Miss Vicious , Her saga and story... Options

[RaderOfTheLostArk]

Ah, I only got back into the subforum just in time for the end of this season, eh? Sorry for my absence. Well, what a way to end it.

Never ceases to amuse me how bold and taunting raiders can be when they are getting their doors blown off.

That's something I hope Bethesda improves on from Starfield onward. I don't want my enemies running away all the time as would be more "realistic," because that would just get annoying. But it would be really cool if their AI could better understand that they are getting routed, like if the confidence in their voice lines diminished. Fallout 4 did make strides in this regard (e.g. "You're gonna f---ing pay for that!" when you waste one of the raiders' buddies), but it was still inconsistent and still often followed up by lines like "it's called shooting straight, rookie" when I'm level 60 and carrying ordnance the likes of which they could only barely comprehend.

Pretty cool how some of these things lined up so perfectly, like Slick Rick and those two other raiders congregating in the same spot, in a game where so many random and radiant AI-driven things happen.

How neat that the Lone Wanderer encountered your character and had a little heart-to-heart. It had to happen at some point. I imagine he'll be telling Lucy West, "You'll never guess who I saw at the ruins of Springvale Elementary."

Taneesha is lucky that the Lone Wanderer had a little bit of mercifulness to him.

And so ends the story...for now.

[Lopov]

Uh oh, what a twist! Cho comes in, blazin' guns, I somehow had a feeling that Taneesha would survive it but I wasn't sure about Bratty. Glad to see that they both made it out alive. I really like the part, where Cho recognizes Taneesha and starts talking to her.

All her former frenemies (I like this word) gone in a matter of a few minutes. Cho definitely cleared the school for good.

The story ends for now, you say...I'm curious what will the next season bring. Maybe the Dogmaster will finally show up.

[Renee]

Awesome, I am glad you have caught up Lopov. Been waiting, in fact! Mainly I was wondering if anyone would put together the hints about Cho being a raider-hunter, whenever his name got mentioned.

This story will continue probably in May or June. Whenever it gets warm (well, it's already frickin' too warm...)

[Renee]

Good afternoon. ☕ Today starts Season Four of Miss Vicious Delicious. I’ve been torn between Joanie and Vicious these past few weeks. Maybe I'll write some Joan too this summer, but I'm not gonna write both at the same time.

I’m planning on writing somewhere between 8 to 10 episodes of Vicious this summer, sort of like a mini-series we’d see on Netflix nowadays. I’ve known from the beginning how her tale is supposed to conclude, so here goes. Chances are I’ll then return to Joan during autumn.

Today’s pilot episode requires a recap, so we can remember what the heck’s going on in this story, right? This includes ME!!! along with all of you. Forgotten a few things.

Now for our narrator, who sounds a lot like The First 48 narrator Dion Graham.

Last we saw, Miss Vicious, aka Taneesha Jones, just escaped the devastating siege of Springvale Elementary School. Pseudo-military Brotherhood of Steel member Cho Zen Wan, also known throughout the Capital Wasteland as the Lone Wanderer, has killed all raiders who’d been dwelling within the school, sparing only Vicious and her best friend Bratty. Upon completing his siege, Cho then vacated the school, telling Vicious (whom he also knows as Taneesha; he’s familiar with her as a civilian in Megaton…) he hopes she’s going to choose a wiser path for her future.

Now… Miss Vicious and Bratty are headed to Rivet City, where Vicious then plans to live a hopefully quiet, raider-free life. But first, Taneesha must return to Megaton to retrieve her gear…


Pilot episode of MVD coming soon!

[Renee]

Episode 54: The Eviction

Date: Monday, September 24, 2277, about 1 AM


“You! You’re a raider? I can’t believe it! How long has this been going on?”

Taneesha Jones stood before her housemate, dumbfounded. Unable to respond for a moment or two. - Dag, she already knows! - She’d needed to return to Megaton and then Lucy’s place in order to get her things: her modified shotgun, her 21st-century police-issued Tazer, her clothes and ammo, and any other personal items she could scrounge. She'd decided to make the walk from Springvale School to Megaton after midnight. Once inside Lucy West's house she'd leave a note, hoping to avoid a saddened goodbye.

