Night
Ellen had learned about the phases of the moon in science classes in the Vault. They had seemed one of the more spectacularly useless things to learn about at the time, given the sealed nature of the Vault and all, but she'd learned about them. She was getting a practical lesson in the phases of the moon now, namely: that 'new moon' meant a time of serious darkness by night, and that starlight, while very interesting to read about, meant nothing practical at all when it came to trying to pick one's way across the Wasteland landscape. Oh, the stars overhead were an incredible display, but one would think that such a river of endless lights strung out in an overwhelming arch of that nature would make it easier to actually see! No, they were too far away to do more than give notice that here, a light is here. If it weren't for the flashlight on her Pip-Boy- and the fact that life in the Vault's light conditions really had left her better suited for travel in low light conditions than the brilliance of day- it would have been far worse.
She couldn't have stayed in the Super-Duper Mart, anyway. The spike-wearers had left their victims' corpses lying about long enough that the smell reached every part of the store- and then Ellen had added their corpses to their number. Plus there were the Talon Company men who'd tried to kill her in there, now. She'd laid all the corpses as straight as she could and prayed over them quietly, a difficult task but the best she could manage given that they'd all been out to end her existence. Then she'd gone outside and done the best she could for what remained of Dov, but that was hard, given that she couldn't bring herself to look at the poor fellow's remains. The Deathclaw had gotten no such ceremony, though. Animals, she was pretty sure, didn't get funerary rites. She'd gotten out her knife and hacked off its claws in the hopes that bringing some identifiable part to Moira could get her some more useful information. Once they were secured alongside her pack, she'd set out on her way.
Funny. It was easier to bear the vast emptiness in the dark than in the light. Oh, to be sure, the monsters were still out there- human and otherwise- but with only her Pip-Boy's light to go by, they didn't seem nearly so pressing. She could deal with that.
The whirring hum of Wadsworth's thrusters outside the door woke her; she'd made it to Megaton during the night. "Morning, Wadsworth," she called wearily, pushing herself up from the mattress.
"Good morning mistress! You sound a good deal better than you did last night, if you don't mind my saying so. And even if you do mind, that doesn't change much."
She smiled a little. "Sorry about coming in like that. It wasn't the best trip I've ever had."
"No, madam, I would imagine not," said the robot calmly. "Given the amount of gore on your possessions and person when you arrived I'm rather surprised you didn't make straight for Dr. Church's clinic."
"That's what stimpaks are for," Ellen said. "If I get anything too serious, I'll have it looked at, I promise."
"Thank you, madam," Wadsworth said. "Did you wish to breakfast this morning on any of the items you procured during your travels?"
"No, I've got to bring those to Moira." Ellen rubbed at her face. "I'll trust your judgment for breakfast."
"Very good, madam," said Wadsworth. "Squirrel-on-a-stick it is."
Having eaten and changed- Ellen didn't know how Wadsworth was cleaning her Vault suits, just that wearing one around Megaton was preferable to wearing that dead man's armor- Ellen headed up to Craterside Supply. Moira was up by the front of the store this time; the man with the assault rifle looked a little disappointed as she waved cheerfully to Ellen. "Hey there! How's the scavving been?"
"I did," Ellen allowed, "but it wasn't easy."
"Ooh, all right," said Moira, snatching up a clipboard and pulling a pencil out of her hair. "Tell me all about it!"
"Well, the trip there wasn't too bad," Ellen said, "aside from those big flying things that spit stuff-"
"Oh, those are just bloatflies. Don't let the larval bundles hit you and you should be okay."
... ew. Ellen shook her head. "Anyway, it wasn't too bad until I made it to the site. There was this... lizard thing outside-" She pulled the claws out of her pack and laid them on the counter. "Twelve feet tall, and killing people with one strike-"
"That was a Deathclaw," Moira said, eyes growing wide as she examined the claws. "I didn't think those things even came this far south! Oh, my goodness- how did you survive to get these?"
"Well, there were three other people there when I arrived," Ellen said, "although it killed one of them as I watched. I had a sniper rifle with me, though, and I got off a lucky shot."
"I'd have to say so! Those things are horrible," Moira said. "Jericho used to have a gauntlet he made from a Deathclaw's hand, and it would cut right through body armor. Nasty, nasty stuff."
Ellen nodded. "The survivors left after it was killed. They said they were going back to Fairfax," she said. "That's when I went into the store. There were people holed up there, wearing spiked armor-"
Moira wrinkled her nose. "Raiders," she said. "They used to be a problem, before Moriarty got the walls built here."
