Radiance

Chapter 75: Institutionalised

"Are you sure this is a good idea, I mean a city filled with humans who are apparently on edge from synths in their midst is a good place to start sure, but I'm pretty sure they are going to adopt a shoot first see if it actually talks the second approach if they see me, Ven and Passa lurking about?" Malakai said nervously looking at the giant metal structure in the distance that the locals referred to as Diamond City.

"Look we made short work of those roaming super mutant packs on the way over here and hell you even yanked those mini-nukes right out the hands of those crazy suicide bastards they got running with them now, so I'm sure we'll be fine," Wisp said looking out of the window of their temporary hidey hole in the loft apartment of a store a block away from the city.

"And besides it'll only be us, humans, heading in to take a look around, our gorgeous non-humans are going to stay right here where it's safe," Shepherd said ruffling Passa's feathers playfully making the big winged Claw boy ruffle them himself along with his wings to put them back into place.

"Yeah that's what worries me given that my girl is an actual synth," Malakai said wringing his hands and twittering his mandibles worriedly in that insanely cute way he did when he was genuinely nervous about something.

"Don't you worry yourself Malakai, your girl can not only look after herself but she's got us watching her back, plus she's wearing that new generation of covert armour that you were coming up with on the way down here, so she's doubly good yeah?" Gregory said patting the young Arachnakai boy on the shoulder to help calm his nerves.

Wisp stepped forwards and embraced her man tightly, pulling his upper body into her arms and relishing the feeling of him wrapping his arms tightly around her, "Don't you worry yourself my little sugar spider, there ain't no one on this earth save for Seven who is strong enough to stop me from getting back to my love, hell if shit goes really sideways then I just go full cloud and vape my sparkly ass right out of there, what are they gonna do yank out a giant vacuum cleaner to suck me out of the air?" she said making him chuckle.

"Knowing you you'd bloody infiltrate it and turn it back on them," Malakai said making her laugh and nod.

"Well then there you go, so you got nothing to worry about and my two good friends here are 100% homegrown non-human loving humans, so they should slip right passed with zero issues," she said and Malakai nodded.

"I know and I'm sorry if I'm coming over as a worry wort, I do believe in you you know I do, but I just get so nervous when you are away from me, I don't like not knowing what's happening especially when the one I love is concerned," he said softly.

"Trust me you're not the only one big guy, it put my tail in a knot knowing my Gregory is going in there amongst potentially hundreds of bigots and I'm fighting every urge I have to stride my scaly arse right in there alongside him and roar at them that this is the man I love and if you fuckers don't like it bring it the fuck on, but I can't because then not only do we get into a massive and totally needless fight, but I'd risk the very thing I yearn to protect, so we are left with simply trust them as we always have," Ven said hugging Gregory against his chest and lifting him off his feet.

"You are not the only one who feels this way cousin, it feels so very wrong to leave the woman I love to face potential danger alone and to not be stood proudly at her side ready to not only defend her but to display my Claw pride and honour for all to bare witness to, but it is the folly of us non-humans who love these beautiful little wonderful creatures that we must trust them to know what is best within the realm of their own society," Passa said leaning down and pressing his scaly forehead to Shepherd's.

Ven was nodding in full agreement and understanding of what the big white-scaled Claw boy had just said and Wisp just smiled to herself, Claws really did take their pride and honour very seriously.

With some final checks and a last goodbye to their non-human loves the three humans or rather one cloud girl riding around in a synth body and two actual humans set off along the road for the city.

As luck would have it they timed their arrival just right as it seemed that a couple of caravan traders had just arrived from some of the settlements around the area if the overly packed Brahmien loaded down with everything including what appeared to be a few kitchens sinks stood waiting at the massive entrance gate was anything to go by.

A group of caravaneers stood talking to the Dimond City guards who were easily distinguishable by the way they all seemed to be wearing a kind of padded armour that made Wisp think of the sports gear they'd seen in some of the shops around here.

