Three days later…
Wrail looked out into the void of space at the distant green dot barely visible through the sun shaders of the display. She wore the ceremonial white and grey robes of her station as diplomat that draped of her features like wisps of spider silk. Around her great neck was a band woven into the lid of a vial containing holy material from mother Tuchanka. Her fingers wrapped around it now and she uttered a silent prayer to her home world as scan data appeared on her display window.
Mostly irradiated and devoid of anything resembling a global civilization. Though there among the ashes of a world swept away by nuclear fire were a people not unlike her own. Nestled in the sands of a great desert was presumably the core of a fledgling nation. A people fighting the very laws of energy as they pushed back onto their irradiated home to forge anew their bodies and souls in the holy struggle of nuclear atonement. Judging from their use of the Zetan ship and the hundreds of high output energy signatures scattered across their territory Wrail knew they could be an interesting addition to the Shard System alliance. Should they prove worthy of course.
"Thought seeker Wrail,"
Wrail turned to see one of her younger acolytes standing in the doorway.
"Speak Dreik,"
"Thank you seeker," The young Krogan nodded his head before continuing "Our analysts have finished computing the initial scan data and Geth minds concur with their findings. It appears that save for a few pockets of near stone age tribals the majority of the planet's population lives on a single continent, and even then, the major populations reside at continental center. The major powers of said continent appear to be two distinct and relatively advanced clusters in the center and south west segment of the continent. A smaller more agricultural power on the west coast, and a tight pocket of varying energy signatures on the north east section of the mid continent make up the other signatures."
"Interesting, varying levels of technological advancement depending on geography," Wrail scratched her chin "What differentiates the two powers at the continental center?"
"From the scans we've managed, without detection of course, it appears that the light and heat readings differentiate one as mostly subterranean and concentrated while the other seems content to build across the land in a sprawl," Dreik shifted his eyes downward "It is my theory seeker, I could very well be wrong."
"Dreik, if that is how you interpreted the data then I will take your theory into consideration," Wrail offered the younger Krogan a smile "Though it does complicate our job, dosent it? Any inkling on which faction that occupies the Zetan ship?"
"It appears the people that occupy the great desert and a wide swath of the area to the east are using a massive amount of Zetan technology judging by their energy signatures appearing near constantly,"
"They have a working teleportation network?"
"So it would seem," Dreik nodded as he used the omni tool on his wrist to bring up a map of the region onto her display screen "They appear to be using a hybrid of unique teleportation technology and that of the Zetans to connect their communities."
"Any sign of this technology in any of the other powers?"
"From what we can tell there isn't," Dreik shook his head "besides a few blips in the north east and some isolated teleportation terminals in the assumed territory of the second advanced power there are no other signs of teleportation technology."
"Reach out to the Qaurian commander and ask if he can spare some of his infiltrators and Geth whispers," Wrail ordered as she watched a timelaspe of energy signatures lighting and falling dark before lighting again. "I want intelligence on the three powers outside of that desert faction before we make contact."
"Of course Seeker, do you require anything else?"
"Prepare my personal vessel," Wrail tapped her display and brought up a rough scan of the desert faction's capitol "The moment we've processed the intelligence I'd like to make a personal visit."
/
Penelope sat at her normal window seat sipping her usual morning coffee and nodding to the usual crowd as they filtered into Myrtle Beech's lone tavern for breakfast. Trade with the rest of the Mojave territories had done wonders for the small town, but as a more remote outpost there weren't many new faces. In the months after her Father's defeat she'd put her knowledge and skill to use treating cuts and stings aplenty in a never ending battle against the stupidity of Myrtle Beech. It was good if not entirely satisfying work.
She sipped coffee as the sun rose above the horizon to burn the last shades of night away. Two figures appeared against the glare of the rising sun. One tall and gaunt limping along the dirty street with the help of a cane and the other a short thin figure that looked about nervously. When the pair stepped from the glare of the sun and into the tavern Penelope saw that is the Courier and a thin girl with copper locks tied back into a bun. The Courier wore a floral print shirt, a straw hat that was almost too big for his head, a pair of faded shorts, and had along cylindrical gun slung across his back..
"Morning Penelope," The courier nodded "Mind if we join you?"
"Oh I just love unexpected visits," Penelope watched the girl, draped in a stitched together mechanic's jumpsuit, a large knap sack, and black glass goggles, as she awkwardly took a seat at the table.
"Thanks," The Courier raised his hand "Glen, two boiler specials, toast, and water."
Glen, the tavern's owner and sole cook, eyed the Courier and nodded to one of the serving girls.
"You certainly know how to make your authority known," Penelope rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Courier?"
"I'd like to ask how you've been doing here, make an introduction, and make a request," The Courier winked at a serving girl as two plates of steaming bacon and thick gray pancakes before the pair.
"My choice, or is there an itinerary?"
"There's always a choice," The Courier's grey eyes were entirely warm as they stared into Penelope's "Though this time the choice is yours."
"I suppose she's the introduction?" Penelope eyed the girl who stared at her through black goggles.
"Yes, Penelope let me introduce Alena," The Courier cast a glance at girl as she slice into and cautiously start eating a pancake "My daughter and your biological half sister. Alena, this is Penelope, your biological half sister from another universe."
