People Watching [Helanna and Edgar]

With his current objectives at hand, Edgar was busy trying to track down some leads by exploring the surface world. He had everything he needed in a way, or just enough to last him a couple of days before he had to head back.  When it came to scouting, Edgar used his camera lens to zoom into far distances and try to keep clear of any sort of traveling demon groups.  It was working for him for quite some time, but this time, Edgar managed to come across a group of humans. With the information that he was told from Cherry, there were groups of humans who had powers to fight back from the demons.

"............."

So far, All Edgar did was watch the group. He stayed his current distance from them and didn't approach.

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Edgar: Devil Arcana
Helanna: Empress Arcana

Helanna was was sitting at her lean-to, working on her Minigun, making sure it was properly maintained, and well looked after, it was much more important now then before, as she was now able to use it to kill demons that threatened people, the rate of fire of it meant she could easily take down a large number of them as well if needed, and as she worked she whispered a prayer thanking the Gods for bestowing her with this power and for her new partner, that allowed her to do her task all the more effectively, after some time she reassembled the minigun and just as she was finishing one of the lookouts came to her.

"Miss... is time... change shift" they said in Russian with a French accent, it was good to see the people were getting the hang of the Russian she taught them, she was also trying to learn French, something that no doubt would be much needed working in this area, she had gotten lucky all this time with people that knew English but that wouldn't last forever.

"Thank you, I will start my patrols now" she said as she got up and picked up her minigun slinging it over her shoulder so she could bring it to bare if needed, and she walked to the outskirts of the camp, unaware of the person watching them, and she started her patrol and watch over the camp now, with a few others spaced around the camp, just as a meal was starting to get cooked.

After taking a picture of them, Edgar would make an upload to his Vaultstagram account while doing a small selfie.  The caption mostly stated, "found some sort of traveling group, maybe they speak English and have toilet paper? Lol." But all jokes aside, the method of Edgar trying to make a joke about this was for two reasons. The first was to calm him a bit by making a few bits of the interaction comical. The next was to use vaultstagram to funnel for some information if anyone sort of knows of this nomadic tribe to get a bit of information out of that.  Usually, people who comment under vaultstagram pictures have a couple of things to say, so he wondered what they had to say.

"Guess it won't hurt to approach..."

Edgar would mumble this to himself as he slid down the hill and slowly walked towards the group. They would have noticed him by now, but he took a good look at his surroundings and their posture. It would be best to disengage if they turned out to be violent or cannibals by any chance.  

"Cannibalism, the one thing that I probably didn't take into account."

Helanna was walking her patrol, with her Minigun ready in case of any issues, as she walked she continued to go over the possibilities in her head with the new partner she had, it was a glimmer of hope, the thing they may need to take back the world from demons, and she had found it here, she smiled at the thought of why she was sent here and she felt the Gods were rewarding her faith and devotion to them and to the task she was given. Continuing on her patrol she heard movement and turned to look at it and seen someone walking towards the camp.

She looked over the man, his clothing was far better then most Vagrants she had come across, and he didn't carry himself like one. "Привет ты говоришь по русски?" she would call out to the man as he approached and when she got no real response she tried German "Hallo kannst du deutsch sprechen" once more she didn't seem to get much of a response once more and then she called out in English as the man got closer "Hello kan you speak English?" she asked in English as she hefted the minigun into a less relaxed grip but not fully raised into a combat position, simply being cautious.

This chick was huge, she was almost a walking meme. With the size and strength of the nun, it looked like she could say a small prayer before punching Edgar into the afterlife with her fists, maybe even able to give Cherry a run for her money. Not only that, Edgar didn't think that she was compromising with that minigun that she was holding. It looked dangerous, the nun itself was dangerous and Edgar did have some trouble trying to communicate with the woman. He spoke English and french, so when most of the words that were coming out of her mouth seemed problematic due to not understanding what she was saying, he wondered if there was a translation app on his phone that he could use and set to his earpiece so that everything she said came out like English to him. However, that was too much work, so Edgar was rather happy that they could understand each other.

"I do speak English, and I come in peace. I've only seen little groups of people besides the vault with no more than two people at a time. However, you seem to be traveling with a huge group, how did you manage to survive like that?"

It was a genuine curiosity, he did wonder if she was one of those special people that Cherry mentioned.

