Well, now we know that MVD isn't into BDSM. I could totally imagine Dukov's European/Slavic accent as I read your story.

What an interesting person - Aspiration. Much more deep personality-wise than other people in the former Reston Hotel. Like others, I wonder, how she knows MVD's real name, I'm assuming we'll hear more of her. I thought at first that Bratty might have told her but I don't recall MVD revealing her true name to Bratty.

In any case, Taneesha and Bratty are reunited at last!

4th of July today. Gonna go to my sister's house (I think) later on today. But for now, maybe we can catch up on the next Vicious chapter.



As usual, some plot has been in my head for over a year, other moments just show up as we're writing. For instance, the whole "Bratty goes to Dukov's" idea has been in my head since last summer. But Aspiration is new. So for last week's chapter there was this mad scramble on my part. Who is she? Why is she a bit more lucid than everyone else? And so on.

We shall find out, that's for sure.



I got a picture of her dressed in pink, too. Although she's got a better gun by then.





It could be that Aspiration is really keeping the place together, you're right.

When I was younger (pre-child) I used to go out a lot more. I had several dancer friends. One was a blonde named Whisper. We went and saw Amistad when it was in theaters. Goes to show, not all strippers / dancers follow the stereotypes, some are deeper thinkers who want to watch period pieces.

I had another dancer friend who made zines which were all about women's rights and tips for dancers and stuff. I mean, she was really passionate about her homemade periodicals. I worked graveyard at a printing place; she'd be there at least a couple times a month putting her zines together.




Yeah.. pretty sure my vicious raider is not into whips and chains!

Did I nail Dukov's accent and way of speaking (broken English)? Cool. Very cool. You may notice some of his quips are Bethesda (which means the English is more perfect), and some I added. I tried to use what I've seen in movies and occasionally real-life, pertaining to how people in your part of the world might speak like.

Chapter 38: Prowling Lucas Simms' House

Date: Thursday, September 13 through Friday, September 14


It took a day to walk north back to Springvale School, and another day to get situated. Vicious and Q Tip did not become boyfriend and girlfriend; she having no idea how to pursue the matter, and he being too apprehensive she might just decide to zap him. As they spent more time together, it was obvious Q already had a girlfriend anyway. Maybe more than one! A couple raider chicks swarmed toward him as he re-entered the school late Thursday, wondering where he'd been. He was a good-looking guy after all.

So Vicious was free to spend all of Friday with the brat, doting on her, getting her back to better health. They slept-in late in Vicious's special classroom, spent the afternoon looking at old magazines and comic books under the cool of the school's rickety air-conditioner, and by early evening they went outside to play sidewalk chalk. Bratty would be okay, Vicious decided. Bratty was tough.

Still, Vicious began to wonder. Was there some way she could bring her friend into Megaton, specifically so Doc Church could cure the Brat of her addiction? Would Bratty cooperate with this, and not be -- well -- not be such a brat while in proper society? ... Because Aspiration was right. Bratty had gotten hooked on pain-killers while she was staying at Dukov's.

To some extent, Miss Vicious could allay her friend's cravings, since she already possessed her fair share of chems. The school also had its very own dealer of pharmaceuticals, uppers, downers, you name it.

"But wouldn't it be nice to get totally clean?" Vicious asked her friend, as they both drew crazy artwork on the walkway in front of the school.

Bratty was confused about this, of course. Why did they need to go to Megaton for a shower, if the school had its own functional water supply?

One last thing. After seeing how Dukov's Place was done up, Miss Vicious felt inspired. Time for a home makeover. Her next project (outside of raider missions) was to brighten her room a bit. Make it more colorful. She wondered if Craterside Supply had any Christmas lights, especially. If so, she would buy some, and transform her place to something special.

Speaking of raider missions, it wasn't long until Slick Rick learned Vicious had returned. He then began to pester her about finding at least five more bearer bonds.

"You know, you know, like, we gots. Like, the the Dogmaster, he ain't gonna just sit by while you play around with chalk... We gots to get this done!"

Ach, those stupid bonds. What did Dogmaster want them for? Couldn't he see that the premise those documents had been based upon was now two centuries in the past? How annoying! As government-based documents, the bonds were now useless, especially since there was no government.

But to some extent, Vicious had to follow Rick's order. Her supply of caps was starting to dwindle.




Saturday, September 15, 2277, just after midnight

Current Temperature: 73.0 °F

Next target for prowling would be the home of Lucas Simms. Vicious decided this as she walked to the abandoned bus where she kept some apparel. She entered the bus as Vicious, opened up her hidden suitcase. Changed out of her raider gear, and into some drab Wastelander clothes. She left the bus as Taneesha Jones.

The night was blessedly cool as she walked into Megaton without incident. Ironically, Lucas himself was right there... moseying about the fortified town's entryway like a sentry.

"You lookin' for the mayor? Or the sheriff?" he asked.

"Hello there," Taneesha said.

She walked right by the man, as if she wasn't planning on doing anything nefarious for the evening, such as breaking into Lucas's domicile, attempting to further her career as a lone robber.

But first, she went to the home of Lucy West, just to see if she'd left anything useful behind. Lucy was asleep on her bed. Taneesha walked past her housemate quietly. Checked her own locker. Found a pack of smokes, a leftover box of Junk Food, and a tin of Mentats. She took all these things, and walked back outside. Lucas was still pacing the avenues of Megaton, which was good.

If Simms was not home, this would make her prowl go easier.

She climbed the hill, elbowed over to his house, and hunkered down. Grabbed a pin from her hair, and a pocket screwdriver from her pouch. Then she went to work. Problem though, this lock was trickier than any she'd seen before. She tried and tried, but could not figure how to even start picking it.

But then, the Mentats! Mentats, a chem brewed long ago by a corporation called Med-Tek Laboratories, were originally used to enhance creativity, and increase mental brilliance. Did they actually work though?

"Only one way to find out."

Taneesha popped a handful. And *bam*, she suddenly knew what to do. The lock was a Schaffer mechanism which used a silicone-derived barrel, with three stainless steel tumblers. Somehow, she now knew all of this, but in an intuitive way.

She realized the radio in her Pip Girl® device was still playing softly, so she turned it off. Began to concentrate. Inserted her tools into Lucas Simms's front door. Rotated her pin to roughly 9 o'clock, but there was too much tension in the lock's barrel. She tried 2 o'clock, again, too much tension. Rotated to about 10:30.

"Arrgh!"

No dice. Still too much. Her pin was starting to lose its rigidity. She tried rotating it to 1 o'clock, and the damn thing broke.

"Dammit!"

Fortunately, Taneesha had three more pins in her hair, and eight in her pouch. She took a quick look around to see if Lucas was coming, but the town's Sheriff/Mayor was nowhere near. So she inserted a second pin. On a whim, she barely moved it to the right this time, so that she was choosing roughly 12:30. And *click!* the lock opened.

Jeepers! She was in!



The home of Lucas Simms was very well lit, even at this time of night. Taneesha checked her device, which indicated the time was just after 4. When would Simms come back home? She'd need to be quick about this.

The home's front room yielded nothing, other than a couple of squirrel-ke-bobs on sticks which had gone cold. She realized she was hungry, famished in fact! ... It'd been a while since she'd eaten. So she grabbed these, and took a few bites right then and there. She also grabbed a can Nuka Cola and a mutfruit from the fridge. She devoured the mutfruit as she prowled.

Upstairs, she did a quick look around. There were two rooms with closed doors, which she guessed would be bedrooms. She tried the one on the left. Nobody in there. Taneesha realized she was sweating lightly under her brahmin-skin outfit, but otherwise her nerves were calm. She was getting better at this.

But then, she froze. Was that the sound of a couple of footsteps in the foyer below? She froze, and waited a few seconds. Nope. Nobody down there. Taneesha listened hard just to make sure. Nothing. She went to the next room.

"Don't Lucas have a son?" she whispered without meaning to.

The next room was also a bedroom, and Taneesha was extra careful not to make a sound as she opened its door. But phew! Nobody in here, either. The place had a bit more clutter: a hunting rifle was on a shelf, along with an old skull, some utensils, and a bunch of old and ruined books.

"Now why do people keep these old books around?" she asked, irritated. Indeed, Taneesha. Why not throw them away?

Still, the prowler had to check each book, one by one, just to be sure. The bearer bonds she'd found so far (five in total) all looked like a bunch of old books. Only by looking past their covers could she discern if they were bearer bonds. She had to open each new one she found, checking to see if there were a bunch of legal terms on their front pages. By now, she knew how to read these well enough to know if she'd gotten her hands on a bond or not.

No bonds, only old, ruined books. Taneesha left the second bedroom, dejected.

It was right when she was about to give up, the time in her device reading 5:18, that she found the sixth bond. It was lying not in one of the bedrooms, but out in the place's second floor, near the top of the shelf.

"Got ya!"

Taneesha Jones grabbed it, grinning like a wolf. Time to head over to Moriarty's for a drink. She left Lucas's home confidently, not bothering to sneak her way out.


------------------------------------

Sleeping Bratty II (I meant to post this last week)

Gang of Three

Tasing a super mutant

BLTH!!!

Bratty forgets how to hold a gun

Back to School

Taneesha, back in Lucy's house

Prowling Lucas's home

Bearer Bond #6

👍

A little bit of recovery time back at the school as VD tries to rehab the Brat. Hope that works out.

More of those pesky bonds to find! At least her skulking around for them is getting better. Neat discovery she made on those Mentats! And she’s getting confident enough to even eat while she robs.

It appears that the Tip has game. That probably comes as a relief to Miss V. Now she does not have to figure out that boyfriend/girlfriend mystery.

Miss V sure spends a lot of time with Bratty. It makes me wonder if the boyfriend/girlfriend mystery is such an enigma because she would rather have a girlfriend/girlfriend relationship? Or is it that for some reason apart from all the other raiders, Miss V feels responsible for the Brat?

In any case, I suspect that the Brat - being well-named - would indeed live up to her namesake in Megaton.

At least Miss V can grasp that 200 year old bearer bonds are essentially worthless in the Wasteland. But as long as someone places value on a thing, then that thing as value. At least to them.

Miss V is going to break into the Sheriff's house. Is she going to steal the Strength bobblehead? I never liked that you had to do that, so I moved it somewhere else that I did not have to steal it to get it.

Tanesha scores! One more bond for the boss.

They sound like two confused teens.

Well, it's good that Simms Jr. wasn't at home, AFAIK he can be found in his own home fairly often.

Good that she didn't give up and so found the 6th bond. Did she snatch the STR Bobblehead as well?

Finding the bearer bonds is fun. Again, Lopov hid all those bonds for me last summer. I emailed Miss Vicious.esp to him so he could actually hide them. So it truly is a blind effort on my (and Taneesha's) part.




To be honest I had some ideas for a love relationship between them but I think it would be too distracting for the story by now. "Love story between two confused teens" has been done so many times, and I don't think I'd be able to do it well. Also, some of the other ideas I've got for this season are more unique. You'll see.



Ah yes, there is something with Bratty. Let's give it time, though.

I think I'll be better off with stuff which is implied, like how it was between Xena and Gabrielle for all those seasons. If I gain confidence in this area, that'll then change. I'm not as good at lovey stuff as you are, I guess.



Yes we did see the Bobblehead but she didn't pick it up. Simms has a pair of mod-added binoculars in his bedroom though (added into his home by the mod author, not me), and Taneesha did grab those. 🕶 That'll be sweet to be able to use those for surveillance in a future quest.




Yes. Two confused teens, exactly. As stated above though, I'm sort of side-stepping that side-plot so I can get to better stuff. I don't want to bore my audience, after all.

Lol you folks know all about the Bobblehead!

I do have the next chapter written but it's already Monday, and I'm already back at work for the week. So this week's chapter will be up next weekend.

A few weeks ago, I asked our very own Lopov to get into Rattler's head. I wanted to hear the snake's perspective on what he saw as he skulked around Dukov's (since he was there), but especially the bandits who live south of Dukov's. Did he approach these bandits at all? Or did he avoid them, because at that point, he was not a Slaver yet, which means bandits did not like him at that point?

Anyway, now that I read the text below, it makes me feel good that Vicious, Q Tip, and Bratty didn't stick around Dukov's for long. As Stone Phillips would say: The words you about to read, are explicit. Parental consent is advised!




Blood droplets were covering Rattler's dirty face but the blood didn't belong to him. It was what remained of Fantasia, one of now dead hookers, that used to work at Dukov's. "Blown to pieces," the dirty raider muttered to himself. He thought of wiping the blood from his face, then changed his mind.

