Homecoming

[g00d_d0ggie]

It has been thirty hours, seventeen minutes, and twelve seconds since D0G's detour to Milliways. He's been traveling continuously for that entire time, aside from one instance where he caused a small rockslide and spent four minutes extracting his foot from underneath a boulder. The small repairs that Ed made are holding, if only just.

It's dark, but dawn is beginning to break. He'll be in Rowlesburg before sunrise.

Comments

[g00d_d0ggie]

That's a lot of owls in one area. D0G slows down a little, canting his head to one side to listen.

[smelltheashes]

Even for the most common species of owl in the world that's kind of a high concentration. These are not birds known for darkening the moonlit skies with their flocks.

One of them is awfully nearby, by the sound of things.

[g00d_d0ggie]

Under normal circumstances, D0G would be tempted to investigate further. But these are anything but normal circumstances, and he's not about to be distracted when he's this close to his goal. He presses onward, laying on a sudden burst of speed (which is far from what he's capable of when he's got four working limbs, but still very impressive).

[smelltheashes]

One of the 'owls' gives way to a startled yelp, but it's cut off immediately. This is what happens when the 'owl' next to you claps her hand over your mouth to get you to shut up. The third 'owl', however, does something much more sensible, and pulls out a radio. For this? For this they need the warning.

"Medina, this is Cannon Hill. Something's coming. Mechanized. Fast."

[g00d_d0ggie]

D0G is cheerfully oblivious to this. He's almost there! Just another half-mile and he'll be back with Alyx and she'll fix him and fix Skitch and everything will be okay!

[smelltheashes]

Meanwhile, the emergency squad members on duty inside Druid Cave are rousing as many able-bodied White Forest folk as possible. 'Mechanized' never means anything good around here, and Rowlesburg doesn't have the guns to hold off a really nasty synth in the dark. They haven't lasted this long by taking chances, and the chance that a synth will pass the caves by despite there being such an influx of new people... well.

Yeah.

Oh, and they're sending a runner to Kate Shephard's house, because the mayor really needs to know.

[vance_prime]

For the moment, both occupants of Kate Shephard's house are fast asleep, oblivious to the commotion going on outside.

For the moment.

[hecu_marine]

It doesn't last long. The runner doesn't stand on social graces. He just starts banging away on the front door. "Mrs. Shephard! Mayor Shephard! C'mon, ma'am, you got to wake up!"

"Hngh?" Kate sits up straight, blinking, and gets to her feet. "What the-"

[vance_prime]

Alyx is bolt upright with her gun drawn a fraction of a second after the first frantic knock.

[hecu_marine]

The young man at the door gulps as Kate throws it open. "Got a radio message in from one of the patrols, ma'am," he says. "Somethin' headed this way. Big'n mechanized, they said."

[vance_prime]

Alyx is just behind Kate. "How big?"

[hecu_marine]

"Taller'n a human. There's only one," the runner reports. "Running real funny, like it ain't quite balanced proper."

[vance_prime]

"Like it's only got three legs?"

That's not good.

[hecu_marine]

"'Bout like that, yeah," says the runner. "You know what it is, ma'am?"

[vance_prime]

"I have a pretty good idea," says Alyx grimly. "Stay alert, there may be more that no one's seen yet. They travel in packs."

[hecu_marine]

"Aw, hell-" The runner looks over his shoulder. "I got to go tell Mr. Medina, ma'am, he needs to know."

"you go on ahead, son," says Kate, who's been listening the whole while. As the young man runs off Kate turns to Alyx and says, "Damn. I'd been hoping..."

[vance_prime]

"Yeah, so was I. We don't always get what we want," says Alyx, making no attempt to hide the bitterness in her voice. "I'm going up there. I know how to kill these bastards."

[hecu_marine]

Kate nods. "You need anything from us? Sounds like we're gonna be able to git you some volunteers."

[vance_prime]

"Just be ready to shoot and duck."

Alyx heads up the path to the cave entrance as quickly as she can manage.

[hecu_marine]

Kate follows, as does Medina. It's a long way up to the surface and neither one wants to see their guest go down hard. Outside the patrol's falling back, but nobody's likely to beat the huge galumphing thing on its dead run towards the caves....

[g00d_d0ggie]

Why is everybody running away? D0G trumpets a loud BWOOAAAAP and waves at them. Hey, come back!

[hecu_marine]

Well, not everyone's running away, D0G? If that helps at all?

.... then again the ones who aren't running are all stopping to point their guns at you, so....

[g00d_d0ggie]

Uh-oh. D0G stops waving and simply holds his arm in the air, mwoopin plaintively.

The gesture would probably be more effective if he had two arms to raise in the air.

[hecu_marine]

"I could be wrong," says one of the men with rifles to another cautiously, "but that don't sound like a real Combine kind of noise."

