"It is not enough to have a good mind. The main thing is to use it well."
Descartes
The three Vanderbraun children loitered among the ruins, young children barely over the age of eight. At the moment they were still trying to find something to entertain themselves as Rat, their faithful babysitter and friend, sat in their midst enjoying the respite he was getting. He knew it may not last long.
Isaac, the most thoughtful one of the three seemed to be anxious, as if he wanted something but he knew he could not wander too far into the ruins. The concrete in some areas could be unstable and heaven forbid it if they ran into a radroach, molerat or a super mutant. Still, it was obvious the youngster wanted something. Looking at his snack, a can of Cram, Isaac suddenly appeared thoughtful. He opened the can and set it in front of Rat.
"Rat, could you find me a book that I could read? Something that isn't burnt up?" Isaac asked.
Rat looked at him for a moment before proceeding to devour the Cram.
"I don't think he understands you. He's just eating your food." Evelyn said, watching her older brother.
"Wait a moment. Let him finish." Isaac replied.
Rat, finishing off his snack, hesitated a moment before looking at the concrete ruins. Then, after a second of apparent contemplation, the rat dashed off and disappeared under a crevice, going through holes and passageways in the rubble that no human could crawl through. By now, all three of the children were waiting with interest. Would Rat come back with something interesting? Had the rodent understood the request?
Before they knew it, they spotted Rat's whiskered nose poking out of the hole again before the large rodent popped out completely from the apparently narrow passageway. However, most tellingly, was a large paper object still held in Rat's snout. Despite the many years of laying around in a dark place and despite the lack of light, Rat had found a mostly intact book. The rodent dropped it in front of Isaac. The youngster read it carefully.
"Nikola…Tesla…and You! Thanks Rat!" Isaac cried before sitting down and starting to read.
"Can you get me a toy car, Rat?" Evelyn asked sweetly, smiling as she dropped her box of Dandy Boy Apples in front of the rodent.
Rat furiously inhaled the box and disappeared into the ruins again. Just as quickly, Rat reappeared, this time with a toy car which he deposited in front of Evelyn. The girl squealed in delight.
"Thank you, Rat! You're the best." The girl bear hugged the rodent before focusing on her new toy. That left Lowell who was holding a can of Pork n Beans. Everyone knew that this was Rat's most favorite food.
"I want a revolver, Rat. Or at the very least a cherry bomb. Could you do that, Rat?" Lowell asked.
Rat tilted his head at Lowell but then immediately got to stuffing his snout with beans. Lowell smirked as Isaac and Evelyn watched on in a bit of apprehension. They were starting to wonder why they had not thought big especially with Rat once again faithfully scampering off in the ruins.
When he returned, Rat was carrying a worn teddy bear.
"But I asked for a revolver." Lowell complained.
Rat did not reply though the rodent could still remember when Isaac got his hands on a laser pistol at age two. It still was not a pleasant memory. Now, tired from all the errands, Rat curled up into a ball to take a quick nap. Lowell meanwhile begrudgingly gave an ecstatic Evelyn the teddy bear before sitting down and pouting.
"Guess he won't do just anything you ask him." Lowell grumbled.
Julia groaned as she realized she was waking up. The pain of the sunlight hitting her unready eyes did not compare with the emptiness she felt that was reflected by the unoccupied spot next to her. Still, she could not let that bring her down. Sighing, she tried to sit up but then realized she had not the strength to do that. Frowning, she rolled over and wondered why she did not the strength to get out of bed yet had the stamina to get her through all the other grueling chores that had to be done throughout the day.
"Squeak?" Rat greeted, frantically climbing up the side of the mattress before poking his nose into her face.
"Ack, Rat, go get Asimov. I need help." Julia said.
Rat hesitated a moment before shuffling off the bed and scampering out of the house.
The streets of Albany were a pale white from the low laying mist that covered the town while a dim sun did its best to penetrate the thin layer of overcast skies above their heads. Rat only noticed this for a moment as he rushed from the Vanderbraun house over to the rifle factory.
Slipping inside the stuffy building through the door, the rat wandered through the billowing lights from the fire and the flickering embers raining from the metal works. Largely ignored by the workers manning the equipment, Rat was able to proceed unhindered as he made his way towards his destination. He found his objective at a large computer terminal.
"Squeak!" Rat announced.
"And a good morning to you too, you flea bag." A mechanical voice snapped back.
"Squeak!" Rat shot irritably at Asimov.
Turning from his work, Asimov spun to face the rodent.
