Chapter 18: El Paso (V)
"It was the trolls, I swear on my deceased mother's grave, the trolls were responsible!" the old man exclaimed. "They come out during the night to kidnap our women and eat their hearts, I have seen it with my own eyes!"
"I see," the Courier said with disinterest as he rested the weight of his head on his right hand, using his free hand to bring the tankard to his lips to drink. He gave it a good swig, for he needed the alcohol in order to endure the ridiculous stories of that crazy old man. "Go on."
"I could… but I am still very thirsty, do you think you could buy this poor old retired miner another drink?"
That old man, bald and wrinkled, tried to put on a poor, tender puppy-like look, but instead ended up making a face that would surely give the Courier nightmares in the future.
"Missy, 'nother round this way, please," the Courier said as he put a few more coins on the wooden bar.
"May the Chief God bless you, kind stranger!"
That morning had been considerably unproductive for the Courier. He had tried to get more information about the disappearances but, apart from a few useful details here and there, most of the statements from the villagers did not go beyond simple superstitions. The investigation had been so fruitless that the Courier allowed himself to kill some time by listening to the rantings of an old drunk he found in the street.
Soon Colette arrived in a hurry with two tankards of frothy beer. The redhead quickly handed over the drinks and grabbed the coins, but before she could say anything she was unexpectedly attacked by the Courier's flirtatious smile, causing her to flee in fright as she covered her now reddened face. The Courier laughed softly; that girl was a constant delight.
"So, what were you saying 'bout these 'trolls'?" he asked as he passed the tankard to his new chattering partner.
"Hideous aberrations, all of them!" the old man said sharply while quickly grabbing the tankard. "They are as tall as two men, with feet and hands as wide as a shovel, and they expel a stench that is almost poisonous. They are responsible not only for the destruction of half the town, but also for the depletion of the mine, I am sure of it!"
That in particular caught his attention.
"The mine?"
"Indeed, the Ironpost mine was once the pride of not only the town, but of the entire region. There was enough iron to arm an entire army and have plenty to prepare custom cutlery for every soldier!"
The old man spoke with admirable enthusiasm, to the point that his tired eyes showed an almost youthful gleam as he recounted the past glories of the town.
"My father, my father's father, and my father's father's father, all of them were miners who worked every day of their lives to get the wealth out of the ground. I was going to carry on their legacy, but… " his gaze darkened, coming to clench his fists tightly before he continued speaking. "Those damn trolls, they ruined everything. It has been over sixty years since they destroyed the mine, dooming the entire town!"
The Courier raised an eyebrow at that.
"Is that so?"
"It is, those damned trolls devoured all the iron, and now that they are hungry again they are coming for the hearts of our women!" he proclaimed and then took a long swig from his tankard, almost gulping down the entire contents in one go. "Those beasts will not rest until they have devoured the hearts of all our women in their demonic quest for food, so we must destroy them before they destroy us!"
That said, the man jumped up from his chair, now facing the rest of the tavern.
"Come on everybody, we shall annihilate those beasts and save our town! Who is with me?"
The answer to that was the total silence of the deserted tavern, with the only other person besides the two of them, Colette, now clearing one of the tables and looking to the sides with some discomfort.
"It's not even noon yet, buddy. We're the only irresponsible ones drinking at this hour," the Courier said along with a laugh. "But nice speech, it touched my heart."
The old man, already noticeably affected by alcohol and now grief, staggered back to the chair. He raised the tankard to his lips again, trying to sip the remnants of beer.
"You mentioned that you've seen these 'trolls', have you seen them come out of the mines?"
"I saw a group of those aberrations moving fleetingly through the night!" he replied as he slammed the tankard down on the wooden bar. "I think I saw them take the poor baker's daughter with them. I shouted at them, but they rushed off into the mine and I was unable to chase them."
Hearing that surprised the Courier, as it was the first useful piece of information in the entire conversation.
"Wait, did you see how they were taking the girl away? And you didn't tell anyone else this?" inquired the Courier.
"Of course I did tell them, damn it! I came shouting and warning everyone, but they took me for a drunken nincompoop!" he yelled. "And that poor girl, by the Chief God, I could only hear her screams without being able to do anything for her..."
The old miner put his head between his arms resting on the wooden bar, beginning to cry from sadness and frustration amplified by the alcohol.
"But wait, why didn't they believe you? You may be a lousy drunk, but that's a very important clue."
