Radiance Ch. 110

Chapter 110: Synthetic Dreams.

Wisp flopped down onto Malakai's fluffy backside with a loud groan making him jump slightly and very nearly sping out of his fluffy loaf mode before he swiftly realised who had just dropped onto him with the intent of using him as a seat.

"Everything alright?' he asked turning his head so three of his eyes looked at her over his shoulder while his hands simply continued their work of repairing Yumi's clothes while she herself took a bath.

The new digs they had managed to score themselves in Diamond City were a damn site more comfortable than the abandoned houses they were used to sleeping in while on the road, though it had taken the Chief of Diamond City security to vouch for them to the new Mayor, which after their performance protecting the city and also returning the rescued boys had gone a long way to endearing them to the populace.

Though they were still getting some very odd looks from the populace, especially Passa and Ven, though Wisp wouldn't change the look on someone's face the first time Ven offered to shake hands with them for the world.

"Just got off the radio with Seven and Raymond, tell you what that new long-range kit that Nick scored us has been a godsend, whatever saves me from dragging my finely crafted synthetic arse to the nearest radio relay is heaven sent in my opinion," Wisp said snuggling he head into the soft fur of Malakai's abdomen.

"Well you know how I hate to see you leave but at the same time I can't deny I love to watch you leave," Malakai said before Wisp burst out laughing and playfully swatted her lover spider across the back making him chuckle.

At that moment Yumi formerly known as Number Nine emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a large fluffy towel while drying her long black hair with another, after the barrage of questions she'd spent the last couple of days answering she seemed to now be far more relaxed in the company of her new comrades, especially after they'd managed to locate and remove the tracking chip that had been implanted in her, though she did have a small line of silk stitches in her left shoulder.

She'd told them everything she knew about the program that Chalmers was running which unfortunately was little more than Seven and Wisp had already known other than after their escape she had become even more of a sadistic bitch, which apparently included implanting these tracker chips in them.

Fuller had known about the chips informing them he'd had to seek the help of some escaped Institute scientists to remove his in the Glowing sea though he had been quick to inform them before they could barrage him with questions of their location that they had been handed off to the Railroad.

The next obvious question had been whether they could use the chip implanted in Number Eight to identify who he had disguised himself as, which had been swiftly answered to the negative as apparently one of the first things he'd done when they were alone in the base with the ESF was to remove it using a little trick of making the skin and muscle of the area into a sort of putty-like material which he was then able to simply push it out through.

Though Yumi had told them that she believed he'd never intended to show her that little fact and it was only by sheer chance that she'd seen him do it though she didn't know if he'd seen her watching him or not, but one thing she did know was where the chip was hidden though if it was in one piece after their assault on their base was another question.

"Ahh Yumi good timing, here you go good as new I even took the prerogative of adding a new lining and some extra pockets, girl needs to keep warm out there you know?" Malakai said smiling as he held out her coat to her along with the other garments he'd patched and modified.

Yumi took them and looked over his work and a warm smile lit her face, "Thanks Malakai Fuller was right when he said you were a guru with a needle and thread these look amazing!" she said holding the clothes against her chest.

"You are most welcome you are one of us now and I'll make sure that you look the part, I'll never have it said that the Free Peoples of the Wastes are a raggy bunch of nomads, not on my watch!" Malakai said proudly before Yumi scampered back into the bathroom only to emerge moments later supporting her freshly laundered and repaired gear.

"So what did Seven and Raymond have to say anyway?" Fuller asked making Wisp jump as she hadn't seen him sit in one of the large armchairs reading a newspaper that was produced locally, he really could be a ghost when he wanted to be that lad.

"Well both had some really interesting news, on Seven's front he's not only made contact with the Gatorclaws but has got them on his side, he'd now moving to free the local settlements from a series of Raider gangs that rule it and have enslaved them," Wisp said.

A sudden deep and gravely chuckle from her right alerted her to Ven and Gregory emerging from their shared bedroom and she turned to give them a wave of greeting which they both returned.

