Chapter 7, Will of Caesar
Elizabeth and I had trekked the desert for around two hours until we started to hear our stomachs grumble. Thankfully, it was not too hot to travel as we had some clouds in the sky giving us shade and turning the temperature down more. I noticed we were coming up on the 188 Trading Post which would be a perfect place to stop to eat. I had gone through there at night a while ago when I was on my way to The Strip initially as this was one of the ways you had to cut through to make it there.
"Let's stop there, I know of some tables there we can stop at," I state, pointing to the trading post.
Elizabeth nodded in agreement and we both made our way to the table and it was nothing special, but just a faded green, wooden picnic table. Elizabeth sat down across from me and I threw the backpack on top of it, making a loud thud and creaking the wood on it. I dug into the backpack and gave Elizabeth one of the lunchboxes and a bottle of water. I also tossed her a spoon and a can opener, then gave myself one of each and we went to town eating. I mean it wasn't going to win any awards, but it would fill us up nicely. While we were eating, a woman approached us wearing a light brown outfit that covered her mostly with just her head sticking out of a hood. She looked like she was around the same height as Elizabeth.
"Hello," she said with her voice, sounding incredibly cheerful, "No offense, but you look like you've traveled a long way down some bad roads. Where'd you come from?"
I turned to face her, "Well, I came from the east then came here a few years ago, and now the Strip, "I replied, before taking another bite from the beans.
"Wow, you…have come a long way, then. I've never been there, but I've met some traders who pass that way. Well, welcome, then. I'm Veronica Santangelo. I live in a hole in the ground."
I stopped eating, and looked at her, confused as to what she meant, " You live in a hole in the ground?"
"Can't be any weirder than where I have been," I hear Elizabeth chime in.
Veronica turned to look at Elizabeth for a moment, confused and curious as to what she meant by that, "Well, a bunker, if you want to get technical. I think it sounds more interesting my way. But I'm not there much anymore. I'm usually out here picking up food and supplies for my family. Whatever they need."
"So, you just leave your family in the bunker," I asked.
"Yeah. I'm not worried. They can handle themselves. But, somebody has to get the groceries, know what I mean? And actually these days I think they'd rather have me out here anyway. But that's a whole other story," Veronica states.
"Sounds complicated," I replied.
"Yeah. So, listen, can I ask you both something on the level?"
"Go ahead," I said, wrapping up the beans.
"I had a run-in with this group calling themselves the Brotherhood of Steel. Pretty strange bunch. Do you know anything about them," she asks.
I paused for a moment. Should I mention my time with them in D.C or the stories I've heard about them here? I can keep it brief since I don't really know her or her intentions.
"Well, I've run into them out east and I've heard only bits and pieces of the ones here. Best advice I've gotten is that they're usually harmless unless you use advanced technology around them."
Veronica pauses for a moment, "Well that shouldn't be a problem for me. I can't afford anything like that. Where are you both heading off to?"
"With all due respect, we can't really say. It's out south," I reply.
"Gotcha, I'll be honest. You're the first set of people I've run across out here that look like they can really handle themselves."
"What makes you curious about us?"
"Well I'm looking to travel with some people that are capable of handling what's out there. I want to see more of the world. Looking for a fresh perspective. I want to see how different groups have adapted to survive in the Mojave. See if there's something I can learn from."
"We can definitely keep you in mind, but we are having to do something secret right now so we can't unfortunately."
"I see, well I'll be here if you ever change your mind. One thing you should know, though. I asked you about the Brotherhood because I'm one of them. I know, I know. But I had to know how you'd react when I told you. We've made a lot of enemies."
"Well I have no problems with them, at least not with the ones back East. They at least care about people and want to help make a difference."
"Oh, are you talking about Owyn Lyons in D.C," Veronica replies, leaning in to listen more.
Shit. So she knows about them, great. Just had to mention I'm from the east. I hope she doesn't know much about them.
"I think that's the branch," I reply.
"I heard about them. They have the right idea on how the Brotherhood should be. I was hoping they would eventually reach here to convince the ones here to stop being so fanatical. Anyway, I've harped on it long enough. You both have a safe trip," She finishes walking away.
