One Day Later

“Well, here’s the Commonwealth.” Deus said. “Still can’t believe they call it this. That Trader has to be crazy.”

“We need to get going.” Fervus said as we drove before finding a cliff and a broken Highway.

“Okay...we may have to leave the cars.” Private said as we looked at all the busted Highways.

“Fuck.” I whined, before I blinked. “Wait, if they’re all terrain, why do we have to leave them?”

“Point. Just going to be hell.” Deus said as we started moving off-road. Private whined as the buggy bumped around.

“Quit your whining. I’m more than capable of driving if You keep it up.” I grumbled.

“He’s still green, but good in combat. He did take down a blasted tank.” Deus said as moved down the cliff on a dirt road.

“Well, I’ll try to keep him alive,” I told him.

We drove till we came up to a small lake near a town. “Use that as a home base?” Private asked.

“Yeah, this place is even called Sanctuary.” Deus chuckled as we moved onto the main road.

“Fitting. I think they called this type of road a Cul-De-Sac.” I remarked as we drove. “Hmm, I think I detect a Vault nearby.”

“Eh, we’ll check it out in a bit. Doubt we could get inside.” Fervus said as we drove in, finding a Mr. Handy floating near one house as we parked near a big tree at the end of the cul-de-sac.

“Huh. Wonder if it’s friendly?” I remarked, noting how it wasn’t acting like those other Mr Handy I had the misfortune of encountering.

“We’ll check in a bit.” Deus said looking around. “That house looks like a good spot.” He said walking into a house right of the tree.

“Have to get plates from the other ruins to block the holes, but a good bunk house. We claiming the whole area? Conscripting locals?” Fervus asked.

“Maybe, the base yes, but local...depends on how….welcoming they are.” Deus said tossing out a Kitchen sink.

“Well, at least I have a use for the Micro assembler augmentation for something other than mods.” I remarked, breaking down much of the Junk into resources.

“Bloatfly!” The Private barked, killing a few.

“Got one!” I yelled, shooting one trying to attack him from behind with the Zenith I had named ‘Remedy’.

“Annoying little buggers. Private check the other houses. Fervus, I saw a gas station near by eariler, check it for tools.” Deus orders.

“Okay.” He said jogging off to the other houses as Fervus killed the last fly.

“Okay, Fervus get Velvet the material, then help her patch up the building, I’m checking our cars, and making sure the spark plugs are out so no one can steal them.” Deus said, walking out and leaving me alone.

“Well, may as well salvage what I can. Hmm, that collapsed house looks good.” I remarked, walking over to it as I started breaking it down.

After a bit, the Mr. Hand floated over. “Hello miss, may I help you?” It asked it’s buzzsaw spinning.

“Uh, can you lower that buzzsaw? It’s making me nervous.” I whined as I finished the deconstruction of the collapsed house.”

“I’m willing to help take down these demolished houses for you if you all don’t shoot me.” It told me.

“Well, sure. Thank you… I didn’t get your name.” I told him.

“I’m Codsworth.” He told me as he floated over the rubble and started sawing.

“Ah. My name is Velvet.” I told him. “Velvet Willowmarker,” I added, using My Dad’s surname.

“Hello miss Willowmarker.” He said as he cut and broke down the buildings that had fallen over. Fervus came back with piles of junk, rubber tires, balls, plastic and the like from all the houses, even furniture. She left the house the robot had been in front of alone.

“Thanks,” I told her as I broke down the other Junk.

“We’ll need walls first.” Deus said, “Four beds next, then other items will be built as needed. Basics first.” He took off his helmet showing it his brown fur on his Minituar face.

“Got it,” I told him. “I’ll see what I can build… And see if I can use the Foundations of one of the scrapped houses.”

“Well hold up around the tree for now. Move towars the river in the coming weeks. Layer the defenses, Fervus has some knowledge on makeshift Turrets so she’ll help with that. Scrap will be replaced with reinforced Concrete if we can get our hands on it.” He explained breaking down the junk with Fervus as Private came back with more material.

