Chapter Text
Momo doesn’t know what time she wakes up, she doesn’t bother to check her pip-boy, but judging by the moon’s position in the sky, it’s some point around midnight. She doesn’t know what woke her, the Followers camp is mostly silent, aside from the occasional sound from one of the tents full of patients. She’s about to go back to sleep when a rustling sound to her right draws her attention. She slowly twists her head, careful not to disturb Kyouka, who was currently wrapped up in her embrace and sees Veronica sitting by the ashes of their campfire, which had gone out hours ago. Curious as to what has the scribe up so late, Momo gently extricates herself from her shared sleeping bag with Kyouka, desperate not to wake her sleeping girlfriend, before quietly joining the brunette, who she notices has her hood down for the first time since they met.
“Hey,” Momo gently whispers, so as not to wake the camp, though in the stillness of the Followers’ fort, it’s still enough to make Veronica jump and, rather curiously, it causes her to hastily redon her hood, covering what was a quite boyish, short-cut, mop of hair. Seeing her reaction Momo tries to calm the woman “I apologise, I didn’t mean to startle you, I was just wondering why you were up is all.”
“Oh, that’s okay, I was just thinking is all.” Veronica muses as she relaxes now that the moment has passed.
“Anything in particular?” Momo inquires, before clarifying, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
Veronica shrugs, “Mainly just think about the Brotherhood, my life in it so far, and its future.” She sighs, “You can't help but notice that the Brotherhood barely exists to these people out here. We're like an urban myth. No real presence on the Outside. We just don't adapt like we should. Used to be that all you needed to get your way was a suit of power armour and a laser rifle. But now…” She looks across the Mormon Fort, at the Followers of the Apocalypse logistical hub. “people are armed and organised. They're not afraid. But we still stick to our old approach, because it's all we know.”
Momo takes a deep breath, to give her time to gather her thoughts before responding, keen not to offend the young woman. “It sounds like the Brotherhood is living in the past. Eventually, they'll have to change. Everything does.”
Again Veronica sighs, in resignation this time. “I think you're right. We're getting desperate. Hardly enough people to sustain ourselves as a chapter. They'll see the light, sooner or later. But I get the feeling if I don't take matters into my own hands, the change won't come in time to make a difference.”
Momo doesn’t know how to respond to that, so the two women just sit in silence for a few minutes before Veronica softly speaks again.
“So, you and Kyouka, how did it happen?”
“Huh?” Momo is caught completely by surprise, and she clamps her hands over her mouth to stop herself from exclaiming any louder.
“What, I’m a romantic,” Veronica shrugs, “I’m curious, did two get together before arriving in the Mojave or after, how did you two become an item?”
Momo removes her hands from her mouth to answer, still keeping her voice low. “It was definitely after we arrived in Goodsprings. Heh, it’s funny, I’d only known her for less than three days beforehand. We were only in our first week of school when we were attacked.”
“And who fell for whom first?” Veronica follows up.
“I… suspect it was her, she’s never once hesitated to follow me. I think I started having feelings for her in Nipton, ironically enough.” Disgust briefly flashes on Momo’s face as she remembers the legion’s crimes there. “The way she spoke out against Vulpes, the way she refused to be cowed by such evil. I admired that, I kinda wished that I had had the courage to do that. Instead, I was focused on being in control, like my parents taught me,”
“Restraint can be good sometimes, I can think of one or two incidents where restraint would have saved me some trouble.” Veronica chuckles softly before her expression becomes more morose, “I can also think of a few times where I’d wished I’d spoken out more, said something, anything to keep her,”
“Her?” Momo turns at the sound of Kyouka’s voice and sees her girlfriend shuffling along the ground towards them.
“How long have you…?” Momo begins.
“Since Veronica mentioned my name, you thought you could gush about me and I wouldn’t hear?” The punk teen fawns, rather un-punkishly, before cuddling up against her girlfriend. After a few seconds, she readdresses Veronica. “You mentioned a ‘her’ earlier, do you have a girlfriend?”
“I did, once. We were pretty young, but I like to think it was love.”
“What happened?” Momo asks, fearing the sad look in Veronica’s eyes.
“She left the Brotherhood.” Veronica sighs, “Wanted to put some distance between herself and her parents. Since our membership isn't open to outsiders, some members think that obligates all of us to procreate.
Momo gets the sudden urge to wrap one arm around Kyouka, Kyouka has a similar notion, wrapping both of her arms around Momo’s torso, her head resting on the larger girl's chest. Both girls briefly show a look of disgust on their faces at the idea. Kyouka in particular feels nauseous at the idea of doing that with a boy.
"You can guess which camp her parents belonged to.” Veronica adds
“You didn't go with her?” Kyouka questions. Personally, she couldn’t think of anywhere she wouldn’t follow Momo.
Veronica shakes her head sadly, “No. Couldn't bring myself to leave everyone else behind. Couldn't convince her to stay, either. I'd hoped love would be enough to influence her decision, but it wasn't. We were both too stubborn. I don't know where she is now, but I'm sure she's moved on. I still think about her, though. Once in a while.”
Veronica stares off into the distance, longingly. And the two teens are content to leave her be with her thoughts. Save for one final question from Momo.
“What was her name?” the creationist asks.
Veronica doesn't turn to answer her, instead choosing to look up at the stars. But from where they're sitting, Momo and Kyouka can see a faint stream of tears trickling down the scribe's face as she replies.
“Christine, Christine Royce.”
The next morning the majority of the group rises about an hour after sunrise. Though Boone had been awake long before then. They have breakfast, with Momo and Kyouka keeping an eye on Veronica in particular, but the scribe seems none the worse for wear after last night, having seemingly gotten over her bout of heartache, for now. Once they’re packed up and ready to go, the group exits the Old Mormon Fort and turns right to eventually head out of Freeside’s north gate.
They return to the Crimson Caravan’s regional office and, like yesterday, Momo and Anan enter while everyone waits outside.
“Welcome back,” McLafferty greets them as they enter her office. “I take it your presence here means you’re interested in further work?”
“We are,” Momo replies confidently.
“Good,” McLafferty leans forward in her chair, her fingers steepled. “As much as I like to handle matters personally, I can't be everywhere at once.”
The caravan boss reaches into a drawer in her desk and pulls out a sheaf of papers, which Momo recognises as being a contract.
“There is a negotiation with a smaller trading outfit that I'd like resolved as quickly as possible.”
McLafferty slides the contract across her desk, and Momo picks it up but resists the urge to read it.