“Hey look Lucy, I can explain…”

“I don’t wanna hear it!” Lucy’s voice rose. “YOU. A *clucking* raider?!”

Miss Lucy West, respectable member of Megaton’s small and insular Wasteland society for several years now, crossed her arms, discreetly making sure the knife she’d been in the habit of carrying was tucked within her jacket. “Now it all makes sense. Your absences, especially at night. The chem-syringes I’ve occasionally been finding around the house. Getting caught stealing, and then going to jail!” The woman who’d taken Taneesha in smacked her own head with some force. “How could I not’ve seen the signs?!”

Taneesha nodded. “Guess news spreads fast,” she muttered, looking to the floor. She’d been hoping Cho Zen Wan, the BoS scout who’d caught her dwelling within the raider-infused Springvale School as he shot up the place, wouldn’t tell anyone about Taneesha’s double-life. That his unfortunate discovery would become a secret shared only between the two of them.

“I’m truly sorry, Lucy, really I am. But it ain’t no thing, okay? Matter of fact, was on my way out. Heading off to Rivet City, actually. Was hoping you'd be asleep; was gonna leave a note. Only reason I’m here is to get ma things. Was hoping it wouldn't turn out this way. In any case, you’ll never see my *behind* again.”

“Oh, you got that right! You’re getting the HELL out of here! Matter of fact you’ve got about… two minutes to get ALL your things out of MY house, before I report a trespasser..” To Taneesha’s astonishment, Lucy then began counting backwards “Sixty. Fifty-nine. Fifty-eight…”

Hey, that ain’t two minutes!

Not that it mattered much; she’d be outta here before long. Wasn’t like she owned a whole lot of things. Taneesha Jones did her best to heed what was now her former friend’s warning. Rushed toward the locker she’d been using to store things over the past few weeks, where she grabbed her guns, her ammo, her cigs and chems, her precious flashlight,.

“Thirty-eight. Thirty-seven. Thirty-six…”

She then rushed across the upper floor of the tin-constructed home, her boots clanking and scuffling loudly over the metal causeway which joined their two open bedrooms. She opened the wardrobe Lucy had allowed her to use during her stay, which was mostly full of apparel. Grabbed as many outfits as she could, stuffing them into an ages-old duffel bag with a Feebok label on it, whatever the heck Feebok was. Some sort of athletic brand, she’d been told.

“Twenty-nine! Twenty-eight!”

Lucy’s voice rose yet another notch, scaring the *skit* out of her evictee, causing panic. Only good thing about this harried encounter between Taneesha and her now-former landlady is that Bratty wasn’t here. Taneesha (still dressed in raider gear, therefore Miss Vicious) had convinced the brat to stay behind in Springvale. Her Lady’s Intuition had told Vicious that somehow, keeping Bratty out of Megaton would be one heck of a good idea, and boy-o, what a good decision that’d been.

“Fourteen! Thirteen!!” Lucy growled, baring actual teeth.

“Here,” Taneesha said calmly, with just twelve seconds to go. “You never did charge me for staying in your home, but take these anyway,” she said, tossing a handful of caps on a nearby counter. “Sorry, again,” she said, her voice cracking. “Wish things turned out different, Miss West.”

And with that, Taneesha Jones was out the door.

The silence which followed was about as absolute as silence can be, in a home and town made mostly of solder-welds, metal planks, rebar, and whatever else Megatonians were able to scavenge. Therefore, the usual cacophony of sounds fill the air; creaks and groans which over time, most folks in Megaton would typically ignore. But to Lucy, the din within her home seemed suddenly, enormously loud.

“I love you, Taneesha Jones,” Lucy West finally said inside her vacated house. “But I also never want to see you again.”

—----------------------------

Taneesha's troubles weren't over yet, however.

"STOP!" Megaton's enforcement officer shouted. "You're under arrest!"

Uh oh. "I am?"

The officer explained that Taneesha had accrued a few offences, but did not explain what these offences were. Lucy West was still inside her home, and couldn't possibly have reported Taneesha for trespassing. Not yet.

