FFF - Get your next job from Boss Murphy

You awake to a gray day in the wasteland. A gentle, foul-smelling drizzle falls over New Gurlberg. You notice that your house is a bit leaky.

You’re alone on the makeshift bed. Chastity is cooking breakfast. You eat the humble meal with her, unsure how to feel about this domestic moment. Chastity is nothing if not likable. You can’t lie to yourself; you have feelings for her. You’re starting to think about what would happen if you took her back to the vault with you when your mission is complete. Getting the Overseer to welcome her would be doable.

You get dressed and head out, hurrying to make the most of cover to avoid the rain. It’s early, but you have enough rapport with Boss Murphy at this point that you’re comfortable knocking on her door.

She answers looking grumpy, but when she sees that it’s you, that goes away. She looks serious.

“What is it?”

“I need work,” you tell her bluntly.

She gazes at you. She’s just wearing sturdy shorts and nothing else.

“Wait a minute,” she says finally, shutting the door. You stand back and listen to the rain. From up here you can see over the wall a little bit. The swamp does not look very welcoming in the best of times. This weather makes it look awful.

Boss Murphy appears with her clothes on. She pauses beside you, surveying the town with her eyes. It’s still early and the weather is bad, so not many people are moving around.

“Come on,” she says, and you follow her down the steps and up the street to a ladder. She climbs on, and you go up after her. There’s a lookout post on top of the wall that’s covered with a canvas. Rain drips through a few holes and runs off the corners. The watchman is being careful to keep his pipe rifle dry.

“Take a break,” Boss Murphy tells him. The structure creaks under her considerable weight. The watchman nods and climbs down, leaving the two of you alone with the patter of the rain and the vast, ominous view of the swamp. “How’d you do it?” she asks, her eyes on the cloudy sky.

“I was quiet,” you reply.

“What’s their security like?”

“Not much. One guard in the open and someone else. I’m not sure where. Maybe the roof, maybe patrolling the swamp. But it’s not just the girl at the door,” you tell her.

“How’d you get by them?”

“I used the dark. And a distraction.”

Boss Murphy nods, folding her arms. “Ballsy. You did this because Reggie asked you to?”

“I negotiated a little.”

Boss Murphy glances over at you. Is that approval?

“You looking for serious work?” she asks.

“Always,” you reply. It’s worked: telling her the truth about Shell and rescuing Shiv and Shank has earned Boss Murphy’s full trust. You’ve operated cleanly and even managed not to get hurt. She’s impressed.

“Shiv and Shank had a friend in Free Gurls,” Boss Murphy says, lowering her voice. “They’d give her some three-way action and she’d give them the ****. I don’t know if they got busted on their own or if it was a setup. I’m guessing they just screwed up. You didn’t see a fresh grave there, did you?”

You knew something was off about the story because Shiv and Shank aren’t total amateurs, but they are not ninjas. You have a fuller picture now of what was happening: they were trading sexual favors to a Free Gurl for **** on Boss Murphy’s orders. And someone in Free Gurls is keeping a secret.

“No,” you reply. Whoever was supplying Shiv and Shank has not been found out yet.

“They’ll hit back,” Boss Murphy says confidently.

Right… they probably would if the escape hadn’t been engineered in collaboration with them. Boss Murphy’s conclusion is wrong, but through no fault of her own. You stay quiet.

“It won’t be long. We’ll have to make a move first.” Boss Murphy turns to you.

“You aren’t thinking of attacking them, are you?” you ask worriedly.

“No. Too dangerous. We need those chems. If we go in hot, the wrong person could get hurt. Think you can get in there again?”

“I don’t see why not,” you reply. You have a sinking feeling in your stomach about where this is going, but you can’t back out now. Your intention in going after Shiv and Shank was not to start a larger conflict. But… if Boss Murphy is going to do something, it’s better if you’re a part of it. Besides, she’s trusting you. It would be suspicious if you walked away.

“You sure?” she asks.

“I’m sure.”

Boss Murphy nods and takes a breath. She’s thinking.

“OK, here’s what you do,” she says. “There’s one of them named Labrat. Reggie can describe her to you. She won’t fight you. Get her out like you did Shiv and Shank.”

“Shiv and Shank wanted to leave,” you say hesitantly.

“I know. Doing it quietly will be a coin flip. I have that covered. I’m going to give you a bomb. A big one. Plant it in their headquarters before you make your move on Labrat. That way if it gets messy you just have to shoot your way clear. The bomb will make sure that they can’t chase you. You hit them at night again. I’m going to have Eric set you up, then you get moving. You’ll probably have to wait until dark, but maybe not. If they come here to bitch or even to launch an attack, that’ll make it easy on you. They’d never risk Labrat in a fight. She’ll be alone there, so if you see a chance, take it. Remember: I need her alive and in one piece.”

“Of course,” you say.

She watches your face. “You aren’t going to ask for backup?”

No. You are not. Having witnesses from New Gurlberg present would limit your options.

“I can handle it,” you say.

Boss Murphy puts a giant hand on your shoulder. “This could change things here. You could have a bright future in New Gurlberg. And I’d be grateful, of course. So would these people,” she adds, glancing at the buildings. “Come on. Let’s go wake up Eric.”

You understand what’s going on here. New Gurlberg’s prosperity hasn’t just come through hard work; Boss Murphy is subsidizing it by trafficking chems. Until recently the Free Gurls were her source. Now she wants Labrat for herself to keep the chems flowing and the Free Gurls out of the picture.

She takes you to Eric, who takes your 10mm SMG and modifies it. He adds a rubber grip, does something to the magwell, and affixes a bulky, homemade suppressor. The suppressor is so large that it makes the sights unusable, but it renders the weapon almost silent. He warns you that the weapon will overheat if you use it too much on full-auto.

There isn’t even time to say goodbye to Chastity. You see her at Reggie’s bar, chatting with Reggie as you get your equipment and head for the gate. Boss Murphy nods to the guards, who hurry to open the gate for you.

You walk out into the gloom and look back toward Reggie’s bar, but the gates are already closing. You’ve been given a task.

Carry it out as ordered?

Or tell Cherry what’s happening?