Miss Vicious Delicious, Her saga and story... Options

[SubRosa]

I do not think I have ever had a character sleep in the Common House. Are the beds sleepable? Or are they owned by the NPCs?

Uh oh, out of chems, and nearly out of caps. I suspect that Miss V might have to hit the road with her dime store gun and do some scavenging.

Uh oh, V turned to crime, and now she's going to the slam! Well, at least she might meet the Wheet Bandit in there, and get a few pointers...

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

I do not think I have ever had a character sleep in the Common House. Are the beds sleepable? Or are they owned by the NPCs?

Uh oh, out of chems, and nearly out of caps. I suspect that Miss V might have to hit the road with her dime store gun and do some scavenging.

Uh oh, V turned to crime, and now she's going to the slam! Well, at least she might meet the Wheet Bandit in there, and get a few pointers...

I’m pretty sure the common house is off limits for sleeping in the vanilla game.

[Acadian]

Nice to hear some details of her daily routine as Miss VD settles into Megaton. Uh-oh, looks like she ran into an Imperial Legion trained guard and earned some incarceration. Say, is she related to the Weet Bandit?

[Renee]

SubRosa -- Yes beds are sleepable in Common House, although as Khajiit says, they might not be this way in the vanilla game. At this point I could have installed some mod by now which made them this way, not sure. I wonder if I even SetOwneship to a bed, then forgot about this! Could be.

Acadian -- Aw, hey thanks! I spent two entire in-game days in real-time to write that last chapter. No waiting, although hours did pass more quickly as she slept a couple times.

I think she may be related to the Weet Bandit in spirit. Like a reincarnation kind of thing.

Lopov -- No Lopov.


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

Anyone 'lucky' enough to live and grow during the Twenty-Third century Anno Domini would have faced and witnessed plenty of situations unfamiliar to those who'd lived and grew during the Twenty-First.

Motorized transportation, for example. A necessary facet of the past, now permanently halted -- equating to hunks of scrap metal at best. The concept of real estate only existed if one had enough guns and ammo to protect it. Malls and markets and refineries and industrial firms and car dealerships which once generated piles of cash, now inhabited by monsters and outlaws. Indeed, the use of the word "outlaw" is in fact an untruth. How could somebody be an outlaw if there was no law?

The notion of law. Here was one idea from the past which Lucas Simms tried to bring into the present, for better or worse. Law and justice, retained from history books, would hopefully equate to order. In Megaton, at least.

During his tenure as "mayor" and sheriff there had been a number of thefts, a smattering of unprovoked assaults, and even one murder. These incidents were uncommon, but when they occurred everyone would throw their hands up, as if to say that's how it goes, nowadays.

Wasteland Justice, this was called. The furor which took place after each of these incidents was never pretty. Suddenly it became 'every man for himself', as the saying goes. Whoever caused one of these incidents (known as "crimes" in the history books) was suddenly surrounded, quickly beaten down by others. Gunfire would erupt from Moriarty's, perhaps. The incident-causer (known as a "criminal" or "perp" in the history books) would be chased out of town, at best. Killed on the spot, at worst. At the most extreme, occasional innocent dwellers of Megaton had gotten caught in moments of friendly fire, as everyone clamored to get a shot into the perp at once. Shots would get fired, but somebody would miss, and some guy or gal unrelated to the original crime would now have some lead in his or her gut. Technically there were now two perps, if we're to go by how law worked in those books from the past.

In the spring of 2277, Sherriff Simms decided to broaden his role to Mayor Simms. Lucas had been the one who'd been enacting whatever rules there were in Megaton, now he'd be the one writing those rules, as well. "I am your sheriff," he told his townspeople, "and now I'll also be your mayor, when the need arises."

It had indeed arisen in his opinion, and in the opinion of plenty others. Some folks preferred the way it was, while others wished to see themselves thrust out of their somewhat barbaric way of doing things. "Some of us have children, you know..." these latter folks argued most convincingly.

Wheels rolled into motion quickly. Lucas read those books, and then drafted a slew of ideas. He explained them all to other prominent members of Megaton society, many of whom had no idea how things were once done. These book-ideas became The Law of Megaton. Caps were allocated. A couple of tough-looking goons from Tenpenny Tower were hired. Both were deputized as officers, earning 30 caps a day, plus free lodging.