"Cho. The Lone Wanderer," Taneesha mumbled. He's the one. Bastard told on me, for being a raider!

"You have but three choices," the officer explained. "Pay some caps, go to our illustrious jail, or you can resist. I suggest you choose one of the first two."

Taneesha thought for a moment. She'd already been to jail, with the stupid Jail Bot annoying her to no end, day and night. She ain't gettin' my caps. Which only left one choice.

"Oh hail no, *witch*. Guess you'll have to catch me then!"

"I'm about to send my goon after you," officer-*witch* said. "You'd better get out of Megaton NOW!"

Not a prob. Wasn't like she'd ever be coming back.

The *witch* officer swung her nightstick, but Taneesha was too quick! She rushed down the rampway, made a sharp right past the unexploded bomb which served as the object of religion for the Church of Atom. Down here, a figure came rushing toward her, but it was too dark to see. "I'm gonna tear you apart!" a man said. Probably he was the 'goon' referred to by the enforcement *witch*.

Again, Miss West sidestepped, avoiding whatever the goon swung at her.

"Are you lookin' for the mayor? Or the sheriff?" asked Lucas Simms, Megaton's mayor and sheriff.

Taneesha stomped up the hill, her Feebok bag rustling along with her. Within seconds she was out of Megaton, her eyes casting mere glances behind her to see if the officer and her goon were coming to hunt the evictee down. But no one followed. No one came after her.

"Phew."

Half-hour later, Taneesha transformed into Miss Vicious, trading her dirty Prewar attire for badlands-style raider gear before returning to Springvale School.

"Eh, what took you so long?" asked Bratty, who seemed wired on something. "You got a cig, Vicious? ... Eh? What's the matta wichu?" she questioned, her Jersey accent going full force. Probably had something to do with the wetness under her best friend's eyes.

Rivet City would be a fresh start. Supposedly, most of the city’s inhabitants were down-to-earth types, workers and settlers, so it wouldn’t be like Tenpenny Tower, the first place Taneesha had stayed, with all those fake-*bass* phonies. Rivet City itself was a gigantic Prewar military ship. From what she'd been hearing, the place was well fortified against super mutants, and other Wasteland threats. But also raiders. Once Taneesha, Bratty, and possibly Q-Tip stepped onto the boat, they'd be leaving their raider lives behind.

"I'll no longer be Miss Vicious once I go that route," Taneesha Jones said an hour later in the classroom she'd claimed as her home over the past month or so.

"Huh? Whatcha talkin' bout now?" Bratty queried. Stupid girl was still wearing that stupid pink dress.

"C'mon brat, let's get some sleep. Got a big day tomorrow."


----------------------------------

Lucy is pissed

Countdown begins...

Leaving Lucy West

Officer *witch* lady

Goodbye Megaton

Lopov'd

---------------------------------`


Notes: 1). When Lucy said "You're getting the HELL out of here" I used LucyWestRef.SendTresspassAlarm PlayerRef which causes Taneesha to have a certain amount of time to get out of Lucy's house. But I wasn't fast enough! I think this gave my toon a MinorCrime (the GECK defines some crimes as Minor, such as Stealing and Trespassing. Others, such as Assault and Murder as Major). Pretty sure Taneesha picked up the Trespassing charge.

Suffice to say, she won't be welcome back in Megaton ever again!

[Acadian]

Welcome back, Renee, as you start a new season of Miss Vicious Delicious.

Aww, too bad about Lucy being so mad. Taneesha got away with no casualties though. And with her stuff. Really think Cho ratted her out?

Feebok. Oh yeah, not as kewl as Niekey but good nonetheless.

Good luck trying to clean Bratty up for Rivet City.

[SubRosa]

Miss V is back!

Uh oh, Lucy found out that Taneesha is also Miss Vicious. This won't go well.

I love that Lucy thinks two minutes is made up of sixty seconds!

Somebody sold Taneesha out. If not the Cho Zen Wan, then I can't imagine who else. Unless someone from Megaton saw her sneaking back and forth to Springvale.

That was a close escape from Megaton, with the cops trying to close in on her.

