OoO( 52 )OoO

"Sir?" asked Kurtis as he pulled his helmet off and looked at the chaos caused by the battleship brawl. In front of the former slaver stood the Security Chief, who had been preoccupied with sweeping the lovely Brotherhood of Steel Knight off her armored legs. But at the guard's words, Harkness finally broke away from the woman and looked at him. As he looked at Kurtis, he had a mask of uncertainty on his face. "What the hell is going on sir?"

Harkness set the woman back on her feet, leaving her standing with a smile that lit the entire room, then turned to the security forces, who were now looking at the carnage and wondering who exactly they should be arresting. Turning to the body of Zimmer, he nodded to the corpse. "Get that the hell off this ship, and make sure it doesn't come back." he said, then turned to the headless android lying on the ground. "Get that into storage, both pieces." he mentioned as he kicked the head back towards the body. "When you're finished, meet me up in HQ. We've...got some things to talk about."

Off to the side, after John had sent Charon to the medical wing to make sure there was no permanent damage to the ghoul's skull, he immediately turned to the android that was still bouncing on her heals next to him. He eyed her curiously, examining her up and down, still unsure about how he should be reacting. Currently, she was feeling herself up with her hands, seemingly marveled at what it felt like to actually touch something. "Whoa..." she said as she ran a hand through the hair on her head.

"Elsa?" he asked. She immediately snapped her eyes to his. "You are Elsa, right?" he asked cautiously.

She put a hand on her hip, as she had seen humans do, and as she had done in her cartoon form many times. "Well duh." she said, still holding a half smirk.

He stared at her a moment longer, unsure of what exactly to ask, when a question surged forth like a tidal wave. "How did you...?" he asked. But he was interrupted when she ran forward and hugged him tightly, lifting him off the ground and swinging him around, squealing for joy. When he was lifted up, he saw a small figure approaching the two of them. He was a familiar young boy wearing a simple t-shirt and a pair of shorts with large pockets on them. Almost immediately, John recognized him as Will Jr., Sheila's son. And he also recognized the computer that the boy was wearing around his arm. Finally Elsa, sat him down again and he walked over to the boy with a smile. "I take it you helped out?" he asked.

The boy nodded shyly, unsure of whether he was in trouble or not. "She landed in my hiding spot and asked me to take her over to the robot and plug her into it." he said.

The gunman knelt down and ruffled the boy's hair. "Well, you just saved the day Will." he said with a smile, getting a starry-eyed look from the lad. "But...I'm afraid I'm going to ask for my pipboy back."

The boy nodded, taking off the arm-mounted computer, then handed it to the gunman. "That's soooo cool! Where can I get one?" he asked hopefully.

John snapped the pipboy back over his arm. "It's not that easy to find them unfortunately, but if I ever run into one that isn't being used, I'll bring it back for you." he said with a smile.

"Awesoooome!" shouted the boy who pumped his fists in the air. Seconds later, he was swept up by a short woman with mousy hair.

"Will! Will, are you alright!? Were you hurt!?" asked Sheila frantically as she examined him like a mother hawk.

"Ugh! Mom! Stop!" he protested, trying to get free from her.

John just chuckled, then turned away from the scene. Lifting his computer, he said from muscle memory, "Elsa, reactivate..." he said, then stopped himself as he stared at the android who was still staring up at him starry eyed. "Uhhh...nevermind." he said, then began to reactivate his biometric locks manually from the screen. Once they were set, his vitals popped onto the screen once again, as well as the regular, Vault Tec. Vault Boy. Looking back at the android, he grabbed her by the hand and pulled her out of the door and down the hallway that lead to the entrance of the ship.

OoOoO

"What the hell happened down there Chief?" asked Kurtis as the entire security force, even those who were off duty, stood or sat in the bridge of the ship, which had been transformed into Security Headquarters when the need for security was high during the city's creation. At the head of the group, stood Security Chief Chris Harkness, and Brotherhood of Steel Knight Talana McGyle, otherwise known as Lana, who stood behind the Security Chief himself.

