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Post by Lockdown on Feb 1, 2018 20:06:42 GMT
With the horrors of Vault 116 dealt with as permanently as possible, the group is left to determine where to go and how to get there. They have each been marked by this accursed place in one form or another; but have grown closer in some ways, while more distant in others. They have found one of the components needed to repair their home Vault, but with little clue as to where to go next.
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6,670 posts
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92 likes
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I'm not going to say it was damage, but it was damage.
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Apr 10, 2024 12:51:43 GMT
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Post by Robot on Feb 2, 2018 2:11:42 GMT
"So." Cecil spoke up, finally breaking the silence with a heated bitterness in his tone. He had been none too pleased about Christine's choice to do some book learning, but knew hypocrisy would get him nowhere. The greaser had spent quite awhile silently fuming in the safe room as the others filtered in.
"Amber wants to touch base with Slane. We have one of the components 316 needs. I want to see if I can feed Scrimshaw a line and get him to leave his house to chat up Skrub." Cecil glanced sideways at Joyce. "I ain't going to be welcome in Purewater, Kat's 'Mom' is going to go ape when she sees her, no matter what Kat says. Back home I catch it for Joe and Bunnie, which unless you want a gun pulled on you again, maybe we leave her somewhere. It's a no win for me, so you all figure it out."
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Post by DataNinja on Feb 2, 2018 5:58:48 GMT
"I'm sorry, Cecil," Christine says, finally addressing her fellow Vaultie. He'd clearly been angry with her, and, if she'd learned anything, trying to address him on anything but on his own terms would just make things worse. "I should have discussed it with everyone first." It isn't exactly addressing his point, but it's something that still needs to be out there. "I was... not in the best headspace there. And you seemed like you wanted to be alone. I know an apology now is basically meaningless, but I hope that we can at least begin to move past it."
It's a little bit of an enthusiasm dampener on the feelings that she'd had after the procedure, and finding that things made sense. But there's no turning back time. She has to try and let him deal with it in his own way, and so she moves on to what he'd actually said. "Do we want to actually give the location of home to anyone up here?" she asks, hesitantly, "I... can see a lot of ways that that can go wrong. But, if we can't find food in here, though, we're going to have to stop at Purewater, no matter what. We need food, and that's the only place to get it if we don't want to be constantly dosing ourselves with Purgative."
"And... I'm at fault as much as you are for Joe and Bunnie," she continues, choking up a bit, "That's why I was sent. To keep everyone alive and healthy. I couldn't even do that. We knew the risks... but that doesn't make it any easier. Not that I can really return home anyways..."
She stays silent for a few moments, before saying, with some conviction, "One thing that I am sure about, though is that before all of this is over, I'm going to go to Joyce's home." She looks at the woman in question. "I know that I can help there. I have to at least manage to follow through on one promise..."
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6,670 posts
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92 likes
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I'm not going to say it was damage, but it was damage.
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Apr 10, 2024 12:51:43 GMT
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Post by Robot on Feb 2, 2018 16:48:12 GMT
"Save it." He snapped at Christine, though his tone was better tempered then it had been a moment before. "Bungling to learn is only a good tactic so many times. That you and Kat would make the same idiot choice I did just pisses me off to no end, but it's done. Leave it." Cecil paused to take a deep breath.
"Home ain't about who is really to blame, it's who people want to blame. Perception means a lot, wherever you go." At Christine's admission to wanting to help Joyce, Cecil looked to the woman again, with her shocking pink hair and visibly sagged. "Not keen on going anywhere near that place, if I'm honest. Nothing against Joyce or her family, just a lot of bad memories twisting my gut."
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Nov 22, 2023 15:48:27 GMT
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Post by Slytherclaw on Feb 4, 2018 23:29:56 GMT
Amber lets out a grunt from where she's settled, messing with a laptop of scrap. "Just because it went poorly for you doesn't make it an idiotic choice," She mutters, squinting at the circuit box on a ball shell and blowing out a bit of dust. "Although doing it alone was a bit iffy."
