OoO( 25 )OoO

He had felt like this before. It was hard to recall in his current state, but at the moment, he felt as if he were floating in a tank of abyssal water. Eternally black, deafeningly silent, and as cold as the Alaskan mountains he experienced in the sim. He just laid back, his eyes half closed as he floated in the abyss. So tired…

He had been here a long time now and the silence, darkness, and cold had gotten to him. He was born a loner, being the only son of the good doctor James Ronas. With his father teaching him such outlandish things like honor and patience, he sure as hell didn't make any friends in the vault. At least among the boys. He had made friends with Amata however, but at the time "She didn't count." he remembered telling his dad. Throughout his stay in the underground bunker, the number of friends he had went from one, to zero for a while, then back to one again after angering Amata.

She had been angry with him for sharing his comic book, "Grognac the Barbarian and the Axe of the Unicorn", which happened to be her favorite, to Christie to read. He didn't have any particular feelings for the girl, but she was bored and asked. So he gave it to her to read, something Amata had taken much offense to. He didn't realize it at the time, because he was still in the years of his glorious party where he finally gave Butch a black eye, got his pipboy, and watched his programming of Andy destroy his birthday cake. At that time, girls were still just boys with long hair to him. So when she was upset about him loaning out her favorite of his comics to Christie, he had no clue why.

She got over it though. And as he grew, he finally started realizing the difference between the sexes, and figured out as well why Amata had taken offense. He also found out why Butch was always such a butthead when Amata was around. After the black eye he gave the greaser during his tenth birthday party, the two had kept a respectful distance from each other. But as soon as Amata entered the picture, he was back to his old self, calling names, picking fights, and making snide remarks. John wasn't really sure if it was for Amata's sake, or if Butch was only comfortable acting out when the Overseer's daughter was around, but either way it was annoying.

He had grown and grown, taking the G.O.A.T. test and getting an amused chuckle from Mr. Brotch as he saw the results. Aside from dad and Jonas, he was probably the only other smart person in the vault. At least, smart on his level. Thinking back on it now, he was an arrogant little shit. But he couldn't help that he was right sometimes. Most of the other vault dwellers were usually blissfully ignorant. None of them caring to learn anything that didn't concern their job, unless it was gossip of course. But not Mr. Brotch. He understood all of the coded messages that he had left on his homework assignments, usually ending in him giving John a stern look, or just a silent chuckle.

Despite the intelligent teacher, the caring father, and the flirty female friend, he always felt like a loner. Dad, Amata, Mr. Brotch, Jonas, even all of those people he had could never lift the veil that he was by himself in the world. And it wasn't until this moment that he realized what loneliness truly was. It wasn't until he was literally floating, not moving, not talking, not even breathing, within the depths of eternity, that he realized what being a true loner was. It terrified him to his core.

But, despite having waited for what felt like eons, through deafening silence, he still waited. As it turned out, he didn't have long to wait. The silence practically shattered as he heard a voice for the first time since his descent. He strained with all his might to hear those precious waves of sound beat against his eardrums. It soon became clearer and clearer until the clarity almost made him want to cry.

"Oh good! His vitals are stable now." said a familiar sing-song voice. "I thought for sure that he was gonna mutate and eat us all for a second."

"Oh quiet down you. We've been working for over seventy hours straight. If I have to hear another second of your voice, I might just kill myself." said a much older voice that also had a familiar feel to it. Whoever these two were, he knew them, closely. "Well, in any case, he's out of the red for now. Still ain't gonna fix his other problems though." said the older voice.

"Oh, I don't know about that." said the chipper voice again. Basking in the glow of of the shattered silence, he simply smiled and drifted off again.

OoOoO

"Did a good job for my first mission huh?" asked the redhead as she sighed to herself. Currently, she was sitting at a table in the infamous Moriarty's Saloon with a small glass of scotch in front of her.

Cid, who had three empty bottles, and one half full of Nuka Cola on his side, looked at her curiously. "You did fine Red. Nothing you or I could have done would have prevented that from happening." he said, biting down on his lip. He didn't believe for a second the words that came out of his mouth. He knew that if he had just threw himself through the window, he could have at least helped the gunman fend off the monstrous ghoul. It amused him that both of the vault dwellers companions were now sitting at a table, blaming themselves for his critical state. He knew well that John would tie them both up by their hands and feet and dangle them off one of the catwalks for thinking so, but after letting him fend for himself twice, he couldn't shake the feeling that it really was his fault.

Cid looked up as a woman passed him. She was a pretty woman, with an unkempt mop of orangey-red hair and clothes that definitely made him notice her even more. But she passed too quickly for him to get a good look at her face. Before he knew it, she disappeared out of the tavern and into the evening air.

