OoO( 50 )OoO
He found himself tired once more. After a fruitless day of running around, hitting dead ends in the halls of the derelict ship, and having a disappointing lunch, he sat in his bed after hours once more. Despite his aversion to the habit in recent months, he sat on the bed with a cigarette in his mouth, staring at the poster on the wall of his hotel room. It showed a woman in a jumpsuit from the era before the bombs fell. The top of the jumpsuit was unzipped down the front, revealing a bra strap between the hills of her cleavage. Each sleeve of the jumpsuit was rolled up, revealing a very strong, but feminine musculature as it showed her with one fist on her hip, and the other flexing. Her face was was doll-like. Nothing special, but she was definitely an attractive woman. Her blonde hair was secured up in a bun that was supported by the polka dotted bandanna that was tied around her head.
He stared at the picture for a long moment, checking every feature of this strange poster woman. She was strong, blonde, and attractive, and if the poster was any indicator, she was a very hard worker. His mind flashed quickly, replacing the woman in the picture with one of the Sentinel, making the same pose. His radioactive glare widened as he imagined the gorgeous woman first in the jumpsuit, then without the jumpsuit. Then without anything. He grumbled, smashing the the Clover brand into the ashtray on the night stand and turned the light off. Flipping over in his bed, he pulled the blanket up and closed his eyes to sleep.
Luckily, he didn't have long to wait until his mind turned off. He drifted into sleep quickly, spiraling through the vortex of darkness and slumber until he once again felt weight on his body. This time, he'd laid face up to go to sleep, allowing his mysterious dream visitor to straddle his strong waist. But once again, the room was too dark to see her face. "Are you going to tell me who you are this time?" he asked, well aware that he was in a dream state this time.
She giggled as she pressed her chest to his, then leaned forward and kissed him longingly on the lips. "Someone who loves you, and always will love you." she whispered in that familiar voice, before once again taking him inside her. He gasped sharply as he felt her riding him as she had the last several nights.
OoOoO
This time, he didn't spring awake afterwards like he had the first. Instead, he sat up in the bed and yawned widely, his entire body relaxed. Reaching over, he rubbed his arm, which was sore once more. Reaching over, he turned on the light, then pulled the blanket off himself to get out of bed, but was immediately startled. "What the fuck!?" he yelled.
There was a sudden knock on the door from the proprietor, Vera. "Is everything alright sir? Can I get you anything?" she asked through the hatch.
He reached up and rubbed his head. "A bucket of water and a towel!" he said then looked down at the mess again. "Make it two towels!" he growled.
OoOoO
"Wow, you really were pent up, weren't you?" asked the digital girl from his wrist.
"Shut up." he growled as he walked down the hallway towards the markets again. He'd heard from Vera that that was where Lana and Charon had headed when they woke up, so he intended to get the jump on the day by tracking down this mysterious Pinkerton.
"I mean, you literally dunked your sheets in Abraxo water to clean them!" she said, letting out a childish giggle.
"Shut up." he said again as he swung open the hatch to the marketplace and stepped out onto the catwalk.
"Well, you know...if you're that desperate..." she said, her avatar changing into one that strongly resembled Sarah. "Ohhh John!" she moaned out in a quiet, replicated digital version of the Sentinel's voice when nobody was close enough to hear. He gave her a dark look, then rubbed his arm again. "You alright?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she popped back into her normal form.
"My arm is sore for some reason..." he said, rubbing the bicep. The limb had been unusually bothersome the last few days, especially in the mornings. "Can you check for any tissue damage or internal bruising?" he asked, looking at her as he stepped out the door to the upper catwalk of the marketplace.
She looked up at him oddly. "You know I can sense every change in your body right? If something was actually wrong with your arm I'd know about it, probably before you did." she said, then set her chin in her hand, giving him a childish giggle. "Maybe it's sore because..."
