Radiance Ch. 74

Chapter 74: Enemy Within.

Fuller followed Mouse all the way back to the church where he'd first started this merry little jaunt into the world of the railroad, as they walked Mouse had chatted to him constantly and he had to admit he really did kinda like the crazy happy-go-lucky little woman.

Sure she talked almost constantly but when it really counted she was a complete professional and it really showed, her Ranger training was blatant and in the few little scuffles with the local wildlife and the odd roaming raider band that they crossed paths with along their route her skills really shone, he actually found himself rather apprehensive and even guilty that in the coming days he was going to have to betray her trust to accomplish his mission, to his surprise it really was staring to eat him up inside.

As they entered the tunnels Mouse opened the door which would take them through into the hidden passages that Desdemona and the others had blatantly used to ambush him the last time he came through here and this time he noticed the very cleverly hidden sensors and camera and afforded himself a little wry smile as he figured out how they managed to know he was coming.

To his surprise, the entrance to the Railroad HQ was not far from that point, only a short walk down some rather dark tunnels until finally Mouse popped a door lock and they entered the HQ itself which looked like a converted underground pumping station possibly to keep water out of either the subway tunnels that surrounded the place or even the catacombs themselves.

"Ahh you made it, I heard back from our contacts up North that you two did a fine job getting our two clients to them, apparently the two of them didn't shut up raving about the two of you the entire way so you must have made quite the impression," Desdemona said detaching herself from a console in the centre of the room.

Fuller glanced around the place and found himself surprised at how well organised everything seemed to be, they certainly had made use of what little they'd had available here, they had an armoury complete with a miniature firing range, sleeping quarters, workbenches for modifying gear and hell even what appeared to be a computer lab complete with someone right out of the tinfoil hat brigade who looked to be covered in magnifying glasses and torches not to mention tool belts.

"All in another day's work on the Railroad boss," Mouse said with a grin.

"Glad to hear it Mouse so how did our prospect handle himself any complaints?" Desdemona asked eyeing Fuller curiously, out of the corner of his eye Fuller noticed the large black woman who had been wearing a trench coat and supporting a minigun the last time he'd seen her, now she was dressed in a tight black tank top that showed off her incredibly well-muscled arms.

She was drying her face with a towel after working out on what looked to be a makeshift weight lifting bench they'd obviously lifted from somewhere and now employed to keep their heavies in tip-top shape along with a few other makeshift exercise machines, like a set up on breezeblocks and hooked up to what looked to be a battery bank, free power and exercise all in one he guessed.

"He did great boss, he's a hell of a shot with that rifle of his that's for damn sure, popped those talking toasters like a battery in a microwave that's for sure," Mouse said slapping him on the arm and grinning at him.

"Anything else other than his shooting skills?" Desdemona asked and Mouse nodded.

"Yup he certainly has the aptitude and the attitude for this, didn't see him once look at our new friends like anything other than people the entire time and trust me those two stuck to him like glue, right pair of nervy ones those two, but he just reassured them and even helped them along, it was good to see boss it really was, think we got ourselves a keeper right here, well as long as the institute doesn't snatch him or blow him up that is, but other than that all good hell I'd say his tradecraft is already on par with ours those Enclave lot sure know how to train their special forces it's like he's already out the box bedded in and ready to go," she said aiming a sly grin at him.

"Well alright then that's what I like to hear, that's certainly useful for us because the less time we spend having to train you the better for us, what about the Rail sign etc?" Desdemona asked.

"Oh I gave him a brief run down but you know how it is with that stuff takes a while to get it down to pat," Mouse said and Desdemona nodded.

"Fair enough well then mister Fuller let me be the first to say welcome to the Railroad," she said offering him her hand which Fuller took and shook.

"Glad to be here," he said.

