Chapter 1: Saviors of a Town Called Goodsprings
Skyler, Maron, Wisteria, and Krim all woke up, each with a pounding headache.
"You're awake. How about that." An elderly man spoke, sitting in a chair in front of the four.
"What happened?" Krim muttered.
"Whoa, easy there. Easy. You been out cold a couple of days now. Why don't you just relax a second? Get your bearings. " The man said, shocking the team.
"Wait, a couple of days?! It felt more like a couple of hours…" Wisteria muttered, the elderly man chuckling.
"Let's see what the damage is. How about your names? Can you tell me your names?"
"Skyler Gates."
"Maron Romero."
"Wisteria Leblanc."
"Krim Mercado."
The elderly man shrugged. "Huh. Can't say it's what I'd have picked for you. But if that's your name, that's your name. I'm Doc Mitchell. Welcome to Goodsprings." He smiled.
"Wait, Goodsprings?" Skyler wondered, looking at his teammates. "Weren't we in our dorm?"
"Yeah, we were…" Maron nodded.
"Now, I hope you don't mind, but I had to go rooting around there in your noggin to pull all the bits of lead out. I take pride in my needlework, but you'd better tell me if I left anything out of place." He handed the group a Reflectron. 'How'd I do?"
Each of the four took a turn looking into the Reflectron, all of them having two scars on their faces.
"Well, I got most of it right, anyway. Stuff that mattered." Doc Mitchell then got up from his seat. "Okay. No sense in keeping you guys on the floor anymore. Let's see if we can get you all on your feet." He then helped each of the four on their feet.
"I don't know what hurts worse - my neck or my back," Wisteria said.
"Probably your head," Skyler muttered.
"Good. Why don't you walk down to the end of the room? Over by that vigor tester machine there. Take it slow now, it ain't a race." The doctor said, walking to and standing beside it.
The quartet walked over there, staring at this odd-looking thing. completely confused.
"Looking good so far. Go ahead and give the vigor tester a try. We'll learn right quick if you got back all your faculties."
Skyler went first, allocating 2 points to Strength, 5 to both Charisma and Agility, 6 to Perception, Endurance, and Intelligence, and 10 to Luck.
"With luck like yours, I'm surprised them bullets didn't just turn right around and climb back into the gun." Doc Mitchell chuckled. 'Next?"
Maron stepped up to the plate, and after some time, allocated 2 points to Charisma, 4 to Strength, 6 to Perception, Endurance, and Intelligence, and 8 to Agility and Luck.
"Most patients don't get out of bed after being shot and then move like they was in perfect control. You're unusual, I'll say that. Next?"
Wisteria stepped in front of the machine, wasting no time allocating his points. 4 to Strength, Perception, and Luck, 6 to Endurance and Agility, and 8 to Charisma and Intelligence.
"Good to see them bullets didn't affect your charm none."
Wisteria smiled. "Aw thanks, Doc." He then joined Skyler and Maron on the side.
"Finally." Doc let Krim step up to the machine, the latter quietly allocating his points. 3 to Charisma, 5 to Endurance, Intelligence, and Luck, 6 to Perception, and 8 to Strength and Agility.
"Surprised anybody'd want to tangle with you. Heck, you could go deathclaw hunting with a switch."
Krim quietly walked over next to his teammates.
Doc Mitchell then looked at them. "Well, we know your vitals are good. But that don't mean them bullets didn't leave you nuttier than a Bighorner dropping." He then walked over into his living room, sitting in a chair across a couch. "What do you say you all take a seat on my couch and we go through a couple questions? See if your dogs are still barking."
"Ok, sure, I guess," Skyler said, sitting on the couch first as his teammates followed suit.
"All right. I'm going to say a word. I want you to say the first thing that comes to mind." He cleared his throat.
"Dog."
Newspaper: Maron, Wisteria
Train: Skyler
Cat: Krim
"House."
Renovate: Skyler
Bulgarize: Krim, Maron
Shelter: Wisteria
"Night."
Sleep: Wisteria, Skyler
Treasure: Maron
Silencer: Krim
"Bandit."
Reasonable: Wisteria
Swiss Cheese: Skyler, Krim
Stab: Maron
"Light."
Dark: Krim, Maron
Torch: Wisteria, Skyler
"Mother."
Caretaker: Wisteria
Cookie Jar: Maron
Tattle: Skyler
Human Shield: Krim
Doc Michell looked at Krim, SMW taking notice. "Hmm. Sometimes when you give tests like this, you learn more than you was hoping for, and I reckon that ain't always the best thing." He said. "But I guess maybe it explains a thing or two about your predicament."
The sniper then looked up at the doctor, quietly nodding before looking at his teammates. "What?"
Skyler, Maron, and Wisteria shook their heads quickly.
"Okay. Now I've got a few statements. I want you to tell me how much they sound like something you'd say." Doc cleared his throat once more.
"Conflict just ain't in my nature."
Strongly Agree: Wisteria
Strongly Disagree: Krim
No Opinion: Skyler, Maron
"I ain't given to relying on others for support."
Strongly Agree: Skyler
No Opinion: Wisteria, Maron, Krim
"I'm always fixin to be the center of attention."
