YO!

Chapter 6 - The Beginning of a Mess

I settle back into the camp, practicing my magic in secret to make it more powerful and the reserves much larger. I can hold the focus for ten minutes straight for a surgery without passing out, but I am done for five hours after that. Five minutes of focus makes me tired, but I can carry on with the rest of the day fine, so I mostly stick with five minutes worth every six hours if I can help it. This is it being on constantly though, so I make sure to turn it off when it is not needed to increase the time. I leave every month for some status updates on the whole attacking the two giant armies in the western part of this country. It seems to be going well, the legion soldiers die pretty fast from the ambushes I help plan when I can, taking loads of time reading old world strategies with guerrilla warfare thrown in to help things along. While smart, Yes Man does not have a database on human tactics other than point and kill.

The NCR are still as unorganized as they always have been and notice nothing of the decreased numbers of their enemy other than the obvious part that I killed Caesar, which has earned me praise and assassination attempts from both factions. My power makes the NCR nervous is what I can guess from the occasional assassin that they send my way. It is easy to understand why the Legion sends out their kills for my head . The attacks died down quickly however after I delivered the cut up body of one of the assassins to the NCR office. I came up with a story with the help of Arcade and Julie that the man had been attacked in Freeside by junkies, that we were contacted by the kings to bring him back for a proper burial due to me being on bitch duty for that day. I believe they thought we didn't know what they were doing and stopped before we did.

A few months pass until I've been in the waste a full four years judging by the seasons, maybe a little less. Wow, it has been such a long time. My medicine skills have only gotten better and I finally get out from Arcade's hands to go off and set up my very own doctor tent! The sign of a master doctor is their own workstation around these parts. I also still have yet to ward my sleeping tent, but I have become a light sleeper to ward off assassins, just in case.

I've found a few more medical texts and gun books that I've memorized to my own headache. Sucking in that much information hurts after a while or if I do it too fast, which I always do as I have little free time that I don't spend sleeping. Now that I am finally calming down and not pulling all-nighters to make up for my lack of experience, I start seeing some really glaring issues with our fort as well as some issues that I can fix in the Freeside to help along the fort.

On one of the very few days off I have a month, I decide to fix some of the issues around that I see to make the place better. I go over to Julie in her office who is currently wrapping up an injured mans arm from what looks like a knife wound. "Julie! I have an offer!"

The woman looks up as she continues to wrap the gauze around the man's wound. "We have such a low supply of medicine and the like, so why don't I see if I can convince some of the stores around here to cut a deal like we have with the farmers? They scratch our back, we scratch theirs kind of thing."

The head doctor hums as she tapes the gauze together to keep the bandage nice and tight. "Alright, that sounds good," Julie nods at me before turning to the patient, "You're good to go sir. Be careful next time you visit the strip." The man nods while holding his newly bandaged arm as he left the room. Once the door closes, she asks, "Who will you be asking?"

I scratch my head, below the bandana. "Um. I was thinking the Atomic Wrangler." I see her face shift to fury and I quickly add the hook to keep her from exploding at me, "I know they are pushers, but they have a GREAT still set up in their back! They can make all the Med-X and pure ethanol we need and if we can save enough money from this deal, we can get a chemistry set to make things like stimpacks! I'm sure if I offer our services to fix up their stills to be even better, they will help us!"

The woman seems to think this over before grudgingly nodding, a resigned look in her eyes. "I don't like it, but if we can save money and if it helps our patients, I guess it is the obvious course of action," the spiked-haired woman sighs.

"I know it's bad, but think of how much easier it will be with a steady supply of Med-X. The funds I'm sending from the Lucky 38 to here is only letting us scrape by at this point." I have Yes-Man running the newly open casino and giving five percent to the followers, but running a hospital for a city is a lot of money we do not have.

The woman nods, but still doesn't look any happier. "Come back with the details and since you are looking to improve conditions, we need Bill and Jacob sober, so see if you can help them while you are out." I nod and say my farewell then exit the office, letting in a man with the shakes. Another junkie here to get a fixer or something like that.

I know that Bill drinks inside that ruins next to the Wrangler, so I'll talk to him on my way back from the deal, try and get him to come here for the detox. Jacob is near Mick's, so I'll save that for later or if I need to talk to that pusher Dixon. Jackass is probably behind their continued addiction because I know they aren't working with that amount of chems in their system.

I shrug on my vest over my buttoned up coat then grab Maria and Morgana, the M9. Once I am equipped to take on well-trained thugs, which there are thankfully none of in this area, I leave the fort and head over to the prostitution hub of Freeside.