"Shut up." he said again, giving her a playful glare as he stepped down the stairs. He looked up through the crowds of people, searching for his companions, when his eyes widened. At one of the tables at the far end of the market that they had approached was a woman with long red hair sitting at one of the tables, and across from her was a man, with a rugged appearance and brown hair. The most surprising thing was that to this day, neither of them had ever seen her hair out of a flowing ponytail, or tightly wrapped bun. Now, it was loose and flowing over her shoulders. John swore he even saw a few strands of the deep red locks braided. "Wha...?" was all John asked as he looked at her. She was no longer in armor and neither was the man across from her, which happened to be the Security Chief Chris Harkness.
Elsa chuckled from his wrist computer as he looked on dumbfounded. "Heh...looks like you're not the only one getting lucky." she remarked.
He glared at her. "I'm not getting lucky." he said dryly.
She rolled her digital eyes. "Dream sex is still sex." John was about to respond, but was interrupted when Charon stalked over from a market stall known as Flak 'N Shrapnel's.
"Been waiting for you to finish your vacation. You ready to do some actual work?" asked the ghoul as he loaded the shotgun ammo he had just purchased into his own bag.
"Glad to see you're as sour as ever Charon." remarked John, before he looked down at the AI girl again. "A word of any of this to anyone and I'm throwing you in the Potomac." he said as he moved to walk towards Lana, but was interrupted.
"'Ey! 'Ey you!" shouted one of the men from the stall that Charon was just standing at.
"I think they're talking to you." said Charon.
"Thank you Charon." said John as he rubbed his head in irritation. Walking over to the merchant, he put on a patient smile. "Can I help you?" he asked.
"Yeah man, you're that Archangel guy from the radio, right?" asked the figure. He had a buzzed head and a strange fu manchu mustache.
"Yeah...yeah that's me." said John with a sigh.
Immediately, the man smiled and pulled something out from under the counter. "I wanted to thank you, and to ask a favor." he said as he pulled out a mini-nuke and set it on the stand in front of him.
Raising an eyebrow at the weapon, he looked up at the man. "Thank me for what exactly?" he asked.
"The name's Flak, and I used to be a slave in the pens at Paradise Falls way back in the day. You did me a solid by taking out that scum nest. So I wanted you to deliver this for me." said the man. John examined the piece of equipment and noticed a painted inscription on the side of the nuclear device that said 'Free Man'.
"And where exactly would I be delivering this to?" asked the wanderer curiously.
"I figure the middle of the next slaver encampment you see would be as good a spot as any, if you get my drift." said the merchant as he winked at him.
John chuckled as he picked up the nuke and tucked it under his arm. "Don't worry, I'll make sure your friends get their package." he said as he turned to Charon. "Put this in your bag, and make sure you don't bump anything." he said seriously, before finally making his way towards the redheaded woman sitting at the table. When he approached, both of the patrons at the table looked up at him.
"Well, if it isn't the match maker." said Chief Harkness as he stood up with a warm smile. "I heard about your work with Phil and Kurtis. I'm glad you were able to get that resolved without me having to throw someone off the ship."
"Yeah...that's what I need. A new title." he said with a small, disingenuous smile. "But I am happy to help. Now I was hoping you could help me." he said as he eyed the chief. Harkness nodded his approval, and John continued. "I keep hearing about a man named Pinkerton, and I was hoping you could help me find him. Or at least point me in his direction." said the gunman.
"Hmmm...yeah, I know him. He was here for a while, in and out of Doctor Li's lab before leaving entirely. She mentioned him making some kind of station in the broken half of the ship. But anyone who's tried to go scavving over there says that the hatch has been sealed from the inside." said Chris as he scratched his chin.
"Do you know any other ways onto the ship?" asked John curiously.
"I do actually. But it's a bit...hard to get to since the tide rose." said the man.
Lana, who had stood up at the same time as Chris, nudged him. "What is it?"
He smiled genuinely, at her. "There's a lower hatch on the ship that now resides underwater. People never used that entrance, solely because of all the mirelurks, so it should be unlocked. The only problem is getting to it." he said, looking at the trio. "You gonna give it a shot?" he asked.
John chuckled. "Unless you have an ark welder that'll get us through the front door." he said. "Besides, my mechanic back in Megaton gave me a new toy that I haven't been able to try out yet. Now's as good a time as any." he said with a smile.
OoOoO
"So, are you two a thing now?" asked Elsa as they exited the ship's main entrance.
