CHAPTER 17: THE FIXER.

"It is questionable if all the mechanical inventions yet made have lightened the day's toil of any human being." -John Stuart Mill.

March 21/2296

Another day in the Wasteland for the wanderers. Another day of being attacked by Raiders. A gang of eleven jumped the group on a highway road near some old buildings of a small town somewhere in Downsville. But the Raiders were poorly equipped and already lost a few of them during the struggle.

One Raider ducked back down behind his cover and started reloading his assault rifle that was on the verge of breaking. Just as he finally got the clip in, he heard growling from behind and turned around with terror just as Cavall lunged and bite down on his face. The last thing he saw was a mouth full of fangs.

Another Raider was stricken by a bullet that punched through his neck. Blood sprayed onto the concrete before he collapsed face first into a puddle of it. Joe stood at a distance smiling from behind the scope of his hunting rifle before moving the bolt to load another round.

A female Raider fell to her hands and knees as green plasma burned through her makeshift metal and leather armor with ease before another shot to the back put her down for good with plasma burning through both sides. Chloe then loaded a new cell into her plasma rifle.

Wayland fired at three Raiders on the run with his AK-47. The people took behind a concrete slab as the Super Mutant's gun ran out with a couple of clicks. He began reloading it as the Raiders noticed they had an opening and returned fire. A bullet grazed his left upper arm before he hid behind a hollow car.

The three Raiders were too busy trying to shoot down Wayland to notice Louis sneak up and unloaded more than half his clip into them in a sweeping motion. But it wasn't by his desire to stop shooting, the AN-94 assault rifle suddenly seized up on its own, making the Vault dweller look at it with worry.

Victoria held her 10mm SMG in hand and fired at the Raider with a machete coming after her in the legs. But the gun jammed up on her too as the Raider fell to the ground with legs and guts full of bullets. The redhead took pity on the wailing man and pulled out her .223 pistol to finish him off with a few shots.

Doug but a load of buckshot into the Raider in front of him with his sawed-off and opened it to reload. He turned around just as a Raider came out from behind a collapsed building. Without any words, he pointed the gun at the surprised man who froze up in terror as he pulled the trigger.

Click. The gun didn't fire. His eyes widen before looking down at the weapon in surprise before pulling the other hammer back and fired again. Click. Another misfire. Neither one of his barrels fired the shells. The Raider showed his rotting teeth to him with a crooked smile and started to raise his rifle.

"Looks like your weapon doesn't work. Sucks to be-" Doug chucked the shotgun right into the bridge of the man's nose and broke it. "You fucking bastard!" the man wheezed with blood dripping onto the concrete road.

Doug reached for the holster of his Browning and pulled the gun out, hoping the gun would work, and fired a few rounds into the stunned man, ending his life.

The fight was over as the last of the Raiders fell dead. The wanderers soon looted the Raiders for ammo and caps, only to find next to nothing on them. Which wasn't surprising considering how poorly equipped and prepared they were.

"Okay, anyone hurt?" Louis called out to them. He still held his assault rifle, trying to figure out what was wrong with it.

"Everyone's here and accounted for." Victoria stated.

"Yeah, I'm fine too." Doug spoke half heartily. He was also inspecting his shotgun.

"Damn these Raiders..." Joe mumbled in annoyance. "Wasted ammo on them and they don't have shit!"

"I agree." Chloe slung her plasma rifle over her shoulder. "I've seen some pitiful Raiders before, but these fuckers barely qualify."

"Still doesn't matter how much they suck if your shit don't work." Joe finally caught up to them. "I saw that some of you were having trouble with your weapons, what happened?"

Louis held his rifle up and sighed. "I don't know. It just jammed up."

"Same here. My 10mm is acting weird too." Victoria waved the SMG for a moment.

"And my shotgun didn't fire at all." Doug held it up.

"Hmm, sounds like you guys need to get your weapons fixed." Joe speculated, he looked at the worn weapons. "We better find a settlement with a repair shop. The last thing any of you need is malfunctioning guns in the middle of a fight."

"I hope so," Doug looked at his weapon with concern. "I really like my sawed-off."

