Chapter 120: Chapter 116

When the Nexus expanded its borders again, this time it's soldiers and robot legion went forth with runes on their armor and hulls. Many who dared stand against them felt a disturbance that was otherworldly, from a presence skirting the edges of perception, waking nightmares, or even a dreadful premonition of their doom. Few remained defiant when radstorms formed right above their camps, or when laughing tornadoes whipped up and through their fortifications.

 

The borders of the Nexus grew, and with it the new wave of rumors of them wielding the power of demons or angels. Former raider captives spoke of how the smoke from campfires and torches swirled into cackling heads, of how the radios distorted and then turned into a voice demanding the surrender of the raiders and the liberation of their captives. A lucky escapee from a super mutant camp witnessed the gore in their refuse pile swirling up into the air to form a face, declaring of the super mutant’s impending demise.

 

Other than the raider and super mutant camps, or the ghoul-infested areas, there were sightings of Nexus aircraft landing in random ruins or caves. Settlements were visited by armored soldiers asking questions about ancient history or rumors of strange occurrences. According to a few traders, they took the mindless rantings from drunks and the chem-addled or fanciful tales from children with some seriousness.

 

That in turn worried the people who they interacted with. If the Nexus were keenly listening to such unbelievable rumors, maybe the tales of the place having discovered greater, supernatural mysteries were real? And if that was the case, just how dangerous were the things Sev’s army were sniffing around for?

 

The people of the wasteland began to experience proper shock when the soldiers began drawing lines on the ground, and air swirled strongly from the circle and scratchings like a mini tornado. What that served to do, other than scare the locals, was still up to speculation. 

 

Settlements that assimilated into the Nexus (willingly or not) had their populace light up in various hues after some soldiers chanted unpronounceable gibberish. Consistently, those who glowed in dark reds or blue were pulled aside and questioned, and more often than not they didn’t return back to the settlement. It took little digging to find that all of those people interrogated were criminals of the unacceptable kind, at least to Nexus standards.

 

The general fear of the new citizens of the Nexus was quickly softened though, as the men and robots behind the army brought along miraculous changes. Other than the healing arches set up or the waves of goods, robots cleaned up the surrounding radiation while men and women in neat uniforms sprinkled water on the ground that caused the sickly, wilted greenery to immediately shift to a healthier shade and perkiness. Leaves and even flowers bloomed from once burnt out shrubbery, and half-dead trees creaked and groaned as they stood tall again and new leaves budded out of fragile branches.

 

No longer did the Nexus have to worry about sending out whole trucks of water. Sev’s sanctioned occultists now simply consecrated the land with the proper rites, and the assimilated locals were often left in stunned amazement as their pumps gave out water that was purer than anything they’ve ever seen or tasted. Disease and parasites were banished from crops with a sprinkling of some concoction and a stream of syllables. 

 

The Nexus now performed actual miracles for everyone to see, and if that didn’t win over the settlements, it at least fostered obedience through fearful awe. 

 

*****

 

Gwen noted the latest batch of surrenders with an intrigued frown. Another Enclave hideout, this time waving the white flag after turning on their commanders. The Nexus would process them as they did with other immigrants, refugees and assimilated settlers, of course. What made this case stick out was that the Enclave troops here were all barely soldiers at all, having just made it past recruitment, if the brief conversation and the scanners were correct.

 

Also, they were all young women, while their bound officers were all men at the middle of adulthood.

 

Judging from the desperate looks in the ladies’ eyes, Gwen upped the priority level for processing these defectors, and then suppressed a shudder. Even the rumors about Sev didn’t stoop this low.

 

She made a note to get a journalist on standby. This might make for a decent propaganda piece. At the same time, if these girls were actually given any training at all, they might be potential recruits into Sev’s companies. Better to call Edward and Sarah over as well then.

 

Checking off that list, Gwen moved on to other reports. Most of the other settlements being assimilated or bases being conquered gave little problems to the Nexus Severalty, and their fates could be left to Eva and Cabal to automate. It was rare to run into slaver camps nowadays well known the Nexus’ reputation had become, but finding them was always a treat. Even Gwen had to admit enjoying some feral pleasure in watching such scum get purged.

 

A suspected cannibal commune came up, and Gwen sighed in annoyance. More interrogations to schedule then. Maybe this time she could allocate some of the newer admin staff to participate, since they’d inevitably be assigned alongside the Minutemen interrogators in the future to speed up the paperwork. Hm. Perhaps she should also ask Desdemona if there’s any live training aides needed for questioning sans the truth chambers.

