Another Unoriginal Oneshot Book

Human Capital

AN: This definitely isn't what I usually write. It's got some more adult themes (and it's totally skippable if you're following the plot). I just felt the need to explore the Black Widow perk in the context of Aniss's character. I might delete it at some point. Vague Fallout 3 spoilers.

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Paradise Falls, November 2278.
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Aniss followed the man's lips as they monologued over the top of GNR's quiet, tinny melody. They sat knee-to-knee on the barstools in the pad's entryway. His bright red suit cut through the darkness and made Aniss want to look away.

Vault 101 had taught its girls how to turn eyes. Show vulnerability. Look... malleable. Aniss remembered the period of time when, every Monday, Mrs. Mack would hold all the girls back after class and give lessons on how a young woman should do her duty to the Vault. They learned the biology. They learned to flirt. They designed posters with slogans — "Children are the future," "Your genetic diversity is our strength," "Good citizens don't settle for just two babies." She remembered teasing Amata in the clinic about how Mrs. Mack was unsubtly trying to pair her up with Wally. James had listened. His eyes had been sad.

The anxiety of a dwindling population had undercut Aniss's entire childhood. Her father had been gently shamed for refusing to remarry, when she was still too young to really understand what that meant. Everyone's family history was fully available and publicly discussed (and she had somehow never questioned that her own lineage was inconsistent and barely mentioned). The rationing system punished singleness and childlessness. At 25, vault dwellers who had not yet found a spouse were assigned one — and no one wanted that. So Aniss had always known the value of being a woman, even if she hadn't been gung-ho about it. Only after spending time on the outside had she realized that the vault was broken, had been broken from the very start.

Her father had known, and never told her. He'd let them feed her lies, because it was the price to keep her safe. Then, he had put her in danger anyway, and she had been plunged into a world she wasn't prepared for. And she had never gotten to ask him about any of it.

Dad wouldn't like the way her fingers fluttered on the arm of the man next to her. But Dad wasn't here.

Eulogy Jones was not a victim of totalitarian indoctrination. He just liked women, and was used to having them throw themselves at him. That made Aniss's job both easier and harder. He wasn't suspicious of her attention, but she had a lot of competition from his two sidekicks. So she let him believe he was manipulating her.

She played up her wide eyes, her rapt attention. She ignored the way his bodyguards stared resentfully at her from the far wall, and he in turn ignored her own bodyguard's imposing presence at her back.

"I never got the chance to ask. What did you do with those kids I supplied you? Call it a professional interest," he inquired, too close to her face.

"I've been working on some developmental projects in a historic locale known as Point Lookout. I'm just laying down the foundations now, but I thought the long-term investment would be worth the hassle." None of that was true, but it was vague and boring enough not to raise any more questions. If she stayed boring, she would keep him talking. The more he talked, the more scraps she could gather about Paradise Falls's supply lines, customers, and neighboring operations. All useful information, if one were so inclined to make use of it.

"I'll have to visit sometime," he said, obviously intending on no such thing. "If you ever need more... investments, Paradise Falls will be here for you. Especially if you keep the new blood coming."

Aniss had enslaved two people for Paradise Falls. Both had been accidents. In earlier days, she'd made a hobby of collaring the random attackers she tended to run across in the Wasteland. She took all their ammo while they were mezzed, collared them, and let them go free upon the captive's promise that he would change his ways. (She'd never seen any proof that any of them actually did, but at least they weren't attacking her anymore.) An Enclave soldier and a raider had both slipped away before she could negotiate, and she'd received 500 caps for them in total. Paltry compared to what she got for an average day of scavenging, but it had gained her some trust around here (and she would have just killed them otherwise). The guilt was an acceptable price tag for a successful infiltration.