"Like you'd even know what a real Combine kind of noise sounded like, Lundberg."

[vance_prime]

Somebody approaching from behind, however, does know what 'a real Combine kind of noise' sounds like.

She also knows what this noise is.

"--D0G?!"

[g00d_d0ggie]

!!

BWOOP EEP!

[hecu_marine]

"Wait," says one of the Rowlesburgers without lowering his gun. "You know this thing?"

[g00d_d0ggie]

Before Alyx can respond, D0G gallops forward, vaults over the heads of the Rowlesburgers, and sweeps Alyx into a one-armed bear hug.

Alyx is thrilled. "Oh my God I can't believe you made it here I was so worried--"

[hecu_marine]

The Rowlesburgers wind up flat on their stomachs, because even when they're not being touched there's still a sense of AUGH MASS OVERHEAD as D0G leaps. They start propping themselves up shortly, though.

Behind Alyx, Kate raises her voice to ask, "Sounds like the situation's changed. Someone mind telling me what's goin' on?"

[vance_prime]

"It's okay!" calls Alyx over her shoulder. "He's mine, he won't hurt anybody!"

[hecu_marine]

There's a lot of staring and startled murmuring, and finally Medina moves forward. "You ... have a robot," he says. "Daaaaaaaamn."

[vance_prime]

I built a robot, actually, thinks Alyx, but she doesn't say it. She's too busy giving D0G a thorough head-scratching. "Oh, you are such a good boy, yes you are..."

[hecu_marine]

"Where'd he come from?" Kate asks. "And how the heck did he find you? If he could find you...."

[vance_prime]

"He must have read the note Dan left," says Alyx. "C'mon, boy, let's get you inside so we can patch you up, you must be feeling awful..."

[hecu_marine]

"The-"

"All I said was 'Ado, took boat, went home, Dan'," says a still half-asleep and grouchy-looking Dan Shephard. "Ain't like no one who didn't know us already would know what I was talkin' about."

"All right, all right," says Kate. "That's fair. Come on, then, people, let's git back inside and put some more scouts out just in case he kicked up anything dangerous."

[g00d_d0ggie]

Mweep! D0G does an excited little dance before limping toward the cave entrance.

[hecu_marine]

"Dan," says Kate as a realization strikes her, "run wake up Aaron Lauvray'n tell him we're gonna need all the spare parts'n crap, would you?"

[vance_prime]

"Aww, you don't need to wake him up, we can..." Alyx trails off, looking at the basket slung from D0G's undercarriage, which is finally becoming visible in the light of the tunnel. "What's this?"

Eep woop! D0G holds it up urgently. Alyx reaches in and lifts out the broken scanner drone. "...what the hell is that??"

[hecu_marine]

Kate's expression goes grim. "Wasteland scanner," she says. "We don't get 'em 'round here much but they pass through once in a while. Folks here got orders to hide the second they hear or see anything that might be one of 'em just in case the damn things get tipped off by being shot at."

[vance_prime]

"Weird. I don't think I've ever seen one of these before."

Eep! D0G jiggles the basket again.

"Okay, okay, jeez..." Alyx looks back into the basket. There's a cluster of weird battery-like things with a cord running up to D0G's auxiliary power hookup, and under that...

Alyx's face turns a few shades paler. "Oh my God. Skitch."

[hecu_marine]

"Who?"

Kate leans over to get a better look; by the way Alyx sounds, she's expecting a dead dog or a human body part or something in there.

"... uh-oh. 'Nother robot of yours?"

[vance_prime]

Alyx nods, cradling the tiny robot in her hands. "God, I didn't even think about what happened to him..."

Mwooooooorp? says D0G, looking at Alyx hopefully.

"We'll get him fixed up, D0G. I promise."

[hecu_marine]

"You gonna need anything in particular for this?' says Kate. "Somewhere to work, power, stuff like that?"

[vance_prime]

"If you've got a machine shop or something like that, that'd be great," says Alyx. "Otherwise, just a big open area with good lighting?"

[hecu_marine]

"We can manage that. Got to have somewhere to look after the generators," says Medina. "Likely you'll get a visit from Lauvray sometime after he wakes up. Man loves his machinery, so if you need a spare pare of hands, use his."

[vance_prime]

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I usually prefer to work on D0G all by myself, though--right, boy?" says Alyx, giving the robot an extra-enthusiastic scratch on the headflaps.

Bwoop!

[hecu_marine]

Medina nods. "All right," he says. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going back to my shift. Mayor?"

"Dan'll show you the way," says Kate. "Hope you don't mind telling stories, because I get the feeling a lot of folks'll be asking for 'em come morning."

[vance_prime]

"I'll manage." Alyx smiles. It's nice to have some good news to report, for once.