 

God, she wished Miranda wasn’t on leave right now. It’d make life easier to have someone to push some of this paperwork onto. Either that, or her fellow Sev cocksleeve could put that tongue of hers to work while Gwen went through this tedious task.

 

*****

 

Volunteering for migrant orientation was an interesting experience for Nisha. With her farmland being essentially taken care of for the next month or so due to the new fertility abundance rituals, she had a hell of a lot of time to burn. So the rehabilitated raider decided on trying to socialize via community work. It killed several birds with one stone after all; not only would she mingle with both locals and immigrants, but the isolated Nisha would also get acquainted with the newer developments within the Nexus, and she would also get to maybe find someone to scratch the itch between her legs.

 

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Using corn and dildos was nice and all, but she needed the human connection every now and then.

 

Nisha plastered on the best welcoming smile she could as she waited with the other volunteer staff and Minutemen security for the new faces to step off their buses. The processing office behind her was fully ready for the afternoon intake, they even had time to set up a quick demonstration for trivial magic circles to wow the newcomers.

 

“Welcome to the Nexus processing center!” She joined the chorus of loud, friendly calls. “Please, form a line! Don’t worry, food and water will be provided shortly!” 

 

As she guided the awestruck and weary wastelanders, Nisha kept an eye out for the bracelets these migrants wore on their wrists. Staff like her knew that the official reason, that the bracelets were to ensure the robots didn’t ‘misidentify’ them, was a half-truth at best. Thanks to the wax-painted ward on her temples, Nisha noted how a few of the bracelets gave off yellow or red glows. These were marked as potential rejects into the Nexus - yellow for minor yet problematic crimes, and red for unverified, Blacksite-worthy crimes. The soldiers, robots and Minutemen had already assigned these beforehand during the first cursory questioning.

 

According to rumors, this bracelet method saved some trouble during processing, as the rituals involved in them helped weed out a lot of false negatives (or positives, depending on how you looked at it).

 

Once the line was gathered and began moving, Nisha would have to carefully redirect these people into the truth chambers for thorough questioning by more experienced staff. Thankfully, with the Minutemen patrolling casually, and Sentinels swimming above, there was little reason for Nisha to feel anxious about trouble cropping up.

 

She noticed something and as a man passed by, she pulled him aside. “Excuse me sir, where did you get those tattoos from?” 

 

The man grimaced as faded lines on his face earned him Nisha’s unwanted attention. “Used to run with a gang.” There was a resignation and defeat in his voice. “I left when I found out it wasn’t what I was expecting.”

 

Nisha gave him a blank look. “That so?”

 

“Look, I thought joining meant I got to protect my home, not ambush caravans or play war with other gangs.”

 

“Uh huh.”

 

The former ganger let out an exasperated sigh. “Look, do your truth-finding magic if you want, I swear I didn’t do anything. I left as soon as I realized what I had gotten into.”

 

Nisha believed him. His bracelet wasn’t glowing with invisible eldritch light after all. His non-existent crimes wasn’t why she pulled him aside, anyway. “Anyway, you know Timmy ‘Clonkers’?”

 

The man’s eyes widened in surprise. “Clonkers? Shit, fucker’s dead. Even before I joined. One of the girls he kept around got tired of his antics and shoved a ripper up his ass.”

 

Nisha didn’t bother trying to hide her grin. It couldn’t happen to a nicer molester. “What happened to the girl?”

 

“Ran off, not that we bothered to chase her,” came the shrugged answer. “No one liked Clonkers.”

 

“Ain’t that right,” she finished with a grin and then nodded. With news of the demise of an old acquaintance, Nisha found herself instantly in a better mood. And with that, came the realization that the grizzled ex-raider before her looked rather…dashing.

 

“Tell you what,” she offered, her grin and voice becoming a bit more suggestive, and fished out a scrap of paper - a worn copy of her shipping receipt with her details in it. “When you’ve set up your home, give me a call?”

 

Before Nisha could appreciate the change in the man’s expression, someone called out to her. “Oi Nisha! Socialize after this is done!” She quickly got back to work, pushing the man back in line and guiding them on. She’d get a reprimand later, but it’s not anything she hadn’t heard before. After all, she wasn’t the only one taking advantage of this bounty of new faces to ‘socialize’.

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