Maybe he should have paid a visit to those raiders south of here, face all bloodied, yeah. They didn't see him as he snuck through their camp when they were asleep. He was observing them, their breathing, their restless stirring. They had no idea that he was there - he could have jumped on them like a deathclaw, cut them to pieces.

Instead, he moved on and left them alive. "Why?" he asked himself, but he already knew the answer.

He smiled and lit a cigarette, noticing that his fingernails were smeared with blood as well. Because once his business in Rivet City is over, he'll be heading the same way back. It'd be boring if there were nobody alive on his way back...so by letting them alive he ensured that he'll have some fun as he returns.

Their days were counted.

Ahah. So Rattler doesn't want to overhunt his terf. Practicing wise game management.

The Rattler is not a binge eater. He likes to spread it out and enjoy his meals.

It's good that they haven't met, maybe then you wouldn't be able to conclude Taneesha's story in the preferred way.

Sorry Lopov, I meant to add the Rattler text to one of the Dukov chapters, but there was a lot going on in those chapters, and it slipped my mind. Hope you're okay with the standalone text instead.

-----------------------------

Chapter 40: A Day with Lucy

Date: Saturday, September 15, 2277, 1:20 PM

Location: Moriarty's Saloon




"You're back Taneesha. Oh my gosh!"

"Hey there, Lucy. How have things been for you? Any word from your brother?"

Lucy took a sip from her drink and looked to the floor. "Yes, I do have word."

Lucy West looked sad. She sat there a few moments. Finally shook her head, before continuing. "Cho Zen Wan, you know, that guy they're calling 'Lone Wanderer' in the news? He did get back to me about Ian."

"And? ... Is he okay?"

"Taneesha, Ian did continue to live in Arefu just like he said he would, but from there the story gets... really weird. In fact, Ian is no longer with us."

"No. Oh, I'm so sorry, Lucy. That's just really--"

Taneesha left her sentence unfinished, unsure how to continue, unsure what else to say.

Death in the Capital Wasteland. It happened all the time, sometimes for the most trivial of reasons. She'd seen plenty of it herself, these past couple years. Seen people blow each others' heads off, all for a stale pack of smokes. It could come at any moment: as people needed to travel from one point to the next, as villages became vulnerable to raids, as water and other resources dwindled across the land. America in pre-war times had been much different. People could come and go as they pleased. Everyone had their share. Money was plentiful, health was as popular as daisies. A trip to Super Duper Mart was made merely for groceries, not to obtain chems, ammo, or bombs. Americans could move about and vote and spend their cash on frivolous things. They could buy houses. They could hold down boring desk jobs. Only if you were in an actual gang, or in exactly the wrong place at the wrong time, did things sometimes go south. -- And the chances of that happening? -- Pretty darn slim, in comparison to now.

She took a sip of her drink. Outside, the weather was typical American east coast summer-winding-down-into-fall. What they used to call the dog days of summer, whatever that meant. Hot weather, but not as hot as it had been in July and August. It was good to be inside.

"And I just can't believe it," Lucy continued. "I mean, my brother did have a few mental problems, especially after hitting his head on a rock a while back. But this new thing he was into. It's just way beyond."

"What new thing? It's okay. You can tell me, if you want to."

"Sure. Well apparently, Ian joined some kind of ... blood cult, or something. Cho found him in one of those underground Metro stations, you know, where the trains used to run. Said my brother was now claiming to be a..."

"What?" Taneesha asked, blinking.

"He was claiming to be a vampire. Part of a family of vampires, actually. Like, some guy met my brother after Arefu got attacked. Took him in. Took him into an underworld of others who think they are also vampires. It makes no sense, Taneesha!" Lucy West sighed. Sat motionless for a few moments. A single tear fell from her left eye.

"Dag! A vampire? Like in those old comic books and movies and junk? Well, I -- I don't get it. Are you saying he goes around -- I mean went around, drinking necks and all that?"

"Hey Taneesha, can we talk about this later?" Lucy asked, slapping her left hand quietly but firmly on the table. "You know, not here in the bar?"

"Yeah, sure. That's fine, Lucy. But my god. So sorry to hear."

"It's just that. Well, Megaton is a small place. You know how it is when rumors start..."

The two housemates sat for a while, nursing their drinks as Three Dog rambled on the radio. Taneesha's own Pip Girl® device was softly playing music. A tune from the old days, by a long-ago artist. She realized this, and abruptly turned the music off.

"So, did I hear right?" Lucy blurted. "Did you really stand up to Jericho last week at The Brass Lantern?"

Taneesha blushed. "Oh yeah. I forgot about that." So much had happened with her friend Bratty and all, she actually had forgotten. "But I mean, the guy's always pushin' people around. Always being mean. Ain't gotta be like that, you know?"

"Nice! Wow. So what happened?"

"Not much. I talked some *skit* to the guy, excuse my language. Got in his face, is all. Didn't really mean nothing. But the man, he needed to be told. You know? ... Maybe kinda stupid that a girl had to finally do it. But hey."

She sipped her drink, which was sugary-sweet and bitter at the same time, what they used to call 'hooch'. Some odd mixture of alcohol; Gob getting rather creative today.

Lucy applauded, clapping her hands slowly. "Damn straight you told him! Somebody needed to stand up to that creep. Nobody else has done it so far!"

"Exactly. Nobody stands up to the guy. All because he's a former .. uh, a former raider." Taneesha said, suddenly looking into her drink.

Lucy raised her glass. "Well, here's a toast. To standing up to the creeps."

"A toast," Taneesha echoed, clinking her drink with Lucy's. She smiled nervously.

Again, the housemates fell into silence. Nova, Moriarty's resident lady-of-the-evening, was smoking a cigarette over by the counter. The lazy haze of her Lucky hung in the air. Three Dog was blabbing about the Lone Wanderer. Something about somebody farting in Vault 101, when all the sudden..

"Dammit, that *bunghole*!" a man suddenly yelled. Taneesha looked into the next room, where the guy was mussing up his hair in frustration. An Asian guy, wearing prewar military-looking armor. He was walking toward them. "So sick of Three Dog," he said. "You know, half the time that douchebag gets it wrong when he blabs on and on about what I'm up to out there!" he complained aloud. "I'm only trying to make things right, dammit. Somebody has to! ... Maybe I should go speak to that stupid disc jockey myself."

"Hey Cho, this is Taneesha Jones, my new housemate."

"Hey, nice to meet you." Cho Zen Wan's previous ire melted, as he did a small bow before Taneesha. He flashed a quick smile.

"Sure. You too."

"Sorry for my rants. It's just, that guy just gets to me sometimes."

"Ha. Must be nice having one of the Wasteland's on-air personalities reporting everything you say," Lucy quipped.

The Lone Wanderer chuckled. "Hey, can I get you two anything?"

"Sure, I'll have a beer," Lucy said.

"I'm good," Taneesha answered. She stared ahead stonily, not wanting to hold the man's gaze too long, the man rumored to be going around killing raider camps.

Cho walked to the bar. As he did so, Lucy looked curiously at her tablemate. "So. How's it going with you?" she asked, a certain look on her face.

"Going good!"

"Say, I notice you've been away from Megaton sometimes," Lucy said, concern in her voice. "You'll go missing for many hours, then sometimes you'll be gone a few days! ... Not that it's any of my business, but the other day I looked all around town for you. Honestly, I was kinda worried. Everything okay? You aren't in any more trouble, are you?"

"Yeah. Well sometimes I just need to get out of Megaton, I guess," Taneesha blanched, lighting a cig. "I go for walks out of town. There's an abandoned bus just near Sara Silver's place. Sometimes I stay in there."

"Taneesha, no!"

"I know, I know. It's not safe out there. I don't know why I do it. Guess it's the old hobo demon in me. Wandering around. Getting restless..."

"You don't have to stay out there at all, my dear! Not at all, okay? Especially at night. I want you to continue staying with me, okay? Please?"

"Sure. I'm sorry. I'll try to suppress that urge." Miss Jones slurped her hooch, which was almost gone. She was feeling swimmy by now, because of Gob's odd mixed-drink concoction.

"So if you don't mind, as you are staying with me, and like I said, you are perfectly welcome to do, I'm also going to need to start taking some caps from you, okay?"

"Caps?" Taneesha smiled. "Sure. How much caps are we talking about?"

"Not much. Maybe twenty caps a week, somewhere around there. You know, it's what they used to call 'rent' in the history books."

"Sure, that's fine. Not a problem."

"With Ian truly gone, I'm going to need some help with upkeep. So thanks. I appreciate it, friend."

"No problemo, señorita," Taneesha said, continuing to smile. "Be glad to help out. Hey, maybe we can even get a dog!" Acceptance. It's always nice to be accepted.

Lucy finished her drink, which was some sort of wine. More expensive than the three-cap hooch Taneesha had downed. "Now, can I buy the next round?"

"Absolutely you can, roommate," Taneesha said, eyeing Cho the Lone Wanderer as he left the bar.

"And ooh! Is that a toy gun you've got there?!"

Taneesha Jones nodded. "Something like a toy, I guess." A toy which could bring down a super mutant, a Talon Company agent, or any number of Wasteland creatures. She patted her 'toy'.

Lucy bought the next set of drinks. The two ladies spent another hour in Moriarty's sipping them until Taneesha had to use the restroom. Though Moriarty's had its own toilet, it was located behind a mere sheet which hung from the ceiling, and was therefore not very private. So Taneesha walked over to the Women's Room. Had a nip, washed her hands, and began walking back to Moriarty's, her step just a little unsteady due to the booze.

On the way back, she had a hunch. She had checked the Women's room for bonds days ago, but not the Men's. So she went there now. Checked to see if anybody was inside, and nobody was, so she walked in. Searched a locker, searched the restroom's stalls, searched inside one of the commodes.

And there was bearer bond number seven.

-------------------------------------


"Somebody had to stand up to that creep!"

Ian West (Fandom info)

Notes: I used the console to setstage most of the Blood Ties quest, which Cho actually in his game. This caused Lucy West to no longer sit in her usual spot inside of Moriarty's! So I had to design some new AI for her, as well all so she'd continue to visit Moriarty's instead of whatever she does otherwise, after she learns what happened to her brother.

Nice to catch up with Lucy. And probably good to help with Lucy’s costs via some rent.

Shame about Lucy’s brother.

A cameo by Cho!

Get drunk, wander into the men’s room, find a bearer bond. . . does it get any better than that?

Taneesha is back from her adventures and taking a little vacation from Raider-life in Megaton.

It is a cameo by the Chosen One Cho Zen Wan. I wonder if "no longer with us" means that Ian is dead, or if he is living as a vampire? Okay, I guess he is still around, just as a vampire.

Taneesha has quite the rosy view of the Pre-War world. But it is common to idealize previous eras.

If Taneesha spends more time looking at the stars, she might notice Sirius on the horizon these days. Hence the dog days of summer (Seriously that is where the saying comes from. The star Sirius can be seen that time of the year.)

Wow, not just a report of Cho, but the real man in the flesh! And he sounds less than thrilled with 3 Dog's reporting skills.

Now that's something I didn't expect - an actual meeting between Cho and Taneesha. I got a feeling that Taneesha found him attractive.

Now what would happen if someone entered the men's loo and found Taneesha inside?

Thinking about death in the Capital Wasteland compared to Pre-War America grocery runs, etc. Sounds like Taneesha has a case of Old World Blues. If only she knew what the Pre-War world was really like.

Since I've been gone from the forums for some time, there's a lot I missed out on. Is Taneesha starting to feel guilty about her raider life, especially while hanging out with Lucy?

What was the deal about the bearer bonds again? Wasn't it Taneesha's raider boss that wanted it because he thinks it will make him stupidly rich?

You know, I always wanted to kill Jericho. F*** that guy. Frustratingly, however, if you sandman kill him, the whole town somehow knows. I even tried a console command to make him automatically hostile to me and it still didn't work without the whole town trying to hunt me down. Hmm...I wonder if that would work if I didn't sneak into his house. Probably not, though.

Cool, I'm really happy you all checked out that last one. For some reason, A Day with Lucy really struck me as I was writing it. Nothing really happens, just two housemates getting their buzz on and chatting, yet a lot happens.

Acadian: She actually will be paying rent to Lucy! I made a little quest for that. And yeah, wandering around drunk in Megaton.

Rosa: Seesh, I'm actually not sure what happened to Ian. Is he still alive? Did Cho wind up killing him? I don't remember. But I agree with you. "No longer with us" could also mean he's still alive as a vampire, very true. Maybe Cho doesn't want Lucy to go looking for her brother, so he told a white lie.