She snaps the last piece in place, presses the button on the front a few times to make sure it triggers correctly, and tosses it at Cecil languidly with the rest she'd been sorting out during their down period. She wipes her hands on the front of her overalls and puts her tools away carefully in their container, leaving black grease marks on the blue fabric with little care.
"I need to stop by the vault, either way, to deliver this chip and get it working. Might be good to dump some unused mon there, now that they've been made docile?" She runs a mostly clean hand through her hair. "Might be good to see mom for a second... Either way, I think the professor knew what he was doing when he sent us out, the way he did, instead of going out himself."
She frowns, sniffing. "If he didn't want to come out and help us, he can shut up about his judgement on what's happened since. Bunnie is still alive, and frankly, the two of them were adults who made their own decisions. If he gets on you about what happened, we'll speak up for you."
[Craft: 3k of Tech Scrap in: 8 Great Balls (1400), 16 Basic Balls (1600) Gift: 3 Basic + 2 Great Ball to Kat, Cecil, Christine. (-9 Basic, -6 Great)]
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Post by DataNinja on Feb 5, 2018 2:49:45 GMT
Trust. It's a fragile thing. It's a difficult thing to build, requiring lots of time and effort... and something that's easily broken. Powerful, but just as easily able to cease in an instant. Christine is aware that some of the trust that had built up between her and Cecil had eroded or shattered. Which of those it was, she couldn't yet tell. "It wasn't done alone," Christine clarifies to Amber. "Joyce knew what she was doing. Probably not as much as you would have... but enough." She takes a deep breath, as the mechanic also discusses returning to the Vault. Especially when Amber mentions her mother. "I... It's hard," she starts, "I want to go back to the Vault. I really want everything to be how it was before, again. Where I knew how to do everything, and had my whole life planned out. But... I know I can't. Not truly. Even if I'm not infectious, I'm still not human. I'll never truly fit in, have everything be as it was before. I... I'm scared to go back," she admits. "Everything there is the same, but I've changed. I don't want my parents to see me how I am now. I don't want to face things knowing that I'll never fit in. And a part of me is worried that, despite all of that... that if I go back, I'll never leave. That I'll just shut myself away from all the horrors of the surface. And I don't want that to happen. I want to keep you all safe. I want to get those parts. And I want to help Joyce, even if I have to do it myself." She exhales. "I just don't know if I can trust myself to still want to, given the chance to go back to what I knew."Crafting: 5 Antidotes. 4 Each of Ice Heal/Paralyze Heal/Burn Heal $100 each. $1700 total.
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6,670 posts
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92 likes
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I'm not going to say it was damage, but it was damage.
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Apr 10, 2024 12:51:43 GMT
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Post by Robot on Feb 5, 2018 4:29:28 GMT
Cecil seemed to cool off at Amber's reply, as though somehow the lack of reaction had doused his temper. He caught the ball in both hands, a little mustached wedge-like face peering warily over his shoulder with wide eyes at the mechanic. If Skrub had known what he was doing, to Cecil that meant he'd sent them all out with that 'or die trying' ultimatum. The dangers they were going to face hadn't been stressed nearly hard enough, given how quick Joe and Bunnie were to fall for anyone who was just too squeaky clean for the wastes. "Christine, you're the only one that'd ever have to know. There's not a mark on you. No extra limbs, no scales, you still got all your teeth. It isn't like you stand out any more then you did on looks alone.The greaser stood. "It's about what you do with yourself. Eating, breathing, and shitting in a hole in the ground ain't living. Having someone schedule every minute of your life from the time your mom pushed you out to the time you drop dead, ain't living. I got no intention on letting anyone else lie to themselves about it, specially not you." A nasal sigh and he stretched. "Pass me your Pokemon, I'm going to see if I can't swing a few clutches of eggs to sell back in town before we leave. Jalopy is already loaded with metal scrap from the cars topside."
