Part 10: Child Abduction for Fun and Profit

Update 10: Child Abduction for Fun and Profit



We started the long walk toward Vault City and continued moving eastward, using the navigation system of my Pip Boy. Ten days into the wilderness we saw our first sign of other human beings in the form of a traveling group of merchants.



They told us to shove off, and wouldn't sell us any supplies. It seemed monstrously unfair to have people shun me for having a reputation as a hero. On the other hand, a bunch of random merchants in the wilderness had heard of me so I was already starting to become famous.



The next group we ran into was considerably more direct about hating our guts, and seemed to think it would be much easier to hate if them if they were outside our bodies.



It was a tough fight, but when it was over they were all dead and none of us were. I had to patch myself up as best I could, since Sulik and Vic were absolutely useless where first aid was concerned.



One of them also had a valuable hunting rifle, which I appropriated for myself. Being able to deal with jerks like those highwaymen from a couple hundred feet away would be a lot simpler. They'd just have to make sure to identify themselves as jerks from across a field.



More than two weeks out from The Den we stumbled across a small town that wasn't marked on the map. It looked like we were still about a week or more from Vault City, so everyone was eager to stop.



"If dis is a one horse town, it looks like mebbe the horse just died."

"Looks like they still have plenty of brahmin, though."

Yeah, there wasn't much to the place.



"Who says I'm here to trade? I'm just new here in town."

"Oh.. well, welcome to Modoc. My name's Jo, I run the trading post here at Modoc."

"I am on a quest. I seek the holy Geck. Do you know where I might find it?"



It looked like heading toward Vault City was the right decision. This whole quest thing looked like it was going to be over much more quickly than I'd feared.

"And what do you want me to do for you in exchange for this information?"

"Ah, yes, what I want… if you hadn't noticed yet, our little farming community is experiencing one of its worst droughts ever. THe rainy season was unusually short this year, and our crops are dead or dying from lack of water."

"Umm…you do know I can't make it rain, right?!?"

"Grampy Bone say…"

"No, no… of course not. I wouldn't ask you to do something as impossible as that. You really can't make it rain, can you… No, of course you can't! Anyway, like I was say'en, we're in trouble and we could use your help."



"Are you saying that this form just sprung up overnight? Yeah, right!"

"A group of us were out hunting when we noticed the new farm. But that wasn't the strange thing. Soon after, some of us got together to visit our new neighbor, only to discover that there wasn't anybody there."

"Maybe they were out hunting too?"

"After many months of trying to contact the owners with no success, it was decided that the farm must have been abandoned soon after it was built. So instead of letting the crops rot in the field, young Karl moved in."

"Karl… Karl…"



"What happened to him? Did you look for him?"

"Of course we did! We went up there as soon as we suspected something was wrong. The horror… bodies strewn everywhere. Some crucified, while others were left to rot out in the sun. I still wake up screaming in the middle of the night from the horrible images I saw that day?"

"Wait, and you want me to go there and find out what happened?"

"It's not too late to beat de information out of him, fren."

"Normally, I would just leave that cursed place be, but for some reason the crops at this farm are still flourishing despite the drought. We'll starve if we don't get food soon. Will you help us rid the farm of these ghosts?"

"If it's really ghosts, I'm not afraid of that. We've put ghosts down before."

"Great! This farm is about a day's travel northeast of here. Let me mark it on your map… come back when you've found something."



Naturally we didn't leave right away, since we'd seen all of one building in town. For all I knew they sent every newcomer in town off to go investigate this ghost farm as a way to keep them out of town. If so, I wasn't going to go without getting something accomplished. A crude tacked up sign identified a nearby building as the local tannery. I could see a pinup picture of a woman on the back wall, which told me this was my kind of place.



"You seem a bit preoccupied; is there something wrong?"

"Huh? Look, I don't discuss my personal life with strangers. Do you have any business with me or not?"

"Pardon me, my name is Luke. Now what we're properly introduced you seem troubled."

"Aren't you a slick one? Well… I'm worried about my missing son, Jonny. We've searched everywhere, but still can't find him. I fear that wild animals got him."

"No mon, da spirits say da boy is not eaten."

"I do a lot of traveling, and I'm going to be in town a bit. I'll keep a lookout for your boy."

