Chapter 74: Crossroads

Chapter 74: Crossroads

Good morning, Mojave Wasteland! It certainly looks to be a beautiful morning. It would have to be, just to match all of my beautiful listeners out there. Highs of 72 today, with partly cloudy skies. Best of all, no chance of sandstorms anywhere east of The Divide! This is your host, Mr. New Vegas, letting you know that you're nobody until somebody loves you, and that somebody is me. I love you.

I'm not entirely certain when I woke up. I vaguely remember staring at the ceiling for what felt like five years, waiting for something to happen. There was no transition from falling asleep to waking up; no nightmares, no dreams, and no midnight visits from Benny's ghost (if that's what he really was...). I just kept waiting for the other shoe to drop and... it just didn't.

What I do remember is the thing that finally roused me out of bed: that glorious smell. It was just a wonderful smell of some kind of cooking meat wafting into my room. I felt like a feral ghoul as I stumbled out of bed, drawn ever forward by that delicious smell of meat. It almost smelled like bacon, but... how was that possible?

"Morning!" Veronica said as I stumbled, blinking and bleary eyed, into the kitchen. She grabbed me by the shoulder, helping to steady my approach. "Whoa, there! Rough night?" I grunted, rubbing my eyes; it was the best response I could muster. She laughed, helping me into one of the chairs at the kitchen table. "Well, don't worry. We've got just the thing to help you out: lots and lots of pork!"

That word - pork - sobered me up rather nicely, and my eyes snapped open. Laid out in front of me was a veritable meat feast. Short ribs, pork sausages (both patties and links), pork chops, cubed ham, shredded pork, and most wonderful of all was the bacon. Not to mention the eggs! It was just everything you could think of for breakfast, all laid out on the table, family style.

Boone was sitting next to me, digging into his food, which included a pair of eggs over-easy, some ribs, bacon, and some sausage links; Arcade and Cass were sitting across from me, also greedily devouring the food in front of them. Veronica had moved to the fridge, and next to her was Raul, obviously cooking something on the stove. I just sat there in complete awe, staring at the mountain of food in front of me... with the faintest hint of suspicion nagging at the back of my skull.

"There you go!" Veronica smiled cheerfully, setting a glass in front of me. "Some nice cold brahmin milk! Delicious, nutritious, and gets rid of rads!" I stared up at her smiling face with a raised eyebrow.

"C'mo' ma'," Cass said with her mouth full. "Ea' u', 'is ain' 'onna 'as." Arcade rolled his eyes, swallowed, and cleared his throat.

"Hey," Arcade patted her shoulder. "Slow down. Chew your food."Visit no(v)eLb(i)n.com for the best novel reading experience

"Right," I said, turning to my left. "Boone, could you punch me in the face?"

Everything immediately stopped... well, almost everything. Whatever Raul was cooking on the grill was still sizzling away, creating a nice backdrop to the awkward silence. Either way. everyone who was eating stopped to stare at me like I'd gone mad. I can't really blame them, but... I had to be sure about something.

"... Why?" Boone was the first to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Because all this food seems way too good to be true, and I want to make sure I'm not dreaming. I really don't want Benny to show up and ruin everything..." I looked around at the blank stares, so I just shook it off and continued. "Okay, forget it - where did all this come from? I mean, this is... this is pork, isn't it? It's not, like, gecko or radroach meat made to look like pork, right?"

"It's definitely pig. Try some!" Arcade said, piling a few more sausages on his plate. "It's delicious!" Cass didn't say anything; she was too busy stuffing her face, as was Boone. Veronica finally sat down, and was joining in the feast, so I did as well.

As soon as I tasted that first piece of delicious, crispy bacon, I completely forgot about all of my fears that this was a dream. It had been so very long since I'd had bacon, and this was just... delicious. It was wonderful. It was mouth-watering. It was like a trio of angels were dancing on my tongue, sprinkling that delicious pork flavor all over my taste buds with verve and gusto.

"Oh, this is just... I'm in heaven! This is amazing, but..." I grabbed a few more strips of bacon (and some pork ribs) before continuing. "My question still stands. Where'd all this come from? I didn't think feral boar came this far east."