Breeding; Aron (M) + Munchlax (F) Skrubbing (M) + Skrubbing (F) Crocanaw (M) + Cubone (F) Teddiursa (F) + Eevee (M) Pikachu (M) + (A) Rattata (F) Seviper (M) + Emolga (F) Noivern (M) + Fletchinder (F) Eevee (M) + Lopunny (F) Quilladin (M) + Dunsparce (F) Machoke (M) + Machop (F) Salandit (F) + Cubone (M)
This produces the following eggs;
Skrubbing Munchlax Totodile Teddiursa Pikachu Emolga Fletchling Buneary Machop Cubone
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Feb 27, 2023 22:33:22 GMT
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Post by Seya on Feb 8, 2018 19:51:43 GMT
Kat watches--and more importantly, listens--to her crew with a patient expression, taking note of every quaver in their voices, tense hunch in their frames, dark and worried look in their eyes. She was... surprisingly calm, given it all, and for the most part didn't care about where they all went as long as they went together. As long as she could keep them safe.
Could she keep them safe? Her mind fluttered back to more fretful thoughts.
Not in Purewater, likely.
It was strange. Perhaps a side-effect of the mind-scrambling device, but these people now... mattered to her more than made sense, for how long she'd known them. It wasn't just a loving, caring kind of 'mattering' either, but a fierce need to protect them and keep them out of harm, because they were hers, nobody else's, and--
She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, pinched the bridge of her nose, then shook herself out and got up to do a quick walk around the area, humming to herself off-tune. "Just lemme know when you decide, aye? There's an old quarry not too far from here that'll make a good stop if we're goin' for a long drive west. Might be somethin' to consider."
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Post by DataNinja on Feb 8, 2018 21:16:33 GMT
Christine pulls her hair around in front of her face, glancing at the pink stains on the end. It's not much, true. Certainly nothing like Kat's transformation. But it's still something. It's not worth arguing about, though.
The other part, though... "No, Cecil," she says forcefully, "you do not get to dictate what someone else thinks of as living. I get that you don't want to live like that. That's fine. I've accepted that. But you do not get to make the choice for others. Isn't that the very thing that you were trying to get out of, and railing against right before? Having people make choices for others?"
She sighs, having gotten that out of her system, before looking at her 'Dex, and pulling up the storage option. "Which ones do you need?" she asks, in a more resigned tone.
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6,670 posts
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92 likes
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I'm not going to say it was damage, but it was damage.
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Apr 10, 2024 12:51:43 GMT
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Post by Robot on Feb 8, 2018 21:51:52 GMT
"You're right. Better we leave a decision like that up to some kind of overseer." Cecil replied coldly. "A person of unimpeachable integrity that couldn't possibly have a hidden agenda or motive. What could possibly go wrong, blindly following an authority figure that has no transparency?" He made a small noise of discomfort and worked his fingers into his temples.
"Emolga, Munchlax, Fletchinder, Noivern, Machoke, and Skrubbing from you. Kat, what's at this quarry other then rocks and water?"
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Post by DataNinja on Feb 8, 2018 22:04:37 GMT
"No," Christine replies, passing over the listed Pokéballs, rather hesitantly in Coiffe's case. "Leave the decision up to the person who has to do the living. If people are happy living in a Vault, even given another option, then who are you to tell them that they're wrong? You can give people a choice. But don't think to make it for them. How does that make you any better? Because you believe that you're 'right'? Regardless of what anyone else might think? I'm sure that Sampson believed that the choices that he was making were the 'right' ones, too."
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Feb 27, 2023 22:33:22 GMT
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Post by Seya on Feb 9, 2018 3:25:38 GMT
Once again she waits until the talking has... slowed, before responding. "It's a big ol' hole in the ground, sure, but the sand keeps most've the bad shit outta the water there. You just gotta boil it, and boom. No pokerus in your drink. 'Sides that, well, guess it keeps us outta the wind. Just a stop on the way."
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6,670 posts
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92 likes
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I'm not going to say it was damage, but it was damage.
