Legend Of The Wasteland

As Adam looked at the message on his screen he couldn't help but smile brightly, his smile is so bright it could blind people, this was exactly what he was looking for and hoping to achieve

[You have gotten the Dream Crusher perk for crushing Moira Brown's dream!] This was what the message read, Dream Crusher is quite the useful perk reducing the enemy critical hit chance by 50% so Adam will gladly take it, besides that it gives him a 30% discount when buying from Moira but what Adam is really interested about is his quests tab

[Wasteland Survival Guide: Moira needs your help in the writing of her book, she will pay you for it so you accepted the job. Get a dose of at least 200 radiation for standard rewards and 600 for an extra reward.] When Adam read thru the text he nodded in deep satisfaction, his theories have been proven right, at least two of his theories, the others are still a mystery

The first theory was to see if things can be sped up, slowed down or changed, Adam proved that it is possible because he managed to dissuade Moira from writing her book before she met the Lone Wanderer and because he could accept the Wasteland survival guide quest before the Lone Wanderer came

The second theory was if Adam could get all of the rewards from something without sacrifice, usually, if someone gets the Dream crusher perk they have to give up the Wasteland Survival questline but by bypassing the system and crushing Moira's dream only for a few moments before giving her hope once again, Adam will be able to complete both the quest and get the perk, it's basically scamming the system, since this is real life something like this is completely possible and realistic

Adam then thought a bit more about his actions and the consequences they might bring making him fall into contemplation about his actions right now and how he had done things, which is probably not a good thing since he was walking down a highly unstable and slippery metal platform which has not railed so slipping and falling is a real possibility while being in his own little world not caring about anything outside of his own thoughts

Thankfully no unluck befell upon Adam and he arrived at the bottom of the platform next to the bomb very quickly and safely not cripple any one of his limbs or outright killing himself

Bringing himself out of his thoughts Adam looked at the bomb, it is like in the game, big, gray and unbelievably dangerous with a pool of greenish water beneath it which is obviously irradiated to a certain extent

The difference is, the pool of water is bigger, it is large encompassing about 5 to 6 meters while being at least knee-deep around the center aka the bomb-making it more of a very small lake since from what Adam had heard around town, the water here never dries up

Adam looked around the water, people are passing by not even minding the bomb nor the danger that it might represent while a Church of Atom fanatic was praying towards the bomb, the water is green and murky clearly not safe for consumption in more ways than one, after looking st his surroundings for some more Adam looked at the water for a few extra moments before shrugging his shoulders in a carefree manner and going into the almost knee-deep water

Once in the water, Adam could immediately feel a change, and he could immediately feel how he is being irradiated and at which rate he is being irradiated, Adam doesn't know how he has gotten this knowledge but it is already there so he won't complain

Adam then completely submerged himself in the water before floating to the top right next to a believer of Atom who was praising and bowing down to the all mighty atom/atomic bomb like the fool he is, if he knew science he would probably not be doing that, but people are free to believe what they want and that especially goes for the post-apocalypse even if that belief goes against science and facts (Author: I'm looking at you flat earthers.)

Adam just floated there, not doing anything and allowing himself to be irradiated, if his sense is correct and is to be trusted then , Adam is taking 2 rads a second so about 300 seconds is enough for him to reach 600 rads or about 120 rads a minute so Adam will have to stay in this pool for at the very least 1 and a half minutes or 5 minutes if he wants the additional reward and Adam does want the additional reward, as a completionist and perfectionist of course he would want the additional reward, besides that if he does all the optional parts then the perk he will get at the end of the quest will be the best possible quirk

So Adam stayed afloat, aimlessly watching the clouds above as a small mass of people gathered around him, they are used to seeing the people of the Church of Atom soaking and praying to the Atom but even they are not crazy enough to completely submerge themselves in irradiated water yet Adam has done just that so Adma became quite the attraction

After about half a minute, Adam started to feel weak, not very much but a little bit, as the seconds progressed Adam felt worse and worse until 1 and a half minutes after he had entered the water he started to feel sick

But Adam remained in the water determined to get the extra rewards, besides that he just feels a little bit sick and a little bit weak not too much, barely enough to influence him but just enough that it would be annoying, but that is soon about to change

So Adam continued to soak in the glorious glorious radiation that the lord and savior Atom gave to earth, making even the believer of Atom who was nearby proud at Adam's loyalty to the great Atom, praising Adam in his head for such dedication, the only thing he found lacking about Adam was that he was not praying to the great Atom

If Adam knew what that guy thought he would probably pick a fight with him, Adam sure as hell doesn't want to be irradiated and he even less believes in the glory of atom but he doesn't know what is going on in that guy's head and he has no choice but to soak in this irradiated water as this is required by the quest

After another minute and a half, Adam felt sick, quite sick, he also noticed that his perception of everything became blurry and his movement became sluggish and slow probably because of the -1 to agility he was getting because of how irradiated he was

