Gate: Thus the Brotherhood of Steel Lyon's Pride Fought in Their Land

Chapter Seventeen - Museum of Natural History/Underworld - Rory

She looked around at the walking corpses, seeing the rotting faces, and she saw not the anguish of the damned. She had expected to see unsettled souls that were lost to their own death. Denied even the most basic of transitions, and all because none had accurately mourned them. What she saw was people that were simply working together. One of which was studying her garments.

"Those are the most fantastic things I've ever seen," the raspy voice said, "Please, please I'd love to see if I could make something close to that, do you mind if I sketch how you look?"

She neared the one talking, "I do not mind, but know that this is the raiments to be worn by those who serve Emroy."

The corpse nodded, "I will treat it with absolute respect," she said as she gestured toward a spot near where a small counter was, "Ah, I've been a dress maker for long. You know, I actually got started before the great war. My mom talked me into going to a trade school. I was young and wanted to fight against it."

She gave a raspy laugh, "I thought that I was in love," she said, a faint laugh on her lips, "His name was Michael, and he was a soldier. We'd been together for a single night before he was shipped off. I had swore that I'd wait for him. He ended up going to Anchorage. After the end of the battle, well the war came. Michael never made it home."

Rory looked at her, "I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm sure that he was a warrior to the end."

The walking corpse shook her head, "My Michael was brave alright, and a little bit of an idiot. I'm sure that he somehow lived through the battle, but I've got to figure that he ended up dying before he got here. Too much happened, and maybe I'm wrong. The last I heard was that he was near Boston, and would be heading back here. I don't know if that's true or not, but I'd like to believe that he was coming back to me."

She laughed lightly, the raspy sound catching a little in her throat, "Now, let's see about sketching this down."

Rory watched as she began to draw, and to her amazement she was quick. She could see the way she moved her hand that she was indeed an artisan, and she seemed to be confident in her craft. Looking around she saw multiple examples of clothes that were hanging. Dresses that ranged from simple to bizarre, and the same could be said for pant suits. The corpse worked for several minutes, and at times she would grab something that looked almost burned on one end. She would rub it against the paper she was using, and then she would rework what she was doing.

After a few moments she stood back, "Now, that looks lovely. I'm going to add some color, and then I'll make it," she said before she looked at Rory, "And the first one that I make is yours."

Rory nodded, and she began to walk around. There was an entire community here, and it was odd for her. Then she heard the term that the giant she had faced said. She heard the word ghoul. She looked to see two of the corpses speaking to one another.

"Naw, I'm tellin' ya, there ain't no smooth skin ghouls, it's impossible," the one on the left said, "I mean, how would that even work? You know what happens when you're a ghoul. You look like you've been left in the oven too long."

There was a shared raspy laugh, "Yeah, yeah, I know," he replied, "But I'm just saying that I've heard stories. Like, that one ghoul that claimed that he walked all of the way here from Vegas. He swore that there was a ghoul that was smoothed skin at some rocket launch pad."

She moved toward them, and stopped, "What's a ghoul?"

They looked at her for a moment, "Well, smoothskin, a ghoul is someone that's had a nice long radiation bath. Most of us prewar ghouls were turned after the bombs dropped."

She looked at them, "Turned how?"

They studied each other, and then looked back at her, "Ain't ya never met no ghoul before?"

She shook her head, "No, but I was called one, I wanted to know why."

The shorter of the two looked at her and pointed toward a bench. He walked toward it and took a seat. She followed suit and sat down next to him, "So, why would someone call me a ghoul?"

The corpse shrugged, "Don't know why someone would call a smoothskin a ghoul. I really don't, but we ghouls, the oldest of us, are a couple of hundred years old. The ones that are prewar were alive before the bombs dropped," he said as he looked across the hall, "See, I was working a beat downtown D.C. I was a beat cop back then."

He laughed, "Guess in a way I still am. I help out with the security here," he replied, "but uh, when the bomb dropped I was busy trying to get people anywhere that I could. I had a bunch run into the subway system. Most likely it helped against the blast, but didn't likely do anything against the radiation. Gotta figure that most of the ferals in the area are from that fuck up."

He looked at her, "So, if you were called a ghoul I'm guessing that someone just didn't like you. Cause ain't noone want to be called a ghoul."

"Why?" she asked as she looked at him, "You seem nice enough."

He gave a smile, "And you're a nice kid for saying so," he said before he shrugged, "Being called a ghoul is like being called less than human. It ain't true by the way. Most of us ghouls are just the same as we were before we were turned. We still feel pain, and we have wants and desires, but maybe it's because we go feral after a while."

