Brandy - her house - afternoon


Just a moment after Frieda left, Mirvin returned.

"Oh no Miss Brandy, I don't believe she truly would. Based on my past experiences, I would surmise that a person like Miss Frieda will only kill in self defence or true necessity. I do not think she would kill over the situation between you and Mr Pawnee." Mirvin stated.

Brandy was surprised, How does he...who told him....wha.

"I appologise if I was not supposed to know about this Miss Brandy. It was not my intention to eavesdrop on any of your conversations, however I am equipped with audio sensors far superior to the human ear. I will not mention it to anyone else, this is a favor."

"Its ok Mirvin, don't worry about it." Brandy said as she sat up.

" I will admit that I find the whole situation quite puzzling. Humans do seem to devote a lot of their time to the persuit of another, then when the persuit is concluded, they lay together and jiggle."

Brandy giggled, "jiggle? Its called six Mirvin"

" Most confusing, perhaps I will understand once I aquire a life. That is, in fact why I am here, I would like to also ask you for a favor if you are willing Miss Brandy. Mr Zardoz claims to be able to sell me a life and is only charging fifty caps. Is it agreeable for us to come to an arrangement for the loan of that amount?"

Brandy was completely perplexed, "I...um, he has a life to sell you, he said that?"

Brandy stood up, she picked the sawn-off and thirty two off the coffee table. Putting sawn-off under her arm, and her finger through the trigger of the thirty two, she grabbed Mirvins claw.

"Ok, well, let's go and see about this life that Zardoz claims to have. Mirvin? I will help teach you about things, all you have to do is ask ok?"

The odd couple slowly made their way to Zardoz's wagon as Nikita announced the closing up of their mobile shop. Frieda was there and James was also standing there with Zardoz.

[censored], I don't want to talk to him yet.

Brandy didn't acknowledge James, never even making eye contact with him. Instead, she just perused the items available. She noticed him buying two inhalers of Jet.

Nikita, that [censored] lied to me, she growled under her breath.

"Frieda, Mirvin said that Zardoz had a life to sell him, interesting huh?" Brandy raised her eyebrow at the blonde.

Zardoz had finished speaking with James and turned to Brandy and Mirvin.

"So...you have a life for Mirvin to buy?" She inquired, "I have these, would they be worth an even trade? He mentioned this life, was fifty caps."

Brandy handed Zardoz the two guns, "If they are, then I will take it for him."

--Afternoon--
--Greyditch--
--Zardoz--

Zardoz closed one of the back panels on his wagon. He turned around to see the protectron from earlier. A young girl was standing next to it.

"So, you have a life for Mirvin to buy?" The girl seemed to raise an eyebrow, suspiciously. "I have these, would they be worth an even trade? He mentioned this life was fifty caps."

The girl handed Zardoz a pristine sawn-off shotgun and a rusted pistol.

"If they are, then I will take it for him." She added.

"Of course. Mirvin is its name, eh? And you're its owner?" Zardoz took the weapons and loaded them into the wagon. He produced the pocket watch and handed it to the girl, while motioning to the robot, "Here it is. Mirvin will know what to do with it. I've already given him detailed instructions. The life is within him you see. The watch will merely help him find it. Feel it."

J.T. Taylor - Celeste's diner - afternoon

J.T sat across from Celeste, "say, would you happen to have anything to snack on Celeste?"

"Let me take a look mmm k?" Celeste turned and pulled some potato crisps off a shelf, "that's the last of them, you got lucky" she brushed a strand of hair from her face.

"Thanks" J.T opened the package and began crunching the chips. He could hear Brandy asking Frieda about Sue in a whisper.

"So? I think women are probably far more demanding than men. Maybe she's so peaceful because she lacks the ability to [censored] about everything." Frieda replied.

Brandy backed up slightly as J.T took a drink of water.

"maybe we could do that...be a couple. Sue doesn't seem to have a lot of drama."

J.T's eyes buldged as he choked on his water. He clapped his hand over his mouth so he wouldn't shower Celeste.

Is she serious?, "did you hear that?" He whispered to Celeste while waiting for Frieda's reaction.

"Ahhh, Brandy, I..." Frieda began, wiping sweat off her brow with the back of her right hand, "I mean, I know you're sort of in a fragile position right now, and it's not that I don't like you, but I mean...I just...I'm with Pawnee and I'm...well I just don't swing that way." Frieda looked around.

Brandy then swayed a little, bracing herself with the table.

"I...I'm going to go lay down" she closed her eyes as she winced, "I'm all dizzy, my shoulder hurts."

J.T was about to jump up when Frieda grabbed her, keeping her from falling.

"I'll help you get home." Frieda said, putting her arm around Brandy's shoulder and walked the girl out.

"Whew, wasn't sure what was gonna happen there." He said getting comfortable on the stool, "that came from out of nowhere." He smiled to Celeste.

J.T just finished his potato crisps when he heard Nikita.

"Wastelanders!" Nikita shouted, "the great and powerful Zardoz will be leaving your town shortly, en route to Megaton! This is the only time his omnipotence will ever be in Greyditch! If there is anything you've neglected to purchase - do so now! This is your last opportunity! All good shall vanish - and all sales are final!"

"Did he forget about Duncan's funeral?" He thought aloud, "Hey Celeste, I'll be right back, just want to make sure Zardoz ain't forgettin' about the service."

He jumped up and quickly rushed outside. Zardoz was strapping a powerfist rigged with leather straps to a young man.

"Nikita?" J.T called to the woman, "Zardoz didn't forget about the funeral did he? When ya'll close eveything up, c'mon into the diner. I'll help these folks get it all set up alight?"

OOC:Slight Chr control but its only Zardoz writing something down (he probably would do it anyway)

James Wilson – Zardoz caravan – afternoon

Zarodz scratched his head, "green and pink? The invigorating elixir and my love potion? Never tried that myself. . .and you say it acted like a truth serum? Very interesting. Well, each potion is flushed from your system after two to three hours, so I'd say you're in the clear. I wouldn't advise doing it again. . .although having a truth serum around may be quite valuable in the future. How much vodka and Nuka-cola did you mix it with? I'll have to try this recipe myself. Zardoz's triumphant truth potion. . . ."

That’s good know don’t want it happening again athought maybe I use some of it on Brandy, get her to admit she has a problem , now how much Nuka did I use?

James though for second “lets see I used about half of each potion, half of the Nuka-cola and shot of voldka, I have enough left at home for one more potion and might use to help stop Brandy with their Jet addiction, Problary cause by your Assistant selling her loads of it, so I’m buying it all ” James said whilst giving Zardoz 50 caps for the jet.

Zardoz wrote down all that James said about making the trurth potion and then handed him the two Jet inhalers .

“Oh and one other thing could you not tell anyone in town about the truth potion, it might ruin my plan to get Brandy off jet okay” James said before leaving

Walking back to dinner, brandy and Mirvin were walking towards Zardoz, James was going to say hello but decided against it as she looked angry but made sure Brandy could Cleary see the Jet James had brought from Zardoz

That will get her to speak to me later on; I’m only going to need one so I better get rid of the other one…

Walking into dinner James walked up to Celeste “ hello Celeste is my food ready yet? and do you know were I can burn this? “James said whilst Showing Celeste one of jet inhalers…

behind him Nitika walked into the dinner and shouted "Wastelanders!, "the great and powerful Zardoz will be leaving your town shortly, en route to Megaton! This is the only time his omnipotence will ever be in Greyditch! If there is anything you've neglected to purchase - do so now! This is your last opportunity! All good shall vanish - and all sales are final!"

