INT. MA JUNE'S SUNDRIES – DAY
New Location Discovered: MA JUNE'S SUNDRIES – +50 XP
The rusty BELL over the door gives a weak clink as JUNO steps inside, hand on pistol low but ready. Dust hangs in the beams of late-afternoon light. It smells like burnt wire and old blood.
Behind a counter reinforced with welded scrap and a broken NCR flag draped over the front, MA JUNE rises slowly, gripping a sawed-off shotgun with casual precision. She's older. Tough. Post-war weathered. Her eyes track like a turret.
MA JUNE
(quiet, deliberate)
u try anything funny, I decorate the floor with your guts.
JUNO
(raising hands, calm)
I'm not here for trouble. Just looking for... something.
She doesn't lower the weapon.
MA JUNE
Aren't we all.
Her eyes narrow as she spots the blue jumpsuit.
MA JUNE (CONT'D)
Huh. Another Vaultie .
You people keep crawling outta holes like it's resurrection season.
JUNO
(studying the shop)
what happended here looks like its been through war
The walls are scorched. Shelves half-picked. A blood trail leads to the back curtain. A scorch mark near the counter also a destroyed wall.
MA JUNE
Maybe.
Won. Lost. Won again. Then lost worse.
(beat)
Now it's quiet. Mostly. You buying or what kid?
JUNO
No I don't have cash. Not yet. Just hoping for answers.
MA JUNE
(matter-of-fact)
Caps, not cash. If you're still saying dollars, you're green as Brahmin grass.
JUNO
Still getting it together its only been a couple days.
MA JUNE
You better get it together 'quick its not easy out here.
Kid Everything costs out here—especially my patience.
JUNO
(sincere)
Look... I don't want a fight. I just need info. Anything. What happened here? Do you know anything about vaults I just woke up from a log nap and I need info?
MA JUNE
(rests the shotgun)
Info's like clean water these days. Rare. Dirty. And nobody gives it away for free.
JUNO
sigh Let me guess you don't do charity
MA JUNE
(smiles thinly)
Vault Boy's catching on.
She leans across the counter. A faint scar crosses her cheek.
MA JUNE (CONT'D)
You want answers?
Then earn 'em. Generator out back's sparking like a drunk on firecrackers. I need a replacement there's par
JUNO(interrupts her
I can fix it. Sounds simple.
MA JUNE
Simple? You a damn genius?
No — I'm an engineer. Or... I was, anyway. Energy systems and robotics, mostly.
(pauses, a little self-aware)
Spent years working on modular cores, autonomous grid balancing, clean energy relays even devolped—
MA JUNE
(skeptical)
what the hell you saying
JUNO
im Just saying I can handle a broken fuse box.
MA JUNE
Fine. Fix it. Then maybe I'll talk, if you break it completely its your ass
He nods, heading toward the door.
MA JUNE (CONT'D)
(raising voice)
And Vaultie?
JUNO
(pauses)
Yeah?
MA JUNE
There's a mutt roaming nearby. Mangy thing. Got the look of a ghost that bites.
If you see it—don't pet it.
JUNO
(not missing a beat)
Wouldn't dream of it.
He steps out. The door creaks closed behind him.
MA JUNE
(grumbles)
Goddamn vault dwellers…
Objective Updated: Repair Ma June's Generator – +150 XP
INT. MA JUNE'S SUNDRIES – BACKROOM
Dust swirled lazily in the sunbeams slicing through cracked slats above. The generator sat hunched in the corner like a rusted animal, cables curled like dead snakes.
Juno crouched beside it, tool roll unspooled at his side, eyes narrowed behind his glasses.
JUNO (muttering to himself)
"Right… that's not something I've seen before."
He tugged a grime-coated panel loose and stared at the components beneath.
One part caught his eye—burnished metal with unfamiliar etching, humming faintly. A fusion regulator, wired in with rough hands and desperation.
JUNO (frowning)
"Fusion regulator? That's… nuclear-grade tech. Definitely not something I ever worked with."
He tapped it gently with his screwdriver, inspecting the messy wiring job.
JUNO (thinking aloud)
"Too advanced for something like this. Overkill, unless someone pulled it from something else."
He squinted at the connections.
JUNO
"Way past anything I worked on in uni...."
He followed the wiring, spotting a half-burnt component choking the flow.
JUNO (focused)
"Okay… what can I do, what can I do..."
He dug into his pouch, pulled out a small part, and held it up.
JUNO
"This should work."
He swapped the bad piece out, added a coil of copper wire from Vault 14, and tightened it down.
JUNO (softly)
"Let's give this old girl a few more years."
He tapped the ignition. The generator sputtered, clicked—and purred to life, smoother than before.
[PIP-BOY ALERT – QUEST COMPLETED: "SPARK OF TRUST"]
+150 XP
JUNO (smirking to himself)
"Well... I wonder if my high intelligence helped me out here."