"They don't, Boss." Raul said, turning away from what he was cooking; whatever it was, it smelled exquisite. "There was a big stir earlier this morning, over by Freeside's east gate. It was a caravan, loaded up with tons of pork. Apparently they'd just arrived from outside Fresno, where packs of wild boar are as common as molerats."

"That's not the craziest thing," Veronica said, eagerly chowing down on one of the ribs. "Raul, tell him the craziest thing! You're gonna love this, I swear."

"What's the craziest thing?" I asked, piling a few sausages on my plate, and downing half the brahmin milk in my glass. Raul laughed, finishing off what he was cooking.

"All this came from one pig, Boss." Raul said, piling some food on his plate and joining us. "That's why nobody really lives in Fresno anymore, the boar out there grow bigger than deathclaws." I let out a low whistle, admiring the slowly diminishing mountain of meat.

"That is impressive. So, what'd you make for yourself?" I asked, looking over at his plate. It sort of looked like eggs, but... Raul smiled wide in his cracked face, and popped a forkful in his mouth.

"Chorizo y huevos a mi abuela de Tejada." Before I got a chance to ask, he explained: "It's my grandma's chorizo and eggs recipe, Boss. Muy picante!"

When the elevator doors to House's penthouse office opened about a half an hour later (after I finished eating as much bacon as I could), I expected to be greeted by Jane, or Marilyn, or even Victor. But the doors opened to silence. I was surprised. After all the fuss he'd made last night, I figured he'd have one of his doombots escort me up to the meeting.

I barely got halfway down the stairs when House's giant monitor winked into life.

"Welcome back, Mr. Fisher," House boomed. "Are you finally ready for your next assignment?" I shrugged, coming to a stop in front of his big electronic face, staring down at me.

"Sure. Lay it on me, House. Let's hear it."

"I want you to locate and destroy remnants of the Mojave chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel," House said simply.

Of all the things I might have expected House to want me to do... that wasn't one of them. I just sort of stood there, staring dumbfounded up at House's unmoving face, unable to really reply beyond a confused gurgle. House, on the other hand, just kept going.

"The NCR nearly did the job of wiping them out at Helios One a few years ago, but as I'm sure you're aware, there have been survivors. Given the Brotherhood's fanatical views on technology, they can be counted on to oppose my regime. Based on the data I've collected, I've narrowed down the most likely location for their base of operations to be one of the 'secret' Pre-War military bunkers in Hidden Valley. So please, would you kindly put them out of my misery?"

"Hang on," I said, finally finding my voice, and holding my hands up. "Why do you want me to destroy them anyway? I mean... hell, the Boomers are just as xenophobic, just as reclusive and violent, and I was able to make nice with them. Isn't there any possibility of... I don't know, a diplomatic solution, maybe?" House sighed heavily, the sound reverberating off every wall, and shook the bookshelves behind me.

"We're talking about a coterie of bulging-eyed fanatics who believe that all Pre-War technology belongs to them. They will never accept my using an army of robots to defend New Vegas. While it's a fight I can surely win, I'd rather sidestep it altogether. And that is where you will come in. If you deal with them now, then I won't be forced to divert Securitrons away from a potentially critical moment. Waste not, want not."

"House..." I tried to think of something to say. "Look, I'm sorry, but... I just... I don't want to kill off the entire Brotherhood!" As I said that, I couldn't help but notice the Securitrons standing guard on either side of the giant monitor start to turn slowly to face me. I couldn't be certain, but it almost looked like they were readying weapons. That can't be good.

"Don't tell me that you've fallen for the stories of noble paladins on crusade, preserving mankind's technology in a benighted age?" House bellowed, following it up with a tremendous laugh that shook the windows. "Dross! In any case... this is an employer/employee relationship, in case you have forgotten. I've given you an assignment, and the directions are clear."

"It's not quite as cut-and-dry as all that!" I said, trying to keep calm. "I don't know if you've noticed this, House, but Veronica - one of the people I work with - is a member of the Brotherhood of Steel!"

