aaaaaaaagh_sky | Chandler

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."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

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!"

From:

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."

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pickyourmoments

"Oh. Right. Of course."

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

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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."

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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.

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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.

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pickyourmoments

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

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

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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."

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pickyourmoments

Chandler whips his attention back to Ellen.

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

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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."

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pickyourmoments

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

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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."

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pickyourmoments

"Oh."

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

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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."

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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.

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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."

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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.

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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."

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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.

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aaaaaaaagh_sky

"yes, well-"

"Aw, hell," drawls a dark-skinned man's voice from nearby. "Another stray, Ellen?"

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pickyourmoments

Chandler's attention shoots to the new guy.

"Yes," he agrees. "But don't worry. She's taking me to the vet to get my shots and tags."

He thinks he's hilarious.

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aaaaaaaagh_sky

The man eyes Chandler before looking to Ellen. "He's not from Canterbury, is he?"

"No, sir," says Ellen. "He's just like that. Chandler, this is Lucas Simms, mayor and sheriff of the town of Megaton; Sheriff, this is Chandler Bing, from up north."

"Commonwealth, or somewhere nearer?" says Simms, holding out a leathery hand for the shaking. "Or should I just plain not ask?"

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pickyourmoments

Chandler looks at Ellen for help, not sure what he's supposed to say in this instance.

"Well, you could ask, but if I told you, I'd have to kill you." His tone of voice and dopey grin suggests that it's a joke. Hopefully.

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aaaaaaaagh_sky

Simms rolls his eyes, but there's a resigned sort of humor to his voice as he speaks. "Message received. I ain't askin', but I am going to warn you not to make that kind of joke around this town. I can tell when it's nothing serious. Some of the folks who live here can't. I don't like having to clean up that kind of trouble in my town, so best you don't go starting any- understand?"