NOVEL WEB Chapter 15
What I saw was a copy of Hubris Comics. On the poster were a man in a dark trench coat and fedora facing off against another man in a robot disguise. The title read "The Silver Shroud Issue #5: The Shroud meets The Mechanist!".
A girl in control of robots. Likes the Mechanist comics from Hubris Comics. Everything started to add up in my mind, and I soon realized the woman in front of me must be Isabel Cruz, aka the Mechanist. But that can't be. She looked completely different.
This woman was probably in her early twenties and looked younger than I remember Isabel Cruz did in the game. That could be justified by the current time being several years ahead of when the game starts. Her nose also seemed more petite, but my memory of a video game character's face could not be as good as I thought. What couldn't be explained was her freckles and green eyes. Then I remembered the mods I added. Will they impact the NPCs as well?
"Oh my god. *Hic* Where's the stimpak?!? *Hic* I can fix this."
Watching her shake and be on the verge of tears made me feel guilty as I was in perfect health.
"It's okay. Don't worry. I think he missed. Look, no blood on me."
Looking up, she saw me smiling at her and noticed that I seemed to be okay. Standing up, she rushed over to me and started fussing over every little part of my body. I felt weird having her lift my arm and put her hands all over my body, but I let her confirm for herself so she would calm down and stop feeling so bad.
After a quick once over and validating that I was okay, she backed off from me and sighed loudly in relief. A cute blush spread across her cheeks after realizing she was being a bit too grabby and personal with me.
"Sorry! I just wanted to make sure that you actually weren't hurt. Not that I didn't trust you! Just adrenaline dulls pain, and sometimes people don't realize they got shot. I thought maybe you hadn't been careful. Not that you aren't careful! I just, I just..."
I chucked a little at her stuttering to justify what she did. In an attempt to clear the air, I introduced myself.
"It's okay, really. I know you were just worried about me. Thank you, really. My name is Basil. Nice to meet you..."
I extended my hand so I could shake hers. She looked at my outstretched arm and hesitated momentarily before reaching out and grabbing it.
"Isabel. Isabel Cruz. Sorry again. I... I just got so worried that you might have been hurt because... because of me. I promise it won't happen again!"
Isabel Cruz. So I was correct, and I guess the character mods I added are also in effect. The lady standing before me would eventually turn into the Mechanist. Due to faulty robobrain logic, her robots would terrorize the wasteland. She was one of my favorite characters, and I felt the game never did her justice and didn't go in-depth enough with her lore. Trying to lighten the mood, I teased her about her verbal slip-up.
"Again? Are you sticking with me now? A bit presumptuous, aren't we?"
"What?"
Isabel questioningly asked. After a moment, she realized what she had said, and her blush intensified.
"Oh no! I didn't mean that! It just came out. I know someone like you wouldn't want someone like me around. I'm... I'm so sorry. I'll... I'll leave now."
Seeing her mumble out that last part and start collecting the items she dumped out, I realized my teasing had backfired. I approached her and crouched down to help her collect her things. I could use someone as talented as the Mechanist. Thinking this, I tried starting a conversation, this time more honestly and direct.
"Hey, please don't apologize. I was just trying to tease you a bit. I apologize if I came off as if I didn't want you sticking around. Those robots you got sure are something. Did you build them yourself?"
Hearing the conversation steers toward her interests, she perked up and started talking about her creations.
"Yeah! I scavenged the parts from all around the place. I call the two on the ground junkbots because... well, because they are made from parts scrounged up in a junkyard."
Looking up, she pointed at the eyebot.
"That's Spark. I built him when I was a kid. He's kinda my only friend."
She paused after saying that. Realizing that she had just admitted her only friend was a robot, she looked at me worryingly, wondering what I would say in return.
"Only friend? Aren't we friends? I just saved your life, after all?" I teased again.
I couldn't help myself. She just looks so cute and triggered all my bully instinct.
"Uh. I mean, I don't want t- Oh. You are teasing me again."
She realized she was being teased again. Even though she started pouting at being made fun of, she smiled.
"Jeez, don't mock me. Yes, you are my friend. And thank you for saving my life."
After packing her belongings back into her rucksack, I suggested we loot all the raiders. Isabel agreed, and the next twenty minutes were spent looking through corpses.
I found a decent-quality backpack from one of the raiders and filled it with whatever I could find. The pack would also help me cover up my inventory ability. Besides the backpack, I found some ammo my guns didn't use, basic medical supplies, a few pipe weapons, and a double-barrel shotgun.
After looting, I returned to Isabel and showed her what I had found. When I brought up splitting the loot, Isabel adamantly refused and convinced me to keep everything I had in the pack. I thanked her and asked what she planned on doing next.
"So, Isabel. How do you find yourself in Concord? What are you planning on next?"
She thought about her answer and confirmed what I already knew about her.
"I'm not actually a Commonwealth native. I came here because I heard rumors about a robotics factory in Boston. I figured I could try to find it and bring it back online to build new robots. Robots that I think can do a lot of good."
She conveniently omitted her hobby of pretending to be a comic book superhero. But maybe she hasn't started cosplaying superheroes yet.
The factory she is looking for is actually a military installation under a RobCo building. If I could get her there, Isabel would be skilled enough to bring it back online. The facility could pump out a limitless amount of varyingly advanced robots in the game. Recruiting Isabel now and getting her to the underground base would grant me access to a robot army. An army that I could use as the catalyst for a better wasteland.
But that is a long-term goal, and we needed more security immediately. There's also a robotics junkyard close by. The junkyard should have plenty of parts for Isabel to build a small but deadly combat force to protect us before we could get there.
The Robotics Disposal Ground is one of the mysterious landmarks in post-nuclear Boston. Pre-war secretive government workers would dump defective robots there. The why is unclear, but I just need the parts, so I don't care. Let's mention that I know about the factory and that there is a nearby place with parts she could replenish the robots she lost here.
