leanonstuff | PSL post for daughterless

PSL post for daughterless

[The NCR had sent Norman to the Vault because the area was surrounded by Fiends, and he was damn good at blending among the various "criminal" groups around the Mojave. No way an ordinary NCR trooper would be able to get inside without being attacked. And according to their intelligence, exactly what was inside was of such great importance that they couldn't possibly wait to go after it just in case Caesar's Legion got wind of it and acted first. Norman was searching for a box of special bottles that appeared to be beer or vodka bottles, but were actually filled with a chemical that, when introduced into a water supply, could spread a deadly bacteria that would wipe out anyone who drank the contaminated water for at least a month.

Unfortunately, finding the bottles was turning out to be far more difficult that Norman had anticipated. He'd gotten into the Vault in the first place by wearing old, torn and dirty clothes that could pass as those a typical raider or Fiend might wear. He'd even bought a few chems from them to help gain their trust (and to use them later, though he planned to tell the NCR that he'd disposed of them instead). The Vault seemed to be empty of Fiends, luckily, but he wasn't too optimistic that he wouldn't eventually run into ghouls or worse.

10mm pistol in hand, Norman opens the door to the Vault infirmary, hoping he might have some more luck locating the bottles in there.]

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[Joel does a good job of keeping his thoughts out of his expression, and Norman doesn't suspect they might be after the same thing. If he did... well, he might be having the same considerations as Joel, but for different reasons. His superiors had made it crystal clear that these bottles aren't to get into anyone else's hands, no matter the cost. But as long as his new 'partner' here doesn't need them, he supposes it shouldn't be a problem.]

Could be that the bottles are so special because they did some experiments in drink mixing down there.

[There's a hint of humor in his voice; gotta make a bit of light of this situation, horrible as it is.]

But yeah, the labs. We tread lightly and stick to the shadows... and I think we'll be okay.

Edited 2013-10-29 23:13 (UTC)

Yeah? Anything's got to be better than that piss they call beer in Vegas.

[He'll play along for now, but when the time comes, well, Joel has every intention on grabbing those bottles. But getting to them... that probably isn't going to be a cakewalk either.]

We'll see about that.

[Setting off for the labs, Joel is twitchy, staring down into every shadow and empty room. But the vault is quiet... actually kind of creepily so.]

Have you been to the Strip?

[His initial thoughts are no, Joel probably never has enough caps on him at one time to afford the 2,000 credit check, or a passport. Then again, if he does enough risky jobs, who knows?]

Guess we will.

[As they pass open rooms, Norman does his best to hurry past them without looking inside, not eager to find something else staring back at him. Fortunately, they make it to the labs without any further incident. Clutching his pistol again, Norman activates the door to the labs, and lets out a slow breath when nothing immediately attacks.]

All clear.

[The room is a mess. All over the place glass is shattered, as if someone or something went off on a rampage. There are also a few glass cages that are broken open, and it doesn't take a genius to figure that the creature they found probably came from one of them. But there are three there... and all are broken. Not a good sign.]

I'm gonna check for locked safes. Watch the door, will ya?

[He starts sweeping the room for safes, eventually finding one on the wall behind a large desk, and one in the floor as well. Without wasting time, Norman gets to work first cracking the one in the wall.]

I've been there twice, both times business.

[More like both times making damn well sure he got paid for his troubles. Joel takes in the ruins of the labs, the glass cages, and heaves a sigh as he crosses his arms, leaning against the wall as Jayden gets started on the safe.

Despite the bored look on his face, he's keeping a careful eye out on the entrances and exits of the lab.]

Find anythin' yet?

Gotcha.

[Business on the Strip could mean a lot of things. He isn't going to bother inquiring further.

This lock is moderately difficult, and inside he finds some research notes. Nothing useful.]

Not yet. Let me check the desk and the floor safe.

[The desk proves extremely difficult to unlock, which Norman is hoping is a good sign. He actually breaks a couple bobby pins before he has it open, at which point his eyes light up at the sight of a small, copper object.]

There's a key here. Could be for the Overseer's office.

[He pockets it, then goes for the floor safe. Inside are a nice pile of chems.] Got some stims and Med-X here if you want any.

[Meds are always good. Joel makes a 'gimme' gesture, indicating for Jayden to toss him some of those stimpacks. Trying to be casual, he asks:]

So you got a lead on those bottles in the Overseer's Office?

[He's about to go on, see how much additional information he can talk out of the man, when he catches something out of the corner of his eye-- more of a blur than anything else, too quick to pin down.]

Wh--?

[Norman tosses over a couple of the stims and collects a few more of the Med-X for himself. One thing he sure as hell isn't about to reveal to Joel or anyone is his addiction to the stuff. In fact, while he's ducked down behind the counter seems like a great time to have a hit of it. It's been awhile now, and he can already feel some of the shakes he gets when he doesn't take it often enough.]

