Lewis

Going into the garage expecting to see a couple turrets instead it's a dozen sitting on the floor ready to be sold cititron is standing near the pile we will have to take the robot down to one of the charging ports. They better not charge for the use.

Well i'll only sell a couple a bit discretely for now go to a couple shops maybe a few of the traveling merchants after that the NWFA or the NCR would love to get their hands on these. Even emerald city wouldn't mind having a few extras.

I take just 3 and put them in a bag cover them up with some cloth. Current plan is for carter and indigo to go around see what the different contacts in the area have to say maybe even speak to the radio station people.

Slipping out i go to the embassy block again. This time i'll speak with the seetac council embassy. They are well known for the mercenaries and the airforce they struggle to maintain ever since they killed all the old rulers that were arcjet systems and lockreed industries execs.

Hopefully with all the caps that flow through them they can afford to spend some on extra security. Passing by a couple drunk officials all in their suits knowing full well they are all used by different people. Well maybe that ghoul is still wearing the clothes he once wore. The seetac embassy is closer to the entrance more prominent but the professionalism shown with the brotherhood is vacant here. Skilled mercenaries wearing old army uniforms are clumped together barely watching the perimeter. It takes until I'm arms length away for one of them to notice me.

"Hey you got something for the great city of see and tacky girls?" one of the soldiers calls out. Wonder how many times he's told that joke.

"Got some good shit to sell though this would be the place to go for more specific kind of deals" I don't trust a single person here.

"Well then you wouldn't mind having one of us check what you're bringing can't have you dropping bombs in the place right guys?" one of the women mercs stands out as the leader of this shift.

"Of course i will stay right here and let one for you come and see what i brought" there's a small stack of caps visible once they open the bag. I can see the wheels turning.

"Ah yes everything looks good here" he sneakily takes the caps and closes the bag.

"Thank you i'll make sure to give you compliments to the ambassador here" with that i'm in the most opulent place i have ever stepped through. Marble pillars water fountains showing off their wealth. Statues and not just head statues but full body and poses to go along line the path to the building. They truly went all out for this place. Inside is much the same except they now have paintings those that have lasted the test of time. I can appreciate the effort made to preserve what's left even if they are showing it off at the same time. A long walk down the entrance hallway before a reception desk made out of polished stone.

"I'm here to discuss good business involving some opportunity that the emerald city trading families have come across" i state what i'm here for to the secretary.

"Very well i will let the ambassador know that mr?"

"santangelo , lewis santangelo"

"Lewis santangelo is here with good profits" with that she stands up and goes to the door next to her desk.

In the time that she is gone I decide to pull one of the turrets out and set it on the stone desk. Stone desk what an impractical thing.

"I see, so this is what was interesting, yes?" a ghoul walks out wearing some gaudy gold and white uniform with a pilot cap on.

"I am here to sell pristine automated turrets to the right buyer"

"Well then is this it or do you have more?" oh he's flirting well hmm. He's tall but probably a playboy. Nah. I smile but keep it professional for now.

"I have 6 i can sell you it all depends on how many you want and what kind of price you are willing to offer"

"I always have much to offer for these special pieces i can give you 250 caps each how does that sound?" mmmm well that flirtatious voice is nice but i can't get distracted.

"Sounds like we have a deal i'll give you this one for now and i'll bring the rest later today yes?"

"I'll make sure to keep my schedule open for you" with that he swaggers back into his office. The secretary looking at me with an amused expression before pulling out the requested caps.

"Here you are mr santangelo i'll have the rest of the caps prepared beforehand have a wonderful day" i quickly stash the caps in the bag before not sprinting out of the building. I wonder what carter and indigo are doing.

Carter

"We are meeting who?" I ask again just to be sure.

"One of the matrons for the strip club they do other side gigs but she's great to be around and she treats people right so everyone crowd around her. It might be some trouble getting some of her time but were friends and people tell their strippers everything so i think she also controls the network around here wouldn't surprise me but anyways it would be good to be friends with her and i'm already friends so i can have you be the friend plus" right going to a strip club. Well first time for everything i guess.

"Right ok and why are we going there first?" there has to be other people we could be meeting.

