Endgame (Fallout 4)

Chapter 7 - Unlikely Valentine

When Night had awoken the next morning, he found himself on Piper's couch, where she'd told him to stay after bringing him in out of the cold. Sitting on the edge of the couch, he yawned, running his fingers through his hair, before looking up and Piper and her younger sister, Nat, who were bustling around in the "kitchen" area of their home, pouring noodles into bowls to heat up using a Bunsen burner. After a moment, they finished, and Nat came skipping over, sitting opposite Night on the ground, placing her bowl on the coffee table.

Piper sat beside Night, placing a bowl in front of him, to which he sighed as the steam rose from the rather pleasantly aromatic noodles within.

"You hungry?" Piper smiled at him as she sat beside him on the couch.

"Not really, but thanks."

"How can you not be hungry? You know what, never mind. But if you don't eat that whole bowl, I'm not taking you to see my friend," Piper smirked, and Night scowled at her in return.

"That's not fair! We had a deal!"

"Yeah, and now we have a new deal!" she laughed.

Night picked up his chopsticks and gave in, eager to get on the road and take the first steps to finding his missing son. Taking up a few noodles, he put them into his mouth and immediately froze. For something made by a robot, two-hundred-years after a nuclear apocalypse when fresh ingredients were hard to come by - to say the least - they were the best noodles Night thought he had ever tasted. Little did he realize he was sitting with a noodle hanging out of his mouth as he marvelled at such a creation, and Piper laughed as Nat giggled opposite them.

"Not bad, huh? This is the only place you can get food this good in the Commonwealth."

"Actually, on the topic of food.." Night bit his nail, facing Piper.

"Yeah?"

"What exactly do you eat out here? I haven't seen any farms or anything.. What is there to eat?"

"Well there's lots of things. Here in Diamond City, a lot of us eat noodles. But we also have someone here who sells different kinds of meat, usually nicer than what you'll find yourself in the wasteland."

"Meat?" Night cringed. "What kid of meat?"

"Mostly brahmin, but there's other options too if you can't afford that."

"Brahmin? The.. Two headed cows?" Night raised an eyebrow, and Piper nodded. "Should I dare ask what other kinds of meat there are..?"

"Oh, don't worry," Piper smiled reassuringly, "nothing you wouldn't find anywhere else. It's all pretty good stuff. There's things like bloatfly - which is pretty bad, but if you're really hungry.. - bloodbug, which sounds awful but it isn't too bad, mole rat.. Uh.. Radstag.. But stay away from the radroach meat, it's really-"

"I think I'm going to be sick."

"What? You gotta eat to survive, and you gotta eat what you can find." Piper shrugged, and Nat nodded, amused at Night's reaction.

"God, there was none of.. that.. in this, was there..?"

Night pointed to the noodles, and Piper shook her head.

"No, that's all natural. Besides, the damn noodle robot doesn't know how to buy ingredients, only to sell to people."

Night didn't reply as he sat in shock, fearing he may one day have to eat something terrifying. Piper noticed his discomfort, and placed a hand on his arm, grabbing his attention.

"Don't worry. I'm not a big fan of meat either, I usually just get by on snacks I find or buy, and plenty of Nuka Cola."

"Nuka Cola? That still exists?"

"Yeah, it's the number one choice of refreshing soda in the wasteland!" Piper beamed.

"I think I'm losing my mind.."

~~

"This is it. You ready, Blue?"

"Yeah."

Night took a deep breath as he and Piper walked up to a doorway, down a path dubbed as "third street" - which was actually the run between second and third base. There was a sign with a big neon heart on it, just as Piper had described earlier, with the words "Valentine Detective Agency" written on it.

"Let's go."

Piper opened the door, and the two entered the small, dingy room. It was dimly lit, and smelled of cigarette smoke and old paper. There was a desk - the obvious service desk - immediately as they walked in, and behind it was another desk covered in various case notes and a dozen or so filing cabinets, most of which were stuffed to the brim with paper. Smoke hung in the air around them, and the whole place have off a very "noir" vibe, almost as if the scene should be in black and white. Behind the desk was a woman scrounging through various notes, taking to herself under her breath. She clearly hadn't noticed the two people enter.

"Uhm.. Excuse me.." Night spoke rather quietly, as if the sound of his voice would disturb the atmosphere.

"Oh, sorry, the office is closed," the woman replied, rather harshly, not looking up from the crumpled papers in her hand.

"I'm sorry, I won't take much of your time, miss," Night pleaded, "I really need your help."

"Didn't you hear me? I said the office is closed!" the woman snapped, this time throwing the papers back into the filing cabinet, slamming the drawer as she turned to face the intruders, and her face softened as she saw Piper.

"Oh, hi. Look, I didn't really mean the office is closed for the day, I mean we're closed for good. The detective has gone missing."

"Missing?" Piper repeated. "What's Nicky got himself into this time?"

"He went off to chase a stray daughter, but he still hasn't come back a week later. They must've got him.."

"Excuse me, but do you know where he went? I'll go out and find him for you." Night offered rather hastily.

"You would? I.. Thank you. I'm sorry I was so rude before. I'm Ellie Perkins, I'm basically Nick's assistant. Look, we don't have time to waste so I'll get right through it. A rich man's daughter was kidnapped by a guy called Skinny Malone, who's the leader of a hand that hides out in an old vault in a metro station nearby. Nick walked off, as he always does, laughing at death. But one day death's just gonna laugh right back.. Please, help him."

"Alright, I'll head out. Piper, wait here for me, this could be dangerous." Night looked over his shoulder at Piper, who appeared dumbfounded.

"You're kidding, right? You, who has no clue of this world, the landscape or geography, the people, the creatures or anything really, are gonna go and take on this gang alone?"

"That's.. A good point.."

"Come on Blue, we've got a Valentine waiting for us!"

Piper grabbed Night's sleeve and dragged him out the door. He was ready now to move on, to take back what was his, all starting with an unlikely Valentine.