Author notes: First I wanted to start off with explaining that this concept has been in my head for awhile now, I was actually surpricsed that I couldn't find a story that had done this already, although if someone has please comment I would like to read that. What this means is that for that most part anything from the latest DLC or any information released about Borderlands 3 will liekly not be part of this story. I will incorporate somethings if I can fit them but the story has had at least a rough plan from before any of that was released. The story starts up after the end of the Pre Sequel. This is the first fanfiction that I have ever written so please bear with me. Please comment if anything is poorly written, I have read enough cringey fanfiction that I don't want it to end up like that.
What About Felicity
Chapter 1.
Gaige had listened as Athena retold her story, hearing the confession of every heinous act done in the name of what was believed to be the greater good. In this story she heard one thing that greatly disturbed her; I mean okay yes, there were a lot of disturbing things, the civilians Jack murdered, the threat to the moon, aliens; but this one event struck a real cord with Gaige. The murder of Felicity. That's what the wiping of her personality amounted to, was one of the worst things that Handsome Jack was responsible for. Given how she built Deathtrap from scratch, stuck with him, been protected by him, she has a soft spot for machines. She began thinking about the horror that had been done, and that she should do something about it.
After Athena had finished and everyone had gone their own ways, Gaige decided to start her plan. She first found and confronted Claptrap, as he had had a role in this tragedy. "Okay Claptrap we're going to have a little talk."
"W-w-wait what do you mean?" stuttered a nervous Claptrap.
"Athena told us everything about what all of you did on Elpis" Came the tense reply.
"O-oh w-w-well you see, I was just..." Claptrap started to fearfully stammer.
"How could you do that to her she trusted you and helped you but you betrayed her!" Gaige screamed.
Claptrap stopped shaking, turning his body side to side. It was a moment before he spoke again, clearly confused and unsure of how to continue. "Um are you talking about giving Jack control of Hyperion or what, I don't understand"
"Well I guess that and letting Jack kill the scientists and other stuff was bad sure, but I was talking about what you guys did to Felicity. It was a betrayal, she was part of your team and you just kill her because it was the easy way to go. How could you have thought you were heroes, heroes don't take the easy way, they take the right way!" Gaige let out with a huff of frustration.
The entire situation had gone in a direction that Claptrap had not expected. He had thought that upon finding out his role in helping Handsome Jack claim control of Hyperion the other Vault hunters would have been angry. To find the first confrontation to be about the destruction of Felicity was far from what he expected. All of the death that had occurred and it was the loss of an A.I that prompted this rage? Although in truth he should have expected it coming from a girl who was so obsessed with anything mechanical.
Gaige finally calmed herself taking several deep breaths before addressing Claptrap again.
"You may have done something horrible, but you're gonna make up for it."
"Wait, what do you mean make up for it?" Claptrap responded.
"We're going to find the original constructor and recover Felicity's mind."
Claptrap just stood there for a few moments, taking in what Gaige had just said. Realization slowly began to dawn on him as to the implications of that statement truly were.
"Wh-wh-what?! Do you even know what you're talking about?! Find the first Constructor, save Felicity. That's just insane, its not possible, and far too dangerous to even try. No way am I getting involved in this stuff again. Nu huh, you're on your own here."
Gaige just stopped and gave Claptrap a look, smiling a very menacing smile. Claptrap started to get nervous not at all liking how Gaige was staring at him. As the silence dragged on, Gaige leaned in closer to Claptrap until they were eye to eye. Just when Claptrap thought that he could take no more she finally began to speak.
"Oh you'll be helping me, otherwise I'll break you open and give you some new protocols that will really make you sorry."
Now Claptrap was afraid, because while Handsome Jack was an evil mass murdering sociopath, Gaige was unparalleled when it came to machines. The things that she could do to him or make him do boggled the mind and made him understand his position. He had no choice but to follow her and do everything he was told, the consequences didn't bear thinking about. It just wasn't fair, after everything Claptrap had survived, after everything he had done for the Vault Hunters(all be it most of that was getting in the way, but he opened doors damn it) he was now going to risk his life again because of what Jack made him do.