“Got it,” I said as I started assembling the components for our temporary base.

“Private, help her. Should only take you two four hours at the most, make a gate on the main road. Also any skulls should be mounted near it. As Raider like as it is, it should scare off scavengers should they come looking.” Fervus said. “Don’t need an armed Civi walking in looking for prizes.”

“Alright.” He said, helping me build the scrap walls. We slowly got through work making a rudimentary wall. Once we were done Fervus and Dues had made some beds for us. The two finally got out of their armor. And they smelled like something else.

“Okay, next order is bathing.” Deus sighed.

“I figure.” I sighed, looking at the river. I could salvage the wood, clean it up a little… Maybe assemble parts for a water purifier. “Well, I guess much of these rusted cars are pretty much useless,” I said, giving one a kick.

“Yes, they are,” Codsworth told me.

“Aw Well, better Scrap em,” I remarked as I broke it down into scrap resource.

“Do you wish more help?” He asked showing his flamer.

“I’ll be fine. Melting it means I won’t get aluminium, and I can see a Power Armor station over there.” I said, nodding to it. “Should make modifying your Power Armor easier than working on it without support.”

“Noted, though why the hell is it here?” Fervus asked. “Don’t look like this place has been touched much.”

“Ah, Well, those are normally used for cars, but Master Richard made use of it to train miss Colleen to use his Power Armor,” Codsworth spoke up.

“Alright. Well, we’ll use it now. And anything else around here...we’ll get them in the morning.” Deus said, looking at the sky. “We’ve lost daylight.”

“Got it.” I sighed as the Raider mare watched. “Well, I’ll check around. See if I can gather anything else that would require subtlety to get to.”

“Just be careful,” Deus told me. “And be careful around the Vault. Raiders may have made it a base.”

“Got it,” I told him, cocking My Wolven Rifle as I attached a suppressor I had crafted. “I didn’t live this long by being careless.”

“I know, I’m just reminding you.” He said as he sat down to eat.

I nodded, before I walked off, scanning the area as I did. I noted a small farm due west from Sanctuary and the unknown Vault, an old Power Pylon to the north of the Farm. I kept My gun low as I walked to the Farm, trying not to spook the farmers.

“Hey, what are you doing?” I heard as a girl screamed and Raiders were yelling about protection rations.

“Fuckers,” I growled, sneaking up on the Raiders as I extended My arm blade and grabbed one, stabbing him.

“SYNTH!” the Raiders and Farmers screamed fearfully, the Farmers also aiming at me. I swore, activating My nano Armor as the shots bounced off me, aiming for the Raiders as I popped their heads off.

“There. Hey!” I yelled when a farmer threw a Molotov at me. “What the fuck!”

“GET AWAY FROM US YOU INSTITUTE ABOMINATION!” they yelled shooting at me.

“The fuck is this Institute, you idiots! And what the flying fuck is a synth!?” I snarled.

They wouldn’t let up being so spooked about me being some Synth. I growled as I fired up My quicksilver augmentation and quickly knocked them out. “The Fuck is wrong with those people!?” I growled as I started stripping the Raiders and tied up the farmers, disarming them as I did.

“Hey, you alright?” Private said running up.

“No.” I huffed as I disabled My Titan Nano Armor.

“Um...you could have just run back to us and we could have talked to them.” He said as he looked over the farmers.

“From the way they kept screaming ‘Synth’, they would have followed me.” I sighed.

“That doesn’t sound good.” He said. “Look, we should really get them safe, I’ll guard their farm if they’re this close. We need them on our side for food.”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “Think you can wake them?” I asked.

“Would be best to bring them to Deus, he’s better at this than I am.” He told me.

“Got it.” I sighed as I carried them off to Sanctuary. As I did, I decided to shoot several of the birds, ripping them to shreds as I walked back, scooping their remains up to cook and eat later.

After a while, I entered Sanctuary. “Hey Deus, we Got an issue!”