I turned back into my seat and started to get ready to dig in on the Cram, when I heard Elizabeth clear her throat, "She seemed nice. Why didn't you want her to come along?"
"I don't think we should explain what we are doing to anyone on our way. We're in a complicated situation and I don't want to bring more people in just yet," I state, starting to open up the Cram can and getting ready to eat it.
"Gotcha. You never told me you were from D.C."
"It's not important now," I stated, trying to defuse the topic and continue eating.
"Evan, I know when people are lying and are trying to hide something. Do you not want to go back to D.C? Did something happen there that brought you here," she asked leaning towards me.
"Look, it's not something I want to talk about now. Yes, I am from there and yes, something bad happened there. But, I don't want to talk about it now. Let's stay focused."
"Ok," I hear her say, leaning back into her seat to get back to eating.
I know at some point she is going to find out, but I really do not want to talk about it now or for a long time. She still hasn't told me everything that happened to her and her backstory, so why should I feel obligated to tell mine? I told her enough for now. Regardless, we wrap up our lunch, I take the lunchboxes back, put them in my bag, zip it shut, and put it on my back as we head out.
We traveled for a few more hours until we reached Cottonwood Cove. I took a look at my Pipboy and saw it was 3:02 p.m. As we walked down to the docks, we saw the flags of the Legion blowing in the wind. They were red flags with golden borders and had a horse on it also gold in color. I saw a Legion Member at the end of the docks standing next to a raft. Elizabeth and I approached him.
"Ave, I am Cursor Lucullus, you ready to head upriver," I hear him ask.
"Yes, we are ready."
"The trip will take a few hours. Both of you take your place on the boat."
The two of us started to get on the raft, however Elizabeth was pushed on with the end of the oar and she fell into my arms, with Lucullus scoffing. She gave him a dirty look as he walked to the front of the raft to row.
"You good," I asked.
She turned to look at me, still in my arms, staring at my eyes, "Yeah"
We stared at each other for a bit, until the raft started to move and we both fell down on our butts on the raft. I adjusted myself and so did Elizabeth as we sat waiting for the raft to take us to the fort. As we got close to the camp, the sun started to show it was going down and the light reflected off the fort. It was a pretty sight all things considered and as the raft reached the shore, we both stood up to get ready to step off. We were greeted by the guard at the gate.
" By order of Caesar, all visitors must disarm and relinquish all banned items. This order also extends to the Platinum Chip you carry - for now."
"What counts as a banned item," I asked.
"Alcohol and all chems, including stims and other addictive items and weapons."
"Very well," I state, taking off my backpack, weapons, and asking Elizabeth to give me her Laser Pistol and .22 pistol.
"Your belongings will be returned to you when you leave," he states walking away with what we brought in.
We walked into the fort and it was just sheet metal stacked up to show as walls. Everything looked makeshift and it made me question how a group of these guys could ever take down the NCR or even Mr. House. There could be more than meets the eye, however. We had to walk all the way to the top of the for by following the path. We opened a set of doors that had Caesar's main hut and in the middle what looked like an arena of some sort. We walked around the arena and made it to Caesar's tent and saw a guard outside.
"You must enter Caesar's tent alone, anyone else must wait outside," the guard states.
I nodded to Elizabeth to tell her to stay outside. She nodded in agreement. I entered the tent and at the end of it was Caesar sitting a throne with spears sticking out and red ribbon tied around the spears. Caesar was just a man with no hair and looked a little on the frail and old side. He had some sort of silver bracelet that was the size of my Pipboy, but didn't have a screen on it, just some buttons.
I approached him, "So, I finally get to meet the courier who's accomplished so much in so little time. That is why I summoned you here, right," he asked, meeting my eyes.
"I mean, I assumed so," I replied.
"I mean, a man nearly kills you, and your response is to track him across the breadth of the Mojave? You arrive on the Strip and waltz into the Lucky 38 like someone left you a key under the doormat? And then something happens to Mr. House's robots - some kind of military upgrade?"
"Well, yeah pretty much."
He pauses for a moment, with his finger on his chin. Then resumes talking, " When you set your mind to something, you get results. I like that. The question is... are you ready to get started?"
"Start with what," I asked.
