//------------------------------// // Democracy Inaction Part 2 // Story: Queen Of The Wasteland // by Jest //------------------------------// “Game plan is simple,” Janey began. “You’re up front. I’ll primarily watch our back, but if you see something that has a ranged attack duck to the side and I’ll take it out.” Twilight thought about it for a moment and then nodded in agreement. “We should see a fair amount of wildlife. Scorpians, mantises, rats, and roaches,” Janey continued. “You can handle those fairly easily, but further in we’ll probably come across some robots, or maybe something else. Either way, I’ve loaded armor-penetrating rounds so the bots should go down easy provided you give me space to hit my shots.” “And I’ll give you a boost for that first shot,” Twilight offered, igniting her horns and casting guidance on the courier. “Perfect,” Janey replied. The woman drew a second gun from one of her many pockets. “I’ve still got a backup in case you need help so don't think you need to take all the mutated critters by yourself.” Twilight nodded. “Alright. Go on, I’ll follow your lead this time,” Janey offered, gesturing to the door. Twilight lit her horns, and used telekinesis to open the way for them. The bright, afternoon light shone into the opening, revealing several now temporarily blind, bark scorpions. Charging forward, Twilight stomped one, slashed another, and kicked the last, killing the mutated insects before they even had a chance to react. With the enemies dealt with, Twilight looked around to find that she was in a short stone tunnel that ended with a half-open gear-shaped door. The entrance to the vault marked a stark point where stone turned to rusted, aged metal, though be it inside or out, foes remained. Mantises, most barely taller than Twilight's knees came sprinting out of the opening, roused by the sounds of death. The deathclaw killed them with only a few swipes of her clawed hands, the attacking creatures barely offering any resistance. So weak and ineffectual were the mantises that Twilight expected to see more and to find greater enemies but there were none. “Keep going,” whispered Janey. Twilight did just that, stepping into the vault and looking around. Though a technical marvel, Twilight was unimpressed, but that may have been due to the disused state of the place. Rust, mold, and other signs of age or decay were present everywhere, and the ground was littered with random trash. Walking up the stairs, Twilight noticed that a terminal sat on a dirty table next to the smaller metal door leading further in. Twilight stood aside and watched as Janey knelt down and began to type on the thing, only to stop nearly as quickly as she started. “Locked, and it looks bugged. I think the insects have been chewing on the keyboard,” Janey remarked. Twilight pointed to the door. “Just turn that middle thing, and it should open,” Janey explained. Twilight did as she was told, and found that the metal contraption did indeed swing inward after a moment spent with its gears turning. The deathclaw was about to step through the entrance when she noticed that four skeletal corpses sat off to the side. Forming a rough semi-circle, with a single revolver sitting between them, it was a grim sight, and one Twilight quickly pushed from her mind. Some part of her wondered why there was a space left in the circle, why they had done this, but she didn't have the stomach for such considerations at the moment. Turning back to the door, Twilight stepped through the entrance and immediately noticed three things. One was the terminal and boiler-like object to her left, the second were the two doors, one in front one to the right and the last were the posters that adorned the walls. Vote Stone claimed one, and though more were plastered on the walls, they had become illegible due to time and a build-up of grime. “Forward,” Janey whispered. Twilight crept onward, and was about to ask Janey how she opened the next solid sheet of metal that she assumed was a door when the courier pointed to a panel on the wall next to where a handle would be. Pressing it gently, Twilight was slightly amazed to find that the barrier separated into two parts, with one receding into the roof while the other fell into the ground. Her amazement was short-lived as she found herself in what would have been at one point, a cramped clinic. Now, however, there were only gournies bearing long-dead skeletal remains. Stepping awkwardly into the room, Twilight pushed them out of her way, wincing as their rusted wheels ground loudly. The space was grim and hinted at some unspoken tragedy but Twilight pushed onward, heading through the door at the opposite end of the area. The moment she entered the hallway beyond, she was attacked by a pair of large rats that lunged at her ankles. A kick followed by a swipe killed them