There were others too though these looked to be caravan guards, by the way, they were clustered around the Brahmien brandishing mean looks and meaner-looking guns to ward off any potential raiders or simple thieves who might take advantage of the distraction.

Wisp approached the closest guard to them which was the one at the rear of the queue and the white woman dressed in a heavy leather duster and what appeared to be road leathers eyed them suspiciously.

"Howdy friend, is this the back of the line to get in or something?" Wisp asked in a cheery voice making a show of hoisting her weapon onto her shoulder and raising her hand in greeting.

The guard's eyes darted to her two companions to see them doing the same and she seemed to relax somewhat though she kept her weapon right there in her hands. Still, thankfully she also kept it lowered.

"Nah this line's only for the caravans, the security makes a big ho hah about checking our 'paperwork' but you guys can go right to the front to the left there and they should let you in as long as you did not get a bounty on ya or sumthin," the guard said with a thick southern accent.

Wisp nodded and smiled at her, "Much appreciated friend hope you have safe travels," she said and the woman nodded and made a gesture of dipping the tip of her black leather cowboy hat.

"You too stranger," she said obviously pleased that she'd met someone civil on the road as the group only knew too well civility and manners were a rare commodity these days.

Wisp followed the woman's directions and true to her word there was a smaller booth where another couple of guards stood watching the conversation with the caravanners obviously waiting to check in anyone else who came along while also protecting their fellows who were going over the caravan inventories.

The guards all turned as they saw Wisp and her companions approaching and the closest to them a man in his early forties gave them a nod of greeting.

"Hi there, is this where you book in to come into the city?" Wisp asked and the guard nodded.

"Aye that it be lass," he said in what sounded to be a thick Scottish accent.

"Great me and my two friends are bounty hunters but don't worry we're not here chasing just looking to do a restock and see if there are any warrants you guys are wanting to be picked up," Wisp said cheerily.

The man raised a thick bushy eyebrow that vanished under the brim of his helmet as if the news that these three could possibly be bounty hunters, granted they did look like a rather unlikely trio but their weapons and armour certainly did lend credence to their claim.

They'd come up with the cover story as a way to not only integrate themselves with the guards but also as a way to not be seen as suspicious when asking questions around the town, if they were known to be bounty hunters the guard would pay them a lot less mind as that's the kinda thing that they do, plus they really didn't think that they'd believe that they were travelling detectives.

"Ain't seen you three before and we know most of the hunters round these parts," the guard said and this time it was Gregory who spoke up.

"We're kinda new to the area, had to come down here to grab a raider group not too long ago pretty damn glad that that mark had a dead or alive tag on the fucker because alive sure as hell wasn't an option and well we thought what the hell why not come back down after we handed him over to the client and see if there's any work going around here," he said.

The guard nodded approvingly at the news that a raider was dead or rather a group of them as if there was one thing that all people were agreed upon it was that the only good raider was a dead one, well apart from if you are said raider of course.

"There's always work for folks like yourselves going and what with all these abductions happening all over and the news of synths around you'd probably get work five minutes into setting foot in the market, there's always someone looking to track down a missing person around here, so if you guys aren't opposed to doing work that doesn't involve shooting holes in raiding scumbags then I'm sure good ol Diamond City has you covered," he said.

"Sounds good to us, might be a nice change of pace to actually get to bring someone back whose both not guilty and is not full of holes for once," Shepherd said.

The guard chuckled at this and nodded approvingly, "Well alright just sign your names into the book here and you're good to go just make sure to keep your weapons slung or in their holsters at all times around here, if it's in your hands the guards are authorised to shoot you so just be aware of that," the guard said turning a massive ledger book around to face the three and they proceeded to write the fake names they'd come up with onto the page before giving the guards a final nod and wave then heading off into the city itself.

As they stepped out into the market the three marvelled at how the people of this now city had converted the once baseball stadium into a place of safety for people to live, apartment like homes littered the upper stands while down in the centre a bustling market was filled with stalls all promising the most diverse and interesting of wears, there was even a hairdresser.

