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]

"Here we are," Chandler repeats.

It is like absolutely nothing he's ever seen, and he's not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

"This is where you live?" There's more of a childish awe in his voice than anything else right now.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Oh, no. This is where Tanya and Silver live," Ellen says, stepping out of the wreckage and nodding towards one of the mostly-intact ranch houses to the north. "I live over that way. In the walled town."

The thing she's indicating is mostly indistinguishable from a massive airplane crash. For good reason. But still, it's probably not really Chandler's idea of a town, all things considered.

[pickyourmoments]

"Oh, of course," Chandler says nodding. He's not as steady on his feet as Ellen is, and nearly falls over a few times as he follows her tracks.

"Who's Tanya and Silver?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Well, Silver's a... she used to work in Megaton," Ellen says. "Which is the town. She took what little money and supplies she had and holed up here instead because she didn't want to work for her old boss. I'm not sure if she scavenges now or hunts or what, but she manages."

Actually, Silver is an ex-prostitute and Ellen knows it, and she knows that Silver's got zip in the way of hunting skills and that caravans pass through here fairly often, but honestly, why spill the poor woman's secrets?

"And Tanya's a woman who can make giant ants obey her commands. She used to terrorize caravans and raiders up north near Canterbury. She's trying to reform now."

[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.