both, with one body splattering against a wall while another was cut into several even-sized pieces. With the enemies dealt with, Twilight peered into the room the lumpy rodents had just exited and found that it was likely a bathroom. As with everywhere else so far, more posters were advising the reader to vote one way or another, though like before, most of the words were unreadable. The hallway revealed an empty, dilapidated classroom on one side, and stairs down leading to what Twilight assumed was the next level. She paused there, and glanced back expectantly at Janey, only to find that the courier was gone. The woman repeated a moment later, a hand stuffing something into one of her pockets. “What? There were medical supplies back there,” Janey whispered in a low tone. Twilight rolled her eyes and pointed towards the stairs. “Yeah, let's keep moving,” Janey murmured. Heading down the steps, onto a landing, and then back down more of the identically sized stairs, Twilight found herself before another door. Pressing it, she was greeted by more rusted hallways, metal panels, and cramped, tunnel-like conditions. The roof was a little lower here, forcing Twilight to crouch slightly, lest her horns brush against the ceiling. Glancing left and right down the hallway, Twilight saw a rat to the right, the tiny critter standing on its back legs and making a soft chirping noise. Twilight felt as though she should spare the creature, but knew it would attack her anyway, so ended it with a single magical bolt of force. Turning back around, she saw that there were more stairs to the left, as well as another door. “Keep heading down. We can sweep this place later,” Janey encouraged. “What we’re looking for is probably in the overseer's office. Most of the high-tech stuff usually is.” Another set of traversed stairs later, and another door after that, and Twilight entered a trashed living area. Here there were rats a plenty, the whiskered rodents attacking with a chittering battle cry. Not wanting to waste any more time, Twilight cast another flurry of magical bolts but separated one to each of her targets. The magical balls of force struck true, battering the small squad of rats to death and sending them flying. With nothing else to block her way, Twilight stepped into the room and looked around. A chewed-on couch along with a few chairs sat nearby with some lockers further in, and a door lay both on the far side as well as to the right. A light above each of them indicated that a female dorm was on her left, while to the right was admin. Likely short for administration, Twilight assumed that was where the overseer's office lay. “Right, but hold up a second. Gonna see if there's anything useful here. You stay on watch,” Janey ordered. Twilight nodded, and though she still felt a bit of guilt at robbing the dead, it was easy to ignore that feeling. Especially since her mind was busy grappling with the fact that vaults were real, and not just a story Janey had told her. They were surprisingly sprawling, and afforded at least a few open areas indicating that they were indeed meant to support a genetically stable population. Yet even though Twilight could see signs of habitation even after all this time, it was hard to imagine people living down here. These vault dwellers would have been without the light of the sun, or open spaces, or any of the small joys Twilight had taken for granted all her life. It sounded like a detestable, miserable situation but given their options, the best they could do, Twilight figured. “Alright, let's head to admin,” Janey remarked, slinging her backpack back over her shoulder. Twilight pointed to her bag expectantly. “Nothing good yet. Some stuff we could trade though,” Janey replied with a shrug. Twilight nodded, and headed towards the door, a claw clicking the button. Yet more rats waited for them, and like the rest, they were killed quickly, this time with a powerful stomp that turned both of them into paste. The duo barely had a chance to squeak in surprise before they were killed, leaving behind only a red smear on the ground. Twilight looked up to find that a pair of indicators were present, one pointing left to ‘security’ while the right was labeled ‘overseer’s office’. Twilight was about to head towards the office when Janey interrupted. “Wait, go left. Security usually has decent stuff: weapons, ammo, and other contraband items. We could make a pretty penny,” Janey declared. Twilight snorted, but reluctantly headed that way, trotting down the hall to where a door and a small terminal awaited. Pressing the button did nothing, as did a second press. Twilight was about to try a third time when Janey stepped forward, squeezing in front of the deathclaw. “It's locked. Let me handle it,” Janey declared. Twilight stood off to the side and watched as Janey unloaded a small