“There's also the matter of Henry Jamison, an employee whose services I'd rather do without. His family connections make it difficult, however.”
Now there was a familiar story to Momo, not within her own family, but rather her parents’ friends and associates. She was all too familiar with stories of nepotism and ‘family connections’ in their social circle. Tales of fathers giving their sons managerial positions as cushy jobs, where despite having little to no responsibility, they still end up causing a mess due to inexperience. To her, they had been cautionary tales about who she definitely did not want to be. And by the sounds of it, this Henry Jamison was yet another of her ineffectual peers, though ‘peers’ was being generous in her opinion. Dully she realises that McLafferty is speaking again and so brushes away those thoughts to return to the real world.
“-finally, I need someone to ‘acquire’ the Gun Runner's manufacturing specifications. This job needs to be quiet - no alarms, no deaths.”
Immediately alarm bells begin ringing in Momo’s head. The way McLafferty had said ‘acquire’, combined with the requirements of ‘no alarms, no deaths’, screams of corporate espionage to Momo. Yet another topic she was familiar with thanks to her parents. Back home, she was aware that one of her parents’ biggest competitors, Detnerat, had been accused of corporate espionage several times, though nothing seemed to stick. While she would willingly carry out the other two jobs, Corporate Espionage was not something she would condone or engage in.
“You'll have to find someone else for the Gun Runner job.” Momo firmly declares “That's not something I do.” The tone of her voice indicates that it’s not a matter up for debate.
To the creationist’s slight surprise, McLafferty seems to take her refusal of the Gun Runner job in her stride.
“I understand. No hard feelings, but you will, of course, keep our conversation on the matter strictly confidential.”
Momo looks at Anan uncertainly, she’s fairly certain that this is tantamount to aiding and abetting, but then again, as they had already discussed, there wasn’t really anyone to whom they could report the crime. Not to mention no crime had actually been committed yet. So reluctantly, she decides to keep quiet about it… for now.
“Okay, what can you tell us about the other two jobs? starting with the negotiation.”
Momo briefly looks down at the contract in her hand, before looking back up at McLafferty.
“There's a small trading outfit, Cassidy Caravans, that I'm interested in acquiring. They've been rather competitive, so it's time to buy them out. I have it on good authority that the owner, Cass, wants out of the caravan business.”
‘Okay, so, it’s a merger,” Momo thinks to herself ‘or more accurately, a takeover’
“Cass frequently trades with the NCR, so you'll likely find her at the Mojave Outpost.” McLafferty finishes, and hearing the Mojave Outpost get mentioned, Momo baulks at the idea of having to make the journey back to the Mojave Outpost.
“I hope you realise that journey will take several days, right?” Momo asks tentatively.
McLafferty sighs, “Yes, I’m… aware of the current issues along the Nevada stretch of the I-15. It’s been wreaking havoc on our delivery times. The last I heard, the road was clear south of Sloan. Apparently, the NCR finally retook their prison from the escaped convicts just the other day but that still leaves the matter of the Quarry Junction. It’s overrun with Deathclaws. Our caravans are too slow and noisy to make it through, but a lone runner…”
The Caravan boss trails off and looks purposefully at Momo, who gets the hint.
“But I digress. How you deliver that contract, I leave to your discretion, just see that you do.”
“And what of this Henry Jamison?” Momo inquires as she rolls up the contract and stores it in her messenger bag.
McLafferty sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose, “The Jamisons are very wealthy ranchers back in Redding, California and significant investors in the Crimson Caravan Company. I was pressured into posting young Henry as the manager of the New Vegas branch. As you can see-” She gestures to the office around them- “he wasn't exactly cut out for the job. He was much more interested in gambling and prostitutes, and because of his family, I can't simply fire him. Henry needs to be convinced to quit, one way or another. I won't have a useless employee on the company payroll.”
Momo nods her head in understanding, “Any idea where we can find him?”
“I’d try the Atomic Wrangler, he doesn’t have the resources to get onto the strip, atleast not anymore.”
“We’ll try to get these done for you, as soon as we can,” Momo and Anan begin to leave.
“It's been a pleasure.” The older woman replies in farewell.
Upon exiting the office building, Momo and Anan find the rest of their group gathered at the fence to one of the caravan Brahmin enclosures. Momo’s four classmates are talking about the two-headed cattle with one of the workers. Ibara, in particular, seemed to be the most interested.
Momo decides to grab their attention by softly uttering Kyouka’s name, hoping that her girlfriend’s enhanced hearing would let her notice her, without being too disruptive.
Fortunately, it works, as the purple-haired girl’s head jerks up and around upon hearing her name.
“Momo, you’re back,” she calls out, and the others quickly turn as well to greet their classmate and teacher.
“So, how did it go?” Ochako asks and Momo fills them in on the two jobs McLafferty had given them, opting to not mention the Gun Runner job, atleast not out in the open.
“Huh, well, these sound like your kind of jobs, Mo.” Kyouka says thougfully, “Y’know, given your parents and all.”
Momo nods her head in agreement, “I had the same thought, granted I’ve never actually had to convince someone to quit or negotiate a contract before. But I’ve heard about my parents doing similar stuff before, and they’ve taught me the basics of business so…”
“So, I guess we’ll let you take the lead on these,” Kirishima grins good-naturedly.
“Are we really going to have to trek all the way back to the Mojave outpost though?” Kyouka groans as she thinks of all that walking they’ll have to do, “It took us half a week just to reach New Vegas in the first place,”
“Well, McLafferty suggested we might go via the I-15, because…” Momo trails off as she notices Veronica and Boone’s decidedly negative reactions to the idea of going down the I-15. “Yes, McLafferty did mention that part of the road was overrun with Deathclaws,”
“Oh, okay,” Veronica snarks, “So she’s not ignorant, just careless. Kirishima, you’ve faced one of them before, care to explain why we should avoid Deathclaws.”
Kirishima looks at Momo, an apologetic look in his eyes, “She’s right vice-rep, I was lucky my quirk allowed me to survive him, but you guys…? And if there’s a whole horde of them occupying part of the road, then you’d need a pro to deal with them, someone like All-Might, or Endeavour.”
“If it weren’t already out of the question, I’d suggest using Blackhole,” Veronica comments, looking at Anan, but the space hero just shakes her head wordlessly. Even against ‘non-sentient’ creatures, she was still unwilling to use her quirk in a lethal capacity.
“Well, for the time being, we still have one other job we can do, and luckily for us, it only takes back into Freeside.” Momo diverts the conversation back to a more productive topic.
