Chandler

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

The trudge across the Wasteland from Rivet City had taken less time than Ellen expected, but she didn't stop at Megaton regardless. About halfway there it had occurred to her that if she was going to have a chance of passing her visitor off as a recently emerged Vault dweller, she was going to have to bring him in from some distance- and not be seen by Deputy Weld until she did so. So she'd swung around to the west, up along the rock formation that housed Vault 101 (a thought that still gave her a pang or two), and down towards Springvale from the north. One of the outlying houses would do well enough for her and Dogmeat for the night, since Tanya's ants were patrolling the ruins against possible raider incursions.

The house was still standing when she returned from Milliways. "Well," she said, "here we are."

Comments

[pickyourmoments]

"Giant ants?" Chandler asks. "I think I read that comic book before."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Oh, you've got Grognak the Barbarian where you come from?"

She's quite serious. Tanya's career as a supervillain was based on a villain from a comic book of that name. We only wish we were making this up.

[pickyourmoments]

"Justice League," Chandler corrects. "All the DC guys teamed up to form one awesome league of ass-kicking super powers!"

He's very excited about this for some reason.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Oh! Oh, yes, I met someone who told me about them in the Bar," Ellen says. "Charlie, his name was... he said he was from Hub City? And he mentioned Gotham?"

[pickyourmoments]

"Yeah, I met someone from Gotham!" Chandler says. "I can't believe that these people are actually real, you know? It's insane."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I know, I half expect to meet Captain Cosmos myself... ookay, see that? That's what I mean by the giant ants."

The bug she points to is about as long as the front grille of the car it's scurrying past.

[pickyourmoments]

Chandler jumps at the sight of the insect, and grabs hold of Ellen's arm.

"That's a bug!" he says nervously. "That's a big bug!"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"It's one of Tanya's," Ellen says. "It won't bother us if we don't bother it. And it's just a worker anyway. The soldiers are about half again as big."

[pickyourmoments]

"Oh. Right. Of course."

Slight hint of doubt and second thoughts in his voice right now.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"We can go back, you know," Ellen says. "Nobody from Megaton's seen us, and I don't think anyone from Vault 101 would be testing out the surface right now. We can just turn around and go back, if you like."

[pickyourmoments]

"No," Chandler insists. "No, no. This--this is fine. I'm fine. It's fine."

He motions for her to continue on in the same direction they've been heading.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Well, if you're sure," Ellen says. "Nobody ever really seems to understand exactly what this place is like until they get here."

She keeps going, though. And up ahead, as the walls of Megaton loom larger and closer, a metal figure can be made out. It's vaguely human-shaped, but resembles Robbie the Robot more than anything else.

[pickyourmoments]

Chandler sees it, and continues to hold onto Ellen's arm.

"Who... who's that?" he asks.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Deputy Weld," Ellen says. "The gate guard. He's a Protectron robot."

"Welcome to Megaton," the robot announces. "The bomb is perfectly safe, we promise. Please hold for threat level assessment."

[pickyourmoments]

Chandler whips his attention back to Ellen.

"What--what--what--what... what did it say?" He manages.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Threat level minimal," the robot decides before Ellen can answer. "Open the gates. Welcome to Megaton, pardner."

Ellen sighs as the huge metal gates slide upwards. "There's an undetonated atomic bomb at the very bottom of the crater the town is built into," she says. "That's how it got the name Megaton. The bomb's been defused, though. Even a directly applied fusion pulse charge couldn't set it off now."

[pickyourmoments]

"Oh!" Chandler just laughs nervously and follows after her still. "What's it mean by threat level, then?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"You," Ellen says. "You're not carrying any weapons or explosives worth noting, and you're not noticeably ill or violent, so you're a minimal threat to the people in town."

[pickyourmoments]

"Oh."

He's not sure if he should be offended by that or not. "Well, surely I'm not minimal?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen, who's wearing a full suit of prewar power armor and has a plasma rifle slung across her back, looks Chandler over. "I don't know," she says. "Are you good at unarmed combat? That's hard to assess."

[pickyourmoments]

Chandler, who's dressed like an idiot, slings his backpack around and starts digging through it, and pulls out a toy.

"I got this," he offers.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"It's a start," Ellen says. "I've seen some pretty vicious paralytic dart guns made from paint sprayers, toy cars, and surgical tubing."

[pickyourmoments]

The darts are just foam and a little suction cup.

"Well, you're not supposed to modify the darts," Chandler says.

He seems to have missed the point entirely.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"You are if you want to be more than a minimal threat," Ellen says. "Those are very nice, I'm sure, but I doubt you could do more than annoy somebody by popping them in the eye with one around here."

[pickyourmoments]

Chandler spends a few moments pouting. Of course he wants to be more than just minimal. Minimal anything isn't exactly manly.

"I think that's really more of the point," Chandler says. He rests the blaster over his shoulder and follows Ellen through the very unusual town.