Encounters.
When Ellen slipped out the Milliways door, she did so with her debts paid, her goods returned, and her laundry knapsack stuffed with supplies. Dad couldn't be all that far ahead of her if people were right about time not passing- but if they were wrong, she wanted to be prepared. God only knew what might be lurking out there.
As it happened, there wasn't much of anything lurking on the other side of the door. Dead ants, giant or otherwise, didn't lurk. They were her kills, she realized. That most likely meant the Milliways people were right. She'd watched a cluster of ants that'd found their way into the Vault once, and they very definitely carried off their dead. Either giant ants didn't have the same instincts as their lesser kin, or they simply hadn't had the time to get rid of the corpses.
Well, she didn't want to stick around for the scavenger crews. They could have their dead, as far as she was concerned. That notebook said the people who'd holed up in the school had been trying to break into Vault 101 until the ants killed them. She owed the colony for that.
The overhead lighting- no, she corrected herself, the sun- was as blinding as she remembered it. Ellen was a little more prepared for it this time, though. When she'd bought her food and water, she'd asked the Bar's clothing extruders to produce something that could protect her eyes. Her father and Jonas, and even poor Floyd, had worn tinted reading glasses at times to cut down on laboratory lighting glare. The pair of eyeglasses the Bar issued her were considerably darker, but they fit nicely, and after a minute or so she scarcely noticed them. The question of finding Megaton was more important, anyway. That note in the Overseer's computer hadn't given any directions, but it couldn't have been far from the Vault. Maybe if she headed back towards the Vault door she might ... catch... sight.... of...
Somewhere very nearby, she could hear music. Ellen stopped in her tracks to listen. It was a distant, tinny melody, but it was one she knew- 'Hail Columbia', from the old news broadcasts. Someone was here! She turned and ran in the direction of the sound. And then she stopped, because it wasn't coming from someone. It was coming from some thing, and that thing was a metal sphere somewhat larger than her head, floating down the ruined remains of the street at a little above shoulder height. She'd seen flying robots before, of course. Andy, the Vault's Mr. Handy, moved around by means of his thrusters. But this thing- this was a model she'd never seen before. Andy had a set of lights surrounding his optical sensors on one side, not a grille covering most of his leading edge, and he definitely didn't have trailing metal antennae that made him resemble the old Weixing-1 satellite.
The incongruity of something so utterly Chinese-looking spouting American patriotic music froze Ellen in her tracks. It took her a moment to realize the music had given way to a man's voice.
"-your president, John Henry Eden. I'd like to chat with you..."
"Oh! I- I'm sorry, I-"
But the man's voice went on. Ellen flushed with embarrassment as she realized it was a recording rather than a direct communication. "I've been thinking quite a bit lately about something we can all relate to, something that is unquestionably, inescapably American. I refer, of course, to our great national pastime- baseball."
Ellen glanced over her shoulder, but if there was someone the 'bot was trying to broadcast to, she didn't see them. "Er. Mr. Robot? You do know nobody's here to hear that, right?" she said.
"-from Pennsylvania to Maryland! Put your faith in John Henry Eden, and baseball will live again!"
The speech went on. Not all models of robot had the same level of self-determination, she knew. The storage room Protectrons were several orders of magnitude further down the scale than Andy, and this 'bot had to be further down than that. The poor thing was obviously carrying out its last orders. Ellen shook her head and turned away, leaving it to its course through the desolation.
As she picked her way southward through the remains of the town and the 'bot's recorded message died away, it occurred to her that the President at the time of the Great War had been named Campbell. She was almost sure the President before him had been named Freyermuth. Who the dickens was this John Henry Eden? The question nagged at her. She was still pondering it when the sound of footsteps reached her. Ellen froze, reaching for her gun.
She needn't have worried. None of the people back at the school had worn anything nearly so civilized as the dusty gray suit and tie on the first of the humans, and while the man behind him was heavily armed, his armor was just that- armor, not spikes and random patches of leather. She'd seen them before, Ellen suddenly realized, in the vision Mr. Deegan had shared with her. Even the... pack... animal...
It had two heads. What the heck. It- it was a cow, she'd seen cows in historical documents and science vids, but cows did not have two heads! What the heck!
She shook herself off and forced herself to look away from the cow, then raised one hand. "Sir!" she called. "Hello there!"
They stopped, and the man in the suit lifted an arm in reply. "Hello yourself!" he called. "And who do I have the pleasure of addressing on this fine, blighted day in the Capital Wasteland?"