"Us too if I'm honest we could always use skilled people around here, that having been said and I hate to do this to you considering you just got in but we just got a fastball come in and we could use you and that rifle of yours, I'm pairing you up with Glory over there she'll give you the mission details en route she'll also take you through the joys of Rail sign and a few other things as she would have had to be the one to train you anyway, so grab yourself something to eat and drink check your gear and report to her, alright dismissed," Desdemona said with a smile.

"Err he's gonna need a named boss," Mouse said and Desdemona got halfway to turning back around before stopping and turning back to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You were using his real name out there!?" she exclaimed and Mouse looked at her like she'd gone insane.

"No of course not, I gave him a temporary call sign, I was calling him Clawbait but I think something a little more appropriate might be in order now that he's officially one of us," she said.

Desdemona nodded, "Any suggestions?" she asked and Mouse scratched her chin thoughtfully but before she could come up with something which Fuller had no doubt would be equally as flattering as 'Clawbait' another voice chimed in.

"I think Owl would be a good one," a deep feminine voice said from directly behind Fuller nearly making him jump out of his skin as he hadn't sensed anyone approaching him which was seriously odd as his spacial awareness was top-tier.

"I was gonna say Eagle Eye but I think I like your's better plus when he's not scowling he does have that kinda wide-eyed thing going on which is cute though it is a pity he scowls so much because he really does have pretty blue eyes," Mouse said with a grin and Fuller felt a flush pass through him but he just chuckled it off and shot her a dark grin.

"Well if we're naming on body parts then how about we change your name from Mouse to Rumpsteak?" he said and both Mouse and Glory who were now standing right next to him roared with laughter.

"Oh I like this one, think me and him gonna get along just fine, he's got fire and I like that," Glory said nodding approvingly.

"So then Owl I guess?" Desdemona asked looking at Fuller and he nodded.

"Well I do always have my eyes open and my head on the swivel so yeah that works," he said and she nodded.

"Well alright then, Tom add him into the database under Owl, looks like we got ourselves a new heavy," she said to the small tin foil hat brigade black man at the compute station who simply gave her a thumbs up and never broke his keystrokes despite only typing with one hand now.

A heavy and strong hand clapped down on his shoulder and patted him hard enough to shake his bones, "Well then welcome to family Owl, grab yourself a bite to eat over there grab some ammo for your rifle I'm pretty sure we got some two millimetres around here somewhere and then meet me up top, we got work to do," Glory said and Fuller nodded.

"Roger that boss," he said and she shook her head.

"I ain't boss just Glory we only got one Boss around here and that's her, all the rest of us are equals," Glory said jerking her thumb at the now engrossed Desdemona who was back at the map table going over some paperwork.

"Got it," Fuller said and with that, he turned and headed over to the small kitchen where a few of the others greeted him like he'd always been among them, he really couldn't get over the sense of family this place had, it was both unusual and yet familiar to him.

After a quick pit stop for food and raiding the armoury for a few boxes of 2mm slugs which he jammed into his pack, so the first proper stage of the operation was complete and now he was on the inside, now Fuller was under no illusions that they were going to trust him yet and he knew they would be watching him closely, so trying to inject the date and the rumours of Number Seven and his people yet would be met without right scepticism and suspicion if he tried it at this point, no he was going to have to play the long game here and he knew that the only way to do that would be to keep on earning their trust and working with them and the only way to do that was to keep on handling the jobs they gave him.

So once he'd eaten his rations and got himself kitted out he headed back upstairs though the others gave him a way to open the secret tunnel that led directly there without having to go through all the mystery BS in the catacombs and now let him out into the graveyard behind the church, which incidentally was where he found Glory waiting for him sitting cross-legged up on top of one of the old sarcophagi looking almost like a statue herself.

When she saw him emerge she jumped down and walked up to him with a wry smile on her face and he saw her sharp eyes sizing him up as she looked him up and down, "Alright now you're fed time to get underway," she said.

"Gonna give me a hint as to the job or are we just gonna play charades until I manage to guess it?" Fuller said with a grin and she laughed.