The old man did not respond, he simply remained silent, with his head hidden in his arms like a child seeking to hide from some reprimand.
"Buddy?"
He brought his hand close to the old man's bald head to check his condition. Seeing that he did not react to being touched, he decided to lift the drunkard's head, only to discover that he had fallen into a deep sleep.
"For fuck's sake," he cursed as he let go of the drunk's head.
He should have guessed that six continuous rounds of beer would eventually have an effect on the man, but he hoped that would happen after he got the information he needed.
"Missy, make sure he doesn't choke on his own vomit," he said as he rose from his seat with the tankard in his hand. He gave it a prolonged drink until its contents were emptied, proceeding to set the empty tankard down on the wooden bar. "Also make sure he breathes every five minutes, just in case."
"Huh?" mused Colette, surprised at that. "M-Me? "B-But..."
The Courier approached her and brought his hand roughly to the redhead's chin, forcing her to raise her gaze to look him directly in the eye.
"Do me that favor and I'll take you on a nice date tonight, sweetheart."
"A d-date?!" she shrieked, it being probably the first time in years, or perhaps the first time in a lifetime, that anyone had offered to take her out on a date.
"Yeah, just make sure my drunk friend doesn't die, and I will give you the night of your life."
And just like that, the Courier walked away, leaving behind the drunk passed out at the bar and the young waitress so red she looked like she was about to faint.
He had a mine to investigate.
"Are the Alraune really capable of such a thing?" the scholar asked for confirmation with a pen in hand.
"They are," Sofiva replied. "Their nectar not only serves to attract prey, but can also be consumed to increase stamina. In addition, it is an excellent ingredient for desserts."
"Unbelievable! The only sources I had gotten about them claimed that their nectar was poisonous," the scholar said excitedly as he proceeded to write down the information.
The morning had passed relatively calmly, certainly an improvement over the chaos of the previous night. She had remained in the care of the room, keeping an eye on that scholar while Grognak went out to continue his research. Since the two were going to be spending a lot of time together, they decided to exchange information and share discoveries; there might have been some mistrust due to the man's affiliations, but after all they were both passionate pursuers of knowledge.
The man noted the information with an emotion that was, frankly, tender to watch. The same could not be said of the little fairy sitting at the table, for she gave Sofiva such an intense look that she seemed to want to kill her with her eyes.
"Next thing, please tell me about the Dullahan! Is it true that they can steal the soul if one sees their headless necks?" the scholar asked eagerly.
Sofiva was speechless at that. She knew very well that humans under the teachings of the Order had limited knowledge about the Mamono, but to be asked such a question by this man, who had a direct relationship with a baphomet, stunned her.
"No, they cannot," Sofiva responded, still surprised by the question. "Has Runya Runya not told you about any of this?"
"Oh, not really. Our conversations are always very short and sporadic, and she falls asleep before I can ask her anything about any particular kind of monster," he said along with a small chuckle.
The little fairy stood up, raising her hand high in the air to attract attention.
"I have a question," she said aloud. "When can you take that collar from him?"
The fairy pointed to the scholar's neck, which was surrounded by a huge, dark metal collar.
"Y-Yes, I would like to ask the same question. I have a little trouble breathing with this," the scholar mused.
"Oh, well, even if I wanted to, I cannot," Sofiva replied calmly. "Grognak said that only he alone could remove that collar, and if anyone else tried to take it off, well... it would explode."
An awkward silence followed in the room. The scholar seemed to be trying to laugh nervously, but no sound came from his lips, which formed an uncomfortable smile. The fairy beside him intensified her deadly gaze, even seeming to be about to leap at Sofiva and attack her. The owl mage, for her part, merely took a sip from her cup of tea, which she gently set down on the wooden table in front of her. She thought about offering some to ED-E, who, as always, was on her lap, but she doubted that the metallic sphere could consume liquids. She wanted to try anyway, to at least strengthen her connection with him.
"So he was not joking?" the scholar asked nervously.
"Maybe he was joking, maybe not. Even I could not tell, really," she confessed. "But it is never a good idea to take a chance on him. Besides, I have to admit that the fact that you are wearing that collar makes me feel safer being alone with you."
Although the man had taken the trouble to show them the draft of his ambitious document, which was intended to demonstrate his neutrality and lack of interest in leaning toward either side, the reality was that Sofiva felt unable to trust anyone who had direct contact with one of the leaders of the Sabbaths. Decades ago she had come to personally know one of the dreaded baphomets who led these sects, so she knew well that not only were they fearsome entities, but that anyone relatively related to them could be highly dangerous.