Calypso - Moriarty's Saloon Megaton - late afternoon


After Amelia stepped into the saloon, Gob walked around, looking for the Calypso.

Where did that crazy [censored] go? I'll be glad when she's gone. The thought of her sent a chill up his spine.

Upstairs inside the Megaton common house, Calypso dropped the womans heart into her leather pouch. Covering her with a blanket making it look as though she was in a peaceful slumber. Calypso stood up, and ran her tongue down the blade of her knife, cleaning the blood off the stainless blade. Sheathing the blade before exiting, she walked out into the daylight. Sliding her sunglasses on and rolling her shoulders back.

"Um....ka..Calypso?" Gob nervously called out.

She turned her head and smiled, wiping a dribble of blood from the corner of her mouth.

Gob watched, did she really? I mean here?

"Yes Gob darling?" Calypso smiled as she walked towards him.

"Moriarty is ready for you" Gob paused, "ya...you didn't...do anything in there did you?"

Calypso was almost beside him now, she reached up and patted his rotting cheek.

"Did I do what? Why, whatever do you mean." She cooed into his ear, "she didn't have the heart to tell me no." As she pulled her hand back, a piece of Gobs rotten flesh stuck to it. Calypso held it up to the ghoul, "oh I don't need this darling, you can keep it." She put the rotten flesh into his hand and smirked.

As they walked up the ramp to Moriarty's catwalk, her cloak flapped in the hot, dry breeze.

"Too bad darling, I imagine you were quite scrumptious before you reached your expiration date." She commented, her nose slightly in the air never looking at Gob. At the door was a scrubby wastelander, he had only opened the saloon door an inch. Calypso thrust her hand, slamming the door startling the man.

"Bar is closed, private party you putrid peasant" she looked him up and down, "you wouldn't even make a good appetizer."

"She's only joking" Gob nervously chuckled, "but it is closed.

Calypso walked inside, Gob shut the door and locked it in a hurry. Calypso held out the pouch containing the womans heart, "Gob, do put this in the oven for a minute. I like them warm and bloody" she licked her lips.

Sweeping her left leg behind her right, she slightly bowed, "Colin darling, Allistar, you handsome devil."

She strolled past Amelia nodding, she went right up to Harold.

"My my, and who is the succulent mountain of a man." running her hands down his large chest, leaning to his hear but not whispering, "you must absolutely ravish the ladies, perhaps you should visit me sometime."

Whisking over to Joe, "ahh, and you must be Joseph, I can't say as I am impressed." Taking notice of his bandaged neck, she took her index finger using her long black fingernail, pulled the bandage down, "someone had a good time with you." She sniffed his neck.

The light clouds pushed across the sky, clearing the dark and revealing the sun. It had been raining earlier and the sunshine was refreshing and warranted after the rain that had preceded it. The torn road was slick with the wetness and the sun made the asphalt glisten, the man walking down the empty street paused and took in the suns glimpse from behind the clouds. He stood a while, a large duffle bag slung across his broad shoulder; after a minute he sighed and dropped the heavy load. The wrecked car beside him felt smooth and wet as he brushed his gloved hand over its hood; in the distance he heard the groan of ancient steel tensing under the weight of a battered water tower. He removed his mask and felt the warmth of the sun radiating over his exposed face. There was nothing here to threaten him and he felt free, at ease.

He took a seat on the road next to the dark duffle bag and removed its contents; the matte finish on the body of the gun showed its age and the years of maintenance put into keeping it working. A masterpiece of machinery he thought to himself, the gun, he remembered had saved his life more times than he cared to count. He had thought about this many times before and had came to the conclusion that he had in his possession what was likely one of the few remaining and fully functioning semi-automatic grenade launchers. He gazed idly at the gun then put it back in its bag; he was lost in his thoughts and failed to notice the group of men walking in his direction less than one hundred meters away.

Six years ago, it was six years ago that he had went to the National Guard armoury in the ruins of DC. He had been a different man then, he didn’t regret his past but he had changed his ways, mostly. He had been on contract to find the armoury, him and three others. By the time they found the armoury half of their ammunition had been spent and one of them had a wound that was bleeding badly. The entered the building which housed the armoury, but they were pinned down by the armouries automated defence turrets. Their next move was to breach the armouries reinforced door, for which they had brought explosives. To make it through to the door two turrets had to be disabled but the only member of their team who had the experience required to disable them from a console had been shot in the face in the last corridor. Their only option was to try to shoot the turrets and hope not to get killed before they could get a shot off. The plan was crude but effective but their youngest team member had been killed almost instantly after coming into the turrets range. Even after his body hit the floor the turrets continued to fire at his corpse which provided the remaining two men with enough time to destroy both of the turrets with ease. They had to remove the satchel charges from the pack on their now dead team mate’s belt; the large calibre bullets which the turrets fired had torn the corpse in half and the pack was itself torn, luckily the charges were untouched. They wiped the blood off the timers and set the charges to explode after twenty seconds; once they were around the corner they braced themselves for the explosion. The explosion shook the walls of the hallway and sent dust pluming down the hall. They wiped the grime off their faces and turned the corner to face the now absent door and the debris left strewn along the floor.

When finally they entered the armoury they had to turn on their flashlights because the electricity had long since been cut, the room was thick with the dust from the explosion. What they saw amazed them, walls covered in pre-war weapons, some of the weapons were completely different from anything they had ever seen and had languages they couldn’t understand printed on them. Large cases of body armour and riot gear, in one corner there was a rack of plastic shields with the word RIOT printed on the front.
“Hey Tao, check this out,” the man lifted a gun as he spoke, “I think this is one of those guns you’re always talking about.”
Tao turned to face him; he paused and examined the gun for a moment then spoke.
“It’s a grenade launcher; I’ve seen ones like it in magazines.”
The other man tossed it at Tao and spoke again.
“Here take a look, there’s tons of this space-age [censored] in this armoury.” He paused what he was doing then continued, “to bad we’ve gotta’ mule it back to the boss eh?”
He looked up from the ammo he was grabbing and turned to face Tao. Tao had already withdrawn his pistol and as the man turned to face him he pointed it at his face and squeezed the trigger. The effect was quick, the bullet fired from Tao’s Five-seveN pistol entered the mans skull and exited through the back at the base of his spine taking fragments of skull and grey matter with it. The high calibre round meant there was no chance for recovery; the man was dead before he hit the floor. Tao walked up to the corpse and grabbed the ammunition from his hands. He left the armoury carrying as much as he could in two duffle bags, That was six years ago.