The trip there is uneventful, if messy. Freeside is not the cleanest place and that applies to bodies too. The homeless and junkies that starve in the streets lie in the streets until someone gets tired of seeing it and either throws them away or burns the corpses. A new rebellion against rival junkies apparently broke out and they took knives to each other. Most of the slums of Freeside is coated with the blood of what looks to be about twenty men with the corpses of fifteen just left there, looted bare of course.

I open the rickety door to the Atomic wrangler and as I step in, a blast of body odor, filth and, of course, sex slams into my face, nearly making me growl. I suppress the urge as I go over to the bar where James is on duty today. I take a seat at the bar in front of him. "Evening friend! We don't get many of the Followers around here, what would you like?"

I rub my nose to try to get the smell out or at least lessen before I answer, "I'll have a bottle of whiskey and I would like to talk to you about a... proposition that would benefit the two of our respective fields." The man seems to perk up at the sound of this as he puts the bottle on the table. I put down the ten caps for the bottle as I break the seal. "You see, running the only medical area in this area is hard and... expensive. We have trouble affording the bare essential medicine even with the help I have coming in from Mr. House." I take a shot of liquor from the bottle, letting the burn draw my attention from the sounds and smell of vice around me.

"I'll be blunt as we are both busy men. The Followers would like a deal with you and your stills. We need a supplier for Med-X and alcohol for disinfectant. You have the best stills that can make a constant batch. What would you like in return if you take this request?"

The man hums to himself as he takes out a shot glass and pours himself a drink from my bottle. The man downs the whiskey before answering. "You Followers have some mighty fine mechanics among your numbers. If you maintenance my stills and upgrade them, I can make you all the pure alcohol you need as well as toss in some Med-X as long as you supply the ingredients." I nod, the deal going as I thought it would.

"That sounds fair enough," I tell the man as I take another shot of alcohol.

The man gives himself another shot before tacking on, "But I am in some need of assistance. If you can help me find some employees of a... special type, I will sweeten the deal by building another still specifically for you all to use." I gesture for him to continue. "See, we have all kinds of clients that we would like to cater, but their kinks are just too out there. I need a ghoul cowboy, a sexbot and a suave gentleman. If you can find me them by a month's end, I'll put the request in when the last employee comes in the door."

I stare at him and voice the first thing that comes to mind, "Sexbot? They make those?"

The man shakes his head, "I think you'll need to get a programming routine or something and find a robot to use it on. I'm sure Ralph can acquire one for you Mr. Fox. Hmm..."

"What?" I ask at the humming man.

"Nothing, you just have the same alias as a wanted Legion agent. Strange, but you look nothing like him, so you should be fine." I heard about that guy. The man apparently lead a raid on Nipton a few days after Primm fell and butchered everyone. One of the survivors told about the man wearing a dog's head as a helmet. "So. Do we have a deal?"

I nod and get from the bar stool. "I'll have to talk it over with Julie, but I believe we have a deal sir. It's been a pleasure and I'll be sending the employees by soon." We shake and and I stride out of the room. Once the bar's door closes behind me, I zip to my right and away from the den. I let my stomach bring up my breakfast before I gain control back over myself.

That place smells awful! Sure, I have finally come out of the rampant hormonal stage where my body NEEDED a mate and can even sleep around, but god damn if that place was a little too much. I mean, FUCK! I've slept with a few women of the night from the White Gloves to scratch an itch. Well, after I conquered my violet hormones to make it accept a mate wasn't coming anytime soon. But no matter how much acceptance of my instincts I have, that was worse than the first time I had to go in there for a job!

Sighing, I rinse my mouth out with some water before walking over to the ruins down the road. I enter through the broken doorway to see Bill sitting on a cardboard mat, downing a bottle of whiskey like no tomorrow. Sighing, I call out, "Bill!"

The man jumps and nearly spills his drink before he brings it right side up. "Wha-" the man slurs up at me.

I crouch down to his level, meeting his blood-shot eyes with my own set of green eyes. "Bill. Julie is worried about you man. You can't keep doing this to yourself," I tell the man with a small frown on my face. I respect this man, or I did. The man is an excellent mechanic and taught me a few tricks to fix up most plumbing. The man single-handedly rigged up running water into Freeside.

"Ahh, Julie. I... I can't just stop. This whiskey tastes like piss, but if I don't drink it, I'll feel like I'll die before I get another drop! Plus Dixon should be around soon and I can't keep the man waiting, he won't sell me anything today if I do!" The man slurs out, his torso tilting to the side before correcting itself.