Harkness stood rigid, unsure of how this whole affair was going to go down. But he wouldn't lie to the men, just like he trusted them not to lie to them. "Alright, so that whole situation down in the markets..." he started, unsure of how he was going to break it to them. But he felt a hand on his shoulder, and almost immediately felt the calming effect that the red haired woman had on him. He took a deep breath, or a simulated one...whatever androids did, and continued. "It was because of me. Donald Zimmer, the dead man on the scene was from the Institute, where they create human-like synthetics and try to make them as close to human as possible." he said, then began to look each of the officers in the eyes. "Zimmer is in charge of the Synth Retention Bureau, which means that he's responsible for runaway androids. He was here in Rivet City looking for one that had run away recently, and as it turns out, that android happens to be me." he said, getting a few odd stares from the officers.

Officer White, the main communications controller for the security, stood and looked at him with her hands on her hips. She had hazel eyes, and platinum blonde hair so bright that it almost looked altered. Currently, while on duty, she was wearing her hair up in a tied off bun. "So...you're...an android?" she asked, her voice betraying how unbelievable she thought it was.

He nodded to her, then turned to Lana, who nodded at him. Giving him a broken down old rifle that she'd bought cheap off Flak's store solely for this purpose, he took it by the barrel, then by the butt, and snapped the steel barrel in two with minimal effort. This earned him gasps of awe and horror from the crowd. Reaching down underneath the desk the two had previously been leaning against, he lifted it with one arm, again, with minimal effort. "Underneath my skin is a metallic endoskeleton that gives me a lot of advantages against regular humans. And that's why..." he said, setting the desk down again, then leaning against it as he crossed his arms. " I have to ask you all. This is our force, not just mine. Me being the Chief doesn't mean I make the rules." he said, before staring at them again. "Do you want me as your chief? Do you want me on the force? And, do you even want me in your city?" he asked.

The room was dead silent for a long moment, the entirety of the security forces just staring at him. "Hell no we don't want you here!" shouted one voice from the back of the room. Every head turned and locked onto a man who was wearing a pair of pants and long sleeved shirt, but had a rifle over his shoulder.

"Officer Tanner." said Harkness, trying to hide the irritation in his voice. The man who spoke now was someone who was literally on his last strike with the force. He been caught multiple times drinking on duty, ignoring calls of assistance to flirt with tavern girls, and even trying to use his position to extort Cindy Cantelli for chems when she was already having trouble making ends meet because of her husband's addiction. "Step forward and speak your mind."

The man did just that. Hopping off the desk he was sitting on, the greasy-haired man walked forward and stood right in front of Harkness, pointing at him accusingly. "Why the hell should we trust a goddamn robot..."

"Android." corrected Harkness.

"...android...whatever. Why the hell should we trust you to assist us and protect this city?" asked the man with a sneer.

"Because, I'm the same person I was when you knew me before, just better." he said, eyeing the man. "Though you've had a particularly rough time with me even when I thought I was human."

The man deflected the stab, and continued his tirade. "Whose to say you won't turn on us one day, and take us all down with your robot powers..."

"Android." corrected the chief again, causing Lana to giggle behind him.

"Whatever! You're not human! You're nothin' but a damn machine!" said Tanner as he pointed directly into Harkness' face.

"And I'm a former slaver." came a voice behind them. The greasy man spun around and found the handsome features of Kurtis right in his face. All eyes were now locked onto the two of them. "My father raised me to believe it was easier to take what you wanted instead of working for it. I worked in Paradise Falls before it burned, and as such, I was nearly killed. But I was given a second chance thanks to two very understanding men. The wanderer you hear about on the radio..." he said, nodding to the radio sitting on the desk. "And Chief Harkness." he said, looking at the man he spoke of. "Because of them, I now work my ass off, day in and day out for my keep. And I love every second of it. And I would die to protect this city and its people, even scum like you." he said, eyeing the man down.

