POV Rio
The ride to The Slog was fairly quiet. I was wondering how Buttercup came to be, but I did have a guess. I tried asking Buttercup, but her answers were basically useless. So I just left it as a mystery and moved on. The Vertibird landed just outside The Slog, and we disembarked. Wiseman came up to us and greeted us. I talked with him for a bit and then asked if Arlen was around.
"Arlen? Yeah, he's around. Check his workshop. That's where he is most of the time. If he isn't there, then wait for at most an hour, and he will come back to his workshop," Wiseman said.
We went to his workshop and found him working on a Giddyup Buttercup. I had Buttercup wait for a moment while I talked with Arlen.
"Umm. Hello?" I say.
"Hmm? Oh, excuse me. Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to ignore you. Just got caught up in my work again. This is a genuine Giddyup Buttercup. The 2076 special edition. Best toy on the market, before the war," Arlen says with pride.
"Yeah, it's quite impressive. But it looks like it's missing some parts. Some Omnidirectional Servos, Piezoelectric Actuators, and Superconductive Mesh Wiring, if I am seeing right," I comment.
"Wow, you really have a good eye for quality. Yes, that is exactly what I am missing. I don't suppose you have some on you," Arlen asks.
"Actually, I do," I say with a straight face.
"Hehehe, right. I'll bet you do... Wait. You're serious. Here, let me have that. Servos, actuators... It's all here. It's really all here," Arlen says with surprise.
Arlen goes to pay me, but I refuse and instead ask about some things.
"Quick question, did you have a daughter named Marlene, and did she have a toy named Buttercup?" I ask.
"Oh... Yes, I used to have a daughter named Marlene. She died in the war. She was such a sweet little girl. And she loved Buttercup. Almost like a family member. But why do you ask?" Arlen asks.
"Well, I think I have a few things that belong to you," I say while handing him the Holotape.
I give him room to listen to the recording as it's not my place to hear it. A few minutes later, he opens the door, and I see his face is wet.
'I guess Ghouls can cry.'
"Thank you. It's been so long... I never thought I'd hear their voices again. You can't imagine what this means to me. I... I can't possibly repay you for this. Here. Take... take everything I have. It's not much, but... It's the only thing I can do," Arlen says while shoving a bag of caps into my hands.
I don't try to decline as it would be very rude to do so in this situation.
"I have another thing that might belong to you," I say, and Arlen looks confused but a bit hopeful.
We walk around the corner, and I have to lift Arlen up so he isn't annihilated by the excited mechanical horse that jumps into him.
"Daddy!" screams Buttercup.
Arlen looks baffled for a few moments, but then he gets a flash of recognition in his eyes.
"B-B-Buttercup? Is that you? B-But how?" Arlen asks with confusion.
"I am not fully sure myself, but if I had to guess, she was made by the dying wishes of your wife and daughter. Those wishes brought Buttercup to life. They likely didn't want you to be alone. Or at least that is my theory," I comment.
Arlen is let down, and he hugs Buttercup. He tears up, and I start to feel lighter than air. It was moments like these that made my second life worth it. Reuniting a family makes you feel like you did something good. Even if it might be small, it was something. I let them have their moment. After some time, Arlen looked at me.
"You have given me more in one day than I have had for the last 2 centuries. There is nothing I could ever do to come anywhere close to helping you in the same way," Arlen said.
"I can think of something. You created toys before the war, correct?" I ask.
"Yes, I did," Arlen asked with some curiosity in his eyes.
"Well, would you be willing to make toys for kids again. And maybe even help take care of the kids that the Minutemen look after?" I ask.
"I'm not sure if I deserve to take care of kids. Not after Marlene," Arlen says with a sad tone.
"Well, this is your chance to do better. To give the care you always wanted to give to Marlene. You could bring joy to the children of this world. Just like you did before the war. I don't think children should have to worry about survival or if their family might get attacked by Raiders. I think they should remain innocent and free," I say with conviction.
"I-I would like that. Would you have me?" Arlen asks.
"Of course. Everyone is welcome in the Minutemen. But take your time to decide. Spend time with Buttercup," I say.
"I will. Then, when I am ready, I will go to the Castle," Arlen said with a firm tone.
Once I left him, I received a notification that I was now Idolized by The Slog. And with it, I gained a perk. It was called Roughskin. It made Ghouls 20% easier to persuade in dialogue and made me take 20% less damage from Feral Ghouls. I spoke with Wiseman to make sure they didn't need anything from me. Thankfully, everything was perfect and didn't need improvements. They had even started using the Ironworks as there were no longer any enemies nearby.
While we were in the area, I decided to complete a mission I got from Bunker Hill a while back. The National Guard Training Yard had a horde of Feral Ghouls that was causing issues for trade. So I used a similar strategy to that in Boston, with the difference that I didn't use the device. Instead, I just transformed into a Wendigo and got all the Feral Ghouls to follow me. I led the horde East into Revere Beach Station. The horde wasn't that big, so it didn't even manage to wipe out the Raiders. But they at least killed most of them. The few that remained were easy to kill with a little deception of the nearby Super Mutants.
Then I killed the Super Mutants at the Revere Satellite Array. The reason I cleared out these locations, other than to make the areas safer, was to obtain all the Holotapes and Tags from Recon Squad Artemis. I also looted several Perk Magazines.
I got U.S. Covert Operations Manual Issues #8 and #9. Together, they made it more difficult to detect while sneaking. Mind you, I was already nearly impossible to spot when I was sneaking. After that, I got Tesla Science Issue #9, Future of Warfare? This improved my Crit Damage with Energy Weapons by 5%. Then I got Live & Love Issue #14, Talk Yourself Sober, which made me permanently gain +1 Luck from alcohol when adventuring with a companion. Useless to me, but oh well, not everything can be useful.
By doing all of this, I got a new settlement to join the Minutemen. It was called County Crossing. It also meant we now controlled all access to Cambridge from the Eastern half. Now the only way someone could get into Cambridge was to enter from Lexington. County Crossing did have one other request, and it was to deal with the Raiders at Easy City Downs. I was glad to do this as I could take all the robots there and reprogram them to work for the Minutemen.
From Easy City Downs, I got over a dozen robots in great condition. I also got another copy of Tumblers Today. It wasn't that great, but free buffs are always welcome. But the real gain from clearing out all these locations was the 6 sets of Power Armor. 3 of them were X-01, 2 were T-60, and the last one was a set of T-51. Now they would all need repairs and modifications, but it meant we had a sizable stockpile of Power Armor. We also found plenty of ammo and materials. We were very well armed and supplied. So much so that I was thinking it might be a decent idea to strike at some enemies openly. But in the end, I decided it wasn't time yet.
I went as far South as Fort Strong, but only went there to steal the set of Power Armor at the gate. I also passed through Nordhagen Beach and unsurprisingly, it was empty. Which made a lot of sense when you think about what they are located near. To the North Radiers, to the South Super Mutants with a Behemoth, to the West a massive horde of Feral Ghouls, and to the West, Libertalia. And it was also on the coast where Mirelurks are known to prowl. I claimed the Settlement but had no intention of stationing troops here.
'I'll need to deal with Libertalia soon. They are making travel more difficult, and when Winter ends, they will start to become a bigger issue.'