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Post by Seya on Nov 12, 2016 2:41:18 GMT
"Hold on a sec, sweetheart," Kat says, turning her hesitant gaze on Christine. "You're plannin' on goin' back to the hut under the mud once you've got whatcha need? And stayin' there?" She lets her arm, which had been propped up on the arm of a couch, fall limp. "Like, real 'n true, you plan on stayin' in that vault forever 'n forgettin' all the rest of the surface? Where's the fun in that? Here I was thinkin' you meant to show the rest of your vaulties how ta live up here in the real world. Not that-- that fake-ass, authoritative, sterile science 'xperiment." She glances over at Cecil, then to Bunnie, and to Amber. "Y'all aren't stickin' aboveground once this is all said 'n done?"
Despite her spirits clearly a bit dampened, she rises to her feet and stretches. "Ain't the prettiest of pictures up here most days, but hell, at least it's real. Can't stand the thought of never seein' the stars again."
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Post by DataNinja on Nov 12, 2016 3:27:23 GMT
"Look..." Christine says, softly, "I don't know what you see in the sky, in the stars, in all of this... but I see emptiness. When I look up, it feels like I'm falling, like I'm going to be forever enveloped in nothingness. You may not think much of the Vault... but it's home. I'm... sure you feel the same about this." She gestures around to Kat's 'house'. "It's safe there. There's no risk of being turned into Pokémon. No bandits. No fear of being abducted. Not like up here. Here I feel like I need to constantly be on watch, because there's going to be something. Compared to now, I felt free down there. I could be myself, and not worry about anything but doing my part, and making sure other people could live their lives. It's the reason I'm out here. To make sure they can keep living their lives."
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Post by David Hilm on Nov 12, 2016 4:14:07 GMT
"I, for one, have no intentions going back to the vault for good. I wont say it was all bad, definitely not where I want to be cooped up for the long run though. But to be fair I'd made that decision the moment I was selected for the team up here. And despite my..." Bunnie gets selective with her words. Not wanting to make Christine feel awkward unnecessarily. "Despite my rough introduction topside, I think I'm gonna stick to that decision."
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Post by Slytherclaw on Nov 12, 2016 19:47:39 GMT
Amber spents her entire time as they wait in town falling more and more in love with a small fussy bear who apparently likes her enough to bring gifts. She, Topaz, and Jasper spent quite a while playing together in their downtime when she's not helping out. When offered the choice of payment, she'll ask if it's possible to do a split--a pittance for food, but she is interested in schematics. Given a hard choice, she'll eventually fall on the schematics.
Besides training, working, and playing, she hopefully finds time to do a bit of crafting, so that when they're preparing to leave, her stores of pokeballs are a bit more flush.
At the offer of civil justice, she frowns at Cecil. "I guess if you want us to?" She says hesitantly, looking uncomfortable. "I'm...not exactly excited to watch, rather than just hearing about it. But...it isn't fair to make you go alone."
She shrugs and starts to collect her things, recalling Jasper and letting Topaz jump back up to his usual spot. She only glances up again at Kat's question, but doesn't answer immediately, brow furrowing in thought.
"I guess it depends what it's like out here, when we're done with everything. Christine is right--right now, the vault is home. That's where my parents are, and the friends and people I grew up with. I don't think it's fair of you to expect that we'll give that up easily."
She pauses again.
"But I am rather fond of Topaz and Jasper...so perhaps an arrangement could be worked out with the vault to let us travel, too? Or maybe, when we're finally done with everything we need to do, we'll be more comfortable up here and we'll feel safe and have made friends that we don't want to give up here, either. ...It's maybe a little early to ask us if we're willing to give up everything we've ever known for something we've only seen for a week, especially when that week has been a very dark introduction to some of what...well, what I assume is the worst topside has to offer. I guess there could be even worse things we don't even know about yet..."
