PLANET FALLOUT THIRTEEN

[Maharg67]

-6-

 

JASMINE, JADEKIN AND JIFFY ASHWORTH

 

Jasmine was in a dark, dull blue jumpsuit the Vaultfolk, or Vault Dwellers. She was long out of the roboremoter capsule-chair she had been in to operate the eyemote that had she had discovered the hidden cache of concentrated mentumas. The capsule-chairs were up in a whole other Section of her subvault. The neat rows of capsule-chairs were multiple purpose in nature and under constant demand. Those not being used for roboremoting could be used for many other functions from training to holidaying to gaming to much else in super virtual reality.

 

Her subvault was inhabited with the normal subvault population of almost exactly one hundred thousand people. At least in theory it was. She suspected the real number was larger which would explain why Vaultgov, the TekVault0101 Government, was busy trying to expand the inhabitable areas in various ways. For every man there was at least three women, three neuters and three cyborgs. Vaultgov was too secretive when it came to too many matters but some sort of crisis was effecting TekVault0101 and it was of a profound nature.

 

Jadekin, her triplet brother, was waiting with Jiffy, her big little sister, in a pouch at his chest. Jasmine kissed her brother, who wore a dull, dark blue jumpsuit, and then kissed the neobaby. The three reflected each other’s experiences in a subtle but powerful manner. They knew of the strange find of the concentrated drugs to be found in a subvault that was full of automated network-systems that needed special supervision on a routine basis. People never went to that subvault or so went the theory. Only three out of twelve subvaults in TekVault0101 were inhabited.

 

Why so few? It made no sense to Jasmine but it was not the only thing that seemed senseless to her brother and herself. Jiffy did not approach the world in that manner, so she of course had no opinion. True, the subvaults were very big. True, each could house one hundred thousand people comfortably, in theory, but what were the other subvaults for?

 

Also why were all subvaults coded from Subvault-01-Alpha to Subvault-12-Alpha? Why the Alpha? Was such an addition unnecessary? She lived in Subvault-04-Alpha, again the Alpha, and as far as she knew all the people in her subvault tended to work at roboremoting of various kinds but not always in other subvaults. They worked roboremotes in workshops, in factories, in hydrovat centres, in many other places.

 

She sat on a chair in the apartment commonroom and dropped her recently earned bonus voucherchips onto the table. Vault furniture and fittings were much the same thing, or at least most furniture was for it was part of the rooms like built-in closets, beds that folded down from walls and sink alcoves. It tended to be bleak. In theory the apartment was for just two people, having two smallish bedrooms, but it had five living there, including the neobaby. The triplets shared one bedroom and father shared the other bedroom with his new love interest.

 

Then she spoke. “Something does not add up or should I say, yet something else does not add up along with all the other things that don’t add up in this place.”

 

Jadekin nodded. “You sensed danger but did not identify it? Yet we have one lead. Of all the drugs illegally traded and used, mentumas is one of the least popular. It does not give cheap or fairly cheap effects like jet or oomph or heckass or any of that other stuff out there keeping at least twenty percent of Vaultfolk as addicts. Mentumas is too specialised and its effects tend to be very subtle. Yet it also has special uses.”

 

Jasmine shrugged. “Mentumas can supposedly increase intellectual ability. Some theories have suggested it might even enhance psychic abilities. I wish I had identified the danger but we both know if they, who ever they were, had identified my eyemote by its clearly visible numberplates, they would very soon have known I had discovered their little secret by looking at the official work timetables.”

 

Jiffy yawned and then she spoke. “Want to watch Super Fluffy Bunny.”

 

Jasmine sighed. “You little cheeky, you have watched far too much 3DTV lately. Okay, just this once but then its bath time.”

 

Jiffy laughed happily but it was just a game really. Jiffy always got to watch Super Fluffy Bunny or another show before she had bath time and then got read to before bedtime. The 3DTV network-system of the subvault had only twenty-five episodes of all the programs she watched but she liked to watch shows she had seen many times before even if doing so bored her siblings to tears.

Edited August 20, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Forum%20Terminal%20Pix%201/TERMINAL-IT-Workit-00053.jpg

Edited September 20, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

-7-

 

ALPHANA, BETENA AND GAMMATI

 

The three emerged into existence onto that world almost at the exact same moment and in the same broken concrete chamber with the ceiling slanting down to wet, muddy ground. A big radroach scuttled through the chamber but went past the three as if they did not exist.