"And the truth comes out! Now the robot..." shouted Tanner, who was interrupted once more, much to his irritation.

"Android." said Harkness in a monotone voice, that pissed the man off even more.

"Fuck you!" he shouted, spinning on the chief. "You're hiring criminals now is it? Not good enough that you're a goddamn robot who can snap a man's head off without a thought. But now you're gathering up the scum of the wastes and bringing them here, right?" he asked. But the chuckling from Kurtis made him spin around again. "The fuck are you laughing at?"

"Oh, you really should have stopped when you had the chance." he said, then grabbed the man by the collar. He flipped his blond hair out of his face so he could get a good look at the man. "I seem to be having a bit of a déjà vu situation. Because your face looks awfully familiar Tanner." said the man.

"The fuck are you talkin' about Kent?" asked the man, who was suddenly very twitchy.

"I don't know, I have a pretty good memory. What was your first name again?" he asked, eyeing the man with a deadly gaze.

"Get the fuck off me!" he shouted, shoving against Kurtis, which only resulted in him stumbling backwards. "Both of you are liars. And neither of you deserve to be on this ship!" he said, turning to the others. "In fact, why don't we start by getting rid of the slaver?" he asked, whipping his rifle off his back and pointing it directly at Kurtis. The man took a step back, unsure of how crazy the officer actually was to pull a weapon on him, past or no past.

Suddenly, a click behind Officer Tanner's head made him freeze. "Get your gun out of his pretty face before I splatter yours on the windscreens." commanded the voice of Officer White. Tanner turned to the girl, who had a less than amused look on her face.

"The hell are you pointing that at me for!?" he shouted, lowering the gun.

"For pointing that weapon at a Rivet City Security Officer." she said, getting a baffled look from the greasy man. "Whether your weasily ass likes it or not, the Chief hired him, so he's security. And we elected him as Chief, so he's the Chief." she said, pushing him against the wall with the barrel of her gun.

"But he's a fucking robot!" shouted the man. Harkness just looked at him. "Android!" he shouted.

"Let him go Whitney." she said Harkness in amusement. In response, the woman growled and lowered her pistol. Another male officer, one by the name of Daryl Reedus who had dark brown, unkempt hair grabbed the gun from the man.

"The hell is wrong with you?" asked Reedus as he glared at the man.

"Chief Harkness...sir..." said Officer White as she turned to the android. He looked at her curiously. "You've never been anything less than fair with any of us. We've all had issues before, whether it's a past we're trying to make up for..." she said, smiling at Kurtis, who smiled back. "Or a former addiction that we needed to kick." she said, lowering her head slightly in shame. "We've all had things we told you about, and you've given us the chance to change ourselves, without judgement. So as far as I'm concerned, you're our chief, and you're here to stay." she said with a nod.

"Seconded." said Reedus immediately.

"Third...thirded?" asked Kurtis in confusion, looking at his hands. This display got a chuckle from the rest of the crew.

"What the hell is wrong with you all?" asked Tanner as he looked at them all. "He's a goddamn...android! And he's a criminal!" he shouted, pointing at Kurtis as he tried to get through to them all.

"Let's assume that Officer Kent wasn't remembering your face from Paradise Falls for a moment..." said Harkness as he finally stood up and spoke. "...and let's pull up your record to see how clean it is." said the chief as he stared at the man accusingly. "Intoxication in uniform, sexual and physical harassment, assaulting an officer, and extorting business owners." said Christopher as he stepped up to the man and dominated him with his stare. "Officer Kent hasn't committed a crime since he stepped onto this ship. You however..." he said, narrowing his gaze.

"But...I..." stuttered the man.

"Who else supports Chief Harkness?" asked Officer White. She turned her blonde head towards the rest of the group, and heard a loud and resounding, "Aye!" from most of the rest of them. "Good. Anyone who doesn't like it can get the hell off this ship!" she shouted, flashing the Lieutenant bar that was sewn into her uniform, getting a rousing cheer from most of the officers.