Tao’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps nearing him, he knew better than to put him self in such a defenceless position. He cursed his failure to recognize the threat before now; his guns were in his bag and he was low to the ground, facing away from these new people. If they had any guns -and he was almost certain they did- they would be able to shoot him before he could turn to charge or withdraw his weapons. He then realized that his ballistics mask was lying on the ground in front of him; damn I’ve left my head completely exposed.
“Hey you,” shouted a rough voice behind Tao, “Don’t move, I’ve got my gun on you pal!”
A woman’s voice followed, “Whatchu’ got in the bag huh? He’s dressed like a merc; I bet he’s got some serious cash in there!”
The man cut in,
“Hold on, give me any weapons you got right now,” he paused, Tao thought maybe the man was nervous, “I’ll kill you if you don’t, I’m serious!”
Tao thought for a moment, and then spoke quietly.
“Listen, you can look in the bag but you won’t find any money and I’m not armed.”
Tao could hear the group behind him talking amongst themselves, he took the opportunity to glance around looking for a weapon. His eyes rested their glance on his ballistics mask lying in front of him; he realized that he could see the reflection of the group behind him faintly in the mask. Tao counted three figures of which it appeared the leader was the only one armed with a gun.
The man with the gun barked orders behind him: open the bag, raise your hands, give us all your weapons; the man spoke with a slight nervousness which Tao picked up on. What happened next could have been taken as luck or divine intervention: a sound, distant yet distinct, it was glass shattering. The man with the gun turned and in a flash of movement Tao grabbed the ballistics mask off the ground, dropped to his stomach and rolled on to his back in order to position himself as well as build momentum for the mask which he threw at the man with the gun. Tao was a man of immense physical strength, something which had become a necessity for surviving in the wasteland. This strength translated into a forceful throw of his mask, not enough to kill someone but enough to break a small bone. The mask hit true to Taos aim and broke one of leader’s fingers, successfully disarming him and sending the gun scattering to the side of the road. Tao knew the odds were on his side now; unarmed he was deadly but no man could deflect bullets, but now the gun was out of the picture. Tao launched himself off the ground and lunged at the leader tackling him to the ground. Tao followed up on the tackle with a knuckle jab to the man’s throat, crushing his windpipe and removing him from the fight. The woman in the group had gone for the gun and the other man who had remained silent was now running away from the scene. Tao prioritized the woman and ran after her; the woman bent down and raised the gun but Tao was already behind her and kicked it out of her hand with ease. Tao grabbed her arm, stepped around her and threw her over his back on to the ground. The woman was dazed and now all that was left was the runner, Tao retrieved the pistol and fired a shot at the runner. He saw the man go down then turned to his two remaining opponents. The girl was unconscious but the leader was awake crawling on his knees trying to escape, Tao didn’t enjoy prolonging the moments before he killed someone; to do so seemed dishonest. After Tao had killed the leader he turned again to the unconscious woman, he decided in the end to simply shoot her; he had never really thought of women as being special in terms of how they should be treated. Many times he had been attacked by women who would have killed him if they had gotten the chance; he simply saw it as a matter of survival of the fittest and in that respect he had met many women who were more capable fighters than men.
Sunset, he had survived another day in the wasteland. He knew this time that he couldn’t afford to sit and watch the sun set over the ruins. Night was dangerous and the darkness was approaching quickly, he checked his compass and set off again,
“Grayditch,” he muttered under his breath, “this place better be worth the trouble.”

Brandy - Grayditch - afternoon


"Of course. Mirvin is its name, eh? And you're its owner?" Zardoz took the weapons and loaded them into the wagon.


"Yes, Mirvin is his name and...um... NO" Brandy's voice cracked, "He is my friend"


Zardoz turned back around, producing a pocket watch, handing it to Brandy. He then motioned to Mirvin, "Here it is. Mirvin will know what to do with it. I've already given him detailed instructions. The life is within him you see. The watch will merely help him find it. Feel it."


Brandy felt selfish as she listened to Zardoz, her heart sank, she turned to Mirvin with puppy dog eyes. What did he tell him? She turned back to Zardoz.

"I would whisper, but he would hear anyways." svcking in her cheeks, taking a deep breath, "Mr. Zardoz, I truly hope that this doesn't break his heart. If it does..." Brandy shook her head, "it better not hurt him, come on Mirvin, let's go home."

They slowly began to walk home and Brandy turned around giving Zardoz one last look. Mirvin and Brandy went inside, she turned to him.

"Hear you go Mirvin, I will help you anyway that I can you know that right?" she was still holding his closed claw, "Now that you have a life, I would hope you will still stay with me. I know I've been inconsiderate the last couple days and I'm sorry. I will talk with Frieda and get your new parts as quickly as we can. I do have to get ready for Duncan's funeral though. I'm going to go take a bath, but before I do, do you need anything?"

When she was finished, Brandy went up and laid out her blue dress. She drew her bath water, should have bought another carton of cigarettes. This filter isn't going to last much longer. Brandy left the door open slightly so she could hear if Mirvin needed anything, and eased down into the tub. The water was so relaxing that she nodded off.

-Later that evening-

“North,” Tao glanced at his compass, “I must be getting close by now.”

Two days he had been travelling, his destination: some fledgling town he’d never been to. His reason for visiting was to pick up his first payment from a new employer, Colin Moriarty. He had visited Moriarty’s ‘saloon’ in Megaton before but apparently the man had expanded his business since then. Like many of Tao’s previous employers he was a grade-A scumbag who had apparently set up this new town with the prospect of turning it into some kind of hub. Moriarty had certainly paid well to keep it protected, for the past week and a half Tao had been scouting and patrolling the trade routes around the town. The job was easy enough but he hadn’t expected how many slavers and raider hit-squads would take interest in the small community; though usually brandishing his grenade launcher was enough to keep them at bay. He had heard that the town had still suffered a few attacks; Tao figured that was inevitable, after all he couldn’t be everywhere at once. He had a feeling that the attacks would be coming out of his pay check though.

As Tao walked down the beaten path between ruined buildings he began to think about life and how he had survived; he had survived because he remained vigilant. The secret to living a long life in the wasteland was simpler than your average scavenger might let on: keep on the move, take only what is necessary as to not encumber yourself and most importantly always recognize potential threats. Understanding these principles could keep any wastelander safe but in practice Tao had an edge because not only did he have the will to survive but also the drive to be the last one standing whenever things got rough. He had ensured his success by being careful and by training for the worst kind of situations. Survival was never easy and being a survivor in the wasteland usually meant killing a lot of people; that was where experience had given Tao the necessary lack of empathy to be able to do what everyone else was either too afraid or too stupid to do. When he thought about it he recognized that his time spent working for the Talon Company had probably been what had given him the skill set required to survive.

Tao gazed ahead and saw lights and people, the sky was darkening and he had found a place to rest. In his thoughts Tao wondered what it had been like for people who had lived before the war, as he approached Grayditch he realized that here he might get to see just that.

OOC -

@surfer - you can CC Bob as necessary to strike a deal on a time and fee for the funeral

Bob Dobbs

Outside Brandy’s House – Afternoon

Frieda frowned deeply. "Brandy is well aware of the unsavoury nature of her habit and has made a commitment to me to come clean.", Freida said icily. "I'm going to buy her some less addictive painkillers right now, because I'm her friend."

She shrugged and then continued. "We can talk about it, sure. I'm as worried about her as you are, if not more so. She needs some time to relax, though, so I'd leave her alone for now. For now, I need to talk to Celeste. Bye, Bob." She then walked towards the Diner.

Talk about hostile. But still, I’m going to need Frieda’s help with Brandy, one way or another. Hopefully I can convince her to trust me. We’ll see…. later. Now, I need to get this to Duncan. I hope there is someone at the Diner willing to help me get him in there.

Bob led the Brahmin to the side of the Diner. Tethering it to the Pulkowski Shelter, Bob removed the kitchen sink, hot water heater, counter top, and pipes then placed them behind the Diner. He then went towards the front of the Diner, in time to see J.T. step out.

"Nikita?" J.T called to the woman, "Zardoz didn't forget about the funeral did he? When ya'll close everything up, c'mon into the diner. I'll help these folks get it all set up alight?"

