CLOSED SIGNUPS FALLOUT: RECLAMATION (IC)

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Sally watched the man's distress building with some of her own, and she let her eyes turn straight to look ahead rather than keep eye contact. "Well, that depends buddy."

"I do anything, friend."

It appreciated being called 'buddy.'

he said as they rounded the edge of the hill to start taking them up the rise of the ledge, at least doing the courtesy of matching his tone. "If you're about to tell me 'I'm goin feral and I'm gonna start eatin people or 'I've got a horrible virulent disease' or somethin, then no, not too keen to keep it a secret."

Pal shook it's head.

"Mmm, no. Not feral. Not eat humans either. People say it's not good. I feed on creatures and water. Lots of water." It's eyes darted every which way, though she wasn't looking, Sally would have missed that for a split second, Pal made it's eyes look in two different directions. Now that the female seemed suspicious, it didn't want to not tell the Truth. It'd read in it's magazine that telling the truth was paramount to being an upstanding citizen.

"No disease either....I look like this because...not human. I am plant."

As if to accentuate the point, Pal rustled some of it's hair and leaves could be seen growing.

"Usually hide it. But most of you humans think I just fall in ditch or just ignore altogether. But I come from vault. Special one."

Sally stared at the leaves that were coming out of the man's head, her eyes wide with the sort of genuine shock she hadn't felt in a good while.

"...I think we got different definitions of conditions that need a doctor. The plant makin you say that?"

 

[TheVaultDweller]

Sally stared at the leaves that were coming out of the man's head, her eyes wide with the sort of genuine shock she hadn't felt in a good while.

"...I think we got different definitions of conditions that need a doctor. The plant makin you say that?"

Pal shook it's head.

"Nonono, not think you getting it. Pal IS plant. Used to live at vault. En...seee....are...scientists run tests. Painful. Expose to extreme heat, extreme cold, cut leaf stems, see how long it take for grow back. So, I leave. Other plants still back there."

Pal ruffled what little hair Alec Moore had to try and re-cover the leaves.

"I tell you because Hatted human trust you. He have food AND water. Which mean you must be good if human like that trust you."

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Sally stared at the leaves that were coming out of the man's head, her eyes wide with the sort of genuine shock she hadn't felt in a good while.

"...I think we got different definitions of conditions that need a doctor. The plant makin you say that?"

Pal shook it's head.

"Nonono, not think you getting it. Pal IS plant. Used to live at vault. En...seee....are...scientists run tests. Painful. Expose to extreme heat, extreme cold, cut leaf stems, see how long it take for grow back. So, I leave. Other plants still back there."

Pal ruffled what little hair Alec Moore had to try and re-cover the leaves.

"I tell you because Hatted human trust you. He have food AND water. Which mean you must be good if human like that trust you."

Sally finally stopped walking and turned to face Pal direct with a leery frown "You, or at somebody in this... space-" She waved up and down Pal's body "-is a person. Not a plant. There's definitely some plant...ness goin on here, but I'm lookin at a person. So if I'm talkin to the plant, what happened to the person?"

 

[OrlandoBloomers]

Sally watched the man's distress building with some of her own, and she let her eyes turn straight to look ahead rather than keep eye contact. "Well, that depends buddy."​

"I do anything, friend."

It appreciated being called 'buddy.'
​

he said as they rounded the edge of the hill to start taking them up the rise of the ledge, at least doing the courtesy of matching his tone. "If you're about to tell me 'I'm goin feral and I'm gonna start eatin people or 'I've got a horrible virulent disease' or somethin, then no, not too keen to keep it a secret."​

Pal shook it's head.

"Mmm, no. Not feral. Not eat humans either. People say it's not good. I feed on creatures and water. Lots of water." It's eyes darted every which way, though she wasn't looking, Sally would have missed that for a split second, Pal made it's eyes look in two different directions. Now that the female seemed suspicious, it didn't want to not tell the Truth. It'd read in it's magazine that telling the truth was paramount to being an upstanding citizen.

"No disease either....I look like this because...not human. I am plant."

As if to accentuate the point, Pal rustled some of it's hair and leaves could be seen growing.

"Usually hide it. But most of you humans think I just fall in ditch or just ignore altogether. But I come from vault. Special one."​

Sally watched the man's distress building with some of her own, and she let her eyes turn straight to look ahead rather than keep eye contact. "Well, that depends buddy."​

"I do anything, friend."

It appreciated being called 'buddy.'
​

he said as they rounded the edge of the hill to start taking them up the rise of the ledge, at least doing the courtesy of matching his tone. "If you're about to tell me 'I'm goin feral and I'm gonna start eatin people or 'I've got a horrible virulent disease' or somethin, then no, not too keen to keep it a secret."​

Pal shook it's head.

"Mmm, no. Not feral. Not eat humans either. People say it's not good. I feed on creatures and water. Lots of water." It's eyes darted every which way, though she wasn't looking, Sally would have missed that for a split second, Pal made it's eyes look in two different directions. Now that the female seemed suspicious, it didn't want to not tell the Truth. It'd read in it's magazine that telling the truth was paramount to being an upstanding citizen.

"No disease either....I look like this because...not human. I am plant."

As if to accentuate the point, Pal rustled some of it's hair and leaves could be seen growing.

"Usually hide it. But most of you humans think I just fall in ditch or just ignore altogether. But I come from vault. Special one."​

Sally stared at the leaves that were coming out of the man's head, her eyes wide with the sort of genuine shock she hadn't felt in a good while.

"...I think we got different definitions of conditions that need a doctor. The plant makin you say that?"​

The ridge in question was a ways out into the evening dusk, tribes from the east seemingly wanting as little to do with the citizens of the West as their more industrialized counterparts did them. Access to the encampment would require one versed in the art of rock climbing [AGI 7+] to scramble up the mostly-sheer cliff face, or failing that a more humble, winding hike up a narrow canyon pass, dust devils and tumbleweeds careening on the breeze the only accompaniment to the unlikely duo as they made their bizarre introductions.

The flaming spear that lit up the night and embedded itself in their path brought the mounting scrutiny to a halt, followed by four more in rapid succession, forming a loose pen around the two as their eyes adjusted to the sudden intensity. A deep, throaty yodel followed from somewhere high above, reverberating off and around the canyon walls, and all at once the sounds of revelry, chanting and purposeful drumming ceased, an eerie silence descending over the pass broken only by the crackling of burning wood.

Through the flames Sally [PER 6] could vaguely discern silhouettes moving atop the boulders at the peak of the ridge, about a half-dozen figures in frocks knitted together from old sofa leather framed against the twilit sky. They murmured amongst themselves, a tone of wariness palpable if the spears hadn't been evidence enough of that, and soon a voice cut through the night, hurled their way every bit as aggressively as the lances.

"Pause, recreants! Speak true, or go no further. Be ye the ones? The diptych of vision, the hallowed pair, prophesied by our lady Sibyl to approach the Pyre of Transcendence on the noble heels of Proselyte Ted?" The man scoffed, as though deeming the very thought ludicrous, and not the sentence itself. "Or be ye profligates, envoys of the Neverchange, sent to deprive our pilgrims of their paradise?"

All six men paused, awaiting their reply with bated breath.​

 

[OrlandoBloomers]

Huh.

Dominik put both hands on their hips and pursed their lips.

Well, that was just pecuilar. Had they by chance used a stealth boy?

Or maybe-

"Mrmfmfff!!!"

Dominik kicked and screamed as they were carted off to god only knows where.....​

Dominik felt themselves being hauled off a fair distance, though with the sack tied over their head there was no way of determining precisely how far; the arms restraining them were plenty versed in this kind of thing, and every time they managed to wrench away or kick one off two more would take their place. They could tell they were being brought indoors when their muffled yells started producing their own echo, perhaps a cave or cavern system of some sort; before long they felt their back slam up against a rusty steel beam, a pair of zipties pulled taut around their wrists to keep them there.

The bag was yanked off, leaving Dom free to take in their surroundings: an old, leaky mineshaft, pre-war in architecture at a glance, that the rotten wooden walkways and ironwork still served their intended purpose of holding the roof up frankly a testament to Old World craftsmanship. The only light emitted was from a pair of torches, mounted on sconces near the entrance to the long, narrow passage they found themselves in, and not a soul stood before them.

Any effort to even slightly turn their head, however, was met with the sensation of something cold and metallic pressing against the back of their crown.

"Eyes forward. You turn, you die."

