Unfortunately, Cort couldn't. Basic niceties and manners still went a long way in whatever situation she found herself in, if only for the flat out element of surprise. The one glaring exception(and so far the only, although she wasn't very optimistic about it being the last) was that of Colin Moriarty. Cort found herself reflecting on her arse outside for the third time in as many days.

Looking back, she was pretty sure her second (conscious) day in the Wasteland had turned out to be even more ludicrous than her first(the third wasn't much better from where she was currently sitting). She had started out in hock, followed by severe voluntary irradiation and involuntary mutation, and hadn't THAT been a conversation for the ages.

"Well gee honey, don't worry! It's really kinda fascinating!" Moira cooed over her. "It's totally invisible, and aside from a little bit of sluggish reflexes, it seems pretty beneficial!" Cort was convinced that anything that came out of Moira's mouth had a better than 80% chance of being exclamatory by this time. Usually in a rising ratio of chipper to inappropriate, depending on how horrible the circumstances were. "Once you get up past 400 Rads, your limbs'll heal up for ya, just like a ghoul. Great for the high probability of injury out there!"

"Ghoul?" And therein came another wound out explanation and another complex to add to her burgeoning collection. Cort started hiccuping again somewhere towards the end between 'tissue loss' and 'ferals'.

"Oh honey, would you like a drink of water for those?"

"No, nonono that's fine Moira. So. Does this mean I'm going to rot into oblivion now or-"

"Oh no dear, I don't think so. You seem to have skipped over any worries about that, probably since you went from no real lifetime radiation exposure to a catastrophic level and back down again so fast. It'd be interesting to see if I could get the same results with other subje-er volunteers!" Moira hesitated, looking worried for possibly the first time since Cort had encountered her this morning. Was it only a few hours? She wasn't quite sure she'd met anyone that could make her feel so damned tired after such a short time, crazy health fluctuations or no. " I wouldn't go around telling anyone you can do it though. One, there might be people who'd want to find out how and not be as ethical as I am! Two, well, you might weird some people out just a smidge. We don't need someone shooting you in the head for preventative measures. Just make sure you use some of that Rad-Away I gave you before you wander back in around people, since you'll be clicking like a proverbial hot plutonium potato!"

"Th-thanks Moira. I should probably go find Simms and give him back the money he gave Doc Church for me. I'll see you later when I've got more stuff to sell or more...data." Cort fought her gorge down at the last word and scuttled out the door on it.

She found Simms neat the gate again and started hauling out the sack of caps she had counted out for him. "Sheriff, I'm sorry this took so long, Moira had me occupied a lot longer than I thought, and sorry for maybe scaring the hell out of you, the radiation made me a bit silly. Anyway here's your ca-"

"I saw your father about three days ago kid." Simms blurted it out before he could feel any worse with himself.

Cort's jaw nearly came unhinged. "Wha- but you said..."

"Listen, I know what I said, and right or wrong I'd probably do it again. You're green as hell and sending you after him like you are would probably get you killed. Hell, it's a wonder you're not dead already. I like you kid. You're nice, and completely wrong for the world you're in right now. But you solved a huge problem for me and a lot of people by disarming that bomb, and I owe you the truth for it. He came in and out on the same day after seeing Colin Moriarty up at his bar." Simms barreled on, first to get it out and second to head off what he saw welling up in Cort. It was either a grade-a bawling fit or a total meltdown; judging by how glassy her eyes were going behind the shades, he was betting on the former. "But look. You've put yourself in a position that'll benefit you even more this way. I've got an empty house here, that we've been saving for anyone crazy enough to get that pile of crap defused as an incentive. Even comes with a robot." Simms pressed the key and deed into her hand, then shoved it into one of her pockets when it was clear the fingers weren't going to close on it even in reflex. Then he stood back and waited for the deluge.

Cort belatedly closed her hand and stood there gobbling in front of someone for the second time that day. "What? Whaaat? Whatwhat...HAAAHAA" She slammed her hands over her mouth, flinching when the sack of caps banged into her nose, then dropped them to her neck. "Oh I get it. It's give, get right? Hurt? Pay for it. Need money? Sell stuff. Need honesty? Disarm a NUCLEAR WEAPON. COMES WITH FREE SHACK." Cort took a moment to firmly tell herself that she was not going to bray like a maniacal donkey again, and definitely did not need to burp, hiccup, or vomit, one bit, in the slightest.

"Miss Cort. Cort. Cort!" Apparently she had taken longer than a moment. Simms was peering at her, not quite daring to give her a nudge. Cort resolutely pushed her hands back down and stared at him. "I won't say I'm sorry because I'm not. Moriarty is one two faced sonofabitch. I know that probably sounds hollow, coming right after what I just dropped on you, but he's dangerous. Likes to style himself Mayor of Megaton, even though he's not, but he still has a lot of influence and fingers in a lot of different pots. I don't know what your father needed to see him for, but he probably didn't want you to go in after him, and I DO know that there's nothing I can do now to stop you and I'm sorry for that. All I can do is tell you to be careful."

Cort stared at him for a long minute, down at the ground for another, and then back up again. "Thank you for telling me and the warning. I'm sorry I ever smiled at you. Here's your Goddamn 50 caps." Cort flung them on the ground, hitched up her sack, and strode with her head up toward her new house. Simms watched her slam the door, looked down at the little bag at his feet and sighed.

Cort fumbled with the deadbolt and locked her door, sliding down into a heap in front of it. She took a moment to tell the Mister Handy Wadsworth she didn't need anything, pulled her old Vault suit out of her bag, then balled it into her mouth and screamed for a very long time.


Last chapter for a few days! I've got two contests to prepare designs for this week so next update will probably be around Friday.