Lana looked at the pipboy and smirked slightly. "No, nothing serious. Not yet anyway."
"Ooooh...sounds juicy! Come on, cough up the details!" said the AI excitedly.
John looked at Elsa with amusement. "Nosy much?" he asked. She just stuck her tongue out at him.
"He came by the Brotherhood outpost the other day while I was talking with Knight Captain Mendoza. He was just doing his checks, but he asked if I had eaten lunch." she said.
"Did you do it yet?" asked the digital girl as she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. John, as stoic and expressionless as he could be, burst out laughing at the look on Lana's face when faced with the question.
"I don't believe that's any of your business." she said, putting her nose in the air and walking rigidly. She glared at John, who was still holding a hand over his mouth to suppress his laughter. "And your laughing is just childish."
"Wanna laugh at him? Guess what happened earlier..." said the girl, smiling evilly up at the gunman.
"Hey, there's the hatch!" shouted John as he pointed it out, his yell drowning out the AI's voice.
Lana, who was wearing her armor now and had a laser rifle slung over her shoulder, held up a hand to protect her eyes from the glare of the sun as she spied the hatch underneath the surface of the water. "So, what's this device that Moira made for you?" she asked, looking at him curiously. "I don't recall seeing it."
"Sure you did." he said with a smile as he pulled on the same breathing mask that he'd used when they were working on his armor.
She looked at him oddly. "That's supposed to do what exactly?"
"It's a respirator that's not only waterproof, but she added her own tech that pulls the oxygen from H2O, and filters it into the mask, while releasing the hydrogen through a tube on the side." he said tapping the side of the green mask.
She looked at him with an analyzing gaze for a moment before Charon spoke up. "He can breathe under water." said the ghoul.
"You can breathe underwater?" asked Lana.
"I can breathe underwater." finished John. "However..." he said, holding up his computer. "Elsa, release biometric locks." he said.
"Awwww...is this punishment for making fun of you?" she groaned.
"The Pipboy was built to be waterproof. But it was also built to be replaced in about twenty five years at the latest. Two hundred years later, I'm not sure if this thing is still as water tight as it originally was. I'm not risking you getting fried, so I'm leaving you with Lana until I can open the door from the other side." he said, staring down at her with a concerned look.
She looked up at him incredulously, as if what he'd said surprised her immensely. "Oh...okay." was all she could put in as the sides of the pipboy popped open, and he pulled the computer off. Turning, he handed the machine delicately to the Knight.
"Try not to be a brat while I'm gone." he said with a smile as he pulled the respirator up and over his mouth.
"No promises!" she yelled back.
He had opted to wear his armor this time around, in case any of these mirelurks, whatever those were, decided to show up. Handing his firearms over to Charon, he pulled out a knife in case it was needed and began walking towards the water. Reaching up with both hands, he pulled this goggles down over his eyes, then stepped into the lukewarm sea. In seconds, he was up to his waist, then a few seconds more and the water touched his neck. Closing his eyes, he mumbled, "Moira, don't fail me now...", then dunked his head under the radioactive water. Almost immediately, the mask sealed itself to his face and a slow flow of oxygen blasted into his mouth and nose. He sighed in relief, the CO2 from his breath blasting out the side vents of the mask.
With his armor on, the weight had sunk him to the bottom of the tidal basin, allowing him to walk at a slow pace at the bottom of the body of water. It took him a few minutes of walking along the torn side of the ship before he found a way to get to the hatch. When he reached out and grabbed it, it easily opened, showing a dark tunnel of water ahead of him. Activating his VATS ladar system, he stepped forward into the abyssal corridor. The pings kept coming back to him, showing an open door here, a knocked over filing cabinet there, but no life yet. Or at least, nothing that was moving. As he moved forward, he used his arms to try and propel himself a bit faster, slicing the water to half swim, half wak down the black hallway. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he found a room with a set of stairs that went up into a dimly lit area.
But he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a loud thump behind him. Turning around, he immediately switched to X Ray and what he saw nearly made his jaw drop out of the mask. It was certainly a crustacean of some kind, mutated likely from the constant poisoning of the water around them. He had never seen one before, let alone fought one. So he didn't immediately know what to expect.