"As long as he has this explosive collar on the fella won't be a problem. And if you see him get out of line, or try to do something he shouldn't, you blow his head off. Comprende?"
The small device she now wore on her left wing was supposed to activate that mysterious necklace, killing the scholar on the spot if he attempted anything dangerous. The fact that a man's life was under her control was something that weeks ago would have horrified her, but which she now accepted with a chilling calmness.
She feared that Grognak had begun to influence her.
"We are the ones who do not feel safe!" the fairy protested.
"Now, now," the scholar hastened to intervene, gently wrapping his hand around the fairy's waist to prevent her from doing anything drastic. "While I regret that Miss Sofiva does not trust me, I cannot blame her. I am, after all, a mere stranger with connections to people she considers dangerous, so it is understandable that she is wary."
"B-But!" the pink-haired fairy tried to object
"We cannot do anything about it, just comply with her demands. Besides, she is willing to answer all my questions about monsters, so it is equally a win-win situation for me."
The fairy seemed to want to retort to that, but finally desisted, simply crossing her little arms and pouting. Sofiva, for her part, watched the man with curiosity and a hint of admiration.
"Tell me, why are you so bent on gathering information about mamono?" the owl mage began to ask. "Normal humans refuse to approach a mamono, let alone know about them beyond what the Order dictates. And those who yearn to be able to approach mamono have nothing but foul intentions. In you I see no such intentions, so why do you care so much?"
That question seemed to take the man by surprise. He reacted as if it was the first time he had been asked such a question, and even seemed to try to mentally sort out the correct answer.
"Because I come from an extended family of scholars. One of my ancestors even wrote the famous 'Monster Encyclopedia,' detailing the deadly abominations that served the Demon Lord and the best method to combat them," he explained as he put aside paper and pen. "My family gained worldwide fame for it, and we even received a fortune that has lasted generation after generation thanks to my ancestor's research. It has been a tradition that every first-born in the family studies to become a scholar and even add something to the encyclopedia. Whether it be an observation, an extra tidbit of information or a simple correction, anything to make it seem as if the work is still current and therefore relevant."
For a moment she sensed a change in the man's tone of voice. He now seemed to be affected by the memories.
"Finally, my turn came when I became old enough. I spent years training and studying, preparing to simply add a few paragraphs on some random page, resell the text as if it were a literary revolution, and then proceed to spend the rest of my days enjoying the family fortune. But... that did not feel right."
"Why not?" questioned Sofiva. "You had a life full of luxuries prepared for you, why did you not accept it?"
"It was a sham," he was quick to reply tersely. "I really loved the art of being a scholar, and to vaingloriously boast about simply adding empty nonsense was almost blasphemous in my eyes. So I decided that if I was going to add anything, it would be something I had actually researched and discovered on my own."
"And then I met him!" the fairy interjected.
The scholar laughed, "Indeed, I met her when I was just beginning my journey, just a few days after I left home. She was the first non-human I met, and with her I could see a new world. I was able to meet real monsters, flesh and blood, not simple descriptions in a text. And it was with it that I realized that the work of my predecessor was incorrect, or at least outdated. Monsters were no longer the same as they were at the time when the Encyclopedia was written!"
The man was talking about it as if it were the discovery of the century, although to her it was a universally known fact. However, she didn't want to make him feel bad, so she just went along with him and pretended to be amazed.
"The monsters were no longer simple aberrations dedicated to devouring and killing humans, now all of them were a succubus hybrid due to the change brought about by the new Demon Lord! That meant that all the research of my ancestors was obsolete, and that my family had wasted centuries of time and resources trying to add more content to it, feeding only falsehood to the masses. So I decided that I would do something different, something to bring the truth to the human world."
"And that is why you decided to create the Monster Girl Encyclopedia, to educate humans of the true nature of the modern-day monsters," Sofiva concluded.
"Exactly, how well you understand me, Miss Sofiva!"
"And I help him with the illustrations, without me he would not be able to finish a single page!" the fairy interjected again, noticing herself annoyed, and even jealous, of being left out of the conversation.
Sofiva had to admit that she found it admirable that the man put so much effort and dedication into a personal project that had undoubtedly cost him not only a life of luxury and wealth, but would certainly make him a public enemy of the Order the moment his research became known.