"Then we should go, before more enemies attack." Wayland firmly stated the obvious.

"Of course, big green. That was the plan anyway." Louis put his rifle away before they moved on.

Thanks to some directions and a map, they were on the path to a known settlement. On the trip they spotted several displaced RobCo signs laying around. The signs had all kinds of their slogans printed on them, faded words of a forgotten era where even most common families could have a Mister Handy as their personal robot butler.

Victoria stood in front of a fallen sign for a few moments to observe what was on it. "This is like the third sign we've passed, what are they about?"

Chloe stopped and looked. On it was a happy family sitting down for breakfast with a Mister Handy serving them. "Oh, this? This is a sign about RobCo and their company. It's one of many they had all around the country."

"Did everyone have this robot back then?" Victoria looked at the robot with a box of cereal in its claw. "It seems a little creepy to have something like that floating around."

"They're not half bad..." Louis came over. "We have a few in the Vault to do routine tasks. Although...don't put an open flame under the exhaust of older models. I learned that the hard way..." he remembered the day just how flammable they could be. "I burned off my eyebrows and the top of my hair."

"If you guys are done talking about setting things on fire, we need to keep moving!" Joe called to them rudely.

An hour passed until the settlement on the map came into view. Several meters away from the front gate was a handmade sign calling the place, Trader's Haven. It was a settlement made of metal torn from various buildings, vehicles and concrete along with anything else that could be found. The wall surrounding it was made of fences and sheet metal welded together with signs of bullet holes here and there.

Once they passed through the opening, the unusual group was greeted with awkward stares by the locals going about their business. Not far from the entrance stood a lone, two stories building made of all kinds of metal sheets, frames, I-beams, wooden boards, and on top was a commercial plane engine with the fan slowly rotating from whatever powered it. The sign hanging above the covered entrance called the place, Garry's Trade & Repair.

"Oh, wow. We're in luck." Louis looked at the sign with a smile. "We can get our stuff fixed."

The group stepped up in front of the shop and spotted a man sitting at a long table with a computer terminal and set of tools in front of him. It was most likely the owner of the store, he was passed middle aged with thinning brown hair and a shaggy beard with some streaks of gray to it. His clothes and overalls were worn with stains of oil and grease. The shop owner had the terminal back opened, carefully and skillfully pulling out pieces and components and placing them in bins set at the side of the table. There were also about fifteen other computer terminals against the wall of the store front. Even with the store front cover shading him, he seemed to know the terminal inside and out.

Everyone watched the man work for a few moments before the Vault dweller cleared his throat to speak. "Uh, excuse me-"

"Go talk to my assistant inside." the owner said with a rough voice before putting the hollow terminal on the floorboards and turning to grab another one against the wall. "I'm busy right now."

"So I assume you're the owner, Garry?" Victoria asked.

"That I am..." he eyed the back of the new terminal suspiciously, noticing some tampering.

"Can your assistant help fix our weapons?" Doug held up his shotgun to show.

"She can pretty much fix anything as long as she's got the tools." Garry said while slowly opening the back.

Wayland turned his head and saw a hole in the ground a few meters from the store. "Hey, what's this hole for?"

"Funny you should ask. Step away from it." Garry pulled something out from the terminal. Everyone was able to see it for a brief moment. It was a live grenade that had been set inside the terminal as a booby-trap. He chucked the grenade at a perfect arc that went straight into the opening. "Fire in the hole!" he shouted as loud as he could.

Moments after that, the grenade went off with a dull thud that sent dirt and dust flying out from the hole.

"That hole is around thirty feet deep and lined with about a foot of concrete. It can take just about any explosive I dispose of..." Garry answered what they were all thinking.

"How often does that happen?" Chloe asked curiously.

"More then I care." Garry went back to taking out the valuable parts. "Now go on in if you want your stuff fixed."

Once inside the shop they scanned over the dusty place. Shelves and displays were lined with just about everything you could think of. Tech, tools, ammo, equipment, guns on the wall behind the counter, and boxes upon boxes of more items and scrap for sell. They looked around for a moment and didn't see the assistant at the counter or anywhere else.

"Uh, excuse me! Anyone here?!" Joe called out.

