Craterside Supply

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

When Ellen opens the door again, it leads back into Megaton, which is as dusty and cow-smelling as ever. "This way," she says, picking her way first down the stairs cut into the side of the crater, then up a winding walkway that leads over a shack with a two-headed cow out front. "That's the town clinic, by the way. Not that I've been in there yet, but that's where I was headed when I found myself at the Bar."

Comments

[aeons_crackshot]

There is a brief moment of staring at the two-headed cow. That's not what cows are supposed to look like. "They have a physician in town? That's good to know." Annabelle is following closely and keeping an eye out for trouble.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen nods. "Moira said not to bother him unless I had something seriously wrong. He's apparently pretty grumpy."

The walkway evens out a goodly ways up the side of the crater. There's a lovely view of the Church of the Children of Atom from here, which Ellen seems to be doing her best to avoid. (Surprise, surprise.) As for Craterside Supply itself, the only sign of the place's nature- other than the one up on the roof- is the words 'Craterside Supply' scribbled awkwardly along the right-hand side of the door. Ellen pushes the door open and leads the way into the dusty room and its eclectic collection of inventory.

"Oh, hey, welcome back!" calls the redheaded woman in the pale blue jumpsuit, who's busy sweeping up the floor. "Don't mind the smoke! It's perfectly safe to breathe, really. And the fire's out, too."

[aeons_crackshot]

So long as it's not toxic, Annabelle can deal with smoke. Dixon smoked like a chimney, after all. "Not too much damage, I hope?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Hardly anything at all." The woman smiles and puts the broom aside. "What can I help you with- oh, hi, Ellen! Back already?"

Ellen ducks her head, wincing a little. "I, um... ran into some creatures out there."

"Uh-oh. That doesn't sound very promising."

Darting a glance at Annabelle, Ellen produces the by now rather nasty rodent head. Moira picks it up and clucks to herself. "Mole rats. My goodness. Lucky thing I just started working on a repellent..."

[aeons_crackshot]

"A repellent?" Annabelle inquires as she looks to see if a shotgun and its ammunition are among the wares available.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Oh, yes, a chem-imbued stick that ought to drive the little buggers right off. It won't be ready for field testing for a while, though," Moira says. "Right now I just need someone to test my other theories. I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt because of a mistake. Nobody's ever happy when that happens." She shakes her head sadly. "No... Then they just yell a lot. At me. With mean, mean words."

Ellen coughs. "Um. About that testing job-"

"Oh! Yes! The Survival Guide." Moira brightens right up at that. "I was thinking that the first chapter would really have to be about surviving day-to-day dangers. Things like where it is and isn't safe to find food, the dangers of radiation, and how to avoid and even profit from dangerous landmines."

Ellen blinks at that. "I... don't know what those are," she says, glancing at Annabelle a bit hopelessly.

[aeons_crackshot]

"Have you written any of that down yet? It sounds useful, and I'm not from this area."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Not yet. That's what I need your help for- assuming the two of you are interested," says Moira. "Which did you want to do first?"

Ellen still hasn't had an answer about land mines, but given the nature of things on the surface, she figures that might be a secondary concern. "What would be involved in the radiation part?" she asks.

"Oh, I know lots about it from books, but I never seem to get a live example of what it can do," says Moira. "Not for long, anyway. Confessor Cromwell won't talk to me, or I'd just ask him."

... that's reassuring.

[aeons_crackshot]

"I suspect that you'll get the chance to observe the effects on Confessor Cromwell eventually," Annabelle says dryly. "What kind of 'live example' are you looking for?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Oh, just a bit of radiation poisoning so I can study its effects," says Moira. "I've got enough Rad-Away to clear away quite a bit, and I have some extra chems to amplify its effect if you can arrange for something more advanced."

Ellen rubs at the back of her neck. "Um," she says. "What were the alternatives again?"

"Scavenging for food in some of the older buildings in the Wasteland," Moira says, "and finding and deactivating land mines."

[aeons_crackshot]

"You want us to intentionally contract radiation poisoning?"

"I could do food scavenging, but I'm not familiar with the landmines."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Well, if you don't want to pick it up intentionally, you're always welcome to come back with a case should you expose yourself by mistake," says Moira. "But someone's got to be the first to test new treatments."

"Oh, land mines are little bundles of explosive nastiness about so big." She indicates something rather larger than a pre-war can of tuna fish. "They were made before the war to make whole areas inaccessible to foot soldiers, or anybody on foot, really. Figuring out how to recognize them, deactivate them, and remove them without detonating them could easily be vital in an area where they've been deployed, don't you agree?"

[aeons_crackshot]

"Certainly, but it's a bit like asking someone to bell the cat, isn't it? If you don't have some idea of how to disarm the things, you'll likely lose your experimenters."

Annabelle glances at Ellen, "How comfortable are you with explosives?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I had to study them in pretty exhaustive detail before I dealt with the bomb," says Ellen. "Although I've never seen a small one before."

"Oh, they're not nuclear," says Moira. "Just explosive. No radioactivity at all! And you can profit from them, too- disarm one before it blows, and you can sell it for plenty of caps."

[aeons_crackshot]

"Would you be comfortable trying to disarm the land mines? I'd rather neither of us lost any body parts."

She turns to Moira, "Speaking of caps, do you happen to have any weapons for sale?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Oh, all I really need is one," says Moira. "Although I am going to need your experiences navigating an area that has them, so if you want to defuse them all, go right ahead."

[aeons_crackshot]

"I suspect that there's going to be a lot of rock tossing in my future."

"What do you think Ellen, it's your call."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen chews on her lip. Finally she says, "Let's do the land mines. If my father has to get through a mined area..."

"Oh, I hope not. But all right," says Moira as she heads to the shelves to retrieve a couple of shotguns for Annabelle's examination. "I've heard stories about a ghost town that's just full of mines. Heck, the traders call the place 'Minefield'. Sounds like the place for some fieldwork to me. I'll mark out the area on your Pip-Boy. Get in there, get back, and tell me all about the experience. And could you bring back a mine for my studies?"

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle examines the shotguns with a critical and expert eye. "I'm not surprised it's a ghost town if it's got that many mines," she remarks.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Mm-hmm! Since ghosts don't exist, you can just focus on the landmines." Moira beams. "I hear there's a playground in the exact center of the town. You don't have to go any farther than that, the way I see it- just get that far and turn around and come right back."

The guns are in relatively decent repair, the sawed-off more so than the standard double-barrelled shotgun. There's also a couple of boxes of cartridges, but those'll suit either gun.

[aeons_crackshot]

"How much were you wanting for this one and the cartridges?" Annabelle asks, gesturing to the sawed-off shotgun.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Twenty caps for the gun, and three caps a shell for the shotgun shells," says Moira. "Just got it off Lucky Harith a few days ago."

[aeons_crackshot]

"I'll take the gun and both boxes of shells, please."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"All righty!" chirps Moira. "Anything else I can do for you before you two head out?"

[aeons_crackshot]

"I'm fine, thank you. Do you need anything?" she asks Ellen