Miss Vicious , Her saga and story... Options

[SubRosa]

In Fallout, being a tourist means fighting super-mutants and raiders in fancy places, rather than just ruined ones.

River Shitty, I have to remember that one!

I loved the line about the Spike TV censors.

I love Taneesha's ruminations of blue and white collars. Especially because yes, they did!

As much as Taneesha wants to leave the old life behind, she's still keeping the old raider gear. For future expeditions. Granted, she could explore the wasteland with say, a suit of combat armor instead.

And a hard parting at the bridge to Rivet City. I am not surprised. There was no way Bratty could fit into 'normal' life. Q-Tip was the only one I was not really sure about. But he's not ready to give up the gangster life either. Let's just hope that Taneesha can stick to her guns, and leave Vicious behind for the rest of her life.





Nits
in the line about the Tenpenny snobs, I think you mixed up plebians with patricians. Plebians were the commoners, the patricians were the fancy upper crust aristocrats.

[Acadian]

A powerful scene, but loaded with humor as well.

Tomayto – Tomahto; Rivet City – River Shitty. That almost made me spray a mouthful of my Farduck’s iced coffee all over my screen.

Tanesha’s faulty understanding of the pre-war concept of blue/white collar highlights how foreign a notion it is in the world and time in which she lives.

Like, SubRosa, I wish Tanesha well as she strives to make a clean start, yet I also see the little red flags of keeping her raider gear and promising to quit the cigs. . . right after this last one in her mouth. But who knows? She did destroy her cig pack. Maybe Q-tip is wrong. But at least Brat still has someone to kind of help watch over her.

[Renee]

Hey, it's Saturday. Hurricane Debby just passed over yesterday, and this means humidity in Maryland is lowered. Really nice weather. No more 100 degree nonsense. I hope to sit in the backyard later today, reading another Lovecraft tale.

@Florens: If Stormcrow is CW, Miss Vicious is Spike TV. That's what I've been picturing, anyway. Really, Spike TV is called something else now, but it just sounds so rad: SPIKE TV.

Mm hmm, you clued into that bit, about keeping the raider gear. Don't worry, it's not what you might think. It's even better!

Indeed. Having Bratty on the ship (and just around during future chapters) would've become distracting. To do it right, she'd be by Tan's side a lot, like a child tagging along with mommy. The story would become more about the Brat than the Vicious.

But none of that has anything to do with why she left. I went for a walk last week and "saw" into her head (and Q-tip's) and they didn't want to stick around. They've got this juvenile life going on: partying and looting and generally being a nuisance. They're not wanting to grow up.

Q's perspective is interesting. I think he was joshing Miss Vicious the entire time. He says he thought it was all "a joke", but really he's more clever than that. I think he's been playin' my toon, honestly. What he mentioned to her, about raiding the ship and returning with tons of loot seems silly. It'd be three against hundreds. He's smarter than that.

Moreover, it just feels right for Tan to be doing this on her own.

Sweet, thanks about the nit! . So it should've been "patricians prancing about" instead of plebeians.


@Paladin: Glad you picked up on the humor. I wasn't really picturing Vicious as a laughfest 4 years ago when the story began, but it does have some humor, some of it unintentional.

Oh yeah, she stomped that ciggie pack. It's crushed. Although it's not written in detail, there was a brahmin merchant nearby during that whole final scene. These are merchants in the Capital Wasteland, who travel around with 2-headed cows and guards. Anyway, I like to think the merchant saw her crush the pack (in imagination) and then said "Hey, could've given that to me!"

Next episode up in a few.

This post has been edited by Renee: Aug 10 2024, 02:06 PM

[Renee]

Episode 58: Rivet City

Date: Wednesday, September 26, 2277, late afternoon


Bratty and Q-tip go back the way they came. For a minute or so, the former raider watches them leave. Then the moment passes. Taneesha Jones, on her own. Time to deal. She clomps the rest of the way up the metal ramp.

At the top of the ramp is a dirty, washed-out man. "Please... water," he says. The man is dressed in rags. Looks as though he's been outside for hours, his face is sunburnt. "Do you got any water?"

"Um. Yeah sure. Think I've got a bottle." She looks in her bag, and yep, she does. "Here, have this." It's her last bottle, and though she's feeling a bit thirsty, she begins to hand it over. Chances are there'll be plenty of faucets and fountains inside the ship/city. She hopes.

But the man rejects her offer. "That's not purified," he complains. "I've been drinking this irradiated *cakka*, for years! And I just can't do it anymore!" he explains, his voice gaining volume. "I need purified water... please!"

"Well, can't help you, sorry." She places the bottle back into her bag. "Got some RadAway, will that do?"

Apparently not. "Please. If ya find some clean water, PLEASE..." he continues to beg. Which is a rather hopeless situation. Even two-hundred years after the nukes, most water in the Wasteland contains isotopes. Clean water can only be gathered from a handful of underground reservoirs, and is rarely sold by merchants.

Can't save everyone, especially delusional fools like this poor fellow. So keep moving.

But now that she's here the question arises: how does one actually get onto the ship? Because her initial assumption was wrong: there IS NO bridge leading to Rivet City! From where she's standing there's a huge, empty gap, roughly fifty feet across, with drop of maybe a hundred feet into river below! -- But there's also a metallic box to her left, an intercom! -- A little speaker with a button to press, similar to the intercom in Super Duper Mart and several other locations. However, most of these units had been installed back when society still existed, which means most have become inoperable.

She presses the button. "Hello?"
...nothing

"Anyone there?"
... nada

"Or listening? Or even alive?"

Zip. Taneesha Jones freaks. What if I came all this way only to...? But finally, the speaker crackles. Through a blast of static, she's able to communicate with an unseen somebody, asking who's on the other end. She identifies herself, explains she's a wayward Wastelander looking for a place to trade. As she speaks, she tries to keep her voice cheerful. Hopes she's not coming across as desperate, like the water beggar still slouched a few yards away.

For a moment there's no reply. Uh oh... But then *creeeeak!!!*, there is a bridge, she just hadn't been able to see it. A huge platform swings slowly from the left side of the ship, a full ninety degrees. Taneesha grins, filled with anticipation and glee. Begins walking once she's sure the bridge has finished its sideways arc.

Her final glimpse into the past occurs halfway across. She does a quarter turn to the right and spares one last glance downward, trying to catch sight of Q and the brat, walking the promenade far below. But they're gone. And this is okay. Because she's looking toward the future! Psyched for the chance of new opportunities, if any happen to exist. Yet now that she's here, questions begin to emerge; things she'd only vaguely considered during upcoming days and weeks.

She'd made a three-point checklist over the past few days, actually.

1). Find employment.

She'd been frugal with her money while living in Megaton. Despite her chem habits and other expenses, and despite giving Bratty and Q hundreds of bottlecaps to accompany her to Rivet City, she's managed to save over a thousand caps, all which currently reside within her Feebok® sports bag. Most of this money came from finding those ancient bearer bonds for her former boss: the Dogmaster. Though these riches will make her start in Rivet City easier than if she'd shown up destitute, it also won't hurt to find a job, even if it doesn't pay much. She knows how to cook, for instance. Rad beans and rice became her specialty while growing up in the Jehovah temple. She'd also made countless breakfasts and suppers for the hundred or so witnesses she lived with: bloatmeal, blamcaroni and brahmcheese, and so on.

2). Find a place to live.

This could become a major drawback if she's unsuccessful. Having an apartment, or even just a single room to call her own, will help the recovering raider feel secure and settled. For the past couple years she's been scrambling all over the Wasteland, never feeling truly at home in any of those hoodlum hangouts: Super Duper Mart, Springvale School, Bethesda Ruins, etc.

So, finding a place to live in Rivet City will be important. But what if all residences are taken?
Tenpenny Tower is an example. Every flat and suite within the tower had been inhabited when she inquired over a month ago. Though Rivet City looks to be much larger than that pompous tower, she's arriving here entirely cold.
Doesn't know anyone, hasn't got any references from anybody inside.

