Drew and Jack stood by the main doors as they watched Sekka and Axa step through the front gates on the far side of the parking lot. As Sekka glanced back, Jack rose his hand and waved, which she promptly returned.

“Goodbye for now,” Jack said with a heavy sigh.

“You good?” Drew asked, resting a hand on his shoulder.

“Do you think it could possibly work?”

“Why couldn’t it?”

“Are you serious? She’s an eleven-foot lizard.”

“I thought the two of you had come to an understanding?”

Jack kicked at the dirt. “I thought I had. Everything feels so muddled in my head. I don’t know what to do.”

“As long as you two love each other, does it matter what she is?”

Jack let out another long sigh. “I appreciate what you’re saying, but there’s no way. Grace is dead. Sekka might have been her once, but she’s not really the same person. Not any more.”

Drew couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Of course she is.”

“How?”

“Just because she can’t remember things, doesn’t mean she’s a different person. She deserves better than that, Jack.”

“Yeah, she does.”

“Then why are you putting up this wall?”

“Because I’m scared, Drew. To have feelings for her feels messed up. I might as well fall in love with a radstag.”

“When was the last time you had a long conversation with a radstag?” Drew asked.

Jack glared at him. “You know what I fucking mean, Drew! She’s not human! Not anymore!”

“And I keep telling you over and over that she’s human…”

“… In her heart,” Jack finished. “I know. I just feel really confused.”

“I understand that feeling. I feel the same way. It is confusing, it does feel a little messed up.”

“More than a little,” Jack added.

“But does it really matter? If Gemma really wanted to continue our relationship, even as she is, I honestly think I’d go for it. That’s how much I love her.”

“How far would you go, though?” Jack asked.

“All the way.”

“All the way?”

“Yeah, all the way.”

Jack stared at him for a moment. “Seriously?”

“Seriously. I found her appearance off-putting at first, but it’s really grown on me. I like how the thick spines that grow from her back arch down into her tail. I like the shade of green she is and I like the way her tail visually divides her perfect butt.”

“Way too much info, Drew,” Jack said.

“Get ready, Jack, because there’s a whole lot more I could list about her that I find hot. Like that tongue of hers. That thing is looooong.”

“Let’s just get back inside,” Jack muttered while shaking his head.

As they both turned around, they saw Gemma standing there smiling at them. Drew felt his stomach drop and his face grow hot.

“Uh…” he stammered.

“Did you mean that?” she asked.

“Well… I…”

Her long tongue rolled out of her maw and snaked down before it slid back into her mouth. “Want some of this, huh?”

Before he could say anything, she turned around and began to walk off down the hallway, swishing her ass and tail in their direction until she disappeared out of sight around a corner.

“Well shit,” Drew muttered. “That’s mortifying.”

“I don’t know whether You’re in trouble or not,” Jack said.

“I think I might be in trouble either way. She’s probably packing a ton of flesh and muscle.

“You think she’d be top?”

“She used to like being top,” Drew muttered. “Let’s just get inside.”

They both entered the main doors and Drew closed and locked them with the terminal. He then turned to Jack.

“I might check on Sarah.”

“Sure. I’m heading down into the basement to do some checks on the water purification and filtration system.”

“I’ll catch you later, then.”

Drew watched as Jack walked off before he made his way to the nurse’s office. He gently knocked and pushed the door open, finding Sarah, Suzy, and Amy inside talking.

“Hey,” Sarah said as they all looked over at him. “Have they gone?”

“Yeah, Sekka and Axa have left.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “I think I’ll sleep a little easier tonight.”

Amy rolled her eyes. “They’re not gonna kill you, Sarah.”

“Tell that to my half-asleep brain when I hear a loud creak in the middle of the night.”

Amy looked back at Drew. “How are you doing?”

“Good,” he said. “You three?”

“Good,” Amy answered.

“Better,” Sarah said.

“I am doing well,” Suzy said. “We ’ave completed our task of organizing and indexing all of ze data from ze ’ospital.”

