0.5: The Life of Lawrence, Mechanic Extraordinaire (Ruke)

[Rukellian]

GM's note: this is a prologue / flashback type of scene, taking place a few months earlier than the game!
- Fulci

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2/14/2117 - 14:00, Just after Lunch
Characters: Lawrence (Rukellian)
Location: Vault 14, Living Quarters (Level 4)
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Lawrence sits down on his bed and rubs his tired eyes, sighing deeply. Today was a special day, according to the old world calendars, Valentine's Day.

He had finally worked up the courage to go through with it. Looking over across his room, a bouquet of bright, colorful flowers can be found lying upon his work desk. A card is also attached to it, a handwritten message inside and everything. 'My favors to others were finally starting to pay off,' he thought, 'Some girls in the Hydroponics Lab managed to whip this up for me from the gardens and even wrapped it up all fancy-like.' The mechanic's tired smile turns into a cynical one as he closes his eyes and tilts his head back in thought, leaning against the hard wall.

'The timing was perfect too, right down to the second. I would wait till she finished her morning rounds. When she heads out to the cafeteria for lunch, I would come around the corner like so, and casually bump into her. I'd say my lines and hand her the bouquet and... and, it was supposed to be romantic. But that doc's boy, Quincy, how was I to know he made his move first? Damn it all!' In a rare moment of outwardly anger, Lawrence pounds a clenched fist into the bed. The release of built up tension felt good. The mechanic does it again for good measure and then slowly gets up.

Heading over to his desk, Lawrence takes off his glasses, folds them, and puts them away in its protective covering. 'I am always late with these things, always too late... it's not fair. They both work the same job, during the same shift, at the same place... damn it. Some guys have just all of the luck, don't they?' The mechanic looks over at the bouquet again, wondering what he is going to do with it now. He picks up the attached card and opens it up. Inside is a poem, handwritten in flowing cursive, an original work too. Not really knowing why in particular, Lawrence decides to read it out loud to himself,

"The rumble of machinery, penetrating darkness
A lone light shines, casting its static
A cascading beat, the rhythm of oscillation
My heart and soul, molded metal and plastic

Cold smoothness, silver lining
The purr of an engine, a clock going tic
Metal walls humming, a siren song I hear
My heart and soul, molded metal and plastic

The vault of my heart, a keyhole stands guard
A warm glow, buried under the intricate
You are the sequence, the combination code
To my heart and soul, molded metal and plastic"

Tears start to well up when Lawrence finishes speaking. Wiping them away with this sleeve, he reaches for the bouquet. The silence of the moment is broken by a sudden gasp. Lawrence's eyes widen as he realizes he is not alone. He slowly turns his head towards the doorway. Standing there is Heidi, one of the girls from Hydroponics.

When Lawrence turns around fully to look at her, Heidi quickly hides herself behind the wall and stammers in a panicky voice, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you. Were you in the middle of something? The door was opening and- I'm so sorry! I will just come back later and-"

She gets ready to bolt after her flurry of apologies, but somehow, Lawrence manages to quickly say something, catching her attention in time. "Wait! No, don't go, It's alright, really! You weren't interrupting anything, really! Come in, please." The mechanic is gentle but firm with his words as he remembers that she can be skittish at times. Waving her in, he invites her to sit down on the comfiest chair in the room, his bedside. Lawrence, in turn, walks over to a nearby wall and leans on it, his arms casually crossed, a smile now on his face.

"Hmm, you know, I don't usually get any visitors during the day, especially outside of the lab. Is there something I can help you with?" Heidi looks around the room with curious eyes as she seems to squirm nervously while sitting down. Lawrence may be half-awake at the moment, and his glasses are off so he can't see all that well right now, but he can tell this much, something is up. Heidi then says something, this time in a more calmed tone, not as shy, but still cautious.

"That was a lovely poem you were reading. Did you write it? And the flowers, were they were for-"

"Someone special, yes," Lawrence quickly finishes, "But things didn't go too well today. She... she turned me down again," Lawrence finishes as he closes his eyes and sighs. His cheeks are red, no question about it considering it was quite embarrassing for him to say something like that, especially in front of another girl. He wonders to himself what has gotten into him anyways, saying such things in the first place. He opens his eyes to find Heidi's starting intently at him. She too has a sad look about her, an expression that shows concern mixed with, understanding?

After a brief moment, she breaks the awkward silence, "Oh, I'm sorry things didn't work out for you... umm, sorry for bringing it up, I- I didn't come here for that, I..." She starts to lose some of her calm again as she grows visibly nervous, trying to find the right words to say. Lawrence knows all too well what that feeling is like. He understand completely the anxiety she must be going through right now. He tries to help her out and laughs.

"No, I'm the one that is sorry. I'm-" he pauses and holds his the side of his head and shakes it for silly emphasis, "I'm not all quite here at the moment. It's been a long day and I'm usually asleep right now. It's alright. Thank you." After clearing his throat, Lawrence adds on shortly afterwards, "so, was there something work-related that came up, a broken sprinkler maybe, need some plans drawn up for something?"