Asimov was in fact a robobrain, the very one programmed by James and Sven to watch the children back in the day. Eventually, Asimov's AI grew advanced enough to master many concepts, including developing his own personality. In fact, the Vanderbrauns noticed that, a bit morbidly, Asimov's old memories from his past life as a human faintly floated to the surface every now and then. It was for this reason that James and Julia started to allow Asimov a certain degree of freedom. Asimov chose his own name and his new profession of working in the factory after the children were old enough.
The rivalry between Rat and Asimov however, just didn't seem to go away with the years. No one was sure why or how exactly it started. The best theories was that Asimov resented how Rat had more mobility and could go further with the children than the robobrain could. Rat resented the fact that Asimov could better communicate with the humans and had opposable claws. Another simpler reason was that they just agreed to disagree with each other from day one.
"And what do you need now, you furry noise maker?" Asimov demanded.
Rat sat on his haunches and waved a paw in the general direction of the Vanderbraun residence, chattering irritably the whole time.
"Yes, yes, I can see you still have not quite articulated all your digits yet. Very well, I shall follow you, just don't go too fast, you little vermin. I can't slither through cracks like you can." Asimov muttered. Rat returned the favor with a snort and shuffled off, leading Asimov out of the factory and across the street.
Julia looked up when she heard the rapid patter of rat paws followed by the drone of Asimov's motorized chassis. Asimov greeted her with a wave of one of his claws.
Rat simply squeaked.
"Good morning, Julia. How may I assist you?" Asimov asked.
"Just help me up out of bed, Asimov. With James not here I may need you to repeat this for the next few days." Julia sighed.
"My pleasure, Julia. Brings back the memories of when the children where still, well, children." Asimov sputtered, helping Julia to a sitting position so she could step out of bed.
"Thank you, Asimov. You may return to your work." Julia thanked, stepping off to get started on the day.
"You're welcome, Claudia. I'll be thinking of you while I'm gone." Asimov said, his voice slightly changing.
Julia suddenly looked back at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Asimov…you called me 'Claudia' again. Who is this Claudia?" Julia asked in a hushed tone.
Asimov suddenly became quiet and still. For a moment, no one breathed.
"Well, we're burning daylight. I'm off to the factory." Asimov suddenly announced, this time in his normal voice before bumbling off towards the house door, passing a rather astonished Julia.
The scribe folded her arms in front of her. That was not the first time the robot made a slip like that, as well as other incidents. She, as well as James, often wondered if they were memories of his previous life coming to the surface.
Meanwhile, back out on the streets, Rat ambled next to Asimov as they both were going in the same direction. Of course, they were going to part ways soon. Indeed, they could only stand each other's company for so long.
"Oh, by the way fleabag, a worker left this the other day. I'm sure you'll enjoy this." Asimov announced, tossing him a box of Dandy Boy Apples.
Rat squeaked in gratitude and proceeded to terrorize the contents of the box as Asimov wheeled off to the factory. Granted, although they did not always get along, everyone knew that deep down the two were still buddies. It was an odd of sort friendship but a friendship no less.
Not that either would ever admit to it.
Adam, Carl, Sven and James sat around the table, empty plates with scattered crumbs in front of them as they entered a rather important phase of the meal ritual. Now came the part where they would have to plan. However, James cast an uncertain glance at Adam before they started talking.
"Are you seriously drinking whisky right now? This early in the morning?" James demanded.
"Just a sip. Now, how are going to tackle this?" Adam asked. Carl scratched his chin.
"Location, location, location? Do we know where everyone is? I mean, I know we're supposed to head up north because that's where our caravans have been running into issues but I don't know much after that." Carl said.
Most of the fighting that happens between the Hierarchy and the Western Coalition takes place in the Adirondack mountains, in between where the W.C is west of the Mohawk and former Vermont. The W.C is more sporadic as they're actually a coalition of raider tribes under a single warlord. They have no problem spreading their forces. The Hierarchy keeps a tighter rein on their forces so they've beaten their enemies to a stalemate." James explained, pointing to a map on the wall.
"In between their battle lines are major caravan routes. This is where we've been having problems." Adam recalled.
"Exactly." James stated. There was a moment of silence.
"So you haven't come up with a plan yet, eh, computer?" Adam joked.
James raised an eyebrow at him.
"Why do I always have to come up with a plan?" James demanded with a wave of his prosthetic.
"Don't look at me." Sven shrugged.
James sighed in exasperation.
"Okay. How about we split up? Julia gave me these long range radios we can carry. One group of us gets dropped off at the Hierarchy end of the Hudson and the other group goes down the Mohawk to find the W.C. We'll keep in contact, gather information and then regroup and tell Francis what we got." James suggested.
