Fallout-7:World of grey

Story by Terraphage on SoFurry

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 Okaaaay. First things first, I would appreciate any comments, advice, suggestions, feedback or anything else I can use to work on and improve my quality of writing further. Second, this part has a lot of plot/character development. About 5,911 words before anybody fires a shot. But i mean, if you were only interested in the actiony parts you would be watching a movie, wouldn't you?

 David rolled about a little on the soft surface. He wasn't usually this tired in the morning, usually too much going on. Where was he again? After a few minutes he reluctantly pried his eyes open. He stared at the dull metal ceiling for a minute before turning to his left to look at the gold and red banners covering the walls.

 'Oh shit.' He thought as he remembered last night, it all seemed like a crazy dream, a crazy vivid dream. He flicked back the cover, only to find the felines arm lazily draped across his bare chest. He carefully tried lifting it, so she wouldn't wake.

 'I wouldn't worry about it.' David's head snapped towards the voice in surprise. Foley was leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed. 'Considering what you did to her last night, she won't be awake for hours.' David blinked in astonishment.

 'You were watching the whole time?' He asked, still surprised.

 'Yup, just standing in the corner here, but you two seemed too...' He paused to think of the right word to use. 'into each other, that you didn't notice me.' David leaned back into his pillow with a moan.

 'What the hell have I just done?' He asked himself out loud. Foley laughed.

 'Most of the guys I know would give anything to be in your situation right now. Come to think of it, I should have videoed that, sell the tapes and make a fortune. Call it, "Beauty and the be-" '

 'Yeah, I get the point, I fucked her lights out.' Foley seemed to be undeterred.

 'You don't even know the half of it.' He said. David shot him a venomous glare,

 'Do you really want to take the chance that this collar can kill me?' He asked as he held up his fist threateningly.

 'Hey, chill out man, I'm sorry, I ji's took a bit of that wine while you an-' Foley cut himself off suddenly. 'I'm a little tipsy.'

 'Whatever.' David lifted the felines arm off his chest and lifted the messy looking blanket a little. He swore under his breath.

 'Don't worry man, I'm not looking.' Foley put his hands over his face and stifled a giggle. David swung his legs out of bed and quickly pulled his clothes on. He swore again as he saw his ripped shirt.

 'Yeah, I'm done. What now?' David asked.

 'Well, Broz will be at the door at 10, so you got some time.' Foley answered. Broz. Probably the sergeant.

 'Wait, your sergeant arranged to meet me today?' David asked.

 'Yeah, why?'

 'So what if I finished talking to the ambassador last night? What would I have done if I didn't stay here last night?'

 'Broz had a feeling you two would spend the night "talking".

                                                          ///////////////////////////////////

 Foley had managed to sober up by now. The two had an hour left before Broz arrived. They sat on the couches near the dead fire.

 'Sorry about that earlier.' Foley eventually said. 'I just get like that when I've had too much to drink.' David chuckled at a thought that popped into his head. He was thinking about the time he got drunk at Moriarity's saloon and got slapped in the face by Lucy West when he tried to kiss her.

 'It's all right, I know what you mean.'  David said. Foley stared at him, dumbstruck.

 'What, you're not pissed off at me anymore?'

 'Nah, I'm not a person to hold a grudge.' He said with a smile. Foley raised an eyebrow.

 'You are a very strange person.' He said.

 'And you are far too interested in my sex life.' David retorted. Foley grinned at the accusation.

 'You know, you are pretty calm for a prisoner.' Foley threw back. David shrugged.

 'I've been stuck in worse places.' He told Foley. The two idly looked around the room for a few seconds before Foley spoke.

 'You must have had an interesting life.' He said suddenly. David looked at him with confusion.

 'What do you mean?' He asked.

 'First, you've got those huge claw things, from what I hear, second you get taken prisoner and brought over here, then not a day later you've got the best pussy in town. Your childhood must have been awesome.' He exclaimed.

 'Pussy?' David asked, probing on further. A look of realization crossed Foley's face.