While Claptrap was lamenting his fate, Gaige began to plan her next move in saving Felicity. She would need to find the first constructor if she wanted to resurrect the AI. Of course that meant figuring out where Jack would possibly have kept it, if he had kept it at all. That thought struck her, what if Jack had destroyed the original Constructor? They had seen the multitude of constructors that Hyperion had been capable of producing, how many dozens of encounters had they been forced to endure? The new models were clearly more advanced than what Jack and his group of "vault hunters" had turned Felicity into, the fire power available, the loaders constructed are of a higher quality. It was possible that Jack decided that he no longer needed the first constructor and simply discarded it, being used for scrap. Shaking her head to dissipate this train of thought Gaige decided that this was not very likely. If Jack were smart he would want to keep the original around in case there was need of fixing some problem or bug. Only having copies would be risky, yes the original must have been kept somewhere, even if it hadn't been used or seen in some time.
Now that she had pushed aside her fears of Felicity's permanent destruction she needed to figure out where the constructor could possibly be. The most likely location would be Helios as that was the headquarters for the Hyperion operation on Pandora. Unfortunately Helios had recently crashed into Pandora, this now reopened the possibility of the first constructor being destroyed. Regardless the crash site would have to be the first place they started their search as even if the constructor was destroyed maybe enough survived for what she needed to do.
Gaige needed to get permission from Lilith to leave for an extended amount of time especially with everything that was happening what with Athena's revelations and the appearance of the Alien. Hopefully Lilith would allow it as Gaige was not pertinent to much of the preparations for now. Gaige would also need to recruit more help to complete this mission as just her and Claptrap would not really be enough if things got especially dangerous. The problem is who can she ask to help her with this? Lilith, Modecai, and Brick would all be too busy running the Crimson Raiders. She could always ask her fellow Vault Hunters to join her on this trip. Maya would see saving Felicity as a right thing to do with her kind heart. Axton could probably be convinced of participating by spinning some profit to it. Salvadore would have offered his help but he was off visiting his grandmother. Zero was who knows where and wouldn't be available for help. The less said of Krieg the better. Suddenly Gaige perked up as she thought of who she should approach to join them on their mission.
Hammerlock was sitting in Moxxi's bar enjoying a beverage and reading about some interesting creatures on other worlds. Reading about the exploits of others made him start to ruminate about his time on Pandora. He was supposed to be a great hunter and naturalist,categorizing exotic animals and exploring new places, but what had he done recently. All he'd been doing was asking the Vault Hunters to do everything; they collected Bullymong hair, they investigated the Skag/Rack Hybrids, defeated the crazy Jack fan at his hunting lodge, they had even been the ones who had killed the Stalker that had killed Taggart. Hammerlock was starting feel as if he were just some fraud. Everyone looked at him as if he were some great exciting man, he was the gentlemanly hunter on the savage brutal world. Even the Vault Hunters seemed to look up to him in awe, but why? They were the ones who saved all of Pandora. He is amazed at the things they have accomplished, their bravery and determination. He just wanted to be part of that. The trip to Aegrus and Hunter's Grotto was supposed to be an adventure with him and the Vault Hunters, but is that how it turned out? No, they dealt with Nakayama, they dealt with the Boraks and Scalions and Drifters, they did everything. He just stayed in the Lodge House giving them their missions telling them where to go, or making witty remarks. Did he actually take part in killing any of the Savages or the dangerous creatures of that continent? No! If only he could have some chance to prove he is a great hunter, that he can stand and fight and save the day. When could a chance like that ever come?
"Hammerlock!" Gaige yelled enthusiastically, breaking him from his thoughts. He looks to the entrance of the bar and sees Gaige running over to his table.
"Ah Gaige what can I do for you today." Hammerlock greeted in his gentlemanly way.
"Weeellll I was kind of hoping that you could help me with something."
Curious about what Gaige could want of him to have her acting like this, as if she were the teenage girls that she hated in school. Of course he worried that it had to do with her quite obvious crush on him. She was not a subtle person so she didn't hide what she was thinking.
She started hesitantly, clearly unsure if she should approach Hammerlock with whatever it was that brought her here.
"I am kinda planing a mission and I thought that you could maybe help me. I can't do this myself, so do you want to come."
"What do you mean you're going on a mission? You want me to go with you?"
