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Nuka-Girl: The Lone Teleporter (Or: "That time Taylor found herself in the Fallout Universe").
- Thread starter Aurora Moon
- Start date
- Crossover
Aurora Moon
Verfied Insomniac with too much time on her hands
- Location
- USA, Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Eh? I'll have to check and see what you're talking about here. I can't believe I missed a mistake like that.
Edit: Fixed.
Last edited:
Given we've only had at most 7 titles in Fallout (several of which I consider non-canon), that's more or less half of the actual governments we've seen.
Just saying. There's been 4 actual 'governments' larger than a single city, the NCR and Enclave were recycled several times.
Brotherhood of Steel I don't even consider a government, they were more Feudal Overlords.
Thats giving them to much credit, the BoS are a military without a government/nation, so damn focused on their 'mission' they can't even remember what the mission was for. Originally they started out as a Power Armor Unit that mutined about a day or so before the bombs dropped, and after they tried to preserve as much tech and knowledge as possible so civilisation could rebuilt, they only got as far as taking(or stealing) and preserving tech and then generally made things worse for early attempts to rebuild civilsation by taking what was needed for the civilsations to survive. NCR has all of the problems of the prewar USA on top of essentially 'electing' a President-for-Life, and the Enclave was similar only with what looked like a caste system to me.Given we've only had at most 7 titles in Fallout (several of which I consider non-canon), that's more or less half of the actual governments we've seen.
Just saying. There's been 4 actual 'governments' larger than a single city, the NCR and Enclave were recycled several times.
Nukagirl 83--Looting the hell out of the patent filing system, just grabbing whatever they want.
Aurora Moon
Verfied Insomniac with too much time on her hands
- Location
- USA, Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
A/N: this is basically a setup chapter for the next chapter, which I'm honestly more excited about. heh.
Also, this chapter is very dialogue-heavy because the characters were very insistent about having conversations with each other and this ran away from me. you have been warned.
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On closer inspection, this underground vault was huge for its purpose. It was the kind of vault that could've held up to 3,400 people max yet held only computers, folders full of papers, and machines.
And everything was segmented into separate rooms, every room having a filing system number painted over the doors. It seemed as if everything was designed to have a backup of the backup, so to speak.
If the computers holding thousands of patents and blueprints failed for whatever reason, then they'd have the paper system to fall back on. And if the paper system got destroyed, then everything was stored on storage devices that were designed to be accessed electronically and linked up to printers even without a computer.
And for good reason, it seemed that they had literally everything here that could quite easily help restart civilization… or destroy it completely for good, judging by the patents they had on weapons of mass destruction.
It was like Nora said, they really did keep all the good stuff secure and locked up like this.
And they even had redundant backup systems in place in case this place got destroyed too.
It was in one of the rooms where they kept actual inventions rather than blueprints of patents, that Taylor discovered how Michael Baker had managed to survive down here for so long. Namely, there was a machine called a "Food Printer" that ran on the same principles as the other matter converters did but instead of building materials, this one gave you a pudding-like substance that you could eat.
Taylor could tell it had been used a lot, judging by the tables and the bowls next to it.
Taylor sampled some of the pudding, and… it was really nothing to write home about. It was like rice pudding, but without any of the flavorings that might've made it good. It was bland and flavorless. And Michael survived on this for 200 years? Poor guy.
But it seemed to be full of vitamins and protein, things that you needed for a healthy brain at least. That was apparently one of the reasons why ghouls went feral according to John Hancock. Despite the fact that they could easily go without food for extended periods of time, it still wasn't recommended because instead of burning up fat the body could easily cannibalize parts of your brain. That was what happened to normal human beings too as well. It's the reason why malnourished people couldn't think effectively like a well-fed human would be able to do. Now imagine constantly starving for 200 years without any food so your body had to constantly feed on itself. Yeah.
Of course, John Hancock also claimed that to prevent himself from going feral, he needed a lot of simulation in form of drugs. So she might have to take that piece of knowledge with a grain of salt, knowing how much John loved to "party" and took every justification he could have in order to do that.
Shaking her head at that thought, she slowly returned to Room M-118 where Nora was going through all the patents' blueprints that she could find on file.
On her way back, she noted that Benji and Gracie had become tentative friends and were now having a strong case of the zoomies as they ran throughout the hallways together.
She smiled at this scene, but then her smile faded away when she overheard Codsworth talking with Michael.
"Yeah, I couldn't open the exit from the inside because I didn't have A-5 clearance like my supervisor did. As a filing clerk, I only have a B-20 clearance code. Meaning, I can come down here to look at restricted information, and clean up things and move things around. But I'm not authorized to take anything out of here unless the higher-ups okay it. And I'm not authorized to lift the lockdown should the unthinkable happen… which it did." Michael Baker sighed as he explained how he had gotten stuck down here.
"My word. But at least, you've kept up a pretty exemplary job all those years. I've never seen a place so spotless in such a long time. Looking at this place you would've never known that the bombs dropped." Codsworth commented.
Mr. Baker chuckled mirthlessly. "Oh yeah, I've been working overtime for the longest time, haven't I? According to my calculations, the government now owes me 30 years' worth of leave time. Which I sorely need."
Taylor couldn't help but blurt out as she walked over, "only 30 years?? After staying down here for 200 years? That implies that you often don't get free time off… which seems to be illegal. My dad's a union boss, he would have things to say about that."
Codsworth turned to face Taylor. "Unions? Isn't that some sort of communist thing?"
Michael raised his nonexistent brows at this. "It's a good thing my bosses are most likely dead by now. If they were to hear you talk about unionizing… well, it wouldn't be very pretty. I'd leave it at that. Besides, it wasn't so bad. They did give me this service animal as part of my work. Benji's been such a godsend. He's also kept me sane all those years…. I wouldn't know what to do without him."
At the mention of his name, the cyber-ghoul-hound skidded to a stop next to Micheal.
"You need something? Need help?" Benji spoke up, his electrotonic collar translating things from his thoughts into actual words.
Taylor's eyes widened at this. "Holy shit, he talks!"
"Indeed he does. Benji, why don't you tell this young lady here what kind of dog you are, and what enables you to speak." Michael said in an amused tone of voice.
"Affirmative. I am Benji, a cyberdog. Patent number US45557001, cyber dogs were designed to assist with police forces as well as be part of the army. However, we were also used in assisted living programs, acting as service dogs to people with disabilities. Most cyber dogs do not talk, however… I talk because of patent number US2337799, the ETAC Collar. Which is short for, Electronic Telepathic Animal communication collar. Which is exactly what it does as described."
Taylor's eyes widened at this. "Holy shit. So if I were to figure out how to make this ETAC collar for Gracie, she could talk too?"
"Affirmative. However, it must be noted that doing so will shorten her life expectancy." Benji replied.
That threw Taylor for a loop. "But… you've lived a long time?"
"Affirmative. I am a cyber dog. My mind is enhanced and powerful. A normal dog's mind is not. The downside of the collar is that it requires implants drilled into the brain. And implants can get hot the more it is used, slowly cooking the brian of normal dogs in the process. Being a cyber dog bypasses the need for such implants. So, yes, Gracie would talk…. But only for a short time. Perhaps you would turn her into a cyber dog so that she can use the collar?" Benji explained.
"No. It seems cruel to turn Gracie into something she's not just because I wanted a talking mutant hound." Taylor said, crestfallen now that such a cool idea was thoroughly crushed.
Seriously, how cool would it be to have a talking dog like Gracie?
Gracie was now sitting by her, her head tilting as she heard both the strange dog and Taylor say her name.
"Why did they make something like that if they couldn't ensure the safety of the animals it was used on?" Taylor grumbled.
Michael then spoke up. "It's still in its' infancy technically speaking. The original owner of the patent owned a zoo and amusement park, and he wanted something that would attract visitors to the park… and what better than to have talking animals? But, he wasn't satisfied with the way it reduced the animals' lifespan and commissioned several think tanks to work on the prototypes so that this little problem could be fixed. Benji here was born from one of the experiments when they discovered that this collar didn't have the problem when paired with cyber dogs. And naturally, both the US Army and the government saw potential in this for use on the battlefield and started sponsoring the commission as well. Very typical of them, really."
"Would his name be John-Caleb Bradberton?" Taylor couldn't help but ask.
Michael Baker looked puzzled. "No, it was Jeremiah Boring, the owner of Columbus Zoo and Amusement park. Why?"
Taylor looked vaguely sheepish. "That's the only guy I've met so far who actually owned his own zoo and amusement park. And seemed very determined to keep it running no matter what."
"Wait. That's the Nuka-cola guy! I knew his name sounded familiar!" Michael exclaimed, and it was then what Taylor said sunk in. "He's still alive??"
Taylor nodded. Michael then shook his head. "Huh. The government crumbles overnight but the Nuka-cola guy's still kicking around. Some guys have all the luck."
Taylor remembered the first time she met the man, and how John-Caleb had been stuck as nothing but a head in a jar, begging everyone to kill him.
"Uh. I wouldn't say that….." Taylor mumbled.
But before she could explain to Michael how John-Caleb suffered worse luck than he did, Michael politely excused himself, saying he had to go to the bathroom.
Benji followed close behind the ghoul in the motorized wheelchair, ending his playtime with Gracie.
Taylor looked down at Gracie, who just sat there staring back as she panted happily.
Codsworth then said, "Time to check in on Nora, then, Miss Taylor?"
Taylor nodded at that, and with that, she went to Filing room M-118 with both Gracie and Codsworth following closely behind.
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Shaun seemed strangely relieved when he saw Taylor and Codsworth walk in, and called out: "Mom seems really upset about something. I don't know why though. One minute she was fine when we were going through the files on the computers… and then the next moment she's in the corner with her face in her hands."
Taylor looked around, and sure enough, there was Nora sitting down in the corner, mumbling to herself as she covered her face. She looked like she was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
Taylor slowly approached her, and then knelt next to her. She whispered, "Hey. you alright."
Nora uncovered her face, blinking back tears. "No, I'm not alright."
"Okay. can I ask why, or would you like to be left alone right now?" Taylor wondered.
