"I don't have a dad," Germain says, "he died when I was real young . . . wait! How old do you think I am? Cuz I think I'm older then you think I am."
"I am pretty good at exploring old places. I picked up a lot of good books and talked to some smart ruin searchers to have general understanding of old stuff. We leave the tech to Eva though, heh."
Chiro thinks the pure strain girl will learn about the Wreckers and change her tune after the group talks to the Orks. In the mean time he will try and learn about her people and how they stayed pure while avoiding turning into monsters like the Wreckers.
"Age don't matter to me on the trail, as long as you can pull the trigger of a gun."
"Somethin' stinks."
"I am pretty good at exploring old places. I picked up a lot of good books and talked to some smart ruin searchers to have general understanding of old stuff. We leave the tech to Eva though, heh."
"Age don't matter to me on the trail, as long as you can pull the trigger of a gun."
"Oh I know how to shoot a gun," Germain says pulling out her hand gun, she quickly scans the refugees for a likely target . . .
"Somethin' stinks."
Germain turns back and sniffs the air.
"The whole town has an unpleasant odour," she says, "I think it's all these unwashed . . . people. Normally we girls have the common decency to bathe at least once a month."
"Let her come along, then. Hell, let her bring her poppy along, too."
"The whole town has an unpleasant odour," she says, "I think it's all these unwashed . . . people. Normally we girls have the common decency to bathe at least once a month."
<Rolls his eyes.>
"Speakin' of bathin'. Iz bin nigh a month an' we need scrubbin'. Lower olfactory profile, ya knows it."
<Looks at Sherman's carrot.>
"Ahhh, ferget it."
"Yeah a bath sounds good, HEY CREEPER! LETS GO TO THE WATER! YEAH YOU KNOW THAT WORD DON'T YOU BIG GOOF! Heh, look at him perk up."
Chiro will grab his plant mount and let it guide them to the nearest large water source to get ready for a long trip.
Chiro and his bushy mount head down to some water. The Deerf River runs into the Neticut at Grenfield, so there is plenty of water to be had, even with the extra refugees. Chiro joins the throngs of bathers and water gatherers at the river and begins to wash Creeper down. He can see the occasional Green-skinned Gren observing from the Grenfield side of the river.
Roach follows Chiro to the river and gives Bullwinkle the rubdown. Once done with that, he hops into the river, after hanging his gear on the morse's antlers.
<Yup, Coca is going to bathe, too. He winks at Germain who is no doubt looking for extra body parts.>
"Say Roach, I am going to get some rest so I can scout around tonight. Wake me if there is a change in plans."
Chiro will get a place to hole up during the rest of the day.
The group washes and relaxes at the bank of the Deerf River. The cool mountain water is a refreshing after the sticky summer day.
Germain does indeed watch from the shore line. She has very little chance to observe her pray in it's natural habitat so she takes every opportunity to observe.
They're not that repulsive, Germain has to admit to herself as she looks over her new companions as they bathe, It's almost easy to forget that they're all potential murdering rapists.
The Gaea Bible says that men have the form of the devil and all evil can be traced from the workings of their sinister bodies. Naturally Germain didn't believe that hooey, she'd met plenty of evil in the form of a woman in her time, but she did believe that men were now simply obsolete. They were dinosaurs, their value to protect made obsolete with the pistol, and their value to reproduce made obsolete with modern science. It was sort of a shame that they'd proven themselves unsuitable for cohabitation because the few men she'd met seemed nice enough. Slightly stupid and slightly dull, but what could you expect with their diminished and underdeveloped vocabulary centers?
Still, there was something about the male form that intrigued Germain. Their bodies were far too muscular, they lacked breasts, and that thing between their legs was just ghastly . . . but there was something that fascinated her.
Germain subconsciously reaches into her trail bag and pulls out a piece of strange meat and takes a generous chomp.
Sherman will go for a swim/walk on the river bottom, only rising to the surface to check where the others are.
Sherman will go for a swim/walk on the river bottom, only rising to the surface to check where the others are.
Sherman sidles along the riverbed, scaring schools of squid trout as he walks. The riverbed is pretty clear of debris, but there is some old rusty wreckage at the very bottom of the river. Sherman gets a bad vibe off of it. Places like that are where the children of fallen Babylon like to lurk.
...but what could you expect with their diminished and underdeveloped vocabulary centers?...
"Hey Roach, you gots any more o dat stuff. Whudya callit? Unnnn. Soap. Thas right. Soap."
Sherman scuttles sideways away from the debris and surfaces just as Cocoman asks for the soap, "Yes, Cocaman I have some soap, Marley will tell the i where it is?" he gestures towards his backpack.
"Uh-huh. I'll go ask him." After spending some time around Creeper, Roach sees nothing unusual about sentient, talking plants. "Yo, Marley! Where's that soap? Hey? Hello?" After not getting any answers, he starts digging around Sherman's backpack.
After a minute of searching, Roach returns with the bar of soap. "Sherm's buddy seems a little reserved, but I'm sure he'll come around after a while."
Eva stays out of the water, and looks the party over, especially the newer members, she finds herself looking at the young female the longest, her voice stress analyzers and her phereomone sensors make Eva wonder, but this new member will be welcomed as Eva is sick of the "sausage party" that she has been traveling with for a month.