“Goddamnit, what happened. We heard shots, so I sent the Private.” He said walking up his hooves clicking on the ground.

“These farmers were being harassed by Raiders. I killed one by stabbing him with My arm blade, but then they started screaming ‘Synth’ and tried to kill me.” I sighed.

“Okay...that’s new. Never heard of that before.” Fervus said.

“I’ve heard rumors. Robots so advanced they’re just like us.” He said looking at me. “And they’re not made with Sarif tech. From what I can tell, it’s partly genetic, if what they say is right.”

“I know. They called me an ‘Institute Abomination’ as well.” I whined as I dumped them onto a couch.

“We’ll wait for them to wake up. But seems the rumors were true...or at least true enough to scare the ever living shit out of them.” Fervus sighed.

“Fine. I’ll… Investigate the Vault.” I sighed, walking out with My Rifle in Hand.

“Velvet, it looks they’ll wake up in minutes, get back here.” Deus sighed. “We can just wake them up with smelling salts...or our bodily smells.”

“Fine,” I whined, grabbing My Raider’s wagon and dragging her with me into the house.

“Look I know you’re stressed about...your father dying. Just calm down. Also next time...it may have have been a good idea to just cloak and come back here... Do you have the feature?” He asked me.

“Yes, but I have to break cloak when I use My arm blades or fists for takedowns.” I sighed as I gently hugged the Raider like a teddy.

“Alright then.” He sighed.

“What the fuck?!” One of the farmers said.

“Sir, calm down, we’re friends...with weirder friends.” He sighed. “Look, my companion is a Cyborg, not a Synth, she’s friendly too.”

“I...How can I believe you? She looks like a Gen one and three put together! She might be a prototype!”

“I'M NOT A FUCKING SYNTH! I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT IT IS!” I screamed.

“Velvet, calm down. Okay, have you heard of the Church of Sarif?” He asked the Farmers.

“Um...no what is that?” The leader asked.

“Great...well…” Deus then proceeded, with my help, to explain it all.

“I...see. I’m sorry miss.” He sighed. “I...we’ve been hearing so much about the Institute.”

“I know nothing of it. All I’ve known as a cub was the Church of Sarif, and they gave me back the ability to walk and touch after I was a… Toy for Raiders when I got taken by them at Age Nine.” I whined. “I would have been a Quadruple amputee if not for them.”

“Oh...again sorry.” They told me.

“Don’t.” I sighed, stroking My Raider pet’s mane.

“So...can we be untied. And...we’ll help you out if you don’t...do what you did to those raiders to us.” The Farmer leader asked.

“I won’t anyway.” I sighed. “For me to do that would be for me to become like them.” I sighed, cutting their bonds. “Anyway, I’ll see if these are worth eating,” I said, holding up the dead birds.

“Thanks.” The Farmers walked off. I watched them go, before sticking the Birds over the fire to cook them. They just started burning...like plastic.

“What the!?” I balked, dropping the ones I was cooking as an acrid smell filled the air as I pulled up the two remaining Birds And pulled them open to find no meat or bone, but wires and circuits. “Shit! These are spy drones!”

“Great. Okay, note to self, kill birds.” Deus said looking around.

“Burn them for good measure,” I grumbled. “I’ll check out the Vault now. May as well see if there’s loot in there.”

“Okay,” Deus said as we moved out. I followed the path in, finding the entrance… Was set in the floor. Well, that’s quite a unique design.

I looked around, shooting more blackbirds as I did so as I entered a hut. A button was set in a console, with a few boxes of 10mm rounds sitting on a table. Hmm… Never did sell those weapons.

I shook off the thought, pressing the button And waiting, an elevator moving up to where I could get on. I walked out and stepped onto it, finding the Elevator descending. I came into a room with another Vault door.

“Huh,” I remarked as I got to the console. Hmm, normally I would need a pipboy… That is, if I wasn’t a Transmammal.