"Me and you gonna get on just fine I think kid and not yet, too many eyes and ears in this place if you know what I mean, we'll wait until we're out of the city and on the road, don't worry your cute little white head, I got all your details right here," she said tapping her temple and making him sigh, he really wasn't one to enjoy heading out blind with no idea of his intentions or what was expected of him but this was Glory's op and therefore her rules, so he was gonna have to play ball, he just hoped his team had the good sense to keep a close eye on him or they'd wind up having to use their trackers.

"Gotta say I did not ever expect one of your lot to roll up through our door," Glory said as they walked together.

"Not exactly the sort of thing I expected to hear about going one after I got out of the ESF either if I'm honest, wasn't exactly my plan when I left but when I heard about it I decided hell they gave me all these skills and training so I might as well use them otherwise all I'm gonna wind up doing is either vanishing into the wilderness like a mad hermit or working as a bouncer or a merc somewhere, didn't like the thought of that especially as the ESF tends to keep tabs on the merc companies so this seemed like the best choice also figured here I could do some real good for a change," Fuller said and Glory nodded approvingly.

"I think so too, not many can make Mouse sing their praises like that, she might look like a fuzzy bundle of fun but that girl is vicious trust me on that one, so if she liked you then I know I'm gonna like you and what's more your words got me hopeful too, if only more people like you thought this way then my people would have an easier time of it, hell we wouldn't even need the Railroad we could just up and leave the institute of our own free will," Glory said making Fuller shoot her a surprised glance.

"So you're a synth huh?" he said and she nodded.

"Yeah and the fact that you didn't notice or suspect it shows you just how well those fuckers down there did their job, now before you start the usually barrage of questions like how do we find them, how do we get in, why don't we take the fight right to their door all I got for you is I don't know, i used to be an Enforcer which is a synth that hunts down and recaptures runaway synths and i only know that because Desdemona showed me the vid of me being taken down, team of heavies managed to hit me with a stun lance that had been seriously up rated, well it fried whatever control matrix they had that stopped my emotions and independent thought from speaking to one another, overloaded me badly but to their credit rather than leave me out there to die they took me to one of the doctors we got on staff, she fixed me up and dug out all the control chips and shit they had hooked into me to prevent me from not only realizing what I am but caring about it too, but it took out my memories in the process, when I came too I had fuck all idea who or what I was, but they told me straight, they didn't hide anything from me and they even let me choose what I wanted to do, well Icouldn't help but feel fucking guilty for all those souls I sent right back into the hands of those fuckers, so I signed up and they took me in, so there you have it, that's how an institute synth and an Enforcer no less became a Railroad heavy, pretty fucked up right?" Glory said.

Fuller couldn't help but hear the pain in her voice and he felt compelled to offer a shoulder here he placed a hand on her incredibly powerful feeling arm and ran it up onto her shoulder despite their height difference making it a little odd.

"We all got pasts, difference is whether you accept it move on and learn from it or run from it and pretend it didn't make you who you are, right now those skills they gave you to hunt people down are now being used to hunt them down, gotta love irony when it hits you," he said and she laughed a little bitterly and nodded before patting his hand.

"Yeah ain't that the truth and I get the feeling by those words it's the same for you?" she said and he laughed and nodded.

"Without the synth part yeah something like that," she said and she smiled at him.

"Thanks for not freaking out Owl that means something to me," she said and he nodded.

"No probs just don't go all red eyes and start yelling monotone phrases at me yeah?" he said which made Glory roar with laughter.

"Promise," she said as she dried her eyes and he let his hand slip from her strong shoulder.

As soon as they were far enough away and out into the open space where they could see all around them Glory was true to her word, "Alright here's the deal, one of our safe houses got hit by some raiders, now chances are they didn't have a fucking clue what it is they have but they managed to grab six freed synths that were being watched over by one of our caretakers, they killed the guy as he tried to defend them, he did manage to send out an SOS but by the time we got there it was just too little too late they'd already legged it with our people, we've had a tracker on them hunting them down and it looks like they have headed back to their camp either to turn the synths they snatched into slaves for them or to get ready to sell them off to other people, so that's where I and you come in, we are going to meet up with the trackers and then we are going to hit these fuckers, now our orders on these slaves taking cunts are clears crystal, no-one left alive you think you can handle that?" Glory said and Fuller gave her a dark smile.

