AN: This chapter is very different from what I usually do. I wanted to explore the Black Widow perk and how it came about for Aniss. If you don't like reading about PDA, feel free to skip; it's not plot-relevant, just fleshes out my character and her backstory a little.


Human Capital

Synopsis: As a girl in Vault 101, Aniss was taught to do one thing. She uses this to her advantage. (T)


Paradise Falls, November 2278.

Aniss followed the man's lips as they monologued over the top of GNR's quiet, tinny melody. They sat knee-to-knee on the barstools in the pad's entryway. His bright red suit cut through the darkness and made Aniss want to look away.

Vault 101 had taught its girls how to turn eyes. Show vulnerability. Look... malleable. Aniss remembered the period of time when, every Monday, Mrs. Mack would hold all the girls back after class and give lessons on how a young woman should do her duty to the Vault. They learned the biology. They learned to flirt. They designed posters with slogans — "Children are the future," "Your genetic diversity is our strength," "Good citizens don't settle for just two babies." She remembered teasing Amata in the clinic about how Mrs. Mack was unsubtly trying to pair her up with Wally. James had listened. His eyes had been sad.

The anxiety of a dwindling population had undercut Aniss's entire childhood. Her father had been gently shamed for refusing to remarry, when she was still too young to really understand what that meant. Everyone's family history was fully available and publicly discussed (and she had somehow never questioned that her own lineage was inconsistent and barely mentioned). The rationing system punished singleness and childlessness. At 25, vault dwellers who had not yet found a spouse were assigned one — and no one wanted that. So Aniss had always known the value of being a woman, even if she hadn't been gung-ho about it. Only after spending time on the outside had she realized that the vault was broken, had been broken from the very start.

Her father had known, and never told her. He'd let them feed her lies, because it was the price to keep her safe. Then, he had put her in danger anyway, and she had been plunged into a world she wasn't prepared for. And she had never gotten to ask him about any of it.

Dad wouldn't like the way her fingers fluttered on the arm of the man next to her. But Dad wasn't here.

Eulogy Jones was not a victim of totalitarian indoctrination. He just liked women, and was used to having them throw themselves at him. That made Aniss's job both easier and harder. He wasn't suspicious of her attention, but she had a lot of competition from his two sidekicks. So she let him believe he was manipulating her.

She played up her wide eyes, her rapt attention. She ignored the way his bodyguards stared resentfully at her from the far wall, and he in turn ignored her own bodyguard's imposing presence at her back.

"I never got the chance to ask. What did you do with those kids I supplied you? Call it a professional interest," he inquired, too close to her face.

"I've been working on some developmental projects in a historic locale known as Point Lookout. I'm just laying down the foundations now, but I thought the long-term investment would be worth the hassle." None of that was true, but it was vague and boring enough not to raise any more questions. If she stayed boring, she would keep him talking. The more he talked, the more scraps she could gather about Paradise Falls's supply lines, customers, and neighboring operations. All useful information, if one were so inclined to make use of it.

"I'll have to visit sometime," he said, obviously intending on no such thing. "If you ever need more... investments, Paradise Falls will be here for you. Especially if you keep the new blood coming."

Aniss had enslaved two people for Paradise Falls. Both had been accidents. In earlier days, she'd made a hobby of collaring the random attackers she tended to run across in the Wasteland. She took all their ammo while they were mezzed, collared them, and let them go free upon the captive's promise that he would change his ways. (She'd never seen any proof that any of them actually did, but at least they weren't attacking her anymore.) An Enclave soldier and a raider had both slipped away before she could negotiate, and she'd received 500 caps for them in total. Paltry compared to what she got for an average day of scavenging, but it had gained her some trust around here (and she would have just killed them otherwise). The guilt was an acceptable price tag for a successful infiltration.

"You know..." he remarked after a period of her silence. "You freelance pretty well, but you might be able to make yourself into a regular. You've got the can-do to make it happen..." Without warning, he was closer, and he was pressing his lips under her jawline. She tried to keep up the act, but no way was her first kiss gonna be Eulogy Jones. She straightened to lean away, and tried her best to look coy instead of disgusted.

"Mister Eulogy—" Clover interrupted him, a whine of jealousy threading through her voice. He turned to snap at her, giving Aniss time to glance back at Charon.

His brow was set, eyes bright and observant (as bright as a ghoul's eyes could be, anyway). He spoke without words — I've got your back. I'm judging you a little. I'm ready for this to be over. She took comfort from his statuelike presence, and turned back to Eulogy.

Perhaps as a response to his bodyguards' complaints, he seemed even more interested in Aniss. Or he thought their jealousy would make her more interested in him. "We could really use your business, both as a supplier and a customer."