So Dixon does have a hand in this. "So. Does Jacob also go to Dixon for his chems?" The man absently nods as he takes a swig of his liquor. "Alright. Here is what I'm going to do. I'm going to go talk to Dixon, get him to stop selling alcohol to you. You will be going to Julie for detoxing and rehab. The woman does care about you Bill and seeing you drunk all day and night worries her so much."

The man meets my eyes in a panic, "But the pain!" the man cries.

I hold up a hand, stopping the man before he can really get going. "I'll give you three fixers. One every two days for the week. With Julie's help, you'll be fine soon and get over this addiction with only a little pain."

The man stares up at me before whispering, "Do you promise? I can't go though that pain again." I give him a smile and a hand to bring him to his feet. The man hesitantly puts down his bottle before taking the hand. I pull him up and lead him out the back where it is quicker to get to the fort. I notice him tense as we go through the door, looking longingly back at his bottle of booze.

I steer him forward and point to the fort. "Remember, if you stay clean for the rest of today, I'll give you a fixer before you go to sleep, so you wake up feeling better in the morning." The man shakily nods before staggering off to the fort down the road. I follow a bit behind him as I have to go the same direction.

As we walk, I notice a man wearing standard mercenary garbs with a baseball cap on. The man's face is dirty with a small thin mustache across his lip. Dixon. I take long strides as he goes to confront Bill. The mechanic turns to speak with him just as I reach them. I grab Dixon by the throat and give Bill a glare, sending the drunk scrambling to the fort in his stumbling pace. I drag the struggling drug dealer into an abandoned store before throwing him against the counter.

I don't give him a chance to speak before I deck him across the jaw. The man hits the floor, his head in a daze as I mount his stomach. The dealer looks up in time to see my hands descend on his throat as I begin to throttle the bastard. I've seen what his drugs have done to people. Ebola is more merciful than the shit this man sells.

The drugs liquify the organs they affect after too long of use due to the poisons he puts in it to be more addictive, so you have to kill yourself through the addiction or else you go through one of the most severe withdrawals I've ever seen. I've narrowed the ingredient down to something in the bloatfly variety with its slight acidic nature. The man has been poisoning the people I am suppose to help and protect!

The dealer tries to pry my hands off, but he is just a weak human and I am a predator on top of the food chain in this desert. The little man doesn't even make me try harder before his face turns a deep red, his eyes bulging out of his head and feet scrambling around behind him.

In only one minute, the man is dead under me. I keep my hands tense over his throat, my thumbs pressing into his Adam's apple, as I focus for a heartbeat. I find none and there is not even a spark in his bulging eyes, all the blood vessels broken inside the orbs.

I slowly release the man's neck, my hands tingle from the flush of blood that finally gets into my fingers. I stand and straighten out my vest and weapons before I give the man's neck a crushing stomp, the crack of his neck snapping echoes the empty room.

The job down, I grab the collar of the man's leather vest and drag him into a back room where I grab up all his drugs and dump them in my pouch. This was just a mugging from one of his clients that got out of hand . After I check them over, I can also follow through with my promise to Bill for free from the drugs I looted from the dead man. I nonchalantly walk out of the window I had thrown the man through as if I didn't just vicious kill another human being.

Now I have to find Jacob and convince him to go get clean. After that, I think I'll talk to Beatrix to see if she wants to Atomic Wrangler job. Old Ben might want a change of pace than standing under the sun or that weirdo Santiago might take the job. I'll make a stop by Ralph and Mick's store to check out the sexbot program after I get done talking to Jacob.

I make it to Jacob's little squatting spot in a few minutes of walking down the street. I find the man trying to desperately get another huff out of the jet inhaler. I silently take a seat next to the man as he focused entirely on getting a little bit of a high. After the man gave up and threw the jet container across the room, only than did he acknowledge my presence by jumping off his ass and falling on his side. The man squints at me before exclaiming, "Fox! My boy, how have you been!"

I answer the man, "Been doing good Jake. Got my own tent at the Followers now. You however have not been doing too good." The man looks down at his feet as he sits back down next to me. "Julie is worried man. This jet you're doing is killing you man, Dixon laces it with acid to make it more addicting, but it is killing you."

"I'd rather die than go through withdrawal again," The man says with absolute conviction.