By this point, most of the crowd went away as they see Adam as just another one of the crazy Atom believers or a man with a deathwish so they all left they have better things to do other than to stare at a crazy man, it is the apocalypse after all so people are even busier than the people from the pre-war times

Even thou he felt sick, weak and slow Adam adamantly remained in the pool of irradiated water not wanting to give up on those sweet sweet bonuses he will get at the end of his suffering, it's really the only thing that is keeping him going at this point making him think that all of this is worth it

So another minute and a half passed and Adam senses finally told him that he has over 600 rads, 604 to be precise, so he can finally return to Moira and end this hell

Getting up from the pond like a zombie Adam tried to find his way up the platform, right now he feels weak, slow and disoriented, barely being able to stand and walk Adam just set his brain and body to autopilot

Dragging his wet body up the platform and constantly stumbling and miss stepping it seems as thou ages passed before he had finally arrived at the entrance of Craterside supply while in reality, only a few minutes had passed but to Adam who was in constant agony they were hours

Barely opening the door by basically slamming his body into the door Adam entered into the shop making all heads turn to him as everyone closely observed how a very weak Adam stumbled into the shop barely standing and walking

Adam tiredly looked around himself until he found the person due to whom he was in this pain, right now he wanted to strangle her but he was too weak for that and she was needed for the betterment of his future so instead of strangling her he just approached her

"Oh feeling a bit under the weather? Or over the Gaiger counter?" Adam didn't even want to engage in a conversation with her but Moira more or less forced a conversation on Adam as she said those words in a sad tone of voice as if she was asking a small child who took his lollypop

"Just get this over with, I am so irradiated I could burn a hole in the floor and it does not feel good at all to be this irradiated." Said Adam with a deadpan expression and a sigh escaping his mouth, even that little gesture wasn't easy for Adam, both mentally and physically it was tough to do that

He feels like shit but Moira still manages to somehow give him the energy to sigh, and Adam really doesn't know what to think about that

"I can see that you are positively glowing! Now just hold still while I run some experiments and tell me how you feel." Said Moira as she goes behind her cashier and goes to get some of her stuff so that she can start the experiments all the while keeping an ear out for what Adam will say

"Moira I don't have a lot of energy to reply so I sill explain how I feel in 5 words: I feel like goddamn shit. So just get this over with, I don't even have enough energy to be snide." Said Adam as he barely looked around the room with his head which felt heavy as all hell before he found a chair he sat on since it is already so difficult to stand he might as well sit down, Moira only needs him to be still she didn't specify in which position he should be

"Ooh, why did you have to sit down, but luckily I can still work on you even if you are sitting, aren't I nice letting you sit down during the examination." Said Moira as she went up to Adam and started to conduct her experiments with all sorts of devices and instruments

At this point, Adam wasn't even listening to her, he just closed his eyes and enjoyed the darkness that overcame him, he did feel something poak him in the arm, probably the blood extraction device Moira used on Adam but he didn't really care right now he just wanted some rest, radiation really is a bieach in Adam's opinion

After half an hour Moira seemed done with her experiments and nodded in satisfaction before she went into the kitchen area of the house leaving Adam alone and suffering before 5 minutes later she came back with a glass full of, something

It's a pinkish-gray liquid with bits and chunks of something black floating inside of it, it has the consistency of pudding but looks much much grosser than that, it looks like someone ground up a person's brain and put some lead inside of the sludge, not particularly appetizing now is it

"Drink this, it's my homemade rad-away!" Moira came up to Adam cheerfully giving him the abomination that she treated like it's some type of miracle cure that has a 100% percent chance of working and not a suspicious-looking, probably poisonous liquid that will most likely kill/harm Adam

Adam just stretched his hand out taking the glass full of whatever that is and chugging it down in one gulp, the sooner it is over the better, some would call this a leap of faith hoping that Moira doesn't kill him but in the game, the Lone Wanderer also drinks this and survives so Adam isn't that worried about drinking this well whatever it is

When Adam drank the medicine it actually wasn't that bad, sure it tasted bad but it's better than some of the medicine Adam has tried in his last life but when the aftertaste hit him, it's then than Adam regretted his decision

"Blah, uh what the hell have you put inside of that Moira?!" Immediately Adam jumped out of his seat and spat out as much as he could while throwing the glass away letting it break, it is said that medicine never tastes good but this just tastes unholy, like someone has mixed up rotten eggs, spoilt milk, shit, and sugar before coating it all in chilly peppers, mint, and cinnamon all the while adding crushed nuts and forest barries cuz why not?