"She's..." Penelope's fragmented memory dug something up from the ether of her mind "Kella's daughter."
"Yes..." Alena looked up at Penelope "You knew my mother?"
"No, I knew of her through my fathers tales of childhood, but my parents rarely touched on their sexual conquests before my conception," Penelope looked to the girl and then to the Courier "Expecting me to take her under my wing and braid her hair or something?"
"No, very little Craster blood left to go around these days and I think it'd suit us all well to know our relatives," The Courier sliced into a pancake "Which brings me to my next question, how are you doing here, Penelope?"
"Doing well, Shaun allowed me to move in and assist the local doctor and I've been assisting the other doctors that have slipped into town," Penelope sipped her coffee "It's a noble existence being a small town doctor, but I wont lie in saying that it's anything close to eventful."
Penelope knew that the Courier's influence infiltrated deep into Myrtle Beech, despite Shaun's best efforts at keeping him out. Like it or not, the teleportation connection to the Mojave at large allowed men and women to slip in and out of Myrtle Beech undetected. With every curious trader and seller of dry goods there were three or four that seemed to be there to drink and watch. No doubt some the Courier's rumored "newsmen" had slipped in from time to time to check up on his caged birdy.
"You sound a bit bored," The Courier made sure Alena was eating before he started on his own plate.
"I am a bit bored to be honest with you," she sensed a way out in the implication of the Courier's mysterious request "I know I'm doing good, but exactly how much good this toil brings me is uncertain."
"How's the guilt?"
"Manageable," Truth be told it sat like a toad on her chest most nights till the harsh light of dawn banished it back to her brain "It helps that I can heal a radscorpion sting or set a broken bone, but my skills are a bit wasted on them."
"Penelope, I brought you here so you could find a place to rest and do good," The courier looked at her with a sad eyed smile "Though now, I believe that your skills and training can be put to used helping far more people. I'd like you take up a residency in New Vegas, in the Clinical Surgery wing at the hospital."
"Well...that's..." Penelope was a little shocked at the offer. Yes, she had been on her best behavior and had mused about wanting a busier life, but this was quite the request. "What would that imply?"
"Once the board determines your aptitudes you'll be placed in a Clinical Surgery team or a general practice unit if you'd like," The Courier chewed down on a piece of pancake "We have the best equipment in the world and all the support staff you'll ever need. The hospital is like something out of of an old sci if novel with all the practices and equipment resurrected from the past. Trust me, I've been a patient lately and it really is top notch."
"It's, uh, really nice for a healing hut," Alena said through mouthfuls of food.
Penelope considered the offer for a moment. She looked to the Courier, there was his usual aloofness yes, but her father had taught her to look deeper. There was a hint of longing in his eyes that she saw rested just beneath the cool gray. A longing for a daughter lost by his own mistake and the chance at helping the girl that was his blood. Under her father's eye she had always felt stripped to the bone, but even though the Courier had the same eyes there was none of the hateful inspection in them. Instead she found an almost playful sense of anticipation mixed with the longing, as if he was waiting for a puzzle to open before him.
"Where would I live?"
"We're preparing an apartment near the Hospital," The Courier twirled his fork in one metal hand "Until it's ready, I have plenty of room in my home on the Strip, thanks to a recent remodel."
"And if I refuse your kind offer?"
"You'll get a nice little suite in the Ultra Luxe and you can spend your days nowhere near me," The Courier's voice was cool and even "Though I believe you'd find adjusting to New Vegas Easier with people you know will ease the process."
Penelope considered the offer. Truthfully, even in her days at the institute her exposure to truly large numbers of people. She had spent most of her upbringing wandering the sterile white halls of the Institute, shunned by the "pure" born children of the Institute and ignored by her increasingly eccentric father. Before the alterations and beatings began Penelope once dreamed of living in a big city with hundreds maybe even thousands of people. Her father's vision slowly took over that dream and set herr down the path to becoming Persephone.
"What will my pay be and will I have anonymity?"
"You'll get the standard salary negotiated by the Medical board and I will extend enough trust to allow you full anonymity, save for a weekly check in with either Veronica or my self."
"One last question," Penelope's looked the Courier in the eyes and saw his unflinching will underlined with a dash of longing. "Are you telling Shaun or am I?"
"I suppose I owe it to the miserable old bastard to tell him face to face," Penelope caught a slight relaxing of his neck muscles as he stood up before he winked at Alena "Alena how about you go help Penelope pack while I get a teleport together and visit some folks who hate my guts."
"What?! You're leaving me alone with her?" Alena looked at the Courier with something between a whimper and a growl on her lips.
"If there's a problem," The Courier pulled a long cylindrical gun off his back "Potatoes are in your knapsack."
The Courier kissed Alena on the head and with a reassuring pat on her back walked off into Myrtle Beech. Alena looked panicked for a moment and then aimed the nozzle of the gun at Penelope. Penelope leaned back in her chair and raised an eyebrow before crossing her arms.
"I'm not planning on assaulting you anytime soon,"
"Of course you arent," Alena stammered "Yo...you wouldn't get the chance."
"Oh, it seems the Craster line breeds nothing but ferocious warriors," Penelope stood up and laid some caps on the table "Come on, it seems your father is set on setting us together for a time."