 'That word has another meaning where I come from.' He said. David nodded quickly before getting to his question.

 'So, where do you come from?' He asked.

 'Somewhere far away. Completely different from here.' Foley leaned his head back and gazed up at the roof thoughtfully. 'Had a few extreme experiences back there.' He said in a reflective tone. 'Back when I was a human. Served in an army, killed heaps of these big monster things and got promoted. All my comrades admired me for my success...' Foley gritted his teeth as he continued. 'Just to have it all taken away in one day. Almost every one of my comrades, killed, slaughtered, all by one man. That one day at Raven Rock.' David's heart skipped a beat as he took all this in. Raven Rock. The two shared a moment of silence.

 'I was at Raven Rock.' David said eventually. Foley blinked a few times and looked at David in awe. 'Before I was like this, when I walked on sand instead of snow.' David continued.

 'And then you appeared here one day, just woke up and you're here!' Foley blurted out in excitement. 'We're the same!' He went on. 'We both came from the sand wasteland! With the radscorpions, and the deathclaws! We were both at Raven Rock!' He jumped out of his seat in excitement. 'We were both were in the enclave! We are the same!' Foley suddenly stopped and his excited smile disappeared. 'We both saw what happened at Raven rock...' He went on softly. David sighed deeply. This guy was his only connection to his world he had. He didn't want to lie to him.

 'David Rogers?' Foley asked quietly. David shook his head. 'Then who are you? I have to know! Please!' Foley begged him as he placed his hands on David's shoulders. Am I really going to tell him? David thought to himself. Should i? He couldn't lie to this guy. He wanted to get along, he had to tell the truth.  He took a deep breath before he answered.

 'TWK.' He said, holding Foley in his gaze. Foley cocked his head to the side, mouthing the three letters repeatedly. After a few repetitions as he paced around the table, his mouth froze partway through the "W". He fell back into his seat and sat there staring at David.

 'You were asleep in a corner when it happened.' David started. 'You had obviously had a long shift, a few of them.' David watched Foley's hand to make sure it didn't go for a gun. After a few long seconds, Foley spoke up.

 'Why didn't you kill me?' He asked, looking at his feet.

 'You didn't try to attack me.' David replied with a shrug. The two were silent for a while before David asked:

 'Are you mad at me?' Foley thought about this briefly.

 'No. I'm not.' He said. It was David's turn to look surprised. 'I'm still alive aren't I?' Foley said as he looked up at David.

 'Hell, they all hated me to be honest.' He admitted with a smile. 'They must have been jealous of me.' The two stayed silent again for a couple of minutes.

 'That worked out pretty well.' David said, out of nowhere. Awkward silence.

 'What do you think happens now?' David asked eventually.

 'What do you mean?' Foley replied.

 'Well, last night the Ambassador and I didn't get around to discussing my allegiance to much.' David said smiling. The situation didn't seem quite as bad as he had previously thought. In the last week, He had been taken prisoner by an enemy who didn't want to kill him, brought to his intended destination, met somebody from his wasteland and already got laid twice. Things were starting to look up for him.

                                                           [//////////////////////////////////]

 Broz showed up at 10 on the dot. Foley saluted as he approached. David flicked his hand up in a sort of half-lazy-casual-wave salute. The sergeant surveyed the two men lounging on the couches for a few seconds before arriving at his conclusion.

 'You two are getting along well.' He observed. 'What's the verdict?'

 'It seems the ambassador and I were unable to come to a conclusion.' David said, barely suppressing a smile. The sergeant turned to Foley and waited expectantly.

 'They were too busy fucking each other.' Foley translated. The sergeant looked over at the sleeping feline and made a sound that was a cross between a sigh and a growl.

 'I suppose it was too much to hope for her to talk to you first. It seems Adeline insists on putting her priorities first.' He turned back to David. 'I must have a talk with her about this today, but in the meantime, what am I to do with you? Have you decided whether to join our cause?' David pretended to think for a second.