The final approved motion was made for what would become Megaton's jail. Over the summer, a Quonset-styled hut was built just outside of town. Here was Megaton's jail, where the perps, the criminals, would be taken, assuming they chose to be incarcerated instead of paying caps. As for those who resisted arrest? They'd face a bit of Wasteland Justice, just like in the old days.

Taneesha did not wish to face the 'old days' sort of justice, nor did she pay any caps to rid her crime. So it was into the Quonset-styled jail (off to the slammer, as they say) she'd been brought the night before.

[][][][][][][][][][][]

11:22 PM. Sunday, August 27, 2277

They told her she'd be locked for 24 hours, which didn't sound so bad. What they didn't tell her was who (what) she'd be locked up with.

Clank.... fwa ... Clank! ...fwa.... Clank!...fwa

Jail Bot, a two-hundred forty year-old RobCo Protectron, clanked her way, stood in one of its three destinated patrol spots. Jail Bot had been programmed to walk in a triangular pattern on the other side of her cell's gate, over and over. According to those who brought her here, the bot had also been programmed to dispense food, and would be in charge of unlocking the gate when her sentence was over.

Taneesha poised herself awkwardly before her cell's gate. "So, you are supposed to give me food, right? Well I'm hungry."

"Protect. And. Serve.," the robot answered, before clanking away.

They'd taken away all her things, but oddly allowed her to keep her solar-powered handheld device. She powered this on. Checked the time. 23:16 it said. According to the jail's rulebook, it was too late to get food; Jail Bot had been programmed to do so only in the morning and early evening, and it was now nearer to midnight. But she didn't care. She was hungry! She'd try again.

She waited 30 seconds for the robot to return in front of her cell. "Hey you *flipping* *bleeping* hunk of junk, I said I want more food! You gonna give me some, or what?"

"Protect. And. Serve."

"Oh my god."

Another 30 seconds, the robot clanked its patrol.

"Hey, Sorry I called you a *flipping* hunk of junk. But really. You can't give me no food right now? I am a human being. And we human beings use something called food for energy. We aren't powered by nuclear fission, or whatever the heck. Come on, just once. Break the rules. I won't say nothing."

"Mooove. Along. Please."

"Oh my god. Lord help me."

It would be the longest 24 hours of her life, it seemed.

[][][][][][][][][][][]

8:44 AM. Monday, August 27, 2277

'Hungry ... pard'ner?" Jail Bot asked the next morning, to Taneesha's relief. She had a small hangover after last night's drinking session, and was worried the damn thing might not feed her at all. It would malfunction, or whatever. She'd be stuck in here for days, a corpse by the time they found her. "I have a .. deelightful ... Assortment of food."

She was given a stick of squirrel meat, a box of Sugar Bombs, and a Nuka Cola. Yum. She ate with a near sort of fervor, then laid back on the jail's cot. Tried to sleep, but she'd already slept the previous night, so this was impossible. She checked her device. Sixteen hours to go.

Oh lord help me



Being cooped up in here. Nothing to do. Not even a book to read. Bored. She had never been so bored.

She found a rusty nail on the floor, something which they had apparently missed while cleaning up. She grabbed the nail. Began to scratch it onto a nearby wall, seeing if it would leave any marks. It did. So she scratched her name onto the wall. But not her real name.

VICIOUS 2277

She carved into the wall's corrugated metal, the rusted nail making little shrieking noises as she worked. There. She left her mark. Looked over at the Jail Bot, but apparently it had not been programmed to do anything about people who wanted to write or doodle on the jail's walls. Taneesha placed the nail back on the floor, in a rather obvious spot. Mm hmm. Let the next guest of this wholesome and fine establisment also carve his or her mark.

Four more hours of this madness. Though the jail was air-conditioned, it got quite warm as its prisoner stirred. Taneesha continued to doodle on her wall. And then finally, Jail Bot's release programming kicked in.

"You have. Serrrved. All your time," its metallic voice blared. "You ... are ... now ... free to go."

Taneesha grinned, and checked her device. They said she'd be locked for 24 hours, but only 13 had passed. This seemed to be a glitch, but a welcome one, of course. She opened the gate, and stepped back to freedom.

"Please. Remove your things... from. The evidence ... locker. Before you go."

