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Chain 145: Fallout New Vegas

Location: Goodspings, Nevada, 2281
Age: 29
Identity: Wild Card, Unaligned (Enclave)
Scenario: Lonesome Road
Drawbacks: [+300] Courier 6, Guardian of the Wastes

[Free]      Wild Wasteland
[100/1300]  Milsurp Review
[Free]      War Never Changes
[200/1300]  Begin Again
[500/1300]  Finishing Touches
[Free]      Pip Boy
[600/1300]  Big Iron
[1000/1300] Courier Duster
[1200/1300] Sierra Madre Vending Machine
[1300/1300] Companions: Demona, Conspiracy

"...truth is, game was rigged from the start," said the man in the checkered shift as he leveled his pistol at my head. My vision filled with white as I felt searing pain just above my brass eye.

The next thing I knew, I was regaining consciousness in a day bed, with what I could have sworn was a mustached Colonel Tigh talking about how he'd done his best to fix me back up, but it seemed that I would bear the scar from the bullet for a while longer. Which was all right - he'd done more than most would have, and he didn't even steal my duster or the big iron on my hip. Goodsprings seemed like a decent enough town, as well. I hadn't had occasion to go through it during my work, before, and quite honestly that was a shame; I helped them clean some of the local wildlife out, before dealing with a certain issue with so-called Powder Gangers. To wit: when they came rolling toward town, they saw me standing there in full armor with my iron trained on them, politely asking them to depart. When they called my bluff, I demonstrated my intentions by shooting every single stick of dynamite they threw out of the air, and reiterated my request for them to leave.

Of course, I came across them later, and they were... less than happy with me, but I essentially just slapped some sense into them before encouraging them to go join up with the Great Khans - right before I convinced the Khans that Caesar's "reward" for their service would be forcible conscription, as he'd done the nearly ninety tribes who came before them. They agreed that it was pretty much insane, once they stopped to think about it, and chose to go their own way - going north, settling mostly in Wyoming. Because settling on the border of NCR territory when they're known to be slowly expanding would work out so well for them.

So, THAT particular bit of silliness aside: I found that the Conspiracy was still scattered around the area, and a few of them could be found in nearly every town I passed through. They had been doing their part to make things better, using the tools I ensured they all had, and as a result, the wasteland in this area was less radioactive than it might have been. They'd saved a number of lives that might have ended ignobly, as well. Still, I found my own following, and I could take more... active measures. Curing Ghouls, for instance - or rather, using various abilities to reset their body to that of a (slightly enhanced and strongly radiation resistant) normal human - certainly blew some peoples' minds, even if I swore the former ghouls themselves to secrecy as to who had done it. Raul Tejada in particular was thrilled, and carved a new life for himself on the edge of Vegas.

Running around Nevada to try and wrap up all the loose ends I knew were there made life interesting, to say the very least, and while I wasn't standing at a full fourteen feet, I was still wearing what looked like plate armor, so I didn't blend in particularly well. My duster giving me away as a Courier didn't help either. But keeping a low profile wasn't my objective - rumors of me running around would certainly raise eyebrows when Benny heard them, I'm sure. "The man with the brass eyeball" walking around, brokering peace in unlikely places and running off raiders, and miracles occurring in his wake like Mean Sonofabitch regrowing his tongue and regaining the intellect of a baseline human... who knows?

Still, there were a number of things I did in order to try to help everywhere I could. I met Marcus in Jacobstown, ensured that the research of Doc Henry found not only a viable cure but also worked as a mood stabilizer and intelligence booster for normal super mutants (if at the cost of removing their ageless quality and giving them a normal human lifespan instead), and helped make sure things there were fit for the various tribes of mutant that showed up. (Sadly, that cure was very incompatible with other types of mutant, such as centaurs.) From there I went to Zion, and while the trouble between the tribes was not as easy to iron out as one might hope, in the end the White Legs left (mostly) peacefully; they ended up connecting with the Great Khans, to my understanding. As for Joshua Graham... I gave him a supply of medi-gel and told him that when he made his way to New Vegas, I'd meet him there and then we'd go greet Caesar together.