"But if that is your goal, what are you doing here, in a small town in the middle of nowhere?"
"Oh, this is not just any town, have you not heard the legends surrounding Ironpost?" he asked back.
Sofiva cocked her head slightly. "Legends?"
"Yes, old legends about trolls," the boy responded in a disinterested manner. "My grandfather used to tell me that trolls used to come up to the surface and live peacefully with humans, but suddenly they decided to attack us."
"Is that so?" the Courier asked curiously. "And why did they do that?"
The boy shrugged his shoulders. "What do I know, they are monsters, I guess it was their nature."
"And you don't think those trolls could be responsible for the kidnappings?" inquired the Courier.
"No, impossible. All the trolls were exterminated by Saint Archibald decades ago. It was he who led the charge towards them and who annihilated the last troll," he explained. "It was Saint Archibald who purified this city from the corruption of the monsters, who founded the local church, and who continued for years to spread the word of the Chief God and purge monsters until his death."
"You seem to know a lot about this Archibald fella," the Courier pointed out.
"Of course I know, it is one of the biggest stories in this town. Nothing happens around here, so it is the little remarkable thing we have," the boy replied somewhat annoyed.
That was an interesting piece of information. If the supposed trolls had been wiped out decades ago, then it made sense that no one believed the old drunk when he said they were responsible for the disappearances.
"Here it is."
It was a somewhat longer walk than expected, but thanks to the boy's guidance the Courier finally reached the old abandoned mine. He could notice on the way old corroded and crumbling buildings, probably the remains of an old part of the town that had to be rebuilt at a greater distance from that mine.
It was obvious that something terrible had happened decades ago.
"Thanks, kiddo," the Courier said as he pulled a gold coin from his pocket, which he proceeded to toss to the boy. "Buy yourself something nice for your trouble."
"Gold?!" the boy exclaimed as he caught the tossed coin, looking at it in disbelief and excitement. "Can I really have it?"
"I'll give you a piece of advice, kid. Never question when you're getting paid well, just take it before the other guy reconsiders."
The boy decided to follow the advice and quickly ran off, jumping for joy at the juicy reward he had obtained, leaving the Courier alone in that abandoned and dreary place. He looked at the entrance to the mine, which was roughly blocked by a few wooden planks.
"Get in there," said a voice.
The Courier looked down and it didn't take him long to realize that the voice came from his Pip-Boy.
"You awake yet, gal?" the Courier said as he raised his arm.
On the Pip-Boy's screen appeared the digitized face of the AI, which had abruptly awakened from its suspended state.
"Get in there," she repeated. "Do it now."
"Gee, I must be suffering from some severe case of amnesia, since I don't remember bein' obligated to do what you tell me," replied the Courier.
"Spare me your jokes, troglodyte," the AI replied coldly. "I can sense something inside that cave; there is something related to my Master."
"You can sense? How the fuck can you sense anything inside there?"
"Why would I waste my time explaining to you, when you can do what I tell you and get in there?" she replied. "Also, if it has to do with my Master, then it might be something to do with your home. Don't you think it would be something worthwhile?"
The Courier put his free hand to his own chin, thinking and considering what the AI had just told him. She had no basis for what she was saying, but the last few weeks of strange experiences had taught him that almost anything was possible in that parallel world full of strange mutants and religious fanatics, so it didn't hurt to open his mind a little and consider, if only as a grain of salt, the idea that somehow a machine could perceive something like those so-called psychics who claimed to be clairvoyant.
"All right, good point," he concurred. "Now do you see how good it is to have open communication in this relationship?"
"Get in at once," she ordered and turned the screen off again.
"You are killing me with your coldness, baby," he laughed as she lowered her arm. "And besides, I was thinking of going anyway, there's no need to get dramatic."
Having finished one of many delightful conversations with the machine that now resided in his Pip-Boy, the Courier proceeded to remove the wooden planks so he could enter. However, as he did so he began to think that perhaps the AI's circuitry wasn't quite fried and that maybe she was right and there was something to do with her creator inside, and that meant high tech.
As he removed the last plank he began to consider that perhaps the best idea would be to use stealth when entering that place, for his little misadventure in Polove had taught him that those kinds of places could be just as, if not more, dangerous than a Vault, so precautions had to be taken. Unfortunately, he was far from being light on his feet, so trying to be stealthy would be comparable to a deathclaw attempting a vegetarian diet. It would simply end in failure.