A couple of those present up and left at that, but Tanner stood frozen next to the chief. Harkness turned and examined him again. "The Force as spoken Tanner. So, as your Security Chief, I'm here to commend you for speaking your mind." he said with a sly smirk.

"Th-Thank you?" said the man, more of a question than a thanks.

"But rest assured, if you thought I was a hardass before, you might wanna go with the others. Because I have about a thousand new ways to keep my eye on you and make sure you don't mess up again." he said, leaning his head forward until their noses were almost touching. "And you can bet your ass that as soon as you screw up again, I'll be there to put my boot in it." he said threateningly. Tanner just nodded in shock, then made his way out of the room and away from the others. Everyone in the room was chuckling or smiling at the resolution until everyone Harkness called their attention again. "I...want to thank you all. What you did means a lot to me." he said, smiling somewhat.

"No problem Chief. Just don't go and cry or nothin', else we might just have to throw you off the ship." said Officer Reedus, getting loud laughter from the others.

Harkness smiled wider, giving the man a playful glare. "Anytime you wanna try Daryl." he said, then looked at the rest of them. "Alright people, we've got a job to do. Get off your lazy asses and get back to work!" he shouted in a cheery tone. Immediately, the hustle started as the officers either went back to their duties, or went to spend the rest off their off time how they saw fit.

The two that stayed behind, aside from the HQ staff, were Officer Kent and Officer White. He leaned over and elbowed her arm gently. "So, you really think my face is pretty?" he asked, giving her a mock dreamy stare.

"Oh go blow yourself Kent." she said with a laugh as she walked away.

OoOoO

Back on the other half of the ship, John sat in a chair with his face beet red and his head turned away as Elsa the android sat on Pinkerton's table with several cords hooked up to ports in her spine. One of the cords plugged directly into the back of her head, right at the base of the skull, while others from other terminals were hooked to a series of ports that went down the spinal column.

Unfortunately for the blushing gunman, in order to access the ports on her new body, they had to remove the upper half of the jumpsuit she had worn under the armor, leaving her topless in front of him. She leaned forward, staring at him playfully through half lidded eyes. "Cummon."

"No." he said simply.

"You know you wanna look." she said, giggling to herself.

"No." he reiterated as he put his hand up to help cover his eyes from her half naked form.

"She seems to have integrated perfectly..." said Doctor Pinkerton as he looked at the pipboy he now wore on his arm. Rock stared up at him from the screen of the computer, nodding.

"Integration was nine eight point one one seven four percent, doctor." said the young AI boy.

John sighed. "Good, so she's stuck in there?" he asked.

"As long as she wants to be. Nobody is making her stay in there but herself." said the doctor as he eyed John.

"Great." said John, foreseeing a future of her torturously teasing him with her new assets for eternity. "Well, I could always die..." he said, playfully considering the option.

"Oh shut up sourpuss." she said, throwing a small pebble and bouncing it off his forehead. "One hundred percent integration obtained. Fully functional." she said as Horace began pulling the cords out of her spine. Suddenly she locked up and went rigid with a gasp. Both John and Horace looked at her in shock.

"What happened?" asked John as he got up and stepped towards her. As soon as he was in range, her arms snaked out and grabbed his head, squishing it into her bosom.

"Ha! Made ya look!" she shouted playfully as he struggled to get loose.

Pinkerton just shook his head in disdain. "Goddamn kids." he said as he finished up and pulled the cords free, then tidied up the area. "When you two are done fucking, get the hell out of my lab! I've got work to do!" he shouted.

Minutes later, Elsa was finally dressed again in her jumpsuit, but the armor she wore had nearly crumbled off of her from the damage that the gunman had his the female android with in their previous bout. "I guess some girls like it rough." she said as she eyed the pieces of the armor. "Well, thanks to you manhandling my new ride, I'm gonna need to get a new set of armor. Oooh! And a gun!" she said excitedly.