She shakes her head furiously as she looks down, hands now balled up on her lap. She is smiling though, so that's a good sign, the mechanic thinks to himself. "No no! Nothing like that. I just... I saw you when you returned to your room. You had such a pained look on your face and... I wanted to help?" Heidi sounded like she even surprised herself with that statement, confused if anything. Lawrence couldn't help but catch himself staring, his mouth slightly agape. He too wasn't sure what to make of the situation now.

"W-well then, umm..." Lawrence looks away and rubs the back of his neck, his eyes now wandering around the room too in embarrassment. 'Crap! Victoria was never like this with me before! What do I do? She's actually paying attention to me!' Lawrence's eyes rest upon the bouquet and card in his hands. 'Should I? I mean... it was for Victoria, but...' He looks at Heidi with searching eyes, his face now serious, the hint of a smile forming.

"I'm afraid I've stayed up longer than I should have, I'm sorry Heidi." Lawrence picks up the bouquet and card and approaches her. "I know how much you love flowers and learning about new plants, so I thought maybe we could do something constructive and... uhh, break out the books, you know, to take my mind off of things, but..." 'Oh yeah, she does like plants. I can't believe I remembered that about her. What does Victoria like though?....' Lawrence hands her the two items in his hand. "I think that just having you here and to hear you say what you did, it helped. Thank you Heidi. Umm... Happy Valentine's day?"

Unbeknownst to Lawrence, Heidi was the one that put together the bouquet in the first place.

----

Lawrence's alarm goes off, prompting him to sit up in his bed and turn it off. He stretches his arms and yawns as he looks at the time. It's that time of the day again, he thinks to himself.

As the mechanic gets up and goes through his usual routine of getting dressed and cleaning his face, he cannot help but feel greatly invigorated, a good night's sleep, a pleasant dream perhaps?

'A dream...?'

Lawrence thinks back on the day's events and absently touches his face. The burning sensation of a kiss is still felt... was that for real he thinks to himself? He looks at his desk. No bouquet, no card.

[Rukellian]

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2/16/2117 - 2:00, Two hours after midnight
Characters: Lawrence (Rukellian)
Location: Vault 14, Level 3, Cafeteria
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After doing a general check-up on all of the vault's core facilities and subsidiary systems, Lawrence backtracks to level 3 and pulls up on the PipBoy his to-do list for tonight. Two items are listed, and the first one seemed simple enough to complete. The second, he thought to himself, would take some time.

-Fix nozzles 6 and 8 in the nutri-mix dispenser
-Faulty power circuit in Hydroponics, 'sticking' door

The first one was a request sent by Roman sometime yesterday. He found that the Orange Soylent wasn't coming out fast enough and that one of the chemical additives was not coming out at all.

'Sounds like some basic clogs to me, now lets see...' Lawrence sets down his tool box and opens up one of the side panels. He produces a pipe cleaner. Even with the latest advances in technology, sometimes the simplest of fixes still worked and the long fuzzy white piece of wiring in his hand was just what he needed. As he pops open the dispenser to get a look at the insides, a funny thought strays across his mind. 'Wait a moment,' he looks at the pipe cleaner, then proceeds in pulling out another one, almost completely identical in size and coloring. He holds both up in the air and scrutinizes them closely.

'If this is a 14b, then this one must be a 14f, but wait a sec. If I turn the cleaner just so under the light, that bright white spot there turns a bit greyish. The other one stays white. So then this one was actually a 14b!' He laughs to himself and wipes the sweat from his brow. Had he chosen the wrong one, something catastrophic might of happened. He puts away 14f and proceeds in unclogging nozzle 6. A few seconds in, a strange noise comes up. The mechanic freezes instantly and stares at the end of the cleaner with wide eyes. 'Oh no... this one was a 14f!'

This particular incident has only happened twice during his years of Maintenance work. And the last incident is still fresh in his mind. He shakes from the thought and directs his attention to the now volatile situation. Like disarming a bomb, the mechanic slowly and methodically works his hand just so while slowly removing the cleaner. 'Easy now, eeeasssyy... *gasp* oh god, its finally out.' He exhales deeply with relief as he places the 14f cleaner down. He just avoided what could of been a very messy situation, and a very angry Roman.

Now having the right cleaner in hand, the mechanic resumes work on nozzle 6 and successfully unclogs it. Nozzle 8 follows shortly afterwards, and quite quickly too. The cleaner needed for that was one of kind and hard to mistake for something else. The cleaner was blue instead of white.

After testing to make sure the nozzles were in working order, Lawrence closes the maintenance panel on the dispenser and cleans up his work area. 'On to Hydroponics, and I thought the dispenser was going to be the easy one...'