"Down the hill, at the west edge of camp, is an old building. It was here when the Fort was taken in 2277. Inside the building is a hatch, and inside that hatch are two steel doors that bear the sigil of the Lucky 38 more interesting, there's a slot about the same size as the Chip on the console that opens the hatch. So, you know what I think? I think the Platinum Chip opens those doors - doors that can't be pried open or drilled open or blasted open. Because of all that, I tried," he stated.
"Well I need that Chip to get in don't I?" I say, sarcastically.
Caesar didn't find that amusing and grunted, "Oh, I'll give you the Platinum Chip. And then you'll use it exactly like I tell you to. The time is fast approaching when my Legion will assault the great dam and invade the west. Before that happens, I want Mr. House knocked out of the game, a quick one-two punch - with you doing the punching."
I lift my arms up, "Ok, when I am inside?"
"I want you to destroy whatever you find in there. And then I want you to come back here and tell me about go to the building and take this… fucking Platinum Chip with you. My Legionaries will meet you there, with your weapons and equipment," he finishes, handing me the chip.
"Ok, I'll go do it," I say, taking the chip from him.
"Goodbye," He says, dismissing me with his hand.
I walked out the tent and saw Elizabeth there, with her arms crossed and that disgusted look on her face.
"So, what did he want you to do," she asked, snarky.
"We go into the bunker, down the hill at the west side of the camp, and find out what's there," I reply.
"Ok," I hear her remark as she walks forward.
"Is everything ok," I asked, catching up to her.
"Well, not really. I've had people look at me with disgust or tell me that women have no use being here or doing anything except giving birth and taking orders."
"Well, that's why they are the sexist pricks that they are. Don't worry, we're almost done here."
We both walked to the bunker, entered and were greeted by one of the Legion Guards.
"Caesar has permitted your weapons to be returned to you while you serve him," he says, as he hands my guns to me.
I picked them up, holstered them, and gave Elizabeth her laser pistol and .22 pistol.
"Caesar has put a lot of trust in you. Be worth it," he said, as he walked away.
I turned myself to the console and heard it humming quietly. I noticed it had a slot in the shape of the Platinum Chip. Naturally, I put it in. To my left, I heard a door open up from downstairs, and Elizabeth and I started to make our way down. Once we went down, we saw that there were double doors with the Luck 38 on them. We opened them and made our way inside. To our right, was a monitor with Mr. House on the screen, waiting for us.
Mr. House greeted us, "I see that you reached your destination safely. Shall we get to work?"
"What is this place," I ask.
"It's a facility I built many years before you were born. You might think of it as a barracks. You'll understand soon enough."
"Why did you send us here," Elizabeth chimes in.
"As you know, the Platinum Chip upgrades my Securitrons' operating software. Well... there's an army of them here. The Securitrons policing the Strip are a fraction of the total number manufactured. The rest, I stored here. I need you to manually upload the data from the Chip to the facility's primary computer. There's a terminal at the other end of this facility. There's a complication. While I can broadcast to this screen, I can't control any of the facility's systems. That means I can't deactivate its security bots... most of which appear to be active, according to the status board I'm looking at," He replies.
"What are you going to do with the Securitrons'," I asked, crossing my arms.
"My army will do what an army does best - defend territory from invaders... and maintain order."
"What did you mean when you couldn't deactivate the security bots?"
"The same equipment failure that prevents me from remotely operating this facility seems to have activated its security robots and turrets. There's a security room near the base of the stairs... perhaps you can deactivate them yourself."
Great, let's hope I can figure out how to deactivate it then. Otherwise, we are going to have a hell of a time here. Or I could blow up the place and do what Caesar wants me to do. Tempting, but I'd rather not work with them since he would see that as an act of loyalty.
"Ok, we'll upload the data," I state.
"Good. I won't hold you up any longer," Mr. House replies as he shuts off.
I turned to face Elizabeth, "You ready? We might have to do some fighting."
