I was hugging a killer. Sure it wasn't a coldblooded killer like those in the thriller novels that Trucie is so fond about. But it was still a killer. My mind reeled at the idea. I heard sobs. He was crying. I looked to the sergeant who didn’t look very surprised at all, at least not from the fact that this pony was a killer. She looked mostly annoyed at the interruption in our time plan. Maybe the surface actually is as bad as the military says. This scientist certainly didn't seem like a bad pony but maybe killing was standard down here. I wonder if this was what surface ponies would call a sensitive stallion since he broke down crying for just confessing that he had killed a pony. My gaze searched its way down to his lab coat covered flank. It was a nice flank. Hey don't blame me I happen to like sensitive stallions and besides I was just wondering what he's cutie mark was. He had said he was a doctor so perhaps something medicine related.

We broke the hug and I took a step back and scanned he's body again. How old could he be? The sergeant began talking. I looked towards Trucie with her typical black enclave armor. Hopefully she didn't notice my flank gazing. It was important that I didn’t give her anything she could use when could use for when I bring up our discussion about my so called "conspiracy theories" later. I am not planning on letting her slip away that easily this time. She probably didn't notice it however. Trucie wouldn't know social interaction between genders if it hit her in the head. Maybe she had been the popular one when we were kids but it was hardly because the stallions looked at her. No I had many good things to say about my friend but her looks were not one of them. She was simply too brown. She had a light brown coat and a dark brown mane. She looked like the eagle on her cutie mark complete with white streaks trough the mane and tail, almost like a griffin. Most ponies where afraid of her when we were kids and I had to admit that she could look very intimidating. Probably the reason to why she was so "popular", fear is a strong emotion.

I snapped out of my musings when the sergeant and the stallion, I think he said he's name was Life Code, stopped talking and he began drawing something on several clip boards. Was it a map? Yeah I am sure I heard them say something about a map. Now let's see here. He levitated a clipboard to me and sure it was most definitively a map and quite well drawn for something that was done so quickly.

Then I heard two loud bangs and something stung my neck. I gasped and looked up to see sarge and Trucie fall to the floor. There was smoke coming from the pipe of a revolver levitated by Life Code. He had shot them. They were dead. I tried to scream but I couldn't get any air into my lungs. I started panicking. He threw away the gun as if it had filled its purpose and he had absolutely no further need for it and took a step towards me.

"Shush, just relax and it will be easier." he said in a calm voice. All uncertainty he had shown before was like blown away. He had a totally neutral face and spoke as if it was just a regular conversation. I tried to calm myself and aimed my beam rifles at him. I was still not getting enough air.

"W... what was that that you injected me with?" I managed to get out.

"Oh it was just a little homemade cocktail. I must say I am surprised that you are still standing, you should be pretty much dead by now." he answered with a slightly amused smile. My mind started panicking again. Dead, I don't want to die.

"A... a... antidote?" I squeezed out and waved my rifle in what was hopefully a threatening way. He didn't seem threatened at all.

"Ah, sure just follow me and I will get it for you." he offered almost cheerfully and made his way to the bedroom door. I spun around and followed him with my eyes. My vision was beginning to blur. "Oh wait, maybe I put it over here." he said and made a turn and walked past me again. I spun after him. "Or was it over here." he continued in his cold but still cheerful manner and made another turn. I tried to follow but my head had started to spin and suddenly the floor rushed towards my face. Everything went black. "There you go sweetie. Just relax!" was the last words I heard.

****

"Come on now sweetie, it's time to wake up" somepony with the voice of a stallion woke me.

"Ugh just a little bit longer" I turned away from it. Maybe if I just stayed in bed for a while and thought my day through I could sleep a bit more and still not be late for whatever it was I was going to do today. Right now I was feeling particularly warm and comfortable.

"Sorry sweetie but I am afraid that you have slept long enough." the voice said. Who was that? He seems sort of familiar. "I have stuff to do so I can't stay here and look after you any longer." he said.

"What do you mean ‘look after’ it's not like I can't be alone in my own house." I retorted. I was still not quite awake. I heard him snicker.