Taneesha Jones did so, opening the locker in which they'd stored her things. One Chinese pistol, one outfit made of brahmin skin, her container of Abraxo Cleaner, one cheap plastic ashtray. A bobby pin, one pack of cigarettes. And finally, her empty hypodermic needle. Taneesha looked for the lead pipe she'd been using as a hand weapon, but remembered she'd left this behind somewhere. Or maybe it'd been stolen. Her 10 millimeter rounds were not in the locker. But this was no matter, she'd simply scavenge some more, at some point. But for now, she was free!

Once outside, she spent just a few seconds breathing precious Wasteland air before a vicious mongrel of a dog attacked. Taneesha reached for her pistol, only to remember it was unloaded. "Dammit!" The dog was on her. It bit her arm. She had no choice but to pummel it with her fist. She high-kicked its face!

"Come on," she said. "I got more of this."

But the battle wasn't going so well. She not wearing armor, and not very good with unarmed combat. Really missing that old, rusted pipe. Angered and frustrated, she scurried around the jail's side. The dog bit at her again, snapping at her leg! Only this time, it also made a whelping noise. Somebody else had struck it, or something. She winced as a gun fired nearby. Held her fists, blocking the dog's teeth. Somebody was rushing toward the fight! Whoever it was, he swapped his gun for some sort of hand-weapon. Whatever this hand weapon was, it was motorized. It began making a buzzing sort of noise. Like a power saw, perhaps. The man swung at the dog with this device, whatever it was, killing the beast instantly.

Thumping and thumping. Her heartbeat, guzzling adrenaline. Taneesha stumbled. Unclenched her fists. Breathed the fresh air she'd been meaning to breathe just a minute before. What kind of a moment back to freedom was that?

Suddenly, she remembered the man who just saved her, who was standing right there. He put his power saw device away, and looked at her solemnly.

"What's up, princess. Remember me?" he asked.

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

"You have serrrved. All your time."

High kick!

The man with the Ripper

Appealing and appalling

This post has been edited by Renee: Nov 12 2020, 05:16 PM

[Acadian]

You did a great job of making Miss VD’s stay in jail interesting to read – even if she didn’t find the time interesting. Gosh, can’t a girl get a midnight snack? Oh well, it was worth it in the morning to feast on squirrel meat, sugar bombs and nuka cola – breakfast of champions and perps. What a conversationalist that jail bot is. Funny how Taneesha takes up nail writing to pass the time.

Freedom is. . . dangerous. Fortunately more so for the dog than Miss VD as she is rescued by the mysterious Chainsaw Prince.

[SubRosa]

Interesting little bit of Wasteland Criminal Justice history at the start there.

Deputy Droid?

Uh oh, the princess was rescued, but it looks like she might have gotten out of the frying pan and fallen into the fire.

[Renee]

Thanks so much. You folks are encouraging.

[Renee]

In the last episode: Taneesha Jones got out of jail, but was attacked by a Vicious Dog. A man with a ripper saved her, so who is this man?

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

"What's up with you, princess? Doncha remember me?"

It was him, the creep she had heard several nights before in that restroom. She'd been studying the sound of his voice in her head over the last few days, so she'd be able to recognize it anywhere. Only now, there was no door between Taneesha and him. Nor was she trapped inside a metal stall with her pants literally down. Nothing now to impede her aim. She grabbed her pistol. Raised it quickly at the creep's chest, even though it was unloaded. Kept her face steady. Hopefully he wouldn't realize she was bluffing.

"Oh I remember you fine," Taneesha said, aiming for center mass.

The man did not flinch, not one bit. He'd had a gun pointed at him before, no doubt. He was wearing an ordinary white T-shirt and tan overalls, but what stood out immediately to Taneesha was his hair, which was as white as a cue ball.

"You's Vicious, right?" he asked. "My name's Q Tip."

"Q Tip, eh? Hence you got yourself some dyed white hair."

She checked her peripheral vision, darting her eyes slightly from left to right, checking to see if anyone else was about to surprise. She listened as well to the sounds nearby. Nobody was coming.

"Eh, look," he replied casually, as if a weapon was not in his face. "Didn't mean to startle you the other night, alright? That was rude. Shouldn't a done that. The hell was I thinkin'?"