J.T., thank God. He’ll help me.

“Hey, J.T.!”, said Bob. “I’ve got Duncan’s coffin here in the wagon. Could you help me get it inside? Once that is done we need to talk to Zardoz about the funeral.”

J.T. came over and helped Bob bring in the coffin. Celeste and the others in the diner watched somberly as they placed Duncan inside it, then placed the now occupied coffin on the table where his body had been lying. The lid was placed behind the coffin until it was needed.

“Alright”, said Bob to J.T. “Now to talk to Zardoz and set a time.”

Bob walked out of the Diner towards Zardoz’s caravan. As he walked, James approached him.

“Hey Bob", James said. "When you got some free time I need to speak to you in private okay.”

"No problem", replied Bob affably. "But I'm going to be busy until after the funeral...I'll come by sometime tonight, OK?"

Bob reached Zardoz's wagon, Zardoz was busy packing up to leave.

“Hello”, said Bob. “I’m Bob Dobbs. I spoke to you earlier about presiding over the funeral of one of the townspeople, Duncan Talson, who was killed defending the town from Raiders the night before you arrived.“

Bob then continued. “I’m afraid I didn’t have the honor of making his acquaintance myself, being new to town, but Celeste, the owner of the Diner knew him and could tell you more about him. I believe it would mean a lot to folks here to have a man of your many talents preside over the service for him. We’d like to start in two hours if that would be convenient for you.”


“Also, there is the matter of your fee.”

After a deal was struck with Zardoz, Bob turned to J.T.

“I’m going to check on Brandy”, said Bob to J.T. “They’ll probably need some help with the preparations in the Diner and someone who knows the town needs to go around and let everyone who would be interested know about this. Could you check with Celeste and see if she can have someone do that?”

Bob then retrieved his CAR and ammo from the wagon and slinging the rifle, walked to Brandy’s. Entering Brandy’s house, he found Mirvin standing in the Living Room.

“Hello, Mirvin.”, said Bob. “Is Brandy here?”

What happened next took Bob totally by surprise.

(OOC: please excuse if I have my timing slightly off...let's just think of the bigger picture, right? Right.)

FRIEDA ~~ Grayditch ~~ Mid-afternoon

Brandy's eyes shot open wide, she curled up on her couch, and started crying, "ok" she shook her head fast, "maybe you could stay here, your house is ruined. Please, I don't want to piss you off anymore....would you really shoot me?"

Frieda gently placed the guns by the door, entirely unable to take them as trade. It didn't seem right to rob a girl of her weapons, out in a wasteland, for drugs -- painkillers or otherwise. Shoot you? Over Pawnee? ...yeah, if you hurt him. Makes me want to shoot Bittercup but she's not worth it, and that'd destroy him, anyways. "I'll be back," was all she said. Frieda stepped outside the door, took a few steps entirely distracted and narrowly missed Mirvin. Bob was very close behind but did not further Brandy's house.

“Frieda?”, said Bob. “Could I have a minute? I’m Bob, Bob Dobbs. We met at the diner yesterday. I’d like to talk to you, if I could.”

"Right, I remember," she replied. Frieda's eyes swept towards the wagon but Pawnee was gone. She anxiously eyed the diner, her next stop, to ask Celeste to pay for some of the work already done so she could buy Brandy the painkillers. "What is it?"

Bob studied Brandy's closed door for a moment, he then drew close and continued, in a low voice. “It’s Brandy. Her problem with Jet is getting out of control. I tried talking to her about it, while she responded to me well her use seems to be increasing. James tried to talk to her about it a little bit ago, and it didn't end well at all. You are the best friend she has here…and something needs to be done and soon. Could we talk about this later, say after the funeral?”

Frieda frowned deeply. And who the [censored] are you, again? Some stranger who rolled in last night, and now you care about another stranger's chem addiction? Seems a little convenient. "Brandy is well aware of the unsavoury nature of her habit and has made a commitment to me to come clean. I'm going to buy her some less addictive painkillers right now, because I'm her friend." The words made her heart sink a little, considering everything that had happened between her, Brandy, and Pawnee, but it wasn't the time to get emotional about it. She held, instead, onto the irritation she felt towards Bob.

She shrugged. "We can talk about it, sure. I'm as worried about her as you are, if not more so. She needs some time to relax, though, so I'd leave her alone for now." Frieda flipped her ponytail over her shoulder while standing with her other hand on her hip and used the same firm tone she had used just minutes prior. "For now, I need to talk to Celeste. Bye, Bob," she said, and continued on to the diner.

Celeste was speaking to a man who produced a few bottles of whiskey and placed them onto the bar. "Hey," the blonde called to her, "can I get a few caps off you?"

Celeste blinked. "What?"

"For the work I did," Frieda replied with a forced smile, "I need some caps right now. Brandy's...sick, and needs some medicine. Please?"

"Oh, right." Celeste opened up the locked cabinet behind her. "Uhh...how much do I owe you?"

"I'll just take forty right now, when I finish I'll ask for the rest," Frieda responded, not really answering the question. Celeste dropped the caps into Frieda's hand.

"Cheers."

Frieda ran down the street. She knocked twice on the door to the clinic. "Ryler! Are you here?" She spotted the tall, young man and waved him over. "I have a bit of a sensitive issue..."

She smirked at his embarrassed expression. "No, it's not for me. It's Brandy. She's...got a problem with Jet. I need some painkillers that aren't addictive, and...well, you're the medic, you need to help get her detoxified. Grab whatever you need and let's go. She's in rough shape."

Frieda impatiently waited while Ryler collected his supplies and practically dragged him back down the street, as she had just days before, and brought him to Brandy's house. Frieda shut the door behind her and found Mirvin carefully studying a pocket watch in his claw hand. "Mirvin, it's...nice to see you." Strangely enough, she meant it.

"This is Ryler, he's a medic. I've brought him to help Brandy. ...don't shoot him." She motioned Ryler towards the stairs, having not seen Brandy on the couch, assumed she was in her bedroom or something. "Go on up and find her. She told me she'd stop using Jet but I wouldn't believe her, she was pretty high strung. I'll go try and find her some water in her fridge."

Frieda turned back to Mirvin. "Can you do me a favour? Brandy needs to be left alone to rest and recover. Can you make sure no one else comes in but me, if I leave, and only people I say can come in?"

Mirvin. Miss Brandy's house. Afternoon.

Miss Brandy accompanied Mirvin as he returned to Mr Zardoz and she in fact, completed the transaction on his behalf. Mirvin briefly considered pointing out Miss Brandy's error when she spoke of breaking his heart, this was impossible as he did not have a heart. He decided against this however. Miss Brandy had claimed Mirvin to be her friend, Mr Frank had briefly described friendship to him. If the data provided by Mr Frank was correct then correcting Miss Brandy's error could cause her distress and bad feeling. Social etiquette dictated that he should avoid such a situation, so he instead remained silent and allowed Miss Brandy to lead him back to her house.

"Hear you go Mirvin, I will help you anyway that I can you know that right?" she was still holding his closed claw.

"Thank you Miss Brandy, I will be sure to seek your assistance if ever I am in need of it."

"Now that you have a life, I would hope you will still stay with me. I know I've been inconsiderate the last couple days and I'm sorry. I will talk with Frieda and get your new parts as quickly as we can. I do have to get ready for Duncan's funeral though. I'm going to go take a bath, but before I do, do you need anything?"