His answer came in the form of a loud crash, as if something big and full of junk fell to the floor and scattered its contents everywhere and rolling away.

"Aw, shoot!" A female voice with a Hispanic accent groaned from the back room. It sounded like she dropped a box full of parts. "It's all over the place! Garry's gonna have a fit..."

"Excuse me, but we need to see someone..." Louis cleared his throat and called.

"Just a sec, please!"

Moments later, a young woman came out from the back. A Hispanic woman around twenty-four as they thought from her light accent. She had frizzy and slightly curly light brown hair with a black bandanna wrapped around her forehead to further elevate the wild hair. Her eyes were a dark amber color with a number of light freckles around the cheeks. She had a slender build and just over five foot eight. She wore a RobCo jumpsuit, pale green in color but faded and stained permanently in many places from dirt and grease, thick gloves, high boots and a big belt with tools and pouches.

"Garry send you guys in? Figures since he's busy defusing rigged terminals." she held out her dust gloved hand. "Names, Inez Trujillo. I pick up the slack around here when the boss is busy."

Louis reached and firmly shook her hand. "Nice to meet you." he said before quickly introducing himself and the others.

Inez looked him over for a moment and noticed the distinct blue of his jumpsuit. "Oh, my god! Is that what I think it is? Are you a Vault dweller?! I've always wanted to see a Vault dweller!" she beamed excitingly.

Louis glanced at his suit for a moment. "Uh, I guess it's pretty obvious I am one..."

"This is amazing! I've always wanted to meet someone like you! And go into a Vault too! All that perfectly preserved prewar tech unaffected by the Wasteland!" Inez grinned with too much excitement.

"Hmm, tell you what, I'll tell you about my Vault if you fix our gear up." Louis suggested as he placed his assault rifle on the counter. "They're not working right. I'm guessing wear and tear from the Wasteland."

Everyone else started placing their weapons with his rifle. Inez went over to look them over and quickly found a few signs to the problem. "You're pretty much on the mark. Dirt and dust getting into the guns is a pretty common problem. I can fix that easily. But I need some help from my friend." she placed a hand to the side of her mouth and called. "Asimov! I need you to bring the cleaning gear!"

"Coming..." A strange male voice replied.

The sound of metal clanking on the floorboards started coming their way. Making everyone frown in confusion. Was it someone wearing metal armor? Why would anyone wear such a thing in here? But their answers were soon answered as the person in question rounded the corner of the backroom.

Before them stood an Assaultron, but one they've never seen before. The robot's body was heavily modified beyond any normal model. All Assaultrons had a female like shape to their body, but this one looked more like a male from the modifications. And instead of three pronged claws, they were hands like that of a person. Ten digits and all. The head was also different, where one single lense at the center of the face would be, it was a slender red visor with a ocular receiver moving side to side behind it. And unlike the antennas that usually stick out to the sides, they were flat rectangular fins laying against the sides of the head with a similar one at the back. Everything else was more or less the same, including the military green color and modified antennas on the back.

"Hello. I am, Asimov. A pleasure to meet you..." the robot formally said to them.

Louis, Doug, Joe and Victoria took a quick step back. The memories of fighting an Assaultron that was with the Gunners made them cautious of them all. Even if it was a completely different type.

"Query. Have I done something to offend?" Asimov asked confused.

Chloe turned to the ones that . "You guys can't be that afraid of Assaultrons, right?..." The four told her about their encounter with the rogue Gunners not long after she joined them.

"There's nothing wrong with being cautious around those kind of machines!" Joe shouted back a little harsher then he intended to be.

"Don't worry. Asimov is my friend." Inez smiled brightly. "My papa and I fixed him from the ground up when I was a kid. I learned just about everything I know from him."

"That's sure interesting," Victoria looked towards the robot. She started to feel that it wasn't a threat. "Does it help with the work here?"

"I look at Asimov as guy. And yes, he helps me out. He's kinda my unofficial protector. You can thank my papa for that." Inez went to the counter and started to inspect the weapons better. "This will take some time, but it's nothing I can't handle!"