"Oh, nothing dangerous just some magnets, brahmin milk, rad-x, rad away..." And Moira continued on to list the things inside of the drink while Adam grew more and more annoyed with her, 70 to 80 percent of the things that she listed out were indigestible or downright dangerous to the human body, maybe Adam should not have trusted Moira, just maybe

"All right all right I get it, just stop already." Said Adam as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration before he sat back down into the chair, not even a day in the apocalypse and his stress is already shooting thru the roof, which is a wonder in it of itself, Moira truly is a genius only she could annoy Adam this much in a single day

"Well look at the bright side you are now better!" When Moira heard him she shut up, for a moment before she pointed out that her 'cure' did indeed work since now Adam is up and about, even being able to stand, yell and get angry at her which Moira takes as a compliment since it means her concoction works

"Well, that indeed is one good thing. Now for my reward." Said Adam as he hears another dig go off inside of his head which is probably him getting the perk for completing the optional part of the quest before stretching out his hand expecting his rewards, there ain't no way in hell he will not get some rewards after the hell he had been thru

Moira just nodded before she went behind her counter and started to dig thru one of her med kits in search of rad-aways and rad-xs she quickly found them since she is surprisingly organized for a bat shit insane person all the while she hummed a song and swayed her h.i.p.s if only she knew the pain Adam went thru in order to get that irradiated she would probably not be so cheerful

"Here take these, I also put in a little extra as my way of apologizing for screwing up your DNA make up like a kitten with a yarn ball. But the mutation seems harmless so that's a good thing and you are alive so that's also good." Within a few seconds, she had found the rad-aways and rad-xs before she gave them over to Adam with a sheepish and happy expression probably because she has just gotten some excellent test results from Adam and Adam is actually alive to tell the tale of her experiments

"Thanks, guess it will work as an apology." Moira gave Adam 3 rad-aways and 5 rad-xs in case he needs some radiation healing which Adam gladly accepted after he has gotten to know how big of bieach radiation is Adam doesn't want to be irradiated again

For the next few seconds, silence rained in the shop as neither Moira nor Adam talked while the customers just quietly browsed her wares not wanting to get involved in whatever Moira is doing, they know full well how crazy she is and that getting involved with her is not a good idea

"So Moira you got any backpacks?" It's then that Adam remembered that he couldn't really carry all of his stuff in his hands nor his pockets since it would be impractical and downright stupid so he might need a backpack, while Moira is a generals sales merchant so she should be selling a backpack

"Yes I have, you want one?" When Moira heard his question she stayed silent for a few moments, trying to realize why he would need a backpack until she remembered that it would be inconvenient to carry everything he has in his hands and pockets, she is kind of slow when it comes to the wasteland related matters since she has always lived in the city she is kind of inexperienced about the wasteland, she has the theoretical knowledge but not the practical, that's actually the reason she began writing the book

"Yea, it would be nice to have one." Said, Adam as he thought about his system, it allows him to have an exceptional carry weight and he can easily use it to his advantage as long as he has something to carry everything with, but without that something to carry things in the powers isn't really that prominent

"Here you go, just make sure you don't die while wearing it, it's my favorite and I wouldn't want any bloodstains on it." Moira just searched for a second or two around the shop before she pulled out a brownish-black backpack that has quite some space to fit stuff into it from behind her countertop, really what doesn't she have behind that countertop, Adam would not be surprised if she pulled a minigun out of there, it is after all Moira who he is talking about, a very insane person

Moira then threw the backpack to Adam which is stupid, she could have just given it to him, it's not like she couldn't walk over to him in a few steps but she chose to throw it, well it does kinda fit her to do something random like that but hey the backpack is free so Adam won't complain

"Thanks." Adam thanked her as he inspected the backpack, it seems to have no holes nor is it torn, it's actually a pretty nice backpack, minus the dirt, and it will most likely help Adam quite a lot in his travels

"So, what is the next task I need to help you with?" After inspecting the backpack for a few more moments and then putting it on, trying it out and adjusting it to fit his body and checking the pip-boy to make sure he is at full health without any radiation Adam was ready to do his next task

"Well, you can either chose to gather food and medicine or risk your life trying to go through a minefield and hoping you don't get blown up. So which do you chose?" Moira asked in her happy go lucky voice, Adam can't help but feel that she is saying those things on purpose, the more she talks about sudden death the more cheerful she becomes, maybe deep down she is an S? Adam mentally shot his head, those are some dark thoughts he is having and he would rather not have such thoughts

"Guess I'll go and scavenge some food then." Said Adam as he gets up from the chair he has been sitting on since he feels more or less fine it is time to get back to work, the caps ain't gonna earn themselves nor is the XP fall from a tree

"Well, food and medicine, everyone needs to eat and medicine is great if you injure yourself or fall sick. There's an old abandoned super duper mart not far from here you can see if there is anything worth salvaging from there." Says Moira while she points at the general direction of the Super duper mart, Adam wanted to roll his eyes at that, really helpful she is even pointing at the general direction

"Great, guess I'll be going then." Says Adam as he stretches himself out before he goes ahead and leaves for his next task/destination the super-duper mart