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Post by Seya on Nov 12, 2016 21:42:42 GMT
Kat laughs. "I ain't meanin' for you to give up nobody, Amber, hun. S'why I mentioned bringin' em all up here. I ain't askin' none of you to give up on people back in that mudhole. Just the mudhole itself, I s'pose." She shrugs, and looks about to recline when she remembers something and leans forward again, eyeing Amber with a big grin. "Forgot to mention, din't I? Spoke ta Adrian--the blacksmith boy you were eyein' up--and he's happy to sit down for a nice dinner and chat with ya sometime."
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Post by Robot on Nov 13, 2016 1:58:18 GMT
"I might drop in to visit Mom, and thank Skrub for giving me my shot, but 316 ain't home anymore. Wasn't really much of one to begin with if I'm honest, tight spaces, tight restrictions, rigid people." Cecil shook his head. "No offense to any of you three, dangerous as it might be up here I prefer living my way to having everything being regimented by somebody else. Freedom." He nodded appreciatively and finished exiting the bus. He'd see to it even if none of the others would.
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Post by Lockdown on Nov 13, 2016 18:22:51 GMT
The trip to the Guard barracks and offices is short, the group deeply involved in their discussion. At the door you're met by the Commander herslf, who gives the three girls a sympathetic smile, before looking to Kat and Cecil. "Yellowjacket is in cell 3B. I'll talk to your friends here for a bit though." Kat and Cecil are pointed in the direction of the holding cells deeper inside the structure, while Emilia leads the other three to her office. "Girls, please take a seat. I think we need to have a discussion. You might not like what I'm going to say, but I ask that you hear me out at least, alright?" She takes a seat herself and gives each of you a searching look before continuing. "First off, you should know; I'm from a Vault myself." She pulls a tattered patch from a pocket, the number 168 emblazoned in yellow on the dark blue fabric. "We... didn't have a good introduction to the surface. Some raiders managed to get their hands on a Steelix, they managed to tunnel around the door. It wasn't a slaughter... but it was a near thing. We managed to fight them off with the guard mon and security forces... but in the end we were exposed. Vulnerable. We had to reach out and so, a number of our most promising were sent out to find allies. I was one of those scouts."
She chuckles gently as she strokes her Emolga's fur, not noticing the static sparks that jump between her fingers. "I thought I was prepared. We'd beaten back the raiders that had broken in, what more was there that could hurt us?" She shakes her head, looking rueful. "What we didn't count on was the tenacity of the survivors... or their ability to hold a grudge. I don't know if it was desperation, or just sheer greed that drove them... but all of us were attacked. I was very young, and had never killed before. There were only two raiders, women like me. I thought that they could be reasoned with, or intimidated away. So, when I had them beaten and dead to rights, I tied them up and slept, intending to try and talk to them in the morning. If not for Joules here..." she trails off, then reaches down with her other hand, lifting her shirt and exposing a long jagged scar that seems to be where a sharp blade once skittered over her ribs. "They got loose in the night. Tried to kill me while I slept. Joules woke me up, attacked one of them... and I managed to twist just enough to keep her from killing me." Emilia's eyes are hard. "I didn't give them a second chance to try."
She leans back, letting her shirt fall back into place, and looks each of the three in the eyes. "I heard about what happened from both sides after you brought your captives back. Cecil gave me the rundown, and I personally interrogated both Yellowjacket and the other girl, Marissa. Frankly you're all lucky that you took the precautions you did, and didn't end up with your throats slit in your sleep. As it stands, if any of the ones you left out there in the woods survive long enough, it's entirely possible that they may hunt you down just for revenge. And while I'll admit that there's the occasional defector from a Raider gang... most of the older ones are entrenched in the lifestyle. They swoop in, steal from caravans or under-defended settlements, then skulk off to use their pickings. They've completely thrown away morality and any belief in the sanctity of human life. So girls, for your own safety, I'm asking you... no, I'm begging you. Unless a Raider actually gives up and hands over everything on them so you know it's not a trick... put them down. Otherwise they'll wait, they'll plot, and they'll try and get the upper hand. To them mercy isn't a virtue, it's a weakness to be used and exploited." She sighs a little, giving you all a compassionate look.
"That isn't to say that every person you meet outside a settlement is a raider. There's plenty of scavengers and prospectors out there as well, and most of them are civil folk. There's plenty of people willing to help and even more that need it." She falls silent, giving the three girls a chance to process what she's said.