Hearing the man wasn't there to cause trouble She nodded as she walked up to him though as he spoke and mentioned the Vault she nodded a moment, that answered he question as to why he seemed to have things of better quality then she had seen on any of the vagrants she had come across, though then that means he knows where the vaults are, or at least where one is that must be operational. This was news that made her smile as she shouldered the Minigun so it wasn't held in a threatening manner at all. "It's good to know you kome in peace, as forrr kamp, I vas trrrained to take karrre of larrrge grrroups of people, Tents arrre designed forrr ease of assembly and disassembly so zat zey kan be moved at moments notice and ve kan leave if any Demons arrre seen nearrrby, and guarrrds arrre on alerrrt on rrrotating schedule, Zough... you say yourrr frrrom Vault? Zat is good to herrre I have been looking forrr Parrris Vault forrr while, I Helanna Steiner, Norrrn frrrom Valhalla Vault in Berrrlin.. I vas sent herrre to aid people and make kontact vith Vault Olympia".

She smiled widely glad to be in contact with someone from a vault, hopefully they weree from the Vault she was sent to contact, "Vait.. ansverrrs kan vait forrr now, Please kome to kamp ve have food going rrright now and ve kan talk in bit morrre komforrrt zen standing out herrre, I also need to zank Gods forrr blessings I have gotten in so few days after hearrring yourrr frrrom vault" she was quite pleased that everything was seemingly falling into place, first she gains the ability to deal with the demons and meets more people that can, then she meets someone from one of the vaults around her and by his state of dress it was likely the Vault was intact.

Fuck...

Vault Olympia was no charity case and they had enough to sustain those who have been affected by the attack on their vault and were still alive to tell the tale. With how it was set up, it seemed like a sustainable utopia for a place that had a controlled population. However, as an officer of the vault, Edgar refused to let be without any sort of trade or payment to seek shelter within the vault.

"Maybe I should myself..."

Taking out his badge and showing the lady, a hologram would appear and show off Edgar's credentials.

"Detective Edgar Thiers, Olympia Police Department. Since you are trying to make contact with Vault Olympia, you should talk to me first. You have quite a big group and I'm not too sure about the sustainability of harboring strangers. Consider this your attempt of making a good first impression before you continue to attempt to contact the head of the vault. "

As the man flipped out the badge and introduced himself she smiled all the more, this was excellent, she had not only met someone from a vault but the head of security of the Vault she was tasked with making contact with! though he said this meeting was to be thought of as more of a first impression before she got to contact the head of the vault she continued to smile, the Gods were kind this day, and hopefully the fact that everyone in the camp had been learning everything she could teach them would be enough to make that good impression he was saying they needed to make, even if not at least she knew the Vault still stood and was alive and well. she then nodded.

"Verrry vell, zen once morrre let me invite you to kamp, ve kan diskuss zings, over lunch and you kan have look arrround at everrrything ve have set up and arrre kapable up if you vish" she said with a kind smile as she gestured for him to follow her back to the camp. and she started to walk, making sure to walk slow enough to allow the shorter man to keep up, her strides being longer after all. "Ask any questions you vish, I vill ansver zem, if you vish to see something I vill show it to you, kamp is quite kapable, and hopefully ourrr imprrression vill be enough to let zis kontact grrrow strrronger" she said with that same kind smile on her face.

"Alright, lead the way. If you have questions for me, ask as well. "

Edgar followed her back. If the actions of such a woman that wanted to make contact with vault Olympia were sincere and she didn't mean any harm to the citizens there, he figured that she would ensure his safety while he was talking to her within her camp. This was Edgar's chance to get as much information as he could,  quite possibly reporting back in real-time or keeping some of the information to himself. All of such was subjective, either in terms of usefulness or relevancy. Edgar already participated in his occasional bout of foolishness by messing around on Vaultstagram.

"What's your name? Who are you? Where did you come from?  How are you currently protecting yourself and your group from demons? What's the full headcount of your group? And finally, why do you want to make initial contact with vault Olympia?"

She guided him into the camp, and a few things would stand out, the tents used where clearly designed to be taken down quickly, and everyone seemed to only unpack what was needed, and the repack what wasn't needed anymore, people in the camp seemed relaxed, but alert, and the guards around the camp were quite a distance away to keep an eye out for Demons. All this was quite obvious from just walking towards it and walking in, this place was designed to spot trouble and move at a moments notice, yet everyone seemed calm and happy despite that.

As they walked in he would hear people greeting her in Russian, but with French accents, and she would nod or wave to them as she guided him in, everyone seemed friendly enough, waving to the man as well "I kan ask zem to speak to you in Frrrench is you vish orrr in English, I have Taught many English herrre so zey arrre komforrrtable vith it, RRRussian is bit morrre diffikult zough" she said with a smile as she led him to a rather modest lean-to, the least comfortable looking and least complex shelter in the camp and she took a seat near it and gestured for him to sit on the cushion that was available.