But she was angry. "What are you now, following me?" The wounds from that dog did not matter, the dull pain they were causing, pushed aside. "Well, you want to not make that a habit, okay? I will mess you up, you ratched cueball-headed dope. Don't make me use this."

She snapped the gun's clip slightly out and then back in. --SNICK!-- Though the clip was empty, she was hoping its quiet metallic noise would cause some sort of reaction.

"Eh, whoa whoa... I come in peace, sister. Put that gun away."

Taneesha Jones did not.

"Look here. I am putting my own gun down here. Right on the ground," he said calmly.

To her surprise he did just that, laid his own 10 mil sidearm on the dirt before her, all while keeping eye contact. He then laid the buzz-saw weapon he'd used to kill that dog a few moments ago. To further this odd intent, he kicked both weapons aside, out of his own possible reach.

"What is this? Why are you here?"

"Like I said, I come in peace. Hope not to leave in pieces, Vicious."

She blinked at hearing her nickname. How the *flip* does he know who I am?

"Hah, that's right, I know your name. You is Miss Vicious, right?"

She said nothing. Her gun unwavering its aim.

"Come on, now. You want to shoot me here? Well go ahead and do so. I just laid all my pieces before you. You can take me out now," he put his hands up in a 'you got me' sort of gesture. "But what then? Whatcha gonna do next? ... Head back into town? Where you know you is wanted?"

Taneesha flinched, suddenly curious. Her gun lowered a notch. "What is this? You know about my troubles in Megaton? How? Why are you here?"

"Dogmaster," he said, folding his arms, a slight smirk on his face. "Dogmaster sent me."

The gun lowered entirely, though she kept it gripped in both hands. "Oh I see. That idiot gooftang sent you. And why would he send you, and not some group of half-trained raiders?"

"Raiders. Funny you should mention raiders," his smirk was gone. "After what you did in Fairfax Ruins a couple weeks ago, it is indeed funny you would mention raiders."

"What about them?" she asked. Couldn't help herself. Her curiosity boiling by now.

"Dogmaster is impressed by what you did there. In Fairfax Ruins. You killed all those raiders, thinks he, and then you snuck by that whole team the dog sent. His best men and women. You got by them all, then made it here to Megaton. Like I said, Dogmaster is impressed by all that."

Taneesha grimaced, not exactly proud. "Well, I had nothing to do with any of that. You can tell him I said so personally. That was the Outcasts. The ones in Fort Independence. If you're looking for a scapegoat, blame them, not me."

"Okay, we know," the white-haired Q Tip said. "We know you didn't kill them all. Dogmaster though, he don't care. You know how he is. He wants what he wants, sister. And right now what he wants is you."

Taneesha said nothing in reply, her gun now hanging limply from her dominant hand.

"I am headed back to the Springvale school right now," the white-haired man said. "I want you to come and follow me there. You got yourself a home with us, Vicious."

She made no reply. Her face rather sad.

"Here. Take my rounds," he said, reaching into his pack, and handing her a box of bullets. "And my gun too. That is yours, now. See? I mean no harm."

She paused. But a few seconds later made her decision, and threw her Chinese pistol to the side. She took his box of 10 millimeter rounds, and then reached down to the ground. Grabbed the gun as well. Checked its action --snick!-- which was good. The piece was well-taken care of, she could see. Not the junk she'd just tossed aside.

"But I want that ripper back," he said. "That you can't have."

Taneesha remained silent, thinking of her options at this point in time, nibbling the inside of her cheek.

"I got somethin' else for you," he said, handing her three unwrapped Psycho syringes. There was a smile in his voice, now. "I know you been wanting to have those. From what I hear, those are the reason you was locked up in the first place."

Her eyes goggled a bit while she otherwise tried to keep a straight face. Three syringes of Psycho. She could not help herself as she grabbed all three.

"Look," she finally spoke. "Really, I had nothing to do with those raiders in Farifax. That was the Outcasts who did all that."

"Uh huh," the man with the white hair winked. "You gonna follow me to Springvale now or what? Come on, now. You got us both lookin' stupid out here, for all the deathclaws and mutants to see."

Again, she said nothing. Weighing her options, which suddenly seemed slimmer and dimmer.

"Well I did my part," the man named Q Tip shrugged. "I'm headed back to school. If you do decide to follow, make sure you speak to Slick Rick first, when you get back in there."

