Surface Level

Joint Post with Vasara Glyndark

The two were up top: Syd's legs were covered in a layer of quickly drying dirt. He had kicked it back over the hatch, keeping the secret of the demi-mutants away from the NCR and all those others that would likely seek such a place. Once top side Victoria brushed off her jumpsuit and made sure she didn't lose anything. "So this is the surface." She looked around. Checked the radiation levels on her Pip-Pad. "I thought it would have been worse. Where are we?"

"In the ruins of some place called Sherwood, not too far from Portland maybe a day or twos walk. Just another community forgotten in the madness of war I guess," Syd explained. He placed his hand flat against his brow and looked around to see if anyone else was about in the area. He knew having this super-mutant adjacent being with him would make him a target of the more extremist groups of the wasteland.

"Sherwood? Sounds familiar." She thought back to her childhood. "Oh right, Robin Hood lived there. I thought that place was made up." She looked around. "Apparently the forest got in the way of progress but in the end, it doesn't even matter, would have been destroyed one way or another." She picked up a piece of a building that had fallen off. It easily crumbled to dust in her hands. "Definitely not recommending they move top side. So where to now?"

"I honestly have no idea. Did you have any plans to what you wanted to look for when you came up here?" Syd asked. He had to look up to Victoria, the hot sun burning into his eyeline.

Victoria saw him squinting. She turned to look. The sun she assumed. "Interesting. It's bigger than I imagined." She stepped between Syd and the sun. "I came to assess the threat to the Repository of those occupying the land above the Repository and the others in the area. If you can find the place by accident so can others."

"I didn't necessarily find this place by accident but that doesn't mean others won't. Some groups are more likely to be a threat to you and your kind than others."

"If you didn't find it by accident that makes it even worse. Where did you find this information? Can others get a hold of that information?" Victoria did not like how things were turning out. She was also not pleased with how easy it was to get out of the Repository. "Assuming you know if I were to approach those people camped out around here, what would be the most likely outcome? I am hoping for peaceful coexistence, trading, etc." In the back of her head, she could feel the slightest flicker of an ember, urging her to kill the intruders. To end the threat. She knew her father and those that agreed with him felt the same thing but theirs was most likely a full-blown fire.

"Relax," Syd raised his arms to the demi-mutant. "All I found was a map of the place, I found a way in by accident. That map I found was ancient, encrypted information on an old holotape probably lost by some DARPA employee. I doubt they'll find it." He then took a minute as he contemplated the next question. "Truth be told I don't know much about these other folks around here. I can't give you a definitive answer on how they'll react. I don't know much about my own past let alone the history of some group."

She was not surprised, but she was disappointed. "I am going to assume approaching would be bad for my health with me looking similar to a Super Mutant. You must be pretty smart to hack old DARPA files. I am actually kind of surprised. Where did you learn to break encryptions like that? We didn't expect much in way of advanced technology up here."

"That's one of the other things about me I can't remember. I woke up one day in a prison with only my name and my knowledge of technology. I don't know why my brain chose to retain all that information, I'd like to know who I am," Syd smirked.

"That's a shame. If you have said something down below we could have snuck you in and performed a detailed examination, to see if it was the result of something medical or not. Could be a host of the reasons, virus, brain damage, or it could possibly be psychological."

"If I had to guess it would be some sort of brain damage. I get the most painful headaches imaginable, I feel broken," he explained.

"If we can find a functional Autodoc, I might be able to get a better idea of what's wrong. What do you think we should do first?"

"That's an idea but I don't think autodocs can undo amnesia," Syd scratched at his beard. "We could head into Portland, there'll be plenty to see there."

"If the amnesia is caused by brain damage, treating the brain damage may bring some or all the memories back. "Portland? I heard of that place. I'm surprised it is still around." She checked her Pip-Pad. It had all the old data on city locations. She assumed the Portland he was talking about was the same Portland she had heard about. "Let's go."

"It's about a day or two trek. That's if we don't bump into any roadblocks-" Syd paused "-which we will." He looked over the distance looking in the direction of the old city, he wondered what it would have looked like before the bombs fell. The majesty of a metropolis. Now life continued in the ruins of once mighty skyscrapers and other pieces of impressive architecture.

She made a mental note of the scale of her map. "Two days doable." She gave her weapons a once over. "Let's get going. Until I get a better understanding of the area, might be best for you to take the lead while dealing with humans I'll pretend to be your servant or whatever you think is best."

"I'm ready," Syd started to head forward. The demi-mutant wasn't the companion he was expecting, but then again the last person he could consider a companion was Addey. Addey treated Syd better than any non-mutant ever had, maybe it was his destiny to work with mutants. He had never seen them as the monsters that the world had painted them to be. He remembered the humanity of them. "If you ever want to rest or anything just let me know," he said to Victoria with a polite smile.

"I was going to say the same to you." She followed behind Syd.