The voice was masculine, harsh in its instruction, though possessive of a certain composure that at the very least suggested they hadn't been snatched up by a sect of Vipers or Jackals in want of their next sacrifice or meal. It was a voice that had known rage, the sort of rage that often drove a man to kill out in the wasteland; but one that had been purified, melted down and poured out into a cast-iron mould, alloyed with direction and purpose.

What made Dominik the object of that purpose remained to be seen, but the cock of the hammer from the pistol at their head gave the sense that any threats being issued were not idle.

"Name. Rank. Creed."

A few beats passed before it became apparent the three words were questions, and that the prisoner was expected to answer.​

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

Sally watched the man's distress building with some of her own, and she let her eyes turn straight to look ahead rather than keep eye contact. "Well, that depends buddy."​

"I do anything, friend."

It appreciated being called 'buddy.'
​

he said as they rounded the edge of the hill to start taking them up the rise of the ledge, at least doing the courtesy of matching his tone. "If you're about to tell me 'I'm goin feral and I'm gonna start eatin people or 'I've got a horrible virulent disease' or somethin, then no, not too keen to keep it a secret."​

Pal shook it's head.

"Mmm, no. Not feral. Not eat humans either. People say it's not good. I feed on creatures and water. Lots of water." It's eyes darted every which way, though she wasn't looking, Sally would have missed that for a split second, Pal made it's eyes look in two different directions. Now that the female seemed suspicious, it didn't want to not tell the Truth. It'd read in it's magazine that telling the truth was paramount to being an upstanding citizen.

"No disease either....I look like this because...not human. I am plant."

As if to accentuate the point, Pal rustled some of it's hair and leaves could be seen growing.

"Usually hide it. But most of you humans think I just fall in ditch or just ignore altogether. But I come from vault. Special one."​

Sally watched the man's distress building with some of her own, and she let her eyes turn straight to look ahead rather than keep eye contact. "Well, that depends buddy."​

"I do anything, friend."

It appreciated being called 'buddy.'
​

he said as they rounded the edge of the hill to start taking them up the rise of the ledge, at least doing the courtesy of matching his tone. "If you're about to tell me 'I'm goin feral and I'm gonna start eatin people or 'I've got a horrible virulent disease' or somethin, then no, not too keen to keep it a secret."​

Pal shook it's head.

"Mmm, no. Not feral. Not eat humans either. People say it's not good. I feed on creatures and water. Lots of water." It's eyes darted every which way, though she wasn't looking, Sally would have missed that for a split second, Pal made it's eyes look in two different directions. Now that the female seemed suspicious, it didn't want to not tell the Truth. It'd read in it's magazine that telling the truth was paramount to being an upstanding citizen.

"No disease either....I look like this because...not human. I am plant."

As if to accentuate the point, Pal rustled some of it's hair and leaves could be seen growing.

"Usually hide it. But most of you humans think I just fall in ditch or just ignore altogether. But I come from vault. Special one."​

Sally stared at the leaves that were coming out of the man's head, her eyes wide with the sort of genuine shock she hadn't felt in a good while.

"...I think we got different definitions of conditions that need a doctor. The plant makin you say that?"​

The ridge in question was a ways out into the evening dusk, tribes from the east seemingly wanting as little to do with the citizens of the West as their more industrialized counterparts did them. Access to the encampment would require one versed in the art of rock climbing [AGI 7+] to scramble up the mostly-sheer cliff face, or failing that a more humble, winding hike up a narrow canyon pass, dust devils and tumbleweeds careening on the breeze the only accompaniment to the unlikely duo as they made their bizarre introductions.

The flaming spear that lit up the night and embedded itself in their path brought the mounting scrutiny to a halt, followed by four more in rapid succession, forming a loose pen around the two as their eyes adjusted to the sudden intensity. A deep, throaty yodel followed from somewhere high above, reverberating off and around the canyon walls, and all at once the sounds of revelry, chanting and purposeful drumming ceased, an eerie silence descending over the pass broken only by the crackling of burning wood.

Through the flames Sally [PER 6] could vaguely discern silhouettes moving atop the boulders at the peak of the ridge, about a half-dozen figures in frocks knitted together from old sofa leather framed against the twilit sky. They murmured amongst themselves, a tone of wariness palpable if the spears hadn't been evidence enough of that, and soon a voice cut through the night, hurled their way every bit as aggressively as the lances.

"Pause, recreants! Speak true, or go no further. Be ye the ones? The diptych of vision, the hallowed pair, prophesied by our lady Sibyl to approach the Pyre of Transcendence on the noble heels of Proselyte Ted?" The man scoffed, as though deeming the very thought ludicrous, and not the sentence itself. "Or be ye profligates, envoys of the Neverchange, sent to deprive our pilgrims of their paradise?"

All six men paused, awaiting their reply with bated breath.​

Sally opted into the terrifying presence dialogue option

"Envoy? I am the Neverchange"

Sally had whirled after the first spear, hand that had already been hovering near her sidearm pulling it out in a whirl of a quickdraw, but when the second spear also missed she... well she didn't relax, but she also didn't start shooting, instead keeping the barrel of the gun resting against her shoulder as she squinted past the firelight and chewed on the inside of her cheek while she listened. She thought about how five minutes ago she was cracking open a cold one with the boys and was now trapped in a ring of fire with some poor fella getting piloted by a meat eating plant thing.

Seemed like Heck was gonna owe her more than a drink for this milk run.

"Let me do the talkin, bud" she murmured to pal, not trusting the plant... thing to... well really just not trusting it in general. Which was also why she played it pretty straight, rather than talking herself into a lie she had to share with some leaves.

"Well," she started as she rubbed the back of her neck with the gun's barrel, "I don't know about a lady Sibyl or what a dipstick is, but I also don't know what a neverchange is, so you could say we're a neutral party to whatever conflict y'all are sufferin though. Am lookin for a Ted, though! Just not a protestant Ted; lookin a Gunderson Ted. They the same Ted?"

As she talked her eyes scanned past the flames, trying to guage as best she could how her words were landing, and if any of these fellas had something more lethal than a spear on hand.

 

[TheVaultDweller]

Sally finally stopped walking and turned to face Pal direct with a leery frown "You, or at somebody in this... space-" She waved up and down Pal's body "-is a person. Not a plant. There's definitely some plant...ness goin on here, but I'm lookin at a person. So if I'm talkin to the plant, what happened to the person?"

Pal's hands clenched up.

He straightened his posture and looked down at Sally.

Alec Moore was not an intimidating man in life. His coworkers thought he was a pest at best and creepily obsessed with the plants at worse. But with a carnivorous plant piloting his preserved cadaver, maybe that'd changed a little.

"What.... happened...? Person is still here...Somewhat" Pal tapped on the side of it's head where the brain was left mostly intact. All that 1960 sought to preserve of him anyhow.

"The rest?" Pal gestured to the rest of it's stolen body. "Mh...." It made a noise that could have been seen as quite dismissive.

"He was....not a good....human. To me...or the other plants."

A disfigured human Pal had met up on Black Mountain hadn't cared much about Pal's oddities.

This female seemed like she would....

The flaming spear that lit up the night and embedded itself in their path brought the mounting scrutiny to a halt, followed by four more in rapid succession, forming a loose pen around the two as their eyes adjusted to the sudden intensity.

Pal's eyes lit up and it threw it's arms up infront of it's face and screeched.

"Fire....!"

Vines could be seen flowing out of Pal's sleeves and the leaves on it's head/the back of Pal's neck(usually hidden by the collar of his jacket) began standing on edge. A fact which it tried to hide by kneeling over slightly and pulling the jacket up further. It was clear by it's body language though that it very much hated the fire flowing off the spear. "No...nononono...." It's face scrunched up and it shook like a leaf (no pun intended) in a hurricane.

The other spears penning it inside with the suspiscious Female didn't help either.

"not....good....not good...."

"Pause, recreants! Speak true, or go no further. Be ye the ones? The diptych of vision, the hallowed pair, prophesied by our lady Sibyl to approach the Pyre of Transcendence on the noble heels of Proselyte Ted?" The man scoffed, as though deeming the very thought ludicrous, and not the sentence itself. "Or be ye profligates, envoys of the Neverchange, sent to deprive our pilgrims of their paradise?"

"not...know....any of those words...."

Pal's eyes darted around from spear to spear.

It could not stop trembling.

"Let me do the talkin, bud" she murmured to pal, not trusting the plant... thing to... well really just not trusting it in general. Which was also why she played it pretty straight, rather than talking herself into a lie she had to share with some leaves.