"Slick Rick?" Taneesha asked, surprised. "Slick Rick is in Springvale Elementary School?"

"He is. He wants to see you, too. Make sure you talk to him first, before you talk to any of the others. Because not all of us at Springvale are happy by what you did in Fairfax. Or what they think you did."

The man calling himself Q Tip turned, then sprinted quickly away to the east.

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

Megaton's Jail

Land overview -- (the jail is on the right, and Megaton is that vague shape on the left.

Aiming

Q Tip

Taneesha Interrupted

This post has been edited by Renee: Nov 14 2020, 10:06 PM

[Acadian]

I like the little reminder of what happened 'in the previous episode'.

So the Chainsaw Prince is named Q-Tip. Well, either name's as odd as the other.

Gosh, he sure got off to a bad start making his first intro when Taneesha was in the ladies room! No wonder she's reluctant to trust him.

Well, she did upgrade her pistol and now has more options to consider.

[SubRosa]

Q Tip, I love your names! The Chainsaw Prince is pretty good too!

Looks like Tips wants to lure her back into Raider territory. He talks a good game. But who can trust a Raider? Though Miss V might show up later and find out that Stormcrow had already killed them all.

[Renee]

Miss Florens: Ha ha ha ha that is true! Those raiders have been pwned by our wicked-awesome tooins who buff their stats over and over and over!

Q Tip is a real-life rapper from my 17 year-old's generation, although my Q Tip Is supposed to actually get his name from his appearance.

Acadian: I write those reminders for ME as well as you all. It's sort of like in TV shows. Last week on Miss Vicious Delicious!!! .... But it also helps me get focused. Q Tip is going to have an interesting story all his own. I don't exactly know where his story will lead, or that of Slick Rick or anybody else except Vicious. In fact the overall story is going to be crazy. Just you wait and see!

I am going to put this story on hiatus. Two reasons: I am getting more inspired by Skyrim, and also Lopov is not around lately. Since Lopov has two children + the COVID, he hasn't been gaming at all, but he has been working in the GECK. He added a bunch of content via the GECK into Vicious' story, and so I want to wait until he comes back before the story resumes.

Thanks so much.

[Renee]

I am returning to MVD today. The first portion of this next chapter was originally written back in November. The second portion will be me gaming, in real-time.

Last we saw, Vicious had been staying in Megaton for a few days, after deciding to avoid the Capitol Wasteland for awhile. The Wasteland can be a dangerous place, after all! She was offered a place to stay (um... at Lucy West's house) but declined. With her funds getting low, without a way to earn extra caps, yet fighting an addiction to Psycho, Vicious got desperate. Stole some chems from Megaton's Clinic. Got arrested, and was thrown into Megaton's brand-new jail.

Upon her release she was force-greeted by Q Tip *PIC* who has informed Vicious that Dogmaster, the Potomac-area top raider boss, wants her back with the Raiders. Will Vicious decide to rejoin them?

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

Chapter 14: Springvale Elementary



Before the bombs dropped, Springvale Elementary was located in Virginia's tenth congressional district, right on the edge of Fairfax County. Quaintly-set homes, mostly ranches and split-levels, surrounded the school. A strip mall with a small drive-in movie theatre was located to the south. Crosswalks and stoplights kept local pedestrians and traffic orderly. Conveniently, a twelve-aisle supermarket was just down the hill. The Potomac river was also blocks away, for those who wanted a scenic jog, or a walk along its slow-moving tides.

What a wonderful place to raise one's kids!

Springvale educated children ages five through eleven; basically Kindergarten through 5th Grade. It catered mostly to the town of Springvale of course (population 48,051 in the year 2077), although some students might also get bused in from Fairfax or McLean.

Like a lot of schools just outside the D.C. perimeter, Springvale housed a rather broad cross-section of young society. A Springvale student could be the child of anybody, from the most mundane members of the surrounding populace to the most prominent. The son of a ten dollar-an-hour janitor could start his education at Springvale just as possibly as the daughter of a high-powered senator, who preferred her daughter be educated in public schools, for whatever reason. This was something the school's leaders were discreetly proud of.

As Mrs. Carter, Springvale's principal, often said over the loudspeaker each morning "You're all Special at Springvale!" Back then, most students and staff believed her.