One hack and I heard the door start to grind open as a Bridge extended. Chuckling to myself, I walked in, finding three Rad Roaches skittering about. I killed them with a few stomps, scraping My feet off as I took the Pipboy off the wrist of a Unicorn Skeleton. Didn’t need it, but I suspected someone might.

As I walked into the place, I heard the loud reports of an unsuppressed N99 pistol, followed by a female swearing with a heavy Wolven Accent. Sounded like one of those ‘uncouth’, what was it, Cockney accents?

Walking through the building I noted ice melting all over. A Cryo Vault?! Shit. I rushed to a terminal, activating it and plowing through the comparatively weak firewalls to find that most of the occupants… Were dead. Some energy surge and a premature deactivation of the Cryo relay had caused the system to fail in all but one of the Pods… A miss Colleen Ardelle… The Surge reminds me of the side effects of Big Mountain’s teleportation system.

“Crap.” The female snarled deeper in as shots rang out. My eyes widened before I quickly commanded the Vault to open the doors, allowing me to rush to where the gunshots were coming from. I soon found a rough collie with white and brown fur huffing as she stood around dead Rad Roaches. I noticed she was wearing a rather form-fitting Vault Suit, which was a stark contrast to the looser Overalls of the other Vaults. “Who are you?!” She snarled, aiming at me.

“My name is Velvet. Velvet Willowmarker.” I said, waving. “And save your ammo. I have No wish to hurt you.”

“I...alright.” She sighed, looking a bit panicked.

“Did something happen?” I asked.

“I...my husband was killed and my baby was taken.” She huffed. I nodded, hugging her and making her squeak. I rubbed her floppy ear in a soothing way to make her relax.

“I See. Let it out.” I whispered to her. “I’ll support you.”

And she started crying, sobbing into My chest as I let her release her grief. I knew it wasn’t healthy to bottle it up. Releasing it now rather than later would help her a lot.

I gently supported her as she cried, as I gently carried her. She was shorter than me by a head, so I was able to get to the Overseer’s office with No real trouble.

“Sorry.” She sighed.

“Nothing to be sorry about. You lost your mate and your baby. You have a right to cry.” I told her. “And even Then, I probably cried harder when I was used by Raiders as their Toy when I was Nine years old. I gained these-” I gestured to My arms, “When I was twelve.”

“I...didn’t need to know that.” She said, looking sick.

“I kinda have to. From what I can tell, you’ve been underground for well over two hundred years.” I sighed. “I felt I needed to warn you.”

“Okay.” She said, still looking ill.

“Still, If you lived just down the Vault, your Robot Codsworth is still there, faithfully waiting for you,” I told her. “He mentioned a Richard and Colleen.”

“I...really...well, I guess I could see him.” She said, weakly getting up.

“Hmm, you’re… Really Squeamish.” I remarked, looking at the Console and hacking it. “Oh, before I forget, here.” I said, passing her the Pipboy. “Think you may need it.”

“Thank you.” She said, taking it and putting it on. I idly noted her fluffy tail wagged a little. Better not mention I took it off a Skeleton.

“Hmm. Seems the Overseer, dick biscuit he was-” Colleen snickered at My wording, “-Made a Cryotic weapon. Hmm, the lock is something I can handle.” I remarked as I picked it.

“Okay,” Colleen said as she walked back into the hall. “I’ll wait for the elevator.”

“Don’t have to,” I said, taking out the Cryolator. “Now we can leave. The place gives me the creeps.” I huff, grabbing some Cryo cells.

“Okay.” She said as we moved out of the Vault and back to Sanctuary. The trip was silent, though she gave me an annoyed look when I shot more of the spy-birds.

“Hey guys, guess What I found in the Vault!” I called out.

“Um..hello.” She said as Codsworth welcomed her openly.

“Okay, well Private’s acting as guard right now. Come on, let’s sleep.” Deus sighed.

“Yeah. C’mon.” I said, scooping up the Raider and hugging her like a teddy as I curled up on a bed I made. “I had to scrap the bed in your House Colleen. It was a wreck at this point, and I know Codsworth tried, but you know scavengers.”