They stepped out of the tavern onto the dusty street where several of the town's people greeted the sun with glares and winces. Some nodded to Penelope, but most of them gave her the quiet respect she'd her withdrawn nature demanded. A few of the friskier idiots even shot her their usual collections of suggestive grunts and looks as she walked through the streets. Not that she wasn't entirely uninterested in such things, but Penelope knew her interest was more of academic curiosity than the lustful need to explore the carnal avenues of human interaction.
"Penelope," One such knuckle dragger came to an abrupt stop directly in front of her "How the hell is Myrtle Beech's sexiest doctor doing today?"
"Nauseated as usual Mitchell," Penelope made to step around the grungy looking Big horn herder.
"Oh I don't think so sweetie," Mitchell placed his hand on her shoulder and stopped Penelope short "It'd be mighty rude to not even hear my proposal now wouldn't it?"
"Considering it will be a choice between sampling that anti septic you call "brew" or spreading my legs I'll pass on any "proposals" today Mitchell," Penelope's hand slipped back to grip the small blade she kept strapped to her belt "Now, my cousin and I have business to care of, so step aside before I decided to make a surgical sample out of your testicles."
"Ah, well..." Mitchell stepped back just a little before his eyes narrowed. "Now Penelope, you're Grandpa might be Big Shaun, but that gives you no..."
A long cylindrical tube of gray plastic slid under Penelope's arm and pressed against Mitchell's neck.
"St..ste...Step away please," Alena stammered as the potato gun in her hand whirred with pneumatic power.
"I'd do what she says Mitchell," Penelope lips curled into an amused smile "She loads that gun with directional plasma charges. If she pulls the trigger the guards on the eastern wall are going to get acquainted with what's left of your necl."
"Your cousin's packing real heat?" Mitchell asked "A little young to be toting around energy weapons."
"Well there's slimy wastes of a womb like you walking around so you can never be too safe these days," She stepped patted him on the chin "Now move before Shaun sees you and robs me of the chance of castration."
"And if if that's a potato gun and I feel like throwing over my knee," Mitchell snarled "What then?"
"Well I'm leaving town anyway," Before the words left her mouth the blade was unsheathed and stuck in the lower part of his abdomen.
"Fu...F...Fuck," was all Mitchell could say.
"Now, this very sharp knife is in your lower abdomen just out of the way anything too vital," Penelope walked Mitchell backwards until he was slapped against a vehicle "So before I decide to familiarize your lower body with the lovely possibilities of sepsis I want you to commit something to that gaping wound of a mind."
"What?"
"Talk to someone, be they man, woman, or ghoul as if you are owed something beyond common fucking decency again I will personally hunt you down, sever every nerve in your pathetic body, and leave your still breathing body to the Cazadores," Penelope leaned in close and whispered "Got it?"
"Yes...ye...yes..Ma'am," Mitchell croaked as Penelope patted him on the cheek and withdrew the blade so he could crumple to the ground.
"Good boy, now go see one of the second sexiest Doctor in town so your gut dosent get infected," Penelope cleaned and sheathed her knife and stepped off down the path.
She heard Alena come stalking after and looked down at the girl.
"Thank you for the assistance," Penelope stiffly patted the younger girl on the back "Slime like Mitchell just need to be reminded of the tenets of common decency from time to time."
"Uh, is he going to die?"
"No, I cut into a relatively sturdy part of his gut, so the only lasting harm will be to his pride," They walked down the dusty street towards Shaun's house in the center of Myrtle Beech's long neglected town square.
"That's good?" Alena seemed to chew on Penelope's answer "My Aunt got stabbed in the gut once and she died like a week later."
"Was she stabbed by someone with decades of surgical experience?"
"No, Cousin Raf was the village barber," Alena admitted as they walked up the steps to Shaun's front door. "So if you have years of surgical experience, does that mean you've fixed a lot of people or hurt a lot of people?"
"What has your father told you about me?" Penelope raised an eyebrow at the younger girl.
"He said you worked with a worse version of him from another universe, but he didnt go into detail."
"You just accept that, I was involved in all of it and even I find it hard to believe," Penelope sighed as they stepped into the old house "I've fixed a lot of people, hurt a lot of people too, but I suppose in the end I'm hoping to fix more people than I've hurt."
"That sounds...nice," Alena said as she looked into the cluttered main hall of the old house "Does your grandfather live here too or are you just messy?"
"He's not my...Yes Shaun lives here as well, and never manages to actually keep the place clean unless I intervene," Penelope nudged a stack of towels out of her way as they walked into the house "Most of my things, meager as that collection can be called, are in my room or the clinic down the street."
"Are you gonna tell your Grandfather that you're leaving or just let my father do it?" Alena asked as she slid her goggles off her face revealing an amorphous set of pupils and irises.
"Yes, I'll talk to Shaun..." Penelope flicked on a light and grabbed Alena by the chin "You're eyes are…"
"They're a horrible mu..."
"They're beautiful," Penelope whispered as she gazed into Alena's eyes "The way the pupil and Iris split and flow is just divine."
"You...you...think my eyes are pretty?" Alena stood stock still as Penelope looked at her.