"I am aware of this, yes," House said, almost annoyed. "What's your point?"

"House is right about one thing, at least. There are thousands of lives in the Mojave, all riding on the outcome of Caesar's Legion and the NCR clashing at the Dam. And I've... I don't know. I've only been living here about a month, but I've invested more into the Mojave than anywhere else I've been. I don't think... I don't think I can leave. At least not until the job is done. But..."

I remembered the talk I'd had with Arcade a few days ago, back when we were looking for the Boomer's medical station: "I've got three options, and they're all wrong."

"The clash between the NCR and Legion is going to happen, there's no way around that," I said. "And House always seemed like the lesser of two evils - keeping Legion from taking over the Mojave, and keeping the NCR from getting another easy victory. And it was just... he seemed like the best option, a way for me to do some good in my life for once. But now, House has shown his true colors. The way he's threatened to dispose of me before, the way he wanted me to get rid of you, and... the way he said it so callously... There was no feeling. No emotion. He doesn't care about any of the people here, not really. He only cares about maintaining his iron-fisted grip over Vegas... his city in a bottle, preserved from the destruction of the old world. He's just as bad as the other two..." I tried to think of something - anything! There had to be a way out of this! Something I wasn't seeing...

"House, NCR, or Legion... Why are those your only three options?" Veronica spoke up, breaking me out of my thoughts. "I mean, not to feed your ego anymore or anything, but... I've seen what you can do firsthand. If you put your mind to something, there's nothing you can't do. So why not just say fuck it to all three?" I was so surprised that I slammed on the brakes without really thinking. I stared over at her. The sudden stop threw her forward, but she composed herself rather quickly, readjusting her hood. "What? What'd I say?"

"I just... I think that's only the second time I've heard you swear. It was surprising then, and it still is..." I was glad for the change in mood, and started laughing to myself. Personally, I blame the stress. Veronica shrugged.

"I guess Cass is rubbing off on me," she said with a smile. I stared at her, completely deadpan, for a full minute before I buried my face in my hand to keep myself from laughing even further. Veronica must have figured it out, because she said "Oh my, that came out wrong, didn't it?"

That was it. I gave up, and so did she. The two of us sat there, completely overcome by a fit of hysterical giggling. It was a nice change of pace to be sure, but despite all that, my brain was still working - still trying to figure out this problem. And I kept latching on to what she'd just said: If you put your mind to something, there's nothing you can't do. There was an answer here, buried between the lines, and I just...

"That's it," I said, immediately bringing my laughing fit to a halt; I can't be sure, but I think I was experiencing an uncharacteristic moment of clarity. "That's my way out of this. Fuck me, why didn't I think of this before?" Veronica calmed down as well, looking at me curiously.

"What have you got in mind?" She asked.

A flood of images and conversations had started pouring into my head, like someone blew up a dam in my mind.

"Do you know the city I wanted to see when I stole the Platinum Chip?" I remember Benny saying in one of my dreams. "I wanted to see a Vegas that was free. Free from the tyranny of House's Old World rule. Free from the bullshit and fake democracy of the NCR. Free from the slave chains of the Legion. I wanted to make a Vegas that was independent. No gods. No masters. Free."

And then, I saw another image - this time, from the night when I killed Benny. A Securitron with a smiling, cartoon face, entirely too forthcoming for his own good: "He wanted to kill Mr. House and use the Platinum Chip to copy my neuro-computational matrix onto the Lucky 38's mainframe! That would give me control over all of Mr. House's defenses, most prominently his Securitrons. And then I guess I just do as I'm told!"

I remembered another dream, and saw Benny toss the Platinum chip toward me: "My advice is you make that choice... for you. Not for Kimball. Not for Caesar. And definitely not for House. If you don't make the choice yourself, then someone else'll make that choice for you. And you might not like what comes next. Dig?"