"Clubs stay open all night so they usually are closed around this time so it's the perfect time to catch matron with no one else trying to get her attention" ok right that makes sense.

This part of the settlement seems filled with neon lights that have been turned off. This district is where most of the buildings have been remodeled into gambling dens bars and clubs with a few obvious strip clubs scattered around. It's fairly empty at 10 in the morning.

Indigo leads us into one of the more gaudy clubs with a 3 story building propped up by its smaller neighbors.

"Were closed, come back a few hours later" one girl yells out as we enter the wide room.

"Im indigo here to see astrid i'm an old friend" with that the girl in some sweater and jeans looks up.

"Don't know an indigo and i bet astrid doesn't either" now she's glaring at us.

"Oh hush kara i know her but it has been years" an older woman wearing a cherry red vest over a black suit and black dress pants comes out one of the side rooms.

"It has been a while astrid but i was able to finally hitch a ride back soon i'll be going home" she goes over to hug astrid.

"Welcome back dear we must catch up but i get the feeling today is more business then pleasure yes?" with that she looks me up and down. I don't know if I lived up to her set expectations but she nods.

"I am carter santangelo for letting indigo ride with me she promised to give introductions to those she knows here in bothel" i stay calm and measured don't want to give too much away. I get the feeling she already knows too much and i have my own secrets to keep.

"Hmm good enough you must be the new heir to one of the many trading families of emerald city" i nod to that. She knows more than most and the only one that could truly search deeper into that backstory.

"Him and lewis have been very helpful and honest i'm thankful that they are the ones i found" indigo tells astrid. I smile at that. Good to be appreciated.

"I trust that none of them have done anything too forward. This one here seems too quiet and nervous to be much against you." Am I nervous? How can she tell?

"Of course astrid you taught me what i need to know don't concern yourself over that" she hugs astrid again.

"Now onto business what can i do for you?" astrid turns her head back to me.

"To get to know the person who is in the know and a few other things" how am i supposed to word this. I barely know what I need but I might as well go with the flow.

"Let's take this to my office then" with that astrid walks back to the romo she just came from. The walls are covered in some thick cloth and the door has blankets nailed to it as well.

Inside the room is a lot of padded couches and chairs with a single desk and large red padded chair with some animal fur laid down on the seat.

I decided to take a seat on one of the couches closer to the desk. Indigo sits next to me.

"I told carter and lewis that I would help them make some friends here and you seemed like one of the first to be friends with," indigo explains.

"So i'm the first? That's sweet of you i do cost caps even for friends"

"I can afford to lose a couple caps if you don't mind letting me in on your friendship circle"

"How about for 100 caps i give you some important information about the wasteland" that's good.

"I love that kind of deal" i open up one of my satchels and pull out 2 stacks of caps.

"Perfect i do love these kinds of friendships. Here's a bit of information. The orca hunters are pulling back current theory is the broken isle will be sending a flotilla down into the sound, the steel yard has been acting up and the brotherhood have been sighted doing something over there no one truly knows anyone going in hasnt come out, horde of feral ghouls are moving from portland something in olympia is attratcing them, the NWFA has made moves on consolidating a few of the other reclaimers, heard kingston is now ruled by some smart deathclaw oh and the supermutants have been making aggressive moves all over the commonwealth thats all that i have heard recently and i didnt mention anything about the emerald city region i think we can both agree you would know more then me" oh fuck she might have already found holes in my backstory. To be fair it was completely made up on the spot.

"That's a lot of information but also very broad i thank you. Do you have any advice for a man like me?" might as well get it out of the way.

"Keep your head down, don't shake things until you are truly ready and you will find home in the most unlikely places" she gives me such a serious look with that sentence.

"Thank you astrid i hope our friendship lasts" with that i get up and walk out the door.

Indigo follows behind me.

"Uh where are we going now?" indigo asks with some concern.

"I'm going to the radio station i know where it is" i made sure to ask a few people while in the market yesterday just to be sure that the building with all the antennas and radios on top is the radio station.

"I guess we could stop there, it shouldnt be too much of a problem" with that she takes the lead cutting through a few alleys to get there sooner.

Coming up to the small 2 story building with one large antenna sticking out above the rest one large sign out front blinking.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Standing outside is a small group of people all wearing flamboyant bright clothes.