box of pointed instruments. She then got to work on the door, prying off the small button off the wall and messing with the wires that lay behind it. After a few tries, and a couple of painful zaps, the door opened and Janey stood back up, shaking the aftershock from one of her hands. “Someone really didn't want us getting in here,” Janey muttered. “There better be something good.” Walking inside revealed a security office, complete with a pair of cells, a few desks, some chairs, terminals, and lockers. It was a small, slightly cramped space but was thankfully devoid of corpses, or more of the rats that had plagued the rest of the place. “Watch the door. I’ll loot the place,” Janey ordered. Twilight sighed, but sat at the door all the same, noting that it was likely stuck open due to whatever Janey had done to it. As she stood there silently, listening to Janey rustle through desks and lockers, Twilight wondered what had happened here. Other than the signs of age, and exposure, as well as the presence of rats, there wasn't anything visibly off about this place. Why would the looters and scavengers give it a wide berth? Were the rumors around it enough to ward them off or was there something more going on? Twilight stopped herself before her imagination could run away on her, focusing instead on the hallway before her. Yet no matter how long she stood there, no giant rats, or horrifically mutated creatures appeared. Behind her, she could hear Janey tapping away at a keyboard before things fell silent. After nearly a minute of utter quiet, Twilight was about to ask what was wrong, but Janey beat her to it. “I think I figured out what happened down here,” Janey muttered, her usually confident tone subdued. “You may want to see this.” Twilight withdrew from her post and walked over to Janey, standing behind the woman and peering over her shoulder. “This,” Janey began, scrolling up and down. “Is a retelling of a murderer who had been forced to perform sexual favors out of a fear of her husband being elected overseer.” “Isn't overseer a good job?” Twilight asked, her nonexistent brow furrowing with confusion. “It is, at least usually is, but not here apparently,” Janey replied, going back in the terminal settings before loading more messages. “Here are emails from the candidates, and the various voting blocs, each doing what they can to assert why they should not be elected.” “Odd,” Twilight remarked. “It gets weirder, the election was postponed to investigate the murders only for that same murder to get elected,” Janey continued. “Huh,” Twilight tapped out. “Then the murderer overseer sets in motion a rule where there were no elections anymore, and a number generator did all the choosing,” Janey concluded, signing out of the computer and standing up. “After that, there are no other messages.” The courier began to pace back and forth in front of the desk. “I think the vault went to shit shortly after,” Janey explained. “If things had become stable after that then why leave up the posters advertising the various candidates?” “So they just… killed each other?” Twilight asked, her lip curling in disgust. “It seems like it,” Janey agreed. “Becoming the overseer must be a death sentence or something because if it ain't none of this makes a lick of sense.” “We should go to the office,” Twilight encouraged. “Lead the way,” Janey exclaimed. Twilight took point once more, her steps weighed down by a strange sense of purpose. The mystery of this place was as dark as it was intriguing but at least they had an idea as to what had happened. They just needed a few more pieces, and the puzzle would make sense, Twilight was sure of it. Tromping down some more stairs, passing through more doors, and stomping a few more rats, they came to the office of the overseer. Present were numerous filing cabinets, a central, half-moon-shaped desk, and a round window overlooking the atrium below. As Twilight gazed down and out the window, Janey moved to the terminal, and after a few clicks, cursed under her breath. “Needs a password,” Janey muttered. “Give me a minute. I know a few tricks.” Twilight observed the battlefield-like space beyond the window for a few moments longer before wandering back out into the hall. Heading further in, the deathclaw found that the vault had experienced a tunnel collapse a long time ago as the hallway ended in a pile of dirt and rubble. Glancing further down the other hallway, Twilight saw more stairs, doors, and rats, but chose not to bother. Trusting in her friend, she headed back inside the office to find that Janey had pulled the top off the terminal, revealing its metal insides. Twilight had no idea what the courier was doing but watched in silence as she worked. After a few minutes of fiddling, there was a mechanical click, and the screen displayed a simple message. Welcome, Overseer. “Alright, there