19
Patience entered the building first, finding herself in the expansive entrance hall. The others filed in after her, taking up positions behind the long, curved front desk. The silence inside was even more eerie than the one outside.
The entrance hall comprised of one set of intact stairs at the far end and one set of broken, shifted stairs nearer to the doors. Two other sets of stairs, running downwards, had become the receptacles for large amounts of rubble and trash. Two bathrooms branched away behind the reception desk. On the wall, behind the reception desk and above the bathrooms, a life-size model of a vault door, the numbers '101' stencilled in the centre, hung at a slight angle.
"Looks like this place had one hell of a fight a while ago." Vincent picked up a handful of shell casings, sniffing one. "This wasn't recent."
Patience took a chance and stood up, walking behind the reception desk and finding the body of a Super Mutant, its body riddled with bullet holes. The blood on the floor dried long before. The body showed no signs of decomposition, despite the obvious amount of time since the creature had died. She poked the Super Mutant with her rifle. The skin dimpling like the creature had died only minutes, hours before.
"Jebus fucking Christ! Even fucking maggots don't want anything to do with those fuckers." Valerie, stood beside Patience, gave the Super Mutant body a sharp kick.
"There's another one down here." Gia's hand waved from one of the blocked, downward staircases, then made an exaggerated pointing movement. "This one is seriously fu ... uh ... messed up. I mean, its face is just gone. Whoever killed this? They had anger issues."
Patience stepped towards the staircase and looked down. The Super Mutant did, indeed, look like it had taken a full auto mag empty into its face. There didn't seem to be anything else of use here. The screens of the computer terminals had shattered and blackened by some mind of extreme heat. The keyboards trashed and missing keys.
The broken staircase leading upwards gave them no option but to use the staircase at the far end of the reception area. Taking up a covering position at the far end of the curving reception desk, Patience sent Vincent forward to move to the second floor.
Hugging the wall, Vincent took the stairs slow, one at a time, his rifle steady and pointing up towards the landing. Reaching eye level with the floor, he eased up a slight, swinging his rifle from one side to the other. He stopped, holding his rifle pointed at one spot for a second, before continuing up the stairs and crouching at the top.
"It's clear." He called, waving them up. "There's busted Robobrain robot and there's a radio playing, but that's it."
Patience began moving up the stairs, followed by Gia and then Valrie. At the top of the stairs, she saw the Robobrain. It looked nothing more than a trash can on tracks, extendable, rubber covered arms ending in pincers, laid beside it and the glass dome littered the floor in fragmented pieces. On the floor, in front of the broken dome, what looked like an actual brain lay in a pool of viscous, clear liquid.
"Is that a real brain?" Patience almost felt sick at the thought.
"Oh, yeah. Some people say they used the brains of condemned criminals." Valrie dived upon the Robobrain, extracting a screwdriver from a pocket and started opening up a panel on the cylindrical body. "Programmed the fuckers for security, maintenance, that sort of thing. Except most of them went fucking mad. Killed a lot of people."
Patience left Valrie to her dismantling. Nothing in her Swiss Cheese memory clicked on the Robobrain. She knew nothing about them. Whether that was due to her memory loss or because the macabre machines had appeared some time after, she couldn't tell. The idea of putting a human brain, hell, even an animal brain, into a machine sickened her. Just when she thought the Capital Wasteland couldn't get any worse.
The rest of the landing appeared to be some kind of informal meeting area. Couches, low coffee tables and coffee machines on trestle tables, by the the back wall, were set in positions that would have given a more homely atmosphere to the corporate landscape. The radio sat beside the coffee machines, set to Galaxy News Radio, the sounds of familiar music emanating from the speakers at a low volume.
"If I'd known these comfy-ass couches were here, I'd have moved the gang in here long ago!" Gia flopped down onto one of the couches, stretching her arms along the back, resting her feet on a coffee table. "This is nice!"
"If you want to stay here, kid, you can." Vincent opened up the top of one of the coffee machines and looked inside, shaking it. "There's another three floors before we reach the mainframe room and we don't know what's waiting for us."
"She comes with us." Patience caught the disgruntled pour from Gia. "Or, sure, you stay here. On your own. While we, with the guns, go up. Maybe you'll be okay if Super Mutants decide to come back, or a mad robot passes by us?"
"Fine." Gia turned over and rubbed her face against the plush couch covering, running her hands along the surface. "I'll miss you, incredibly comfy couch. You'll always be my favourite."