So now it is off to Rivet City to start a new life. I don't think Bratty is up for life on the straight and narrow though. But we will see. At least she seems to like wearing the pink dress, as opposed to raider gear. *That* would not fly in Rivet City.

Miss V might be able to go back to Megaton. Just wait for 3 days and try. Several of my characters killed Moriarty, usually with a bottlecap mine in his office. The whole town usually turned hostile afterward. But after the cells reset in 3 days, they all went back to normal and I was able to come and go like normal.

[Renee]

Cool, glad y'all agree. I've been really, really psyched about writing again. Gonna post the next episode earlier than usual since I got the day off. And also, today is beginning of summer; the longest day of the year. 🌞

Thanks SubRosa, indeed Miss V is back. I think Lucy was trying to freak Vicious out. She says there will be two minutes of countdown but then only gives a minute. Sort of like when somebody says they're gonna punch someone else in 3 seconds if they don't do X, but when the countdown begins WHAM!

So now it is off to Rivet City to start a new life. I don't think Bratty is up for life on the straight and narrow though

Oh yeah. There's some of the plot! Anyone who's played FO3 and also has been to Rivet City can guess some of what could possibly happen. Gonna be hella fun to write.

Mm hmm i know about the 3 day crime thing but Vicious will never return to Megaton, not unless I make a Season Five. Pretty sure porr Taneesha is banned for life though. Like, pretty sure that's how I wrote the Crime mod stuff 3 summers ago. The player gets 3 chances, and if all three get used up, both those officers will try to hunt the PC down if they return to Megaton. It is possible to pwn both those officers too, but this isn't easy.

In any event, Taneesha Jones simply wants to move on.


Thanks Acadian, and how are you today?

Really think Cho ratted her out?

Wow. Picked up a subtlety, maybe without even realizing. Hmm. Should I spoil? Probably I should a little, just to explain Cho's side.

So I'll partially spoil. Cho did rat Taneesha out, because in his mind, he's worried for Lucy's safety. Raiders in Fallout can do some horrendous, disgusting things, such as hanging corpses in their lairs, corpses which were obviously tortured alive. This doesn't mean ALL of them behave this way though. I like to imagine that a lot of raiders are raiders for the endless partying. Drinking, chems, sleeping whenever they want, etc. But from Cho's point of view, that's the side of raiderhood he sees: the ugly side.

However... the question is: did Cho also tell Megaton's officers?


This next chapter is a lot of backstory. Some of you may find it tedious, not as entertaining as usual. But it's only for this one chapter. And only to explain some of my gal's past. 2,275 words according to WordCounter.net. A little long, but necessary to explain all at once, I feel.

This post has been edited by Renee: Jun 21 2024, 06:17 PM

[Renee]

Tenpenny Tower was mentioned in that last chapter as the initial dwelling where this story began. Yet that stopover was not her first-ever visit. Two years and some odd months in the past was her earliest experience with the residents of the highbrow high-rise hotel.

Let us take a glance into Taneesha’s past, to better understand what happened…



Episode 55: The Kingdom Hall of Ellicott City

Date: Sometime in the Year 2275
Location: mid-central to mid-south Maryland

Taneesha Jones had been traveling with a group of Bible-thumpers collectively known as Jehovah's Witnesses: good, God-fearing Evangelist types who'd been destined to spread The Word.

At the age of 16, she was the youngest of the group. She’d only been allowed to go with them after begging the Elders, arguing that her proficiency with armaments would be valuable as they traveled. Really, she'd only wanted to walk with them so she could get out and see the world, no matter how torn-up it was. Her whole life, she'd been mostly stuck in the temple.

"Young Taneesha professes her intent concerns protection," Elder Stave lectured after learning the teen's intent, speaking at her in the Third Person, as though she were not standing right before him. "That she shalt not aim her musket unless the intent is to blast, and only for the intention of protection... Of this she makes promise?"

Taneesha professed, and promised. Guns and bombs were not the usual methods priests and prophets would resort to while spreading the Word of God to other humans of course, but the realities of America had changed. Taneesha’s shotgun (and the weapons of a couple others who were allowed to carry) would only see use when the group encountered mutated creatures and monsters.

