And this is why Deacon is our companion for this adventure, because he's been to the Capital Wasteland! And, I really like the guy. Please have mercy on my attempts to write him; Deacon's Deaconisms are surprisingly hard to do in the moment and you have so many options of "just how honest is he going to be" to choose from. I hope my Deacon lives up to the one in your head!

Begin Recording

Sierra

Recording by Scribe Ellison

We went down to the market and Deacon puttered around, bought food and ordered laundry service for the Overboss while I let Mackenzie give me a checkup.

"I think the burn is nearly clean, now it's just a matter of stimpacks to encourage the skin to regrow which will be a long process. You're going to be in antibiotic ointment and bandages for a while."

"Any chance I can get this thing off my foot? I can't be the scary Overboss with a limp."

Mackenzie sighed. "It's been one day! So no, you can't. And stay off it as much as you can, plenty of food and sleep, and no running or fighting unless you want to be in a solid cast for a month. As you would be now if I didn't have so many stimpacks on hand."

What was the chance I could go a few days here without having to run or fight? I made a face but said, "I'll… be careful. I only have to talk to the gang leaders for now."

"They are scary people." Mackenzie said, unrolling a long bandage to rewrap things.

"Can you tell me anything? Have you treated them?"

"The leaders… they're nice to me. Because I'm the closest thing to a doctor here. So Nisha is polite when she brings in people who've cut each other within an inch of their lives and Mags always pays me to make fixer for her guys. And then later I get hauled down to the slave pens to treat their slaves. All right, how's that? Can you move it? Anything gone tingly?"

"Nope, feels all right."

"Just try to take it easy, boss." She said without much hope.

That would've been nice, but I had to go talk to scary people. At least people that scared Mackenzie.

I was in no hurry to reach those scary people and I finally felt well enough to look around the big empty square outside the market a little bit. Nuka-world is, well, two hundred years old and the park wasn't built to last in the first place. All the walls have shed their paint and some of their stucco, making them look diseased. The fountains were full of leaves and trash, and the many statues of the Nuka-cola mascots had been rendered terrifying by time and rust. I met a raider wading in a scum-covered pond, trying to dredge up treasure from the sludge. But… I could see it, you know? The buildings patched up, the weeds replaced by crops, a water purifier clearing the pond. Free people could make a good life here.

But not while it was full of raiders. They mostly nodded politely to the Overboss but two of them had to pause in bullying a slave to do so. There were slaves cleaning up, piling garbage into wheelbarrows and dragging scrap back to the heap I'd been stuck at. Had it only been yesterday? So the raiders were trying to salvage this place. In a very raider way with slave labor, but trying. I wondered if that was down to Gage too.

Deacon was right about Gage; he wasn't stupid. He had plans. I wanted to recruit people like that, because the Commonwealth needs people like that. But Colter's screams echoed in my mind. There might be a way to save Gage or there might not, but there had to be other more reasonable raiders here who would all die when the Minutemen stormed the place. Maybe Mackenzie could point out people who deserved a chance and they could have a trial or something.

I was chewing over that, limping slowly around the big entrance plaza of Nuka-world, eavesdropping on raiders' conversations when I heard a raised voice, "...and stay in the market where you belong!" A raider was yelling at… not a slave. A woman in a bright green t-shirt, who was arguing right back. The raider eventually said, "Fine! Get eaten by bloodworms!"

The woman made a rude noise and bent to look under a table. Clearly looking for something. I went over to see who this was who could just ignore being yelled at by heavily armed raiders.

She looked up and smiled, bright-eyed. "Oh, hello. You haven't seen anything… out of the ordinary have you? Maybe something hidden? Shaped like a bottlecap?"

"You're looking for caps?" I asked, confused. "You might find some work in the market."

"No, no, not caps. I'm looking for something a lot more special. Something I can only find here—Nuka-world! I've dreamed of coming here and now I've finally made it! This place is amazing don't you think?" That burst of enthusiasm matched well with her bright green shirt, fluffy blonde hair and the silliest sunglasses I'd ever seen. Something about her reminded me of Tinker Tom, the same joyfully goofy energy as Tom when he's got a new idea.

So I sat down at the table and said, "It is pretty amazing."

"You can just imagine the children smiling and happy, all drinking Nuka-cola and having the time of their lives! It must have been magical. Hi! The name's Sierra Petrovita. I traveled all the way from the Capital Wasteland to visit this place. Maybe you've heard of my Nuka-cola museum?" she asked it with such hope.

"Emily Mason. Sorry, I've never been outside the Commonwealth." I saw Deacon leave the market with two big shopping bags and waved to him. "You have a museum? What's it like?"

"I've spent years collecting all the Nuka-cola merchandise I could find! It's all on display at my home in a settlement called Girdershade. I give tours to everyone who stops by! Hang on, I think I know you. Johnny!"

Deacon didn't miss a beat. "The lady with the museum. Sierra, right?"

"You've been to her museum?"

"Yeah, when I was in Capital Wasteland. It's quite a place."

Sierra was just delighted. "You won't find a better collection in the Capital Wasteland, the Commonwealth, or anyplace else!"

Deacon nodded, "So, you here looking for new exhibits?"

"I'm looking for… um… I'm not sure I should tell you. it's really important to me and I don't know you very well… but Johnny's a true Nuka-cola fan and I'm sure his friends are too!"