Springvale Elementary also survived the blasts, somehow. When the bombs fell and the world seemed as though it would come to an end, some of the school's ceilings and walls crumbled into rubble of course, especially on its north side. But most of them still stood. The pupils and educators who attended and instructed at Springvale in the year 2077 would be completely shocked to discover what the fate of their beloved institution would be in the year 2277.

In 2077, Springvale's roll call totaled 442, its number of honor students a remarkable record of 34. Tardiness was down to 1.9%, the school's dropout rate an outstanding zero.

In 2277, its occupants usually totaled less than forty, mostly comprised of bands of roamers who never stayed in one place for too long. In 2277, every last one of the former school's occupants was a thief, a murderer, an addict, a whore, or some combination of all these. Its cellar area was rumored to contain gigantic, fire-breathing ants, its former classrooms always a disastrous mess of dust and dirt and overturned desks. Though the school still contained its desks, its chalkboards, and even its computer monitors, most of these were broken, bashed-in, and useless hulks which got placed and kicked around at random.

And the man delegated to oversee what remained of this once proud and prosperous school? This man was a tall degenerate whose given name was Richard Dupont, also known as 'Slick Rick'.

[-[-[-[-[-[-[-[-

08.27.77, 12:00 Noon

Taneesha Jones, otherwise known as Miss Vicious, approached what remained of Springvale Elementary, whose long-ago principal used to declare "You're all special at Springvale!" each morning over the school's public announcement system. Nowhere to be seen were the throngs of populace which once flourished the town; no children, no teachers, nobody at all, in fact. As she approached the former educational facility, Taneesha walked calmly, but with a false sense of confidence.

A half-hour ago, she had found an abandoned bus she could hide in, and then injected one of the Psychos given to her by Q Tip, that white-haired raider recruiter. With this chem in her system, her blood was boiling by now; her senses super-aware. She forced herself to walk more slowly. Tried to calm her nerves. Patted her pockets, and was dismayed to find she was out of cigarettes. Looked this way and that, for any sort of ambush. Heard nothing but a couple cicadas. buzzing somewhere off in the distance. She knew that raiders often lurked on the north side of the building, goofing around and such. Fortunately, she was approaching from its south side.

The sun was hot, directly above. Taneesha realized she was sweating. Q Tip had promised she'd be able to rejoin the raiders, but he'd also warned her that she must speak to Slick Rick first. Until she spoke to him, she was not yet one of them. It would be Rick who would decide whether she'd be inducted back into raider society, or not.

A half-hour ago, Taneesha Jones was unsure about all this. What if this is an ambush? she had thought.

But with a few dozen milliliters of liquid courage in her veins? The idea of returning to them didn't seem so bad.

Taneesha Jones neared the front doors of Springvale Elementary. Pondered a moment. Weighed her options just a moment more. I've been here before, thought she. Ain't no big thing. Just walk in, girl.

Taneesha Jones went back to school.



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

SEC display board

Going back to school



This post has been edited by Renee: Feb 21 2021, 06:31 PM

[macole]

As the feeling “do I really want to do this” sets in the pause has me sitting on the edge of my seat, eagerly awaiting the toll of the bell.

[Acadian]

Thanks again for the 'In our previous episode' intro.

The first part of this was wonderfully done as you set the stage with what Springvale used to be - compared to its current state.

Can't wait to see if this is indeed an ambush or a pathway to a legit gig for Vicious.

[SubRosa]

Oh noes Tan, don't go down that road! The ground's gone south...

This is not what most people mean when they say they are going back to school.

[Renee]

Yes, macole, that bell is about to toll. Isn't it funny how the world of Fallout is sort of closer to what could happen here on Earth, sort of? Comparing Fallout to Elder Scrolls, that is. I can take several liberties because of this--using more 'modern' language, referring to the way things were, and so on. Whereas the Elder Scrolls universe is totally fictional.

Acadian: RaderOfTheLostArk influenced me with his Fallout: Florida story, so far as the background of Springvale Elementary goes. I'm still not entirely sure if there is an actual Springvale, Virginia. If so, I've never heard of the place. But I try to imagine what sort of school they'd have in their community, and what sort of students would go there. The thing about this area of the United States is it is very possible to rub elbows with a senator's daughter, or have an FBI safehouse located in my neighborhood, and not even know it. A lot of these adults have children, and a lot of these children can go to any middle-area sort of school of their choosing, as long as they fall into certain districts / zonings. So I try to imagine all of what was, and compare it to what is now.

