Piper was running, clutching her younger sister close to her body. She had to protect her. She was all she had left. The raiders had made sure of that.
If only the others had listened to her father instead of killing him, then their little slice of heaven would still exist. But they had trusted the mayor instead, and he had tricked them into believing that he was planning to betray them to the raiders. So they hung him.
Her heart broke that day, so she took her baby sister Nathalie and ran. She fled the settlement through a hole in the fence, carrying all the water and food she could and her father's old pistol.
She wasn't going to allow them to sell her and her sister like she had heard them talk about behind closed doors. Her sneaking around for fun was of some use despite what her father had said.
And it had been a good thing that she ran too because a few hours later, the raiders came anyway. The warnings her father had told the people had been true, and the mayor had opened the gates personally. She had seen it from the hills.
That monster had betrayed everyone, and her home was now in flames, and little 9-year-old Piper was running, carrying her baby sister to safety.
She would save her no matter what. Father had told her to go to the great green jewel of the commonwealth. He had given her an old ball and told her that she should give it to the guards.
They would let her and her sister in because they owed her father a debt. She had hidden that ball in Nat's clothes so it would be together with what mattered most in the world now. The only family she had left.
Her musings were interrupted by a bullet striking the ground near her. She screamed in fear and clung to Nat, who woke up and began to cry.
The raiders had found them. All she could do now was pray for salvation.
Alice Pov, Near a Burning Settlement.
The good thing was that I had found them. The bad thing was that raiders had found them, too. And they were shooting at them. Piper was just a child, and Nat was a baby. And they were taking pop shots at them just to terrify them.
My blood began to boil. Beep, red veins of magma became visible underneath my skin, and I saw red. This was beyond the pale. I know that I had been trying to be less vicious and monstrous, but this? This could not stand.
The ground cracked and broke as I leapt, and I was upon them. I didn't bother with weapons or changing my limbs into another shape. Those monsters were shooting at children, and the fact that they were breathing was an insult to me.
Their bodies broke like dry twigs underneath a sturdy boot as my fists crashed into them, and I tore through them like an avalanche. It took mere seconds for me to kill the entire group of raiders. All thirty-seven of them.
I looked down at my hands. They were covered in the blood of the raiders. Dripping with it and shaking with unbridled fury.
I sighed. I was going to have nightmares about this, wasn't I?
After a few long, deep, calming breaths, I focused and allowed my natural heat to burn off the blood and gore. You couldn't save children looking like a horror monster, after all.
I took another few calming breaths and walked over towards Piper and her sister with my hands above my head so I wouldn't scare her.
"Are you alright over there? It's safe now. They are all dead, and I mean you no harm. I am coming up to you and your sister. I am unarmed, and I am moving slowly, so don't be scared. I am not going to harm you."
With that said, I made my way towards the two. When I reached them, I found something strange. Instead of the fear and horror I had been expecting, I found a young Piper looking at me with awe and reverence.
"A-are you an angel?"
That question threw me for a loop. Here I was, just having brutally murdered a group of raiders with my bare hands, no doubt looking like a creature that crawled out of the pits, and this little girl asked me if I was an angel.
I gave the only answer I could.
"Huh? Why would you think that kiddo?"
She was flustered at the nickname but answered anyway.
"You saved us when I prayed for help, so you must be an angel. But aren't angels supposed to have wings? Where are yours?"
The way that little munchkin stated this with such certainty was adorable. I ruffled her hair.
"No, kiddo, I'm not an angel. I'm Alice. I'm a forger. It's something else, something completely different, but I am going to help you. Now, who are you, and who's the micro munchkin?"
I explained to her in a kind voice. I didn't think that she was ready for an explanation of the facts about the reality of the world, so I played ignorant of her identity. It's a little white lie. It wouldn't hurt her.
She grumbled at me, ruffling her hair, but relented and let me do it when the warmth of my body kept away the chill of the early spring evening. I noticed that she was shivering and picked her up, placing her on my lap.
Normally, I wouldn't do this with a child, but I wasn't sure if she was healthy, and the temperatures were dropping rather quickly. I wasn't going to risk her getting sick.