"Hey Johnny! I haven't seen you in forever" indigo runs to the group one breaks off wearing some purple fedora.

"Indigo sweet how have you been I have missed you" with that they hug and do a little spin.

"I'm back for a couple weeks then I'm going home" she says with some disappointment.

"Oh I know you get homesick everyone does Even someone like me" he placed a hand over his heart.

"Yes well I am now skilled enough to call myself an adult"

"Do not rush to join us sad old people but if you feel ready then you must take it and run" some decent advice.

Becoming an adult when she died hasn't been a party.

"Oh yes and this is carter he's not one to talk much but he was very interested in coming here loves music" indigo throws the spotlight onto me. How do I stand right what makes the best first impression do I have to breathe like him? No that's weird don't do that. Oh God he must be some fantastic actor and I'm just here standing in rags and a jacket like an idiot. Just hold out your hand for a good shake and call it a day.

He took my hand and shook it then took my forearm with his other arm.

"Ahaha you must have stories to tell I will have to hear them and I have to thank you for bringing indigo back she must have been stuck in that Dreary place for so long" oh wow he just took control of everything say something.

"Uh well she asked and lewis said yes and I said yes so here we are" I don't know what else I'm going to say.

"A good friend then I thank you again for bringing her back I would gladly show you around If that is something you would like"

I nearly shout but decide it's best to whisper.

"Yes please"

"Perfect I shall take you around let us have an adventure" with that he pulls me into the building. Inside there's people going about with different equipment or sitting at desks.

"This is amazing" I already love it here.

"It may not be emerald city radio but we do our best" with that he pulls me further inside past employee only signs. Around me are different rooms, most are seen through a window with instruments inside.

"Oh my god you make music here!" They make new songs here right that's so amazing.

"Huh oh yea most of them are just the same songs that are from before but with new voices maybe some new instruments added in" he says it so flippantly as if that's not such a fun cool thing to do.

"I would love to know how to do that or to be the guy talking on the radio!" I may or may not have shouted that last bit but I can't help but be excited. This is a dream.

"Slow your roll I could speak to a few people see about you getting some good advice for those in the role" I owe this man so much.

"Thank you very much" I give my heartfelt thanks with a bow.

"Don't worry about it just how this community rolls we help each other out" I am going to join this community.

Now we are going up the stairs with more radio equipment instead of instruments. Finally the man I have been listening to so much over these past few days on TAYLOR mcmobile miles obviously not his birth name but I'm not going to call him anything but that. He is currently buying talking into some mic with a record in hand ready to play the next song.

This is a dream come true I will have to do something really nice for Johnny and indigo. I do have a lot of caps I could throw around maybe there is some fancy restaurant I could treat them to.

"Here is big iron by the great cowboy Marty robbins!" With that he starts the record and a red light on the door turns off.

"Heeey miles how ya dooin" Johnny steps into the recording room so casually.

"Johnny you still owe Me money so what you doing up here" he sounds so much calmer than on the radio but I guess that makes sense. A personality for real life and a personality to show the world.

"Got a fan here brought back indigo so thought I would show him around maybe get a story or 2 out" he brings me out in front of him hands on my shoulders.

Oh wow OK I'm meeting mcmobile miles this is amazing Uh what should I say.

"I love hearing your voice in the radio and your music choice brings a smile to my face. Emerald city can't compare" there. Maybe that was too much. It was probably too much. It's too late now.

"Heh haven't really had a fan come and say we are better than emerald city well it's nice to meet you as you already know I'm mcmodile miles but everyone here calls me miles I'm here to make the commonwealth a bit happier difficult to be gloomy when you got good music playing" with that he stands up and gives me a hand shake. Me. Wow.

"He told me he wanted to make music on the way up here. It seems like he has a lot of motivation" Johnny tells miles.

"Now that's something where you from anyways?" Ah difficult question but I need to keep up the lie no matter how much u want to tell the truth. Then again who wants to be friends with some nomad scavenger.

"I'm from emerald city my mom wanted me to go get some experience with trading before letting me take over the company" the usual lie is that im someone important and that my mom is still around.

"And you say we're better? Heh those slobs must be getting sloppy I got to hear at least One story from ya" well I guess one story.