Wayland suddenly came out from the back with something in hand. It was a Vault-Tec bobble head of the company mascot. "Hey, Louis! This toy has the same jumpsuit like you!" he held it up to him. It seemed so tiny in his massive hand.

"I...guess so..." Louis responded awkwardly as its head bobbled almost mockingly at him.

Inez looked at the Super Mutant, her eyes went wide before placing her hands over her mouth and gave a loud scream that freaked everyone out. "Is that what I think it is?!" she pointed to Wayland.

Louis quickly stepped between them. "Calm down! He's a Super Mutant, yes, but he's not like-"

The young woman quickly passed him and soon in front of the confused Super Mutant. "Is that the CZ57 Avenger minigun?!" she asked frantically. Her body bobbing up and down like an excited child about to get a gift. "Wow! It's even been modified too! The gun's body has all kinds of reinforced plating!"

Wayland turned his head to the gun hung up on the side of the ammo box strapped to his back. "Uhhh, yeah, it is. I suppose." He answered her. Her excitement made him a little uncomfortable.

"Can I work on it?! Please!" Inez clasped her hands together. "I have never seen one up close!"

"Hey, you can service all our weapons. But we need them fixed up as soon as we can." Doug spoke with urgency.

Inez snapped out of her daydream. "Oh, right! I almost forgot! It's just most of the weapons I fix are junk or very common!"

Asimov placed some cleaning gear on the counter. "They are right, Inez. These people need your services so they can survive the Wasteland."

Inez sighed in defeat. "Alright. I get it. So let's get started." she gave her neck bones a crack, followed by her gloved hands and started going to work while Louis told her about the Vault he grew up in.

()()()()()()()

Far from Trader's Haven, a group of fourteen people stood ready. They hid in a burnt out building with one side completely collapsed and open. They all looked like Raiders, but not like the common ones across the Wasteland. They wore metal pieces of armor made from various robots. And the weapons they carried were far more advanced and maintained.

One man with binoculars scanned Trader's Haven for a few moments and spotted the shop they were looking for. He placed the binoculars down and turn to his comrades. "We found the place. She's there. Arm it and send it towards the gate..."

Four Raiders rolled in a Protectron on a dolly and placed it on the ground. One went behind it and opened the back panel and twisted some knobs and flipped a few switches. The clunky robot activated like normal as its reprogrammed systems ran a diagnostic. The lead Raider went up to it and pointed.

"Go towards the gate of that town and wait."

The Protectron beeped a few times before marching forward at its incredibly frustrating slow pace. The Raider in the lead pulled out a device from his pocket. A small handheld item with an antenna and trigger. He flipped the cap open and activated the glowing red button.

"That robot will take awhile to get there. Which gives up plenty of time to prepare. Our boss wants the girl named Inez. Apparently she's a mechanical genius." the lead Raider spoke to them. The group started to prepare by arming their weapons. "Our boss says with her skills, the Rust Devils will become the strongest Raiders in all the Wasteland!"

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

More than an hour passed as Inez did the finishing touches on their weapons. Doug's sawed-off needed new hammers while Louis' assault rifle had a large buildup of dirt in the chamber. Everyone else's guns had various fixes that were minor. Inez polished the scope of Joe's hunting rifle, calibrated the charge chamber of Chloe's plasma rifle, and there was some spare bow strings for Victoria's bow.

"And so the water purifier can store up to five million gallons of water to clean before recycling back into our pipe system." Louis passed the time by telling her the details of his Vault. "And you should see the system that cleans our air. It practically takes up a whole section."

"Wow! That's all so amazing!" Inez smiled brightly over the amazing information. How she wished she could spend time in a Vault and see all its technology. "I could almost tolerate the cramped space if I had all that tech to look at!"

"It's not that bad." Louis rubbed the back of his head. "It's only cramped when too many people occupy the halls or something."

Everyone else paced around in the store looking at all the nicknacks for sale, including ammo and supplies. Doug and Joe talked about whether to stop for the day or continue on.

Victoria was browsing a rack with hunting arrows. The sound of Louis and Inez's laughter caught her attention again, her eyes darted towards the two for a moment before turning away, a small sigh escaped from her lips. "They sure like to talk shop with each other..." she said to herself with a huff.