 'No not yet.' He said. The sergeant brow furrowed in frustration.

 'Then it seems I may have to put you in a cell until such time.' David pretended to think about this also.

 'How about,' He started, 'you give me the information I need and let me go, and I'll promise not to blow any of your pretty buildings?'

 'No.' The sergeant answered. David thought again.

 'Okay, how about, you let me walk around the city until 8 with some guards following me? I promise I won't kill anyone, and I'll be out of your hair for a while, and I might me in a more agreeable mood when I come back.' The sergeant lowered his head and pinched the bridge of his nose and gave a deep sigh.

 'Okay fine then, just go, get out of my sight.' He growled. 'But don't you try anything or I'll have the whole city after you.' David grinned.

 'Suits me.'

                                                               //////////////////////////////////////

  Foley pushed open a set of orange double doors as David followed. The mess hall was bustling with felines everywhere. Camp tables stood in a grid, about ten-by four. Foley lead him to a table in the far left, occupied by two felines, one was trying to balance a fork on the end of his nose.  Foley motioned for them to shuffle along as he approached with David.

 'Who's this?' The one of the left asked as he put his fork back on the table. 'We gotta train another bullet catcher?' He asked with a cheery smile.

 'Not today, this one's a high risk POW. We're stuck on escort duty.' Foley told him as he sat next to the one opposite.

 'He doesn't look all that dangerous.' David turned to the feline on the right without expression and raised his fist, extending only his middle claw for effect. He stared at the claw for a few long seconds and nodded.

 'I see. Fascinating.' The feline went back to eating his...mashed something. Foley shot him a look of annoyance before turning back to David.

 'That dickhead there is Tony.' Foley raised his hand in Tony's general direction. 'He may be a faggot, but the guy's a fucking genius. And he's one of the only ones to believe my crazy story about "the place full of sand". He raised his other hand towards the other feline, who was still awestruck and staring at David's fist. 'That's Don. He's sort of a lovable idiot type.' Don smiled and raised his hand. 'He's got quite an imagination though. So don't even get him started on... y'know.'

 'So where's the destination?' Tony asked without looking up. Foley looked at David unsurely.

 'Wherever the hell I want to go, whether I want to look around, do some shopping, I might just leave the city halfway through the day and find something else to do.' David said with a shrug. Tony gave Foley a quizzical look.

 'As long as he doesn't leave the city, kill anybody or blow something up, he's allowed to do what he wants.' Foley answered. David gave a loud disappointed sigh.

 'Everyone's a killjoy.' He said. 'I haven't killed anything in ages.' Foley stared at him, confused.

 'You killed seven men just a few days ago.' He said, not just to clarify but so that the other two would hear. David threw his hands up in the air.

 'I know! Seven men in a few days! Normally by now I could have killed, like, six deathclaws, twenty-something raiders, half-a-dozen robots and a few enclave soldiers! But instead I get stuck in some alternate dimension where the closest thing around to a deathclaw,' He put a hand on his chest, 'is me!' He dropped back into his chair, out of breath. The other three men stared dumbly at him. Tony eventually broke the silence.

 'I don't suppose that would be the same alternate universe Foley is always talking about?' He inquired. Foley folded his arms and nodded knowingly.

 'The very same.' Tony scratched for a few moments as he looked David up and down again. Foley cut in before anybody else could speak:

 'How about we finish eating first, then we can talk about it.' David felt his stomach rumble at the thought of food. He hadn't eaten much in a while, unless, well, figuratively speaking. David agreed with his stomach.

 'Sounds good.'

                                                      [////////////////////////////////////]

  After downing a few plates of... meat something... the four made their way out of the ship, David lead with Tony on one side and Don on the other, Foley followed behind. The two on either side of David ushered the crowd away as they went.