"Heck, but that ain't no biggie. I'll sleep outside if I have to," she rationalizes.

As she gazes at the ship's decks, all she sees is lots of empty space. She pictures herself erecting a tent up there to evade the elements, maybe in some unused nook or cranny. If it gets chilly, she can maybe build a fire. ... Like that 'hobo' guy she'd heard about! That old geezer's been travelling the Wasteland with a dog at his side for years, according to what she's heard.

-- Of course, all of this assumes squatting in Rivet City is permitted in the first place. If so, then her outdoor tent idea is definitely doable.

"Slept in places much worse," she mutters. "With corpses and mutated rats in the same room, sometimes."
Let's also consider: finding a place to live would be much so more difficult if her friends had decided to come along. It's better that the brat and Q-tip chickened out. Bratty, especially. It'd be really challenging for Taneesha to establish herself onto the ship, while also dealing with Bratty's constant nonsense. Girlfriend could be lots of fun, and Taneesha's going to miss that side of their friendship for sure. But it'll be so much easier to navigate her new life without having to deal with her childish chum.

3). Get the *bleep* clean.

Number three on her list will be the most daunting in the long run, thinks she. It's easy to say you'll clean yourself up, but Taneesha's no fool.

On the plus side, becoming a teetotaler will be more possible, now that she's no longer a raider. Rivet City will certainly have its share of chem-users, no doubt; chems are everywhere. But let's just say it won't be as easy to score drugs, like it is in raider society. Addicts tend to hoard their stashes, and if there are any dealers inside Rivet City, Taneesha will "Just say No!" to them. Like that ancient president's wife suggested long ago.

"Just say NO!" Taneesha giggles.

But the odds for long-term sobriety shall surely be challenging. She knows this. She's been steadily smoking and boozing and stabbing her veins over the past couple years, her body expecting some sort of 'reward' on a near-daily basis.

Perhaps #3 on her checklist should be the very first step to inquire, really. Because already, she's beginning to feel that certain rawness within her nerves, rawness which can only be (temporarily) cured with a shot of narcotics, or a pint of liquor if she's really jonesing.

One, two, and three. Overall question: Will her 'to-do' list effectively become her 'today' list?

By now she's standing in front of a large metal door. Two doors, actually. The door straight ahead enters Rivet City Market according to its placard, while the door to her left leads into 'Stairwell'. Taneesha Jones chooses the market. A place to trade, here we go.

The market is dark and cavernous. There's a combination of smells: grease, food, and an aroma she can't immediately identify. A flaming barrel had been set off to one side, like the barrels filled with trash raiders sometimes burned for amusement. Already, she likes what she sees, but can this potentially become her home?

Her first thought when entering Rivet City Market is a combination of thoughts, actually.

On one hand, there's an immediate sense of relief. An immediate sense of 'my scrounging days are over'. Everything she's ever going to need: food, drink, clothes, guns, bombs, ammunition, is all right here in this very large room. Let's start with the gun shop on her left.

"Welcome to Flak 'N Shrapnel's, best goddamn weapons in the Wasteland. I'm Flak," says a tattooed biker-looking dude with a handlebar moustache. "If you want any of this *crap*, just holler." Flak is exactly the sort who looks as though he'd been born with a Ruger in his diaper. Like he really KNOWS his uh... *crap*.

Perfect. Taneesha's got several clips of 5 millimeter ammo, scavenged from that supermutant camp earlier in the day. She's also got some 10mil and a few .32 rounds, calibers she never uses on a daily basis. Just like that, she's increased her currency by dozens of caps.

And if that's not enough to wow her, Flak's got shotgun rounds for sale!

"Lookin' to do some killin', eh?"

Which is going to be mighty convenient. Keeping her shotgun loaded has been a constant issue these past few years; even the Wasteland merchants whose focus is armaments are hit or miss (mostly miss) when it comes to shells.

She crosses the floor to the next merchant: Potomac Attire. "I carry discriminating attire for discriminating customers," says Bannon, the clothing store's dapper manager. Bannon's wearing a comfortable V-neck sweater / button-down shirt combo which wouldn't look out of place in Tenpenny. And he's got a bunch of casualwear for sale, including a pink dress! Taneesha can't help but splurge right on the spot, clink! she buys the dress for seven caps. Though she'd never wear such a hideous thing, perhaps she'll keep it around, for days she wants to reminisce her former friend.

"Another satisfied customer."

Already, Rivet City's newest newcomer is beside herself. Two shops so far, each dedicated to two completely different trades. Most Capital Wasteland settlements couldn't dare specialize; they needed to cater to a wide assortment of goods, accepting business from whomever comes to the door. Well, Rivet City's different. Best of all, there's still two more shops to go.

She zigzags across the floor to Rivet City Supply, a general trader of all things from what she can tell, how convenient. However, whoever the trader's proprietor is, she or he isn't on duty. Still, her shopping experience so far has put her into an incredibly good mood.

She crosses the floor to the next shop...

...and her enthusiasm comes crashing down.

"This is A Quick Fix," says Cindy Cantelli, the stall's proprietor. "I mean, that's the name of our shop," she jokes. Cantelli's eyes are pink. Taneesha can see the woman is definitely a user. She's also a little too eager to make a sale to the dark-skinned lady who'd literally just arrived, then done business all three of her neighbors. "You wanna get a good head?" Cindy winks cheekily. "I got ya honey. Um. Hey, are you okay?"

No, Taneesha Jones is not okay. Taneesha Jones doesn't like what she's seeing at all. Syringes of Psycho, Med-X, and Thorazine, varieties of pills and capsules and powders, all packaged and ready for users and addicts. Pre-rolled blunts, bongs and pipes. Bottles and vials and tonics. Exactly the things she assumed she'd easily be able to avoid, ALL OF IT is right here.

"Ma'am? Are you alright?"

Taneesha can't answer; can't do anything but turn the *duck* away from Cindy Cantelli. Because what the hell? A merchant who specifically sells chems???

Already craving a fix (and a quick one, as advertised), Miss Jones wonders how the heck she's going to do a Nancy Reagan, day after day after day, with such easy access to drugs of all kinds?

For now, the aroma of food provides a temporary distraction. Thank goodness the cafeteria's right next door. So she heads to Gary's Galley before her feet know they're walking.

"Welcome to Gary's Galley," says a cheery waitress, after Taneesha lurches onto a seat. "I'm Angela. May I take your order?"

Taneesha realizes she's starving. Raider life rarely includes a full belly, after all.

"I'll have the squirrel stew, a bag of Potato Crisps, and you got any Nuka Cola?" she mumbles a bit too quickly.

And yet when the food comes, Taneesha's too glum to wolf it down. She only picks at it.

Slurp... (Stares across the room.)

Crunch crunch... (A Quick Fix. It's all you need.)

Gulp, glug... (It'll only cost a few caps, and you've got plenty! Especially now that the brat won't be mooching it all! So be happy! Why all the pressure? Sobriety can start tomorrow!)

Taneesha fidgets. Her thoughts, they'd been so darn positive just ten/fifteen minutes ago. But now, the realization. NO place to stay. NO one to talk to. Plenty of money, true, but this money could potentially be blown within a couple weeks.

Was coming to Rivet City one huge, gigantic mistake?

"Hey there," says a voice from behind. A bronze hand plucks Taneesha's shoulder. "Ain't you Miss Vicious?" says the voice.

Uh oh.

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

Binocular View -- (Q and Brat can barely be seen in the center).

Where is that confounded Bridge?

Intercom

Flak the gun merchant -- (one of my fave traders in FO3)

Taneesha Jones, jonesing

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

Notes: SubRosa and Lopov, you folks might notice I skipped a few things. The guard who's stationed just before we enter Rivet City for instance, who explains places to stay (Weathersomething Hotel) and places to go. This is to provide more a sense of drama.

Acadian: RadAway lessens radiation which has been gathered in our character's body over time. ☢

[SubRosa]

That was a tense moment on the bridge when Tan realized there was no way across, and no one answered the intercom. Had she gone all that way - and severed her relationships with the Brat and Tip - for nothing? Thankfully not. The guards were just slow to get up from their card game to answer the door bell.