Elizabeth nodded in agreement and drew her laser pistol. We started to walk towards the staircase and immediately a security bot saw us and started to shoot from below. We both took cover and I returned fire with my Service Rifle once I heard the bot stop firing for a moment. I was able to hit a few shots into its clear, glass head, but it still kept shooting in my direction. Elizabeth took advantage of this and shot a few rounds into the head, making it short circuit and explode. As we both walked out of cover, and made our way down, I opened the door it was standing in front of. I saw three terminals on the right side of the wall, with a table next to them and some lockers on the other side. Elizabeth went to the lockers to loot them, while I started with the middle terminal. It handled the Turret operations and I was surprised that there was no security on the terminal. So, I simply turned them to standby mode. Then moved to the terminal on the left and it handled the bots themselves. Once again, no password so I turned them to standby mode. Finally, there was the terminal on the right that handled the sentry bots and again, no password. So, I set them to standby as well. Kind of feel like Mr. House unlocked these for us. Either that or he has shitty security.
"Ok, all robots are down. Should be a cakewalk now."
"Why would you walk on cake," Elizabeth asked, with that puzzled look on her face.
"It's an expression, I don't know where it came from. In hindsight, it would be pretty stupid to walk on cake," I replied.
Elizabeth smiled as she brushed some of her hair behind her ear. "Come on, let's go upload his Chip."
We walked through the facility and saw just how lifeless, and motionless all the robots were without them attacking us. It was nice, but it gave off a creepy atmosphere since it was just the two of us surrounded by robots just standing there and doing nothing. Our boots hitting the floor echoed throughout the facility that only added to the empty feeling the place had. With all that in mind, we reached the end of the facility. At the end of the room was a window that had a Securitron behind it, but with no person on the screen. There were two turrets in the corner at the end of the room that just rotated and scanned the area. There was also a console on the right side that had the same size slot as before where the Platinum Chip would go. I put the Chip in that hole, and it clicked in. Then we heard the facility get louder and saw that the monitor of the Securitron turned into a gruffy looking man with a helmet and cigar in his mouth. I approached the window and was in shock with the hundreds of Securitrons that I was witnessing.
I blurted out loud, "I hope we're doing the right thing."
Elizabeth walks up to the window and sees what I am seeing, "We are doing the only thing we can do, Evan," Elizabeth puts a hand on my shoulder, "But, we still have time to change this to prevent this from getting too dictatorship. Do you remember that place I mentioned, Columbia?"
I turned my head to look at Elizabeth and to give my full attention to her.
She pauses for a moment, "Columbia was a place in the sky that had that man I went after, Comstock, in charge and made people worship him as a prophet. I saw firsthand what he was capable of even though he had good intentions. But, I saw what turned him into what he became but I was far too late to do anything about it. I see something similar happening here. The only difference is I know what to do to stop it before it goes past that turning point."
"That's why you chimed in? You knew what he was trying to do," I questioned.
"Yes, it started to become obvious at that point," she answered.
I couldn't argue with her on that. I'm just glad I have someone who was able to also see the same thing I saw and say what I would have said. Makes me feel like I have someone I can rely on and won't make me feel like I am crazy to bring up an idea. I wonder if she is starting to feel the same way.
"Anyway," I hear her say, "Let's get a move on out of here."
As Elizabeth walked away, I started to wonder why she took the surname as Comstock in Rapture. I was surprised it never occurred to me before, "Hey, I have a question," I said.
She stops, but doesn't turn around. "What is it?"
"Why did you have the surname Comstock, when you were in Rapture? You never explained why you still use it even now."
She immediately responded, "It stuck with me for a good while and I was also wanting to use it to see if I could screw with Comstock, to insult his name by actually using it for a better purpose."
"I see, but in reality, your name is Elizabeth Dewitt," I replied.
Once again, she did that pause she always did and fidgeted with her pinky, then answered, "I suppose so. But, it's complicated. And we need to report back to Mr. House."
"Yeah, let's not keep him waiting," I replied.
I followed her to the entrance with the sounds of the bunker making a repeating noise of pistons moving and hitting objects. Hopefully, Caesar will buy this as the factory is being destroyed. We made our way back to the entrance to where Mr. House would appear and there he was, waiting for our return.
"Your work here is done. Return to the Lucky 38 so we can discuss next steps. Both of you have a very bright future ahead of you. Thanks to your actions today, so does the rest of mankind," Mr. House says, congratulating us. Then, his monitor disconnected again and the room was silent.