He sighed and rubbed his head. "Oh boy..." he said, imagining her running around Flak N' Shrapnels shop like a kid in a candy store. "Alright alright, we'll get you a gun. But...you do know how to use it, right?" he asked.

She nodded brightly, her red hair which currently fell to her shoulders, rustling back and forth as she did. "This specific model actually had programs for handling every weapon known to man, as well as some that aren't." she said, scratching her chin curiously. "Also, I can calibrate the fire of my weapon to my vision, so I can hit with almost one hundred percent accuracy." she said as she used the zooming feature on her eyes to zoom in on his face. "Whoa...I think you need a shower." she said.

He glared at her. "You're telling me." he said with a sigh as he pulled the magnetic long rifle off his back and held it forward. "You can use this for now, or until we find you a decent gun. It's a lot more powerful than a regular sniper, but you shouldn't have any issues with that. And with your new...abilities, it's scope should be put to better use." he said. She looked at him in surprise, then reached forward with her hands to take the rifle from him.

"John...you've had this rifle since before you even met me!" she said, looking at him incredulously.

He chuckled. "I know. But I trust you with it. Just...don't end up putting a slug into my back when I'm not looking." he said. She looked down at the rifle in awe, then slid it over her back with a nod. Suddenly, to her surprise, he reached forward and pulled her into a hug. She was so stunned at first that she just went rigid, never having felt the sensation of arms around her before. But she loosened up and wrapped her arms around him as well, hugging him back. He just smiled down at the woman, who happened to be a head shorter than him for once. "Do you like it?" he asked.

She had nuzzled into his chest gently, then looked up at him with the question. "Like it?" she asked.

"Do you like having a body?" he asked curiously.

She nuzzled into him once more, her arms wrapped around him happily. For so long, she hadn't felt anything. She was trapped in a cage, forced to watch people she had grown dependent on for sanity die, time and time again. Even in the moments when they were alive, she couldn't hug, hold, or embrace them. She saw them do it in the sim, and ached to know what it felt like. Then she was rescued, and her new home became an even smaller home. But it was definitely a better home. It was a home with company, real life company. Not simulated, static responses that she had to puppet herself. But actual, real, sentience. For a long time, she enjoyed her new home. But it became apparent a while ago that while he enjoyed her company on his pipboy, and she enjoyed his presence immensely, there was still distance that she wanted to close. Distance that she couldn't.

During the encounter with the androids in the market, she had taken the opportunity and it paid off. The AI had become aware of the boy's presence on the battlefield almost immediately after the crash of the droid falling through the store. And when John and the female android were squaring off, she unlocked the seals during a heavy kick and unlatched the pipboy itself, which sent the computer rolling across the floor of the battle and past them all at just the perfect angle to send it spinning in front of the boy. When she appeared on the screen, she convinced him to grab the computer and take it to the android, then put it on her arm before she could get up. Will Jr. was ever the faithful assistant, and as soon as he got to the automaton woman, he clamped the computer onto her arm.

At that point, Elsa unleashed a hellish nuclear powered shock which nearly blew the battery out the back of the pipboy. The shock immediately flooded the death machine with electricity, overloading the current programs running it, and after Will had found the port on the back of its neck, she had inserted herself inside the mechanical body. After scrubbing any master controllers, she took over the processes and rose from the ground in her new form. The first thing she did with her new form was test what she could do, and feel with it.

She strode over to the captured wanderer, seeming inconspicuous to the aged doctor, and locked herself around the man. The feeling she got from just embracing him like she did was almost too much to bear. She wasn't sure how, or why she was able to feel that way, but she immediately felt like crying tears of joy when she could actually feel his warmth, and could process the feeling of his touch.

Now, she hugged him tightly, savoring every second that the nano sensors in her hands, arms, and body processed his heat, and the feeling of his skin. "I love it." she said. Her face still held the smile, but inside she ached a little, knowing she couldn't finish the sentence.