"Well," she started as she rubbed the back of her neck with the gun's barrel, "I don't know about a lady Sibyl or what a dipstick is, but I also don't know what a neverchange is, so you could say we're a neutral party to whatever conflict y'all are sufferin though. Am lookin for a Ted, though! Just not a protestant Ted; lookin a Gunderson Ted. They the same Ted?"

As she talked her eyes scanned past the flames, trying to guage as best she could how her words were landing, and if any of these fellas had something more lethal than a spear on hand.

Pal only nodded; it's focus entirely consumed by the fact that these other humans could throw sticks of fire. But it did notice something as she spoke.

This Female was a good speaker.

 

[TheVaultDweller]

Dominik felt themselves being hauled off a fair distance, though with the sack tied over their head there was no way of determining precisely how far; the arms restraining them were plenty versed in this kind of thing, and every time they managed to wrench away or kick one off two more would take their place. They could tell they were being brought indoors when their muffled yells started producing their own echo, perhaps a cave or cavern system of some sort; before long they felt their back slam up against a rusty steel beam, a pair of zipties pulled taut around their wrists to keep them there.

Whoever had kidnapped them would NOT get away with it!

They couldn't!

If word got out that a ex-Knight of the Brotherhood of Steel was so easily subdued? Nobody at the Thorn would ever take them seriously again. All that they'd done to earn the trust and companionship of Red Lucy would have been for nought. If she were to learn that her hunter got a bag pulled over their head and that was that.

"Urgh!"

They struggled against their restraints as much as they could. Boots scraping the ground as they thrashed their head from side to side. They'd not be bound like an animal! They-

he bag was yanked off, leaving Dom free to take in their surroundings: an old, leaky mineshaft, pre-war in architecture at a glance, that the rotten wooden walkways and ironwork still served their intended purpose of holding the roof up frankly a testament to Old World craftsmanship. The only light emitted was from a pair of torches, mounted on sconces near the entrance to the long, narrow passage they found themselves in, and not a soul stood before them.

Any effort to even slightly turn their head, however, was met with the sensation of something cold and metallic pressing against the back of their crown.

"...Where the hell am I?"

Before they could get a full minute or two to piece their thoughts together, they froze at the sensation of the cool metal being pressed against their head.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what it was.

Dom had been on the otherside of situations like this in the past. Mostly with raiders they'd caught.

They'd say 'they never expected to be on this side of it' but in hindsight.

Perhaps chasing after the mysterious cloaked indivudals was not the brightest of endeavors.

The voice was masculine, harsh in its instruction, though possessive of a certain composure that at the very least suggested they hadn't been snatched up by a sect of Vipers or Jackals in want of their next sacrifice or meal. It was a voice that had known rage, the sort of rage that often drove a man to kill out in the wasteland; but one that had been purified, melted down and poured out into a cast-iron mould, alloyed with direction and purpose.

What made Dominik the object of that purpose remained to be seen, but the cock of the hammer from the pistol at their head gave the sense that any threats being issued were not idle.

"Name. Rank. Creed."

A few beats passed before it became apparent the three words were questions, and that the prisoner was expected to answer.

Dom paused for a minute.

Collected their thoughts.

"....My name is Dominik Potts. I-" The urge to say 'was' strong. But it just didn't feel right to them. Try as they'd had to discard that lifestyle in order to avoid persecution from the NCR, the urge to not get their brains blown out like a cheap meat balloon won out. "...Am a Knight of the Brotherhood of Steel...."

Their creed?

It was something that Dom believed in. Even as the life they'd known was torn down around them by outside forces.

"...To preserve technology from the uncivilized masses as is our duty, our right. Let those standing in our path tremble before our just cause.

A beat.

"Ad Victoriam..."

 

[OrlandoBloomers]

Dom paused for a minute.

Collected their thoughts.

"....My name is Dominik Potts. I-" The urge to say 'was' strong. But it just didn't feel right to them. Try as they'd had to discard that lifestyle in order to avoid persecution from the NCR, the urge to not get their brains blown out like a cheap meat balloon won out. "...Am a Knight of the Brotherhood of Steel...."

Their creed?

It was something that Dom believed in. Even as the life they'd known was torn down around them by outside forces.

"...To preserve technology from the uncivilized masses as is our duty, our right. Let those standing in our path tremble before our just cause.

A beat.

"Ad Victoriam..."​

The knight could feel every word issued from their lungs being carefully weighed out and measured, the barrel of the weapon pressed flush against their head unyielding in its stillness. The voice sneered at the turn of phrase, the gun staying where it was.

"Your lips part easily with the truth. Good. Makes my job simpler."

His interrogator held a moment, as though to contemplate his next words.

"So, then. Knowing the truth stays your demise, what Brotherhood secrets will you disclose?"​

 

[Orangewasp]

Then it declared thusly, putting its whole being into the words in an explosion of arms hefted skyward in clear vexation towards the tiny drone.

"You're an IRRITATING piece of SHIT, I'd rather be skullfucked by a Cazador a dozen times than to listen to you one more time; the bastard-bees' buzz is more soothing than your BULLSHIT."​

The searing rebuttal was drowned out partway through by the obnoxiously loud music that started booming from the drone's speakers, as though they had been down this road before. Settlers in the vicinity just about jumped out of their skins such was the magnitude of decibels, turning with various degrees of annoyance to start shouting at the Ranger present to shut the darn thing off.

With it came a shift in the screen's LED message, now displaying, in bold, neon font, a countdown. Starting at ten minutes.

"Our retrieval specialist is now: 500. METERS. away! Please evacuate the area to ensure proper harm reduction and minimise potential loss of life! BIG. MT. is not liable for any injuries that may occur as a consequence of dismissing this legally obligated hazard notice. BIG. MT. Where curiosity meets curiosity meets curiosity meets curiosity ERROR: VOCAL SYNTHESIS IRREGULARITY DETECTED. NEO-CORTEX FEEDBACK LOOP DETECTED meets curiosity meets curiosity meets curiosity meets curiosity meets curiosity meets curiosity meets curiosity ERROR meets curiosity meets ERROR meets curiosity meets ERROR curiosity meets ERROR meets curiosity—"​

"Oh fuck me right up the photonic resonation chamber, it's nearSHUUUUUUTUPSHUTPSHUUUUUUUUUUUUUTUPPPPPPPP--" Job straight up roared, a comical scene unfolding as a boxy robot on wheels was having a screaming match with a floating boombox that certainly drew the alarm and attention of everyone around.

Maeve was briefly taken aback by Job's outburst, but they looked more intrigued than suspicious by the time the bot was done talking, and had studied the flying little board intently, as if weighing its words and timer deeply as they started to circle it.

*BRRZTH*

a few settlers jumped, and a few others who were more used to the lands east of NCR reached for their own weapons as Maeve watched the billboard crash to the ground with a sputter of electricity and the whirr of a dying speaker, a green, oozing hole where its power cell used to be. They lowered their plasma defender, still hissing with smoke, and gave a series of four short whistles with the other hand. a nearby soldier, a blonde woman with shoulder cut hair, perked up and started jogging towards the little collective.

"I can hear myself again. I think I'm in love with you?-- but duly noted, I won't get on your bad side. Thanks a bunches but also, that thing was property of the Big Empty so now the problem is even bigger probably and you're involved--"

Somehow, the jovial timbre that returned after the hoverbots demise never really diminished even in light of the impending threat Job'd just barely glazed over as something of a monumentally dangerous threat.

Well, anyone that knew anything of the Big Empty probably already knew that by default... right?

The unholy cacophony emanating from the drone's electroacoustic transducers came to an abrupt halt on the shot, its meager chassis proving no barrier to the orb of superheated plasma. It ate a gaping hole in the alloy, circuitry and fiberglass spilling through the power cell like candy from a piñata; of more concern, however, were the chunks of brain matter strewn amongst the synthetic elements, loosely tethered together by wires and cathode tubes, each chunk coated in a thick sheen of biomedical gel.

ERROR: CRITICAL FAILURE. POWER CORE INTEGRITY COMPROMISED. AUXILIARY FUSION CELLS COMPROMISED.

ERROR: RECURSION LOOP SUSPENDED.

ERROR: MEMORY NEUTRALISATION MATRIX OFFLINE.

ERROR: PERSONALITY SUPPRESSION FIELD LIFTED.