She looked at him and he shook his head, "It happens to every ghoul, every single one, they start losing their minds. If they've got a strong enough will, maybe they can last, maybe, but it's not a guarantee."

She looked at them, a sort of shock showed on her face, "That's not right," she said, her voice a little more than a whisper, "Why would your gods allow that to happen?"

The ghoul looked at her, "Don't know," he replied, his voice oddly calm, "If I were to be honest I wasn't a very religious person before, and well, seeing people just die around you sort of knocks the wind from your sails. That said, if there are gods here, and I ain't one to say that there are, then they've done a piss poor job of doing their jobs."

He shrugged, and then he pointed toward Adam that was walking toward him, "Heh, here comes another smooth skin that's actually pretty decent. If you're friends with him then I suppose that you're okay."

She looked at him, nodded, and then stood and walked toward Adam, "Why did we come here?" she asked, feeling far more emotion than she wanted to admit, "What was the purpose? Was it to just let me find out what ghouls are?"

Adam shook his head, "No, I needed to talk to Doctor Barrows," he replied as he pointed behind him, "He's the resident doctor, the top authority on ghouls, and the best authority on Super Mutants. Sarah wants us to arrange a meeting with the Outcasts, but I wanted to help cover our bases. If anyone can help figure out Horrigan it's Doctor Barrows."

She nodded, "I see," she said as she looked around, "How are Tuka and Lelei doing?"

He shrugged, "They're both at Carol's Place, and I'm sure that she's treating them well. We should go check on them though. Also, I'm sure that after our meeting with the Outcasts we'll be heading to Canterbury Commons," he said, "Elder Lyons suggested that we ask the merchants to consider trade with the otherside. I suppose it can't hurt."

She took a look at him, "What's at Canterbury Commons?" she asked, "Is it a trading hub like Italica?"

Adam thought for a moment, and then he nodded, "It's kinda the same," he said, his voice sounding a little uncertain, "See, the merchants usually gather there. They have a building that they work from, and it's also where most of them either store a good deal of their merchandise or they work on things they're going to sell."

She nodded, and then looked toward the stairwell, "So where is Carol's Place?"

He pointed toward the stairs themselves, "Up the stairs and toward the back. It's the museum's old snack bar. She's repurposed it as a small diner. It's actually pretty nice for what it is."

She followed him as he led her toward the stairwell itself. Walking up she saw a strange floating ball with little limbs sticking out of it. The ball stopped in front of her, "Oh, another zombie lover, fantastic," the mechanical voice said, "As if he wasn't enough."

"Cerberus," Adam said catching the strange ball's attention, "Aren't you supposed to be guarding Underworld?"

"That's exactly what I'm doing, you zombie loving fanatic," Cerberus growled, "Peace to all you rotting piles of flesh! Oh I hate this pansy zombie programming."

It floated past her, and Adam noticed that Rory's lips seemed to be changing color a little, "What is that thing?"

"Oh, never mind him," came a raspy female voice, "Cerberus is a repurposed Mr. Gutsy. I heard that Dr. Barrow found him years ago, did some quick reprogramming on him, and now he protects all of us from intruders. As long as everyone plays nice he's pretty much kept on his chain. If they act up too much he can use his plasma rounds or flamethrower on them. Not that we want that kind of trouble here."

She looked toward the voice and saw another ghoul. The ghoul gave what she assumed was a polite smile, "Welcome to Carol's place, I'm Carol, so, what can I do for you two?"

Adam grinned, "Hi Carol, we're actually here to get the other two that are with us. We've got some ground to cover," he said, "Although we may stop back by if you've got any more perfectly preserved pie."

She laughed, "Oh, just found another Dine-O-Matic a few buildings down. It took about six hours, but I managed to snag a few pieces. If you're gonna come back I'll put one back for you."

He smiled, "Thanks," he replied, "I'll owe you."

Rory watched the interaction, and then she saw something. She moved toward it and she knew that the others were paying attention. She didn't mind. She stopped when she looked at the meat that was currently being grilled.

"What's that?"

Another ghoul looked up at her, "Oh, that? That's Yao Guai," the ghoul said as she worked the stove, "Willow managed to put one down yesterday, and we've just finished butchering it. Interested in some stew or ribs?"

Rory nodded, "It smells good," she said as she watched as the ghoul finished working and put two large ribs in front of her, "I believe it was a powerful creature."

The ghoul smiled, "Yeah, Yao Guais are pretty brutal," she replied as she went back to cooking, "They tend to not care if something is bigger than it or not. I've seen one face down a death claw before. Sure, the death claw got it, but not before it tore some big hunks out of its legs."

