WHOOSH
Everyone gave a turn as their only known exit closed behind them.
Campbell snorted, the whirring of his laser rifle feeling warm in his callused hands. "Looks like we ain't got no choice but to push now."
They pressed down the main hallway. The squad was met with little resistance from a few automated laser turrets as they sought to breach the Overseer's office. Charon braced himself at the next corner, slowly peering around the bend. He had taken the lead, as he was the most experienced in terms of navigating the metallic maze. Vaults were his least favorite excursions to be made...they were just filled with unpredictable threats.
How many dang Garys are in this place?! They probably all went crazy calling out their name and not knowing who to answer!
Vault 101...it's strange, I thought I would be sorta sad to leave it...but, I'm not. Maybe, that just means I'm really a wastelander, after all...
So, all we have to do is navigate through a hive of small, unsupervised children, and then fight our way through a mess of ugly, unsupervised super mutants? Man, is it wack to think this doesn't sound as crazy as it would have just a few months ago?
Charon quickly drew back. "There is a Sentry Bot."
"Scanning. Scanning."
The tell-tale sound of a rolling bot wheeled down the other side of the corridor. Gradually, the ghoul bent himself for a quick peek of the newly emptied hallway.
Cross placed his hand over Lydia's stubbled scalp, giving her a quick shake. "Can you disarm that thing?" A look of dread crossed her face, and he wiped his palm down it. "Don't worry 'bout it."
"It is heading for the atrium." Charon pointed the muzzle of his shotgun upwards to the sign reading Atrium. "We should take a right. There is usually a common access point between the main wings."
They followed his suggestion and were soon met with their objective. Thomas came to a terminal, ineffectively attempting a hack to gain access into the main hub of the Vault.
The merc glanced down as he heard a faint crunch from Lydia at his elbow. "Fuck you chewin' on?" A rattle from a Mentats tin was shaken at him in response, and Cross just shoved her towards the computer. "I ain't goin' to ask where ya got those, ya damn kleptomaniac."
Her fingers flew away at the keys, succeeding in where the glowing ghoul had failed. The door opened.
Cross grunted, "Nice work, kid." He gave Thomas a once-over. "Hell they put you in charge for?"
The leader of Squad Two ushered inside, making a quick sweep of the room. "It's clear!"
The Sentry Bot rounded the corner.
"Alert: Hostiles- DETECTED."
There was a phwing of laser and bullet fire, and the merc shielded Lydia as everyone scrambled inside. The Sentry Bot was closed off as the metal door slid down and locked, and it could soon be heard rolling past with its massive tread.
"Scanning. Scanning."
"Goddamnit!" the merc growled as his fingers probed down his spine; a bullet had made its mark.
A first-aid kit was tossed over, and Cross began to strip as the team took up positions around the control room. Four guards were left posted by the door, the sound of the Sentry Bot a gentle reminder of the dangers just beyond. Thomas stood before an array of mounted monitors displaying various live feeds, his second lieutenant at his elbow.
Lydia was already at the terminal on the other side, her callused fingertips dragging along the surface of her Mentats tin in a blind search for more chalk-textured candies while a ghoul sentry peered over her shoulder in interest at the screens she was clicking through.
The merc grunted with frustration, unable to reach the bullet buried through his leathered muscles. There was an annoyed growl at his side, and he was suddenly pushed forward over a desk. Charon snatched at his tweezers and dove deep inside the ruined flesh.
"Fuckin' bastard, least buy me a damn drink firs-urck!" Cross felt a spasm ripple through him, and he leaned a forearm on the table.
A clink at his elbow. The bullet was extracted. A shuddering breath escaped his lips, and his atrophied vocals rumbled a low snarl as he made to stand straight and whirl on the ferryman- but Charon was already beside the pink ghoul, his arms crossed and eyes darting between the screens before he pointed a finger.
"There." There was audible relief in his voice, and it told the bounty hunter that Evelyn was alive.
Penny was quiet, somberly regarding the screens on the lower half. "Look at all of them..."
"Think you found your slave trade," Campbell commented from the side. "Damn shame."
Thomas was stroking his chin in thought, regarding the multiple situations he was now presented with. How did so many captives come into the city unnoticed by him? There were multiple naked bodies in a variety of rooms. Only the corpses and a thick, green haze swirling in their midst left behind any sort of clue as to their demise.
Cross shrugged into his duster and placed his hat atop his head. His eyes found the right screen, and he blinked at it. "Jesus H. Christ... Fuck is that thing?" He turned to his fellow mercenary. "That your sister you been tryin' to hook me up with? 'member you tellin' me she was big. Afraid I'm goin' to have to pass."
Campbell barked a laugh. "She'd still be too good for you."
"Now is not the time," Thomas drawled lowly. "Besides, there's more than one."
Cross grunted as he studied the monitor. "Sure as hell won't be openin' those doors... The hell? Is that-?"
"Yes." Thomas reached down and flipped a knob for the audio feed to pour through. "I thought you had killed him."
The merc's hands clenched into tight fists, his battered hand throbbing in pain as a form of protest. "Me too."
BURR! BURR! BURR!