"I-I'm Piper. This is my sister Nathalie. S-she's all that I have left. The people didn't believe Daddy and hung him, and then the raiders came, and Mommy went away when Nathalie came. Daddy said she didn't survive bringing her to us."
She clung to me and her little sister as she explained her plight. Soft tears ran down her face and soaked my clothes. I made my decision at that moment. I was too young to be a mother to a human child.
My mechanical children were one thing, but fuck it. I wasn't going to leave those two out to dry. I had the necessary knowledge from my time as a combat medic. It was spotty, but I had the knowledge of how to take care of a child. I also knew how to take care of a toddler.
Plus, I knew where there was someone who had the necessary knowledge to help me take care of them. I wasn't going to call myself their mother, but I would make the offer.
"A-alright, kiddo. I can't promise you that I will be the best at this. I can't promise you perfection, but I can promise you warmth, care, safety, food, water, shelter, protection, love and someone who will try her best. So, do you want me to adopt you and your sister? I can be your big sister and take care of you two. I have a safe home far away from here. It has food, shelter and water as well as protection and other people who will be nice to you and your little sister. You two will be safe there."
She looked up at me as if I had just promised her the moon and stars. Her eyes were big and shiny, and she clung to me like a limpet, beginning to sob like a babe.
I held her, uncertain about what to do, and just waited for her to calm down and let it all out. I had a feeling that she needed this. She had just lost everything except for her baby sister, whom she had to care for.
And then I had swooped in, saved her from the raiders like an angel of vengeance and offered to adopt her. It was simply too much for her. She was but a young girl, and I understood. I understood far too well.
I just hoped Sunny was ready to be a big sister. Her expression was going to be worth it. I could already see her gobsmacked look when I came home with Piper and Nat.
Yeah, this was the right thing to do. I could have just taken them to Diamond City or back to Goodsprings and left them with the community. They would have been taken care of. But that felt wrong.
They were better off being my family, and I missed having a little sister.
I didn't know when I started, but at some point, I had begun to cry, too, thinking about my little sister. I missed her, her and her antics.
I wasn't trying to replace her. Of that, I was certain. No one would ever replace what I had lost, no matter how degraded my memories would get with time.
I sat down and hugged Piper and Nat to my body, allowing my natural heat to shield them from the cold evening air as Piper cried her little heart out, sobbing over her loss.
Baby Nat had woken up from Piper's crying and had begun to cry, too. I picked her up and cradled her in my arms as Piper crawled into my lap and curled up.
It took quite some time to get Nat to calm down and a lot of gentle rocking back and forth. On top of that, I sang them a lullaby.
L'inverno à passato
L'aprile non c'Ã piÃ
È ritornato il maggio
Al* canto del cucÃ.
CucÃ, cucÃ
L'aprile non c'Ã piÃ
È ritornato il maggio
Al canto del cucÃ.
Lassà per le montagne
La neve non c'Ã piÃ
Comincia a fare il nido
Il povero cucÃ.
CucÃ, cucÃ
La neve non c'Ã piÃ
Comincia a fare il nido
Il povero cucÃ.
La bella alla finestra
La guarda in su e in giÃ
Aspetta il fidanzato
Al canto del cucÃ.
CucÃ, cucÃ
La guarda in su e in giÃ
Aspetta il fidanzato
Al canto del cucÃ.
Te l'ho pur sempre detto
Che maggio ha la virtÃ
Di far sentir l'amore
Al canto del cucÃ.
CucÃ, cucÃ
Che maggio ha la virtÃ
Di far sentir l'amore
Al canto del cucÃ.
I had to search the deepest, darkest parts of my brain to remember that lullaby. It was something that I remembered from the earliest parts of my childhood.
If I was correct, then my grandmother had sung it to me and, later on, my younger sister. Luckily, it had the desired effects, and Piper calmed down. Baby Nat even fell asleep in my arms.
A smile graced my face as I stood up, making sure to pick up Piper as well. She made a questioning noise, so I hugged her to my chest with my right arm while holding Nat with my left.