Or so went their thinking, at first….

Days passed as the group travelled roughly south. Then a week, and another week. It’d been a long journey by that point; knocking on the doors of various homes and settlements in the middle of nowhere, only to have that same door slammed a few moments later by irritated inhabitants, who had no desire to be ‘saved’. So far, only two of the fifty-three establishments they'd stopped by had welcomed them inside. Apparently, Witnesses from the 19th Century into the 21st had encountered plenty of refusals, as well. Yet here in the 23rd, a slammed door was one of the better reactions the group encountered! — At worst, they’d been shot at! ... Once, they'd even had a grenade tossed their way!

By the time they'd reached the gigantic tower reality had slapped them all, dozens of times. Three of the original fifteen parishioners who'd been journeying had perished; discussion of returning back north had begun. Even so, Tenpenny Tower beckoned to the group from miles away, place was so tall. Such an obvious destination to reach. Such an obvious destination to preach!

Let us forge ahead! cried Elder John, the absolute leader of the group, after they'd decided to count ayes and nays. The others reluctantly agreed. If Taneesha could've placed her own "nay" the vote would've been decisively hung, but at sixteen she was too young for their impromptu poll.

According to Jehovah, The End was always coming; always, The End was near. Better prepare for Paradise was the constant reminder Young Taneesha had heard. Those who were selected and faithful would enter the Kingdom of Zion, she’d been told over and over, after The End befell. The Earth would perish in fire and hailstones and groundquakes, and so on. This ‘End’ was often given an actual date as well, whether it’d be weeks, or months, or years ahead. This is how she’d been raised.

But let us go back even further in time…

*-**-**-**-**-**-**-*

It was late in the Year 2265, and the waif was once again missing!

Her name was Taneesha, according to the note they'd found. The Witnesses who’d taken her in a year ago had done their best to teach the youngster what was expected of her. Taneesha’s surname ‘Jones’ was the suggestion of one of the Fathers, who initially wanted to follow Taneesha with ‘Doe’. As in ‘Jane Doe’. As in: we don’t know who this poor child is, but here’s the most popular ‘unknown name’ in all history.

Thankfully, Taneesha Doe was outvoted by other adults, and ‘Jones’ was substituted. Jones was a popular surname back before the war, along with Smith, Gonzales, and White, three other suggestions from the temple’s leaders. In the end, Jones won the vote.

But back on topic. Because young Taneesha Jones? She was, once again, nowhere to be found.

It was important that they teach their new orphan the proper vision Jehovah had in store for her, for all inhabitants of Earth, in fact. But especially for Taneesha. Because her natural parents had apparently failed; one or both of them had left her behind, somewhere up on (what had been) Route 40. Or maybe both of them'd been killed, and Taneesha's remaining caretaker(s) couldn't continue fostering the child. Either way, now it was up to the Ellicott City Kingdom Hall Elders to get it right. Taneesha Jones was destined to be saved from the beginning; she became a sort of religious refugee from the day they took her in. The other forty or so Kingdom Hall children had all been raised under their roof from birth. Taneesha, therefore, was "special". She'd be more of a challenge; an ongoing advent for eternal salvation.

The term 'End Of Days' was most important, to those who expected to survive Second Armageddon. For them, nothing else much mattered.

Other folks, they celebrated trivial things: birthdays, historical dates, and America’s former holidays, even deep underground these traditions were maintained. They practiced a variety of medical treatments which were interpreted to be forbidden by Jehovah. Other folks, they pledged allegiance to America's flag, prayed to a variety of symbolic items (such as crosses), and so on.

To the Witnesses, such things were shunned as unimportant, not that Jones knew any difference. Whoever abandoned her near the Ellicott City Temple Hall in the Year 2265 also indicated the child was six at the time, upon the note they'd found nearby. Other than this possible clue, Taneesha would have no idea what her full date of birth could’ve been, later in life.