Ah yes, Sirius. I almost looked up what dog days means, it's been awhile.

Scoundrel: That's a good thing to wonder, if my two toons find each other attractive. And speaking of men in the Men's Restroom ...

Rader: Good to have you back. A lot has passed in the past year, but to tl;dr it for you, Miss Vicious (also known as Taneesha Jones) now has a mod-added stun gun from a Taser mod I found last year. This has become her weapon of choice. Any enemy she meets, she tases first. She's about to use her Taser now!
Her latest mission is to find 10 'bearer bonds' (Quest items added into my game by Lopov last summer) and turn these over to the raiders. And that's where the story probably picks up for you. She's about to find Bearer Bond #8.

She's not going to kill Jericho, but she will beat the crap out of him eventually...

Let's have a look at Miss Vicious's stats before the story gets posted.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vicious Delicious

Level: 5
RADS: 769 (whoa...)

Addictions: Nicotine, Opiates

S: 3 (-)
P: 4 (-)
E: 2 (-)
C: 8
I: 5
A: 7 (-)
L: 6

Perks: Gun Nut, Scoundrel, Thief (2)

Quests Completed: 10
Locations Discovered: 18
People Killed: 11
Creatures Killed: 65
Locks Picked: 19
Chems Taken: 93 (holy crap..)

42185

Chapter 41: Nip to the Loo

Date: Saturday, September 15, 2277, 6:53 PM

Location: Men's Restroom
Temperature: 85 degrees F





"Is .. anybody here? ... Q Tip? ... Anyone?"

There it was: Bearer bond number seven, placed right into an empty bowl. Hmm. Couple things different about this one.

1). All the others had been found in easy-to-miss locations: under a mess of miscellaneous things, inside old containers, and so on. They had all been stored in some location, and then they'd been forgotten. Number six for instance, the bond found in Lucas Simms' house, had been placed on the very top shelf of a bookcase. Placed, and then forgotten. For this reason, bearer bond #7 seemed specifically arranged by someone.

"Come on now, this ain't funny!" Miss Jones had her stun pistol in her hand. Did a slow circle all the way around, looking for any peepholes which'd go from dark, to light. Because maybe somebody was spying on her...

2). Second difference, bearer bond eight had something else with it. Something square, with a dull shine to it.

She was just about to grab the damn thing when... "Cann I HELP youuu?" ... A man's voice slurred.






Taneesha jumped in her shoes! Spun and pointed her gun right into the man's chest!

"You know? Youuu look like a girl! ... In a green DRESS!" the man giggled. "And I don't think girls are supposed to be innn here!"

The man looked down and wavered a bit. Obviously very drunk. Finally realized the girl-in-green had a piece pointed at him. "Hey neat! Izzz that a toy gun?!"

Taneesha sighed. "Sorry, man," she said, putting her gun away. She recognized the dude before her now. Didn't know his name. But she had seen him around town before. "Didn't realize this the men's bathroom," she said, suddenly noticing the urinals on the far wall. "My bad."

She did not move, though. Just stood her ground, staring at the man. Because bearer bond number seven was still sitting there, right there behind her. Which meant her chance at getting this stupid mission done and over was also one step closer. Was it okay to just grab the damn thing and go? -- For it seemed to her the wasted man before her had not been the one to put it there.

"My name'z Andy Ztahl."

"Yeah. I seen you around town." She continued to stand and stare. "Um, so listen Andy. The Women's room is not working," she explained. "Um, do you mind?"

"Oh!" Andy hiccuped. "Youu ... want ... privacy!"

"Duh!" Taneesha made a shooing motion with her hands.

"Okay! I get it...and now I'm going..."

Andy Stahl moved away slowly, walked into the nearest wall. "Ouch!" So Taneesha turned back, and grabbed deftly at the dull-shiny square item. Put the item in her bag. Then she grabbed bearer bond #7...





...and was nearly bum-rushed by a strange man wearing a VERY strange suit. Like a space suit. "Ow, ow, OW! Not so fast you scantily-clad whore!" he said.

"Um. Who the hell are you?"

"YES!" space suit shouted. "That's what YOU want! Don't blanch me with your random comments! Like Stacy! Blanch, blanch, blanch! All I wanted was to snog with her in the sunset!"

Not a space suit. Taneesha realized the man was wearing a large mouse head! Like a party costume head, along with some odd construction-looking clothes. Unlike Andy Stahl, the mouse-headed man seemed not drunk. He seemed entirely lucid, ready to for some sort of confrontation. And he was wearing the head of a mouse.

"But she said NO" mouse head continued. "So I WRENCHED her head off! She was a tart like that mother of mine! What? WHAT?... Did you think I'm talking about myself?"

"Uh, I don't know," Taneesha said, exasperated. "Are you?"

And this caused the man to become unhinged. "Admit it! You're a TART as well! You live in a sink of sin! Forever intoning, INTONING!!!" he yelled. "Let me hear you mew like a sheep! Because you're a thief! Admit it!"

He began waving a wooden club before her face, causing her to grab for her gun. Same moment, she realized Andy Stahl was still here, standing by the restroom's entrance, his mouth ajaw.

"Admit it youre a thief! A THIEF!" mouse-head said. "A slap-up tart! A SLAP-UP TART! ADMIT IT!"

"Man, shut the hell up, before I zap you one," Taneesha said calmly, Taser now in hand. Still, she was nervous. Looked around, worried because the man had been shouting.

"This is SPARTA!" Mouse head shouted, swung his club again. "Don't you pretend that you don't know me! I saw you when you went to the loo, thief! Your voice is harshended - you're a TART!"

"I am not a tart!"

"You all jump on me jump on me, that's really friendly, THANKS!"

"Um, you're welcome?"

"You're like Martha, my mother!" his voice was finally lowered, as he now began speaking to her, instead of at her. -- "A disgusting slap-up tart! I killed her! I killed mother! Now I kill you too! Just like I killed ..."




Mouse man switched to a pistol and fired, catching Miss Jones in the side, but she was just as quick to also ZAP the guy with her stun gun! -- *BZZT!!!*-- "Arrrgh!" Mouse man fell to the side, sizzled by fifty-thousand of volts of bluish-white energy. Down he went! -- Taneesha knew she had roughly ten seconds now to get out!

"*Ferking* cheap-ass, mouse-head wearin' douchebag."

There was no way she was going to fight Mouse Man. Not with Megaton's new law enforcement officers just outside the door. No. If the man was going to attack her, he'd have to do it outside, in Megaton's plaza.

"Damn, why's you still here?"

Taneesha scooted by Andy Stahl, who was standing by a sink with his *rooster* in his hand. Andy seemed stunned. Shocked! Unable to react.



Out the door Taneesha zoomed! She realized she'd been grazed by mouse-head's bullet, pretty badly too. Thankfully, he'd only hit flesh. Nothing really important. She ran to the side of the Men's and down the short double-ramp. Headed lower into Megaton, into the plaza.

"Dag-on-it!"

Her heart was racing! She rushed past Craterside Supply, where her heel caught a bit into the metal platform below her feet, causing her to skid. She stopped running. Turned to look back. "Come on you mouse-headed *trucker*, come at me now, bro."

Looked up at the restroom, waiting for Mousey to come after her.

"Where the hell are you?"

Mouse man seemed like he'd gotten stuck. Like maybe her electronic gun had jolted the man so bad, it'd given him a heart attack. Taneesha sighed. Realized she'd been hit quite bad! Her side was bleeding. Where was her gun?... Her other, BIG gun? ... Her Blamhammer? She couldn't remember. Was it back at Lucy's place? Or in her bus? -- She decided to head to Lucy's first. Moving briskly, she walked past several Megatonites, who seemed completely unaware at what'd just happened up the hill. The Church of Atom pastor was giving his usual 7 o'clock sermon, as Taneesha walked by. As if nothing was going on.


7:28 PM
Inside of Lucy's, Taneesha stomped her pretty green shoes up the stairs. Jerked her locker open, and YES, her Blamhammer shotgun was here, with nine extra shells. So was her trusty old lead pipe. She grabbed both. Searched around the rest of her locker, and then looked inside the file cabinet Lucy had given her, looking for a Stimpak.

"Dammit!"

No Stimpaks in the house. Good thing Lucy was not home; all she'd need would be to see her new housemate sweating and palpitating, big-ass shotgun in hands! Yeah, that would be a great site to see. Still, Taneesha readied the Blamhammer, standing at the top of the stairs, waiting to see if the strange man in the mouse costume would show up. He did not. So she looked down into her bag, and grabbed the dull/shiny square-looking thing she'd found earlier. Realized she was looking at a holotape.

"What the--?"

She put her gun down, and grabbed the tape. Plugged it into her Pip Girl® device. Scrolled to the appropriate screen where notes could be read.

ENTRY 3

ow i hide this bearer bond here
nobody finds it in there loo
for the book club nr 2
i must bring stacy here
i know she has one of those
bonds, the little b

once shegets in, i attack with a whirl of fists
unleas shell snog with me

---------------------

ENTRY 4

bam gasp rawr
ding dong the bitch is dead
now i got too bonds
i leave one bond here as a trap

anyone triest o steal from me i I SAVAGE THEM! ! !
aggro aggro lot of aggro
errol would be proud

p.s.
i hear there building up the JAIL there -
but i dont worry
its a IF and thats a big IF that jail will work atall

Taneesha Jones slumped down at the top of the stairs, thinking she'd just run into some reject from the loony bin. "Seriously?"

Time to get this figured. Whatever was happening, whoever she'd just been attacked by, she would not just hide and wait. She would not be intimidated. Either the crazy man with the rodent hat would come looking after her (hopefully getting caught Lucas Simms or his new patrols), or option two, she would go find him first.

Taneesha Jones chose option two.

-------------------------------------------

Megaton at Sunset -- (my gal's standing on the left)

Taneesha Jones's Pip Girl 2500® handheld device

Attacked by Mouse Man!

*BZZT!!!*

How bizarre! Adventures in the men's room.

Very quick-thinking of Taneesha to shoo away man #1 claiming the women's room was not working.

She was also right to be suspicious of 'bond 7' because of where and how she found it.

Attacked by a crazed space mouse! Her stun gun really helped. . . at least delay the problem.

Darn, no stimpacks back home in her stash.

What a maniac in the restroom!

It looks like that the final confrontation has only been postponed.

Uh oh, as Admiral Ackbar would say, this looks like a trap.

Only for lush Andy Stahl to come and maybe mess it all up!

Who is this blanching blanchole?

Wow, that was quite a confrontation and wild chase with Mickey the Blanching Mouse. Or almost. It looks like she fried him. All the better for the Wasteland.

Now its time to lie low. Better get some stimpacks.

Oh boy, Mousey was also hunting bearer bonds. I wonder if the same Raiders sent him, that did Taneesha?

Probably won't post a story today, as it's overcast outside (which means no Fallout) and I'm feeling a bit burnt-out from writing.

But I wanted to make a note that today here at Chorrol is Vicious111's birthday.

My own Vicious's birthday just passed as well, dangit. July 20. I missed it! I really gotta put all my characters' birthdays in my phone or something.

...As we last saw, our protagonist Taneesha "Vicious Delicious" Jones was in the midst of getting drunk with her new housemate, Lucy West. When Taneesha went for a nip to the loo, she got a hunch to search for bearer bond number seven in the Men's Rathroom, which she found, along with a holotape she could read. This caused her to be attacked by a strange, rambling dude wearing a mouse costume on his head. Taneesha buzzed the mouse man with her stun gun which caused him to fall, then she left the restroom. She did so, thinking she was about to be pursued by Mouse Man. But Mouse Man chose to stay in the restroom.

Now... armed with her stun gun, her pipe, and her 'Blamhammer' shot gun, she is ready to confront the man-sized rodent. But she must do so without attracting the attention of her housemate, Megaton's law force, or Lucas Simms, Megaton's sheriff (and sometimes mayor), who has a habit of strolling around Megaton at night.


Chapter 42: Building a Better Mousetrap

Date: Saturday, September 15, 2277, 8:01 PM
Temperature: 73 F

The dreadful summer heat dropped to temperate by now, which made Virginia's climate both tolerable, and pleasant. Why could the weather not just stay like this forever? Despite the coolness, Taneesha Jones was sweating. A man with a strange mouse costume had just tried to kill her in the Men's. Who was this freak, and why was he chasing her?

"Slicky Ricky," Taneesha murmured slowly. "Gotta be Slick, who put him up to this. When I find you, we's gonna have some words, for real."