For those of you who are fans of British comedy, there was an Easter Egg hidden in this post. I wonder if anyone will catch on to it?

[Rukellian]

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2/16/2117 - 2:15, Two hours after midnight
Characters: Lawrence (Rukellian)
Location: Vault 14, Level 4, Hydroponics
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHP5mHVTZic

The elevator ride down always seems to relax Lawrence. The sounds of pistons and steam in the background, motorized systems and gears spinning, the occasional static of light fixtures humming up above and on the sides of walls, music to his sometimes fried nerves.

As the elevator doors open to the fourth level of the vault, he heads straight to Hydroponics instead of maintenance. The PipBoy report says one thing, but more often than not, the problem is usually much more different upon closer inspection. The mechanic always makes sure that he has the right tools for the right job.

His initial patrol of the lab revealed little to fix, save the stuck the door that he noted dutifully in his PipBoy. The door in question was further inside the lab, connected to small room that housed various tools and supplies for the day-to-day operations of the area. The lighting fixture in the room was out and the door was stuck in a semi-open state. Power was still running throughout the rest of the Hydroponics Lab, so Lawrence makes use of one of the terminals nearby to pull up the necessary circuit branch web. Within a few keystrokes he pulls up the facilities circuit pathways and checks to see which receptacles and fixtures are on which circuit branch.

'Right, so the supply room has a small blanket of connections. Temperature control... lighting... door mechanisms, and sprinkler system, check.' Everything was contained, much like the rest of the vault. If one system failed, it wouldn't effect everything else around it, usually, a fail-safe that Lawrence and many other vault dwellers have come to appreciate over the years. With the proper circuit network up on display, he gets up and walks over to the door, opening the maintenance panel right next to it. He flips the affected switch on the circuit breaker to see if anything happens. Leaning over to look inside, no lights come on. He flips it again, nothing changes.

'Okay then, so its just this one then. Makes my job a little easier, already have everything I need in my kit.' He makes sure the switch is turned off and then proceeds with flashlight to disconnect all connecting systems to the circuit branch.

But really, all of this is just usual routine for the night-shift mechanic. He identifies the culprit easily enough and goes about replacing the fuses. The process, though easy, was tedious and had little room for errors. Lawrence takes his time with the repair. An hour later, after checking and double checking his work, he finishes. The lights are back on, the doors are now working and... he has nothing left to do, again, not until his next vault check-up later in the shift.

With some free-time on his hands, Lawrence heads back to the Maintenance lab and takes a seat in front of the main terminal. He sets the alarm clock on his PipBoy for the next maintenance patrol, before closing his eyes and leaning back on the chair. This was his time of reflection and mental relaxation, thoughts of the day's events, yesterday's and the day before slowly coming back to him, '... that chapter on micro-transactions in MMO platforms was an interesting read. To think that they had such luxuries back then... mixing soylent green with purple was not a good idea, going to stick with blue I guess... so she likes pineapple, leave it to Quincy to figure that one out first.'

Lawrence furrows his brows, feeling irritation creeping up again. 'Always late, always someone else first... had I known third shift would be like this.' The furrow slowly goes away as his mind starts to cross a different channel of thought. 'Heidi? I wonder how she is doing...'

Lawrence is startled afterwards, almost falling out of his seat after hearing his alarm go off. Apparently he fell asleep for some time.

[Rukellian]

I'm just going to keep running with this until Lawrence's canon section gets updated. But who knows, maybe these posts in the OOC may just carry over... Fulci willing of course.

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2/16/2117 - 6:05, End of Night Shift
Characters: Lawrence (Rukellian)
Location: Vault 14, Level 4, Living Quarters
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Another uneventful night, just the way Lawrence likes it. The pipe cleaner incident aside, the night went smoothly, allowing the young mechanic time to catch up on reading some of the scientific journals from the recreation center. 'Research to better aide my work,' he always says to others, and they usually buy it. Of course, what many don't know, won't hurt them, as the saying goes, and not many people are hovering over Lawrence's shoulder at night, what with vault curfew times and all that.

Last night Lawrence enjoyed a book called Fusion-Powered: The fundamentals of robotic engineering. He especially found the work line manufacturing processes of General Atomics International to be very insightful and entertaining. The book came with a small clip that featured some of the basic robotic assembly within such factories, very cool, at least for those who are into that sort of thing. The books reading and watching, took up most of Lawrence's free time, and before he knew it, it was time to punch out and go to bed.

He returns the book and film to the recreation center before heading back to his room. Along the way, he bumps into Mario, who is also finishing up his shift. He looks tired but maintains his cheerful disposition as he greets Lawrence. Lawrence tries to do the same, but manages only a half smile and a slight raise of the eyebrows. Not much is spoken between the two and this is common. Not really having much to talk about anyways, both go about their separate duties.

Returning to the living quarters on floor four, Lawrence finds something on his room's desk. 'Strange, I don't remember leaving anything there...'

