Today is was the epitome of a good day.
Heather, Xao and I had breakfast prepared at Home Plate. All of us took part in its preparation. Steak and eggs, topped off with battered and fried tatos. It almost felt like a moment of home. We even had coffee. Once people know you have the caps, it is amazing what comes out of the woodwork. We were sitting around trying to figure out what the next step was. I wasn't rushing leaving DC quite yet. Whatever the immediate results of the death od Kellog and the elimination of the recon team were, I wanted to let them start without me. Go to ground after you stir the hornet's nest and wait for the initial furor to subside. It always worked before, so I was willing to give it a shot in this case as well.
At some point we were going to have to figure out how to go traipsing around in the Glowing Sea without dying of radiation exposure. That sounded like fun. The only way that I can figure is to find another suit of power armor for Heather and Xao if he wanted to come. I don't think he's going to need it, but I would feel guilty about walking out there armored to the gills and not having him in the same level of protection. I figured that we could do initial probes into the area with hazmat suits, but any long term exploration is going to require more protection on all levels. We need Virgil. It is an inescapable, unfortunate fact. He had be in the Institute and got out. He might have a way in as well.
It was shortly before noon that Arturo knocked on the door. Heather ushered him into the living room. Yes, I have a living room now. Hell, I have started build dividers in the old warehouse area to make rooms for Heather and Xao... If I am going to have people staying with me, I don't want the place to be a flop house, after all. We have built some basic bedframes and now we just need to find a couple of mattresses.
I digress.
Arturo had it. He fucking had it. He placed a wooden box on the kitchen table, pushed it towards me, and smiled.
"Go ahead... Open it!" He had that big damn Arturo smile again.
I flipped open the latches and raised the lid. The RSh sat there, looking so serene in its red velvet bed, silencer and tactical sight, already attached... There were six speed loaders, all full of rounds.
"I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but please tell me that there are more than 30 rounds, Arturo..."
"Two hundred and five... I have more coming in. Apparently no one knew what they are for and they have just been sitting on them. When word spread that I was willing to pay 4 caps each, it was amazing how many suddenly came onto the market!"
I did the math and I was coming up with more than I expected.
"How much is this initial investment going to set me back?"
"Today, all of this can be yours for the low price of two thousand caps!" He leaned forward in a conspiratorial manner. "Mind you.. that is exactly what I paid for it."
I was prepared for this. I pulled out the .50 cal Desert Eagle and placed in on the table between us. The nickel chrome plating a sharp contrast to the satin black finish of the RSh. I smiled as I saw his eyes widen. Two different weapons, to be used for distinctly different purposes. The RSh was a subtle black because the person who used it never wanted it to reflect light. the Desert Eagle was all flash because when you pulled it out, you wanted the person you were about to threaten to shit their pants.. or if you were a gun dealer looking to make a name for yourself, just wearing that monster on your hip gave you enormous street cred.
"I see..." I knew I had him. I could tell by the way that his eyes glazed over that he was already seeing that on his hip when he went out to deal with the caravans. "What kind of a price were you looking for?"
"I was thinking 1500 caps, Arturo..." I watched his face... a little too high. "but for you, since you went through all of the trouble to find this for me, I would say 1k caps towards the price of the RSh."
He just smiled. We had a deal.
"Did you two psychopaths want to try out your new toys?" We turned to see Xao holding a piece of the treated mirelurk shell, smiling at the two of us. "The test pieces are ready."
Apart from Heather's rig, we had started to cut and shape pieces that could fit into pockets in the coat, as well as keeping two 1'x1' pieces aside for ballistic tests. Arturo squinted to try to figure out what it was that Xao was holding. The color of the shell had darkened during the treatment process to a pitch black and it had retained a high glossy finish, giving it an almost obsidian appearance.
Before he could ask, I slapped Arturo on the shoulder and motioned for him to follow. Xao put his bandana and glasses on and the rest of us put glasses on, just to try to all blend in together. My comings and goings were less and less worried about.
"Heading out hunting, Cain?" the question came from a guard I had had a few brief conversations with named Danny.
"Sort of... Don't wait up, dad." I shot back.
He laughed and motioned for me to come over to him.
"just so you know... The Mayor only outlawed ghouls because the snobs in the upper deck wanted him to." He looked directly at Xao. "The rest of us don't really give a damn... Well, maybe Myrna.. but she is too paranoid about synths to even tell the difference, I think."
"So we're good?"
"Yeah Cain, we're good... as in most everybody. People like you. You spend a lot of caps and you kill bad guys..."
I rejoined my group as we headed out the gate to the old junkyard nearby for a little target practice.
Xao set up the target plates against the side of a bus and we paced off about 25 feet. I wasn't going to bother with the 10mm or laser. The shotgun was completely ineffective at 25', same with the .45. The Magnum round from the .44 left a fairly deep scratch, but did not penetrate. We fired a .308 at it, and it had a similar effect as the .44.
"Holy shit..." Arturo kept running his hand over the scratches. "What is this stuff... Light as hell and tougher than combat armor? Did you make this?"
"Sort of..." I just smiled. "Had help from a mirelurk and an ancient Chinese secret..."
He looked at it again and snapped at it with his finger.
"Mirelurk shell?"
"Treated mirelurk shell." Xao chimed in. As he put the targets back down. "Though I think we are about to exceed it's capabilities..."
I went first. The Rsh kicked slightly in my hands and made a very sexy "thhhip" sound when I pulled the trigger. The impact on the plate was obvious, I had blown a dime sized hole straight through it. Perfect.
I watched Arturo square off and fire the Desert Eagle at the other plate. the report from the weapon was deafening. The sheer mass of the bullet, travelling at that velocity did exactly what I thought it would do - it shattered the plate completely.
"That was fucking brilliant!" Arturo let out a yell.
"Did you hear that?" Heather asked.
"Hear what?"
"The sound of every raider in 10 blocks shitting themselves..."
We wandered back to DC just in time to catch dinner at the Dugout Inn, have a drink or two, and get back home for an early turn in. I'll be finishing adding the panels to my coat in the morning and I know heather will get to finishing up her leg armor. All in all, it was a pretty productive day.