"Can't stay out of trouble for five minutes that boy honestly, though I suppose its to be expected from anyone crazy tail enough to pair off with that sister of mine," Ven chuckled before sliding his ample rear end into another of the arm chairs while Gregory moved to make them both a cup of morning coffee.

"Probably doesn't help matters that he's got my matriarch with them and she will not stand for slavery especially after what we were put through," Passa said the large couch where he was laid sprawled out with Shepherd laid along his length while he lazily stroked her back.

"Exactly my point two uber strong crazy tail claw girls in one place that boy never stood a chance," Ven said with a chuckle and a warm smile of thanks as Gregory handed him a Claw sized steaming cup of hot coffee.

"So how's our resident Super Mutant ambassador doing anyway?" Gregory asked sliding himself into Ven's lap before tugging his boy's tail over his lap like a seat belt.

"Now that's where things get really interesting, he said that they have actually managed to convince the Brotherhood to come to the negotiating table though he didn't elaborate on how he managed to pull that little miracle out of his big green arse, though what he did say is that his contact within their ranks had let him know to be on the lookout as there has apparently been a lot of chatter on the Enclave frequencies, apparently they've got some kind of large scale operation going and it is heading our way," Wisp said her voice going sour as she was forced to mention the Enclave.

Both Fuller and Yumi straightened up at hearing that and glanced at one another before fixing their stares squarely on her.

"Did he say any more than that, like a time scale or numbers, or who is involved?" Fuller asked and Wisp shook his head.

"No only that apparently the source is both reliable and took a great personal risk to alert the Brotherhood, sounds like they have spies in your former organisation and they must have gotten wind of something big," she said.

"It's got to be the ESF I'd bet money on it," Fuller said.

"And the Bio Weapons division," Yumi said sourly the words obviously tasting like gravel to her and Fuller nodded his agreement with her statement.

"Any insights into what they are up to?" Wisp asked.

Fuller folded up his newspaper and looked thoughtfully into the air for a few moments before he refocused his gaze back on her.

"If I was a betting man I'd say the op is going to be multifold which will require multiple teams all operating in the arena at once but each separate from one another with very different objectives," he said.

"What kind of objectives?" Gregory asked lounging back and gently stroking Ven's tail with his free hand making it flick and dance and he enjoyed his man's idle touch.

"Well the overall goal would be to destabilise the area making it much easier for the Enclave to seize control of it, the Brotherhood is not the only group with spies you know we have a section that simply calls themselves Spectres, real fucking creepy lot but they are fucking damn efficient at what they do and I'd bet my last cap to a pinch of shit that they've gotten wind of the peace talks about to occur between the Brotherhood, us and the Avians, they'll want to put a stop to that for a fucking start," Fuller said.

"Why would they want to stop a ceasefire from happening, surly war is not even good for them either?" Malakai asked and before Fuller could answer Wisp got there first.

"Because it keeps two of the major power players in the area occupied, three if you count us among them now given how our influence is growing, if we are fighting one another then we will be too preoccupied to care about what the Enclave is doing in the background," Wisp said and Fuller nodded and pointed at her.

"Bingo, the last thing they will want is to face a united front so they will be pulling out every dirty trick they can fucking think of to make sure those peace talks go south, if that fails they'll most likely try to start a proxy war on the groups involved," Fuller explained.

"Proxy war, what's that?" Malakai asked.

"It's where you get another party to start a war with your enemy so your hands are publicly clean, so they'll most likely round up all the dirtiest scummiest merc and raider groups in the area and pay them to start hitting targets controlled by the Brotherhood and the Avians to thin out their forces as they are forced to divert them to protect their assets," Fuller said.

"Fuck that low, cleaver but still lower than a worm's tit," Malakai said twitching his little mandibles in annoyance.

"Well I did say they'd break out the bag of dirty tricks and trust me when I say this the ESF is the true masters of fighting dirty, it's what we're trained to do there will be fuck all off limits to them including civilian targets, that will be another major step in the op first set up a foothold in the area then once the proxy war starts up start hitting soft targets while then hitting the area with propaganda which will make people think the Enclave can protect them, all while the Brotherhood, Avians and we are too busy either chasing our own tails or squabbling among ourselves to notice them grabbing settlements up like a Karen in a shop full of managers," Fuller said.