"I... I remember everything... dear lord..." The artificial voice intoned through what was left of the speaker frame, half-buried in the sand. "What'd they... cut my damn skull open, can't feel my. Oh God. It's finally over... thank you..."

ERROR: TROUBLESHOOTING COULDN'T IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM. TERMINATING SPECIMEN IN 10. 9.

The tiny antennae protruding from one corner of the screen extended towards Maeve with a slight whirr, as if to emulate a hand.

"Marg-Margaret... get word to Oak Creek... was supposed to bring back medicine... to Margaret. For baby Jane..."

RECURSION LOOP REESTABLISHED.

5.

4.

"D-D-Don't worry. There ain't nothin' I wouldn't do for my two t-top g-g-gals." SKRRRCH

3.

2.

"I'd walk all the way to the Big Empty 'n b-b-baaaaaack—*

1.

It exploded.

"Christ," the heckler from earlier expressed with a grimace, slowly lowering his hand from where he raised it to shield his eyes. Unscrewing the cap on his flask, he took a swig and sloshed some of the liquid out onto the sand, marking the spot where the drone fell. He listened over the outline being drawn without much change in expression, jaw tight, grinding the tobacco chew in his mouth to a fine mulch. He spat, then rose.

"Damn, better you than me, bud." Job said, grateful that it wasn't em that was exploding. Actually would it explode? Did MT pack his chassis with explosives? Didn't the Securitrons explode?

...New paranoia settling in.

"I'm never walkin' back to the Big Empty, though, I'll tell ya what."

"Yes, Ranger?"

"Mark nine minutes, ten seconds, and go round up the rest of your squad and get armed up, Mags. Be back here two minutes, tops, or you can kiss this deployment goodbye."

She gave a hasty salute and scrambled off as Maeve put a companiable hand on an approximation of Job's shoulder.

"You're interesting. Did you know most securitrons fry their internals when they go down? Sort of in built self destruct. Makes it hard for NCR to get any kinda read on our good friend's toys. So here's the deal; I'm going east myself, obviously, but with a specific job in mind. You agree to help me out, I'll make sure you can come along. I'll even pay you, if you're into that sorta thing. 300 caps up front, 2000 once we get to Flagstaff if the job itself goes well. Won't even tie you to the squad, you'll be free to," They gave a sweeping gesture at the camp behind them "-wander around the caravan, long as you keep to the same rules as everyone else. Or even fuck off with your 300. But there's two conditions for you; one, you let me take a peek under the hood-" their fist rapped on Job's metal box of a body. "-first night once we set off. "

Well, Job certainly didn't know but now it did and its already simmering panic stemming from the burgeoning paranoia of its inevitable demise culminating in an explosion built up.

"I sure did know but thank you for the reminder. Sincerely. Thank you. So much."

So anyway, Job kept its acoustic receivers active, listening to every iota of word Donchev shared, strongly likely the premise of caps as part of the deal though ultimately, it really just wanted to do a job through and through. Yes, even with the boogeyman of a retrieval specialist nearing by ever so slightly akin to the irradiated snail.

The condition of Maeve taking a gander in its bits was certainly not an enticing one, much as it wanted to know more about itself, because to allow it meant to be incredibly vulnerable regardless. It was hungry to eventually learn, even if its inborn inclinations tended to get in its way more often than not, but it wasn't entirely stupid.

Job tilted ever so slightly in place in contemplation, pondering its options and Maeve's words--

They heard the answer to that condition and then shared the second irregardless of the answer so that this wasn't split into two posts

"Second, these people over there?" they said, with a gesture again towards the milling crowds, their initial rumblings of a panic diffused by the nonchalance of everyone around where the shot came from "Civvies, mostly. And while I'm not directly assigned as their retinue on this trip, its still my duty to make sure they're safe, and letting you roll in there when it sounds like some old world bullshit, that I'm just gonna assume is extremely armed and dangerous considering how dangerous most bots that don't come with your floating friend's disclaimer are, is not exactly doing that duty. We're not leavin in ten minutes, at the very least. so," they said as they released job and pointed off into the distance in another direction "here's the deal. me and the squad they gave me for this mission are gonna just, follow you that way. There's a building that used to be a gas station that used to be trading that's now a burnt out shell from a legion raid. You can hide out there, and me and the squad will watch from a distance so we can see what, exactly, is following you. If it looks like something we can help with? Sure, we'll do it. If not, well, hey, good luck. And if you don't like those terms, well, we're just gonna have to say no and politely ask you to leave. At gun point, if necessary." they finished with a little waggle of the plasma pistol, still smoking a wisp of ochre from its discharge.

Before snapping upright.

"Maybe if you consider an assist with the specialist even if you would be skeptical to give it after seeing the son of a bitch, I'll let you fiddle with me all day long every day. It's that scary. ALSO."

A flippant shrug of the shoulders that was really just the arms making U shapes, "A job that comes with conditions I can meet returns more dividends than you realize, and I already anticipated keeping the civvies' wellbeing in mind as one of em. Even if it ultimately means hopping into that guy's Highwayman and driving out of town after exhausting every option trying join this venture out east. So if you tell me to pop off by proxy of never coming to my aid, you'll be down one gas station and securitron out of your hair."

...

"Plus y'know, there's something meritorious to be said about disaster befalling the world if Big MT gets their hands on me. Again. Not that I aim to be a conceited piece of shit for sayin' soooo."

 

[OrlandoBloomers]

Sally watched the man's distress building with some of her own, and she let her eyes turn straight to look ahead rather than keep eye contact. "Well, that depends buddy."​

"I do anything, friend."

It appreciated being called 'buddy.'
​

he said as they rounded the edge of the hill to start taking them up the rise of the ledge, at least doing the courtesy of matching his tone. "If you're about to tell me 'I'm goin feral and I'm gonna start eatin people or 'I've got a horrible virulent disease' or somethin, then no, not too keen to keep it a secret."​

Pal shook it's head.

"Mmm, no. Not feral. Not eat humans either. People say it's not good. I feed on creatures and water. Lots of water." It's eyes darted every which way, though she wasn't looking, Sally would have missed that for a split second, Pal made it's eyes look in two different directions. Now that the female seemed suspicious, it didn't want to not tell the Truth. It'd read in it's magazine that telling the truth was paramount to being an upstanding citizen.

"No disease either....I look like this because...not human. I am plant."

As if to accentuate the point, Pal rustled some of it's hair and leaves could be seen growing.

"Usually hide it. But most of you humans think I just fall in ditch or just ignore altogether. But I come from vault. Special one."​

Sally watched the man's distress building with some of her own, and she let her eyes turn straight to look ahead rather than keep eye contact. "Well, that depends buddy."​

"I do anything, friend."

It appreciated being called 'buddy.'
​

he said as they rounded the edge of the hill to start taking them up the rise of the ledge, at least doing the courtesy of matching his tone. "If you're about to tell me 'I'm goin feral and I'm gonna start eatin people or 'I've got a horrible virulent disease' or somethin, then no, not too keen to keep it a secret."​

Pal shook it's head.

"Mmm, no. Not feral. Not eat humans either. People say it's not good. I feed on creatures and water. Lots of water." It's eyes darted every which way, though she wasn't looking, Sally would have missed that for a split second, Pal made it's eyes look in two different directions. Now that the female seemed suspicious, it didn't want to not tell the Truth. It'd read in it's magazine that telling the truth was paramount to being an upstanding citizen.

"No disease either....I look like this because...not human. I am plant."

As if to accentuate the point, Pal rustled some of it's hair and leaves could be seen growing.

"Usually hide it. But most of you humans think I just fall in ditch or just ignore altogether. But I come from vault. Special one."​

Sally stared at the leaves that were coming out of the man's head, her eyes wide with the sort of genuine shock she hadn't felt in a good while.

"...I think we got different definitions of conditions that need a doctor. The plant makin you say that?"​

The ridge in question was a ways out into the evening dusk, tribes from the east seemingly wanting as little to do with the citizens of the West as their more industrialized counterparts did them. Access to the encampment would require one versed in the art of rock climbing [AGI 7+] to scramble up the mostly-sheer cliff face, or failing that a more humble, winding hike up a narrow canyon pass, dust devils and tumbleweeds careening on the breeze the only accompaniment to the unlikely duo as they made their bizarre introductions.