“Sorry miss Colleen,” Codsworth whined.

“It’s alright Codsworth.” She said, taking up a wall.

“Night.” I sighed as I dozed, idly scratching the Raider behind the ear and mentally noting to scrub her down tomorrow, No matter how much she’ll mewl and cry for me to stop. She stinks.

“Night.” They all said, nodding off. I fell asleep shortly after, noting Colleen taking the bed next to mine.

Morning came with the sun shining in My eyes, making me wish it had an off switch. I still dragged myself out of bed, Deus and Fervus already getting up.

“Morning.” I yawned as Colleen stretched, giving me a view of her body. She had a nice hourglass figure, as well as decent muscle, which was showing through the tightness of her suit. Her breasts, when I got a good look, seemed to be minor E-Cup, and her hips were child-bearing.

I gulped at the thought. Due to being ‘Used’ as a ‘Toy’ by Raiders from age Nine to Eleven, and popping out babies that I had been forced to carry in those times, made me scared of most ‘Wastelander’ males. As a result, I ended up preferring either males who are gentle but strong or females who are like Colleen… Most of whom are a rarity.

“Velvet you okay?” Deus asked walking in just getting his jumpsuit on.

“I…It’s nothing.” I sighed, stretching again and hearing my bones pop into alignment. “So… Are we checking out the place? Clean up and look for more stuff?”

“Alright then. We’ll work more on the defense today, get scouting the local and helping the Abernathy’s.” Deus explained.

“Alright,” I said, as I walked out. “I’ll see if we missed anything on our first check. If I find anything, I’ll see if I can salvage anything useful for our defenses.” I said.

“Good. Once done, build some walls for the farmers.” He ordered.

“Will do. Hopefully, the Brotherhood would be more subtle when asking farmers for food.” I told him as I poked around, finding a Chem lab.

“I’m not the one that knocked them out. We would have had Private talk with them once you got back.” He chuckled.

“Actually, I was talking about some farmers I met some years back. They complained how a Branch of the Brotherhood had threatened them into giving them produce, rather than negotiating with them.” I said, dragging the Chem Lab to a more open area. “All because they wanted better defenses more than money.”

“Yeah, not all of us think about charity.” He sighed. I nodded, setting up the Chem Lab as I did.

“Well, I hope to find some Cement bags or Simply Concrete. We need better homes if people are going to be living here.” I huffed, dusting my hands off. “If we’re lucky, we may be able to cobble together a water purifier.”

“I know. Can’t just use the old houses. Sure they’re built well, but their still steel and wood.” He sighed.

“Yeah.” I huffed, before spotting a cellar door, well hidden by long grass. “Found a Cellar,” I called.

“Check it out. Doubt there are mole rats in it.” He said as he worked on his armor. I nodded, opening the Cellar and getting in.

I Found the place was surprisingly well lit, and shockingly spacious. Looked more like an emergency shelter rather than a simple cellar. A safe sat on one side, a gold bar glittering in the light of the powerful lamps. I took the bar, fiddling with the Safe’s lock to find a bunch of bullets, clean water, an old radio and what seemed to be scrap metal. I took what I could find, closing the safe as I checked the shelves.

It was well stocked with prewar foodstuffs, a bag of cement on the lowest shelves along with a few bottles of Gwinnett Stout, and two more gold bars. I was more than happy to take all of the stuff. I could use the gold to craft a few generators and a Water Purifier.

I exited the Cellar, plucking some Mutfruit off some nearby bushes. “Whoever made this, I will thank,” I muttered.

“Too bad Dennies wasn’t thinking about the bombs going off so soon.” Colleen sighed.

“You knew them?” I asked her, propping the Bag of Cement on my shoulder.

“They were my neighbors.” She told me. “Pair of Unicorns.”