Hammerlock was confused. How could Gaige be going on a mission without the other Vault Hunters? They were a team and did these things together. Why would she want him to go? He hasn't participated in any of the missions or battles before. Then he stopped questioning it, this was his chance, this was what he wanted. Hammerlock would be fighting evil, braving dangers and saving the world. He finally had an opportunity to show everyone that he was a gentleman adventurer and not some NPC quest giver in someone else's story.
"What exactly is it that you have in mind?"
Gaige then recounted Athena's story, in its entirety, something that Hammerlock could have done without, She then went on to explain her desire to being Felicity back, and that was why she needed a team. It was a noble reason he supposed, to want to save an innocent who had herself helped to save lives on Elpis. It wasn't saving the planet from a monolithic corporation, but how many missions did the Vault Hunter's go on that was as simple as collecting Skag meat. This was a quest in search of the soul of one that was lost, most importantly it was something.
"If you are determined to take on this task then I will join you." Hammerlock told Gaige.
"Yeeeeeesss! We're really on our way to a real group. We still need to get a few more people, three's not enough to get this done"
"Three? Who else have you already asked to join?"
"Oh well, Claptrap is coming of course."
"What. Claptrap is also on this mission. Uh I think perhaps I have some other matters I must attend to."
"Oh stop, Claptrap's not that bad. He helped stop Jack, and everyone is always so mean to him just because sometimes he doesn't know when to stop talking. But maybe if people would just spend with him and talk to him he wouldn't be so starved to attention to go so far. We couldn't even get anyone else to come to his party, I mean he got pizza and everything, it was sad. Besides other than Athena he was the only one who was part of the Jack's team who can help us. Well unless you want to wait for your sister to get here."
That got Hammerlock's attention. As annoying a Claptrap could be, spending time in his company was preferable to that of his sister. Her complete arrogance and contempt of everyone else made her unbearable to be around. "Yes well I suppose Claptrap is not the worst possible companion"
"We do still need a few more people, but I just don't know who to ask" Gaige sighed at their dilemma. The inclusion of Claptrap to the group was obvious due to his connection to the death of Felicity and needing his knowledge. Her crush on Hammerlock was really the deciding factor in asking him to join her mission, he did have useful skills which totally contributed to her decision. But who else can she ask? Sure there are tons of former soldiers all around sanctuary, I mean they are mostly Crimson Raiders. But lest be honest, they're pretty much all mooks. I mean they wouldn't put up any more of a fight than the hundreds of bandits they the Vault Hunters had slaughtered in their time on Pandora. There are really only a few people that the Vault Hunters had net who can hold there own in this type of fight, but how was Gaige going to decide who to ask, who had the best skills needed for this recovery mission.
"I'm in." Came a sultry voice from behind.
Both Gaige and Hammerlock looked up and saw Moxxi standing before them. Moxxi had always been beautiful and stunning, everyone on Pandora knew who she was and desired her. Now while still beautiful, she was clearly not at her best, her appearance being disheveled, her makeup applied messily, her clothes not quite orderly. She had taken Scooter's death very hard, feeling like she should have been able to do something. Of course she was no stranger to death being a Pandora native, but this was her son. She had become irate and short with everyone around her, especially if they were trying to give her condolences.
"I've been listening to your conversation and I'm joining you."
Hammerlock and Gaige looked at each other unsure if Moxxi participating would be a good idea given her state of mind right now. Would she really be focused on the mission or did she just want to hurt something? Well let's be serious its Moxxi she wants to hurt something. But that was the problem, under normal circumstances she would be a great asset to the team. She was ruthless, good with a gun, and a great engineer.
Hammerlock started to speak "Are you sure that you should be taking part in anything so demanding right now after what happened with..."
"Stop. I don't need to be coddled, I was born on Pandora. My own family would gladly kill me and Ellie. I've seen plenty of death, Scooter's isn't going to break me. What I need is to do something, and fixing something done by Jack could be that thing. If I get to kill Hyperion in the process, the better."
Moxxi had latched onto the fact that it was while on a mission against Hyperion that Scooter died. No Hyperion personal were actually responsible for his death, as it had been a malfunction of the ship, but she needed something to target and everyone hated Hyperion.
"It would be a good idea to have another engineer around to help fix Felicity when we find her." Gaige added with excitement.
