Practicing Medicine // Complete

Chapter Five: The New Kid

(+)5

COPYRIGHT 2075 ROBCO(R)

LOADER V1. 1

EXEC VERSION 41.10

32K RAM SYSTEM

15452 BYTES FREE

HOLLOWTAPE LOADED: "THE-NEW-KID"

INITIALISING....

SUCCESS!

STATUS

Battery Level: 100%

Wireless Signal: (?)

Operating Temperature: 87F

HEALTH

BP: 120/90

SPO2: 100%

Temp: 98.5F

RR: 12

HR: 70

TIME

Day: 24 SEP. 2176

Time: 06:12

CLIMATE

Current Temperature: 80F

Atmospheric Pressure: 753 mm

Background Radiation: 0.431 RAD

---

I woke up to the pleasant smell of fresh-cooked bacon mingling with the less pleasant smell of rotting wood. I rubbed my eyes- had I really fallen asleep in the damn cabin? My back hurt, my joints were achy, and, according to the pip-boy, it was 6:12 AM, almost two hours before my normal wake-up time.

Though my back screamed at me to lay back down, I forced myself to stand, audibly popping at least a few joints in the process. I muttered some bad words under my breath and tried to stabilize myself against one of the shelves. Soon as I pushed on it, I could feel the wood yield, splitting and snapping off in one violent motion. I tumbled to the ground along with it and a heap of medical supplies.

"Goddammit," I groaned. I started trying to scoop up the fallen supplies. None of them seemed damaged, but so much had fallen- Bottles of pills, bags of rad-away, surgical implements from the bottom of the bag...

Suddenly, the wooden door creaked open. I made a noise like a caveman who'd just been spotted screwing his buddy's wife, and turned around to face the intruder.

"Isaac- Oh my gosh, did you actually fall asleep in there?" I couldn't tell if that was worry that I heard in her voice, or mocking. I looked away from her.

"Yeah. I was just cleaning up in here," I said, scooping up a few more items and putting them back into my bag. I could feel Cook's eyes on me as I struggled to reach for a couple of items that were on top of one of the intact shelves.

"Well, you can finish packing later. I made some home-style bacon, which as I'm sure you know has a pretty short tastiness half-life before it gets all weird and chewy." I nodded.

"Um- yeah, you're right. Is it that weird NCR ration stuff?" I asked, following her outside the shack.

"Technically, but I think you'll like it. I can turn a pack of instant noodles into Taglioni ai enokitake-mutante!" She wore a proud grin when she said that, and I gave her a weak little smile back.

"Mm."

The rising sun felt painfully bright as I scanned the horizon, noting that we had passed the big radio-tower that loomed in the mountains beside Primm. Of course, we really hadn't traveled far yet- I could still see Primm, with its neon signs and its indefinitely under-construction roller coaster standing out against the hilly background. The coaster had been the previous Casino-owner's idea, but Mom had decided to see it to completion. She let me ride one of the parts that worked once; I quickly decided to never ride a roller coaster again.