Nora's lips trembled before she spoke. "Had a real nasty revelation that I didn't like at all, even if it was the truth."
At Taylor's look of incomprehension, Nora then explained: "I was looking through the very long list of patents and seeing which ones were technologically feasible and could be built by my powers or by the normal people living in Nuka-world. And I was looking at the dates when those inventions were copyrighted and patented...that's when I realized something truly horrible."
Nora paused, as she tried to compose herself so that she wouldn't get too upset as she explained more of her thought process. "Namely, the fact that the fuckin' government had the solutions to America's problems all along but never bothered to address them. Instead, they were more in love with this precious war of theirs than they cared about keeping their citizens well-fed and cared for! The great war could've been avoided completely if they cared to. But they didn't. And now look at us."
Taylor blinked. It seemed as if Nora's thoughts had taken her on a real wild ride, although Taylor still wasn't sure if it was perfectly logical or not.
"But, the other countries were still warring with each other regardless of what America did or did not, right? Could America really had avoided that in the first place?" Taylor pointed out.
Nora paused at that. She then reluctantly admitted, "Okay. So maybe America wouldn't have been able to keep out of everyone else's affairs. But my other points still stand. All the problems America was facing, such as the food riots? The shortage of metals and oil, and all that other good stuff? All of this could've been so easily solved by those inventions people had in this very room. All those matter-converting machines… we could've turned the common dirt itself into precious metals or even food if we so desired. We could've had a food replicator machine in every household out there so that people didn't need to fight each other for scraps at the grocery store. Yet, judging by what I saw in those files the government didn't sponsor any of those life-changing inventions, choosing to sponsor only things that would've advanced their weapons instead. Why is this?"
Okay, Taylor now understood why Nora was so upset. She clearly had faced her share of hardships, even in her pre-war life as a young girl. What with the food riots and all that. It would certainly be upsetting to find out that your relatives and yourself didn't have to go through all of that in the first place, but you did anyway because the government apparently didn't care about your hardships.
No offense to Nora, but Taylor had been listening and watching, brushing up on the history of this world whenever she could. And from what she saw, it was simply a matter of when the bombs dropped, and not a matter of "If". What with the resources running out and tensions rising in all of the countries.
if America flaunted the fact that it now had become a post-scarcity society thanks to the tech they had developed, the other countries would've gotten upset and demanded that they share the tech, and if America didn't comply with their demands the other countries would've retaliated in any way they could. Ergo, the bombs might've dropped regardless of whenever Nora had a cushy American life or not.
But, Nora did have a point… why didn't they go ahead and make this kind of tech more commonplace and available to the public regardless of what was going to happen?
"Hmmm. good point. Maybe it was a sunk cost fallacy thing?" Taylor pondered out loud.
"Sunk cost fallacy?" Nora echoed, not understanding where Taylor's train of thought was taking her.
"Um, you know… like when you've put all your money in a bad investment but it's too late to pull back and recoup your costs so all you can do is put all of yourself into it no matter how much it costs you money. It'd be healthier to just get up and walk away from it all, but suppose if you're the stubborn sort who can't admit defeat or admit they were wrong?
Think about it from the US government's viewpoint. They've been through so many wars. They lost a ton of good men and women who were willing to die for their country. And all for what? Resources. They've justified their own role in all of those wars, probably massacring others in the name of America and resources. So if some inventors suddenly came up with the answer to every problem, like the lack of resources? Well, some higher-ups might see that as a threat? Like saying that everything they ever fought for was all for nothing?" Taylor explained.
Nora's mouth twisted at that, and her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to struggle with what she was feeling at the thought that the US officials might've minimized the publicity of those machines and focused more on the war efforts purely out of a sense of pride, and not wanting to admit that most of the wars had been pointless when they could easily produce those resources right here at home after all.
"That's still pretty shitty as hell." Nora finally spoke.
"Agreed. I wasn't trying to justify it, just so you know." Taylor agreed.
The two of them lapsed into silence as they pondered about what this America could've been like had the government and the various companies like Vault-tec actually been logical and sensible. As opposed to being a special kind of "Stupid-Evil" like their past actions usually showed them to be.
Taylor then noticed Shaun and Codsworth staring at them worriedly from the other side of the room, with Gracie choosing to rest outside in the hallway.
Right. She had to change the subject to something more cheery, something that might distract everyone. Ah, she knew just the thing.
"So, did you know there's this collar that can cause dogs to talk? I want a talking mutant hound… think of how awesome it could be! Oh, we could get one for Dogmeat and that wolf pet of yours. Then we'd have a whole pack full of talking dogs!" Taylor said a tad too brightly, just loud enough for Shaun to overhear.
Clearly, Nora hadn't been expecting that at all as she stared over at Taylor. "What?"
Shaun walked over then, with childlike wonder on his face. "Wow, really?"
Taylor nodded. "Yeah. The downside is, the patent isn't complete because it only works on cyber dogs right now. But the patent was supposed to work on normal animals too. So I was thinking…. Why not take the patents for cyber dogs AND the collar with us too? I'm sure John-Caleb Bradberton would love to have talking animals and cyber dogs as part of his amusement park attraction. And his scientists could find a way to make the collars work without harming the animals."
Nora snorted at this, clearly amused at the idea that Taylor wanted to own a talking dog. "Alright, I guess we can do that too. I honestly can't think of any reasons not to."
Taylor got to her feet then. "Alright. Let me help you sort through the files. Between all three of us, things are bound to go faster."
"Don't forget me, Miss Taylor. I'm also willing to help." Codsworth piped up.
Nora smiled as she got up. "Of course, Codsworth. Where would we be without you around?"
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There was both good and bad news when it came to sorting out the lists and finding what they wanted.
The good news, there were definitely a whole lot of blueprints on file that Nora's power could latch on to and duplicate. She also got to print out those blueprints onto a large printer nearby that could print on large 11x17" Graph Paper, along with the patent documents explaining how it all worked and what it was supposed to do.
This would be highly useful for those who couldn't instantly build things out of almost nothingness like Nora could do, as they'd need to learn how to make those things on their own.
So as a result, Nora's power now had new resources in the form of a "food printer" exactly like the one that Michael Baker and his ghoulifed cyber dog had used to survive all those years alone.
The bad news on the other hand?
The GECK blueprints that both Taylor and Nora were looking for belonged to Vault-tec or their offspring company Future-tec, and this company was a paranoid lot who didn't want to store their blueprints alongside the patents they had officially filed with the USA government patent office. Apparently, they were worried that people would come in and look at those blueprints, and then figure a way to make their own verison of the product despite it being a copyrighted product.
Apparently, the copyright laws in this world weren't so strict… the product just had to be different enough from the original and thus other companies couldn't sue for copyright infringement. Even though it was very obviously based on the original product. So as a result most companies tended to protect their products jealously, and corporate espionage was very commonplace as various companies often spied on each other and tried to copy each other's products. The whole thing reminded Taylor of the old rivalry between the VIM Company and the Nuka-Cola Company.
It seems that Vault-tec had a whole lot of competitions with other companies like Dunwich Borers LLC, ArcJet Systems, General Atomics, and even Med-Tek. Just about every other company wanted a slice of that Vault-Tec pie, for it was the single biggest, richest company in the world. And as a result, they were notoriously paranoid about safekeeping all of their secrets.
But back to good news…. The patent papers did tell them where to find those said blueprints, and there was a Vault-tec company building nearby in this state. Just not in the city of Alexandria.
It was something of a mixed blessing for Nora and Taylor. On one hand, it didn't mean they had come here for nothing because now they knew that those blueprints were out there somewhere. But on the other hand, this meant a whole lot more walking and exploring. Something that they were somewhat tired of doing.
The Sierra Madre vending machine on the other hand? Well, they were plumb out of luck there because like Vault-tec the guy who commissioned the patent also jealously safeguarded his blueprints and apparently kept it in a safe according to the info they found. And the safe was all the way over there in his hotel, in friggin' Arizona!!
Taylor and Nora were very loudly grumbling about this when Michael Baker came into the room.
"What's the problem? I could hear you all the way down the hallway." He wondered.
Nora summed up the problem as much as she could, and Michael then looked thoughtful.
He said, "Eh. it's too bad that you couldn't hook up a two-way radio system and connect it into the systems here. Otherwise, you'd be able to contact the guys living at Big MT if they had a copy of those blueprints, considering they were the ones who created it in the first place."
Nora scoffed. "You honestly think they're still alive?"
Michael smirked. "I don't just think so, I know so. Otherwise, why would they send steady and constant updates on their progress and all the patents they've been working so hard to improve on? I couldn't communicate with them though, as the signal was one-way only, due to stupid security measures. Anyways, from what I've seen of their work, I'm sure they're intelligent and reasonable types… I'm sure they would send the blueprints over if you just asked nicely."
Taylor and Nora looked at each other.
Well. that did sound convenient… and Nora was able to build a radio station of sorts, so why not?
Although Nora was somewhat surprised to learn that one of the Think-tank groups was still alive. She wondered what they were like. She did hear that most of them tended to be very…. eccentric.
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A/N: Next chapter-- Big MT cameo!
New world blues were honestly my single most favorite DLC for F:NV.
Also, this chapter is very dialogue-heavy because the characters were very insistent about having conversations with each other and this ran away from me. you have been warned.
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On closer inspection, this underground vault was huge for its purpose. It was the kind of vault that could've held up to 3,400 people max yet held only computers, folders full of papers, and machines.
And everything was segmented into separate rooms, every room having a filing system number painted over the doors. It seemed as if everything was designed to have a backup of the backup, so to speak.
If the computers holding thousands of patents and blueprints failed for whatever reason, then they'd have the paper system to fall back on. And if the paper system got destroyed, then everything was stored on storage devices that were designed to be accessed electronically and linked up to printers even without a computer.
And for good reason, it seemed that they had literally everything here that could quite easily help restart civilization… or destroy it completely for good, judging by the patents they had on weapons of mass destruction.
It was like Nora said, they really did keep all the good stuff secure and locked up like this.
And they even had redundant backup systems in place in case this place got destroyed too.