Upon seeing that Gregory laughed and pointed, "Think Ven would appreciate it if I came back to him rocking a new hairdo?" he said and Shepherd laughed.

"Knowing him he wouldn't care if you came back bald just as long as you came back though I can see him marching his scaly arse up here after he knew you were safe set on a vengeance upon the one who dares to desecrate your locks," she said making Gregory roar with laughter.

"I wonder if they charge by the yard because if so you could try and convince them to give Malakai a trim, would love to see their faces when he rocked up and plopped himself down in the chair, though it would probably be more interesting to watch him try to figure out how to get into said chair first," Gregory said nudging Wisp's arm with his elbow.

"You leave my Malakai's fluffy bum alone, I love his fluffiness, you two heathens don't know the meaning of the words good life, you have not lived until you have fallen asleep encased in eight legs and two arms while surrounded by the softest of fur," she said with a smile as warm memories flowed through her of her nights spent basking in the love of her fluffy man.

"Could say the same to you about the joys of scales you know," Gregory shot back as they continued to walk among the stalls.

"Ha got you both trumped, got fluffy and scaly as well as soft leather-like wings to boot, beat that," Shepherd said proudly.

"When did this become non-human top trumps?" Gregory said making his two companions laugh.

"The moment you threatened to take away the fluffy part from my little fluffy bum," Wisp shot with a smile that made him laugh.

"Poor boy is probably driving both Passa and Ven insane with his pacing by now, you know what he's like when he gets nervous," Shepherd said and the others nodded.

"Though got to be fair it is somewhat fascinating to watch someone pace about on the ceiling of all places," Gregory said making Wisp chuckle and nod.

"Knowing him he's probably halfway up the outer wall or hanging from one of the ceiling rafters above our heads like a giant house spider already," Wisp said with a warm smile.

"God I hope not given how up those houses go he'd probably start a mass panic up there and it would end up raining men," Gregory said.

The trio decided to stick with their cover story and decided to head on over to the weapons vendor to see if they could not only pick up some ammo but to see if there were any upgrades available while they did that they decided that they could use it as an opportunity to not only discreetly question a few people but also to listen in on a few conversations given how centrally located the place was.

As it turned out this was the right move because they'd only been there a couple of minutes haggling about the price of some mico fusion cells when Wisp overheard someone talking about another disappearance and how the person's family had hired the synth detective to go looking for them.

Now, this struck her as seriously odd, if it was supposedly the synths of the institute snatching these people why in the name of hell would a fellow synth aid them in finding them again and on to of that how in the name of hell was there a synth living here that people accepted?

So once they were done with their shopping they decided to head on over to find out.

Wisp had heard the name Valentine's detective agency thrown into that conversation so the trio wandered through the back allies until they found the place tucked away behind the main market.

"So the guy who runs this place is a synth?" Gregory asked looking at Wisp with a 'you sure about this?' look on his face.

"That's what I heard and the people all know he is, it's like some widely known fact not even an open secret just an accepted fact," she said.

"Well then let's go and say hello shall we, should be interesting at the very least," Shepherd said gesturing to the doorway which had a little neon sign shaped like a heart with 'Valentine's Detective Agency' written on it outside.

The three of them piled inside and were greeted by a surprisingly well-decorated little office space that looked quite professional and homely at the same time.

Sat behind a desk looking over some files was a youngish woman in her early thirties who looked up as they entered, "Welcome to Valentine's detective agency the boss is out working a case right now but you can leave the details of it with me and i'll set you up an appointment to see him if you'd like," she said warmly.

"Ahh Valentine is out of pity we kinda wanted to see him personally got some questions to ask him about the synths operating around here and the disappearances thought we could share notes and even see if he needs some contractors to help out," Wisp said pleasantly.

"Oh you guys are detectives too? she asked curiously looking the three of them over.