"Ellen, sir- my name's Ellen." She scrambled over a lump of concrete at the edge of someone's long-ago property line and crossed to where the party had stopped. "Ellen Park. From Vault 101."
"Ye-ees, I can see that," said the man in the suit, looking Ellen up and down with an assessing eye. "That's certainly no outfit that ever came out of Megaton, that's for sure."
"Megaton! You've been there? You know where it is?"
"I've just come from there." He made a jerky little half-bow; there was a mocking quality about it. "Doc Hoff, wasteland physician and chemist extraordinaire, at your service."
"Oh, thank Goodness," said Ellen. "I've been trying to find the place but I have no idea whatsoever where it is. I think my father went there-"
"Miss Park." The doctor's voice cut through Ellen's words. "Some advice, if I may? While I appreciate earnestness and honesty as much as the next traveling merchant, I strongly suggest you curb yourself in the presence of those you've only just met. If I were a less honorable businessman, I'd view this as an opportunity to take you for all you've got."
"He's right, you know," chimed in the armed fellow, who was leaning against the two-headed (she still couldn't believe it) pack animal. "Tipping your hand like that? It's just asking for trouble."
"... oh."
Hoff gave a knowing smile. "That being said, yes. I do know where Megaton is. And given the fact that you'd find signs pointing you in the town's direction if you walked about five more minutes or so in almost any direction from here, there's really no point in my charging you for that information. Although I can offer you an excellent price on whatever medications you might find yourself in need of at the moment."
"I think I'm all right," said Ellen after a moment's thought. "I've still got a Stimpak or two, and some Med-X and Rad-Away."
"Which you'll need if you intend to drink any of the water out here," Hoff noted. "Well, if you happen to find yourself in need of anything more, I make a point of stopping at Megaton regularly in my travels. Unless you've got something you need to be relieved of otherwise, I'd best be on my way. Rivet City's not getting any closer."
There's an entire city?, Ellen wanted to ask, but mindful of his earlier statement she kept her mouth shut. Instead she only nodded. "All right," she says. "Thank you for the advice, Doctor. It was nice meeting you.
"A pleasure, I"m sure. Until next we do business."
And with that, he and his companion set off. Ellen watched them go, and wished she'd thought to ask them why the cow had two heads, but there was no help for it now. Maybe someone in Megaton would know. At least she knew for sure she was on the right track now.
As it happened, there wasn't much of anything lurking on the other side of the door. Dead ants, giant or otherwise, didn't lurk. They were her kills, she realized. That most likely meant the Milliways people were right. She'd watched a cluster of ants that'd found their way into the Vault once, and they very definitely carried off their dead. Either giant ants didn't have the same instincts as their lesser kin, or they simply hadn't had the time to get rid of the corpses.
Well, she didn't want to stick around for the scavenger crews. They could have their dead, as far as she was concerned. That notebook said the people who'd holed up in the school had been trying to break into Vault 101 until the ants killed them. She owed the colony for that.
The overhead lighting- no, she corrected herself, the sun- was as blinding as she remembered it. Ellen was a little more prepared for it this time, though. When she'd bought her food and water, she'd asked the Bar's clothing extruders to produce something that could protect her eyes. Her father and Jonas, and even poor Floyd, had worn tinted reading glasses at times to cut down on laboratory lighting glare. The pair of eyeglasses the Bar issued her were considerably darker, but they fit nicely, and after a minute or so she scarcely noticed them. The question of finding Megaton was more important, anyway. That note in the Overseer's computer hadn't given any directions, but it couldn't have been far from the Vault. Maybe if she headed back towards the Vault door she might ... catch... sight.... of...
Somewhere very nearby, she could hear music. Ellen stopped in her tracks to listen. It was a distant, tinny melody, but it was one she knew- 'Hail Columbia', from the old news broadcasts. Someone was here! She turned and ran in the direction of the sound. And then she stopped, because it wasn't coming from someone. It was coming from some thing, and that thing was a metal sphere somewhat larger than her head, floating down the ruined remains of the street at a little above shoulder height. She'd seen flying robots before, of course. Andy, the Vault's Mr. Handy, moved around by means of his thrusters. But this thing- this was a model she'd never seen before. Andy had a set of lights surrounding his optical sensors on one side, not a grille covering most of his leading edge, and he definitely didn't have trailing metal antennae that made him resemble the old Weixing-1 satellite.