Cecil and Kat are escorted by another member of the Guards to the holding cells. Aside from a few drunks sleeping things off, the place is nearly empty... except for the cell containing Yellowjacket. The woman is a pitiable sight, her arms strapped to her sides, and her legs chained down. There's even a gag in her mouth. The guard snorts as he looks at her. "Can't say why you didn't just put this one down instead of dumping her on us. She's completely crazy, and not in a fun way like that other one was. Bitch bit wouldn't stop fighting, bite three of us before we started gagging her, and we had to tie down her arms and legs to keep her from flailing or getting ahold of one of us when we've gotta feed or clean her." He pulls back his sleeve to reveal a deep bite in his forearm, before glancing over to Kat. "Hey, uh the boss lady told me... if you don't want to do this, we'll take care of it."
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Post by DataNinja on Nov 13, 2016 21:06:14 GMT
Christine listens silently to the Captain's spiel. She waits for a few moments, to make sure that the other was done talking, before saying, "First off, my condolences for everything that you've gone through. I can't imagine what it would be like to have the sanctity of home broken. But, you have to understand... what you're asking me to do, is to go against everything that I am. If I wanted to do that, I'd have done that when I had the chance back in the raider stronghold." Is this what the surface does? she wonders. Does it try and force you to throw away all morality... just to survive? Should I... have just taken the chance to change, and been happy about it? It would have made everyone else happier, at least... She shoves that line of thought into the back of her mind, focussing back on the here and now.
"If you're asking me to kill, ma'am... I, well," she takes a breath, "I don't think I can oblige. My whole life has been dedicated to healing, to life. Any death was an explicit failure on my part. That's not something that I can just change. I'm sorry."
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Post by David Hilm on Nov 16, 2016 12:54:50 GMT
"She's not saying you have to go out of your way to kill everything walking the face of the planet sweet pea. Just that, when it comes down to it, we can't just let people that are much more likely to hurt us get up and go on their merry way, since their merry way is probably gonna involve us getting gutted. I told you before the whole thing with the yellow jackets, some people don't deserve to live."
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Post by DataNinja on Nov 16, 2016 18:37:57 GMT
"That's where it seems we differ, I guess," Christine says. "I see life as a right. You - and most people up here, it seems - view it as a privilege, something that you need to show you deserve to have. So, I think that's what accounting for the dichotomy here."
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Post by Slytherclaw on Nov 18, 2016 13:44:29 GMT
Amber gives Kat a weird look, but nods. "That would be....nice?" As they prepare to leave for the guard's place, she makes a mental note to mention to her fellow vaulties that they'll be having a guest for dinner at some point. Idly, she wonders what he wants to chat about--is he interested in their vault stuff? They'd been piss poor at keeping that secret, so it had probably gotten out. She shrugs it off as something to deal with later.
She's silent as the commander speaks, back stiff and straight and mind racing. She can't help but see a similarity there, as she peeks at Topaz out of the corner of her eye where he's tugging lightly on her hair to keep his balance on her shoulder. She chews on her bottom lip as Bunnie and Christine talk, brow furrowed in thought.
"You don't have to," She finally says, looking at Christine. "Kill, that is. You don't have to."
She shoves her hands in her pockets, hunching over a little at the attention, but doesn't break her gaze. She fingers the syringe gun in her pocket.
"We're a team, right? We've all got our jobs to do. That...doesn't have to be yours." She flicks her gaze to Bunnie, lifting her chin a little in silent question.
"Christine, if we have to be practical to keep ourselves alive, if it's a choice between us and people who won't hesitate to kill us, we have to be practical. Otherwise we're dead, and the vault maybe survives, or maybe dies with us when we can't fix it or help them transition. But that's not something you have to worry about. You worry about keeping people alive, and just...don't think about it. We'll take care of it. Of you." She beseeches.
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Post by DataNinja on Nov 18, 2016 16:19:38 GMT
Christine just sits there, silently, not meeting anyone's gaze.
