"Smells good, Trouble.", Jay said, strolling into the kitchen and lowering his pack to the floor.
"Thanks. Help yourself to coffee. Breakfast'll be ready in just a min.", she said, bending over the stove.
Jay sipped on the strong brew and observed with appreciation the slender hind end turned toward him.
"Listen, Trouble.", he said. "I'm only going to let you come if you promise you'll follow my instructions."
Trouble turned to look at him in surprise. "I always follow your instructions, Jay.", she said.
"That's because you usually agree with them. You're not going to like this.", he said dryly.
She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "Why not?", she demanded.
"I don't want you involved in any fighting. I want you to stay back and let me and Demetrius handle anything dangerous.", he said mildly.
"What did Arcade say to you?", she growled.
"Where is Arcade?", he asked, looking around expectantly.
"Bathroom.", she snapped. "If you have something to tell me you better do it quick. He'll be here any minute."
"Listen, I'm not saying to not defend yourself. Just don't be aggressive. Act like a woman!", he said.
Trouble opened her mouth to sputter 'A WOMAN?' at him, then closed it and turned to the oven as she spotted Arcade in the doorway.
She turned with the pan of hot biscuits held in a folded towel. "Hey, hon", she greeted him. "Do you want some coffee?"
"I'll get it.", he said.
Trouble cast a glance at Jay. He stared at her challengingly. She gave a brief, sharp nod and set the biscuits on the table.
"Breakfast's on the stove.", she said sweetly, sitting down at her place and taking a biscuit. Arcade raised an eyebrow as he set a plate of food in front of her and took his own place. What the hell were these two fighting about now?
Jay smirked at her as he got up to help himself. She was really pissed at him, but she would do as he asked.
xx
Trouble adjusted her bow and waited patiently for the Courier to give the signal to enter the vault. Although not the best weapon to use indoors, she had learned long ago that underground vaults were often much more than just a series of rooms. Many opened into large chambers or underground caverns where the weapon was more effective.
The Courier was studying the entrance and surrounding vegetation. "Hey, Trouble, come over here.", he called. She walked over to where he was surveying a strange looking plant.
"What do you make of this?", he asked.
"Surprising amount of brightly colored and healthy vegetation.", she mused. "Strange to this area, though, and coming from the vault. The result of mutagenic agents, obviously."
"I gathered that. I meant this sign.", he said, shoving aside a plant.
She raised her brows. " 'Keep out the plants will kill you' seems fairly clear to me.", she said dryly.
He laughed, his brilliant blue eyes lighting with amusement. "Okay, smartass.", he said. "I want you to check out some of this and see if you can gather any clues what we're up against before we go in there."
He waited for Trouble to be out of earshot before he addressed Demetrius. "I need you to stay with Trouble at all times. I don't want anything to happen to her.", he said. "It's your job to keep her safe."
Trouble came up to them, shaking her head. "I'm not saying these plants are safe. I wouldn't advise making a salad of them or rolling around in them naked without more research but I don't find anything inherently dangerous in them. But these are just the escapees. It's hard to say what we'll find in there."
"As appealing as it sounds to roll around naked in the vegetation with you, we have work to do right now." Jay smirked.
"Dream on, Courier.", Trouble snorted derisively.
Jay chuckled. "All right.", he said. "We need to keep a close watch. Just because it seems to be vegetation don't assume it's harmless. But listen up, don't kill anything unless it attacks you! Got it, Demetrius? Trouble needs live specimens, not vaporized or mangled remains."
"Is that why you left the eyebot?", Demetrius asked curiously.
"Yeah, he pretty much vaporizes anything he deems remotely dangerous. He's not programmed to take prisoners.", he said off handedly as they approached the entrance.
He held his combat rifle at the ready as he slipped around the door, partially jammed opened. When he motioned all clear Trouble slid inside with Demetrius bringing up the rear, primed for trouble.
All they found in the entrance way was a number of flourishing plants, and what was obviously someone's camping area.
Jay sat down at the flickering computer and punched the keys. "Keely's here all right. These are her entries. Her Pip-boy is on the fritz, so we can't expect any kind of communication from her. She headed deeper into the vault."
He stood up, flicking off the screen. "The main door's the only way in. Let's go." He pushed open the heavy steel door and they slipped into the main foyer.
All the exits from the foyer were blocked except a set of stairs leading down. An elevator off to the right beckoned, but Jay shook his head. Even if it worked, it wasn't a good idea to open a door on a strange level with no idea what was on the other side. On the stairs they had some control over their entry.