It was in one of the rooms where they kept actual inventions rather than blueprints of patents, that Taylor discovered how Michael Baker had managed to survive down here for so long. Namely, there was a machine called a "Food Printer" that ran on the same principles as the other matter converters did but instead of building materials, this one gave you a pudding-like substance that you could eat.
Taylor could tell it had been used a lot, judging by the tables and the bowls next to it.
Taylor sampled some of the pudding, and… it was really nothing to write home about. It was like rice pudding, but without any of the flavorings that might've made it good. It was bland and flavorless. And Michael survived on this for 200 years? Poor guy.
But it seemed to be full of vitamins and protein, things that you needed for a healthy brain at least. That was apparently one of the reasons why ghouls went feral according to John Hancock. Despite the fact that they could easily go without food for extended periods of time, it still wasn't recommended because instead of burning up fat the body could easily cannibalize parts of your brain. That was what happened to normal human beings too as well. It's the reason why malnourished people couldn't think effectively like a well-fed human would be able to do. Now imagine constantly starving for 200 years without any food so your body had to constantly feed on itself. Yeah.
Of course, John Hancock also claimed that to prevent himself from going feral, he needed a lot of simulation in form of drugs. So she might have to take that piece of knowledge with a grain of salt, knowing how much John loved to "party" and took every justification he could have in order to do that.
Shaking her head at that thought, she slowly returned to Room M-118 where Nora was going through all the patents' blueprints that she could find on file.
On her way back, she noted that Benji and Gracie had become tentative friends and were now having a strong case of the zoomies as they ran throughout the hallways together.
She smiled at this scene, but then her smile faded away when she overheard Codsworth talking with Michael.
"Yeah, I couldn't open the exit from the inside because I didn't have A-5 clearance like my supervisor did. As a filing clerk, I only have a B-20 clearance code. Meaning, I can come down here to look at restricted information, and clean up things and move things around. But I'm not authorized to take anything out of here unless the higher-ups okay it. And I'm not authorized to lift the lockdown should the unthinkable happen… which it did." Michael Baker sighed as he explained how he had gotten stuck down here.
"My word. But at least, you've kept up a pretty exemplary job all those years. I've never seen a place so spotless in such a long time. Looking at this place you would've never known that the bombs dropped." Codsworth commented.
Mr. Baker chuckled mirthlessly. "Oh yeah, I've been working overtime for the longest time, haven't I? According to my calculations, the government now owes me 30 years' worth of leave time. Which I sorely need."
Taylor couldn't help but blurt out as she walked over, "only 30 years?? After staying down here for 200 years? That implies that you often don't get free time off… which seems to be illegal. My dad's a union boss, he would have things to say about that."
Codsworth turned to face Taylor. "Unions? Isn't that some sort of communist thing?"
Michael raised his nonexistent brows at this. "It's a good thing my bosses are most likely dead by now. If they were to hear you talk about unionizing… well, it wouldn't be very pretty. I'd leave it at that. Besides, it wasn't so bad. They did give me this service animal as part of my work. Benji's been such a godsend. He's also kept me sane all those years…. I wouldn't know what to do without him."
At the mention of his name, the cyber-ghoul-hound skidded to a stop next to Micheal.
"You need something? Need help?" Benji spoke up, his electrotonic collar translating things from his thoughts into actual words.
Taylor's eyes widened at this. "Holy shit, he talks!"
"Indeed he does. Benji, why don't you tell this young lady here what kind of dog you are, and what enables you to speak." Michael said in an amused tone of voice.
"Affirmative. I am Benji, a cyberdog. Patent number US45557001, cyber dogs were designed to assist with police forces as well as be part of the army. However, we were also used in assisted living programs, acting as service dogs to people with disabilities. Most cyber dogs do not talk, however… I talk because of patent number US2337799, the ETAC Collar. Which is short for, Electronic Telepathic Animal communication collar. Which is exactly what it does as described."
Taylor's eyes widened at this. "Holy shit. So if I were to figure out how to make this ETAC collar for Gracie, she could talk too?"
"Affirmative. However, it must be noted that doing so will shorten her life expectancy." Benji replied.
That threw Taylor for a loop. "But… you've lived a long time?"
"Affirmative. I am a cyber dog. My mind is enhanced and powerful. A normal dog's mind is not. The downside of the collar is that it requires implants drilled into the brain. And implants can get hot the more it is used, slowly cooking the brian of normal dogs in the process. Being a cyber dog bypasses the need for such implants. So, yes, Gracie would talk…. But only for a short time. Perhaps you would turn her into a cyber dog so that she can use the collar?" Benji explained.
"No. It seems cruel to turn Gracie into something she's not just because I wanted a talking mutant hound." Taylor said, crestfallen now that such a cool idea was thoroughly crushed.
Seriously, how cool would it be to have a talking dog like Gracie?
Gracie was now sitting by her, her head tilting as she heard both the strange dog and Taylor say her name.
"Why did they make something like that if they couldn't ensure the safety of the animals it was used on?" Taylor grumbled.
Michael then spoke up. "It's still in its' infancy technically speaking. The original owner of the patent owned a zoo and amusement park, and he wanted something that would attract visitors to the park… and what better than to have talking animals? But, he wasn't satisfied with the way it reduced the animals' lifespan and commissioned several think tanks to work on the prototypes so that this little problem could be fixed. Benji here was born from one of the experiments when they discovered that this collar didn't have the problem when paired with cyber dogs. And naturally, both the US Army and the government saw potential in this for use on the battlefield and started sponsoring the commission as well. Very typical of them, really."
"Would his name be John-Caleb Bradberton?" Taylor couldn't help but ask.
Michael Baker looked puzzled. "No, it was Jeremiah Boring, the owner of Columbus Zoo and Amusement park. Why?"
Taylor looked vaguely sheepish. "That's the only guy I've met so far who actually owned his own zoo and amusement park. And seemed very determined to keep it running no matter what."
"Wait. That's the Nuka-cola guy! I knew his name sounded familiar!" Michael exclaimed, and it was then what Taylor said sunk in. "He's still alive??"
Taylor nodded. Michael then shook his head. "Huh. The government crumbles overnight but the Nuka-cola guy's still kicking around. Some guys have all the luck."
Taylor remembered the first time she met the man, and how John-Caleb had been stuck as nothing but a head in a jar, begging everyone to kill him.
"Uh. I wouldn't say that….." Taylor mumbled.
But before she could explain to Michael how John-Caleb suffered worse luck than he did, Michael politely excused himself, saying he had to go to the bathroom.
Benji followed close behind the ghoul in the motorized wheelchair, ending his playtime with Gracie.
Taylor looked down at Gracie, who just sat there staring back as she panted happily.
Codsworth then said, "Time to check in on Nora, then, Miss Taylor?"
Taylor nodded at that, and with that, she went to Filing room M-118 with both Gracie and Codsworth following closely behind.
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Shaun seemed strangely relieved when he saw Taylor and Codsworth walk in, and called out: "Mom seems really upset about something. I don't know why though. One minute she was fine when we were going through the files on the computers… and then the next moment she's in the corner with her face in her hands."
Taylor looked around, and sure enough, there was Nora sitting down in the corner, mumbling to herself as she covered her face. She looked like she was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
Taylor slowly approached her, and then knelt next to her. She whispered, "Hey. you alright."
Nora uncovered her face, blinking back tears. "No, I'm not alright."
"Okay. can I ask why, or would you like to be left alone right now?" Taylor wondered.
Nora's lips trembled before she spoke. "Had a real nasty revelation that I didn't like at all, even if it was the truth."
At Taylor's look of incomprehension, Nora then explained: "I was looking through the very long list of patents and seeing which ones were technologically feasible and could be built by my powers or by the normal people living in Nuka-world. And I was looking at the dates when those inventions were copyrighted and patented...that's when I realized something truly horrible."
Nora paused, as she tried to compose herself so that she wouldn't get too upset as she explained more of her thought process. "Namely, the fact that the fuckin' government had the solutions to America's problems all along but never bothered to address them. Instead, they were more in love with this precious war of theirs than they cared about keeping their citizens well-fed and cared for! The great war could've been avoided completely if they cared to. But they didn't. And now look at us."
Taylor blinked. It seemed as if Nora's thoughts had taken her on a real wild ride, although Taylor still wasn't sure if it was perfectly logical or not.
"But, the other countries were still warring with each other regardless of what America did or did not, right? Could America really had avoided that in the first place?" Taylor pointed out.
Nora paused at that. She then reluctantly admitted, "Okay. So maybe America wouldn't have been able to keep out of everyone else's affairs. But my other points still stand. All the problems America was facing, such as the food riots? The shortage of metals and oil, and all that other good stuff? All of this could've been so easily solved by those inventions people had in this very room. All those matter-converting machines… we could've turned the common dirt itself into precious metals or even food if we so desired. We could've had a food replicator machine in every household out there so that people didn't need to fight each other for scraps at the grocery store. Yet, judging by what I saw in those files the government didn't sponsor any of those life-changing inventions, choosing to sponsor only things that would've advanced their weapons instead. Why is this?"
Okay, Taylor now understood why Nora was so upset. She clearly had faced her share of hardships, even in her pre-war life as a young girl. What with the food riots and all that. It would certainly be upsetting to find out that your relatives and yourself didn't have to go through all of that in the first place, but you did anyway because the government apparently didn't care about your hardships.
No offense to Nora, but Taylor had been listening and watching, brushing up on the history of this world whenever she could. And from what she saw, it was simply a matter of when the bombs dropped, and not a matter of "If". What with the resources running out and tensions rising in all of the countries.
if America flaunted the fact that it now had become a post-scarcity society thanks to the tech they had developed, the other countries would've gotten upset and demanded that they share the tech, and if America didn't comply with their demands the other countries would've retaliated in any way they could. Ergo, the bombs might've dropped regardless of whenever Nora had a cushy American life or not.
But, Nora did have a point… why didn't they go ahead and make this kind of tech more commonplace and available to the public regardless of what was going to happen?
"Hmmm. good point. Maybe it was a sunk cost fallacy thing?" Taylor pondered out loud.
"Sunk cost fallacy?" Nora echoed, not understanding where Taylor's train of thought was taking her.