The mirelurk let out a loud screech underneath the water, which hit John with surprising force. Not enough to make him flinch, but enough that he felt the sound waves move the water. The gunman spun back around and did a forward flip next to the door. While floating, he slammed his feet against the wall, causing him to jet forwards, straight to the staircase that led up to a lighter room. The crustacean sped towards him using some hidden muscles to circulate water to its advantage.
John caught the railing of the stairs and immediately used his strength to pull himself up the rise and towards the light. When he finally hit the surface, he splashed over to the door and spun around, his knife ready. The crab-like monster shot from the water and slammed into his stomach, launching him against the wall, where it trapped him with its massive form. The wanderer's breathing became heavier as the thick shell of the creature hit him with crushing force. He struggled to free his arm from the lock, and finally managed to break free and swing the knife down into its shell. But the razor sharp blade bounced off the protective chitin. The surprise from the ineffective blow stunned him long enough for the crustacean to grip him in its pincers and lift him off the ground.
He groaned as he felt the jagged claws crunch against his armor, putting pressure on his torso, but the armor held. Desperately, he looked for a weakspot, beginning to stab at the joints of the creature's arms, shoulders, and shell. It was fruitless however, as its strength seemed to double, pressing the armor against him so hard that it was difficult to breath. Finally, he jammed the blade into its face, and was surprised when it slid into the soft flesh to the hilt. Immediately, the creature shrieked loudly and hurled him across the room with immense power. He slammed into a file cabinet, then bounced through the door next to it and into a hallway that was actually dry. He cringed painfuly as he inhaled sharply, his chest no longer compressed. He got to his hands and knees, then looked up to see his goal in front of him. The door to the outside was down a long stretch of hallway, through multiple other rooms.
But his skin began crawling with goosebumps as the same screech he heard down below the water now assaulted him again. Not stopping to see what the result of such a scream was, he shoved his pain aside and jumped to his feet, sprinting for the door at the end. He reached it in record times, grabbing the valve and wrenching it to open the door. But much to his surprise, the metal wheel didn't budge. He jerked on the crank twice more to try and open it, but still it was solid. When he realized he wouldn't be budging it anytime soon, he spun around and found himself staring into the beady eyes of two more of the creatures. With his back against a wall, he looked around for any escape from the monstrosities as they shrieked again and charged at him.
OoOoO
Lana, who now had John's Pipboy 3000 on her left arm, stood on the bridge in front of the main door. Anxiously, she paced back and forth with her laser rifle in her hands, anxiously waiting for the hatch to open. "What's taking him so long? He should have made it up here by now."
"Maybe there was no way up to this door." shrugged Elsa as she looked up to the woman.
"Maybe he drowned." said Charon.
"Thanks for the pessimism guys, really what I needed." said the redhead as she continued to pace.
"Uh oh..." said Elsa.
Knight McGyle looked at her curiously. "What?" Suddenly, the Knight jumped in surprise as the door next to them rattled from a sheer battering force from the other side. "What the hell was that?" asked the fiery haired woman.
Elsa now had a worried look on her face. "Bad..." she said.
OoOoO
As the beasts barrelled forward, John looked up and saw several pipes running along the ceiling that branched off in different directions. Seeing it as his only chance against two of the mutants, he jumped up and pulled himself up and out of the way. Except, he wasn't completely out of the way when they impacted the metal. One of his legs had still been rising when it was caught between the truck-like force of the two creatures and the steel bulkhead of the ship.
The gunman felt the snap immediately, and his grip tightened on the pipe , causing it to groan as the metal bent under his titanic strength. Almost as soon as he shouted in pain, the pipe snapped as well, sending him crashing down on top of the two creatures, bowling them over as they recovered from slamming into the metal wall. John knew he had seconds before they got their claws on him again, and if that happened, he wouldn't be getting away again. Standing up with all the strength in his good leg he jumped way from the two and back towards the corridor from which he'd come. When he hit the ground, he grimaced horribly as his broken leg bounced, but ignored it and began to shuffle limp down the metal hall, looking for any method of escape from the creatures.