As they approached the bottom of the stairs, Trouble hesitated, her brow furrowing, then came to a stop. She stared at the large clump of vegetation barring the hall in front of them, though the hall to left and right seemed clear of plants.
She sniffed the air, blinking. "Jay", she said. "Something's wrong with the air."
He looked around at the hazy, humid atmosphere. Dust particles drifted in the overhead lighting. Dust seemed to cover most surfaces, but this wasn't unusual for long unused vaults.
Trouble pulled her bandana over her mouth and nose. "I mean it.", she said earnestly. "Don't breathe the dust."
Jay pulled his bandana over his nose and motioned Demetrius to do the same. He reluctantly pulled his up and fastened it. "And don't take it off.", she ordered. He glared at her but Jay wasn't paying attention. He was studying the clump of vegetation.
"There's something in there moving around.", he pointed out.
Trouble nodded. "It's not animal.", she said.
"How do you know?", Demetrius asked.
"It's her job to know.", Jay responded vaguely.
Demetrius started to ask for an explanation but Jay was already starting down the stairs.
They moved slowly forward, weapons ready. As they approached the creature hissed and moved agitatedly but didn't attack. They slipped around it and into a room.
"It looked humanoid.", Demetrius said, sweat breaking out on his brow. It was warm and humid, and the bandanna uncomfortable, but Jay had ordered them to keep them on, so he left it in place.
"That's what worries me." Trouble said.
They searched the floor without an issue until Jay got to close to one of the things as he was trying to pass. It lunged out, swiping at him and spitting a mist over him. He leapt back, avoiding more than a few scratches on his armor, as Demetrius took the creature dead on with a shotgun blast to the chest.
Trouble knelt beside the immobile creature with her knife and began cutting into it.
"What is she doing?", Demetrius demanded. "Shouldn't we be getting out of here? What if others of these things come?"
"That's why we're standing guard.", Jay pointed out patiently. "Let her do her job."
"Just what is her job?", he hissed agitatedly.
Before Jay could answer Trouble stood and addressed them, wiping her knife on a dirty piece of cloth.
"Jay,", she said. "I believe that thing was human, probably one of the mercenaries that came in here. Did you get any scratches or cuts?"
"No, why?", he asked, not taking his eyes from their surroundings.
"That thing is a fungal mass. It kills animals and uses the corpses to grow. It utilized the animals skeletal and nervous systems to animate the corpse, so it can seek other victims. When it finds one, it kills or damages the prey and sprays spoors over them to take hold. You can see it didn't move very fast. They aren't going to actively hunt down prey, they're ambush predators, waiting for something to come along. I'd watch out for other types of creatures too, like rats."
"If it's a mass of fungus, how did I kill it?", Demetrius asked. "You can't kill a fungus with a shotgun."
"Fair question.", Trouble said. "I suspect when you blasted it in the chest you disrupted the nervous system so it can't send signals to the fibers that act like muscles. Strictly speaking it isn't dead, it's just incapacitated. It hasn't shown any more intelligence than any other mushroom. It's just following some programmed biological imperative. I would just like to know how it was done."
"That's what we're here for.", Jay said heavily. "Come on, we have to check the next floor. We haven't found what we're looking for here."
"Jay", Trouble said, wrinkling her brow as they started down the next set of stairs. "You can't kill those things without totally destroying them. Did either of you bring a plasma rifle or incinerator?"
They both shook their head. She frowned. "Then I guess we'll have to settle for incapacitating them by destroying their nervous systems. They're not sentient, but they are very dangerous. Even if they can't move they're going to eventually fruit, poring spores into the air. I suspect that's what much of this dust is."
"So you're saying we can shoot 'em?", Demetrius asked.
"As many as you can.", she agreed grimly.
By the time they had searched and incapacitated all spore men they found, they had already been in the vault for over 4 hours. The only thing of particular interest on this floor was what appeared to be a working lab, but no one was there. Jay assumed Keely had been using it as a base and searched the computer for clues to where she might have gone, but it wasn't much use.
Jay decided they might as well move on to the next floor down. They made better time clearing this floor since Matilda had no objections to killing the spore men. She took a few samples for her tests, but otherwise stayed out of the way and looked for the computer system Jay was searching for. Since this floor was devoted to food production it was heavier with vegetation, both contained and growing wild about the vault.
