(Untitled)

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

[Out of Milliways: Northeast Camp Alpha. RIP, Captain Stewart Devlin.]

The door opens and there is an ungodly stink behind it. This is what happens when combat with plasma and laser weaponry gets smoky and the blood of multiple species is spilled. Ellen wades out of the smoke in her power armor and pops her helmet off immediately upon seeing that

Comments

[ladyfirestarter]

Charlie's sitting at a table not too far from the door.

The adrenaline rush is probably why it takes her less time than usual to get to her feet, and why she's gripping her cane like a weapon instead of leaning on it.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Um," Ellen says to no one in particular as the deathclaw stares at her. "It should really be falling down with uncontrollable seizures right now. Or its head should be exploding or something. I really hope somebody else can line up a shot on it just in case because I don't think I can get a bead on it in time if something goes wrong."

[ladyfirestarter]

"I've got it," Charlie says, low. "I hope. What is it?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"It's a deathclaw. Fast. Aggressive. The thing on its head is a mind control device that I was overriding," Ellen says. "We're supposed to be out of range of the transmitter, though. The device should be inducing a seizure or worse..."

Pause.

"Of course, if it's not seizing, it should really have tried to kill us all at least twice by now."

[ladyfirestarter]

Mind control device? -- Later.

"It doesn't seem to be doing that." Carefully.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"It doesn't." Ellen shakes her head. "I wonder..."

Very slowly, very carefully, she raises a hand and points to the right. The creature obediently takes two steps out of the way of the door and stops, looking her way.

"Huh. The override device is still working after all."

[ladyfirestarter]

"That's ... good," she says, in a tone that's more of a question than anything else.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I'm sorry. The people who installed the control device set this creature up to kill me," Ellen says. "And several other creatures just like it. I'm carrying an experimental transmitter that's supposed to override their control signal and make them defend or obey me instead while I'm in range. It... just shouldn't really be working here."

Pause.

"Not that I'm objecting."

[ladyfirestarter]

She relaxes, more visibly than she realizes, as the other woman clarifies that she's not on the same side as the people who installed the control device.

"Why shouldn't it be working here?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"It's not supposed to work on its own," Ellen says. "The devices only work within the range of certain transmitters the people who installed them set up around their camps. There's no transmitters here that I know of..."

[ladyfirestarter]

"And your own transmitter wouldn't work without theirs?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"The signal would just cause the device to overload and take the deathclaw down with it if the Enclave signal wasn't present," Ellen says. "Hence the seizures. I'm going to have to find some way of telling Scribe Vallincourt about this. This is weird."

[ladyfirestarter]

"Do they --" She glances at the deathclaw. "Do they understand speech?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"No, they're not that smart," Ellen says. "I mean, they're intelligent enough as hunters, don't get me wrong, but my dog's smarter than them. I don't think they understand anything other than gestures."

[ladyfirestarter]

"Huh." Quiet.

"Seems to be working okay ..."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I wonder if it's something the Bar does," Ellen says. "Like the way it translates languages for people. Maybe it's keeping up the signal or something."

She shakes her head and glances over her shoulder.

"Either way I don't think he belongs here. Outside is probably safer."