Rory took a taste and she could taste how magnificent it was. There was a tangy taste on it, almost as if it had been seasoned by a deity itself. She chewed the first piece slowly, and then she began to slowly eat the wonderful meal before her. She finished and the ghoul looked at her, "Glad that you liked it," she said before she looked over toward Adam, "So, on your tab?"

Adam shook his head, and Rory watched as he fished out a small bag. She watched as he counted out small metal disks, and then pushed them toward her, "Thanks Greta," he said as she took the disks, "So, how's things going with Carol? Gob finally make it back here?"

Greta rolled her eyes, "Yeah, he did," she replied, "It's not bad, glad to have him around, but she's been acting like a mother hen. Doesn't matter, so anyway, thanks for taking care of his contract with Moriarty. I might not like how close they are, but I wouldn't want anyone to be indebted to that asshole."

Rory looked at them for a moment, "Who is Moriarty?"

Greta looked at her, "So, haven't been to Megaton yet?" she asked as she looked at Adam, "Well if you go there's a place called Moriarty's Saloon. The guy that runs it is Moriarty, and he's a piece of filth. You won't find a more worthless man in all of the wastes."

She looked at her, "So why hasn't someone done something about him?"

Greta shrugged, "Not sure," she replied, "I guess that he hasn't actually broken any laws, and there's nothing that says that you can't get someone so deep in debt that they either have to work for you, or become your personal whore, or whatever else in order to pay them back. Take my advice, if you go to Megaton, don't go to his place."

She looked back at Adam, "Always good to see you," she said before she turned back toward the meat cooking, "You're one of the good smooth skins, and glad that you've met some others that are pretty decent. Don't mind them coming around."

They began to leave and Rory watched as Tuka neared him, "The people here are different."

She watched as he considered it for a moment, "They are, but for the most part they're just people."

She nodded, "Also, why did one of them refer to you as boss?"

He stopped, "Ummm, well, I sort of own the Ninth Circle."

There was a pause, "What's that?" Rory asked, "What's the Ninth Circle?"

He breathed out, motioned toward them, and they followed him until he opened a door and they saw another counter. This time there was a different ghoul behind it. The ghoul behind it looked happy, if Rory was reading him right, and he seemed to be chatting it up with other ghouls.

"Welcome back boss," the ghoul said, "Good to see you again."

She watched as Adam walked toward him, "Glad to be here Gob, how's everything going?"

The ghoul, Gob, motioned toward the room, "It's going well enough," he replied, "Everyone is taking care of themselves. We're not competing directly with Carol's Place, and for the most part everyone just likes the atmosphere."

He nodded, "Good, say you don't mind that I left you to run this place, do you?"

Gob shook his head, "Not at all," he replied, "I get a good place to sleep, plenty of caps, and I even got Charon to help out when needed. Which, thanks for telling him to help guard the Underworld."

Adam nodded, "It's no problem," he said before he looked around, "We've got a few places to get to, but I'll drop by again."

With that Adam led them out of the room, and they once again began to head downstairs, "Why do you own that place?" Tuka asked, "Is there a good reason?"

Adam shook his head as they walked, "The original owner wasn't a good person, at all, and he did some seriously bad things," he replied as they moved toward the entrance of Underworld, "Most of what he did is stuff I don't feel comfortable talking about, but regardless when I freed Charon he dealt with him. Afterward it sat unowned for a while, and finally Doctor Barrows asked if I wanted to purchase it. So, I did, but since Underworld is a ghoul community I needed a ghoul to run it. So, I bought Gob's contract to Moriarty, freed him, and offered him a job running the Ninth Circle."

Lelei walked beside him, "And did this action not upset anyone?"

Adam shook his head, "For the most part ghouls are just like anyone else. They really just want to be treated with respect," he replied as they walked, "I could have ran it myself, but I know that it would be easier on them if another ghoul ran it. So, that's why I talked to Gob and had him do it."

They left the building and Rory watched as he looked at the thing on his wrist, "Okay, we've got to get to the Outcasts' headquarters, and while we could request a vertibird I don't think that's the best option," he said as they began to walk, "Instead we'll follow the streets and get there. It shouldn't take more than a couple of hours."

As they walked Rory took in the sight around them. It was easy to see how much was being repaired, but she could see where damage had been done. One thing that she had said before still felt true. She felt a presence, the presence of a deity, and it was surrounding her. It was practically everywhere, and she could almost hear it whispering. The whispers sounded like the screaming that Adam's weapon made.

