Total Wasteland
Episode 2
"Preperations"
By DarkMalcontent
Proofs by Alisia

2287 (217 years post Great War)

CIT Ruins, Commonwealth Wasteland

Dash released a heavy sigh as she brushed a few rainbow colored strands out of her face. She rubbed her dry, itchy, bloodshot eyes with speckles of the sand she was subjected to, uncomfortably mixed with the irritated veins which were visible on the whites of her eyes. Shifting her position, Dash examined her surroundings that were off the main walkway utilized by the local merchants and rape gangs. Upon seeing no one, she pulled a crisp white box of smokes out of her dark, stained and dirty gear. She knocked the box against her leg, pulled out a wrapped stick and slipped the box back into hiding while pulling out a lighter in one fluid move. The wind quietly blew as she lit the marked end of the cigarette, took a long drag and propped her leg up to rest her arm, releasing the smoke. “Better not be late,” Dash grumbled, watching for the one which doubled as her employer as well as her lover to return.

“Wish he’d hurry it up,” she said softly after a few minutes, looking around casually for any trouble that might sneak up on her. She’d learned to keep an ear and an eye out after working as a Pit Fighter before she became entangled with Mal. The nights and sometimes even the days you had to be careful you weren’t jumped in the back of the warehouse bunk area and robbed, raped or both.

She narrowed her eyes as a flood of unpleasant memories swam through her mind as that last bit of knowledge fluttered away from her mind. She recalled a group of rough girls and even a male who cornered her in the back of the bunkhouse. Might of got me then, she thought, puffing another smoke ring in front of her. But I got them back. She smiled ever so slightly. “One by one.”

A sudden burst of air displacing caught her ear and she spun to be blinded by a flash of white light. Raising her iron sights of her carbine, she took aim, only to bring the sights down as she saw the source. Standing in front of the old CIT building and among the crumbling ruins that were left from the centuries old nuclear blast, was her current contract holder and bed partner, Mal. The bleed off of the displacement and lights still crackled around him as he turned his head towards her and laughed. “Kept you waiting, huh?”

“Was wondering what happened to ya.” She stood up, resting the carbine on her shoulder as she walked over to him. The leather straps of her armor creaked softly and hugged her slim and rather flat chested figure, rubbing against the ‘tactical’ shorts and holster top. The remaining exposed skin she showed off put her in contrast to the world around her. The dull blue skin didn’t mix well with the environment. The only real armor to be considered were on her arms, working and retrofitted military armor plates which had a symbol etched on them, the same as Mal’s chest plate.

Mal’s rebreather muffled his voice, but she could hear his chuckle. “I just bet you were.” He pulled a small sack that was slung from his right side and tossed it to her. “Here ya go. Fresh from Requisitions.”

Dash caught the sack awkwardly and some of the items spilled out, several packs of cigarettes and a set of vials marked “Psycho”. Quickly gathering them up, she began stripping the items out and putting them into various empty pockets of her leather armor. “Damn good thing too, I was nearly out.” She smiled, happy to be paid. “What’s the job this time, love?”

Mal jumped over a pile of rubble and down to her level of the ruins, grunting softly and pulling his mask off to hang loose. “Oh you’ll love it. We get to deal with Raiders.” He pulled a smoke out himself and lit it with an old but sturdy looking flip top lighter. The etching on the side read “Vault 76”, though it was starting to wear down. “Not just any though, these ones can think.” He puffed a brief cloud of smoke and motioned for her to follow him.

“Smart Raiders, eh?” Dash said, somewhat hesitant to put the words together. “Seems like oxy...er…”

“Moron,” Mal finished her sentence, smiling at the double usage.

“Yeah, that's it.” She narrowed her eyes a moment but kept walking, their boots disturbing rocks a bit as they started to clear the meeting place. She wasn’t much for book learning, most of the lessons she learned in life were the hard way, and she didn’t like being talked down to. She made an exception for most of Mal’s antics for a few reasons, most of them material based. Dash ignored his insult and kept a somewhat decent smile on her face. “We’re heading West? I take it the Theme park is where we’re going?”

