Brother Gerard
Sep. 3rd, 2011 08:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aaaaaaaagh_skyThe usual procedure in Megaton for dealing with the dead was a burial outside the city walls. There weren't enough Brahmin chips or laser weapons in the town for cremation, and anyway, the local soil needed all the help it could get. The dead who left behind families were buried in the oldest, most tattered, least viable clothing the family owned. It was assumed the dead would understand that returning their possessions to the living was saying they left something behind worth keeping, a gesture of respect in itself. There were no shrouds. Wrapping a corpse in a Brahmin hide, whether tanned or not, was a ridiculously vulgar display of wealth that would be talked about for generations. As for coffins, no one could remember anyone having the time and inclination to waste good work and materials on a box that would only be used once and then taken away forever.
Raiders, for as long as anyone could remember, were left outside the gates to rot- or, rather, to be eaten. The creatures of the Wasteland were nothing if not opportunistic. As for others who died outside the walls who'd done the townsfolk no wrong, it was up to the people of the city whether they wanted to risk their lives to bury them. More often than not, they ended up ant food along with the raiders. Ellen had done her best, when she was in Megaton, to reclaim what corpses she could manage and bury them herself. The dead of Vault 101 were given funeral ceremonies before being broken down in the Promatorium, where the biomass was eventually added to the fluid used in the Vault's hydroponic farms. Burying corpses in and around the plot where the Oasis plants were doing their best to grow wasn't so different from that process, she figured- and anyway, it was a last gesture of respect for people who had none otherwise.
The beggar killed by the Springvale water, however, was another story. When the woman who'd given him that water fled, Ellen turned back to his corpse. Some glimmer of suspicion prompted her to switch her Pip-Boy's Geiger counter on. A suddden crackling stream of tcktcktcktck burst forth; she involuntarily stepped backwards, and the sound died down. Slowly, carefully, she stretched her left arm out towards the body again.
Tcktcktcktcktck-
It faded as she lowered her arm and backed up. She'd be back shortly, she decided, but she wanted to get some Rad-X down her throat first. The area around the man wasn't hot- just his corpse. He might've been sickened by any number of things, but it'd been the irradiated water that had killed him- and swiftly, at that. Someone in Springvale was playing a very dangerous game.
There was nothing in Springvale that even vaguely resembled Ellen's foggy mental images of a monastery when she arrived. On the other hand, there was no sign of radiation, either. That... was something, at least. Fawkes was off burying the beggar's body where it wouldn't pose a danger to the people of Megaton or their food supply, and Dogmeat was back at the house, so Ellen's only real defenses as she made her way into the Springvale ruins were some Rad-X, her plasma rifle, and General Chase's armored overcoat. Her full power armor would've made her feel safer, but if there was a whole monastery of people willing to distribute lethally tainted water here, it would only have made her a target. The coat just left her looking like a traveler who'd hit upon some interesting luck.
She was about halfway from the Megaton gates to Tanya and Silver's house when something moved in the ruins. It was a balding man, somewhat taller than her father had been, tanned and grimy and with a look of great purpose about him. The power fist he wore contrasted sharply with his weathered Brahmin-skin clothes. "Welcome, weary traveler!" he called out as she approached. "Welcome to the monastery of the Apostles of Eternal Light!"
For a monastery, Ellen thought, it sure looked like, oh... every other ruin in Springvale. But she said nothing.
"Oh, but you must be parched by your travels!" he continued. With a beatific smile, he turned to a nearby crate. "Please, accept this gift: holy water, blessed by our order. We must drink deep of the Water of Light, so that it may sanctify our tongues and render us purified for discourse!"
She stared at the bottle he held out- no, the bottles, plural; one of them was already halfway drained. "Sir?" she said. "I don't-"
He shook his head. "You must cleanse your tongue of unseemly speech by drinking deep of the holy water," he said. "Then we may speak."
"It's setting off my Geiger counter," Ellen felt obliged to point out. "You hear that? The clicking?"
"The song of Atom's Light," said the man. "Come, join me in partaking of it..."
Oh, hell.
It wasn't in Ellen's nature to be deceptive, but she felt she had something of a right to do so if it meant avoiding that kind of irradiation. She accepted the bottle the man offered her. He smiled, and raised his own. As he tipped his head back to drain most of the contents, Ellen took the opportunity to spill some of the stuff on the ground. She hastily stepped forward to hide the wet patch with one foot. "Will that do?" she said, ostentatiously wiping her mouth with one hand.
The man nodded. "I can see the glint of Atom's Light in your eyes," he said. "You have purified your tongue with the holy water, so now we may speak. I am Brother Gerard. How may this servant of the Eternal Light serve you?"
"I live in Megaton," Ellen said, pointing in the direction of the city walls. "I got a pamphlet that mentioned the Apostles of the Eternal Light. Is that just you?"