“Right, Henry Jamison,” Kyouka recalls the name from earlier. “The guy sounds like he makes Kaminari look competent,”
“Hopefully I can sweet talk him into quitting.” Momo wishes aloud.
Momo and company return to Freeside and the Atomic Wrangler, this time, Ibara decides not to join the others inside the casino/bar, with Veronica volunteering to keep the religious girl company. Momo doesn’t judge her for it, she can’t stand to be in such an establishment either and if she didn’t have to she wouldn’t. But alas, here she was, approaching a young blonde, dishevelled man, sitting at a slot machine next to the bar, half a glass of whiskey in his hand.
“Henry Jamison?” She asks, confidently.
The man turns to her and looks at her bleary-eyed, before grumbling, “Shove off. You're making my luck turn bad.” He then turns back to the slot machine.
Next to Momo, Kyouka raises one eyebrow in contempt, judging by the small stack of casino chips next to him, Henry’s luck has been bad for a while.
Momo, however, is unphased by the man’s bad attitude, while he struck her as a thoroughly unpleasant man, Momo knew there was nothing to be gained here by blowing up at him. And part of her is quite glad that Bakugou isn’t with them.
“Mr Jamison, I'm here to talk about ending your employment with the Crimson Caravan Company.” Momo’s tone remains, cool and professional.
Immediately the man’s head snaps back towards Momo, and he jumps out of his seat, sending his small stack of chips flying as he does so.
“f*ck no. No matter what that old bitch McLafferty says, my dad said I could be in charge of the New Vegas branch.”
For a man who looked to be around the same age as Boone, he was acting like he was barely Momo’s age, if not younger. Out of the corner of her eye, Momo can see Francine Garret gesturing to someone, presumably her own security guards, as Henry continues to talk, only a bit more softly this time.
“Besides, I got into a little money trouble with the Omertas. If I quit the Crimson Caravan, how am I supposed to get the money to gamble?”
“Omertas?” Momo questions.
“One of the families that runs the Strip.” Henry explains as he retakes his seat, “They're a pack of cheaters, but you still don't want to f*ck with them.”
Momo sighed, while she felt some sympathy for the guy for getting into trouble with a gang, it did seem to be entirely his own fault. Still, maybe she could leverage this to her advantage.
“Maybe we can make a deal. What do you want from the Crimson Caravan in exchange for quitting?”
It says something that Mr Jamison doesn’t even need time to think about his answer, “I want my debt with the Omertas paid off. And I want one of those severance package things. A big one.” He pokes Momo in the chest as talks to emphasise his point, and Momo can see Kyouka at her side, bristling at the gesture. She decides to gently take hold of her girlfriend’s hand to calm her down before she makes a mistake. It seems to work, as soon as their hands are intertwined, Momo can feel the tension seep out of Kyouka’s posture.
Meanwhile, she tries to think of how to counter Jamison’s offer. In her experience, when her parents had had to let people go, the severance packages they’d given them were generous, to say in the least, and she wasn’t sure McLafferty would agree to that, or if she did, she wouldn’t be happy about it. Unfortunately, Kyouka, in her continuing anger at the man for touching Momo, responds first.
“You know, the better deal for us would be to walk away and let the Omertas deal with you. It’d certainly save the Crimson Caravan a lot of money,” The punk girl spits out.
“Kyouka!” Momo is scandalised at Kyouka’s implicit threat, but it seems to work as Jamison’s expression turns to a look of resignation.
“Fine, whatever. Forget the severance. Just get the Omertas off my back, and you can tell McLafferty she won't see my face again.” He slumps back down in his chair, where he then downs the remaining half of his whiskey.
Momo decides to leave him be, and instead address Kyouka’s actions. Guiding her girlfriend outside before talking to her.
“What was that all about?” Momo questions once they are outside the Wrangler.
“What, I completed the job, didn’t I?” Kyouka retorts.
“You basically threatened him,” Momo replies exasperated, as she rubs her brow with one hand
“Well maybe he shouldn’t have touched you then,” Kyouka shouts.
Ibara and Veronica look questioningly at Anan, hoping she’d explain what they missed.
“Mr Jamison got a little too close to Yaoyorozu during the negotiation,” The teacher explains, “Jirou didn’t react well to it. She all but threatened to hand him over to a gang he owed money to if he didn’t cooperate.”
“Kyouka…” Momo pleads, “He poked me, that’s all.”
“I…” Kyouka is about to continue arguing with her girlfriend, but the tone of Momo’s voice, and the look in her eyes, takes the wind out of her sail. “I…” She sighs, “Okay, maybe I overreacted, but in my defence, he was drunk and angry. He shouted at you, just for supposedly ruining his luck. I seriously doubt he had enough restraint to not start throwing punches. I…” Kyouka lowers her voice so that only Momo can hear it “I was just scared for you is all.”
Momo wraps her arms around Kyouka and brings the smaller girl close to her. “I know,” She whispers, “But you trust me right?”
Kyouka recoils slightly at the question, “Of course,”
“Then trust I can take care of myself, alright?”
Kyouka nods wordlessly. The two girls hold each other for a minute longer before they both remember that they’re not alone, causing them to abruptly separate, their faces colouring slightly in embarrassment.
“Anyway,” Momo awkwardly clears her throat, “We should, um, probably go inform McLafferty, that, er, Mr Jamison is no longer a problem.”
She then promptly walks off, with Kyouka in tow, the two girls deliberately ignoring the looks on their friends’ faces that range from Ochako’s fawning to Veronica’s smugness.
Ultimately, McLafferty is satisfied with their results, forking over another 100 caps for their efforts. Afterwards there is a brief discussion amongst the group as to what they do next and it’s decided that, at the very least, they should investigate what the Vault 22 job entails, then they could decide whether they want to prioritise it over the Cassidy Caravan buy-out.
Which is how Momo’s group find themselves standing, once more, inside the entrance to Camp McCarran. The gate guards had changed since yesterday and so didn’t recognise them, causing Boone to vouch for them once more.
Having seen it before, the spectacle of the camp doesn’t awe the group like it did yesterday, except for Veronica, who, upon seeing the true scale of the NCR’s occupation in the Mojave for the First time, is sent reeling.
“Whoa, there's a lot more troops here than we thought. No wonder we couldn't hold HELIOS One.”
The name ‘Helios One’ rings a bell in Momo’s mind, but she pushes it to one side for now.
