Hello everyone, hope you are doing well. Nothing very special to say today, except good reading and enjoy.


Damian had not set foot in Megaton since he returned from the alien ship, a little over two weeks ago. Yet it seemed to him that he had been gone for months. Moira would probably be happy to see him again, and had certainly prepared an endless list of experiments for him to perform. Damian was too tired for this and went straight home.

A cacophony of discussions, calls for calm and clanging utensils caught Damian's attention. Most of the inhabitants were all gathered around the atomic bomb, and were agitating to be the first to arrive at the two barrels of pure water that a small group of soldiers of the Brotherhood, was trying to reassure and contain.

Damian entered his house and immediately Wadsworth's familiar voice called out to him from the top of the stairs.

"Mr. Franklin. I'm so glad to see you back in good health... but... My goodness, sir. You're in terrible shape."

The Mister Handy joined him and advanced its three ocular appendages towards him. Damian grinned, not liking being inspected like that.

"A hot shower probably won't be enough to clean all that dirt, but I can make you look more presentable with a haircut. I'm no miracle maker though."

About thirty minutes later, Wadsworth removed the towel full of hair from Damian's neck. The robot had long insisted on hosing Damian down, but Damian had managed to stop the robot from washing him. A bottle of water had been sprayed over Damian's head and face. Damian didn't know how long it had been since he had taken a shower or a bath. One of the first things he would do when he returned to Vault 101 was to empty the water supply to remove all the dirt that seemed to get stuck under his skin.

In the Vault, water was subject to restrictions, so showering had never been a pleasure and the Overseer would charge those who stayed a second too long under the hot water.

Damian admired Wadsworth's work with apprehension. He feared that the robot had shaved his head or done anything else, but he was surprised to find that the Mister Handy had almost exactly replicated the look he had when he left the Vault almost a month ago and had also trimmed his beard, making him look a little more presentable.

"Thank you, Wadsworth," Damian said, putting on his armor.

"You're welcome, sir."

The robot went to the kitchen singing.

"By the way, sir. Miss West stopped by to check on you while you were gone, as did Miss Moira and Mr. Simms."

Damian thanked the robot again and left the cabin. Outside, the crowd was still queuing outside waiting for a ration of pure water. Damian felt guilty for having wasted a bottle of water to wash himself but consoled himself by remembering that now the purifier was a reality.

Damian approached the railing near his house. He watched the crowd and the poor Brotherhood soldiers trying to keep order. He saw Simms standing on a small platform. The Sheriff, still dressed in his inseparable duster and western hat, also seemed to be having trouble keeping the crowd under control, but when he saw him pulling the breech of his assault rifle and firing a round to the sky, the shouting and insults stopped and the Sheriff's authoritative voice brought everyone to calm down.

Damian decided to wait until the water supply was finished to go and talk to him. He looked for Moira and Lucy. The young woman stood silently in line, holding a string with several military canteens attached to it. Next to her, Damian recognized her younger brother, Ian.

Damian looked at the young woman's blonde hair, looking for the best way to tell her that he didn't feel the same way she did without hurting her. One thing caught his attention. A little away from the crowd, he noticed Moira frantically writing on a piece of paper. Damian couldn't help but smile at the vision of Moira, probably conducting one of her many experiments.

Damian looked up at the sky. A few clouds loomed on the horizon, heralding a rain shower to come. It must have been around 2pm. Damian went back inside to get something to eat.

Neither Lyons nor Rothchild had contacted him. Tristan was still to be at the relay station overseeing Prime's return to the Citadel. The Brotherhood would probably try to replace it as soon as possible. In the meantime, he was free to help Bigsley with his water deliveries.

Damian sat down at the small table on the floor of his cabin and turned on the radio of his Pip-Boy. He immediately heard Three Dog's voice saturating the microphones of his Pip-Boy. The host was still as crazy as he remembered, and Damian was beginning to wonder if he had been a dog or a wolf in a previous life.