The flaming spear that lit up the night and embedded itself in their path brought the mounting scrutiny to a halt, followed by four more in rapid succession, forming a loose pen around the two as their eyes adjusted to the sudden intensity. A deep, throaty yodel followed from somewhere high above, reverberating off and around the canyon walls, and all at once the sounds of revelry, chanting and purposeful drumming ceased, an eerie silence descending over the pass broken only by the crackling of burning wood.

Through the flames Sally [PER 6] could vaguely discern silhouettes moving atop the boulders at the peak of the ridge, about a half-dozen figures in frocks knitted together from old sofa leather framed against the twilit sky. They murmured amongst themselves, a tone of wariness palpable if the spears hadn't been evidence enough of that, and soon a voice cut through the night, hurled their way every bit as aggressively as the lances.

"Pause, recreants! Speak true, or go no further. Be ye the ones? The diptych of vision, the hallowed pair, prophesied by our lady Sibyl to approach the Pyre of Transcendence on the noble heels of Proselyte Ted?" The man scoffed, as though deeming the very thought ludicrous, and not the sentence itself. "Or be ye profligates, envoys of the Neverchange, sent to deprive our pilgrims of their paradise?"

All six men paused, awaiting their reply with bated breath.​

Sally opted into the terrifying presence dialogue option

"Envoy? I am the Neverchange"

Sally had whirled after the first spear, hand that had already been hovering near her sidearm pulling it out in a whirl of a quickdraw, but when the second spear also missed she... well she didn't relax, but she also didn't start shooting, instead keeping the barrel of the gun resting against her shoulder as she squinted past the firelight and chewed on the inside of her cheek while she listened. She thought about how five minutes ago she was cracking open a cold one with the boys and was now trapped in a ring of fire with some poor fella getting piloted by a meat eating plant thing.

Seemed like Heck was gonna owe her more than a drink for this milk run.

"Let me do the talkin, bud" she murmured to pal, not trusting the plant... thing to... well really just not trusting it in general. Which was also why she played it pretty straight, rather than talking herself into a lie she had to share with some leaves.

"Well," she started as she rubbed the back of her neck with the gun's barrel, "I don't know about a lady Sibyl or what a dipstick is, but I also don't know what a neverchange is, so you could say we're a neutral party to whatever conflict y'all are sufferin though. Am lookin for a Ted, though! Just not a protestant Ted; lookin a Gunderson Ted. They the same Ted?"

As she talked her eyes scanned past the flames, trying to guage as best she could how her words were landing, and if any of these fellas had something more lethal than a spear on hand.​

Pal only nodded; it's focus entirely consumed by the fact that these other humans could throw sticks of fire. But it did notice something as she spoke.

This Female was a good speaker.​

A hush befell the watchful tribals when she spoke her reply, their focus drawn by Pal's unusually erratic reactions to the flame as they murmured and conferred amongst themselves. While difficult to tell, she could see nothing adorning their bodies save the leather garments and spears; their aim, intended to startle rather than wound or kill, and the force they had been struck into the sand with spoke volumes to their lethality, however, should that prove their purpose. After a few more moments of vigilance, the leader called back once more.

"It is so. The one ye seek was called Gunder-Son when he approached this sacred hill, his eminence withheld from him by western debauchery. Now he is Proselyte Ted, son only to Hecate, and takes wisdom with her last daughter the Sibyl as we await the advent of Harmony, on the eve of the prosperous yatra. So it was foretold."

"So it was foretold. Y mab darogan," the five circling him echoed in unison, pounding their spears off the ground.

"Your coming was foretold as well, though it is twofold. If be ye true, and it is your names we commemorate to the Revered Abacus tonight, then in the purity of flame it shall be known. If ye be children of Neverchange, here to defame and defile, then this shall be known as well. There is only one way to determine."

Two more spears hit the ground in front of them, these ones lacking the rags doused in propane that were enabling the others to serve as torches.

"Ye must fight."
​

 

[TheVaultDweller]

"So it was foretold. Y mab darogan," the five circling him echoed in unison, pounding their spears off the ground.

"Your coming was foretold as well, though it is twofold. If be ye true, and it is your names we commemorate to the Revered Abacus tonight, then in the purity of flame it shall be known. If ye be children of Neverchange, here to defame and defile, then this shall be known as well. There is only one way to determine."

Two more spears hit the ground in front of them, these ones lacking the rags doused in propane that were enabling the others to serve as torches.

"Ye must fight."

Pal instantly recoiled as another spear was thrown down, shrieking and all.

"aaaAAAAH!!!"

But this stick wasn't set alight.

"Oh."

Pal somewhat calmed down and tried to listen to what the faraway human was yellling. Not much of it made any sense to the plant.

Aside from the word fight.

They wanted it to fight the Female?

Walking over and grabbing the spear and hoisting it up, Pal looked it over. It didn't doubt that it could easily overpower the Female. But she was likely quicker on the draw with her Gun. Guns did lots of damage. Pal knew as it had one itself. Taken off a powder ganger that Pal ripped the head off. Before it was told that killing humans was looked down upon. Wasn't much of a shot though, unsteady aim and all that. If one were to look under Pal's shirt, aside from the massive bruises across it's back from where dried blood had been pooling up, there was duct tape/metal frames/bandaging holding the corpse's chest together from stab wounds/gunshots/claw strikes etc.

"Female....have idea...."

Pal kept it's eyes forward, trying it's best to control it's instinctual urge to freak out around fire.

"You....stab me.....lots. ...Can endure it....Just not in head." It was true to a degree. As 1960/Seymour had been taking root in Alec's body, it lacked the need for a good number of Alec's organs and just as well had grown roots around/through them like the wet sacks of meat that they were. It really only needed Alec's brain to peel through his memories as needed. The rest was expendable. "....Make them....think you....won."

 

[TheVaultDweller]

The knight could feel every word issued from their lungs being carefully weighed out and measured, the barrel of the weapon pressed flush against their head unyielding in its stillness. The voice sneered at the turn of phrase, the gun staying where it was.

"Your lips part easily with the truth. Good. Makes my job simpler."

His interrogator held a moment, as though to contemplate his next words.

"So, then. Knowing the truth stays your demise, what Brotherhood secrets will you disclose?"

Dom huffed and exhaled through their nose.

"What does it matter? The Brotherhood is gone... The NCR saw to that."

Dom struggled against their restraints.

"That's all I'm going to say. If you're going to shoot then do it."

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

"Your coming was foretold as well, though it is twofold. If be ye true, and it is your names we commemorate to the Revered Abacus tonight, then in the purity of flame it shall be known. If ye be children of Neverchange, here to defame and defile, then this shall be known as well. There is only one way to determine."

Two more spears hit the ground in front of them, these ones lacking the rags doused in propane that were enabling the others to serve as torches.

"Ye must fight."

"Female....have idea...."

Pal kept it's eyes forward, trying it's best to control it's instinctual urge to freak out around fire.

"You....stab me.....lots. ...Can endure it....Just not in head." It was true to a degree. As 1960/Seymour had been taking root in Alec's body, it lacked the need for a good number of Alec's organs and just as well had grown roots around/through them like the wet sacks of meat that they were. It really only needed Alec's brain to peel through his memories as needed. The rest was expendable. "....Make them....think you....won

Sally watched Pal walk over to the spear and pull it out with the same sort of caution a cornered wolf would a hunter, never actually lowering the gun towards him but her eyes anything but relaxed. Then he made his offer. She tapped her foot a few times, spun the revolver into its holster, and with a grunt heaved the other spear out of the dirt with some effort. She took a few steps back and set the spear into a ready position across from pal, trying to get a read on his glassy eyes. Plan made some sense. If he was really gonna be fine then hey, who cared? Just had to stab some poor guy who she still wasn't quite clear on whether she was alive and his leafy passenger who'd done her no harm as yet. She snarled.

*shunk*

"You know," she said as she leaned against the spear where she'd jammed it back into the ground and looked back up at their audience "Mojave didn't take too kindly to the last group a' folk who had people scrap in an arena by force. Now those people down there" she said with a gesture back the way they'd come "-theyre a bit spooked by y'all. You came outta legion lands, maybe you as bad as them, or so the thoughts go. Didn't wanna buy into it myself, but this-" she nodded at the impromptu cage "ain't exactly painting a nice picture. I don't think I wanna stab this nice man here. He ain't done me no wrong. So if you're keen on one of us gettin a few new holes, you can come down here and try and hand em out yourself. Emphasis on try"

She let that sink in as she shifted to rest her hand on her pistol, only to stumble as the spear came loose from the motion due to her tiny arms being what put it in the dirt. She caught herself and cleared her throat with her hands planted on her hips and her back straight.