"Open your eyes sweetie!" he answered. Stupid stallion couldn't he see that was the exact opposite of what I wanted to do. This bed was pure bliss I had never felt this good in my life. I burrowed my head in the sheets with a groan. Wait, why did I have sheets? I didn't have sheets I slept on a cloud. I opened my eyes. I was not home at all. Then everything came back to me along with memories of that voice's owner.

A bolt of adrenaline shot through my body and I quickly flipped out of the bed on to the floor of the opposite side of where I had heard the stallion. I was in a small room completely made of metal. I scrambled to my hooves. The only furniture was the small bed I had slept in and a table with some chemical equipment. I stood in the small space between the bed and the wall. On the other side of the bed stood Life Code and behind him there was a large metal door.

"Where am I? What have you done to me?" I almost screamed at him. I felt a bit groggy but the adrenaline held me steady.

"Well that’s one way of saying good morning." he said with that weird grin. It was cheery but looked extremely forced. "I got some clothes for you on the table and you may want to fix your mane. Also I took the liberty of giving you a pipbuck when you were out. Just come out when you're ready and you'll get some breakfast too." he continued in the cheery tone. “Don´t worry! I´m not poisonous.” He added when he saw my terrified face and then walked out through the door.

I just stood there, stunned. The adrenaline started to subside and I managed to collect my thoughts. A realization hit me. That stallion had just killed my best friend. My best and only real friend in my entire life was gone and the last conversation we had was an argument. I lay down on the bed and started to cry.

I don't know how long I laid there but after a while I got up. This is not the time to mourn. That I can do later when I’m safe now I would need to get out of here. The whole situation dawned on me. Not only was my best friend dead but I ran a great risk of dying too. I was stranded on the ground and had most likely been reported dead. I couldn't just fly back up to the clouds. If I did I would get shot. I had to find some way of contacting the enclave from the ground. But first I needed to get past that stallion.

Okay, one thing is for sure and that is that I'm definitely not going to go out through that door. I scanned the room but saw nothing new. I walked up to the table. A rugged lab coat with holes designed for pegasi wings lay on it. There were also a whole bunch of empty syringes. I quickly searched my body when I saw them and sure enough there were multiple small marks from them all over it. I looked over the rest of the chemical equipment to see if I could figure out what had been in them but I found nothing. Then I remembered the pipbuck and raised my left hoof to look at it.

Pipbuck 3000 the display said. I had heard of pipbucks but the enclave didn't really use them so I had never seen one. It seemed however as if it worked exactly like the system in my power armor except for using buttons to navigate instead of just thinking. I pressed some of the buttons and managed to get to the medical display. I examined the stats on my body. It looked as if I was fine. In fact it looked like I was more than fine. According to the pipbuck I was in better shape than I had ever been. The only thing that had not changed was my luck. How did the pipbuck measure luck anyways? I continued clicking. Not only had I grown both stronger and faster but if I read the pipbuck correctly I had become immune or extremely resistant to all kinds of hazards including disease, poison and other stuff I had never heard about. What the hell had he done to me?

I got the urge to go out and force him to answer me but changed my mind. I was not going to play by his rules. I slipped into the lab coat and managed to find a scalpel which I stuck in one of the pockets then I looked around the room again to see if maybe there was any alternate ways out. There was an air vent in the ceiling blocked by a metal grid. I took out the scalpel and unscrewed the grid with it. I took a deep breath and slipped into the vent. Hah he can forget about having breakfast with me. I still felt warm and comfortable for some reason. I began crawling through the vent.

Now I am not the biggest of ponies but I can tell you that ventilation shafts are not designed for ponies to crawl through and all the secret agent comics heavily exaggerate the amount of space in them. Slowly I managed to snail my way through the shaft. There was no light which was probably a good thing since it kept my mind from thinking of how close the walls were. Another thing that comics exaggerate is the weight air vents are designed for. I had only gotten about ten meters when the whole thing began creaking. Huh that can't be good.

Crash!