“Ah.” I sighed, before looking around. “Well, haven’t got much cement, but it’s a start,” I said as I dropped off what I looted. “So, First things first, Generator,” I muttered as I started making plans. “Then a water Purifier.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Deus said as he walked over to scrap pile and got parts.

I nodded and started forming the designs of a simple generator. I took apart the old radio to get more pieces for it’s construction, finishing the Generator after an hour. “Right… Now for the Water Purifier.” I muttered, gathering up whatever remaining parts I got from the wrecked Cars I had pulled apart.

“I’m back,” Fervus said, dropping a deer. “Got dinner.”

“Oh, a Radstag! Nice!” I grinned. “Got a Nice amount of fat too! None too chewy!”

“Made sure. Kinda happy the Fallout made most of the green eaters shift to Omnivores like us.” She chuckled as Deus smile. “Deus would have to run around looking fruit for hours otherwise.”

“Good. Got some Mutfruit, by the way. Was right in front of the Cellar Shelter.” I said, passing them around.

“Should make for some good produce if we get more people,” Deus said as he started helping me with Purifier, while Fervus and Colleen worked on the deer. The Purifier had to be jury-rigged, mostly since the parts were in poor condition, so it was mostly a Temporary thing until we could find better-preserved components. It was good for around ten uses before it would have to be reworked.

“Alright, should at least last two days,” I told Deus.

“We’ll scavenge from the Gas Station. I’ve parked the damn cars and locked em up.” He said as walked off. “I’ll go see if it might be good for watch post too.”

“Yeah,” I said as I walked back to the Outpost we had made, already hungry. “Let's see what they made,” I remarked.

“We got steaks. Don’t have any pots so we didn’t have the stuff to make stew.” Colleen told us.

“Shame,” I said as I started eating mine. “Hmmm~ Meats tender… Haven’t had Venison this tender for a long time~”

“Thanks. My husband couldn’t grill worth a damn.” Colleen chuckled.

“Heh, let me guess, much charcoal?” I giggled.

“Yes.” She sighed. I nodded, withholding my laughter when I saw she was reminiscing.

“Yeah. What was your child’s name?” I asked her. “I managed to hack the Vault terminals and saw one of the pods had a male Unicorn and an infant male hybrid.”

“Shaun.” She told me. “He was six months old.”

“Ah. Well, I have reason to believe he may be still alive.” I told her.

“Really?” She asked. “Okay, how?”

“Whoever got into the Vault to take your son and murder your husband, used Teleportation Technology. Teleportation Tech, on the Level of Big Mountain.” I told her. “And I suspect this… Institute were the ones.”

“Big what?” Colleen asked. “What are those?”

“Big Mountain is a Pre-War secret Research facility that worked on Technology that was normally considered theoretical, such as Teleporters, Surgery that allowed for Brain, Heart and Spinal removal without killing the patient, and advanced Robots that can make Codsworth look like a Toaster, no offense to him. He’s a nice bot.”

“Oh.” She said still slightly confused. “I think I get it.”

“Yeah.” I sighed. “They did work on Questionable Things too, such as Super Soldier Serums and the like.” I sighed. “Still, A bunch of Farmers called me a Synth, whatever that is, and I from their descriptions of the rumors, are androids that look and seem Organic,” I told her.

“Oh...that’s...crazy. Why is the world so fucking crazy.” She whined as Fervus sighed.

“The Old World ended in nuclear fire, Colleen.” I sighed. “We’re just… Picking up the pieces of this whole mess, in our own way.”

“Hopefully not in war.” She sighed.

“We try not to.” Fervus sighed. “But there is always some deranged asshole who wants to make war for whatever convoluted reason.”

“I see.” She sighed.

“Well, we don’t want war any more than you do,” I told her.

“I know.” She sighed. “God, I’m just a lawyer.”

“I see.” I nodded, eating my steak. “Well, hopefully, you won’t have to kill too many reasonable people,” I said, hugging her.

“Thank you.” She sighed. I nodded, subtly sniffing her. She smelt nice, like some kind of sweet smelling plant.