"Not quite more like bounty hunters but we decided might be a good change of pace to maybe take on some jobs that don't involve shooting raiders full of holes and then dragging their sorry carcases back to our clients, though it might be nice to try out hand at you know bringing non-guilty people back to their loved ones alive and kicking," Shepherd said and the young woman nodded in understanding.

"Yeah there's been a lot going on around that sort of thing recently it's really worrying everyone even the boss and he's a synth himself but I can tell you now he might have been built by the institute but he's not one of theirs, they tossed him out like unwanted trash years ago, no memories to speak of and just left to fend for himself, but he pulled himself out of that hole they threw him into and he built himself up into what he is today and that is a good person with a strong moral compass, Nick is one of the good ones I can tell you that for free, I've seen him put himself in harm's way to help good people more times than I can count, that's why he's so well-liked around here despite being a synth because people can see that he hates the institute as much as they do and he's never tired to hide who or what he is and to be fair it is kinda obvious," she said.

"Well that's good to hear sound definitely like the sort of person we'd like to work with," Shepherd said.

The woman who introduced herself as Marsha set them up with an appointment for the next morning at ten am sharp, the group thanked her and left the office, they decided to poke around a little more before heading back out of the city and to where they had left their beloved non-humans, though Wisp was sure that Malakai had probably worn a hole in the ceiling with all of his pacing by now.

A point that was proven as no sooner had the group walked through the door of their HQ than they were set upon by three very relived and needy boys who had very much missed their loved ones for the few hours they had been gone.

Malakai was hugging Wisp so tightly she was actually worried that he might start webbing her up to prevent her from leaving again, not that she'd be opposed to a little light bondage now and then.

She reached up and gently kissed her handsome spider boy and relished the feel of his little mandibles running over her face as if he was just checking to make sure she was indeed real and not an apparition come to torment him with images of his lost love.

"I've missed you so much," Malakai whispered softly in her ear as he stroked her cheek with his mandibles and she smiled warmly as she looked into her man's massive expressive eyes.

"Missed you too my little sugar spider and honestly I'm surprised you didn't try and sneak off to climb up the city wall, I was half expecting to look up and see you scuttling along high up in the rafters above my head," Wisp said playfully before kissing both of his little mandibles.

"Oh he did but as strong as he is he's not strong enough to climb walls with a couple of hundred pounds of ultra sexy claw boy sat on his fluffy back," Ven said from their right and Wisp chuckled and shook her head.

"I knew it," she said and Malakai looked embarrassed as all hell though Wisp couldn't help but be somewhat turned on by the flush in his white cheeks as he blushed.

"I was worried about you, I just couldn't bare the thought of them doing something to hurt you and me not being there to at least try to save you," he said in a soft mumble.

"Oh, my sweet one you are such a wonderful man you know that not a natural-born warrior at all but still willing to leap to the defence of those he loves and cares about no matter the cost to him, that's what a real man is and you are all that my love," she said softly.

"Woman to I'll have you know, don't care how big the fucker is if they take aim at my sexy Claw boy they getting both fucking barrels from me and that's only after I've stamped my black ass all over their face," Shepherd said passionately but Ven chuckled and so did Gregory.

"What's so funny you two?" Shepherd asked accusingly and Ven grinned at her.

"Pretty sure the only one who's earned having your black ass in their face is Passa ain't it?" he said with a very toothy grin as his cousin flushed and ruffled his feather in embarrassment.

But Shepherd never even flinched, "Your damn right he has Claw boy, this sexy white Claw right here has got all prime black ass he's ever gonna need right here just like I got all the sexy white boy Claw I'm ever gonna need right here," she said smacking her own ass with solid sound thwack noise before doing the same to Passa and making him jump as the slap of flesh on scales echoed around the room.

The other couldn't help it they just roared with laughter and it only took a second or two before both Shepherd and Passa joined right in with them, it was good to be back with their loved ones again.