“I knew there was a reason I liked you with me.” He smirked at her, looking her up and down. “Aside from you having a nice arse.”

“We’d move quicker if you kept your eyes off it as much as you do.” Dash smiled back, half teasing. She didn’t mind the attention, mainly because he was the first male that didn’t just attack her on sight or was dumber than a box of rocks. Having one take a shining to her was a blessing in the Wasteland, not to mention his ties to the ever-so-secret-slightly-terrifying Institute technology. Making their way to what was left of a main highway, they kept a decent pace. “Why couldn’t we just zap our way over there?”

“Complicated reason, it’s a nice day anyway.” He knocked ashes from his cigarette. “Besides, you always said you didn’t mind hoofing it as long as there was something exciting at the end of the road,” he finished.

“Aye, I did.” She kept two paces behind him now, bodyguard mode kicking into her brain. “Suppose I should just shut my trap.”

He chuckled and walked on, reading several messages on his pipboy as they cleared the ruins. “Not a bad idea. I'll let ya know when I need your mouth.”

An uneasy silence began between the two, until finally he turned on his radio and the gentle sounds of swing music filled their immediate area.

***

“Ok, I literally just finished chapter 1.” Knight stood in shock at Shimmers revelation. “I can't simply go out into this world you've described with as little data as I've been given.”

“I wasn't asking you, male.” Shimmer sat down at her desk and shuffled papers, her gaze down at her work. “You've got until my innoculations are approved by the directorate to familiarize--” a loud ringtone interpreted them and Shimmer turned to face her monitor. “Yes what is it?”

“Priority summons from the Director.” Maud said flatly, the screen switching to a darkened board room.

“Dr. Shimmer,” a distorted yet distinctly female tone sounded from the monotone speakers. “Your request for Surface Work has been reviewed and the Directorate has declined it.”

Shimmer’s look of shock was apparent, followed by one of anger, calm and collected, but anger nonetheless. “Director, my expertise will be vital to--”

“Your expertise is vital to the work here.” The voice cut in and sternly reminded her. “However, you will be able to keep in touch with your surface operatives. We’ve been in contact with Advanced Systems and they are sending over a communications solution for you.” The eyes of the shadowy figure narrowed. “You will comply or face expulsion. That is all.”

Shimmer sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, leaning back in her chair and taking in all she’d heard. She barely remembered she had a guest until Knight shifted in place. Perking up she tried to maintain some semblance of authority and began to shuffle papers. “You'll be working for me. Your first order of business is to acclimate yourself to your new surroundings. After that you're to head to this area.” She handed him a crudely drawn map. “There you'll find what scouts have insisted is a dead vault.”

“Dead you say?” Knight asked unsure if he wanted further clarification.

“Hopefully not in the literal sense but no communication or movement has been seen, yet scouting parties report the main vault door has been opened. No contact, just a few ghouls.” Shimmer replied, looking at Knights arm. “I see your tissue is not rejecting the arm.”

“Fits like a glove.” He rotated his new appendage. “So to speak. Fascinating technol--”

“It's quite advanced so please don't monkey with it too much. I'm sure as a man you have urges but I suggest you find some local infertile to get your jollies.” Shimmer interrupted, looking down at another folder. “Once you’re at the vault, procurement of resources is your own problem.”

Knight paused as she interrupted him and any ease he felt vanished and was overtaken by the awkwardness of her seeming disdain for him based solely on gender. “What is it I’m supposed to procure for, Doctor?” his final word filled with as much venom as he could.

“Your first directive, agent, and I use that term loosely, is to stabilize power, water and of course food and basic shelter issues. After that, you are to begin retrofitting the existing structure to become a working settlement.”

“I'm building a town?” he raised an eyebrow.

“You're doing as you’re told you--” she closed her eyes and smiled, seemingly clearing her anger away. “You are lying down infrastructure for phase two. You'll be part of this entire project from start to finish so I'll give you a bit more latitude and trust I would any surface operative,” she continued. “As the tapes you were supposed to listen to told you, the current population projections are not looking very good. Overall we’re dying. Both above and below ground.”