"Just because I don't do the deed myself, Amber," she eventually says, slowly, "Doesn't mean I'm not complacent in it. But, I'm not an idiot. I know where things stand. Everyone has made that abundantly clear. If you all decide that this is the best course of action, then there's nothing I can do about it. Just know, that there's no way I'll be able to 'not think about it'. Especially because there's always the chance that they're another Marissa."
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Post by Seya on Nov 23, 2016 19:11:46 GMT
Seeing the bite mark, Kat steels her jaw and rolls her shoulders back. "Nah. I meant to put her down back when, but some a the softer ones among our merry crew woulda pitched a fit." She runs a hand over her sledgehammer, a twinge of fear prickling down her spine. She shakes her head and looks to the guard with a harder gaze. "They might still, as a fact. But I think it's about time they toughen up. I ain't gonna commit to somethin' like this and back out all willy-nilly. If they can't hold me to my word now, what good'm I any other time, right? Tell me what to do, then, darlin'."
Unable to force any kind of smile, she gives Cecil a glance out of the corner of her eye, trying to judge his expression.
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Post by Robot on Nov 25, 2016 19:36:20 GMT
"Ain't going to be humane with a blunt object." Cecil replied quietly, his dark eyes making contact with hers the second her attention shifted to him. "I believe you'd have done it out there, bit different when they are still fighting." Cecil seemed to be picking through his words very carefully, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "I ain't never killed nobody, bit scared to if I'm honest. Came real close one time. Old man Skrub put me in the medical ward beside the guy for the weeks of his recovery."
A short pause, filled by the nervous fidgeting of the boy with his lighter, flick click snap... flick click snap.
"I'll do it if you won't... need to know that I can."
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Post by Lockdown on Dec 1, 2016 17:22:26 GMT
The guard pulls something out of his belt, a short wand sort of device with a capped syringe at the end, turning it to offer the other end to Kat. The opaque plastic shows hints of a virulent purple substance inside. "Just jab 'er with this. Concentrated Salazzle toxins. Shit can kill even steel types, it'll be fast and relatively painless, without any of the mess other methods incur."
Emilia gives Christine a sad, compassionate look. "I think it's admirable that you want to help people so much... but Marissa is quite honestly the exception rather than the rule in a number of ways. Most raiders, they become what they are after another raider gang hits their settlement or caravan. They become disillusioned with life out here, and decide that instead of eking out an existence just for other people to swoop in and take with their stronger mon and greater capacity for violence, that they'll become the takers. And the cycle just repeats itself over and over. I'm not saying that you absolutely must kill someone, but you have to decide which matters to you more dear. The safety and well-being of your friends and companions, or the minuscule chance that the person that was just trying to kill or enslave you might be a redeemable person under it all. To be frank the only reason Marissa wasn't in line to be put down as well is because of how... well, lost she is. She's broken mentally, and latches on to anyone in a position of power over her to give her direction and purpose." She holds up a finger in a warning sign.
"Other people though, they're more likely to fake surrendering in order to get the chance to get the upper hand later. Raiders as a whole range from completely psychotic to extremely cunning individuals. If you want to survive up here long enough to do whatever it is that you're up here for, you must be careful of how much rope you give to others... because they may use it to hang you."
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Post by DataNinja on Dec 3, 2016 21:33:36 GMT
"Well, I'll keep this all in mind," Christine says. "I know that it's probably not the answer that you want to hear, but that's the best that I can truthfully tell you." She look away for a bit, at the others, before turning back and asking, "Was that everything that you wanted, or was there something else?"
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Post by Seya on Jan 4, 2017 15:34:00 GMT
Kat pushes her shoulders back with a short breath, and takes the syringe gingerly from the guard. She studies it for a moment before moving towards the furious bound woman, her own expression mix of resigned and satisfied.
