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It had been a while since Ilene traveled with Piper, so now they had taken the chance to visit all the major settlements, the journalist eagerly working on an article about it. Being so used to Diamond City being the safest place in the Commonwealth, Piper sure loved seeing it not being the case anymore. People had a lot more options now. From the grand Abernathy farm; to the sprawling Starlight Drive-In; to the fortified Castle; to the hub of it all, HQ, the most advanced, clean, and organized building she ever had the pleasure of entering. And lastly, the new envy of west Boston: Hangman’s Alley.
The trip had taken a lot of time, and they both agreed it was time to wrap it up. So with the alley being their last stop with the caravan, they soon got on the quiet streets leading to Diamond City. The sun was hiding behind the buildings, robbing them of that faint warmth they would’ve liked to have this cold evening.
"You really think we will get back that pre-war lifestyle, Blue?" Piper broke the silence, rubbing her arms to get a little bit of warmth.
"Maybe one day. But I doubt we'll ever get rid of the wasteland charm. Life will be less dangerous and more simple," Ilene smiled, imagining the bright future. "From scavenging the ruins, hope for good weather and safe roads - to hearing weather forecasts and hostile activity reports in the safety of a sturdy home in a healthy community. With the right technology, people can finally breathe easy."
"You're really dreaming big, huh, Blue?" Piper chuckled. "You're already making progress on repairing that Drive-In theatre... What would be next? Working cars and advertisements on TVs in people's homes?"
Ilene jokingly gasped, "How did you know?!"
They had a quick laugh before greeting the guards at the gate. Heading in, they stood for a moment at the top of the stairs, looking over the settlement. It was getting quiet, the folks making their way home or to the Dugout Inn.
It was a little difficult to see from where she stood, but Ilene could see the faint light coming from The Ron's sign at the very back of the town. It reminded her of something.
With all this talk of a bright future, who were the people to thank, again? Piper had gotten his side of the story as well and Ilene made sure to emphasize how important his work was to them. But was it really enough to have him mentioned in a newspaper? Sure, she's his best customer with all the recruitment services he provides. He's even joked about moving to the upper stands with his new wealth. But she had been so busy lately, had she really not taken the time to thank him properly?
There had to be something more she could do. A day to make him feel appreciated, perhaps. "Hey, Piper. Do you perhaps know when The Ron's birthday is?"
"The Ron? ...sorry, can't say I do. We don’t exactly meet up for casual conversations," she gave it a thought, "...you can check at the Dugout Inn, though. It's where most people here take their celebrations. If not a public party, then at least a special drink or Vadim's game of trying to get the perfectly preserved pie."
"Okay, thanks, Piper."
They stopped by the Publick Occurrences where Nat greeted them before heading in to prepare supper. Turning back to the general, Piper smiled and held up her hand, which Ilene grabbed and shook politely.
"Thanks, chief, for this great adventure and inspiring interview. Now my readers might actually like me again."
"Thank you for the good company, Piper. Good night, and take care."
At the Dugout Inn, it hadn't gotten too crowded yet and she couldn't see The Ron. Finding Vadim in his usual spot, she couldn't help but smile as he gave his usual cheery greeting.
It seemed The Ron wasn't much of a regular. He could swing by sometime in the early evening, chat with some folks, buy a drink, and head back before it got too crowded. If Vadim had to guess, it seemed he didn't want to make friends "the fun way". But to answer her question, Yefim shared he had seen the information broker give Vadim's game a try and, like everyone else, failed to get the perfectly preserved pie. That was months ago. If he remembered correctly, it was the day before those Gunners attacked him.
To be attacked the day after what might've been his birthday. What a sad thing. Either way, that could mean his birthday wasn't anytime soon. But that wouldn't stop her from giving him a special day, it just meant she could choose any day she wanted. To thank the brothers, she gave them some caps and wished them a good night before she headed out. Making her way to home plate, she started working on her plan.
The following day, she contacted Jake and discussed the details. He was quite excited about it, the project being easy enough to fit into his schedule with a little help from Lupe, and it was a really thoughtful gift. The Ron had not only helped them get all that information they needed to even get anywhere, but he had also suffered through torture trying to keep the Gunners away from them and was still eager to help them with the attack on the Plaza. They mean a lot to him, and he means a lot to them. He's a dear friend.
When she arrived at HQ, Jake wasn't quite done with the present yet but would be by the end of the day. With not much else to do, she got the idea to make something herself as well. While she didn't have much confidence in her cooking abilities, the kitchen staff were more than happy to guide her through their recipe.
Taking the rest of the evening checking in with the other department heads and helping out with a few things, she eventually returned to the Comm Array room to check in on Jake and Lupe.