"I Helanna Steiner. I Norrrn zat vas Borrrn in Valhalla Vault in Berrrlin. Prrreviously when ve had alerrrt of demons Nearrrby ve vould brrreak down kamp and move, zis used to take ten to tventy minutes, but after while ve managed to rrremake tents and arrranged zings so zat ve kould pick up and move in less zen half zat time, now ve kan brrreak down and move kamp in minute if prrressed, beforrre, I vould stall any Demons zat thrrreatened kamp, zerrre vasn't much I kould do other zen pin zem down vith my veapon, but lately, I have gained new parrrtner, and poverrrs, zat allow me to deal vith demons zat kome by now, zough I kurrrently only one in kamp zat is able to, so now if it's only single demon kamp gets rrready to move while I go out to deal vith it" she answered his first few questions.

She took a moment to think on the next question "RRRoughly zirrrty people at moment, families vith childrrren and single vanderrrerrrs, zough when I kan I head out to trrry to find morrre people ve kan help. As forrr why, As Norrrn it vas my task to kome to Parrris to trrry to attain kontact vith Vault, to make surrre it vas safe, and to offer what aid I kould to people in arrrea and to Vault, I have been trrrained as Chemist, Doctorrr, Tailorrr and Seamstrrress, and as gunsmith, I also kapable of Teaching, All of zese skills verrre zings I vas trrrained forrr to help people out herrre, and so I kould aid in vault if it rrrequirrred any of zese skills, people in zis kamp I have also been teaching zese skills verrre I kould orrr wherrre zeirrr vas interrrest" she answered.

"May I ask, what is head of sekurrrity doing outside vault? has vault been open long? why have you opened vault? how many does it hold now? arrre zeirrr any supplies zey arrre shorrrt on? Is zerrre anything you vish me to show you in kamp?" she asked as she looked to him with a kind smile

"English is fine, I'd rather use a language that we would all understand without any undertones of misunderstandings. As long as we can get through a conversation without a problem, it's good for everyone here. Alright?"

He took out a small digital notepad as he listened to the muscular nun talk. He learned of her name and which vault she came from. She gained partners and has powers, and manage to take care of demons whenever the opportunity presented itself. Or better yet, if it was a single demon, she took care of it as the group started to travel to move out. There were also about thirty people in the group, something that Edgar wondered about in regards to the background check of the group. Helanna Steiner was seen as a superhuman in regards to the hundreds of skills that she had available to her. Her willingness to teach and her survival skills also made her seem useful to those who could not survive on the surface.

She was useful, not much could be said about the others.

"I'm doing an investigation. What you have to understand is that the vault isn't open because of the willfulness or desires of the people. It was sabotage, admittedly, it could have been one of the enslaved. Most of the officers are doing their own thing to protect the peace or maintaining their routines. However, I'm doing the surface investigation. I won't reveal anything about the supplies, but the unofficial headcount is around 3000 people. If you want to show me anything, how did you discover your power? How does it work? And do you know of anyone else with those powers?"

She nodded as he answered about language and calmly listened to what he had to say, though on note of Sabotage she took note of it and continued to listen in on the situation with the vault, and after he told her about the amount of people, she nodded, it was good to know how many there were in the vault, though he asked next about how she discovered her power, how it worked and if she knew anyone else and she took the time to think of her answers as the smell of the meal being cooked wafted to them on the wind, Stew was usually what was made as it was the most efficient, though she was aware that they had to change it from time to time, but for now stew it would be again. she had to remember to locate a grain they could use, or something in that manner to make bread as that could do well with giving them another means to fill their stomachs.

Returning to the conversation though, "As forrr pover of me..." she said as she closed her eyes and let the power out once more, Asclepius appearing behind her as she opened her eyes which were now glowing a gentle white as the apparition of Asclepius seemed to study Edgar, a faint light coming from the woman "Zis is my Parrrtner Asclepius, he kame to me when I vas saving girrrl in Highrrrise arrrea, I simply kall upon him, and he aids me, he allows my veapons to affect Demons, and gives me poverrrs to heal my own and otherrrs injurrries" the light seemed to fade slowly as the Apparition of Asclepius bowed and then faded.

