"We
should check our equipment first," Tricia said. "Squirt, I
need this armor piece replaced." She pointed at her shoulder
where a bullet was lodged in her spaulder.
George
had never maintained a power armor before. However, replacing the
armor plate was not complicated. It simply involved detaching the
damaged part, replacing it with a new one and making sure the new
piece was securely fastened.
Tricia
then directed him to inspect the rest of her armor. If it was just a
simple visual inspection, he could do that. George was not sure if he
could maintain the complicated inner mechanisms that were sheltered
beneath the armor plates. Hopefully, he would not have to. Tricia
would probably take the armor to a qualified technician later.
"So,
uh, why's he letting us grab his stuff from the upper levels?"
George asked as he worked.
"It's
a mutually beneficial arrangement," Tricia said, "We get to
raid the tower, they'll record everything and make it into a show.
You may have seen it before on network TV back in Covenant."
"Can't
say I have," George admitted. He checked the armor on one of
Tricia's leg. "Which network is it on?"
"You
should look it up when you get back home," Tricia suggested,
"It's 'Madboy Keith's Tower of Trials'. And you're starring in
it today, Squirt."
It was
not surprising that George would not know of the show with his
limited free time and the many, many other shows available for
download and viewing on Covenant's information network. Still, it was
exciting to appear in a show on his first outing into the wasteland.
He had better look good and not mess up.
"But,
if the show's in Covenant, why's the tower here?" George asked
as he checked the Vixen's other leg.
"Because
there are rules in Covenant, rules that don't allow the sort of
dangerous things that's up there." Tricia pointed to the upper
levels of the tower.
"Wait.
Danger!?"
"Yes,
danger," Mabel interrupted from the back of the transport, where
she was checking her equipment, "Fun, isn't it?"
Okay,
that was something to be seriously concerned about. Yes, George knew
that the wasteland was a dangerous place - he had just been through a
firefight after all. There within the tower, danger was a certainty.
And the Vixens might not be able to keep him out of it. Though his
life would be at risk, it felt exciting.
Tricia
had George install a pneumatic pike on her arm to use in close combat
instead of the hammer.
Iona
came up to George when he was done working on Tricia's armor. "Here."
With her small hands, she tied a bracelet with green beads woven into
it around his right wrist. "For protection."
George
wanted to decline. It looked like a feminine piece of jewelry to him.
But he could not say so to Iona's happy face. Especially after he had
seen her inhuman strength. "Thanks," he managed.
Who knew
what else that smiling girl was capable of!
He noted
that Iona was about his height. At least there was someone who was
not taller than he was.
Mabel
stepped up to them. She had ceramic armor with a helmet and mask, and
she was armed with two rifles - one in her hands and the other slung
behind her, beside a backpack. When she held out her right hand for
Iona to inspect, George saw that she had a similar bracelet of beads.
Perhaps
it was a custom among the Scarlet Vixens or something. Wearing such a
bracelet would not be so bad then if it identified him as one of
them.
"You're
okay," Iona declared after she was done checking Mabel's
bracelet.
"Then
let's go," Tricia decided.
After
they received the go-ahead from Lukas, Tricia led the party up the
broad staircase, and then up the curved one to the upper level. It
was the sensible thing to do, letting the Vixen with the heaviest
armor go ahead.
At the
top of the stairs, they pushed through several sets of solid plastic
curtains to emerge on the first floor, ready for their first trial.
The
level was full of cabinets of all sizes, neatly arranged in rows. The
exit to the level, a curved staircase up, was in plain sight at the
opposite end of the room. A sign near them proclaimed the level as
'the Trial of Endurance'. There was a faintly sour smell in the air.
If they
were in a show, there should be cameras, somewhere. But George could
not figure out where. There were no hanging electronics from the
ceiling. And there were no conspicuous mirrors behind which cameras
could be hidden.
"This
doesn't look so challenging," Mabel remarked with disappointment
as she surveyed the floor. She turned to Tricia and pointed at the
stairs opposite. "The exit's just right there!"
"Maybe
it's supposed to look like that," Tricia said, "So we'll
ignore the room and go up. But there may be treasure in one of those
drawers."
Mabel
turned to the larger Vixen. "But that man said the treasure's in
the top floor!" she argued.
"The
most valuable ones are," Tricia corrected, "That doesn't
mean there's nothing good here. And besides, he may be lying."
"So
you think there's something here?" Mabel asked. She looked over
the room again.
"Maybe."
Tricia paused. "But it doesn't make sense for this to be called
'the Trial of Endurance'."
Iona
looked up and sniffed. "Something's in the air."
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