"Aight. Well, I ain't one naturally versed in goodbyes to crazy broads, but... I hope your next life is kinder," she says quietly, kneeling down. "Prayin' that whatever form you take next is graced with better wits and life decisions. Maybe once upon a time ye wern't deservin' of such an end, but you've gone and made a right mess of it all this time around, yeah? 'Haps you can see that yourself. But I'll promise ya two things. One, I'll take good care of your Beedrill--give 'im a good run, teach him how to play nice again. I ain't for punishing 'mon for their masters' lousy mistakes. Two..." Kat clears her throat, and for the first time over the course of the short speech, her lip wobbles and her voice shakes. "If we do happen t'meet again, in some part of space or time when we ain't lookin' like this no more, then it'll be a fresh start."
She pauses, looks over her shoulder at Cecil for a short moment as if thinking of saying something else, then turns back to Annie.
Kat raises the syringe to the side of the woman's neck. "That's that, queen bee. Take it easy." And she lets the toxins do the rest of the work.
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Post by Lockdown on Jan 5, 2017 5:22:39 GMT
It's over... surprisingly quickly. Annie's eyes bulged hugely in denial as the needle pierced skin, but then fluttered shut, almost as if she'd suddenly fallen asleep within a few short moments of the plunger emptying the payload into her system. The guard grunts, stepping forward to check the woman's pulse, and taking the syringe from Kat. "Always hated this part of the job. Killing some asshole trying to rip apart the wall is one thing. Doing it cold... s'hard on anyone. I'll... I'll escort y'all back to the office. The Captain is probably done talking to your friends anyway."
The captain shakes her head at Christine, even as she strokes her Emolga's head. "No, that was all. Thank you for your time and I hope you'll seriously think about what I said before you leave Purewater again."
The group meets Cecil and Kat in the hall as they leave.
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Post by DataNinja on Jan 5, 2017 6:34:52 GMT
Leaving the Captain behind, Christine's still thinking about what had been said. It wasn't long before Cecil and Kat's return, though it was enough to have some things settle.
She doesn't have anything to say to Cecil right now, but Christine heads to Kat, forcing herself to look into the other woman's eyes... and also tries not to think about where her and Cecil had been. "Can I talk to you for a second?" she asks, in a low voice, though she doesn't move away from any of the others who might be near the conversation.
"I just want to apologize. We're... really, I suppose, guests around here. And, uh, I've realized... it's not really right for me to insist that you follow the rules from where we've come from. This is your, uh, essentially your house here." She figures Kat'll get the oblique talk. It probably wasn't good to openly discuss the Vault here.
"We're just visiting, after all, and, while there's no way I'm going to end up killing anyone... it's..." she pauses, clearly struggling to find words, yet still finding them spill out. "We, well... uh, I guess it's mostly I at this point... shouldn't be trying to impose my morality on you. Emilia adapted. I...I don't think I can, but I shouldn't, uh, hold everyone else back. So, anyways, yeah. I just... wanted to apologize. You see, I swore an oath, several years back." For the first time she seems to not stumble, and actually know what she's saying.
"'I will remember that I remain a member of society," Christine recites, eyes closed, "with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.'" With a wan smile, she continues. "What it's taken me some time to realize, I suppose, is that just because it's a different society here, doesn't make it wrong, something I need to fix. Emilia helped to show me, just from her origins. It's... a mindset I'll need to work on." Though, unlike her, I'm going back to the Vault.
She pauses for a few moments, lost in thought. "Oh, er. I'm sorry. I, uh, rambled on there. I'll just get out of your hair."
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Post by Seya on Jan 7, 2017 20:07:08 GMT
Kat shifts back and forth from foot to foot uneasily as Christine speaks; it was nice that the girl seemed to be coming around to some degree, if not a bit surprising. But, that's Emilia for you, she thinks as she takes a deep breath and straightens up, eyes following the uneven lines between the old boards on the floor. Guess she's got them people skills we don't.
"You do you," she agrees once the girl stops speaking. A smile tugs at the corners of her lips-- a genuine one. "I'm glad you see our reasonin' to some degree, though. I'll try an' be more respectin of your oath and whatnot-- I s'pose there's no need for you to get blood on those hands a yours with us to do that instead." Then she pauses, frowning. "Well. I guess being a doc an' all, 'blood on your hands' ain't the best way of-- ah, whatever. Thanks. Really."
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