Fallout: Robot Cowgirl [Kuragari]

[Lazy Kitsune]

Name: Aya Santori (Synth Code: A251-S208)
Age: Appears 25. Constructed 7 years ago
Gender: Female
Appearance:

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/962/281/d64.png

Background:

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

A251-S208, or Aya Santori as she goes by when in the field, is one of the Institutes major successes in creating skilled and efficient infiltrator synths for work on the surface. She has been involved in several missions, ranging from simple intelligence gathering, assassination, tech retrieval, abduction, to sabotage and even manipulation of local power structures to the benefit of the Institute. She has an almost uncanny luck in some of her missions, and it has helped lead her out of bad situations.

However, she has also started to become a bit... quirky. She will sometimes argue with Institute scientists on the rights of Synths and that they should give Synths more responsibilities and opportunities to shine, arguing that seeing Synths as nothing more than tools is not making the optimum use of the potential Synths have to help redefine humanity.

The primary reasons this hasn't lead to her memory being wiped is both because of her own skills and success record, and because even amidst all her criticisms, she shows an unwavering loyalty to the Institute and seems only interested in ensuring the continued success of the Institute. However, it has gotten her into some trouble, even if it amuses the director of the Institute and father of the Synths.

To appease the more vocal critics of her views, she has been sent to Texas to gather intelligence and make sure things do not shift in a direction detrimental to Institute elements. She is also to try and track down any Synths or Railroad assets in the region.

SPECIAL Stats (40 points to spend, min 1 max 10)
Strength: 4
Endurance: 5
Perception: 5
Charisma: 6
Intelligence: 6
Agility: 6
Luck: 8

Tag Skills: Science, Repair, Guns

Turn Ons & Turn Offs: see signature
Character Specific: Big cocks, smart and strong individuals, bondage

You watch as the two fisherman prod the bloated corpse. Another seam in the Mirelurk's gut pops open, releasing a rancid stench into the air. They both clutch their noses and recoil, only for one of them to return to prodding.

"What the fuck, Mueller!" the other yells, slapping him on the other side of the head. "Let's just toss this thing overboard. It shouldn't have got tangled in our net in the first place, and its clearly no good for grub."

The one called Mueller grumbles in response, and the two men heft the long dead irradiated crustacean over the side of the boat, more of its innards tumbling onto the deck as its lifted off of the ground. Rain still lashes down onto the boat from the gloomy sky above, helping the two crewmen clean up the Mirelurk's remnants.

If you had any doubts there were those in the institute that resented the leniency your greater degree of free thinking was shown, being flung halfway across the country cleared that right up. Travelling by sea, which was a rarity enough these days, even when your ship stuck close to the coastline, you've had to catch rides from several different ships, most of which were fishing boats doing runs between what few coastal towns didn't have waters too irradiated to scoop the livestock out of. None of the food these boats brought back was clean, but people weren't about to grow an extra arm from eating it - not immediately at least. This was the kind of desperation people resorted to without the Institutes aid.

Your attention draws to the city on the coastline drawing closer. The end of your final trip by sea. With the ports near Houston so near ground zero of a strike in the war, no ships go near that place, leaving the only option Cropus Christi. You spy the silhouette of the USS Lexington in the harbour through the mist, an aircraft carrier decommissioned and re-purposed even before the war. Now it had been re-purposed once more, having been turned into a makeshift shanty town by the inhabitants and somewhere those settled on the land could retreat to in a hurry in the event of a raider or mutant attack. It was there you were expected to meet your handler to start getting you set up with the Texas Rangers.

"Hey, passenger!" you hear one of the crewmen yell over to you, beckoning. "Captain wants a word!"

Brought inside, your led to the cabin of a steely man in his mid to late forties. He leaves his arms bare while inside, showing off a good deal of muscle, as well as several scars, most faded, but a few more recent, patterning their way up his biceps and around his shoulders. "Ah," he says, turning to look at you, his voice surprisingly soft for a man as tough looking as him. "I understand you were a bit short on caps to pay for this trip. I said there'd be a way for you to pay me off once we arrived, but I've been thinking..." he nods to his crewman who takes his leave with a snicker, leaving you alone with the captain. "With how generous I've been, letting you on my ship, giving you safe passage and some of our food... there is a way that can... show your gratitude that'll make me forget the favour I asked. If you catch my drift, deary." You did eat some food... although it was only to keep up appearances. You barely dented his food supply. He smiles wide enough to just start to show teeth right as the door swings open again and the crewman returns.