A deafening alarm was blaring through the halls.
David gave an irritated sigh, striding over to the nearest intercom and pressing a button. "What happened?"
"Thomas and the others are here! They used Rick's Pip-Boy to gain access!"
David jammed the intercom button with a thumb. "Lock the facility down. Head back to the surface and begin preparations with the others." He spun to the blue ghoul. "Roman, go take care of our unwanted guests upstairs. In the event we lose control of the situation, you will regroup with us in the rendevous back to Boston."
With a nod the ghoul briskly made it down the hallway.
David turned back to the intercom box. "Eradicate the remaining test subjects in Sector Three."
"It's already been done. You better hope she's worth all this..."
Evelyn eyed the big ghoul making his leave, an equal rush of apprehension and excitement under her skin. Excitement, for the chance of escape, and apprehension, for their safety. The monster across suddenly drew its snout flush against the pane, a large plume of hot air fogging it from view. Her insides quivered at the sight of the monstrosity gazing at them with cold, lidless eyes. When she spoke, it snapped its immense jaws, showcasing its countless rows of jagged teeth.
"What is that thing?"
David had a disinterested expression as his fingers tapped at his Pip-Boy screen.
"Previous experiments...previous failures." He then raised an eyebrow over at her. "Do not be concerned- you will not share the same fate. You have already succeeded where they have failed."
An uncomfortable knot of emotion swelled her throat. "You said I'm not Darcy's real daughter...what am I? Who was she? ...who are you?"
There was a loud swoosh of steam as a door opened at the end of the hall. Two rolling Sentry Bots rolled themselves to their reassigned stations.
"Systems: Armed."
"Ah, yes...well, you are human...if that is what you are curious about." David flicked a knob on his Pip-Boy. "Just a rather special sort of human. You did not really think your supernatural strength was a mere chance of evolution, no?" She said nothing, and he continued, "To be frank, my dear, I do not care to go into the details of everything at the moment. As you can see, we are in quite a predicament. It appears Thomas cared a little more for your disappearance than my sister's-"
"What happened to Darcy? What do you know about my brother?!" There was no room for rebuttal in her tone, and he let out a snort at her demand.
"I had her killed, to be frank." He lifted his eyes to observe the color drain from her face. "So, you really came all this way for him, did you? Even though you had no proof, no identity..."
"Who is he? What did you do to him?!" As much as she tried to hide away the grief in her voice, the bleeding of it in her throat made David look at her briefly with puzzlement.
"You appear more upset over this than Darcy herself...why," he reached inside his labcoat pocket and withdrew a folded piece of paper, "I believe you two have already been acquainted."
She shook her head. "I- I don't understand-"
"I cannot say I blame you for your lack of familiarity...it must be difficult to recognize someone from when you were a small child." A false laugh echoed around them, and it startled her. He tapped a finger on the piece of paper again. "Shall I call him back?"
The connection clicked instantly, her eyes flitting down the hall as she pressed herself as close to the glass as physically possible. "Oh my God."
David returned to the intercom and relayed a message through it, completely unaware of the status that had taken place on the upper levels. "Roman, how is the situation?" There was no reply, and he glanced over to the security cameras, their red indicator lights switched to green. His eyes then met with hers. "It would appear Roman has failed in his endeavors...useless. No matter-"
Evelyn pointedly stared at the floor, the cold metal of the collar flush against her neck. The others were so close. She then met his cold eyes with the dead of her own, growling, "Go fuck yourself."
A button was produced from a pocket. "If you do not wish to cooperate, I shall ensure you do."
Her head tilted to the side, and she narrowed her eyes. "You're so full of shit. What's the point in keeping me alive if it's just easier to have a corpse to experiment on?"
Unbeknownst to her, a very angry bounty hunter was venting at the monitor with the words of fuckin' smartass, always arguin', and can't keep damn mouth shut.
David gave out a laugh, and he grinned. "Darcy did say you had a rather sarcastic quip about you. But you're right..." The button was pushed, and an electric shock coursed through her body, driving her to her knees.
Charon was being refrained by three ghouls as he tried to make his way blindly out of the room. Cross had his arms wrapped around him in a modified chokehold. The bastard was so damn tall.
Slowly, she got to her feet and wiped away the spittle at the corner of her mouth, breathing heavily as her muscles still twinged. Her expression was completely lethal. "Fuck you."
David raised an eyebrow at her stubborn refusal. "You came here for a very specific purpose. Are you going to give up on that when you have come this close?" There were a few clicks as he typed away something on his Pip-Boy. "What do you really have to go back to? Is it Thomas, perhaps? Did you revisit your past for a night recently?" A glance was given to the spying camera. "Difficult, I'm sure, with him being...changed."
Everyone's jaw dropped on the other side of the screen. Now the ferryman and the bounty hunter found their roles reversed as the merc shouted curses at the glowing ghoul and his quiet resolve, two massive forearms keeping him from a combustive act of violence.
The gears in her brain were spinning wildly. "W-w-what?!" she finally sputtered, taking a step back. "How rude! No! How...how do you know about that?! That was years ago! Did Darcy tell you?! How do you know Thomas?!"