 'Move civilians, POW on the move. Keep your distance and you'll be fine.' Tony said trying to keep the mood calm. Obviously, in an attempt to spite Tony, Don cupped his hands around his mouth and called out:

 'Watch it! Psychopath coming through! Held in custody by two inadequate guards!' The crowd moved to the side of the path quickly. 'And one extremely sexy and talented one.' He added, pulling up his collar. The crowd wasn't very reassured.

 'What are you trying to do you idiot!' Tony whispered angrily. Don shrugged and smiled sheepishly.

 'I dunno.' He said. Tony glared at him.

 'You're not helping the situation.' He told him. Don took a few seconds to prepare his legendary comeback.

 'So is your mum.' David heard Foley chuckle behind him as Tony pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

 'There are so many things wrong with that statement.' He muttered. 'Where are we going?' He asked suddenly, trying to change the subject. David quickly turned to him after realising he was being asked.

 'Well, I was hoping to find some shops firstly.' He said as he took his time to scan the area.

 'With what money?' Foley asked. 'Surely your money was confiscated.' David turned around to face Foley with a grin as he produced a small velvet bag from his pocket.

 'Found it under Adeline's bed. Figured she wouldn't miss it too much.' Don was suddenly alert.

 'Did you say Adeline? As in, Adeline Tegrin? The ambassador?' He asked with a sly grin. 'What were you doing in her room?' David quickly prepared an excuse, but before he could get it out, Tony interrupted.

 'He was mating her you dumbass.' He said pointedly. 'It's probably her way of gaining his trust. She has some big scheme that she needs humans for. Trying to breed some super race.' He turned to David. 'But you already know that, don't you? She would have told you, after all, you're special, she doesn't want to lie to you. She wants you to join our side. You didn't give her a straight answer, otherwise you would either be locked up in a cell or you wouldn't need guards escorting you everywhere. She thinks if she lets you do what you want then you'll be happier and have a greater chance of joining her.' He paused to let David go over this. David was astounded. Tony had almost nailed everything, and told him some things he didn't know. He was a genius.

 'She didn't let me let me go where I want, that sergeant did, he was just sort of sick of me so I offered him a way to get rid of me.' David explained. Tony pondered this.

 'Yes that makes sense, Broz's lazy. Sounds like something he would do. Rather sloppy. Possibly dangerous decision. 'The group had stopped by this point. Tony cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow.

 'Why do you think the ambassador seduced you?' He asked suddenly. David was about to answer, but then realized he wasn't sure.

 'I dunno. Because I'm incredibly sexy?' He answered unsurely. Tony looked him up and down again.

 'Shoulders good distance apart, sharp facial features, very muscular all around, eye spacing proportionate...' He stared at him for a few more seconds. 'Yes, quite sexy indeed.' David stared at the feline uncomfortably.

 'Um...' He murmured awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. 'Are you gay?' Tony blinked a few times.

 'Yes, if would like to use that term, I am gay.' He answered. David just nodded slowly, trying not to look judgemental. 'So you think that Adeline mated with you because you are sexy?' Tony asked, getting back to the topic.

 'Yeah, I guess so.' David answered.

 'It is true, she would have been physically attracted to you, but perhaps you do not know of her ulterior motive.'

 'Ult-what?'

 'First, she was attracted to you, of course. Second, she wants you to trust her, but the third...'

 'What third?'

 'Do you know what happens when a male mates with a female?' Tony tapped his foot as he waited the answer.

 'Yeah, I only did it just last-'

 'I mean, what happens biologically.'

 'Oh.' David thought about what his dad had told him when he was ten. 'I didn't think the principle applied to felines and humans...'

 'Of course it does! Otherwise the ambassador's scheme wouldn't work!' Tony told him. David was starting to get a bad feeling about this.

 'Do I have to spell it out for you?' Tony asked, getting a little annoyed at David's silence. 'She was trying to get pregnant! The females in the city look up to her; if she bears a child with a human she will inspire the other females to do so as well. She will promote the idea of breeding genetics through that child.' The concept made sense. Adeline was a role model. She would have a child with a human, and convince the other females that it's the way to go. It still sounded a little far-fetched though, and there was one problem with her plan.