Patience returned to Valrie's side to find the scavenger in a pile of circuit boards, gears, gadgets and widgets. The older woman scowled as she reached deep into the Robobrain torso.
"You know you can pick all this stuff up when we leave, right?" Patience picked up a square, fist sized thing that had a mild yellow glow to it. She turned it over. "You don't want to carry too much if we need to run."
"Oh, I know. All this shit was just in the way of ..." Valrie yanked at something. There was a click and her arm emerged from inside the torso, holding a smaller circuit board. "This. This fucking thing is like golduss. I put this in Wintergreen and he'll be like new."
"Golduss? You mean gold dust?" Patience hid a smile. She actually quite liked the way Valrie garbled words from the World That Was.
"That's what I said. Golduss." Valrie blew a sharp burst of air against the circuit board, smiled and slipped it into her pocket. Then she saw the square thing Patience held in her hand. "Ah! Careful with that. It's ever so slightly, deadly fucking radioactive if not handled properly."
With care, she took the square thing from Patience's hand and laid it back inside the torso of the broken Robobrain, closing the panel. Brushing her hands together to get rid of the dust, Valrie stood up, a satisfied smile on her face.
Even though Patience knew Valrie's Mr Handy robot, Wintergreen, was not the most stable of robots, Valrie had a clear affection for the thing. Patience wondered if this new circuit board would rectify the robot's deteriorating faculties or, at the very least, stop it from being so weird.
"If we've all finished scavenging, laying around and pandering to each other, we should consider moving the fuck on." Vincent pointed to a door at the side of the stairs. "We have three floors to navigate, then break into a corporate mainframe, then get the hell out of here before it gets dark."
"Well, alright, Mr Grumpy-Pants." Gia tore herself away from the couch. "Lead the way before you start crying."
Vincent's face darkened and his scowl deepened. Patience recognised that look, grabbing his arm and turning him towards the door. Vincent, Patience had found, didn't take sarcasm well.
"You're listening to the adventures of me, Herbert "Daring" Dashwood, and my stalwart ghoul manservant, Argyle. Today's episode: The Deathclaw Tango.
"Phew! Am I glad to be out of those tunnels."
"Me too, Argyle, me too. Ah! The sweet, fresh Capital Wasteland air. Makes you glad to be alive."
"Let's get one thing straight here, boss. We ain't ever talking about that statue ever again."
"My lips are sealed, Old Chum. No-one will ever know of your brush with godhood. I will never mention a cult of ghouls worshipping your image. In fact, I'll tell everybody we meet that it's a dirty lie."
"Thanks, boss. I appreciate it. Now, where next?"
"According to the map the delightful Mrs Dérobé gave us, we should be right about there. Just behind that group of rather angry looking Deathclaws."
"Aww, geez, boss. I think they saw us! Do ya think it's time we used ..."
"The ... Deva-Strafer? I think so!"
"Cover your ears, boss! This is gonna be loud!"
sound of electronics fizzling
"Dash it all, Argyle! I thought you said you'd maintained it?"
"I thought you said you had!"
"Well, my most loyal of acquaintances, I think this might just be the end of the astounding adventures of Daring Dashwood and Argyle. It's been an honour, old friend."
"The pleasure's been all yours, boss."
"Be sure and tune in next time for another exciting adventure of me, Herbert "Daring" Dashwood and my stalwart ghoul manservant Argyle!"
They found the second floor in poor shape compared to the reception area on the first floor. Doors opened into rooms where floors had fallen in, others where the ceilings had collapsed down upon desks and work stations. Computer terminals, filing cabinets, chairs, all covered in large amounts of rubble and detritus.
More robots littered the second floor, immobile and without any signs of working. Some had bullet holes in them. Others simply dormant, as if someone had switched them off. More Robobrains, some Protectrons and military Sentry Bots. Even a couple of the military version of Mister Handys, the Mister Gutsys. And all through the floor, they found empty shell casings.
"Someone has definitely been here before us and they had a lot of ammunition." Vincent entered another room, sweeping his rifle around.
"Maybe we're not the only ones who need information from here?" Patience took the next room to sweep clean.
"Pretty fucking popular place, huh?" Valrie was desperate to loot everything she could from the place, Patience could tell. Every time they cleared a room, Valrie would look in and make a mental catalogue of the contents.
"Patience?" Gia tugged on Patience's arm and made an innocent look for her benefit. "When this is all over, can we live here?"
"Why the fuck would you want to live here?" Valrie questioned, raising her eyebrows at the ex-raider.
"Well, those couches were real comfy and, I don't know, it's kind of nice and there's lots of room." Gia shrugged towards Valrie.