Bloatmeal...

I loved the call out to the Hobo!

Just say 'No' Taneesha!

Armaments merchants that are hit or miss? I would say that comes with the territory when it comes to firearms...

Uh oh, here is the chem dealer. Just say no Tan, alright? I am afraid it is only going to get harder to resist the urge to get a quick fix, when the real withdrawl symptoms start to kick in. Hopefully Tan will have herself set somewhere, or even away.

Uh oh, a cliffhanger! Who is this mysterious stranger who knows her by her Raider name?

[Acadian]

Sounds like the old bridge guy never heard the saying, ‘Beggars can’t be choosers’. Oh well, more water for Tanesha.

The Hobo!

‘Born with a Ruger in his diaper.’

Shoppping!

Uh oh. Temptation's tendrils begin to wrap themselves around our wanna say No girl. Be strong, you can do it, Tanesha!

Closing with a name from her past. . . .

[Renee]

Got really sick this past Saturday, my chest was in a lot of pain; all of this came out of nowhere, just as I was making a final edit of last week's. Really thought I was having a heart attack, or maybe my lungs were shutting down or something. But then hours later, lying in bed, I began to wonder if it was COVID. Doctor Lopov theorized it was a combination of pneumonia + Covid together, and a doc here in Maryland confirmed this. Well, I had pneumonia, but tested neg for the C.

Anyway, spent most of the week either in bed or making this story or watching Hulu. All better now, fingers crossed.


@Rosa: I changed some things in the opening scene, think I may've mentioned this. But for instance, there's a guard who aims a gun at us just before we enter the ship > Completely forgot about this guy! And then once Vicious got there I didn't want to include him because that would've meant changing a lot of the story after she crosses the bridge.

Also, the guard dispenses a bunch of info about where to shop and the Weatherly Hotel, and I didn't include any of that because I want my toon to find her own way. Plus I added several things into the game like I usually do, and it wouldn't make sense for guard dude to gloss over some of this.

Yeah, Bloatmeal! Yuck.

Maybe the Hobo will appear in a future chapter, we'll have to see. I'll ask Lopov if that's okay. One thing I promise is NO RATTLER!!!! 🐍


@cadian: There are several points in Fallout 3 when we can gain "Karma", and if we give the Water Beggar (Diego is his name) water, we can accrue Good Karma. It is also possible to gain negative Karma, for those who want to be Evil.

However, Taneesha's more of a Chaotic Neutral if we are to put her into DnD terms. Survival comes first. And unlike Cho Zen Wan, my Lone Wanderer, she won't go out of her way to save everyone she meets. However if she meets a child or someone truly helpless like a slave who's been bound, then she will go out of her way.

Closing with a name from her past. . . .

Yes. Who can this be?

[macole]

I am so glad to hear that you are doing better. Hope you get well quickly.

[Renee]

Thanks macole. I am better, but kind of scared as well.


Episode 59: Aspiration

Taneesha launches upon her feet, stun gun aimed center-mass! Whap goes the cheap dining chair she'd been sitting upon, fallen to the floor.

"Hey whoa, whoa, put that down!"

It's just one of those things; one of those moments of Capital Wasteland existence. You never know when someone's going to try to get a jump on you. Steal your loot, attempt to end your life, et cetera. Gotta be ready, at all times.

"Hey! Miss Vicious! It me, Aspiration! Don't you remember? From Dukov's Place?"

And now that the moment has commenced, all Taneesha Jones can do is stare at the woman she's holding at gunpoint. And glance the diners of Gary's Galley, her eyes sweeping from one patron to the next, folks who'd merely come for some Junk Food or tonight's Blamco Mac & Cheese Special! Embarrassed as all getout.

"Oh! My goodness! I'm so sorry!" says Taneesha as she puts her prized Tazer back into its holster. "I didn't know it was you! I uh.... Yes, I remember you! Aspiration! I do remember." She wipes her brow.

The confluence of thoughts packed into the moment overwhelm the former raider, who makes an obvious effort to calm herself as the entire room stares.

"It's alright everyone," says the woman Taneesha had met at Dukov's a couple weeks ago, gesturing to the cafeteria's guests. "Just rehearsing for next week's upcoming show, hee hee!"

"Phew!" ... "Alright.." they reply, relieved that some sort of battle is not about to occur, bullets flying/blood spraying, just as they're about to slurp, crunch, and munch their evening meals. To Taneesha's surprise, a smattering of applause suddenly broke out.

Such a scene: one person pulling a gun on another, who then tries to laugh it off to placate a crowd, could only happen in a few specific places here in America, during only a few specfic time periods. Such as today's Capital Wasteland. Or somewhere in America's Wild, Wild West, during the 1800s, perhaps. Any other era or period of United States history, and Taneesha would've been locked down and cuffed by now.

Aspiration waits a moment for people to gather their breath before continuing. "Sorry 'bout that, honey. But I am right, aren't I? You go by Miss Vicious?"

Taneesha sighs. "Yes, well, I'm not Vicious anymore. My real name is Taneesha. Taneesha Jones, though you can call me Tan. Vicious is... was... sort of a nickname, I guess."

"Well Tan, what are you doing here? And oh, how is Bratty? That dingbat ever get her act together?"

"Dingbat, ha! Naw, she's still a mess. Nothing but trouble, girlfriend is."

From here, the conversation continues.* Taneesha blabs a few details of the past couple weeks (omitting any mention of her raider life, of course) while both women have a seat. It's as if nothing happened three minutes ago. As they converse, Miss Jones temporarily forgets the Quick Fix drama which plagued her mind not long ago. And the initial bonds of true friendship begin to form.

"Welcome to Gary's Galley," Angela interrupts the pair. "May I take your order?"

Aspiration goes for a bowl of mutfruit; apples, cherries, and other vegetative delicacies which have mutated over the past couple centuries, their genetic strains exposed to the radiation of the modern world.

"Girl's gotta watch her figure," Aspiration explains. The former Dukov's dancer then adds that she's also a newcomer to Rivet City, which makes Taneesha feel relieved for some reason.

Finally, Jones remembers her three-point checklist. Might the woman sitting across from her with the auburn hair be able to help?

"Well look. So this might be a strange request, but I'm wondering if there are any jobs available here at Rivet City. Like, actual employment. You know of anything?"

The question takes Aspiration by surprise. "Jobs? You mean, like working for payment? Why would you want one of those?" It's as though Tan asked if it's possible to time travel to another dimension. "You don't actually need a job to live here, if that's your worry. Plenty of slackers and layabouts on this boat," she chuckles.

"Um. But I need something to do, now that I'm here. I don't want to just slack or lay around, you know? Not how I was raised."

"Hmm," Aspiration considers. "You can ask Janna over there," she says, pointing to an elderly matron in a jumpsuit, standing off to the side. "Janna Torr's her name. She's a cleaning lady. Really, I don't know if she'd be able to help. Worth a try, I guess.

"Like I said, most folks 'round here don't really do much to make themselves useful," Aspiration adds, snapping her fingers with flourish. "And I don't blame 'em. All the best 'jobs', such as the merchants and guards and cooks here at Gary's, and my own job as a performer certain nights, have long been taken."

Taneesha silently disagrees. Just having a quick look around the floor here at Gary's she notes a proliferation of trash on the floor, and gathered in crannies. Papers, empty bottles, discarded cans, all within eyesight. What is it about the Capital Wasteland and litter? It's like nobody's interested in cleaning up after themselves in the Twenty-Third Century. Rivet City is nowhere near as negligent as raider society, of course. But still. Her temple family went out of their way to keep their home spotless; all kinds of chores has been assigned on a daily basis. And from what she'd learned as a child, much of society before the Great War did the same.

"Hey, thanks!" Tan says, making a mental note. "Um. What about a place to stay? I've got caps."

"Listen honey. Normally I'd say you can stay with me, but my place is really tiny. Like, barely bigger than a broom closet. Really a challenge on nights I come home glammed out in glitter," Aspiration chuckles. "But it just so happens I KNOW an empty room just opened in the Lower Deck.