 'I'm sterile.' Tony was taken back.

 'Oh, well that throws a spanner in the works.' He said.

'I came from a vault.' David started explaining. 'We didn't have many problems back in the vault, but what we had were radroaches. Giant cockroaches. My mates and I made a game of running up to them, hitting them with a stick and running away again.' He grimaced for a second and shook his head a bit. 'One day, when we were playing, I slipped on some oil as I ran towards the radroach. Slipped over and landed on my ass, right in front of the thing. I won't tell you exactly what happened next, but it bit me. Somewhere unpleasant.' The four of them were silent. Don finally broke it at last.

 'Dude, you fucked Adeline.' David and Foley started to laugh, but Tony was not amused.

 'After all that, all you can think of is sex?' He yelled. Don grinned stupidly.

 'Yup.'  Tony slapped his forehead in despair.

 'Let's just hurry up and go.'

                                               [///////////////////////////////////////////]

 'Are you sure this is a good idea?' Tony asked uncertainly.

 'Why wouldn't it be?' Foley asked back.

 'Usually we don't let prisoners pick through knives at shops, do we?' David overheard the conversation.

 'Don't worry, I couldn't hit you from hear If I tried.' He lied. Sean had shown him a thing or two about knives, especially throwing them. He went back to browsing through the racks of knives. He was disappointed by the time he got to the last one. All that he had found were pretty plain. Nothing fancy or intricate or with wicked looking blades. David looked around the rest of the tent. For such a nice shop, this guy's stock was shit. He looked over at the shopkeeper, who was watching him carefully. He sure has nice clothes compared to the junk in here.  David casually strolled over to the shopkeeper. The man pretended to be looking for something as he approached.

 'So...' David leaned over the table the shopkeeper was standing at. 'Where do you keep the real stuff?' The shopkeeper stared back at David.

 'The sharper knives are in the display cabinet to the right.' He motioned with his hand. David shook his head very slowly. He bent forward and whispered.

 'I'm not just your typical mercenary. I'm looking for quality work here, and I know you have it.' The shopkeeper retained his defiant stance, until he saw the bag of caps on the table. He quickly glanced around to make sure nobody was watching, and then motioned for David to come around the back of the table. As David came around the end of the table, the shopkeeper knelt down and took out a large wooden case from a box in the back of the shop.

 'I keep my quality stock here.' He whispered. 'Can't trust the riff-raff around it.' He unlocked the padlock on the front and lifted up the wooden lid, and then turned it so it was facing David. After carefully examining the contents of the case, David took two switchblades from the case. He weighed each one in his hand, flicking the blade in and out and flicking it up into the air and catching it. He placed one back in the box.

 'I'll take this one.' He said as he held up the remaining knife. The shopkeeper nodded.

 'Excellent choice. You seem to have an eye for these things. That's 150 caps.' David handed the man a purple cap and five red ones. The man jingled them about in his hands and put them in his pocket.

 'Have a good day.' The three men were standing outside the shop when David left. The seemed to be looking at something down the road, but looked away when David approached.

 'All right, pub next?' Don piped up. David shook his head.

 'Actually, I'd like to head to a science lab next, and I know there's one around here somewhere.' Don, Foley and David all looked at Tony simultaneously.

 'Fine then, follow me.' Tony sighed and led the group further into the city.

                                                             [////////////////////////////////]

 David could make out a couple of letters on the side of the carrier. A "K" an "E", there was a large gap where the letters were unreadable, due to being faded, and an "R". The ship was a huge dull metal thing. Probably had bits of airplanes lying around, just waiting to be re-used for something. A feline in a stereotypical white lab coat was at the bottom of the wooden ramp to the ship. She was carefully writing something on a clipboard in her hand. She paid the four no attention as they proceeded up the ramp.

 A similar feline was sitting at a desk inside, what appeared to be a waiting area of some kind. She looked up and flashed a smile at Tony.

 'Tony. Welcome back, have you got some more on that theory of yours for us?'