“But your Fertility department has a fix for that?” he asked.

“We hope so.” She adjusted her lapel slightly. “At least ninety percent of the remaining population above is female. Of the ten percent that is male, only five percent are none feral.” She turned in her chair to face him directly. “Of that five percent only three percent are educated. Which means you being--”

“An engineer, combat efficient and speaking in complete sentences makes me enticing to anyone,” he concluded. “Or a valuable asset..er target.”

“Yes. Which is why I'm taking a great risk. The collective mentality was to simply hook you up to a milking farm and try to squeak out a few more generations with your DNA. I had a more grand solution.” She turned back and pulled a folder from a pile and opened it.

“Well. Thanks for not turning me into some sort of commodity?” he said a bit leery. “What's your solution?”

“It’s fairly complex but what we're doing here lays the groundwork for it.” She laid a graph out on the table. “Basically we know most of the male data is correct. We need to find a reasonable data pool that defines the female fertility numbers I postulated. If we can get both those, I can start to move forward on stage three.”

“Which is?” he asked inquisitively.

“Not a concern now.” Shimmer snapped to him, crossing her arms defiantly. “You need to get down there, secure the site, cleanse it and report back to me.” She flipped her hair out of her eyes as she finished. “Is that clear?”

He paused for a moment, all his training made him want to simply answer immediately, but the military side of him was conflicted with the human side. Part of her plan made sense, but there was a nagging feeling he couldn’t get away from. Still, he couldn’t quite figure out what she was hiding. Finally he snapped his head up and nodded to her. “Yes Ma’am,” he finally said, a firm tone of respect he’d not been using summoning up in his words. “When and how do I leave?”

Shimmer smiled. “Better. I like this. You’ll leave as soon as Advanced Systems gives you what you’ll need to stay in contact.” She tossed him a holotape. “Load that in and follow the map to their wing, male.” She sat down and pulled a folder up, beginning to thumb through reports. “You’ll hear from me soon enough, dismissed.”

A tone of familiarity swept over him, like the warm embrace of a lone, lost lover as she addressed him. Her tone and inflection was more to what he was trained to receive, though he had to admit, her lack of respect for him still nagged at him. It was clear she didn't like men, which wasn’t a problem for him in general. He’d met plenty of men and women in his tour of duties that preferred the company of their gender, or even both genders at once. This dislike from her was more personal he felt, intense or both.

As he mused on all this, he followed the map leading to the Advanced Systems wing and stopped just outside it’s doors. The identification terminal took longer to approve him than he cared for, the nervousness of the automated laser turrets pointing at him finally relaxed as the doors parted and he was granted access, sealing behind him as he walked through them.

The same sanitary environment the entire facility before was present, though must more of the interior was used for large consoles. Each console had a flurry of work flipping across monitors and automated tasks working on them, each themselves with blinking lights as they calculated their tasks. Several technicians and other scientists were too engrossed with taking down their data on their clipboards to notice him as he took several steps in, the doors closing behind him with a soft rubber on metal contact.

One scientist looked up and seemed somewhat startled, turning to her left and walking into another room, she called out to someone he couldn’t see. “Ma’am, the male is here.”

“Bothersome timing, but alright, I’ll be there in a moment.” A clearly annoyed voice said in the distance. The clicking of heels on the marble floor echoed as the annoyed women came into view, her lavender hair in a bun and a set of sticks holding it in place. Dark rimmed glasses were pushed up as she lifted her gaze from her work to notice Knight. “Ah. You must be the male. We’ve heard alot about you.”

“I have a name.” Knight raised an eyebrow. “Knight, Doctor..?” he left the sentence hanging hoping to engage her a bit more personally.

“I’m in charge of Advanced System. Dr. Twi Li.” She said somewhat flatly, turning on her heel. “Follow me, male.”

Knight sighed and walked behind her, his arm twitching a bit as the connections to his flesh and machinery fired wrong. “Gah.” He held onto the side of it, walking quickly.