Three Dog was commenting on the latest news of the war between the Brotherhood and the Enclave, and even asked for a minute's silence to grieve Liberty Prime.

"How do you keep up with everything without leaving your studio?" Damian wondered when Three Dog started talking again.

Three Dog then went on to report on Damian and Sarah's health, congratulating one of them for waking up and reminding him of all the work that awaited him in the Wasteland and wishing the Sentinel a good recovery.

"It seems this Mr. Three Dog has made you a hero, Master Franklin," Wadsworth congratulated him.

"I'm no hero," automatically objected Damian, who was getting tired of all the fame hanging over him.

Damian finished his meal and emptied his travel bag. He kept with him what he needed to travel across the Wasteland and a few extra magazines. He wanted to take his Gauss rifle with him, but knowing the Brotherhood, he was afraid they would "borrow" the gun and never give it back.

He went back outside. The water distribution was finished, and the small crowd dispersed except for Simms, the Brotherhood soldiers and a few locals. Damian went down to join them and found that they were not exchanging pleasantries.

"Get back!"

One of the Brotherhood soldiers had just pointed his laser gun at one of the locals. The man didn't move an inch and continued to insult and provoke him.

"Calm down!" Simms begged, interposing himself between the steel mountain and the inhabitants.

He noticed Damian and implored him to come to his aid.

"What's going on? Why are you fighting?"

The soldiers of the Brotherhood stood by a cargo of water from the purifier and seemed ready to protect it by any means necessary.

"Knight," said one of the soldiers. "We have just completed the delivery of water for Megaton and will now deliver the rest of the cargo to Big Town, but they refuse to let us go unless we give them all the water."

Damian turned to the townspeople who insulted the Brotherhood soldiers again. Simms approached Damian and whispered in his ear.

"We have to calm everyone down or we'll end up in a bloodbath."

Other residents began to gather and take sides in the dispute. If the situation got out of hand, Damian was sure that the soldiers would outmatch the residents, but he wanted to avoid a shoot-out at all costs.

"What's the problem?" he asked one of the residents.

"The problem is that the bastards are not giving us enough water!"

"We already delivered two days ago!" replied one of the soldiers. "You had enough to last a week!"

"You fuckin' liar! You make us thirsty while you can drink all the pure water you want!"

"Enough!" Damian shouted.

All eyes turned to him. He sighed and massaged his temples.

"I'm going to settle this. In the meantime, no one will shoot anyone, and this shipment will go to Big Town as planned. Now if you're so anxious to take that water by force and get disintegrate, be my guest."

Simms frowned and looked with apprehension at the townspeople and soldiers. They gathered around the remaining barrels and looked nervously around them.

Eventually one of the residents grunted and raised his arms in the air as a sign of defeat and walked away, quickly imitated by the rest of the crowd. Damian let out a small sigh of relief. He was not sure if he could convince everyone, but he had succeeded.

"Damn, kid, that was close," Simms sighed as he lifted his hat and wiped his forehead. "The last thing we need is a shooting with the Brotherhood downtown."

"Sorry, Sheriff, I wasn't sure I could get us out of there without any bloodshed."

The Brotherhood caravan made its way safely to the door and the residents returned to their business.

"Do you have any information about those missing deliveries?" Damian asked. "I'm sure the Brotherhood is honoring its part of the delivery and playing fair with you."

"I confess I don't understand any of that kid, kid. We're getting water, yes, but it's hardly enough to last until the next delivery."

Shouts came from the entrance of the city. Fearing that the Brotherhood caravan might be attacked, Damian and Simms rushed to the gates.

Outside the city, a Black woman dressed in rags was crying. Next to her, the beggar at the entrance to the city was shaken with spasm and held his belly screaming.

"What's going on?" Simms asked, looking at the woman and the beggar.

"I... I... I gave him some water and he started screaming and writhing in pain and..."