"Hey! I thought we discussed, don't disturb me when I'm entertaining guests!" he snaps.

"Sorry Cap, but we just found a stowaway. Damn thief's been stealing our food and water all throughout the trip." says the crewman as another drags in a young woman, kicking and struggling to get free. He has a hand clasped over her mouth only for her to bite down, causing him to throw her to the ground and yell. "Fuckin' bitch! We've sold Stowaways to the Legion for less-"

"Not in front of our guest!" the captain yells, his face visibly darkening. Both crewmen fall silent as a look is exchanged between them all. They then shut the door behind you. You eye 9mms on their hips. The captain hums in thought, clearly discontent with how all this went down and the fact you overheard what you just did. Eventually, he manages to smile again and talks softly once more. "Word is, the Legion isn't what it used to be anyway. No point going to them. We can settle this like civilised folk... Wilkins, see if we have any of those fancy collars still in stock from the good ol' days. Ladies... play nice and we can resolve this all in house, understand me?"

This situation just got a lot more complicated than it was supposed to be.

Reference Images:
The Stowaway: https://chan.sankakucomplex.com/post/show/14115795

[Kuragari]

This was not exactly the sort of situation that Aya had planned for, but it wasn't one that she couldn't get out of with some quick thinking. She was outnumbered for the moment, but given the feisty spirit of the passanger, that wouldn't necessarily remain so. Taking a moment to think it over, she smiles to the Captain as she decides to make use of her own feminine wiles to her advantage, even as she thought to herself Men are so predictable

"You needn't worry about mentioning slavery in front of me. It doesn't bother me." Especially considering in a manner I am one, but he doesn't need to know that. "I am of course happy to help repay you for your genoristy Captain in... mmhm, many positions and manners if that's what you would like, so there is no need for anything to go badly between you and I."

Glancing to the stowaway, she took a moment to assess her. She seemed like the sort who often got into trouble... and well, if she was being honest with herself, was quite the looker. She wasn't sure if bisexuality had been an intent of her programming or just something that occurred naturally, but she wouldn't necessarily mind having someone tough beautiful like her around.

"I can also take this one off your hands if she proves to be too much trouble for your boys... though I'm sure between a strong man like yourself and a woman like me, we could have her winding up more... cooperative."

[Lazy Kitsune]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Speech Roll: (7+1=8): Failure

The captain crosses his arms, an amused smile on his lips. From his eyes, he seems to actually respect your attempt to defuse the situation with words, but he shakes his head none-the-less. "An admirable attempt to save yourself, but I'm afraid I can't take chances here. I simply don't know you well enough to let you just walk on out of here after this. Consider the collar a precaution. If we can find a buyer for you here, I'm sure you can try your charms on them. Others, I expect we'll be trying out those 'positions' and 'manners' of yours for quite a while together. Wilkins, go fetch the collars as I said. Jones and I will make sure these ladies are well tended to in the meantime."

One of the men leaves the room, leaving it an even fight, even if they're both armed and the woman you're with isn't. "Strip everything, the both of you!" the captain says, aiming his sidearm at you. If you do as he says, you're effectively disarmed, but you might be able to lull him into a false sense of security. Of course, you'd only have until the other one returns with the collars to use that to your advantage. If you fight back, you could win this. They don't know you're a synth afterall. The woman you're with, however, doesn't have such an advantage.

She spits at the captain's feet at his request. "You son of a bitch! To think I felt bad about stealing... but if I knew what you were, I'd have slit your throat in your sleep!" It seems she won't cooperate, even with a gun pointed at her. If you want to try cooperating you may have to talk her into it, or just fight back and do your best to keep her alive.

[Kuragari]

Aya let out a sight at that. While she was fully capable of violence, it wasn't her preferred avenue for dealing with things. However, she wasn't going to tolerate a collar being placed on her, especially because of how much trouble that'd be for her mission.