"Um, you know… like when you've put all your money in a bad investment but it's too late to pull back and recoup your costs so all you can do is put all of yourself into it no matter how much it costs you money. It'd be healthier to just get up and walk away from it all, but suppose if you're the stubborn sort who can't admit defeat or admit they were wrong?
Think about it from the US government's viewpoint. They've been through so many wars. They lost a ton of good men and women who were willing to die for their country. And all for what? Resources. They've justified their own role in all of those wars, probably massacring others in the name of America and resources. So if some inventors suddenly came up with the answer to every problem, like the lack of resources? Well, some higher-ups might see that as a threat? Like saying that everything they ever fought for was all for nothing?" Taylor explained.
Nora's mouth twisted at that, and her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to struggle with what she was feeling at the thought that the US officials might've minimized the publicity of those machines and focused more on the war efforts purely out of a sense of pride, and not wanting to admit that most of the wars had been pointless when they could easily produce those resources right here at home after all.
"That's still pretty shitty as hell." Nora finally spoke.
"Agreed. I wasn't trying to justify it, just so you know." Taylor agreed.
The two of them lapsed into silence as they pondered about what this America could've been like had the government and the various companies like Vault-tec actually been logical and sensible. As opposed to being a special kind of "Stupid-Evil" like their past actions usually showed them to be.
Taylor then noticed Shaun and Codsworth staring at them worriedly from the other side of the room, with Gracie choosing to rest outside in the hallway.
Right. She had to change the subject to something more cheery, something that might distract everyone. Ah, she knew just the thing.
"So, did you know there's this collar that can cause dogs to talk? I want a talking mutant hound… think of how awesome it could be! Oh, we could get one for Dogmeat and that wolf pet of yours. Then we'd have a whole pack full of talking dogs!" Taylor said a tad too brightly, just loud enough for Shaun to overhear.
Clearly, Nora hadn't been expecting that at all as she stared over at Taylor. "What?"
Shaun walked over then, with childlike wonder on his face. "Wow, really?"
Taylor nodded. "Yeah. The downside is, the patent isn't complete because it only works on cyber dogs right now. But the patent was supposed to work on normal animals too. So I was thinking…. Why not take the patents for cyber dogs AND the collar with us too? I'm sure John-Caleb Bradberton would love to have talking animals and cyber dogs as part of his amusement park attraction. And his scientists could find a way to make the collars work without harming the animals."
Nora snorted at this, clearly amused at the idea that Taylor wanted to own a talking dog. "Alright, I guess we can do that too. I honestly can't think of any reasons not to."
Taylor got to her feet then. "Alright. Let me help you sort through the files. Between all three of us, things are bound to go faster."
"Don't forget me, Miss Taylor. I'm also willing to help." Codsworth piped up.
Nora smiled as she got up. "Of course, Codsworth. Where would we be without you around?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was both good and bad news when it came to sorting out the lists and finding what they wanted.
The good news, there were definitely a whole lot of blueprints on file that Nora's power could latch on to and duplicate. She also got to print out those blueprints onto a large printer nearby that could print on large 11x17" Graph Paper, along with the patent documents explaining how it all worked and what it was supposed to do.
This would be highly useful for those who couldn't instantly build things out of almost nothingness like Nora could do, as they'd need to learn how to make those things on their own.
So as a result, Nora's power now had new resources in the form of a "food printer" exactly like the one that Michael Baker and his ghoulifed cyber dog had used to survive all those years alone.
The bad news on the other hand?
The GECK blueprints that both Taylor and Nora were looking for belonged to Vault-tec or their offspring company Future-tec, and this company was a paranoid lot who didn't want to store their blueprints alongside the patents they had officially filed with the USA government patent office. Apparently, they were worried that people would come in and look at those blueprints, and then figure a way to make their own verison of the product despite it being a copyrighted product.
Apparently, the copyright laws in this world weren't so strict… the product just had to be different enough from the original and thus other companies couldn't sue for copyright infringement. Even though it was very obviously based on the original product. So as a result most companies tended to protect their products jealously, and corporate espionage was very commonplace as various companies often spied on each other and tried to copy each other's products. The whole thing reminded Taylor of the old rivalry between the VIM Company and the Nuka-Cola Company.
It seems that Vault-tec had a whole lot of competitions with other companies like Dunwich Borers LLC, ArcJet Systems, General Atomics, and even Med-Tek. Just about every other company wanted a slice of that Vault-Tec pie, for it was the single biggest, richest company in the world. And as a result, they were notoriously paranoid about safekeeping all of their secrets.
But back to good news…. The patent papers did tell them where to find those said blueprints, and there was a Vault-tec company building nearby in this state. Just not in the city of Alexandria.
It was something of a mixed blessing for Nora and Taylor. On one hand, it didn't mean they had come here for nothing because now they knew that those blueprints were out there somewhere. But on the other hand, this meant a whole lot more walking and exploring. Something that they were somewhat tired of doing.
The Sierra Madre vending machine on the other hand? Well, they were plumb out of luck there because like Vault-tec the guy who commissioned the patent also jealously safeguarded his blueprints and apparently kept it in a safe according to the info they found. And the safe was all the way over there in his hotel, in friggin' Arizona!!
Taylor and Nora were very loudly grumbling about this when Michael Baker came into the room.
"What's the problem? I could hear you all the way down the hallway." He wondered.
Nora summed up the problem as much as she could, and Michael then looked thoughtful.
He said, "Eh. it's too bad that you couldn't hook up a two-way radio system and connect it into the systems here. Otherwise, you'd be able to contact the guys living at Big MT if they had a copy of those blueprints, considering they were the ones who created it in the first place."
Nora scoffed. "You honestly think they're still alive?"
Michael smirked. "I don't just think so, I know so. Otherwise, why would they send steady and constant updates on their progress and all the patents they've been working so hard to improve on? I couldn't communicate with them though, as the signal was one-way only, due to stupid security measures. Anyways, from what I've seen of their work, I'm sure they're intelligent and reasonable types… I'm sure they would send the blueprints over if you just asked nicely."
Taylor and Nora looked at each other.
Well. that did sound convenient… and Nora was able to build a radio station of sorts, so why not?
Although Nora was somewhat surprised to learn that one of the Think-tank groups was still alive. She wondered what they were like. She did hear that most of them tended to be very…. eccentric.
=============================================
A/N: Next chapter-- Big MT cameo!
New world blues were honestly my single most favorite DLC for F:NV.
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Quinn Porthos
Multiclass Munchkin
- Location
- Wandering
Oh gods...incoming phalangeal penis jokes.
But on the upside, if they can get the blueprints for the tesla coil brains, it might be compatible with the talking dog collar. *shrug*
But on the upside, if they can get the blueprints for the tesla coil brains, it might be compatible with the talking dog collar. *shrug*
- Location
- Philippines
So should they have the railroad make a portal there too? Cause those guys trying to help the feral might like to ask him some questions
- Location
- USA
Memory den tech into a "new" body via institute cloning
Bavintugeef
Pizza the Hutt (Verified)
Thats a uniquely terrifying thought, to be stuck down there for 200 years, at least he had patents and his dog, but good Lord.
Oooh yay Big MT and the think tank might just be the best DLC of the fallout games
As usual thanks for your hard work and keep up the great story
Oooh yay Big MT and the think tank might just be the best DLC of the fallout games
As usual thanks for your hard work and keep up the great story
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- Location
- USA
I love this story. Can you imagine Nora and Taylor meeting a Neutral/Good-type Courier Six who turns out to be an amnesiac from Earth Bet? With the Parahuman power that's like a more specialized version of Browbeat's.
- Location
- Deep in the Badlands of Equestria
Considering that Big MT has their own riff on a teleportation system, I'm almost afraid what could happen when they get word of the Transporter Network Nora's helping set up. Those Madboys will be all over trying to extend the range of their Transportalponder using the Railroad's designs.
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Nukagirl 84-- Big MT
Aurora Moon
Verfied Insomniac with too much time on her hands
- Location
- USA, Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
A/N: So this thing with Big MT and Courier Six is going to be based on a playthrough I've played before, only gender-flipped. I tend to play as a woman in most Fallout games because I kinda like to imagine myself in there, you see. So here it'll be the same build I made, only male. This is because I'm going with the default preset look here so that it's easier for fans to visualize him, just like how I'm using Nora's default look for the female sole survivor. Well, mostly. I'm still making a few tweaks to account for his background story… and so that he stands out more from Guy because the two of them had that super generic look thing going on. Such is the curse of having that default preset look, heh.
And warning-- this is going to be goofy as hell because I went all-in on the wild wasteland perk and I tended to have her/him act a little eccentric due to the fact that they got shot in the head two times. That has a tendency to alter the mind some, yeah?
So yeah, CW: Silliness and weirdness here for the rest of the chapter. And some penis jokes.
===========================================================
---The Sink, in the Big MT dome--
The song "Let's ride into the sunset together" was playing on the radio.
Every intelligent appliance was grooving to the song in their way, with the light switches flickering the lights to show their appreciation. The musicless Jukebox, who liked to call itself Blind Diode Jefferson, was strobing his own light in time to the music. The toaster's heating coils flashed red. The book chute slammed its book cue doors shut and open in sync with the others. Even the depressed miniature Securitron Mugsy got on the action, as it spun in circles in time to the music.
And in the shower, you could hear the courier singing along, although he wasn't as good as the original singer was.
"Let's ride into the sunset together
Stirrup to stirrup, side by side
When the day is through, I'll be here with you
Into the sunset, we will ride!"
He stepped out of the shower, but he was still singing along as he dried himself, his body hidden behind a glazed glass partition for privacy. So all you could see was a fuzzy outline of his naked body.
"Yodelay-ee-hoo
Yodelay-ee-hoo
Yodelay-ee, yodelay-ee, yodelay-ee!!"
He reached out to grab a pair of boxers that had little hearts all over it, along with some plain white socks.
He continued humming along to the song as he put them on and then slid out into the main room of the Sink in his socks in a scene highly resembling a certain dance move in a movie. (Risky Business.)