"How are things in the workshop of ingenuity?" she greeted as she entered through the big door.
"The gift is done and wrapped up!" Lupe happily reported and fetched the package, neatly wrapped like a birthday present. "...wait, what smells so good?"
Holding up the box, she showed the newly baked goods. "Felt the gift needed something more, so I made some snack cakes."
"Oh, like the fancy lads' ones?" Lupe asked, excited, looking at the rows of small cakes. A few were decorated with flowers, stars, and clovers.
"Yeah, ...only these can expire," Ilene chuckled.
"You're gonna make him cry with all this, Darlin'," Jake chuckled as he walked over to them. "Did you spoil friends like this before the war?"
"Yup. If they didn’t have anything on their wishlist, I’d make some baked goods," she walked over to a desk to place down the box, not wanting to risk dropping it. "So prepare yourselves for your birthdays, because I like making days a bit special."
"So do we," Jake smiled at her. "...when is your birthday?"
"...October 25th," she replied, trying to sound a bit cheerful. It may be two days after the bombs fell; two days after she left the vault. But it was the day she set up her radio broadcast, which led to her meeting Jake the next day. It was still a day to celebrate.
It didn't stop Jake from dropping his smile, though, knowing what she had been through those first three days. But he recovered. "Oh, that's... that's great! We still have a few months to come up with something really good!"
Lupe caught on, "Y-yeah! Get ready, chief, for something like... like a-..! Wait, no, it... needs to be a surprise... right."
Ilene giggled, "I look forward to it, even if it's just some snack cakes. ...speaking of, would you like some? I have a few more in the kitchen."
Back on the road to Diamond City, she tagged along the caravan going to Hangmans Alley, allowing her to store her packages in a safer container. While she can be careful, there's a risk of having to use some acrobatics in a possible encounter with enemies. And unlike the postal service she once knew, she knows how to handle her packages with care.
Arriving at his office, she knocked on the door and waited for his response before entering. While she was a regular and a friend of his, she didn't like barging in - especially if he had a customer. And by the looks of it, it seemed he did.
"Is this a bad time? Should I come back later?" she asked and glanced at the lady by the desk. She seemed middle-aged, a little rough looking but friendly and a bit curious by the way she looked back at Ilene.
"No, this is some real good timing!" The Ron walked over to greet her, then turned back to the lady, "This here's the cool cat I told you about! General of the Minutemen; conqueror of the Gunners; avenger, liberator, AND founder of the New Commonwealth. Miss Ilene Ward."
"Pleased to meet you," the lady responded with a smile.
"And this here," he gestured at the lady in the chair, "is my best info-hunter, Joey. We were just discussing some business, what ruins to search through next, the best staplers; nothing too important. So! What brings our best client here today? Another recruitment?"
"Actually, I needed a little break from work, take some time to hang out with a friend, and..." she held up the box of baked goods, "share some homemade snack cakes."
"Really?" he asked in a bit of surprise and disbelief. "You are too kind, doll!"
"Got some catching up to do, huh?" Joey got up from her seat, "I'll take my leave, then."
"You sure? I got enough for the three of us," Ilene shared, "and I got some ice-cold Nuka-Cola."
"Yeah, Jo," The Ron agreed, "you're welcome to stay a little longer if you'd like. Learn exactly how important our work is."
Looking at them both, Joey sighed and smiled, "Alright, you had me at "ice-cold". Where do we sit?"
Arranging some chairs, they sat down at the table in the library. Having kept the food in a cooler, the cakes were nice and cold and quickly dwindled in numbers. The Ron and Jo were quite amazed, asking about the ingredients and cooking process. Having already had a similar conversation with Jake and Lupe when they tried the warm, freshly baked ones, she had her answers ready. After that discussion, with only a few cakes remaining, The Ron took the chance to start the next conversation.
He asked Joey what she knew about Ilene, and she gave her simple answer: "Same as most folks. The stuff Travis share on the radio, and how our daily lives have changed. Safer travels, better access to supplies and healthcare. And some rumors here and there."
"I can't take all the credit for the safer roads," Ilene pointed out. "Got a friend who started working on that long before I even got out of the vault."
Answering some questions, it was like being interviewed again, just without the interviewer pressing for details. Just the simple questions she would sometimes get from settlers. What her motives are, plans for the future, and such.
Throughout the conversation, Joey kept a calm face, never surprised or annoyed by anything. She'd chuckle at the jokes and share some short tales. It seemed The Ron had heard them before and it had Ilene wondering a bit, thinking of questions to ask them.
"...and occasionally, she comes by and sells some information too," The Ron shared.