*to be continued, probably*

[Rukellian]

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2/16/2117 - 6:05, End of Night Shift
Characters: Lawrence (Rukellian)
Location: Vault 14, Level 4, Living Quarters
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Lawrence approaches the table and learns very quickly that it is a note scrawled onto a piece of paper. This strikes the young mechanic as odd, considering that many vault dwellers would prefer to send messages by PipBoy or terminal, writing things out by hand proving more tedious for each newer generation. He picks up the note and turns it over. Inside is a girl's handwriting, but nothing he would recognize readily.

With note in hand, Lawrence sits down on his bed and reads it under some light, making sure to close the door to his room before doing so. 'Why? Why now? Who would...what?' He looks down at the bottom and finds that it is not signed. Was it someone playing a joke on him, a tease from Victoria, or is it from someone else, but then why? He scans the note once more to make sure he got everything, his mind still reeling from the surreal experience.

"I will take you up on that offer, and hmmm, maybe pick up where we left off? Lunch, the third table on the right, I'll meet you there."

'Have my efforts finally paid off? Is she finally going to take me seriously? No jokes?' The young mechanic trembles at the thought, excitement re-energizing his tired mind and body. This sounds like his very first date! And if its with who he thinks it is...

----

Sitting down at the third table on the right, Lawrence checks his PipBoy's clock, making sure he isn't too early or late. He looks around expectantly, but does not seem to find anyone looking his way. It is after a few minutes of tense waiting that a familiar voice calls out to him from behind. He turns his head and sees, not Victoria, but Heidi.

*to be continued later...*

[Fulci]

(A collection of Rukellian's awesome side posts)

[Fulci]

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2/16/2117 - 14:05, Lunchtime!
Characters: Lawrence (Rukellian)
Location: Vault 14, Cafeteria
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Lawrence sits there, checking the time, then checking whether he got the right table ('third on the right'), he got lucky, it wasn't occupied. Given that it's daytime, everything feels slightly off. Lawrence knows he cannot give his top game on this foreign field, so to speak.

So, who can be that girl who prefers handwriting over PipBoy messages ("piping", in Vault argo)? Someone who also prefers organic materials over synthetic, prefers living, self-sustaining, growing plants over cold machines...

Heidi.png (274.9 KiB) Viewed 1370 times

(I hope the rightful authors, photograph Jason Fitzsimmons and model Maeghan Eyre don't mind me "Vaultifying" this picture... Source: http://geekxgirls.com/article.php?ID=3709)

Of course, there are no such dense and lush forests in Hydroponics. Let's chalk the background up to Heidi's wishful thinking!

It's Heidi, from Hydroponics!

She places her tray on the table, waves and smiles at Lawrence, then sits down.
"Sorry I'm late! I had to calibrate the nutrient solution dosages on our asparagi. It's like giving an I.V. to plants..."
The medical metaphor instantly calls the image of Victoria setting up an I.V. for a patient in the Med. Ward. Lawrence wonders - could he get closer to Victoria by faking an illness?

"How are you doing?"

[Rukellian]

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2/16/2117 - 14:05, Lunchtime!
Characters: Lawrence (Rukellian)
Location: Vault 14, Cafeteria
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'Heidi?' For some reason, Lawrence was not mentally prepared for this. He was prepared to talk about, well, medical stuff.

A trained response starts up as the mechanic tries to mentally readjust himself, he smiles. It has worked throughout his school years when he didn't know what to say, what to do. A smile always seeded to either please the person talking to him, make them disinterested and go away or give them the hint that he genuinely has no idea what they are talking about. Lawrence eventually grew out of this habit of his, but every now and then, it creeps back, especially when he was tired and stressed.

Behind that often practiced defensive smile, Lawrence waves back and nods his head in greeting. "H-hey!" Lawrence clears his throat and looks down as he adjusts his tray of food. He didn't mean to speak so soon! What is he doing, he thinks to himself? "Hello, *ahem*, sorry, uh, tickle in the throat." Lawrence gulps down some water, feeling actual relief from the pulsing sensation of cool liquid going down.

'Oh man, I've never felt this nervous before! What do I say, what am I expected to do?' He looks up and smiles at Heidi again. "I'm doing alright, just a little tired. I think... yes, I think this is the first time someone has ever asked me to join them for lunch. I'm h-" A stomach growl interrupts him, "hungry... I guess I'm hungry." He forces a short laugh and quickly spoons some food into his mouth, not even bothering to register what he is tasting or even eating for that matter. His mind is in a flurry to figure out how this happened, what he should do next. 'Asparagus? How much do I know about asparagus?! How does that even work anyways?' Lawrence goes from trying to figure out how to talk to a girl, to trying to figure out how someone could stick an IV into a plant...

He is definitely NOT in his top game right now.