"Right. James, you and Sven take care of the Hierarchy. Carl and I will take care of the Western Coalition." Adam stated.
"Sounds like a plan." James nodded, taking a sip of water before they sat in silence again.
"Why do I feel like we need more details for this?" Carl asked.
"We forgot to discuss the explosions part." Sven pointed out. The others sighed.
Isaac and David stepped off the Clermont and onto the dock which abruptly led to the still muddy ground of the river side. Still, the two men could not help but look around and gather in their surroundings. Isaac remembered his dad telling him that years ago this section of the Mohawk was completely lifeless. Now, the people of the Nation had managed to set up a small station of sorts at this point of the river. It was their access point to the river trade.
"So…where do we start?" David asked before yawning.
"Guess we ask for directions." Isaac shrugged as he glanced around.
"Sounds as good an idea as any to me." David replied.
All told, David was entirely too quiet for Isaac's taste. Granted, Isaac understood that he was an extrovert. He learned this because growing up in the Vanderbraun household, there were only two extroverts out of the five, himself and Evelyn. It wasn't so bad back at home because he knew that mom or dad would at least listen to him attentively. He was not so sure about that fact with David who seemed way too lackadaisical. How could he get another conversation started with him?
"So what kind of equipment are you carrying?" Isaac asked.
David glanced about himself as if rechecking his own inventory.
"Well, I got a combat knife, submachine gun, generic assault rifle, and a few explosives." David explained.
"That's pretty basic." Isaac replied.
"True but it gets the job done and hasn't steered me wrong yet." David answered before glancing back at Isaac's equipment.
"Got yourself a Excelsior rifle, Chinese assault rifle and that nice short sword there. Anything else you packing?" David asked.
"Just a pair of grenades and a laser pistol as backup. It's a machete by the way. There's a difference between the two." Isaac smiled with a shrug.
"Oh? And what is that difference? One is shorter?" David asked sarcastically.
"One has weight behind it to actually take limbs off in short order. Or easily puncture a whole rib cage." Isaac replied.
"Right. You know, I heard one of the Liberators carries an Excelsior rifle. You wouldn't be an imitator now, would you?" David chided jokingly.
"I'm just really good at it." Isaac replied carefully with a nervous laugh.
"Were you trained by the Liberators?" David inquired. Isaac gulped air as he desperately thought of a way to not answer that.
"Um…hey, keep an eye out for Joseph Horn, we're getting into the town it appears." Isaac ordered as they walked into the outskirts of the large neighborhood. The buildings and dwellings did not look any different from any other post apocalypse abode. They were constructed of sheet metal and other debris though, as if by a throwback to their heritage, these buildings were built and arranged like the long houses their ancestors dwelt in. Stretching many feet in length and decently high, these houses could hold many people and families under one roof.
The two regulators could not help but stop at the edge of town and gaze around. Truth be told they did not know what they were expecting but this place certainly had a lot of people. Sure, the locals did wear the typical leathered brahmin skins but everything seemed more decorative, from the clothing to the beaded trinkets the people wore. If Isaac were to guess, he would have said the people of the Nation were a very creative bunch.
"I take it you're looking for me?" a monotone voice asked.
Isaac and David were pulled out of their gawking to see a young, fit looking man with a shaven head and bronzed skin. He too wore the Regulator duster.
"We're looking for a Joseph Horn." Isaac replied.
"That is I. I knew because I am the only regulator here." Joseph explained.
"Any particular reason for that?" David asked curiously.
"The people of the Nation handle their own security though I was the first to be interested in joining the Regulator ranks." Joseph answered.
"Why is that?" Isaac asked with a half smile.
"That is of no concern now. Let me gather my things. I will meet you back here in a few moments." Joseph answered and turned to leave.
This left both Isaac and David staring in dumbfounded confusion. They were not expecting the abrupt behavior that Joseph displayed.
"Quite the mishegoss." David muttered
"What did you say?" Isaac asked, squinting at him. This was getting more bizarre.
"'Quite the mishegoss. You know…crazy. Him, Joseph." David answered.
Isaac still kept an eyebrow raised as he had never heard that word before but he decided to disregard it for now and got back to waiting. They were impressed when they saw Joseph return with just a simple bag and what appeared to be a wooden band going from his left shoulder down to his right hip. Otherwise, he appeared unarmed.
"I am ready. Let us depart." Joseph announced and simply walked past them.
David and Isaac kept up with their quizzical looks.
"Wait, that's it? That's all you're bringing? Aren't you armed?" David demanded.