Not that Slick was the one who'd attacked her, but it seemed he's the one responsible for this. Somehow. After all, who else knew about her current mission?

"Hmm. Bratty knows. Q Tip knows..."

But neither of them could have done this. Q Tip did not have the sort of authority to send somebody after her, and though he did have a rather annoying sense of humor, he did not seem the type who'd go this far. There was also Bratty. But again, such a prank (if this is indeed what Mouse Man was supposed to be) seemed beyond the Brat. Bratty's IQ probably hovered somewhere in the 70s, the sort of gal who had trouble remembering what she was talking about two minutes ago.

"Come here, little mousey," Taneesha muttered softy. "Come out and find me! I got some cheese here for ya."

Thing is, she did not want to attack Mouse Man here in Megaton, especially not with her Blamhammer. The last thing she needed was to hit an innocent Megatonite. Miss Jones had already been arrested once for stealing, and she was not heading back to jail, not for this bull*ship*. Instead, she was hoping for Mouse to leave the Men's, and come looking for her. And once he found her, hopefully he'd attack her right in front of Megaton's law force. Or maybe Lucas Simms would bear witness to this.

Either way, the idea was for Mousey to take the initiative, which would hopefully cause him to get taken down by somebody other than herself.

She left the home of Lucy West, making as much noise as she could, stomping and dragging her green shoes as she walked. Taneesha moved away from the house, and took the ramp down into the plaza, slowly looking up and down the scrap-metal village for any odd movements, looking for anybody who'd be running around after her. She noticed none and discerned nobody. But it was also hard to see all over the village. Some areas of Megaton were well-lit, others were shadowy.

As she walked into the lowest portion of Megaton, Confessor Cromwell was still dawdling his sermon, even at this late hour, it was like the man never shut up.

"...each of us shall give birth to a billion stars, pulled from the mass of our wretched and filthy bodies! ... Each of us, shall be mother and father to a trillion civilizations... shall know an end to pain..."

The preacher and his flock worshipped a freaking bomb! A bomb which fell to Earth two-hundred freaking years ago! The bomb never exploded, but its impact caused the crater in which Megaton had been built. How much could somebody have to say about this? Countless hours of rambling...

Still, for a moment Taneesha was drawn in. Listened to the man pontificate and prophecize from his virtual pulpit. For her it was like being thrown back to childhood, back with the Witnesses who'd raised her for much of her life; raised to believe the end of the world was coming. It would happen next week, next month, next year, no, five years from now. Always a reason for why their time on Earth was about to conclude, and always a given date for impending doom. And when that date came and passed and nothing happened--

Taneesha snapped out of it. A man with a mouse head was somewhere up there. Still after her. Or maybe he'd left the Men's while she was at Lucy's, and was now on the other side of town. Either way, she spotted Megaton's officer, the same lady who'd busted her for stealing chems at the clinic a few weeks back. The officer was here, along with a throng of folks hanging out in front of The Brass Lantern, eating noodles and shooting the *ship*. Taneesha rushed over to them, waiting to see if the idiot would show.

"MoooooOOO!" said Megaton's resident brahmin cow.

Lucas Simms shouldered up to the eatery. Smiled at her, a cute lady wearing a pretty green dress. "Hey, is that a toy gun?" he asked.

This was no good. Should she be searching mouse dude more actively?
She looked in her bag, found and turned on her flashlight. Began walking up the hill, away from the others.

"All right, Bub. You've had your chance."

Nobody was around up here, so she grabbed her Taser. Kept it one-handed, not aiming just yet. Moved slowly around the village's upper paths. Passed the home of Lucas Simms, and passed the back side of Craterside Supply. Up a small ramp, which led to Megaton's Water Processing Plant.

"And there you are, you bastard."

Taneesha saw the idiot, who was walking slowly behind her, following her. He carried a small gun with scope on it, his stupid mouse head and goggles bouncing along with his steps.

"Come after me fool...I'm right here."

She hunkered down and began moving away fast. Past the Water Processing plant, back down into the plaza. Lucas Simms was here. The security officer lady was here.... and finally, here came Mouse Man. Who walked toward the late-nighters from the other direction somehow: down the ramps from Lucy's place, and past the Church of Atom idiots. Oddly, the Mouse Man carried his gun, but was for some reason not firing it.





"Oh, so now you're scared?" Taneesha asked quietly, trying not to draw attention. "You's good to attack me when nobody's around but a drunken fool. But now, you actin' all pleasant-like."

He was walking, and not with any sort of urgency. Walking, almost shuffling really, like some creature from an old sci-fi movie which moved slowly, causing anticipation. Walked past the Brass Lantern, walked past the officer lady. He was openly carrying his gun. But not firing it. Nobody reacted as the wacked-out dude strode slowly right by them.

"Come on then fool," she said to him as he neared. "Let's take this outside the walls."

Mousey said nothing. Not long ago he was yelling and screaming at her, calling her "tart", and accusing her of stealing from him. But now, just nothing. A completely different rodentiary species from the one who'd confronted her in the restroom. Mus musculus tranquillitas, perhaps.

It seemed he also knew the rules: whoever attacked first, especially unprovoked, would take the assault charge, and be in trouble. Neither of them wanted to pull the trigger first.

So Taneesha rushed up the hill. Passed by Lucas Simms. "You lookin' for the mayor? Or the sheriff?" Lucas asked.

"Hey! That man with the mouse costume? He's after me!"

Megaton's mayor (sometimes sheriff) gave her a puzzled look. Lucas said nothing. He did nothing.

"Can'tcha see him?" Taneesha pleaded. "He's got a gun! I thought you was supposed to be the damn sheriff!"

Lucas Simms made no move. Just stood there, confused. It was as if she was talking to a statue.

"Well great. Thanks a lot, buster. And *duck* it. Guess I gotta handle that fool myself."

"Have a nice night!" Lucas smiled, clearly not wanting to get involved.

"Fine."

She continued up the hill. Left through Megaton's gate with her pursuer shuffling slowly behind.


10:28 pm
Taneesha left the village, passing by Deputy Weld. "Welcome ... tooo... Megaton," said the bot. "Friendliest ... town ... a-round."

She kept walking and then was running, until she was far away from the gate, again not wanting to fire one of her guns, and hit the wrong person. She slowed as she neared her bus. Fisted her Taser. And waited for the mouse. But the mouse did not show. Minutes passed, with no Mouse Man. So she entered the bus, found the suitcase which contained her raider armor. Swapped her Prewar dress and shoes for the armor (which took a vulnerable minute).

Now she was Miss Vicious Delicious. Now she was ready to rumble.

She left the bus quietly, doing her action-hero thing, pointing her electric gun this way and that. Nobody here. She began walking slowly toward Springvale School, looking over her shoulder from time to time. Finally! There he was! ... Still walking, still carrying his gun.




She ducked behind a mailbox just as mouse-head walked up the street across from Sara Silver's. As he rounded the corner she sprang out from hiding. -- *PLZZZTH!!​* went her gun, but she missed her target! ... She fired again, just as weirdo was getting ready to aim for her, and THIS time she got him! ... Electronic ions sizzled the air around them. She could feel all fifty-thousand of those volts as they not only slammed into her pursuer, but also danced around the nearby atmosphere.

"How's that feel?" Vicious asked, as Mouse Man fell to the ground, losing all motor skills in a literal flash. "Slap-around tart, eh? Is that what you called me an hour ago?"

Mousey writhed around on the street a bit, unable to respond.

"Hey, why don't you meet me over at Springvale School?" she asked. "Oh. Don't know where that is? It's easy. Just keep following me."

Like luring a real mouse into a trap full of cheese. Eventually his paralysis wore off, again he came for her. Now in front of the school, one of the other raiders sensed something was going on, and came around the far, broken wall.

"Oh yeah, this is gonna be fun!" the raider called, shooting his rifle.

"You're a slap-up tart!" Mouse Man said weakly, unable to find the dark-skinned lady he'd spied stealing a bond. "Come back here! And don't jump on me!"

Mousey was suffering. Could not find his mark, so instead he aimed and fired at the raider who'd taunted. This made it easy for Vicious to blast the guy a couple times with her Blamhammer. *POP!* *POW!* ... It took several rounds and several moments of back'and'forthing, this guy was tough! Vicious eventually switched to her Taser to bring the rodent down again. She'd been hit at least twice, and her health was failing! Once he was fallen, it was then easy for both of them to blast the vermin with the odd costume into Mouse Head Heaven!

"Guess we was too much for him, eh?" asked the raider, kissing his piece.

Vicious could not answer, not right away. Her mind was swimming. Things had happened so fast, apparently she'd suffered a head wound. And her heart was also pounding like mad, every thud causing her to falter a bit. She needed to get inside the school. Find a water fountain to help revive her health. Stumble into her classroom (for her leg was also hurt, she realized) and sleep for a Godly amount of time, hopefully with Bratty at her damn side.

And once that was done, once she was back to (hopefully) full health, she had just one man in mind who she'd likely confront... if he was actually around.

Slick Rick.... just wait until I get my hands on you....

-------------------------------------------------------

50,000 Watts!

Blow my fuse!

Vicious pumps her Blamhammer

... How to build a better mousetrap.... 🐭


Notes: I had to add a script to Mouse Man to make him leave the Men's and come looking for my character, because he got stuck in there.

And then I got the ADRENALINE RUSH of a lifetime folks, once I realized my GECK-work was working, and Mousey was coming after her!

Taneesha apparently doesn't know the most effective way to get rid of someone...open up the console, click on the NPC, type "disable" and hit ENTER, then type "MarkForDelete" and hit ENTER.

If only Taneesha knew that Confessor Cromwell was founding a religion that would spread beyond the Capital Wasteland.

Simms' AI must've been acting up.

And that's what happens when you call somebody a "tart" ad nauseum. At least in the Capital Wasteland.

The water fountain cures everything. Even head wounds. Jokes aside, I was curious how you handled health in your story. In Fallout: Florida, I've tried to keep it mostly realistic, but I'm trying to find a balance that's both believable but not too restrictive. Can't be a bullet sponge, but don't want to make guns too lethal.

Pretty amazing the lengths you'll go to make this story happen in game. Even if I was into making mods and hardcore roleplaying and such, I wouldn't have the patience to do that.

I love how her new nemesis is wearing one of the Little Lamplighter kid's outfits, just scaled up to adult size.

So Bratty's IQ hovers somewhere around room temperature, when its cool. That sounds pretty accurate...

I do like Miss V's idea of trying to lure Mickey Mouse into attacking her right in front of Lucas Simms.

The Witnesses sound a little late on their belief that the world was going to end soon. I mean, have you looked around? Been there, done that already.

I see Fallout's police are no different from the Pre-War ones...

Down goes Disney, in a hail of gunfire. Could not have happened to a nicer mouse.

That is cool that you were able to do that in the game, so he would seek out Miss V like that. I guess you copied the script from Oblivion where that Guard Captain from the Imperial City that you put in prison, escapes later and comes to find you, wherever you are?

Good idea to lure the Mouse Man out of the town, I wonder why Lucas didn't defend Taneesha - maybe because the Mouse Man was one of the "locals".

He actually followed her all the way to the school with his kiddie costume.

Congrats for pwning him, now he'll never find the other bearer bonds.

Plan A of have Mickey attack her in front of law enforcement types was a good plan but Mickey knew the rules too and didn’t cooperate.
’Mus musculus tranquillitas, perhaps.’ - -

Miss VD was clever to quickly switch to Plan B and lure the rodent out of town. Glad she blasted him back to Disneyworld but she did get beat up quite a bit in the process it sounds like. Tough mouse it seems.

So she thinks Slick Rick was behind this? I wonder if she’s right.

@ Rader -- Yes that's true. Cromwell's religion certainly has spread way down south as well if I'm not mistaken. Post Greatwar Florida seems more of a haven for religions and cults than the DelMarVa area + D.C.

I know what you mean about trying to stay realistic. She rushes inside, drinks some water from an irradiated fountain, and voila, cured she is. She lies in her bedroll and sleeps, and (no way) her head and leg injuries are back to normal. Maybe I shouldn't have written it like that!



Pssh, that's nothing. I edited a Fresh Apple, made a new object out of it. Then I made an AI Package which Finds the Player. Named it aaaMouseyFindVicious. Made sure Mouse Man had a Reference ID. Then I wrote a script like so....

scriptname aaaFreshAppleScript

Begin OnAdd player

ZZMouseManRef.AddScriptPackage aaaMouseyFindVicious

end

So all Taneesha had to do was pick up the apple, and this caused Mousey to try finding her, which'll work no matter where she goes, pretty much. Although it did take a while for this to happen...