Brother Gerard shook his head. "No, no," he said. "Ours is a modest order, but our ranks are growing slowly, as others hear our words and are Enlightened."
Ellen didn't like the fact that she could hear the capital letters when this man talked.
"As our Luminescent Mother says, 'where others walk only in the dying waste, we offer the path of eternal light.' And to spread goodwill, we offer this holy water to any and all supplicants."
"Luminescent Mother?" Ellen repeated, the hairs on the back of her neck prickling. "Who would that be?"
"Mother Curie the Third, the founder of our order and our Luminescent Mother," said Gerard with another beatific smile. "She oversees the blessing of all our water. I fear she's far too busy to meet with outsiders."
"I... see," said Ellen slowly. There were only so many places in Springvale this woman could be hiding, but if she was the one 'blessing' the water it was going to be a dangerous hunt. She'd have to go and find Fawkes-
"However," said Brother Gerard, "if you are willing to be baptized in Atom's Holy Light, then perhaps I could allow you to enter and meet our leader."
"You mean irradiated," said Ellen.
"Yes, call it what you will," said Gerard. "We simply do not allow any to enter who do not bear the Light. Make your way to our Tabernacle, pilgrim. Pray to Atom to fill you with Holy Radiance. Bask in the Glow of Atom's Eternal Light."
He gestured towards the ruin behind him. Ellen caught sight of what looked like a pulpit and a bathtub, and one of the ancient blue-and-yellow fallout shelter signs that had previously hung on the Springvale School. There might have been a rusting, ancient oil drum in there, too, but she didn't see it properly; for a moment the whole place seemed to swim, overlaid with the image of the Project Purity control room. She shuddered violently, and found she was shivering despite the coat's weight and the day's warmth.
( This place is not a place of honor. No highly esteemed deed is commemorated here. Nothing valued is here. )
"It is, of course, up to you," she heard Brother Gerard say as he turned aside to scan the road for other 'pilgrims'. "May Atom's Light guide you..."
It was a short, short fight, and an ugly one. But Brother Gerard was alive at the end of it, if unconscious; and Ellen, for all that she'd heard cracking and seen stars when he'd punched her with that power fist, was still alive and on her feet. Thank God, she thought, for all that Voodoo and John-117 had taught her! "I'm- I'm sorry," she said hoarsely to the man's slumped, still form. "But I've seen your Atom up close already. I'm not- I'm not doing that again. Ever."
Brother Gerard, of course, made no reply. Ellen checked his pulse a second time, and then checked his pockets. There was a key, which turned out to fit the lock bolted to a nearby storm cellar's door. It was enough; she swallowed, drew as deep a breath as she could manage without passing out from the pain in her ribs, and made her way in.
Raiders, for as long as anyone could remember, were left outside the gates to rot- or, rather, to be eaten. The creatures of the Wasteland were nothing if not opportunistic. As for others who died outside the walls who'd done the townsfolk no wrong, it was up to the people of the city whether they wanted to risk their lives to bury them. More often than not, they ended up ant food along with the raiders. Ellen had done her best, when she was in Megaton, to reclaim what corpses she could manage and bury them herself. The dead of Vault 101 were given funeral ceremonies before being broken down in the Promatorium, where the biomass was eventually added to the fluid used in the Vault's hydroponic farms. Burying corpses in and around the plot where the Oasis plants were doing their best to grow wasn't so different from that process, she figured- and anyway, it was a last gesture of respect for people who had none otherwise.
The beggar killed by the Springvale water, however, was another story. When the woman who'd given him that water fled, Ellen turned back to his corpse. Some glimmer of suspicion prompted her to switch her Pip-Boy's Geiger counter on. A suddden crackling stream of tcktcktcktck burst forth; she involuntarily stepped backwards, and the sound died down. Slowly, carefully, she stretched her left arm out towards the body again.
Tcktcktcktcktck-
It faded as she lowered her arm and backed up. She'd be back shortly, she decided, but she wanted to get some Rad-X down her throat first. The area around the man wasn't hot- just his corpse. He might've been sickened by any number of things, but it'd been the irradiated water that had killed him- and swiftly, at that. Someone in Springvale was playing a very dangerous game.
There was nothing in Springvale that even vaguely resembled Ellen's foggy mental images of a monastery when she arrived. On the other hand, there was no sign of radiation, either. That... was something, at least. Fawkes was off burying the beggar's body where it wouldn't pose a danger to the people of Megaton or their food supply, and Dogmeat was back at the house, so Ellen's only real defenses as she made her way into the Springvale ruins were some Rad-X, her plasma rifle, and General Chase's armored overcoat. Her full power armor would've made her feel safer, but if there was a whole monastery of people willing to distribute lethally tainted water here, it would only have made her a target. The coat just left her looking like a traveler who'd hit upon some interesting luck.