"I think they're a god damned work of art," Penelope's lips curled into a warm smile "Nothing so external manifested in my aunt or I, but you Alena possess some truly impressive eyes. From their structure they must give you incredible scaling in vision and depth of field."
"Is...is...this...an eye exam?" Alena stammered.
"It is now," Penelope smiled as she patted Alena's face.
/
Rex sat in the cool shade of the old tree where he buried Mirada twice. A futile cigarette burned in one hand as he watched the dust play across the wind in spirals. Specters of both Mirada's stood to either side, each with a hand on one of his shoulders as they watched the wastes with him. The sounds of Myrtle Beech floated on the wind to tease Rex's ears with the sounds of moving people and vehicles out to the meager farm belt around the town.
"You know it will kill my dad to take her away?" His Mirada sat on the ground beside him.
"Yes, but she's not fit for Myrtle Beech," The other Mirada said as she too sat on the ground. "My father, was never a kind man, and without my mother to curb him he'll smother Penelope."
"You know, I love when the schizophrenic hallucinations discuss my actions as if they're an uninvolved third party," Rex flicked his cigarette into the sand "I need her help decoding my genes, and besides, she's wasted out here."
"I agree, Penelope is a bright mind that her father only twisted and warped," The other Mirada patted him on the shoulder "She needs a place that will challenge her where she can do the most good, and as much as I know that it'll hurt Dad, she cant stay in Myrtle Beech forever."
"You know she already agreed to the whole shtick right?" Rex raised an eyebrow the spectral woman "Regardless of what Shaun thinks she's coming with me."
"And if you can get to know her and maybe take the place of her abusive maniac of a father, that's just a bonus?" Both Miradas raised their eyebrows "Honestly Rex, we dont blame you."
"Rex,"
Rex turned to look behind him and saw Shaun step into the broken shade of the tree. He looked as he did when they'd first met, like someone chiseled him out of the faded stone of the wastes and glued on some white hair. Today, instead of his usual scowl, his hard face was coated in stubble and slack as he looked at Rex with something that was almost regretful. The Mirada's kissed one of Rex's cheeks each and faded out into the dusts of the wastes as Rex stood to face.
"Shaun, I was about to come find you,"
"Save it Rex, I know why you're here and we've got more to talk about then Penelope," Shaun produced a bottle of brown liquid and two glasses "So, how about we take a seat and share a drink while we talk?"
"It's seven in the morning?" Rex raised an eyebrow as Shaun sat against the tree's trunk and poured two glasses "Though who am I to refuse a drink?"
"After more than a decade I finally get a non bullshit answer from you," Shaun chuckled before taking a hard swig off his glass "So, Penelope's leaving with you?"
"Yes, I'm bringing her to New Vegas where she can put her skills to better use," Rex sat back down a a foot away from Shaun "I was actually coming to talk to you about just that."
"I'm sure," Shaun drank down the rest of the booze and poured another "Three months that girl's lived here and living this close has made me realize something. Lots of things actually."
The older man stared out into the dust for few long minutes and Rex quietly sipped his drink letting the words come.
"She's more like you, the you you are now, then anyone here. I thought I could fix that, thought that if I gave her a tight knit community of friends to live in she'd turn into the granddaughter I dreamed about. Then what her bastard of a father did to her started showing through, she'd look for something vital to cut when she was frightened by something or she'd describe horrible things like they were nothing. I've seen men lost to the wastes, but she's like you, the horrors of the world changed her but there's a strength in her that starting to blossom."
Rex raised an eyebrow and allowed Shaun to refill his glass.
"Even though it breaks my heart, I know deep down that Myrtle Beech cant be the home she needs," there was resignation in Shaun's voice as he stared out into the swirling dusts "Maybe you can reach that part of her she hides from everyone including herself. Do for her what I failed to do for you."
The glass stopped at Rex's lips and he looked at Shaun.
"Come on boy, if I hadn't let you walk out of Myrtle Beech that day with hate in your heart and guns in your hands where would you be?" Shaun put his glass on the ground and stared at Rex, "In my grief, in my fury, I let you take the weight of that plague on your shoulders and it crushed the man you were. Before you say anything, your voice was just the loudest of many who came forward to use the green soil. The others were dead or content to let the blame fall to you when the bodies were buried."
"Shaun..."
"Shut up, I'm trying to talk boy," Shaun raised a hand quieting Rex "The day after you buried my girl and you packed up to leave town, my heart was broken in two and hate burned my tongue like acid. I watched you slip off into the dust and I knew that brilliant gear head that loved my girl was gone, even in my rage, I knew that I should've stopped you. You were burning on hatred and guilt and part of me knew, maybe the part the helped make Mirada, that you didnt need to leave. You needed love and support, otherwise you'd pour gasoline on that wound and burn yourself into a monster."
"I...did…" numbness gripped Rex's chest "I...I...did...bad things."
"I know boy, I had a chance to stop that," Shaun scooted over and took the glass from Rex's hand "For that I'm sorry. From the day I met you I was nothing but an ass, but you soldiered on anyway, from the ashes of the life you lost you've risen as a man I'd be stupid to call anything less than good. Rex, the hate and guilt you carry inside I want you to let it go. All of it, I know that's what Mirada would have wanted, and I want you to once and for all forgive yourself."
"...Why?"