I give a sigh as I press my head against the stone wall. "I knew you would say that. That is why I bribed Dixon to never sell you jet again. Three hundred caps is keeping his end of the deal along with a death threat from the guy who killed Caesar. I'm sorry, but you will be going into detox along with our friend Bill." The man gives a groan into his hands. "The good news is that I've made a deal with the Atomic Wrangler. They are supplying the fort with Med-X and alcohol, so we might be able to afford a chem lab. You can brew up stimpacks and fixers as a job at the fort. Get back into your old profession before you found jet."

The man nods with sadness and a good amount of fear in his eyes. "I know it isn't much, but I'll give you the same offer I gave Bill. At the end of today and every two days you are clean for a week, I will give you a fixer to curb the withdrawal symptoms." The man gives a groan as he nods and leaves towards the fort. No one really sells drugs in Freeside thanks to the Kings and Dixon was too 'Dangerous' to take out as his operation was rumored to be backed by the legion to weaken the people of NCR.

I rub my face rapidly, already tired with all the dealings I've had to do today. 'I'm a doctor, not a silver-tongued politician!' I complain internally. After I bring myself to get out of the homeless den, I exit around back to see Santiago sitting around with blank eyes.

The man looks up as I approach. "What can Santiago do for you fine sir today?"

I shake my head at how weird this guy is and answer his question. "I'm looking for a worker at the Atomic Wrangler for an escort job. People have kinks for the suave business guy and you fit the bill perfectly."

"B-but... Santiago owes the Wrangler moneys!" the man protested. "It sounds great, but Santiago can't pay off the debt!"

I sigh as I rub my forehead. "Look. It's WITH the Wrangler. I'm sure you can cut a deal to pay off your debt as one of their employees before you can start bringing in a full paycheck. It's better than being homeless behind some destroyed building."

"Yeah..." The man mutters and continues with more energy, "Yeah! I could work it off and be with all those ladies at the same time. Thanks friend! I'll be on my way right now!" The man spins to his feet and begins to book it towards the Wrangler with a grin on his face. Okay then. 'I wonder what his reaction will be when he finds out that the clients will most likely be men?'

I give a yawn before walking across the street to Mick and Ralph's store and open the door. I notice Ralph standing, as always, in the front of the store. "How can I help you Mister Fox?"

I give him a wave as I stride up to his desk, "I have come across a strange request. I need to acquire a program for a... Sexbot. You think this is something you can get? Also where to find said sexbot."

The man gives me a blank stare before shaking his head. "W-well... I can get you the programming in about three days and for five hundred caps. There might be a robot left by that place behind the dropped highway... um... Cerulean Robotics, that may hold a useable model."

I reach over and offer my hand to seal the deal. Ralph claps the offered with his own hand and we shake on the deal. I drop five hundred caps of my very small supply onto the desk with no problem. I just made a huge purchase that I was saving up for months for and a little low on money.

I leave the store and head over to the Fort to talk with Beatrix for the Wrangler job and Julie to see if she can agree to the terms that James laid out.

I find Julie in her office with a patient that has a terrible cough that sounds too hard just to be a cold. "You have Bronchitis sir. Lay off the cigarettes and take some bed rest and you should be fine in about a week. The man nods as he stumbles out of the room, coughing out his lungs.

"That sounds bad," I comment once the door is shut. Julie nods as she cleans her tools. "Anyways, the deal has worked out better than I thought it would. In exchange for our maintenance on their stills, the Wrangler will supply us with alcohol and if we give the supplies, Med-X. I was also given a job that I'm almost done with to acquire us our own still in the Wrangler for just our use."

Julie nearly squeals and wraps her arms around me. Using her impressive strength, she picks me up and swings me in a circle before setting me back down where I fist stood. Well... that's kind of amazing. Wonder if she works out in private? The head doctor suddenly realises what she has just done and steps back with a blush. The woman clears her throat and continues as if the hug never happened. "So, what's this special job of yours?"

I scratch my head with one hand as I readjust my clothing, "I have to... find three special... prostitutes for James. A cowboy ghoul which I will be asking Beatrix to see if she's interested, a suave gentleman that I got that weirdo Santiago to agree to and I now have to find a sexbot."

The woman stares at me. "A... Sexbot? Like one made completely for sex?" I see a blush start to form on her face.

I smirk at the blush and shake my head before my boss gets any ideas, "No. A robot reprogrammed for sex. I don't think a handy will be that great from a protectron, but that's what Jame's clients want and I have to find one. I've already got the programming on the way from Mick's."