"Well, time to get out of this place," I chimed in. Elizabeth nodded in agreement.
As we walked up the stairs and met with the guard at the door he stopped us. "You've carried out Caesar's will, but I must confiscate your equipment again."
Elizabeth and I turned over our weapons to him, "You are free to leave, I will return your weapons to you when you are ready to head back to Cottonwood Cove," he states
As we left the bunker, we made our way back to the docks. I really don't want to have to talk to Caesar any longer and I assume that he felt that ground shake as the bunker was shut down and destroyed. We got back to the docks and Cursor Lucullus was waiting for us to take us back.
"Ave. Are you ready to return to Cottonwood Cove," he asks.
"Yes, we are."
"Very well, I will let the guard know to return your weapons," He says, handing me my backpack back.
I put my backpack on, and we waited for the guard to return our weapons. While we waited, Elizabeth started to fidget with her right pinky again, as well as kept pacing around. She was also maintaining eye contact with everyone with her guard up. It didn't help that the Legion was looking at her with disgust and refused to acknowledge her at all. Eventually, she stood behind me with her fist clenched, ready to go in case something were to break out. Seeing all that, I looked at my Pipboy's clock, it was 6:05 p.m. It wasn't even a few minutes, but now I was starting to feel antsy as much as Elizabeth. Finally, the guard came back with our weapons and handed them to us.
Elizabeth wasted no time in grabbing her gun and I grabbed my weapons as well. Lucullus guides us back to the raft, but this time, Elizabeth goes first, then I go. We sat on the raft and while we waited to be returned to Cottonwood Cove. I pulled out another Caravan Lunch, with a spoon and can opener, and handed it to Elizabeth. I did the same thing for myself and we spent a good time on the journey, eating. When we pulled up to the dock, I collected the trash as we got off, saw the trashcan at the end of the dock, and threw it away as we started to leave Cottonwood Cove as fast as we could.
After a long period of silence, I finally said something, "We are going to have to find a place to stay the night. The best place is Novac and they have some hotels we can use."
"How far away is it," Elizabeth asked.
"About an hour," I replied.
"Ugh, when we get to the hotel, I will be sleeping in tonight period," I hear her say, relieved to be off the road soon.
I couldn't argue with that either. My legs were starting to kill me, but we still needed to make our way to Novac before we could rest for good. So, here's to hoping our legs can make it there. With the night now on us, it felt even cooler than it was during the day even feeling a bit chilly. We kept trucking along the Mojave until finally I recognized the sight and structure of Novac. I had passed through it when I was going to the strip for the first time, but I could not forget its hotel. It's an independent town that has not much to offer, except the hotel. But, it trucks along nicely despite not having much to offer. I saw the faint lights of the Vacancy sign, or what was left of it, as well as the faint silhouette of the dinosaur that stood nearby the hotel with the sign "Dino Dee-Lite Motel" near it. We walked to the front counter and I was met with a woman who wore glasses and had her hair tied back that was a faded brown to signify her age. She just wore a regular brown coat with nothing else on it.
"Hello, welcome to the Dino Dee-Lite Motel. I'm Jeannie May Crawford. I take care of folks here at the motel. Long as they aren't troublemakers. How can I help you?"
"We would like to rent a room, " I asked.
"Ok, I am assuming you want a single bed for you and your girlfriend," she replied.
I turned slightly red, "Oh we aren't dating, we're…"
"Traveling together," Elizabeth finishes.
"Ok, gotcha, I'll give you a good flat rate, and you can stay as long as you like. Least till the busy season comes. Sound good?"
"That would be great, how much do we owe you?"
"100 caps," she replied.
I rotated my backpack around to dig into the bag and find my caps. I had around 2500, so 100 is not too bad and we get it for as long as possible until it gets busy. I put some of the caps on the counter and started to count 100 out of the pile, then put the rest away.
"Ok, here is your key, " She says, putting the key on the counter, "It's Room 104 and enjoy your stay!"
"Thank you," I responded, taking the key and we started to make our way to the hotel room.