– First Armageddon occurred on October 23rd, 2077; the Great War demolished the world. The Witnesses who remained after The End believed they were the only humans left on the planet. Well, somewhere else on Earth were 143,943 other souls who'd also been allowed salvation. According to what they believed, 144,000 were supposed to survive while billions were destined for Hell. Funny thing though: Heaven looked a heck of a lot like Earth, many admitted to themselves, but dared not say to one another, at least not initially. Heaven looked like Earth, except Earth's beautiful landscapes had now become endless, irradiated wastes.

But still. Finally, our proclamations came true! many believed. -Yet this 'end' had occurred after two centuries of predictions which’d publicly fallen flat.

Though the organization’s past was complicated and many of its records disorganized, its attempt to discern when the End of Days would actually occur had come and passed numerous times. For example, the years 1914, 1925, 1975, and 2033 had been widely publicized as doomsdays. Not just within their own Watchtower pamphlets, but in popular media: newspapers, television shows, and online. The Second Coming of Christ had been predicted for 1878, 1881, 1914, 1918, and 1925. Each time…embarrassingly it might seem… these things did not happen. Anticipatory clocks would be reset while Watchtower members claimed their foretellings had occurred 'invisibly'. And yet, when the world as everyone knew it actually did come to an end in 2077, the Governing Body of Watchtower Society, those seven men at the very top of the organization in Bethel, New York, had made no public announcement, nor had they passed any info to any of the 13,000 or so Kingdom Halls across America. Apparently, they hadn’t foreseen this important date.

But this doesn’t mean some lesser-known members in smaller burbs hadn’t been proactive.

Ellicott City in the Year 2077 was a sprawling mixture of land, population: about 100,000. At its center was the ‘historic’ district, founded in the Year 1772 by a man named James Hood. Over the next 300 years the town’s initial population grew, of course. Most of what followed were typical suburban-like territories: single-family houses and the like, well-maintained parks and kempt lawns, strip malls, schools, and establishments which had nothing to do with the quaint historic area founded by Sir Hood. The Witnesses declared a property located on a downhill section of the city’s Centennial Lane as theirs some time in the 1950s or ‘60s, and here became the organization’s next Kingdom Hall.

Most Witnesses back then were academic Luddites. Uneducated past the high school level, which was intentional. According to Jehovah, what’d be needed in the afterlife were carpenters, mechanics, electricians, grade-school teachers and the like. Lawyers would not be needed. Politicians and scientists would not be needed, and so on. College education was reserved only for those at the top. Yet, some wiser Elders of Ellicott City's Kingdom Hall had certainly seen the future. Their temple was not a vault per se, but the E.C. congregation had seen what was happening in other sections of America; an abundance of vault construction, that is, then decided they would attempt to follow Vault-Tec's example.

Because of these decisions, Taneesha Jones would grow up in a Temple Hall which included its very own underground bunkers. The hall itself had been partially blown to pieces after a warhead aimed toward Baltimore in 2077 had glitched, demolishing most of Ellicott City instead. But their bunker? It had easily survived. A hundred or so years after the bomb, some brave members then rebuilt the rest of their temple aboveground.

Perhaps being solely proficient at carpentry, grade-school learning, lighting, wiring, and mechanical pursuits had been wiser ideas, after all!

Eventually, they realized they weren't the only ones who'd survived; others were milling upon Earth's surface as well, even outside of vaults. First Armageddon hadn't wiped the Earth clean, which meant a second wrathful attempt from God was surely to come.

And so began their fate. 'We must return to evangelizing,' became the eventual train of thought. 'For the remaining souls of our world must receive His message.'

*-**-**-**-**-**-**-*

Date: Sometime in the Year 2275

Let us return to this year. Apologies for all the date-jumping, but here comes the conclusion.

…Taneesha and her band of preachers, arrived just outside Tenpenny Tower. Tired, hungry, but dutifully performing the will of their Father, spreading His prophecies. The tower appealing to these weary travellers as a sort of gigantic beacon of safety. Populated by hundreds of folks they’d heard, some of them had to be God-fearing types still practicing other forms of Christian religion. They’d be welcome within, for sure!

Over the past few days and weeks, Young Taneesha had become more and more anxious, overcome with uncertainty as door after door were slammed in their faces. Why had I begged so fervently to come along? Was it because I'd been so desperate to see the outside world? Most probably, yes.