"Thanks a lot, Luke. I'll be right here trying to keep my mind off of it if you find anything."



Somehow their idea of "just outside of town" meant that it took us the better part of a day to walk there. The long walk didn't help my mood anyway, and when we got there...



Finding out that the farmers were a bunch of gullible idiots who'd been fooled by sawdust dummies stuck up on poles didn't help matters at all. We even showed up at night, while they were frightened off in broad daylight.



The place was actually doing pretty well, all things considered. The brahmin were penned up and looked well fed, the corn was standing in neat rows, and there were even well maintained tools in the shed. I don't know how those farmers would have reacted when whoever lived here got around to harvesting the crops, but I'm sure that they wouldn't have stopped to wonder why ghosts needed corn. I decided to help myself to the tools.



The next thing I knew I was flat on my ass in an underground cave. Vic and Sulik had lumped down after me and landed on their feet, rather than doing something helpful like tossing a rope down to help haul me out. To make matters worse, we weren't alone.



The nice, pale man and woman asking me to come with them were wearing armor and carrying automatic weapons, so I didn't give them any argument. They didn't seem trigger happy, but that didn't mean they might not end up that way.



It was like looking into a mirror. Well, a mirror that looked like it had never been outside in the sunlight. His request, at gunpoint, was for me to deliver a message to Modoc. Refusal would have meant staying locked underground until the whole situation blew over.



Not surprisingly, I took the message. They let us out through a hidden ladder in the middle of the cornfield, which I don't think I'd ever have found otherwise. We'd actually run right past it.



"Slags? What the hell are slags?"

"Dey be ghost people that aren't ghosts, liven' all under the ground."

"And they want to trade food for medical supplies… but what about the bodies? And Karl?"

"Sawdust and and brahmin guts. I don't know how you didn't see them."



"In the Den drinking himself into an early grave and scamming meals off a lady everyone calls Mom because your entire town are a bunch of assholes."

"The Den! I- I guess we were a little hard on him. I can imagine what he went through at the Ghost Farm, with nobody believing him and all. If you could give him a message that we wish he'd come home, I'd appreciate it."

"I'll think about it. I believe I have fulfilled my part of the bargain. How about telling me where I might find the holy GECK?"



"I'm going to say goodbye now, as opposed to just murdering you right now. I don't think anyone would blame me, either."



We turned around and went back to the Ghost Farm. They'd been considerate enough to take down all the fake bodies, which was a nice change.



When I told Vegeir that their trade relations were established, he was happy enough that he gave me one of the automatic rifles his guards were carrying around. It was kind of funny considering all of his talk about peace and hating violence that he'd rewarded me by giving me something to use to go out and kill people.



I took the opportunity to look around the caves underneath the Farm without having any pressure or feeling like a prisoner. Although most of the Slags looked pretty normal a few of them were actually glowing, and I could see how the people in Modoc might have felt a bit freaked out.



I also helped myself to a few odds and ends. The weirdest one had to be a painted image of some guy with dark hair on a velvet background.



They were also keeping molerats for livestock. I had to wonder if they were any tastier than their smaller brethren. Maybe more like beef?



I also found a whole pack of children playing by a lake and what looked like it might be some filtering equipment. It got me to thinking, and sure enough most of them were ghost pale but one had a farm boy's tan.



I didn't know much about dealing with kids, but I gave it my best shot.

"What's your name, little boy?"

"My name is Johnny. What's yours?"

Bingo! Pay dirt.

"My name is Luke. Your daddy sent me to find you."

"That's swell! I wanted to go home, but Vegeir says his people can't travel that far above ground and wouldn't take me… not that I doubt you, but what's my father's name?"

"Balthas."



After that it was just a matter of talking to Vegeir and getting permission to take the little rugrat home. After we'd helped save their group it wasn't hard to get permission.



Balthas was pretty grateful, and he was right...



I did look pretty damn good in that jacket. But that was besides the point… there was a lot more of Modoc yet to see.



I believe I mentioned before that your henchmen can level up along with you. Both Sulik and Vic both got substantially more awesome, which is never a bad thing.



As far as Luke goes, we're raising up our Small Guns (finally), some Doctor skill, and finally getting to work on Lockpicking.