It's here that we finally get a good look at Courier Six. He has blonde hair so dark that it's practically brown, with bits of gray hairs finally starting to show, and his face would've made you think that he was just your average everyday middle-aged businessman if it wasn't for the few noticeable details.
The first thing that grabs anybody's attention is the large scar on his forehead, two circular scars showing where bullet holes used to be as well as the cob-web-like scar patterns spreading out around the old bullet holes like his forehead had been a plane of broken glass. You could tell that his face had used to be messed up badly once upon a time. Strangely enough, instead of taking away from his looks it only seemed to add to his appeal, making him look badass instead of looking like the generic middle-aged man that he would've been otherwise.
Old Doc Mitchell had been a highly admirable surgeon who was able to reconstruct his face best as he could, but even he was only human and he couldn't do much about the scarring despite having some stimpacks on hand.
The second notable thing about him is his hazel eyes… one eyeball permanently dilated due to how many head injuries he got during combat, making his eyes look like they were two different colors from a distance. Which gave him eyes that looked similar to an old famous prewar singer by the name of David Bowie.
The third thing was the fact that he was very fit for a man his age. With his age, you'd assume that he had something of a dad bod, but his body was very toned even if he was a little on the skinny side.
"I'll be your cowgirl if you'll be my cowboy
You'll be my Dale, I'll be your Roy
When the day is done, homeward we'll be wending
Like a movie with a happy ending!"
He hummed to himself as he checked on the progress of his armors and clothes, which were still being cleaned in the laundromat section of the Sink.
Only his NCR Ranger helmet was done being cleaned, and the inside of it no longer smelled like sweaty hair and other things, much to his pleasure. It smelt fresh enough, so he put it on.
He then dug around for any clothing or armor pieces that were clean enough for him to put on, while the song kept on playing in the background and finally came to an end.
"Let's ride into the sunset together
Stirrup to stirrup, side by side
When the day is through, I'll be here with you
Into the sunset, we will ride
Yodelay-ee-hoo
Yodelay-ee-hoo
Yodelay-ee, yodelay-ee, yodelay-ee"
As the song finished, It was then that Courier Six could hear a loud commotion going on down the hallway, where all the think tank group was located. Judging by the sounds of things, something had really stirred up Doctor Klein to the point that he was yelling again.
He couldn't find anything good to wear, so he decided to just go check it out wearing nothing but his socks, heart-patterned boxers, and his helmet. Hey, they say you're never truly naked if you're wearing a helmet and socks. Right?
He walked down the long hallway that led into the science lab where all of the Thinktank scientists worked and lived, considering that they had "evolved" beyond their human bodies and were now floating Robo-brains with flat screens for faces.
Much to his surprise, all of his companions that were currently staying at Big MT with him were all here listening to whatever was going on here. Arcade Gammons and Veronica Santangelo were mainly here so that they could learn more about pre-war tech, and more from the Think tanks themselves.
The Think tanks didn't seem to mind too much, after being told that those new people living here weren't Lobotomites but human research assistants. It wasn't even that hard to sweet talk them and convince them that they needed assistants.
And of course, there was Christine Royce, who had been a… former "friendly associate" of Veronica Santangelo from their time in the Brotherhood faction, before the two of them left the faction for good and went separate ways. But lately, they had been rekindling their old romance, and now Christine visited regularly when she wasn't busy trying to keep treasure-seeking idiots away from the old Sierra Madre hotel for their own safety. Way too many idiots still wandered towards this deadly death trap of a hotel seeking treasure and died to the red cloud, holograms, or the 'ghost' people.
Honestly, Courier Six thought this pair of lovebirds were the cutest thing ever and liked to tease them by asking them when they were finally going to tie the knot and settle down. Maybe adopt a few kids while they were at it. Heh. The blushes he got in response to this were just so friggin' adorable. More so when Christine glared at him afterward for teasing them like that. Heh, heh.
But for now, he was more focused on what the hell was going on here.
"What's going on?" He asked as he walked up behind Christine and Veronica. Arcade was at the console with the Think Tanks surrounding him, and seemed to be talking over a radio?
Christine and Victoria turned around to look at Courier, and Christine had a visible look of annoyance and disgust when she realized that he was half-naked. She seemed to be silently asking: "Why the hell are you running around half-naked?!"
"Don't mind me, my clothes are still in the wash," Courier explained away his half-dressed state with a wave of his hand.
Victoria chooses to ignore the fact that he was half-naked, having long gotten used to Courier Six's brand of weirdness a long time ago. Instead, she replied, "Apparently, the pre-war American government wasn't as dead as we thought? Somebody or something just hijacked into BIG MT's radio waves and got in touch with the Think Tanks, asking for them specifically by name. And get this, this guy gave his security code which matched up exactly with the records belonging to something called the US Patent offices…. Apparently, it's been the place where the Think Tank had been sending all of their backed up data to on all of the products they invented this whole time?"
"Huh. is that so." Courier Six said as he walked closer to listen to the two-way radio conversation between Arcade and this mysterious government person.
No wonder why Dr. Klein was so noisy more than usual, this was the first time in a long while ever since they'd had any official contact with what was supposedly the USA government.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Back in East Virginia--
The middle of the building where it had caved in before, was now a tall building tower with a built-in radio tower, connecting all the way down to the basement levels. Nora had also made it so that you could unlock the basement levels from the inside, instead of having to wait for people to let you out. Thus nobody would suffer the same indignity that Michael Baker had.
Michael Baker was just so grateful to finally be out of there at long last that he was willing to contact Big MT on their behalf.
"So now that we've verified that I am, in fact, the real thing… can you please send over the blueprints of the matter recombination machines that Mr. Sinclair commissioned you to make? I note that he copyrighted and patented this device for up to 100 years, and well… he hasn't come around to renew his copyright claim. And as a result, one John-Caleb Bradberton, owner and creator of the Nuka-Cola, has come forth and staked his claim on it. Of course, you will also be paid handsomely for your part in the creation of the matter recombination machines." Michael said in his best professional tone.
He was now posing as the head supervisor of the US patent offices since it had occurred to Taylor that with him being the only remaining and surviving member of the patent offices, didn't this make him the boss now by default?
Michael had found that hysterical for some reason… because to be perfectly honest, that was quite the promotion-- all the way from a lowly filing clerk to the head supervisor of the whole US patent offices in the span of one second. Not that he didn't deserve it… in fact, it was probably a long time coming considering how long he had been… "working" here.
He still intended to have that 30 years' worth of vacation time, however. Then he'd see about coming back here to work again. Maybe. He might just quit entirely despite the "promotion" he got, considering that there wasn't much of a United States government anymore.
"Okay. Just one question, however. What are you going to use it for?" The male voice on the other end asked.
Nora then stepped forward, speaking into the mic. "As John-Caleb's representative, I can tell you he's going to use it for the exact same thing that Fredrick Sinclar did… as self-sustaining vending machines that refill themselves with things that the inhabitants would need, such as food and medicine. From what I've heard, they're pretty handy things if you want to run a self-sustaining business."
A second voice then casually said from the other end, "Yeah, they are actually. The Sierra Madre hotel was fuckin' hell to get though but those vending machines saved my bacon on more than one occasion. I can see why they'd want those things."
That was when Dr. Klein's voice started booming out again. "LOBOTOMITE!! YOU DARE COME IN HERE INDECENTLY DRESSED LIKE THAT? YOUR MANY-PENISED FEET AND HANDS ARE UNCOVERED! I DO NOT WISH TO SEE YOUR PENISES, LOBOTOMITE!"
Taylor and Nora blinked at this, while Shaun giggled immaturely behind them at the mention of penises.
The second voice then said, "For the last time, Dr.Klein, I've told you before that those are fingers and toes. Not penises! Seriously, why are you so obsessed with penises? Feel like you lost your manhood when you became a think-tank, eh?"
"HOW DARE YOU TO IMPLY THAT I DO NOT KNOW MY BASIC ANATOMY! AS FOR YOUR CRUDE JOKE AT MY EXPENSE, I SAY THAT I AM ABOVE IT ALL NOW. I TRANSCEND THE NEED FOR SUCH A FILTHY BODY AND NO LONGER DESIRE IT. NOW COVER YOURSELF. AT LEAST THE FILTHY HUMAN ASSISTANTS YOU GOT ME HAVE THE INTELLIGENCE TO COVER THEIR BODIES BEFORE THEY COME IN FOR WORK!"
A fourth voice, a feminine robotic voice this time, giggled. "I don't mind it. He's so adorable dressed only in his little boxers and helmet. Who's the cutest teddy bear?" She then cooed like she was speaking to a cute little baby. "Yes, you are, my little bear of teddyness! I love the pitter-patter sound of your penis-tipped feet so much."
"DR. DALA! DO NOT ENABLE THE LOBOTOMITE'S BAD HABITS!"
At this point, Shaun was just helplessly laughing hard on the floor, while Taylor and Nora were staring at each other with expressions of disbelief while they listened to the people on the other end argue.
"Umm… those were the scientists who worked on the matter recombining machine? Are we sure we got the right people? Maybe we're the one who should've asked for their credentials instead." Taylor mumbled. Because to be perfectly honest, they sounded like a bunch of idiots right now.
And how did they manage to constantly cram the word 'penis' into so many sentences at once? Did they think they were being funny? Ugh. so immature!
Unfortunately for Taylor, it seems that the two-way radio worked both ways because the people on the other side overheard her comment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Courier Six snorted out loud while Klein became completely furious at the suggestion that they were all a group of frauds.
Amazingly enough, he was so furious he couldn't get a single loud word out without stuttering, which was pretty rare for the loudmouth.
As Dr. Klein seethed in incoherent rage, Dr. Zero (read as Dr. 0) floated over to the radio where Aracde was still sitting and operating it, and spoke into the mic.
"Yes, this is Dr. Zero. I was one of the scientists who worked on that matter recombination machine, even though my specialty was more in robotics than it was in engineering science, and I do believe I have the schematics you're looking for… somewhere. But, aren't you all the way over in Virginia? How do you expect to get it from all the way there?"
The courier simply nodded at this. Dr. Zero had a point… how the fuck were they supposed to bring the blueprints over to those people?