The group re-enters the main airport terminal and this time, Veronica joins Momo and Kyouka in the OSI office. As they enter the first part of the office, Angela Williams greets them.
“Oh! Good to see you again.”
“Is Dr Hildern in?” Momo gestures to the door to Hildern’s office.
“He is,” Angela nods, and the group of three goes through the adjacent door, where they find Dr Hildern, sitting at a desk with a RobCo terminal on it. Initially, he doesn’t notice their arrival, it’s not till Momo knocks on the door frame that he looks up at them.
“Ah, you’re back. Good. We still need a contractor on our Vault 22 project. Interested?”
“What can you tell us about it?” Momo inquires.
The doctor sits a little more upright and makes a show of dusting himself as if about to give a speech. “Imagine, if you will, the wasteland in bloom... vast fields of corn that grow from seeds and produce their bounty in the space of a month...”
For Momo and Kyouka, such an image wasn’t too hard to imagine, they had seen images of such farms back home. Large-scale agriculture as Hildern seemed to be describing wasn’t too unusual in their world thanks to quirks and advances in science. These thoughts flash through their mind as Hildern continues his elevator pitch.
“...orchards of trees, their branches weighed halfway to the ground, hung with fat, ripe oranges. A harvest that could feed a city... or a nation.” Dr Hildern rises from his chair and looks directly at the three women. “And all this... all this... requiring no more than a few drops of precious water, and the efforts of only a handful of human farmers. Sounds impossible, right?”
Momo and Kyouka exchange looks before Momo confidently replies, “No, not really.” Veronica, however, is more sceptical as Hildern continues to pontificate.
“Precisely.” A confident smile broaches the scientist’s face “Science has proven that truth a thousand times over, but how many wasteland savages believe it?” He pauses slightly and looks apologetically at the three women, “Present company excepted, of course.”
All three of the women each raise a single eyebrow in a united expression of scepticism, not that Hildern notices, he’s too lost in his presentation.
“We need only reach out and unlock its secret. For that, the OSI needs you.”
“There much more to this speech?” Kyouka snarks, and while Momo wouldn’t have phrased it quite like that, she agrees with the sentiment. Dr Hildern did seem to like the sound of his own voice.
Fortunately, the good doctor seems to get the hint. “Fair enough. The point is this I believe that the inhabitants of Vault 22 unlocked the secrets of vegetative growth. Plants are spilling from it’s gate. No one tends them. No one waters them. Yet they multiply and spread in all directions. Find the reason for this miraculous growth, and I promise you,” He retakes his seat, “The OSI will see that you are generously compensated.”
As the scientist describes the miraculous plants coming from the vault, Momo hears Veronica gasp slightly and turns to look at the young woman. As she does so, she sees a look of shock on the scribe's face, and can hear her muttering,
“It almost sounds like… but it can’t be…”
“Veronica?” Momo whispers, snapping the brunette out of her thoughts.
“It’s… nothing, for now. I’ll tell you outside,”
Momo reluctantly accepts that answer for now as she turns back to address Dr Hildern.
“Okay, we’ll do it.”
The head scientist claps his hands together in satisfaction. “Good. No need to check in with the NCR authorities, I can authorise your payment from OSI accounts. Vaults typically contain a server room on a lower level, where they would have backed up their research data. A computer room, you understand?”
Momo nods her head in understanding, ignoring the faint air of condescension in his voice.
“Download all the information on the central server to your Pip-Boy. And you'll be certain to bring me any notes or samples that you find, won't you?”
Again, Momo nods her head. “We will,” She doesn’t notice the slight grimace on Veronica’s face when she says that.
“Good, was there anything else?”
“Actually, yes, I’ve been meaning to ask, what is the OSI?” Momo questions, since she’d been introduced to the name, she’d been curious as to what it meant, presumably, it was some kind of scientific institution, and Dr Hildern’s answer confirms her assumption.
“The Office of Science and Industry. That's a rather expansive topic. I could talk for hours, but I'm sure I'd bore you.”
Momo doubts that, but she lets him continue.
“Suffice to say, we are the leading edge of the NCR. Our work focuses on practical matters. Medicine, engineering, and biology. The Dam, for instance. OSI routes its energy supply to our cities in the west. That's only one responsibility of this office. Was there anything else?”
“No, thank you, we’ll be back as soon as we can.”
The three women exit Hildern’s office, but before they can rejoin the others, they are stopped by Angela Williams in her lab.
“Excuse me. Did Dr. Hildern... this really isn't any of my business, but... did he give you a job?”
“Um, yes?” Momo replies, unsure where this is going. “He asked us to retrieve some research from Vault 22,”
“I shouldn’t say anything, I know that. But you’re not the first person Hildern's sent out to the vault. There were a lot of mercs. One after another. None of them came back.”
Momo frowns slightly at this, it was one thing for Dr Hildern not to mention that there had been other contractors. But the fact that none of them had returned, note even in failure? That didn’t sit right with her, something was up.
“Then,” Angela continues “about a week ago, there was a scientist. Keely. She's unusual, not the sort of person you'd expect, but she's an absolute genius, and...” The scientist hesitates, “And he didn't mention her? Not even her name? Or any of the other mercs?”
“No.” Momo says in a concerned voice, “Hildern didn't mention anyone else.”
“But now he's hired you, which means one of two things. Either he heard back from Keely, and she failed, or he's given up on her.” The female scientist begins to fret.
“Maybe we should go back and have another word with Mr Hildern,” Kyouka whispers to Momo, which Angela hears, causing her to panic further.
“No, wait! I don't mean to see any harm come to Dr. Hildern. Unless by "talk" you just mean... talk.” She finishes lamely as she begins to realise what Kyouka meant.
“It’s okay,” Momo replies, trying to be reassuring. “Kyouka wouldn’t just attack someone,” She then remembers the incident earlier that morning with Henry Jamison and amends herself, “Atleast, not without provocation. Still, though, can you tell us any more about Dr Keely,”
The mention of the other doctor seems to brighten Angela’s spirits massively.
“Oh, Keely's brilliant... an absolute genius. She plays at being mean, but it's all a front. When you've lived as long as she has, you get defensive around new people. Who wants to make a friend when you know you'll outlive them?”
The way she says that makes Momo wonder if Dr Keely was, in fact, a ghoul, though she supposes they’ll find out soon enough.
“Alright, we’ll look for her,” Momo declares, and a broad smile creases Angela’s face.
“I had a good feeling about you. Moment you walked in. I mean it.”
“We’ll be back as soon as we can,” Momo says in farewell as the junior scientist sees them out.