SubRosa: now it sounds you you are yelling at your computer screen! Love your new avatar, by the way. It looks valiant.

Lopov: No Lopov. He'd better get here soon, he's going to miss his story additions!

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

..,

Chapter 15: Returning to the Raiders

Taneesha Jones neared the front doors of Springvale Elementary. Pondered a moment. Weighed her options just a moment more. I've been here before, thought she. Ain't no big thing. Just walk in, girl.

But she didn't just do this. These were the doors which would define her coming future, and she knew this future would not be so brilliant, or glorious. Did she really have other options?

In the distant past, many students had also entered these doors day after day, defining their own futures, from dismal to promising. Taneesha had once wondered what these students must have been like. Did most of them show up every day with smiles on their faces? Gaily-painted posters advertising the Spring Play or latest talent show displayed in the school's front foyer? Did they cower under their desks (as she had once seen in an old bomb-safety newsreel) when the ground began to shake, as missile after missile found their nearby American targets? Perhaps so.

Taneesha had once wondered all these things. But at this moment, all she could think about? What's on the other side of that door. She readied the pistol Q Tip had given her, just in case. Then she scrambled inside, aiming, aiming, aiming left and right, high and low, like some heroine in one of the action flicks she had seen from America's past.

"Well look who it is," said a man with a smooth-talking baritone voice. "Miss Vicious Delicious. Been a long time, it seems like, since I seen you." The man walked calmly toward her, ignoring her gun and antics. Obviously, he had been waiting just inside for her.

Taneesha bit her lip, and waited a moment for the ambush. Which did not occur. "Been awhile since I seen you too, Slick." She looked down at her pistol, now unsure, now feeling a bit silly about her 'action hero' entrance. "So what's up? You want to tell me what's going on?"

"You can put that gun away, sister. Ain't nobody's gonna mess with you, nuh-uh. We already been knowin' all about you. What you done. Where you been. All-a that."

Taneesha took a moment to be sure, then holstered her piece. Took a look around. Relaxed as best she could, though it was tough with Psycho still running through her system. The school's front foyer, which she had once imagined to be gay and bright, now had a large cage in its middle. Several corpses had been strung from chains, hanging from the foyer's ceiling. Whatever that was about, she did not want to know.

Suddenly, she was angry.

"They said I didn't deliver those goods, but I DID!" she bolstered loudly, nearly yelling at Slick Rick, hoping whatever dumb-asses holed up in this dump might hear. "I DID what they told. And so there musta been some mix-up, or something. Whatever. And what the *ferk* did I get for this service? You all put me out in the middle of nowhere, that's what. Put me in that old Parkstroller suit. Got raiders out there takin' aim to kill a sister. THAT's what! As though they knew who I was, and when I'd be coming."

"Hey, easy there," said Slick with an 'ease-down' sort of gesture. "I got nothing to do with any of that. And anyway, uh, we're all good now, Vicious. You proved yourself good."

"My name ain't Vicious no more, it's --"

She stopped herself. Looked down at the floor, as if embarrassed.

"Huh?"

"Nothing," she said finally.

"Well look," Slick Rick continued, with a facial expression which any former used Chryslus dealer would try as he worked up to his pitch. "I am on your side. I know what you been through, and it wasn't right, okay?"

"Whatever," Taneesha / Vicious pouted. She shifted her weight, like a tardy schoolgirl must have once done when arriving late to this very institution.

"Hey, cheer up," he said. "And look here. I got something for you. Uh. We got something for you."

Slick Rick pointed to the floor, and she so she couldn't help but look to the box which had been placed there. Taneesha / Vicious looked inside. Picked up its contents with her own two hands, and was momentarily surprised. "This is for me?"

"Yep. That's a brand-new, perfect condition set of badlands-style armor, which I know was your favorite, yuh? And it's just for you. But it's like, a special set, okay? ... It signifies you, as a, uh, special sort of raider. Like, no one can mess with you now, yokay?"