 'Not yet Dahlia.' Tony looked at David questioningly. David approached the woman, who looked at him carefully for a moment.

 'Can I help you?' She asked politely. Not one of those "Can I help you?" things that most people are obliged to say, it was a sincere question.

 'I was wondering, have you seen anybody who looks like me come through here recently. Maybe to visit a friend or associate?' David asked hopefully.

 'Now, come to think of it...' She leaned back in her chair as she chewed on the tip of her pencil. 'There was one man. Wanted to see Doctor Lei, but he's long gone now. Left a few days ago.'' She told him.

 'Well in that case, I need to talk to Doctor Lei.'

 'On what grounds?'

 'I'm sorry?'

 'Doctor Lei is a very busy man. You can't just go in and talk to him without reason.' David looked around at the others behind him quizzically in hope of support.

 'We came here to get some help for our friend here.' Tony said as he approached the counter. He motioned towards David as he spoke. 'He has a mutagenic abnormality.' He said. David looked at him disapprovingly.

 'Abnormality? Really?' David muttered to himself. The receptionist  lowered her glasses slightly and stared David up and down .

 'Well, I'm afraid that's not good enough Tony.  We see mutagenic abnormalities every day here.'  David raised his right arm ritualistically as the three sharp bones slid out from between his knuckles. The receptionist stared at his hand for a few seconds.

 'This is usually the part where you run away screaming or let me in.' David suggested. The woman stared for a few more seconds before sighing deeply.

 'I guess I can take that as a valid reason.' She slapped a rusted bell on the counter; it made a sharp ringing that seemed to linger for a few seconds.

 'Please enter the door on your left; somebody will be with you shortly.' She said routinely as she looked back at the computer. 'Next!'

                                                          //////////////////////////////////////////

 David strolled down the corridor towards Dr Lei's door. It was on the very end of the corridor with a small square window set in it. A soft yellow glow shone through. He rapped on the door heavily three times, and waited. No answer. David looked through the semi-opaque glass. There was a figure leaned over the desk, he looked like he was writing something.  A dim lamp sat beside him on the desk. Something caught David's attention. He leaned close to the door.

 'What's wrong? Just go in.' Foley told him. David paid no attention. He put his nose to the crack in the door and inhaled. A familiar smell. He recognised it instantly. A thick scent that clogged his nose, not good. What the hell was happening?

 David pulled down on the door handle slowly, he motioned for the others to step back. He heard the door click and after a pause, he pulled it back an inch. He listened closely. Nothing. It was too easy to set up a trap in a situation like this. However, he decided to just swing the door open anyway. One second. Then two. Three seconds. Nothing had blown his face off yet.

 The feline lay across his desk. Dark brown stained the surface and edges off the desk and patches on the ground. Fractured remains of a pair of glasses lay to the side of his head, shattered.

 'Holy shit, he's dead!' Nobody lashed out at Don for stating the obvious. The four just stood in awe, looking at the scene.

 'Your children will be our children, your friends shall be our friends, and we shall have all.' The three men turned around to look at Tony.

 'What?' Foley asked confused. Tony pointed at the wall in the office. It was stained with brown, but on closer inspection, David realised it was a message written in blood.

 'What the hell does that mean?' Foley asked. David took a closer look at the end of the message. There was a symbol of some kind carved into the wall, crude but detailed. It appeared to be a hand holding a small human skull. The hands fingers were wrapped around the top of the skull with the thumb holding it near the jaw. There was nothing on the desk. Or in the drawers or shelves, in fact, it seemed that the whole room had been cleaned out.

 'We need to tell somebody about this.' Foley announced.

 'I reckon we should just leave it, I don't want to get caught up in this.' David said. Foley shook his head.

 'I'm in this cities army, it's sort of my duty David.' David gave a sigh.

 'Fine then, we'll do it your way.'

                                                                ////////////////////////////////////

 The security officer stepped out of the way as Foley came back through the door into the reception. Another man was asking the receptionist questions and the others had cordoned off the area.

