Driving around the nuclear facility again, letting Jitters and Buzz scan everything, I started to feel a bit worse.

I could've handled that better. Though as I thought about it, I couldn't be bothered to drum up enough motivation to care.

No, it was better to think about the future right now.

Before I had left, the robo buddies seemed to be digging the tunnel to the broken bridge at about 400' an hour. After some questionable mental math, I came up with a timetable of roughly 28 days. Which in and of itself wasn't a problem, however I told Amanda to check for me by the bridge in a few days.

That meant I'd have to head back to base, probably tomorrow. Well if I could figure this mess with Sinn out, or at least a plausible answer, not would be fine.

One of the many reasons the Probes were awesome, was because they required almost no micromanaging. Give a few instructions and they would and they would take care of it while I was gone.

Buzz started beeping for my attention.

I stopped. "What've you got?"

"Readings indicate subject Sinn was in this area."

"Alright you guys sweep for tracks or any other signs of where she was going." I said monotonously.

They detached and began to fly back and forth searching for clues. I watched them for a moment, enjoying their systematic patterns. after and while I turned my attention to the other things in the area.

There was another coolant pond and several long squat buildings whose purpose eluded me. I began to wonder who even used these roads. Most of the plant was automated at this point.

I sighed.

I turned on the radio. Some song about how they didn't mean to let someone down was playing. Yeah, I have odd luck with car stereos.

To say it hurt, was an understatement, but I left it on. Might as well face it head on.

Jitters came back to the van, "We found a trail and it led to a resting spot."

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Good job. Lead on." I quickly followed through the muddy ground.

We ended up leaving the nuclear plant's grounds and arrived at a nearby warehouse, which as far as I could tell was empty. Then we proceeded to the eastern side of the build to look at a toolshed.

I could smell it a ways off. Human waste. Argh.

This is where Sinn had been... well camping I guess. There was a sleeping bag and air mattress, some personal effects, and a lot of discarded food packaging.

There was even a camping toilet, the source of the stench, requiring me to carry the odorous canister a few hundred yards away. Then I gave the shed a while to air out. Night City fast food produces some extremely toxic waste. After sitting a few days in the unusual heat... I was just lucky I wasn't spewing all over the place.

When I could tolerate going back in there I went through everything, not really understanding why she had chosen this spot.

I sat on her mattress to think, went I saw it. A small hole cut into the corrugated metal panels that made up the shed.

Huh. I put my eye to it. The only thing I saw was a cluster of those tough but scraggly looking bushes that dotted the Badlands.

What was so special about some bushes?

I decided to get a good look at the bushes up-close.

Tracks spotted before I even got to the bushes, weaving around through the mud, little ones. They looked familiar, rabbit maybe.

I hunted around the bushes and found scat shaped like little pellets. Yeah, definitely seemed like a rabbit or something similar.

After poking into the bushed themselves I found a burrow.

Enough, I got the idea.

I quickly headed back towards the van, I didn't want to spook the little varmints.

Sinn had been camping out to watch fucking rabbits. Because they were so rare, she had probably never seen anything like one before. Well maybe the odd rat, but even that was not a normal encounter in NC.

Why she'd been out here in the first place, I'd never know but this was absolutely why she'd kept coming back.

Oh, that hurt so much. I damned near started crying again.

She just wanted to see some cute fucking critters.

Big giant of a woman, just wanted to see some soft little animals.

If I'd known, I could of shown her all the fluffy little beasts she could ever want to see.

She'd still be kicking and at least somewhat happier.

I knew it wasn't my fault, but fuck that burned.

I spent a few minutes calming down and then called Rita. I gave her the rundown. What I found, where it was and why it probably went wrong.

She took a minute to process that.

"That actually tracks. She was obsessed with movies and BDs that featured animals, especially ones where you interact with them. That's so sad."

She pause for a moment, "Hey Ryan, I'm sorry about Susie earlier. She under a lot of pressure, with Tyger Claws messing with our chooms. She's starting to see enemies everywhere."

"It's okay. Water under the bridge." I stared down the road thinking about where to go next.

"Look don't be a stranger. I can tell this really got to you. I understand. You need an ear. I'll listen." She seemed to actually mean it. Sometimes even hard folk soften up a bit.

"Thanks Rita, I'll see you later." I started the Van.

The Probes reattached and we got going back to our little outpost.

I was still trying to get rid of this pain.