The only interesting thing they found was a door that required a key to open. Even the Courier couldn't pick it. This intrigued him as he just had to know what was on the other side. Matilda smiled to herself as he growled menacingly at the door before moving on.
"Does he always do that?", Demetrius asked, mystified. "What good does it do?"
Matilda shrugged. "Usually. He doesn't like to be stymied.", she said amusedly.
"Jay", Matilda called as she stood at the head of the next flight. "I think we should go back up top for now. We've been down here over 8 hours. We need food and rest."
Jay hesitated. "We can rest here.", he offered.
She shook her head. "We need fresh air even more. Even with the bandannas we're probably still breathing a certain amount of spores."
"Well, if we're going to be running up and down the floors, maybe I should see if that elevator works.", he said, turning away from the stairs.
Jay was able to fix the elevator without much effort and they took it back to the main entrance, sealing the spores behind the heavy steel door. Matilda sighed with relief as she dropped her kerchief in a bucket of water, motioning the others to do the same. Tomorrow they would take the elevator to the floor they just left and go on down to the next one.
They spent the next day exploring the common areas. Although they thoroughly searched the Overseers office they didn't find the key Jay was looking for or any references to what may have happened in the vault. Disappointed, they continued on to the kitchens, rec areas, utility room, even the clinic to no avail. When he found the key lying on a shelf in a bedroom, Jay simply slipped it into his pocket.
Demetrius raised an eyebrow at her. Matilda sighed. "Jay", she said. "Are you going to check out the door to see if that key fits?"
"Not now. Let's finish clearing the vault, then we'll check.", he said off-handedly, looking about for more spore people.
Demetrius stayed with Matilda, clearing the next room before allowing her in. She hadn't raised a weapon during their entire time in the vault.
"Why don't you carry a rifle, like everyone else?", he asked curiously as he lounged in the doorway, keeping watch while she searched the room.
She glanced up at him. "Jay won't let me have one when I'm on mission with him. I can't hit the broad side of a barn so he says he's afraid I'll shoot him by mistake.", she answered.
He raised a brow, stifling a chuckle. "Really? I heard about that stunt you pulled with the Raider. How did you manage that then?", he asked.
Matilda was no idiot. She knew what he was really asking was 'How did Arcade get injured?' Everyone would know they had been in the pass near the battle with the Legion. She pulled out a drawer and rifled through it.
"I do carry a .45, you know. Maybe I'm not a great shot but I do know how to use it. If I can get close enough to hold it to your head even I can't miss at that range.", she said tightly.
"Wasn't it pretty dangerous sneaking up on a Raider like that?", he asked.
"Listen, Demetrius", she said irritably, slamming the drawer closed. "Yes, it was risky, but Arcade was badly injured. Not many people can last long with Deathclaw holes in their gut! I'd take a lot riskier chance than sneaking up on an addled man jerking off! All I could think of was getting help for my husband."
"You must have better aim with that bow, then.", he said. "Since Jay lets you keep it. Did you kill the Deathclaw with it?"
"No", she snarled. "I didn't kill the fucking Deathclaw! It was injured pretty bad but it crawled off. I don't know if it died and I don't care, I had to take care of Arcade. Maybe I don't fight as well as Jay or Arcade or any of the others but do you think Jay only values fighting skills? He knows he can trust me. How the hell did you hear about that, anyway?"
"Jay's coming out of that other room. Are you about done?", Demetrius asked, not answering her question. Her tone left no doubt that their conversation was finished.
After completing the search of the floor with no sign of Keely they headed down the stairs. "Pest Control", Demetrius read. "That sounds exciting. What kind of pests?"
"Well, I doubt we'll find cute little plant nibbling caterpillars.", Trouble said dryly.
They had nearly completed the floor when they passed a small room. Demetrius noticed the computer glowing redly in the far end, but if the Courier saw it he paid it no attention. He was interested in a large clump of vegetation sprouting around the corner from the next hall, the sort of place they had been finding the spore people. He slipped past the door with the woman following, intent on watching him, paying no attention to Demetrius behind her.
Demetrius hesitated as they moved around the corner and he heard the blast of the Courier's weapon. They would be occupied and surely wouldn't be aware he had slipped away for just a few minutes. Demetrius hurried into the computer room. He quickly checked the contents, and downloaded it onto a small disc. He hurried back out to find Jay searching the hall further down for more spore men while Matilda was busy cutting pieces from the dead ones in the vegetation clump.
Demetrius stood with his rifle ready as though he had been behind them the whole time. Jay turned from his task and strode back.
