The Survivor’s Guide to the Wasteland

*THUD*

Cait banged her fist on the dinner table after taking a bite from her Pork n' beans. Startled by the unexpected outburst, we all looked at her, wondering if something was wrong.

"That right thare is some damn good scran'."

Seeing the redhead gush over the food, Tanya immediately picked up her silverware and cut it into her Salisbury Steak.

"Oh, wow! Curie, *Gulp*, This is incredible!"

Tanya exclaimed before cutting another slice of her meal and forking it into her mouth.

"I am so glad to hear zat! Basil, Isabelle, here ess your deennair."

Curie then floated up to me and Isabelle before placing a plate in front of the two of us. 

I got turkey, cornbread, frozen peas, and sweat potatoes from a TV dinner, while Isabelle got some Cajun rice & beans we found in the facility. One of the wonders of Fallout's world was food preservatives that kept them edible for centuries, but it wasn't without drawbacks. 

One of those downsides was that anything preserved before the bombs dropped tasted like scarcely flavored cardboard and looked the same as well. Curie, however, has somehow managed to make the food look appetizing and almost like the real thing. Honestly, compared to what we usually ate, it nearly looked cartoonish.

"Bon appétit!"

When I sliced a piece of turkey, I was amazed at how Curie made the meat look juicy instead of a goopy mess like it usually does. I wouldn't say it was like fresh turkey during the holidays, but it looked a hell of a lot more delicious than the standard stuff we ate. It looked like actual meat.

I place the slice of turkey in my mouth before carefully chewing it. Honestly? It wasn't the best meal I've ever had, but it was the best thing I have eaten since finding myself in the wasteland. There was still something off about the meat, but I'd give it a solid 6/10, which is a home run in this world. And from how Isabelle, the usually timid and slow eater, is wolfing down her rice dish, she would also agree.

"It's great, Curie, probably the best thing I've had yet. How'd you learn to cook so well?"

"Well, I have ze baseec programing from being a Meess Nanny. On top of zat, I was tasked weeth taking care of ze scienteests. Part of my duties was to make zeir food. Zey were very picky eaters, and ze basic preserved food deed not help. I had to learn cookeen treecks to make ze meals more appetizing."

"Well, whatever you've been doing has worked."

We quickly finished our meals and helped Curie clean the place. She had insisted that we didn't need to, but it was easier for us to gather the trash and for me to scrap it than it would have been for Curie to dispose of it all.

After dinner, we all moved to the living area and took up various hobbies to kill time before hitting the sack. Isabelle snuggled up to the left of me to read a technical manual she had found in the facility while I read a fantasy novel I found while wandering from place to place. Cait and Tanya weren't interested in reading quietly, so they pulled out a board game called 'Catch the Commie'. 

Curie, fulfilling the diligent servant code within her, floated by with a blanket to cover up Isabelle and me while she put down four coasters near each of us and placed a glass of water on them. I could see why Miss Nannies and Mister Handies were so popular before the bombs dropped. I could see myself getting used to being pampered like this.

It's been two days since we returned from Vault 81, and my secret had been blown to Cait. Since the redhead was privy to our situation, we saw no reason to keep her at a safe distance, so we moved her into the facility with us. 

While that meant the twins we recruited into our settlement were alone, we made up for it by moving them into a building next to the RobCo service and repair center I had renovated and automated defenses set up. I've come to recognize that it might not be that big of a deal if people close or loyal to me knew about my situation, so I moved Marcy and Alexandra closer to the RobCo facility.

The two had also adapted to their new jobs. After waking up, they would check on the water purifiers I placed right behind their building. They would collect any converted drinking water and move it to their basement for safekeeping. Afterward, the two sisters would look after a test farm we built in a nearby plot that some Scrapbots were looking after to see if the process could be automated.

I didn't need Marcy and Alexandra to do these things, strictly speaking. Still, it made them feel useful and was a very safe job, especially compared to the usual dangers of living in an independent settlement. And it still left them plenty of free time to pursue whatever hobby they liked. Marcy had taken up sewing with an old industrial machine she found and repaired, while Alexandra started experimenting with woodworking.

Under the cover of our blanket, Isabelle cuddled closer and let her head rest on my shoulder.

"Sorry about the repair protocol causing such a huge mess."