“So, I guess we’re going to vault 22 then?” Kyouka asks as they leave the small lab/office.
“We are, by the sounds of it there are potentially multiple people in trouble, as future heroes it’s our responsibility to help them,” Momo replies with determined confidence as they rejoin the others in the main lobby.
“What was that about being future heroes?” Kirishima inquires, obviously having only heard the last part of the conversation.
“We’re going to vault 22 Momo,” Momo replies before explaining about the Vault’s miraculous plant growth, and its research, as well as the multiple missing mercs and Dr Keely.
Anan nods, a serious expression on her face. “You’ve made the right call Yaoyorozu, as heroes our priority is to save lives. If Dr Keely and these other people are stuck, injured, or just in trouble, it’s our duty to save them.”
“Wow, you heroes really are a selfless bunch, huh,” Veronica says with a playful smile, one hand resting on her hip. “You almost make the Followers look like inconsiderate jerks, almost.”
“I can assure you,” Anan turns to the scribe, “Not all heroes are quite so noble, there are those who just do it for the fame, money, and power,”
Veronica shrugs, “There’s always an asshole, and if there’s only one, you’re lucky.”
“I must confess if what you and Dr Hildern have described is accurate,” Ibara comments, “The contents of this vault sound truly miraculous. Did the doctor give you any idea as to what exactly this research was?”
Momo shakes her head in the negative, “No, it looks like we’ll have to do a bit of digging, though…” She turns to look intently at Veronica, “Earlier, you seemed to have some idea of what we are dealing with here.”
Veronica grimaces, and unsure expression on her face, “I didn’t want to say anything in there, in case I got his hopes up, but…” She takes a deep breath, “It almost sounds like this vault has been effected by a G.E.C.K.”
“A what?” Ochako, as well as the others, look quizzically at their scribe companion.
“A G.E.C.K.” Veronica begins to explain, “A Garden of Eden Creation Kit. It’s pre-war technology, though now it’s more of a wasteland legend, a myth amongst the brotherhood, our holy grail if you would.”
“Well, what is it?” Kirishima asks impatiently,
“According to the stories, it’s a sort of experimental terraforming device, given to a select few of the vaults for after the bombs fell. It was said to contain seed samples, a cold fusion reactor, water purifiers, and matter-replicators. Supposedly, once activated, it would convert the local area into habitable ground. Stripping away the irradiated topsoil, and converting it into arable land.”
“That… sounds…” Momo begins.
“Amazing,” Ochako cuts her off.
“I was going to say impossible, myself,” Momo corrects. “Sure, there are quirks with those sorts of capabilities, even sensei’s quirk could replicate some of that, but a device, in this universe?”
Veronica gestures gratefully at the young teen. “You can see why it’s considered a myth by the Brotherhood. In the 200 years since the bombs fell, we’ve only had two rumoured uses of a G.E.C.K.”
“Wait, it’s been used?” Momo’s expression changes from sceptical to surprised.
“Supposedly,” Veronica says cautiously, “One was used during the early years of the NCR, back when they were just a single, small, settlement, called Shady Sands.” She looks towards Boone, “Know anything about that?”
But the sniper just shakes his head, “History’s not my strong suit,”
Veronica shrugs philosophically, before continuing, “The only other time where it’s been rumoured was about 40 years ago, somewhere up north. Some small village called Arroyo, but again, nothing concrete, just rumours.”
“And you think one of these G.E.C.K.s is in vault 22?” Momo asks.
“I hope not,” Veronica replies much to everyone’s surprise, so she explains. “The ability to terraform entire regions of the wasteland? In one go? That’s a powerful technology. Sure, it’s not exactly a weapon, but the influence someone could wield over the wasteland if they controlled it? That’s why I’m not surprised at the idea that the NCR was founded with a G.E.C.K., it would certainly explain their rapid expansion over the last 100-plus years.”
“It is also possible that this vault simply experimented in genetically modified crops,” Ibara explains, “Back in our own world, there are strains of wheat, and other grains, that have been altered to survive in harsher climates, with fewer resources. It’s possible the vault made such advances in this world.”
“I hope so,” Veronica says, almost to herself, “I hope so.”
Before they depart from Camp McCarran, Momo’s group decides to have an early lunch, during which Momo and Kyouka consult the maps on their pip-boys to find out where Vault 22 is.
Much to Boone’s concern, they find that the vault is set at the base of the mountains to the west. Which means they’ll have to pass through West Vegas to get there, which means Fiend territory.
“Odds are great we’ll get into atleast one firefight once we cross the interstate,” The Sniper explains, “They have raiding parties that tend to patrol the streets,”
“So I guess we’re keeping our weapons on hand then,” Momo concludes.
“What about them?” Boone jerks his head towards Kirishima and Ibara, “They don’t know how to shoot,”
“No, but we do know how to fight,” Kirishima explains, before hardening his fists and knocking his knuckles together like a boxer.
“Out of the five of us here,” Momo explains, “Kirishima and Ibara do have the best combat-oriented quirks. That being said…” The creationist checks to make sure no one is watching them, before holding out her hand and using her quirk to make several pairs of earplugs.
“You may want a pair of these each, in case Kyouka uses her quirk in combat. As we’ve discovered, it’s quite good and disorientating attackers.”
Veronica is somewhat confused as to how Jirou’s mutated earlobes are going to help them, but she doesn’t question it for now, reasoning that they’ll find out sooner or later.
As it turns out, it would be sooner.
It was about 20 minutes after they left Camp McCarran that Momo’s group ran into trouble. They had gone directly West from McCarran, going down the off-ramp to Interstate 15, before then going up the opposite off-ramp. Clearing a few land mines as they go, with Veronica showing Kyouka how she could disarm them with her extended jacks.
They had just cleared the exit ramp when they encountered a fiend gang patrolling near an abandoned gas station.
Unlike the gangs they had encountered in the south, the Vipers and Powder Gangers; which had more or less looked like normal criminal gangs. The fiends looked downright psychotic. Of the three raiders before them, two of them were wearing helmets with skulls atop them, and the third one was wearing a welding mask. As for their armour, it was crude and rough, mostly consisting of scrap metal and leather poorly held together. The gang also seems to have a dog as part of their group.
Fortunately, Momo’s group sees the fiends, before the fiends see them, allowing them to get the drop on them. The first the raiders knew they weren’t alone was when they were hit with an implacable wall of sound. Followed by a volley of gunfire, dropping one of their number instantly, and catching another in his shoulder. The third fiend has enough sense of mind to duck behind one of the pillars holding up the roof of the gas station, his ears still ringing. Initially, he thinks he's safe, until he hears a beeping followed by a guitar jingle to his right.