"Are you done yet, Trouble?", he asked. "There aren't any more down here to worry about. I'd like to check out that room we came past."
The woman looked up and nodded. "I've got enough.", she said.
Jay tapped the keys on the glowing computer. "This looks like it might be part of the experimental labs." He brought up the contents. "Bingo", he said softly. Holding out his Pip-boy, he downloaded the information, then wiped the computer. He wanted this information but he didn't want anyone else to have it.
"Are we leaving now?", Demetrius asked. They had seen the open entrance into an underground tunnel but he didn't see any reason to explore further. The Courier had what he had come for.
"Are we?", Jay asked Matilda, raising a brow at her.
Matilda snorted. "Of course not, Demetrius. We may have the information, but Keely is still missing. We won't leave until we've checked every possible place she could be."
After working their way through a cavern of gigantic mantises and spore plants that spit poison at them, they found Keely crouched in an alcove. She had run out of ammo and was almost out of food and water, but that didn't make her any more polite.
"At least I see you had sense enough to cover your mouths and noses so you're not breathing the spores. Most of the mercenaries that didn't ended up being the spores.", Keely said. After chastising them on being so late coming after her, she agreed to allow them to escort her out of the caves and back to her lab.
Keely made a bee line for her computer. "You've seen how dangerous those things are.", she said, rapidly hitting keys. "We need to delete all references to the research. Hey, wait, it's already gone. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you, Courier?", she asked, turning to him.
Jay was leaning casually against the wall, arms folded as he watched her. "I might.", he agreed, straightening. "I did it, after I down loaded it into my Pip-boy."
"Downloaded it? No, Oh, no, no that'll never do. Hold out your wrist, I'll have it deleted in just a second.", Keely demanded agitatedly.
"No, I don't think so.", Jay said mildly. "Listen, Keely, my science adviser here and her husband are working on a cure for the FEV. This information could be invaluable to their research. Don't worry, no one else is ever going to see it, but I can't just destroy it."
Keely studied Matilda, looking her up and down. Matilda stared back. "You don't look like a scientist.", Keely huffed.
Matilda raised a brow. "You do?", she rejoined coldly, eyeing the ghoul.
"Now girls, don't fight." Jay said.
"If you're a scientist, then you understand the importance of destroying the spores in this vault before they can escape.", Keely said.
"Yes.", Matilda agreed. "You've been thinking on this a while. I expect you have a plan, don't you?"
xx
Keely fidgeted at her keyboard, glancing nervously at her watch. "Jay's been gone over 3 hours. Aren't you worried?", she asked, looking over at where Matilda was engrossed in the microscope.
Matilda didn't look up. "Not really.", she said. "I expect he's checking out that locked door we came across. He'll be along when he's finished."
"He's what?", Keely asked startled. She glanced at where Demetrius was lounging in a chair, already on his third cigarette.
"That door can't be opened. I already tried.", she added.
"He found the key.", Demetrius grunted.
Keely blinked at him, then at Matilda. She opened her mouth to say something when an explosion from below shook the floor.
Matilda looked up. "Guess he's still alive.", she said complacently and went back to her study.
A few minutes later Jay appeared in the doorway, looking a little singed around the edges. "All done.", he grinned. "The lower floor is sterilized."
"What took you so long?", Keely said.
"I took a little detour. Are you ready to go back now?", Jay asked.
"I have to finish clearing the vault and take care of some things here. It may take a while. You go on.", Keely grunted, turning back to her computer.
"Are you sure you don't want us to escort you?", Jay asked.
"I got myself here, I'll get myself back.", Keely snorted dismissively. "You go on. Wait, here, take this disinfecting liquid. You can't go out there covered in these spores and spread them all over the place."
Matilda took the vial and shoved it in her pocket then began packing her specimens carefully away.
Jay shrugged. "All right. Come on guys.", he said, straightening his back. "Let's pack up and move out."
The heavy door clanged shut between the main vault and the open entrance. Demetrius headed toward the opening.
"Wait, Demetrius.", Jay said. "We can't go out there just yet. We're covered in the spores from that place, remember? We're going to have to clean ourselves and our equipment before we go out. We'll just take care of that and spend the night here. We'll leave in the morning."
Demetrius seemed reluctant to spend another night in this place, but he came back and they settled down to cleaning. He could see it wouldn't be a good thing to have those spore creatures loose in the desert.