 

[Schnee Corp Lawyer]

She didn't even wait for a response from the securitron before she loudly cleared her throat to draw attention. "Ahemmmmmmmmmmmm." Mia began, locking her gaze 100% on just the Ranger now. "Yeah, hope none of ya official soldier types got a problem with a plus one for this party of yers, cuz I ain't gonna lie, I walked up to ya and interrupted, just wantin' an answer to a question on a thing that just got shared with me, but now...ooh, now I'm just plain curious about what the hell is goin' down for Wheelie over here."

Maeve was briefly taken aback by Job's outburst, but they looked more intrigued than suspicious by the time the bot was done talking, and had studied the flying little board intently, as if weighing its words and timer deeply as they started to circle it.

*BRRZTH*

a few settlers jumped, and a few others who were more used to the lands east of NCR reached for their own weapons as Maeve watched the billboard crash to the ground with a sputter of electricity and the whirr of a dying speaker, a green, oozing hole where its power cell used to be. They lowered their plasma defender, still hissing with smoke, and gave a series of four short whistles with the other hand. a nearby soldier, a blonde woman with shoulder cut hair, perked up and started jogging towards the little collective.​

The unholy cacophony emanating from the drone's electroacoustic transducers came to an abrupt halt on the shot, its meager chassis proving no barrier to the orb of superheated plasma. It ate a gaping hole in the alloy, circuitry and fiberglass spilling through the power cell like candy from a piñata; of more concern, however, were the chunks of brain matter strewn amongst the synthetic elements, loosely tethered together by wires and cathode tubes, each chunk coated in a thick sheen of biomedical gel.

ERROR: CRITICAL FAILURE. POWER CORE INTEGRITY COMPROMISED. AUXILIARY FUSION CELLS COMPROMISED.

ERROR: RECURSION LOOP SUSPENDED.

ERROR: MEMORY NEUTRALISATION MATRIX OFFLINE.

ERROR: PERSONALITY SUPPRESSION FIELD LIFTED.

"I... I remember everything... dear lord..." The artificial voice intoned through what was left of the speaker frame, half-buried in the sand. "What'd they... cut my damn skull open, can't feel my. Oh God. It's finally over... thank you..."

ERROR: TROUBLESHOOTING COULDN'T IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM. TERMINATING SPECIMEN IN 10. 9.

The tiny antennae protruding from one corner of the screen extended towards Maeve with a slight whirr, as if to emulate a hand.

"Marg-Margaret... get word to Oak Creek... was supposed to bring back medicine... to Margaret. For baby Jane..."

RECURSION LOOP REESTABLISHED.

5.

4.

"D-D-Don't worry. There ain't nothin' I wouldn't do for my two t-top g-g-gals." SKRRRCH

3.

2.

"I'd walk all the way to the Big Empty 'n b-b-baaaaaack—*

1.

It exploded.

"Christ," the heckler from earlier expressed with a grimace, slowly lowering his hand from where he raised it to shield his eyes. Unscrewing the cap on his flask, he took a swig and sloshed some of the liquid out onto the sand, marking the spot where the drone fell. He listened over the outline being drawn without much change in expression, jaw tight, grinding the tobacco chew in his mouth to a fine mulch. He spat, then rose.
​

There's a building that used to be a gas station that used to be trading that's now a burnt out shell from a legion raid. You can hide out there, and me and the squad will watch from a distance so we can see what, exactly, is following you. If it looks like something we can help with? Sure, we'll do it. If not, well, hey, good luck. And if you don't like those terms, well, we're just gonna have to say no and politely ask you to leave. At gun point, if necessary." they finished with a little waggle of the plasma pistol, still smoking a wisp of ochre from its discharge.​

"I know it. There's a nook up on that canyon nearby. Used to be a sniper nest, watch the trail up from Mead to Boulder City. Slide down the dunes just right, you might hit the station in half the time."
​

She didn't even wait for a response from the securitron before she loudly cleared her throat to draw attention. "Ahemmmmmmmmmmmm." Mia began, locking her gaze 100% on just the Ranger now. "Yeah, hope none of ya official soldier types got a problem with a plus one for this party of yers, cuz I ain't gonna lie, I walked up to ya and interrupted, just wantin' an answer to a question on a thing that just got shared with me, but now...ooh, now I'm just plain curious about what the hell is goin' down for Wheelie over here." ​

"You a raider?" He bluntly inquired, planting the pitchfork he'd been using to sort the hay piles inside one for the time being. "You got the fixins of a raider." ​

Then it declared thusly, putting its whole being into the words in an explosion of arms hefted skyward in clear vexation towards the tiny drone.

"You're an IRRITATING piece of SHIT, I'd rather be skullfucked by a Cazador a dozen times than to listen to you one more time; the bastard-bees' buzz is more soothing than your BULLSHIT."​

The searing rebuttal was drowned out partway through by the obnoxiously loud music that started booming from the drone's speakers, as though they had been down this road before. Settlers in the vicinity just about jumped out of their skins such was the magnitude of decibels, turning with various degrees of annoyance to start shouting at the Ranger present to shut the darn thing off.

With it came a shift in the screen's LED message, now displaying, in bold, neon font, a countdown. Starting at ten minutes.

"Our retrieval specialist is now: 500. METERS. away! Please evacuate the area to ensure proper harm reduction and minimise potential loss of life! BIG. MT. is not liable for any injuries that may occur as a consequence of dismissing this legally obligated hazard notice. BIG. MT. Where curiosity meets curiosity meets curiosity meets curiosity ERROR: VOCAL SYNTHESIS IRREGULARITY DETECTED. NEO-CORTEX FEEDBACK LOOP DETECTED meets curiosity meets curiosity meets curiosity meets curiosity meets curiosity meets curiosity meets curiosity ERROR meets curiosity meets ERROR meets curiosity meets ERROR curiosity meets ERROR meets curiosity—"​

"Oh fuck me right up the photonic resonation chamber, it's nearSHUUUUUUTUPSHUTPSHUUUUUUUUUUUUUTUPPPPPPPP--" Job straight up roared, a comical scene unfolding as a boxy robot on wheels was having a screaming match with a floating boombox that certainly drew the alarm and attention of everyone around.

Maeve was briefly taken aback by Job's outburst, but they looked more intrigued than suspicious by the time the bot was done talking, and had studied the flying little board intently, as if weighing its words and timer deeply as they started to circle it.

*BRRZTH*

a few settlers jumped, and a few others who were more used to the lands east of NCR reached for their own weapons as Maeve watched the billboard crash to the ground with a sputter of electricity and the whirr of a dying speaker, a green, oozing hole where its power cell used to be. They lowered their plasma defender, still hissing with smoke, and gave a series of four short whistles with the other hand. a nearby soldier, a blonde woman with shoulder cut hair, perked up and started jogging towards the little collective.

"I can hear myself again. I think I'm in love with you?-- but duly noted, I won't get on your bad side. Thanks a bunches but also, that thing was property of the Big Empty so now the problem is even bigger probably and you're involved--"

Somehow, the jovial timbre that returned after the hoverbots demise never really diminished even in light of the impending threat Job'd just barely glazed over as something of a monumentally dangerous threat.

Well, anyone that knew anything of the Big Empty probably already knew that by default... right?

The unholy cacophony emanating from the drone's electroacoustic transducers came to an abrupt halt on the shot, its meager chassis proving no barrier to the orb of superheated plasma. It ate a gaping hole in the alloy, circuitry and fiberglass spilling through the power cell like candy from a piñata; of more concern, however, were the chunks of brain matter strewn amongst the synthetic elements, loosely tethered together by wires and cathode tubes, each chunk coated in a thick sheen of biomedical gel.

ERROR: CRITICAL FAILURE. POWER CORE INTEGRITY COMPROMISED. AUXILIARY FUSION CELLS COMPROMISED.

ERROR: RECURSION LOOP SUSPENDED.

ERROR: MEMORY NEUTRALISATION MATRIX OFFLINE.

ERROR: PERSONALITY SUPPRESSION FIELD LIFTED.

"I... I remember everything... dear lord..." The artificial voice intoned through what was left of the speaker frame, half-buried in the sand. "What'd they... cut my damn skull open, can't feel my. Oh God. It's finally over... thank you..."

ERROR: TROUBLESHOOTING COULDN'T IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM. TERMINATING SPECIMEN IN 10. 9.

