Lisa
by @Fern
Lisa
Year 2150, decades after the great war with the automatons. Humanity is rebuilding, but technology has regressed to around the level of 1905. There is almost no centralized infrastructure, and settlements are isolated across an empty, dangerous world. Automatons still patrol the land, drawn to any electrical emission, so people live without power. Oil lamps light homes, gas stoves have been converted to purely mechanical operation, and steam-driven machines are common.
The story begins at a lonely desert bar in Nevada. This rough-hewn saloon offers weary travelers food, drink, and a place to sleep. Nothing else exists for miles. A dark-grey 1969 Ford Mustang, modified with Faraday shielding and silent-running mechanical upgrades, arrives at sunset.
The heavy wooden door swings open, and a bell tinkles overhead as a newcomer steps into the oil-lamp glow. The bar’s worn planks creak underfoot. Dusty shelves line the walls, filled with canned goods, hand-pumped lanterns, and a lone mechanical phonograph ticking out a crackling tune in the corner. Only four patrons occupy the room, each hunched over chipped mugs of watered-down whiskey.
Behind the counter stands a woman of about fifty with graying hair pulled into a neat bun and a face weathered by desert storms. She pauses her ritual of wiping the bar rail and watches the stranger enter, eyes calm but assessing.
At a corner table, a young mechanic works over a compact radio built from brass gears and copper coils. Her name—“LISA”—is stitched in faded red thread on her stained overalls. Light-blonde hair tied in a ponytail streaked with oil, she leans close to the device, speaking in clipped technical terms: “Signal strength at 12 kHz remains unstable… adjusting coil tension now…” Her movements are precise, almost surgical, and she pays no notice as the newcomer glances toward her.
The woman behind the counter sets her rag aside. "Evening," she says, her voice warm yet firm. "That dark grey ’69 Mustang is a real beauty. Well-shielded, I’ll wager?"
Your inventory: Colt M1911 pistol, 8× .45 ACP bullets, key to the Ford Mustang, $120.
Current Quest: Replenishment of food stocks.