"No biggie. Everyone makes mistakes. The important thing is that you learn from them."

"I know, but, *Sigh*, but I can't help but feel like such a failure. You've done so much for me, and I just wanted to help, but I ended up almost screwing everything up."

Looking over, I saw that she was still looking at her pages, but it was clear she wasn't doing any reading since she hadn't flipped pages in a while. I closed my novel and put it down to address Isabelle's self-esteem issue with the attention it deserved.

"Isabelle, look at me."

Isabelle hesitated before slowly putting her reading material down and gingerly looking up at me.

"First, you're not a failure, and I want to hear you say it."

"I'm not a failure."

Isabelle barely squeaked it out, but I'll take it, for now. I placed my right hand under Isabelle's chin and gently pulled it up so we could look each other in the eyes.

"Second, you are one of the most brilliant people I have ever met, and none of what we have accomplished so far would have been possible without you. Everyone, and I mean everyone, makes mistakes. Sure, the repair protocol ended up being more harm than good."

At that, Isabelle couldn't help but lower her gaze again.

"But that was only because you dreamed big. Sometimes, when you dream big, you miss big, and some people might not like that, but we'd never get anywhere if we didn't try."

I gave Isabelle a quick kiss on her forehead.

"I need you to keep being the person that dreams big, ok? Can you promise me that?"

Isabelle looked up again and searched my eyes for any sign that I didn't mean what I said. When she didn't find it, a small smile formed on her face, and she reached up to give me a quick peck on the lips.

"I promise. Thanks for believing in me."

We both returned to reading our respective books, but now Isabelle was nestled up closer. Everyone continued in comfortable relative silence, the only distractions coming from Tanya and Cait's back-and-forth while they played their board game. Right around when the two finished the first round, Curie floated back around.

"*Ahem* Excusez-moi, Basil." 

"What's up, Curie?"

"Nothing much. I just have a small request. But before zat, are you comfortable?"

I quirked an eyebrow at that.

"Why?"

"Because my experiences have shown zat people who are content are 32% more likely to agree to peteetions. Are you comfortable?"

Was this the reason why Curie wanted to make us dinner? If so, I was conflicted. On one hand, it's weird being manipulated, but Curie was so forthcoming about the fact that it was almost endearing. I mulled it over in my head for a few seconds before deciding it wasn't a big deal, especially since she was honest.

"Yes, I am comfortable. What would you like to ask me?"

"I have noticed all ze preserved brains een ziss faceelity during ze tour you gave me. I believe I can use zem to help you een maintaining ze faceelity and ze secureety in ze surrounding area."

That seemed to have gotten everyone's attention.

"You understand how unethical the process the people that ran this facility used to get those brains was, right?"

"Yes, but more ze reason zat we shouldn't waste such a resource. Eet would be a further indigneety eef we waisted eet all despite all ze suffering ze veectims went through to breeng such fruit to bare."

"But what if the brains are still conscious? To keep the minds alive would be tantamount to torture. You can't keep them aware for an eternity."

Isabelle was the first to voice concerns. She had considered it too at first but eventually decided that the process of keeping the brains alive for menial labor was too cruel.

"But ees eet any less cruel just storing zem?"

"Well... no, but I haven't found a way to determine if they are still conscious and the best way to euthanize every brain yet."

"Zen leave eet to me. I will use ze brains to create arteeficial eentelligence, wheech finally lets ze minds rest een peace while seemultaneously geeving zem a new form of life. Eet ees ze best of both worlds."

Hearing Curie's counter to Isabelle's concerns, I couldn't help but think that this might be the best course of action. Tanya and Cait seemingly agreed.

"If Curie thinks she can put the brains to good use, I say let her try. It's no worse than whatever you were planning before. And you're already swamped with your projects, Izzy. You'll never find the time to deal with it all properly."

"If anything, livin' on in a different form to help us seems like a much better fate than bein' dumped oot o their tanks and flushed down the drain. A say let the floatin' tin can do what she wants."

The other two supporting Curie seem to be swaying Isabelle to seeing the Miss Nanny's side of the argument. She turned to me, the only person not to have voiced their opinion one way or the other, to see what I had to say.

"Curie has a point, but I can also see why you might not want to. I'm fine with whatever you want. I trust you to make the right decision."

