Grey. The city, the sky, everything was grey and dreary. Hell, even his once black sneakers were now grey with dust. Leo wandered around the street, sighing. He made his way down the rundown streets past the crumbling buildings, passing someone every now and then. What a time to be alive, he thought. Only an child when the first Fraysan war had ended, now a teenage orphan living in the aftermath.

Even though he had his mother's weapons and his father's smarts, he didn't know what to do with either. There was no war going on, there was only monochrome environments and corrupted hearts. Leo scoffed to himself. Corrupted hearts. It's not like his was any better. He would steal and scam to survive. The only thing he wouldn't do was kill an innocent person. However, these days it was hard to define innocent. In his head, innocent meant human, and guilty meant Fraysan. Like the Fraysans that killed his father and destroyed his home. But everyone had a sob story now. The war had ruined everything and everyone.

Leo continued on, lost in thought. He needed a place to stay for the night, since the streets weren't exactly the safest. He walked past a pair of gambling men. One was angry and one was rather short. He chuckled at the short one grinning. He continued on, listening to the sound of a woman singing when suddenly his laid eyes on a certain someone. He smirked and walked over to him.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the great Nikolai Alec Jr. I'd recognize those sexy red eyes anywhere."

As the last one of them fell, Mercy finally raised from behind her cover, waving her arms around to relax the muscles. Her right forearm opened, releasing a thick cloud of blue smoke and a hiss, revealing six barrels slowly spinning, eventually coming to a stop. Up to this moment, both her first and middle finger were somewhat welded together into a muzzle, that just now detached itself back into a 'normal' hand.
"Blimey...Well, Im definitely getting closer...twas like a third group of 'em already..." Saying that, she raised her other hand, pulling down her glasses, and let them hang off her neck.

"One, two, three, four...Seven" Almost skipping around, counting corpses, Mercy was picking up weapons, still warm from after shooting at her position, as well as any other things worth salvaging. Selfmades mostly, no surprises here. They won't have any use for them, while more righteous people in the encampments sure would. She put what she could into her backpack, then took the last look around before her departure.

"...We really could've just talk it out guys you know, y'all Raiders are just..." She sighed flinging her 'green cube' on her back, and began to move forward, wiping off blood and dust off her face. Few centimeters to the right and that scratch on her face would've been a much bigger deal, if not even an end of her. From what Mercy knew, by the evening she'll reach 'The City'. Well, not the City itself, but its whereabouts, where things were really the worst for people, from what she heard.



Once she reached the Outskirts, she walked into a first building that seemed to be populated in any way, like a bar, or something similar, who the hell knows. The music was playing, people were gambling, perfect place to trade, and start the things off. Walking up to something that looked like a bar counter, she placed her clanging backpack on it with a loud metallic thud and smiled widely. "Hello there! Can i get some food and water here? And maybe a room or...whatever you have..." As the man behind the counter simply ignored her, she kept smiling and added "...For whatever's in that backpack of course. Later i can also check on yer generators if there's need." She tapped her welding goggles, now firmly placed on her forehead, closing her eyes for a moment and still drying her teeth. What Mercy offered, she'd do anyway as she was here to help out after all, maybe in a few days, but first she needed some things as well.

Even with his methodic, steady march, Obelisk made his way into town quite quickly. Edward slowly scanned the area, Orwell tagging each building after a preliminary scan for what it's for. A ping went off when he found the supply shop and Obelisk halted, sitting down.

"Disengage." The screws unwound themselves and the spine pulled out. Edward took off his helmet and got off the chair, walking to the hatch where he slipped on his hoodie and then pulled the gasmask over his head. He took a few breathes then climbed the ladder. He unlocked the door and climbed out, dropping onto the ground in a cloud of dust. The small boy tied his boot strings, ordering Orwell. "Orwell lock up, I'll be back." He walked over to the shop and stood behind a woman, waiting for them to be done.

Nikolai took one look at Leo and smirked, crossing his arms, "I'm only great when people need me," He replied, a moment of silence cutting into the harsh noise, "What's your name, kid?"

One of the gamblers stood up, throwing his cards in the air and storming off. The other man snickered, standing up and holding up his straight flush, "Looks like the cards weren't in your favor today," He chuckled at his own joke, "God, I'm hilarious."