 

They were shielded from the radroach but not just from the radroach. For they only had the shapeforms of three shimmering spheres of flickering rainbow lights. These lights were dim so as not to attract too much attention or the wrong kind of attention.

 

The rainstorm had come in from the coast and was raging mightily with much thunder and lightening. In the near distance a fortified Clansfolk settlement was hunkered down for the storm. Who would go out in such conditions but a fool? Then one came out into the rainstorm, a hooded cloaked woman who showed the tops of her breasts scored with some kind of markings that were actually higher than the skin. On her head were curious horn shapes that held the hood high on both sides. There was about her much else that was exotic appearing.

 

Sister Pathfinders rarely tended towards such eccentricities of appearance. Such women tended to be very powerful but normally they tended towards secrecy. Not here amongst these Clansfolk. They were proud of their Sister and Brother Pathfinders and wanted to show them off, wanted them to show off.

 

She came quickly in the darkness and had no source of light yet she seemed to have no trouble making her way through areas of broken ground. As she got closer, she looked upon the three newcomers as if she could see them clearly because she could see them clearly.

 

Then she was standing before them inside that chamber. The woman threw back her hood and spoke. “You could have chosen a better night to appear. Still, you are here now. What has drawn you to this world?”

 

Alphana spoke with a voice that emerged from the flickering globe nearest to the woman. “We apologise but you now how it is with going across the transdimensional barriers. We are drawn here to serve the Nine that are already here. Now they are three neobabies, three teen-women and three teen-men. Each one of us will serve each set of triplets but we must track them down. They have been concealing their true natures since they came here.”

 

The woman nodded. “So you need the assistance of the Orderhood of Pathfinders.”

 

Alphana responded. “We call upon your assistance in the name of the Light Proclamation but we will be happy to assist by what ever means that we can.”

 

The woman nodded. “Come with me to the village. We may as well be comfortable while we discuss this further.”

Edited August 17, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Forum%20Terminal%20Pix%201/TERMINAL-IT-Workit-00003.jpg

Edited September 13, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

-8:1-

 

BUFFY, BOBBY, BENNY BOBBINS

 

The lair was an old reinforced basement level in the Gingerbread Inn that by some minor miracle had survived Doomsday. That was the chaotic nature of Doomsday showing itself again. While some things had been destroyed totally, right next to them other things had survived amazingly well. The same went for people as well. Yes, the chaos of Doomsday was still something that people were trying to understand.

 

They had made some effort to make the lair more comfortable and welcoming. This included some nice paintings in wooden frames on the walls, a colourful synthofur carpet and even some good stuff brought down from the building above.

 

Bobby was carefully examining a holographic map of the area that the triplets themselves had added details to. It was an area that for unknown reasons was very attractive to raiders. They were not the only ones to note this and many people had left the area but the raiders kept coming, so why did they? He was wearing his typical Wastelander gear.

 

If they found out the answer to this mystery, it might help them learn more about the raiders. There was always hope.

 

Buffy was going through the loot that Bobby had recently looted and she also wore typical Wastelander outside gear.

 

Benny was rushing around as the neobaby played with a puppy that was helping to keep him fit and healthy. The puppy was a toy, was an animadroid or animal version of an android.

 

Bobby spoke. “You were right. The raider activity here has a definite rational pattern cleverly hidden inside a more chaotic pattern. They have been searching for something important to them here and have not wanted others to discover they were doing so. It seems more and more that the damned raiders are not the berserker fools that they like to pretend to be.”

 

The raiders often acted like they were berserker fools. Was this just a ruse to hide the actions of a well trained force of fighters and specialists?

 

Why were the raiders suddenly hunting for the Bobbins Triplets?

 

Buffy frowned as she picked up 3Dphotos of Bobby, Benny and her face. “These are copies of 3Dphotos that were taken the last time we were in a temporary outpost of the Orderhood of New Hope. This is a very bad breach of security.”

 

They had thought they could trust the Orderhood of New Hope that was eccentric in some ways but very professional and very experienced in covert operations of various kinds. They were supposed to be very good at security.

 

The Orderhood of New Hope knew where that lair was! The though seemed to strike Bobby and Buffy at the same moment.

 

A very short time later they had the battlebuggy loaded up with valuable resources plus any extras they could carry. Benny was in a chest pouch with Bobby and was a little grumpy that his play time with his puppy toy had been cut off so abruptly. They leapt into the battlebuggy and drove it slowly along a tunnel escape route that they had prepared but hoped that they would never have to use.

 

Behind them the tunnel collapsed to look like quite a normal occurrence for such tunnels.