Finally, there was one last image of Benny, from the most recent dream: "If you keep putting off the important things like you've always done, then you'll never be in control of your own life. You'll just be another bunter, like all the other crumbs in Vegas who think that all they need to fix their luck is just one more pull of the one-armed bandit. Those losers never figure out that the game is rigged from the start, like I told you during our first, rather unfortunate, meeting."

"The only way to win in Vegas..." I said aloud. "...is to rig the game for yourself." Veronica looked at me oddly.

"What are you..." I turned to look at her, a giant smile plastered on my face. She leaned away from me in her seat, obviously disturbed.

"I'm gonna free Yes-Man from The Tops."

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Veronica said from the backseat as I rolled my Corvega to a stop just outside the Lucky 38. She was hiding back there, hopefully out of view of any of the cameras. Hopefully.

"No," I said calmly as I could, pulling the keys out of the ignition and tossing them to her; she caught them in midair. "But it's the best plan I can think of, and the longer I wait, the less chance I have of it actually working. Just make sure you stay out of sight." I got out of the car, and stared up at the gigantic spire of the Lucky 38 towering over me.

As if on cue, I heard a crackle of lightning and a small pop of ozone behind me. The trio of beeps let me know even before I turned around and saw him hovering over my car that ED-E was here.

"Perfect timing, ED-E," I said; the robot started hovering in a loose orbit around me, beeping curiously. "Look, don't worry about it. I need you to stay here, protect the car. With any luck, everyone else should be out in a minute, follow them, alright?" ED-E beeped at me curiously, tilting to one side. I tapped the side of my Pip Boy, and smiled at the floating eyebot. "Don't worry, I still have your frequency. I'll be sure to contact you from my Pip Boy as soon as something comes up. And... if I don't contact you then... just... follow Cass, alright?" I ran up the steps before ED-E could beep a response. The next thing I knew I was riding the elevator back up to the suite.

Ding.

"Everyone!" I shouted as soon as I stepped out. "Is everyone here?" I looked around. One by one, my companions started spilling out of various rooms. Arcade was the first, coming from the common room (book still in hand), with Boone appearing from his room next. Cass came from the kitchen with a bottle of whiskey, and (after a flush) Raul emerged from the bathroom, zipping up his jumpsuit.

"What's up?" Cass asked, knocking back some whiskey.

"Good, everyone's here!" I said. "Raul - can I ask a favor?" The ghoul raised an... well, he didn't really have an 'eyebrow' as such, but he raised it all the same.

"Uh... what's the favor, boss?"

"Do you think we can hold an emergency meeting at your safehouse? You know, the one where we recovered your motorcycle?" I asked. Raul kept looking at me curiously.

"Yeah, I know my own house, Boss," He paused, and started nodding. "Sure, I... suppose we can hold a meeting there. Mi casa y su casa, eh?"

"Great! My car is out front, I'll meet you guys there. I just need to collect some stuff, first." Everyone - even Boone - seemed to give me curious looks as they filed past me, into the elevator. Cass was the last one to go, and I caught her by the shoulder before she could get a chance to leave.

"Shea," she whispered, catching the hint. "What's this 'bout?"

"When you get to my car, Veronica will be in the back," I whispered back; I tried to angle myself away from the two cameras I'd spotted earlier. "She'll hand you the keys. I want you to get going right away, and tell Raul to do the same. Drive to Raul's place, she'll fill you in on the way."

"What? Seriously, what's goin' on?" She practically hissed through her teeth.

"If you don't hear from me in the next twelve hours, I want you and everyone else to load up in my car, and get out of the Mojave. House will be coming for you if you don't." Cass' eyes went wide, and she opened her mouth to say something else, but I covered it before she could. "Trust me. Veronica will explain. Go."

With that, I shoved her into the elevator. She stumbled back with... I'm not sure what kind of look that was, honestly. Fear? Concern? Indignation? Boone caught her before she toppled over, and Arcade stopped holding the elevator doors open.

"Sheason, wait-" Whatever Cass was trying to say, I didn't hear her; the elevator doors slid shut soundlessly, and I was left standing in the middle of the suite in silence.

Well. I suppose there's no turning back now. Time to put some substance to those Indestructible Courier myths.