[Fulci]

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2/16/2117 - 14:05, Lunchtime!
Characters: Lawrence (Rukellian)
Location: Vault 14, Cafeteria
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Lawrence's awkward smile has its effect: Heidi smiles back.

"Yes, I'm hungry too," she says, poking the gelatinous cube on her plate with a fork. "On the one hand, I'd rather eat real, organic food than these synthetic substitutes! But, on the other hand, I can't stand destroying our plants. There are so few healthy, growing ones."

"Giving someone a bouquet of flowers or a piece of fruit is really the biggest gift I can think of! But it's also so-so selfish."

She blushes.

"By the way," she points at Lawrence's tray, "be careful, you are about to eat your paper napkin."
Lawrence looks down and sees a piece of paper pierced on his fork. Luckily, he hasn't eaten of it yet. Heidi subdues a snicker. "Sorry, it's alright, I know you work nightshifts!

How are they? What's the Vault like at night, when there aren't many people around?"

[Rukellian]

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2/16/2117 - 14:05, Lunchtime!
Characters: Lawrence (Rukellian)
Location: Vault 14, Cafeteria
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Lawrence looks down at his tray and indeed sees his fork piercing a napkin. He cannot help but smile and shake his head in disbelief. "Wow... thanks for the warning! I think I would of ate it too," he laughs. Putting the fork down, he puts his hands on the table and closes his eyes. 'Slowly now, calm down Lawrence.' He listens to Heidi intently as she speaks, making sure an eating utensil is NOT in his hands.

When she finishes speaking, he sits back and opens his eyes again, this time his smile turning into a flat line. "I'm sorry to hear about the plants. I know they are very precious to you, like a mother and her children right? I'm the same way when it comes to my job, sort of. I try my best to keep the vault 'healthy' and well..." Lawrence pauses and zones out for a moment.

"I forgot where I was going with that." He smiles and shrugs. "Right, uhh, the flowers. I-" looking at Heidi's reaction, he cannot help but redden in the cheeks as well, "I'm glad things turned out the way they did." Lawrence has a hard time keeping eye contact at this point. "the flowers will be looked after with love, I'm sure."

'So that night did actually happen; I wasn't dreaming. This, has thrown a wrench in my plans with Victoria, but I'm not angry? I wonder why...'

"You asked about the vault at night, what it's like?" Lawrence leans his head back and closes his eyes again. He smiles widely. "When I'm awake during the day, the vault always seems so crowded, overflowing with noise and chaos. It's dizzying for me, since I'm not much of a social person. But when the lights go down, and the sounds draw to a whisper, it becomes a different world all together. A lonesome place yes, but it has its comforts. It's... It's hard to explain I guess." Lawrence picks up his fork and puts some 'food' in his mouth, remembering that he is hungry.

"There is a beauty to the vault that can only be seen, felt at night. I tried to convey some of that in the poem I wrote, but it's just the surface, the first page... I would need something more than paper and pencil, PipBoy or terminal to fully give it shape."

[Fulci]

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2/16/2117 - 14:05, Lunchtime!
Characters: Lawrence (Rukellian)
Location: Vault 14, Cafeteria
======================================================

"I once stayed at the Hydroponics overnight," Heidi says, her voice dreamy, "and I swear I could hear the plants whispering to me, to each other, in their own floral tongue!" She inserts a little laugh. "But who knows, maybe it was just the hum of your well-tuned machinery..."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not some kind of a Luddite!"

Lawrence clenches upon hearing this word.

"We have many machines in the garden, very sensitive and useful tools. We wouldn't be able to grow anything without hi-tech at all. Of course, you know about them: after all, you maintain them, change and oil the various parts. But I always dream about growing plants the traditional way. I read all the books in the library about how our ancestors came to America, how they plowed the lands... I know I'm romanticizing it, but can you blame me?" This part of Heidi's monologue feels like an argument she had with someone else, or maybe an argument she has with herself?

"Some engineers are romantic as well. I mean, why else would the Vault-Tec issued agricultural kits be called G.E.C.K.'s?!"

Lawrence recognizes this acronym, but cannot recall the full form right now. Maybe it wasn't something that caught his attention when he was studying the Vault-Tec manuals.

"Can't wait to try it..."

She pauses.

"Oh, sorry for my rant! I wanted to know more about you. Have you written any more poetry? And what do you mean that you'd need more than just pen and paper?"

[Rukellian]

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2/16/2117 - 14:05, Lunchtime!
Characters: Lawrence (Rukellian)
Location: Vault 14, Cafeteria
======================================================

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not some kind of a Luddite!"

Lawrence clenches upon hearing this word.

"Hey, don't worry about it, no misunderstandings here, promise." Lawrence laughs it off, but even so, he cannot help but wonder why she even used the term in the first place.

When the mechanic listens to Heidi's take on old world agriculture, he smiles and nods his head. Yes, he found it very easy to understand the feeling, romanticizing about a world out of reach, lost in time it seems, the yearning for something more than what you have.

