The morning was bright and indifferent and I was up before the sun cleared the canyon rim due to a sheet angled inside to my room.
I used the time to work on the busted revolver.
The burst-fire module was a modification — retrofit, from the look of it, added to a frame that had originally been designed for single action. Jakobs made single-action revolvers. That was their whole identity. Whoever had done this had done it badly and then apparently considered it finished.
I sat cross-legged on the floor with the gun broken down in front of me and Cortana pulling instructional material through the Echo device's network connection.
"There's a variant of EchoTube that still has decent signal out here," she said, her tone carrying the faint dryness of someone interfacing with a platform they found aesthetically objectionable. "The Jakobs field manual is also accessible if you can tolerate the corporate framing."
"Pull both."
I worked methodically, identifying the burst mechanism which was a small added assembly that interrupted the firing cycle and forced triple-shot groupings and consumed it. The frame looked better without it, cleaner, the way things looked when you removed something that had never belonged.
The hair trigger stayed. That was original Jakobs architecture and it was staying because it would require more knowledege and even more effort.
I carefully re-seated the cylinder, tested the action. Single fire with a much smoother pull without all the jank and awful burst.
"Better," I said.
Cortana made a considering sound. "The frame is showing wear. If you want longevity out of it, the barrel housing would benefit from a material upgrade."
I looked at the barrel. She was right — the original material was decent but not exceptional, and Pandora's environment was corrosive even before the things on it started shooting back. I used the Engine to draw in the metal of the frame into storage, separate it out, blend in chromium and nickel and cobalt from my admittedly small reserves and into a corrosion-resistant alloy that should handle Pandora's atmosphere considerably better and rebuilt the gun again.
The gun came out looking better and cleaner thanks to me just using the engine to consume the dirt and grime. Heavier but alot more durable with the things i had on hand.
I checked the sights, loaded six rounds, and holstered it.
"There," I said. "Now it's mine."
The dust cloud appeared on the horizon at mid-morning.
I sat on the motel porch such as it was, a covered section of railing that gave partial shade and a sightline toward the road when the shape resolved itself. A vehicle, large, moving fast enough to raise a visible plume.
I watched it come in.
My HUD ran a shape analysis without being asked and I killed the readout before it finished. I already knew what it was.
The bus.
"Vehicle approaching," Cortana said, her voice measured. "Non-standard transport. Significant cargo signs."
"Yeah." I leaned on the railing. "I know what it is."
She was quiet for a moment. "How do you want to handle this?"
I thought about it last night, lying in the storage room with my health ticking upward. I'd thought about it again this morning while I worked on the revolver. I had meta-knowledge alot of useful meta-knowledge and the fastest way to neutralize that advantage was to step in front of events before I understood my own capabilities well enough to handle the consequences or keep the flow in the right direction.
"I'll hang back," I said. "I let the scene play. When there's a natural entry point, I take it. I don't announce myself; I don't walk into the opening chapter of someone else's story and make it about me."
Cortana's response came after a brief pause. "Your ego is more disciplined than I expected."
"My ego is bigger than it should be but i try to be realistic."
Claptrap zoomed past, wheel squeaking, arms windmilling. "THE BUS! THE BUS IS HERE! THE FRIENDS ARE COMING! I HAVE BEEN PREPARING FOR THIS MOMENT MY ENTIRE LIFE—"
I caught him by the chassis, one-handed. "Stay."
"BUT—"
"Stay."
Claptrap vibrated with suppressed enthusiasm. "You are deeply unkind," he said, at significantly reduced volume.
"I know."
The bus hissed to a stop in a cloud of dust and brake noise.
Marcus' voice:
"ALL RIGHT, YOU LADIES. TIME TO GET OFF MY BUS."
I watched from the porch.
She stepped out into the Pandora light, the first one, red hair, siren tattoos catching the morning in faint violet-blue lines along her arms, posture already carrying the specific quality of someone who had decided before leaving the vehicle that they were the most dangerous thing in the immediate area.
Lilith.
Cortana said, quietly, "Dimensional energy signature. Non-standard. I'm not... I don't have a classification for this."
"No," Iagreed. "You wouldn't."
I watched her scan the settlement with the automatic threat-assessment gaze of someone who had learned to read environments fast. She looked at Fyrestone and her expression said: I've been in worse places. That was the thing about Lilith despite being very much emo she was rash and a bit cocky in the start of the games scratch that she was for both games i remember and for an agreeable reason.
The bus drove off speeding through the canyon kicking up a dust trail again to whoever knows where
"odd seems its different from canon" I scratch my head
"odd? Does this imply a major or minor shift" cortana says slightly concerned about essentially our easy ticket through this world
"if i remember the whole team was meant to leave the bus together and go through as a team but only lillith left the bus which im not sure how after the first game will go then" I mentally note it for later
She stretched her neck, muttered something about the heat, and started looking for whoever was in charge.
Which meant Claptrap.
Which meant I needed to move, because Claptrap was in my hands.
I released the robot knowing what might happen next.
Claptrap shot forward like something launched from a sling. "HELLO! HELLO! I AM CL4P-TP AND THIS IS FYRESTONE AND YOU ARE—"
Lilith stopped him with a look. "Okay. Good. Where's shelter and is there water."
"SHELTER YES! WATER: POSSIBLY! I AM ALSO AVAILABLE FOR EMOTIONAL SUPPORT—!"
"yeah no thanks" she interrupts managing to quiet the small box on wheel
I watch from a slight distance, smirking at her dismay.
"at least she isnt different from the second game," he murmured.
"Is that useful or alarming?" Cortana asked.
"Both," I said. "Mostly useful for now."
I gave it an hour. Let her get her bearings, get the initial Claptrap briefing, check the bounty board, scan the perimeter. Let her gain some ground before i interfere slightly.
Then I walked over the east side of the building and appeared from the direction of the ridge acting casual, not hurrying. The revolver visible at my hip and the Echo device clipped to my belt.
Lilith clocked me from fifteen metres away.
Her eyes moved across me either checking me out or simply assessing me which ill assume the latter.
"Didn't come in on the bus," she said. Not a question.
"No."
"How long have you been here?"
"Day." I stopped at a reasonable distance, hands visible. "names Jay. I cleared some of the outer road yesterday of some skag spitters, three or four of them. Nothing that changes anything, just reduced the immediate traffic."
Lilith considered him. "You don't look like you came out of that clean."
"not really." I left it there.
She nodded — not accepting the answer, just filing it. "The robot says there's work available. Bounty board."
"There is."
"You planning to take it?"
"I'll need cash and reputation," I said. "doing work helps with that."
A moment. Then Lilith did something unexpected and she smiled. Not warm, exactly. More a way a person smiled when they recognized a certain kind of pragmatism they appreciated.
"Fair enough," she said. "Let's see what the board has."
I fell into step beside her.
Cortana said nothing. But her presence in my HUD had a quality that, if I had to name it, I might have called cautiously satisfied.
I didn't name it out loud.
I was going to wait. Let her get a feel for the place, let Claptrap do his briefing, give it an hour. That was the plan.
Then the shooting started.