When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. ~Franklin D. Roosevelt
Overcome by exhaustion and worn out by her tears, Amanda pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders and wiped her eyes again. The tears had finally stopped, but she gave in to no illusion that they would come again, and again and again. For now, she was just too spent to cry anymore, but in the respite that was given to her then, her survival instinct began to kick in.
She was alone now. All the family she had ever had was dead and gone forever, and she was alone. However, if the merc had said they found the Brahmin, then that meant she was not impecunious. She would have to go down, though, and get the crate tied to the brahmin’s harness because she couldn’t leave her fortune unattended in the brahmin pen. She needed a place to stay until she had figured out where to go and what to do, and for that, she needed those caps. The problem remained that the key to the crate was in her father’s possession, he wore it on a string around his neck.
She would have to face it sooner or later anyway, so she cautiously got up from the couch, ignoring the puzzled looks from the two men sitting beside her. When she left the stall, however, the security chief walked up to meet her. She felt uncomfortable in his presence, because of her embarrassing blunder on her arrival, but he seemed to either have completely forgotten it or was far too tactful to mention it.
“Miss Amanda?” “I need… I need to go down and see them.” Harkness nodded. “I understand. Would you like me to accompany you?” She looked up at him, but his face was nothing but sincere. “Thank you. You are being very generous to a misfortunate stray girl you don’t even know.” A small smile flitted over his face for a second. “Well… that misfortune happened in my city, more or less. It has swept you into my city, in any case, and whatever or whoever is in my city is my responsibility.” “I still think it’s very generous. But I have to admit that I have never felt as safe anywhere as I do here in Rivet City.” Harkness smiled as they ascended the stairs. “I aim to keep my city a decent place.” “More decent than any.” Amanda looked over her shoulder into the hangar again. “Even the mercs are better behaved than in any other place I’ve been.” “Everyone behaves in my city”, Harkness replied with a small chuckle. “Otherwise they’ll have me to deal with.”
Out on the drawbridge the light was sharp and clear in the setting sun. Amanda blinked into the orange glow and looked at Harkness again. “A force to be reckoned with as a security chief, huh?” It felt relieving to think about other things than the events of the day. “In your city?” “My city.” He looked back at the ship for a second. “I’ve been protecting these people for ages.” Amanda felt her forehead wrinkle. “You don’t look older than your late thirties to me.” This time, Harkness had to laugh. “My dear Amanda… of course you wouldn’t know. I am well over a hundred.” Amanda stopped dead in her tracks. “A hundred? You’re damn well preserved for a ghoul.” “I am not a ghoul.” The smile died on his face and he looked past her for a moment. “I am an android.” “A what?” “An android. A highly advanced, humanlike robot.”
Amanda stared at him for a while before she took a distrustful little step back. “That was the worst pick-up line I’ve ever heard.” Harkness shook his head. “It wasn’t a pick-up line. I am not sexually interested in you. I was telling nothing but the truth. Here.” He picked up one of the plastic chairs standing at the top of the stairs. It had legs made of steel, and Harkness took it in both hands and, without any effort, bent the leg until it snapped. Amanda stared at him open-mouthed and finally shook her head. “I admit that’s nothing a human could do but… but I still find it easier to think you’re a mutant of some sort rather than… than a machine.” “I understand that it can be a bit much to swallow.”
Amanda didn’t reply as they made their way down the ramp. At one point she could smell blood and her hands began to tremble again. Once they had reached the bottom, her legs almost refused to carry her, and Harkness offered her his arm, which she gratefully accepted.
Stronger than death itself 4a/?
When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. ~Franklin D. Roosevelt
Overcome by exhaustion and worn out by her tears, Amanda pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders and wiped her eyes again. The tears had finally stopped, but she gave in to no illusion that they would come again, and again and again. For now, she was just too spent to cry anymore, but in the respite that was given to her then, her survival instinct began to kick in.
She was alone now. All the family she had ever had was dead and gone forever, and she was alone. However, if the merc had said they found the Brahmin, then that meant she was not impecunious. She would have to go down, though, and get the crate tied to the brahmin’s harness because she couldn’t leave her fortune unattended in the brahmin pen. She needed a place to stay until she had figured out where to go and what to do, and for that, she needed those caps. The problem remained that the key to the crate was in her father’s possession, he wore it on a string around his neck.
She would have to face it sooner or later anyway, so she cautiously got up from the couch, ignoring the puzzled looks from the two men sitting beside her.
When she left the stall, however, the security chief walked up to meet her. She felt uncomfortable in his presence, because of her embarrassing blunder on her arrival, but he seemed to either have completely forgotten it or was far too tactful to mention it.
“Miss Amanda?”
“I need… I need to go down and see them.”
Harkness nodded. “I understand. Would you like me to accompany you?”
She looked up at him, but his face was nothing but sincere. “Thank you. You are being very generous to a misfortunate stray girl you don’t even know.”
A small smile flitted over his face for a second. “Well… that misfortune happened in my city, more or less. It has swept you into my city, in any case, and whatever or whoever is in my city is my responsibility.”
“I still think it’s very generous. But I have to admit that I have never felt as safe anywhere as I do here in Rivet City.”
Harkness smiled as they ascended the stairs. “I aim to keep my city a decent place.”
“More decent than any.” Amanda looked over her shoulder into the hangar again. “Even the mercs are better behaved than in any other place I’ve been.”
“Everyone behaves in my city”, Harkness replied with a small chuckle. “Otherwise they’ll have me to deal with.”
Out on the drawbridge the light was sharp and clear in the setting sun. Amanda blinked into the orange glow and looked at Harkness again.
“A force to be reckoned with as a security chief, huh?” It felt relieving to think about other things than the events of the day. “In your city?”
“My city.” He looked back at the ship for a second. “I’ve been protecting these people for ages.”
Amanda felt her forehead wrinkle. “You don’t look older than your late thirties to me.”
This time, Harkness had to laugh. “My dear Amanda… of course you wouldn’t know. I am well over a hundred.”
Amanda stopped dead in her tracks. “A hundred? You’re damn well preserved for a ghoul.”
“I am not a ghoul.” The smile died on his face and he looked past her for a moment. “I am an android.”
“A what?”
“An android. A highly advanced, humanlike robot.”
Amanda stared at him for a while before she took a distrustful little step back. “That was the worst pick-up line I’ve ever heard.”
Harkness shook his head. “It wasn’t a pick-up line. I am not sexually interested in you. I was telling nothing but the truth. Here.” He picked up one of the plastic chairs standing at the top of the stairs. It had legs made of steel, and Harkness took it in both hands and, without any effort, bent the leg until it snapped.
Amanda stared at him open-mouthed and finally shook her head. “I admit that’s nothing a human could do but… but I still find it easier to think you’re a mutant of some sort rather than… than a machine.”
“I understand that it can be a bit much to swallow.”
Amanda didn’t reply as they made their way down the ramp. At one point she could smell blood and her hands began to tremble again. Once they had reached the bottom, her legs almost refused to carry her, and Harkness offered her his arm, which she gratefully accepted.