 

It must have been only a few minutes after that when a heavily armed and lightly power armoured strikeforce of raiders hit the lair hard and fast. The triplets could pick up muffled noises of explosions that must have been the raiders getting through defence-security measures very quickly and brutally.

Edited September 7, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

-8:2-

 

BUFFY, BOBBY, BENNY BOBBINS

OUMMUO

 

They sped away from the area in the battlebuggy even as in the distance behind them raiders went on attacking the lair. Buffy drove the machine expertly and quickly. They shot through mud puddles left by recent rain and past heaps of rubble long overgrown with grass. The trick was to get away from the area as quickly as possible with out attracting any attention from raiders.

 

Even as they darted along a dirt and mud track, two raiderbuggies came racing after them driven by highly determined and highly skilled raiders. Bobby made sure Benny was nicely ensconced in his armoured pouch, all snuggled up, and cyberlinked to a roboremote weapon turret. He shot off a pair of shortlong missiles at each raiderbuggy (short missile with a long range) and followed this up with carefully aimed bursts of 20mm shells.

 

One of the raiderbuggies exploded, rolling as the raiders leapt from it even as it smashed into a jagged formation of rocks.

 

Violence tended to attract violence in the Wastelands. The second raiderbuggy was slowed not by the Bobbins but by the sudden appearance of five Soviet assaultbots, fast moving hover-robots firing pulselasers and shorter ranged but more powerful pulseblasters. The sleek dark grey and brown splashworked robots were damned dangerous but tended only to attack those who were armed and armoured. They had been programmed to focus on military targets and would often ignore Wastelanders who would otherwise be easy targets.

 

Then they glimpsed a fast moving globe of energies hovering in the distance and knew that the mysterious OummuO had once more intervened to assistance them, had actually taken control of the assaultbots and sent them after the raiderbuggies. Sometimes OummuO would come closer and even talk with them but not today. She vanished as quickly as she had appeared.

 

They were able to get away from the raiders by slowing and sneaking quietly through the broken landscape of rocky outcrops, crazy looking self-repairing buildings and colonies of sparkling macrobots that were constantly building and rebuilding even crazier structures that dotted the landscape.

 

After a while there were no more raiders, no more macrobots and no buildings. They found a trade-travel road, a hard packed dirt one sometimes rolled by workers of the United Settlements of Centralia Cooperative, the USCC. An big crude wooden sign pointed towards the settlement of Megaton and they headed that way, now speeding up to leave any threat behind themselves.

 

In the distance a deathclaw cried out its challenge to any other deathclaws who might challenge his pack’s territorial claims. The terrible roar echoed across the Wastelands.

Edited September 7, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Forum%20Terminal%20Pix%201/TERMINAL-IT-Workit-00020.jpg

Edited September 14, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

-9:1-

 

JACKY, JESSY, JILLY JACKSON

 

Jessy was still annoyed with her triplet brother because of what he had told Sheriff Callahan but then again she understood well enough that he had been in a difficult position. Like Jacky she wondered what would frighten a very tough man like Sheriff Callahan who also turned out to be so called Secret Regulator of no less than detective rank. Frighten him so much that he would try to gain the services of Jacky and in doing so, gain the services also of Jessy and Jilly.

 

The three were walking through Sugartown’s light industrial area, a barely controlled chaos of most underground structures, raised walkways, roads, workyards, towers and other structures. Even the neobaby was walking along with surprising speed, despite how relatively small she was compared to her siblings.

 

The Guilds dominated here even to the extent of liking to enforce law there using their own Guild Sheriff. Sheriff Callahan was clearly not impressed by the damned Guilds and their arrogance, greed and corruption. Neither were the Jackson Triplets.

 

Many considered that such groups as the Sugartown Guilds were behind the problems destroying the USC simply because these guilds did not want any real restrictions over their power and the abuse of their power. They had not only the hired thugs of the Guild Sheriff and his deputies but so called Guild Security Guards. To the anger of many town citizens, the Guild Sheriff’s Office and Guild Security Force were far better funded and equipped than were the Sheriff’s Office and the Sugartown Defence Force.

 

A couple of thugs leered at Jessy until she looked them in the eyes and they suddenly backed off. Jessy was beautiful with dark blonde hair, was nearly identical looking to Jasmine Ashworth and Buffy Bobbins but she was also tough as they were. In her typical Wastelander gear she also looked as if she could easily deal with more than one of them; truth was he could do and they knew it.