Taneesha placed the upper part of the suit upon her chest area, as we in our own times might place a dress or a shirt upon our own upper-half in a modern department store. The armor's coloring was somewhere between tan and greyish, perfect for subterfuge amongst the Capitol Wasteland's bland and dried-out terrain. The suit also had a set of button-up gloves, and a series of fastening belts to keep everything tight and in place. Best of all was the long string of ammo, which were placed across the armor's chest padding. This ammo would be from some old bunker perhaps. Useless, and merely for show / intimidation; the powder in each round no longer potent after centuries of storage. But it was the sort of thing which would display to the world who its wearer was, and what this wearer could potentially be, if some intruder or enemy came too close.

"Go on Vicious, or uh... whatever your new name is, and take it outside. Put it on." He was now making some sort of shooing gesture.

"You want me to go outside?" she asked unsurely.

"Okay look." Slick Rick had his Used Chryslus face on again: half smiling, half something-else. It was the look of somebody who wants you to trust him, but for some reason you don't. Not entirely, anyway. "You need to go outside for awhile. Put that armor on. Wait about an hour or so, okay? While I ... uh... confer with my peoples in here, yuh? And then you can come back in here after that, okay? We should be all good then."

"I can't just walk in inside, yet, and see all the others?"

"No!" Slick Rick's voice rose abruptly. "Uh, I mean no. Not yet. I just gotta confer with my peoples in here, right? Then after that, we all good, okay?"

Though Taneesha (Miss Vicious) was anxious and unsure at Slick Rick's odd choice of words, she was also feeling a certain.... something. Gratitude? Perhaps. They were going to let her back into their family, it seemed. And though this was not the sort of family which would have once been featured in a Good Housekeeping magazine exposé, she at least knew this family was broad, and powerful. This family took care of its own, and defined its own rules. She'd always have somewhere to go, at least.

No more would she need to worry about slumming in Megaton, or anywhere else which could be termed more civilized-than-usual in the rough-and-rumble wasteland. Megaton, where no jobs were available, all the best houses were already taken, and one could get locked into the new jail just for stealing a syringeful of meds.

With the raiders she'd at least have a life, and a future, and maybe even some respect. All of this could be hers, she knew, if she chose to walk out that door, and don the armor set Rick was giving her. She'd already be dead (or nearly so) if they weren't offering her these very things.

She took a moment to decide, before walking out of Springvale Elementary.

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

Springvale Elementary Front Foyer

No schoolbell tolls here

Slick Rick

Changing clothes -- (argh, still can't get animation mod to work)

Miss Vicious Delicious



This post has been edited by Renee: Apr 4 2021, 06:21 PM

[Acadian]

Nice job of continuing to reference what Sunnyvale's past may have been.

Slick's request for Miss Vicious to 'put on this armor and go wait outside for an hour, then come back in' . . . . Kinda smells like a trap to me. Hope I'm wrong.

[SubRosa]

Vicious D is back!

VD is back in her old gang armor.

Slick seems pretty hard to trust. Sounds to me like some weird shit is about to go down.

[Lopov]

"Well look," Slick Rick continued, with a facial expression which any former used Chryslus dealer would try as he worked up to his pitch.

I wouldn't trust Slick Rick either. From all the raider variants of armor, the badlands one is appearance-wise the best choice, I think.

Springvale School now definitely serves a completely other purpose than before the Great War.

Taneesha may have found her "family" again but she'd better be careful around these "relatives".

[Renee]

Acadian: Yes, well... I hope she isn't about to walk into a trap. The whole 'put on the armor, "go outside and wait an hour" bit is actually due to a mod idea I used way back in Janet's game. Basically, I added a script to some raider armor which makes her compatible with the Raider Faction. Put it on, and they're her friends. Take it off, and now they're not. The way to get it to work is to put the armor on in another cell or worldspace, and then wait an hour.

Still though, maybe the word 'trap' can be used in a different context here.

SubRosa: Yes, some weird s--- is about to go down. Think of Slick Rick is really a pawn in this game, but he may still have some relevance in greater terms later on. We'll see. The whole thing about this story is that portions of it are malleable. Portions of this story depend on who is able to survive, and this includes some NPCs.

There have been a few characters in your own story with Stormcrow who I've also not been able to trust fully, although some of them (like that lawyer) turned out to be inconsequential, or not bad guys at all.

Lopov: Yes, you're right about Taneesha needing to be careful around her relatives! Even I don't know all that could go wrong in the future.

Love you all.