Damian approached the beggar. The man, with a last sigh, pointed to an empty water bottle next to him. Damian picked up the water bottle and approached his Pip-Boy. The pointer of the Geiger counter began to move. Damian turned the bottle in his hand. The inscription "holy water" had recently been written on the bottle in felt pen.

"Did you give this to him?" Damian asked, pointing to the water bottle.

The woman in tears nodded, saying she didn't know the water would kill the beggar. Damian gave the bottle to Simms, who inspected it.

"Who gave you this water?"

The woman sniffed loudly and pointed to the ruined town of Springvale.

"A man in one of the Springvale houses. He said it was holy water, that it came from his monastery, and it was going to help the people."

She rummaged through her clothes and pulled out a crumpled, yellowed paper and handed it to Damian. He gave it to Simms and tried to comfort the woman. The woman shook her head and stared at the beggar's corpse.

Simms gave the paper back to Damian, who began to read it as several residents ran to see what was happening.

The paper spoke of a monastery in the ruins of Springvale and of a certain "Brother Gerard", distributing holy water free of charge and claiming to be "the Apostles of the Holy Light".

"Any idea who these people are? asked Damian. Disciples of this confessor of the Children of Atom at Megaton?"

"No," replied Simms. "I've never heard Cromwell talk about anything like that in all his non-sense."

"I think we've just found out where all the water the Brotherhood gives you goes."

Simms grumbled something and watched several of the inhabitants carry the beggar's corpse away. He removed the magazine from his assault rifle, checked the amount of ammunition inside and put it back in his gun before going down the hill.

"Where are you going?" Damian asked.

"Fix the problem! If these lunatics distribute irradiated water around Megaton, they're going to have to deal with Sheriff Lucas Simms!"

Damian sighed and joined him in a few short strides.

"I don't need a nanny," grumbled the Sheriff.

"Maybe, but we don't know what we're going to find in that monastery and I think we can solve this situation without firing a single shot."

Simms stared at Damian for a long time before shrugging and waving to follow him.

The monastery was in one of the ruined houses in Springvale, the closest to the road and the least damaged. The new occupants had set up junk barricades around the house and decorated it with orange and white barrels of radioactive clover.

"Charming," commented Simms as he walked around the house.

An elderly man with a bald head, wearing a hooded sweatshirt, fatigues, and large leather boots, came out of the house and walked towards them, spreading his arms and smiling.

"Welcome to the monastery of the Apostles of the Holy Light. I am Brother Gerard. Here, accept this: water, blessed by us."

Simms and Damian exchanged glances. The man in front of them, apart from his outlandish speech, seemed normal, and did not seem to have any warlike intentions.

Damian grabbed the bottle and twirled it in his hand. The bottle was identical to the one the beggar had drunk.

"Are you aware that the water you give is radioactive? It killed a man!" Simms cried out.

"I'm sorry, but you must drink the holy water to purify your tongue and let the Light of Atom shine in your eyes. Then we can talk."

"You've got to stop this, old man," said Simms. "Cult or no, holy water or regular water, I don't want any more irradiated beverage on the outskirts of my town."

Brother Gerard, like an automaton, repeated his words. Simms sighed and glanced briefly at Damian.

"We have to get into to that monastery," Simms told Brother Gerard.

"I'm sorry, but..."

Simms cocked his fist and thrust it into Brother Gerard's face. The man staggered back and collapsed on the cracked concrete of the front porch.

Simms glanced at Damian, who was careful not to make a remark. Inside the house a bathtub, mounted on a pallet and connected to batteries and electric cables, was next to a small wooden altar.

"What is that thing?"

Simms was observing the strange device. On the altar, a switch was connected to the batteries and Damian noticed several barrels of radioactive material arranged around the house. Simms approached the altar and activated the switch.

The batteries were switched on and the bathtub began to fill with water. Damian approached his Geiger counter and it began to sizzle. The water seemed to be radiated through the batteries and the installation was to be used for a ritual for the believers of the monastery.