Germain glances up at the lone female member of the group. She was quite beautiful. How could someone so lovely survive in this hostile world amongst these violent and cruel creatures? She was a veritable rose amongst the thorns. Then something catches Germain's eyes:
Germain blinks at the faux female as she suddenly realizes her secret.
Makes sense though, Germain thinks to herself, how could a real female survive amongst these philistines? Still . . . do the others know? It would be rude to reveal that secret for a number of reasons.
It was a well known fact that males despised being tricked. It has something to do with this thing known as their 'manhood'. If the trickster was female (or even a perceived female) the male might see this as an insult to that primitive thing called 'manhood' and then the results would be violent.
Now it was possible that the others could have pieced together that their lone female companion was artificial. Given enough time even a even a man might prove observant to the behavior of those around them. It was even possible that E.V.A. had revealed her true nature to them . . . this was the most likely scenario, but until Gemain knew for sure it would be best to maintain the ruse.
"Hello," Germain says to E.V.A., "We've been introduced but we haven't had the chance to talk. Seeing as the men are splashing around in the river maybe we should take the opportunity to chat. You hungry?"
"Hunger is not a feeling I get, but I do enjoy the tastes organic materials produce, it is nice to have a double X chromosome specimen to interact with, but watch that one he likes the ladies" Eva tilts her head to one side as the robotic pistons emit a low hummm, The name is EVA I am excited to meet you
Germain:
<Teeth chattering, Coca makes himself a wet hair and soap sud mohawk, issuing a falsetto Indian war cry. He tries wrestling Sherman.>
"AIYAIYAIYAIAYIAYAIAYIAYIAAAAA!"
*Gurgle, cough*
"Hunger is not a feeling I get, but I do enjoy the tastes organic materials produce, it is nice to have a double X chromosome specimen to interact with, but watch that one he likes the ladies" Eva tilts her head to one side as the robotic pistons emit a low hummm, The name is EVA I am excited to meet you
"You might like this stuff then," Germain says offering E.V.A. a piece of jerky, "it's a special recipe."
Eva looks at the meat with amusement her chemical vapor scanners detect its insideous soilent green texture, she smiles at her felow "female" companion winks at her and with a sultry singing voice, "Ohhhh you're a maneater" Eva not caring what species of meat is in front of her takes a bite and thinks "Better than what Billy Ray would share with me"
<Teeth chattering, Coca makes himself a wet hair and soap sud mohawk, issuing a falsetto Indian war cry. He tries wrestling Sherman.>
"AIYAIYAIYAIAYIAYAIAYIAYIAAAAA!"
*Gurgle, cough*
Sherman is caught completely off guard by the sudden attack from Cocaman and he goes down under backwards, all four arms wind-milling for balance and a comical look of shock on his face.
He does not re-surface.
A minute passes.
Then another.
Suddenly the water around Coca Cola erupts as Sherman leaps out of the water yelling his own war cry and attempts to hoist him into the air.
"You want a cuss-cuss, den cuss-cuss i." he spits out between his giggles.
Eva looks at the meat with amusement her chemical vapor scanners detect its insideous soilent green texture, she smiles at her felow "female" companion winks at her and with a sultry singing voice, "Ohhhh you're a maneater" Eva not caring what species of meat is in front of her takes a bite and thinks "Better than what Billy Ray would share with me"
Germain offers a non committal smile as a response.
There was no way of knowing how good the android's sensors were, nor if that shared tasty morsel was indeed the special stock. There was no way of knowing for sure. For now Germain would simply smile.
"So E.V.A.," Germain eventually asks, "how did you end up traveling with this interesting group of . . . characters?"
The group has met a few new travellers and is rested and refreshed enough to head on out to their next leg of the journey.
The group gets a little intel on what to expect farther south:
Info:
"I guess we'll take some side roads and try to stay quiet. We'll try to button down at night."
"I will spend most of 5 hours of daylight sleeping on Creeper so i can scout and stand watch at night. You will have to wake me up if anything happens, although I have good hearing."
Chiro wiggles his ears as he adjusts his glare goggles.
The small group has melded, and they set off after they celebrate the ancient Mercian holiday of Pendance Day at Cheapside. No one is really sure what the holiday is about anymore, but it involves lots of gunfire, explosions, likker and dancing these days.
The next morning the group starts travelling south down the Neticut valley into the Sundered Land. The Neticut flows through two sets of low mountains, a ruined tangle of buildings and old streets climbing halfway up the slopes and reaching to the river. Vines and trees cloak the tall ruins, and the group can occasionally see flying creatures like Hookbeaks circling above.
All signs of habitation fade out fairly quicky, and the group is alone but for the sound of the Neticut running and the occasional creak from a ruined skyscraper.
Sherman watches as the others round up their various mounts, "You know breden, I do no have a ride, I should get one before i a go." he looks around for anything suitable, "I wouldn't want fe slow the i all down."
Sherman does a bit of haggling in the Cheapside market and finds a large placid red-shell-with-black-spotted beetle that seems to tolerate him riding it. The stable master says its name is Bailey.
*BWAAAAAAK*
"Easy dere girl."
Germain rides what looks to be a Lipizzan stallion (which she's named Moonbeam) however it's not likely what it appears. Mutations and unchecked evolution being what it is, the beautiful horse isn't likely what it appears to be.
"Guess we be goin' through Cocaman's cribtown: Bichport."