"I know the feeling," Lawrence says with rising excitement in his voice. "And I don't think it's silly at all, like most people might think. Just as our forefathers worked the soils of our country's lands, so do you carry on that tradition, and passion, for cultivating new life. I can't tell you how many times I've daydreamed about working in the factories of old, putting together robots and various other electronics; even being a vehicle repairman would have been a rewarding experience for me!"

Lawrence sighs as he begins to say the following, a tired smile on his face. "It sometimes feels like we have outgrown this place, and that... we were meant for so much more than this."

"...I wanted to know more about you. Have you written any more poetry? And what do you mean that you'd need more than just pen and paper?"

Lawrence does feel a bit embarrassed when she says this. His face reddens and he tries to hide this, but only succeeds in making it more noticeable. "Not so loud please," he says in a whisper, "It-it's not something that I want everyone to hear!"

The mechanic looks around and then leans forward a little to make sure only Heidi hears this next part. "I don't mind talking about it some more, and I would be happy to share some of it with you, if you're interested, but not here, not... not in a place like this, with all of these people."

Lawrence looks clearly frustrated at this point, but more of a happy-nervous frustrated than anything else. For some reason, he cannot seem to shake away the smile planted on his face.

[Fulci]

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2/16/2117 - 14:08, Lunchtime!
Characters: Lawrence (Rukellian)
Location: Vault 14, Cafeteria
======================================================

Heidi is clearly amused by Lawrence's behavior, but she also picks up that for the young engineer, this is not an act or an attempt to "look cute", but genuine social awkwardness.

"I'm sorry, Lawrence," she apologizes. "Don't worry, I doubt anybody's paying attention to us, besides, they cannot hear a thing in this noise!" And indeed, it's rush hour in the cafeteria, dozens of hungry Vault Dwellers are queued up for their daily dose of colored jelly and flavored nutrisoy.

"If you are finished with your meal, we can go down to Hydroponics. The rest of the gardeners... or floral technicians, as you prefer, are still standing in line," she points to the queue, "so the Garden is ought to be empty for at least a half hour. I can show you my asparagus pool!"

[Rukellian]

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2/16/2117 - 14:08, Lunchtime!
Characters: Lawrence (Rukellian)
Location: Vault 14, Cafeteria
======================================================

"Hey, that sounds great! And, come to think of it, I've never seen a real asparagus before, only grey and white pictures in books."

Lawrence feels very relieved to leave the growing crowd of people. This is certainly not his element and Heidi's suggestion has more than piqued his interest. He waits for her to finish eating before he goes to empty his tray.

Along the way to Hydroponics (its becoming quite the hotspot!), Lawrence casually asks Heidi a question. "So, uh, admittedly I don't know much about plants. Not really my forte, and there has been something that has been bugging me for a while. In the movies, tomatoes are always depicted as red, but Zack said one day that-" He pauses and shakes his head. "Yeah, I know, it's coming from Zack, but still, when someone says that a tomato can be yellow or purple too, it kind of makes you think... You think its just something he tells the little kids for kicks and giggles?"

[Fulci]

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2/16/2117 - 14:15
Characters: Lawrence (Rukellian)
Location: Vault 14, Level 4, Hydroponics
======================================================

Upon exiting the elevator on Level 4, Lawrence almost instinctively turns right, towards the Maintenance Division, but Heidi pulls him back by the elbow and guides him to the left, to the Hydroponics on the opposite side of the corridor.

"I'm sure Zack only said that to play with the kids... but in a way, he is right. There are yellow tomatoes, and green ones too. And even some very dark red ones, which you could call purple. We experimented with them in the greenhouse. The difference in color is not just superficial. The nutritional profile of yellow tomatoes, for example, is slightly different from that of red ones. Yellow tomatoes have lots of niacin and folate, less vitamin C, and less lycopene than red tomatoes. Perhaps most importantly, they are lower in acid than red tomatoes..."

Lawrence and Heidi enter the Hydroponics. It's a pleasant change after the crowded cafeteria: quiet and with higher humidity than the rest of the Vault. There are no overhead lights, but rather separete spotlights over each group of plants and growing pool. One of the glasshouses gives of a warm glow as well. The other one is probably not functioning at the moment.

"Let me show you the asparagus I'm working on right now, then I can give a bigger tour as well!" she says. Lawrence notices, that she is still holding on to him, grabbing the fabric of his blue suit by his elbow.

She leads him to a small, white-framed glass box in the corner. A good dozen (eleven, Lawrence quickly counts them) little, green shoots are suspended in the liquid. Of course, there are no IV needles sticking out of them... But there is a small transparent bag of liquid being fed into the tank. So Heidi's IV metaphor wasn't that far-fetched.

"Asparagus often originates in maritime habitats, it thrives in soils that are too saline for normal weeds to grow," she explains. "I suspect that this plant might be able to live on the surface soil, if sheltered from direct sunlight."

