Chapter 36: Chapter 36

A timetable was made and priorities were rearranged. After hashing out the details with General Becker, I let them stay at R&R 81 to introduce them to Gwen and her vault admin, while I got to work connecting the tunnels of New World and R&R with Caladan.

I created a wide path that mostly kept underneath the river, crushing through the occasional wreck that got embedded too deeply in the riverbed.

At least I think the tremors of a concrete tunnel brute-forcing blindly underground was caused by wrecks.

It took less than a day’s work to finally have the tunnel breach Caladan, though I used up most of time figuring out how exactly did I want to link up the connection.

In the end, I could now drive the battle buses between New World 81 and my underwater base until a faster rail line could be built. It’ll serve well for the time being, and I moved my R&D to Caladan where there was a huge dedicated lab for the bots to play around with. The Sentinel eyebots also were let loose in the tunnels to serve as maintenance and sentries, their recent upgrades making them that much more similar in form and function to their namesake.

I wasn’t going to let people stay in Caladan yet though, not until the infrastructure was fully completed. We’ve got power, but the piping for water and air was still in the works, plus still no elevators to move between floors.

For now this place would serve as a staging ground for cleaning up the Castle, so a tunnel was made to breach the sea’s surface and made into a sort of pier. A quick swim to a floating hulk which was then reset back to working order, and I got me a boat. Console gave me the needed knowledge to drive it to the pier. After that, I had a few days to plan things out with everyone.

*****

Edward was jittery as the team of fourteen followed Sev and Curie down the formerly restricted levels. It was probably the first time Piper and Cait were left behind while others went on an excursion with Sev. The boy pitied any troublemaker that was around, as Sev’s girls were clearly itching to slam the new laws onto any troublemakers.

He winced at the punishments. It took some hoops, but if you played your cards right (or wrong), you could end up getting anally impaled and kept there for however long the judges (in this case Piper and Cait) deemed it necessary before they took you off. Edward had seen the hollow barbs and hooks on the rods, and he couldn’t imagine what it was like being lifted up with all that vibrating in you.

Oh yes, the rods were anchored to a motor that’s only there to make sure it vibrated throughout your punishment. And the bots would make sure you’d be alive throughout, though whether you could walk or even shit solid after that...

If the rumors were right, then Edward had to remember to keep to Curie’s good side no matter what. The bot clearly had a hidden sadistic streak.

They went below one basement level after another, with Sev grumbling about installing elevators, until they reached a lowered tunnel that was occupied with the infamous Glossu and an iconic battle bus. Everyone got in the bus, save for Sev, who drove the tank that towed it. Someone had asked him before, and it seemed that the tank was towing because it was much faster, and during breakthroughs it would draw most of oncoming fire.

With so few numbers, the bus was spacious enough for everyone to relax, the six boys and eight girls chattered excitedly about their upcoming mission, while Curie lightened their nerves by going through various reminders and advice for everyone to follow. The important bit was the armor checks, and Edward teamed up with Ollie to make sure their combat armor tailored by the Ms Nanny bots were correctly fitted.

Again, leave it to Sev to spend so much resources on customizing everyone’s armor instead of settling for poor-fitting adult sizes. Even the helmets fit snugly and didn’t obstruct the view.

This would be their first engagement outside, a way to prove to Sev and the Minutemen that they were more than just helpless kids. Like the others here, Edward wanted to prove himself to his ‘big brother’, the term playfully coined by Piper and Cait that stuck real quick, though admittedly, like practically all the girls here, Edward wouldn’t mind getting Sev’s attention.

Sure, Sev was only into girls, but a boy could dream.

The journey in the well illuminated tunnel was noisy with the echo of Glossu’s rumbling engine, and everyone marvelled at the strange tentacled bots that whipped past every now and then. Snacks and speculation were shared as minutes passed. Edward absently wondered just what they were underneath at the moment.

It took about 40 minutes, judging for the watches everyone was given, before they finally reached their destination. The tunnel ended at another massive and barely lit level, clearly still under development as swarms of strange bots could be seen carting and welding stuff even in the distance. And then the tank stopped by a ramp and Sev gave the order to disembark.

Excitement mingled with nerves as everyone followed him up the ramp towards the almost blinding column of surface light. Sounds of amazement rippled throughout the group when they saw where they were, and Edward ‘ooh’ed along with his friends as he found himself on a platform surrounded by what must be the sea.

Sev had brought everyone so far east that they’re out in the sea now. Off in the distance, Edward could see the shore, while much closer in, there was a boat docked by the platform.

“Righto. Ladies and gentlemen, please watch your step as you board our ferry. Hope everyone’s got no problems with motion sickness?”