"Other than that, there's the Common Room, which is somewhere mid-deck. But as the name suggests, it's common. Which means a big, open room. Lotsa beds. Anyone can stay there, true, but best be watchin' your stuff if ya do so, lest some thieving, low-down, cheap*butt* steals all your stuff."

"Well you've been very helpful, Aspiration."

"Hey listen Tan, pretty soon they gonna shut this place down. The Market, that is. Closes every night. If you'd like you can follow me, straight to where that room is. How about it?"

"Sure!"

******************

One woman follows the other woman out of the market, through a confusing series of corridors, bends, and walkways, and finally to the ship's main stairwell. Good thing Aspiration knows where she's going; Tan would've gotten miserably lost trying to find the place on her own. They take the steps two storeys downwards and through a door, which leads to The Muddy Rudder, Rivet City's inhouse bar. Like the market, the Muddy Rudder is a dark, utilitarian room. Lots of steel which once saw countless Navy personnel pass through. An obvious effort has been made for cheer: Prewar posters on the walls, a billiards table, decorative lights, and so on.

"Here we are," Aspiration announces.

"This is it?"

"Mm hmm. I spend lotsa time in here; do a couple shows on the weekends, too. Now we gonna speak to Belle Bonny. She's the bartender. Pretty sure I heard she's the one renting a room."

"Alright."

"Um, gotta warn ya. Belle can be moody sometimes. Like, don't take it personal. She's a cat."

"Alright, sure." What's a cat?

They approach the bar. "Hey Belle, this is Tan. She just got here a couple hours ago. Lookin' to rent that room."

"Ya don't say," says the dark-haired, weary-looking dame behind the counter before turning to Taneesha. "I'm Belle Bonny," she growls to the newcomer. "I'll tell you what I tell all the fresh meat. Don't start anything down here, or I'll have Brock kick your *butt*."

Whoa. "Yes ma'am," Taneesha says, fighting an urge to talk back. Normally if someone out in the wastes greeted her in such a way they'd be fixin' for a brawl! "I'm not aiming to cause any trouble. Just need a place to stay, and heard you got one."

"Yep, I do, if you got the caps."

"Of course I do." *Witch.*

"Speak to Stace. Over there," Belle says, pointing casually to the blonde nursing a drink at a nearby table. "She's the landlady. Handles all my rentals."

And just like that, the second item on Taneesha's three-point checklist is crossed off.

"Place is a steal," says Stace with a smile a minute or so later. "Fifty caps for the month."

Peanuts to a gal who's currently bagging a thousand, thinks Tan.

"This key is yours," the landlady says after payment has been made. "Don't be shocked, it's a former storage room. Might be some leftover items in there. If so, you can have 'em. Don't tell my boss, though," she mutters under her breath.

"Nope, I won't tell that... cat."

Stace directs her new tenant to a section of wall between the bottom of a staircase and one of the Rudder's tables, where a large wheel sticks out of the wall's surface. It takes a moment before Taneesha realizes the complicated device before her is a door. "Here. Like this." Stace grabs the wheel, gives it a swift turn, which causes a series of 'arms' to unlatch themselves. The old door then swings open.

"Come on in!" she says.

"Thank you."

Place is dark inside, like really dark. "Gotta flick this switch on," Stace explains, causing a couple ceiling lamps to illuminate. "Um. Watch your step. The mattress where you'll sleep is right there."

Before them is a small, trapezoid-shaped room containing a series of shelves. "A former storage room, like I said." And on the shelves are an ancient telephone (not that there are any recent ones), a typewriter, and the usual clutter which can be found all over the wasteland: bottles and cans, rotted-out books, and other miscellaneous junk. Again, the moment of befuddlement-- nobody cleans!

"Dayum," Aspiration says, joining them inside the door. "You got a room bigger than my broom closet!"

"Hee hee, yup, and it's all mine!" Taneesha gloats with a bit of sass. Already she can see herself going on a mad little sanitation spree; removing useless junk, getting rid of whatever she won't want, or need, making the place hers. Just like her classroom in Springvale School, and just like the crawlspace she discovered as a child in the Jehovah temple.

Only possible issue might be the fact that she'll now be living next to an alcoholic bar.

"All yours!" Stace leaves the room.

It's not really the noise. From where she stands, Tan can barely hear the Rudder's patrons. It's the fact that she'd just declared herself straight-edge not long ago, yet right next door is all the whiskey, beer, and hooch a girl could ever drown herself into oblivion with. Of course, such a thing probably could never happen. Wouldn't be prudent, getting smashed in front of your landlady and the bar's owner, but still.

Tan and Aspiration leave the storage/bedroom, and reenter the bar. Aspiration orders herself a rum and Nuka-Coke, while Tan sticks to water. She does so successfully. Even after some flashy fleabag in a cheap suit tries to buy her a drink, plying her with pretty words and oral promises, Taneesha Jones sticks to water.

Number three on her three-point checklist, temporarily crossed-off.



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

Mystery Woman Approaches

Mystery Woman = Aspiration

Tan's thoughts return to A Quick Fix every so often...

The Muddy Rudder

Stace the Landlady

Off-center Lopov'd

-----------------------------
* For anyone who's forgotten, Vicious rescued Bratty from Dukov's place a couple weeks' prior, and Aspiration is the trans woman who assisted the process.

I'll take advice from anyone who knows how to get rid of Fallout 3's stupid 'skin tone which doesn't match an NPC's face' glitch. And if I can't get this fixed, Aspiration will only appear in dark screenshots. Another option is to somehow get clothes with longer sleeves on the gal.

This post has been edited by Renee: Aug 17 2024, 07:16 AM

[SubRosa]

You have the NPC Gray/Black Face bug. It happens in Skyrim too. It is because you created a new NPC, but did not export and save the Facegen data. I never came across it in Fallout 3. But here is the fix for Skyrim:

1.) Create a new NPC

2.) Edit the necessary sections of the face. If there are additional textures installed in actors/character, NPC customization will result into a two toned NPC, move all the extra textures into a back up folder.

3.) Click "Okay" on the character window closing it, Highlight your new NPC in the actors list and press CTRL + F4 to export FacegenData.

4.) Save plugin.

5.) You can confirm success by checking Meshes/Actors/Characters/FaceGenData/FaceGeom/<mod name> folder &Textures/Actors/Characters/FaceGenData/FaceTint/<mod name> folder. If it is simply a change to a vanilla NPC, it will be in the .../FaceGeom/Skyrim.esm subfolder. The file will be a .nif with the same name as the base id in the construction set.



Taneesha is wound up like a spring, Wasteland reflexes primed to explode into action at a moment's notice.

Janna Torr is the cleaning lady. You have not lost your touch at names...

I always got confused by Rivet City's layout too. It feels like a maze to me.

Well, making friends, a place to stay, two out of three checks on her list. Now Tan just needs to find a quest to bring in more caps.

So long as she can keep that straight edge of course.

[Acadian]

I hope Aspiration blossoms into a friend. After losing the Brat and Q-tip, Tanesha could use one.

Don't feel badly. I've been on plenty of big ships and they can indeed be confusing to navigate.

Janna Torr - I'm not as clever as Sage Rosa and didn't cue on it until she pointed it out.

[Lopov]

So it was the transgender woman after all!

Well, quite helpful for Tan to meet Aspiration (even the name fits the occasion), who told her, where she can stay in the RC.

Actually, being slightly obsessed with making the Rivet City clean and actually cleaning the pre-war carrier might put her recurring thoughts of the Quick Fix aside.

Stace has quite a face.

I assumed that you modded the room, where she stays? Or are there actual rooms down there? I don't remember anymore.