"Lana." said the woman across from him, getting his attention. "My name is Lana. You can call me Lana if you like, instead of my rank." she said, taking another swig of her smooth, but strong drink.

He smiled lightly. "Alright Lana, you and I both know that he's a fucking nutjob. If he saw someone fall into the open jaws of a goddamn deathclaw, he'd dive right in after them and climb out its ass to escape. There's no stopping a force like that." he said. Her expression was both amused and horrified at the image now in her brain.

"I know...but if I could have…" she said, but Cid cut her off.

"You know better than that. You can run any scenario in the world through that big brain of yours about what would have happened and what could have happened. But if you aren't doing it to correct mistakes in the future, then they're useless. It's not going to magically heal him to think about what you did wrong. Just use this as a learning experience and help him get better." said the mercenary as he took a plate from a friendly looking ghoul.

She just looked at him, then smiled. "If someone has to nearly die every time I learn something, I think I'll just go off into the wastes and live in a shack." she said, chuckling at him.

He smirked. "I hear ya. Regardless, keep moving. Don't let this slow you down." he said, then started shoveling the dead meat on a stick into his mouth, cleaning entire skewers in one go.

"Impressive." she said, watching him with awe. Suddenly, the door flung open, letting the rosy glow of the wasteland into the saloon. Everyone looked towards the door curiously, then froze. A small eyebot floated inside the door and looked around at the denizens. Cid had seen many Enclave eyebots out in the wasteland before. But never had he seen one quite like this.

The small bot was about as large around as his own head, and had six antenna around its spherical body that jutted out behind it like the phalanges of a bat. Its frontal display, instead of showing the typical wavelength sign, showed an actual expression created from lettering and symbols from the English language. And finally, it had a badge clipped onto its plating underneath the display. On the small bronze badge was the word 'Deputy'. The curious robot floated into the establishment, much to the ire of the Irishman who ran the place apparently, and began to do rounds.

Floating over to Cid's table, it looked down at them with (ò_ó) masked on its display. "Newcomers, welcome to Megaton. Stay within the bounds of the law or suffer the consequences." he said in his rough, mechanical voice. They both just looked up at him in surprise. "Enjoy your day communist scum." he said as he flew away towards the bar, where the ghoul was now standing.

Cod just watched him go, his eyes wide. "What the hell did they put in my cola?" he asked, lifting the now empty bottle and looking inside it.

"I don't know, but I want some too." said the redheaded knight as she watched the bot go as well.

OoOoO

They came back again. He awoke within the darkness, and the voices came and comforted him as he floated along. Each one came like a bottled message floating towards him while he was on a stranded island. He half opened his eyes, as his tiredness would allow him no more, and listened as they came and warmed him in his new dark home.

"Jesus kid...what the fuck did they do to you? What the hell happened to him?" asked the voice. That was all it had said before it left. There was silence for a long moment before another came along.

"Hey stud. Been awhile, since I last saw you. I…miss you. And...I really wish you were here right now." said the lighter voice, a voice made of honey. Her words caressed his ears as if they were velvet, warming him considerably and making him smile again, but only lightly. "I hope I see you around soon. We could really use you around here again." said the voice as it faded away.

Then came another, sweet and high pitched. "Is he gonna be okay?" asked one of the two.

The other spoke up next, the voice smooth, but also tired. "Sure is Bug, he's gonna be as good as new sometime soon. You'll see."

"I hope so. I wanted to show him my new comic." said the first voice, and the two faded away into blackness with the rest.

Then another voice, this one as plain as the taste of Cram. "I wanted to talk to you before when you came back, but you were all but gone before I even knew you had returned. And now when you come back again, you come back like this." said the voice with a heavy sigh. "They keep telling me that what I saw that day was you, and not some spirit of God. I don't want to believe them, and I won't. Because I know what I saw. But, if it was you, then you are the Archangel that I claimed you to be. And if that is the case, then this is nothing for you. So get up. Get off your ass, and come back to this town. It…needs you." said the voice, cracking on the last note, before vanishing with the others.

That one had made him sad. He thought of the faces of the small settlement that he had met and laughed with over the span of his new life, and he became even more despondent than before. That was until the next voice floated towards him and comforted him again. This one was warm sunlight upon him, soft and kind. "Hey kid. You did good by us, made the diner boom when you gave us power. But you did something even bigger that you don't even realize yet. You helped my brother, who used to be such a lazy good-for-nothing druggy. You helped him realize what happens to someone who abuses that stuff, and now he's on the straight and narrow." the voice stopped momentarily, letting out a small sniffle, then continued. "You do good here, you're one of us. So don't leave us now." finished the voice, as it too fluttered off into the darkness.

