Move.'

'I'm not going anywhere with a Tin Man which points a gun at me and refuses to say its own name. If it has one. Who's controlling you, anyway? Are you a defence mechanism of some sort?'

'Cutter, I'm not sure that it is wise to yell at him.'

'Him? That's not a him, that's an it.'

'Enough.' The Tin Man's voice was quiet but resolute. 'We will talk. But not here. Follow me before people come looking for me. Not all of us are as accommodating as I am, you know.'

The Tin Man led the way into the least broken house. It contained an old woman in a chair and a much younger one on a couch, both legs thrown over the backrest. 'Preston somewhere?' the Tin Man asked.

The young woman stared at Edge and Cutter for a moment. 'Ah … I'll get him.' When she reached the door, she snorted. 'You find the strangest things. Really.'

The Tin Man sighed. It was a confusing thing to do for a Gen 2. They were mere machines, no soul, no personality … weren't they? 'Please have a seat.' It glanced at the old woman. 'Thoughts on them?'

'So much pain,' she said, her voice weak and husky. 'The pain of separation, forever lost. Different, yet the same … So hard to feel what's right when your eyes say it's wrong.'

The Tin Man raised both hands. 'Thanks … that'll do.' It rubbed the bridge of its nose. Another very human gesture, Cutter noted. 'Please, please, lay off the chems.'

She didn't dignify that with an answer.

'Listen to him,' a stern voice said from the door. 'Piper says you have prisoners? Since when do we take settlers at gunpoint?'

'They look like settlers to you, Preston?'

'As much as you.'

'I'd like to handle them. You handle those?' The Tin Man passed their guns to the man.

'You frisked them?'

'No. With only Dogmeat and me to keep them in check, I'd rather not, even if one of them is injured. Keep an eye on them and I will.'

'No need,' Edge said. He volunteered a concealed blade and another small gun. 'Cutter, I believe it is wise if you surrender yours as well.'

Preston took their things with a sceptical expression. 'Question them, would you? That's your line of work anyway.'

'Will do.' The Tin Man blinked. Just one more pointless thing to do if your eyes were diodes. 'Well, here it goes. I am Nick Valentine, private detective, even more of an eyesore than I used to be, and that's saying something. Now we've got who I am covered, who and what are you?'

Cutter glared at it. 'Cutter of the Tourists. Mercenaries.'

The Tin Man nodded towards Edge. 'You? The leader?'

'Confidant of the leader. Edge.'

The Tin Man's lips twitched into a smile. 'Close enough. And what would you want from us here?'

'Fore – our leader – has been taken captive by crazies.'

'Usually, crazies in the Commonwealth shoot on sight. Who took him, I wonder.' The Tin Man leaned forwards. 'And why?'

'Why did you apprehend us, sir?' Edge asked.

The Tin Man laughed softly. 'Nick will do. I apprehended you because settlers or people who need help usually take the road. Those that try to sneak in are very likely robbers. You both seem injured.'

Only now Cutter saw the abrasion on Edge's left arm. He jolted to attention. 'We need help! Your river's contaminated, do you have clean water? How do you survive here? I mean … not you, but the real people.'

The Tin Man nodded. 'Real people. I'm wounded, in case you can't see the gaping holes in my neck.'

Cutter blinked. 'What?'

'I believe that was a joke, Cutter,' Edge helped out.

'A joke. Well, he's ahead of you, then. Do you … think for yourself? Do you just act, or do you mean business when you laugh?'

'I think and feel all by myself. I have sensory receptors in my skin. Not so much where it's missing, only perception of temperature there.' It folded its hands behind his neck. 'I am a synth, obviously, some sort of abortive prototype or so. Between Gen 2 and Gen 3, I suppose.'

'So do you have a heart, Tin Man? Help us out. We need to find our friend, but we don't know where he is. The lot that took him, they tried to get us, too, but then the super mutants showed up and they made off with him. We barely escaped.' Cutter swallowed. 'We shot some of those things, but I tell you they pack a punch and we weren't exactly expecting trouble.'

'That they do,' the Tin Man said. 'Some mercenaries you are. You're lucky to have escaped. And the people who took your friend, you got any idea why? They say anything?'

'To protect him. From the Institute. They wanted to take us all.'

'Well. Let's see. I thought you're synths when I first saw you. Perhaps they thought that, too.'

'Why would you think we're synths?'

The Tin Man frowned. 'You look wrong. The distinctive patterns painted and stitched to your armour look a lot like a uniform, and that's always strange. You haven't been in this mercenary business for too long, have you?'

Cutter and Edge exchanged a glance. 'No. Couple of months.'

'Well. If whoever grabbed your missing person believed he's a synth and didn't murder him on sight, I suppose I have a good idea who it was. In that case, your best shot in getting him back is the General. But right now, she's not here. About the radiation and any injuries, we can help you out. And we have purified water.' He smiled. 'We'll guard you over night, make no mistake. You aren't leaving this place without permission.'

'This is getting better and better,' Cutter muttered.