Damian searched the house and came across a wooden trap door in the floor, locked with a padlock. Simms turned to Brother Gerard, still lying in the entrance, and searched him. He came back a few seconds later with a small rusty key that he inserted into the padlock that opened.

They lifted the trap door that opened onto a small staircase. Damian and Simms walked down the stairs into a brick basement. To their left, several garden benches were set up in front of an altar, behind which an elderly woman was preaching. Above her, the radioactive clover, cut from a barrel, had been fixed to the wall.

When the old woman saw them coming, she stopped her sermon and the few people sitting on the benches turned around and Damian saw that they were ghouls.

"Oh, our sanctuary is receiving visitors. But I'm afraid we're ready to greet you properly now."

She looked behind Damian and Simms, as if she expected someone else to arrive. Seeing no one, and seeing Simms massaging his hand, she looked sad and lowered her head slightly.

"Poor Brother Gerard," she sighed.

"Oh, no, don't worry about him," said Simms. "He's just taking a quick nap."

The old woman wasn't sure what to say and, after a slight hesitation, invited Damian and the Sheriff to come in.

"I'm Mother Curie III and I lead the Apostles of the Holy Light. What do you want, my children?"

Simms introduced himself and Damian. He began to explain the situation to the old woman, who was beginning to speak the same weird words as Brother Gerard.

As she spoke, she invited them to follow her into the rest of the basement. After passing by a dormitory and going down another staircase, they arrived in a large room, filled with yellow barrels from the Jefferson Memorial and barrels of radioactive products. On a table, several bottles of pure water piled up next to empty water bottles with the words "holy water" written on them.

A system similar to that of the upstairs bathtub was in the room and in a corner of the room, Damian saw two feral ghouls, tied to the wall with a collar and chains.

"I think I've found where all the water delivered by the Brotherhood ends up," said Damian, looking more closely at the machines.

Apparently, the Apostles ordered Aqua Pura from the Brotherhood, saying they lived in Megaton. Once they were delivered, they added radiation to it and distributed it to the travelers. The main problem, Damian saw, was that this "holy water" was more radioactive than dirty water and that it eventually turned people into ghouls or killed them.

"You have to stop, now," Simms ordered.

The old woman refused and began to justify herself, arguing that it was the will of her God, Atom, and that he had chosen her to spread "His Light".

The discussion reached a dead end and Damian feared that Simms would lose his temper. Damian grabbed the bottle that Brother Gerard had given him and, after a final hesitation, uncorked it and drank it all at once.

It was probably one of the stupidest things he had ever done, like charging Super Mutants with a grenade or inspecting the radio signal from the alien ship, but if he was right, or at least he hoped he had been, his plan was the best way to put an end to the story.

Damian felt the radioactive water go down his throat. He had survived Moira's radiation experiments and the energy surge from the purifier. His body made him resistant to the radiation, but he would have preferred an alternative.

"I am the Prophet of Atom!"

Everyone went silent looked at him. Simms stared at him with his eyebrows raised, and the ghouls and the old woman had their mouths ajar and their eyes wide open.

Damian's chest was slightly bulging, and he had raised his voice. He felt deeply ridiculous. The old priestess stared at him for a few seconds and knelt before him, immediately imitated by the other ghouls.

"Lord! Your Light! Your eyes shine with a thousand fires and your skin radiates the warmth of Atom!"

Damian discreetly looked at his arms and hands but saw nothing abnormal. Simms kept looking at him strangely and Damian motioned to him that everything was okay.

"I am the Prophet of Atom!" Damian repeated. "I command you to stop irradiating the water!"

"My Lord, we... I...," stammered the old woman.

She bowed to Damian and began to mumble a prayer.

"Forgive us our sins, Lord! I... We... We will continue to preach Your word but without the holy water, according to Your wishes!"

"You will return all the Aqua Pura and clean water to Megaton and... Go and preach in my name elsewhere!"

The old woman nodded frantically. She got up hastily and began, with the ghouls, to throw away the bottles of irradiated water.