“Do be careful with that. It’s the most advanced prosthetic we have.” Dr. Li said, turning at a small island inside her lab space. “Give me your Pipboy. I’m told to give you teleportation codes.” She reached her hand out expectantly. She seemed less than thrilled as she brought his human arm down to the table and opened the back paneling with a small flat tool. “Hold still please,” she asked, noticing his body moving still.

“Sorry, Doc, it’s the arm, must still be getting tuned.” Knight said as he did his best to hold still, a flexing of his muscles in his real arm to hold it still, even as another jerk nearly hit a set of standing beakers on the table. “Dammit.”

“There’s no need for course language.” Twi commented as she installed a flat chip into a hollow slot on his device. “No one else but the security forces get these. THAT should tell you how special you’re being treated.” She scolded him as she replaced the paneling and turned to look at his arm. Frowning at something she saw, she picked up another tool and popped open his shoulder plating without another word.

“Hey careful!” He startled as she opened his paneling.

Twi didn’t respond as she dug around inside, the small wiring harness popping out as she did. “Here’s the issue. Whoever set this in didn’t change the interface. It’s meant for a female.” She flipped several small pins and a set of jumpers. Picking up a small needle nose plier, she dug in and hit something that made the arm go dead weight.

“Hey! “ Knight startled as his limb went limp. “What are you--”

“Calm down, no wonder the world is the way it is. The male sense of savage is one thing to read, another to behold.” She touched the same place again with the tool and it came back to life. “There, it should work better. Well, as well as for someone of your gender.” She clicked the paneling back into place and pushed her glasses up.

“Your bedside manner is amazing, Doctor.” Knight said, his arm flexing as it booted up. “Thank you. However, it feels more real.” He smiled at her. “The chip too, I assume I just enter in x and y coordinates and away we go?”

Raising an eyebrow, the doctor seemed impressed if only for a moment. “No, map coordinates aren’t needed. I’m surprised you can read those. But there’s a series of hot spots we have security teams teleport to across the Wasteland.” She pulled up his mapping tool on the device. “You need but to select one and the sequence begins when you press teleport.” She canceled out the program. “When you’re ready that is.”

“Fascinating. How were you able to re-assemble a whole person? I can understand a simple object, but--”

“It’s far too advanced to even pity you with a break down. Rest assured we’ve had no mishaps since the new system update two years ago.” She shivered as she referred to the incidents.

“Incidents?”

“Your mapping system can add all sorts of hot spots, we’ve just never been interested enough to flesh out a system of different teleportation markers. Don’t use it too much, like you, it’s memory is limited.” She walked over and picked up a clipboard. “Off you go.”

“Thanks again.” He hesitantly said, feeling more and more like a lesser being as he turned and strolled passed several ogling technicians and other personnel. Taking a left as he exited Dr. Li’s lab, he walked out of the wing and past the doors, their seal sounding behind him.

***

Abandoned Scrapyard - West of Fort Hagen

“Ya hold onto that thing pretty close. Is that a souvenir?”

Mal looked up from the flickering fire, the flames just starting to grow to a adequate size when the question hit him. The item in question, a flip top lighter with the Vault 76 emblem on it. He closed it with a simple gesture and leaned back, staring at Dash through the growing fire. “Looking for a bedtime story?”

“Ha, not likely. This works out pretty much the same. You'll eat. We'll fuck. We'll be back on the road after I get some shut eye.” Dash smirked, no hatred coming off of her but clearly it wasn't genuine adoration either. “All part of the deal.” She lit a stick match and puffed on a new smoke. “Mmm much better.” She blew a ring of smoke up in the air as she brushed her bangs free of her bloodshot eyes.

Mal's eyes stared at her still, their purple glowing color accenting his mutated split irises. “Not like I need sleep as much as you.” He kept staring as he continued, bringing the lighter to view.

“Old. That's for sure. Just like you if your to be believed.” Dash mentioned, looking down at the trinket. “What are ya 200 years old?”

“247.” He corrected her. “I was 20 when I entered Vault 76.” He spun the brass and gold plated lighter casually. “You know a bit about Vault Tec yourself I've noticed.”