I'm actually not a huge fan. I usually save them for the kids. But Deacon said solemnly, "I promise Em is a true fan. She sleeps by the light of a quantum." Which is true but only because a quantum gives just the right amount of light if you need to throw on your armor in the middle of the night while not being so much that you can't sleep.

"Well, ok! To be honest I'm so excited I can barely keep it in! It'll be a relief to finally tell someone! But first… how about a tour of Nuka-town? I've read so much about this place I'm just itching to tell someone all about it! And then I'll share my secret. What do you say?"

She sounded so hopeful I didn't have the heart to say no. Deacon didn't either, he said, "Let's go."

Thankfully we didn't have to go far. Sierra mostly just pointed around and told us about Fizztop Mountain, the arcade, and a few other spots as she spouted facts at top speed and Deacon and I nodded along. After a good five minutes of nonstop Nuka-education she finished up and I said, "You know all that from memory?" It had all sounded plausible, unlike most people who talk on and on about things from before the war. I was honestly impressed.

"Oh sure! I've spent most of my life reading everything I could get my hands on about Nuka-cola, including Nuka-world. I've been obsessed with the stuff since the first time I tasted it! I collect all the merchandise I can find, like these awesome Cappy glasses I'm wearing! But these aren't just ordinary sunglasses! They were part of a concert that started just before the war, and the winner of the contest would get to meet John Caleb Bradburton himself!"

Deacon looked at me for that one and I knew it. "Bradburton… the guy who invented Nuka-cola, right?" Somewhere back in my memory I'd seen him on television or read the name.

"Exactly!" Sierra blinked at me behind her silly glasses. "Wow, not many people know that, at least not anymore. So! To win the contest you had to find ten images of Cappy, the Nuka-cola mascot on my shirt, hidden throughout the park. Each image has part of a code or something and that code opens the door to Bradburton's office, it's right over there! Now before you say it, I know, Bradburton's long gone. But I'm thinking somewhere in his office is the original Nuka-cola formula! That formula was one of the great mysteries of the soft drink world and it would be the crown jewel of my collection!"

I asked, "So you're planning to explore… all the parks?"

"Well yes! The hidden Cappy clues are all over Nuka-world!"

"Whoa, wait a minute. The parks are full of ferals and robots and who knows what else. Are you even armed?"

"Don't be silly, of course I am! I just left my gun in my room at the trader camp. But don't think you can talk me out of this! I'm going to find the clues and I'm going to get into Bradburton's office! It's a dream I've just got to follow."

Deacon and I shared a glance. This woman was unquestionably a little batty, but neither of us wanted to see her meet a terrible end. Deacon got up and went to check out the door, inspecting the keypad and trying his lockpicks on the door itself then knocking on the fake wood around the door. I had another idea, "We're going to be exploring the parks too. We could look for the clues for you."

Deacon communicated with a look over his shoulder how much he wished I hadn't offered. But he came back saying, "I don't think anyone's getting through that door anytime soon; it's solid metal under the siding and the lock's got a reset mechanism. I mean, I could probably get in with a missile launcher but there wouldn't be much left to explore. Yeah Sierra, why don't you stay here where it's safe and let us do the searching?"

Sierra took off her treasured glasses and fiddled with them. "Well I guess I could let you help out. Here. Take this." She popped out one of the lenses and handed it to me. "Now don't lose it! I can put it back in later. Here's a holotape with the clues too. We'll each write down the letters we find and figure it out together! It'll be great to work with people who love Nuka-cola as much as I do! Friends, like Cappy and Bottle!"

Deacon stepped back in case Sierra attempted a hug but she just put her one-sided glasses and smiled at us. "Well, I'd better get on with my search! Let's catch up in the market later!"

Once she was far enough away I raised an eyebrow and asked, "Johnny?"

"John Doe, the unknown man. It's one of my favorite names."

"She recognized you dressed like a raider." I said, smiling and shaking my head. "So, did you really meet her? Is there really a Nuka-cola museum?"

Deacon nodded and hefted his bags from the market, prewar plastic with the Nuka-cola logo. "Let's go back 'home' and stash this stuff. Got some food, ammo, some clothes in case you need a better Overboss look."

Then of course I had to paw through the bags while we walked back to Fizztop Mountain. Deacon had gotten me some serious raider fashion, black leather and metal with spikes and a helmet with a mohawk of blades over the top. I waved a spiked shoulder piece at him, "Really?"

"You kidding? That's prime villain wear, you'll look like the baddie in a Grognak comic!"

"Do I want to look like something out of a Grognak comic? I'd need help to get most of this on with all the bandages I'm already wearing. Capital Wasteland stories?"

"Oh, right." We got onto the elevator. "I was there on an op, saw most of the Capital Wasteland. Megaton, Underworld, Arefu, even the Citadel where the Brotherhood was set up. Girdershade is barely a settlement, a dozen shacks under an old highway overpass. But there really is a Nuka-cola museum in one of those shacks. Of course Sierra is a little..." Deacon twirled a finger beside his ear in the universal gesture for 'cuckoo.' "But she's nice. I hope she doesn't get killed."

We left Deacon's purchases in the Overboss quarters and loaded all of Colter's dirty laundry into the elevator to be washed. By slaves, which did not feel great but I told myself I'd only make slaves do my chores once and I was going to free them as soon as possible.

Then Deacon and I rode the elevator down and walked around to the door to the Disciples' headquarters. The rotting meat smell was stronger here and I said, "I think we found the bodies."

"Well. This'll be fun."