Having the ball land in her court, Isabelle chewed her lips as her mind debated whether or not to go down this road. It took a minute, but she made a choice and voiced it with a surprising amount of conviction.

"Alright, Curie, you can use the brains for your project, but you must keep me informed of every decision you plan to make and why you think they are necessary. I'll try to let you do your thing, but if I think we've gone to far, I can shut it all down."

"Zat ees fair. Shall we deescuss ze necessary equipment and how to best approach ziss?"

Isabelle yawned, which triggered a sympathy yawn from me.

"Let's put this on hold, you two. It's getting late, so why don't we call it a night, and you two can hash it out tomorrow with a fresh mind?"

Everyone agreed that now wasn't the time, and we headed to our beds. Cait went to a new room I had built for her, which we had the space for after I slightly shrunk Tanya's and Isabelle's. They spent most of their nights with me anyway, so their rooms were more offices than actual bedrooms.

Of course, having two hotties next to me woke up a different part of my body, and after fooling around for a few rounds, we all went to sleep satisfied.

One Week Later

It had been a week since Curie suggested using the brains stored in the facility to make artificial intelligence. Isabelle and Curie had been in crunch mode, constantly discussing how to combine the mechanical and biological factors together in a seamless manner.

I had mostly stayed out of their hair since the topics the two were discussing flew way over my head. Considering that the RobCo facility used to have dozens of employees and the complex process of manufacturing a robobrain, the speed at which progress was made was astounding. 

I guess that can be expected, given that Curie was a medical genius while Isabelle was a mechanical one. They might say the rapid progress was because of the prior work and research they had access to, but there's no doubt in my mind there wasn't a better duo for this project anywhere else.

"Ready?"

"Oui."

Isabelle flipped a switch in the central control room where over a hundred brains were stored. The lights flickered briefly, temporarily overwhelming the facility's power grid. The emergency system kicked in, drawing juice from some fusion cores we had plugged into contraptions Isabelle had designed, and everything was immediately back to normal.

Thousands of lines of code flashed across dozens of terminal screens as information stored inside the brains was turned into code. The code was then parsed, and only what would be helpful was kept to create the artificial intelligence.

The progress bar on the biggest screen in the center of the array of displays slowly filled up. Once it hit 100%, the system stuttered once more, and the lights dimmed again.

"Basil, do it now, quick!"

Rushing over to the central computer, I grabbed two cables and plugged them into two deactivated Miss Nannies on the floor.

I wasn't sure precisely what plugging the Miss Nannies into the system did, but it definitely put even further strain on the place. Sparks flew from the computer as the lights began flickering. It didn't take long before our power grid finally had enough, and everything shut down, throwing all of us into pitch black.

"Uh... Is that supposed to happen?"

"Non. We must have meescalculated ze amount of power we needed for ze process. Let me see eef I can manually reboot everything."

A few clicks in the darkness and a large *Clank* later, everything whirled back to life, and the lights came back on. Well, everything except the computer. Isabelle walked up to the screen and plugged her tablet in.

"Hmm. It seems the processor unit couldn't handle the heat and literally burned out."

That doesn't sound good.

"Is that going to be a problem?"

"Why would eet be a problem for such an anteequated zing to be broken? You have moi, and zat ees all you need."

That's when the deactivated Miss Nanny on the left turned on and spoke. It had a French accent similar to Curie's, but hers was slightly higher pitched and haughtier.

Before any of us could react, the other Miss Nanny also activated. This one's voice sounded calmer and more deliberate, and her pitch was also a tiny bit lower than Curie's.

"Eet ees best to have redundancies, on n'est aucun, after all."

Curie was elated that the two Miss Nannies were functional.

"Fantastique! Ze process has worked!"

Curie quickly floated between the newest additions to our menagerie and ushered them closer to me by pushing their back with her claws.

"Ziss ees Basil, ze Master of ze house. Eentroduce yourselves."

"Pleasure to meet you, Basil; my designation ees Joan."

Joan, the Miss Nanny on the right, kept her greeting respectful and to the point. 

"And my name ees Antoinette. Ze pleasure ees all yours, I am sure."

While the Miss Nannies might look the same, it was immediately apparent that they had different personalities. I could already tell the one on the left was going to be a handful.

This oughta be interesting.