They had the Transportalponder here of course, but unfortunately, it was so limited that the courier could only travel to here from the Mojave proper or travel around two of the four-states commonwealth. There were the Transportalponder beacons that the courier had helped set up in each state that was allied together thanks to the Courier's efforts. (Arizona, Nevada, and Utah.)
They had started with Arizona, mainly because of Christine Royce. The Courier Six had a surprising romantic side and couldn't bear the thought that Christine and Veronica's relationship could be hampered by distance. So he had set up a beacon just outside the Sierra Madre hotel, and it could only be activated by Christine's genetic DNA or by the courier's Transportalponder "gun", so there were no worries about some rando coming across the beacon and teleporting himself into the Big empty. And this way, Christine could come to visit Veronica anytime she wanted and still uphold her duty by watching over the Sierra Madre death trap.
This of course had excited the think tanks as they wanted a way to expand their influence even though they had agreed not to leave Big MT at the moment.
But, the problem with this was the fact that the Courier was only one man, and he couldn't spend years traveling through all the states just to set up beacons. Not to mention it also took a long time to build beacons, taking any time from half a month to two months to make it in between breaks or on the Courier's free time. Plus, he wasn't that skilled at actually building anything, so he had to go about it carefully to make sure he got it right.
There was the other thing, Courier Six was now officially the leader of both Big MT (despite Dr.Klein forgetting this at times) and a lieutenant to Mr.House, who controlled all of Nevada.
It was still surreal to the courier that he was willingly working with Mr.House at all since their personalities tended to clash at times. Originally, he was going to just completely decimate all the factions who wanted to control all of Nevada because every one of them was total assholes who wouldn't even listen to reason or refused to work together with any other faction even though it would've had netted them more support in the long run.
He friggin' loved the idea of a completely free Vegas, after all.
The NCR claimed to be bringing back a highly stable government and on the surface level, they were exactly who they said they were. But, there was just so much friggin' corruption behind the scenes and when pointed out to the supposedly more moral and just people of that faction, they did diddly squat about it. They were so gung-ho about rooting out corruption and stamping out lawlessness when it was some other group doing it… but when it came to their own engaging in the same behaviors behind closed doors? They became oddly silent about it. Who polices the policemen here, hmm?? They would investigate themselves and then say they did nothing wrong. Hypocrites, the whole lot of them.
And there was no fucking way that he would ever side with Caesar's Legion, what with them engaging in slavery and rape on a regular basis. They would pillage towns and just straight-up murder people there and then create weird justifications for it after the fact. Yeah, fuck those guys.
Mr. House was dictatorial, controlling, and completely full of himself. In some ways, he was the biggest asshole out of them all. There was something about the way he spoke that made the Courier want to flip the bird at him. But, he was just one person… the one point of failure when it came to New Vegas. If you killed him, that was it. There was nobody else to take his place, and all of his schemes would come tumbling down like a house of cards.
So… why didn't Courier Six just kill them all and free all of Nevada from their unjust rule?
Well… he never told anybody else this, not even his most trusted followers. But when he got shot in the head and had gotten his brain scrambled, he had somehow gained a type of precognitive ability.
When asking himself which path, which choice to take, etc he would get this strong feeling on whenever something would turn out favorably for him or not. And if he really pushed it, he'd even get actual glimpses of the future like it was a movie clip… but he'd always get those raging headaches afterward that would knock him out cold.
So when he was at the fork, deciding which factions to side with… he pretty much knocked himself out for a week pulling that stunt with his ability. But what he remembered afterward kind of horrified him.
See, He was all for freedom, for every person to self-govern themselves. But, apparently, there were a whole lot of people who didn't feel the same way. Too many people wanted a leader who'd tell them what to do and to hold their hand every time they had a problem. So by freeing New Vegas and all of Nevada, he got seen as the de facto new leader of it… and as a result, so many people were constantly coming to him with their problems that he didn't even have free time to do anything he wanted. And worse, he'd become the scapegoat for all of their problems if he didn't fix anything and told them to do it themselves.
Courier Six was the type of man who just wanted to travel around, check out the sights, and have a little fun on the side. He didn't mind upholding moral and just viewpoints of society at large, and maybe even help enforce the law on the side. But at heart, he was just a mailman and not a leader. In fact, he wasn't the type of man who truly wanted a leadership position. The idea of people mobbing him and acting like he was their master? Ugh, made his skin crawl.
And so that was why he sided with House. With the NCR, there were too many points of corruption to root out if he let them win. Robert House on the other hand… as he said before, was but a single point of failure. If Robert House got too out of hand with his assholery, Courier Six could always find a way to gank him… and boom, the source of corruption was fixed.
Thankfully, Mr. House had been pretty relaxed about almost everything the citizens were doing right now now that he had won and was controlling everything with an iron fist. And he was even more pleased that the Courier was slowly releasing beneficial technology from Big MT to those parts, which seemed to help stabilize the region.
So he didn't need to kill off Mr.House quite yet.
"WHAT?!" Dr. Klein yelled, snapping the Courier out of his memory trip.
"IMPOSSIBLE, WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON THE TRANSPORTALPONDER FOR OVER A DECADE NOW AND YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT SOME UPSTARTS ON THE EAST COAST ALREADY CRACKED HOW TO DO IT ACROSS STATES? IMPOSSIBLE, UTTERLY IMPOSSIBLE!"
Courier Six blinked. Huh, they had transporting technology? Interesting.
A woman's voice on the other end then blabbed something about radio waves and how to hijack that. He didn't quite understand the tech-speak she was blabbing on about, but Dr. Klein and the rest of the Think-tank group seemed to understand it.
"EH? HUH. THAT'S ACTUALLY BRILLIANT… USING RADIO STATIONS AS SECONDARY SOURCES OF POWER AND A WAY TO TO TRAVEL WITHOUT SACRIFICING TOO MUCH FROM OUR MAIN POWER SOURCE! WHY DIDN'T WE THINK OF THAT? WE WERE TOO DEPENDANT ON OUR OWN SATELLITE AND POWER SOURCES!"
"~!@@~$$#^%^%&%&$%!#$@~@$#%$%$#%^$%#!$#@#!@#!@!!" Dr. 8 agreed completely, not believing that they had overlooked something so obvious. This discovery would certainly help them in the long run.
"So, we're agreed then? We send somebody over with the blueprints?" Dr. Borous said, and then whispered conspiringly away where the radio people wouldn't be able to overhear them, "And if possible, have the people bring back some of their tech?"
Dr. Zero nodded. "Yes. everything is fair in love and SCIENCE! If they dare take credit for the technology we've been working so hard on, then we take what they have and make it BETTER. That'll show them upstarts."
"VERY WELL, IT IS AGREED!" Dr. Klein boomed, as he floated back to the radio station. "HUMANS, WE NEED SOME COOPERATION FROM YOUR END TO LINK OUR SATELLITE TO YOURS IN ORDER FOR THE TRANSPORTALPONDER TO WORK! ALSO, WE NEED TO MODIFY THINGS ON OUR END SO THIS WILL TAKE A FEW DAYS. CAN YOU WAIT?"
"Um, sure. We can wait." The woman said.
"EXCELLENT! WE WILL BE SENDING OVER OUR LOBOTOMITE WITH THE PAPERS YOU SO DESIRE!"
With that, he abruptly turned off the radio and told everyone to get to work in that loud booming voice.
Courier Six chuckled. Well, looks like he was about to travel quite a long way for the first time ever in his life. Was bound to be interesting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taylor and Nora looked at each other again, not quite sure what to feel about this.
Why did they have a funny feeling that things were about to get VERY interesting, and quite possibly not in a good way?
=========================================================
A/N: Yes, I blatantly shipped Veronica and Christine together. They were my far most favorite Companions to have, besides Arcade and Rex. I about squeed when I discovered that the two of them had been in a relationship before, but had to separate for uncontrollable reasons. I was so sad when I discovered that they wouldn't meet up afterward or that I couldn't tell Victoria about Christine.
So in this fanfic, I decided that they'd finally meet each other again after some time had passed between Dead Money and the main storyline.
And warning-- this is going to be goofy as hell because I went all-in on the wild wasteland perk and I tended to have her/him act a little eccentric due to the fact that they got shot in the head two times. That has a tendency to alter the mind some, yeah?
So yeah, CW: Silliness and weirdness here for the rest of the chapter. And some penis jokes.
===========================================================
---The Sink, in the Big MT dome--
The song "Let's ride into the sunset together" was playing on the radio.
Every intelligent appliance was grooving to the song in their way, with the light switches flickering the lights to show their appreciation. The musicless Jukebox, who liked to call itself Blind Diode Jefferson, was strobing his own light in time to the music. The toaster's heating coils flashed red. The book chute slammed its book cue doors shut and open in sync with the others. Even the depressed miniature Securitron Mugsy got on the action, as it spun in circles in time to the music.
And in the shower, you could hear the courier singing along, although he wasn't as good as the original singer was.
"Let's ride into the sunset together
Stirrup to stirrup, side by side
When the day is through, I'll be here with you
Into the sunset, we will ride!"
He stepped out of the shower, but he was still singing along as he dried himself, his body hidden behind a glazed glass partition for privacy. So all you could see was a fuzzy outline of his naked body.
"Yodelay-ee-hoo
Yodelay-ee-hoo
Yodelay-ee, yodelay-ee, yodelay-ee!!"
He reached out to grab a pair of boxers that had little hearts all over it, along with some plain white socks.
He continued humming along to the song as he put them on and then slid out into the main room of the Sink in his socks in a scene highly resembling a certain dance move in a movie. (Risky Business.)
It's here that we finally get a good look at Courier Six. He has blonde hair so dark that it's practically brown, with bits of gray hairs finally starting to show, and his face would've made you think that he was just your average everyday middle-aged businessman if it wasn't for the few noticeable details.
The first thing that grabs anybody's attention is the large scar on his forehead, two circular scars showing where bullet holes used to be as well as the cob-web-like scar patterns spreading out around the old bullet holes like his forehead had been a plane of broken glass. You could tell that his face had used to be messed up badly once upon a time. Strangely enough, instead of taking away from his looks it only seemed to add to his appeal, making him look badass instead of looking like the generic middle-aged man that he would've been otherwise.