"Yes well I suppose having another experienced individual on this mission would be favorable." Was Hammerlock's response
"Experienced? Are you calling me old, sugar?"
"What?! No er um..."
"Look we need to get started on our mission. I don't know who else we should recruit but there is something that I need to do before we leave."
The train came to a stop at the Lynchwood station. Four figures departed. The exuberant Gaige, busting with excitement and jumping around to get going. Next comes Claptrap, nervous and hesitant about leaving the safety of the train. Hammerlock steps onto the station with an air of refined dignity. Last came Mad Moxxi, making as much of a production as she could, drawing every eye to her.
Why had they come to Lynchwood in the first place? Their mission involved Hyperion technology and the fate of Felicity, they should be looking at Helios or on Elpis. Well the reason for the detour was personal.
"Since all the other guys are gone for a while I'm supposed to be the one taking care of feeding Dukino. He's all by himself and needs us to take care of him."
"Wait we're here for that pet Skag you and the other Vault Hunters adopted?" Moxxi interjected.
"Yep, he's just a poor little baby and he needs us."
"He's a Skag. They're incredibly hard to kill, and can survive on almost anything."
"No, Dukino's really nice and can't take care of himself. I mean his own mother tired to kill him! That's messed up."
Now one would think that even with Jack gone that just walking into Lynchwood would be a dangerous proposition even for a group as tough as this. Normally it would have been crawling with bandits wanting a piece of the Vault Hunters. After Jack was defeated, Salvadore came back to town and took over the position of Sheriff of Lynchwood, effectively he ran the whole town because who was going to argue with Sal. The end result was that Lynchwood was one of the safest towns on Pandora. Most of the bandits still hung around, but they just knew better than to make trouble, usually there were always some brawls and giant gun battles, but this was Pandora wouldn't be fun otherwise.
It was a short walk from the train station to Dukino's cavern. They actually met some bandits who decided it was a good idea to attack some Vault Hunters, sadly no good loot. As they came into the cave where Dukino was he ran out to greet Gaige. She happily started to pet him and shower him with affection as if he were a puppy and not one of the most dangerous creatures on Pandora.
"Aw whose a good boy? Yes you are, yes you are."
"Do you realize how odd it is to have a Skag as a pet" Came from Hammerlock.
"Tina has a pet Skag, and so did Crazy Earl."
"That does not help your case about not being weird."
Gaige spent a little bit of time playing with Dukino, making sure he wasn't feeling neglected being so far from most of the Vault Hunters. Once Gaige was done with her fun she set upon getting Dukino a babysitter. Looking at some of the bandits still hanging around the cave she addressed them.
"Hey, you morons better keep an eye on Dukino while I'm gone on my awesome mission."
"What, why would we do anything a Vault Hunter said"
"Because if you don't then you can explain why to Deathtrap."
The local bandits suddenly decided that babysitting a young Skag would not be such a bad idea after all.
As the group wandered through downtown Lynchwood they discussed filling the rest of their vault hunting team.
"Well I think we need two more members for our group before we really get started on our mission."
"Why six members?" asked Hammerlock.
"Don't know, seems like the right amount."
Then a man came up to the group, at first glance it seemed to be a Nomad but it was the Deputy. The Vault Hunters were glad that they had avoided killing him in their confrontation with Nisha, he was a good guy just trying to keep people safe in a bad situation. While Sal was doing a good job as Sheriff, no one dared attack Lynchwood, it was the Deputy who was making sure to run the day to day of the town. He greeted the group of would be adventurers.
"Hey what are you guys doing out here?"
"Oh just had to make sure Dukino would be taken care of.
"Why'd you need to do that?"
"Well we're going on a mission."
"Something to do with the Crimson Raiders?"
"No this isn't exactly a Vault Hunter thing, although it is fixing something that some Vault Hunters did." Gaige said giving Claptrap a pointed look.
"Ah well I suppose I should wish you good luck on your little mission."
"Actually I was thinking that we needed a couple more people for the team, so why don't you join."
"Wait what, I am just a normal guy I don't want any part of this Vault Hunter stuff."
"No it'll be great, besides you need to get out and see more than just Lynchwood."
"But I'm not trained to be an adventurer."
"Trained? I'm a teenage girl who ran away from home with a killer robot. We just figure it out as we go along. Besides you're a deputy and you held your own pretty well in that fight we had with Nisha."