 'It's all good, I sorted things out.' Foley told the other three.

 'So we're free to go? They don't think it was us?' David asked, surprised. Foley nodded as he motioned for the others to stand up.

 'Bloods dried. The eggheads think he's been like that for a day or more. Receptionist only saw us come in this morning.' Foley explained as he ducked under the police barrier. Foley briefly glanced down at his watch and swore to himself. '8:03. Shit, we're late.' He looked up at David, and then at the other two. 'That'll be all for today guys, same spot tomorrow.' The three said their goodbyes and parted ways. Foley turned back to David. 'We'll have to go quick, I'm in enough shit already.'

  It was 8:16 when the two arrived back at the cruiser. Broz watched silently as the two approached. Foley stopped and saluted.

 'Sergeant!' He exclaimed, standing at attention.

 'What time do you call this?' Broz asked quietly. David answered.

 'We got held up.' He said with a shrug. 'I still came back, didn't I?'  Broz didn't answer.

 'Adeline and I have been talking. I think I may have gotten through to her finally. I would like you and her to have a good talk.' Foley smiled slightly, but Broz caught sight of him. 'Not that kind of talk, Private.' He said. 'You will be monitoring again.' He turned to David. 'The ambassador is expecting you.' With that, Broz left.

 The ambassador was sitting on the same couch as she had been the day before. David walked over and sat on the other couch. Adeline smiled warmly as David approached. She was wearing a different dress this time. It was long and black with long sleeves that hung loose. It was almost like a bath robe, but it was thin and, again, semi-transparent. He remembered seeing something like it on a witch in a "Grognak the Barbarian" comic, except the witch wasn't so sexy looking. He snapped himself out of it. He just couldn't help it. Damn she was hot. And the way she sort-of leaned back against her seat with her legs crossed...Adeline laughed in the same, polite way.

 'I thank you again for your appreciation of my body, but I'm afraid we have other matters to discuss before we continue with any more ...appreciation.' She sat up and leaned in a little closer. 'So you are aware of our plan then? You know our intentions are just?' She asked. David nodded with a grunt. He was a little disappointed actually. All this talking and he had been psyched  up all day about getting laid again, but he tried not to show it.

 'We simply want to make everybody's lives better. Make everybody better. Make the world better.' She explained. David  thought about this.

 'How will you achieve this?' He asked. 'How will you get the population to integrate with your mutated people? How will it spread?' Adeline sighed briefly as she lay back in her seat.

 'We just simply have to convince everybody they will be better off.' She said. 'First there will be one child, and then others will catch on. When those children grow up, everyone will see how superior they are and follow suit. Even if only half of the population catches on, we will still have succeeded.' David took all this in carefully. 'Even should we fail, what harm is there is our failure? Nobody is hurt. We may have a few of our new race, and they shall lead good lives. Nobody loses either way.' David nodded. It made sense. Why wouldn't they try it? As far as he could see, as long as the mutations don't have side effects nobody is hurt. If they succeeded, good for them, if not, they could move on.

 'So why is it that you decline to join us?' Adeline asked. David thought to himself. Why was it?

 'I guess...' He started, 'I just feel like I owe it to the canines not to join you, like a sense of duty, I hate it when I can't keep my word.' He explained. Adeline nodded slowly.

 'So you will not join our army?' She asked. David shook his head.

 'No.' There was silence between the two.

 'If I let you be free, what would you do?' Adeline asked. What would I do? Since Dr Lei was dead, he wasn't sure, unless... unless he went to the DC ruins. His dad had originally gone to Galaxy news radio in the DC ruins, then to rivet city. Now, he had gone straight to rise city, so... would he go to the DC ruins now?

 'I would look for my dad.' He answered. 'I might come back here occasionally, visit megatown occasionally, just wander I guess.' Adeline remained silent for a few more seconds.

 'What about the army? The canine army?' She asked. David shook his head.