“Not a lot. Don't get into that egghead stuff. But I do know they were not what they were supposed to be. Those vaults were nothing but giant tombs for evil experiments.” Dash knocked an ash off next to the log she was sitting on, a distant frog making a croaking sound as she did. Turning to look at it hop by, it stopped and warmed itself by the fire. “While you all were cherry in them air conditioned vaults, the world turned into this. Those that made it out were scarred and not just on the outside.”

“Partially correct.” Mal acknowledged her with a smile. He leaned back on the stump he had chosen to perch on and picked up his backpack, rummaging through it. “The vaults for the most part were awful. Immoral experiments from sound manipulation to isolation studies. Radiation experiments and virus study on unknowing victims. All to find out the answer to those two burning words: what if?” he unrolled a sleeping bag and laid it straight on the ground.

“And you were a what if?”

“No my lovely Dash.” He zipped his pack up and set it to the stump next to him securely. “I was in what was called a control vault. No experiments. After all, you can’t compare results without some normal folks to compare them to when all is said and done.” Mal pushed his glasses up his nose slightly and smiled. “No, this lovely result you see is the result of over exposure and a new radioactive shielding drug.”

“Seems it worked. You're alive.” Dash started, nibbling on a pack of mole rat jerky she had pulled from a pocket on her skimpy harness. “‘Cept the eyes.”

“Regardless. I didn't start out like this nor did I get it from a vault experiment. Rather I left my vault on time as we should have.” He leaned back and smiled at the stars. “Vault 76 was filled with the biggest and brightest the country had to offer. We were to rebuild the world from the ashes. I was chosen because they knew civil disobedience and counter insurgency was going to be a problem no matter what scenario played out.” He looked back across to Dash. “So they chose me. Top of my class in law enforcement and military police training. Then I focused on special forces programs.”

“I take it the world wasn’t as primed and ready for rebuilding?” Dash stood up and took off her gloves and tossed them aside, tying her hair back in a sloppy ponytail for the evening’s activities.

“There’s a reason I like you. Just smart enough to keep up.” Mal smiled, his fangs just barely present as he did. In turn to her disrobing, he began to shed his top layer, his jacket going first and his gloves next as he made room for her next to him.

“So ya make it out, world is a mess, you just give up?” Dash moved next to him, unbuttoning her pants and a few latches on her chest harness, revealing more skin then previous to her lover.

“Not precisely. You see, the world was more of a mess then we thought, but after a while, I made due with the tools I found. Made it to an old bunker where the computer system was more then willing to help me reactivate a series of new resources.” Mal continued, pulling at Dash’s pants and then her harness, looking over her scarred but still reasonably flawless body. The smallest hint of ab muscles glistened with sweat as she grew closer.

“Oh yeah?” she smirked. “Robot overlords?” she sat down as she pulled herself to his lap. Straddling him, she gave him a kiss on the neck, slowly making her way down to his exposed chest.

“That would have been more helpful.” He laughed softly, his hands roaming up her back, tracing over the scars from what he could only guess was a massive bladed weapon. It had healed poorly, but it wasn’t really a problem. To him, she still had all the things that mattered to him. “No, they were automated nuke silos. Handy as hell. Once fired, they restocked and rebuilt another missile in hours.”

“Wait..what?” Dash leaned back, shocked and slightly offended. “You mean YOU were firing more nukes off AFTER they fucked up the world?!” she huffed, almost moving to get up, had his hand not grabbed her bare bicep, circling it and keeping her in place.

“Don’t you try to pace judgement, Dash. You’ve been hopped up on chems and sleeping with people for thrills and caps most of your life,” he reminded her. “That is when you weren’t beating the living crap out of people for more chems and caps?” he cocked an eyebrow as his words hit home and she eased up a bit. “Besides, you didn’t let me finish.”

Dash gave a long stare at him and her face relaxed, though if it was because she was interested, or was being paid to be, was hard to tell. “Keep going.”

He pulled her closer with his Pipboy set for proximity alert to keep them from being ambushed as their foreplay continued. “There was a greater purpose. The world was doing fine, rebuilding itself. That was until something else happened upon the world: The Scorched.”
“Never heard of’em.” She said absently, leaning forward and nibbling at his ear. “Sounds like a buncha hopped up raiders.”