 

What were they doing? In theory they were trying to find some special spare parts but in truth they were going to talk to Billy Jackson, their father, and a man who ran an electrical workshop. The Jackson Electrics Workshop was one of only a few that had not fallen under the control of the growing power of the Sugartown Guilds, in this case the Artisan Guild.

 

The Jacksons lived in a house in a different part of Sugartown, where most folks lived but not the Guild Elders who had bigger houses in a newer area of their own. The Jacksons house was overcrowded and needed repairs done. Part of the problem was that the Guilds were trying to drive any of the remaining independent workshops or any other competition in Sugartown out of business.

 

The Artisans Guild had not stopped at some very nasty tactics to close down the workshop which dared to do the same work they did for cheaper and to do it with more reliable results. Some thugs were hanging around the entrance to the workshop trying to scare away any customers or potential customers.

 

Jessy walked up to one of the thugs and punched him in the chin enough to get him to see sense. He turned and fled as did the other thug. They had gotten the right idea. Then she and Jacky went into the workshop.

Edited September 7, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

-9:2-

 

JACKY, JESSY, JILLY JACKSON

 

Their father, who had adopted them with out hesitation when they had come to Sugartown at six years old, hugged each of them warmly and taking Jilly out, he fussed over her. She loved her daddy and loved it more when he fussed over her.

 

Despite the efforts of the Artisans Guild there were still plenty of faithful customers coming to the workshop and it was doing quite good business. It would have done even better business with out the criminality of the Artisans Guild.

 

Father was a stocky, short man with patchwork brown and tanned eurowhite skin. So called ‘patchskins’ were a particular kind of mutation in the Wastelands and were accepted in most societies but often as second class citizens. Tribals and Clansfolk accepted patchskins as equals. Such as Sugartown treated them as suspected mutations. So called smoothskins dominated Sugartown society. Yet when the smoothskin triplets had shown up at the main gate, only a married couple of patchskins had been willing to take them in.

 

Jacky and Jessy were geniuses, they knew it to be so with out false modesty, and had reworked the workshop to make it far more efficient, safer and productive. Their parents were proud of them. Their older brother was jealous of them. Their younger sister was always trying to use them.

 

Billy Jackson was in slightly stained white coveralls. He was busy putting some stuff together to go out on a job to fix somebody’s lighting circuits. It was hard to get anything to repair stuff and the tools to do the repairing with what with the need to scavenge stuff out in the Wastelands. In Sugartown the Guilds made matters worse for independent operators by trying to grab everything they could.

 

Jacky placed a carrybag on a counter and then took out the various electrical items inside being some plastic tubing, some coiled copper wire, some plastic connectors, a small screwdriver, a small computerised electric regulator and a couple of switch plates. “All yours, dad. All free, of course.”

 

Billy Jackson grinned. “Thanks, son. Money will go on groceries anyway. Town Council has failed to act against the Guilds’ push to stop any independents from getting shop credit. The traders from CC don’t care. They don’t like the Sugartown Guilds because the Guilds are trying to pressure them now.”

 

Jacky sighed. “Stupid, stupid. Canterbury Commons Corporation has lots of power, wealth and influence. They could get so angry with the Guilds here trying to rip them off they might just stop coming to Sugartown. The CCC won’t deal with the Sugartown Guilds on any unfair terms; they can’t afford to. Or at least they would be fools to do so. Their reputation would plunge all across the Wastelands and that would cost them.”

 

Billy frowned. “I have been hearing disturbing whispers that somebody big and powerful but very secretive is behind the Sugartown Guilds’ stupidity and that they might be trying to influence the CCC as well. That is somebody or somebodies with charm, with lots of resources, with lots of hard functional currency, with lots of nasty powerful folk supporting them and with some very tricky tricks, as Jilly would put it.”

 

Jessy frowned. “The same somebody or somebodies appears to be trying to infiltrate every powerful faction in the Centralian Wastelands. They might be behind the problems that are destroying the USC.”

 

Billy nodded but then gave a subtle signal that they needed to take care of what they said. Since only workers were in the workshop that had served him for a long time, it was not a good sign. It meant that their father no longer trusted all of his supposedly loyal workers.

 

So they changed subjects. Jacky indicated that he would be ready to go to work as an electrician that day and Jessy would do electrical work the next day. Jilly volunteered to do some work which would entail bopping plastic blocks with a plastic hammer, which she was assured was very helpful. Jilly would work for at least ten minutes before she got bored and did something else.

Edited September 7, 2010 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Forum%20Terminal%20Pix%201/TERMINAL-IT-Workit-00018-1.jpg

Edited September 14, 2010 by Maharg67