"If I may Miss Brandy, I need the watch from you. Mr Zardoz wasn't explicit about this in his instructions, but I surmise that it must be in my posession before I can experience any effects."
Once she had handed over the pocketwatch, Miss Brandy made her way up the stairs. Before long Mirvin could hear water running on the floor above. As Mirvin silently waited at the foot of the stairs, a black square appeared in the corner of his visual display. The square was blank except for the words "REPLAY RELAVENT MEMORY FILE?" printed across it in green. Mirvin selected "yes" and the square filled with the image of Mr Zardoz.

In the small box the image of Mr Zardoz blinked. He opened his mouth, as if intending to speak, but then closed it again and furrowed his brow.

"A life, eh? That could mean so many different things. Is this a Pinocchio-esque quest to become a real boy, or is this more similar to the interrogatory of the Tin Man?"

In the recording Mr Zardoz didn't wait for a response. He rummaged through his inventory for several minutes and produced a pocket watch. The watch face had a painting on it of cherubs and angels.

"A life isn't something that can be purchased, my mechanical friend. It is something which must be bestowed upon you, or earned through deep self reflection. Far, far to the east, there are many monks and holy men who have long pondered the essence of life, both before and after the Great War. They call that self reflection 'meditation.' If you want to find a life, you've been looking in the wrong place. Look deep within. There is no need to look for a life outside of yourself, my friend."

The recording of Mr Zardoz put the pocket watch into the Mirvin's claw. In the recording the watch face filled the small screen as the robot held it up to examine the picture on the watchface.

"From my mediation and world experience, I've concluded that the essence of a life can be boiled down to three things. One - that life is ephemeral - being alive means knowing that you will eventually be dead. Your time is limited. Two - empathy and friendship. A life alone, without the company of others, is no life at all. Its much the same as being dead. And finally, number three - beauty. Nothing makes one feel alive quite as much as seeing something or someone that is truly beautiful. I believe that we exsist merely to create and behold beauty."

Mr Zardoz's image motioned to the watch.

"Let that pocket watch be your spiritual guide my friend. On its face is a print of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel - painted by the great Michelangelo. One of the greatest works of art ever commissioned. Ponder its beauty. While you do, watch the minute and hour hands tick by, and ponder the nature of time. Limited time. Even a machine such as yourself has a limited existence. As man's origin is dust - your origin is scrap and so is your end. Once you've come to see the beauty of the backdrop, and have come to appreciate the ephemeral nature of your existence, give the watch to someone you care for. Someone who has cared for you. Someone whose death would give you great pause. . . .cause you great pain."

The image in the recording nodded to himself.

"Complete those three introspective tasks my friend, and you will be more alive than many men made of flesh and bone. You will have the life which you seek. And its a steal too - because I'll sell you this soul-illuminating pocket watch for a mere fifty caps. A pittance. What do you say?"

At the end of the sentance the recording froze. The words "END OF MEMORY... REPLAY?" Mirvin selected "no" as he pondered the instructions given to him by Mr Zardoz as he once more studied the watch. Much of what Mr Zardoz had told him was greatly puzzling. Mirvin reached the conclusion that he would have to consult Miss Brandy to seek clarification on much of it. He had no idea what a Pinocchio was and was not aware of any "Tin man", though this did sound closer to his situation, being a robot himself. Another puzzling thing was the so called "great beauty" of the picture, which appeared to be a group of semi-naked, fat children. He was able to complete one of the tasks set for him and he stood for quite some time watching the second hand work it's way round the clock face.

The second hand had completed twenty seven revolutions when the door to Miss Brandy's house quietly swung open and Miss Frieda let herself in. She was accompanied by the same young man Mirvin had discovered sleeping on Miss Brandy's couch. "Mirvin, it's...nice to see you." Miss Frieda said. She raised her arm and indicated the young man, "This is Ryler, he's a medic. I've brought him to help Brandy. ...don't shoot him." She motioned Mr Ryler towards the stairs. "Go on up and find her. She told me she'd stop using Jet but I wouldn't believe her, she was pretty high strung. I'll go try and find her some water in her fridge."

Miss Frieda turned back to Mirvin. "Can you do me a favour? Brandy needs to be left alone to rest and recover. Can you make sure no one else comes in but me, if I leave, and only people I say can come in?"

"This is an irregular request Miss Frieda, but I will comply."

Miss Frieda nodded at Mirvin's reply, seeming satisfied with it. She turned and continued into the kitchen. While Miss Frieda rummaged in Miss Brandy's refridgerator, the door opened once more, this time a man with heavy scarring on his left arm allowing himself in. Mirvin turned to face the newcomer and raised his shotgun, pointing it at the center of the man's chest.

"Hello, my good chum," He rasped in his synthetic voice, "I am afraid that I must ask you to vacate the premises. I am under orders from Miss Frieda to only allow people to enter with her permission. I apolgise for any inconvenience this causes. If you return with permission from Miss Frieda then I will be happy to allow you entry. Would you like me to take a message for Miss Brandy before you leave?"

Bob Dobbs

Brandy's House - Afternoon

“Hello, Mirvin.”, said Bob. “Is Brandy here?”

What happened next took Bob totally by surprise. The Protrectron swiveled to face him and trained the shotgun on it's arm directly at his chest.

She invited me in here. Why would Brandy instruct the robot to treat me as an intruder? What the hell is going on?!?

The robot then activated it's external speaker.

"Hello, my good chum," He rasped in his synthetic voice, "I am afraid that I must ask you to vacate the premises. I am under orders from Miss Frieda to only allow people to enter with her permission. I apologize for any inconvenience this causes. If you return with permission from Miss Frieda then I will be happy to allow you entry. Would you like me to take a message for Miss Brandy before you leave?"

Frieda? Jesus Christ, if she was going to takes things to this level, she could have at least said something. I'd better get out of here before I get shot....no idea what security protocols are programmed into that junkheap.

Bob took a deep breath. "I have a message for Brandy, robot.", said Bob. "Please tell Brandy that Duncan's funeral begins two hours from now, and that I was unable to tell her because I did not wish to be shot dead. If you cannot climb the stairs yourself to tell her, then ask Miss Frieda to tell her when you see her next as attending the funeral is very important to Miss Brandy. Finally, tell Miss Frieda that once I find a place I need to come back here to get my property, and since she is blocking my access to it, she is now responsible for it until I retrieve it."

Bob then turned and exited out the door, and closed it behind him. The Protectron did not fire on him as he left. Bob stood on Brandy's doorstep and shivered as the realization of just how close he had come to dying washed over him.

[censored] me, that was close. Not going to be able to stay here, need to find someplace to live right now. Celeste said something about a clipboard with the available houses on it. I'll go take a look at that.

Bob then began to walk towards the Diner.

James Wilson – Celeste dinner – mid- afternoon


“Actually forget burning the Jet, could I just have my food please,” James said to Celeste

Taking his food, James paid Celeste for the food and walked outside, Frieda and Bob were talking outside brandy house…

Great I bet there arguing about Brandy, I guess I go the long way home

James decide to walked around the corner and down the 2nd street, unlike the other street many of houses here were destroyed with, the only intact house being Frieda’s houses. James walked by Frieda’s house and was shocked to see

GOD WILL PUNISH THE ENLCAVE

GO TO HELL

Was written on the front door and that few pieces of tattered paper were being blown out the door and on to the street by the wind; picking up the biggest piece, James began to read what was on it, most of was unreadable but James could Cleary read one sentence


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXX we will be retrieving you in approximately 1- 9 months....