[Rukellian]

======================================================
2/16/2117 - 14:15
Characters: Lawrence (Rukellian)
Location: Vault 14, Level 4, Hydroponics
======================================================

Upon exiting the elevator on Level 4, Lawrence almost instinctively turns right, towards the Maintenance Division, but Heidi pulls him back by the elbow and guides him to the left, to the Hydroponics on the opposite side of the corridor.

'Oh. Right. I'm going to be shown a pool of asparagus...' The mechanic thinks to himself in a half-dazed state. 'Asparagus... wait, what?' For a moment, Lawrence's mind starts to drift away from his usual flow of mechanical thought and starts to think of other things, non-work related. He looks over at Heidi, who is guiding him to Hydroponics by the elbow, and smiles.

'Well, I can't say I've been lead around by a girl before. So this is what it feels like...I could-' Lawrence's thoughts are disrupted as he hones in on Heidi's response to his question about tomatoes.

He was just trying to do the whole 'small talk' think, making it about something that the other person was interested or knowledgeable about. It was just to help break up the awkward silence between the two as they stood together in the elevator, their lone trip to the Labs... So how then, Lawrence asks himself, how is it that he enjoyed hearing her explanation of plant biochemistry so much? His face becomes flushed as he thinks on it.

"Ah, I see. I had a feeling you would know. I have to give Zack some more credit too I guess. I didn't know that the chemistry of certain fruits can be altered in such ways. Heheh, if I wasn't such a nut for engineering and electronics, I think I would enjoy the life of a 'floral technician'!" The mechanic looks towards Heidi as he says this, and finds that his casual glance lasts a bit longer than usual. He turns away again, trying to hide his face. Lawrence learns very quickly, for some reason, that it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep his social walls up around Heidi. His laughs are no longer forced like they are with others, his mouth smiles without permission now and the constant work schedule he keeps updating in his head is now in shambles. He just can't concentrate on work for some reason, not easily.

Lost in his thoughts once more, he is pulled once more into the right direction as they head farther into the Hydroponics Lab. The humidity of the air, the darkness of the room, it all seems to accentuate the idea that he is now alone and in close proximity with a girl. 'Victoria is a tease, sure, but Heidi... this is becoming dangerous. If this keeps up, I don't know. I haven't read about this yet! I'm still in chapter 2 after all...' Fortunately for Lawrence, he is once again pulled from his thoughts and is finally shown the pool of asparagus. Quick to count them, he notices the IV set up that Heidi was talking about.

"Asparagus often originates in maritime habitats, it thrives in soils that are too saline for normal weeds to grow," she explains. "I suspect that this plant might be able to live on the surface soil, if sheltered from direct sunlight."

"Hmm, yes, quite possible. A resource light build would entail a Quonset Frame for quick setup and efficient use of building materials, though a more rigid frame would be preferable... UV stabilized polyethylene, light transmission would be reduced alongside heat retention so heating fixtures would need to be in place for early crop development.... if resources permit polycarbonate, 30% yield in energy savings..." The mechanic maps out the construction of a greenhouse for the asparagus in his head, a coping mechanism for his current situation perhaps? "... a proper irrigation system to filter out excess fluid build-up..." The mechanic cannot help but smile, as he temporarily loses himself in the mental calculations and mapping of structural blueprints.

"Heidi, I think its incredible that you are able to grow things like this, truly. I would love to help build greenhouses for plants like these, put my skills to good use and work more closely with you and-"

'!!! Did I just say that out loud?! What am I doing?'

"-and I, uh, you mentioned a tour? Yes, let's do that!" Lawrence says quickly.

[Fulci]

======================================================
2/16/2117 - 14:35
Characters: Lawrence (Rukellian)
Location: Vault 14, Level 4, Hydroponics
======================================================

"Lawrence, you already work with me, well, us, sort of: repairing and maintaining the Hydroponic equipment... Almost all of this gear was installed by the Vault-Tec company back when the Vault was built. We never really had any big upgrades done. Sure, we play around with levels and stuff, but stay inside the existing framework of our facilities. So it would be great to have a new project, an invention... of course, we don't have enough place for it down here. But let me show you what we do have!"

This time there's no "leading Lawrence by the leash". Heidi simply goes ahead and starts demonstrating the hydroponic apparatus. Lawrence knows most of it (he is called often to change or adjust various fluorescent units), but under Heidi provides a new point of view, one that the young mechanic didn't bother with much earlier. She explains how the Hydroponic specialists divided the garden into zones to make the most of the various humidity levels of the hall. She talks about levels of immersion, nutri-fluids, cross-breeding and selection (unfortunately, she says, the overall quantity of plants is insufficient for effective selection). Asparagus is her pet project (no wonder she showed it first!), but she is assigned to work on the less fabulous but even more important potatoes, and also sometimes to the rather fabulous, but non-edible decorative flowers.