"We are going home, sister. We are going home. You don't have to worry anymore. You are safe now. Now hold on tight; I need to sing a doorway into existence."
I began to sing about the confluence of the spheres, the collision of worlds, the coming of spring and the beginning of a new passage of time.
Not long after, a beautiful willow-like tree burst from the barren land, moss spreading from its roots, covering the wastes with new growth. It would provide a safe place for weary travellers to rest.
In the centre of the tree was a large hollow covered with vines and faintly glowing ivy, and behind the ivy lay a massive wooden door holding a gateway.
They were something new I had discovered when experimenting with the powers of the world singer.
I could create an organic form of the webway. It was within my power to create portal trees, sung into existence by my efforts and dedication.
Each their very own little song. None took too much effort, but they weren't free either. I had to sing about nature and about travel somehow, and it had to make sense, or the portal wouldn't form.
This was discovered via experimentation. I had spent some time in the past week setting up multiple smaller portal trees around my ever-growing settlement, thus allowing the people of the settlement to move around freely.
Considering that the settlement had been largely overrun by vegetation and a rather large forest worthy of the mightiest of elven empires, it was definitely a bonus.
Primey seemed to think that they were great fun and loved to zip around the settlement via the portals. Keeping track of her was a trial at times now. It was anyone's guess where she was at any point of the day, and I actually had to install a set of foghorns to call her back to the main home. Otherwise, she would spend the day exploring the vegetation.
By now, the tree had finished growing, and I sat Piper down on her feet and took her by the hand as I led her through the portal.
The next moments were awash in a kaleidoscope of vivid greens and blues. Some of the colours I was fairly certain weren't supposed to exist in nature, but they weren't memetic hazards as far as I could tell, so I was fine with bringing children through the portal.
Piper gasped at the variety of different colours and gripped my hand tighter, clearly afraid of the portal. Moments later, we emerged in the settlement, specifically the town square. It was a raised platform of stones suspended by massive tree roots. The surrounding houses were walled in by Titanic trees that would have easily dwarfed Big Ben in my old world. They had the diameter of five train wagons back to back and gave off a feeling of agelessness.
Their presence was supposed to shield the settlement from whatever took out my jets in the past. I wasn't too keen on using pure technology above a certain level anymore until I could shield it from possession. As such, I went the opposite route. Let them try and possess something that came from a species that battled Slaanesh for their very souls just by virtue of existence.
Those trees were sentient, and they would tend apart anyone and anything stupid enough to try and attack my people.
That was another thing I had sadly had to get used to in the last week. The people I rescued seemed to have formed a cult around me, and I was unable to dissuade them from worshipping me. No matter what I tried, they just wouldn't listen.
As such, I had grumbled and laid down some laws. They could worship me, but there would be rules. No sacrifice, no conversions, no expecting me to solve their problems. I would protect them in the settlement, and that's it. And the rules were the same as before.
The fact that I could grow sentient plants seemed to make me a god in their eyes. I categorically refused the title simply because I was much too aware of the trappings of godhood.
Say I accepted it, then what? Did I actually grow more powerful from worship? Would I be affected by their beliefs about me? Would they begin to change my very being? Impose a myth upon me and chain me forevermore?
No, I refused the trappings of fate. I would not fall prey to such an abhorrent trap. I knew better. I would allow them their religion, but acceptance was essential for such things. Symbolism mattered, and I would not give in so easily.
It was power, yes, but I had the forge. It would give me power like no other, and I didn't even desire that. I would much prefer to be at home relaxing than stranded in a death world, preparing for a battle against eldritch foes of unknown quantity and quality. Not to mention type.
I had no idea what I was facing. It could be an entity from the Fallout universe, it could be a Lovecraftian horror or, and I dreaded to even entertain the idea, it could be a Warhammer entity.
I did not have the tech base, manpower, willpower, armaments or even the basic knowledge to deal with the last one.
I had some shaky hopes against the others, with enough time, that is, of course.