Finally, he spotted a door on his right that was wide open. Grabbing the metal frame, he pulled himself in, but was immediately slammed against the wall. His ears were ringing, his leg was on fire, his head was spinning, and on top of that, he had two lumbering mutants clunking towards him to squeeze his head off. With his head still spinning, he sat up, and looked at the pair of shotguns that had fired at him at point blank range. "That explains the ringing..." he said, trying to shake the sound from his ears as he spied a pressure plate that he'd stepped on when he entered. Standing again, he looked over and saw the hatch to the room he was in. Grabbing it with both hands, he heaved it shut, then spun the wheel on the back to make sure it was locked securely.
He took a step back as he heard a loud slamming from the otherside, followed by another, then another. The door, while it was metal, was rather thin. It was meant to be a watertight seal, and metal didn't have to be too thick in order to keep out water. The center of the door began to bend as the creatures outside pounded on the portal mercilessly. John sighed gratefully for the small respite and leaned against the wall, clutching his leg. Already, he could feel the radiation from the water he'd been splashing around, swimming, and fighting in working to mend the bone. The problem was, the last time he'd had to repair a bone using this method, he'd been in a coma. The pain was unreal.
He groaned loudly, with his hands shaking as his mutation began to break the edges of the collagen and calcium structure down, sending near blinding waves of pain through him. Slowly, very slowly, they began to weave back together until after about five minutes of nothing but torturous pain, he sat breathing heavily and sweating. When he looked up, he noticed that the creatures had nearly pounded through the door. He got to his feet again, and grabbed the shotguns from their rigs. He made sure they were still loaded, then readied for the two monsters to bust the door down, aiming the two weapons directly for the door.
That was when something to the left of the door caught his eye. He noticed the faded hazard sticker on a large pipe leading from the floor to ceiling. It showed a human stick figure being torn in half by an explosion. He stared at it for a second, then smiled as he donned his breathing mask again. Still limping from the pain, he walked over to the pipe, then lifted one of the shotguns and smashed the butt end into it. The two hundred year old circulation tubecracked at the top, and the pipe began jutting out, spraying the scentless gass out of the top of the pipe. The reaction caused the pipe to snap off entirely and fly across the room. The gunman then unlocked the valve and slowly opened the damaged door, walking backwards to make sure he was well hidden from their view. The two creatures shambled into the room and looked around for their prey, but weren't fast enough to spot him before he flew through the door and slammed the lock shut again. Once again, the two mutants went to pounding at the weakened frame, cracking the center of it horribly.
John began to head towards the door at the far end again when he stopped and saw Lana and Charon standing in the door frame ahead of him. "How...?" he asked.
"The door opened after that impact we heard. What's going on?" asked Lana, a concerned look on her face as she noticed him limping.
"Laser rifle, now!" he snapped. The woman looked up at him, then tossed him the weapon. The wanderer spun around and marched back down the hall, then aimed the weapon at the door, far enough away that he was safe, but close enough that he could now see the fumes from the natural gas pouring from the widening crack in the door. When he pulled the trigger, the beam of energy shot through the now torso wide split in the door and ignited the rapidly expanding gas particles in the air. The result was a rush of air, and an explosion that shook the walls, shook the floors, blew the wrecked door off of its secured hinges, and sent the pieces of the two mutated creatures in all directions. John was thrown onto his behind, and the unprepared Lana had grasped the door frame quickly before she was hurled out the door. Charon stood as stoically as ever, as if the explosion hadn't even fazed him.
John just lie on the hall floor, looking up at the ceiling as he breathed heavily. Lana ran over to him and looked down at him curiously. "What the hell happened?" she asked.
"Computer! Arm! Now!" said Elsa frantically. The redhead took the pipboy off her armor and clapped it around John's forearm, where it sealed itself and began analyzing him.
"Do you two think you're paying me or something?" asked the Knight as she chuckled down at his relieved expression.
"Sorry, had to work fast before they got out of the room." he said, then he eyed her curiously. "How the hell did you get through the door?" he asked as he sat up on his elbows, the pain in his leg mysteriously vanishing.