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Apr 10, 2024 12:51:43 GMT
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Post by Robot on Feb 9, 2018 17:00:54 GMT
"Careful." Cecil warned haltingly when Christine brought up Sampson, his stare holding a piercing quality as he locked eyes with her and let Kat describe the quarry. When he did at last break eye contact, it was to fiddle with the Dex's internal storage. His breathing had become stilted, but he was making a clear effort to contain an outburst. "I have the ability to make the right decision because I am open-minded and now informed. Are you telling me you'd let your friends and family choose death, out of fear or ignorance? Just because you're unwilling to take charge for someone else's good? I get it, it's fucking hypocrisy, but tech ain't forever. Vaults ain't forever."
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Post by DataNinja on Feb 9, 2018 18:37:23 GMT
As soon as she mentions Sampson, Christine instantly regrets it. "I'm sorry," she prefaces, "That was entirely uncalled for, and I shouldn't have gone there. I'm not in the best frame of mind right now, but that should be no excuse. You've been through a lot, and don't need this. I can't possibly imagine what it feels like, but I do know that I'm very much not helping right now." She sighs.
"I... don't know how productive this is right now. We're all tired, and ready to leave this place, and I don't think either of us is going to be able to convince the other. We're not doing anyone much good just standing here and sniping at each other. I know that this is a discussion that we're going to have to have at some point... but that should probably happen after we've had some more proper rest, and have had some time away from here."
She runs her hands through her hair. "Besides... if we can't find everything that we need, the decision might end up being made for us..."
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6,670 posts
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I'm not going to say it was damage, but it was damage.
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Apr 10, 2024 12:51:43 GMT
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Post by Robot on Feb 9, 2018 22:24:32 GMT
"Talking is a step forward, at least." He muttered softly. "When we get to 316, you're holding my Pokemon, I'll keep the wimpod with me as an insurance and a distress warning for you. Skrub and I are going to have some pretty heated words, but I know he can handle it." Cecil implying he personally couldn't.
"Pack it in, once we're finished whatever twiddling and harvesting there is to do, we head to Purewater, then the quarry. Got some metal to offload, Kat should touch base with her caretaker. I'll be dropping in on Luce and Cindy. We could visit Scrimshaw as a bunch but he gets squirrely around crowds. Amber wanted to see Slane.". Cecil trailed off and got into the motions to wrap up their time in that horrible place.
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Post by Lockdown on Feb 10, 2018 23:38:11 GMT
With everyone assisting in securing the goods they'd retreived; and Joyce carefully coaxing a semi-mobile Bunnie out into the jalopy, the group is ready for departure in less than an hour's time. Bunnie is seated in the middle of the jalopy, looking around blearily and still huddled in on herself somewhat, but she seems to have gotten past the worst of the breakdown. Once she's in the open air it subsides even more. But she doesn't seem inclined to interact with anyone, accepting things that are handed to her and murmuring thanks for food.
The ride back is thankfully uneventful. Whatever large mon a "Nidoking was" that had moved into the area seems to have either wandered off for more territory, or been driven off by something else. Kat sees a few rock faces that have been scraped bare to reveal faint traces of ore. Probably some kind of steel type.
Arriving at the gates of Purewater, the guards seem surprised to see your group, and eye Joyce with some minor suspicion; though they do let her through. Inside however, the streets are unexpectedly busy, and there's an air of celebration as well. You all overhear something about a "sage" having come back to town again, even as you pull up to Slane's little compound.
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Post by DataNinja on Feb 11, 2018 1:15:29 GMT
For once, exiting the Vault, Christine is rather glad to be outside. She still feels the 'weight' of the emptiness above her, but it's nothing compared to the weight that hung on her soul, steadily growing, throughout 116.
Once in town, she's rather amazed at how many people there actually seem to be in the town. "Kat?" she asks the girl, "What's going on here? 'Sage'? Why are people celebrating it?"