Luckily for Lawrence, interaction stays on "chapter 1" level. Heidi is immersed into explanations, and Lawrence enjoys it as well, after all, he's being led into a whole new area of nerd-dom applied sciences.

"Oh, damn!" Heidi glances at her Pip-Boy. "Look at the time! I have to go, my Human Anatomy lesson begins in a few minutes!"

As a Vault scientist, Heidi takes all kinds of extra lessons. Lawrence had these too (not Anatomy, per se), a few years ago - so Heidi is probably younger than him?

"If you have nothing to do, maybe you can tag along? Some of your friends will be there too, Victoria, Quincy..."

[Rukellian]

======================================================
2/16/2117 - 14:35
Characters: Lawrence (Rukellian)
Location: Vault 14, Level 4, Hydroponics
======================================================

"Time does fly when your having fun, or at least that's how the expression went, right?" Lawrence looks down at this PipBoy and notices the time as well.

"It's getting a bit late for me, I- okay, VERY late," he says with a laugh. "If I don't get some sleep in soon, I think I will fall asleep on the job come night time."

"Heidi? Thank you for this, showing me around the gardens and all that. I've been here plenty of times before, but never have I seen it through your eyes. And I wouldn't mind doing this more often, even if it is during the day. So... I guess what I'm trying to say is, uh, well, you know, if you want to do this again, or something like it, feel free to visit."

Lawrence tries to stifle back a yawn, but fails and only manages to cover his mouth. "Could you say hi to Victoria and Quincy for me? I don't get to see them very often as it is." The mechanic gets ready to go back to his room if it looks like the conversation is over. Thoughts of today's events will swirl around the young mechanic's mind as he contemplates the meaning of this encounter. He thinks of Victoria and realizes that he has only been in the 'friend zone', despite his best efforts in trying to talk with her. Lawrence is glad that he has found someone else he can talk to in the vault, someone who has an appreciation for the applied sciences, just like him.

'What a surprise today has been! I never would have imagined this happening, with someone from Hydroponics of all things.' His mind wanders again, an unfortunate side effect of being tired. Before his thoughts go somewhere too embarrassing to think about, he looks at his PipBoy again and brings up his work schedule for tonight.

[Rukellian]

======================================================
2/17/2117 - 6:05, End of Night Shift
Characters: Lawrence (Rukellian)
Location: Vault 14, Level 4, Living Quarters
======================================================

Staying up yesterday took a toll on the mechanic's alertness. His night did not go smoothly. Whether it was the physical lack of sleep or the mental disorientation he had to put up with, regardless, his superior took notice.

Nothing too serious happened, thankfully, but the mechanic received a lecture nevertheless. Falling asleep during the second maintenance patrol never bodes well. Since no one else is able to work the hours Lawrence does, within his division, he got off lucky, but the stern warning did have its effect. "Keep this up, and I will have to start looking for a replacement. You and I both don't want this Lawrence, you're a good worker and you know your stuff, but the Overseer may see things differently."

Dragging himself into his room, the young mechanic falls onto his bed. The urge to just fall asleep never felt so great before, and for a time, he does just that, but only for a few moments.

'I did this to myself, it is to be expected. I knew better than to stay up so long yesterday, but, it couldn't be helped, could it?' Tossing and turning in his bed, Lawrence tries to reason with himself, justify his actions up to this point, as if he were on trial. He understands how important his work is, and he has always prided himself in making smart choices, the 'correct' ones. But for the past few days, he started to do some questionable things, not thinking but just doing what felt right. This in itself disturbs him and keeps him from completely falling asleep.

The frustration proves too much and he eventually rouses himself out of bed. Sitting up for a moment in a daze, he stares across the room and at his doorway. He left the door open. He smiles and walks over to his desk. He's tired, sure, but not tired enough to fall asleep, not with his mind still racing like this. He pulls out a book from one of the desk drawers and flips to a bookmarked page.

'Where did I stop last time, all the lithium flower, that's right.' He picks up his writing utensil of choice (not sure what the vault has available) and continues his work once more. As Lawrence writes within his journal, a gift given to him by his parents before their abrupt disappearance in his life, he cannot help but find it strange that he picked such a topic for his latest piece, coincidental even considering how his last few days have been.

"He was bound to the chair, the wiring just as much a part of him as he was of it.

He could not see the warmth in others, for he had none of his own to understand.

He sat there, motionless, a silent sentinel to the changing world around him.

The wiring became his shackles, a weight that kept him grounded in darkness... waiting.

Time follows the chair's shadow, and the metal turns orange, fading.

Tiled flooring takes on hues of green and brown, the ceiling, pierced by columns of brilliant yellow.

Resting against a now empty seat, a lithium flower, severed wires."

Lawrence leans back against his chair and rubs his eyes, finally setting down his writing utensil. He holds his hand up to a light and looks upon it. He notices the blue veins in his wrist. "Huh, just like wires..."