Chapter 10: Medical Malpractice.

With only one collar left, Seth and Dean set off towards the Medical Clinic. Dean proved himself to be a rather fast shot, forcing Seth to recalculate a number of his back up plans he formed for the singer's demise.

The duo had just finished off another Ghost Person outside the Clinic. Dean had lodged several bullets into his chest, after which The Courier approached and decapitated it with a knife spear. "Messy work, but someone's got to do it." Dean comments as he steps over the headless body into the clinic.

Grabbing medical supplies as they go, the two eventually reach the second floor. Seth's Pip-Boy is leading him to one of the Auto-Doc rooms, but suddenly the collars start beeping. The two scurry down the hall before their heads can be blown off.

"Hmm... This seems to be a bit of a sticky-whicit." Dean comments. Seth's Pip-Boy radio then crackles to life. The Old Man is speaking.

"Those speakers are all shielded. You'll have to disable the power to get by them. The generators should be located in the basement." He stated, then cut the signal. As Seth was processing this data, he felt Dean tap his shoulder.

"Uh, Seth. It seems we have company." He stated, directing Seth's attention to a glowing blue security guard advancing towards them.

"I got this." Seth states, drawing his Police Pistol. Gripping with both hands, he aims down the sights and fires three time. The Security Hologram goes from baby blue to blood red, and suddenly begins firing lasers at the two.

Seth fires again, emptying his pistol, only succeding in making the hologram madder. "Run!" he exclaims, and the two take off, fleeing down the stairs and escaping its range.

"We'd best not make that mistake again." Dean comments sourly.

Seth, on the other hand, was delighted. "Did you see that thing? It took a whole clip of bullets, and absolutely nothing happened!" He then notices a burn wound on his shoulder where the hard light beams struck him. "And they can attack! Fantastic! I have got to get some of those!" Seth continued to gush, completly neglecting to treat his wounds.

Dean seemed slightly annoyed with his companion's gushing adoration of the thing that tried to kill them. "Yes, most impressive. Hopefully they'll shut down along with the speakers once we disable the basement generators."

"Right, right. Let's get moving!" Seth exclaimed, strolling away with a spring in his step and a singe on his shoulder.

Dean muttered, "This guy is nuts." as he grudgingly followed him.

Once in the basement, Seth quickly located the terminal regulating the power. "Let's see. From here, I can turn off both the speakers and the holograms." Seth stated

"Then do it." Domino replied snarkily. In Seth's mind, the chance of him needing to use one of those "kill Dean Domino" back up plans went from 25% to 46%.

Returning to the second floor, the two approach an Auto-Doc that seems to have a strange knocking coming from inside. Dean suddenly seems to get nervous. "Say, chap, why don't you greet the newest member of our little fellowship by yourself. They may need help getting back to the fountin, and well, three's a crowd."

"Yeah... sure thing boss." Seth replied slowly. "You just head back to the fountin. I'll take care of everything." At that, Dean took off. This got The Courier thinking. Does Dean have some kind of relationship with the third team member? Could he get them to kill each other? "Only one way to find out." he states before opening the Auto-Doc.

As the door slides open, a ragged, bald woman wearing a blood stained doctor's outfit stumbled out. She winces in pain from just blinking. "Geez, did someone carve a roadmap on your face?"

The woman (who, according to Seth's Pip-Boy, was named Christine) gained a cross expression and opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Shocked, she traces a scar along her chin, her eyes going wide with horror as reality dons on her.

Seth puts it all together. "Someone cut out your vocal cords, didn't they?"

Christine becomes agitated, looking at the Auto-Doc in horror before staring down The Courier, and angry look on her face. She draws a finger across her neck with slow, angry precision.

"Woah woah woah woah woah. Woah. Woah. Don't try to pin this on me, sister. I'm in the same boat as you are, see?" Seth states while pointing to his collar.

Christine traces her fingers across her own metal necktie, seemingly noticing it for the first time. Abruptly, she begins fiddling with the lock.

"Unless you want your head to go off, don't pick at that." Seth states bluntly.

Her eyes widen as she gazes at The Courier's leash. "Yeah, it's a bomb collar. Made in a bomb factory. Because it's a BOMB!"

Christine's expression hardens with resolve. "Listen, I have hade enough of this shit. Let's get out of here." Seth states, though Christine is reluctant, drawing a line in the air between her and The Courier. "I pulled you out of that Auto-Doc, I can shove you back in." he stated in response. Fear danced across Christine's face, and she reluctantly followed him out and back to the fountin.

A/N: The teams all here!