God bless the enclave

Your president XXXXX XXXX Eden

(Enclave logo)

(OOC: XXX = burned/un readable parts)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Holy Mother of [censored], Frieda is in the ENCLAVE, I knew she was lying about that Plasma pistol… but she will never admit it on her own, hell she shoot us all, if her cover was blown maybe I should use some of truth potion on her. No I should ask someone responsible first, Bob maybe?


Putting the letter fragment in his pocket, James walked back to dinner; Bob had just finished putting Duncan in his coffin and was walking out of the dinner towards Zardoz Caravan

“Hey Bob when you got some free time I need to speak to you in private okay” James said to him

After speaking to bob, James head back to Grayditch arms and walked upstairs to Sue and Jessica room, both were awake and were sitting on bed…

Forget the enclave stuff for now, Jessica is more important

“Hello Jessica how are you feeling I brought you some food” James said whilst putting the food on nightstand…

“Much better now I’m not locked up, thank you again, now Sue was telling me your trying to get someone of Jet, well you need Jet Antidote”

“Jet what” James replied with a confused look on his face

“ The antidote, some tribal and city doctor made it years ago it works by affecting the endorphin blocking, back at Ft barrister once a week someone would come in with a jet addiction"

I could use that on brandy...

"so they let me make the Antidote. There was some in satchel, that Sue put on table down stairs and I can make some but I need some Jet and a lab set” Jessica explained to James.

Joe Rennie. Moriarty's saloon. Late afternoon.

"So I hear that I'm being relocated?" Amelia stated as she lifted herself up and sat on the bar.

"That's right my dear," Moriarty replied with a benevolant smile, "I want you to go along with Joe and Harold here. There have been a few teething problems with the town, but I'm sure that a pretty face can make all the difference. Officially Joe is the town's security chief while Harold is Joe's assistant. From now on Joe, you have two assistants. First off though, when you arrive you will point out this bounty hunter to Amelia here. She is going to remove him from the town for you, permanently. You'll have to do this right though, we can't just have him vanish and he can't show up dead like his son. I want a confession, signed and dated, before he dies."

"A confession?" Joe asked, his eyes going wide with surprise. "That isn't going to be easy Colin, he's innocent and a religious nut to boot. I mean I suppose that Harold..."

"Harold would just destroy him, you [censored] moron. I said I wanted a confession, not a [censored] bloodbath. Getting the confession is to be Calypso's first task. You'll still get the bloodbath with her, but she has a little more self control than Harold. She won't accidentaly hit him too hard and break his neck, not like this oaf here." Moriarty dismissively waved a hand towards Harold. As Moriarty was speaking the door to the bar opened a fraction before being slammed back shut.

"Ah, speak of the devil," Tenpenny chirped up, "That sounds like the young lady now." The door opened once more and a strange woman in a long cloak entered the room, the cloak had a deathclaw horn attatched to each shoulder and her boots made a metallic clicking sound on the floor as she walked. As the woman, who Joe assumed was Calypso headed into the room she held out a small pouch to the ghoul bartender. "Gob, do put this in the oven for a minute. I like them warm and bloody" she licked her lips.

Sweeping her left leg behind her right, she slightly bowed, "Colin darling, Allistar, you handsome devil."

She strolled past Amelia nodding, and went right up to Harold.

"My my, and who is the succulent mountain of a man." running her hands down his large chest, leaning close but not whispering, "you must absolutely ravish the ladies, perhaps you should visit me sometime."

"Ha, yeah. Harold is a real lady killer." Moriarty chuckled as the strange woman caressed the giant's chest. "You'll have to tell her what happened to Moira Brown sometime Harold." The Irishman grinned.

When she was finished with the brute, she swept across the room over to Joe, "ahh, and you must be Joseph, I can't say as I am impressed." Taking notice of his bandaged neck, she took her index finger using her long black fingernail, pulled the bandage down, "someone had a good time with you." She sniffed his neck.

"Colin, are you serious? Who the hell is this?"

"This is Calypso, Joe. She's coming along to set up her own..." Moriarty paused as Gob re-entered the room clutching a small plate, on the plate was a bloody piece of meat that looked a lot like....

"Is that a [censored] heart?" Moriarty bellowed from his seat beside the bar. "Where did she get that Gob?"

"Not sure boss. I found her outside the free house."

"Well, that's where it'll be then. Gob, get over there and clean up any mess she's left." The Irishman turned his attention back to Calypso once more. "For [censored] sake girl. What have I told you? Not in my town, I don't give a [censored] what you do on your own time, but you don't draw attention to yourself. And take that [censored] cloak off too."

Reserved.

Calypso - Moriarty's Saloon - late afternoon


"Colin, are you serious? Who the hell is this?" Joe said, Calypso withdrew pushing her sunglasses up on the top of her head, flashing a smirk at him.


"This is Calypso, Joe. She's coming along to set up her own..." Moriarty paused


"My own brothel Joseph." She finished Colin's sentence.


Gob had re-entered the room clutching a small plate, on the plate was a bloody piece of meat that looked a lot like....


"Is that a [censored] heart?" Moriarty bellowed from his seat beside the bar. "Where did she get that Gob?"


"Oh Gob, you are so obedient, it looks absolutely delicious." Calypso took the plate.


"Not sure boss. I found her outside the free house."


"Well, that's where it'll be then. Gob, get over there and clean up any mess she's left." Colin ordered Gob.


Calypso smiled, " The heartless [censored] is upstairs, I took great care to not raise any suspicions."


The Irishman turned his attention back to Calypso once more. "For [censored] sake girl. What have I told you? Not in my town, I don't give a [censored] what you do on your own time, but you don't draw attention to yourself. And take that [censored] cloak off too."


"Tell me? Tell me?" She laughed pointing at herself, "You do not tell me, you ask, I do not like being told what I can and can not do."
Calypso stood back up, " I do however, require an audience with Mr. Leggio immediately upon my arrival to Grayditch. Will Joseph be able to handle that? But, for me to change some of my characteristics, that will cost you Colin."


" I understand there is an old pre-war bank in Grayditch no? That should be a suitable establishment for my services, I will take that in exchange for this favor that you ask of me." She ran her fingernail across the top of the bar, and flashed a smile at Amelia, " As far as the cloak, you will provide me with fine clothing to wear in exchange for me to not wear it in town. I do love extravagant dresses Colin, sounds fair to me, what do you think darling?"

Bob Dobbs

Celeste’s Diner – 15 minutes later

Dobbs sat alone at a booth in the diner, and as he ate lunch…Yao Gai again…as he looked over a crude map on a clipboard and added the information from it to his Hand Comp 4000.

There is a number of places available still, some of them look pretty promising…like that big house there….“House 8”. It’s where that so called “assassin” Parker and his crew stayed, until they ran for it when it came time to earn their pay that is.

Dobbs looked out the window at “House 8”. It was a three story building, looks to have been built of gray stone or bricks…he couldn’t tell from here. It was somewhat larger than the red brick houses South of it, which is probably why Parker commandeered it. It also had a outbuilding, a large external carriage house that had probably been converted into a garage. That was now connected to the main house by a wooden breezeway that had been built later than the original buildings.

