Drew awoke to a fever. His head was damp with sweat, yet he felt cold as though he were outside in the wind. His throat was also dry and his eyes felt sticky.

He climbed unsteadily to his feet and stumbled to the door, his stomach rolling. He didn’t feel well at all, and his thoughts immediately went to the FEV bath he had endured when the explosives had gone up.

He dismissed the notion with a shake of his head. He reasoned that it had to be the Radaway. He’d had a bad one before, one that hadn’t been sealed properly. The symptoms had been similar, though not nearly as pronounced as they were at that moment.

Feeling that he might vomit at any moment, he stumbled out of his room, through the office, and towards the nearest bathroom.

Uneasily, he staggered inside and almost fell onto the sink where he stared at his reflection in the old grimy mirror. He looked like shit, with pale clammy-looking skin and sodden damp hair.

Leaning in, he turned on the faucet and waited until the water had turned clear before he washed the sweat off of his face.

Again, his thoughts fell onto the watered-down FEV that had engulfed him. He leaned in closer to the mirror and checked his eyes which thankfully appeared normal with no signs of reptilian features. He then checked his teeth, which again, appeared normal.

Drew washed his face a second time before he walked out of the bathroom and back to the manager’s office. He was feeling much steadier on his feet and wasn’t nearly as nauseous.

After grabbing a towel from his room and drying his face and hair, he decided to head down to the cafeteria to grab a cold drink of water. He certainly felt like he needed it.

Slowly, he made his way down the stairs and along the corridor. It was quiet, though he could hear deep Greenclaw voices from up ahead. From his guess, someone was in the cafeteria already.

He checked his Pipboy to find that it was around three in the morning, far too early for anyone to be awake. For a moment, he considered heading back upstairs but decided that there was no reason to. He really needed some water after what he’d just sweated out and the water cooler was a lot more appetizing than straight from the grimy faucet.

After checking his brow to make sure he was no longer sweating, which thankfully he wasn’t, he pushed the doors open and stepped inside, seeing two Greenclaws Veronica and Sekka sitting in the corner talking. Instantly they looked over at him.

“How are you two, tonight?” Drew asked, his voice sounding a little deeper and raspy than he expected.

Veronica answered. “We’re doing okay. You’re up early.”

“Needed a glass of water,” he told them as he headed straight for the kitchen to grab a glass before making his way to the water cooler.

“Was it scary?” Sekka asked.

“What do you mean?” he asked back, unsure what she was referring to.

“You fought those power armor guys, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, it was tense,” he answered before changing the subject. “So, what are you two doing up?”

Sekka answered. “Keeping our ears open for anything unusual.”

Veronica then added. “Heard you lost that Sentry we built.”

Drew nodded as he sat at the table nearest to them, placing his glass of water down. “Yeah, but we can build a dozen more if we need to.”

“You alright?” Sekka asked as she squinted at him. “You look a little off.”

“Off?”

“Yeah. You’re not feeling sick are you?”

“It was a busy day yesterday,” he answered, wanting to avoid the question. “Stressful, too. Been a while since I’ve felt so worn out.”

“Make sure you get plenty of rest,” Sekka said.

“After I’ve drunk my water, that’s exactly what I plan on doing.”

“Good.”

He picked up the glass and took a small drink before putting it back down. He certainly wasn’t feeling great and he feared if he drank his water too quickly, he might bring it back up again.

Drew looked back over at Sekka. “How are things between you and Jack?”

Her eyes lit up. “Oh, wonderful. He’s still intimidated and a little scared of me, but we hugged yesterday. He felt so soft in my arms.”

Drew smiled. “I’m glad.”

“So am I. He’s so amazing.”

Veronica smirked. “You two fucked, yet?”

Sekka looked as shocked as Drew felt at the unexpected and rather crude question.

“No,” Sekka uttered. ”Of course not. I’m content with just cuddling.”

“Sure you are,” Veronica said, not sounding convinced.

“I am,” Sekka said defensively. “I think the size difference would make anything like that awkward.”

“Physical size, sure. But we’re still the same size down there.”

Drew gulped down his water as quickly as he could. The conversation was starting to go in an uncomfortable direction.

“I think he’d feel great,” Veronica continued, either unaware or uncaring of Drew’s discomfort. “I remember you telling me back when we were human that he had a huge dick.”

Drew stood up. “I’m heading back to bed,” he said.

They both looked at him. Sekka looked uncomfortable, but Veronica was grinning.

“Aww, feeling embarrassed?” she teased. “You haven’t fucked Gemma yet?”

Sekka slapped her friend playfully, though to Drew’s ears, it sounded rather loud and painful. “That’s really inappropriate,” she said with a nervous laugh.

Veronica laughed, but it soon faded. “At least you guys have someone. My guy’s dead.”

Sekka rubbed her shoulder. “We’re sorry.”

“You’ll find someone,” Drew offered.

Veronica stared at him unimpressed as she gestured to herself. “Looking like this, my options are a little limited.”

“You might be surprised,” Drew said with a shrug. “There’s a lot of freaks out there.”

Veronica tilted her head. “Does that make you a freak?”

“For Gemma and Kiki, I’m always a freak.”

The moment the words left his mouth, Drew regretted it. Especially when Veronica grinned widely, showing off her sharp teeth.

“Kiki, too, eh? I thought so.” Her smile grew even wider. “Did you three get up to anything fun on your trip?”

“No,” he said firmly. “Besides, Glower was there.”

“I doubt she’d tell anyone.”

“Neka…” Sekka said, also grinning. “You’re being really horny tonight.”

“Yeah, I guess I am. Kinda been needing a release.” She held up a clawed hand. “Been trying to file these down so I can take care of it myself, but no such luck.” She looked at Drew. “You don’t wanna help me with it, do you?”

“No!” he uttered before she had even finished speaking. “Ask someone else.”

“What is one more?” she asked. “Come on, you have Gemma and Kiki. You could easily add me and make it a foursome.”

“No,” Drew repeated.

Veronica pouted, or at least she pouted as much as a Greenclaw could.

“Fine, you win. I’ll just have to find another way.”

“You do that,” Drew said as he headed for the door. “I’m going back to bed.”

He left the cafeteria and made his way back up to the office where he headed back into the side room and lay down on the old and rather lumpy mattress.

As he tried to sleep, Veronica’s offer kept going through his head. Had she been serious, or was she joking? A small part of him wished he’d accepted the offer but the rest was glad he hadn’t. Still, he felt guilty for even remotely considering it. It felt like a betrayal to Gemma and Kiki. Still, he hadn’t had sex in a long time other than with his hand, so no one could blame him for being at least a tiny bit tempted. The closest he’d gotten was with Gemma the other day, but as it turned out, Charlotte nearly devouring him whole had affected him more than he thought and as a result, he had unintentionally ruined the mood.

That opportunity had passed him by, at least for the moment, and he knew that he didn’t have time to think about sex. He really had to focus on restarting all of the lines and producing an army of robots. Thus far, he’d done a lot of talking about it, but not much actually doing it. Sure, the Sentry line was up and running but to be effective the rest had to be as well.

Regardless, tomorrow he would bring at least one more production line back into operation. He didn’t care if he felt ill, worn down, or anything else. It was time to get it done.

There was no other option.