milliways_bar | (no subject)

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(no subject)

The final layer of encryption on the Aperture data is proving to be remarkably stubborn. Alyx has, at least, confirmed that it is the final layer, which means the trickier code is understandable. Whatever they're, the higher-ups at Aperture wanted it to stay hidden.

Hopefully, it's something of vital importance to their portal research that could give the Resistance another edge over the Combine. But given that this is Aperture Science we're talking about, it could just as easily be Cave Johnson's secret devil's food cake recipe. Who knows?

Anyway, Alyx is in Milliways in the hope that a change of venue will help her work. She's got the laptop, a legal pad full of notes, and a heaping platter of onion rings.

(What? Just because she's working doesn't mean she can't soothe her pregnancy cravings at the same time.)

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"No. This was days ago," Ellen says, "and I observed full decontamination protocols for myself, my power armor, and my Brahmin afterward. Several times. But for verification-"

She holds out her left arm and flicks the Pip-Boy's display to the Geiger counter, which shows her as being no more radioactive than the rest of the Bar right now.

Looks at the display and nods. "Just to be on the safe side? I don't think I'm gonna get anywhere near that barrel. I don't want to expose the twins to that crap."

"That's why I said as soon as you can have someone help me," Ellen says. "I learned to read from my father's medical texts. I wasn't going to ask you to be anywhere near it, lead lined barrel or no."

"Gordon can do it," says Alyx. "The HEV suit should keep him safe. Hell, he's probably waded in worse..."

Ellen nods. "I don't think I've ever met him," she says, "but all right. I've got the Abraxo for you to go with it, or as much as I could manage, but that can wait until we've moved the Quantum."

"I've got some people back home distilling turpentine," says Alyx. "I don't think we have enough for 55 gallons' worth of bombs, but..."

"You probably need it more than I do," Ellen says, "but whatever you can manage would be good. I can still scrounge some in the ruins if I have to."

"Hm. I don't suppose you've seen any pine trees in the Wasteland?"

"I've only seen live trees in one place," Ellen says. "All the way up north in Oasis. I don't think any of them were pine trees, but I wouldn't know for sure."

"...you don't know what a pine tree looks like." Alyx facepalms. "They have them out behind the Bar."

"They have a lot of plants out behind the Bar," Ellen points out. "A lot of them are trees. Which ones are the pine trees?"

"The ones with needles instead of leaves and sticky translucent stuff secreted out of the bark," explains Alyx. "You take those secretions and boil them in a still, and they separate into rosin and turpentine."

"Oh," says Ellen. "Then no. I don't remember seeing any trees in Oasis that had anything instead of leaves. I don't think they were all the same species as Harold, but they all had leaves, I remember that pretty clearly."

"The same species as...? What?"

"Oh, I forgot- I never told you all about Oasis," Ellen says. "I'm sorry. Oasis is this green valley up in the northern part of the Wasteland where there's all kinds of plants- trees, grass, bushes, everything. It's all adapted to the Wasteland and it's thriving and full of life, and it's all because of this man in the middle of it who's slowly turning into a tree. Well, not so slowly any more, he's more of a talking tree now."

...

"You're joking, right?"

"Exposure to concentrated Forced Evolutionary Virus at very high levels a long time ago," Ellen says. "Some kind of tree took root in his head as a result of the infection, and it started growing and he never got rid of it. Eventually it outmassed him and took over. I only wish I were joking."

Alyx looks faintly queasy. "That... how does that even happen??"

"I don't know," Ellen says. "I really don't. But FEV is the same stuff that mutates regular people into the greenskins you saw. For all I know it mutated the plant so it could feed off nutrients in human blood, or something."

Alyx shudders and pushes the plate away. "Suddenly I'm not so hungry anymore."

"Sorry?" Ellen hunches her shoulders in embarrassment. "I didn't really stop to think what that sounded like."

"It's okay," murmurs Alyx, automatically. She pushes back from the table and rubs her eyes.

"Has it been a long day?" Ellen asks. "You look like someone who's been studying for the GOAT too long."

"I'm trying to crack the encryption on this data dump we got from an old science lab off the coast of Nova Scotia," says Alyx. "They were studying Combine tech and reverse-engineering some of it. I'm hoping this data will give us an edge."

"Oooh," says Ellen. "That's got to be- wow. Codebreaking's hard. They only protect really important stuff with difficult codes, don't they?"