"What kind of story you looking for?" Lots of different things I have done.

"Tell me about the most dangerous adventure" Johnny responds with an eager voice.

"So me and lewis were passing through from seetac to Issaquah back when it was standing now me and him have never dealt with supermutants before didn't know what they looked like just knew that they were dangerous well we wanted to head north from seetac was a mistake really that winter was shit and rough. This was right after we passed by landing we knew the right people to bribe in the orca hunters so we passed by without trouble" they watching me silently with clear interest ok thier faces. So I go on.

"we heard of a shortcut through the mountains a small road that cuts through from the south right into Issaquah me and lewis thought it was worth it to avoid the rumors of super mutants in castle. It was a journey through the foothills but there was enough game to keep us fed everything was fine until we reached the trailhead. Instantly something was off rabits squirrels birds all were gone but We pushed forward it was too late to turn back. Cautiously we made it through the road keeping silent with just the bags on our backs guns in hand ready for anything atleast we thought we were. Halfway in we were ambushed by massive 8 foot tall green monstrosities but their aim was terrible most of the makeshift guns they used actually blew up in their hands." I never noticed the red recording light turn on and the subtle push of mic from miles.

"We ran with everything we had ducking under the swings of the supermutants that were rushing us. We kept sprinting as fast as we could but the only thing that saved us was a passing patrol from the tribe that heard the shooting saw us running and took position to start shooting. Luck had us by the balls because they didn't start shooting until the mutants plowed through the trees running after us. Now keep in mind there's atleast 3 dozen of these big guys running for us. So we didn't stop even after we made it to the patrol. I don't know how many the patrol took with them but the mutants kept after us. we made it to one of the checkpoints or outposts when we exited the shortcut they were armed looking ready to hold back an army and it was just us w running ragged barely breathing. By this point we felt like we lost them so was nice to take a breather with 8 guns pointed at us. A good 5 minutes of just breathing some officer was yelling at us but we couldn't hear anything over our own hearts. Unfortunately they caught up to us after finishing off the patrol shooting at the outpost from the tree line while a dozen of them ran across the clearing holding pipes or wooden boards I tool that chance to join the firefight while leeis decided to prepare shooting his own gun but I knew what was going to happen it was a fighting retreat. To shoot at them while running backwards not very effective but they make for big targets. At this point everyone in Issaquah heard the shooting so they mustered and got everyone ready for a fight we didn't know ee just kept running. Some people might know of the battle on the 17th Bridge well that's what I heard it was called after"

"Anyways when I finally took the chance to look where I was running I saw them building some hasty barricade on the bridge lewis decides to run over tell them everything but gets stopped by all the guns being pointed at him. I step in and start yelling which for some reason helped they let us go behind the barricade where we both took position we watched as one mini nuke went off in the distance. That truly set the tone for what was coming. 2 dozen were running at us in seconds I was using my rifle aiming for every neck shot I could because I couldn't hit the small heads that were swinging around. Lewis he had a shotgun that wouldn't stop using every special shell we had. Then he started tossing out grenades every grenade we had was thrown in. After that the other people around us started throwing grenades too. That was what saved us it slowed them down enough for a truck that held a 50 cal Turret to pull up blowing them apart. It took a sustained 40 seconds of machine gun fire for a single super mutants to go down but eventually they all fell. Some did make It though near the end slaughtering everyone around them it was truly graphic scene to witness them pick Someone up and toss them over the bridge like it's nothing while smashing in the heads of the next person. We survived we prevailed in the end by luck skill and the guns we had we made it through that day."

I took a breath i never talked that much in front of new people but I felt like I knew miles and I owe Johnny so much.

"wow" that's all miles said. Johnny had a bit more to say.

"when I asked for adventure for danger that was not what I was expecting thank you for sharing that with us truly thank you." he gives such a solemn look at that.

"well folks that was a guest here at crossroads we really are the pitstop for everyone thank you for listening in heres I don't want to set the world on fire by the ink spots" I look over at the mic miles has been holding and wow I really said all that over the radio. Oh. That's the floor hope lewis doesn't get angry at me.

Author note: ok that took a while but phone typing is difficult. Anyways I'm going in break until the 13th of January and I'm gonna take a nap goodnight everyone