At 8 a.m. my alarm clock went off and woke me up quite unceremoniously. rolling out of bed I walked over to my sink to wash my face and comb my hair and take a look at the calendar the tops handed out at the front desk for free. "January 29th, 2275" a checkered coated man was saying. Throwing on some basic clothes rather than the cheap suit we have to wear for work I went down to the restaurant the tops had at the back of the casino. Saving money on food was one place I would never compromise, as far as I was concerned life just wasn't worth living if you weren't eating well. so as for this morning, I was eating a wasteland omelet and a nice cup of coffee.
"2 caps sir" The restaurant's only server said.
"What, only 2 caps? Has business really dried up that much?"
"Afraid so, in august, just that coffee would run you 30 caps but now, I almost have to pay people to come here"
I laid down my 2 caps and headed out, I wasn't working today so I wanted to get outside. I swear staying in these casinos too long can drive a man crazy. The streets of New Vegas are completely empty at 9 am so I grabbed a bench and started to take in some sun. Even in winter, we get a lot of sun. After hanging out for a half hour someone tapped the top of my head with a rolled up paper.
"Hey didn't nobody tell yous this bench is private property!" A deep voiced man said with authority.
I jumped up as fast as I could and spun on my toes to confront him.
"This bench ain't pri…...aw gary you idiot what are you doing!?" Gary was a good friend of mine I'd known for years. He was the one who helped me get a job at the tops in the first place. He didn't work there himself mind you, he was a rounder, a pro poker player that made his money off of tourists. He is a fair bit older than me at 40 but he didn't look a day over 39. I gave my friend a hug and repeated my question to him. "Hey man, what are you doing?"
"Eh, just getting some fresh air same as you."
"How come you're not at the tables?"
"Because it's january, there ain't no players at the tables. But I'm doing fine, I got one over on a few Brahmin farmers last summer and I got plenty of caps in my account in the tops."
"Hey, I'm glad to hear it. So what's new, heard anything about what the NCR is planning?"
"Yes I have actually. Y'know that treaty they signed with house 'bout a year ago? Well it gave 'em the right to build an army base at the airport, and now they're making good on it."
"No kidding is it big?"
"Big ain't the half of it little man. I ain't never seen so many men and guns and towers in one place. House better have some kinda ace up his sleeve otherwise these soldier boys are gonna annex us all in three years tops."
"If that's the case it might be a good idea to get on their good side now. I was thinking about going to that embassy and talk to someone about joining their army just to see…" Gary cut me off before I could finish.
"Eh eh eh, why would you go and do something stupid like that? What, is your job at the casino not exciting enough for ya? You want to make a living catching bullets?"
"Man being a dealer doesn't pay enough to move up anywhere. I need to start making some serious money if i'm gonna make anything of my life, and there's only so many rounders this city can support before we start stepping on each others toes so I can't just do what you do."
"Yeah ain't that the truth. But hey listen here, you know i was a slave for seven years, and those were the darkest days of my life. Being a soldier aint that much different than being a slave, you got someone barking down orders on you 24/7 with no consideration for your safety. You got no freedom, no life choices and everything you do will be because some hotshot general wants to win his campaign so he can run for senator in five years. Listen here little man, when i escaped slavery all those years ago I swore id never let another man tell me what to do ever again, that i'd be free til the day i died and i recommend the same for you."
"Well i wasn't dead set on joining anyhow i was just going to go talk to them, see what they're all about."
"Yeah i'm sure that's what you want to do but they don't let young men walk outta there. They butter you up with sweet words and say whatever it takes to get you to join. Hey y'know they're hiring locals to help build that big base of theirs. Why don't you go get a job building stuff for 'em if you need the caps so bad?"
"I don't think they're paying one hundred dollars a week to construction workers."
"Yeah well, that's because you're probably not gonna catch a bullet while you work, or get your throat slit while you sleep."
"Well I appreciate you being so concerned for me but I don't have anything to do today so I'll go talk to those recruiters just to pass the time if nothing else."
"Well hopefully I got you to at least think twice about signing your life away like that. Hey, come find me later let me know what you decided either way, ok?"
"Sure thing, let's get some supper if you don't have plans. Tops restaurant at 6?"
"Works for me, see you then."
"See ya."
With a wave me and Gary went our separate ways. That guy was really kind to me, he'd really taken to me like a father or Big Brother or something similar ever since we first met at a followers Youth Camp. I wound up there at around the age of five because both my parents were murdered by Raiders before the NCR pacified the area. about ten years later me and Gary met. For the next five years he's been my Life Mentor, helping me with everything I needed, and when I turned 18 he got me out of that followers camp by getting me a job at the tops. Gary was an escaped slave of one of the last local tribes. He was set free by the NCR in 2270 and made his way to the same camp I was in, that's how the two of us met. I never knew why he helped me out in particular but for whatever reason the two of us hit it off immediately we never got on each other's nerves too badly, anytime a problem arose between the two of us we were able to sort it out. For 5 years we've been great friends.
Nothing else to waste my time on I walked down to the north side of town where I could see that giant NCR Banner flying over their Embassy I know it sounds bad with all the guards the razor wire and intimidating soldiers but the only thing I had my mind on was the large $100 printed on that Banner. I walked up to one of the sentries standing next to the only gate into the compound and asked probably just about as nervously as anyone ever has if this was where I sign up for the NCR. Looking back on it, it was kind of dumb to ask that under a giant Banner that said join the NCR here but I didn't know what else to ask.
"It sure is just head right into the building straight ahead" He said
I thanked him and walked into the compound. It was only at that moment I realized how many soldiers were here. There were at least two dozen outside with who knows how many more inside all these buildings. Although none of them had any guns, all of them were equipped with shock batons, not lethal but very effective. In the northeast corner of the compound was a giant flagpole that flew the two-headed bear with "New California Republic" right underneath it. I opened the door to the building I was instructed to go into and walked inside. There I saw a man in full military uniform that was very well kept sitting at a desk working on some sort of paperwork.
"Excuse me, I was looking to talk to someone about joining the army."
"Oh yes, come on in and sit down, I'll get you a cup of coffee."