"I'm afraid my mission requires me to not be collared." Deciding to make use of her superior Synth reflexes, she moves to instead draw her own gun and fire for center mass. Chest or stomach, either would ensure he was likely to be dead. She would apologize once he was a bleeding body on the ground... she also hoped that her decision to resort to violence would give the woman the obvious impetus to do something.

[Lazy Kitsune]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Guns Roll: (16+2=18): Success

Your gun is pulled from your hip and pointed at the Captain in an instant. With his gun already trained on you, he fires, but not before he gets a shot off. His shot hits your shoulder, and you bleed just like a human would. But you're not human, so a wound like this means nothing. The captain, however, is knocked over his desk by the force of the shot, his gun flying from his hand and onto the ground. The stowaway scrambles for it, but not before the other man in the room takes a shot at you.

The shot hits, knocking you over. You're thrown face-first onto the floor by the force of the bullet. You hear crewmen screaming and scrambling to come and check out all the gunfire. One last shot in the room rings out, and you look up, able to see the stowaway holding the captain's sidearm in her hand as the crewman that shot you drops to the ground. She pants and staggers to her feet, about to go for his gun as well before she sees you.

"What... what the fuck? How are you still alive?" she asks, mouth agape. You likely only have a few moments before more crewmen arrive.

[Kuragari]

Aya didn't even flinch as she took the shot to her shoulder. Shots like that were akin to scratches for a Synth. Sure, it'd probably hurt a bit later, but she could easily ignore it for now. She smirked just a bit as she saw the captain go flying. The second shot however is a bit more... painful, and she lets out a startled grunt as the force of it sends her to the floor. She growls a bit, even as she hears what sounds like the last one being dealt with by the woman.

"Answers... later. Hostile crew incoming. We either need to kill them... or convince them that it's better if they surrender and let someone take the promotion to captain and live." Aya grinned a bit as she pushed herself up. "Perhaps me still standing with these should help it. Grab the Captains gun."

[Lazy Kitsune]

She gathered up both the guns in the room, pulling off a holster from one of the corpses to keep one in before scrambling behind the captain's desk to use as cover. The door seemed to sturdy to be shot through, so as the crew approach, they stop just outside it. You hear the sounds of weapons being readied. "Cap! What's going on in there!" you hear a voice call in. Then silence. After a few moments, they start muttering amongst themselves. "Alright, whoever you are, you've got ten seconds to drop your weapons and come out with your hands up. Otherwise... we'll... we'll come in shooting."

He sounded more nervous than the captain and the two crewmen that brought in the stowaway. Perhaps not all of these men have a past with dealing with slavers as those three did, although that was just speculation at this point.

[Kuragari]

"The Captain decided he wished to collar and enslave me, a guest who paid for transport and was willing to do a favor or offer... services to him to make up for not having all the caps when I booked passage. I took offense to this, and shot him. He is dead. I am still standing. I do not wish to kill any others, merely get to my destination safely." Aya called out, keeping her own gun trained on the door. "Whoever is next in line can take over the Captain's position or you can decide among yourselves... or we can see how many more bodies I can add to my kill count today."

As an additional bit, she adds "I won't even ask for any recompense for the Captain attempting to make me a slave. If you wish to negotiate, whoever is in charge may come in with one other and we can talk this out."

[Lazy Kitsune]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Speech Roll: (18+1=19): Success

After a few moments of pause, you overhear some quiet deliberation between the crewmen outside. "Wait, is she serious?" "Did the captain really..." "It wouldn't be the first time?" "...Shit..." Until finally, you hear one say "Alright, we don't want any trouble... We're docked at Corpus. If you leave now, and I mean right away, no fuss, then we can all go our separate ways."

There is still an uncertain tension in the air. You know at least one other crewman was in league with the captain on this, although he doesn't seem to be the one talking right now. You can't be certain that the ones outside the door are being genuine, but you're 'gut', to use a more human phrase, tells you that they seem to be being honest. Your stowaway friend seems a little more paranoid, however.

"Its a trick! They'll slap collars on us as soon as we step out there. We should open the door firing, get them off guard and clear the way." she whispers to you. "Its the only safe bet." If you want to end this peacefully it seems you'll have to talk her down as well.