[Renee]

I'm up really early this Friday morning. I almost always have Fridays off these days, and usually I devote this day to cleaning projects or whatever. Stuff which doesn't get done during the week. But there's nothing really, no projects. So, gonna get the next chapter finished early, so I can enjoy the rest of the weekend with my daughter, who's done with college, but will be busy with a couple extra classes this upcoming fall. 🍂

This next chapter is half-written, but shall also be half-random. In the days when I wrote Kahreem the entire story was unplanned; I'd literally game while writing/write while gaming. So I'm gonna return to that style for this chapter and the next one, as Vicious moves amongst the gossip and the neurotic behaviors of Rivet City's inhabitants.


@SubRosa: my gosh, I wonder if it's like the gray-face bug of Skyrim, the Alt + F4 thing. Like, I wonder if it's that simple of a fix. Guess I'll find out when I jump on my gaming rig in a half-hour or so.

I played around with names in my head last week like I usually do: Janey Tore, Jen E. Torr, etc. Janna Torr won.

This'll be my third story in which one of my people gets a job. Sarah Phimm became a cook/waitress in Skingrad, Laprima became a bar wench in Solitude, and now Vicious is going to bec---.. well, don't wanna spoil entirely. Something about landing a job and going through a few repetitive days tends to settle the anticipation, before X occurs.

Well, making friends, a place to stay, two out of three checks on her list. Now Tan just needs to find a quest to bring in more caps.

Oh it'll be more involved than caps...


@Acadian: Oh yeah, well Aspiration's going to become a better friend than those raiders. It's like comparing the druggy losers I hung with in high school to someone who's got broader intentions than just getting loaded/causing trouble. My friend Jennifer in high school was one of these 'real' friends I had, before she got brainwashed by the Witnesses. And she equates to Aspiration.

Yes, that's right. Your military career might be getting some flashbacks. Maybe you can help me with a few terms I'm unfamiliar with. Like, what is the name of the "wheel" which opens sealed doors, like the one Tan used to get into her room?


@Lopov: Welcome back. Well, you've been lurking behind the scenes, but I meant here in the forums, pard'ner.

Indeed, landing a job (IF she lands one...) will help with her addiction problems, but it's going to go further than that, as we'll see.

Ha ha, yeah, Stace's nose is pretty messed up! When I make NPCs sometimes I'll just click on facial features in the GECK and just randomly push sliders around. Can't really see what they actually look like until in the game.

I assumed that you modded the room, where she stays? Or are there actual rooms down there? I don't remember anymore.

I did add that room, yes. It includes a door which autolocks after 30 days have passed, until payment is made to Stace to reopen the place, as described in this post. It also includes an activator which can be manipulated to turn lights on and off, as per this idea.

Gonna do some gaming in a few. After coffee...

This post has been edited by Renee: Aug 23 2024, 12:28 PM

[Renee]

Episode 60: Janna Torr

Date: Thursday, September 27, 2277

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


Our protagonist awakes early the next morning. There are no windows in her small rented Rivet City room, so she relies on her handheld Pip Boy device for time. And it's 8:32 AM. Which is fine. She hasn't just slept through the morning (and now it's past noon). She plans on making the most of today.

First things first: let's clean this room. All around are shelves, and on these shelves are an assortment of items. Some of these items are useful, such as a box of Dandy Boy Apples and other foodstuffs, other items are trash. She eats the apples, gagging a bit because they're so sugary. But at the moment this pre-processed crap seems like the breakfast of champions. Actual food, instead of some other substance she might normally wake up to.

She then begins to sort the trash. There's an empty barrel next to the door, and this becomes the room's dedicated trash container. The stacks of rotted-out books for instance, too degraded to read. Zillions of old books can be found all across the Wasteland of course, because that's where they'd been placed ages ago by some ancient readers. But why are there stacks of them in here?

Into the trash barrel they go, along with the empty cans and bottles. Later on, Tan will find a place to dispose this rubbish. Hopefully Rivet City has some sort of trash compactor, or even a barrel where refuse gets burned.

She leaves her room, entering the bar next door. Belle Bonny is wandering around, looking weary. "Morning. And how was your night?" Belle asks. She seems more pleasant than she was the previous evening, perhaps because now she knows her storage room tenant isn't some lunatic. Hadn't gotten sloshed the night before, picking fights with a whirl of fists. Or maybe because it's morning, which means the bar is nice and quiet.

"Hey, I'm good. These were in my room though," Tan says, handing the four full bottles of beer she'd found while cleaning. "I don't want them. I don't drink....alcohol anymore. Maybe I'll have some water later."

"Water, heh. You sure drink a lot of water." To Taneesha's surprise, Belle takes the beers, and then pays a bottlecap for each. Perhaps to reward for honesty. "I'll be right here when ya get thirsty," she says slyly. "For water, of course."

Yikes. Time to go! Tan doesn't stick around the Rudder. By now her nerves are agitated, her thoughts scattering wildly, due to the nicotine and narcotics her body's expecting, yet hasn't received. Her left arm feels as though invisible bugs are beginning to crawl all over. Yeah, let's get out of here. As the door upstairs clunks shut for instance, the resulting thud booms within her head, seemingly louder than it should. And the bar's right here! It'd be all too easy to temper her cravings with a shot of whatever, then spend the rest of the day in an inebriated state. So she moves upstairs quickly.

The night before, Aspiration had told Tan that Rivet City does have a doctor in the house, somewhere in the upper deck. "Hope he's able to dispense addiction cures," Tan mutters.

Megaton, for instance, has its very own doctor as well: Doc Church. She'd been able to get totally clean after he'd fixed her with a shot of Coldturkease. - Her immaculate veins and clear head hadn't lasted long at the time though, only because she'd been tempted as soon as she returned to raider society. But now things are different. Now she's no longer around that temptation; those losers can kiss her *behind* for all she cares!

In the Stairwell, Taneesha searches frantically for the door which leads to Rivet City's Clinic, and is pleasantly surprised to learn the ship has its very own place of worship: Saint Monica's Church.

"No way! Hope they worship our actual God in the sky, not some stupid bomb," she says, referring to the undetonated atomic warhead which to this day still rests in the center of Megaton. During her childhood at the temple she'd been forced to follow their beliefs, which'd become less plausible in her mind as she'd grown to become a teenager. But now, as a young adult, it wouldn't hurt to at least reevaluate some spiritual priorities. If anything, attending the church might lead to meeting like-minded individuals.

"As long as they don't go preaching door-to-door."

But that can come later. She continues up the stairwell from Mid Deck to Upper Deck.

"Good to see you," a scroungy woman in a dirty wifebeater greets.

"Really? Uh, I mean, good to see you too."

Tan locates the door leading to Upper Deck. Inside, there's a sign leading to the clinic. She strides purposely in this direction, pausing only to see if the water fountain she encounters on her left actually works. And yep, it does. The water's dirty of course, but the fountain operates, and its product is free. She'll be drinking a lot of water today, now that she knows this.

She continues following signs, makes a right and then another, until she locates the clinic. Passes through its door, which is open. Before her is a gray-haired man wearing a dingy white coat and glasses. "This is a medical clinic," says the man, stating the obvious. "And I am Doctor Preston. Please do not disturb any of my patients."

Taneesha looks around. Doesn't see any patients, so she closes the door behind her. "Hey, I need help. With uh, trying to get clean from chems."

"I thought you had the look about you," Preston says aloud, and with a bit of condescension. Which makes Tan glad she'd shut that door. "Sure I can help you." His fee is fifty caps.

The doctor's attitude may include some smugness but at least his service is good. It doesn't take long for the shot of Coldturkease he injects into her arm to take full effect, after which Taneesha's cravings vanish entirely. The rawness of her nerves, the hunger of her vascular system, both diminish to nil! Her thoughts go from distractable to clearheaded! The monkey on her back goes off to wherever such monkeys go, after they've been kicked from a host's body.

"Thank you Doctor Preston. I won't be back for another shot."

"Mm, that's what they all say," he says, shaking his head.

"Yeah? Well maybe part of it's because y'all got a market stall dedicated to that crap. A vicious circle of addicts getting clean, then walking down the *freaking* hall to get dirty again."

