[center][h3][color=tan]Courier 6[/color] and [color=orange]Ratchet[/color][/h3] [b]Level 4[/b] - (34/40) EXP (+3), [b]Level 4[/b] - (4/40) [b]Location:[/b] Castle Garden, Castle Kitchen [b]Word Count:[/b] 1327[/center] Courier Six nodded as Din agreed to simply refer to him as “Courier.” It was all anybody could really call him since that asshole Benny shot him in the head. God what a prick. Well, the Legion liked to call him “profligate” but he didn’t figure that counted as a name. Plus they were all brainwashed tribals anyway. It was Caesar that was the problem there. Heh, ex-problem at any rate. He and Boone got Caesar but good right in the heart of his own camp. What an asshole. Oh yeah, something was supposed to be happening, right? Right. The dancer was using magic. Oh wow, that worked fast. Dang, that was niiiice. The Courier had to stop himself from drooling over the sight of the barrel cactus sprouting fruit, and the banana peel growing a full yucca complete with more bananas. It was so… [i]Beautiful.[/i] A tear fell from the Courier’s eye. Not even the plant experimentations in that vault were this amazing, and Din came with the extra benefit of being friendly, not deadly. [color=tan]”That settles it,”[/color] he began. [color=tan]”When all this is over, if we find a way to fix our worlds, I’m inviting you back to the Mojave, if’n you’ll take it. The sharecroppers are used to trying to make crops out of irradiated desert soil. They do their best, but a lot a folks go hungry every day.”[/color] He approached the plants and began to harvest the more plentiful ones first, pulling off the banana yucca and the cactus fruit first in order to give the fungus, broc flowers, and xander root more time to spread and multiply. That’s when he heard Din question him in a rather confused tone. Without looking up he answered. [color=tan]”In a manner of speaking, but not as they are. People like me gotta know how to live off the land. How to find the right ingredients for the right mixture. I can make somethin’ outta anything, I reckon. Bit of a savant that way. For example…”[/color] He pointed to the broc flowers and xander root. [color=tan]”Crushing the petals of that flower with this root makes a potent healing powder, but it also dizzies the senses. But if’n you can inject it directly in a liquid form…”[/color] he continued by pulling out a used stimpack syringe for Din to see. [color=tan]”It increases in potency and also mitigates the side effects.”[/color] He held up the fruit from the barrel cactus. [color=tan]”On its own, this fruit is just a tasty treat. But mix the fruit juice with some of this fungus and some spore pods, and you get what the Zion tribals call ‘Blood Shield.’ It heals, but not as potently as the healing powder, but also protects you from poisons and venoms. I can make all kinds of chems that boost mental and physical abilities too. I’m still running on my last pill of buffout, a super steroid. I can make you faster, stronger, resistant to damage, think smarter, all manner of things. Even this-”[/color] he pulled out the jar of ash he collected from Megadragonbowser’s corpse, [color=tan]”-I can make into a chem that’ll resist hot temperatures. I can’t exactly explain how it works or how I [i]know[/i] that, I just feel and understand what goes together with what to do what I want.”[/color] He put it away, along with all the ingredients he had collected, satisfied with Din’s abilities. Of course, there were a number of amazing plants, and fauna, in this garden to look over as well. Who knows what he could put together with all of it? [color=tan]”Hell, I could just make you feel really really good, too. Just one downside. A lot of the chems I make are rather addictive, and uh… Well I gotta keep my flow goin’ or I get withdraw somethin’ fierce.”[/color] It was about then that the growing of fruits and plants attracted some attention to the duo. First approached a [url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d9/YoshiMarioParty10.png/220px-YoshiMarioParty10.png]green dinosaur[/url], cartoonish in proportions, a perfect fit to the castle, Mario, Peach, and Bowser, a strong indicator that it was a native of the area. “Yoshi!” It exclaimed happily, eyeing the barrel cactus growing fruits. The second to approach was a [url=https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/4/47/214Heracross.png/250px-214Heracross.png]large bipedal beetle[/url] of some kind, with a hard blue shell and impressively large horn. It too gazed upon the fruits of Din’s labors with a clear hunger in its eyes. “Cross. Cross. Heracross!” The Courier tilted his head at the new arrivals. Something about them seemed intelligent. [color=tan]”Uh… Hungry boys?”[/color] “Yoshi!” “Cross!” [color=tan]”Well then, go at it, I guess?”[/color] the Courier shrugged, and both animals sprang into action, needing no further encouragement. The beetle latched itself onto the banana yucca plant, devouring the fruit while facing the ground. The dinosaur let loose a long, sticky tongue onto the barrel cactus. The entire plant tore right out of the ground, completely uprooted, and was summarily swallowed whole. The fact that it was completely covered in needles didn’t deter the dinosaur from its lunch one bit. It’s digestive tract had to be made of iron or something! “Yoshi!” it cheered with a little happy dance. “Cross, cross!” the beetle exclaimed, still happily munching on the yucca. [color=tan]”Alright then, y’all have fun with your food. I’m gonna rustle me up some more ingredients from this garden. Grab some fertilizer, see what other plants are around, that sort of thing. Then I’ve got my work cut out for me.”[/color] [hr] Ratchet was patiently awaiting some instructions from one of the chefs, the woman hard at work or the princess herself, when a task came from an unlikely source for a completely unrelated matter: Blazermate. The robot approached Ratchet while setting up some sort of structure probably related to that mechanic spirit she had absorbed. The lombax listened to her query: see if he could help make a one way teleporter into a two way teleporter. With a bit of flourish Ratchet pulled out his omniwrench and spun it around a bit, letting the tool come to a rest on his shoulder. [color=orange]”You’ve come to the right lombax for the job! I’m used to working with ships and other vehicles mostly, but I’ve used more teleporters than I can count. I wouldn’t mind taking a crack at it!”[/color] With that he crossed the distance over to the corner of the kitchen where Blazermate had set up her new feat of engineering. Safety first, of course. You want to observe a device before working on it to insure you don’t cause an accident. That’s why Ratchet jumped into it to make sure it was working! In a bright flash Ratchet reappeared in the receiving end, about four feet away, none the worse for wear. Yup, it was totally operational alright. Time to get down to the nuts and bolts of the machine to gauge its function. He took a good whack at the thing with his wrench, popping open a side panel to inspect the internal wiring. After a good few minutes of looking around he sealed it up again. [color=orange]”Well, it’s definitely different from any teleporter I’ve ever used. The ones back in my universe operate by disassembling the package, then reassembling on the other end. This seems to operate on the wormhole principle, which means it bends and tears space to eject you to the targeted destination. Thing is, wormholes are only ever a one way trip, so we won’t be getting this into a two way street without completely rebuilding how it works from a foundational level.”[/color]