The tiny antennae protruding from one corner of the screen extended towards Maeve with a slight whirr, as if to emulate a hand.

"Marg-Margaret... get word to Oak Creek... was supposed to bring back medicine... to Margaret. For baby Jane..."

RECURSION LOOP REESTABLISHED.

5.

4.

"D-D-Don't worry. There ain't nothin' I wouldn't do for my two t-top g-g-gals." SKRRRCH

3.

2.

"I'd walk all the way to the Big Empty 'n b-b-baaaaaack—*

1.

It exploded.

"Christ," the heckler from earlier expressed with a grimace, slowly lowering his hand from where he raised it to shield his eyes. Unscrewing the cap on his flask, he took a swig and sloshed some of the liquid out onto the sand, marking the spot where the drone fell. He listened over the outline being drawn without much change in expression, jaw tight, grinding the tobacco chew in his mouth to a fine mulch. He spat, then rose.

"Damn, better you than me, bud." Job said, grateful that it wasn't em that was exploding. Actually would it explode? Did MT pack his chassis with explosives? Didn't the Securitrons explode?

...New paranoia settling in.

"I'm never walkin' back to the Big Empty, though, I'll tell ya what."

"Yes, Ranger?"

"Mark nine minutes, ten seconds, and go round up the rest of your squad and get armed up, Mags. Be back here two minutes, tops, or you can kiss this deployment goodbye."

She gave a hasty salute and scrambled off as Maeve put a companiable hand on an approximation of Job's shoulder.

"You're interesting. Did you know most securitrons fry their internals when they go down? Sort of in built self destruct. Makes it hard for NCR to get any kinda read on our good friend's toys. So here's the deal; I'm going east myself, obviously, but with a specific job in mind. You agree to help me out, I'll make sure you can come along. I'll even pay you, if you're into that sorta thing. 300 caps up front, 2000 once we get to Flagstaff if the job itself goes well. Won't even tie you to the squad, you'll be free to," They gave a sweeping gesture at the camp behind them "-wander around the caravan, long as you keep to the same rules as everyone else. Or even fuck off with your 300. But there's two conditions for you; one, you let me take a peek under the hood-" their fist rapped on Job's metal box of a body. "-first night once we set off. "

Well, Job certainly didn't know but now it did and its already simmering panic stemming from the burgeoning paranoia of its inevitable demise culminating in an explosion built up.

"I sure did know but thank you for the reminder. Sincerely. Thank you. So much."

So anyway, Job kept its acoustic receivers active, listening to every iota of word Donchev shared, strongly likely the premise of caps as part of the deal though ultimately, it really just wanted to do a job through and through. Yes, even with the boogeyman of a retrieval specialist nearing by ever so slightly akin to the irradiated snail.

The condition of Maeve taking a gander in its bits was certainly not an enticing one, much as it wanted to know more about itself, because to allow it meant to be incredibly vulnerable regardless. It was hungry to eventually learn, even if its inborn inclinations tended to get in its way more often than not, but it wasn't entirely stupid.

Job tilted ever so slightly in place in contemplation, pondering its options and Maeve's words--

They heard the answer to that condition and then shared the second irregardless of the answer so that this wasn't split into two posts

"Second, these people over there?" they said, with a gesture again towards the milling crowds, their initial rumblings of a panic diffused by the nonchalance of everyone around where the shot came from "Civvies, mostly. And while I'm not directly assigned as their retinue on this trip, its still my duty to make sure they're safe, and letting you roll in there when it sounds like some old world bullshit, that I'm just gonna assume is extremely armed and dangerous considering how dangerous most bots that don't come with your floating friend's disclaimer are, is not exactly doing that duty. We're not leavin in ten minutes, at the very least. so," they said as they released job and pointed off into the distance in another direction "here's the deal. me and the squad they gave me for this mission are gonna just, follow you that way. There's a building that used to be a gas station that used to be trading that's now a burnt out shell from a legion raid. You can hide out there, and me and the squad will watch from a distance so we can see what, exactly, is following you. If it looks like something we can help with? Sure, we'll do it. If not, well, hey, good luck. And if you don't like those terms, well, we're just gonna have to say no and politely ask you to leave. At gun point, if necessary." they finished with a little waggle of the plasma pistol, still smoking a wisp of ochre from its discharge.

Before snapping upright.

"Maybe if you consider an assist with the specialist even if you would be skeptical to give it after seeing the son of a bitch, I'll let you fiddle with me all day long every day. It's that scary. ALSO."

A flippant shrug of the shoulders that was really just the arms making U shapes, "A job that comes with conditions I can meet returns more dividends than you realize, and I already anticipated keeping the civvies' wellbeing in mind as one of em. Even if it ultimately means hopping into that guy's Highwayman and driving out of town after exhausting every option trying join this venture out east. So if you tell me to pop off by proxy of never coming to my aid, you'll be down one gas station and securitron out of your hair."

...

"Plus y'know, there's something meritorious to be said about disaster befalling the world if Big MT gets their hands on me. Again. Not that I aim to be a conceited piece of shit for sayin' soooo."

"...Huh." Big Empty was a phrase that was tickling the back of Maeve's ears; vaguely touching on old world books and manuals they'd read, but they couldn't quite connect whatever dot was waiting there. They pulled their knife and walked up to the exploded remains of the billboard, leveraging one of the bigger pieces up off the ground without touching it directly to peer into what was left of its internals. If they were squeamish about the obvious brain matter, it didn't show past the look of fascination. "Of all the..."

They gave an absent nod to Job's acquiescence as they stood back up, either satisfied or unable to glean anything from what was left of the device. They tightened their gloves as they replied.

"Deal. I'll take a minute to debrief my guys then follow. You start rolling that way. You." They said with a glance up at Mia. "If you want in, go with unicycle here, make sure it gets to the site in one piece, then fall back to the hill our friend-" they glanced sideways at the hecker "-here suggested, at least one of us'll meet up with you there. Give me your name before you go. And how about you, friend?" They said as they finally addressed the man direct. "You busy? Shoot off anything besides your mouth?"

 

[OrlandoBloomers]

​

"So it was foretold. Y mab darogan," the five circling him echoed in unison, pounding their spears off the ground.

"Your coming was foretold as well, though it is twofold. If be ye true, and it is your names we commemorate to the Revered Abacus tonight, then in the purity of flame it shall be known. If ye be children of Neverchange, here to defame and defile, then this shall be known as well. There is only one way to determine."

Two more spears hit the ground in front of them, these ones lacking the rags doused in propane that were enabling the others to serve as torches.

"Ye must fight."

Pal instantly recoiled as another spear was thrown down, shrieking and all.

"aaaAAAAH!!!"

But this stick wasn't set alight.

"Oh."

Pal somewhat calmed down and tried to listen to what the faraway human was yellling. Not much of it made any sense to the plant.

Aside from the word fight.

They wanted it to fight the Female?

Walking over and grabbing the spear and hoisting it up, Pal looked it over. It didn't doubt that it could easily overpower the Female. But she was likely quicker on the draw with her Gun. Guns did lots of damage. Pal knew as it had one itself. Taken off a powder ganger that Pal ripped the head off. Before it was told that killing humans was looked down upon. Wasn't much of a shot though, unsteady aim and all that. If one were to look under Pal's shirt, aside from the massive bruises across it's back from where dried blood had been pooling up, there was duct tape/metal frames/bandaging holding the corpse's chest together from stab wounds/gunshots/claw strikes etc.

"Female....have idea...."

Pal kept it's eyes forward, trying it's best to control it's instinctual urge to freak out around fire.

"You....stab me.....lots. ...Can endure it....Just not in head." It was true to a degree. As 1960/Seymour had been taking root in Alec's body, it lacked the need for a good number of Alec's organs and just as well had grown roots around/through them like the wet sacks of meat that they were. It really only needed Alec's brain to peel through his memories as needed. The rest was expendable. "....Make them....think you....won."

"Your coming was foretold as well, though it is twofold. If be ye true, and it is your names we commemorate to the Revered Abacus tonight, then in the purity of flame it shall be known. If ye be children of Neverchange, here to defame and defile, then this shall be known as well. There is only one way to determine."

Two more spears hit the ground in front of them, these ones lacking the rags doused in propane that were enabling the others to serve as torches.

"Ye must fight."

"Female....have idea...."

Pal kept it's eyes forward, trying it's best to control it's instinctual urge to freak out around fire.