[Kuragari]

"I may be able to take more hits than others Missy, but even I will only take so many. We are effectively cornered and outnumbered. We should take the chance to leave alive and with what we have." Aya says simply to the woman... then adds "If your intent on going out shooting, I can tell them they can do what they want with you as I exit. While I appreciate the assistance and do find you quite good looking, my Mission takes priority right now and the sooner I'm off this boat the better."

But, to help sway her a bit, Aya adds "However, if you come peacefully with me, I believe they won't bother you. Especially when they see these and that I'm easily standing." Aya points out to her two wounds, smirking a bit.

"Your choice."

[Lazy Kitsune]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Speech Roll: (15+1=16): Success

Her eyes flick between the door and you as she slowly stands up from behind the captain's desk. It seems she's seeing the logic behind what you're saying. "I... fine. We'll do it your way. But I'm taking shots the moment things look like they might go south." she says, moving beside you to get ready to leave. She stops for a moment, turning to the captain and spitting on him before doing the same with the other dead crewman. "Though for the record, I'm not forgetting that you tried to switch sides by offering to double team me with that scumbag earlier."

As you open the door to depart, the crewmen give room for you to leave. Not all of them have guns, a few only have knives, wrenches... one spatula. This was probably a fight you could have won, although at the moment, you don't need to fight it as they let you depart. A few glare at you, a few actually look apologetic, most just gawk at your bullet holes. After a dreadfully tense walk off the ship, you eventually make onto the Corpus harbour. From here, its just a short walk to get to the walkway onto the USS Lexington and your rendezvous with your handler.

"So, are you going to tell me how you seem to be just shrugging off gun shots? You're not riding high on psycho or buffout are you? No... you're far too calm and collected." the stowaway asks. She's still holding the captain's pistol in her hand, although isn't pointing it at you. "The names Effie, by the way. Effie Parks."

[Kuragari]

"Fair enough, and if they start shooting so will I." Aya says with a shrug as she moves to step out the door. As for her comment on that... "I would not expect you to do so. I was seeking a peaceful way out however, and was hoping that at least would be more likely to appeal to him then actually needing collars. Seemed his past behavior influenced his choices."

Aya notes with some amusement the assortment of weapons, but doesn't say anything. She does however smile a bit as some gawk at her wounds and how she seems to be unconcerned about them. She does offer polite nods to the apologetic looking crewmen. Before she steps off, she does however say "May whoever takes command next recall that some are not as they seem, and to err a bit more on the side of caution when trying to collar someone. Or at least, think ahead for it."

With that, she heads off the boat and begins making her way towards the USS Lexington, hoping her handler can help a bit with the wounds. Even if she can turn off her pain receptors, it'd be a good idea to tend to them. As her new... friend for lack of a better word asks again, she considers it for a moment. Technically, she's not supposed to reveal her status as a Synth to others... but, well, she's already seen what she can take and isn't coming up with any good fake stories that sound... believable enough at the moment.

"A pleasure Effie Parks. Allow me to answer it by giving my real designation. I am A251-S208, A Synthetic Humanoid. But you may also call me Aya, Aya Santori."

[Lazy Kitsune]

After you and Effie departed, the crew stood in silence for a few moment until finally one of them spoke up. "Well... what the hell just happened?"

"Shut up Mueller. Go clean up the bodies." is the only response he gets as the rest of the men just seem to return to going about their business.

If the institute knew you were giving someone you're real designation they would be blowing (figurative, and possibly literal) fuses. Although lying your way out of this one might just create more problems. In the future, when in front of someone you need to deceive it might be best to act out all the pain and hindrance a bullet wound would deliver, or just avoid getting shot altogether. A state of the art Synth like you is among the best the Institute has been able to develop, designed not only to fool humans but to fool other Synths that go rogue in case you need to hunt them down.

"A... what? Synthetic Humanoid? You mean to say you're not even... real?" she says, giving your shoulder a slight prod, fortunately not on the bullet wound, but close enough to cause some mild discomfort. She starts to follow you to the USS Lexington, clearly not satisfied enough with your response yet. "You can't just leave it like that... where do you come from? Why are you... why were you built?"