It was the same voices, but it was sweetly whispering that it knew she was different. Somehow she could hear it, she could sense it, and she knew that whatever it was she wanted no part of it. It felt sickening. Almost as if its very touch would be poison. Those around her, the ghouls, didn't seem to be affected by it, but then maybe they just couldn't hear it. One of them had said that all ghouls eventually go feral. That they eventually lose themselves.

She wondered if perhaps this deity she felt all around was the cause. It felt malicious, almost as if it wanted to ensure that everything connected to it would perish. In a way it felt as if it wanted the world to finish ending, to be wiped clean, and she didn't like it. Emroy didn't want mindless slaughter for the world. Emroy wanted balance. Deaths would come when births came. The numbers would remain mostly in balance, and it would never truly move far past one another.

Wars came when there was a surplus of lives brought into the world. But, if things were close, and a war came, then after the war there would be a boom in births. The numbers would return once again to balance. It was the way the world worked, it was how the power of Emroy maintained itself. To want full slaughter was to want nothingness. It was to want to end all existence, and that included the deities themselves.

For they could not exist without the life forces that fueled them. Emroy couldn't exist without the lives of those that lived. Emroy would weaken if there were no more deaths. It was better to maintain a balance instead of attempting to speed the demise of all that lived. She shook as she felt the power, but then she looked toward Adam. He was from here, and the whispering voices didn't like him.

They hurled names like water bringer, life bringer, peace maker, and the way each word was spoken sounded like an insult. She followed the others, but before they began to move she walked not toward the direction they were going, but instead toward a strange looking temple. Inside of it was a statue of a man, and gathered around him were multiple individuals. She heard the others calling for her, but she walked toward the temple, and she stopped. More insults were hurled at the statue. Peace maker, equalizer, he who freed others, all of which sounded like insults. She breathed out, "I hear you," she said, her voice little more than a growl, "Understand that I am an apostle of Emroy. I serve Emroy, and Emroy does not drink in the deaths of all."

She knew that the others' eyes were on her, "Emroy ensures that there is balance, Emroy wishes for the wicked to be punished, the innocent to be protected, and you, whoever you are, wish for all death. Do not wish to meet me," she spat, her face scrunched into one of anger, "For I will personally ensure that Emroy's holy will be done unto you."

There was a loud crack in the sky, the sound of lighting, and then she felt the strike that happened so close to her. It was mere feet away, and she did not flinch, "Is that the best that you can do?"

Another crack, and another strike, and it was still away from her, "I see, you cannot attack that which is not open. You are pathetic," she hissed, "A parasite that waits to finish off the flesh remaining on a corpse. But we have come to ensure that this world is given a second chance. It will breathe again, and it will live. What will you do then?"

The strange screaming that happened when Adam fired his pistol filled the area. All could hear it, and all could see the green glowing energy that surrounded it. Still, it passed, and soon it was gone. She stood there for a moment, satisfied that she had managed to speak her peace, and then she looked toward Adam. She nodded, walked toward him, and they began to move toward the place that he said they needed to go to. They began to walk, and she noticed that Adam looked uncertain.

"What was that?"

She smiled slightly, "That was one of the gods of this realm. I had a small talk with it, and I explained that I would not abandon my post."

He walked beside her, "Wait, did you just say that you told a god to piss off?"

She tilted her head and then laughed, "Yes, actually that is very close to what I told this god. It is not the only one that I feel. I feel another, much younger, a little weaker, but slowly growing. It feels less malicious, but instead it just seems to exist."

He shrugged as they walked, "Maybe it's Atom," he said, before he shook his head, "No, I'm not named after him. Atom is the radiation god that some people worship. They claim that the radiation has gained intelligence, and that it chooses people to bless. They claim that it blessed the ghouls and turned them."

She cocked her head and then smiled, "Perhaps they're right," she replied, "It would explain why they go feral."

He stopped for a moment, "What do you mean?"

She looked at him, and she had to remember that for as intelligent as he was he was very young. He would likely always see things for how they were. He hadn't gained the experience yet that would allow him to look at things for how they could be, "The one I felt seems to be all around us, and I don't doubt for a moment that it is whispering in the ears of everyone. The ghouls that go feral, I think that they don't have the will power to keep resisting it. That it attacks them at their lowest, and then drives them over the edge."

She shrugged, "I could be wrong, but it seems like the most probable reason to me."

They began to walk again, and she looked back toward the building that held Underworld. Silently, she swore to help the ghouls. She would help them resist this god. She would help them find a purpose, and in doing so allow them to keep themselves. It would be something that this god that whispered to her would hate, and as an apostle of Emroy she could ask for nothing better.