"You....stab me.....lots. ...Can endure it....Just not in head." It was true to a degree. As 1960/Seymour had been taking root in Alec's body, it lacked the need for a good number of Alec's organs and just as well had grown roots around/through them like the wet sacks of meat that they were. It really only needed Alec's brain to peel through his memories as needed. The rest was expendable. "....Make them....think you....won

Sally watched Pal walk over to the spear and pull it out with the same sort of caution a cornered wolf would a hunter, never actually lowering the gun towards him but her eyes anything but relaxed. Then he made his offer. She tapped her foot a few times, spun the revolver into its holster, and with a grunt heaved the other spear out of the dirt with some effort. She took a few steps back and set the spear into a ready position across from pal, trying to get a read on his glassy eyes. Plan made some sense. If he was really gonna be fine then hey, who cared? Just had to stab some poor guy who she still wasn't quite clear on whether she was alive and his leafy passenger who'd done her no harm as yet. She snarled.

*shunk*

"You know," she said as she leaned against the spear where she'd jammed it back into the ground and looked back up at their audience "Mojave didn't take too kindly to the last group a' folk who had people scrap in an arena by force. Now those people down there" she said with a gesture back the way they'd come "-theyre a bit spooked by y'all. You came outta legion lands, maybe you as bad as them, or so the thoughts go. Didn't wanna buy into it myself, but this-" she nodded at the impromptu cage "ain't exactly painting a nice picture. I don't think I wanna stab this nice man here. He ain't done me no wrong. So if you're keen on one of us gettin a few new holes, you can come down here and try and hand em out yourself. Emphasis on try"

She let that sink in as she shifted to rest her hand on her pistol, only to stumble as the spear came loose from the motion due to her tiny arms being what put it in the dirt. She caught herself and cleared her throat with her hands planted on her hips and her back straight.

[PARTIAL SUCCESS] The leader bristled at Sally's words, visibly affronted. "Ye would deem us a pack of savage degenerates, like the scarlet apostates? Nay, like thy godless blood barons of the West?! We are in the midst of our most sacred rites! We would not see the soil run crimson on this night!"

The men and women around him erupted into a score of combative, ape-like chanting at the declaration, spears reaching a fever pitch in their frenzied drumming against the canyon. His fist raised, and they fell silent.

"The hallowed pair need not battle to the end; only first blood. That we may witness, and see for our own selves if we are to be rewarded for our faith—and the suffering of generations before us. As it is written."

"As it was foretold. Y mab darogan." The monotonous chant echoed once more.

"Take the stage or do not, recreants; to I and my kin, it matters little. Yet the prophecy layeth plain, and they who come in the wake of Proselyte Ted must be the diptych. 'Tis but a matter of common sense." His tone was faintly pitying. "Be ye not they, ye must return with those who are, and settle thine other matters thereafter. Thus spake Sweet-Wort, of the Branch Davidians!"​

 

[C.T.]

"You a raider?" He bluntly inquired, planting the pitchfork he'd been using to sort the hay piles inside one for the time being. "You got the fixins of a raider."

"What." She shook her head, eyes narrowin' towards the man. "What do ya mean, am I a raider? If I was, why would I be here, huh?" Shiiiiiit, is it really that obvious...she couldn't help but worry internally. She wasn't an actor, losin' herself in playin' at bein' other people. She supposed she still carried herself mostly the same way now as she did when she ran with the 80s, one of the few differences bein' what she was after, beyond the caps at least. And there was hardly denying she still looked the part of a raider, even now. Hard to hide the scars decoratin' her face.​

"Deal. I'll take a minute to debrief my guys then follow. You start rolling that way. You." They said with a glance up at Mia. "If you want in, go with unicycle here, make sure it gets to the site in one piece, then fall back to the hill our friend-" they glanced sideways at the hecker "-here suggested, at least one of us'll meet up with you there. Give me your name before you go. And how about you, friend?" They said as they finally addressed the man direct. "You busy? Shoot off anything besides your mouth?"

"Aight. Ya got it." She got her invite to this party, no big fuss. "Name's Mia. Mia Alvarez. Just, uh, when this whatever the hell is goin' on is done, I'm gonna need an answer to my question earlier, yeah?" She didn't bother waitin' for a reply, just turnin' towards the bot. "Okay, Wheelie, ya heard the ranger. Let's go, and try not to talk so damn much. Some of us are still nursin' a headache here."​

 

[TheVaultDweller]

"...Huh." Big Empty was a phrase that was tickling the back of Maeve's ears; vaguely touching on old world books and manuals they'd read, but they couldn't quite connect whatever dot was waiting there. They pulled their knife and walked up to the exploded remains of the billboard, leveraging one of the bigger pieces up off the ground without touching it directly to peer into what was left of its internals. If they were squeamish about the obvious brain matter, it didn't show past the look of fascination. "Of all the..."

*CA-CLICK*

There was a flash and then a loud giggle followed.

"Sorry to go on and intrude on...whatever be all happenin here but all the hootin' an a hollerin piqued my ear."

It wasn't critters, least she went and hoped it wasn't. But maybe it'd appeal to some of those grimmy schlubs who liked all those nasty comics. Grognak or whatever?

"Deal. I'll take a minute to debrief my guys then follow. You start rolling that way. You." They said with a glance up at Mia. "If you want in, go with unicycle here, make sure it gets to the site in one piece, then fall back to the hill our friend-" they glanced sideways at the hecker "-here suggested, at least one of us'll meet up with you there. Give me your name before you go. And how about you, friend?" They said as they finally addressed the man direct. "You busy? Shoot off anything besides your mouth?"

My my my! This just kept getting more and more peculiar! ~

"Well well, don't reckon you see one of them fellas out here much. No sir." Loulou commented aloud on Job as she snapped a picture or two of the independent Securitron and started to follow after it and Mia. "Hold on a sec, don't roll too quick!!" Loulou didn't have the full details or really much of any sorta clue of what was going on beyond

-Securitron rolled up
-lots of yelling
-a shootin
-an explodin

And people were moving this way and that. She generally tried to stay out of the way of danger when it loomed. Call it cowardly, what ever, she called it bein smart and not wanting to risk her hide over somethin dumb. But she couldn't help but be a bit curious as to what all the hullabaloo was about! As for any potential issues with needing to identify herself, Loulou addressed them before they'd even become an issue, absentmindedly waving a hand towards Maeve, while continuing to look Job over. "Don't mind little ol me, just uhm, doin my job as part of the PRESS and such. Ain't that right, Mojo honey? ...Mojo?"

The pig rat had wandered over to the destroyed billboard and was eyeing up the brainy remains. Whatever was left of em anyhow. "Mojo, no!" Loulou exclaimed scooping him up in her arms before he could dig in. "You don't know where that ol boy has been! Brain stuck inside technology, probably got bits and pieces your little stomach can't digest!"

There was a skreeek in reply. So dry you might have gotten the hint that the creature was annoyed by it's owner's coddling of it.

Loulou was oblivious and pet her precious lil fella while smiling over at Mia.

"Mia huh? Hey, so.." Loulou looked from side to side. "What IS goin on and where y'all goin?"

 

[OrlandoBloomers]

"Deal. I'll take a minute to debrief my guys then follow. You start rolling that way. You." They said with a glance up at Mia. "If you want in, go with unicycle here, make sure it gets to the site in one piece, then fall back to the hill our friend-" they glanced sideways at the hecker "-here suggested, at least one of us'll meet up with you there. Give me your name before you go. And how about you, friend?" They said as they finally addressed the man direct. "You busy? Shoot off anything besides your mouth?"​

"Yessum, on occasion. Helps when the target's a nice, plum, corpulent goose like one New California Republic, all bloated on its own excess. Things you see out here on the frontier, you line 'em up all one after another, pull the hammer back at this range? Shit, I can't miss." The stranger had returned to stacking hay bales by then, pausing intermittently to tamp the whole structure down with a pitchfork and make for the most efficient use of space.

"Trouble is, there's a man's payin' me 20 caps on the hour to do this here. Now, I don't particularly like this man, but I don't like you much none either. And seein' as it took me a long time to negotiate this raise, I'm gon' have to start you up around... 25."

Truth was, the frankly surreal body of events that unfolded over the last five or so minutes had simply hooked him in a way nothing had in a while, but like hell was he about to put in free work for the NCR.

Nor the kind of work he was liable to put a price tag on.​

 

[OrlandoBloomers]

"What do ya mean, am I a raider? If I was, why would I be here, huh?"​

"Rob folk."​