"Because I forgive you," Then Shaun's arms were around Rex and tears were streaming down his face as his metal arms wrapped around the older man.
They embraced for what seemed like an eternity. Both mourning a woman dead for a decade and a life aborted before it began. Years of guilt and self hatred didn't just melt away of course, but the hardness in both men softened and they mourned together for that moment. A man hardened and shaped by his choices and a man shaped by the world around him grieving and forgiving in the broken shade of the tree protecting the grave of the woman they both loved.
When they walked back into town together Penelope and Alena were waiting for them. Neither noted the tears stains or the red eyes as they approached. After Shaun explained his consent for Penelope's departure, on the condition that she come share a cup of a coffee every once in a while, they said their goodbyes and loaded up on a teleportation pad. Rex and Shaun nodded to one another just as the orange light wrapped around the trio taking them from Myrtle Beech forever.
/
A week later…
Colonel Richard Everett slipped out his front door and the bare hints of the rising sun illuminate the street before starting his walk towards work. He wore the work uniform befitting the small army of bureaucrats that kept the NCR military and her thousand arms working. It was an old military style suit of crisp brown material and an officer's hat that rested comfortably on his faded red hair. Over that he wore a long overcoat, as decorated by time and experience as he was that fluttered in the early morning wind. All in all, the older man looked more like a career quarter master than the head of operations at NCR R&D.
There were no guards on his route through the streets of Shady Sands. Aside from the 9mm on his hip, Everett had never seen the need for anything much in security in regards to his person. A matter that annoyed his supposed higher ups to no end, yet there was really nothing to be said against the wishes of a man with a thirty year record of excellence. It helped that most of the men that climbed the ranks of command above him were soldiers and most had made the great leap from being a young soldier to an old soldier alongside him. Of course, the generation coming into command now was a bit paranoid but he chopped that up to the impatience of youth.
"TAKE BACK NEW VEGAS!"
Everett stopped as he turned onto the street leading to his offices and sighed at the massive crowd gathered around the front steps. The group, a mix of beauracrats, farmers, and workers , riled about with signs and angry cheers as a young woman, dressed in the simple finery of a NCR diplomat stood above them. Scowling, Everett walked forward until a guard at the perimeter of the crowd saluted and then raised a hand to stop him.
"I'm sorry sir, but General Voorhees has the R&D division closed until after the demonstrations."
"Giving his girl her day on the pulpit?" Everett sighed and rubbed his temples "You cant just let me sneak in the back? I've got three projects awaiting final approval today,"
"Sorry sir, general's orders."
"I'll just sit out here and have a smoke then like the secretary I am,"
Everett almost said it. He really did, but the words died in his mouth as the woman on the steps grabbed a mic from an aide. She was a pretty thing as Everett had noted many times, with her long braided blond hair and eyes that glimmered like emeralds. But there was a cold superiority in how she moved to the front of the steps that silenced any thoughts commanding such a beauty. This was a woman cast in the mold of her father, a physical specimen that for what ever reason commanded not only respect but admiration.
"Hello my friends, thank you all for coming to this little demonstration today" Her voice was crisp like the crunch of a good apple even with the slight distortion of amps to either side of her "I'm so happy to see the good folks of the NCR have time to come out and make their voices heard."
The crowd responded with expected cheers.
"Now, I want each and everyone of you to look behind me and gaze long and hard at the buildings behind me. This is the headquarters of NCR R&D, within these venerated halls the greatest minds of our B-E-A-utifal nation have brought us prosperity through their endeavors. Toiling against the machinations of the wasteful and greedy to improve the lives of each and every citizen here in the NCR."
The crowd gave an appreciative, if subdued, cheer as a man masked in the glare of the rising sun stepped off to Everett's left.
"I'm not gonna lie to you, despite every amazing thing the fine folks here at R&D have done, are doing, and will do for us they're failing. Over the last three years how many amazing advancements have come from these halls? I can count on one hand their so called "advancements" the bell of the ball being a MRE that tastes less like cardboard. Now, look at what's coming from the Mojave, wonders like quickcrete and G.E.C.K.S revived from the dreams of the pre-war alongside vehicles and industries straight from imagination."
Everett looked to his side and into grey eyes of a ghost.
"This venerated institution is failing you as your president and congress has. They have allowed their best minds and secrets, won with blood and effort from the twisted fingers of the enclave and brotherhood, to be head hunted by a no name mercenary who had no name three years ago."
"John..." the ghost smiled and Everett finally noticed the red hair n the morning sun's glare "No, you're..."
"Morning Grandad,"
"NCR R&D is one of the greatest examples of the weak bureaucrats that have allowed the NCR's power to wane. Men like Aaron Kimball and that limp wristed excuse for a General Lee Oliver are a disgrace to the memories of Tandi and all she stood for. First, they entered into a disastrous campaign that was so bungled that in the end the NCR had House's rope around her neck and the Legion boot up her ass. What did they tell us when our sons and daughters were lost to the wastes of New Vegas and we wanted only to retreat and heal? They spewed lines of expansion and deals with House that would never come and then had the nerve to roll over for a upjumped mercenary to steal it all away."
"You're...you're..."
"I prefer Courier to mercenary," The man that could only be his grandson said as stepped closer to Everett "Sounds a bit nobler dont you think?"