– Yet here was Tenpenny Tower, fortified and grand, just forty paces away. They’d made it! Here, they’d be offered sanctuary for sure…

…Everything going well, the guards at the former hotel’s gate promising they’d be offered safe harbor for a while, even if the only place they’d be able to stay would be within the tower’s lobby, sleeping on its floor. All that was needed by then was the final say-so from Allistair Tenpenny himself, then they'd be welcomed inside…

…But the Elders began their usual spiel. The most current volume of Awake!, the Watchtower pamphlet which'd been in publication since the 1880s, was displayed and profferred. 'God's Kingdom: What can it mean for YOU?' was the latest edition's title.

“...bathe thyselves within the word of our Father, Jehovah,” Elder John had stated, passing a copy of Awake! to one of the guards.

“We are here to emancipate all who dwell within the sanctity of thy walls,” Elder Julissa followed, “His words must be heard, and obeyed! Otherwise, all within shall be damned to Satan's hell for all eternity! ... For Second Armageddon, it draws nearer each day...”

…Taneesha Jones, cringing! Because once again, she knew what was coming next. Sure enough, it all went downhill from there. The door they'd needed to pass through never slammed shut this time, but it also never opened. They’d been told to ‘get lost’, by the guards. Allistair himself had come all the way down from his top-floor suite by then, decreeing that the group would never be allowed entry.

So this was it. Time to head home.

…But they hadn't gotten far. With nowhere else to go they'd tried to spend their night within the walls of a former robot factory, without realizing most of its Protectrons and RoboBrains were still active. After getting attacked by the bots they'd fled RobCo Facility, only to get hammered AGAIN outside, this time by raiders. The group had gotten scattered mighty quick as the raiders hunted them like a pack of wild dogs. Probably all the Ellicott City Witnesses were killed that night.

All except Taneesha Jones, of course. A master of hiding ever since the age of seven, when she’d learned to avoid the tedious lectures of the Elders by hiding in a crawlspace. "The waif, she’s missing again!" the adults would panic, while young Taneesha would hone the craft which later would save her life.

Hours later she'd emerge from her spot, inventing whatever story fit best at the moment.

A bee was trying to kill me! ...whatever. And most of the time she actually succeeded with these lies. Because she was 'special'. She'd been the Chosen One in their eyes, destined to be saved, since her own parents had left her behind.

...And so it was. In the Year 2275 while the rest of her group scattered and succumbed, sixteen-year-old Taneesha Jones, eventually confronted by raiders. Crafting yet another untruth, which the despicable roustabouts believed only because of her despicable appearance upon discovery. After weeks of scrounging in the Capital Wasteland she looked no better than them. Her formerly shined-up shoes were scuffed. Her formerly demure Sunday dress, tattered and torn. And, she had a shotgun!

She'd been questioned. Tested. Finally, inducted. In the end it'd been raiders who'd taken her in, when nobody else in the Wasteland had done so. Door after door, slammed in her face.

Yet the raiders allowed her within, which caused Young Taneesha to espouse loyalty toward her new brothers and sisters. First thing to go was her full given name. Taneesha Jones became Miss Vicious soon afterward. Later on she couldn't remember exactly how her new nickname came about. But she accepted it, knowing a return to her former life in Ellicott City was most likely impossible. Chances were, she'd never make it back there alive.

These were the things Vicious wished she could've explained to Lucy West, to the Lone Wanderer, to anyone who would've taken the time to listen.


----------------------

This was the Kingdom Hall of Ellicott City. Now it's a Hindi temple.

Ellicott City Historic area

Jehovah Witnesses research site 1

Witnesses research site 2

[Acadian]

Well done, Renee! This historical background was presented in such a way as to be both easy to read and enjoyable.

Too bad that Taneesha’s group threatened their potential hosts at Tenpenny Tower with Divine punishment instead of being wise enough to try being gracious when offered hospitality.

Those Witnesses never were a good fit for Taneesha. They’re good at pissing people off and can’t fight – a bad combination. Ironic that it was with the Raiders she found a home.