Fortunately, he had the perfect friend to help him.
"I'm glad you decided to use me again, I was afraid you had forgotten about me," said the female computer voice coming out of the suit.
"How can you even think that? I could never forget you, babydoll. You are the best suit any man could ever dream of," the Courier whispered to her.
"Oh, you always know just what to say. For that alone you've earned an extra two doses of Med-X!"
The Courier could feel the doses of the chem being injected into his body, with that powerful painkiller soon taking effect. It was a feeling of euphoria, almost as if his body was floating on air; he could easily step on a bear trap and he would feel nothing but tickled in that state.
He had to be careful, because it was very easy to get lost in the feeling and become addicted, and the last thing he needed at such moments was to rot his already battered brain with the debilitating effects of chem addiction.
"Thank you, darling," whispered a now ecstatic Courier.
"Everything for you!"
The Courier had put aside its ever-reliable Elite Riot Gear, now sporting one of its most effective, if curious, suits of armor: the Stealth suit Mk II. It consisted of a black-gray full-body suit, adorned with several white stripes on the back and a curious luminescent white chest piece; it was the most advanced technology in the art of stealth, having been updated with the latest firmware obtained after exhaustive testing, improving not only the Courier's stealth, but also his perception of his surroundings when infiltrating; it increased the agility of his movements for greater flexibility when sliding in the shadows, and allowed him greater speed without interfering with his sneakiness.
It could easily be one of the Courier's best options for everyday use were it not for two problems: the first, the suit's penchant for injecting Med-X and stimpaks in constant and troubling doses, and the second, the advanced AI of the computer running the suit, which had developed an attachment to the Courier that had long since become worrisome.
"So what are we doing in this dark and ugly cavern, looking for treasure?" asked the computer with slight excitement.
"In a way," the Courier replied in a whisper as he walked slowly and carefully, alert for any possible threats. "We're looking for something to do with missing women."
"Women? Are you looking for more women?" asked the computer, which was apparently the only thing she had heard, or at least cared about. "Tell me the truth, they have skin and flesh, don't they? That's what attracts you, isn't it?"
The Courier laughed softly. "Not at all, babydoll. All the flesh-and-skin women in the world couldn't even compare to your beautiful circuits."
"Maybe I'm a dummy for believing your sugary words... but I'll do it anyway! Another two doses of Med-X!"
True to her word, the suit injected two consecutive doses of the chem into the courier's body, the effect of which greatly enhanced the sensation that he was already experiencing from the previous doses. He was lucky to have developed a resistance to the chem after decades of use, for if he were a normal man he would be too numb and dizzy to walk normally.
"Thank you, babydoll," whispered the Courier..
At first his exploration had been nothing but continuous boredom. The first few minutes consisted of exploring the abandoned mine, where only old dust-covered tools and carts that had not been touched in several decades were visible. However, the more he walked and went down the mine, the more he could tell that there was something strange about the surroundings. The shape of the cavern seemed to have taken on a peculiar kind of form, which he found difficult to discern. The cavern formation was beginning to look more delicate, softer, far from looking like the result of human intervention, but it didn't look like a natural formation either. It was almost as if the earth itself had been shaped by some kind of artist.
The place where he was could hardly be considered a cavern, as it looked more like the corridor of some building because of its shape, almost as if it had been planned and sculpted by someone with mastery in the handling of the earth itself, if that was even possible. Not only that, but he felt something strange in the air. Whether it was his sixth instinct or just a hunch, the Courier couldn't help but feel some discomfort in the air as he descended further down the cavern complex.
The Courier stopped for a moment and bent down to take a closer look at the ground. There he turned on the Pip-Boy's light, illuminating the ground and revealing different types of footprints. Some were human-looking, while others were in the shape of humanoid footprints, but too large to belong to a normal person. There was no doubt, the mine and the subterranean cavern complex had been recently inhabited.
"Nobody ever notices me... but they notice the Pip-Boy light," remarked the computer.
"I know, I know," the Courier replied as he turned off the light. "I just wanted to make sure I was seeing properly. Looks like we're not alone here."
Carefully, the Courier began to pick up the weapon he carried in his holster. Due to the need for stealth he had been forced to set aside the Ranger Sequoia, using instead a 12.7mm pistol modified with a silencer, thus creating a terrifying combination of power and concealment, albeit with the minor drawback of having a horrendous spread.