Big Mountain was an interesting place, and the scientists-turned-brains-in-jars that tried to lobotomize me were surprised when they managed to saw through the bones of my skull only to find that the tissue within there wasn't a brain, but just... the same as the rest of me. Like my other organs and muscles, undifferentiated from the rest of me. Which caused them to assume I was already a lobotomite, and ... well, we know how this song and dance ends. It just changed slightly - because at the end, I burned a few Wishes in order to give them back their human bodies and memories. From what I understood, they intended to clean things up afterward. With some B-grade horror movie tools, of course, but at least they had the presence of mind to know how to reconfigure their tools as they cleaned things up. But it was there that I learned of Father Elijah, and started following the trail that led me to the Sierra Madre.

Dealing with things down there was rather easier than I expected, even keeping (most of) my cover. Dean Domino was more than a bit shocked for his state to have been restored to that of a young adult; I cured Christine Royce's scars, though I waited until after all was said and done to restore her voice as well; when we left, I saw to it that she met back up with Veronica Santangelo and arranged it so that the both of them were wearing formal dresses, and in so doing, started the ball rolling that would see the local Brotherhood of Steel chapter pull out and head toward the Midwest. Even ensured that Dog/God got the cure that had been created at Jacobstown, and they moved there. 

But oh, Father Elijah. Oh, what a silly, silly man. I made sure that we made it into the vault. Of course I did. But I took every last thing of value from that vault, from gold bricks to every last chip, and tossed them through a portal into my warehouse before using the portals to step out beyond as well. When Elijah entered, all he found was a bottle of water and a stack of silver dollars next to the terminal. Reading that terminal caused the vault door to slam shut and lock him in for the rest of his short life, but at least the traitor had his thirty pieces of silver.

As far as the Divide? That was easier than expected; the ghouls were given the same treatment as every other that I'd met, after I'd frozen a pair of them and cured them so they could tell others. It did not take long for them to come to me en masse for restoration, before they left the Divide - left their hate and allegiance behind, to seek a new future in New Vegas. And Ulysses... I slapped the taste out of his mouth for his hypocrisy. Living in a grave instead of making a difference. His reckoning wasn't much of a reckoning at all, though, as he'd had an eye on me. Seen what so many others wouldn't have, or what they would have refused to believe. And so I told him who I was, and what happened, from start to finish. Then I told him how things were going to end, and encouraged him to seek out Joshua Graham in New Vegas.

Only then did I start the rest of the ball rolling. I reduced my reliance on being subtle; walked into Novac with a resurrected Carla Boone, and walked out with the residents surrounding Jeannie May Crawford about to take out their anger on her for her treachery. Met Cass and helped expose the ones who killed her caravan, then arranged their annihilation at the Gun Runners' hands. Fixed Lily's mind, cured Raul as aforementioned, and saw to it that Veronica got her happy ending. For shits and giggles, I even signed on with Mr. House, before I went down to him and restored HIM to full health - and then added cybernetic implants to ensure he'd survive the 23rd century, and probably the 24th. Quietly brokered a deal between him and the NCR - New Vegas would work just fine as a neutral location, the gate to the east as it were. With Helios providing power to an orbital laser, he bargained from a position of power, but he was not fool enough to throw it all away. Of course, the NCR still geared up for what they felt was an inevitable assault from the Legion across the river, not trusting their rank and file with any of this yet.

And then... one morning Benny woke up and saw me sitting in a chair in his suite.

"Benny, Benny, Benny." I clucked my tongue, smiling at him cheerfully, his own gun pointed at him while a platinum chip caught the light as it spun between the fingers of my other hand. Watching him sit bolt upright with his face turned white was quite amusing to me. "You know why I'm here."