The rain starts to abate, and you can feel the southern heat start to set in already. While the air is still filled with moisture, its warming up quickly as the clouds pass. You expect it'll be much warmer here than in Massachusetts. As you approach the aircraft carrier, noting the makeshift market that seems to have been set up on the top deck for visitors to browse, you feel a signal trigger something in your mind. The location of your handler becomes known to you and you know the path to go to where they are staying in the lower decks. Along with this information you also receive knowledge of his name and appearance. Reuben Brewer. Although he was going by Harper Mitchell locally. No doubt he was also alerted of your presence at this moment. Effie is still following you at the moment. You doubt Reuben would appreciate her presence during your rendezvous, although she has proved herself somewhat useful. She can handle a gun, and she was stealthy enough to keep hidden for weeks on a boat. As for why she was doing that, you would have to ask her.

While visitors were free to explore the market on the top of the boat as much as they wanted, it seemed they needed to hand over their weapons to a security checkpoint if they wanted to enter the lower decks. There might be another way to sneak in or possibly bribe the guards in order to keep your weapons, but that could cause trouble with the local authorities if it didn't work out.

Reference Images
Reuben Brewer: https://chan.sankakucomplex.com/post/show/9152196

[Kuragari]

Aya knew this was risky, but in the spur of the moment she hadn't contemplated such things, focused more on the immediate case of surviving and being able to continue her mission. Acting out the damage might have risked her being taken done, something she knew was always a possibility even if some Institute scientists liked to think the combat Synths were always superior to humans. Her only thought on that front was to point out times regular humans were able to outdo Super Mutants in one way or another.

Still, for the future, she'd need to use much more caution and thinking.

"Answering too much could require me to kill you, just so you know. By standard protocol, I shouldn't have even shared my designation, but then again some also think units like me shouldn't leave witnesses for accidents like that... even if killing an entire ship would have just created more questions." Aya says as she slows her approach a bit. "As for real, I am quite real as you can see. I do have flesh and blood, but I am not a normal, regular human of the Wasteland."

As the two draw closer to the carrier, she goes ahead and switches her pain receptors back on, although numbed slightly. She gasps and winces, now trying to hurry a bit as she found herself definitively wanting to go ahead and get to her handler. A stimpack would help a bit, but it was best to have her Handler look her over too as well if she could. Thankfully, she can now sense the general area and location of her handler and what he should look like.

"If you wish to meet up again later, I can meet you here in the market. For now, I need to meet with someone who won't be happy to see you even if you did help and could be useful." Aya says to her before heading off and handing her weapons in. Its not like in the closed quarters and confined spaces of the interior she'd need them.

[Lazy Kitsune]

She almost backs off as you mention that you might need to kill her if she learns to much, but seems to be thinking over everything you say afterwards carefully. "You're one odd customer, you know that?" she asks, before slipping her gun through a loop in her belt as a makeshift second holster. "What, you're just going to ditch me like that?" she huffs, crossing her arms. "Right, super secret synth stuff, got it. Just get back here, OK. I don't feel like I'm done with you just yet."

The people you walk by turn and gasp as they see your injuries. The guards at the entrance walkover, one of them offering an arm to help support you. "You okay, miss? We've got a clinic inside, the doc can have a look at you." With you handing over your gun to them, there's no issue about being let in. Its up to you, however, to accept their help to guide you to the clinic or to make an excuse to be left on your own to go meet up with Reuben.

[Kuragari]

"You are surprisingly correct on that." Aya says, then leans in and asks "I do recommend not sharing the truth of what I am with others. Then I will have to kill you and those who heard so as to safeguard my mission. And for someone as cute and tough as you appear, I'd prefer not to do that." Offering her a wink, Aya heads on away and into the ship itself.

Aya puts on a brave face even as she winces every so often, acting up the injuries to an extent. She accepts the support, but waves off the offer to go to their clinic.

"I~I know a friend here who I trust more for things like this... though if any of you have a spare stimpack that'd be appreciated. I only got one left and it's saved for literal life and death situations." She offers one of them a more... sensual smile as she says "I'm sure I can make it up to you later if parting with it would be a problem."

Otherwise, she makes for Reuben's quarters or location.