The air vent collapsed and I found myself tumbling out and onto the floor. I stumbled onto my hooves and looked around. I was in another small metal room although this one had two doors one of which I knew led back to the room I had come from. There were tables with chemical equipment but no bed. In the middle sat Life Code and stirred around in a pot standing on an electrical cooking plate. He got up with an amused smile.

"You do know that all you had to do to open the door was walk up to it right?" I flushed. Of course I knew that I just wanted to test him. Or wait that sentence doesn't really make sense in this situation.

"I was just testing the air vent. We don't have air vents above the clouds and I wanted to try and crawl through one like they do in the comics." I managed to save like a boss. Wait! Why was I explaining myself? He killed my friend and drugged me I shouldn’t be embarrassed. I should be furious or at least sad.

"Well if it helps you sleep at night then sure. You have good timing though. I just finished breakfast. Or maybe you could say that I have good timing since I predicted that you would take your time and didn't start making it until just recently. But I don't want to brag about it." he said with his stupid smile. Why was he so good looking? It messed with my focus. Why was he even so friendly? For fuck sake he killed my best friend and now he offers me breakfast like nothing is wrong. My previous idea of pressing him for answers returned.

"What is wrong with you? How can you act so cold and what have you done to my body?" I screamed at him.

"Wow having some real mood swings are we? You shouldn't work yourself up so much! Just stay calm and everything usually works out. That is both a good advice and an answer to your first question." Ok so he was he was a cold blooded killer and a psychiatrist. How nice. I began laughing this situation was just so surreal.

"So you killed my friends, kidnapped me and now you're saying I shouldn't make a big deal out of it. Well yes that totally answers the first question, you are lunatic." I laughed at him.

"Yeez, talk about a low blow to bring that up when we agreed to put it behind us." he answered with a 'totally not cool' look on he's face. Wait now I was confused.

"What do you mean? I never agreed to that. I just woke up." I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh don't you remember? I said I was sorry and you forgave me and we hugged and cried and all that. It was a very emotional moment." he said with a smirk. When did this happen? How long had I been out? Wait he can't be referring to that moment.

"Hey! That’s not fair. You hadn't even done anything yet. You can't apologize before you do the thing you apologize for." I retorted.

"Well why not? You forgave me for a scenario exactly like this. Or do you just change your morals around whenever it is convenient for you." he said now with that smirk turned into a grin.

"But...." I began but he cut me off.

"But what? It shouldn't count because you didn't know that it was your friends that were killed in the scenario I described?" now he was snickering.

"But..." I began. He waited. That was totally a low blow. I had actually forgiven him for just what had happened and it’s not like I can take it back, can I?

"Haha" he couldn't keep himself from laughing any longer. "Just come and tell me if you come up with a hole in that argument without changing your morals or claiming that your friends are worth more than other ponies." he said with a smile. "But now I guess you want some breakfast." he continued as he sat down again and continued stirring in the pot with his magic. I followed his example without thinking. I was occupied with finding a flaw in his argument. I was not going to give up without a fight. He took two bowls and filled them with was in the cooking pot. It was noodles. Then he passed one of the bowls to me along with a juice box. I took a slurp and then a bite of the noodles. Wow these were some really good noodles. I took another bite and then another and the next thing I knew the bowl was empty. I pushed the bowl aside and then lay down slurping on the rest of the juice box. I felt good, really good. Then it hit me.

"Hey wait?" I shot up. "How did you do that? How did you get me so sidetracked?" He burst out laughing again.

"Haha, ooh you should have seen the look on your face when you realized you had just eaten all of the breakfast. Haha, totally priceless." he managed to control himself again but still had a large grin plastered on his face. I was not amused.

"It's not funny. What do you want with me, why did you kill my friends and what have you done to me that make me feel so damn comfortable? I should be devastated but instead I feel amazing." I tried to sound as hurt and sad as I could to see if I could earn some sympathy. If he was going to play dirty then I was too.

"Haha, the puppy dog look won't work on me sweetie. You may be hurt and angry but you're hardly the first and most certainly not the last" he said with a disturbingly happy smile when you considered the subject. "But let me answer those questions with another question. Have you checked your pipbuck?"