 'It's not really my fight to be honest.' He said with a shrug. 'After being here, I feel like I can't fight in any army. I'll kill whoever tries to kill me and that's it.' Adeline nodded. 'So you could let me go, or keep me locked up in a cell here.'

 'I do dislike the thought the thought of you being cramped up in a prison cell.' She said with a smile. 'So I might just have to let you go.' David smiled at this. 'Although...' She started again as he stood up and approached David.

 'Although what?' David asked, getting a little bit worried. Adeline sat beside him.

 'I could just keep you here.' She said smiling. 'You could be my little pet.' She said. She ran her claw gently across the bottom of David chin. He smiled. He could see where this was going, and he liked it.

 'I'm not your bitch Adeline.' He said in a cheeky tone, as not to offend her. He sat up and pushed her over on the couch as she had done to him last night. He moved over top of her and pinned her so she couldn't get back up. He pinned her legs with his own and held her arms down. 'In fact, the way I remember, it was the other way around.' Adeline purred slightly as David ran his fingers down her side to her knee. She sighed softly as he slowly ran them back up her leg, up the inside of her dress and...

 CRASH!

 The two jumped up as Foley soared across their couch and crashed into the small wooden table. (An impressive feat, since he was wearing power armour) The table exploded into hundreds of fragments as he landed.

 'GET DOWN!' He screamed as he stumbled to his feet, taking the laser rifle from his back and firing over the couch repeatedly. David rolled off his surprised lover and rushed towards the fireplace. He heard bullets whizz overhead but kept going.  He rushed to a suit of very old looking armour, It stood tall with both hands on the handle of a two-handed sword. He grabbed the weapon from the empty shell of a warrior and dived back for cover. Adeline was lying on the ground behind the couch while Foley ducked in and out of behind the other couch. The enemy wore black suits and their faces were covered by black bandanas. They all carried silenced SMG's. David leapt over the couch with the claymore in one hand. Most of the hostile fire turned on him as he charged recklessly.  Perhaps if their weapons weren't suppressed, the bullets would have done more damage, but the reduced power from the guns gave their bullets less kick. The bullets sliced across his skin and bounced off, each felt like being nicked by a knife. One bullet on its own wasn't much but it built up. David raised his sword and swung at his terrified foe. The weapon cut his opponent right in half. He used his spinning momentum and tossed the sword. It sailed across the room, slicing across one opponent's breast and impaling a second. He charged at a third with his claws out. The fleeing opponent wasn't fast enough and he was dead before he hit the floor. David's head snapped up to look at the last remaining enemy. His weapon was at his feet and his hands were up. David advanced on the small figure who stared back through white tinted shades...

 'Dave.' David stopped, taken back. 'It's me Dave, it's Arnold.' Arnold? David shook his head quickly.

 'You have to get out of here Arnold.' He said quickly.

 'But you? What about you?' He protested.

 'I'm leaving Arnold. I'm leaving tomorrow. I suggest you do the same, now!'

 'But-'

 'Arnold, if you don't get out of here right now the way you came you're going to get killed, go!' Arnold stared at his feet for a few seconds. 'I'll be back, don't worry, but right now, this doesn't concern you. I'm going AWOL.' A few more seconds passed.

 'Ok.' Arnold said quietly. He turned around to leave. 'Thanks Dave.' He ran quickly out the door and to the right. Foley put his rifle away.

 'Friend of yours?' He asked. David nodded. 'Well you know I have nothing against the canines, so it's all right.' Foley said reassuringly. Foley looked at the bodies on the ground. 'Looks like an assassination attempt. That's a bit low.'  David nodded. He was still thinking about Arnold, the assassination attempt, he was confused. Assassination... that is low. Everything used to be so easy. He knew what was what. David shook his head in despair.

 'It used to be easy.' He said. 'I don't know who the bad guys are anymore.' Foley approached from behind and put his hand on David's shoulder.

 'Nothing is that simple anymore.' Foley explained.

 'You're looking for black and white in a world of grey.'