Uhh... [He hesitates with the needle in his arm, but pulls it out once he feels the chem coursing through his system. That's better.]

Not too sure, but it seems like our best bet.

[Discarding the used Med-X, he rises to his feet and looks over to Joel. He looks startled by something.]

What's wrong?

[What's he still doing behind that counter...? Joel's too distracted by the whatever that had just gone past the doorway. Had he imagined it?]

Thought I saw--

[The words die in his throat as what he saw comes barreling straight through the door. Another monstrosity like the first, this one is more cat shaped, and the skin on its hairless, long-legged body looks like it was pieced together from dozens of human faces-- blinking eyeballs, noses, a tongue, sticking out.

It's fast, too. Joel's gun is up and out as soon as it clears the doorway, but it dodges the first of his shots with ease, leaping to the side and ramming into a nearby desk from the force of its speed. Joel shoots and misses again, swearing.]

Fuck!

[Norman dives right back behind the counter when whatever that new monster is comes barreling into the room.]

The fuck-!?

[He also starts shooting at it, and one of his bullets hit but doesn't seem to do too much. Oh god... what the fuck are they supposed to do now?

Norman looks around frantically, and spots a couple gas tanks near the far wall. If they could shoot them while the monster is near...]

Gas tanks, Joel! We need to get it near them!

[And how the hell are they supposed to do that? As Norman starts shooting, Joel takes advantage of the moment to pull the combat shotgun out of its holster. Drawing in a deep breath, he sights down the barrel as the monster comes charging at him. This time, he can't fucking miss.

BANG goes the shotgun, and this at least makes a dent in the creature, throwing it back with the force of the blast. The recoil's a bitch-- Joel grunts at the impact as he shifts, trying to get a better angle. He doesn't want to get any closer to the monster OR the gas tanks if necessary, but maybe the gun would be enough to drive it that way.

It's scrabbling to its feet as Joel approaches, taking aim and shooting again.]

[The sound of the shotgun fills the lab and the creature is driven back a little. Good... this might actually be a good plan if they work together. Joel shoots again, and the monster is even closer to the gas tanks.]

One more shot, then get the hell back and I'll shoot the tanks!

[Norman's already taking aim at them, making sure he's at a good angle for it. With any luck, the fire will burn through the creature only... and if it doesn't die, they can use the chance to shoot it down.]

Right--

[Joel grunts as he repositions the gun against his shoulder-- shit, that's gonna leave bruises tomorrow. The cat monster cringes away, then screams as another bullet hits its side. The sound is eerily human, and Joel swears as it goes sprawling across the floor-- the angle was bad, he hadn't drive the creature any closer to the barrels at all. He can't even tell if his bullets are really damaging it in any way

One last shot and this time, he'd be sure to nail it. As he aims, preparing to run the hell away as soon as he takes the shot, the monster turns its deformed cat's face up to them. "Please," it begs, garbled but understandable. "Please don't hurt me."

Joel's finger tightens on the trigger.]

[Norman also cringes at the sound of the scream. Whatever was going on here... he can't even fathom it. The Vaults were supposed to save people, but instead they created some of the most twisted, fucked up things in the entire Wasteland. The fact that it's talking too... God. But they can't take pity on it, not when it'd probably tear them apart given a single moment's chance. After Joel takes the final shot, Norman lets loose a few bullets at the gas tanks behind the creature.

The resulting explosion is extremely loud, and extremely damaging. Norman dives behind the counter, feeling the heat of it there, while the monster screams in anguish and it's burned alive. He can only hope Joel made it out of the way in time, or else he's gonna be dealing with some serious burns too.]

[The explosion just barely misses Joel as he ducks behind a table. He feels heat singe the edges of his hair, and his ears are ringing long after the blast is over. Cautiously he peers out from over the top-- where the creature had been, there's a mound of smoking black char and the twisted remains of the barrels.

....]

Well, fuck.

[His voice is too loud, he realizes belatedly, but his hearing is still all screwed up. Still, it had been a good call from Jayden. From the way his shots had practically bounced off it, he's not sure if they could have killed the monster otherwise.]

This better be the only one of those damn things roamin' around.

[Norman peeks over the edge of the counter a few seconds later, ears also ringing uncomfortably. But he breathes a sigh of relief to see that the plan has worked, although his heart is still pounding in his chest with adrenaline that will probably need a couple minutes to wear off.

Despite how raised Joel's voice is, it still sounds muffled to Norman, and he responds equally loudly.]

Three cages... two monsters down. There's probably still one more around here somewhere.

[Unless it's died some other way. Hopefully.]

At least now we can head back to the Overseer's office!

[Joel can't really manage to sound quite as excited.]

Yeah, I s'pose so.

[Slowly picking himself up of the laboratory floor, Joel begins reloading his guns with quick, practiced motions. There's a twitch of the mouth as he realizes he's out of shotgun shells, but his hands are on autopilot, and his thoughts are far away.