"Was technically told by the Brotherhood to keep an eye out. But it's not like they own the documents," Ilene added with a smirk.
"Heh, true enough," Joey sighed, "Usually when I stumble into them, I try not to push my luck. Maybe sneak away with a few things but it's not worth fighting over. It's good to have a boss who doesn't demand I do that."
"Can't have my best info-hunter die over some pieces of paper," The Ron smiled. "The Ron seriously doubts there's any information out there that can trump the value of a life. Especially… the life of a friend."
Joey chuckled, "You're too kind, boss."
"You two seem to get along well," Ilene pointed out. "How long have you worked together?"
"Oh, eh..." Joey gave it a thought, "isn't it close to a year now?"
Checking his pockets, The Ron soon looked through his pocket calendar, "...yes, in a month, it'll be one year since you first came here. Time flies."
"What had you find work here?" Ilene asked Joey.
"Was on the lookout for some good real estate in Cambridge," Joey started. "Paid half the caps first but didn't have enough when I came back. He noticed I had a few books on HVAC and a good updated map of Cambridge, so we did some bartering. Then I got curious and asked about his business. I was already running around the 'wealth, so I figured I'd keep an eye out. Then I got more serious about it, figured it was a good enough job."
Taking another snack cake, Ilene continued with the questions. "Do you like scavenging old ruins for books and tapes? I can imagine it must feel useless sometimes, not knowing if it'll be worth it."
"Yeah, sure. Scavenging has its thrill. I don't always have to fight someone since others tend to ignore the stuff I look for. Things like sales records may seem useless, but we had a guy the other day pay... what? 500 caps... for the comic book records. Some collector looking for all the Grognaks, or something."
"Or that one time you came back with only a few furniture assembly instructions," The Ron chuckled, "it had been such a bad week, I was afraid you'd quit the gig. And not a week goes by and we get a customer who buys them for a thousand caps!"
"What?!" Ilene laughed. "Seriously?!"
"He had spent months trying to assemble those exact pieces of furniture, he was so relieved to have the instructions, he paid extra," Joey explained with a grin, remembering the unbelievable day. "And don't you worry, boss, I won't quit that easy. I'm way too comfortable by now."
"You're one cool cookie, Joey," he smiled, then turned back to Ilene. "Speaking of cool cookies, how's Jake doing? Does that hardworking hound dog get any breaks?"
"Sometimes, yeah," she shifted in her seat. "I don't have to travel a lot anymore, so I've had more time to help pull him aside for some proper time off. And he says he's quite happy right now. Proud of what we've accomplished and excited about the future." She twiddled her bottle, wearing a shy smile as she watched the bubbles rise, "...it's nice to see him so happy."
The Ron smiled, "And he's one lucky dog to have such a charming darling for a partner."
Lucky. Yeah. They would've needed a lot more luck to reach this point without the information broker's help. Now was the time.
"And we're both lucky to have you, pal. So... I figured we'd give you a little something..." She reached for her backpack and pulled out the gift.
"F-for real?" he asked as he saw her place the package on the table. It wasn't very big or heavy, but it was enough to get him excited. "Aw, thanks, cool cat!"
She chuckled as she watched him look at all sides of the package. "Go on, open it!"
"Oh, doesn't feel good to rip the paper, it's so neatly packaged..." he explained as he started to carefully remove the ribbon and slowly peel off the tape.
"It's 200-year-old newspaper, boss," Joey deadpanned.
As she said that, he accidentally made it rip a bit and he admitted defeat, tearing the rest off. As soon as a big chunk was gone, he saw a corner of the box and gasped at the familiar logo. Vault-Tec. Soon, the box was revealed and he had to hold his breath for a moment, to see if it really was one inside. And yes. There it was. A Pip-Boy.
"Are you for real?" he asked in disbelief. "...how did you find one?"
"Vault 88. We had so many, I figured we'd take a crate to HQ to study and give to the other department heads," she explained. "Or in your case, people we want to keep better contact with."
"Damn... comes with a manual and everything..." Joey reacted, taking a peek at the contents of the box. "Go on, boss, put it on!"
Taking it out of the box, he pulled back his left sleeve before strapping the portable computer onto his wrist. Pushing the power button, he waited through the startup sequence, then played a bit with the dials.
Ilene smiled, seeing how the grown man had that child-like wonder. Would probably be more evident had he not been wearing his glasses, but the silent awe as he played with his gift was enough.
"If you turn to the radio, you'll find an option that isn't in the manual..." she instructed and watched as he turned the dial. "The HQ radio will give you a list of contacts that are connected to our radio network, which includes me and Jake. So if you ever need to talk, we'll be just one call away."