Old Doc Mitchell had been a highly admirable surgeon who was able to reconstruct his face best as he could, but even he was only human and he couldn't do much about the scarring despite having some stimpacks on hand.
The second notable thing about him is his hazel eyes… one eyeball permanently dilated due to how many head injuries he got during combat, making his eyes look like they were two different colors from a distance. Which gave him eyes that looked similar to an old famous prewar singer by the name of David Bowie.
The third thing was the fact that he was very fit for a man his age. With his age, you'd assume that he had something of a dad bod, but his body was very toned even if he was a little on the skinny side.
"I'll be your cowgirl if you'll be my cowboy
You'll be my Dale, I'll be your Roy
When the day is done, homeward we'll be wending
Like a movie with a happy ending!"
He hummed to himself as he checked on the progress of his armors and clothes, which were still being cleaned in the laundromat section of the Sink.
Only his NCR Ranger helmet was done being cleaned, and the inside of it no longer smelled like sweaty hair and other things, much to his pleasure. It smelt fresh enough, so he put it on.
He then dug around for any clothing or armor pieces that were clean enough for him to put on, while the song kept on playing in the background and finally came to an end.
"Let's ride into the sunset together
Stirrup to stirrup, side by side
When the day is through, I'll be here with you
Into the sunset, we will ride
Yodelay-ee-hoo
Yodelay-ee-hoo
Yodelay-ee, yodelay-ee, yodelay-ee"
As the song finished, It was then that Courier Six could hear a loud commotion going on down the hallway, where all the think tank group was located. Judging by the sounds of things, something had really stirred up Doctor Klein to the point that he was yelling again.
He couldn't find anything good to wear, so he decided to just go check it out wearing nothing but his socks, heart-patterned boxers, and his helmet. Hey, they say you're never truly naked if you're wearing a helmet and socks. Right?
He walked down the long hallway that led into the science lab where all of the Thinktank scientists worked and lived, considering that they had "evolved" beyond their human bodies and were now floating Robo-brains with flat screens for faces.
Much to his surprise, all of his companions that were currently staying at Big MT with him were all here listening to whatever was going on here. Arcade Gammons and Veronica Santangelo were mainly here so that they could learn more about pre-war tech, and more from the Think tanks themselves.
The Think tanks didn't seem to mind too much, after being told that those new people living here weren't Lobotomites but human research assistants. It wasn't even that hard to sweet talk them and convince them that they needed assistants.
And of course, there was Christine Royce, who had been a… former "friendly associate" of Veronica Santangelo from their time in the Brotherhood faction, before the two of them left the faction for good and went separate ways. But lately, they had been rekindling their old romance, and now Christine visited regularly when she wasn't busy trying to keep treasure-seeking idiots away from the old Sierra Madre hotel for their own safety. Way too many idiots still wandered towards this deadly death trap of a hotel seeking treasure and died to the red cloud, holograms, or the 'ghost' people.
Honestly, Courier Six thought this pair of lovebirds were the cutest thing ever and liked to tease them by asking them when they were finally going to tie the knot and settle down. Maybe adopt a few kids while they were at it. Heh. The blushes he got in response to this were just so friggin' adorable. More so when Christine glared at him afterward for teasing them like that. Heh, heh.
But for now, he was more focused on what the hell was going on here.
"What's going on?" He asked as he walked up behind Christine and Veronica. Arcade was at the console with the Think Tanks surrounding him, and seemed to be talking over a radio?
Christine and Victoria turned around to look at Courier, and Christine had a visible look of annoyance and disgust when she realized that he was half-naked. She seemed to be silently asking: "Why the hell are you running around half-naked?!"
"Don't mind me, my clothes are still in the wash," Courier explained away his half-dressed state with a wave of his hand.
Victoria chooses to ignore the fact that he was half-naked, having long gotten used to Courier Six's brand of weirdness a long time ago. Instead, she replied, "Apparently, the pre-war American government wasn't as dead as we thought? Somebody or something just hijacked into BIG MT's radio waves and got in touch with the Think Tanks, asking for them specifically by name. And get this, this guy gave his security code which matched up exactly with the records belonging to something called the US Patent offices…. Apparently, it's been the place where the Think Tank had been sending all of their backed up data to on all of the products they invented this whole time?"
"Huh. is that so." Courier Six said as he walked closer to listen to the two-way radio conversation between Arcade and this mysterious government person.
No wonder why Dr. Klein was so noisy more than usual, this was the first time in a long while ever since they'd had any official contact with what was supposedly the USA government.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Back in East Virginia--
The middle of the building where it had caved in before, was now a tall building tower with a built-in radio tower, connecting all the way down to the basement levels. Nora had also made it so that you could unlock the basement levels from the inside, instead of having to wait for people to let you out. Thus nobody would suffer the same indignity that Michael Baker had.
Michael Baker was just so grateful to finally be out of there at long last that he was willing to contact Big MT on their behalf.
"So now that we've verified that I am, in fact, the real thing… can you please send over the blueprints of the matter recombination machines that Mr. Sinclair commissioned you to make? I note that he copyrighted and patented this device for up to 100 years, and well… he hasn't come around to renew his copyright claim. And as a result, one John-Caleb Bradberton, owner and creator of the Nuka-Cola, has come forth and staked his claim on it. Of course, you will also be paid handsomely for your part in the creation of the matter recombination machines." Michael said in his best professional tone.
He was now posing as the head supervisor of the US patent offices since it had occurred to Taylor that with him being the only remaining and surviving member of the patent offices, didn't this make him the boss now by default?
Michael had found that hysterical for some reason… because to be perfectly honest, that was quite the promotion-- all the way from a lowly filing clerk to the head supervisor of the whole US patent offices in the span of one second. Not that he didn't deserve it… in fact, it was probably a long time coming considering how long he had been… "working" here.
He still intended to have that 30 years' worth of vacation time, however. Then he'd see about coming back here to work again. Maybe. He might just quit entirely despite the "promotion" he got, considering that there wasn't much of a United States government anymore.
"Okay. Just one question, however. What are you going to use it for?" The male voice on the other end asked.
Nora then stepped forward, speaking into the mic. "As John-Caleb's representative, I can tell you he's going to use it for the exact same thing that Fredrick Sinclar did… as self-sustaining vending machines that refill themselves with things that the inhabitants would need, such as food and medicine. From what I've heard, they're pretty handy things if you want to run a self-sustaining business."
A second voice then casually said from the other end, "Yeah, they are actually. The Sierra Madre hotel was fuckin' hell to get though but those vending machines saved my bacon on more than one occasion. I can see why they'd want those things."
That was when Dr. Klein's voice started booming out again. "LOBOTOMITE!! YOU DARE COME IN HERE INDECENTLY DRESSED LIKE THAT? YOUR MANY-PENISED FEET AND HANDS ARE UNCOVERED! I DO NOT WISH TO SEE YOUR PENISES, LOBOTOMITE!"
Taylor and Nora blinked at this, while Shaun giggled immaturely behind them at the mention of penises.
The second voice then said, "For the last time, Dr.Klein, I've told you before that those are fingers and toes. Not penises! Seriously, why are you so obsessed with penises? Feel like you lost your manhood when you became a think-tank, eh?"
"HOW DARE YOU TO IMPLY THAT I DO NOT KNOW MY BASIC ANATOMY! AS FOR YOUR CRUDE JOKE AT MY EXPENSE, I SAY THAT I AM ABOVE IT ALL NOW. I TRANSCEND THE NEED FOR SUCH A FILTHY BODY AND NO LONGER DESIRE IT. NOW COVER YOURSELF. AT LEAST THE FILTHY HUMAN ASSISTANTS YOU GOT ME HAVE THE INTELLIGENCE TO COVER THEIR BODIES BEFORE THEY COME IN FOR WORK!"
A fourth voice, a feminine robotic voice this time, giggled. "I don't mind it. He's so adorable dressed only in his little boxers and helmet. Who's the cutest teddy bear?" She then cooed like she was speaking to a cute little baby. "Yes, you are, my little bear of teddyness! I love the pitter-patter sound of your penis-tipped feet so much."
"DR. DALA! DO NOT ENABLE THE LOBOTOMITE'S BAD HABITS!"
At this point, Shaun was just helplessly laughing hard on the floor, while Taylor and Nora were staring at each other with expressions of disbelief while they listened to the people on the other end argue.
"Umm… those were the scientists who worked on the matter recombining machine? Are we sure we got the right people? Maybe we're the one who should've asked for their credentials instead." Taylor mumbled. Because to be perfectly honest, they sounded like a bunch of idiots right now.
And how did they manage to constantly cram the word 'penis' into so many sentences at once? Did they think they were being funny? Ugh. so immature!
Unfortunately for Taylor, it seems that the two-way radio worked both ways because the people on the other side overheard her comment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Courier Six snorted out loud while Klein became completely furious at the suggestion that they were all a group of frauds.
Amazingly enough, he was so furious he couldn't get a single loud word out without stuttering, which was pretty rare for the loudmouth.
As Dr. Klein seethed in incoherent rage, Dr. Zero (read as Dr. 0) floated over to the radio where Aracde was still sitting and operating it, and spoke into the mic.
"Yes, this is Dr. Zero. I was one of the scientists who worked on that matter recombination machine, even though my specialty was more in robotics than it was in engineering science, and I do believe I have the schematics you're looking for… somewhere. But, aren't you all the way over in Virginia? How do you expect to get it from all the way there?"
The courier simply nodded at this. Dr. Zero had a point… how the fuck were they supposed to bring the blueprints over to those people?
They had the Transportalponder here of course, but unfortunately, it was so limited that the courier could only travel to here from the Mojave proper or travel around two of the four-states commonwealth. There were the Transportalponder beacons that the courier had helped set up in each state that was allied together thanks to the Courier's efforts. (Arizona, Nevada, and Utah.)