Then another came, broken and gravelly, but still understandable. "Hey boss...just thought I would come by and say hi. Not much been goin' on since you left. Me an' the girl in the saloon are doin' alright. She's been asking about you alot ever since you left again. I tell ya boss, she's had it hard these past few weeks, what with…well, you don't need to worry about that. Just work on gettin' better. You and her were the only friends I have." said the grating voice sadly, then it left as well.

Knowing that so many voices had come to him and rescued him, even if only briefly, from his dark tomb moved him profoundly. He lie in the depths of eternity, just floating there as his memory pulled up images of each of them, their faces, smiling brightly, chuckling, glaring at him sternly for his childish antics, looks of worry when he had fallen low, looks of shame when they hurt him. All those faces looking back at him, wanting him to come back.

OoOoO

"So, how are we looking?" asked the Sheriff as he stepped into the clinic with the redheaded Brotherhood of Steel representative. Doc Church, who was staring at the wanderers pipboy to check his vitals, turned to the visitors.

"Moira managed a miracle. Somehow, she used the radiation to create some kind of controlled genetic mutation in his DNA. She said something about the mutation repurposing one of his organs to filter out the radiation from his blood. After she finished, it was maybe a few hours before his rad count dropped from around seven fifty to what it is now. Which is…" he said, leaning forward to look at the pipboy again. "About thirty five. Hell, you get that from drinking the unpurified water around here." he said as he leaned back and shook his head. "That woman is something amazing."

"I'll say. When the hell did she learn about gene splicing?" asked Simms as he sat down on the man's desk.

"Hell if I know. But you can't argue with results." said the doctor as he tapped John's pipboy with the end of his cane.

"So, he's going to be alright then?" asked Lana, who was looking back and forth between the two.

"As far as radiation goes, yeah." he said as he spun in the chair and looked at her. "As it turns out, he already had something in his system that was helping him. It apparently coated his DNA, making it more durable. The radiation wasn't able to faze it at all, regardless of what we did." he said.

The sheriff eyed him curiously. "So, why go through with something as risky as a mutation to get rid of it then?" he asked.

The doctor shrugged. "Moira said something about owing him for research. But I imagine it would be better if when he ended up recovering, he wasn't just a walking glowstick." he said, then just sighed as he realized he said 'walking'. "Well, you know what I mean."

The sheriff reached up and rubbed his head gently. "Of all the good people for this to happen to…" he said, then turned back to the older man. "So, you don't think he has any chance of recovering from this?"

The man just shook his head solemnly. "The arm could make a full recovery. A broken arm is a clean snap that can be put back together with stims. The spine? It's something else entirely. When you sever someone's spine, the spinal nerve can't send signals to anything below that point. And while the bone is technically repairable with stims, just like any other, the nerves can't be repaired once they're torn. He may wake up and continue talking again, but he won't walk." said the man as he grabbed a bottle of water off his desk and drank from it deeply.

Both the sheriff and the knight sighed. "So, this is it for the Wolf of the Wasteland huh?" asked the redheaded woman. The sheriff looked at her, then back at the doctor, then at John.

"I doubt it. He'll find some way to get in trouble again, even if he has to walk there on his hands." he said with a melancholy note in his voice. "In any case, I'm gonna go ahead and see to my duties. You all have a fine day." he said, then left the building.

Lana just sat back in her chair and ran a hand through her fiery mane. The doctor eyed her curiously. "So, you're a new face around here." he remarked.

She looked up at him, then nodded. "Yeah, I was with him when he came." she said, nodding towards the wanderer who was laid out on the table, wearing nothing but a towel over his most private of parts.

"You don't look like the type to join a few travellers in the wasteland on a whim. Especially considering that armor you came in with. No way a Brotherhood of Steel lackey travels anywhere they aren't ordered." he said as he crossed his arms.

She chuckled at his observation. "You would be correct actually. I came with him to set myself up as an emissary from the Brotherhood here. That way we can trade information and technology for the betterment of both of us." she said. "Though, with what happened, I haven't had the heart to talk to the sheriff about it yet."

"Better late than never." said the doctor as he looked her over studiously. Her armor was plated and chromatic silver that had been scarred to a dull grey. Around her legs were metal greaves that topped off at a pair of metal knee pads. The greaves were connected to the thick polymer pants that were slate grey against the silvery over armor. Her waist was fitted with another strange hunk of the silvery tech, stopping short of her bosom, which was covered by a similar material to the under armor on her legs. Then her shoulders and arms were covered in the plating as well, all connected together as if she were some kind of bionic woman. He had no idea what any of the functions were for such armor, but then again, he was a goddamn doctor, not a blacksmith.