He looks up, and the last thing he sees is a floating spherical robot, with a bumper sticker on it’s side, before there’s a bright flash of light and then nothing.
After Boone finishes off the injured raider, Momo’s group breaks from cover. Most of them have grim expressions on their faces, except for Kirishima and Ibara, who are more in shock.
“I know you said you’ve had to kill before but…” Kirishima begins, his voice having lost it’s usual enthusiasm.
“It’s most disturbing to see you actually…” Ibara gestures to the bodies.
“Believe me, it’s no fun for us either,” Kyouka says, her voice weary.
“Still, that sonic attack though…” Veronica whistles in admiration. “What was that? You just plugged your jacks into your boots and then… Boom!”
“Oh, that?” Kyouka was glad for the change in topic, she didn’t mind talking about her quirk. “I can channel my heartbeat through my jacks, the boots just amplify it.”
“Huh,” Veronica’s expression is one of interest, “Cool. Anyway, let’s see if these raiders have anything interesting.”
As it turns out, they do. Between the three fiends, they find a lever-action shotgun, a 9mm pistol, and what Veronica calls a ‘Laser Rapid Capacitor Weapon’ or Laser RCW. Apparently, it was an early predecessor to the Gatling laser, modelled off the old Thompson Sub-machine gun. Due to its high energy consumption, it uses neither Small Energy Cells, nor Microfusion cells, but instead Electron Charge Packs: the larger batteries that Momo and Kyouka first encountered outside the Repconn launch site.
Due to only having her laser pistol at the moment, Anan takes possession of the Laser RCW. She takes an experimental shot at the front wall of the Gas Station, just to get a feel for the weapon, and is pleasantly surprised when, instead of a single laser bolt, the weapon projects a continuous laser beam. Anan only squeezed the trigger for a second, but for that one second, there was a constant stream of energy spewing from the barrel of the weapon.
“Impressive, isn’t it?” Veronica's amused by the shocked look on Anan’s face. “It’ll burn through most light armour and is great for dealing with pests and small animals. Our scribes and knights tend to use it more than the Paladins as a sort of PDW, due to its limited range.”
After that, it’s decided that Kirishima will take the lever-action shotgun. Ochako lends him some 20 gauge shotgun shells, with the promise to properly show him how to shoot later.
It’s initially suggested that Ibara takes the 9mm pistol. But she quickly shuts down that discussion, stating that she will rely solely on her quirk, nothing else. So Boone takes the pistol as a backup sidearm.
Aside from ammunition for the guns they picked up, there’s nothing else of value on the raider corpses, so, after moving them out of the way, the group leaves them be and continues towards the vault.
By and large, the buildings that Momo and Co. pass are ruined and dilapidated. With one conspicuous exception.
The Sunset Sarsaparilla Factory and Headquarters.
It’s a large, two-storey affair. Aside from being the most intact building in the area, it’s notable for its front entrance being a large, 3-storey recreation of a Sunset Sarsaparilla bottle. And while Momo’s curiosity begs her to investigate the building, her self-control asserts itself, making her walk past the factory, and mark it down for exploration later.
Half an hour after they walked past the Sunset Sarsaparilla Headquarters, almost an hour since they left McCarran, they finally reached the western edge of Vegas. By now, they were in the suburbs, with ruined and collapsing bungalows as far as the eye can see in every direction, except the west, where stood the dusty, rocky wastes of the Mojave desert, and beyond that, the beginnings of the Spring Mountains that formed the western border of the Mojave.
Consulting her map, Momo sees that Vault 22 lies to the North-West of where they had come out of the suburbs, and so, adjusts her heading accordingly.
The desert, when removed from all traces of civilisation, is hauntingly quiet. No raiders, no Legion, no settlers, or traders, or scavengers. Not even any ghouls, or other mutated creatures, save for the occasional gecko, that quickly runs away at the first sight of the large group of travellers. In an odd sort of way, it was peaceful. And the five teens of the group weren’t going to complain about that. Aside from their one afternoon break in Novac, Momo and Kyouka had been going non-stop for days. It was nice to just be able to enjoy the scenery, which was getting decidedly nicer as they entered the low foothills of the Spring Mountains, which Momo took as a sign that they were getting close to the vault.
A few minutes later, Momo’s hunch is proven right. Following the map on her pip-boy, Momo leads the group down a gulley between two rising cliff faces before taking a sharp turn to the North, which is when they see it.
The great vault door.
However, it’s somewhat hard to actually make out the vault entrance as the space between the group and the vault door is overflowing with plant life of all kinds, from ferns and shrubs to wildflowers and bushes. The ground is no longer dusty desert rock, but instead a thick carpet of grass, moss, and clover. It was akin to a wasteland oasis, a veritable Eden, bursting forth from the open vault, like the cornucopia of Greek myth.
Looking back at her friends and their adult chaperones, they too are in amazement at the sight. Even Boone seemed faintly impressed. Unsurprisingly, of the group, Ibara seems the most enraptured by the sight.
“This is beautiful,” The vine-haired teen gasps, “That such beauty is still possible in such a damaged world is truly a testament to the Lord’s power.”
However, as Ibara and the others take in the horticultural marvel before them, Momo notices Kyouka’s jacks twitch, and a sour expression takes over the smaller girl’s face.
“Kyouka?” Momo asks tentatively, her hand slowly reaching for Lucky.
Hearing her call out the other girl’s name, the others look at the pair, prompting Kyouka.
“We’re not alone,” Kyouka begins, and immediately everyone’s hands go to their weapons (if they have them). “Sounds like mantises, big ones,”
Of the 8 humans in the group, only Momo, Veronica, and Boone know what she’s talking about. For the others, their unspoken questions are answered when a pair of Giant Mantises burst forth from the undergrowth. However, unlike the mantises Momo and Kyouka had encountered back in Goodsprings, these were the size of an average-sized dog.
Thankfully, much like their counterparts in Goodsprings, these insects are easily scared off by a blast from Kyouka’s quirk.
“You Know,” Veronica says once the mantises are run off, “I’m beginning to get a clearer image of how you two survived a week on your own,”
“Same,” Kirishima grins at his slim classmate, “That was pretty manly Jirou,”
“Yeah, well, just don’t rely on it once we’re in the vault,” Kyouka cautions, “The whole ‘scare them with sound’ tactic doesn’t work if trapped inside as they have no where to run except at you,”
“Oh, yeah,” Kirishima realises the truth of her statement, “I guess that makes sense.”