As we walked to the room, I was surprised with how quiet it was. I was expecting people shouting and screaming instead of peace and quiet. We approached our hotel door, and I inserted the key. It fit right in and I rotated it to the right to unlock the door. When we entered the room, I turned on the lights and it looked slightly run down, but was in better quality than I thought it would be. It looked like a standard hotel you would see with two twin size beds in the middle of the room with their own night stands and at the end of the hall was the bathroom. There was also a guitar in the corner that was dark brown next to a sofa chair. Elizabeth noticed the guitar as well and walked over to it. She grabbed the guitar, sat down in the chair, and started to fiddle with it, like she was getting it in tune. I laid down on the bed and continued to think.
I just kept thinking about what we helped Mr. House do. Now his Securitrons had more access to the wasteland and he had the firepower to push out the NCR and take down the Legion. I just hope we can still have some power and say in what he does. If we can change his mind or convince him of a more diplomatic or republic style system, then I think this will be all worth it. Before I could continue thinking, I heard the guitar start to play consistent notes and form a song.
"See the pyramids along the Nile," I heard Elizabeth sing. I then pulled my feet towards me to sit up on the bed, Criss crossed. Then, I turned to face her, and she continued.
"Watch the sunrise from a tropic isle"
"Just remember darling all the while"
"You belong to me"
I have to admit, she sang beautifully. The best I had ever heard someone sing before. Even better than the people on the radio.
She continued, "See the marketplace in old Algiers"
"Send me photographs and souvenirs"
"Just remember when a dream appears"
"You belong to me"
Seeing her hold that guitar, playing it with her voice just made me stop and stare at her. Just enthralled with not only the beauty of her voice, but her beautiful face. We may look like sweaty messes, but it didn't detract from her beauty.
She continued to sing, "And I'll be so alone without you"
"Maybe you'll be lonesome too and blue"
"Fly the ocean in a silver plane"
"See the jungle when it's wet with rain"
"Just remember till you're home again"
"You belong to me"
"I'll be so alone without you"
"Maybe you'll be lonesome too and blue"
"Fly the ocean in a silver plane"
"See the jungle when it's wet with rain"
"Just remember till you're home again"
"You belong to me"
I heard the last note on the guitar finish as she put down the guitar, and her eyes met mine. We were both silent for a few seconds, too busy staring at each other. Finally, Elizabeth broke the silence.
"I don't know, " I heard her say, "I felt like it was the time to sing that."
"It's ok. That was just plain beautiful. Where did you learn to sing and play like that?" I asked.
"Remember Cohen?"
"Yeah."
"I sang that song and recorded it back in Rapture, " She said, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Did you sing anything else," I asked.
"Few other songs. I just wanted to sing this since it's been on my mind since I came up."
I paused for a minute and realized that she was humming this song back in the gift shop. It was great to hear what it was and glad she shared it with me. It seems her walls are starting to come down and she's trusting me more. Question is, should I lower mine?
"I would love to hear the other songs sometime," I replied with a smile and met her eyes.
Elizabeth immediately turned slightly red and looked down. Then, she looked back up after a few seconds and met my eyes again. "I would definitely love to share some more, but after all that walking, and dealing with Mr. House's bunker, I'm tired and want to get some sleep."
"Same, well let's get ready for bed," I stated, stretching my arms.
Elizabeth went into the bathroom to touch herself up for bed. I waited for her to get out and once she did, I went in to brush my teeth. When I finished, I saw Elizabeth was already falling asleep. I noticed that her clothes were just thrown on the ground and all sorts of thoughts came into my head on what she looked like with less clothes on. Why are these starting to flow into my head so soon? I shook my head to bring myself back to reality and walked over to my bed. I took my clothes off down to my underwear and got under the sheets. As I was lying in bed, I continued thinking about the future and what it may hold. I kept thinking about what my Dad would do? Would he side with Mr. House and try to diffuse him and his power? Or would he have left after delivering the chip and moved on? I'm not sure at this point. I feel I knew so little about him after I found out the truth about him. How I was never born in the vault, but outside of it and he wanted me in there to prevent me from having this life. But in the end, it happened anyway. The man I met in his final days didn't feel as much as my Father was in the vault so it's hard to find out how he would have reacted to all this. I closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep.