Strongly Agree: Wisteria
No Opinion: Skyler, Maron
Strongly Disagree: Krim
"I'm slow to embrace new ideas."
Strongly Agree: Maron
Strongly DIsagree: Skyler, Krim, Wisteria
"I charge in to deal with my problems head-on."
Strongly Agree: Wisteria
No Opinion: Maron, Skyler
Strongly Disagree: Krim
"Almost done here. What do you say you have a look at this? Tell me what you see." The doctor put a small stack of pictures on a metal stand.
Picture #1
A shadow in a doorframe. - Maron, Krim
A broken chain - Skyler
An oozing wound - Wisteria
Doc switched out the picture. "Okay. How about this one?"
Picture #2
I'm too embarrassed to say what it looks like. - Skyler, Krim, Maron
I see a priceless work of art. - Wisteria
"Last one."
"A head on a pillow," they all said.
Doc Mitchell put his stuff up. "Well, that's all she wrote. I don't have nothing to compare it to, so maybe you'd better just have a look at the results. See if it all seems right to you. " He then handed them each a piece of paper.
Skyler had Barter, Guns and Repair selected as his tagged skills. "Finally, I can repair those stupid pistols…" He muttered.
For Maron, it was Melee, Sneak, and Lockpick. "Not too bad." He nodded.
Wisteria had Melee, Speech and Medicine. "Don't be afraid to call on me if you get hurt, boys." He smiled at his teammates, who just looked away.
Finally, Krim had Guns, Sneak and Lockpick. "...alright."
"Before I turn you loose, I need one more thing from you. I got a form for you to fill out, so I can get a sense of your medical history. Just a formality. Ain't like I expect to find you got a family history of getting shot in the head." Doc handed them another piece of paper with a list of traits.
Krim was the first to finish, having selected Fast Shot and Trigger Discipline before getting up and walking into the hallway.
"Your friend seems to be in a rush." The doctor mentioned. "Something wrong with him?"
"I'm not sure. But we'll talk to him." Skyler said, handing his form to Doc and picking Skilled and Good Natured.
Maron and Wisteria proceeded to follow suit, the former picking Hot Blooded and Skilled and the latter Small Frame and Good Natured.
"All right. I guess that about does it." Doc Mitchell got up from his seat. "Come with me. I'll see you out." He then walked towards the front door, patiently waiting.
SMW then got up, going back to the room where they woke up, Skyler repairing the 9mm submachine gun and taking it, Wisteria using the chemistry kit to create five stimpaks, and Maron finding a laser pistol with some ammo inside. After checking the room over a few more times, they headed to Krim in the small hallway where he was leaning up against a wall, looking up at the ceiling.
"Krim? Is there something going on?" Wisteria asked.
The sniper then walked into Doc Mitchell's bedroom, grabbing a few books before sneaking cartons and packs of cigarettes.
"Krim," Skyler said. "Are you okay?"
His questions were met with silence as the sniper turned his head, sending daggers down his teammates' back. "Let's go." He muttered, the four heading to where Doc Mitchell was.
"Here. These are yours. Was all you had on you when you was brought in." The doctor mentioned, handing them a note and a poke chip. "I hope you don't mind but I gave the note a look. I thought it might help me find a next of kin. But it was just something about a platinum chip."
"A platinum chip? This can't be right…" Wisteria said, glancing at said chip. "Weird."
"Well, if you're heading back out there, you ought to have this." He handed the group a device. "They call it a Pip-Boy. I grew up in one of them vaults they made before the war. We all got one."
The group then looked at the Pip-Boy, confused and stunned. "Um…"
"Ain't much use to me now, but you might want such a thing, after what you been through. I know what it's like, having something taken from you." Doc Mitchell then handed them each a jumpsuit. "And put this on, too, so the locals don't pick on you for lacking modesty. Never was much my style anyway."
"No thanks, Doc. I think we're fine." Maron mentioned.
"Understandable. I'll leave this as a souvenir." Doc then handed the group 12 stimpaks, 72 bottle caps, 36 lockpicks, two 9mm guns with 96 rounds, and two straight razors.
Everyone grabbed their respective items of choice, all ready to go.
"You should talk to Sunny Smiles before you leave town. She can help you learn to fend for yourself in the desert. She'll likely be at the saloon. I reckon some of the other folks at the saloon might be able to help you out, too. And the metal fella, Victor, who pulled you outta your grave." He smiled. "Anyway, you ever get hurt out there, you come right back. I'll fix you up. But try not to get killed anymore."
The quartet watched as Doc Mitchell walked away, going back to take a seat in his living room. They all exchanged looks before walking out the door, covering their eyes as the sun was beating down on them.
Skyler then blinked a few times before looking around at his surroundings. "This is Goodsprings?" He said, his teammates eventually looking around as well.
"What the hell did we just get ourselves into…?"
(Took me long enough to push out an update. I thrive again XD
Originally, I was going to make this a little bit longer but decided to break the chapters down into parts for my sake.
Disclaimers are the same as usual and I will see yall with a new chapter of Super Alicia Galaxy...whenever I get around to that.
Be good people, take care of yourself and others, have a nice day, and enjoy.
-Alicia)