... and now that Mouse is dead, she got to eat her first Fresh Apple.

-----------------

@Rosa -- Yeah I was wondering where Lopov got that mouse head outfit! In the game (in real time) it was really shocking being attacked by some dude wearing that outfit. It took me a couple seconds to realize what had happened... good thing my toon's in the habit of carrying her Taser wherever she goes nowadays.

Yes, Bratty's IQ is somewhere around 3rd grade, if that. I realized this last summer when I was writing some of her dialog.

I eventually will write a chapter which explains Taneesha's past with the Witnesses.



Nope, I wrote it myself! And I have YOU to thank for this in a way. You are the first one who told me "you can do it yourself" years ago, when I first began playing around in the Construction Set.

---------------------

@Lopov -- I believe the mouse did not attack anybody because his AI is set to Aggressive, which means he'll only attack 1). and opposing faction or 2). if somebody attacked him first. If AI was Very Aggressive, he would attack anybody, especially those not in his faction (if was in a faction in the first place).

I am glad he didn't attack anybody, though. That would've been tough to explain, in the context of the story. Plus, I didn't want any innocent Megatonites getting hurt / killed. That could've turned into a mess.

------------------

@Paladin -- Yes, I used an English to Latin to get calm (or peaceful) to say tranquilatas...

Was Slicky Rick behind this? Let's find out.

Chapter 43: Recuperation and Plans

Date: Sunday, September 16, 2277, 6:01 PM



Some unknown number of hours later, Miss Vicious awoke and spent an enormous amount of time just getting out of bed. She laid and rolled around on her bedroll, feeling like hell. Maybe this was what it was like to be really old. Like forty.

"Eh, you! Yeah you!"

"Oh, what's up Bratty." Finally Vicious rolled on her side, sat up. Reached into her bag for some aspirin. "Damn, you still wearing that stupid pink dress?"

"Hey, I love my stupid pink dress! Look, Vicious, watch this!" The Brat began doing some weird twisting motion. "See, look? I'm dancin'! Wooo!!!"

"Uh, very nice, Brat. Maybe I should get you some Abraxo though. It's gettin' all messed up and dirty. You know, from being in this school all the time. You sure you don't want me to get you some armor?"

"Hey, can I do your hair?"

Miss Vicious smiled, and chuckled a bit. "Yeah sure, Brat. Come on and do my hair." It was nice to have her best friend back.

"Okay, let me gets my mags!"

Vicious sat down in her teacher's chair while Bratty reached into her bag, and grabbed her ‘mags’. These were old magazines, circulars, and catalogs from two centuries ago Bratty'd found and stolen while she was living in some previous location, well-preserved in plastic cases. Glamour, Avon, Vogue, Cosmopolitan...

"Hmm, make me look like her."

“No problemo.”

Bratty set to work, heating her curling iron with an acetylene torch. She sprayed her friend's hair with some sort of conditioner. Amazingly, she did not get any of the spray (which smelled a bit toxic, seemed as though it could be flammable) mixed up with the torch.

"Yeah, make me look sort of prim 'n' proper," Vicious said with a funny accent. "Like I’m high society."

Bratty began hot-combing her friend’s hair. "So, what else do ya wanna do today?" she asked.

"Well, I gotta have some words with that two-bit *bunghole* Slick. Because the man played me, Bratty. He did something really stupid which he will pay for," she coughed. "And then after that, then I gotta head back into Megaton..."

"Again? Why you gotta go back so fast? Why don'cha hang around here a while. With me?"

"Because. We need to make some caps," the darker raider answered. She paused then, realizing she'd just used the plural pronoun we instead of the singular I. "Well, I need to make some caps. For both of us. Because it ain't like you goin' down to Dukov's paid anything..."

"Hey, I made lotsa money down there!" the Brat whined. Her hot-comb was causing a burning smell, small wisps of smoke began to drift in the air, floating across the classroom where dozens of kids, studious ones as well as brats, once gathered to learn.

"Yeah, well where is all those caps now, fool? Hmm? Where's all these supposed caps you made? Wasted on dope, that's where. Shot up your arm, and God knows where else. Which is just the same as not earning any caps at all."

Bratty moved the comb a bit too abruptly, burning Miss Vicious’s ear a bit.

"Ouch, careful!"

"Well, why can't I come with you then?” asked Bratty. She was chewing something by now, probably some gum. “I ain't never been to Megaton. Always wanted to see it, ya know?"

Miss Delicious stiffened, suddenly considering this. In fact, it was originally her idea to bring the Brat into town so they could visit Doc Church together. Go in there, get cured of rads, and maybe get cured of their various addictions as well. But for this to happen there needed to be money first. Lots of caps. Two or three-hundred caps, at least. Another factor to consider: where would Bratty stay? … With her and Lucy West? -- No way that could happen; not right away, anyway. For one thing, Lucy only had two beds...

"Look, maybe after this stupid mission is done you can come into Megaton with me, okay? It’s just… you are a raider. And I know so am I. But I can’t have you coming into town, and maybe somebody recognizing you. Like this one guy I know…" she said, thinking of Jericho, the douchebag she’d argued with a couple weeks ago.

"Oh, but that's so lame!" Bratty complained. "Why can't I go NOW? I wanna go with you. Nobody’ll know who I am. Look! Not if I be still wearin’ my cute pink dress."

"No way, girl. Not until I'm done finding a total of ten bearer bonds. After that, I’m supposed to be having a lot of caps. Which is important, Bratty. Because I'm … we … are running out of money. And for another..."

"But I wanna go wi’chu..."

"No, Bratty. NO!"

"FINE!" the Brat pouted. "Go into your stupid Megaton, then. See if I care."

Miss Delicious sighed. Grabbed a small mirror. Had a look at herself as Bratty began using her curler.

"Well, bring me back somethin' Vicious? Will ya at least do that?"

"Yes, I will do that for you," Vicious smirked, trying not to laugh. "I'll get you a present. Heck, maybe I'll get you another *fracking* dress."

It took another fifteen minutes or so before Bratty's cosmetology work was done. Miss Vicious was pleased. Now she’d be going back to Megaton in style! It was good to have her friend back.



6:00 PM
Looking good, with a meal of Dandy Boy Apple Treats for breakfast (or wait, was this supper?) now she was ready to confront Mister Slick. Confront him, for sending that creepy mouse guy dude after her, even while she was in the middle of trying to continue the mission which he and Dogmaster had assigned to her. What the heck?

Vicious and Bratty wandered the hallways and searched through classrooms. Finally, they found him. They found Slick Rick, that is.

"Yo,” he began. "Hey yo, uh...um..."

"Miss Vicious?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know your name."

Vicious stood there with her arms crossed, shaking her head.

"So, how's them, uh... ya know? How's you gettin' along with finding them, uh, bearer bonds Miss Vicious?"

"'How’s them bonds?' he asks." Vicious rolled her eyes. "Is that all you got to say?”

“Is that all I gots to say? Huh?”

“Well, first we got to talk about something else, Slick. Such as, who the *duck* was that dude wearing the mouse costume, which YOU sent after me!"

"Mouse costume?" Slick began looking around. "Oh, uh, you mean that fella that got blasted out front.” He began chuckling at the thought of his own employee, Miss Vicious Delicious, fighting a giant mouse. "You's talkin' about that mouse guy, right?" After the fight was over, all the raiders in Springvale had gathered outside the front of the school, to witness the carnage of what she'd done. “Hey uh, I ain't... that wasn't,” Slick scratched his arm, searching for words to say. “I ain't had nothing to do with that!"

"Oh, so you don't know who that was, mm hmm? You know nothing about sending some dude wearin' a mouse head after me."

"He came after you? ... Hey, like I said, I ain't had nothing ... ain't had nothing to do with. Uh, with any of that!"

Slick seemed genuinely surprised. Gone was his jokey smile.

"Mm hmm." Vicious rolled her eyes with hands on hips. “You know nothing, huh?”

“Nuh-no, Vicious. No I do not.”

"Well ... look. I'm gonna need some caps here pretty soon Slick, at the very least I'm gonna need fifty. Because you know, I am out there doin' all the work. Pretending to be respectable, while really prowing peoples' homes and businesses at night. Livin' in Megaton ain't always cheap," she lit a cig. "Oh yeah. I got a place to live, by the way. A place with a nice, respectable girl even, which is fifty caps a week. And that is what I need right now."

Fifty caps was a lie, the real amount Lucy'd asked for was twenty. But how would Slick Rick ever know the difference?

"FIFTY?"

"Yes, fifty caps. A week. Starting now. Or you'll never get the rest of them bonds."

Another several minutes of arguing, before her boss relented. Gave her 50 caps. She'd be earning a lot more once this job was done, though she wasn't sure exactly how much. It's not like any contracts had been drawn up. It's not like the local Notary Public office could be visited, or any sort of lawyer present. Presumably, the Dog would be trying to make a small fortune once he had at least ten bonds in hand, and then she would also get paid some larger amount. Otherwise, why go through all this trouble?

Vicious popped open a Nuka Cola, then stepped outside with Bratty. "Come on Brat, give me a kiss before I go."

"You can't stay the night?"

"I'll be back tomorrow, Brat. I promise. And I'll bring you a present."

Off she went, back to her bus, where she changed out of her raider gear, and into a proper townie dress.




10:10 PM
Back in town. Lucy was not home, so Taneesha walked to Moriarty's. But her housemate wasn't in the bar, either.

Flush with over 100 caps, Miss Jones blew six of them on hooch. Gob the bartender's newest concoction, simply called “hooch”, was all the rage this week. Best of all, it was cheap! Taneesha had a seat, waiting while she sipped her drink. But still no Lucy.

"Oh, yeah. Forgot about something."

She realized she'd collected another set of holotapes from the corpse of the Mouse Man. More rambling bull*ship*, most likely. She inserted a tape, downloaded its info, then opened the proper window on her Pip Girl 2500®, and began reading, just for the sake of seeing who the hell she’d been attacked by.

"Man, what a bunch of horse-hockey."

The notes she read were mostly a messy miasma of matters about Mousey's mother, whom he apparently had a lot of feuds with. And eventually murdered.

ENTRY 1

how could oyu do this to me mother of mine ?

i thot that im your only son now i fownd out that oyu have 4 MORE CHILDRAN !!! YOUR A TART MOTHER!

next time i goest o the clinic i push her down the stares until she burys her untergrond

TAAAART!!!

Taneesha continued to read more of this drivel until she got to a part which seemed rather interesting. In fact, it seemed like a downright clue.

ENTRY 2

motehr is dad

i didnt have caps for ufneral so i buryed her neer megaton walls close to the molerat shack

i put her gun nest too her grave and put some things in there to .

rpp . mother

TAAAAART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Ah-ha!"

There it was, just what she'd been looking for, a reference to possible stash. Mouse Man had made a grave somewhere just outside of Megaton (possibly near a mole rat nest) and he'd also placed some of her things 'in there to'.

"Well I know what I'mma gonna be doing the rest of the night."

Taneesha returned to Lucy's, and finished the rest of her hooch. Walked upstairs, planning what should come next.

-----------------------------
'
Taneesha's new look (Lopov'd)

"Mouse costume? For real?"

Sitting in Lucy's dining area

I love the idea of heating up a curling iron with an welding torch! That is so wasteland...

Is she going to get the Prim n' Proper hairstyle?

Oh boy, Bratty in Megaton. May as well bring Harley Quinn to a high society dinner. There is no telling what will happen, except that it's bound to be exciting!

If Slick didn't send the Mouse Man, I wonder who did? Dogmaster? It looks like there is quite a hunt going on for those bonds.

Taneesha is looking all respectable. She is like a supervillain. Mild-Mannered Taneesha by day, evil raider Miss Viscous Delicious by night.

Taneesha's a prim'n'proper raider.

A good job with their conversation as Taneesha's hair are getting heated up. Hopefully it lasts for a while.

Looks like that she found a proper clue in Mouse Man's ramblings...

Bratty, the industrial cosmetologist.

It does fail to make sense why Slick-o would try to undermine his own agent as she skulks about her rounds hunting for bonds. . . .

Wow, Mousey was one screwed up rodent. I bet you had fun writing – er, miswriting his journal. It almost appeared to be written in illiterati stupidis code.

And a clue to a hidden stash. Hope she finds more than mouse droppings there.

Ha ha, right? I love that too. Originally I had this idea that they've got an open fire pit or something, but that wouldn't make sense if it's summer. Then all the sudden I see Bratty with a portable blow torch.