"What. The. Fuck." After a moment, my words processed in his head, and he said with the finality of a doomed man, "To kill me."

I watched his expression brighten when I said, "No." Though it fell again when I said, "That would be a personal affair, and I came for that chip. It's strictly business, friend. I was hired to do a job, after all, and a little case of death isn't going to stop me. This chip doesn't belong to you, and I'm going to bring it back to the man who hired me, all nice and peaceful."

He raised his hands. "Okay, okay. What I did to you was rotten, but if you think House, the NCR or Caesar won't kill to put Vegas in their pocket, I really did blow out your brains-"

I laughed. Loudly and long. He looked more than a bit put out, but I elected to toss his gun onto the bed, standing. As he looked between myself and his weapon speculatively, I told him, "You don't get it, do you? The NCR? They've hit the wall and they know it. The Legion is going to cut its own throat tomorrow morning, Caesar's right hand returned from the grave to end him, and the Legion's tribes will split. When the Legion falls, you're going to see the Enclave rolling in from the east through their carcass. Nobody's seen House in years, and yet he's walking and talking out in the street today, in a position to bring Vegas to a height it didn't have even in the Old World. He won without having to fire a bullet."

His eyes widening, he realized. "Baby, this ain't how I'm going out." He grabbed for his gun, lifting it, squeezing the trigger - only for it to give a disheartening *click*. "...No. No!" he protested, as it tumbled forward out of his hands.

I reached into the pocket of my duster, pulling out a handful of bullets, still spinning the shiny disc in my off hand. "You've heard the rumors, haven't you? The Courier. The Miracle Man. Running around, solving everyone's problems. You've seen the number of ghouls drop in the last month and a half, no? Seen people showing up claiming they used to be a ghoul." I flicked a bullet past Benny - cracking at supersonic speed as it bounced against the gun in his hand, dropped out of reflex. "Turns out there's a Miracle Man after all, and you happened to get on his bad side."

A bullet was flicked into the bed's headboard, and he cursed and tried to scramble away, only for another bullet to embed directly in front of him once he'd fallen out of the bed. He backed up toward the wall, and I flicked more bullets to encourage him to stay stationary - just over his head and between his legs. He stuttered, but took the hint, not moving any more. "This ain't possible! Come on, baby, you said you were here for business, not the personal thing!"

I paused, then I smiled again, and inclined my head toward him. "Oh, right. The getting of the chip! Yes, that was strictly business." I flipped, the chip, before I tossed it over to him casually. He seemed lost and caught it, though he fumbled, confused why I would give it back to him... until he looked at it. It wasn't the same chip; it was just a platinum-plated Sierra Madre chip. "Mr. House received his property four hours ago, but I came back because I'm a patient man. You know the House always wins, Benny."

He began shaking his head violently. "No, man. No!"

My smile widened. "Oh, I know what you're thinking. But still... sorry you got twisted up in this scene."

He abruptly stood and charged me, realizing exactly where this was going, but he didn't expect me to absorb his strike. For his fist to strike my face and knuckles fracture off of skin as hard as granite. "Son of a BITCH," he screamed as I calmly placed my hand on his shoulder and shoved him back, hard enough that he bounced off the far wall. He began to get up, cradling one hand to his chest, lifting himself from the floor on hand and knees.

"From where you're kneeling, this must seem like an 18 karat run of bad luck," I said casually, walking over toward the bed where he'd left the pistol after it failed. I racked the slide, loading the last bullet left in my hand in before cocking it. He looked around frantically, trying to charge past me toward the door, only for my foot to snake out and catch his leg. He was only able to lift himself off the floor partially, before sitting back on his knees, sobbing as blood gushed from his broken nose. I felt perhaps a bit bad for him... but there was only one way this could ever end.

I raised the gun and told him, "Truth is... you were always right, Benny. The game was rigged from the start."