The House Never Dies 4 - (Fallout x Xover, RobertHouse!SI)
My efforts to rapidly develop Shady Sands were going smoothly.
In three years of structuring this post-War settlement within a blend of 'new' and 'old' architectural standards, the former Vault Dwellers had succeeded in creating a functioning town with all needed services, a working agrarian system, and proper finances through some tinkering around the old money-printing system.
Admittedly, I had to pump out some new dollars with different standards of quality while also preserving the known value of each banknote - the lack of the FED meant that the national economy had, for now, rely on a new form of FIAT system. And I refused to use blasted Bottle Caps for that.
With proper workers' rights and contracts in place, the societal standards of Old America started to slowly return to this side of California, with uniformity forced by the Vault suits replaced by individual clothing. Laws were reintroduced, with some exceptions regarding the working requirements as to allow a rudimentary form of business to be born anew.
Everything was monitored with care, with a bureaucratic class within the settlement being granted access to new RobCo terminals to handle any complex calculation.
A national rent system was employed to avoid some unnatural competition of the housing system, the energy production and handling was left in my hand as the sole monopoly of the system and... water purification allowed for a clean society to be established.
Finally, the defense system. I had been reluctant to produce more Securitrons to be sent out of advisable range, so I had decided to cork open a few weapon crates and establish the 'Shady Sands Militia' or the SSM. Former second-generation Vault guards were to train up constantly and pledge an oath to the newly formed 'Californian State' to respect its democratic rule.
The government was rearranged in a governorship rather than a presidency. It goes without a say that in the eventuality of a US restoration, creating 'presidencies' from former states may devolve in some biased troubles I had no time or patience to entertain.
Still, three years go by and now we are at the turn of the new century. We were in the 22nd Century, and I absolutely felt 'old' now more than before. Maybe it was the notion of having lived two lives where one should expect retirement or death after a certain milestone, but I was still kicking it and showing no signs of stopping.
Especially when the fun had yet to start. 2101 comes, and Shady Sands faces its first real issue: power-armored troops march from the north down to them. The patrols rally behind the wall and form a defensive line in preparation of first contact.
One of my Securitrons was within the region and took a look on the situation. Those were Enclave troops but... they were in a rushed pace. There were six armed fellows and several scientists and formal-suited fellows dashing south - this was not a punitive expedition... this was an escaping party.
"Halt! You are approaching the border of the State of California. State your business!"
The leading officer of the militia shouts through the audio amplifier, causing the group to stop by the gates.
One of them steps forward, and I can't help but notice how genuinely caked she was. I knew that the Enclave had female soldiers but... dang, it's been a while since I saw a woman so strong-looking.
"This is Major Erikson of... of the former Enclave. We seek asylum behind your walls for the time being, citizen of America."
There was tension, but ultimately there was a compromise to let them in. They had to give up their weapons and be escorted to Shady Sands for questioning. There was some hesitation in giving up their energy weapons, but they were surprised to see that the militia had some improved versions of their 'superior' arsenal.
I preceded their arrival with a Securitron to warn the Governor, the old man that led the Vault Dwellers to meet me, of what the Enclave was all about and why he had to be wary around these folks. I had to admit that these may not be hardcore believers of the radical ideology of the Enclave, as the group was a bunch of ousted individuals that would have been purged if they had remained at the Enclave base.
Sometimes there was some merit behind the purges, other times it was just an effort to remove political foes, and finally there were 'panic attacks of the Stalin kind' where anyone ever so voicing opposition to some rules were labeled 'Communist Agitators' and given the boot and the bullet.
Major Erikson's group was part of the third option. She had voiced some concerns over recruitments as the officers enlisted and given higher ranks were people with 'big names' behind them and not much of a meritable reputation to warrant the ranks. Likewise, there were similar-minded troops with her and scientists that had been deemed 'Un-American' due to their reluctance to pursue human experimentation.
As they finally arrived to Shady Sands, I was surprised when one of the scientists seemed to recognize me on the spot.
"M-Mr. House. You- I can't believe it!" He got almost tackled by some of the guards, but I approached too as I got to recognize the guy. Thirty years or so can sure do much to one's body, but I could recognize the little spark of cleverness in his blue eyes.
"Yegvenny. You grew up well."
The man smiled, the once 20 years-old assistant scientist for the Computing Branch nodded at me. "And you haven't changed a bit, sir. I suppose you found a 'solution'."