"Get ready, babydoll," the Courier alerted as he resumed pacing. "There will probably be hostiles nearby, so we will have to fight at any time."
"Sneaking done. Fighting now."
The Courier's prediction did not take long to come true, for he suddenly could hear and even feel a strong tremor behind him. He quickly turned around, discovering to his surprise that a huge stone wall had appeared in what had previously been a clear path. Without even allowing himself a minute to think and preferring to follow his instinct, the Courier began to flee from that place. He did not even bother to look back, for hearing a series of consecutive tremors behind him indicated that new walls were emerging.
Something, or someone, wanted to trap him.
"I can sense it again," the AI prompted as she turned on the Pip-Boy's display. "It's eighty-five feet away in a straight line. After that, turn right and keep going, I have no doubt you'll find it."
"Right now is not a good time for this, gal!" hurriedly replied the Courier, able to feel the tremors at his back getting closer and closer.
"Who's that? Did you replace me with another computer while I was away?" the suit interrupted. "Tell me the truth, her circuits are better than mine, aren't they?"
"I said not-fucking-now!" yelled the Courier, who had to put more force into his run, as he could feel the walls behind him coming closer to almost brush against him.
The Courier ran as fast as his legs would allow him, but he knew well that he would not be able to keep up that pace, because he could already feel those tremors beneath him, even feeling the emerging rock brushing against his heels. Sooner or later those walls emerging from the ground would catch him if he continued in a straight line.
Desperately he looked around, trying to see if there was any possible detour to use, but to his misfortune that corridor was a straight one.
"You are now about to reach the necessary crossing point, you have only twelve more feet to go," reported the Pip-Boy AI.
"What the fuck are you talking about? There's just a straight line ahead! There's nothing in sight, just walls."
"This junk you have dared to use as a container for my consciousness has sonar imagery, which I have been using to make a digital recreation about the structure of this subterranean complex. So I know that before long you will come to a special point where you will have to go to the right. Will you doubt my word and take the risk, troglodyte?
"For the record, I would never respond to you in that rude manner!" the suit interjected.
The more the Courier ran, the closer he got to that blissful point where he had to cross. He could see that there was nothing there, just a wall like the rest of the corridor. However, he had learned something after what happened in Polove, and that was that to survive in that strange world it was necessary to think outside the box.
Without much choice on the table, he decided to leave his fate in Lady Luck's hands.
"Alright, here goes nothing!"
Once he reached that particular point indicated by the AI, the Courier lunged to the right. He expected to feel himself crashing into the hard rock, but instead he went through the wall as if he were intangible.
"Wh-what?!"
His surprise was not only at the fact that he had managed to go through the solid rock as if it was nothing, but also at the fact that he was now in free fall. As he fell he could see that what lay above him was the corridor through which he had run earlier, which seen from the outside was nothing more than a bridge held up in the middle of an immense void.
"For the record, I would never make you fall to your death!" the suit exclaimed in panic.
The Courier fell, but as he did so he could see that there was a figure peeking through the wall he had previously broken through, similarly breaking through what appeared to be solid rock. There was now no doubt that that small part of the wall consisted of what he theorized was some sort of hologram designed to hide that open part.
Someone had tried to trap him in that corridor, and seeing that the figure had intentionally leaned out to see him fall, he had no doubt that it was the same person. Unwilling to go alone, the Courier raised the 12.7 mm pistol, aimed as best he could in the middle of the fall and fired.
The shot seemed to hit the target, as the figure shuddered, swayed and finally fell in the same manner into the enormous void. Satisfied with his small revenge, the Courier put the pistol back in the holster, as it would now be of no use to him in his situation.
With nothing else to do, the Courier merely relaxed his body and let Lady Luck decide the outcome of his fall.
Saphirette sighed regretfully; she looked defeated. Since the morning she had been focused on investigating the women's disappearances, because otherwise Grognak might solve the case, and that would force her to keep the promise Paula made on her behalf.
If it was about money or anything else she would have no problem, but the fact that she had to reward him with a kiss was just plain madness. She was not a fairy-tale princess to give kisses as a reward, she was a decorated and respected elementalist and scholar. Besides, at twenty-nine she had never given kisses casually, and she would not start doing so now.
"... By the Chief God," the elementalist whispered as she realized something terrible.