It took several hours but finally they had disinfected everything and finished up dinner. Demetrius watched Matilda sharpening her knife by the dim, flickering light in the room. He vaguely wondered why she even carried it since she seemed to need protection from everything, but at least she took good care of it.
"Can I see that?", he asked.
"Sure", Matilda said, holding it out by the hilt.
He studied the knife, hefting it and checking the edge.
"This is well balanced. It's a quality throwing knife. You know that, don't you?", he asked. "You were using it to cut up those things."
"Of course I do. It belonged to someone I cared about. He was really good with it. And it does have really sharp edges." She held out her hand and he returned the knife.
"A boyfriend?", he asked.
She shrugged. "None of your business.", she sniffed, and replaced the cleaned, sharpened weapon in its scabbard.
Jay stood and stretched to his full height, catching Matilda's attention from where she was reading a magazine she had found in the vault. Demetrius stirred from where he had been half snoozing, his cigarette drooping.
"I'm taking first watch.", Jay said. "Matilda, stay close to Demetrius."
"But it's safe enough in here.", she protested, glancing uncertainly at Demetrius.
"Humor me.", Jay said. "Arcade will kill me if I don't bring you back unharmed with all his information."
Demetrius rustled around, grumbling, while Matilda spread her bedding next to his.
"What are you doing?", she demanded irritably.
"Looking for my canteen. Dinner was a little heavy on the salt, wasn't it?", he grumbled.
"A bit.", she admitted, searching under the blankets. "Cooking's not my best skill. Here, it was under the edge of this blanket."
He took the canteen and swallowed a large amount of water. "You have a skill?", he asked derisively.
"Go to sleep.", she snapped, lying down and turning her back on him.
Halfway through the night Jay roused Demetrius to keep watch and slipped into the bedding next to Matilda. He put his arm around her and snuggled close.
"You move that hand one more inch and I'll break all your fingers.", she growled sleepily.
"Mmmm, why not? Wasn't it good with us?", he asked persuasively, stroking her thigh. "I want to feel what you do, Trouble", he murmured.
She sighed. "Jay, if you felt about Cass the way I do about Cade we wouldn't be having this conversation.", she said softly. He moved his hand back to rest lightly on her side. Soon they were both asleep.
Demetrius hesitated, frowning at them in puzzlement, before going to the mouth of the vault entrance to take up his duty. It seemed they had a history but not one the woman wanted to repeat.
The trip back to the Lucky 38 was accomplished with minimal effort. At the bottom of the steps Jay turned to Demetrius. He handed him 200 caps.
"You won't be coming in.", he said grimly. "I won't be requiring your services anymore."
"But I…", Demetrius started.
"Don't bother, Demetrius." Matilda said as they watched the Courier mount the stairs. "You will never be allowed in. You failed the test."
"Failed? How did I fail? I did everything you asked.", he yelled at the retreating figure.
Jay turned at the top of the stairs, holding the door open. "You left Matilda unguarded. That was the only task I set you. Good bye, Demetrius."
The Courier stepped through the door and disappeared inside. Demetrius stared after him. He turned to Matilda and grasped her wrist as she started up the steps. She raised her brows at him, glancing at the securitrons that were now pointing their guns in his direction.
"Why are you so important to the Courier?", he asked. "You don't have sex with him. You don't even respect him. I don't get it."
"No, you don't do you? I'm a science adviser but for you I was also a test. It was your job to guard me. I could have been killed when you went off and left me on the last level. He can't trust you. Now let me go while you're still breathing.", she said. "And by the way, I respect the hell out of the Courier. I just don't always like him."
He dropped her arm and watched her mount the steps and go into the 38.
He had failed in his main quest to gain entry to the Lucky 38, but perhaps the Legion would be satisfied with the information he carried on the small disc in his pocket. No, wait, he thought with a flash of panic, if the Courier knew he left her on the last level, did he suspect? He felt in his pocket, feeling a sense of relief as his fingers closed over the shape of the disc.
The Courier was waiting for her on the other side of the door. They walked across the lobby to the elevators to go upstairs.
"You cleared the disc?", Jay asked.
"Of course. He was easy. He slept quite soundly with the tiny bit of sedative I put in his water, and I can be very quiet when I choose to.", she said primly. "With me sleeping so closely he didn't notice when I took it or when I put it back. That was good thinking."
He smiled down at her. For a not very good mercenary, she was proving quite useful to him. Demetrius wouldn't be taking anything back to the Legion now, except the observation the woman wasn't a proficient fighter and was under the protection of the Courier.