"I'm sure there are better places to live than here." Patience caught the amused look from Vincent. "And besides, I don't know what I'll do after. I don't even know if I'll even make it through this."
"Of course you'll make it through this." Gia gave Patience a hug. "You're a hero. Heroes don't die."
Patience wasn't too sure. She had come this far on the basis of finding out who she was, where she had come from. She was here to find answers and that was it. But those words from her fever dream continued to run around in her mind. Now that she had concluded the Super Mutants were preparing for war, she wasn't so certain about her future.
Something in her mind compelled her. It happened back at Girdershade. It happened again at the ruins before reaching Megaton and it happened again upon finding those humans captured by the Super Mutants. Something innate clicked her mind every time and she, somehow, knew she had to help those people.
It was almost as if she lost control of her body and something else took over. Someone else. Guiding her hand. And now she felt it again. The urge to do something about the coming war. The itch at the back if her mind, irritating her until she set off and moved against the Super Mutant threat on the horizon.
Right now, she was fine. She had the mission. The purpose. But once that mission became completed, she didn't know if she could stop herself from heading out to meet the Super Mutant King head-on and, if the last battle between her and Super Mutants were anything to go by, it would not end well for her. She had barely survived two of the hulking creatures, let alone an army and their enhanced leader.
And the idea of settling down somewhere, with Gia as her ersatz daughter and Valrie as a stand-in grandma? She couldn't see it. Maybe it was something Gia could imagine in her mind, still drawn out on the brain frazzling Mentats, but Patience, herself, couldn't even begin to imagine. It did not compute.
"Well, let's reach this mainframe, get out of the D.C. ruins alive and reach some kind of safety first, before we start talking about the future." Patience pointed Vincent towards a set of stairs leading up to the third floor. "How many more floors?"
"My information says there's five floors. The last floor is kind of a double height thing. Because of the mainframe." Vincent gave Patience a strange look. "Get the info, get out. Right? Everybody's happy."
"Sure. Everybody's happy." Patience took the stairs to the first landing and allowed Vincent to leap-frog to the next.
That look disturbed Patience. Could it be possible that Vincent was still on course to follow Moriarty's orders? As much as Three Dog seemed to think the Brotherhood of Steel were a force for good in the Wasteland, if his broadcasts were anything to go by, but they were still military and for the military, the mission came first. If Vincent's mission was to continue in the employ of Moriarty after their foray into Vault-Tec HQ, would that include following Moriarty's orders to kill her and Valrie?
Vincent hadn't admitted it, but he hadn't denied it, either. Valrie thought Moriarty had ordered their deaths and Patience, even now, trusted Valrie far more than she trusted Vincent. She trusted her own instincts, too, and her instincts, right from the very beginning, screamed at her not to trust Vincent and especially not to trust Moriarty. Even though Vincent turned out to be a member of the Brotherhood of Steel, she still found it difficult to trust him.
She shook her head. The thoughts of the, possible, future and the the current thoughts of who to trust were distracting her. If she didn't keep a clear head, it could get them all killed and that wouldn't help anybody, regardless of anybody's orders. She crouch walked past Vincent and into the first room of the third floor.
"There's a terminal her, still working. Valrie?" She slipped to the side to allow Valrie through the door, but it was Gia that skipped by, heading for the computer terminal. "Gia! No!"
"It's okay. I told you, I'm good with computers." Gia almost jumped into the chair behind the desk, spun it around once, then pulled herself forward towards the keyboard. It was only as Gia's hand touched the keyboard that Patience noticed something attached to the back. A light began to blink.
"It's booby trapped! Everybody down!" There was no way she could reach Gia in time. Patience had to make the choice, protect herself or race to Gia and get an explosion in the face. She turned her back and crouched down.
It wasn't a huge explosion, but it was enough. The terminal exploded in a shower of sparks, glass and plastic. Pieces of the machine embedded themselves into the wall beside Patience and, unfortunately, into her back. The leather raider outfit protected some of her back, but the unprotected part, above the strapless top, caught some of the debris.
Despite the pain from the shrapnel in her back, Patience raced towards the desk. Twists of smoke drifted up from the terminal and Patience couldn't see Gia. Grabbing the edge of the desk, she wrenched it to the side, the legs scraping upon the concrete floor and there, huddled in a ball, was Gia. Patience grabbed the girl and wrapped her arms around her.
"Who booby traps a computer?" Gia shouted, returning Patience's embrace.
