2: Welcome, Jane Doe
"We can't keep callin' you Courier."
Courier looked up from the meal she had been considering when Shawn announced that. She glanced at him across the small table that sat in his equally small kitchen and arched an eyebrow. "I don't remember my name." She reminded him flatly.
Shawn wasn't fazed by her cool manner. After doing several tests designed to test her mental faculties, he had determined that other than suffering amnesia, she was otherwise perfectly healthy and a bit too intelligent for his personal comfort. So far she was quiet and reserved for the most part, but he wasn't sure if that was her natural personality or the result of not having any clue what was going on around her. He had no idea if she would make a recovery, but the fact that she had chosen her profession title as her name was reassuring if not odd.
"Tell me what happened again." She requested, sipping her bottle of purified water, still staring at him.
He had lost count of how many times he had told her how she had wound up with him, she had to of had the information memorized by now. Sighing, he acquiesced. "Victor-"
"He's a robot." She interrupted.
"Victor is a robot. He found you up in the cemetery and then brought you to me." Shawn pushed away from the table, gesturing for her to follow. "Come on."
Curious, Courier followed him. When she realized he was leading her to his bedroom, she balked.
Shawn caught the look on her face and shook his head. "I'm not askin' you to go to bed with me." He said, trying not to chuckle. "I want to show you somethin'."
Turning red from embarrassment, she stepped inside.
"Here, these are yours."
It took her a moment to realize that he was holding out a small duffel bag and after that moment had passed, she took it. "What's in it?
"It looks like a contract for a job, some Stimpaks, caps bobby pins, a 9mm pistol, and some ammo. It was all you had on you when you were brought in. I was hopin' that you would recover your memory but so far, the only signs that you retain any memory at all are the fact that you asked to be called Courier."
"Which you never explained."
"Read the note. I did, hopin' it'd give me information about next of kin or somethin' but…" He shrugged, trailing off. "All it said was something about a platinum chip."
INSTRUCTIONS
Deliver the package to at the north entrance of the New Vegas Strip, by way of Freeside. An agent of the recipient will meet you at the checkpoint, take possession of the package, and pay for the delivery. Bring the payment to Johnson Nash at the Mojave Express agency in Primm.
Bonus on completion: 250 caps.
MANIFEST
This package contains:
One (1) Oversized Poker Chip, composed of Platinum.
CONTRACT PENALTIES
You are an authorized agent of the Mojave Express Package until delivery is complete and payment has been processed, contractually obligated to complete this transaction and materially responsible for any malfeasance or loss. Failure to deliver the proper recipient may result in forfeiture of your advance and bonus, criminal charges, and/or pursuit by the mercenary reclamation teams. The Mojave Express is not responsible for any injury or loss of life you experience as a result of said reclamation efforts.
Shawn watched as she read the delivery order, studying her face for any signs of recognition. When she looked up at him, he wasn't entirely sure what he was reading in her eyes.
"Do you have the chip?" She asked flatly.
"No, it wasn't on you."
"Why didn't you show this to me sooner?"
"Like I said honey, I was hopin' to see signs of improvement before now. This was a last resort to jog your memory." Shawn was still studying her. "Do you remember anythin' at all?"
Courier frowned, glancing back down at the note in her hand. "I don't know… No."
He sighed.
~!~
"Diana?"
Courier frowned, shaking her head as she laced the boots Shawn had scrounged for her. "I don't feel like a Dianna."
"Mary?"
"No."
"Jane Doe?"
She pulled a face and shot him a look. "You are not funny, Doc."
Shawn waited until she had finished before reaching for her arm. "This was my wife's." He said softly as he secured a Pip-Boy 3000 around her wrist, watching as it automatically locked itself. "And the clothes, we came from a Vault, Vault 21 actually."
Which explained the large 21 on the back of the dull blue jumpsuit he had given her to wear. She had been running around in cut-off pants and one of his shirts until today, when she had informed him she was leaving. He had procured clothes for her, now she knew who's clothes they had been. "What happened to her?"
"Died."
"I'm sorry."
"It was a long time ago, don't be." Shawn waved her off, clearing his throat. He did not feel like discussing his Becky, or how he sometimes wondered if her death might've been prevented if they had just stayed in the Vault. "Fits you good."
"Yeah." Courier looked down at herself, nodding. "Thanks, Doc."
"How about Katy?"
She smiled.
~!~
"So what does this thing do?" Courier –no Katy, she mentally corrected herself- asked, tapping the Pip-Boy 3000 screen curiously.
Shawn adjusted his cowboy hat as they strolled down the hill from his house –which also served as the town's medical office- towards the Prospector's Saloon. "It records mapping data, has a radio, will keep track of any information you put into it, reads holodisks… Anythin' you want pretty much. It'll even read your vitals and tell you if you're ill."
"Sounds useful."
"Can be," Shawn stopped, reaching out to grab her by the wrist and turn her so she was facing him. "Katy, listen. I know you want to find those men who tried to-"
"Kill me."
"But I don't think you should. You could just settle down and…" He trailed off at the look on her face. Her eyes were on fire and it was actually a bit frightening. "Goin' down this road will do nothin' but corrupt your soul with vengeance." He warned gently.
She turned from him, looking down on the small town of Goodsprings. "Maybe it was already corrupted to begin with, Doc."
~!~
"I don't trust that damn robot, Shawn." Trudy said with a scowl as she set two bottles of beer down on the counter. She ran the Prospector Saloon and was also the unofficial town mayor. "He's been here longer than I have, never interfered in anything until now."
Courier kept her gaze on the bottle before her, knowing she was the now.
"Come on Trudy, Victor hasn't done anythin'." Shawn reprimanded gently. "He's been here all this time and hasn't done a thing to anyone."
"Or for anyone." Trudy hissed, slapping down her rag. "Now no offense-" She looked questioningly at Courier. "I didn't get your name."
"Katy."
"No offense Katy, but that damn robot –Victor- hasn't done a damn thing or spoken hardly to anyone around here in all the time he's been in Goodsprings until he dug you up. It just strikes me funny is all."
Personally, Courier found it a bit odd herself. What the hell was a robot doing in a little ramshackle of a town like Goodsprings anyways? Let alone the graveyard? In the middle of the night no less.
"Of course, it's a damn good thing he did finally make himself useful." Trudy grudgingly ceded. "Else nobody would've known a thing about you, honey." She reached over to sympathetically pat Courier's hand. "Welcome to Goodsprings, Katy."