Elyss stood from her seat, her brown cloak hiding all her fraysan modifications. The tug of Carnifex, she could feel it everywhere but she couldn't pinpoint it. It was a calling but it was too weak to reign in against her own will. Looking around, she wandered until she stopped in front of a large machine. It was a mechanized warsuit, she presumed and she was somewhat right.

Elyss recognized the work, human hands of course. Not Fraysan. It was bulky, sturdy and made with the comfort of the passenger in mind, unlike Fraysans. No heartbeats inside meant it was all machine. She touched the metal with her hand, tracing the rivets with her fingers. Memories of warfare resurfaced and she immediately retreated. [OOC: Refers to Orwell]

"Carnifex," she muttered. "Even your small presence rouses us into action."

Behind the porcelain mask, she frowned. "When will your nightmare end?"

After giving her a stinky eye, the man slowly and suspiciously opened her bag and began to put its contents on the counter. Mostly small handguns made out of pipes and other elements you can basically find anywhere. There was also one poorly preserved glock, a home made rifle and other small gadgets as well as some bullets. On the end he pulled out a white mp3 player with a pair of headphones attached to it. "Oh wait, that's no...that's mine. Not for sale." She reached forward to grab it, but the merchant withdrew his hand out of her reach and began to inspect the device.

'Well you did say whatever's in the bag...' The man smiled showing off his ruined set of teeth.

"Except of that one thing, c'mon, ain't that enough for ya already?" Mercy was still smiling, but you could see some frustration crawling on her face.

'Bah...Whatever...' He almost slammed the thing down, on the other side of the backpack. 'Give me a moment..." The man took the 'cargo' from the table, then left to the room behind the counter and hasn't come back for a while. While waiting, Mercy turned around, leaned against the table and put one of the earphones in. Grabbing the mp3 with her right arm, some blue sparks crawled on its surface, immediately turning it on. After choosing the song, she raised her head to see a small boy in front of her, wearing a mask, and some old hoodie. Not a surprising garb for her eyes. "Hay 'ere little fella." She smiled and waved to him with her free hand. "...Just a sec 'n I'll be done, ok?" Just as she said that, she turned around again, and stood up, hearing the merchant coming. He brought four big packages wrapped poorly in yellow paper, and five bottles of just slightly murky water. 'If you stick around for a while you can work on dem generators some other day...if not, i want them done before the morning...They're at the 'back office' behind the building"

Putting the supplies inside her bag, she then headed to the exit. "...Thanks...Bye kiddo." She nodded to the merchant and once more waved to the boy.
Once Mercy left the 'store', she immediately dropped the backpack and opened her mouth in astonishment. "No freakin' way..." In front of her there was a giant almost 'ancient' nowadays machine of mass destruction. A mech. She first looked around, then -leaving her backpack on the ground- approached it to get a better look, smiling like a small kid on Christmas Eve.

"Leo Sycamore at your service. So what's a cute guy like you doing in a dingy place like this? Why isn't the Great Nikki J off fighting Fraysans, kicking ass and taking names like your father did?" Leo had heard stories about Nikolai Sr. So he didn't really expect to see his son just chilling outside the city. But he guessed everyone needed to chill every now and then.

Elyss looked up to see a woman walking towards her excitedly. She frantically looked one way then the other. Was her hand spotted? Shit. She had to move. The porcelain woman quickly ran behind the machine. She could overhear if she was spotted from there, she could be overreacting... the woman was looking excited. In all her times being found out, no one looked excited.

More like terrified and trigger happy.

Orwell spoke up, a camera rotating to look at Elyss. "You know madam, it is rude to simply do that. At least introduce yourself." His voice was English gentleman-like; smooth and calm, practically idyllic. He swapped cameras as the figure retreated behind him. "You're not... human are you?" His voice whispered. Another camera rotated to meet Mercy. "Hello madam, how may I help you?"

Edward stared at the water and frowned, he could offer better than that. Perhaps he should talk to her. But first he needed more rations. He walked up and placed a radio down, prime condition. "I need rations." He stated simply.

"An' you tink this will get you some?" The man picked it up and inspected it. "Where you get this? Steal this from a caravan or sometin?"

"I made it myself." He lied, he didn't make it per say, he fixed it though.

"Che, a kid like you?" The man sighed and walked into the back room. "Here five packs." He dumped the small, air-sealed bags on the table.