Patience sat on the desk, cleared of all debris, and left herself to the ministrations of Valrie. The older woman pulled out another piece of glass and tossed it aside, pressing on the wound with a greying piece of cloth pulled from one of her many pockets. She tutted, blowing smoke from the side of her mouth, her lips gripping the cigarette she smoked.
"You can yell out in pain any time you fucking want, you know?" She began tugging at another piece of shrapnel. "Maybe having a top that stops before your fucking shoulders wasn't the best idea."
"I haven't had the chance to update my wardrobe." She did feel the pain, every time Valrie pulled a piece from her back. The pain didn't seem important. Not worth making a fuss over. "Soon as we pass a dress shop, I'll get something in the latest fashion."
"I had a leather jacket once. I swapped it for a frag grenade." Gia sat in the office chair, dangling her legs and trying to avoid Patience's eyes. "It was a dud."
"What the fuck did you need a grenade for?" Valrie tapped the ash from her cigarette and returned it to her mouth.
"For protection." Gia pouted towards Valrie.
"Fucking protection." Valrie shook her head and pulled out the last piece of shrapnel from Patience's back. She pressed the cloth against the wound. "Listen, these wounds need closing, but I don't have any needle and thread. I have glue."
"Whatever works, Valrie." Patience caught Gia's eyes flickering up at her then flicking away. "You have nothing to be guilty for. We all missed that booby trap."
"I don't feel guilty. I don't." Gia turned away, biting her fingernails. She faced away for a few seconds then turned back. "I didn't mean to! I just wanted to help. I am good with computers and I thought ... I thought ... I just seem to keep doing stupid things."
"It's okay." Patience leant forward to catch Gia's eyes, but Valrie pulled her back upright with admonishing 'tut'. "I'm okay. You're okay. Nobody got hurt. At least, not badly. These are just scratches."
"Some fucking scratches." Valrie muttered under her breath.
"Gia! It's okay." Patience ignored Valrie's grumpy mutterings, holding her hand out to Gia, flapping her fingers twice to tell Gia to reach out.
Reluctant, Gia bit her fingernail again then reached out for Patience's hand. Patience squeezed the girl's hand and gave her a warm smile. It wasn't Gia's fault. The ex-raider said it herself, who booby traps a computer? And why? Whoever had gone through the Vault-Tec offices before them, they were leaving nothing to chance.
The many robots showed that, whoever they were, they had skills. Tactical and technological. Patience was certain that she couldn't have gone through these offices as efficiently, or successfully. And she knew she had skills! She still didn't know how she knew she had those skills, but they were real and they were good. Even Vincent marvelled at those skills.
"I made a sweep of the entire floor." Speak of the devil, Patience thought as Vincent appeared back into the room. "More robots. Some shot to hell, others just switched off. I found a first aid box. Got some plasma and a couple of StimPak's."
He tossed his findings onto the desk, sidled around the back of Patience and took a look at her injuries. Valrie pushed him aside, pointing up at the one strip light that he had blocked with his large frame. Throwing his hands up in mock surrender, he moved back in front of the desk.
"Any more signs of booby traps?" With a tap on the waist by Valrie, Patience slipped from the desk. "I'd rather not have any more surprises."
"Couple of mines. Sneaky bastard hid them behind a door, but I saw them and disarmed them." He pulled the mines from his ammo pouch and tossed those on the table. "They might come in handy later."
Patience picked up one of the mines, turning it over in her hands. It surprised her how small it was, but she wasn't in any doubt it could take some unexpected victim's leg off. Even kill them. Gia reached for the other one, her hand slapped away by Valrie.
"Best you leave the fucking deadly high explosives for Patience and Vincent, kid." Gia seemed to consider that and nodded in agreement. "Well, I'm glad of a little peace."
"There's more floors to go. Don't go betting on that peace just yet." Vincent took back the mines, returning them to his ammo pouch. "Speaking of which, I found the stairs up. Now I've cleared this floor, we can move fast."
"Then let's go." Patience slipped the strap over her head, securing her rifle against her chest. She felt the strap rub against a couple of her injuries. That almost made her wince. "Sooner this is done, the better. We all ready?"
Vincent, his face set and ready, nodded. Valrie flicked her cigarette butt into the corner of the room, adjusting her football helmet once again. Patience almost laughed. She would tell the old scavenger to get a new helmet, but she suspected that would only lead to a batch of curse words thrown at her. Gia raised herself up from the office chair and showed an almost comical 'stern' face.
Satisfied everyone was ready, she lifted her rifle and headed out of the office.