Across from the stairs that led up to the lounge in the Main Casino, through an extravagant pair of double doors bearing the beautiful vigil of the Sierra Madre Casino, was a systems room. Banks of computers and terminals, screens showing the camera feeds both in the Villa and the Casino, a communications system. Almost none of the cameras in the Villa worked, but all of the ones in the Casino still did. It was through this system he watched and communicated, directing the visitors to their destinations and through their tasks.
He'd been there over a year, the lessons from the first team well-learned. He'd learned a lot about the Sierra Madre in that year, about how to get into the vault, the wonder that was the vending machine and hologram technology, and the truth of what was hidden here. It wasn't just some cheap treasure, gold and cash and all the other things the average Wastelander dreamed about. What was here was truly valuable, the tools to rebuild a nation. Security, economy, obedience. A chance for the Mojave to begin again.
The other lessons the Madre had taught him had taken more time. Lessons about human nature; greed, selfishness, distrust. Murder, theft, lies. No matter how many teams he assembled, how many people he sent in, lured in, coerced in, nothing changed. They always turned on each other, killed each other, set each other up to be killed, or ended up killed themselves. The traps, the Cloud, the Ghost People, all contributed to this end. The first team, that woman and the bounty hunter, had proven that others could be relied upon to get what he wanted. If the conditions were right, if the motivations were good enough, then it could work. In the end, he had resorted to trying something new. He linked the collars together, got the FEV Reject to apply them to the newest team. Perhaps, if all their lives were tied together, they'd be more willing to work together.
Father Elijah leaned forward and pressed the key for the radio communicator. His latest captive had a Pip-Boy, and according to his own they were right beside the Villa fountain. Their collar went online, and he figured they were finally awake. It was time to assemble the next team, and try his hand once more at gaining what he'd set out so long ago to get: the ending he deserved.
"Are you listening?" he said, his hand on the communicator's key. "Good. From now on, when I talk, listen. And follow my instructions. Play stupid, play clever, make the mistake of saying 'no'? That collar on your neck'll go off and take your head with it."
"What do you want?" the voice on the other end asked.
"That structure you see above the fountain?" Elijah said. "The Sierra Madre Casino. You need to break inside. A...heist. Too many years in the making. Around the Villa are three other collars like yours. Collar eight, twelve, and fourteen. Find all three and get them here, to the fountain. Then, we'll talk more. Do this and I'll let you go."
"I'll let all of you go."
Story created 2/16/2022, finished 2/22/2022. I spent 18 hours in the Sierra Madre after finishing Dead Money, to see exactly where my characters were and how what they were doing fit the environment. Some of this story's ideas, like the Villa safehouse and a woman trapped there on the run, were dreamt up over a year ago. Everything else was brainstormed in a matter of days. I hope you enjoyed the story! Dead Money is my favorite New Vegas DLC, and I've always loved seeing the little glimpses of the people who came before the Courier, who were lured to the Madre seeking that which could save them from the misery and chaos of the Wasteland, only to fall prey to the very emotions and ambitions that created the Wasteland in the first place.
If war does not change, man must, and to do so they must Begin Again...