"Thank you," Aniss breathed, trying to sound flattered. "I'm just not ready to 'be' a slaver, I think. I'm too young to settle on just one profession."

"Dabbling's fine, but you've got to find your people, Aniss." She suppressed nausea when she heard her name exit his lips. "You could be a professional at rehoming the Wasteland's lost souls. Slavery built America, you know. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

She heard Charon's foot tap-tap-tapping on the floor behind her. "The way I heard it, back then, the guys in charge mostly enslaved people who look like us." She placed her wrist next to his darker one for illustration.

"It doesn't gotta be personal. We slavers are in the business of reclaiming society. Everyone either contributes, or lives out their worthless lives with nothing to show for it but a pile of bones. You and I, we contribute. Sometimes our type has to make opportunities for the other type, and then... enforce them. That way everybody's pulling their weight."

"And what your girls do? That's contributing?" Aniss hadn't meant to sound critical, but Eulogy smiled. Apparently he read her attitude as envy.

"Sometimes contributing means making someone else's day a little easier."

That was gross, and Aniss felt gross. She came to the sudden realization that she was here, in a dark room, with a horrible, horrible person who currently had his arm snaked around the back of her neck. Her silence gave him time to fiddle with her shirt collar, and this was happening and she couldn't move and Mrs. Mack had never taught them how to get OUT of these situations and—

And a broad, ravaged hand was pushing the man firmly away from her. Charon, unyielding, said, "You will obtain my employer's consent before engaging her in your affections."

Eulogy leaned back, cowed, and glanced at Aniss. She fake-laughed heartily. "Well, you heard the man. Let's keep this businesslike for today."

He straightened, all traces of unbusinesslike behavior gone. So he had been manipulating her. "This one's quite a find. You buy him off Ahzrukhal?" If it had been possible for Charon to frown any deeper, he would have.

"I... didn't realize you two knew each other," Aniss stuttered, regaining her composure.

"Oh, sure. We used to see Charon around here all the time. That bartender he worked for did plenty of business with Paradise Falls."

"Funny," Aniss muttered. "He said he didn't like slavery."

Eulogy fake-laughed. "He'd say anything for a cap. How is the old ghoul?"

"He's busy..." Aniss hesitated. "Wrapping his head around his business." She flashed a brilliant smile.

Eulogy returned her smile, even though he had no idea what she was talking about. "Well, send him my love."

"You can tell him yourself," she thought she heard Charon mutter.

Eulogy didn't seem to hear. "Charon's an interesting specimen, though. How much did you pay for him?"

"I bought his contract, actually. Charon isn't a slave," Aniss clarified.

"Seems to me like a distinction without a difference."

"The contract has rules. It only applies if I follow them."

"How much?" Eulogy asked suddenly.

Aniss shifted uncomfortably. "For... the contract?"

"It's a thing of beauty. And a resourceful woman like you seems like she could use a stack of caps more than some backup. Throw a price at me. Hypothetically, even."

"Ah... in exchange for the contract, I'd want..." She stalled by patting Charon awkwardly on the arm.

"...Yes?"

"I'd want..." Her eyes roved for a suitable price. "...The moon."

"...I see."

"That's right. If you could find a way to bring me the moon, I might be inclined to trust you with the contract. Anything short of that seems a little unbalanced."

She felt Charon grab the hand that was still absently patting his elbow. She squeezed his hand to apologize for the uncomfortable topic (the whole slew of uncomfortable topics, really), but instead of responding, he guided her hand to his knife holster.

Loud and clear, buddy.

"I've got something to tell you," she whispered to Eulogy, trying to filter in a sultry undertone.

He leaned in. "I'm all ears."

Aniss whispered, just loud enough to be heard over The Ink Spots' soft guitar. "There's a third type of person. She gets rid of the ones who prey on the innocent."

And Eulogy Jones toppled forward onto the bar, his suit's vibrant red marred by dark blood.


2266-
January - Distance, No More
2267-2276 -
2277 -
January - Sage destroys the Divide
February - First Battle of Hoover Dam
July - The Mummy Returns
August 17 - Aniss leaves Vault 101
The Prodigal Son
September - To Set the Record Straight
November - The Burned Man Walks
2278-
April - James dies (Purity War begins)
June - Guide Her Through the Night
Bitter Springs
September - Project Purity activates
November - Human Capital
2279-
Adams Air Force Base (Purity War ends)
2280 -
May - Dogmeat's Vacation
August - Boones are married
2281-
New Canaan is destroyed
October 11 - Sage is shot in the head
October 19 - Sage wakes up
2282-
ED-E, My Bud
2283-
January - Second Battle of Hoover Dam
February - To Have and To Hold
April - Awake, O Sleeper
May - Worst-Case Scenario
July - Mercury's Messenger
August - Safe Haven