(Untitled)

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen slips into the main room of the Bar with Dogmeat in tow and heads over to the Bar. "I don't suppose there are any records or anything on file that have to do with a place called Paradise Falls?" she says tentatively

Comments

[aeons_crackshot]

"Hey, Ellen!" Annabelle calls out cheerfully. "What's Paradise Falls?" She overheard Ellen's question about information on her way over, and it's as good a conversation starter as any.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"The center of the slave trade in the Capital Wasteland," Ellen says, looking up. "And, apparently, a shopping mall before the War. Hi, Annabelle."

[aeons_crackshot]

"When are we going in to permanently fix their little red wagon?"

She knows Ellen by now. If Ellen is looking for a place that deals in something that unsavory, its destruction is clearly on the express menu.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Well, I need to find someone who can scope the place out for me," Ellen says. "I don't have any Stealth Boys left. I need to know what the layout of the place is before anything else can happen. And one or two other things."

[aeons_crackshot]

"That makes things difficult," Annabelle replies with a frown. She sighs, "Yet another time I wish Whitley were here. He could walk through a crowd without anyone knowing he was there."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I miss my old stealth suit," Ellen agrees. "Stupid aliens.... I'll settle for someone who's a really good actor, though."

[aeons_crackshot]

"That puts me out of the running," Annabelle grumbles. "I can't lie worth a damn, and there's no way I could hang around that kind of scum without things getting....messy."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I don't plan on leaving the place standing for long," Ellen says soberly. "But there are three children I have to get out of there. Paradise Falls uses explosive collars to control their slaves; if they think we're going to give them a hard time they might just set off the explosives on the ones we're after."

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle says something in response to the explosive collars that the translation field neglects to translate. Let's just say that it's not a compliment and probably biologically impossible.

"Bastards. Is there a way to shut them all off, or are we going to have to remove each one by hand?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"They're based on a radio signal system of some kind," Ellen says. "There's probably a deactivation signal. If we can find it and access it, that'd be the best thing. Otherwise I can disarm them one at a time if I have to. I've done it before."

[aeons_crackshot]

"That radio signal would make things much easier," Annabelle agrees. "I hope you or your spy can find out what it is."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"If they can track it down for me, and if they can give us an idea what it's like inside the city walls, that'd be great," Ellen says. "Even if we get the kids out scott-free I really kind of think-"

She stops, realizing.

"Oh. Oh, I haven't told you yet, have I? Annabelle- I haven't ever mentioned somewhere named Little Lamplight to you, have I?"

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle shakes her head. "Not to the best of my recollection. Is that where those kids were taken from?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen nods. "It's a community of nothing but children," she says. "They've been carrying on independently since the War- there was originally a school on a trip to some caves out in the western Wasteland when the bombs went off. They take in orphans and expel anyone who turns sixteen."

She's willing to bet that there's probably a lot of pregnant fourteen and fifteen-year-olds, too, but there are things you just don't talk about in public and that's one of them.

"The kids were foraging for food- one of them was the gate guard at the time- when the slavers found them and captured them. Apparently slavers've been a real problem for Lamplight. I'm kind of hoping to make sure it's not a problem any more."

[aeons_crackshot]

"I'm not surprised," Annabelle says with a growl. "They'd be easier prey than an adult."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I'm not sure what they're being sold for," Ellen says. "There's slaves being captured in the Wasteland, and there's escaped slaves in the Wasteland, but I don't see anybody who's an actual slave with a master in the Wasteland. They're being sold off somewhere else, for something, I don't know what."