Renee's imagination in high-drive, as good as it gets, anyways. 🖥🖥

Oh gosh, poor Quinn would be lost in Megaton. I think she'd fit right into Tenpenny Tower though.



Mousey was Lopov's surprise addition to the story (seriously, I was literally surprised along with my character), and was acting on his own. He had some sort of parallel desire collecting bearer bonds as well, which had nothing to do with Dogmaster's ideas. So storywise, Mouse Man's scavenging for bonds was pure coincidence. 🐁🐭

By the way, the whole Bearer Bond thing, even though I'm the one writing this story, I myself did not know why Dog wants the bonds. But NOW I know. The reason came to me a week ago.

And guess what? There will be a 4th season of Miss Vicious Delicious. I know this now. There's too many cool ideas and there's no way I'm getting it all done by Thanksgiving!







She's moving into her "respectable" phase. Maybe because she's going to be living with Lucy West half time, she wants to appear in a certain way in front of Megatonites. This will last for a while.

Good thing she hasn't gotten caught while stealing and trespassing, right? 🐱‍👤



Ha ha yup. There's another clue, plain as day. *nods*

And ... Guess you already know what'll happen next. WE don't! It must be pretty fun seeing all of this from your perspective. It's like two producers collaborating on a film, but each one does things the other doesn't know about.








I agree. From her perspective, she's looking for someone to blame. But she can see through his bumbling behavior that he's being genuine.



... and what you're reading is actually edited version!


Oh she does! Just wait'll you see.

Chapter 44: The Cabinet

Date: Monday, September 17, 2277
Level: 5 (Dignitary)

Playtime: 65.20.39 (crazy, so I've been averaging just over 20 hours per season)


Taneesha had waited another hour for Lucy to come home the previous night, but her roommate never arrived. Perhaps the blonde-haired gal had gotten some inspiration from her new roomie, decided to go out on the town. After waiting for Miss West to show, finally Miss Jones couldn't help but crash. Truth is, she'd come very close to losing her life to a mouse-wearing fool. She was still very drained.

But before she fell asleep, she looked at the cabinet, made of sturdy old wood, standing between Lucy's bed and the stairwell.





Lucy's cabinet. Whether it was used as a dresser, an armoire, or perhaps a container for old knick-knacks. it was clearly Prewar, clearly antique. Polished to a shine. Taneesha'd noticed the cabinet before. She'd been curious about it, yet had never peered inside. But now, just before being doomed to fall into a warm bed, her curiosity was blooming again. What could be in there?

She could not help herself. Got up off the bed, she walked the short distance between her side of the home and Lucy's. Tried the latch on Lucy's cabinet. Lucy's cabinet was unlocked. She had to have a peek inside -- just one peek!

"Whoa. Dag, look at these!"

This one would be great for going about Megaton. And this one ... perfect for forays out into the Wasteland. Taneesha's eyes bulged. "Where did Miss Lucy get all of this?"

But ... there were rules for this sort of thing, unwritten rules assumed amongst housemates, that is. Taneesha wasn't trying to be Vicious right now. She wasn't staying at some raider camp, in which most items laying around were safe for taking. ... If nobody's claimed it and you need it, it's yours... went their credo. No, the items she was looking at inside the antique cabinet were Lucy's stuff. And you don't just take things, or even remove them, from somebody's unlocked cabinet, especially somebody who's supposed to be trusting of you!

So... not wanting to be too intrusive, that's as far as the moment went. Just a look inside the cabinet, before falling into bed.


8:05 AM
The next morning she awoke to the sound of munching. Somebody eating downstairs... *crunch-munch-munch*

"Hey! Lucy!"

Taneesha almost fell out of bed before marching downstairs, not wanting to miss her housemate. She found her in their dining room. Lucy was sitting on a chair, having some roasted squirrel-on-a-stick for breakfast.

"Hey, good to see you, dear. You sleep okay?"

"Lucy, um, here," Taneesha reached bluntly into her pocketbook. "I got some caps. Twenty caps a week, right?"

"Oh nice! Excellent! Yes, this'll do just fine, Tan. You mind if I call you Tan?"

There, it was done! Taneesha Jones (now nicknamed "Tan") had just paid rent to Lucy West. Which meant she'd finally found herself a place to live. Her first real place, in a safe, established town. No scheming raiders whooping and hollering nearby. No radioactive radroaches clittering down the hall. No broken bottles or spent needles to step over. No Wastelanders wandering randomly in, then getting shot full of holes. ...She could walk around in her underclothes!

Maybe she was making too big a deal about this, but for Taneesha Jones, the moment was significant.

Lucy smiled, continuing her meal. "Have a seat!"

Taneesha looked inside the refrigerator, grabbed a box of Sugar Bombs. "So hey, listen," she started.

"Yes?"

"So I was sitting around waiting last night. And I couldn't help but notice the cabinet upstairs. That wooden one, next to your bed."

"Oh yes, those are mine, well most of them are. Some of them are probably Ian's." Lucy was finishing her meal by now. "Why, do you want to borrow something? ... Feel free to help yourself, dear. That's mostly stuff I used to wear before I moved to Megaton."

Taneesha blinked. "Is... are you serious? I can try some of those?"

"Sure, feel free. We're roommates now," Lucy said casually. "You're about my size, right? Like I said, I hardly wear those. But feel free. No problem. What's mine is yours, okay?"

Miss Jones couldn't believe it. She'd barely started her breakfast before putting down her spoon. She wanted to grab one particular outfit. "Wait right here." She rushed upstairs. Threw her old factory-made blue dress to the side and reached in Lucy's magical cabinet. Spent a couple minutes getting herself dressed, then ran downstairs.

"Su-weet! Check you out, Miss Tan!"





Unique, well-fitting apparel was hard to come by in the Capital Wasteland. The outfit she'd selected was tan-colored; it totally matched her skin tone. It had a dual belt combination, with holsters on both legs for carrying small hand weapons! Best of all, the outfit had some armoring qualities. It would be perfect for the Wasteland.

... It had become a question in Taneesha's mind: What if she'd ever get seen wearing raider gear by a Megatonite? What would happen, especially now that she was thinking of becoming more of a fixture in town?

Well, now she wouldn't need to take such a risk. Now, she'd be able to face the Wasteland, but in armor which would be hopefully acceptable to those in established areas, and also her raider friends.

"Thanks so much, Lucy!"

But that's not all. Taneesha also now had access to clothes which were more suitable for moseying about town. A loose top and bottom combination (with a shirt which was once known as a 'wifebeater', which had no sleeves, and what were once knowns as 'gym pants' down below) would be perfect for these long end-of-summer days. Lucy even had an odd set of miniskirt armor, purple in color, along with some clothes and armor which would be more appropriate once the weather began getting colder.

"Uh, really? You once wore this?"

But most of all, she liked the first outfit she'd chosen, the one which complimented her skin color. Tan, just like her new nickname. This getup would be perfect to sport while searching for Mouse Man's supposed stash. Taneesha looked at the label inside the outfit's top. Was made by a tailor (or perhaps a shop) called Apocalypse. Perfect.

Before setting out of town, Taneesha stopped in Craterside Supply. Here, she bought a set of Christmas lights. These would be hung inside her Springvale School classroom.



4:02 PM
She exited Megaton's gate, and rounded its outside walls. The note left by Mouse Man did not say where the stash was, only hinted that it was hidden in his mother's grave, it was close by, and it was on the opposite side of town. Rain began to fall, which Taneesha dreaded at first. But then she realized: water falling from the sky would be great for sneaking up on any potential enemies, even if it was also bad for her own visibility.

Taneesha realized something else as she began her search. Dressed in this new armor, yet not donning the gear of a raider, she felt as though she were halfway between herself and Miss Vicious.

She walked halfway around the massive wall, then crouched down. And yes, something or someone was moving up ahead.

She inched forward slowly, readying her Taser. Began to get that feeling, like she was being watched. So she froze, and had a look to her right.

Nobody there, but there was an infestation of mole rats exactly where the note said it'd be!

... She was able to stun the first rat with her gun, and then beat it viciously with her lead pipe. No problem. But as she continued around the town, suddenly three more of them attacked. It took a while for her to dispatch them. Her Taser was great for stunning enemies, but if she missed, it took roughly two seconds to reload. And it only held one energy cell at a time. Facing too many opponents at once, she was forced once to run to the opposite side of town so she could get some assistance from Deputy Weld.

But, no problems. After several minutes of battling the giant rodents, all three of them were done for.

"Huh, I get it. So Mousey had some rats. Hmph."

And up ahead there it was, the grave of Mouse Man's mother, its earth still soft and obvious, turning to mud as water poured upon it. There were two wooden planks formed as a cross, held together by a huge combat knife. A small battery with a light had been placed right on the ground. The way the light was still shining suggested that Mousey had been interrupted just as he was tamping mother's grave.

And on the ground where mother was presumably buried were four large letters.



"Uh... seriously?"

Taneesha/Vicious did not have a shovel, so she dug into the earth a bit with her hands.

Fortunately, Mousey hadn't buried her very far. Underneath a mere few inches of ground were mutilated remains, "yicch!" But lying right next to his mother's corpse was a rare .44 Magnum revolver, along with plenty of boxed ammo. Taneesha picked up the gun. Other than being a little scuffed, the piece was in pristine condition. Engraved on its barrel was a moniker: THE GRAY BASTARD. Though she was not any sort of expert on guns, it seemed she was holding something very unique.

She swept her eyes left and right as she put the gun in her bag. Nobody near, nothing here. But it didn't matter. She couldn't help the feeling of being watched. And how could this be?

She took a second look at the cross which marked mother's sad gravesite.

"Sweet!"

Bearer bond number eight was right there, being held to Mousey's mother's cross by the combat knife. As Taneesha Jones reached for it left-handed, she made sure to have her Taser right-handed and ready.

------------------------------------------------

Lucy, chowing down

"Oh yes, those are my clothes..."

Casual Summer Outfit

Silly Purple Miniskirt Amor -- (These outfits have actual names, but I'm not on my gaming computer right now. There's one outfit inspired by Mad Max, for instance, another by Tomb Raider!)

Being WATCHED Messagebox

Mouse Mother's Grave -- (Where did you get these letters, Lopov? )

Bearer Bond #8


Note: I specifically did not take the bond off mother's cross yet. That's gonna be a moment, I guarantee!

🕶

Looks like Lucy’s got some nice duds in her closet!

Yay, roast squirrel for breakfast – does it get any better than that?

Tan is a great nickname for Lucy’s official roommate.

How generous of Lucy to help expand Tan’s wardrobe – good armor and some nice town clothes.

So Mouse’s mom carried a .44 magnum. Doesn’t sound very tarty to me!

Hmm, bearer bond #8 smells like a trap. . . .


Note: I’ll be off line and out of town for about the next 10 days. I look forward to catching up on what I miss after I get back.

So Lopov made this questline for you to solve as Miss V? That is neat. This way you don't know what is going to happen next.

Cool, Tan has her first real place!

And some new outfits to go with her new pad. Taneesha's moving up in the world.

Squirrels in Fallout are like apples in Oblivion, Acadian. Neither food item has a source. There lots of apples in Cyrodiil, but where are the trees? Same thing with squirrel-on-a-stick in the Capital Wasteland. Maybe all the squirrel meat gets imported down from the mountains.

Oh yes, BB 8 is a trap! However, it didn't work in the same way as Mouse Man (getting ahead of myself, here).


Yes, SubRosa. Well, I laid the groundwork for the quest (the actual part where Taneesha collects those bonds) and then I emailed the .esp to Lopov so he could hide the bearer bonds. But let's just say Lopov got a little carried away! I knew there'd be some additional "plot" laid by my co-producer...

All of the things which have been happening since Mouse Man, I am blind to all these things. Because I have no idea what's going to come.

As we last saw, Taneesha "Miss Delicious" Jones has found Bearer Bond #8 stuck to the cross, the grave, of Mouse Man's mother. The Mouse apparently killed his own mother, then (oddly) stabbed the bond there with a combat knife. Rain is coming down, while Vicious has the feeling she's being watched.

Now... she's about to pull the knife from the cross, with one hand on her Taser, the other ready to snag a Stealth Boy, in case she needs to be invisible for a while.





She removed the knife, which caused the document to fall to the ground -- thunk!​ -- Realized the previous pour of rain had slowed a bit. The air was cool by now, with a light breeze blowing. Hopefully this would be the spiritual end of summer.

Taneesha grabbed the bond, then she rotated, all 360 degrees in a full circle, pointing her "toy" gun at whoever was about to show. But nobody showed. Nobody rushed her. Nothing happened.

