"Please," I pleaded. "Let us out!"

Mister Burke crossed his legs, shrugging. "I'm afraid there's nothing I can do, my dear."

I sputtered. "Nothing you can do? Opening the door would help, for a starter." When he shook his head, I returned to the black metal staring me in the face, impassive despite my desperate nails scratching against its hatch.

"I'm so dreadfully sorry, my dear, but the Courier's word is my law." He idly picked up the sarsaparilla I left on the table, taking a long drink before setting it back where it was. "You must understand. I am in absolutely no position to help you."

"I don't understand," I objected, whirling back to face him, spreading my arms out in wide, frustrated gestures. "You can't possibly think that this is a good idea, Mister Burke. Surely you have somewhere that you call home, somewhere you wouldn't stand seeing burn to ash in the flames the red bull will bring."

Mister Burke stood, crossing over to me in a few silent steps. When he drew closer, I backed up reflexively until I felt the cool metal of the sealed door against my back. He didn't stop until he was inches from my face, and for once, I could see the eyes behind the sunglasses. They were narrowed with amusement, sharp with delight. "My dear," he nearly whispered, then chuckled, the sound making a low vibration against the air. "I'm more like you than you would think."

I cleared my throat, continuing to flatten myself against the wall. "How so?"

"The place I once called home is gone," he answered frankly. "Taken from me, in a bout of fire. Sound familiar? It should."

"You don't know anything about my past."

He grinned. "It's not hard to find information on the woman named Lydia, the helpless scavenger wandering about in the Mojave Wasteland after finding nowhere else to go. There are those who monitor that kind of thing for a price. Certain… connections, if you will. You could even say that those connections have names that you would find very familiar…"

"All right," I instinctively dropped to a whisper also. "I think I get the picture."

"I'm not sure that you do. The truth of the matter is that I once found a man that was rather interesting… Brown hair, blue eyes, a lot like your Mason, my dear."

I bit my lip at the name, averting my eyes.

He drew closer, leaning across my shoulder to whisper into my ear. "He waltzed in, trailing an army of ghouls behind him, and shut me out from my home. So, I must say that we are very, very… alike." His whisper was almost inaudible on the last word. He drew back, and I realized that I had been holding my breath. "Although, it may not have involved literal flames, Mister Tenpenny was murdered on his balcony in broad daylight, and my, my, his blood still burned when I arrived." He retreated, turning to walk slowly back to his chair. "I'm sure by now you've heard of the 'Lone Wanderer'. It's quite impossible not to; he's every bit as famous as your Courier." He turned abruptly, allowing gravity to pull him down into the chair with a flourish. "The Lone Wanderer thought he was helping. He brought the ghouls into Tenpenny Tower to coexist with the humans, and they killed all the humans. He purified the water for all to drink, and corrupt entrepreneurs and deadly cultists emerge. He destroyed the Enclave's governmental base at Raven Rock, and your friend spent the remainder of his life running for his life and trusting no one. This world is corrupt, my dear. Turned black and ugly."

"Now he's gone," I said bluntly. "So now the world should be alright again."

"Is he gone, though?" He tapped on his chin in mock thinking. "It seems as though his philosophy has continued onwards. In fact, they've turned his home in Megaton into a museum of his work. Just as a little heads up for when you go see, however, it's a great display case of ammunition and knickknacks stolen from fallen enemies. There is terror in brute force, but there is beauty in diplomacy. I do not intend brute force to continue its reign."

"So you teamed up with the Legion."

"You need not know my plans to the very core, my dear," he said quietly, inspecting his fingers with a sudden newfound interest. "Only that the ending result to my world is beautiful."

"Well, the ending result to my world is pretty bleak right now," I frowned, crossing my arms. "I'm kind of stuck here in this little bombing plane with a psychopathic asshole, a creepy businessman, and a doctor that must have been mentally scarred in the war because his flashback rages are intense."

"According to the Courier, he doesn't even seem to be a real doctor," said Mister Burke. "Just a researcher, studying fruit with intentions to help the world."

"To hell with that, he's apparently a f*cking brain surgeon," I snapped.

"Just a lost, scarred soul that can't bear the weight of trust, and has no one to trust anymore as it is."

"Just an ex-Enclave, Vertibird flying, kick-ass armor wearing doctor that has been integrated into a new family willing to abandon ship, ride flying machines, and wear whatever the hell it takes to get him away from this plane, and away from the Courier." I turned back to the door, giving the hatch one last half-hearted attempts at opening. It remained sealed. "He's a man of many faces. We'll just leave it at that."

Mister Burke glanced over to where Arcade had curled into a defensive position an hour or two ago before falling asleep. He was much too big to fit in the chair, and occasionally his long legs would slip before he caught himself in his sleep, tightening his little ball. "Is that it?"

"Is what it?"

He tilted his hat back and lowered his sunglasses with a hand. "Your only purpose as of now seems to be helping this doctor."

I shrugged, pawing gently at the hatch. "I don't have much else to do with my free time, Mister Burke."

"Perhaps you feel you can amend those mistakes you've made? You'll have to think a little bigger, envision your impact on the world, if you want to make up for erasing an entire town off the map."

"I'm going to help the Brotherhood foil your plans; isn't that enough?" I bit my lip. "After all, I'm not the one who erased it from the map. All I did was help."

He chuckled, displaying bright white, perfectly aligned teeth. "I suppose that's true, my dear."