“Good to hear,” he said. “Speaking of completing tasks, we’re close to having a line operational. Might even be this week.“

“That was quick,” Amy said.

“Yeah. Only problem is that the plant is running on the backup generators. Once we start running the lines, we’re gonna start draining the fusion cores pretty quickly. We’re gonna have to find a way to recharge them or build alternate sources of power. I can rig up some wind turbines, but they’ll take a good few weeks, and wind power isn’t exactly reliable. At least not on the scale we’ll be using it.”

“How long with they last?” Sarah asked.

“The fusion cores? Well, centuries if running basic things like lights. A factory, though? Could drain within weeks or even days.”

Amy didn’t see the problem. “I doubt we’ll be making that many bots considering the limited parts.”

“There’s tons of parts,” Drew said. “Those Orderlies in the hospital up north are themselves spare parts. Also, I want to be the one that people come to if they want maintenance on their bot.”

“What about Gemma and Veronica?” Amy asked.

“What about them?”

“If we have people bringing their bots here, they’ll see them.”

“We can hide them,” Drew said.

“If you say so.”

“Besides, I want to set up a storefront at the security office by the main gates. Don’t want people wandering in and out of the main building.”

“That’s a good idea.”

Drew looked at Sarah. “How’s that stuff you grabbed from the hospital the other day holding up?”

“Both medicine mixers appear to work as does the sterilizer which I’m going to use for needles. The only thing missing, at least regarding the mixers, is ingredients to actually make the medicines. During my time out there in the wilds, I cataloged different flora and fauna that could work to make medicines. I’ll have to do some experimentation.”

“Sounds promising,” Drew said.

“It is. But I’ll need to expand my working space a little.”

“I think we can manage that,” Drew said. “We don’t need the locker rooms anymore and I think the male bathroom could be axed. The downstairs female bathroom has all the stalls we could need. About six I think.”

Amy spoke up. “I also think we should build some grow beds either in the parking lot or on the roof to start growing some food. Hunting is all well and good, but I want some fruits and vegetables.”

“I don’t want too much up on the roof,” Drew said. “So the parking lot will have to do.”

“If I put the crops out near the fences then we won’t have any issues of the main building casting shadows over them.”

Sarah perked up. “We could also grow crops needed for medicines. Also, I’ve been thinking.” She held up her Pipboy. “You and me are fine when it comes to radiation exposure. We can track it. Amy and Jack on the other hand don’t have that luxury.”

“You need a radiation scanner?”

“That’s the idea, yeah. The hospital has one but it’s an old bulky model. A vault, on the other hand, may have more compact versions. Something we can move.”

Drew shook his head. “I don’t know of any vaults in this region. At least none I feel comfortable exploring.”

“I do,” she said. “Abandoned, too.”

“That’s what I meant when I said there were none I felt comfortable exploring. Vaults are dangerous.”

“Just a thought,” Sarah said with a shrug.

“I’ll keep it in mind,” Drew told her. “But if we can move the one from the hospital, then we should take that option first before we start digging around in underground tombs.”

“Probably the best idea,” Sarah agreed. “And thanks for understanding how important all this stuff is. A lot of knowledge regarding medicines and preventative measures have been lost. I want to rediscover it.”

Amy smiled. “She sounds like you, Drew. Except instead of tech it’s medicine.”

“And unlike me, her goals are more noble.”

Sarah disagreed. “Your goals are noble, too. You want to protect the people that live around here. I do too. Maybe together we can improve people’s lives.”

“That’s the goal,” Drew said.

Sarah tapped her chin. “I don’t know much about the settlements around here. Are they separate or unified?”

“Separate,” Drew said. “Unlike further south with the NCR. Actually, the NCR is up here too, but we’re living in a pocket of wilderness separate from everything else. They might get here eventually which might not be the best thing for the settlements around here.”

“NCR?” Sarah asked.