"I adequately armed." Joseph answered, still walking while Isaac and David stumbled behind him.
"Um, I don't see any weapons." Isaac sputtered.
"You are not looking well enough then." Joseph answered cryptically and led them out of the Nation.
Evelyn breathed heavily, so much so she could feel the moisture from her breath starting to build up around the mouth section of her helmet. She struggled to fight the panic that was constricting the very veins in her body.
"Perhaps a Med-X could calm me down…make me think…No! I don't need to risk addiction-"
She flinched as volley of hostile rounds scattered particles of concrete all over her armor. She heard Hardings curse in shocked awe.
"We still got a whole bunch out there. I count over ten." Birns announced.
"Can you take down one of those mutant brutes at least, Felson?" Lowell demanded.
"Can't risk hefting this Tesla cannon without getting my head shot off in this much fire, sir." The demolitions expert replied.
Another heavy rain of bullets slammed over Evelyn's head.
"Screw it." Evelyn thought and discreetly, if quickly, slammed a syringe into the proper receptacle in her armor. She immediately felt herself calming down, the fear starting to subside and become bearable. Oddly enough, at least on her, it worked better than psycho.
"We're going to have to get something to stun them. How many grenades do you boots have on you?" Lowell demanded, the concrete pillar he was hiding behind slowly being pecked away by bullets.
"I'm out." Birns admitted.
"I got one." Hardings replied.
"I got three more." Felson answered.
"Knight Captain, what about you?" Lowell demanded of his sister. No one could have seen it but his jaw dropped behind his helmet when Evelyn simply stood ram rod straight up and started firing with her tri-beam laser.
"Toss grenades, fire back!" Lowell shouted, trying to cover his sister's sudden and unexpected recklessness. The paladin chucked his own grenade and immediately started firing his own laser rifle, not even waiting for the grenade to go off. Two more grenades from Felson and Hardings also went up. Birns popped up to take a shot with his Excelsior rifle.
Evelyn emptied her clip before diving back under the concrete barrier. All told, they had taken out four of the mutants in that retaliation and certainly shook up the rest. She could not have known that Lowell was silently fuming and plotting to give her a stern talking to when they got out of this.
They jumped when a decisive explosion echoed from behind the line of mutants keeping them pinned down.
"What was that?" Hardings asked, still clutching his assault rifle.
"No clue, We all had our heads down." Birns replied.
"Did you do anything, Felson?" Evelyn asked, the initial rush of the Med-X starting to subside.
"No, Knight Captain. I've been pinned down here the whole time. Do you see anything, Paladin?" the demolitions expert asked of Lowell.
Lowell hesitated before replying.
"It's another group of mutants." Lowell answered.
"Great…" Hardings muttered.
"They're killing the group that pinned us down." Lowell finished.
"What?" Hardings demanded in shock as the others all turned their gaze at him.
"Take a look for yourself. Shoot the ones from the original group. Fire on the new comers if they fire at us." Lowell ordered, taking deadly effective aimed shots at the mutants now.
"For the Brotherhood!" Hardings shouted, popping up and firing his assault rifle in controlled bursts, being joined by Evelyn's tri-lasers, Felson's heavy electrical blasts and the periodic but always fatal booms of Birn's sniper rifle. In short but effective order, the first group of mutants that had pinned the Carbide Tempest down had disappeared.
What arose next was a very tense atmosphere as the Carbide Tempest knights stared through their cold, emotionless visors at the new group of mutants. All of the knights were wondering what would happen as the two groups stared each other down.
"This is the second time we've run into mutants killing each other. Care to explain what's going on? Can you talk to us about that?" Lowell asked.
His sister cast a glance at him. Although they knew that mutants could communicate, they seemed to excel very well in yelling threats and alarms, there just did not seem to be any reason for mutants and people to carry on a civil conversation.
One mutant, apparently a master, stepped out from the others. If there was anything else to distinguish him from the others, other than his own laser rifle, was a heavy leather eye patch that covered his left eye.
"…I…am…Ghemaath." The mutant announced.
"Very well, Ghemaath. I am Paladin Vanderbraun and these are the Carbide Tempest knights. Now, it's not every day we see mutants killing each other. Care to explain that?" Lowell asked.
"We are the New Human Effort. What we offer is a better existence. Our half made brethren are of lesser intelligence and can contribute nothing. We cannot correct them so it is better that we put them out of their misery. Now, we can offer to fix you, something we cannot offer them." Ghemaath announced.
Lowell felt bile run in his mouth.
"What do you mean?" the Paladin asked.
