Chapter 158: Chapter 153

The Capital Wasteland and its surroundings were quickly pacified, and with that came the ghoul surveyors who would tag any buildings of historical significance for potential preservation. A few of those surveyors were also used to reach out to the Underworld community of ghouls. They joined us quick enough after BSCs were handed out. Even the most jaded ghoul didn’t want to end up a feral.

 

The few feral ghouls they had were mercifully euthanized to no protest.

 

Only a small hiccup was encountered, in the form of the ‘sane’ super mutant Fawkes. To his credit, the big guy was willing to cooperate with the troopers for a quick checkup and some light questioning. Fawkes was very understanding about the whole setup, even to the point of worrying over accepting our offer to rehome him as it might concern any human neighbors he might get.

 

With his friendly disposition, the gentle giant was given a posting in Ix, where he could sate his thirst for knowledge while contributing some of his own.

 

The ghouls and super mutants were about the easiest we’ve got to deal with. In contrast, the snobbish refugees from Tenpenny Tower were a bitch and a half to deal with. Oh sure, they behaved a bit after Allistair Tenpenny and Susan Lancaster were carried off in front of their eyes on the charge of slavery, but after rehoming them, the ‘feedback’ they provided almost daily was getting on my admin staff’s nerves.

 

That their common wastelander or liberated slaver neighbors and the human artisans were also complaining about the high-nosed fucks were quickly making the these former Tenpenny residents a priority issue.

 

Exceptions existed, like Herbert Dashwood and Margaret Primrose, but they were a rare breed.

 

A lesson had to be hammered in, and it was Nora of all people who happily sent it to them.

 

“Even after the bombs, assholes like these still exist,” she complained. Then she gave me a thoughtful look. “But now they’re worth nothing, right?”

 

I shrugged from across the desk. “They’ve got their monthly allowances, but that’s it.” The Nexus had no use for old-world baubles and bling after all. “They seem happy enough living off basic credits.” Though they tended to haggle aggressively with vendors to stretch their credits, or attempt to parasitize people around them for more credits or luxury goods. The latter’s the one that’s got me and Nora united in annoyance.

 

Enough so that she actually dropped charges of financial exploitation on the worst offenders (which meant about two-thirds of them). Then she hired a documentary crew to follow the proceedings, while neighbors and traders happily talked about how shit the snobs were behind a mosaic-censored mask. For my part, I brought the Tenpenny issue up in my meetings, and funneled the righteous anger of the Wright sisters and Cait towards Nora’s project.

 

I let Gwen have the honors of presiding over the case as judge, since we hadn’t really appointed an independent judiciary yet and my chief administrator also wanted some satisfaction of dealing with her growing headache.

 

The court proceedings drew in a massive live viewing audience. Apparently more than half the Nexus stopped working as eyes were glued to screens or ears to radios as each no-longer-wealthy resident made their case poorly. Our terminal intranet logged in a spike of activity mocking the former Tenpenny residents, or outright calling for their exile. Nexus Enforcers had to go around reminding people to remain civil, while I had to give the same message to my 1st Company who were just about ready to make training aids out of them.

 

Yeah, having over-entitled and bigoted fuckwits honestly presenting themselves to a general public that consisted mostly of liberated slaves and formerly destitute wastelanders was bound to create controversy. Even the Diamond City and New York elite weren’t that stupid.

 

In the end, as planned, the accused were all found guilty, and would be resettled to form an isolated town all by themselves, with access to only basic Nexus allowances. Each would have a ‘job’ assigned to them, simple tasks really, to help them earn more Nexus Credits. For the duration of their stay in what was essentially a low-security prison town, they would only have access to robot vendors, who were immune to aggressive haggling tactics.

 

You are reading story Uncommon Wealth at novel35.com

Their stay was supposed to last for five years, though a pool was already set up to see how long some of the guilty lasted before they came begging for leniency.

 

*****

 

Against his bleak expectations, the unrivaled arrival of the Nexus came with far more good than bad. The change they brought made the Brotherhood of Steel - back when they were fighting the Good fight, anyway - look like wastelanders playing in lab coats.

 

When he rejected the offer to resettle in Boston, the DJ was ready to get manhandled out of GNR station, get threatened, or simply be killed. He had not expected the Nexus folks to simply accept his answer and ask for his permission to upgrade the place. 

 

The new radio station was nice. Very nice. Gone was the unremovable sheen of pre-War ash and dust, and the air conditioning banished away the humid stench of grim desperation. The furniture was brand new, the food and drink dispensers were a luxury Three Dog wasn’t sure would ever wear off, and the new electronics to aid his job just about tipped him over to pledge his undying loyalty to Sev. Oh, and he finally understood what the ‘disc’ in ‘disc jockey’ meant.

 

Three Dog was speaking no longer just to the Capital Wasteland, but to anyone within the Nexus Severalty who bothered to tune into his frequency. Sure there was some competition, but it only gave the veteran radio host more reason to push his creativity. Plus, after meeting some of the friendly people from the other radio stations, Three Dog could finally try new things like collaborations or inter-station events.

 

Even with an official Nexus news source, he still reported on the daily goings on around the Capital Wasteland. The higher ups hadn’t told him not to, and Three Dog wouldn’t have followed the order even if they did. Galaxy News Radio was his station, and he ran it as he liked. And while it wasn’t as fun anymore with no Enclave or raiders to make fun of, there was always something happening in the Capital Wasteland to warrant a Three Dog flavored PSA.

 

Like how the Capital Wasteland was soon to be renamed to the District of Columbia. It was fitting, he supposed. The place was neither the capital of anyplace, nor a wasteland anymore. Plus, ‘DC’ rolled off the tongue much better.

 

Or Rivet City being relocated out of the carrier onto terra firma for a minor thing called general safety.

 

Or how the state-run brothels were recruiting strictly willing staff, and if anyone was found ‘urging’ others to sign up… 

 

“Well, folks, it’s still too early in the day to talk about the B-Lacksite Tlei-lax, amirite? Maybe when the kids are all asleep.”

 

At least the Nexus Severalty was honest, Three Dog gave them that. You knew where the ceiling and cage walls were while you lived with them, and damn if the place didn’t feel more spacious than anything else offered out there. As anti-establishment as he was, the DJ would have to really find a reason to not like what Sev and his rule were doing now. 

 

“Say what you want, but the guy made sure that everyone in the Nexus gets a home, clean food and water,” Three Dog admitted once on the airwaves. “And I gotta say…living here’s alright. Grass, healthcare, walking down the street without needing a gun… As far as dictator’s go, Sev’s got my vote.”

 

Well, he could host another interview with Nora Carter and her watchdog group, just to balance things out a bit. Maybe he’ll try call-ins as well, and see how that goes. Supposedly a few stations in Boston did live interviews, and the audience participation was a hit.

 

Hm. Now that he thought about it, maybe not with Nora. Not with the risk of someone bringing up the dog rumors.

You can find story with these keywords: Uncommon Wealth, Read Uncommon Wealth, Uncommon Wealth novel, Uncommon Wealth book, Uncommon Wealth story, Uncommon Wealth full, Uncommon Wealth Latest Chapter