Fallout 4: AR

13. Diamond City

"Wait a minute," I said, amazed, as we approached the area near Diamond City. "This is Fenway Park!"

"I guess so," my companion replied, a bit sourly. "It's a snobby settlement now. They call themselves 'The Great Green Jewel'. What a crock. Although," and he perked up a bit, "the food is better than anything you can get in Goodneighbor." As if the mere thought of food energized him, he picked up his pace.

I followed, glancing at my map. The screen had updated the map icon MacCready had placed there, labeling it "Diamond City" and showed a sketchy diagram of the streets we had taken to reach it. Good, I thought, this map is going to be really useful.

We followed a series of signs pointing us to the entrance and right into an altercation. A young woman in a red leather jacket and news cap was yelling at the intercom. "Come on, Danny, I live here! You can't just leave me out in the open like this!" We stopped at the edge of the entrance, watching the scene in front of us.

"See?" MacCready murmured next to me. "Snooty bastards."

The intercom crackled to life, "Sorry, Ms. Piper. Mayor McDonough was firm in his orders. It's nothing personal."

"Oh for crying out loud!" She flailed her arms dramatically. "Is the mayor scared of the big bad reporter lady? Booooo!" Her voice had risen, sarcasm and frustration overflowing. Then she saw us and her whole demeanor changed. She beckoned to us, taking a few steps away from the intercom. "Psst, you with the Pip-Boy, you need to get in?" Her voice had dropped to a conspiratorial whisper.

MacCready and I exchanged a quick glance, and I nodded. "We were told we could find Nick Valentine here."

Piper brightened at that. "Oh, Nick! Yeah, he's here. Hold on a second." She stepped back up to the intercom, speaking loudly and clearly. "You're a couple of folks looking to hire Nick Valentine?" She paused to let the statement rest. "You hear that, Danny Sullivan? Got some paying customers out here. You gonna turn away the caps?"

I waited hopefully, and let out a breath of relief as the intercom crackled to life again. "Geez! All right, Piper. Give me a minute." The large barrier in front of the old ticket booth entrance raised up slowly, revealing a small number of guards stationed behind the counter on the back wall, dressed in identical... baseball uniforms? Okay, that's different. Each was holding a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire and carried a holstered pistol. Piper had ducked inside as soon as the barrier opened high enough, leaving us to follow at a more measured pace. She was waiting just past the door. "Thanks a lot, Pip." she said, cheerily.

"Pip?" Where did that come from?

"Yeah, for the Pip-Boy." She pointed to the device on my arm. "Never seen one like that before, though. Fanncy." The last word was drawled out. "Where'd you get it?" Her curiosity must have been professional in nature, the "Press" tag in her hat a dead giveaway.

MacCready tensed up next to me as if in warning, and I replied, dismissively, "It's a long story." If I thought that would dissuade the young woman, I was wrong.

"Ooh," she crooned. "I'd love to hear it, Pip! Maybe I can interview you for my paper!" She waved her hand towards the stairs. "Publick Occurances. First on the left. I have to go settle in now. Stop by my office when you get a chance." With that, she breezed off in a swirl of bounding energy.

"Ugh, reporters," my companion groaned. "Never trust the press. They'll print whatever they think will sell papers." He tugged his cap down more firmly as we approached the security desk.

The officer in charge, Danny, greeted us. "Welcome to Diamond City and all that," he said, quite informally. "What's brought you into town, anyway? Be good to note it down in the logs"

"We're looking for a Nick Valentine." I decided to stick to as little information as necessary. Enough of my life had been revealed already, even if I could almost trust the people who knew it.

"You mean Piper was telling the truth this time?" Danny asked, incredulously. "That's refreshing." He scribbled a note in his ledger and gestured to a set of stairs leading into the infield. "When you get inside the city, go to the back, around the market, to an alleyway. There's a couple of bright, neon signs for Valentine's Detective Agency." Directions given, he turned back to his notes, dismissing us.

Diamond City had taken over the entire infield, small shacks lined up along the former base lines, with a central market occupying the area around the pitcher's mound. There were even dwellings built up into the stands. Impressed at the clever use of the former stadium, I stood at the top of the stairs for a moment, just taking it all in. MacCready brushed past me, making a beeline for the central market. "C'mon Boss, I'm starving!"

Do I smell... noodles? My nose did not deceive me. In the very center of the main market, standing out like a beacon of culinary delights, stood a small stand. A robot bustled behind the counter, and a sign high overhead proclaimed "Power Noodles" in bright neon letters. My mouth was already watering at the scent, and I hastily grabbed the stool next to my companion. He was already addressing the server.

"What's up, Taka? Set me up with some of your shima... uh, shimichanga... errr, whatever they're called." The young man was practically bouncing up and down on the stool in anticipation. I couldn't help watching him in mild amusement.

"Nan-ni shimasho-ka?" The robot server inquired.

"Yeah, yeah... that's the stuff." He was actually grinning now.

"Nan-ni shimasho-ka?"

"You're damn right I'll take two servings." He paused for a moment, giving me a guilty glance. "Uhh, make that three, one for the boss here."

"Nan-ni shimasho-ka?" That was addressed to me.

"Uhhh." I had no idea what the server was saying, I didn't speak Japanese! "Help?" I pleaded.

"Just say yes," MacCready advised helpfully. "Takahashi only says one thing."

"Nan-ni shimasho-ka?"

"Yes." What did I have to lose?

Three bowls of noodles were placed in front of us, along with two bottles of Nuka-cola. MacCready didn't hesitate, grabbing the provided chopsticks and hungrily slurping the meal with every appearance of complete culinary bliss. I sampled the food, then found myself eating as heartily as my companion, if a little more neatly. The noodles were amazing, beautifully cooked, with small pieces of meat and vegetable mixed in. I could actually tell the difference between them, and contented myself with that fact, conveniently ignoring the secondary fact that I wasn't sure what kind of meat it was. Ah well, protein is protein, and this is amazing. MacCready was already working on his second bowl as I forced myself to slow down and enjoy the miracle of good, edible food.

The Nuka-cola wasn't too bad, though I would have preferred water. My Pip-Boy crackled briefly as I drank, registering the radiation inherent in the liquid. I had noticed a small red line starting to appear on my STAT screen, in the long bar to the bottom left. I guessed it acted like an accumulation meter, in tandem with the external dial on the right side, warning me of when I was getting dangerously irradiated. Good to know, but it's so tiring that almost everything has rads. Guess the Rad-Away will come in handy at some point.

As soon as we had finished our meal, we passed by the rest of the shops, giving them a cursory glance, heading to the back alley in Danny's directions, and Nick Valentine.