"Yes I have. You have done something to me. You have put me on steroids or something." I replied angrily.

"Bah, it's nothing as simple as steroids." he sounded a bit annoyed. "But have you checked your rad-meter?" No actually I hadn't. I looked at it. Huh it was turned off. I flipped it on. It immediately started clicking like crazy. Apparently I was absorbing 20 rads a second. What the fuck. I looked up to him but he just showed his own pipbuck and smiled. It showed the same thing.

"We should be dead" I thought aloud. Even with hazard suits this much radiation would be dangerous. A chilling thought hit me. "Are... are we dead?... Have we died and become ghosts?" I asked. He fell to the floor laughing. Ok so apparently not.

"Hahahaha, what? I mean seriously. Oh that was the best one I've heard in a long time." ugh there is no need to rub it in. He managed to collect himself somewhat. "Ok, so that you don't go around and worry about it. We are not dead. I have just modified your life code somewhat." he said, still snickering.

"My what?" wasn't that his name?

"I changed your DNA. I upgraded you with my very own cocktail of potions, magic and viruses. I call it 'Snake's Pony 2.0 Cocktail'" he said with a proud smile.

"You did what?! You turned me into a mutated freak?!"

"Oh don't be so narrow-minded. A medical pony as you should know that there is no such thing as freaks. Besides you still look exactly as you did before. All I did was basically to give you the abilities of a ghoul but without the annoying side effects of being a ghoul." Ok that explains perfectly.

"What is a ghoul?" I asked.

"Oh they are ponies who have been exposed to too much radiation but instead of dying they have mutated or what you want to call it. They are basically zombies. They don't die but their bodies are slowly rotting away. Radiation heals them and makes them stronger. That is why you are feeling so high right now and also why you can’t stay focused. You are surrounded by radiation." he answered casually.

"How is that any better than being a mutant freak? You have turned me into a zombie pony!" I shouted at him.

"No you are not a zombie pony, didn't you listen. I took all the advantages of being a ghoul and put them into you but I skipped all the downsides. And that is just the simplified explanation. The actual process is a lot more complicated. You should be thankful, it took me ten years of studying ghouls and other wasteland creatures to figure out how to do it and I promise you that it is a very useful perk to have in the wasteland." he explained. I was going to argue but the warm feeling took hold of me. Well at least it is better than being dead, if only because of this feeling.

"Okay, so that's not so bad I guess." I lied down and let out a deep sigh. I could really get used to radiation bathing. It was the feeling of pure bliss. He lay down too and we laid there for a while. Then I remembered. "Hey! Stop doing that! You still haven't answered my other questions." I said quite annoyed. I wanted to hate him but for some reason he was just so likable. He snickered a bit and raised his head from the floor again.

"I was wondering when it would hit you. But as for why I killed your friends and what I want with you I think I have already explained that." oh, actually he had. He had saved me but for some reason he also had to kill my friends to do so. At least that was what he had apologized for.

"But why did you have to kill them? Why did you not just come with us?" I asked.

"Because you were far too late and we would have gotten killed if we tried to get out your way." he explained with a slight smile. "I hardly think that I would have been able talk you into being modified by me so that we could flee through these tunnels and you were the only one without helmet so you were the only one I could drug." that did make sense. Gah! Why did he have to make so much sense? It would be so much easier if I could just hate him. I looked to the floor.

"Well what am I supposed to do now? I have to get in contact with one of the enclave's ground stations but I have no idea how to get to them. I am no soldier and if the wasteland is as bad as it seems then there's no way I would make it even If I did know the way." I was screwed. It didn't matter that he had saved me I would probably still die down here. "Besides what have you done to my armor?" how come I didn't think of that until now? A lab coat was barely any protection.

"I am afraid I had to leave it to get you down through the ventilation shafts. But don't worry. It would probably only have made you a target. Ponies down here have little to no sympathy for the enclave." easy for him to say I'm sure he had some super armor or something stored down here. "As for how you are going to get to an enclave station I would be happy to guide you." he smiled still with that forced smile. Couldn't he smile like normal ponies?