The incongruity of something so utterly Chinese-looking spouting American patriotic music froze Ellen in her tracks. It took her a moment to realize the music had given way to a man's voice.
"-your president, John Henry Eden. I'd like to chat with you..."
"Oh! I- I'm sorry, I-"
But the man's voice went on. Ellen flushed with embarrassment as she realized it was a recording rather than a direct communication. "I've been thinking quite a bit lately about something we can all relate to, something that is unquestionably, inescapably American. I refer, of course, to our great national pastime- baseball."
Ellen glanced over her shoulder, but if there was someone the 'bot was trying to broadcast to, she didn't see them. "Er. Mr. Robot? You do know nobody's here to hear that, right?" she said.
"-from Pennsylvania to Maryland! Put your faith in John Henry Eden, and baseball will live again!"
The speech went on. Not all models of robot had the same level of self-determination, she knew. The storage room Protectrons were several orders of magnitude further down the scale than Andy, and this 'bot had to be further down than that. The poor thing was obviously carrying out its last orders. Ellen shook her head and turned away, leaving it to its course through the desolation.
As she picked her way southward through the remains of the town and the 'bot's recorded message died away, it occurred to her that the President at the time of the Great War had been named Campbell. She was almost sure the President before him had been named Freyermuth. Who the dickens was this John Henry Eden? The question nagged at her. She was still pondering it when the sound of footsteps reached her. Ellen froze, reaching for her gun.
She needn't have worried. None of the people back at the school had worn anything nearly so civilized as the dusty gray suit and tie on the first of the humans, and while the man behind him was heavily armed, his armor was just that- armor, not spikes and random patches of leather. She'd seen them before, Ellen suddenly realized, in the vision Mr. Deegan had shared with her. Even the... pack... animal...
It had two heads. What the heck. It- it was a cow, she'd seen cows in historical documents and science vids, but cows did not have two heads! What the heck!
She shook herself off and forced herself to look away from the cow, then raised one hand. "Sir!" she called. "Hello there!"
They stopped, and the man in the suit lifted an arm in reply. "Hello yourself!" he called. "And who do I have the pleasure of addressing on this fine, blighted day in the Capital Wasteland?"
"Ellen, sir- my name's Ellen." She scrambled over a lump of concrete at the edge of someone's long-ago property line and crossed to where the party had stopped. "Ellen Park. From Vault 101."
"Ye-ees, I can see that," said the man in the suit, looking Ellen up and down with an assessing eye. "That's certainly no outfit that ever came out of Megaton, that's for sure."
"Megaton! You've been there? You know where it is?"
"I've just come from there." He made a jerky little half-bow; there was a mocking quality about it. "Doc Hoff, wasteland physician and chemist extraordinaire, at your service."
"Oh, thank Goodness," said Ellen. "I've been trying to find the place but I have no idea whatsoever where it is. I think my father went there-"
"Miss Park." The doctor's voice cut through Ellen's words. "Some advice, if I may? While I appreciate earnestness and honesty as much as the next traveling merchant, I strongly suggest you curb yourself in the presence of those you've only just met. If I were a less honorable businessman, I'd view this as an opportunity to take you for all you've got."
"He's right, you know," chimed in the armed fellow, who was leaning against the two-headed (she still couldn't believe it) pack animal. "Tipping your hand like that? It's just asking for trouble."
"... oh."
Hoff gave a knowing smile. "That being said, yes. I do know where Megaton is. And given the fact that you'd find signs pointing you in the town's direction if you walked about five more minutes or so in almost any direction from here, there's really no point in my charging you for that information. Although I can offer you an excellent price on whatever medications you might find yourself in need of at the moment."
"I think I'm all right," said Ellen after a moment's thought. "I've still got a Stimpak or two, and some Med-X and Rad-Away."
"Which you'll need if you intend to drink any of the water out here," Hoff noted. "Well, if you happen to find yourself in need of anything more, I make a point of stopping at Megaton regularly in my travels. Unless you've got something you need to be relieved of otherwise, I'd best be on my way. Rivet City's not getting any closer."
There's an entire city?, Ellen wanted to ask, but mindful of his earlier statement she kept her mouth shut. Instead she only nodded. "All right," she says. "Thank you for the advice, Doctor. It was nice meeting you.
"A pleasure, I"m sure. Until next we do business."
And with that, he and his companion set off. Ellen watched them go, and wished she'd thought to ask them why the cow had two heads, but there was no help for it now. Maybe someone in Megaton would know. At least she knew for sure she was on the right track now.