His mouth started to quiver slightly. Then he reached up to remove his glasses, wiping away tears. Looking up at his friend again, he got up, prompting her to do the same, and they met halfway in a tight embrace.
"Thank you, friend," He chuckled and sobbed.
She patted his back, "You're welcome, buddy."
Pulling away, he wiped away more tears before putting his glasses back on, "Send... send Jake my thanks. Tell him this is..."
"Why don't you tell him yourself?" she gently interrupted. "He should be on a break right now. Let’s make sure it works!"
A bit hesitant, he held up the Pip-Boy again and turned some dials, clearing his throat and taking deep breaths to recover from the tears. There was some silence, periodically broken by a few beeps, then some louder noise as Jake picked up.
"Hey there! You hearing me alright?"
"Loud and clear, hound dog!" he replied.
"Right back at ya!" Jake chuckled, "You like the gift?"
"Man, you got this cat on cloud 9! You know how nearly impossible it is to get one, and here your gal gives one like she bought it from a shop down the street!"
"Heh, yeah, she got quite a story to tell about that vault. But anyway, you just let me know if the Pip-Boy acts up on you, alright?”
“Don’t sign up for more work than you can handle, Jake,” Ilene intervened with a sarcastic tone.
“I’m just bein’ polite, darlin’,” he chuckled back, “I know yours been through more than his ever will be. But I’m the one who prepared and modified this one, so any software hiccups are on me.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine, Jake. The manual comes with a troubleshooter,” The Ron assured, having opened the book to look at the index. “And hey, thanks. This means a lot.”
“No problem, bud,” there was a pause as someone in the background said something, “okay, I gotta go now. Take care!”
“Same to you! Over and out!” The Ron smiled widely as he turned off the radio.
They continued to talk about the Pip-Boy and the many functions that would be useful to him and his business. There was a way to connect it to his terminal so he could access his files there and even transfer data. He could keep an eye on his health, record his own voice for notes or documentation, listen to the radio wherever he went, and, of course, contact his friends.
But eventually, the fun conversation came to an end and Ilene received a notification about some issues in a settlement. It was getting late, but she had time to make it back to HQ before sunset. So, thanking The Ron and Joey for a fun evening, she headed out.
The Ron got to work, cleaning the table to prevent an awkward silence as he thought of what to say next, “Sorry that things got so… personal all of the sudden. Didn’t expect her to drop by.”
“No need to be so polite,” Joey assured, watching him place the empty bottles in a crate with other empty bottles. “It was nice to meet our best customer.”
Brushing off the crumbs from the table, he took a deep breath, “Yeah but… here I was thinking of treating you to some cold beer and a bonus. Then Ilene arrived and made it feel like it was MY birthday, with homebaked treats and a cool gift.”
The way he looked at the table, the slight disappointment and shame had Joey shake her head with amusement, “I see… well, that’s still nice to know. And don’t be sorry, I don’t have any expectations for my birthdays anymore, so this has easily been one of the best. I mean… heh, if I can be a bit sappy, seeing you be so happy with friends who clearly care about you… haven’t seen that smile in many years. Easily the highlight of the year… so far.”
Taken aback, he looked away with a big smile and scratched his neck, “Aw, shucks… this is too much for one day… eh, thanks, Jo.”
Checking her watch, she noticed that it was getting late. She had something she needed to take care of, so it was time to say goodnight. “Well, I gotta head out too.”
“Oh, all right,” he cleared his throat and walked over to her, and held out his hand, which she shook, “Thanks for today, Joey. Good night - and happy birthday.”
She smiled and paused for a moment before leaning forward, and planting a soft kiss on his cheek. “Good night, Eugene. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
His shocked expression almost had his glasses drop down a whole inch, his eyes peeking over the rim. He took a moment to let it sink in, the memories he had of her flashing before his eyes. Joey was actually a childhood friend - not someone he considered a best friend back then but they were fellow outcasts, sharing sweets they found and fixing toys together. Then her family moved to a settlement somewhere far away, and they only met again a year ago, when she looked for help. While she did get interested in the work he did, she also recognized him.
And now, after working together for a year, they had formed a friendship. Now… Ilene kisses his cheek too, but it’s brief and sweet, like a mother’s kiss. Joey’s was warm and gentle, and she lingered for a second like she wanted to whisper something in his ear but chose against it.
He didn’t know what to say, just smiled and watched as she turned to walk up the stairs. He wanted to say something, to make this moment last longer. But honestly, he could wait. This day had been quite amazing already, and Joey would be back tomorrow. He could work on his response until then.
After she closed the door behind her, he waited a few seconds, excitement started to bubble like crazy. He chuckled, feeling like he could let some of it out.
“OH YEAH!!”