Now that she thought about it, at twenty-nine she had never given or received a single kiss. She would soon reach her thirties and still be a complete novice and inexperienced in love. Worse, there was now the possibility that her first kiss was one given as a reward rather than the fruit of love, and that was something that made her shudder. Even worse, she would have to give that kiss precisely to Grognak, whom she still did not forgive. The fact that he had acted behind her back and saved the beast-machine responsible for the suffering of her people was unforgivable in her eyes, and although she was grateful for his help in saving Polove, it would be a long time before she could look him in the eye again, let alone kiss him.
With the sun already setting in the distance and the stars beginning to adorn the firmament, Saphirette decided to return to the inn and call it a day. She had barely managed to gather any useful information, as most of the interviews she had conducted simply repeated the same thing. With no leads or clues to follow, Saphirette had nothing to work with.
"I think I will simply have dinner and go to sleep," she muttered to herself as she opened the front door of the inn. She hurried inside as she took off her vest and left it on a nearby coat rack, but before she could head for the kitchen something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. "Huh?"
In a lone chair in a far corner she could see someone. When she paid closer attention she could see that it was a plump girl dressed in what appeared to be an old dress, her freckled face so heavily covered with make-up that she almost looked like a mocking parody of noblewomen. It was Colette, who for some reason was wearing something that even someone as uninterested in fashion as Saphirette could recognize as a visual insult.
"C-Cousin Colette?" Saphirette said aloud, attracting the younger girl's attention. "What are you doing dressed like that?"
The redhead looked up, as if she had been caught by surprise.
"I, uh... I am waiting for someone," she said quietly.
Saphirette moved closer, and as she looked more closely at her cousin she realized something, and it was something she hoped was not what she thought it was
"... Say, the person you are waiting for would not be Grognak, would it?"
Her fears were realized when she saw the embarrassed expression on her cousin's face, who merely looked away nervously.
"Cousin Colette, listen to me, please," she said as she placed her hands on the redhead's shoulders. "You cannot associate yourself with that man. He is nothing but trouble, I assure you."
The over-made-up young woman looked at her in confusion. "B-But he is very kind, he even asked me out on a date. This is... the first time someone has ever asked me out on a date."
Saphirette felt a dagger in her heart when she heard that, for at twenty-nine years old she had never been asked out on a date. Just that night she was beginning to realize that most of her social interactions over the past decade had been solely with elementals.
"D-do not fall for his lies..." she whispered, already feeling her soul leaving her body. "B-Besides, there are plenty of men out there to take you on dates, better options."
At that moment a memory came to her mind, that of the last time she had visited her cousin years ago; she clearly remembered seeing her with a boy, one with whom she seemed to be almost inseparable.
"L-like that boy you were friends with years ago! He... ah, his name was..."
"Richard?"
"Yes! Richard! You better ask him—"
"He... disappeared years ago," Colette replied with considerable sorrow.
Bewilderment soon appeared on Saphirette's face, who slowly removed her hands from her cousin's shoulders in stunned silence. The disappearances were supposed to have started weeks ago and the only targets were women, but now it turned out that a man had disappeared years earlier.
She knew it couldn't be a mere coincidence.
"Cousin Colette, I hope you do not mind me asking you this," Saphirette said as she dragged a nearby chair over to sit down. "I need you to tell me everything you know about that disappearance years ago."
SPLASH
The peaceful underground lake was disturbed by the sudden fall of two mysterious objects from above, bringing chaotic ripples and splashes in their fall. Despite the violent fall, the water of the lake soon calmed down again, returning to the passive state in which it had remained for years, uninterrupted and undisturbed by external forces.
In one part of the lake bubbles began to form, small and faint at first, but soon became constant and violent until they finally gave way to the abrupt emergence of a man, who between coughs and gasps of air swam to the nearest shore.
"Fuckin'... Christ," said the Courier coughing loudly as he finished making his way to shore. Normally he was faster at swimming, but now he had the problem of having to drag something with him as he struggled to breathe.
Despite having reached the shore, the Courier still did not get out of the water, for he was concentrating on pulling out what he had dragged with him in the lake. With a slight effort he managed to pull the body he was carrying out of the water and throw it on dry land, and then he himself got out and lay on his back against the rocky ground, still trying to catch his breath.
"I told you it was the right way," said the Pip-Boy's voice with a certain whimsical tone.
"You… electronic… bitch," the Courier muttered between coughs, still spitting up water.
"For the record, I would never have you fall into cold subterranean lakes!" the Stealth suit Mk II said, still determined to remain the favored AI.