"When we heard the impact to the door we tried to open it again. After a minute, it just kinda swung open itself." she said as she turned back. They all looked at the door to find the valve hanging off the door entirely, and electronic wiring sparking from inside.
John got to his feet and examined the frayed and torn wiring. "Hmmm...no wonder I couldn't get it open. Someone rigged this with an electronic lock..." he said, then followed the wiring until he found a switch on the wall next to it. The switch, which was nothing now but a hunk of scrap metal, was now dangling by the wiring. "The mirelurks slammed into the switch." he concluded.
"And you. Twenty minutes away from me and you've already broken a limb." said the AI critically.
"The radiation from the water helped patch me up until you got here." he said, looking down at her. "Now then, we have an asshole to find." he said as he turned towards the blown out room, rubbing his chest at the memory of the two shotguns blasting him backwards. After entering the room again, Lana covered her mouth and grimaced.
"Ugh...I hate mirelurks." she said as she scanned the gore of the two creatures scattered across the walls.
"I had no opinion on them before. Now..." he said, looking at them with disgust. "I think I'm done with seafood for a long while." The three of them crossed the booby trapped room and found another door with a computer next to it that was probably torched from the explosion. When they opened the next room, it was just another random room with lots of shelves and junk scattered on the floor. There were no doors however. "The hell?" he asked as he looked around the room curiously. But all of them froze when the floor at the far end of the end cracked open and folded upwards, showing a hidden staircase beneath the metal plates. Up from the hidden hallway came a strange old man with a rifle over his back, and a box of shotgun shells in his hand. He wore a strange sweater vest with slacks, and had heavy wrinkling on his forehead and cheeks. None of the wrinkles were markers of laugh lines however. To match his odd appearance, he had a head of slick grey hair that was combed back on his scalp.
The three looked at him stupified, as if he had just walked through the walls in front of them. And he, when he finally noticed them at the top of the stairs, froze in place. "Oh shit..." said the old man as he dropped the box of shells. He slowly reached up for his rifle, but Charon was quick on the draw and lifted the monster shotgun, aiming it directly for the man.
"Unless you wanna decorate that fancy hallway you just came out of, I'd advise not touching that gun." said the ghoul. Immediately the man's hands went into the air.
"Who are you and what the hell are you doing in here?" asked the man, whose face looked more angry than scared, despite his signal of surrender.
John stepped forward and examined him for a moment. "You're Doctor Horace Pinkerton, correct?" he asked.
The man, who seemed the smile slightly when the wanderer called him doctor, nodded. "You have me at a disadvantage."
John sighed in relief and placed his hand on the shotgun aimed at the man. Charon obeyed easily, lowering the weapon, and allowing the man to drop his hands. "My name is John, and we have a bit to discuss." he said as he nodded towards the hall which he'd come from. The man gave him a sour look, but knew he was in no position to bargain with the three armed intruders. Instead, he silently walked back down the stairs after collecting his shotgun shells, followed by the trio.
When they finally made it into the main chamber of the hidden room, John and Lana both were in awe. The walls of the large room were covered in drive after drive of large, heavy duty, memory cores, as well as networked servers that looked like they had cabling running through the walls. Several terminals were set up on a table at the far end of the room, and in the dead center of the room was an medical operating table. Surrounding the table was two sets of stairs that led up to a mezzanine with even more tables full of medical instruments.
Pinkerton smirked at him proudly. "The look on your face says you have half a brain." he said, not noticing the glare he got from the originally expressionless Charon. "I take it you at least know what some of these do." said the man as he walked over to one of his tables.
"You'd be surprised about the amount of equipment in this room I've read about." said John as he picked up a headset that was very similar to the one he originally took from the underground vault in Bailey's Crossroads. "In fact, I've even improved some of them." he said, staring at the headset.
Pinkerton's eyebrow shot up in curiosity. "Improved you say?" he asked. John nodded, then took off the bulky goggles and handed them to the man. Horace eyed them cautiously before sliding them over his eyes, then hit the button. He was surprised to see not only the outlined silhouettes of everyone in the room, but also a percentage showing exactly how exposed they were to his vision. "How?" he asked.
