Artemis Files (0.5)

Chapter 9

Late 2272 - Capital Wasteland

How odd, to have a town surrounding an undetonated nuclear bomb, S9 thinks to herself. The people are friendly though, at least for the most part. It isn't long before a man with dark skin, a scraggly beard, and a cowboy hat. The air around him seemed to suggest that he was a leader of sorts in this town and he was someone you didn't really want to make mad, though he had an air of kindness around him too. This was reinforced when he began speaking to her.

"Welcome to Megaton, girl. My name's Lucas Simms. I'm the Sheriff. Mayor too when the need arises. I've never seen anyone dressed like you before. Who might you be?" He looks at her with a certain curiosity knowing he's never seen her before. He looks her up and down, studying her as he waits for her answer. Sizing her up, trying to decide if she's a threat or not. And there's that bow of hers. He's heard of archery before and has seen pictures but has never seen anyone actually use the weapon before.

Meanwhile S9 isn't sure what to tell him. She's quite certain X6 is the one tracking her. She knows someone is but they're being careful. All Coursers are good but he'd be the best choice. S9 doesn't really want to stop now but she's exhausted and she needs to rest. Besides she knows that if X6 can avoid it, he'll not destroy the town unless she gives him a reason to.

Eventually she decides to give him a false name. "Sarina," she says. "I'm on my way west I'm just stopping to rest for a while." S9 didn't bother giving him the name of an actual location. Not only because of X6 who was certainly on her trail as she speaks, but not even she really knew where she was going. Escaping the Institute was sort of last minute and not really well thought out. "Where's the best place to grab a bite?"

Lucas must've decided that she's not a threat when he smiles. She's cute, he thinks. There's an innocence to her he can't seem to quite place. He points up to a building near the highest point in town. "Moriarty's is the most popular. To be honest the man's a bit greedy but it doubles as an inn too if you need a place to sleep tonight." S9 nods and thanks him and supposes it is getting late though she hasn't been able to get a full nights sleep in days.

S9 left shortly after finishing her business in the Memory Den. Knowing she forgot...something on purpose, though even this knowledge was starting to become hazy. She knew she went but with her memory as foggy as it was she began to tell herself that she went because she hadn't been feeling well and whatever drug the doctor gave her was having some kind of side effect on her memory. S9 flipped through all the drugs she knew of but couldn't think of what one might have this effect on her or what sickness she might have had. Regardless she remembered that she'd just escaped the Institute and needed to get away. She didn't want to endanger the doctor knowing her status.

Going up to Moriarty's she was immediately greeted by a woman who was obviously meant for nighttime companionship. Something S9 herself wasn't really interested in. And a Ghoul. She'd met her share of the creatures in her coming here and they always disgusted her. Beggars couldn't be choosers though so she told herself that she'd just have to deal with it whether she liked it or not. This one seemed a bit shy like people didn't treat him very well in general. Though he disgusted her, she had no real reason to be rude to him either. S9 ordered a water and some food, finding the change nice since for once she didn't have to hunt her own this time around. Once done she rented a room for the night and slept as much as she could, albeit uneasily as ever, that night.

Several hours later a stranger came in. A cold hard stare behind sunglasses. This confused the night guard since there was no real need for the shades at this time of night. He'd worn the same strange jacket the woman had earlier and when he spoke it was in a monotone voice. This would send chills down the guards spine, but he knew he had to stand his ground. There was something... off about this man. "I'm looking for a woman," he stated. "Dressed like me. Pale skin. Freckles across the bridge of her nose. Blue eyes. Red hair. Have you seen her?"

The night guard thought to what Lucas had told him earlier. He'd described a similar woman when they were changing shifts and that she seemed almost anxious but was trying to hide it. As if she was trying to run from something and not get caught. When she'd answered Lucas' questions she seemed vague, only saying that she was going West but didn't name an actual location. Slavery was unfortunately common in the Capital Wasteland and both guards knew what an escaped slave looked like since they often came through here in order to get out of the region.

Still. Something about this man rubbed him the wrong way. "No, sir. Sorry," he said. "Haven't seen your woman." That much was true. He'd asked if he'd seen her which he genuinely hadn't, though he wouldn't be so openly pedantic to the man. Not with the chilling air he gave off.

"If it's alright then. I'd like to look around to see if she's here somewhere." His tone still frighteningly cold as he spoke. The night guard really didn't like the look of things the way they were going but he said yes regardless. Once the man was out of earshot he gave the signal that he and Lucas agreed upon that the woman might be in trouble and that she needed to get away as quickly and quietly as possible.

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Present Day 2287 - The Prydwen

"I owe many people my life," Artemis said. "Dr. Amari and the Railroad. Lucas Simms and the man that was on the night watch that night. The list is huge really and I'd be here for months if I went into each little detail."

There was a shuffling from somewhere in the room and Artemis turned her head to find it was Lucas Simms himself. Next to him was Harkness who was the head of security in Rivet City. "I'm still fascinated by how quickly your hair turned white from that deep red it used to be. I'm not going to pretend that I know what you have to deal with on a day to day basis but from what I've seen it's no wonder. It's a clearly stressful position."

Artemis can't help but let out a light chuckle. "It's true. I love my job but it's not for everyone. Even the main body of the Brotherhood isn't for everyone. We're a faction of soldiers so if it's stressful to the point that even they can't get in unless they're that impressive then you can only imagine. I hate to make this comparison but we're basically the Brotherhood's equivalent to Coursers."

Back when the two first met her hair was still mostly red with a few white streak going through it. She didn't even know he was a synth until she'd seen Dr. Zimmer pestering some scientists in their lab in Rivet City. On thing lead to another and she eventually discovered the truth about him. Harkness had been a Courser like her and from him she learned that in total, three Coursers total had escaped, Artemis being the first. It was also through him that she learned her oldest friend, J6, was being beaten, though not to death, because the Institute knew they were close. Artemis was certain that since her escape was last minute and hadn't spoken about it to J6, that's what saved her.

"Regardless I couldn't stay in Megaton for very long," Artemis looked at Lucas with a pitying look in her eyes and was glad things happened the way they did. Otherwise one or both of them would likely not be here.