"Come with us and we will turn you into one of us. A new strain of the virus that made us has been produced recently. We can transform you. No more weaknesses, no more pain to radiation. You will be far superior." Ghemaath informed. By now, all of the knights felt their hearts jumping into their throats. They had spent years eliminating super mutants and now a new strain had gotten smarter. In fact, this new strain not only wanted to turn them into similar abominations, it had made the logical excuse as to why to do that.
"We cannot accept this offer. We prefer to be as we are." Lowell answered carefully.
"This offer is non-negotiable. If you will not comply, you shall be eliminated." Ghemaath stated.
What he said next in his inhumane voice, though often heard, rattled the knights' spines like never before.
"We are the future." Ghemaath finished decisively.
"Some of us would rather remain the way we are." Lowell shot back, shouldering his laser rifle.
"Then you shall perish. Soldiers, fire!" Ghemaath ordered.
"Dang it, brace yourselves." Hardings muttered.
"Out of the frying pan, into the fire." Felson added. Birns suddenly moved as if he spotted something.
"Guys, wait. Something-"
And yet a final explosion interrupted the whole scene.
There were several moments of confusion as no one was quite sure what caused the ruckus but Lowell had little time to figure it out as the mutants started firing on them again on Ghemaath's orders.
It didn't help that they were packing missile launchers.
Pinned down again and desperately trying to avoid the blasts from the missile, Lowell was still able to pick out something that made his heart skip. He immediately took action.
"Evelyn, Hardings, help me guard this back entrance here." Lowell ordered, pointing to a stairwell that led up from the ruined bottom of the building.
"What for? They're out there that way." Hardings motioned.
"They're sending mutants to storm the building. I can hear them charging." Lowell answered. The Paladin was a bit alarmed by this. This was a rather intelligent tactic these mutants were displaying. It was certainly an improvement over the usual brute tactic of "shoot at the target until it bleeds."
Even more alarming was when Lowell heard the charging mutants stop dead in their tracks, their bodies dropping one by one on the ground. This was getting more bizarre.
As if on cue, a human form seemed to instantly materialize in front of him.
"You do know you're in trouble right?" the stranger told him.
Despite the hail of fire falling all around them, the knights of the Carbide Tempest were too stupefied to react to what just happened. The stranger wore a strange, blackish body suit with a full helmet that hid the man's face. In his hands he cradled an infiltrator rifle.
It became apparent that he was in fact wearing a stealth suit.
"Who are you?" Lowell demanded in almost indignant shock. Evelyn meanwhile was silently trying to keep herself from downing another Med-X. Being pinned down this long was starting to terrify her more and more. She could feel her heart starting to race again and she was a bit dismayed the feel her fingers starting to tremble inside her gloves.
"Your ticket out of here. Just hold out and follow my lead. I can get us out of here, just make sure no more of the uglies get up here." The stranger replied before touching what must have been a transmitter attached to his helmet.
"Mayday, mayday. I am surrounded by hostiles, the area is hot. Please send an armed rescue team to my location. We have five to pick up beside me." The stranger announced. Meanwhile the Carbide troopers glanced at each other. Something about this was not sitting well with them.
"Just hang on now and keep them at bay." The stranger told them.
"What help did you send for?" Hardings asked.
"Vertibirds. And before you complain, yes you better take them because this is your only chance to get out of here alive."
Their mouths went dry with the realization that their only hope rest in what was apparently an Enclave operative.
It had been a long day for Julia. Carl had not been there to help with the food pantry. Without Sven the production plant workers seemed to be a little disoriented. James was not around to help her with the medical care of the people and it seemed like all of her administrative duties had doubled.
At least the day was over.
Still, for Julia it was not much solace. After so many years of at least having James around, if not Isaac as well, the place seemed so empty. Julia knew she never really liked loneliness but this was reminding her all too well why she didn't like it. Her heart felt as empty as her house looked. She almost wondered if she would just go straight to bed so she wouldn't have to deal with it. After all, she was tired.
Sitting down heavily on the couch, almost sulking really, she let out a moping sigh as she contemplated if there was really anything else she wanted to do. What she really wanted was for James, Isaac or the twins back. It really was too empty in the house.
She looked over when she noticed Rat furiously struggling to climb up on the couch. She was about to help him when he finally made it onto the cushions and immediately waddled up to her. She couldn't help but smile when the rodent lounged down next to her, resting his head on her lap as his beady eyes looked up at her. He even let out an unhappy sounding snort.
"I know…I know…" Julia muttered as she gently stroked his head.
"I miss them too."
