Scattered Harmony

"Well, this is... unusual." Marcus paced slowly around the smoking crater in the ground. His tesla cannon never did this before, but he found himself liking the change.

It was just about half a mile north of Megaton, and Marcus was fairly sure the blast could be heard all the way to the Jefferson Memorial. He occasionally went to this spot every week or so to test out his weapons, and it was telling from the numerous holes in the ground and the metal casings that littered the spot. Despite his experience with heavy weapons, he was quite impressed with the size of the hole he just made. Even his Fat Man, the gun that shot mini nuclear bombs, hadn't made this big of a crater.

The hole was engulfed in smoke, which was strange, since the Tesla Cannon shot electric ammunition, not incendiary ammunition. Marcus lived in the Capital Wasteland for more than nine years, and one doesn't live in the Capital Wasteland without seeing his fair share of odd things. However, he didn't see any reason why his Tesla Cannon would choose now to become even more overpowered than it already was. He set his large weapon on the ground with care and looked approvingly at it.

Smoke was beginning to clear from the crater, slowly but surely. It was getting dark, but Marcus didn't mind staying out for a while longer, as watching the stars at night made him think. He thought about his parents a lot, and where they might be. He had no semblance of proof that they were even alive, but that didn't bother him. At least, not anymore...

Marcus didn't have much in the way of a camp, so he lied down in the dirt, not worrying about the dust getting in the crevices of his combat armor. After several moments, more of the crater's smoke was drifting away, and the sun set further beneath the hills, making the stars appear where there would normally be a sickly blanket of brownish clouds. It was silent there, just him, his gun, and a crater. Marcus's attention was lost in the stars, but was diverted when he saw a glow out of the corner of his eye. He sat up and turned his head towards the crater, where there was indeed a purple glow emanating, making the smoke directly above it a purple fog. Marcus narrowed his eyes and slowly got to his feet. He inched his way to the crater, watching his step to make sure he didn't fall in. When he positioned himself where he was convinced he couldn't tumble in, he looked over the edge.

The thing making the crater glow seemed to be a star, or more specifically, a star-shaped emblem or jewel. The jewel was attached to a crown. No, not a crown. A tiara. And a golden tiara at that. What struck Marcus's attention more was the head that held the tiara. At least, Marcus was pretty sure it was a head. It could have been a purple blob with ears and eyes, but chances were higher that it was a head.

Although it appeared to be an organism of some kind, it wasn't one he'd ever seen. It had four limbs, like a human, but they were on its underside. Marcus noticed that it didn't seem to have any hands or feet either. This fact could have been more surprising, but he'd seen many raider settlements, and missing body parts were the norm. What surprised Marcus wasn't the missing extremities, but the extra extremity on its head. A small, spiral extension, pointed at the tip, jutting out from just above where its forehead presumably was.

Marcus stared at the... organism for a moment, not very shocked that the wasteland would produce such a thing. What did shock him was the fact that the organism was now groaning in pain. It was fading in and out of consciousness, and the mumbled groans turned into a barely audible "help".

Marcus hesitated no more, and jumped into the crater.