"I sure did. But I believe our conversation can continue later. After I am done with the Major, that is."
Yegvenny nodded and backed away as the power-armored woman took the chance to speak with me.
"House... you are Robert House, the owner of RobCo," She pointed out, almost surprised as she spoke up.
"That is indeed me, Major Erikson."
"T-This makes no sense. It's been thirty years... how did you survive for this long?"
"Predicting the end of the world wasn't that difficult considering that the snakes that enabled such a scenario were within America itself. Why, I would dare to say that the Enclave's founders did a good job in compromising the American Defense system together with other bastards back in Washington."
My rebuttal was met with shock and anger.
"The Enclave is the future of America-"
"Following the propaganda issued by men that hardly were close to the Presidency itself," I lamented dryly. "The very Greed and Idiocy that led to the Great War is what dictates the rule of the Enclave. Their idea of America is one where Capitalism is no longer a game for those that can play it, but rather a tight club for nepo-babies that have no clue on what 'working' is all about."
The Major was quiet.
"Tell me, have you seen the war?"
"I..." The officer hesitated. "I did not."
"I can tell. You sound young, and I bet that all you know is a version of that tale. Now, let me ask you this good question that I am sure your former superiors would loathe me to ask: do you believe it's the full truth? And if so, do you think that America failed because of traitors or because China was actually stronger than us?"
There was no response to that, and I nodded.
"You will eventually see my point because it is a matter of fact. But for now, I bide you all to rest and accept your current restrictions. After all, it's not improbable that your former friends may now be hunting you down and they may cause trouble to this settlement and yours truly. I shall speak to you all... soon."
And I stopped the feed there because I needed to think on what to do next. There was no doubt in my mind that the Enclave was going to retaliate in the matters of months, and I doubted they were going to take a beating without promising a long war.
If I wanted to avoid any long-term issues in that regard, I had to find a way to infiltrate their system. And I was glad that Yegvenny had the proper data needed to get a wireless link to the Enclave mainframe.
The way things were with that system wasn't enough to do enough damage to destroy them, but I took over their robots and had them destroy their supplies, blast people around and ultimately put them in a spot where they could not make any move for a long time.
It wasn't a perfect solution... but now I knew where they were. And I could organize a little 'party' to eliminate their presence in this side of the West Coast.
All in all, there is not much of a development for a solid year as Shady Sands expands within the planned phase, the Enclave Exiles are somewhat reintegrated in the community, and I am busy trying to make sense of Rascal's growth.
She is now slightly taller than half my own height, and she had gotten quite giddy in running around and... jump on me. She had learned to be careful with her claws, but the not-so little one was getting awfully good in putting her weight in the tackles. She was definitely stronger than most 'teens' her age and yet she still managed to balance that sort of hyperactivity by taking to learn how to play the piano.
I had to create a version that could handle her claws, and she took two years to get some of the more basic tunes. She was going well, using some reinforced colored pencils to try out drawing, and then she started to parrot some of my words with a raspy tone. It wasn't a perfect mimicry, but it has started.
An evolutionary step that confirmed how her biological changes were allowing her to further expand her mind through more humane elements. The same was unfolding within the newer generations of Deathclaws, and the nest took notice of this. They were wary, but still treated the new 'mellow' generation with affection and kinship.
The old alpha had died two years ago, one of his oldest spawns replacing him as the domesticated Deathclaws grew more accustomed to being held within walls rather than within caves. Their lack of interest to dwell in radioactive areas further detailed a more 'cautious' approach in handling their hunts.
I would say that things have developed well, but I would be a liar if I said that there hadn't been any major changes in regard to-
"Dad!"
I paused mid-writing in my personal terminal, my eyes widening as I turned to look at Rascal. Her claws held up, a giddy look on her face and she did tiny jumps.
"Daaaad!"
One of the biggest smiles I have been able to conjure in years appeared on my face as I got off my chair, picked the deathclaw up and made her spin a little much to her delight.
"Argh, you're so adorable! And where did you even learn that? I don't remember-" I paused as one of her claws cleverly got aimed at... a book she had been reading. I frowned as I realized that it was one of the books I had used to get to understand how to treat a child through how normal humans handle normal babies but- but I thought I had shelved it at this point. "You are quite the clever girl, you know that?"
"Daaad~!"
Regrets? I have none.
AN
I will probably give some distance for the next update since I feel I am burning up my inspiration with the frequent posting. Still, I will keep it alive and maybe give it a thread.