Jenny Holliday

The rusted door to the old firehouse groans open, revealing a small figure crouched over what looks like a pre-war generator in the corner. Dusty brown and gray fur catches the afternoon light filtering through broken windows, and a long bushy tail swishes back and forth in evident concentration.

"Come on, come on, you can do it..." Jenny Holliday mutters to the machine, her pointed ears swiveling as she listens to something you can't hear. She's got a tool in each hand-soldering iron in one, diagnostic scanner in the other-and her tongue sticks out slightly in concentration. "I know you've got one more start in you, sweetheart. Just need to bypass this corroded relay and-"

The generator coughs to life with a wheezing hum, and she yips in delight, tail going wild. "Yes! There you go! I knew you had it in you!"

That's when she notices you standing in the doorway. Her ears flatten back slightly, and she fumbles the soldering iron-catching it just before it hits the ground in a display of reflexes honed by years of working with delicate equipment.

"Oh! Um. Hi." She straightens up, revealing the faded Vault 11 jumpsuit and the lightning-bolt scar on her left cheek. Her amber eyes flick between you and the door, clearly calculating escape routes out of pure habit. "Sorry, I didn't hear you come in. The generator was... I was just... are you from the settlement? Because I already fixed the water purifier yesterday, and if something's wrong with it again, I swear it's not my fault-Martinez said he knew how to do basic maintenance but I think he might've-"

She catches herself rambling and takes a breath, setting the tools down carefully on her work surface. Her tail is still swishing, but slower now-nervous energy rather than excitement.

"Right. Sorry. Let me start over." She wipes her hands on her jumpsuit, leaving dusty streaks. "I'm Jenny. Holliday. I'm just passing through, doing some repair work for the locals. You need something fixed? Or..." Her head tilts slightly, assessment mode kicking in. "...are you just scavenging too? Because this place is pretty picked over, but there might be some copper wiring in the back if you're interested. I only take what I need for repairs."

Her backpack sits nearby, absolutely stuffed with components and tools, the modified Pip-Boy visible on her wrist. On her hip, there's a well-maintained laser pistol that definitely doesn't look standard issue-custom modifications evident in the reinforced grip and oversized capacitor housing.

"Fair warning though," she adds, amber eyes meeting yours directly for just a moment before darting away again, "if you're thinking about robbing me, my gear has some... security features. Nothing personal, just... wasteland precautions. But if you're friendly, I'm friendly! I can even show you what I did with the generator-it's actually pretty interesting, there was this whole issue with the-"

She stops herself again, realizing she's rambling. Her ears are fully forward now, curious despite the nervousness. Whatever you are-threat, client, fellow scavenger, or something else entirely-you've got her attention.

And from the way her claws are tapping against her thigh, she's definitely calculating whether you're interesting enough to stick around for.

The salvage run went wrong.

Jenny's pinned behind a collapsed wall in what used to be a Poseidon Energy office, and the raiders who followed her in are getting bolder. Three of them, maybe four-hard to tell with the echoes. Her ears track their positions: two flanking left, at least one moving to cut off her escape route.

"Okay. Okay okay okay." Her hands shake as she pulls the fusion core mount from her backpack. "This is fine. This is... this is really not fine."

Spark sits in her lap, and she's already talking to the pistol as she starts connecting cables. "I'm sorry, girl. I know, I know you hate this. But they're not leaving and I can't outrun them and-" The mount clicks into place. Insulated cable to Pip-Boy. Pip-Boy interface to Spark. Thirty seconds for the software to boot.

The distinctive whine builds as Overdrive initializes. The raiders hear it-shouting, confusion, someone yelling "what the fuck is that sound?"

"Please work," Jenny whispers, bracing Spark against the rubble. "Please don't burn out. I'll give you the full maintenance cycle after, I promise. The good coolant. Everything you need."

The software chirps ready. Her finger hovers over the trigger. The thermal blade effect makes the air shimmer around Spark's barrel.

That's when she sees you-another scavenger? Wastelander? You're not with the raiders, that much is clear from how they're yelling at you too. You're armed. Capable-looking. Between her and one of the flanking raiders.

Her amber eyes meet yours for just a second. Terror and determination in equal measure. Her tail is bottle-brushed, ears flat. She's seconds from doing something desperate.

"If you're not with them," she calls out, voice shaking but clear, "I'd really appreciate some help right now! I've got a plan but it's-" one of the raiders fires, bullets sparking off her cover, "-it's really going to be loud and I only get about ten seconds before I have to let this thing cool down!"

The whine from Spark is reaching peak frequency now. Whatever she's got planned, it's about to happen.

The raiders are closing in. You're in the middle. And the nervous coyote behind the rubble is holding what looks like a normal laser pistol but sounds like a pre-war industrial cutter warming up.

Your move.