Hey everyone, since I don't have much to say, I'm just going to get straight into the story. Just wanted to let you guys know that I love getting PMs and reviews with story ideas, and I always take everything you guys have to say into consideration.
Section One
Quasar was sipping a Nuka Cola quantum and Elizabeth had a sunset sarsaparilla in hand. "Think we'll see Devich again sometime?" Quasar asked.
"Devich seems like the kind of guy who isn't going to leave us anytime soon," Elizabeth told him. "We'll see him again."
"So," said Quasar. "It's just us traveling alone."
"Well, me, you, and your ego," she told him.
"What a squad," Quasar laughed. "So, did you think about a few days ago?" he asked. "Basically–"
"Should we hook up?" Elizabeth finished.
"Right! Should we?" Quasar stretched his arms over his head.
"What, right now on the street?" Elizabeth shot him a grin and he shrugged. "Classy."
"After all this time going to the East Village, we're going due west now," said Quasar. "We'll get there eventually, though. To Vault 113. For now, we're just a witty scoundrel and a lost scientist trying to make amends."
"I didn't know you were a scientist," Elizabeth said.
He laughed at the implication and gave her a pat on the shoulder. His hand lingered on his shoulder when a man caught his attention. "Look at that man," he said.
Elizabeth looked, pushed Quasar's hand off of her shoulder, and tried to take in the man's power armor. "I don't see that very often outside of the Brotherhood and raiders," she breathed.
"Why's the guy standing next to a molerat?" asked Quasar, referring to the figure that the man dwarfed.
"That's a child, Quasar," Elizabeth informed him.
"You've got a run for your money on who the sexiest robot in New York is," Quasar informed her casually.
"That man is 65!" Elizabeth gave Quasar a laugh, and he laughed as well.
"I'm so funny," he told her.
The man in power armor and the child noticed the pair, and the man's armor began to clank with each step as he walked towards Elizabeth and Quasar. "If that guy tries to kick my entire ass, can you disable power armor?"
"I mean, I don't think so. Maybe."
When the man in power armor and the child were standing a few feet away from the two, the man said, "Can you two handle yourselves?"
"Yes," said Quasar. "We can handle ourselves so well that we're very hard to be robbed. Right, Elizabeth?"
"Yes," she said. "The hardest. No robbers can get us."
The man raised a curious eyebrow and asked the two if they knew anything about electronics. "Sure, Elizabeth is half robot," Quasar said, and then Elizabeth elbowed him. "Enthusiast. Half robot enthusiast," he corrected.
"We're looking to salvage a lithium radio battery from a vault, but Benjamin and I cannot do it alone." He gestured to the child. "If one of you watches Benjamin and one of you comes with me, whoever comes with me can salvage whatever you want along the way. Or I can compensate you in other ways."
"Can we just confer for a second?" Quasar pulled Elizabeth a few feet away and they turned their backs to the two. "I want compensation," he said.
"I want electronics," Elizabeth replied.
"Do you want to go into the vault?"
"I mean, no."
"What electronics am I supposed to get from the vault?" Quasar asked.
"If it's glowing, pick it up."
They both turned around to face Benjamin and the older man in power armor. "We're in!" Quasar announced.
Section One: Part 2
Elizabeth was sitting in an abandoned apartment with a ten-year-old boy. It wasn't the night she'd imagined when she and Quasar started to locate the railroad. She fully intended on sleeping with Quasar, even if he did have the biggest ego in the world. That ego probably comes from somewhere, she offered herself.
The little boy had a scar that was no less than horrendous, and he was sitting on a chair, swinging his feet back and forth. "Do you know the Brotherhood?" he asked her.
Elizabeth was sipping fruit juice through a straw. "I do know them personally?"
"Do you know where they are?" Benjamin asked.
"Where the Brotherhood is? East, probably," Elizabeth offered. She took another sip of juice.
"Do you travel?"
"I'm from Boston, so a little bit."
"Do you like ghouls?"
"A little bit. I didn't meet one until I was 16. I think I had a little bit of a heart attack then, but it's alright now," said Elizabeth.
"Do you like synths? Logan doesn't. I don't either."
"Ah, to each his own, Ben," Elizabeth sighed. "Do you want a drink? I have Nuka Cola."
"Okay."
Elizabeth slid him a Nuka Cola. "How did you end up here, with Logan? Is he your grandpa?"
"He found me," Benjamin said. "Do you have any stories?"
"About what?"
Benjamin thought for a second. "Deathclaws?"
"Alright. Once there was a baby Deathclaw who was ugly. Uglier than all of the other Deathclaws" Elizabeth began.
"No!" Benjamin interjected. "A real story. Have you ever seen one?"
Elizabeth shrugged. "A few a couple times. I have Blamco mac and cheese, you want some?"
"Will you tell me your story while we eat?"
"Ah, sure." Elizabeth opened the mac and cheese and dug through her backpack for a small tin. She poured it all into the tin and lit a match under it, starting a small fire in the apartment's sink. After a few minutes, she took the tin off of the fire and pressed it out with her right hand, which Ben found very peculiar.
"Did that hurt you?" he asked.
"Nope," Elizabeth replied, transferring the mac and cheese to two bowls, one for each of them. "One of my arms is fake," she admitted. Then, Ben watched silently as she pulled a bag with meat in it out of her backpack and started to chop it up with a knife from the apartment. She cooked it in the tin and then put some of the meat into each bowl. "Protein, little man," she told him.
He nodded vigorously and took a spoon from a drawer in the apartment. "What is the meat?"
"Mongrel," she told him. "Quasar and I ran into a few. Anyway, bon appetite."
"What does that mean?" Ben asked. He took a bite of meat and mac and cheese and swallowed.
"Not sure. They used to say it where I was from, right before we ate sometimes. It's pre-war French. You want to hear a story about a Deathclaw?" she asked.
"Yes!" Benjamin announced.
So, Elizabeth began to tell a story about herself and her "uncle" from eight years ago, and Benjamin listened intently.
Section One: Part Three
"So, you were a Paladin." Quasar was stepping over the boatflies that Logan shot down.
"I still am," Logan corrected, clanking away in his power armor, less than inconspicuously.
"Say, what Vault is this?" Quasar asked.
"22," said Logan. "It's ridden with ferals, and I would get overwhelmed by them going in alone."
"You're looking for a radio?"
"A lithium core," said Logan. "Benjamin and I are going to contact the Brotherhood and bring them here."
"What, like, New York here?"
"Yes. You're an observant young man, you see the slavers here. You see the ghouls, and there are rumors of synths, coursers, and even scientists from the institute taking refuge here. You and your friend should consider joining the cause."
"My friend and I…" Quasar thought. "Well, thanks for the offer, Paladin, but we're better solo."
"Sure, son," said Logan. "Your friend is a scientist, right? Where did she learn the trade?"
"At a lab," Quasar said. "A dog lab," he lied. "A lab for dogs, maybe."
"Sure," said Logan. "Hey, we're here. Willing to clean out this vault with me?"
"You bet."
I know this chapter was short – only one section, but I've been very busy and wanted to get something out as soon as I could.