"Lordy..."

Adrenaline! ... Such a rush! ... But it immediately began to subside. As a young female who'd grown up sheltered, but then had spent the last few years out here in the Wasteland, her ability to face down fear had been honed by many moments just like this one. Anyway, nobody here. No gunfire from afar. No idiot in a makeshift Halloween costume, jumping all over her. Still, she remained crouched, because that's what you did when you got good at this sort of thing. Listened and waited.

Eventually the rain abated even further.

"Well, then."

As her adrenaline dump ended her nerves began to tingle, and boy were they rattled. She looked down at her hands, which were micro-shaking. Lit a cig (hoping to calm herself) then began moving slowly around the south side of Megaton, gun pointed and ready. When she got about halfway around she holstered her piece, and ran the rest of the way, back to the town's gate.

"Welcome. Toooo. Megaton..." Deputy Weld, Megaton's sentry, greeted.

"Ah shut up, stupid bot."



5:13 PM
She returned to Lucy's place, which (she reminded herself for the thirtieth time) was also her place as well. Put her shotgun and shells into her personal locker. Had some noodles. Went to bed for an hour or two. When she awoke, she thought she heard something downstairs.

clop... cloop ... clop....

Taneesha hunched down! Good thing she hadn't put her stun gun away, because somebody was coming, below her on the first floor. Whoever it was, was walking urgently.

.... Coming up the metal stairs.
....Making all kinds of noise.

Miss Jones did not think it was Lucy. Something about the way those boots were falling. As the figure rounded the top of the staircase, she could see this was definitely NOT her housemate.

Here he comes. Definitely a man. Wearing an ordinary hat instead of a mouse head. Oddly, he seemed to have some sort of partial Stealth Boy effect going on, for he was partially invisible. Taneesha could see his head and his hat and his gloved hands. But the rest of his body was unseen. It was as if he were a partial ghost.

He was carrying a gun.

** PSSSTH!!! **​ went her Taser, which resulted in a direct hit! And now that the intruder was down, she had about 10 seconds to grab her Blamhammer.

"Oh please Lucy, wherever you are, please please PLEASE don't come home..."

There was a burning smell in the air. Smoke and mist sizzled off her adversary as he writhed on the ground. Taneesha holstered her electric gun and switched weapons. --- BLAM! went the Blamhammer. * BKSSH!!! ... BKSHHH!!... BLOOSKSH!!! * ... She hit the man four times in a row, yet he was somehow still alive, and about to get up. She switched guns again and zapped him a second time with her Taser, just after he managed to hit her with a shot as well.

"Arcg!!"

She had just one Stimpak left. While her attacker lost mobility and slowly rolled down the stairs, Taneesha was able to jam the final injector into her arm, regaining some health. Then she rushed around the staircase, and was able to blast the *bunghole* three more times, causing him to twitch and cough.

Things were moving so fast, and getting messy by now! Lucy's poor yellow couch was covered with the man's blood.



But he was getting up. Again. Somehow.

"Ah hail no!"

Though he was pretty weak by now, he was able to begin ascending the steps, and fired another shot.

"Oh you did not just shoot my roommate's wall..."

But by now Taneesha definitely had the upper hand. She fell back across the bedroom area, aimed her shotgun, and waited for the man to round the corner one last time before she slammed him with the final round.

"Airgh!!!!!"

The intruder? He fell to his death, right there at the top of Lucy's (and now Taneesha's) stairs. Damn. What the hell?

"Damn!" she nearly screamed, really jazzed up. "I mean, damn. What the hell, man?"

Once again, adrenaline swirling, crashing downward as the excitement ends. Taneesha needed to get a grip; investigate who the hell just barged into their home. But she remained frozen for about half a minute, catching her breath, thinking of a thousand possibilities in a sheer amount of time.

Had her Women's Intuition earlier that afternoon, about being watched, possibly been right?
Did the man who'd attacked her have anything to do with this silly Bearer Bond mission?

Well at the moment, none of that mattered. Suddenly, she had a lot of work to do! -- Blood was everywhere!!!-- All over the floor, on the walls, on the stairs. Taneesha checked her Pip Girl 2500®. 19:31 was the time.

"Oh please Lucy West, please stay away for ... an hour or so? How about that? Can ya stay outside for an hour or two?"

Good thing she'd just bought some Abraxo. She intended to give the box of cleaner to Bratty, but now she'd need to use it to tidy the hell up. She got to work. The next couple hours were a flurry of activity as she grabbed a bucket of water, poured the Abraxo in, and then soaked, scrubbed, swept, sponged, swabbed and scoured the man's remains away.

She also got rid of the body, of course. Helped that it was dark and raining again outside. She was able to drag him out of the front door, and rolled him underneath the ramp which led from Lucy's house to The Brass Lantern. She did all of this without being seen, thankfully.

The man had a Holotape journal on his person, along with some whiskey, some cigs, and much-needed caps. Taneesha learned his name was Andrew New. After disposing (hiding, really...) his remains, Taneesha went back into the house, and read the latest entry in the man's journal.

I thought that I lost this game, but the Lucky Old Lady smiled on me again.

When I heard rumors that my former complice from the Old Guys, the legendary raider-turned-whore Martha Arthur passed away, I immediately headed for Megaton. Although I was earning quite a fortune, while performing shirtless before the crowd in Rivet City.

I decided that it's worth leaving this career behind. As the water beggar told me, her idiotic son buried her behind the town and fortunately for me, buried the Gray Bastard pistol with her. Unfortunately for me, the revolver was taken from the grave before I arrived to Megaton!

Fortunately for me, the always thirsty water beggar is a good source for eyes and ears, and after spending some caps on the right people in Megaton, I found out that girl's name is Taneesha Jones. I also gave som dirty water to the beggar, of course.

Now all I must do is track Jones down and viciously kill her. Hopefully she didn't sell the revolver. Maybe I could ask her first if she still has it, and kill her second, once she confirms.

Anyway, I should find her soon. I bet that the Frenchman will go after the gun as well, once he finds out about Martha. The Frenchman is the meanest of us all. I still remembered how he killed Barret the Chair Climber with just one shot, when Barret tried to sell him rocks for the third time.

Gotta go.

"Frenchman?" She blinked as she read the end of the note. "Oh please Lord, don't tell me there's gonna be someone else comin' after me?!"

Always gotta be something, right Miss Vicious?

"Fine. Well if there is another one out there, this so-called Frenchman, let him come. Let him meet Miss Vicious," Taneesha spoke to herself. "I'll be glad to arrange some more pleasantries."

Time to head to Moriarty's. She'd just found a couple whiskeys she could drink, after all. Maybe she'd share one with her housemate, assuming she was there.

------------------------------------------

Another idiot (Andrew New) intrudes Miss Vicious

*BZZT!*

You go girl!

BLAM goes the Blamhammer

Andrew New closeup

Taneesha Jones closeup

Notes: Lopov later told me he sourced the intruder's clothes from some other mod, which is why the "glitch" seemed to make his clothes disappear. We're going to try fixing this for the next baddie who shows up.

I can relate to Miss V's anxiety. Years of playing the original Doom instilled in me a strong sense of paranoia, that any time I pressed a switch or picked up some important quest item, a wall was about to drop and twenty demons would rush out.

No demons at least. This time...

The Half_Ghost man looks really weird. My guess is that the mesh or texture for his clothing did not get copied over, so the game just did not display it. I deliberately did that with the martial arts mod I created for January. I made a new melee weapon, and deliberate left the model field blank. That way the game simply displays nothing when you equip it. So it looks like she is using her bare hands.

Damn, Invisi-man sure can take a beating. Miss V is putting more lead in him than a pencil factory.

Why are all these weirdos coming out of the woodwork? Over bearer-bonds, which are now worthless anyway? This is one weird quest.

So it was not about the bonds, but some pistol? Oi!

Wow, that dude took some serious firepower to take down. I imagine after eating eight shotgun blasts at close range, 'disposing' of what's left of him should not be hard. I can imagine clean up was indeed quite the task though.

So we learn maybe there's yet another demented fool looking to meet Tazer and Blamhammer and all this fuss seems to be about that pistol buried with Mousie's mom.

I'm falling behind on every thread...

I like it that while fighting Andrew, Taneesha's main concern was actually that Lucy's house got more and more dirty with every fired shot and that the first thing that she had done after killing Andrew, she cleaned up the house.

Too bad that his outfit didn't work properly, it worked fine in my .esp. I don't remember making him that hard to bring down. At least not compared to the Frenchman.

It's okay, Lopov. Your life is way busier than mine.

Yes, Taneesha just got her first place to live, ever in her life (first place that isn't shared by scummy raiders, that is) so she's all worried about making good impressions. 🏚

About the missing outfit: All the DLC are toggled ON. Anchorage, The Pitt, Broken Steel, and Point Lookout. I'm about to play some FO3 so I'll try the other suggestions you had.

Ha ha it's okay that Andrew and Mousey were both tough. Bullet sponges are okay once in a while.


Acadian: I'm having a lot of fun writing this part. There are three levels (tiers, I guess) to Megaton and Lucy happens to live on the second tier.

In imagination, Tan had to drag the intruder down a set of stairs, drag him across a floor which is maybe 12 or 15 feet, and then through Lucy's front door. She'd then have another 10 or 12 feet to drag him before she reaches the ramp. There's a hollow area under the ramp. I imagine since it was raining, this was a good thing for her, since the trail of blood would instantly be getting washed away.

In reality: I simply clicked on the intruder, opened the console and hit disable.


YES I have heard about DOOM SubRosa, it sounds really tough! mirocu still has nightmares about DOOM.

Okay, that helps (about the missing mesh or texture). I emailed the latest save and MissVicious.esp to Lopov and he says their clothes appear fine in his game. So there's some sort of conflict with one of the other mods, perhaps. I'm about to try to see if I can fix it. But if I can't, I'll just give the guy some generic armor or something.

They are idiots, aren't they? They're all trying to find this pistol for some reason. 🔫 Let's find out what it is.

Chapter 46: The Frenchman

Date: Monday, September 17, 2277, 9:27 PM (note: as I write this, it is also Sept. 17 in real-life)

Location: Moriarty's Saloon

Current Temperature: 59.0 °F (outdoor)


The Frenchman, noted to be the "meanest" of all, according to Andrew New's notes. Apparently, the gun buried by Mouse Man was some sort of special piece, why else would all these numbnuts be so eager to get it?





Taneesha had a seat in Moriarty's. Her usual chair was currently occupied by a wastelander, a young man, who was half-asleep. So she sat in Lucy's favorite instead. Lit a Lucky, and cracked open the cap on her whiskey. Cheap stuff, but at the moment, that didn't matter....she'd had a tough day. She deserved a reward.

Moriarty's wasn't too crowded tonight, Taneesha counted nine people. Radio Free Wasteland was on the box, Three Dog playing some old jazz tune. So... nine people, but no Lucy. Lucy West was not here. Not at home. So where could Lucy be?

"She must got a squeeze, someone she's been seeing," Taneesha muttered.

And this caused the guy sitting next to her to wake up. "Damn girl, who are you? Like, what's your name?" asked he.

"Um... Taneesha." Uh oh.

"Taneesha, you are one... fine... specimen!" He made some kind of gesture with his hands, but Taneesha refused to look. "Yo, my name's Cass. And can Cass like, buy you is a drink or sumthin-sumthin?"

"No man, already got one. But thanks. I'm just here waiting for my friend, okay?"

"Ba-cause I'm just sayin'... can I get you a hooch?"

"A hooch?"

"I just wanna buy you one drink, lady. You know like, that!"

"You want to buy me a drink that costs three caps, and tastes all nasty?"

"Yeah, 'cause you know, I wanna like, get to know you and all that a little better, you know? Ba-cause dayum!"

"Oh my gosh."

Taneesha sighed, she rolled her eyes. Being hit on by some Casanova kid named Cass was not what she needed right now. She'd just spent her day firstly fighting molerats, then fighting some douchebag who'd burst into her and Lucy's home, and this didn't even include the other douchebag who'd attacked her in the Men's a couple days ago! Her nerves were still rattled.

All she needed right now was some time to herself, yet not by herself. She did not want to be home right now, sitting and listening and noticing every little sound the house made. Not after what just happened. That would drive her crazy.

But the kid sitting next to her did not know all that she'd been through, not that it would make much difference. And he was not about to give up.

"Ba-cause I'm just say-in', I just wanna buy you a drink, that's all. And maybe if you wanna see my pad later on...ba-cause, you know..."

