"Your friends can wait here in the casino while you go upstairs."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, kinda personal business… with you specifically."
"Me?"
"Yeah, don't you know? You're very important."
"Well…"
"It's okay, Sol. Just go on ahead."
"Come on now, partner, the boss's waiting."
The door – closed for a thousand years now opened up for the very first time. Light shone onto this dark tomb. There were strange sounds resonating throughout the casino. It rumbled through the walls and the ceiling. With endless lines of slot machines and roulette tables stretching along the long walls. The slot machines, covered in dust, had stopped spitting out chips since many years ago. The blackjack tables, with dust smearing all over the surface, Sol could barely make out the logo for the Lucky 38. Along the side of the walls, where the bar was, there was a couple of wine glass, some with a few drops of whiskey left in them. Countless wine bottles, beer bottles, martinis, all left untouched. This place, felt dead.
"Come now, partner…"
The two of them traveled up an elevator, the whole damn thing was coated in gold. It was the most luxurious thing Sol had ever seen in his life. Everything around here felt expensive, so he didn't want to touch them despite having a feeling that the place had been abandoned for years now. Who was Mr. House? He wondered. Was he even real? The place seemed like it was inhabited only by robots and machines, so who could possibly be living in this place?
It took a good long minute or so before the elevator stopped. Understandable since the Lucky 38's tower was so damn tall. There were probably around a hundred floors or so that they'd gone pass, or at the very least, it felt that way.
The elevator door opened to a view of light that slashed at Sol's eyes, nearly blinding him. The lights, he'd never imagined it could get so bright. Countless years crossing the desert, looking through rough and vicious sandstorms. The lights, they were… neutral… strange way of describing it, but he didn't know what it was that was blinding him. It was the first building in his life that he actually felt he was lifted up and beyond the heavens. What was all of this feelings, he wondered.
It was a large room with white floors and stones crafted onto the floors and the walls. What he was staring at was a large glass window where he could view out into the wasteland he'd been walking all his life. He had never seen the Mojave from above before. There was a certain beauty to this ruins that he'd walked.
Victor signaled him to a set of stairs in the next room which led him to the most amazing thing he'd ever witnessed.
A gigantic computer console – with a big magnificent bright screen in front of him. It was like a gem, this emerald mirror shining a projected image of a middle-age man with a mustache. He seemed well-dressed, with a suit, tie and all that. His hair was short and slicked sideways. He projected a strange aura onto Sol. He read something about this before – or at least he seemed to vaguely recall – the Emerald City of the Wizard of Oz. It was a book that he read when he was a kid, now he could barely remember it, especially after that incident with the bullet to the head.
"Ah… look… at… this…"
The computer… it spoke! Sol was startled, he didn't know how to react.
"Come now… don't be frightened," The computer said, "this meeting has been long time coming, hasn't it? You've come a long way, literally, and I suspect figuratively as well."
Solmund stood there, still a bit frozen from shock. He didn't know shock from what, though. Because part of him somewhat suspected that something like this would turn up. He just didn't think that it actually happened.
"Well… since you've spent efforts making your way all the way here, let me be the one to officially welcome you – to the city of Fabulous New Vegas. The legendary city that they tell in stories during their travels. The so called Golden Oasis of the wasteland. The last remnant of the Old World civilization, the civilization of the Old West."
Solmund then said slowly:
"Who… who… are you?"
"I thought I had Victor explain everything to you. Well doesn't really matter. My name is Robert Edwin House, founder of the RobCo Industries, currently CEO and proprietor of this New Vegas Strip."
"What exactly do you want with me? I'm just a lone traveler."
"Oh, well, I suppose it's time to spill the beans now. No sense in keeping you in the dark anymore. You do know why you're here in New Vegas don't you?"
"Yeah," Sol said, "It's to track down a city boy called Benny. Slicked hair, checkered coat, left one of his lighter behind." Sol held up the engraved lighter for the computer to see.
"Oh yes, I realize. In fact, Benny was and still is one of my best employees whom I've put my trusts into running the show here in the Strip. But, as the little rapscallion he is, he had a change of heart and… um… put a little blockade in between me and my plans. And I intent to get rid of this blockade as soon as possible."
"As soon as possible? Heh, you do know how long it took me to get here, right? That's a load of crap you're talking if you're trying to tell me that it took over twenty five thousand months for you to haul your robot ass out of this place and walk a few yards across the street."
"Fair observation," Mr. House said, without any signs of anger at all, "But I'm going to be honest with you here. Let's not hide secrets from each other, shall we? We both know very well that YOU! You of all people are one of the most powerful men in the entire United States of America. No point trying to deny it. So what is a couple of months wasted compare to having you of all people working alongside with me?"
"How do you know that I won't just refuse your offer and walk out of here, penniless and all. Because to be honest, no matter the amount of caps you're going to offer, none of it matters to me."
"Ha-ha," Mr. House laughed, "Very clever… you really are a bright one. But you see the thing here is that… I'm not offering you money. You and I both are so superior to the other vermin that we have evolved pass the needs for trivial things such as money. I have so much of it that even if I give away 90 percent of it away, I'd still have enough to sustain New Vegas and go off to a year long vacation on a bright sunny beach coast."
"What then? What could you possibly have that could interest me?"
"The future…"
Sol looked at him strangely, Mr. House then explained:
"Look out of that window, tell me… what do you see?"