Huh. He hadn't seemed like the sort to do anything that useful; nevertheless, Ellen nodded. "They were using the store as a base. They stored all of their best stuff in the pharmacy."
"Ooh. Well, that makes sense. I guess I'd hole up somewhere that had supplies in place already, too," Moira conceded. "That's good to warn people about... Well, keep what you got, okay? I just traded for a big food shipment, myself. Here, take a bit, my treat- the taste kind of grates after a while." She turned around to the shelves and took down a box of skewered meat lumps, sealed in some kind of plastic. "Iguana bits okay?"
"Sure. Wadsworth's good with those."
"Oh, I bet," said Moira. Then she brightened, rummaging through the shelves some more. "Oh! And take this. It's an old food sanitizer. Just carry it along with whatever food you've got on you, and it should automatically make most food and drink... well, it'll taste better, that's for sure. Maybe even be better, although I haven't really tested it yet for that."
"Thanks," said Ellen. She hesitated, considering her options; finally she said, "Moira? Have you ever heard of someone called 'Mr. Tenpenny'?"
"Oh, sure," said Moira. "Three Dog mentioned him on the radio once. Runs some kind of big swanky tower to the south. You can't get in without a lot of caps. Why do you ask?"
Given how much money was involved, Ellen was reluctant to say more than, "I heard his name outside the Super-Duper Mart."
"Gotcha," Moira said. "Well, I don't worry too much about out of towners, other than the traders, myself. Speaking of out of town, though, I've finished the work on that mole rat repellent stick. Still interested in trying it out?"
"Sure," said Ellen. "It can't be that bad, right?"
"That's the spirit," Moira approved. "Mole rats can burrow into almost anything, so I figured I'd make a chemical repellent stick that people could use to shoo 'em off. I don't want to put the recipe to paper in the Guide until I've got some really good results, so..."
Moira reached under the counter and came up with a long wooden club, its end stained an oily sort of green. "It'll be easy," she said. "One tap with the applicator, and it overwhelms their senses with a sort of 'feel-bad' sensation. Then they're off before you know it!"
Ellen accepted the stick. "How many results do you need?" she asked, testing its balance.
"Oh- three should be enough to prove the first results aren't just a mistake," Moira said, "but for real testing, try it out on ten or more. There's an old sewer area down towards DC that should just be crawling with the things. I'll mark it on your Pip-Boy." Moira beamed. "And you'll get an idea of what to expect for when you go looking for your dad that way! Won't that be great?"
"Sure," said Ellen as she held out her left arm for the notation. "Looking forward to it already."
She couldn't have stayed in the Super-Duper Mart, anyway. The spike-wearers had left their victims' corpses lying about long enough that the smell reached every part of the store- and then Ellen had added their corpses to their number. Plus there were the Talon Company men who'd tried to kill her in there, now. She'd laid all the corpses as straight as she could and prayed over them quietly, a difficult task but the best she could manage given that they'd all been out to end her existence. Then she'd gone outside and done the best she could for what remained of Dov, but that was hard, given that she couldn't bring herself to look at the poor fellow's remains. The Deathclaw had gotten no such ceremony, though. Animals, she was pretty sure, didn't get funerary rites. She'd gotten out her knife and hacked off its claws in the hopes that bringing some identifiable part to Moira could get her some more useful information. Once they were secured alongside her pack, she'd set out on her way.
Funny. It was easier to bear the vast emptiness in the dark than in the light. Oh, to be sure, the monsters were still out there- human and otherwise- but with only her Pip-Boy's light to go by, they didn't seem nearly so pressing. She could deal with that.
The whirring hum of Wadsworth's thrusters outside the door woke her; she'd made it to Megaton during the night. "Morning, Wadsworth," she called wearily, pushing herself up from the mattress.
"Good morning mistress! You sound a good deal better than you did last night, if you don't mind my saying so. And even if you do mind, that doesn't change much."
She smiled a little. "Sorry about coming in like that. It wasn't the best trip I've ever had."
"No, madam, I would imagine not," said the robot calmly. "Given the amount of gore on your possessions and person when you arrived I'm rather surprised you didn't make straight for Dr. Church's clinic."
"That's what stimpaks are for," Ellen said. "If I get anything too serious, I'll have it looked at, I promise."
"Thank you, madam," Wadsworth said. "Did you wish to breakfast this morning on any of the items you procured during your travels?"