Julie's face pales when she hears about the model. I nod at her in agreement with wide eyes too, making sure she believes me. Julie may be active, but the robot is something I have strong feelings that she would not enjoy. "W-well... I better g-get back to work." Julie places her hand on my shoulder, "Thank you for what your doing for the camp. Bill and Jacob are already in Detox because of you and are making their way for a recovery." I nod with a smile before I leave to talk to our ghoul bodyguard.

It is actually quite easy to convince Beatrix to go work as an escort. All I really had to say was there might be a discount on booze if she works there and the woman was off in a second. I spend the rest of the day working as a doctor instead of a mercenary because I still need the program if I want to get the sexbot.

It seems that a good case of lung infects are going around thanks to the shift in temperature, heading to the lower seventies thanks to an abnormally cold winter coming in. My body is okay with the shift, but the rest of the citizens are having bad sinus problems or lung issues.

After three days of picking uop the slack as some of our doctors went down thanks to the infections, I am finally free in five days of contant work. I haven't had more than five hours of sleep in the past five days. If I'm not helping people, I was helping Julie or Arcade take care of some of the doctors that got the issues bad thanks to being around so many sick people.

A good things that has been happening was Bill and Jacob are recovering quickly and should be fully functioning in a few more days thanks to the supply of fixers and the sheer amount of determination the men are showing.

When I am free, I jog over to Mick's after pulling on my equipment as I still sometimes get attacked by some junkie hoping I have some drugs in my coat. I grab the program and walk off to find the robot shop where I can pick up a robot that may or may not be left there.

As I walk, I see some NCR soldiers hanging around a building to the side. In an instant, I recognize it is the place I murdered Dixon in. I stroll over the soldiers and ask, "What happened?"

One of the younger soldiers shrugs, "Looks like Dixon bit the dust. We're waiting for an officer that specializes in crime scenes to check it out with Dixon being one of our citizens and all. Basic human rights and all that pizazz."

I hum along with the man's words, "Well. I hope you find whoever did it, but knowing what Dixon was, it probably was one of the street thugs or clients that got shafted by him" The man nods his agreement. "Well, I'm off. Have a pleasant day fellas." The soldier and a few of his buddies wave as I depart to find this blasted machine.

I track the factory down to a dead end alley off in a broken part of Vegas that I only really know about in passing. I know that many drug deals happen back here, but that is really it. I find the doorway to the place quite easily as there are really only three doors that have not collapsed in due to the apocalypse or age.

I walk into the factory with Maria out and at the ready. I pass through the place and the only thing I come across are a few giant rats that I just punt into a wall. Once they are struck, the rats seem to think better of fighting me and left to do what giant rats do. Probably off to eat walls or reproduce at an insane rate.

The robot, a protectron like I thought, was standing in one of the stasis pods that they charge in. Next to the pod is the computer that goes with it and after tapping a few keys, I find that the computer still is connected to the electric grid, so it turns on in a blink of green light.

I type in a few simple commands and using the illogical method of hacking, I pick out a random name and then the closest match to it. On my final attempt, I am able to pick out the right code which is "hiking" for some strange reason. People in the old world did not pick out the best passwords.

I take the disk out of my bag and stuck it in the floppy disk slot in the side of the monitor. I approved the data overwrite and after a minute, the program is in the robot and the pod opens. The robot steps out and approaches me. "Greetings human, please assume the position for intercourse program set three."

I wave my hands, "No. You are to go to the bar, the Atomic Wrangler, and work for James. He is your new owner, understand?"

The robot replies in its grainy and metallic voice, "Affirmative." I shake my head as it starts walking away. I guess it's back to the daily grind for me. I walk with the robot to the Wrangler and enter the place, taking shallow breaths through my nose to help control myself.

I see Beatrix getting hammered at the bar as Santiago is chatting with a handsome gentleman in a nice suit. I lead the robot to James, "This is your new owner," I absently tell the robot who clicks out an answer before standing by the counter, out of the way, but still there.

James comes out from around the counter to start inspecting the sexbot. "This the machine?" The man asks.

"Aye. The only problem was getting the programming from Mick. It should recognize you as its owner, but if not, I think Danny is a computer expert and can be hired for his services. It better work though, that program was expensive."

The man turns and reaches out his hand. I take the hand and shake it as he spoke, "Good doing business with you Mr. Fox. I hope you have a pleasant day and don't hesitate to stop by, you are always welcome here." I nod and head out. The fort came survive without me, but the doctors are still sluggish from the sicknesses they suffered from. Amazing how I use to think this world was hell and here I am helping a man get a robot prostitute. If my thirteen year old self could see me now. Ah, enough wondering about silly things, I have work to do.