The doctor starts to say something, but Tan puts up her hand. "Talk to it," she says. Overall, she feels good. Number three on her three-point checklist, crossed off! She can hardly believe it. Taneesha feels like dancing right here in the clinic, but refrains from doing so, of course. Perhaps later in the day she'll find her way outside, to one of the ship's enormous outer decks, where she can jump and shout with joy.

But for now, her next task, coming right up. After a few wrong turns she makes her way back to where it all started: back to the market. Returns to Gary's Galley.

"Have a seat anywhere, someone will be right with you," says a man with a cig in his hand. Taneesha does this.

"Welcome to Gary's Galley," says Angela, the same waitress from the day before. Taneesha orders some squirrel bits this time. As she waits for lunch to come she gazes pensively toward A Quick Fix once again. And is glad to discover the hold the place no longer holds power over her. It's just another market stall.

"Did you hear about the fight in the Muddy Rudder last night?" asks a security guard wearing a full helmet.

"Yeah," says Angela. "Belle's going to need to replace some tables and chairs."

"Ah, I'm sure she'll just scrounge some from the Lower Deck," the guard answers before walking away.

Funny. Tan hadn't heard anything amiss last night while inside her room. Must've slept like a rock.

Breakfast arrives, and she munches it down. All the while, she keeps an eye upon Janna Torr, the custodian Aspiration told her about the day before. Janna's on duty, broom in hand, though she doesn't do much sweeping. Taneesha finishes her meal. Time to seek employment, if any such thing actually exists here in Rivet City.

She gets up and puts on an open face. Approaches the woman, who glances up from the market's floor with a frown.

"Hello, are you Miss Janna Torr?" Tan asks while beaming an incredibly goofy smile. The smile is one of the suggestions she'd read in an old Zorbes business magazine she'd discovered in the temple crawlspace as a child: Top 10 Ways to Impress Your Prospective Boss. Although Tan can no longer remember them all, one of these suggestions was a 'firm handshake'. Another: 'Act as though you've already got the job'. You're supposed to visualize yourself already working in whatever office, whatever accountant firm, and so on, radiating confidence even if you'd spent the entire previous night worried and restless.

"Well, I'm Missus Torr," the woman responds, nudging the dustpan at her feet. "Got a man somewhere's around here if ya look hard enough." She chuckles, which seems to be a good sign. "And you are?"

"My name's Taneesha. Taneesha Jones. I'm new here in Rivet City."

"Mm hmm, ain't never seen you before, I got that. And how may I help you, Taneesha Jones?"

"Well I been told you might need some assistance."

"Assistance? Doing what?"

"Um, well you are the ah, superintendent here in Rivet City? Wondering if I can assist you. A job, that is. Helping you clean, that is."

"Ah, now, here's something," Janna chuckles again. "Some folks call me the cleaning lady, some folks call me Jan the janitor. Ain't never had nobody call me 'superintendent', HA!"

Taneesha's confidence slips a notch, as she's unable to read Janna Torr's body language. Was that a 'good' laugh, leading to further conversation? Or more of a scoff? Leading to basically nowhere.

"But it's okay. I like that term, 'superintendent'. Makes me sound important!"

"I see," Tan replied, undeterred yet unsure. Nevertheless, she ploughs on. "So what do you say? Might I be of any help?"

"Listen honey," Janna continues, sweeping some random dustbunnies, "the main thing about Rivet City when it comes to 'work' like this," she says, miming quotation marks with her fingers. "Ain't nobody's really in charge. Like, nobody TELLS me what to do on a day-to-day basis, I just one day picked up a broom and started sweeping. Five years and some odd months later, here I am. Ever'body thinks I'm the cleaning lady."

"Really?"

"Mm hmm. And you can do the same. One thing you may've noticed by now; nobody on this ship bothers much to pick up after themselves."

"Yes! I have noticed!" Taneesha giggles. So someone IS aware of the messiness.

"Buncha lazy *butts* 'round here, right?"

"Right! But what about getting paid? Does anybody pay us?" Jones asks, very conscious of the fact she's now using an inclusive pronoun rather than the singular form (I) she'd spoken before.

"Paid? As in caps?" -- Janna laughs aloud. She laughs for a good ten seconds or so, slapping her knee for full effect, leading Taneesha to worry she's just 'blown' the 'interview' for good. But then the superintendent calms down.

"Looky here," Janna says, her voice hushed. "No one's really officially pays, not any of the city's officials, that is. But if ya want, you can return to me directly with any rubbish you collect, and I'll pay you caps m'self."

"You'll pay me? Really?"

"Mm hmm, here's the deal," she continues conspiratorially, keeping her voice low, as though what she's about to say is some huge, covert secret. "See, certain items on this ship, trash that is, I know where to take it. And someone -- I won't mention who -- will then use these items for a sort of, ah, program. Dude recycles this garbage somehow, and I get paid directly from him, see?"

"Sure," Taneesha says, not really seeing at all.

"You bring me any of the following: empty bottles, empty cans, old, worn-out books..."

"Books?" Taneesha asks, delighted because she'd just disposed of a stack of books back in her room, along with a bunch of empties.

"Mm hmm. Bring 'em to me. Can't pay you much, but you'll earn yourself a few caps here, a few caps there."

"Great! I can do this." The moment seems destined. All over the Rivet City she'd seen all kinds junk. She'd have plenty to do. "I can't believe more folks don't know about your secret."

"Shh. And here," Janna Torr says, handing Taneesha the broom. "You're hired. And in that cab'net over there you'll find some Abraxo Cleaner, some detergent, some turpentine, and so on. Hop to it girl. Let's make Rivet City sparkle! ... Or try to, best ya can, cleaning up after these goof-offs."

"Yes, ma'am," Rivet City's newest custodian, its second custodian in the last five years, answers. She sets off to her first day on the job as though she'd just won a lottery. "Heck, I might even get rich."

Since the market seems to be Janna Torr's domain, Taneesha aims herself toward the ship's stairwell. From here she spends the rest of the day, exploring Rivet City's rooms and corridors, cleaning up after the ship's numerous litterbugs with fervor.

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

Doctor Preston

Janna Torr

[Acadian]

Ship door wheelie things. Some doors on ships are designed to seal watertight. Those doors are called hatches. When you close the hatch, you can then ‘dog down’ (usually four) metal tabs called dogs. These dogs are arrayed around the hatch frame and are dogged down to seal the hatch tight by either a wheel or a handle about as long as your arm. The wheel is actually a ‘dogging wheel’ but generally referred to as simply a wheel.


Cold turkease.

Nice to see Tan focusing on beating her addiction and taking the right steps to do so. I wish her luck!

And a job! One person’s trash is another’s caps.

She seems off to a great start in Ribbet Shitty!

[SubRosa]

That is right, Fallout does have addiction curing medication. That would be a handy thing to have in the real world. Coldturkease!

So the Doc kicked the monkey off her back. That will make things a lot easier for Tan. Now that she has her room cleaned up, and her body cleaned up, all that is left from her to do list is to get a job of some sort.

I have in fact noticed, that no one on that damn ship cleans up after themselves. There is trash everywhere.

Now I see what Janna Tor is not a very good cleaning lady. She just walks around with a broom. She never actually cleans anything, because no one pays her to!

Ahh, so there is someone paying for certain things. I wonder if that is the old Doctor in the broken bow?

Well, that does it, Taneesha has a real job, a place to stay, and is cleaned up. I guess the story is over then. Wait! Not so fast. I suspect that her adventures in Rivet City have only just begun. She just needs a good call to adventure to get her motivated.

[Lopov]

Rivet City just got another cleaning lady. Maybe it's time for a new nickname. Miss Clean and Delicious?

She gets up and puts on an open face.

I guess that's better than putting on a closed face.

Let's hope that the Quick Fix remains just another stall.

I just one day picked up a broom and started sweeping

We should be thankful that Janna didn't that just one day pick up the minigun instead of the broom.

This post has been edited by Lopov: Aug 26 2024, 08:49 PM

[Renee]

I keep forgetting to do this during weekend comments, so I'll do it now. Just wanted to give a shout to a couple real-world stories which have partially influenced Miss Vicious over the years.