Jayden seems pretty confident about searching that office. And if they find those bottles there, then what? The obvious answer is also the easiest, cleanest one. He'd shoot him in the back, take the goods and go. But that was... he didn't...

...concepts like 'fairness' and 'honor' don't mean a damn thing to Joel these days, but they'd struck a bargain and it seems like a shit thing to do, putting a bullet in the man after all this. When had he started caring? The though is disquieting, and Joel can't help but think that he's getting soft.]

Ready whenever you are.

[He makes sure the key is safely in his pack, along with some of the supplies he picked up, and heads for the door.]

I'm ready.

[Norman is a lot more confident on the way back to the office. Wherever the last monster is, he has to guess it's on another level... what with the other two up here. Surely not all three are in the same place? Hopefully not.

He isn't really thinking about what to do about Joel afterward now. He hasn't expressed any interest in the bottles. Going their separate ways afterward seems like it'd probably be just fine.

They make it to the office, and luckily, it's the right key. Norman opens the door and immediately heads for the lockers. The bottles have to be here.]

Feel free to pick up anything useful you see while I work on these.

[He idly starts poking through the desk drawers, tapping at the keys to the old desktop computer, all the while keeping a discreet eye on Jayden-- in case those bottles really do turn up.

The computer screen comes up green and gray, demanding a password. Joel doesn't know shit about hacking, and is about to leave it alone when...

...there's a scrap of notepaper taped to the inside of one of the drawers, a single scrawled word on it. "Chimera."]

Huh. Lazy.

[He inputs the passcode into the computer and gets logged in as Overseer Raoul. The first few entries he clicks are full of boring data-- water purification logistics, a list of recent births, maintenance schedules. Joel clicks a new file, and the screen flashes with the message: "Door unlocked." He glances back at Jayden to see if he'd noticed anything, but it seems like the man is still working at the locks.]

Any luck on your end?

[He can hear Joel typing something on the terminal, but Norman has no idea that he's actually succeeded in opening something up. He is indeed busy with the locks, having gotten one open and working on the next.]

Nothing so far.

[He pauses briefly, glancing at Joel over his shoulder.]

Find anything on that terminal?

...Nothing yet.

[He glances around the room-- door, what door? as he clicks away from the screen and loads another file, with some boring title like "4/16-5/16 Results", and his breath forces out between his teeth in a hiss as pictures begin to load-- a squat, round faced man, his features recognizably the same as those of the first monster they'd encountered, a large dun colored cat, various machines and horrible in-progress pictures of their transformations.]

Fuck. Jayden, you might wanna see this. [He sucks in a low breath.] Well, now we know what they were up to in here.

[The next locker has nothing useful in it either. He curses under his breath, wondering if the bottles might not be here after all. But at Joel's words, he turns to him and then walks over to the terminal. The images are incredibly repulsive. How could anyone do this to another person?]

Aw, hell.

[It does make him feel worse for the way they'd killed the others, but what choice did they have? It was either kill or be killed.

And then he glances away from the terminal, and notices a panel on the floor that seems to be slightly raised. Tilting his head curiously, he walks over to it.]

Hey, did you see this tile?

[Squatting down, Norman pulls it up... and sees several duty, old whiskey bottles. His eyes widen, and he reaches down to pull one up.]

Here they are...

[Joel's breath catches in his throat. Well, shit, this is it. He gives a little cough, trying to seem and sound casual.]

Huh. Don't look like much to me.

[He walks up behind Jayden as if to get a better look at the bottles himself, getting into position for a stranglehold while quietly drawing his pistol as backup. Best if he could drop the other man without kicking up a ruckus-- maybe he wouldn't even have to kill him.

Joel steps closer, hoping that Jayden doesn't turn around. If he could catch him unawares, he'd grab him in a chokehold. Otherwise, it'd have to be an old fashioned hold-up.]

[Norman is far too distracted by the find to pay any mind to Joel's behavior. This is it... it's always thrilling to finish a difficult job. Well, not finish just yet. He still has to deliver the bottles back to McCarran, but that part should be easy enough.]

I know, but this has to be it.

[Still ignoring Joel, he starts pulling the rest of the bottles out of the hidden hole. Three in total. They should fit into his pack once he's emptied out a few things.]

I'm just sure of it.

[He watches as Jayden sets the bottles down, where they'd hopefully be out of the way.]

Good.

[And that's the last thing Joel says before reaching out and wrapping his arm around Norman's neck, hooking the crook of his elbow beneath his jaw in a tight chokehold.]

Edited 2013-11-07 23:29 (UTC)

Y-

[He's about to turn around at that point, only to find a strong arm around his throat, choking him. Oh no... fuck, he'd misjudged this guy badly! Norman tries to fight against him in the panic of having his air cut off, his hands trying in vain to pull the arm away from him. Unfortunately, it's not looking good, and it isn't too long before he slumps unconscious in the hold.]

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