Once the sun rose from the east, Cat saddled up the horse and made her way back to Dawnstar. But it wasn't long before she needed to stop for a bite to eat. Too much time had passed since those old apple scraps, and her stomach was growling like a Deathclaw in heat. She damn near felt faint. The Wanderer had no provisions with her aside from the clothes on her back, so it was only natural that the next course of action was to stop at the nearest town. Cat didn't have any money to buy food, so it was up to her to either convince a kind-hearted soul to show pity, or steal the damn food when their ungenerous backs were turned!
Cat spotted a small village just on the eastern bank of the White River. Sin trotted up to the village entrance as she pulled his reins to slow him down. Cat read the sign: Riverwood. The Wanderer figured there had to be food floating around there, somewhere. Plus, the village looked just small enough that the residents could potentially be more neighborly than those in the bigger cities.
Her stomach growled. "Alright, alright – shut up!" Cat growled back.
Before The Wanderer could make her way inside Riverwood, a bright, powerful blast of light flashed beside her.
"What the hell?" she cried. Meanwhile, Sinatra had reared up in a panic, bucking Cat to the ground. The flash came again, and something fierce and hot bounced off the Riverwood sign, sending sparks tumbling to the cobblestone path.
"I know that sound..." Cat grimaced.
Approaching from just around the path's bend was a white-haired young man dressed in leathers, goggles strapped around his face, and a Pip-boy hugging the very arm that aimed a laser rifle right between the Wanderer's eyes.
"Shit!" Cat rolled out of the way just before X1-81 took another shot.
Sinatra whinnied and stamped his hooves. He burst into a gallop, zig-zagging back and forth down a nearby hill.
Cat stood and ran after the horse, looking back over her shoulder only to see the Courser picking up his speed – he was definitely coming after her.
"Motherfucker!" she yelled over her shoulder. Blasts of plasma bit holes in the dirt all around the Wanderer as she practically danced her boots from side to side trying to avoid having her feet blown off.
Out of breath, Cat ducked behind a tree. That damn horse was nowhere in sight. Her stomach growled. "For the love of god," she raged, glaring squarely at her gut, "shut the fuck up!"
X1-81 approached from not more than a few yards away. Cat knew it wouldn't take but a few seconds for him to find her. She was cornered behind a tree, right on the bank of the White River. The water looked too cold to swim and the current looked too strong.
"God damn it," said the Wanderer, feeling more trapped here than she ever did back in that Thalmor camp.
The young man snuck up on Cat, moving in from her peripheral on the right. He pointed the laser rifle mere inches from her forehead and said, "Nothing personal. I am simply following Julia's orders."
Just then, a spastic neigh bellowed from their left as Sinatra, having appeared from nowhere, barreled into both the Courser and the Wanderer, toppling the two synths down to the dirt.
As a result of the tumult, X1-81's weapon had been knocked from his hand. Cat spotted it – the thing was flung just on the opposite side of the tree, some steps away – but it was well out of reach. The Courser pushed himself away from her as he crawled after the gun, but the Wanderer grappled with the back of his leathers, desperately tugging him away from the laser rifle. Christ, he was strong – very strong. She couldn't overpower a strapping young man such as him. All Cat could do at this point was endeavor to slow him down.
As the Wanderer gripped at him with all her might, she looked down to see the missing flesh from her arm. The shininess of the motherboard wedged just between those metal bones of hers – it gave Cat an idea. She started pushing buttons and, sure enough, that little control panel lit up like a god damn Christmas tree. Bolts and jolts of electric currents zipped back and forth quickly. After a few seconds, the current managed to gather up enough momentum to create a wave of electricity that latched onto the nearest conductor it could find – a man-sized machine by the designation of X1-81. The Courser stopped struggling as the current absorbed into his skin, running up and down his body in swift, flashing waves. As it did so, Cat could suddenly feel what he felt. She could suddenly see what he saw. And there it was – they were connected, the Wanderer and the Courser.
From this point on, Cat had full access to the core matrix of X1-81's operating system.
After exiting the Falkreath Sanctuary, and trying not to trip over the bodies that lined the way out, Cicero needed to return home – and fast. He didn't want to look upon Ondolemar's face ever again. After the high elf discovered who the jester really was, the Altmer had little motivation to go chasing after a resentful Daedric prince who held nothing but contempt for the Thalmor's ways.
Without another thought, Cicero braced himself and instantly teleported away from Falkreath. In a moment's flash, he appeared, front and center, in the main hall of the Dawnstar Sanctuary. When the bright light around him died down and his surroundings came into full view, Cicero's eyes met with the fiendish smirk of Festus Krex – the old wizard assassin. Before the jester could bid the wizard a casual greeting, Krex swirled his hands around, palms up, conjuring a large, violet orb that enveloped Cicero.
"Krex!" he shouted. "What in the name of Sithis?!" The orb hovered some feet off the ground while Cicero tripped and toppled around inside of it. He yelped with confusion – at one point he even said, "Very funny, Krex. Alright, alright. You got poor Cicero. Joke's over!"
The wizard motioned himself forward and the orb moved with his strides. He walked the orb, and subsequently the jester, down to the lower level of the Sanctuary. Krex placed his conjuration in an empty room that had obviously once been used as a dungeon.
"That should do it," smiled the old man.
Cicero rolled around inside the orb, unable to maintain his balance, all the while banging his fists against its interior. The jester shouted and cursed, all of which was greatly muffled by the robust, glowing walls of his new prison. After he was out of breath and out of energy, having slumped to the bottom of the orb, Cicero sat quietly with his hands folded over his abdomen, glaring furiously at his captor.
It was not long after that point that Astrid entered the room, placing her hand on Krex's shoulder. "Good work," she said, giving the wizard an appreciative pat on the back.
Krex nodded. "Whatever this old man can do to help your cause, mistress."
"Is it permanent?" she asked.
"As long as I live and breathe," grinned Krex. "I'm still working out the long term kinks, but yes – for all intents and purposes – this is permanent."
Astrid approached the cowering jester with a sneer on her face and deadly ambition in her eyes. "Try to escape," she said. "It won't work. You belong to us now."