They had started with Arizona, mainly because of Christine Royce. The Courier Six had a surprising romantic side and couldn't bear the thought that Christine and Veronica's relationship could be hampered by distance. So he had set up a beacon just outside the Sierra Madre hotel, and it could only be activated by Christine's genetic DNA or by the courier's Transportalponder "gun", so there were no worries about some rando coming across the beacon and teleporting himself into the Big empty. And this way, Christine could come to visit Veronica anytime she wanted and still uphold her duty by watching over the Sierra Madre death trap.
This of course had excited the think tanks as they wanted a way to expand their influence even though they had agreed not to leave Big MT at the moment.
But, the problem with this was the fact that the Courier was only one man, and he couldn't spend years traveling through all the states just to set up beacons. Not to mention it also took a long time to build beacons, taking any time from half a month to two months to make it in between breaks or on the Courier's free time. Plus, he wasn't that skilled at actually building anything, so he had to go about it carefully to make sure he got it right.
There was the other thing, Courier Six was now officially the leader of both Big MT (despite Dr.Klein forgetting this at times) and a lieutenant to Mr.House, who controlled all of Nevada.
It was still surreal to the courier that he was willingly working with Mr.House at all since their personalities tended to clash at times. Originally, he was going to just completely decimate all the factions who wanted to control all of Nevada because every one of them was total assholes who wouldn't even listen to reason or refused to work together with any other faction even though it would've had netted them more support in the long run.
He friggin' loved the idea of a completely free Vegas, after all.
The NCR claimed to be bringing back a highly stable government and on the surface level, they were exactly who they said they were. But, there was just so much friggin' corruption behind the scenes and when pointed out to the supposedly more moral and just people of that faction, they did diddly squat about it. They were so gung-ho about rooting out corruption and stamping out lawlessness when it was some other group doing it… but when it came to their own engaging in the same behaviors behind closed doors? They became oddly silent about it. Who polices the policemen here, hmm?? They would investigate themselves and then say they did nothing wrong. Hypocrites, the whole lot of them.
And there was no fucking way that he would ever side with Caesar's Legion, what with them engaging in slavery and rape on a regular basis. They would pillage towns and just straight-up murder people there and then create weird justifications for it after the fact. Yeah, fuck those guys.
Mr. House was dictatorial, controlling, and completely full of himself. In some ways, he was the biggest asshole out of them all. There was something about the way he spoke that made the Courier want to flip the bird at him. But, he was just one person… the one point of failure when it came to New Vegas. If you killed him, that was it. There was nobody else to take his place, and all of his schemes would come tumbling down like a house of cards.
So… why didn't Courier Six just kill them all and free all of Nevada from their unjust rule?
Well… he never told anybody else this, not even his most trusted followers. But when he got shot in the head and had gotten his brain scrambled, he had somehow gained a type of precognitive ability.
When asking himself which path, which choice to take, etc he would get this strong feeling on whenever something would turn out favorably for him or not. And if he really pushed it, he'd even get actual glimpses of the future like it was a movie clip… but he'd always get those raging headaches afterward that would knock him out cold.
So when he was at the fork, deciding which factions to side with… he pretty much knocked himself out for a week pulling that stunt with his ability. But what he remembered afterward kind of horrified him.
See, He was all for freedom, for every person to self-govern themselves. But, apparently, there were a whole lot of people who didn't feel the same way. Too many people wanted a leader who'd tell them what to do and to hold their hand every time they had a problem. So by freeing New Vegas and all of Nevada, he got seen as the de facto new leader of it… and as a result, so many people were constantly coming to him with their problems that he didn't even have free time to do anything he wanted. And worse, he'd become the scapegoat for all of their problems if he didn't fix anything and told them to do it themselves.
Courier Six was the type of man who just wanted to travel around, check out the sights, and have a little fun on the side. He didn't mind upholding moral and just viewpoints of society at large, and maybe even help enforce the law on the side. But at heart, he was just a mailman and not a leader. In fact, he wasn't the type of man who truly wanted a leadership position. The idea of people mobbing him and acting like he was their master? Ugh, made his skin crawl.
And so that was why he sided with House. With the NCR, there were too many points of corruption to root out if he let them win. Robert House on the other hand… as he said before, was but a single point of failure. If Robert House got too out of hand with his assholery, Courier Six could always find a way to gank him… and boom, the source of corruption was fixed.
Thankfully, Mr. House had been pretty relaxed about almost everything the citizens were doing right now now that he had won and was controlling everything with an iron fist. And he was even more pleased that the Courier was slowly releasing beneficial technology from Big MT to those parts, which seemed to help stabilize the region.
So he didn't need to kill off Mr.House quite yet.
"WHAT?!" Dr. Klein yelled, snapping the Courier out of his memory trip.
"IMPOSSIBLE, WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON THE TRANSPORTALPONDER FOR OVER A DECADE NOW AND YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT SOME UPSTARTS ON THE EAST COAST ALREADY CRACKED HOW TO DO IT ACROSS STATES? IMPOSSIBLE, UTTERLY IMPOSSIBLE!"
Courier Six blinked. Huh, they had transporting technology? Interesting.
A woman's voice on the other end then blabbed something about radio waves and how to hijack that. He didn't quite understand the tech-speak she was blabbing on about, but Dr. Klein and the rest of the Think-tank group seemed to understand it.
"EH? HUH. THAT'S ACTUALLY BRILLIANT… USING RADIO STATIONS AS SECONDARY SOURCES OF POWER AND A WAY TO TO TRAVEL WITHOUT SACRIFICING TOO MUCH FROM OUR MAIN POWER SOURCE! WHY DIDN'T WE THINK OF THAT? WE WERE TOO DEPENDANT ON OUR OWN SATELLITE AND POWER SOURCES!"
"~!@@~$$#^%^%&%&$%!#$@~@$#%$%$#%^$%#!$#@#!@#!@!!" Dr. 8 agreed completely, not believing that they had overlooked something so obvious. This discovery would certainly help them in the long run.
"So, we're agreed then? We send somebody over with the blueprints?" Dr. Borous said, and then whispered conspiringly away where the radio people wouldn't be able to overhear them, "And if possible, have the people bring back some of their tech?"
Dr. Zero nodded. "Yes. everything is fair in love and SCIENCE! If they dare take credit for the technology we've been working so hard on, then we take what they have and make it BETTER. That'll show them upstarts."
"VERY WELL, IT IS AGREED!" Dr. Klein boomed, as he floated back to the radio station. "HUMANS, WE NEED SOME COOPERATION FROM YOUR END TO LINK OUR SATELLITE TO YOURS IN ORDER FOR THE TRANSPORTALPONDER TO WORK! ALSO, WE NEED TO MODIFY THINGS ON OUR END SO THIS WILL TAKE A FEW DAYS. CAN YOU WAIT?"
"Um, sure. We can wait." The woman said.
"EXCELLENT! WE WILL BE SENDING OVER OUR LOBOTOMITE WITH THE PAPERS YOU SO DESIRE!"
With that, he abruptly turned off the radio and told everyone to get to work in that loud booming voice.
Courier Six chuckled. Well, looks like he was about to travel quite a long way for the first time ever in his life. Was bound to be interesting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Taylor and Nora looked at each other again, not quite sure what to feel about this.
Why did they have a funny feeling that things were about to get VERY interesting, and quite possibly not in a good way?
=========================================================
A/N: Yes, I blatantly shipped Veronica and Christine together. They were my far most favorite Companions to have, besides Arcade and Rex. I about squeed when I discovered that the two of them had been in a relationship before, but had to separate for uncontrollable reasons. I was so sad when I discovered that they wouldn't meet up afterward or that I couldn't tell Victoria about Christine.
So in this fanfic, I decided that they'd finally meet each other again after some time had passed between Dead Money and the main storyline.
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Aurora Moon
Verfied Insomniac with too much time on her hands
- Location
- USA, Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
also another fallout song one might like if you side with Mr. House 100%
Aurora Moon
Verfied Insomniac with too much time on her hands
- Location
- USA, Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I think everyone pretty much agrees that he's a dick. he's just the lesser evil of all choices if you don't wanna be the leader of a free Vegas.
And note how the Courier has plans to kill him off if Mr.House ever went too far for everyone's tastes.
- Location
- Painting, Peach's Castle
Honestly, the best way to fix the Mojave would be to run it like House is doing, and set it up for a more electoral government in the long run. You need either an iron fist with an army or a metric fuckton of support to lay the groundwork in a lawless wasteland where any random yokel could be packing a Super Sledge or a grenade launcher.
Oh, and always kill The Legion. ALWAYS.
Oh, and always kill The Legion. ALWAYS.
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Quinn Porthos
Multiclass Munchkin
- Location
- Wandering
Called it. Also...
All the yes.
- Location
- Here there everywhere and nowhere I am
Well you can set it up like like a dictatorship (or a few people at the top) that has the ultimate control but with a civilian counsel running some of the day to day things?
If that is to work out it would depend heavenly on the morality of the dictator (or people) at the top being "good" people but if that is the case and you can ensure that stays the case in the future it is not such a bad system.
Democracy is nice and all but it is quite clearly horribly flawed in many ways but currently it seems to be the best option out of a collection of bad options, but comapring democracy to a dictatorship that is run by a capable and benevolent leader (and that stays the case) the dictatorship will likely be a more pleasant place to live.
- Location
- Deep in the Badlands of Equestria
Heh. I wonder if Courier Six here took a run through the Sunset Sasparilla bottling plant and found that bottlecap press? That thing was practically a counterfeiting machine as far as Fallout terms go, but if trade picks up across a wider region having a "new" trade token standard might prove useful for cross-region deals rather than sticking strictly to barter terms. 🤔 On second thought, that's a bad idea. It leads into fiat currencies and inflation, and we really don't need to go down that path again, thank you very much.
Aurora Moon
Verfied Insomniac with too much time on her hands
- Location
- USA, Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
yup, this was one of the few times when I actually agreed with somebody when they wanted me to destroy a prewar machine, etc. I was like, "Aha! no wonder why the prices and the like are so wonky across the board and why people prefer to barter instead! alright, this machine goes away."
Although it does make me wonder about what happens if John-Caleb tries to get his Nuka-cola bottling plant back up again. Maybe Taylor could convince him to modernize it and turn everything into canned drinks with poppable lids. might help avoid the issue altogether.