()()()

Outside near the gate, two guards stood on the top posts scanning the land before spotting movement coming their way. The Protectron slowly marched up to the gate, spouting its routine phrases that are programmed into all of its models.

"Is that a Protectron?" one of them asked.

"Why is something like that coming here?" the other spoke.

The Protectron was only a few feet away from the settlement gates. The Rust Devils were on their way to the gate as well, the lead Raider ordered everyone to take cover behind whatever random stuff they could find. He pulled out the trigger from a pocket and flipped the cap open and pressed his thumb down on it.

The guards pointed their guns defensively at the Protectron, unsure of what to do about it. But as soon as the Protectron stopped in front of the gate, the settlement was shaken to its core.

A flash of light emitted from the Protectron's glass top before an explosion erupted. The Protectron's body was rigged with explosives from the inside, powerful enough to blow the gates right off. Pieces of metal shrapnel went flying all over and left nothing but a smoldering crater where the Protectron once stood.

The Rust Devils came out from their hiding places and ran for the new opening. While they were hiding, they put on special gas masks as a few pulled out grenade launchers they carried.

()()()

Everyone in the shop felt a rumble shake the whole building. Dust fell from the cracks of the ceiling as the group soon heard the sounds of panic from the people outside.

"What the fuck was that?!" Joe reached for his revolver, but quickly realized it was on the table with the other stuff.

Garry entered the shop and ran towards the counter and pulled out a hidden assault rifle and loaded it. "Y'all stay inside! We got Raiders attacking us!"

"Raiders?" Inez asked. "Sure it wasn't a mini nuke?"

"Just stay inside. I don't want any customers shot while they're in the shop." he firmly ordered.

"Sounds like he's worried we'll be killed before we pay..." Doug whispered to Chloe.

Garry ran out the building, the rest of the town guards started to gather as the Rust Devils flooded in. The ones carrying the grenade launchers aimed their weapons up and fired. The grenades left trails of smoke behind in their paths, instead of the explosive types, they were smoke grenades. The area near the entrance was soon covered in a thick smog that left the guards blind. The gas masks the Dust Devils wore allowed them to see through the smoke and breath, so it was easy to pass by the guards as they fumbled around.

Smoke started to seep in through the crack at the door and the windows. Everyone backed away, the chaos outside was getting worse. They could barely see people running around aimlessly, along with random gunfire of guards trying to fight back.

Louis turned to the counter and went for his guns. "I don't care what that Garry guy said, we need to help fight before we get killed in the crossfire."

Everyone else started crossing the room to get their guns. "We'll be pinned down if they break in..." Doug grabbed the handle of his shotgun.

The door was suddenly kicked open to the point where it almost broke off, two Rust Devils charged into the room screaming and cursing at them not to move. The wanderers had only grabbed their weapons, but didn't have a chance to load them. They were completely vulnerable as more smoke started to pour in.

"Give the girl up and we won't kill you all!" one of them ordered while pointing at Inez.

The other Rust Devil aimed his gun towards her, he had a wide grin behind his mask. But in that instance, a red laser beam flew across the room and shot through his chest. The Raider dropped his gun and clutched the burning hole as everyone looked to the shooter. Asimov had his right arm raised, a hidden weapon poked out from his forearm with the barrel over his lowered hand. Before the other Raider could react, the customized military robot raised his other arm as another laser gun folded out.

Asimov finished gunning them both down on the spot. Several burning red beams burrowed through with ease before they collapsed to the floor, smoke sizzling from the wounds. "Strange, I do not recall us ever encountering these people, Inez." he said once the threat was over.

"Because we never have! I don't know who these people are. I would never get involved with any kind of Raider." Inez looked down at the bodies.

"Whatever the reason is for this attack, they'll shoot whoever gets in their way." Joe loaded a drum into his combat shotgun.

"Right, so let's return the favor." Chloe's plasma rifle started to charge.

"No. You all will only endanger yourselves." Asimov headed for the door, stepping over the dead Rust Devils. "The smoke is still too thick, these Rust Devils are wearing advanced gas masks that let them see through it. I have scanners that will allow me to see."