"Zerrre wherrre otherrrs zerrre as vell, zey had same abilities as me, zough zey kalled other beings, I did not ask zem zeirrr identities, zey stayed in my kamp forrr shorrrt time, but zey eventually left, I kould trrry to find zem again, zough zey seemed to prrrefer to vorrrk and trrravel along, one did offer to help my kamp if ve ever needed it zough." she said with a kind smile as one of the children ran over.

"M...miss... Supp is done" the girl said as she looked to the man and then headed off again.

Looking back to Edgar as the girl ran off she started to stand "Vill you be joining us forrr meal Detective Zierrrs?" she asked kindly that same gentle smile on her face.

Edgar almost pulled out his service weapon when he saw the magical apparition appear. Or he felt like he knew something was there as soon as her eyes were flowing. Edgar didn't think if he saw anything at all, or his eyes were playing tricks on him. Or maybe he couldn't see it fully due to not fully awakening himself. He jumped into this world as a regular person, but he was making the most of it. He also learned that others had powers as well.

"Is a younger girl by the name Cherry one of them who has some abilities? I ran into her, but I can't determine if she was telling the truth. " Edgar went back to take some notes, but he was mindful of the results. These powers were real, and he was seeing actual people with them. What was the determining factor for that? "I wouldn't want to take any of your resources without giving you something in return. After all, you have to understand that you are traveling with thirty people. My authority has no power outside of the vault, I wouldn't want to impose if you have to make hard decisions and feel obligated not to. " He wouldn't want to take from them, not if it was another bowl of food for those who were struggling. He also took a picture of her, seemingly without asking the virtuous nun.

"What do you hope to achieve with the relationship you seek to have with Vault Olympia. Please be as blunt as possible. "

On hearing Cherry's name Helanna's smile grew larger and much more warm though it was already a very welcoming and warm smile to begin with "Oh you have met Cherrry? How is she doing? As forrr her having parrrtner, I suppose zat is trrrue, zough of differrrent sorrrt" she said thinking of the Arm the girl had and how she had been told it helped her out a lot, seemed she met this man as well.

Though the man seemed worried for their resources she only smiled kindly all the while "If ve had rrresourrrce prrroblem so bad ve kouldn't offer guest bowl of food forrr one meal I vouldn't be doing verrry good job vould I? Do not vorrry ve have enough forrr people to join us forrr extended perrriods of time vithout any strrrain on what ve have" she assured him. When he took his picture she simply smiled, she didn't mind her picture taken, and didn't seem confused as to what he did, but then again being born in the Vault and knowing he was from one she could guess what he was doing.

"To establish kontact, and perrrhaps brrring people to it forrr safety, perrrhaps expand Vault as vell, I have been trrrained in many zings zat kould be helpful in such zings, and I have been teaching people in kamp same skills I have, some of zings ve have verrre made by some people in kamp vith skills zey zemselves have, I not only skilled one herrre, but zose zat have skills lacked rrresourrrces to make use of zose skills, my kamp allows zem some of zose, but I believe Vault may be able to prrrovide even better envirrronment forrr zeirrr skills to be used, other rrreason is it, is as I have said, parrrt of my Task as Norrrn to find vault and ensurrre it surrrvives till means to defeat demons kan be found so zat zerrre is humanity to save, and to help drrrive zem back when zat time komes" she said with a smile

"So there was some truth to what she said. If that is the case, perhaps you are one of the few people that she mentioned as comrades who have powers as well. I thought she was a delusional young child with a deformity. I took pity on her and was going to take her back to vault Olympia, but she refused. I do not need someone who refuses to listen, that includes refusing to listen to safety protocols and common sense that one has towards adolescence. Just because she can fight, doesn't mean she should. In addition to that, if she has powers, I'm severely outclassed. I meant well though, she should be in the subway system near the vault."

After taking a breather, Edgar decided to make a decision.

"Here's what going to happen. When you are ready to migrate to vault Olympia, you and your group should take refuge in the saint Denise subway station. If cherry is still there, it's still defendable with two powered individuals instead of one. I'll meet back with a few of my companions and pass on the information I relieved. In addition to that, a background check must be issued for every companion that you have there. In case that the vaults they formally belong to do share an archive of their wants, warrants, and criminal history, we have to be especially careful in introducing people back into society if they should be serving time instead. You can vouch for them. but if they harm the citizens there or bring ruin after we welcome you with open arms, you will have to bear the consequences with them. Is that something that you are willing to do?"

Edgar wanted to hear the answer before continuing anything else. He was shady at times, but the ends always justified the means for him. They might not re-arrest the criminals, but they would sure as hell be more expendable.