"But I need to stay and take care of Lynchwood, make sure the people are safe."
"No it'll be fine, so just come on."
Gaige grabs the resistant Deputy and drags him along with the group. He continues protesting but his words are ignored. The rest of the group just goes along with Gaige's whims as they know that it won't do any good to say anything she will just go and do what she wants, Claptrap is sympathetic to his plight.
Now that Gaige had dealt with caring for Dukino and added another member to their group, the team of Vault Hunters started to depart from the town of Lynchwood. They were just about to get on the train when someone cried out to them, very loudly.
"HEY YOU BUNCH A BADASSES! WHATCHA THINK YOU'RE DOING!"
Gaige sighed "Torgue what are you doing here?"
"I heard that you were making a team to go on AN ADVENTURE!"
"Uh well yeah but how did you..."
"Oh and is looks like you're filling it mostly with NPCs making for a unique story. Which is Radical, BWEEDLELELELE.
"Okay so we'll just get going..."
"WAIT! I wanna join you guys. I'm sick of just giving people awesome missions and talking about how all the Vault Hunters are a bunch of Badasses. I want to get out there and participate in the AWSOMENESS!"
"Are your sure, I mean you're busy with your company.."
"No, I was fired remember, all I have is time now!"
"Well do you have any skills that would be useful."
"WHAT?! OF COURSE I DO! I CAN WRESTLE SHARKS AND SKAGS AND I INVENTED TORGUE GUNS. I AM A BONAFIDE BADASS."
Gaige was thinking about having Torgue join the Group. His personality was a bit extreme but so was hers if she was honest. Overall he would be an asset. He invented a great number of powerful weapons and he has lived in dangerous conditions similar to Pandora. There was not really any reason to not have Torgue join the team.
"Yeah sure Torgue come on we're going to head back to Sanctuary and make sure we have any equipment we need then we're getting started."
"AWESOME! BWEEDLELELELELEL."
The group of six met in Moxxi's bar gathering up all of the equipment that they believe they will need for the mission that is before them. Checking their weapons, ammo, health kits, and mods to ensure that they have whatever they need. Hammerlock was inspecting his rifles, making sure they were clean and working, checking scopes calibrating sights. Moxxi gathering mostly submachine guns, with of course elemental effects, and preparing items for healing. The Deputy was reluctantly getting his guns together, a mixture of shotguns and pistols. Claptrap scurrying around panicking about the imminent danger they were about to be in. Torgue was just playing air guitar and spouting about how bad ass this mission was going to be. Gaige meanwhile was gathering up what she felt she would most need for the mission. Besides of course many guns and a lot of ammo, she was bringing her tools and other supplies that would be best suited to help with saving Felicity when they did find her.
It looked like everyone was ready so Gaige started to explain their plan so far.
"The first place we should look is the remains of Helios. That is here on Pandora so its the easiest to get to and may have some intact computer system for us to access."
"Helios crashed into Pandora, do you really think there will be anything usable left in that ruble."
"Well we don't have much else to go off of so this is really the best plan we have at the moment. If there is nothing there then we will have to deal with it when it happens but unless anyone has any other ideas..."
"I guess we're off to the remains of Helios."
The vehicles pulled to a stop just outside the crashed remains of Helios. The team all disembarked and loosely gathered around. Gaige surveyed the mass of wreckage unsure of where they should even start. It was one thing to know that Helios had crashed and was in pieces, but seeing it up close made her begin to doubt that there would be anything to possibly recover from the remains. The rest of the ream looked equally daunted by the task before them.
"So where should we start?"
"Well I guess we just look around and hope to stumble on something."
"We should be on the look for any computer consoles there is a chance that they could contain information that we need."
With that the group split up and started to rummage through the various scraps around them. Of course the majority of everything was beyond any kind of salvaging. Gaige was starting to give up hope of finding anything when suddenly she noticed a laser on her chest. She looked around not seeing anyone, not knowing what else to do she called out to the rest of the team.
"Hey it looks like we're not alone!"
Claptrap was the first to reach Gaige. When he was withing sight he questioned her. "What's going on?"
"Look at my chest."
Seeing the red dot Claptrap stated to panic. "Ah you're targeted! I gotta get outta here!"