“Fortunately,” Veronica pats Kirishima on the shoulder with her left hand, “the tight corners and corridors of vaults are where people like us-” She gestures to Kirishima, Ochako, and herself- “excel.”
“People like us?” Ochako questions.
“Brawlers, close-quarter combatants,” The scribe explains with some pride, “As opposed to say, our stoic sniper here, who probably prefers wide open spaces or long corridors with choke points.”
Boone just grunts in reply.
“Guess we’ll be relying on pistols then,” Momo comments as she re-holster Lucky. “Well, there’s no point in us just standing here.”
She then begins walking through the mass of vegetation outside the vault, careful not to damage the plants around her too much. The rest of the group follows behind her, each taking varying levels of care around the plants. Curiously, Ibara seems to weave through the stalks and stems without even disturbing a petal.
As they drew closer to the vault entrance, they passed a sign, that had, at one point, said ‘Welcome to Vault 22’, but now, rather worryingly, it had been graffitied with red paint, so that it now said ‘STAY OUT! THE PLANTS KILL’.
Seeing the sign, the group stops.
“What do you suppose that means?” Kirishima asks, “I mean, it can’t be literal, can it?”
“It probably means that the plants are poisonous,” Ibara reasons, “Not all fruits plants bear are edible to humans.”
“Maybe the plants are carnivorous,” Ochako worries, earning her a look of derision from Kyouka.
“Uraraka, that only exists in science fiction movies.” Anan tries to reassure her fan/student.
“Yes, but in all fairness sensei, we’re currently in a nuclear post-apocalypse,” Ochako counters, and Anan concedes the point, the bar for what was feasible had changed dramatically.
“Either way,” Anan puts on her best teacher voice, gaining her students’ full attention, “stay alert, and no messing around. This is a potentially hazardous area full of goodness knows what.”
“Yes Sensei,” All five of the teens reply in unison.
They cross the final distance to the vault entrance, where they find the door ajar, forced open by large vines. The circular doorway is about two to two-and-a-half metres in diameter, but the giant, cog-like door is only open about half a metre. Fortunately, the gap is wide enough that everyone can fit through one at a time, but it’s clear that the door is not fully open.
As she steps through the gap, Momo takes in the fact that not only is the door over 2 metres tall, it’s several inches thick. Thicker than her arm. She briefly wonders how on earth such a door would open, but she gets her answer immediately once inside and sees a large, mechanical assembly hanging from the ceiling, attached to the inside of the door. If Momo were to have a guess, she reckons that the assembly retracts the cog-like door from its frame before then rolling it out of the way along a giant rack she can see running along the floor next to the door.
After she’s done inspecting the door mechanism, Momo takes in the rest of the entrance to the vault as the others join. In short, she’s unimpressed. Granted, it’s been 200 years, but the vault, in her opinion is decidedly run-down. The metal walls and floor are tarnished and worn. Dirt and grime, everywhere. She heads up the stairs to a door that presumably leads to the rest of the vault, but before she reaches the door, she notices a makeshift camp set up to her left, on a landing overlooking the rest of the entrance. Curious, she goes to inspect the camp, and the rest of the group joins her.
“Do you think this is Dr Keely’s?” Kyouka asks.
“Maybe, let’s see if you can find any clues as to what happened here.”
The ‘camp’ consists of a bedroll, a duffle bag, a stack of books, and a table with a RobCo terminal on it. Momo powers it on, and the others gather around her to read what’s on it.
Once it boots up, there are two entries on it. Titled ‘Vault 22 Expedition, Entry 1’ and ‘Vault 22 Expedition, Entry 2’
Momo opens the entries in order. The first one reads:
‘I've established a temporary camp inside the entrance of the vault. Power inside is minimal, but still running, and I've managed to hack into one of their security terminals. The logs show that several people have entered the vault over the past few months, but none have left. It's getting late, so I'll resume the expedition in the morning. Keely out.’
“So, Dr Keely was here,” Ochako exclaims as she reads the last line of the terminal entry.
“And presumably that’s her stuff,” Momo reasons, “Meaning that she’s likely still inside.”
Anan hums in thought before removing her backpack and rummaging through it while the others read the second terminal. The only one who notices is Boone, who watches her, curious but uninvested.
The second terminal entry reads as follows:
‘The growth in the interior matches the exterior to a tee. It's a little surprising given the scarcity of sunlight in the entrance room, but even more surprising is that they seem to originate from further below. Maybe that fool Hildern was onto something after all.
Since my Pip-boy is on the fritz, I'll try to keep a running log of my discoveries in whatever computers I can find and collate the data before leaving.’
“Hm,” Veronica frowns, “Doesn’t really tell us much, other than what we already know, that the plants originate from the vault.
“No, but atleast we know to keep an eye out for any more terminals she may recorded on,” Momo concludes.
“Sensei, what are you doing?” Ochako asks, having finally noticed Anan’s rummaging.
“I, dear pupil, am suiting up, I-urgh,” Anan grunts as she tries to pull something out of her backpack “I just need to retrieve my costume first,”
Ochako gasps as she realises the import of Anan’s words, “You’re putting your hero costume back on?”
“Is that a good idea?” Veronica immediately follows up.
“Yes, and yes,” Anan replies as she holds up the large puffy suit that forms the main part of her costume, for everyone to see, “You see, Veronica, my costume is more than just a nice outfit. For one, it’s hermetically sealed, with an air filter in the helmet. Additionally, my helmet contains various sensors and read-outs useful for rescue work. Such as Infrared vision, thermal cameras, toxic gas sensors, and Geiger counters. Everything I might need to warn me of potential hazards.”
As she talks, Anan pulls the puffy costume on over her current clothes, given that there was nowhere to actually change with any sort of privacy.
“On top of all that, as I already told you, the gloves in my suit help regulate my quirk while using it.”
She then fishes out her bulbous black helmet, “Besides…” She then pops the helmet on her head, locking it into the large collar on her jacket. “I think the eyes look cute.”
And now that Anan had the helmet on, Veronica could see that the helmet did indeed have two round white circles that, contrasted against the black visor, looked like eyes. Though she wasn’t sure she’d call it cute.
“Hmm,” With her helmet on, Anan lets out a hum of concern, as a warning appears on her helmet’s HUD. Her concern does not go unnoticed.
“Thirteen?” Ochako queries, audibly worried, “Sensei, is something wrong?”