Sol walked to the nearest window, he was so high above the ground it was breathtaking. He almost couldn't breathe. He said, a bit unsure:
"I don't know… I see people… I see bloodshed, war… I see scavengers trying to make a living."
"Yes indeed, that's what you see in the Mojave Desert. But tell me what do you see in Vegas?"
Sol looked again still a bit unsure, but Mr. House said before he could reply:
"I'll tell you what I see. I see… comfort, riches, food, water… I see home, home in the middle of all the bloodshed and war that you see. But alas, home is just a small little place somewhere in the Southwest Commonwealth of the West Coast. A small place compared to something as big as the United States of America, or even the world. It is only my simple wish that I can bring Vegas… to everyone. Come now, have a seat."
They talked for hours on end. Mr. House told him his story. Born on June 25th 2020. He had a rough childhood, apparently lost both parents to a freak accident when he was just a wee lad. His later years weren't much better either. His half-brother, Anthony House, cheated him out of his inheritance. Despite this, he took advantage of whatever he had on hands at that point. Which was just his brain.
Founded RobCo Industries when he was only 22 years old. RobCo, the company that was home to many of the technology found in the wasteland, the Pip-Boy on Sol's wrist, the Protectron robots, sentry bots, etc. Even the Stealth Boys used by the Nightkin Super Mutants, all came from RobCo. Sol was fascinated to hear much about Mr. House. There was an old saying, that all roads lead to Rome, which described the conquests and size of the Roman Empire where all the roads built led to its center, the capital city Rome. But now, in 2281, the saying here went 'all roads lead to Vegas'. Which wasn't hard to believe.
House was both a technological genius and a prodigy in the fields of… knowledge itself. Predicting that the Great War was to happen in approximately around 2080, these predictions were made during his years in 2065. Although the real War occurred in 2077, these predictions were far more accurate than anybody could've ever predicted back then in his times.
There was just something about the way that Mr. House talked that… fascinated Solmund. He had never been so engaged in a conversation before in his entire whole life. There was a certain… pull, certain charm, no, certain gravity to his well crafted words that pulled him into the conversation.
"All of this… all of my plans and hard work," House said, "all of them, revolves around acquiring a certain object… the Platinum Chip. That's right, the very same object that you… you, a courier was suppose to deliver to me a long time back. The chip was printed in Sunnyvale, California, and was suppose to be hand-delivered to me on the day October 23rd 2077. Alas… if only I had a little more time."
"What happened?" Sol asked.
"Well," he explained, "the Platinum Chip, on the surface might seem like just another piece of overly-designed jewelry with the purpose of excessive decoration. But the Chip is far more valuable than just gold or silver or platinum. It was in fact, a highly complex program that was ready to be installed into my computer mainframes, it contains one of the most highly sophisticated algorithm conceived in the history of mankind. The kinds of algorithm with the power to upgrade this very casino – the Lucky 38 – into a fortress so powerful that it would make the Brotherhood of Steel's bunkers seem like a small tent by the side of a road."
"Why go through all the trouble of making this… device when you can just activate everything from this computer console?"
"The thing is – I had to. During my process of building this so called fortress the Lucky 38, I knew I had to take some countermeasures against thieves and hackers trying to access my data. I could very well use a simple password, or a simple hard drive to access the data, but so could the intruders who were out to steal my life's work. You'd be surprised how many of those buffoons tried to do that. It's absurd. The Chip… it was a lot more powerful than any hardware that a simple mechanic around here can come up with. It had to be custom made."
"But you didn't get the Chip… did you?"
"No, unfortunately, no. I was forced into using an inferior model of my super computer when the nuclear warheads decided to strike. There were in total of 77 nuclear warheads aimed at the city of New Vegas. My networked mainframes were able to predict and force-transmit disarm code subsets to 59 warheads, neutralizing them before impact. Laser cannons mounted on the roof of the Lucky 38 destroyed another 9 warheads. The rest got through, though none hit the city itself. A subpar performance, wouldn't you agree?"
"But with the Platinum Chip, things would've been different, right?"
"Right... and that brings us to the main point of this meeting... acquiring the Chip. And I must be honest with you, it won't be easy. You might be wondering why I can't just send in one of my Securitrons to acquire the Chip themselves without breaking a sweat, well, the truth is that because it would be a violation of the laws and treaties set by the City itself. I cannot allow interference with the Families' Casino business using my personal Securitrons. Most of the Families do not fancy the presence of those robots inside their casino. Especially that... Benny."
"Let me guess, this is where I come in."
"Right as always," House said, "You have to be careful, Benny is no doubt on high alert knowing that he possesses such immense power in his palms... but... from the moment I saw you come in here with that calm demeanor of yours... I suspected something to be... off."
Sol blew from his breath a circle of smoke from a cigar he had just lit. He said:
"You said it yourself, one of the most powerful men in the United States of America. Acquiring the Chip... it's not a problem. The problem here is... what to do with that Chip."
Mr. House was silent, Sol continued:
"You know why I'm here don't you? ... you're a very smart man, Robert... you know very well that if I'd wanted to... I could've just walk in here, show you that Platinum Chip and burn this place down to the ground... you know very well that I have that capability, don't you?"
"Yes... yes I do..."
"Then tell me... why should I even consider working for you? Tell me your Vision... tell me the future."