If that Carriage house is in good shape, it’ll make a excellent workshop. The house itself is large for one man, but I’ll need storage space for scavved pipe and fixtures anyway. Maybe Jordan can share the place if he pulls through….I ought to ask Ryler about him. I need to load this rifle before I go there.

Dobbs pushed away the empty plate and looked in the bag Sue had given him. He found 250 rounds of 5.56 ammo and two empty magazines, beat up but functional. He then removed the magazine from the CAR, and found it empty as well. Dobbs loaded all three from the bag, then inserted one magazine into his CAR.

That ghoul had six loaded mags and a chest pack, but they may as well be on Mars right now.

Thinking about that made him think of Frieda, and that made him see red again. Dobbs understood logically why she did what she did, but it didn’t make him feel any better.

Being suspicious is one thing…setting a robot on me is quite another. If I wanted to hurt Brandy or turn her into a junkie I had more than one opportunity to do it…and I sure as hell wouldn’t have approached her about Brandy’s Jet problem. As little common sense as that woman has, maybe she really is a Enclave officer. How many times have our fearless leaders led us into disaster in the last fifty years? She’d fit right in with them.

Dobbs collected his plate, silverware, empty glass and the clipboard and went to the counter.

“Thanks”, said Bob to Celeste as he placed the items on the counter. “Could I have another Brahmin milk please?”.

A moment later his glass was refilled. Bob said “Thanks” again, and paid for the milk then picked up the glass and drank it. Placing the empty glass on the counter, Bob collected his rifle, magazines, and bag of cartridges and left the diner. Walking over to the wagon, he retrieved his tool bag and put the bag of cartridges in it. The loaded mags went into the coat pocket his Hand Comp wasn’t in.

Still got a hour and a half, but I better leave the wagon here so they can take Duncan to the grave JT and I dug. I’m going to check out “House 8” rather than sit around and twiddle my thumbs.

Setting up the alarm on his Hand Comp to give him fifteen minutes warning of the funeral’s start, and turning on it's voice-activated recorder, Bob then racked the slide of his CAR, slung it at a ready position and walked, tool bag in hand, towards ‘House 8’.

Easier way to take notes than to write it down. No doubt there is going to be a lot to do.

OOC: weak post but it does the Job

James Wilson – Grayditch arms – afternoon

“Lab set huh I’m not sure were I could one of those but If we could get one working, we could make stimpacks and make money selling them.”

“Yes that was the idea I might be able to make other stuff if more ingredients” Jessica replied whilst Sue began stroking her Hair…

“I think I shall go for a little walk… oh and could you keep it down, last time Bob and brandy heard you downstairs” James chuckled as he left the room and shut the door.

Harold was throwing some science stuff in dumpster when I first got here maybe some of it’s intact or I could check out the Super duper Mart, Raider usually have a Chem set but lets deal with Brandy first, I wonder how much of that cure is left..

Walking down stairs James open Jessica’s satchel and pull out a small brown Bottle with “ANTIDOTE” crudely written on the front, inside their appear to be enough inside to cure two or maybe three people.

This looks like the stuff now to give it to Brandy, maybe I can mix it into one of her drinks…

Walking outside James walked down the street to Brandy house, James walked inside only to be greeted by Mirvin holding aiming his shotgun at him.

“Whoa Mirvin it’s me James Wilson don’t shoot me” James said…

OOC: Thanks guys.

--Afternoon--
--Greyditch--
--Zardoz--

Just as Zardoz concluded his transaction with the robot and the girl for the pocket watch, a new man approached him.

“Hello,” The man gave Zardoz an affable smile. “I’m Bob Dobbs. I spoke to you earlier about presiding over the funeral of one of the townspeople, Duncan Talson, who was killed defending the town from Raiders the night before you arrived."

"Yes, yes," Zardoz feverishly nodded, "don't think I've forgotten."

“I’m afraid I didn’t have the honor of making his acquaintance myself, being new to town, but Celeste, the owner of the Diner knew him and could tell you more about him. I believe it would mean a lot to folks here to have a man of your many talents preside over the service for him. We’d like to start in two hours if that would be convenient for you.”

"That would be splendid," Zardoz closed the last back panel of his wagon. Nikita skipped up behind him and handed him a dusty bible.

“Also, there is the matter of your fee. . ."

"For a brief eulogy, for a man who seems to have been beloved by his town, I'd say fifty caps," Zardoz shook Bob's hand, "you can pay my assistant, Nikita. In the meantime, I'm going to learn a little about the man we'll be putting to rest."

With that, Zardoz walked away from his wagon, towards Greyditch's main hub. The diner. A coffin was lying on one of the tables inside. Zardoz glanced at it, and then walked up to the main counter, coming face to face with a well-endowed brunette, whom he guessed to be the diner's owner.

"Good afternoon, mam," Zardoz removed his top hat and bowed, "I believe I have yet to make your acquaintance. I am Zardoz - the Munificent. My wagon has been parked outside of your fine establishment. J.T. and Mr. Bob Dobbs have retained my services. I'm supposed to do the eulogy for that brave soul's burial," Zardoz motioned to the coffin, "I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about this man - Duncan - so I can craft a worthy sermon. What was his profession? Where was he born? How was he felled? Who in town was closest to him?"

Reserved for Amelia post.

(OOC: I hope I didn't forget anyone, and I couldn't remember what Zardoz looked like and was too lazy to go through the previous thread to find it...)

CELESTE BROWN ~~ Diner ~~ Mid-afternoon or whatever time it is...

"Maybe we could do that...be a couple. Sue doesn't seem to have a lot of drama," Celeste heard Brandy say to Frieda. She nearly dropped the empty coffee mugs she was holding in astonishment. She noticed J.T. clapping a hand over his mouth. She wasn't sure if he was about to laugh or as surprised as she was.

"Did you hear that?" He whispered to Celeste while waiting for Frieda's reaction.

Celeste nodded and couldn't help but stay still and quiet. She didn't care if it was obvious she was listening in, she wasn't about to miss Frieda's response. Can't say I would have thought either of Brandy or Frieda to be...like that.

It would explain how Frieda was so indifferent to all the male attention.

...doesn't explain Pawnee. Celeste frowned in her confusion.

"Ahhh, Brandy, I..." Frieda began, wiping sweat off her brow with the back of her right hand, "I mean, I know you're sort of in a fragile position right now, and it's not that I don't like you, but I mean...I just...I'm with Pawnee and I'm...well I just don't swing that way." Frieda looked around.

Celeste smirked and turned her attention back to her coffee pot. There's a guilty look. Why would she be embarrassed?

"Whew, wasn't sure what was gonna happen there." J.T. said after a few moments. "That came from out of nowhere." He smiled to Celeste.

"Huh? What?" Celeste turned her head and noticed Frieda was leading Brandy away from the diner. "It sure did, didn't it..."

A woman with purple hair walked into the diner. She seemed to have come from the caravan. "Wastelanders! The great and powerful Zardoz will be leaving your town shortly, en route to Megaton! This is the only time his omnipotence will ever be in Greyditch! If there is anything you've neglected to purchase - do so now! This is your last opportunity! All good shall vanish - and all sales are final!"

"Did he forget about Duncan's funeral?" He thought aloud, "Hey Celeste, I'll be right back, just want to make sure Zardoz ain't forgettin' about the service." The handsome man stood and fled the diner.

Celeste was alone in the diner for a while. James popped in, took the food she'd been cooking, and left. She tidied up while listening to some radio drama on GNR.