"Then, after they lost what little gains our dead sons and daughters earned us Kimball signed a trade deal that allows the Mojave to have unfettered access to our market. Three years later our currency is shit against the cap and I cant name a product still produced here in the NCR. Besides the brahmin shit coming Kimball's mouth every time my father General James Voorhees has thought it necessary to point out our beleaguered nation's state of affairs, that is."
"No questions right now Grandad," Rex Craster said as he patted Everett on the shoulder "I'd just like to let you know that if you'd like to meet your great grand daughter stop by New Vegas anytime."
"What? That's impossible," Everett's eyes darted to the guard who stared at the two men suspiciously "You're dead."
"Our crops rot in the field gripped by disease, the brahmin that have been our nations treasure for decades drop dead by the thousands, and our leaders spout nothing but weak apologies. Today, I come to you not as my father's daughter, but a woman who is tired of seeing the NCR's children go without pride in their hearts and food in their bellies. Storms bigger than any ever seen slam our coasts, and our leaders sit in their offices "appropriating" relief funds away. So today, I'd like to enlist you, the people, in joining your voice to mine in calling for action against the Mojave."
"Well, death's really only a state of mind Grandad," Craster slapped Everett on the back and winked at the soldier staring them down "Now, dont be a stranger now you hear?"
With a final pat Everett watched as Craster seemed to disappear into a burst of sun light.
"Join me in the fight against the Mojave, in the fight against the weak and feckless failing to feed your children, and join me in the fight for the soul of civilization!"
Everett blinked away motes of orange and looked up over the cheering crowd into the cold green eyes of Pamela Voorhees. The sounds of the crowd fell away and in that moment Everett felt regret and joy mingle together only to be snuffed out in those cold green spheres. Pamela tilted her head and a half smile formed on her lips as an aide directed her off stage. Strong hands grabbed Everett by the arms and without a word the Colonel was dragged through the crowd and into building.
/
"Now Rich, are you absolutely certain of what you saw?"
Pamela Voorhees sat behind Everett's desk drinking from his personal coffee mug. The old soldier sat across from her in one of the thread bare chairs that had supported the asses of subordinates since time immemorial. The graybeard was even paler than usual and the characteristic calm of a veteran military man was shaken into the jittery weakness of age. At her question some of the calm slipped back into the jittery old man and he focused his eyes on her.
"I, I know what I saw," Everett spat "Sure as I live and breath that man was Violet and John's son."
"Which complicates things dosent it?" Pamela's tone was reminiscent of a teacher coaxing a child through a particularly difficult addition problem "You're a military man, a noncombatant of mind you, but a military man nonetheless. Now, give me your best guess as to why it's a bad thing that your savage little grandson appeared at your place of work?"
"It means...it means, that if that was the Courier, he knows about me, where I work, and his connections to the NCR," Everett blew air through his nose to calm himself "Which implies that his intelligence network is capable of digging through the massive pile of bureaucratic pitfalls and dead ends to exhume the relevant records. Pamela, John and Violet were buried when the Raptor project was destroyed and even after I heard the Courier's name I never suspected that he was their child."
"A man turns up with amazing abilities and mental facilities to pull an entire geographic region from chaos, and you dont think that it's odd that he shared a last name with the head of said Raptor project?" Pamela's eyes flicked behind Everett as the door to his office as a shorter man stepped into the room.
"Call it denial or what ever you'd like, but after Violet left I threw away all thoughts of the Raptor project," Everett's eyes narrowed at her "If you're implying that I..."
"No one's implying anything Rich."
Everett froze and slowly turned around to look her father in the eye. General Jack Voorhees wasn't a tall man, and indeed with his stocky frame and tanned skin few would consider him a force. Yet Pamela watched as Everett practically jumped to his feet and saluted her father like the dog he was. There was something so satisfying watching a man who believed him self in so much command of his life concede it to her father in a single submissive gesture.
"General Voorhees sir," Everett's voice shook "I'm sorry you had to come all the way over for this."
"Rich, please, call me Jack as I've told you a million times," Her father took off his hat and ran a hand through tightly buzzed white hair "If I recall you outranked me for quite some time before I got these stars. At ease."
Everett put his hand down and let our a breath.
"Now, as I saying, I'm sure Pamela wasn't implying anything," Her father stepped around to the other side of the chair and patted the top "Sit down and we can discuss this like colleagues."
"I think I'm fine with standing," Everett offered her father a weak smile.
"Well if you're not gonna sit then I am," Her father plunked down into the chair with a grateful sigh "Honestly, I don't know how you do it Rich, you've got twenty years on me, but walking up some stairs kicks my ass."
"Well I suppose it could be the difference between combat command and a cushy administrative post," Pamela leaned back and lit a cigarette.
"Right you are," Her father winked at her "Now let's get some business done, Rich does this change anything for you? It has been my personal belief that our little problem out east was John's son, and now that it's confirmed, I want to know if you are still on board."
"Of course I'm still on board," There was a desperate look in Everett's eyes as he considered her father's words "I have been committed for the last two years, and frankly Violet could turn up on my doorstep for supper and I'd still be fully committed to the endeavor."