"Oh please."

He wasn't getting a clue. Should she get up and move somewhere else?

"Bonjour, madam."

All the sudden he was here. Him, the Frenchman, standing here right next to her. Taneesha flinched; she actually flinched. She hadn't seen him walk in the door. Her adrenaline perked up a notch. The Frenchman was wearing a trenchcoat, partially blocking Cass the Casanova Kid. No formal introduction had been made; Taneesha had no idea what a French person actually sounded like. But somehow, she just knew who he was right away.

She looked up at him, and could see he was wearing a wig, a gray and curly and poofy one, which looked like a hairpiece one of America's original presidents would've worn: George Washington or Thomas Jefferson or one of them. The Frenchman had a patch over his left eye. And he was scented. Lordy what an overpowering smell coming from him. Made Taneesha gag a bit.

"Uh, let me guess," she started. "You... are the Frenchman."

"Oui!" he clapped. "I am ... the Franch-man. Indeed, eh not many wastelanders would eh re-cog-nize my ac-cent."

"Pfft, I don't need to know your accent, fool. It's obvious you are not from around here. Look like a damn puff-cake too, with your creepy-ass wig. You know what year it is? People don't wear wigs from the Founding Fathers anymore in America, dope."

The wigged man ignored her. "Now, ah let's get down to buz-nuss, fille," he said, his voice and accent quite nasal.

"Here it comes..." Taneesha said sarcastically to Cass, who was still sitting next to her, speechless and wide-eyed.

"I want a gun," the Frenchman said. "Un pistolet très spécial, a very, eh, special gun, as I would say in my nah-tive tongue. And I know you have it..."

"Yep, I do have it..."

"...now you hand it over to me, Illico!" he demanded.

"Mm, now see here we have a problem, French fry. Problem is, I don't even have it. Gun's at home in my locker at the moment." Taneesha sat back, gazing at the wigged man, seeing what his reaction would be. "But even if I had it on me I wouldn't hand it over. Not to a tres-creep like you."

This didn't make the Frenchman happy, of course. "Rightfully?" he asked. "If you will not, ah, give me the gun, I shall have to teach you a les-zon armour," he said, laughing darkly.

"Whatever, wig-head."

...one hand on her Taser by now, the other in her pouch....

But the Frenchman did not attack right away. "You... think I wear a wig?" he asked, insulted. "No of course, not at all! -- Ce n’est pas une perruque, these are my own hairs!" Frenchman's voice was rising. "Vous me donnez ce pistolet, MAINTENANT!"

By now, all socializing in the bar had stopped. Other than the radio and the soft pattering of raindrops on the roof, there was silence. Taneesha did a quick look-around at everyone here in the saloon, making a quick-second study of what was about to go down.

Gob: the bartender. Standing forelornly by the radio, as he often did. Gob would be okay, as long as he dove behind his counter.

Nova: the saucy red-haired prostitute. Dressed in her usual negligee, smoking a stub. She probably wouldn't get involved, but she'd also been around the block a few times, and possibly knew the wisdom of packing some protection. Maybe she's got a weapon for defense purposes; would she try using it?

Moriarty: the bar's owner. Though Taneesha could not see him, he was probably somewhere in the back of his establishment. Moriarty was a passionate man who always carried heat. Chances are he would come out of his office, fighting back. It was his place, after all.

Walter: the water-processing plant guy, just here having a drink after work. He's a softie, Taneesha assumes. Probably, he'd run right out the door.

There were also the usual smattering of settlers and wastelanders; folks who passed through town, maybe stayed around, maybe moved on. Transients, just like her. Cass the kid was one of these. Taneesha didn't know these folks, so all three of them in her current vision were wild cards.

Cho Zen Wan: Ah. Finally, the Lone Wanderer himself was present. Though Taneesha Jones was wary of this former vault-dweller (it was well-known he had attacked, killed, and looted raiders) she knew he was sure to make a move. He was the big hero of the Wasteland, after all. Eager to show off his protection skills, or so Taneesha assumed.

After making these assessments (and some quick-second calculations) she knew what she would do. From this moment on, things happened very quickly.


-----------------------------------------------------------

Under siege from "Cass"anova.

The Frenchman

"Un pistolet très spécial..."

Cass A. Novah – certainly sounds like the name of a new Renee character.

"Bonjour, madam." – uh oh, sounds like our Frenchman has arrived. Gulp.

And it sure looks like a fight is about to ensue. Tan seems wise to evaluate her surroundings and move her hands to her weaponry. Let’s hope Frenchie learns why they call her Miss Vicious Delicious.

Clever of Tan to check on her surroundings to see who could possibly help her or be endangered.

Cho looks like the appropriate guy to kick some French ass.

Still, Taneesha could learn a word or two from her dueslist.

The next time I create a villain, he'll be from Germany, then I can write entire dialogues in German confidently and without dictionary. With French I needed to look every word up.

Lucy is nowhere to be found? Uh oh. Has some dastardly fiend kidnapped her to use against Miss V!

I honestly had not seen the Cass = Casanova until Taneesha spelled it out. Oi!

Uh oh, its the Frenchman, and he wants his gun back. This whole recently storyline is feeling a bit like a comic books, with all these outsized and exotic characters, like the Mouse Man, and now the Frenchman.

Cho is in town? If the Frenchman is dumb enough to make a move in Moriarity's he's not going to live very long. If he's smart, he will at least take it outside, or make some dire threat and stalk off, only to reappear later under better circumstances.

Last we saw, Taneesha Jones was just attacked by another odd man who was partially invisible, right inside her own home. The man, whose name was Andrew New, was defeated by Jones as she became vicious. Now... she was trying to have a drink at Moriarty's in an attempt at cooling down, yet has been bothered again, this time by a foreigner called Frenchman who claims to have rights to a special gun called The Gray Bastard. Will the Frenchman be able to get the prize from Taneesha? Or will Frenchman become another notch in her Enemies Defeated in-game stat?


Chapter 47: The Frenchman, Part 2


The diabolical character known simply as 'Frenchman' demanded the special gun held by Taneesha Jones, but she refused. This didn't make the Frenchman happy, of course. "Rightfully?" he asked. "If you will not, ah, give me za gun, I shall have to teach you a les-zon armour," he said, laughing darkly.

"Whatever, wig-head."

But the Frenchman did not attack right away. "You... think I wear a wig?" he asked, insulted. "No of course, not at all! -- Ce n’est pas une perruque, these are my own hairs!" Frenchman's voice was rising. "Vous me donnez ce pistolet, MAINTENANT!"

By now, the wig-headed man with the eyepatch had caught the attention of every Moriarty's patron. Colin Moriarty himself appeared from his back office. "What's with all the ruckus?!" he yelled, brandishing his 10 mil.

So Frenchman had a look around, realized he was outnumbered. "You all, you have notzing to do with this," he started. "This is between I, and la fille noire, here."

"La fill a what?" Taneesha was getting up from her seat...one hand on her stun gun, the other in her pouch...

"Bien, bien. Let me explain," Frenchman started. "You are involved in zis, and don't even know what is going on. Les plus terribles. Terrible indeed. Let's have us une leçon histoire, then. History, that is."

"Oh, is this the part when the evil enemy showboats during his last scene in the movie?" Taneesha asked. "What-ever. I was just calmly getting hit on by this dude sitting next to me. Brother was just about to buy me a drink when you busted in. But let's hear what you got to say."

"Ha ha, très drôle, chienne. We had a gang, za four of us. Les Vieux, we were known as, The Old Guys, in your nah-tive tongue. Inhabituel, since none of us were old. N'a pas d'importance. Not that it matters."

Taneesha rolled her eyes, and looked at her left wrist. Though she did not wear any sort of timepiece, she did the universal gesture we all do, when mocking somebody taking too much time with a story.

"There was our leader, called Arthur, because she had poils du visage, eh, some hair on her face. There was Barret the Chain Climber, known to you peut-être as the rock-seller, Andrew New, and me, of course."

"Seriously dude, is this going to take all night?"

"Finalement, we went separate ways. Arthur left first after she became ... enceinte .. eh, 'knocked-up' is how you would put it. Zhis was a bad choice for her. Her son Don was un stupide ... eh, he was slow. Troll de grange: a troll from the barn. Barret left the next, with some wild idea of selling rocks to the Rivet City. He tried to sell rocks to me, as well."

"C'mon man! Get to the point!" somebody yelled.

Frenchman had a look around, his eyes rolling over each bar patron, all who were staring at him. He realized he had an audience. Which only caused him to speak louder. "When he came to me for za third time, I killed him. Andrew and me went our separate ways, as well." He began gesturing with his arms, like an actor on a stage. "It wasn't until il y a quelque temps, that I heard of Arthur's death. And I wanted that gun, I wanted the Gray Bastard!"

"So, you still want to buy me that hooch?" Taneesha asked the wastelander kid, who sat transfixed. "Think we're gonna be here a while."

"But as you know by now," Frenchman continued, "it was YOU who robbed Arthur's grave! Cette pute cannot even get rest in her afterlife! And for THIS, you must PAY! ... Préparez-vous à votre MORT, stupide fille noire!!!"

From this moment on, things happened very quickly. Taneesha did a quick assessment of everyone present, making guesses at what they'd all do.

If she were a guy, especially one who was not known to the town, she'd probably be on her own. But a girl in distress, even one who was currently packing? Time for them to prove their worth as saviors and heroes. Indeed, Colin and Cho already had their weapons in hand.



Let's go sunning! played idyllically on the radio as the fighting began! Taneesha scooted across the floor while Frenchman was immediately surrounded. Cho the Lone Wanderer swung his bat and connected, Colin Moriarty shot his pistol, and one of the male settlers began swinging his fists. A fourth person fired from behind Taneesha's left shoulder, though she could not see who was there. Taneesha fired her Taser and missed, fired and missed, it was tough to aim because of all the sudden activity, fired, and finally zapped the wigged pinhead, causing him to fall to the floor ... all of this happened in the span of six seconds.

But the Frenchman? He was like the others before him; obviously tough. But now that he was down, Taneesha switched to her lead pipe, the weapon she used for backup, the weapon she'd picked up weeks ago, after finding herself placed in that shack. She began swinging ... pip! pop! pow! ... With all of these folks attacking at once, and with no means to defend himself, Frenchman stood no chance.

Within twenty more seconds, he was dead! Frenchman was a-lay on the floor. Somehow, his leg had become unhinged; it was lying right next to the table where Taneesha and Lucy shared their evening drinks.

And just like a scene from an old Wild Western, things went back to normal immediately after the fight was over.

"You need something, Walter?" somebody asked the town's water maintenace specialist.

"Oh. Hi!"

"Hey there big boy," Nova said to somebody. Taneesha did not know whom. She was (again) too jazzed with adrenaline.

It took her about half a minute before she took action. Looted the body of Frenchdude, who had several rounds of 10 mm ammo, a cigarette pack, and what looked to be a couple hundred more caps. Yes! She'd sell the ammo (or give it to Bratty, perhaps), she'd smoke the ciggies, she'd spend the caps.

"Hey, is that a toy gun?"

She located one more item in her opponent's overcoat: a 'Pip Garcon', which Taneesha assumed was the French version of a Pip Boy®. She was able to find a couple of notes recorded into its DATA section, which she uploaded into her Pip Girl 2500®.

"Finally, can I just get some quiet?" she asked nobody in particular.

Cass, the boy who'd been hitting on her a few moments ago, had apparently fled! Was nowhere to be seen.

"Dang. Now I gotta pay for my own hooch."

----------------------------------------------------

Tan versus Frenchy

Frenchman getting French Fried!

Batter up...

Cho scores a hit (...youch)

Classic Bar Fight

Frenchman's OnDeath Quest Message

Lopov'd

Notes: Flush with 451 caps in her pocket, Taneesha visited Doc Church during today's session and got totally cured of rads. 💉 Here she found Bearer Bond #9, so there's just one left to go.

The Gray Bastard is a good name for a gun. It reminds me of the villain character The Yellow Bastard from Sin City.

Taneesha has the French Bastard monloguing!

Oh oh, it is a shootout in the middle of the saloon! Miss V better be careful not to shoot any bystanders, otherwise the entire town might turn on her.

His leg had become unhinged!

What a hoot! Wighead was very entertaining but I’m surprised Miss VD didn’t just taze him halfway through his long story. With so many hands in Frenchie’s death, there shouldn’t be any heat on Taneesha for it. And she even profited nicely – more than enough to buy her own hooch.

Doh! How did I miss saying: "Don't taze me bro!"