"No, I've got to bring those to Moira." Ellen rubbed at her face. "I'll trust your judgment for breakfast."
"Very good, madam," said Wadsworth. "Squirrel-on-a-stick it is."
Having eaten and changed- Ellen didn't know how Wadsworth was cleaning her Vault suits, just that wearing one around Megaton was preferable to wearing that dead man's armor- Ellen headed up to Craterside Supply. Moira was up by the front of the store this time; the man with the assault rifle looked a little disappointed as she waved cheerfully to Ellen. "Hey there! How's the scavving been?"
"I did," Ellen allowed, "but it wasn't easy."
"Ooh, all right," said Moira, snatching up a clipboard and pulling a pencil out of her hair. "Tell me all about it!"
"Well, the trip there wasn't too bad," Ellen said, "aside from those big flying things that spit stuff-"
"Oh, those are just bloatflies. Don't let the larval bundles hit you and you should be okay."
... ew. Ellen shook her head. "Anyway, it wasn't too bad until I made it to the site. There was this... lizard thing outside-" She pulled the claws out of her pack and laid them on the counter. "Twelve feet tall, and killing people with one strike-"
"That was a Deathclaw," Moira said, eyes growing wide as she examined the claws. "I didn't think those things even came this far south! Oh, my goodness- how did you survive to get these?"
"Well, there were three other people there when I arrived," Ellen said, "although it killed one of them as I watched. I had a sniper rifle with me, though, and I got off a lucky shot."
"I'd have to say so! Those things are horrible," Moira said. "Jericho used to have a gauntlet he made from a Deathclaw's hand, and it would cut right through body armor. Nasty, nasty stuff."
Ellen nodded. "The survivors left after it was killed. They said they were going back to Fairfax," she said. "That's when I went into the store. There were people holed up there, wearing spiked armor-"
Moira wrinkled her nose. "Raiders," she said. "They used to be a problem, before Moriarty got the walls built here."
Huh. He hadn't seemed like the sort to do anything that useful; nevertheless, Ellen nodded. "They were using the store as a base. They stored all of their best stuff in the pharmacy."
"Ooh. Well, that makes sense. I guess I'd hole up somewhere that had supplies in place already, too," Moira conceded. "That's good to warn people about... Well, keep what you got, okay? I just traded for a big food shipment, myself. Here, take a bit, my treat- the taste kind of grates after a while." She turned around to the shelves and took down a box of skewered meat lumps, sealed in some kind of plastic. "Iguana bits okay?"
"Sure. Wadsworth's good with those."
"Oh, I bet," said Moira. Then she brightened, rummaging through the shelves some more. "Oh! And take this. It's an old food sanitizer. Just carry it along with whatever food you've got on you, and it should automatically make most food and drink... well, it'll taste better, that's for sure. Maybe even be better, although I haven't really tested it yet for that."
"Thanks," said Ellen. She hesitated, considering her options; finally she said, "Moira? Have you ever heard of someone called 'Mr. Tenpenny'?"
"Oh, sure," said Moira. "Three Dog mentioned him on the radio once. Runs some kind of big swanky tower to the south. You can't get in without a lot of caps. Why do you ask?"
Given how much money was involved, Ellen was reluctant to say more than, "I heard his name outside the Super-Duper Mart."
"Gotcha," Moira said. "Well, I don't worry too much about out of towners, other than the traders, myself. Speaking of out of town, though, I've finished the work on that mole rat repellent stick. Still interested in trying it out?"
"Sure," said Ellen. "It can't be that bad, right?"
"That's the spirit," Moira approved. "Mole rats can burrow into almost anything, so I figured I'd make a chemical repellent stick that people could use to shoo 'em off. I don't want to put the recipe to paper in the Guide until I've got some really good results, so..."
Moira reached under the counter and came up with a long wooden club, its end stained an oily sort of green. "It'll be easy," she said. "One tap with the applicator, and it overwhelms their senses with a sort of 'feel-bad' sensation. Then they're off before you know it!"
Ellen accepted the stick. "How many results do you need?" she asked, testing its balance.
"Oh- three should be enough to prove the first results aren't just a mistake," Moira said, "but for real testing, try it out on ten or more. There's an old sewer area down towards DC that should just be crawling with the things. I'll mark it on your Pip-Boy." Moira beamed. "And you'll get an idea of what to expect for when you go looking for your dad that way! Won't that be great?"
"Sure," said Ellen as she held out her left arm for the notation. "Looking forward to it already."