Curie answered Sev’s question with her usual bright voice to match his jocular tone. Her new body made her much more expressive and better able to project her energetic cheer. “Worry not Sev, I have administered the relevant medication to prevent such an issue.”

As everyone got on the boat, they found the lower deck stuffed with a variety of laser weapons and their power cells. Keryn handed one to him and he gave it a cursory study. It was a new pattern, similar to the usual fare except that the barrel was rounded, the muzzle had two emitters, and the power cells were actually fusion cores.

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Where did Sev get a boat full of fusion cores from?

Everyone studied and hefted the new weapons, though Sev told them to not do any target practice yet. The boat was started up and began chugging towards a particular section of Boston’s coast. Edward made out the rough outline of a hulking building.

The briefing was simple enough, they were mainly here to help clear out the mirelurks in the Minutemen’s base, and supposedly there was a mirelurk queen out there. The side objective was to get a hang of real combat, so Sev stressed that he didn’t want to see anyone do anything stupid. He’d let them get stuck in and dirty, but would keep an eye out to make sure nobody got too hurt.

It sounded simple enough, and if anyone could confidently boast about carving up a mirelurk queen, Edward was sure Sev was the man for it. The group of fourteen were split into teams of seven, Edward had the honors of leading one of them while Sylvie took command of the other. He clutched his laser rifle in anticipation as he eyed the approaching coastline and the looming Castle.

Edward sincerely prayed that he didn’t fuck up in front of Sev, that no one did. Judging from the anxious atmosphere, it was probably what everyone was thinking too.

*****

Curie took off in the air as soon as her sensors picked up the mirelurks about a hundred yards away. The modified T-50 power armor jetpack attached to her back rocketed her up with ease. As the jetpack cut out, she began her descent, picking up and highlighting more mutated crustaceans for Sev and the children to identify.

She landed feet first onto the carapace of a burrowed mirelurk, the hardened tips of her feet cracking the shell open and burying her waist-deep in the creature. The beach around her burst in a flurry of activity as the other mirelurks were alerted to the death. It was a chain reaction, as a wave of explosions of waking tainted shellfish emanated from around her.

23, 54, 76...only 82 in total swarming around her. She would have to ration out the kills, otherwise the children would not get enough for their education. Curie accessed her military programming and portioned out forty mirelurks to herself, leaving three for each combat trainee. That should be enough for them.

Her stealth field activated, momentarily confusing the mirelurks around her, and Curie went to work. Sev’s full catalogue meant she had access to his ongoing experiments, particularly the ‘Eversor’ project. Her right hand claws bent back as a barbed and electrified spike extended from the palm joint, while her left claw became similarly electrified.

Eversor protocols were enabled, and Curie guided the new programming. Her armored pauldrons retracted, revealing short-ranged laser emitters which boiled one mirelurk until it burst. And then she lunged toward the next nearest creature, driving her claws through its face and tearing out a chunk of crab-flesh.

She became a storm of violent movement, firing the spike into a charging mirelurk whilst leaping aside and frying another with her head laser. Then a well-placed kick between the leg joints of another mirelurk to bury her leg in it, followed by the quick retracting of the chain attached to the spike to reset it back to its armed position (Sev called it the ‘get over here’ move). Lasers from her shoulders cooked off another shelled monster, and more kicks, punches and stabs to shred several more.

Every attack was lethal and spectacularly bloody as Eversor protocols demanded. Curie was making a show of each kill which would damage the morale of any sentient being. She used her jetpack to send her flying through a few mirelurks. Held one’s claws up as she forced a foot through its face. If not for the fact that these weren’t humans, the spectacle could easily count as sadistic war crimes.

Curie had to slow down as she reached her kill limit, the boat was still only about to beach. At least she drew every mirelurk’s attention to her. By the time Sev and the children disembarked and the shooting began, she had to be more extensive with kills 38 and 39 by tearing the limbs off the former and piercing its body with them, and slowly blending the insides of the latter with her rotating claw.

Kill 40 was carried to the skies with her jetpack, and then torn apart to rain down on the beach. She landed beside Sev, who smirked at her with amusement. Eversor protocols were deactivated, and Curie’s processing quickly adjusted back to her usual self.

“So, how was it?” he asked almost teasingly.

It felt intriguing, it felt great, it felt liberating, it felt...it felt… “It performed exceptionally, Sev. Thank you for allowing me these enhancements.”

*****

Note to self, Edward thought as he joined the choir of gulps while they watched Curie from the boat, never, ever make Curie mad.

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Current state of Sev's unnamed realm

Bases: 

Residents:    

Robots and vehicles:  

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