"Since I'm here, I might as well do my job. Have you heard of any new kind of tech arriving in town?" she asked curiously.

He looked up at her. "That depends on your intentions." he said.

She leaned back with a small smile. "I'm not going to steal anything if that's what you're worried about. We wouldn't have emissary's in the Commons and Rivet City if we swiped every piece of tech we saw. It's mostly for documentation." she finished.

He nodded and leaned onto his knees. "Well, there's his headset." he said nodding towards the wanderer. "Damn thing can see a warm body a mile off, through walls, stone, metal, anything you can think of." he said.

Her eyes widened at the claim. "Really?" she asked, getting a nod. "Would you mind if I see it?" she asked desperately.

He shrugged. "I don't see why not, but I can assure you that if it goes missing, everyone in town will hunt you down to find it. We don't take kindly to someone stealing from one of our own." he said as he pulled a box containing all of John's effects out from under his desk.

"Don't worry, I'll return it. I just want to see it for myself." she said, her voice now edged with excitement. He grunted, then reached into the box and passed her the small head-mounted visor. She slid the device over her right ear, where it clamped itself, molding itself to the shape of her ear. She gasped gently as the visor lowered itself over her right eye and activated. "Oh my god…" she said simply as she looked around. Her vision was filled with images of golden silhouettes, above her, behind her, the doctor, even her own hands glowed with the radiant color.

Looking up, she saw some people milling about on the catwalk above the clinic, chatting it up before moving on with their day. Turning towards the door, she could see the small gathering of people around the bomb in the center of town. "Having fun?" asked the older man with an amused smirk on his face.

"This is amazing…" she said as she used the button on the side of the headset to switch between x ray, lidar, and thermal visions, then pressed again to activate full sensory mode, which utilized all three. "Where did he get it from?"

"Hell if I know. All I know is I told him to take it easy, he goes wandering off into the wastes, then comes back with it." he said with a shrug.

"Well, whatever it is, I know the scribes back at the Citadel would love to take a crack at it." she said as she took it off and handed it back to the doctor, who put it away with the rest of the wanderers stuff. "So, anything else of technological importance around here?" she asked with a bright smile now.

"Well, he used the core from the bomb in the middle of town to power the entire place. Other than that…" he said, then stopped for a moment. "As a matter of fact, I've got something here that might interest you. I received it a few months ago, but didn't think anything of it. Sounded like a hoax, but maybe you can figure out what it means." he said as he opened the drawer of his desk. Pulling out a small recorder, he handed it to her. She looked at it curiously, then hit the play button to start the holotape.

"If you're listening to this recording, it is because you're believed to be trustworthy. I hope that is the case, because this recording puts us both in danger. I'm escaping from the Commonwealth. I'm an android, a synthetic man...a slave. The men hunting me are ruthless and will stop at nothing to retrieve their property. I need to find a doctor in the Wasteland to perform facial reconstruction. I also need someone who knows a great deal about computers. I need...I need to have my memories erased and my face altered to look like someone else. My contact said that they found a Lipoplasticator and Micro Dermal Fraftilizer, so now all I need is someone with the skills and willingness to perform the surgery. If you can't do it, but might know a discreet and trustworthy surgeon who knows how to keep his mouth shut, give him the frequency that arrived with this message. That is my only contact to outsiders."

The message ended and Knight McGyle just stared at the now stopped recorder, her mouth open in shock as she registered the words that had just filled her mind. The doctor sat in his chair again and intertwined his hands in front of him. "Well, what do you think? Some kind of hoax? Something to lead someone into a dark corner of the wastes alone?" he asked.

Lana looked up at him, her eyes still wide. "I...have no idea. I had no clue that androids were even possible...but this is...strange." she said, looking back down at the recorder.

"How so?" he asked curiously.

"Whoever created it was very thorough in their explanation. The devices he mentioned were actual pre-war surgical devices that were used on burn victims to reconstruct their faces and other parts of the body that had bad burn scarring. I don't think someone who was trying to club a doctor for his caps and meds is going to go through the trouble to learn about ancient pre-war tech just to make a cover story." she deduced.

"Interesting. Maybe he is real then." said the doc as he leaned back in the chair. "In any case, you'll have to fill me in if you end up finding him out there somewhere. In the meantime, I've been up for almost three days straight with only a couple of hours nap to keep me going. I'm going to bed now." he said as he rose again, then headed off towards the back room. "You can keep the tape, but you'll have to get the hell out of my clinic."

She smiled at the crotchety old man and stood to her feet, tucking the recorder in a hidden pocket in her armor, then turned to the wanderer. She gave him one last long look before turning and leaving the building.