She was about halfway from the Megaton gates to Tanya and Silver's house when something moved in the ruins. It was a balding man, somewhat taller than her father had been, tanned and grimy and with a look of great purpose about him. The power fist he wore contrasted sharply with his weathered Brahmin-skin clothes. "Welcome, weary traveler!" he called out as she approached. "Welcome to the monastery of the Apostles of Eternal Light!"
For a monastery, Ellen thought, it sure looked like, oh... every other ruin in Springvale. But she said nothing.
"Oh, but you must be parched by your travels!" he continued. With a beatific smile, he turned to a nearby crate. "Please, accept this gift: holy water, blessed by our order. We must drink deep of the Water of Light, so that it may sanctify our tongues and render us purified for discourse!"
She stared at the bottle he held out- no, the bottles, plural; one of them was already halfway drained. "Sir?" she said. "I don't-"
He shook his head. "You must cleanse your tongue of unseemly speech by drinking deep of the holy water," he said. "Then we may speak."
"It's setting off my Geiger counter," Ellen felt obliged to point out. "You hear that? The clicking?"
"The song of Atom's Light," said the man. "Come, join me in partaking of it..."
Oh, hell.
It wasn't in Ellen's nature to be deceptive, but she felt she had something of a right to do so if it meant avoiding that kind of irradiation. She accepted the bottle the man offered her. He smiled, and raised his own. As he tipped his head back to drain most of the contents, Ellen took the opportunity to spill some of the stuff on the ground. She hastily stepped forward to hide the wet patch with one foot. "Will that do?" she said, ostentatiously wiping her mouth with one hand.
The man nodded. "I can see the glint of Atom's Light in your eyes," he said. "You have purified your tongue with the holy water, so now we may speak. I am Brother Gerard. How may this servant of the Eternal Light serve you?"
"I live in Megaton," Ellen said, pointing in the direction of the city walls. "I got a pamphlet that mentioned the Apostles of the Eternal Light. Is that just you?"
Brother Gerard shook his head. "No, no," he said. "Ours is a modest order, but our ranks are growing slowly, as others hear our words and are Enlightened."
Ellen didn't like the fact that she could hear the capital letters when this man talked.
"As our Luminescent Mother says, 'where others walk only in the dying waste, we offer the path of eternal light.' And to spread goodwill, we offer this holy water to any and all supplicants."
"Luminescent Mother?" Ellen repeated, the hairs on the back of her neck prickling. "Who would that be?"
"Mother Curie the Third, the founder of our order and our Luminescent Mother," said Gerard with another beatific smile. "She oversees the blessing of all our water. I fear she's far too busy to meet with outsiders."
"I... see," said Ellen slowly. There were only so many places in Springvale this woman could be hiding, but if she was the one 'blessing' the water it was going to be a dangerous hunt. She'd have to go and find Fawkes-
"However," said Brother Gerard, "if you are willing to be baptized in Atom's Holy Light, then perhaps I could allow you to enter and meet our leader."
"You mean irradiated," said Ellen.
"Yes, call it what you will," said Gerard. "We simply do not allow any to enter who do not bear the Light. Make your way to our Tabernacle, pilgrim. Pray to Atom to fill you with Holy Radiance. Bask in the Glow of Atom's Eternal Light."
He gestured towards the ruin behind him. Ellen caught sight of what looked like a pulpit and a bathtub, and one of the ancient blue-and-yellow fallout shelter signs that had previously hung on the Springvale School. There might have been a rusting, ancient oil drum in there, too, but she didn't see it properly; for a moment the whole place seemed to swim, overlaid with the image of the Project Purity control room. She shuddered violently, and found she was shivering despite the coat's weight and the day's warmth.
( This place is not a place of honor. No highly esteemed deed is commemorated here. Nothing valued is here. )
"It is, of course, up to you," she heard Brother Gerard say as he turned aside to scan the road for other 'pilgrims'. "May Atom's Light guide you..."
It was a short, short fight, and an ugly one. But Brother Gerard was alive at the end of it, if unconscious; and Ellen, for all that she'd heard cracking and seen stars when he'd punched her with that power fist, was still alive and on her feet. Thank God, she thought, for all that Voodoo and John-117 had taught her! "I'm- I'm sorry," she said hoarsely to the man's slumped, still form. "But I've seen your Atom up close already. I'm not- I'm not doing that again. Ever."
Brother Gerard, of course, made no reply. Ellen checked his pulse a second time, and then checked his pockets. There was a key, which turned out to fit the lock bolted to a nearby storm cellar's door. It was enough; she swallowed, drew as deep a breath as she could manage without passing out from the pain in her ribs, and made her way in.