"Five? That should get me at least eight." Edward stated indignantly, low balling it to get more out of the man. The radio was nice enough to be 12.

"It's stolen property, ain't gonna stretch my neck too far." He pushed them over onto the floor in front of Edward, "Take 'em and get outta my shop."

Edward gritted his teeth, "I made that, six then. Please at least one more." The man sighed and dropped down another and then a crumpled piece.

"Six and half, here boy now get out of my hair." The man snorted, this radio was worth much more than 8 rations, the boy was giving him a bargain.

The boy scooped them up and gave the shopkeeper a bow. "Thank you sir." He turned and walked out the store. He stared at Mercy walking towards Obelisk and froze, What was she doing?

Orwell spoke up, a camera rotating to look at Elyss. "You know madam, it is rude to simply do that. At least introduce yourself." He swapped cameras as the figure retreated behind him. "You're not... human are you?" His voice whispered.

The porcelain woman looked up in surprise, staring at the camera before she shied away. "Elyss... My name is Elyss. I'm a travelling healer and... "

When the machine asked its question, she looked down and stepped back. Elyss held her own hand to her chest, as if scolding it under her breath. "I'm human," she muttered.

"And it talks!" In all this excitement, Mercy didn't even bother with a person that hid behind the mech, it simply slipped her, as she was tunnel visioning on the machine. "This is amazing...Who left you here?" She asked, walking around it, paying most attention to joints and detail work. "...An actual working F80...Who would've thought..." That was until she stumbled upon a person, right behind it. She almost bumped into her. "Oh, sorry...'s that thing yours? Its beautiful..."

"My apologizes, seems like I plucked a nerve." Orwell mumbled. "I guess I should not judge. I'm not human as well." He chuckled.

"I'm impressed by your knowledge madam. However I am not a thing, I am combat-AI Orwell. My master is currently picking up, oh here he comes."

Edward ran up, his rations spilling out of his arms. "What're you doing to Orwell?" The mech stood up and shifted to face them all, his arms reaching out to pick up the rations Edward dropped. "They pose no harm master. I would like you to meet Elyss and... I did not get her name for she did not give it. I remember people being more civil when they're more civil. Rather than ruffians like raiders and scavengers."

Elyss fumbled to one side when the woman she saw before bumped into her.

She shook her head. "No, no," she said. "It's fine." Then she stared at the woman who kept marveling at the machine. Elyss sighed, she had overreacted again. The machine knew something but it apologized quickly enough. She nodded to Orwell as a sign of accepting the apology.

The excited woman asked something and Elyss perked up. "Oh no," she replied quickly. "I don't own him. I just saw him and decided to take a closer look, is all."

Orwell's owner had seemed to arrive. "Pleased to meet you, sir," Elyss nodded slightly with her greeting, sure to hide her face under her hood.

"Wait...It's YOURS? Holy...Where'd you get that..." She wanted to say 'thing' but stopped, looked at the mech again, then at the boy. "...I mean, him... And how did you keep him in such good condition?" When the robot spoke up, she put her hands on her hips and turned slightly. "Oh scuse me, but you didn't ask..." She relaxed again and waved her hand, and approached the spilled bags, helping to pick them all up. "Nah, just kiddin' my fault. Name's Mercy. Great to meet you Orwell aaaand..." Mercy wasn't sure whether she got the cloaked person name right "...Ellysa...? You guys from here?" For the most time, most of Mercy's attention was still focused on the mech, and even when she was looking the other way, she kept coming back to it with her gaze.

It struck a nerve, the mention of his father. He winced, shaking it off and clenching his open palm back and forth, a distraction to his thoughts. There were many reasons he hadn't gone to The City yet, one of them including the fact that he simply couldn't do it all by his lonesome--suicide, some would call it, however that didn't sound like such a bad thing. He scoffed, "Just makin' a plan, is all," He spoke truthfully, "Can't go into The City all by your lonesome without some kind of plan, if I kill Fraysans I don't feel like dying with them."

His crimson irises darted back and forth, "Not to mention, the last time I went there didn't end very well," He quickly changed the subject, turning to the singing woman while still speaking to Leo, "What brings you here, anyway?"

Meanwhile, the dirty blonde gambler stuck some money in his pocket and walked over to Edward and crew, "Hey," He pointed to them individually, "Gas mask, cloak girl, lady who I can't make a pun for."

He showed off his deck, "Feel like some cards?"