Thirteen’s immediate reaction is to try and reassure her students. But as she opens her mouth, she realises that false hope and platitudes will do them no good. Telling the truth will serve them better in the long term.
“I honestly don’t know Uraraka,” She says truthfully and sees the young girl’s sharp intake of breath in reaction to that news. “My suit is saying that there’s some kind of unknown particle in the air.”
“Gas? Chemicals?” Momo questions, her mind already racing to try and recall the specifications for a gas mask she had found in preparation for becoming a hero.
“No, it’s something organic, I think, but what, I don’t know.” Anan is baffled by the readouts her suit is giving.
Deciding to air on the side of caution, Momo decides to begin making gas masks, unzipping her vault suit and lifting up her tank top underneath to do so.
“I think it’ll be better if we take precautions, at least to begin with,” she says as she begins producing the black filtration masks.
“That is correct Momo. In a hazardous environment, it is better to assume the worst-case scenario to begin with, till you have more information. If you’re able to do so, you should also create disposable gloves for you guys to use.”
Momo nods her understanding. Once she’s made 7 gas masks, she makes 5 pairs of latex gloves and a single left-handed glove for Veronica. Kirishima points out to her that if he wears the gloves, they’ll only get torn when he uses his quirk, so they agree not to give him a pair, on the condition that he thoroughly washes his hands afterwards, or before eating.
Once the masks and gloves are donned, they prepare to enter the vault.
“I recommend me and Uraraka take point,” Veronica suggests. “Between my power fist and her shotgun, we should demolish anything that ambushes us. If Kirishima takes the rear, he can cover our behind, in case anyone tries to sneak up on us.”
“Alright if I use my fists?” Kirishima inquires.
“Given that you’re untrained with that shotgun, it’s probably for the best,” Momo replies. “Otherwise, it’s a sound strategy,” She then turns to Boone, “I know you prefer your rifle, but are you going to be alright with that pistol?”
Boone briefly inspects his recently acquired 9mm Browning before answering.
“Pistol training was mandatory in the army, I’ll cope.”
“Okay then, Veronica, you have the lead,” Momo declares
The scribe nods in understanding before approaching the door to the rest of the vault, Ochako next to her, caravan shotgun in hand, ready.
The door retracts into the ceiling and floor, and the group files through, two abreast. Veronica and Ochako, followed by Momo and Kyouka, with Boone and Anan making up the middle, and Kirishima and Ibara taking up the rear. Those with pistols have them drawn in favour of rifles, with Ochako’s shotgun and Veronica’s power fist being the exceptions.
Immediately beyond the door is a short flight of stairs going down to a crossroads. Coming to the crossroads, the group sees that to their left, is another, longer, flight of stairs going down. To their immediate right is a Nuka-cola vending machine and straight ahead of them is an elevator.
Veronica, Momo, and Kyouka go to check out the Elevator, while Kirishima and Ochako investigate the vending machine.
“Do you think it’s still working?” Kirishima asks, taking in the worn and disused appearance of the vending machine.
“Well, the lights are still on... just.” Ochako replies, an unsure expression on her face, “And Yaomomo and Jirou said they got a vending machine in Goodsprings to work so…” The teen brunette shrugs.
“Well let’s test it out, I think I have some cash on me,” Kirishima fishes around in his pockets and pulls out a 100 US Dollar Bill that he’d found, before sticking it into the vending machine. The machine seems to accept the note, which gives Kirishima and Ochako some hope.
“Okay what are our options,” Kirishima says with a thoughtful hum. “Nuka-Cola or… Quantum?”
“Oooh, go for the Quantum, that sounds cool,” and 'space-y', but Ochako doesn’t vocalise that part.
So Kirishima presses the ‘Quantum’ selection button, and the vending machine whirs into life. They can hear the machine’s internals moving, and the occasional clink of a glass bottle. A few seconds later a bottle of soft drink appears in the dispensing slot, and immediately the two teens are taken in by its appearance.
“It’s… blue,” Ochako says dumbly.
“A manly blue,” Kirishima agrees.
And indeed it was a very bright blue, in fact, in the dim light of the vault , it almost looked like it was glowing blue.
Kirishima picks up the bottle to better inspect it.
“I think I’ve seen a few American energy drinks this colour before but… wow,” The normally talkative redhead is at a loss for words.
“It's glowing... let’s show the others,” Ochako suggests enthusiastically, and Kirishima agrees.
They rejoin the group at roughly the same time as Veronica, Momo, and Kyouka.
“So, any luck with the elevator?” Anan asks.
Veronica shakes her head, “It’s stuck on the bottom level, and whatever the issue is, it’s presumably down there. Which hopefully means that once we reach the bottom we’ll have a speedy means of escape. But for now, we’re taking the stairs.”
Seeing that the scribe is finished, Kirishima decides to jump in.
“In other news, me and Uraraka found this,” He holds up the glowing bottle of drink for everyone to see. “It’s called Quantum,”
Of the 6 other humans in the group, only Momo seems fascinated by the drink, everyone else is wearing looks of scepticism.
“Kirishima…” Ibara begins slowly, “Is that… Is that safe to drink?”
“I think so,” Kirishima looks at the bottle, “It’s sealed,”
“Yeah… but that glow…” Kyouka adds, cringing at the sight of the drink.
“No to mention you found that in a potential biological hazard zone.” Anan comments.
“May I look at it?” Momo holds out her left hand to Kirishima who hands the bottle to his class vice-rep. As the bottle enters Momo’s hand, they can all begin to hear the faint clicking of the Geiger counter in Momo’s pip-boy.
“Holy sh*t,” Kyouka curses in surprise, “Kirishima, that drink is radioactive.”
“What, but how?” The redheaded teen asks, “Nothing else in here is,”
“unless…” Momo looks intently at the bottle. “The drink itself is the source of the radiation.”
“What? No, that seems ridiculous,” Ochako counters.
“But given the lack of any obvious source of radiation around here, it’s the most logical conclusion,” Momo replies
“But why…?” Ibara questions, baffled as to why anyone would make a radioactive drink.
“I don’t know, and ultimately it doesn’t it matter for now. Kirishima, you better put this back, next to the vending machine.” Momo hands the bottle to Kirishima, who complies with the instructions. The eerie blue bottle now sitting next to the vending machine, like a beacon in the dim light.
“Anyway, as I said earlier, it looks like we’re taking the stairs,” Veronica states, before the group reforms into their pairs, ready to delve deeper into the vault.