"I don't understand the problem, my plan worked perfectly. Besides, you wouldn't have swallowed so much water down there if you hadn't bothered to take that thing with you," the voice of the Pip-boy explained. "What's more, why did you do such a stupid thing?"
The Courier sat up a moment, checking the Pip-Boy and activating its light. He pointed the light at the unconscious body he had brought with him from the depths of the lake, being able to see from the bullet wound in her shoulder that it was the figure that had been leaning out of the bridge and was possibly the one who had tried to trap him with those stone walls.
Because of the poor visibility underwater, he had assumed that she might be one of the missing women, because she certainly had the features of one. Feminine face, remarkable bust, all indicative of a woman according to him. However, now that he could see well, he was able to notice certain details about her, such as her large ears slightly pointed at the sides; her feet and hands were ridiculously large, even larger than those of a normal human, and without a doubt the biggest aspect that stood out about her was that tail that seemed to stick out of her lower back.
There was no doubt about it, she was a mutant.
"At least she's not a Tunneler," the Courier sighed as he looked at her. He had to admit she was pretty for a mutant, though that seemed to be a common occurrence in that strange parallel world he found himself in.
He put his hand to her nose to check her breathing. He noticed that she was breathing fine. Then he leaned his face against her chest to listen to her heartbeat, making sure it was in a steady rhythm. It seemed that the only thing she was suffering from was the shock of the gunshot and the fall, so she would remain unconscious for a while.
"When you wake up you'll have a lot to answer for, gorgeous," mused the Courier as he rummaged through his pockets for some rag to use.
The Courier checked her shoulder wound. He could see that the bullet had passed through it and continued on, without touching the bone or blood vessels, only leaving a small bleeding hole, so it would only require basic treatment. He had to admit that the mutant's luck was even impressive.
A few minutes were enough to cover the wound and prevent bleeding, leaving her lying there until she woke up. Once finished, the Courier got up and stretched, already recovered from that bad aquatic experience.
"Well, gal, what's next in your brilliant plan?" he asked as he raised his arm to look at the Pip-Boy's screen, where the digitized face of the AI was staring back at him. "C'mon, surprise me."
"Look to your left, troglodyte," she simply replied.
He was perplexed at that response, so he looked up and fixed his attention to his left, pointing the Pip-Boy light there. To his surprise, he discovered a huge steel construction, the highlight of which was the enormous door similar to the one in Polove's Vault.
"Huh, how'd I miss that."
The Courier approached the huge door and saw that, as in Polove, it was tightly closed.
"Alright, how do we proceed here, gal?" he asked.
"Normally you would need a high-density data converter device with which to manipulate and synthesize your spiritual energy to condense it into an encoded genetic frequency that you would use for the recognition system to give you access," she began to explain. "However, we lack such a device. Fortunately for you, my database has been continually expanded through long communication sessions with the various mainframe computers during my suspension sessions, plus this junk I now inhabit has the necessary hardware, so I could emulate the function of the necessary device and synthesize your spiritual energy to fool the recognition system. After all, your spiritual energy is curiously similar to my Master's, almost the same, so I could use you and have access to the facility without any problem."
The Courier remained silent at that explanation and rubbed his face for a moment before exclaiming, "Gal, what the fuck are you talking about?"
"... Just put your filthy forearm against the door and I'll take care of the rest," she replied with hostility.
Without much to lose, the Courier placed the Pip-Boy against the massive steel door that lay in front of him. A few seconds elapsed in which strange sounds came from the device, culminating in a huge and powerful glow coming from it. The light permeated the door, which slowly began to open
The Courier looked back, being able to see that the mutant was still unconscious on the ground near the lake. He would come back for her later, as he had a special interrogation session prepared for her.
"I've been thinking about it and I don't want to lose you. So if I have to, I'll share you with her, but please don't leave me..." the suit interjected with a certain desperate and saddened tone.
That elicited a small chuckle from the Courier, who gently patted the suit.
"I would never do such a thing, babydoll."
With everything ready, the Courier proceeded to enter that strange new Vault.
A/N: I am pleased to inform you that this story already has its first official illustration. It is a color sketch of the main character trio: Courier, Sofiva and ED-E. You can go check it out in the Spacebattles and AO3 version of this story. You can look for me under my same username there.
It was a sketch done by my friend Squirrel Queen, a magnificent artist, and if you're interested in following her I'll leave links to her social networks at Spacebattles.
Until the next chapter, ciao.