[When they stop talking, Zetta finally lets her kiss with Deacon taper off. She tops it off with another, much more brief kiss, and leaves one of her arms up over his neck. She leans back to pick up the conversation where it was left off, to fully explain what they were talking about for Deacon.]
Lone pulled us aside and asked us if we'd infiltrate the Brotherhood for him. Him, not the Institute. He wants revenge on them, and he made it very clear he'll fucking do it with or without us. We ended up agreeing. We're going up there sooner or later anyway, let's be fucking honest, so we may as well take advantage of whatever knowledge he claims to have.
She says "we," but she means "me." She was pissed, and every time she spoke up, he'd end up taking back the request.
[Zetta sighs heavily. Before she answers, she combs through her thought process to make sure there isn't any kind of bias filtering in.]
I don't think he's fucking with us. If he is, he's playing some long game and he's got an inhuman capability of pulling it off. It's just looking more and more far-fetched that he's playing us. The simplest answer is that he's been straight with us.
So basically he's got his own agenda, but he's been honest about it. Works for me. Hell, that describes half the members of the Railroad.
[The ones that aren't in it because they believe in Freedom and synth rights; they're in it to pursue a personal grudge against the Institute. Deacon's careful with those. They can be loose cannons. But they're super useful, too. The Railroad would be seriously lacking in manpower without them.]
I think it might be possible to convince him to defect from the Institute, if it came down to it. All he really seems to care about is getting back at the Brotherhood. I mean, christ, he's cocky enough to think he could handle coursers if they came after him.
[She's watching Deacon's reaction closely. She really wants to know if he thinks this would be a good idea or not.]
What, has he got some super-secret courser-be-gone spray? 'Cause that'd be handy.
[Deacon is cautious about the idea. He isn't going to dismiss it out of hand, but it's risky and whatever the Railroad could gain from it would have to be worth the risk.]
He thinks knowing how their guns work would be enough. [Zetta rolls her eyes.] I almost told him how fucking deadly they are with their bare goddamn hands.
He wasn't exactly forthcoming with what he knew. Probably playing the angle of "if I share the information you won't have any reason to come back" or something. All we know is that he claimed to know the Brotherhood better than anyone in the area.
[They probably should've pushed that to find out more. But Zetta was too busy lowkey having a meltdown and Riley just didn't think of it, wouldn't have.]
I can't blame a guy for being cagey. Okay, we should follow up on this.
[He's still not ready to give his opinion on whether they should make a serious push to try to get Lone to defect, but he's giving his approval on further pursuing the possibility.]
Are Institute scientists allowed to leave the Institute? Like, do field work or anything? Do they stay down there all the time by choice or is it a rule?
Kellogg said it wasn't common for scientists to go to the surface. [A pause, as Zetta's mouth twists a little.] When I was in his head in the Memory Den.
And Lone's job is to head the S9 project, so I have no idea how we'll be able to bullshit something to sneak him up to the surface. But I'm sure we could think of something if it's what we need.
It's not something we need, but I wouldn't mind checking him out sometime. In the totally non-sexy, assessing a possible asset kind of way. But we've got other priorities first. Like Mercer.
[He steps away from Zetta and paces around the bowling alley, looking from her to Ferran and Riley and back again.]
I don't know how long you guys have been travelling to get here. We need to pitch camp or are we heading out?
We're making an exception for Mercer. Some of the new settlers there are talking about joining the Minutemen, which might be kind of inconvenient if we're running synths through there.
Yeah, alright. Greentop Nursery and Taffington Boathouse are the closest settlements. So unless you want to head over to the Slog, those are probably our best choices. Preferences?
I like the Slog. Those are cool ghouls. [Diamond City crapped on them and they thrived anyway, and didn't become bitter about smoothskins even though they had ever reason to.]
Greentop Nursery is okay, too. Taffington Boathouse has all that stagnant water that tends to attract bloodbugs, so I'm not so into the idea of bedding down there.
Let's hit the Nursery. The settlers don't use the Pre-War house, we can get more privacy there than at the Slog.
[And what Zetta wants most right now is to bed down with them and not have to deal with the outside world. That's not going to happen, not until they can go back to Spectacle Island, but she's going to try to get as close to that as she can.]
[Zetta grins slyly.] It's like you can read my mind. [Even though he didn't, not entirely. She'd been actively trying to not get her hopes up for that, since she knows how unlikely it is, but... christ. If only.
Riley's eyebrows shoot up his forehead in amusement -- and surprise is definitely there, too, since he knows how high of a statement that is coming from her.]
Yeah, I guess I should come clean. Back when I was eight, I was kidnapped by this weird shady group who implanted some experimental tech in my brain. Ever since then I can sort of read minds. Not, like, word for word, but I can pick up impressions. Totally useful in my line of work.
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Lone pulled us aside and asked us if we'd infiltrate the Brotherhood for him. Him, not the Institute. He wants revenge on them, and he made it very clear he'll fucking do it with or without us. We ended up agreeing. We're going up there sooner or later anyway, let's be fucking honest, so we may as well take advantage of whatever knowledge he claims to have.
She says "we," but she means "me." She was pissed, and every time she spoke up, he'd end up taking back the request.
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Do you think we can trust Lone?
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I don't think he's fucking with us. If he is, he's playing some long game and he's got an inhuman capability of pulling it off. It's just looking more and more far-fetched that he's playing us. The simplest answer is that he's been straight with us.
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[The ones that aren't in it because they believe in Freedom and synth rights; they're in it to pursue a personal grudge against the Institute. Deacon's careful with those. They can be loose cannons. But they're super useful, too. The Railroad would be seriously lacking in manpower without them.]
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[She's watching Deacon's reaction closely. She really wants to know if he thinks this would be a good idea or not.]
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[Deacon is cautious about the idea. He isn't going to dismiss it out of hand, but it's risky and whatever the Railroad could gain from it would have to be worth the risk.]
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And before you start lecturing, I said almost.
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What else has he got?
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[They probably should've pushed that to find out more. But Zetta was too busy lowkey having a meltdown and Riley just didn't think of it, wouldn't have.]
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[He's still not ready to give his opinion on whether they should make a serious push to try to get Lone to defect, but he's giving his approval on further pursuing the possibility.]
Are Institute scientists allowed to leave the Institute? Like, do field work or anything? Do they stay down there all the time by choice or is it a rule?
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And Lone's job is to head the S9 project, so I have no idea how we'll be able to bullshit something to sneak him up to the surface. But I'm sure we could think of something if it's what we need.
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[He steps away from Zetta and paces around the bowling alley, looking from her to Ferran and Riley and back again.]
I don't know how long you guys have been travelling to get here. We need to pitch camp or are we heading out?
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It's been... a day, [Riley agrees.]
It's been a hell of a fucking day, [Zetta corrects.] What's wrong with Mercer? I thought we weren't allowed back at safehouses yet.
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Greentop Nursery is okay, too. Taffington Boathouse has all that stagnant water that tends to attract bloodbugs, so I'm not so into the idea of bedding down there.
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[And what Zetta wants most right now is to bed down with them and not have to deal with the outside world. That's not going to happen, not until they can go back to Spectacle Island, but she's going to try to get as close to that as she can.]
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[...and stuff.
Okay, might not be enough privacy for "and stuff" but a guy can hope.]
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Riley's eyebrows shoot up his forehead in amusement -- and surprise is definitely there, too, since he knows how high of a statement that is coming from her.]
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Riley looks thoughtful.] You know, I think that might've been the weirdest part of that whole alien visit. The telepathy, I mean.
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Ferran gazes at Riley as they set out.]
What was it like?
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