"So I should accompany you? The same pony who just recently killed my best friend?" I had to say I was more than a bit skeptical.

"Oh come on, it may have been me who pulled the trigger but it was hardly my fault and may I remind you that I saved your life. Besides I think you could learn something. I am sure that my medical skills are completely up to par with any enclave doctor." he huffed and put his nose in the air to empathize his statement. "I just need to go drop of some test samples and charts by one of my laboratories and then I'll show you to one of the enclave stations. It’ll just take maybe one or two weeks if we don’t drag our hooves."

"One of your laboratories?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Well of course. I keep backups so that when nasty stuff like reaper attacks happen I have spares. But we are going to the main one because these are important samples. And also it's the closest." he sounded proud. How did he have time to both do research and build laboratories? I wonder what kind of research he is doing.

"Ok, sure I guess I don't really have a choice but to follow you." I admitted while I lowered my head in an attempt to look sad about it but the truth was that my curiosity was starting to get the better off me. Judging by what he had done to me I would guess that he was more than up to par with any enclave doctor or scientist for that matter when it came to arcanobiology. Part of me was feeling as giddy as when I had been accepted into the academy of medical science in Skydome. What can I say? I am a scientist at heart.

"Of course you have a choice. It’s just that this choice has significantly less risk of getting you killed than the others." he said with a smirk. "But if you have made up your mind then let’s not stay here any longer!" he stood up and levitated some gray boxes onto his back. Huh where had those come from? They looked sort of like those ministry of peace saddle bags for medical equipment but the shape was a bit off. I guess they had been camouflaged to all the grey rubbish that littered this place. He picked up a scalpel and a clip board from the table and trotted up to the door then he turned to me. "Are you coming?"

"Just like that? No plan or anything? No preparations?" I frowned.

"Well you may want to bring a clip board and a pencil if you want me to teach you something but otherwise I recommend you travel light. I have already prepared all my stuff so unless you have anything else you want to do here then I don’t see the point in lingering." he looked at me. I had nothing. "Didn't think so. Now come!" he said. "Oh and don’t lose that scalpel you have in your pocket! You should always have at least one!" then he walked out. I picked up a pencil and stuck it in my other pocket (the one I didn't have a scalpel in), took a clip board under my wing and looked around the room. Well I may not be the most well prepared pony to ever brace the wasteland but I'm sure I'm not the worst either. Then I followed him out.

Footnote: Level Up
New Perk: Snake's Cocktail -- Your body has been enhanced by one of the most skilled arcanobiologists in the wasteland and given the same abilities as ghouls and several other strange wasteland dwellers. You heal from radiation and large exposure will make you stronger, smarter and quicker (although you don't stay irradiated for very long afterwards) and you are extremely resistant to taint, enervation, disease and poison. Also you no longer age or need food or drink to sustain yourself. You still have to sleep though.

Traits:
Good Natured -- You have never been very dedicated to combat but this has left you with more time over for other things. You have increased skills in speech, medicine, repair, science and barter but decreased skills in energy weapons, explosives, guns melee weapons and unarmed.
Psychologist - You have taken courses in psychology which helps you understand how ponies think and how you can help or influence them. However they have not improved you social skills or charisma. You may use you medicine skill instead of speech skill in situations where the speech skill is tested but you gain 50% less positive fame with ponies whenever fame is rewarded. You still gain the full amount of negative fame however.

A/N: Going to try and keep this shorter than last chapter. I am not really that satisfied with this chapter. It was a lot harder to write than the first. I have the next one much clearer in my head so hopefully that will be easier. I would also like to make longer chapters since I feel it gets a bit rushed in especially this one but I simply don't have the time to do that and still release these with reasonable consistency. Nopony has figured out what kind of snake Life Code is. As I said in previous chapter there is another clue in this one and there will be one in the next.

Also, so far I have gotten absolutely no comments which I am kinda sad about since it gets so much harder for me to improve Please leave criticism even if you think it's not far away into the story for you to have an opinion. At least leave a comment if you like the story so far or not.

Please