Damian and Simms watched them, and two of the ghouls loaded the barrels of Aqua Pura onto a wheelbarrow and climbed the stairs, bowing to Damian and repeating that they were going to return the water to Megaton.

"You're quite a piece of work, you know that?" the Sheriff said.

Damian and Simms had returned to the gates of Megaton and made sure the ghouls returned all the water they had taken to the Brotherhood.

"For a moment there I thought you've gone crazy after drinking that crap."

"Sorry, Sheriff," Damian smiled. "It was the only way I could see to get us out of there without bloodshed."

Simms shrugged.

"The important thing is that the problem is solved, but if I were you, I'd be careful, your eyes are glowing."

Damian startled and grabbed his Pip-Boy. He placed the screen in front of his eyes and tried to look at his pupils. He heard Simms laugh out loud and the Sheriff patted him on the shoulder in a friendly gesture.

"Okay, Mr. Prophet, I have a water supply to oversee."

Damian sighed and watched him walk away. He had just solved Megaton's Aqua Pura supply problem. He wanted to return to the purifier to inform Bigsley, but first he wanted to get to Moira's house. Moira probably had a lot of wacky stuff to make him do, and he was still curious to see what her book might look like.

At the same time, the Brotherhood's long-range radio sizzled. Damian grabbed the device and placed it near his ear.

"Uh... Hello?" Damian said, as he had no idea what to answer.

"Lone Wanderer, Lyons' Pride actual," said the voice over the speakers.

"Why did I decide to use that nickname the other day?" Damian sighed as he answered.

"Tristan, is that you?"

"Affirm. We just finished inspecting the relay station and got our hands on some more data. We'll give it to be analyzed and decrypted when we get back to the Citadel."

"Okay, understood," replied Damian, who was already anticipating the long wait before Rothchild's scribes deciphered all the data.

"I got a new assignment for you. We asked the Rangers for help with something and decided to send you there as backup. They wait for you at the Anacostia metro."

"Uh... All right."

"When you're done, report back and we'll see how the scribes are doing, but I think it's going to take them some time to decipher everything. Pride actual, over and out."

Damian turned off the radio and started heading towards the Ranger HQ.

Two hours later, Damian entered Anacostia station under a pouring rain. On the way, he had stopped at the Jefferson Memorial and Rivet City to tell Bigsley and Leppeletier that their problems had been solved.

The scribe looked as sleepy as ever and was buried under a mass of files and piles of papers. He had thanked Damian with a vague gesture of the hand and mentioned a payment at the entrance to the museum before falling asleep on his desk.

Damian had gone to collect his money and then told Leppeletier that the looters were dead. The young woman welcomed the news and thanked Damian with a pouch of caps.

He wiped the rain off his face and walked in the corridors of the station, before seeing Reilly and her men.

When they saw him, they all smiled warmly, visibly happy to see him awake and well.

"What's going on?" Damian asked.

As an answer, Donovan motioned for him to lower his voice and to come closer. He, Butcher and Reilly stood near the corridor going up to Seward Square. They all had their guns in their hands and were watching the exit of the station.

"Our friends from the Enclave have set up shop right outside the Seward metro exit," Butcher explained. We were on our way back from Rivet City when we heard a Vertibird land take off a few minutes after."

"You think they dropped some troops?" Damian asked.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Reilly biting the tip of her thumb. She was looking at the metro exit and seemed to be lost in her thoughts.

"Pretty sure, yeah," Donovan replied. "The thing is, it's not that we can't deal with a bunch of these guys, but when we contacted the Brotherhood to inform them of the situation, they asked us to engage and proceed to a snatch."

Damian raised an eyebrow, as he did not understand what the Ranger said.

"They want us to take a prisoner."

"They really asked that?"

Damian was quite surprised at the Brotherhood's request. Whether it was during the Battle of the purifier or during the assault on the relay station, all Enclave troops who had wanted to surrender were gunned down.

Rothchild and his scribes may have anticipated that the deciphering of the data would be long and complicated and decided to ask one the help of an Enclave prisoner.