Her eye patch itched. She rubbed underneath it while she wondered, absently, how Joe was doing. She was wiping the bar and taking off any of the lingering dried coffee drips when someone finally entered.

"Good afternoon, ma'am," he began, removing his hat and bowing, "I believe I have yet to make your acquaintance. I am Zardoz - the Munificent. My wagon has been parked outside of your fine establishment. J.T. and Mr. Bob Dobbs have retained my services. I'm supposed to do the eulogy for that brave soul's burial," Zardoz motioned to the coffin, "I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about this man - Duncan - so I can craft a worthy sermon."

"Oh," Celeste sighed, instinctively reaching for the cross at her neck. "You're a holy man? How wonderful." I will have to thank J.T. and Bob later for having hired him.

"What was his profession?"

"He was a...farmer, yes, he took care of the town's brahmin. He'd only just returned from Megaton, the night before it...it all happened."

"Where was he born? How was he felled? Who in town was closest to him?" Zardoz rattled the questions off quickly. Celeste rubbed her brow as she tried to think of the best way to answer all the questions.

After a few moments she took a breath and began to reply. "I don't know where he came from. I don't know what he did before he got here. He...he was my friend, anyways. Brandy's, too." Celeste rubbed her unpatched eye and sighed back a sob. "Two nights ago, Raiders came into the diner. They claimed to be men of God. Duncan was sitting in the stool next to where you are standing," she motioned to it, "and...and..."

She sniffed. No one really knew what happened to Duncan, and this was her opportunity to make sure everyone knew he died courageously. "Well wouldn't you know it, the leader hit me and I fell. I pretended to be unconscious so they wouldn't hurt me anymore but they didn't care. One came behind the bar and was about to shoot me but Duncan jumped on him from behind and stabbed him! Then another two attacked him and I could barely watch, there was blood flying all over and men screaming and grunting and I finally peeked and there was Duncan, bloody and cut but alive."

Celeste leaned forward onto the bar and spoke quietly, as if she could hardly believe what she was about to say. "The last one, he was nasty -- he was the one who hit me, little defenseless me -- and pulled out a grenade. There was a struggle. I couldn't watch...the grenade went off by the door, and Duncan..." Her eyes shifted towards where his body lay on the table.

"What time is the funeral? I'd like to make sure I close the diner in time to attend."

OOC----there are two other Chinese Commandos, running down from the attic where they had been spying on the townspeople. They are heading for where Bob is, someone near the house can come in through the front door to see them moving down the hall away from them and get a free shot on one of them.

Bob Dobbs

House 8 – Afternoon

Dobbs stood before the front door of ‘House 8’. He had made a circuit of the main house and attached carriage house, externally they seemed to be basically sound. While the front of the house was faced in stone, the building was constructed mainly of brick. Dobbs noticed a bronze plaque affixed to a short stone pillar next to the sidewalk leading to the door, and paused to read it aloud.


In honor of the US Tricentennial
Grayditch House
Built 1806

Last surviving example of Federal Period architecture
in Fairfax County, VA

Has been added to the
National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Department of the Interior
July 4, 2076


“Four hundred Seventy odd years old”, said Dobbs with surprise. “They sure don’t build things like they used to.”

Slinging the tool bag over his back, Dobbs readied the CAR and tried the front door. Finding it unlocked, he opened it and looked inside. A long dusty hallway stretched before him, to the left and right was two open doorways. Cautiously entering and looking the open areas, they appeared to be some sort of sitting rooms. Most of the furniture had rotted away. In the right hand room was a intact table, on it was a black military equipment carrying case. Marks in the dust on the table indicated other items had been here, but this one was apparently forgotten.

Dobbs carefully examined the case. It did not appear to be booby-trapped. Opening the case, Dobbs found it contained a variety of attachments for military weapons. All of it was of value, but several items were of immediate interest. One was a side mounted scope rail for a CAR. This used the rail on the side of the CAR’s receiver to attach a mount that could hold a scope or other attachment. He also found a flip-to-side 3x magnifier for combat optics. Digging through the items, he found at the bottom a box labeled ‘EOTech Model 5300 Holographic Sight’.

“Holy [censored]”, Dobbs said. “I’ve hit the motherlode.”

He pulled the sight out of the box, digging through the case he found a MF cell and installed it. When he flipped the power switch, the sight blinked into life. In his coat pocket, the Hand Comp began to buzz as the sight attempted to link with it wirelessly. In a moment, he configured the Hand Comp and sight to work together. Looking through the sight, he could see the HUD from his Hand Comp, and compass directions. Turning to face the door, he could see green lines that marked the townspeople milling about the area in front of the Diner.

His sour mood completely broken by this lucky find, Dobbs attached the siderail mount to his CAR, then installed the Holo sight and magnifier to the mount. Once he had it sighted it in, the CAR would be devastating in close combat.

I could almost kiss Frieda for this. It’s like being thrown in a manure pile and finding a gold bar at the bottom of it. Heh. But who would leave valuable stuff like this behind? I don’t like this.

Dobbs cautiously moved down the hallway. The next set of doors was a bathroom and a walk-in closet, nothing of interest was in either. Moving forward again, to his left was an open door. The walls were lined with bookshelves, it apparently was once a study. Looking inside, he saw a black-clad figure lying on the floor in a pool of congealed blood.

One of Parker’s men? No…this is a Raider, not a merc.

Moving quietly into the room and examining the corpse, it was definitely a Raider, a male. From the tattoos, probably one of the religious fanatics that had attacked the town before he arrived. The body was cold and beginning to decompose, he’d been dead since the time of the attack. His weapon, a hunting rifle, lay next to him unfired. His throat had been cut.

While examining the Raider, a quiet click behind him made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He then heard a creak behind him to his right as if someone…..

Dobbs leaped forward and as he hit the floor, rolled over, bringing his rifle to bear on what had been behind him just in time to see the glittering arc of a sword slice through the empty air where he had been and bury itself in the Raider’s corpse. Dobbs saw his assailant was a ghoul in a filthy khaki jumpsuit and wearing a fur cap. At his waist was a pistol in some kind of wooden holster. On one of the ghoul’s arms he could see a dull red patch.

“You shouldn’t have given in to your greed, Gwai-Lo”, hissed the ghoul in heavily accented but understandable English as he pulled the sword out of the dead Raider and raised it to strike. “Now you must die!”

“Aw, [censored]”, replied Dobbs. “Not you guys again!”

Dobbs then fired a three round burst at the ghoul’s chest. Not having been sighted in, the rifle shot high and to the right. As the ghoul was less than 10 feet away, instead of shredding the ghoul’s heart and lungs, they shattered his right shoulder, and the sword went flying out of his grasp. Staggering back, the ghoul shouted something in Mandarin and attempted to draw his pistol with his left hand.

[censored] this, time to switch to the revolver.

Dobbs let go of the rifle’s pistol grip, holding onto it with his left hand and pulled his Police Pistol with his free right hand. Firing two shots in double action, the .38 Special slugs tore into the ghoul’s face, the first into his upper jaw, the second into his left eye socket. The ghoul dropped the pistol he had drawn too late and crumpled to the ground dead. Above him Dobbs could hear shouting, and the sound of someone running down the stairs. Dobbs got up and prepared to face what was coming. Noticing the bookcase along the interior wall…that his back had been towards…had swung open, revealing a hidden stairwell, Dobbs absentmindedly pushed it closed again.

“I am really getting too old for this [censored]!” said Dobbs disgustedly.