1). Zone One, by Colson Whitehead. This is a typical zombie apocalypse story; the virus which isn't contained, the experiments 'gone wrong' and all the typical themes we see in modern zombie stories. The main influence I've gained from Zone One is 1). it's a humorous story, yet also believable; it's not a total joke like American Zombie. and 2). The New York area comes across as similar to the Capital Wasteland. Some devices work, others become doorstoppers, or artistic expressions of interest, and so on.

Every machine Taneesha comes across for instance: the water fountain she discovered in RC, the intercom she used when she first arrived at the unseen bridge, etc., the question always comes up: Does this device/appliance/product work? -- It's not like today's world, in which nearly everything we see in our daily lives functions. And if it doesn't, someone often puts an "Out of Order' sign upon it.

All around Zone One (which is an area in NYC where they're attempting to contain the zombie menace) are reminders of former civilization, similar to the Fallout world.

2). Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel. All the 'Emily books' are great, but the others she's written feature modern life situations close to our times. One of her books goes into the future, where people are living in outer space, somewhere near the moon. But Station Eleven is the only Emily book which is truly apocalyptic, in the sense that civilization has almost completely ended. Less than 1% of the world's population survived, and so on.

Again, it's similar to Fallout's world, but unlike Zone One (and Fallout 3 itself), Station Eleven isn't humorous at all. It's Emily's blend of stark realizations and intense speculations about the world around the story's characters that makes everything ultra-believable. And scary. Some future chapters of Vicious won't necessarily be scary, but they'll be nudged somewhat that way, I'm hoping.

This post has been edited by Renee: Aug 27 2024, 04:32 PM

[Renee]

@Lopov: Oh yeah, Tan's not feeling like she needs A Quick Fix anymore. When she looks at the place now, or if she smells someone smoking a cigarette, it's like she's back to being sixteen again, before she got hooked on that junk. So... a mild curiosity is what she's experiencing (I imagine) which is better than being a raging junky.

In real-life Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones was known for getting blood transfusions. He'd get his blood replaced, moving all the heroin out of his body, so he could go right back for more. Fortunately Tan's not going to follow that route.


@SubRosa: Coldturkease is not one of my silly names, just so ya know, that name comes from Better Living Through Chems.

Yes indeed. Trash everywhere in the Wasteland, right? Sure, in the raider hangouts or super mutant camps I can see them being beyond messy. Or in some old abandoned dwelling, maybe nobody's cleaned up over the past 200 years, and there are plenty of abandoned property vids on YT that reflect such a thing can actually happen. But trash in Rivet City and Megaton??? Sure, there's gonna be a slob here and there, but nobody cleans after themselves in civilized CW areas?

And I know you feel the same way about giant spider webs in Skyrim! 🕸 Webs in Dawnguard's castle, nobody wants to detangle them, really??

Well, that does it, Taneesha has a real job, a place to stay, and is cleaned up. I guess the story is over then. Wait! Not so fast.

Yep, that's the end of the story, thank you, good night!


@Acadian: Ah, thanks much. So every time she goes into her rented room, she is dogging down, I'll see if I can work that term into the story.

Nice to see Tan focusing on beating her addiction and taking the right steps to do so. I wish her luck!

Taneesha appreciates.


RECAP: Acadian is posting quick recaps and I think it's a good idea as well. Not much to post for this week; things aren't so complicated yet....

[Renee]

Episode 61: Ship Shape


Thursday, 11:40 AM
First thing she does after getting hired is something most new employees would never consider: Taneesha goes home. Back to her rented room in the Muddy Rudder, that is. She gathers all the things she'd thrown away a few hours ago: the rotted books, the empty cans and bottles, a couple pieces of scrap metal. All this trash gets stuffed into her empty Feebok® bag.

"There we go..."

Her plan to tackle the boat's mess then radiates backward: from her room back to the market, cleaning as she goes before returning to Janna Torr.

"So. Whatcha got for me hmm?"

Taneesha earns just over thirty caps for the haul ...Which pleases her to no end! See? It is possible to earn money without being shady or vicious, thinks the former Miss Vicious. All those years with the raiders, almost her entire 'income' was 'earned' stealing and looting. Stealing from other raiders after they'd passed out drunk or whatever, but also stealing from innocent people. Breaking into their homes at night, burglarizing Moriartys or Craterside Supply or from that weird Nuka Cola chick who lives in the middle of nowhere, looting lots from Tenpenny Tower, where most folks didn't lock their doors.

'Thou shalt not steal'; it's the Seventh Commandment for Christ's sake, right in every existing copy of the Bible ever published! So what the heck happened these past couple years? How had she gone from strict schoolgirl to thieving thug?

Well those days are over thinks, she. Those days are now a mere blemish upon her memory. From now on, she's going to back the pious do-gooder she'd once been, that's right.

After bringing in her first haul, she wonders where she'll clean next. Well first, she checks her Pip Boy. 12:39 PM it says. Hmm. She's hungry. "Every worker gets a lunch break right?" she asks no one in particular. "Think I'll take mine right now." Janna Torr's already slouching on her broom, gabbing to some resident in a jumpsuit. What's the rush to get back into it? thinks Tan. So yeah, time for a break.

She has a seat at Gary's Galley, Angela rushes right over. "May I take your order?" Taneesha goes for some wild punga fruit this time. Fourteen caps, which is a little pricey. But heck, let's celebrate a little.

"One of the new immigrants died of radiation poisoning last week," an elder gentleman with a whiney voice states nearby.

"Yeah," Angela replies. "I heard she was drinking river water."

"The ship's water isn't much better!" the gentleman complains. "We don't get fresh water soon, we'll all end up like her."

Angela doesn't reply.

Tan counts her earnings while waiting for her meal. Thirty-three caps. Nowhere near the hundreds she'd pocketed under the employ of Slick Rick, or nearly a thousand she'd earned after stealing those ancient bearer bonds for the Dogmaster, but hey. Today's meager allotment of caps represents a new a way of life, which is honest and fastidious, and respectable.

"I just hope it's also sustainable," she mutters.

Months from now, will she still be able to gather easy wages from collecting the junk others toss behind? What'll happen if they all start cleaning after themselves? -- Ah, but such concerns are for the future. And maybe there are other tasks she can become involved, here in Rivet City.

"It was so noisy last night, I could hardly sleep," Angela says to a security guard.

"Maybe A Quick Fix can help," the guard suggests. "Cindy's got all kinds of good chems."

"I-- I'll try that," Angela says nervously.

Taneesha Jones does her best not to speak up as she slurps her silly fruit cup meal.

5:43 PM
A moment of sad mention occurs later, after Tan takes a walk up the stairwell and finds herself atop one of the ship's outer decks. She does this partially so she can begin to memorize the city's confusing layout, partially so she can perform her little dance of sobriety.

It'd been raining out here earlier in the day, everything still slick with water. Surprisingly, there are lots of old airplanes on the deck. She gets curious, exploring these ancient metal birds, which once flew all over the world.

"Might want to watch where you walk," a security guard warns after Taneesha gets close to the edge of a plankway. "Woman fell from right where you're standing, just a few days ago. Her name was Emily. Poor Emily weren't watchin' where she was going. Made a misstep; fell down into the nethers below."

"Oh gosh, that's horrible!"

"Maybe you'd survive and get lucky, fall into the river, that is. Poor Emily, seems that weren't her fate."

"Hey, I'll watch my step," Jones promises.

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Friday, September 28
The custodian from Ellicott City takes two shifts on this day: morning and afternoon. She moves from Lower Deck to Midship Deck, and from Midship to Upper Deck. She earns an incredible seventy-eight caps for her three-hour morning shift, from all the glass she picks up in The Muddy Rudder and Weatherly Hotel alone, and is paid another fifty-four during the afternoon.

Belle Bonnie is all kinds of pleased once she notices her new tenant disposing of the numerous empty bottles and flasks around her joint. "You're making me look bad!" she caws at one point. Tan plays the radio in her handheld Pip Boy 2500 device as she works; ancient songs from the distant past: James Frown, En Rogue, Depressed Mode, and so on. From what she's heard, lots of blue collar workers worked entire shifts while listening to upbeat tunes, while those from the upper classes were stuck with 'elevator music' and cheesy jazz tunes.