Claptrap made to run but them noticed he also had a red dot aimed on his body. The rest of the team came up and each of them also got a laser dot aimed on them.
"Well this looks like a bit of a situation we've gotten into."
"Okay who's ambushing us?"
"THIS IS A TOTALLY NOT RADICAL METHOD OF ATTACK! JUST COME OUT AND FIGHT!"
They waited for a moment before a voice came out from the debris around them.
"Okay, you're surrounded so just put your guns down and your hands up."
There was a brief moment of silence then the vault hunters(with the exception of the Deputy and Claptrap) just burst into laughter.
"Oh yeah we better give up cause they got the jump on us. Ha ha ha ha ha"
"Whatever will we do with guns pointed at us"
"Ha Ha Ha Ha"
"Okay let's just shoot our way out of here."
"Wait, wait don't shoot! We're not armed just stop!" came the panicked cries of the voice that had called for their surrender. A figure came out of hiding with his hands raised, he was short and looked much like a typical bandit. He was shirtless and had a mask on, almost looking like something between a Psycho and a Midget.
"Look there is no need for violence we can't hurt you."
"Even if you had been a gang of armed bandits, you wouldn't have had much of a chance of hurting us."
"A little arrogant aren't you."
"We're Vault Hunters, this is what we do." Was Gaige's reply.
"Hey now Vault Hunters die all the time, it's dangerous."
"Yeah well not us we're the best"
The half psycho just stood there to a moment tilting his head clearly thinking she was insane. Of course this being Gaige he was completely correct.
Gaige then questioned the apparent bandit leader again. "Your awfully talkative for a Psycho aren't you?"
"What? Oh no I'm not a Pyscho, just a second."
The bandit then removed his mask revealing a face that very much did not match what one would expect to find on the Bandit scum of Pandora. He had short brown hair and a beard. He also looked rather nerdy to be honest, of course his muscled physique seemed to ruin that image, creating a weird juxdiposition.
"Okay so who are all of you? You're definitely not bandits. So what are you doing here?"
"We're the Children of Helios."
"What?"
"We're the survivors of the crash of Helios."
"Wait that means all of you worked for Hyperion!"
The Vault Hunter's tensed up and started to level their weapons.
"Whoa, just wait a second. We were just the corporate support people okay. We were in accounting, purchasing, marketing, receiving. You know stuff like that. We didn't take part in what Jack did. We were victims too. Hyperion fostered a dog eat dog environment. People literally killed each other for advancement. You towed the line or you were dead. Helios crashing was the best thing for all of us. We were finally free from Hyperion, from the corporate grind. We're living our lives how we want to now."
The Vault Hunters stood there taking in the speech given by Vaughn. Looking around they could see that these were not the people that had caused such havoc on Pandora. The sight was rather pathetic really, just a bunch of former cubicle dwellers scraping by in the harshness of Pandora. They started to lower their weapons, except for one.
"They're Hyperion no matter what they say. I should kill them all."
"Moxxi just wait a second."
"No! How can you just let them go. After everything they've done. Everyone they've..."
"Stop! I know you've been hurting after Scooter died, but killing these people won't make you feel better."
"Wait. You guys knew Scooter?"
"He was my son! Don't say his name! Hyperion is the reason he's gone."
"I'm sorry, it's just that I knew him."
"What do you mean? How could you know Scooter?"
"I was part of the group he helped get onto Helios."
"Wait, you're one of those Vault Hunters?"
"Well, yeah. Me, Rhys, Fiona, Sasha, Athena, Loaderbot, hey even Claptrap was there at the final Battle."
The group stopped and looked at Claptrap, who was trying to look casual and failing horribly.
"You were part of another group of Vault Hunters?"
"Ah, oh yeah um. It was just the one time. I needed to make some money and was working as a mercenary you know. They had the money so boom, instant Vault Hunter."
"Yeah we greatly overpaid on that one."
The atmosphere lightened a bit as everyone took in the exchange. But just as quickly it became just as tense.
"You were with those Vault Hunters that took Scooter into Space to Helios? The reason Scooter is dead?!"
The light mood left immediately as everyone realized the situation just got a lot worse. Moxxi was angry before, but now she was completely consumed by her rage. The rest of the team realized that things were quickly going to spiral out of control. Gaige decided that she needed to intervene before Moxxi killed this guy, who they might need.