"Good, I do hope one day you get that dinner my friend," Her father grinned "Now what I want you to do is triple the vaccine ratios. Roll out is getting closer every day and things will be moving quickly from now on."
"I was actually going to have Hernandez double check them, because..."
"Rich, go grab some coffee and check the ratios while Pamela and I have a little daddy daughter talk," Her father ordered allowing any warmth dissipate from his tone.
"Oh," Everett winced and slumped "I'll check the ratios and have a report ready for you by the end of the day."
"Good, now please allow us your office for just a bit longer," Her father patted Everett on the arm and watched Pamela as the dog slipped out of his office.
"Honestly, it's a bit pathetic the effect you have on him," Pamela chided as her father laced his fingers over his stomach.
"A good dog should fear the hand that feeds him for it's also the hand that strikes him," Her father laughed and it almost touched his green eyes "So, how are things progressing?"
"I've got talks, town halls, and protests lined up all over Shady Sands and every city and town with a population greater than a few dozen," Pamela's lips curled into a smile "Give it a few weeks and the people will be tearing down the foundations before you can dust of your shotgun."
"That's my girl," Her father's smiled and for a single moment it touched his eyes "Our new friend has assured us that the sole control and oversight for the Newsmen rests with The Courier or his assistant. Now, let's have a moment of silence for the brave men and women of Intel command who let an entire spy ring slip into our country."
"Hopefully we'll be cutting the dead weight soon enough dad," Pamela leaned back in Everett's big chair "Once this is all over, any and all inadequacies will corrected. In the mean time I'll send some new toys to the house in the next few days."
"No, I have a very particular toy in mind for my next indulgence," Pamela felt a cold twinge in her back as she watched a lasting smile hold on her father's lips. "Two in fact, Though with the quality of this meal I suppose I'll have to save them for after we celebrate a job well done."
"Of course Dad," She clapped her hands together "Are you needing anything else today?"
"One thing," Her father rose and gave her a wink "Order some good food for dinner tonight, I have a very distinguished guest coming over tonight."
"Who?"
"A defector straight from the Courier's inner circle," Her father turned towards the door "A prodigal son of sorts, a former 1st recon sharpshooter by the name of Craig Boone."
/.
Tali sat against one wall of the lab glaring at the machine at the center of the room. Well, she called it a machine, but the thing was paradoxically advanced and primitive. On the surface the device was a sculpted flower of unknown species wrought in segmented petals around a point cut diamond the size of a pineapple. Beneath that surface was a mesh of crystal circuitry, a network of individual circuits some as thin as sub atomic molecules feeding together in a function beyond her ability to control or even truly comprehend.
It was maddening to the Qaurian. Not since the sun on Haestrom had a problem vexed her so much. Even Mordin, brought on to help with segments of the crystal that seemed to be alive, had nearly given up out the sheer annoyance of the task. Tali had seen the Salarian frustrated by a challenge before, yet never to the point of giving up on a task all together. She couldn't let that stop her of course, the crew and Shepard needed her to reactivate the device otherwise there was no going home.
"Keelaaaah," She groaned into her hands "What am I going to do?"
"Have a drink?"
Tali opened her fingers and looked up to see Garrus standing in front of her holding a dark green bottle in one hand and two glasses in the other.
"Ga..Garrus it's still morning," Tali protested as he sat down beside her.
"Actually, it's six in the evening," He placed the bottle and basket down before him "When was the last time you ate?"
"I ate lunch," Tali admitted as Garrus chuckled "This damn device refuses any of my attempts to understand it, and I cant rest until I make some progress."
"Well, sometimes understanding comes from not trying to understand something" Garrus withdrew two glasses and poured a dark amber liquid into each glass "Try some of this knock off Turian brandy with me and let that thing leave your head for a bit. Look, I even brought you an emergency induction port."
"Yes because alcohol will be the answer," Tali eyed the Turian for a moment before sighing "You'll never let me live down the straw thing will you?"
"Wasnt planning on it," Garrus handed her a glass and they stared at the device together "So, finally got around to ripping open some of the local's energy weapons."
"We've been hear a few month's shy of a year, how has it taken this long for you get curious," Tali took a draw off the brandy and found that it was actually a decent knock off "Considering how much time you spent calibrating the Normandy's weapons, I'm surprised you held off this long."
"Well I have been working on them from time to time, but I have been busy," Garrus swirled the brandy in his glass "When we got here, I thought I'd just grab a variety and take them back to our universe. Give them to the Hierarchy and any other worthy party then go on to kill a few reapers. As the length of our stay extended I found other things a bit higher up on the list of priority, spent some time getting to know the people, asked a certain Qaurian out to dinner, and helped keep the crew of the Normandy somewhat sane."
"I'll admit it was on my list too, but with all that's been going on I can understand not devoting any time to it," Tali admitted as she leaned into Garrus "This bosh tet over here and cooperating with Kenneth and Gabby on the construction of the Normandy SR-3 has eaten up all my time."
"A busy little world we find ourselves in eh?" Garrus wrapped his arm around her "On the bright side I've been able to find some time to tinker with the weapons and annoy every technician Rex employs in his gun shop on how they work."
"Oh really? Anything that we can use in our universe?"
