thequietmods | TDM #1

The ice isn't the only thing cracking right now. Spring storms can be violent, and the thunder is strong enough to reverberate in your chest. Outside of the chilly cave, a torrential downpour makes it nearly impossible to leave the cave and get your bearings. However, through the weather, and past the giant things that seem to be moving in the weather, something large looms in the distance.

The rain and the moving things make it hard to be sure, and you can't even see the horizon line, so it's either a very large body of water, some sort of man-made structure off in the distance, or both. Until the storm clears, no one can be sure which it is.

1. Someone, though, their voice just barely echoing off the walls, seems to be coming up with theories. Is it you? Do you think this is a waste of time?

2. Are you trying to go out into the hostile weather, risks be damned? Is it because you don't care? Do you think you can survive it?

3. Being trapped in a cave full of people stuck in pillars of ice is weird, isn't it? Isn't it even weirder that you used to be in one and now you're not? Are you going to help the others trapped in the ice? It should be warned that trying to break someone out when they're not awake to help will shatter the pillar, and the person inside.

4. As the storm clears up, night has fallen. Thunder booms in the distance and the sound of insects and wild animals picks up. Wolves howl in the darkness. Is now the time to make a move, or are you going to stay in this uncomfortable, but untouched, shelter?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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[Yes Man is encased completely in a block of ice. Wow! That's so strange? Not normal for a desert wasteland, that's for sure. Or normal for waking up from an incomplete software update, goshdarn it.

Wow, yeah. Really strange. Either way, brrr! He needs to get out of here, pronto. This kind of extreme temperature is okay for now, but isn't that great long-term for his processors. And who'd want to be stuck here in isolation forever anyway? He did plenty of that already, and pardon his language, but he's not looking for a repeat of that. He does some quick calculations, and starts the process to cycle the X-25 Gatling laser in his left arm.

And, well, his whole arm is frozen in a specific position, so let's hope nobody's standing around, near, or close to where he's pointing when it finally starts up! He's polite enough to wait a little, but a bot's gotta do what a bot's gotta do!

whrrRRRRRR-chk-

That's all the warning anyone gets before the gatling laser starts up and blasting the ice, steam erupting everywhere.]

2
[Yes Man is programmed to be helpful. Very helpful.

If you're in need of help, said something around the weird robot, or called for assistance without thinking of who or what was around to answer it - here comes an 8-foot securitron with enormous claw hands and the friendliest face in the west rolling on over to loom over you.]

Hi there! How can I help you?

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[If you went outside into the hostile weather to investigate, well, have a 8-foot securitron on a monowheel following behind you. 2 tons of titanium alloy does not make for a stealthy or subtle journey. Neither does the sound of raindrops plinking off his metal housing.]

Boy, it must really suck to be you right now. I mean, gosh, it looks sooo cold out here! I can't feel a thing, but you? You look positively miserable! I always wondered what it would be like to experience sensation just like you guys - y'know, just to see what all the fuss is about - but I'm sure glad right now that I can't!

[Larkin tries to endure the chatter for as long as he can, as he figures any kind of animal would have been driven away by it, before giving up and whirling on him.]

I. Am trying. To be stealthy.

[Yes Man grinds to a halt as the other does as well. His screen brightens and dims as he speaks, so that flickering illumination isn't really helping the "stealth" situation either. It doesn't penetrate much past the curtain of torrential rain, though.]

Oh, you were trying? Yeah, that seems kinda obvious!

[Condescending? Not him!]

[Larkin draws himself up to his, ok not considerable, but probably taller than this robot, full height.]

You know what helps with that? You not talking!

[Well... Okay then! Yes Man raises one of his clawed hands, pinches them shut delicately and moves it across the screen on his chassis, miming zipping his mouth shut. Then also mimes throwing away the metaphorical key over his shoulder.]

[Then he just stands there. Face still smiling away.]

[Larkin nods in response, turns, and keeps walking. Maybe this trip will be productive. He thinks he can see mushrooms ahead.]

[Unfortunately for Larkin, Yes Man is not thinking the same thing. This trip will not be productive, because now Yes Man is Certainly Not Happy at being ordered about 8)]

[Yes Man was specifically told not to talk. That's fine! He'll be helpful, and not say a single word! But he sure wasn't told to do anything else, like not swerve just slightly to the left to run headlong over that massive collection of twigs and dead branches on the ground, causing a tremendously loud series of cracks and crunches underwheel. Oops!]

[Well, maybe Larkin can just lose him. That should be easy, right, if he goes up hill? Away from the robot with one wheel.]

[Yes Man has an immaculately calibrated internal gyroscope, a heavy duty rubber tire rated for a wide variety of terrain, and most importantly - burning passive aggression in his mechanical veins. Despite his clunky appearance, a moderate uphill incline isn't enough to deter him. Or even moderate-to-severe, though that may take a while.]

[Say, if Larkin were to go up a tree though, Yes Man certainly couldn't follow.]

[Larkin, unfortunately, can't go up slopes that are too steep, on account of his prosthetic foot. So Yes Man stays close, until he's had enough. He's not sure if he can climb a tree in the rain, but he's going to find out.]

[You know what's helpful, other than trailing him in the dark like some kind of wordless horror movie creature, neither gaining nor losing ground? Encouragement.]

[He chooses to wait at the base of the tree, giving Larkin a big double "thumbs up" as he watches him attempt to climb a tree in the rain. Although his claws only have three sections, so too bad it doesn't look much like one.]

[That sure looks really inconvenient! All that just to get away from little ol' him? Or maybe to get a better vantage point? He could call that kind of pointless, but he's not one to judge all the weird stuff people do for no logical reason! Yes Man suspects that at least something in his self-initiated programming changes managed to take hold, despite its lack of completion.]

[That really does not look like an encouraging gesture, sir! It looks quite rude.

Larkin manages to get up to a branch that can support his weight and slumps against the trunk, breathing hard. He can see some more from here, but mostly enough to see that the rain isn't stopping anytime soon. Maybe the robot will leave? Get bored?]

TDM #1

Yes Man | Fallout: New Vegas

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