“Hmm,” I said, sitting back.

“In your pants, for now, wolf,” Fevus told me, making me jump. “We’re not safe enough for that.”

I gave her a withering glare for that, before eating my meal and feeding my Raider.

“Okay, I’ve got another Power Armor Station,” Deus said dragging it in.

“Oh, Goody!” I grinned, before looking out. “Well, guess We’re heading to the town tomorrow?” I asked as I noted the nearby city.

“Yes. You make the walls?” He asked, reminding me of the farmers.

“I was working on the Purifier with you, remember?” I said.

“I know. Just reminding you. We need to get to work soon.” he sighed.

“Yeah. We don’t have a lot of Cement or Concrete, though, so I’ll have to cobble something else to build the walls until we get some.”

“I know. Use the Cement on our base first, we’ll improve others later on.” He told me as he started working some junk walls.

“Got it,” I told him as I finished my meal and grabbed a bag of Cement. Think I had enough to make a decently sized base, at least a little bigger than our current one.

“You work on those, and I’ll cover the Farm. We should have them done by nightfall and in the morning we’ll wall up their farm before we head to town.” Deus explained.

“Got it,” I said, using some steel to reinforce the wall I was making as well as to save Cement. Hopefully, I would have enough to make a decent fortress. I then started setting it on the empty lot that used to be a ruined house before I broke it down into parts. The foundations were still excellent after all.

“Okay, we’ll I’ll hunt down some other game,” Fervus said as Colleen started working on patching up blankets.

“Okay. Good luck Fervus.” I told her, building the new building carefully.

“Okay, got most of the walls done,” Deus said as he got about fourteen done.

“Good,” I said, finishing the lower floors. “Made some of the walls with windows to allow the light to come in… as well as to give a place to shoot from.” I told him, as I started working on the upper floor. I had enough remaining material for a smaller upper floor and a few reinforcements to ensure it doesn’t collapse on itself.

“Okay. Just make sure the main wall is good too.” He chuckled.

“Got it,” I told him as I built up the base we were going to live in. I Made the upper floors with wood and steel to save material, while also reinforcing them so they won’t crumble, then worked on The upper floor, using my Micro assembler to build The stairway inside The house, make it so that anyone raiding this place will have to get inside and face it’s defenders. The bedrooms would be both upstairs and down below, though that was for us to decide where we sleep.

Another room would make a good armory, and if I got more material, a watchtower can be built above the upper room. Turrets would be a definite, maybe a Radar system too if I can get more parts.

“Okay, you got everything?” Deus asked.

“Pretty much done with what we’ve got,” I told the towering Minotaur.

“Okay, let’s get some sleep then.” he sighed. I nodded, having noticed he’d dragged in the beds into their assigned rooms.

“Yeah.” I sighed, taking my bed up to the second floor. May as well act as Watcher if I can’t sleep tonight.

“How’s the other one doing?” Colleen asked.

“Private’s doing well. The Abernathy’s are being good hosts,” he told her.

“That’s the name of the Farmers, right?” I asked.

“Yes. He said one of their girls was almost killed in that attack you stopped...even if you knocked them out.” She chuckled.

“Well, good thing I stepped in at least.” I sighed.

“Yeah. Hey, what do you think of the city?” Colleen asked.

“Raiders, likely, maybe a few settlers there too,” I said, pushing my bed into position.

“Raiders will be easy, and hopefully the settlers as welcoming.” Deus sighed as he laid down.

“Yeah.” I sighed as I put my bed into position. “Where do you want to rest, Colleen?”

“Um, upstairs?” She asked. I felt my heart skip a beat at that, before nodding.

“Alright. Want me to bring up your bed?” I asked nervously.

“Sure.” She said with a thankful smile. I nodded, carefully taking her bed so as to not rudely wake anyone up as I carried it upstairs, noting Colleen was following me. I put a slight sway in my hips as I placed it down where she could sleep.

Author's Note

okay here's chapter 4