"I had...help." said John with a smirk.
"Damn right he did." said the girlish voice from his pipboy.
The man's eyes widened as he looked down at the computer. "Wha...?"
"Oh boy..." said John as he rubbed his head.
OoOoO
"I see, so both of them came from this military vault?" asked the man, fascinated by the story he was given.
John nodded from the seat he was now planted in. "Elsa was originally the AI that changed the code within the simulation. For two hundred years she was forced by her coding to kill off the only people she ever knew, over and over again." said the man, shaking his head.
"Glad you came out of it alright..." said Pinkerton as he looked down at the screen.
"Yeah...you could say that." she said, her tone a bit grumpy.
"In any case Doctor, I was hoping you could help me out with a few things." said John, getting the man's attention again. "First, I was hoping you could tell me who started Rivet City and why." he said.
"That's..." said Pinkerton, scratching his head. "You swam through radiated water, fought off mirelurks, and blew up half the goddamn bow of the ship to ask me a trivia question?" he asked, crossing his arms in frustration.
"It's a quick question for a friend before I get to the important stuff." he said as he leaned back, exasperated. "I've asked around the town proper, but people either don't know, or Bannon did it. He's king, president, everyone respects him, yada yada."
"Ha!" guffawed the older man as John imitated the man. "His head's so full of hot air I'm surprised he isn't stuck to the roof." said the man as he shook his head. "Bannon didn't show his pampered ass up until at least ten years after Rivet City was established as a research center.
John sat up in his chair. "So you were there?" he asked.
"Of course I was." said Pinkerton as he waved his hand at the younger man. "I was the one who decided to get away from those mad men in the Commonwealth and persue my own ends." he said with a huff. "Half my science team were young, bright ones that that blasted place picked out of the wastes. But as soon as Doctor Li came along with her boy toy Doctor Ronas, they all abandoned me for some pet project." he said sourly. John couldn't help but laugh. Suddenly, the older man's eyes widened. "What did you say your name was?" he asked.
John stood up. "John Ronas. Boy toy's son." he said with an amused smirk.
"Huh...thought you looked familiar." said the doctor, his expression showing no surprise whatsoever. "Well, your father and that...woman..." he said, snarling the last word. "They both put me out of my lab. They took my team, they took my equipment, and they took my city. So I gave them the finger and set myself up here." he said, matter of factly.
John eyed him curiously. "So, what have you been doing since?" he asked.
Pinkerton glared at him, his sweater vest puffing up as he took a more aggressive stance. "I don't believe that's any of your goddamn business." he declared.
John smiled and stepped forward. The man's stance weakened almost immediately, but the gunman merely pulled something out of his duster pocket and held it up. "I believe it is." said the wanderer as he held up the picture of the android.
Pinkerton looked at the picture, then back up at the intruder. "So you know about him?" he asked.
"I do. I was hoping you could tell me more." said the younger man.
Horace scratched his chin thoughtfully. "For what purpose?" he asked.
"I intend to help him. A man named Zimmer is here with two more just like A3-21 to get him back. And if they find him before I get the chance to get him out of here, then there's not going to be much I can do to help him." said the gunman as he tucked the photo away again.
"Zimmer? That dusty old rat is here?" asked Pinkerton, showing surprise for the first time since he'd found out about Elsa.
"So, you know him then." said John as he placed both hands on his hips.
"Which means that they both came from the Institute." said Lana from behind the gunman.
Pinkerton glared. "Yeah, that's right. But I left there because I got tired of their shit. Just like I left Rivet City." he said crossly.
"So, you know about A3-21, and you used to work for the Institute. I take it that means you know the whereabouts of A3-21?" he asked inquisitively.
"I might be the person who reconstructed his face, and slash or locked his memory banks so that he couldn't access them again." he said, then a smile etched itself across his face. John almost immediately didn't like the look he was being given.
"What do you want?" he asked venomously.
"I want an AI." said the old man. Immediately John's anger flared like the ground zero of a bomb drop.
"What the hell makes you think I'd give Elsa to anyone?" he hissed almost violently. Lana took a step back, a mask of surprise on her face. Elsa's eyes widened considerably on the pipboy, and even Charon looked at the wanderer curiously.