"Just be careful, Asimov..." Inez spoke with worry.

He turned his head towards her. "I always am." with that he closed the door behind him.

The air was still thick with smoke. The Rust Devils kept laying the smog down to buy more time while Asimov marched through it as if it was clear as day. He heard the scream of a Rust Devil charging after him with a sledgehammer, but he was quickly shot down on the spot by the Assaultron and flopped to the ground. Asimov then spotted someone kneeling on the ground and quickly identified him as Garry.

"Garry, what were you thinking coming out in this smoke?" Asimov quickly helped him up. "Prolonged inhalation to smoke will cause respiratory irritation and inadequate oxygen in your bloodstream."

The shopkeeper coughed hoarsely. "Thanks for the medical tip!" he coughed again. "But we can't stay here! These are the Rust Devils that chased you two around, right?"

"Yes. They are." he confirmed.

"Then it's worse than I thought! I got a good look at the leader! He's carrying some kind of prewar weapon, and I think I know what it is!" Garry quickly explained before having another coughing fit.

Asimov's systems kicked into overdrive, the visor glowing red. "I will not allow that!" he spoke more menacingly, instead of his usual calm and artificial voice.

The group tried to stop the smoke from coming in, but there was already too much inside. "Shit! Since when the fuck did people like them get smoke grenades?!" Doug cursed while stuffing a rag into the windowsill.

"I think it's a bunch of riot gear. There was a lot of angry mobs rioting across the country." Joe informed before coughing. "Fuck, I really need to quit smoking!"

"How do you know it's a bunch of riot stuff?" Wayland asked him.

"I just do..." The Ghoul placed a hand over his chest where the police badge hanged under.

Cavall suddenly perked up, his ears going slant before growling towards the backroom. A new crashing sound was heard as three new Rust Devils burst in. The lead Raider held a strange weapon in his hands, it had a long body with all kinds of controls across it and a wide open barrel at the end. A charging noise was heard as light glowed from the end of the barrel.

"Holy fuck...that's a-" Joe's eyes went wide from seeing the prewar riot weapon.

The Rust Devil pulled the trigger, the light burst from the end of the barrel and flew across the room. Everyone in front of it was hit and collapsed to the floor. The weapon emitted a pulse that left everyone dazed and numb from head to toe before losing consciousness while Wayland just felt weak and sick.

"It worked! Get the girl!" the lead Rust Devil ordered.

One of them quickly picked her off the floor and threw her over his shoulder. Now that they had who they came for, the lead Rust Devil ordered them to retreat out the back. Once outside, the scattered Rust Devils began their escape when they saw Inez being carried away.

Asimov and Garry knocked the shop door open and quickly looked for Inez and found no trace of her. Only the wanderers laying on the floor.

Louis struggled to push his head up with a strain. "They took her...some weird weapon...hurry..." he said before finally giving out.

"Garry, help them! I'll get Inez!" Asimov said before leaving. The shop owner quietly nodded.

Asimov charged for the ruined gates, the smoke started to clear up to make his search easier. Their escape was moments away, most of the Rust Devils had left with only a few staying behind. They knew the Assaultron would chase them to the ends of the earth as long as they had Inez. So they waited with a plan in mind to get rid of their robotic problem.

The modified bot slowly approached them, the visor slid up and started to charge the deadly laser attack like all Assultrons have built into them. "I will only say this once. Let her go..." he warned, his robotic voice now as fearsome as a killer robot from a horror movie.

The Rust Devils gave mocking smiles in return. The one in the lead pulled out a new detonator from his pocket. "I have a better idea. Fry, tin can!" he spat and pushed the trigger.

Asimov's scanners picked up a signal from the ground and turned his head to it. A magnetic hum was heard before something came bursting out from the dirt that had been recently dug around. It attached to his chest and started beeping, leaving him only moments to scan before identifying it. The device was made of wires, Tesla coils, and other random parts that unleashed a powerful electric shock that shorted out his systems.

There was nothing he could do but collapse to his knees. His visual systems began to fade, the last thing he saw was Inez being carried off. Asimov fell face forward into the dirt, the red of his ocular slowly faded to black and all systems went out like a dead battery.