"Not being the engineer here I cant say much in the way of concrete principal, but it looks like there's a few things this world could teach us," Garrus opened his omni-tool and brought up a display of several disassembled energy weapons "When I started this little project I thought that it'd be something purely down to the atomic thickness of the laser lenses or the magnetic fields in their plasma weaponry. What I've come to find out is that pretty much every part of every energy weapon on this rock is entirely alien from a weapon's perspective."
"Alien? Like you've never seen it before,"
"Oh yeah, well that's a bit of a lie, all the parts are definitely human but it just clicks for some reason," Garrus said as they watched the displays "I'd love to get your view point on this sometime. Always been better at shooting guns then building them."
"Hmm," Tali said as she reached to dissemble and reassemble the displays with a touch "Understanding the small scale energy weaponry this world has to offer could produce some interesting results, but I really need to focus on the device."
"Actually, I've got some bad news," Garrus swallowed down his brandy in a single gulp. "Shepard wants you to take an extended vacation."
"What?!
"You haven't made any progress in the last few weeks and Shepard has some of the others following some leads we found in Reximus' notes," Garrus smiled "Besides, Veronica offered us an uncut tour of any facility or research lab in all the Mojave."
"Really, even the big super secret reactors in the dam?" Tali's eyes lit up.
"Anything and Everything,"
"Well I suppose a vacation would help me relax a little," Tali considered as her Omni tool lit up a long list "So many interesting things to see..."
"Oh I think I might regrets this..." Garrus took another drink as the list opened into several pages.
?.
Rex stood at the threshold to his new house and stared at the cherry red door. Jack, Alena, and Penelope had already moved in while he was in physical therapy and had already claimed the rooms. The house itself had been extended upwards and split into three floors. The first floor was a brand new and very spacious lab/ workshop with top of the line equipment and a Mark IV mini reactor. The second floor consisted of five full bedrooms along side three storage rooms and three bath rooms with a large sitting area in the middle of it all. The third floor was a massive loft where Rex and Jack would sleep and live with a massive master bath and a master bedroom along with a full sitting area, a full kitchen and fridge, and a library for all of Rex's notes and books. All in all, it had nearly eaten of all of his private cap reserves, but it was worth in the end.
He stepped through the door and was greeted with the scents of fresh concrete and polished metal. Rex gazed upon the small army of tiny bots from the skittering Grabs to the slithering snakes arranging tools and maintaining his equipment. Gripping his cane, Rex walked through the work shop and popped down on a chair before he slid a small drive from his pocket and clicked it into his terminal. Lab footage of a strange looking bot appeared on screen slowly coming online; it looked like a hermit crab with thee dozen arms of tanks, tools, and appendages that could swivel around in a flash. The Schematic lit up at the drone's base and Rex watched as the small opening beneath sucked in silt and with a flash of light formed a small bar of metal.
"Now what is that?" Jack slid up next to him in a wheeled chair.
"The future my sweet desert flower," Rex kissed her cheek before pointing to the bot's underbelly "My techs at Big Mt., built a more portable version of the vending machine, and added onto the list of fissionable material, then I put it on a robot."
"Still has to be pretty big eh?" Jack watched the metal hermit crab skitter about pooping bars of metal before reshaping the metal into screws and plating.
"It was before EDI and the computers you brought from your universe helped us create a blue print for the vending machines with sizes from trucks to mites," Rex explained "But enough about work, how does everything look up stairs?"
"Oh it's all great, the kid's moved all her junk into a bed room and storage room," Jack smiled softly and then scowled "Penelope is settled but barely leaves her room save to take meal deliveries and books before she heads off to the hospital."
"Hasn't tried to kill you yet?"
"No, she's been a good girl for daddy,"
Rex eyed her for a moment.
"Shut up, I know how bitchy that sounds," Jack rolled her eyes "Why'd you bring her here anyway? She's not part of your stupid ass grand plan."
"She needs a place to do good that will challenge her mind and expose her various ways of thinking," Rex looked back to the terminal "Besides I'd like to pick her brain on the genetic alterations to my DNA when I get the chance."
"How's that coming by the way?"
"Oh slowly, I've found nothing on it in Reximus' archives and I've been thinking of..." Rex trailed off as he stared off at some distant memory.
"Thinking of what?" Jack wrapped an arm around his back and pulled herself in close.
"Going...going back to Dust," he whispered more to himself than Jack "I'd have to make a stop before hand so I can return someone."
"What could possibly be there?"
"The cellar of my Father's clinic was mostly untouched by the fires, it's where I found the sister to my ten millimeter," Rex shook his head "If my father was anyway involved in my alterations then there has to be something there, at least something to point me in the right direction."
"Should I come with you?"
"No, There's something I need to do there that's only between me and the ghosts of Dust," Rex patted her shoulder "When I come back I'm gonna grab hold of you and probably not let go for a week, but otherwise I'll have to walk this path alone."
"I understand, but before you go..."
"What?" Rex asked as he sent the Hermit crab blueprints alongside some other experimental plans to his vending machine.
"You asked me to commit to a future with you, here, right?" Jack's fingers grazed over a stuffed pocket on her pants "I'd like to give you a little surprise, to show you how much you mean to me."
"Well I do like surprises," Rex smiled.
"Good, now go upstairs and get undressed," she pulled out a small white gun "