"Oh do calm down. I have no intention of taking her from you." he said as he walked over and patted one of his terminals. "But, what she can do is duplicate herself onto my servers. Your girlfriend goes with you, I get a partner who can think on my level." he said confidently.
"She can do that?" asked John, bewildered.
"I can do that!?" asked Elsa from the pipboy. Then she shook her cartoon head. "Wait! I can't do that! I've got restrictions from my original creators that prevent me from duplicating or altering my core processes!" she exclaimed.
"Of course you do. All AI's do, just to make sure that they can't keep multiplying and make themselves into some unstoppable force of nature, infecting every part of the technological world. However, I know how to turn that restriction off. And if you want my assistance in helping with the android, then I will require a new born AI." he said, then looked directly at Elsa. "Not that I don't find your attitude amusing, but I'd prefer to have one that's a little less rambunctious." he remarked.
"You stay locked in the same place with nobody to talk to for two hundred years and see if you don't come out a little aggressive!" she yelled, pointing to him from the pipboy.
John turned away from Pinkerton and walked to the door of the room they were in, then held the screen up to his face. "Elsa, we don't have to do this if you don't want to." he said, his tone edged with ice.
She just stared at him for a long moment. "Are you alright?" she asked curiously.
He looked at her surprised. "I...what do you mean?" he asked.
"I've rarely seen your hormones spike as hard as they did when he mentioned wanting an AI." she said, giving him studious look.
"I..." he said, unable to explain his outburst. "I...wasn't going to give you up. N-Not to him at least." he said, looking to the side in a flustered manner.
"Awwww..." she purred as she looked up at him. "Is it true John? Do you reeeeeally love me?" she asked, her eyes showing hearts inside the iris'. He gave her a deadpanned look.
"On second thought..." he said, turning to the man.
"Wait!" she said, laughing slightly. He turned back and looked at her. "I don't mind, really. If he can unlock my restrictions, it's simple enough to recreate my core files onto his system." she said, then looked down sadly. "Besides, this is probably the closest thing to having children I can experience." she said.
The tone of her voice, how utterly defeated it was, shocked John to his core. "Have...have you been thinking about that alot?" he asked.
"You think about a lot of things when you hang around humans John. You forget sometimes because you're human, but AI's don't sleep. We can't sleep. So we think. About all kinds of things." she said, then looked down again. "Like how I'll never be able to actually touch you, or anyone else. Or how no matter how much I may want to, I'll never be free to love who I want." she said with a sigh. "AI's are built to think. Sometimes, we do it a little too much." she said as she put her hands on her hips. "If I can, I'd like to try it."
He stared at her for a long moment, then nodded. "Alright." he said, then turned to the old man again. "Alright Doctor, you've got a deal." he said, making the man smile. "But!" said John, slamming his hand down on the table and startling everyone in the room. Reaching down, he picked up a piece of iron rebar that was laying on the table and began to twist it with his bare hands. "Elsa is like family to me. As far as I'm concerned, she's as human as I am. If she does decide to go through with this, then you are to treat that AI with respect...or else." he threatened, tossing the now ball of metal onto the table.
Pinkerton looked down at the former metal rod nervously. "U-Understood..." he said simply, wondering if the man's rage was the source of his strength.
John sighed heavily, then put his hands on his hips and looked at the doctor irritably. "Alright. Where?"
OoOoO
Author's Note: Alright, so my initial plan was to have all of the new Chapter 50 and Chapter 51 in one big chapter, but people have stuff to do. I looked at the length of this one already and knew it was going to be waaaay too big if I included both chapters as one. So instead, I'll be releasing this one early, and the next one once it finishes. It's already half way done, so no worries. I know you're all totally cliffhanger lovers, so enjoy til the next chapter comes out. :D
Also, that thing about the character I was making in my last author's note applies to the next chapter, not this one. Also also, I referenced another awesome FF Fallout story here known as "The Legend of the Wandering Pair from Vault 101" by Nave Ninja. Those of you who have read it, see if you can spot it! To those who haven't, give it a read.