"Fucking hell this is starting to sound real fucking bad what else do you think they have in store for us?" Wisp asked.

"Well my bet will be on going after local assets to add to their forces, anything that can either be used by the bioweapons division thinks like claws and other non-humans, they will also most likely send out a team to hunt down their missing team and Numbers i.e. Yumi and Eight to figure out what happened to them, but my money will be on that being a team of Spectres, they are far less likely to draw attention than ESF troopers but they will probably have ESF back up as they will be expecting whatever can take out a team of ESF and two of you guys has got to be packing some serious punch, oh and they'll want to go after the institute while they are at it because you know synthetic soldiers," Fuller said.

"Fuck me sideways with a yardstick, it sounds like we've got a whole tidal wave of shit about to descend upon our heads," Ven growled and Gregory tightened his grip on his Claw boy's tail for reassurance though whether it was for himself or Ven was up for debate.

"Well then it seems we're about to really have our work cut out for us but I'll be damned if I'm going to let those tin foil cunts simply steamroll in here and fuck this place and its people up, I think its time we organise a good old fashioned Boton welcome for them don't you?" Wisp said and Fuller gave her a sly grin.

"What did you have in mind oh sparkly one?" he asked making her grin back at him.

"First thing is to find Eight, if he's gone to ground with the Railroad then he's gonna be working on turning them against us and if like Yumi says he's assumed the identity of someone they already trust then we're gonna have a real problem, he's gonna have all of their agents out looking for us and if they are even half as good at what they do as you say Fuller then shit is gonna hit the fan real fast and I'd rather not have to wind up killing innocent people, second thing is to redouble our efforts into finding the Institute because if the Enclave find them first and get their hands on that synth tech that's fucking bad news for everyone least of all us, they'll be able to manufacture infiltrators that could take down settlements from within with zero issues," Wisp said.

Fuller's face twisted into one of sour doubt and Wisp instantly knew the source of it, "Don't worry big guy I'm not gonna make you go into the Railroad I can see how many different levels of awkward that shit is gonna be what with your history with that Glory girl but know this there is a high probability that you are gonna have to face her at some point," she said.

Fuller glanced up and he seemed to notice Yumi was paying rather close attention to him now and he sighed heavily and nodded, "Yeah I know but I kinda feel it might have a bit of an adverse effect on our mission if I pop up and be like hey funny story so I'm not dead really so yeah surprise but I'm actually a member of a non-human and human integration group actively fighting against the extermination of sentient non-humans, yeah I really don't think it's gonna go down well and FYI Glory tends to carry a real big fucking minigun," he said.

Wisp chuckled and nodded, "Yeah from the way you described her she seems like a hell of a girl and would probably be a major asset to us you know on the proviso that we can convince the Railroad to join us and not actively try hunting us down, the major trick is gonna be trying to root out which one of them Eight is impersonating so we can work with them on an even playing field, Yumi what do you think our chances are of convincing Eight to join us?" Wisp said redirecting her attention to their newest member.

The young Japanese woman had dropped herself down on a chair near Fuller and seemed to be watching him intently but at the mention of her name switched her attentions over to Wisp.

"Slim to fuck all I'd say, he's kinda what the ESF guys used to refer to as a company man, he's totally on board with the Enclave's vision of what they are 'trying to do'," she said using quotation fingers for the last part.

"But he must have some doubts otherwise why remove his tracking chip?" Wisp asked and Yumi shrugged.

"No idea really, maybe he just thought it would make his disguise more believable if he didn't have something in his skin capable of being detected during an intense security sweep, who knows he wasn't exactly forthcoming with his innermost thoughts with me, likes to play his cards close to his chest that lad," she said shrugging her slender shoulders.