"Strange huh?" said Reilly without taking her eyes off the metro exit. "Knowing your hatred for these guys, I'm surprised that the Brotherhood has put you on this mission.

"Hmm, yeah, and assuming we can capture one of them," said Damian. "What do we do after?"

"We are supposed to hand him over to the Brotherhood as soon as possible. Then we've earned ourselves a beer."

The other Rangers nodded. Footsteps echoed down the corridor leading to the surface. Donovan aimed his gun but lowered it when he saw Brick coming their way.

"So?" Reilly asked.

"There are five of them. Power armors and regular weapons. Plasma rifles and frag grenades. They stopped in the square."

"What do you think they're doing here?" Damian asked.

"Seward Square is close to Rivet City and therefore to the purifier. From there, you can also get to the Mall either by using the metro or by crossing the Capitol. You can also go to Pennsylvania Avenue."

"You think they want to establish a new forward base to attack Rivet City or the Jefferson Memorial?"

"With only five guys, I don't think. They are probably a recon team, send to find a nice place to harass us or the Brotherhood," replied Reilly. "Now that Big Chungus Prime is out of action, and the only access to Seward being the metro, they'll probably try to organize raiding parties on Jefferson Memorial or the Citadel from the ruins of D.C. and with the only access being the metro, it will be fuckin nightmare if we want to dislodge them from there."

"You said we could get to the Mall through the Capitol. Maybe they want to control the place, given its historical importance," Damian said. "Not sure if it's a good tactic move or not, but it's a possibility."

The Rangers exchanged nervous glances.

"Yeah, maybe" nodded Reilly. "Problem is the Super Mutants have been occupying the place for quite a while, despite the Talons' efforts to flush them out. They are occupying the Eastern entrance to the Capitol, as well as the surrounding buildings."

Damian nodded. Whatever the reason the Enclave was here, he and the Rangers were going to attack them and try to take a prisoner.

"Speaking of the assholes, what about them?" Reilly asked, turning to Brick.

"Talon's bastards haven't noticed them, I think, and I don't think they, or the Enclave will engage each other in a firefight. Let's just hope they don't come and join the party."

Reilly nodded and turned to her men and began giving orders.

"Donovan, you're on point with me. We'll position ourselves in the small alley and try to find a firing position in one of the houses overlooking the square. Brick, you set up at the intersection with Eugene and cover or flank. Butcher, you stay at the metro exit and cover our rear and provide backup to Brick if needed."

Butcher nodded and unfolded the stock of his wanted to protest further but finally nodded his head mm SMG and prepared his first aid kit.

"You," said Reilly, turning to Damian. "You can come with Donovan and me, or you can go with Brick."

Damian had no doubt that Brick or Butcher could provide the necessary firepower in case of trouble, on the other hand, she might need help if she had to redeploy her minigun, in case unwanted guests decided to join the party. Also, he wasn't sure if he could leave one of the Enclave soldiers alive, so he decided to let Reilly and Donovan handle it.

"I'm going with Brick."

Reilly nodded. She rummaged through one of the saddlebags in her belt and pulled out a small radio which she gave to Damian.

"Here, it's on the good frequency already. We found them the other day in the Northern part of the ruins. I'd prefer to offer you diner to celebrate you coming out of coma, but this will do for the moment."

Damian put the earpiece in his ear. Reilly looked at the other Rangers, then turned around to the metro exit and headed into the hallway, followed by her men.


I always liked the reaction of the Brotherhood soldiers after they blast the Megaton settlers trying to steal the water in the game, like nothing particular happened and it's just a regular day at the office. Couldn't really put that in here as they are supposed to be the good guys.

I could actually never finish the water quest in Megaton other than killing everyone (damn RNG and speech % requirements).

The Rangers are back and in next chapter, something not in the base game (yeah no shit, dude, like the end of that chapter wasn't an obvious hint) and that I hope you'll like.

Until next time.