"Got zero problems with turning slavers inside out quickly or slowly," he said patting his rifle and then his combat knife and now it was Glory's turn to smile.

"I knew I was gonna like you and I'm liking you more and more by the minute, we think alike me and you, well we gotta lotta ground to cover as it at least a three day walk to where we are meeting up with our tracker team but they have HQ on the radio if they move them in that time so they can redirect us, hope you still got your bed roll and camping gear in that pack of yours otherwise you might have to do some sweet talking to convince me to share mine with you," she said shooting him a sly smile.

"The camping gear or the bed roll specifically just need to know how much game I'd have to put up if I didn't remember to bring my gear?' he shot back playfully making her grin widen and a surprised laugh burst out of her.

"Keep that fire up white boy and I might just tell you but something tells me you're the kinda guy who'd like to find out for himself the hard way," she said.

"Seems you're good at reading people and besides I thought the hard way was not only the only way but also the best way," Fuller said to a chorus of gagging noises from his team through his subdermal.

Glory on the other hand laughed like a drain and clapped him on the shoulder but much to his surprise she didn't pull her hand back Immediately she simply lingered it in a tight grip on his shoulder top and fixed him with a rather warm but also somewhat salacious smile, "You got that right, oh boy do you got that right," she said.

The route they were taking kept them well away from any major population hubs as well as majorly used caravan routes and roads so the going was good and quiet, they didn't see a single raider which wasn't all that surprising given there wasn't a lot of point setting up an ambush where there were no people to rob.

As it began to get dark the pair found a smashed-up semi-truck that had long since been emptied of all of its contents but thankfully its trailer doors still opened and closed so with a little creative work of Glory's suppressed 10mm pistol they punched some air holes into the sides and hopped on up into the trailer to turn it into a camp for the night, after making absolutely sure that they hadn't just set up camp in the middle of a Yao guai nest or something though the plasma mines that Glory set up outside the door would probably make short work of them if they had, he'd just have to make sure to remember to shut them off it he got up in the night to take a piss.

Once they'd secured the perimeter the pair closed up the trailer and laid out their ramshackle camp and as they were laying out their bedrolls Fuller noticed that Glory had laid hers down next to his when she could have just as easily laid it on the other side of the makeshift small fireplace they'd made in the centre.

After they were set up Glory pulled out some small-scale cooking equipment including a little collapsable metal stove which she set on an upturned breeze block so it was in direct contact with the floor, after that was done she set a small pan atop of it and started putting in some cured meat and vegetables that they seemed to have been carrying.

"What are you making?" Fuller asked curiously as he sat cleaning his weapon on his bedroll.

Glory glanced up at him through the small fire she'd made in the camping stove which to be fair was a very useful little bit of kit, it was shaped like a rectangular claw that folded away for easy storage but when opened up allowed the user to set a fire going within its metal walls which then channelled all of the heat upwards towards whatever was set atop of it, this meant that you could cook on even the smallest of fires as it did not waste energy or heat to do the work, a very nice find indeed.

"Thought a nice stew would be a welcome respite after the hard day's march that we have had today, soldiers march on their stomach whether they be a human or human-like synth," she said with a grin which thanks to the golden glow that the fire was casting on her ebony face took on a rather eerie quality but also made her eyes sparkle rather warmly.

"No arguments here, so you can shoot and you can cook, there anything you can't do?' Fuller said playfully and she laughed.

"Yeah have kids," she said with a sad note in her voice as she looked down into the pot and the flames beneath it and began to feed it small wood chips

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Fuller said looking back down at his weapon.