"Hey there."

Along the way, she gets into occasional conversations with various Rivet City residents, learning bits of gossip here and there. From Vera Weatherly, owner of the Weatherly Hotel, Tan learns that Pauli Cantelli is addicted to chems. "Her poor wife Cindy is at her wits end," Vera blabs while the cleaning lady gathers more empties.

"Mmph, is it really so surprising?" Taneesha replies, getting into the spirit of slander. "The Cantellis own A Quick Fix after all. Doesn't shock me they both dipping into their own wares, mm mmm." With the casual way she handles smalltalk it's as though she's already a Rivet City resident. "Well, back to work!"

"Farewell, and thanks so much for your service!"

Midship and Upper Decks include the rooms and dorms of many Rivet City residents. Under certain circumstances, Tan doesn't restrict her cleaning from these areas. If a door's been left ajar for example and no one's around, she'll slip herself quietly in, tidying without permission.

"It's locked for a reason," guards occasionally inform, assuming they notice her eyeing a locked door.

But they needn't concern themselves. She's not about to get her bobby pin/penknife set, picking locks and invading privacy, just for a couple extra caps! - She never actually steals. Still, she refuses to consider doors which've been left open as off-limits. If no one's inside, the custodian's gonna do her job! is her attitude. Interestingly, it's the moments when she's going after a can or a couple tossed-aside empties in someone's unattended room; it's these moments which are most reminiscent of her hoodlum days, gotta be honest. Sneaking around, listening for nearby footfalls... Taneesha can't help but admit she enjoys the prickling adrenaline she experiences.

"Is that a sin? All I'm going is my job," she insists, speaking to the nearest wall.

In the Common Room, the dorm which'd been designated for anyone to sleep in by RC officials (caps or no caps) Taneesha meets Mei Wong, a paranoid woman who immediately jumps when the cleaning lady shuffles by. "Forgive me. I used to be a slave," Mei explains, keeping her voice low. "And I saw a slaver on this ship earlier today. A man named Sister."

"His name is Sister?" Mei's got Jones's attention. "Hey, no worries. I won't tell him you are here."

"Really? Oh thank you!"

"Seriously, are you okay?" Tan asks.

And just like that, Mei Wong asks the janitor for help. "I've been so worried with him around. I can't sleep at night!"

Why does Wong confide in Taneesha? Is it because she senses a certain toughness the former raider exudes?

"Hey," Jones replies. "Maybe I can uh... do something about this Sister." Even as a raider, she'd loathed the idea of slaving innocent people. "Not promising anything, but it ain't right this dude Sister should be expanding his business on our ship. So you's saying the guards ain't doing nothing about the slaver?"

"No!" Wong shivers. "And I... I am at your mercy!"

"Well I don't know about that. Pretty sure I know where this slaver Sister lives, though..." she mutters. Earlier in the day she'd checked his room for trash. Not that she'll do anything about the douchebag. Right? Maybe just have a little... talk with the fellow, if she happens to meet him somewhere. Right? That's all. Just a little talk.

Back to work. The ship has its own Science Lab, as well as a museum called the Capitol Preservation Society, which is dedicated to documenting America's past. She doesn't have the space within her bag to clean these areas yet, but they're on her list for sure.


Friday, 2:02 PM
Curiosity is killing Tan about Saint Monica's Church. Eventually she finds the place; a rectangular room without a door, open to the public. The church has rows of uncomfortable-looking metal benches which serve as pews, and a pedestaled altar to the far right. As inferred, Saint Monica's holds particular interest for Tan, especially given her upbringing. After speaking with Father Clifford, the church's priest, she is pleased to learn his doctrine is definitely Christian. No weirdo congregants worshipping bombs or reverently discussing 'Atom's glow' while they bathe themselves in radioactive water, none of that bull*crap* jive.

"Monica is the patron saint of lost children," Father Clifford explains to the former Jehovah's Witness member.
"Very popular among the faithful of Rivet City. I'm surprised you've never heard of her!"

At some point Taneesha learns this 'Monica' was a ghoul, not a fully-fleshed human with unblemished skin, but so what? She's psyched for worship. Sets her Pip Boy's alarm for Sunday/7AM, so she'll be sure to make it to Clifford's sermon on time.

Other than this, there isn't much to look forward to in the life of Taneesha Jones. She's got her daily routine of cleaning, breakfast and supper at Gary's, and goofing off with Aspiration after hours. Which is just the way she likes it.


Friday, 8:44 PM
With the day done, she returns to The Muddy Rudder, and is surprised to find Father Clifford lecturing, right in the middle of the bar. "This is not a safe place for your soul!" he warns Belle's patrons, finger wagging. "Do not be tempted by the sins of vile liquor in this den of iniquity."

"I'll say when I've had enough, so *procreate* off!" says one of Belle's regulars, an obstinate woman who always seems to be here in the bar.

"Hey, don't look at me, Father," Taneesha says to the priest. "This is water. And I aim to be at your sermon on Sunday."

"Bless you, dear," the priest says, before turning to the bar's counter. "Belle, you are an unwitting servant of the devil. I admonish you to clean up this conduit to hell, or else..."

"Not gonna happen," Belle growls. "Every week you come down here preaching this crap. If you keep bothering my customers I'll have Brock throw you out. Again."

"Your sins call me down here," Clifford protests. "I aim to perform the Lord's work, wherever He calls for my help."

"That's a load of crap. Preach if you have to but don't bother my customers."

"I've heard enough for one night," Brock, the Rudder's bouncer snarls. "Time for you to go, buddy." He escorts the priest up the stairs, thankfully without resistance.

"Phew," Taneesha Jones, unbelieving. "I mean. I'm still going to church on Sunday, but damn. This guy's just as persistent as a Witness, but without any doors to knock, and pissed-off dwellers to get slammed by."

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Saturday, early morning
She wakes early and gets dressed. For the first time in a long time, Taneesha realizes she's no longer packing. Isn't carrying a shotgun on her back, not even a knife from her belt. For the past three days, her weapons have been stored inside a locker within her rented room. And she can't foresee needing to walk around 'hot', not while she's living within Rivet City.

So it comes as a surprise when on this very day, just as she's making her way down a corridor to begin her shift, that she finds herself wishing she'd had one of her pieces at the ready. Jones notices a shady figure approaching, a man wearing Prewar military clothes. Whoever he is, he's approaching fast, and the corridor they're both in is narrow.

Taneesha strafes to the left, the man strafes left. Taneesha sashays to the right, the man sashays right. Eventually, it becomes one of those awkward 'elevator' moments we've all experienced in modern life: two people, standing slightly within each others' personal space, suddenly at an impasse.

"Excuse me," Taneesha says shyly, thinking the dude will welcome her pardon. Because why wouldn't he? She's the lady; welcoming her pardon is the polite thing for a man to do.

But he doesn't welcome her pardon. Doesn't step aside saying 'after you'. Instead, it seems he's blocking her path.

"Miss Vicious?" the man asks quietly. "Uh, you are Miss Vicious, aren't you?"


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The Cleaning Lady gettin' Shady

Janna Torr accepting books

Father Clifford

Dining with Mei Wong

Lopov grabs the camera...

Mystery Man Approaches

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Notes: 1). Taneesha's 'job' works through the GECK's GetItemCount function. She's able to turn over one item (one bottle, one can, one scrap metal, one book, even cigarettes!) at a time, and earn a fixed amount of caps for each. Similar to when we turn over Vampire Dust to the Order of Virtuous Blood in Cyrodiil. "Excellent. Another vampire has been slain, here's your reward."

2). Lopov & Sub know that in Fallout 3, all the things Tan turns over to Janna Torr can also be sold to vendors, but Janna pays more. Plus it's more fun that my toon's got a job.

3). Acadian & Florens: Emily was one of Lopov's characters. Fell to her demise after not watching where she was going.