Courier's Journal: Week One
From the diary of Robert Edwin House, 10/19/2281:
I've often despaired that good help is so hard to find. Benny's recent betrayal perfectly illustrates that. It's galling to have gone to as much effort as I have to recover the Platinum Chip, to have taken the measures I have to protect it in transit, and to still to suffer a setback like this so close to the final hour. I would be enraged with Benny had I not come to expect these kinds of disappointments by now.
Well, no use crying about it. Plan C it is, then. The Platinum Chip must be recovered, and the courier who Benny failed to kill may be the key to this. The man has reportedly made a full recovery, and within hours of waking has already become embroiled in some local conflict, organising a militia in Goodsprings to help fight off a gang of escaped NCR convicts. He's even approached Victor for assistance in the fight. I cannot allow this, of course, as Victor is too strategically valuable to risk in a pointless scuff with the NCR's leavings, but if this courier survives the night, then he may just have the tenacity to find Benny and recover my property for me as well. That would make him an asset worth investing in.
Whatever plans Benny has in motion, they will fail. This I am certain of. The question now is whether I will be able to find a suitable replacement for him on a reasonable timetable. It is far too late to groom a new protegé from within the Three Families at this stage, and none of the other candidates I've looked at so far even come close to matching my requirements. I will, inevitably, have to make compromises if I want to keep Vegas independent, but one thing I cannot compromise on is reliability. I require an agent who is both capable and loyal, and a man who both owes me his life and is seemingly undaunted by being shot twice in the head is a good place to start.
All that's left to do now is observe.
Author's notes:
The Mr. House interludes will be the first major deviation from the original version that returning readers will notice. These were always planned to be included in the story eventually, but I originally intended for them to first appear after the Courier actually met Mr. House. However, I think that not including House's perspective earlier on was a wasted opportunity, so I decided to correct that for the rewrite.