He was a stream of data. Ones and zeros, represented by the flow and absence of electricity, surged across his mind. He flew down wires and transistors, briefly settling within a camera or a computer screen, but quickly moved on. It was no easy task running a city all by your lonsesome- even if you were nearly omnipresent, like Mr. House was.
At one camera, he found a dead hooker from Gomorrah dead in the alley next to it. A King from Freeside crouched over her. Mr. House frowned from within his cryogenic pod, or at least it felt like he did. Business like that should be left inside the casino, not dragged out. He went to a securitron, and sent the command for others to follow. The man was dragged off kicking and screaming, and the body was concealed until there was less of a crowd around. Not the optimal solution, but it would have to do. Back to his wires, he supposed.
Down through thousands of cameras Securitrons he went, checking diagnostics, and then quickly moving on. This was his life. He stopped at Victor- he saw that Courier leaving the Doctor's house. Good- Victor himself had proposed keeping the man alive, talking about seeing something in him. Note to self: thought House, that robot is far to smart for anyone's good. Consider downgrading.
And back to his wires it was.
As he went through the hundreds of securitrons, he stopped at one. This- Unit 13-7- had been patrolling just beyond the borders of the vaguely defined region called the 'Mojave Wasteland'. Checking for Crimson Caravan and the Gun Runners, just in case the NCR started taking any large weapon shipments. But this one was on it's back- and over it stood two boys. They were like nothing he had ever seen since the Bombs fell. Each one had dark, smooth olive skin, with garb most similar to a Spaniard, or perhaps a Moroccan, but somehow they were... different. He could not quite place there accents, even with his Old World knowledge.
Each boy looked straight terrified. "It lit up! It lit up!" One cried, staring into what House realized was now a Securitron's face.
"What do you think it is?" Asked the second boy, much more awed then hysterical like his companion. "It's like a Magic Lantern... A man from Essos showed one to my Lord Father"
Magic lantern? Lord Father? Had the Mojave traveled back in time? And what was Essos? He scanned his records for it, and came up empty handed. No news paper clippings, no tribals recorded, nothing at all. He even scanned through old novels, ranging from romance to fantasy. Nothing, or at least nothing he'd managed to save. How curious thought House.
"Well whatever it is, we need to leave it alone! What if it's a monster?" Asked the hysterical boy.
"We should tell my Lord Father- he'll know what to do!" Declared the other boy.
"Lord Wyl hasn't ever seen any monster!" Said the other. "We should leave it be!"
House decided to intervene. A tribe right along NCR trade routes would be very advantageous in the coming months and weeks. He put his full concentration into that Securitron. his static face popped onto the screen. Both of the boys screamed.
"Hello boys... I am Mr. House. Do not be afraid of me- I am a man like you. Would you, ah, take me to Lord Wyl?" He asked.
After a long silence, the brave boy said "What are you? Did you say you're a Maester?"
Annoyed, House told him "I have told you, boy. I am a man. Now, bring me to Lord Manwoody!" He said.
The boys looked at each other, and looking back at Mr. House, nodded. They grabbed the two arms of the Securitron, and pulled it to its feet. After several moments of uncertainty, House adjusted the weights and gyroscopes that made up the center of gravity, finally bringing him to balance on his one wheel. Off we go, then! Tally Ho!" He said in his best cheerful voice, as he and his reluctant companions rolled and trotted along the sun baked plains.
-
People in Wyl pointed, whispered and screamed. This was no mere village, House had realized- this was a whole city. This close to the Mojave, it would be impossible to hide a town of this size. A great sandstone fort stood ahead of him.
-
"Lord Wyl." House said. It was as if he were in an old world fantasy novel. He tried to figure out how to get the mono-wheeled Securitron body to bend at the knee. "My name is... House. I come from a Nation to the south... the State of Las Vegas, or New Vegas as many call it."
The Lord was attempting to hide his feelings- Dagos, of House Wyl he was called- of fear and terror at the strange being his boys had brought back.
"You speak of madness... Maester." He said. "To the south there is only mountains and desert! I hunted there myself."
"Well... it would seem things have changed." And House knew it. Few others in the Mojave had probably noticed, but as night fell, the stars were all wrong... they were different. The moon wa still there and the same, but the stars... he did, however, still manage to find several satellites. Currently he had his supercomputers attempting to figure out what had happened. If House's calculated intuition was correct (and it always was- the House always won), he wasn't in Kansas anymore, as an ancient film had said. He was in a whole new world... the odds had changed, and all bets were off.
"I am aware of us. To the north of us, we thought it very much the same. But apparently not..." House said.
"I will not believe it! I cannot beleive it!"
"Lord Dagos... am I not all the proof you need?" House responded. Whispers cascaded across the room, and Lord Dagos was deep in thought.