A hum, completely unfazed by her fluster. "It does not matter. Now, let us come along-"
"You are such a FUCK!" Evelyn shouted, momentarily forgetting her situation as a wave of molten hot ire forged her blood.
The button was retrieved.
"Go for it, fucking fry me! I'm not letting-urckg!" A crash to the floor, and she tremored helplessly. When the button was released, she let in a gasp of air and coughed.
Charon pounded both fists on the table, snarling, "We cannot stay here." His eyes flitted to a screen with movement- a certain blue ghoul was making his way to their position. He gave a single tap of an index finger at the monitor. "I will deal with this one."
Thomas crossed his arms. "The Sentry Bots are making the situation difficult... We know David wants her alive, for now at least, so we have an assurance she will not suffer serious injury before we can make our way to her." He gave a nod of his head to Charon's screen. "I am going to make the assumption that this is Roman- is he the one?"
A growl. "Yes." Before, Charon was momentarily surprised at seeing a fellow contracted man in the city, but now, he was blatantly pissed off. The blue ghoul, despite having no will of his own, had made a very costly mistake in taking her away from him. Brother, or not...it was always better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
Cross was just furiously pacing. The newly acquired information about Evelyn's past flame and her present predicament was making him more than aggravated. He stalked over to the control monitor beside the glowing ghoul and keyed down on the Vault's P.A. system.
Nine Months Ago
Whir whir
Fingertips gently stroked over the multitude of scratches and dings on the Pip-Boy 3000. The corner tip of a knob was missing, but she loved it all the same.
"This will be extremely helpful, thank you... Are you sure you're willing to part with it?" Evelyn nervously asked, flitting her eyes from the screen to the elderly woman seated across from her.
"Honey, I don't see myself being buried with the dang thing. I'm just glad it's going to someone who'll put it to good use- it's got a lot more life left in it than me, that's for sure."
Evelyn spied a tattered vault suit hanging in a closet before the door closed behind them. They then left the small shack settled on the outskirts of town.
Flick, whir, tappity tap
Charon watched with invisible interest as his employer settled her face over the neon screen. They had now been seated in a corner booth of Carter's Blubbin' Grub, an untouched plate of food before her. As though she had invaded his thoughts, she took the tip of a finger and pushed the (now) cold rations to the side. With the ample room, she set her arm down and pored grossly over the mini wrist computer.
It had been a few months with her now. They still had no idea where they were going in search of some bounty hunter...hopefully, that was about to change. He was beginning to grow weary. The wasteland had ample dangers, and she just somehow seemed to find them all.
"Are you still hungry?" she asked him, her eyes never leaving the small map on her screen. "You can have mine. I'm good."
A quick mental calculation told him she had not eaten for almost...fourteen hours. She had skipped breakfast, as well.
"No...I am not," he replied, his eyes taking in her face as she puzzled over her new toy. They sat in silence for a few moments.
"Charon, do you enjoy anything?" A simple question.
"...yes." A simple answer: he rather did.
More silence, and then, "Like what?"
The whirring paused, and her thumb and forefinger had a hold of a knob. When she looked up from the map, he was met with the ocean; waves cascaded over him. He felt the urge to swallow. He liked her eyes. His gravelly voice just rumbled a string of nonsense, and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
She gave a teasing smile. "Anything else?"
"Yes."
She prodded, "Okay, like what?"
"Putting a bullet in those who deserve it," he answered bluntly.
She tinged a light pink in her cheeks, her smile fading, and she quickly looked back to the Pip-Boy. By her reaction, it would appear as though he had provided a wrong sort of response, but she had asked, and he had answered. It was the truth, and there was no reason for him to lie.
"Where do you come from?" Another question, and this time, there was no answer. A huff. "Figured."
There was a reason, for that.
"Do you wish to seek other company while you travel with me?" Her eyes flitted to his again, and her map scrolling paused.
"I do not understand," he said uncertainly.
A strained sigh. "Like- do you want to be contracted to someone else? Don't let me stop you, if you do."
He squinted at her. "No. Do you wish me to?"
She worked her jaw angrily, completely ignoring the Pip-Boy as she reached for her cup of cold coffee to the side. He could not comprehend her anger.
"Stop sounding so fucking robotic. A fucking Mister Handy has more personality than you. And, no, I do not wish anything of you...just, be yourself, for fuck's sake," she growled, her eyes scathing as she stared at him over the rim of her cup.
He fidgeted in his seat. He did not like it when she was angry with him...then again, he did not like it when she was angry at all. He was now completely well aware of her stupid sense of strength, and he did not wish to be on the receiving end of it. He said nothing and betrayed no emotion. Evelyn merely rubbed her temples, and her forehead made a clunk as it hit the table.
Just be...himself?
Just be yourself, man!
"I-" He paused and licked his lips. "-I do not know, how to be myself."
A partial lie. Those once-exposed feelings and thoughts had died with the Lone Wanderer, and Charon was unsure if he would ever become familiar with them again.
Evelyn slowly lifted her head from the table and blew a strand of hair from her face. "Well, then. I guess I'll have to show you."