While waiting for the answer, she digs through her pack, happy to be able to soon offload some of the metal here, and also re-notes the lack of food, and somewhat dwindling stocks of Purgative. "Alright," she says to the group, "I'm going to go to the store, pick up some supplies. I think Bunnie should probably stick with me... probably safer than leaving her anywhere, that way if anything happens, I can help. Would you mind coming with me, just in case, Joyce?" She also makes a pointed glance at Amber. "And for the love of god, Amber, please get some food this time. Everyone should have at least some, just in case."
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6,670 posts
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92 likes
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I'm not going to say it was damage, but it was damage.
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Apr 10, 2024 12:51:43 GMT
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Post by Robot on Feb 11, 2018 3:49:48 GMT
"I'll take care of the food, Lil sis won't go hungry. Stay in public spaces in view of people and don't go getting into any wagons. If you gotta do business with any of these out-of-towners, you get me or Kat." Cecil raised a hand, waving dismissively as he vaulted out of the Jalopy, steps slowing a few feet from the fence-full of odd metal bits and bobs. "As long as Amber gives me space when I ask for it, she's welcome to come with." One of his hands found his pocket, and he wandered out of the yard with a heavy bag of eggs slung over one shoulder. All the extra people did in town was put him on edge, he'd wanted some space and quiet, which he might've gotten if Purewater wasn't being so damn festive all of the sudden. After some haggling with Mahoney, and Amber's famed 'redsmith', he's at least satisfied with the contributions he's made. There's little attempt to learn the craftsman's name, and the greaser keeps almost entirely to himself despite Amber's presence. Touching base with Lucien doesn't yield fruit as he might've hoped, but at least Marissa seems fine. There's no mincing of words, just a reclusive sort of coolness about him during it all. When he does get around to visiting Cindy, he asks Amber for privacy, but even with it his time there is miraculously short. It might be due to the mechanic's nearby presence, or it might be that weightiness to his soul. From there it was off to Slane, at Amber's request. Sold Helmet: 1125 Sold Light Armor: 4000 Sold Pokemon Eggs: 26,000
Bought Egg Warmer x2, -5000 Bought Fine Shield, -4500 Bought Simple Longsword, -2000 Bought 50 MREs, -10000 Bought 3 Pokerus Purgatives, -900
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Feb 27, 2023 22:33:22 GMT
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Post by Seya on Feb 11, 2018 4:27:50 GMT
Over the course of the ride home, Kat had taken Cecil's... negativity towards her decision to heart, self-consciously untying every last decoration from her hair, and struggling (with a few curses) to re-style her bangs over the new markings on her face. If she focused hard enough, she could even dull the green glow from her eye until she could no longer see it when she looked in the jalopy's mirror.
Being bare of her ornaments felt like the strangest change yet.
The thoughts scatter quickly upon arriving back in Purewater. Kat overhears the talk of the sage, same as the others, and turns to Christine with a look of excitement. "I'd put my money on it bein' the Blue Sage. He's an old fella, real old..." she falters, a look of wonder stealing over her face for a moment. "Actually... after what we learned in that Vault, I... he might be old as the Cataclysm itself, now that I think about it. Just the stuff he says... he knows so much. He comes by th' town every once in a while, stays a few days, 'n heads off again. It's like a party when he shows up."
She looks down the street, fixing the hair over her eye again, then looks back at Christine. "Hell, you in particular might like to speak ta him. He spreads anti-Pokerus mushroom spores about... and's just a real wise guy. And... he's different. Real different." She grins. "You'll see. Despite his difference, everyone here loves'm."
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Post by DataNinja on Feb 11, 2018 18:44:15 GMT
"What?" Christine asks, "But that's..." she really wants to say 'impossible', but... if Sampson could live that long, even as a monstrosity, there must be other ways, too.
"Spreads spores?" she asks, "Like... gives out mushrooms to people?" At this point, she wouldn't be surprised if he was literally a mushroom person instead, though. "That might be a good idea to see him just for that, then. Any idea where he might be?"
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