“Raiders would have been easier.” He grinned as the nerve endings in his ear fired as she worked her mouth over his lobe. “But this plague was responsible for wiping out most everyone who had begun to rebuild. Raider, Responder, Settler, it didn’t care. All it did was consume, turning you into one of them or simply killing you.” He tilted his head to give her access to the other side, his hands running down to her sides and to her firm ass, giving it a squeeze. “Long story short, the generals of these things, huge giant bats, would breed underground until they’d overrun caverns and break through to the surface.” He grunted as she bit slightly harder than he liked, his response being to tug on her ponytail.

“So where do the nukes come in?” she asked between kisses, her own hands running down his equally scarred back and shoulders.

“There were only so many points they’d force themselves up to break through. Ground was softer or something, I don’t know why it only worked in some places.” Mal undid his belt and unzipped his pants between them, pushing her hand down into the waistband.

“Ah. So you’d blast them as they came..up and out?” she asked, teasing as she grabbed worked around in his now open pants.

“Almost.” He grunted, shifting his weight. “Nukes were used to collapse the breaks in the ground they pushed through, seal them shut for a time.” He gave a louder gasp at her activities.

“Mmmmhmmm.” Dash smiled, enjoying the semi control she was able to hold over him, ever so briefly. “So you beat the scorched and saved the entire world? Doesn't explain those eyes.”

“Not exactly. Long story short, running clean up on the nuke zones is not the safest of things, but a needed activity to collect samples to learn more about them. Collected enough over time to help turn the tide.” He leaned back and looked down at his companion. “Course, I also spent enough time in the radiation to get a few..unwanted gifts. The side effects you see before you, among other things. Helped kill the queen beast too, but that's another story for another time.” He stood up and disrobed the final bits he needed to. “Let's get to what we know will speed the night along for you. No doubt you’d like to sleep?”

“Hopeless romantic.” Dash shook her head, staring up as he disrobed. Pulling off her harness and the last of her clothing, she perched on her knees in front of him. “Fine by me.”

***

“Well that just left a bad taste in my mouth.” Knight said softly as he walked along the curved hallways of the Institute. The subtle water trickling of the artificial environment whispered into his ears. The sudden alert tone on his PipBoy snapped him back to focus again. “Knight here.”

“Has your chip been installed?” Shimmer asked over the speaker, a gentle crackle sounding with it.

“Chip installed. I'm on my way back.”

“Don't bother. I've sent the solution to my inability to be topside with you your direction.” She answered back quickly. “You'll no doubt need some provisions and weaponry. She’ll take you to the quartermaster and then you two are to jump out immediately.”

“Whose this teammate?” he asked curiously, his footsteps slowing down as he remained focused on the PipBoy screen. The spectrograph moving in time with Dr. Shimmers voice.

“S-537. Generation 3 synth. You'll be able to sort things out as she’s got a very detailed set of programs to run and will be whom you report to get to me.” The stern reminder in her tone made him stop in her tracks. “She’s got an experimental long range transmitter we’ll use to communicate to you when it’s needed. You listen to any and all directives as if they were..” she laughed softly. “As if I were standing there giving them to you.”

After a brief pause Knight nodded. “Yes ma'am. Knight out.” He switched the relay off on his Pipboy and sighed. “That's all I need, they might as well shove a leash up my-”

“Pardon me.” A voice interrupted him with an almost delicate tone compared to Dr. Shimmer. “Are you Operative Knight?”

Turning to the voice, Knight immediately widened his eyes and stared at the generation 3 synth before him. Dressed in a lab coat with reinforced stitching and several other modifications for cross country travel, was a girl no more than his age. More distracting was the obvious fact that her appearance was a young but still remarkably identical version of Dr. Shimmer.

“I'm to be utilized by you for the rest of my life span.” She said, calmly extending a hand.
“I'm S-537. But the lab gave me the name ‘Sunset’.”

Author's Note

We strive for a mixture of satire, comedy and total drama island like atmosphere when we write ;)

Stay tuned for more and comment away!