“New California Republic. Their goals are noble on paper, but they aren’t often nice about the way they do things. If the region you’re in is dangerous and chaotic, then it’s a boon to have them, but if it’s relatively peaceful like up here, then their presence would be a net negative. Of course, the peacefulness of this region has wrought its own issues. When a raider gang came up this way a year back, they destroyed a few settlements and displaced those that lived there. They even had a shot at taking over Colville, which was what initially gave me the idea to fix this place up. More robot defenders and less people would have died. Robots can take hits people simply can’t and don’t have the issues people have with killing.”

“Maybe we should unite the settlements under a shared banner?” Sarah suggested. This place would make a great central base of operations. We have tons of empty rooms upstairs and down in the basement.”

“That would be a lot of hassle,” Drew pointed out. “It’s a good idea, but this is not the place for a base of operations. Colville would be more suited for that.”

Sarah continued. “We could also build a load of Handy robots to help rebuild…”

Drew held up a hand, stopping her. “We can’t build Handies. This is a Robco factory and even though it can build Gutsies, that was done under license.”

“Oh.”

“And while I’d love to re-jig the Gutsy code to be more like a Handy, I’d want an actual coder for that and there’s not many around these days.”

Sarah nodded in understanding. “I used to know a coder. We were separated a few years back and I lost contact. Last I heard, he and his kid were palling around with a modified Assaultron.”

“It’s a goal worth pursuing,” Drew said finally. “But it’s something for other people to figure out. I have no desire to play mediator between settlements.”

Amy agreed. “Yeah, we should keep out of politics like that.”

“Absolutely,” Drew said with a nod. “Anyway, I’ll leave you three to it.”

Sarah waved while Amy said. “I’ll see you later.”

“Later.”

As he stepped out of the nurse’s office, he briefly considered going to the factory floor, but instead decided to take the day off and maybe play some Rocket Blaster on his Pipboy.

Reaching the stairwell, he caught sight of Gemma as she made her way up them from the basement, her massive feet covering the shallow steps.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey, Drew,” she responded as she reached the landing.

“How’s Veronica?”

“She’s lazing today.”

“That’s what I plan on doing, too,” he said.

Gemma stared at him for a moment. “What you said outside.”

“Sorry about that,” he apologized. “I shouldn’t have said those things.”

“I’m not mad. I just want to know. Did you mean it?”

Drew nodded slowly. “Yeah, I did.”

She stared at him some more. “How?”

That confused him. “How what?”

Gemma gestured at herself. “How can you still love me?”

“Haven’t I said already?” he asked as he rested his hand on his heart. “It’s what’s in here that counts. And besides, you have a nice ass and nice thick thighs. I have to admit, it does it for me.”

She smiled at him. “You really mean that?”

“Yeah. I have to be honest, it was a struggle at first to see anything but a green deathclaw with tits. But you’re so much more than that, Gem. Those things I listed earlier are just bonuses.”

Before Drew knew what was happening, she had scooped him up in her massive arms and squashed him against her huge breasts in a tight hug.

“Thank you so much,” she sobbed.

“Think nothing of it,” he tried to say, but his words were muffled in her flesh.

Gemma released him, slowly and carefully placing him back down on his feet before she wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. “Sorry, I got a little emotional.”

“Don’t worry, it’s fine,” he assured her.

Gemma glanced down into the basement area. “Listen, tonight I want you to come to my room. I want to talk, just the two of us.”

“We could talk now.”

“We could, but I don’t want any interruptions. I want to feel free to talk about anything we want.”

“Veronica is in the room next door,” Drew pointed out. “She’d hear us.”

“Veronica’s been sleeping on the roof.”

Drew’s brow raised in surprise. “She has?”

“Something about liking the cool air and watching the stars.”

“Sounds romantic,” he said.

“She’s alone.”

“Still sounds romantic,” he said. “Okay, I’ll come down to your room tonight. Then we can talk.”

“Thank you,” she said as she turned and headed back down into the basement.

He stood there for a minute or so before he made his way upstairs.

Tonight was going to be interesting and he couldn’t wait.