we go. Let's find out what's going on,” Janey declared, tapping the keyboard. “Huh. There's not much here. Just, the order seven four five we already saw, and a command. Open sacrificial chamber.” “Ominous,” Twilight remarked. “Oh wait there is one more entry,” Janey muttered, activating the entry. “It's garbled, but it talks about how the vault had a higher than average number of non-english speakers.” Twilight waited patiently as Janey scrolled through a jumbled-up mess of words and numbers. “The author speculated that vault tec did this on purpose to inflame tensions and they made it worse by creating only a single bot capable of translating,” Janey continued. “One of the previous overseers had been trying to reverse engineer it when their quote, time came.” Twilight frowned, and worry crept into her heart. “I can see they mention a prototype though, as well as a blueprint for something they call a collar translator,” Janey added. Breathing a sigh of relief, Twilight placed a hand over her heart. “It doesn't say where it is, but…” Janey murmured. “I want to see the chamber,” Twilight stated. “Yeah. Me too,” Janey agreed. “Normally I steer clever of anything bearing Vault Tec’s greasy fingerprints but I can't help but be curious about what lies at the end of this twisting path.” “Hit it,” Twilight stated. “On it,” Janey replied. Punching the switch caused a single line to be displayed. Opening… Stepping back, the pair watched as the desk lifted into the air, revealing a tunnel lying just beneath the overseer’s office. The ground folded inward, and in only a few short seconds, a path leading down was waiting for them. Twilight could see that there was a door not far in, as well as a cup and some random junk lying on the ground. “Well. Nowhere to go but down,” Janey remarked. “I’ll take the lead this time.” Twilight stepped aside, allowing Janey to descend into the secret tunnel. Twilight followed not long after, the deathclaw forced to crouch lower than usual due to the cramped space. Ahead of her, Janey opened the door and stepped into another hallway, this one devoid of rust, or signs of age. In fact, it looked almost new, polished even, untouched by the ravages of time, and tall enough to let Twilight rise to her full height. “What is-” “Congratulations martyr,” announced an automated voice from everywhere and nowhere. “Your fantastic journey is only just beginning.” Thats grim. Twilight thought to herself. “Please proceed to the light. The light is calming and puts your mind at ease,” continued the voice. “This is fucking weird,” Janey deadpanned. Twilight was about to voice her agreement, and point out that far ahead of them, at the end of the hallway, there was indeed a light illuminating a doorway but was cut off. “Go to the light,” ordered the detached, masculine-sounding voice. “Well, might as well keep going,” Janey muttered. The human drew her gun, and crept forward, shielding her eyes as she reached the doors. Twilight did the same, and together they emerged into a space illuminated by four sets of shop lights mounted on poles. After their vision cleared, Janey chuckled darkly to herself, pointing to one of the stands. “For a second there I thought some kind of trap was going to kill us,” Janey remarked. Twilight rolled her eyes. “Come on. There's something up ahead,” Janey added. Twilight walked in after her friend, but stopped abruptly, with Janey holding up a hand. “Hold on. Something feels off here,” Janey murmured. Twilight peered over her friend’s shoulder to the large open room ahead of them. Sitting in the middle was a single chair, with a table next to it. Behind the small setup was a projector sitting on a stand, though it had yet to be activated and the space was relatively unlit. “Look at the walls,” Janey whispered, pointing to either side of the room. “See anything weird about them?” “Welcome,” announced the voice. “Please sit in the chair. The show is about to begin.” Twilight ignored the robotic voice and followed Janey’s finger to the walls on either side of the room. Unlike the stark clean metal of everything else, these barriers were white, and made up of large square panels. “They are different,” Twilight replied after a long pause. “Welcome,” repeated the voice. “Please sit in the chair. The show is about to begin.” Janey ignored it as well and slipped into the room. “I think they retract,” Janey murmured, running a hand over the wall and stopping in the middle. “See? There's a spot where they don't quite connect right here.” “So, what do we do?” Twilight asked. “I’m not sure. Just don't touch anything and let me figure this out,” Janey ordered. Twilight rolled her eyes and crouched at the back of the room, reluctantly doing nothing while Janey got to work. “Welcome,” repeated the voice. “Please sit in the chair. The show is about to begin.”