"Moxxi just stop." Gaige said.
"No! You don't get it, Scooter is dead because he and his friends wanted to play Vault hunter!" screamed Moxxi.
"It wasn't his fault Moxxi. Scooter chose to help them. He wanted to help them. They came to him because they needed someone who could do what he did. You know that all of us know the risks we take just by living here on Pandora. Scooter was not some civilian that needed protection, he could handle himself, he died because the world sucks and sometimes the people we care about die. You've lived on Pandora your whole life, you know this just happens."
Moxxi stood there, not saying anything, but looking just as angry and ready to kill their new friend? Finally Moxxi let her gun drop to her side. "Fine I won't do anything, for now." Moxxi said.
The situation had been resolved at least for a little while. The group stood around not entirely sure of how to move on after the very tense situation. Finally Gaige decided to move things along. "Okay we need to just get to why we came here in the first place."
"Oh, there was something you wanted?"
"We came here because we were looking for something that might have been held on Helios."
"Well as you can see not much has survived the fall."
Yes but it's possible that what we're looking for could still be around. What we need is the first Constructor that Jack built when he was on Elpis. The one he used to build the army he fought Dahl with."
"The first Constructor? Jack made a lot of updates and improvements to the Constructors, what possible use could you have for the first one?"
"It's not the body of the Constructor we need, what we want is the mind that Jack forced into it. The AI named Felicity that he maimed for his own purposes." Gaige began to growl out her statements as she grew more angry as she remembered the true purpose of their adventure. The party was quiet as they witnessed her rage.
"I uh yes what we need is the AI that was used as the basis for all the Constructors. He might have altered the programming and the hardware but he would have had to keep the original to make his changes to. Jack would have been smart enough to know it would be too risky to not have an unchanged template to work on. Copies of copies would reduce the effectiveness of his system."
"Well I wouldn't know anything about that I was just an accountant. Oh uh I'm Vaughn by the way. Well I guess we could ask Randy, he was in charge of archives and storage of old projects. So he would probably know where it is if Hyperion still had it at the time Helios fell."
The group followed Vaughn as he led them deeper into the wreckage of Helios. They passed by the various members of the Children of Helios, a little unnerved by the vacant stares directed at them. They arrived at a section of the ruins that seemed to be used for living. Vaughn then motioned towards a certain individual who was seated by a fire.
"This is Randy since he was in charge of storage he might know what you're looking for. Hey Randy these guys are looking for something that Hyperion might have had, could you help them out"
"Oh uh well I guess I could see if I could do something, but as you can see everything went down with Helios."
"What we're looking for might have survived this crash. We want the original Constructor."
"The first Constructor? Not sure why you'd be interested in that. Jack made a number of improvements on the model from the beginning. The latest Constructors that were being used by the end were more powerful and efficient then the first one."
"What we care about is the system in the data core of the constructor. We want Felicity."
"The Primary system of the Constructor? Well okay let me check my files. When we evacuated during the Fall I had my computer with me. Thought we would just be getting back to work later, who knew? Okay let's see here...ah well this is a problem."
"What you don't have the information?"
"No, well not now but I did. The information for this was on a special data core that did survive the Fall, but I don't have it anymore."
"What happened to it."
"It was taken when the others left."
Vaughn reacted to that, grimacing and stepping back.
"Vaughn what is he talking about? What others does he mean?"
"Ah well not everybody who survived the Fall became part of the Children of Helios. We're mostly the support staff, you know the office workers. The other more action involved decided to try and make it as bandits."
"What?! Who are these guys?"
"Well you know the security forces, the combat engineers, some of the scientists and a lot of the top executives who were really cutthroat and are perfectly fine with killing innocent people."
"Oh its like what happened when Atlas fell. The former soldiers all became bandits and raiders."
"Okay so we just go to their camp, kill them and take the data core."
"It won't be that simple. The soldiers who left didn't stay together. There are three different groups and I don't know which one has the core. If you want to find it you'll have to go to each camp to search."
"Of course we do. Who wants to bet that the core will be in the last camp we search no matter what?"
Everybody raised their hands.
"Well I guess we better get to it. Vaughn send the locations of these Hyperion bandits to our echo devices."