[Lazy Kitsune]

"Uh-huh" Effie murmurs, seemingly turning her nose up at you calling her cute, although she does seem to slightly smirk. Whether out of amusement or interest, you can't be sure. "Odd customer to be sure." she says to herself before turning away and exploring the market.

As you ask for a stimpack, the look on the guard escorting you goes a little wary. Medical supplies as valuable as stimpacks are likely hard to come by around here.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Speech Roll: (18+1=19): Success

Although at your more sensual offer he does stop for a moment to consider. Giving you a careful, and eager look over he eventually relents and hands over a stimpack.

"Alright, but only because you look like you need it. And I'm going to trust you to make it up to me. I'm not about to go on faith with that, mind you, I'll be waiting at the exit for you. We can discuss what you're... willing to do for me when you're back in good shape and done with your business here."

Happy to let you go now that he trusts to be seeing you again later, the guard leaves, looking over his shoulder to watch you walk away. Or your ass, more specifically. He catches you noticing him look and winks. All things considered, he wasn't a bad looking man, might even be fun. And despite your offer, he didn't actually fondle you as he helped you into the ship.

You seem to inherently know the quickest way to Reuben despite never having been on this vessel before. It doesn't take long for you to wind your way through the dimly lit metal corridors to find the hallway your handler seems to currently be residing. Make shift tents and walls of unused crates separate out different sections of this hall to create more rooms to divide amongst people, although these don't seem like residential accommodation. Instead these seem like workstations, services and storage areas for the currently undisplayed stock of the shops on the surface. Reuben seems to be nestled in a nearby tent tinkering with some electronics. You pass through the entrance of his tent, a thin sheet of cloth separating the two of you from all the passers by as he works on repairing a busted mechanical part of some kind. A repair technician... seems like the perfect cover for an Institute agent. He looks up as he sees you enter but then turns his attention back to his work.

"Come here... I told the guards I had requested... special services... so after seeing you enter they'll make sure no one else comes in. Its best that you sit near me however while we talk, to avoid anyone overhearing us."

[Kuragari]

"What's your name? That way I can easily find you so I can show my appreciation~" Aya purrs the last word out a bit, then winces as her pain receptors remind her of the wounds a bit more. She nods at his conditions though, and quickly goes ahead and injects the stimpack. She sighs somewhat as she feels it getting to work, but it still takes a bit to get to where she needs to go. She does wink back to him as she catches his look, humming a bit as she finds herself hoping he was at least good in the sack. Male synths weren't lacking, but most didn't seem to have the same libido she did... she wasn't sure if again that had been on purpose or not, but the Institute never seemed to complain...

She nods as she situates herself next to him, having expected a reception like this from an agent in the field. That seemed to be one common thing regardless of any other qualities. "Any chance you can help patch these up? There was an incident on the boat that brought me here." She said softly, making sure to keep an ear and eye out just in case.

[Lazy Kitsune]

"Security Chief Thomas Jackson. If I'm not at the front, I'll be in my office or quarters. If not in either of those, I might be at the bar. Ask around, I'm sure someone will be able to point you in the right direction. You can give me your name when we meet again." he says, waving you off.

Reuben slides one arm around and grabs your waist, although his eyes remained focused on his work. Perhaps he was setting up to easily portray his cover story should anyone peak in. "You're damaged already? I was told you'd be a little unpredictable, but I didn't expect problems already." he looks to give you a cursory examination before sighing and rubbing his forehead. "Alright, take your top off and lean against the table, I'll see what I can do. When dear old 'Father' sent me your file I sent back a request you be reset before coming here. I'm starting to think I was right to be cautious, the last thing we need is your errant code causing slip ups."

[Kuragari]

"The Captain initially wanted to request services from me, but then two of his crew brought a stowaway in and made mention of their old ties to the Caesar's Legion and basically being slavers. He decided that collaring me and selling me was a better choice. He no longer can make such foolish choices." Aya explained simply enough, though she also added, "The consensus of the others, even Father, is that resetting me would be a waste of valuable resources. My record proves my abilities which I note is thanks to the work of the Institute's best."

Still, she does as instructed, stripping of her top and laying down where told as she waited to see if this man knew what he was doing or not. The skills of some handlers and human agents working on the surface was not as uniform as she would have liked at times.