"Alright then well I think its probably prudent to split the team up so we can tackle both jobs at once as much as it pains me as we are already thin on man slash claw power as it is, so with that in mind the teams will be Fuller, Yumi, Faith, Passa and Shepherd, you guys will be going after the Institute while myself my cuddle spider, Gregory and Ven will be going after the Railroad, it's probably gonna be easier with me dealing with them due to me being in a synth body anyway, though we will need detailed instructions on how to find the Railroad and how to gain access to their HQ from you, Fuller," Wisp said seeing him breathe a visible sigh of relief that he wasn't being asked to go with them.

Fuller nodded and using his newspaper and an old fountain pen he'd found somewhere he began to draw out the layout of the Railroad HQ and how to get in as well as outlining what kind of security they had.

"Man I wish we had Zixxy with us that girl would be able to root out Eight in a heartbeat," Gregory said after Fuller had finished explaining the set-up as well s giving them a crash course in Rail Sign so they'd recognise and interpret the symbols properly.

"Who is Zixxy?" Yumi asked curiously reclining back in her chair again now that the briefing was over.

"Believe it or not she's an extraterrestrial who was captured before the war and stuck into a stasis chamber, she spent the better part of a few hundred years sealed up in a tube until we found her and broke her out thanks to her managing to reach out to Seven," Gregory explained causing Yumi's mouth to fall open.

Yumi glanced at Fuller for confirmation of this but he seemed just as stunned as she did, "Seriously? You guys never mentioned having ET on our team!?" he exclaimed and Gregory shrugged.

"When we said we have operators from all walks of life we seriously meant it, anyway she's currently with Raymond's team helping with the Avians and the Brotherhood though I do not doubt that she had a hand in helping him find common ground between the two, she seriously is a shrewd one that little green gal," Gregory said.

"What makes you think that she could root Eight out so easily?" Yumi asked.

"The fact that she's telepathic and can read minds, you can't keep fuck all secret from her if she really wants to know, the only person she can't read is Wisp thanks to her being a cloud girl in a synthetic brain, so double whammy of nope, but everyone else, yeah is she want in she's getting in," Gregory said.

"Damn this team seriously does have some talent available doesn't it?" Fuller said still looking amazed and Gregory grinned at him.

|Oh you don't know the half of it new guy, you've only met a third of us wait until we're all back together and you'll see exactly why the Enclave is so shit scared of us, we have big green negotiating machines, sewing spiders of death, mutant biologists, ex-Brotherhood scribes, ex-slaves who are devilishly handsome and a whiz with a wrench, all flavours of crazy tail Claws, a dude who can turn a hardened concrete bunker to dust because he got a headache, a cloud girl who can turn your own security against you, aliens who can read minds, flying Claws and Ven who is posseser of the sexiest albeit craziest tail in the universe," Gregory said a moment before said tail came up and clocked him across the back of the head gently.

"I'll have you know my tail is far from crazy but it is sexy so I'll forgive this slight," Ven said playfully as Gregory grinned up at him.

"And that's before we get into all the new recruits Seven and Raymond are working on getting us, you think our claws are loony toon wait until you meet the Gatorclaws, from what Seven tells me they make our Claws look like midget Claws, imagine giant walking talking alligators who get rather over-excitable," Wisp said with a chuckle as she reaches up and gently stroked the back of her sewing spider of death.

"Well I'll say this it's a hell of a team to join and now we also got Yumi the girl who fart firestorms but trust me if even half of what I predicted is coming our way we're gonna need every single one of us to repel them," Fuller said.

Yumi puffed out her cheeks and turned red, "Hey I do NOT fart firestorms! I merely use the rising heat of my flames and the driving force of my wind to propel myself through the air!" she exclaimed indignantly.

Fuller grinned at her, "So what your saying is you light your wind on fire and use it to fly?" he said and Yumi went several shades of Red and purple as she realised what she'd just said before the whole team cracked up laughing while she sank into the chair and tried to smother herself with a pillow.

After the much needed bought of silliness to break the tension the two groups outlined their plans to one another, Fuller had decided to go talk to Valentine again to see if he'd managed to dig anything up while Wisp said she was going to take her team to stake out the Railroad HQ to see if she could pull off a stealth infiltration without giving herself away to Eight.