Hence, the massive forest of very much sentient and extremely violent trees surrounding the settlement. They were of such a size and their foliage of such a massive amount and density that I had to encourage them to mutate in such a way that their middle branches included growths that emitted light. Otherwise, it would be pitch-black darkness down here on the forest floor.
Piper oohed and washed at the trees, the houses, the small river running through the settlement and especially at Primey, who chose that moment to emerge from underneath my hair.
"Hey there, Primey. Meet my newest sisters. Those are Piper and Nathalie. I rescued them just a few minutes ago. Did you have a nice nap in my hair? Of course, you did. You missed the fighting. Well, I wouldn't call what I did a fight, but you missed it anyways. Go on, sat hello to our new family members."
Primey climbed down my arm, carefully avoiding the bundle of rags that held baby Nathalie and climbed onto Piper's shoulder.
She was completely enamoured with my prime dingbot and hugged her like a doll. It was adorable. Here was a child who had clearly suffered immense trauma acting like a regular kid just by virtue of overexposure to new positive stimuli.
I knew it wouldn't hold, and I had to get her to dad. He had actual experience in dealing with trauma in children. My experience was to patch them up, get them the fuck out of the combat zone and move on to the next patient.
I could deal with keeping them from focusing on the trauma they had experienced a few moments ago by distracting them, and I sadly had a rather large amount of experience in doing so. More than I should have had.
But in the current situation, it was a massive boon, and I was glad for it. It would make it easier to get Piper the help she needed. Baby Nathalie was thankfully too young to have understood what had happened to her family and was just concerned about her next meal and who would be changing her diaper.
I smiled as I led my adopted Sister into the house I had claimed for my adopted patchwork family.
Each of us was clearly broken, and Dad kept us healthy by sheer force of being an old, gruff man who refused to see any more children die to the wastes.
And yet, there was a weariness there. He would jump at shadows. He didn't like the dark at all, and the mention of anything, Dunwich sent his hands to his pistol and the bag of salt around his neck. He was afraid, deadly afraid of something eldritch coming for us.
Sunny was the emotional core of the family; her bubbly nature kept both Dad and me going, and I would burn this world down for her.
Her damage was much more evident. She didn't trust people, especially men. I did not ask because there was no need to. It was evident by now, and she had told me in private. I hadn't seen it when I had found her, but the reason for her fear of men was evident. She didn't fear Dad, probably because he had raised her and because he had been there for her. I was ashamed of myself for not seeing the signs, considering I had experienced the same. That airburst mortar round was too quick a death for those fuckers. I should have skipped the airburst and gone for just napalm.
Anyone who dared to harm her would be turned into a servitor at best and used as a nursery for experimental attack fungi while they were fully awake and aware at worst. Depending on what they did try to do to her.
And me? In the last week, I had come to grips with the fact that I was fundamentally broken after everything I had lost and the experiences I had lived. I was a nice person, but as soon as those I considered mine were threatened, I would fly off the handle with levels of violence that would make a worshiper of Khore blush.
I was fully willing to burn entire settlements to the ground to keep mine safe. It was a horrible realization about Just what kind of a person I had become.
At the core of my personality, I was a vicious little thing. Capable of a cruelty that scared me to the core.
Once, I had realised that I had spent more than a day crying in Sunny's arms with Cheyanne draped over us. The best girl had warmed up to me once she had realised that I wasn't a danger to Sunny and instead wanted to keep her safe.
I had no idea how Piper and Nathalie would fit into our mismatched little family, but I would keep them safe. It was my job after all. Dad kept us healthy, Sunny kept us sane and I was the vicious beast at the gates of our castle, ready to destroy anything and anyone stupid enough to touch my family.
By the time I had finished my introspection, Piper had calmed down somewhat and I took her by the hand, leading her into her new home.
--
authors note
reason for delay:
got shot at the army range by an accidental discharge from one of the recruits. Hit my leg and that took precedence over writing as such I had to rest and recover. The next chapter will be out a while my job is getting more stressful and writing time is at a premium. This story is not abandoned but it's very much a hobby and a mental health exercise for me. I do write when i have time or feel a pressing need to do so. As such expect delays