The large tree-like mutant was nodding off to sleep again, when the sound of someone coming closer to him could be heard. "Huh… uh? Come around, lemme see ya."

Harold could see that it was dark, but as the visitor came around to his front, a green light shone. "Who the hell let- wait a sec…" Harold squinted as he looked at the Glowing One's face.

"Long time no see, Harold." A resonating, filtered voice sounded out, almost sounding like a voice one would use to entrance someone.

"Well, I'll be! Whatcha doin' all the way out East, vaultie?" The man was wearing a sort of armored Vault suit, with a big 13 on the back. "I haven't seen you in… damn, I forget now…"

"Same to you. Now, I hear there's something big happening this side of the wastes. Can ya fill me in?"

Harold squinted, even with the strange voice and the ghoul wrinkles, he had the same expression, and not just anybody came come up with a suit like that. "This crazy 'Lone Wanderer' kid is rebuilding America in his image or something. He's also using me as his guinea pig to make super fast growing trees."

"Can't say I blame him, this place could use a little more green."

"Yeah, not that I mind, it's not like I have anything else to do!" Harold erupted in a loud, wheezing laugh.

"Woah, calm down there, don't burst a lung… wait, you still have lungs, right? Now, let's see… this kid, where might I find him?"

"Let's see… he should be in the Radio station giving his speech this time, but you might wanna go and meet him at the capitol building."

"How old is he, by the way?"

"Hrmm… late 20's I think. Strange age to be President, huh?"

"He's leading a nation at that age?"

"Oh, he has tons of… 'representatives', but he's gonna set up a congress of sorts later on. Also, he says he's throwing away the dual-party system. Says it's 'part of the USA's downfall' or somethin'."

"Can't say he's wrong about that." The ghoul patted the tree on the trunk. "Well, I'll be back to visit ya later, you'll need the company." He backed up and walked towards the exit of the small clearing.

"See ya later… Vault Dweller." Harold attempted to wave something, but only managed to wiggle a branch a bit.

The Wanderer nowadays had to be dressed up fancier. "Hey, lookin' good!" Three Dog said, still dressed in his usual casual clothing.

"It's just a speech, it's not like they're seeing me…" He said as he kicked back in a chair.

There was a couple of knocks on the door. "Come on in, door is unlocked… like always." Three Dog said looking at his half-empty beer.

Charon opened up the door. Nowadays, the ghouls with any sort of money could buy a sort of perfume to mask their decomposition smell, so a smell of a flower native to the Capital Wasteland accompanied Charon into the room. "Excuse me, sir. You got a message." Charon handed a piece of paper to him. He unfolded it and held it up, reading it aloud.

"Hey, situation's all clear in the area around the scouted village. Only a few of the raiders didn't resist arrest, so they were, ya know… mostly wiped out. The rest are on a transport to the prison now. I'm coming back now, they didn't let me bring any whiskey with me. Signed, Butch D."

"Oh, that crazy cat, I remember him." Three Dog said while swirling his beer around.

A few years back, true to his word, Butch eventually broke off from the Wanderer after many years of scouting with him and formed his own little gang, the 'Tunnel Snakes'. Now, as wimpy as Butch was at the start, he was built for the wasteland at heart. He had a sense of what was wrong and right, but wasn't afraid to push people around to get his way. And really, there are some people who need to be pushed around a little. The Tunnel Snakes, without any help from the Wanderer, eventually wiped out many 'rival gangs', across the wastes. As a byproduct from Butch's little war, there was less raiding… much less raiding. It actually made the Wanderer proud of Butch in a way. Eventually, though, Butch was convinced to be the new nation's 'urban warfare' group. That didn't change much, the Tunnel Snakes killed and captured raiders and in exchange got free booze, money, weapons and recruits. Apparently, being part of the Tunnel Snakes made you look brave and manly to the women, so Butch wasn't the only one happy about being part of the Tunnel Snakes. The Tunnel Snakes was what was sent after a gang that got out of hand… and over the years, 'getting out of hand' was an easier and easier thing to do if you're a raider.

Eventually, the Tunnel Snakes was big enough and well armed enough that they invaded and brought down their biggest rival, the Talon Company. Butch invited the Lone Wanderer to take part of that fight, and with his help, the Talon Company was killed off. As the territory the Wanderer controlled grew, so did the Snake's power. Even though they were a gang, they were not as unruly as one would think. Since the new 'law' was essentially made by Butch's best friend of sorts, he didn't take crap from members that got a little over their head with pride. Essentially, as Butch put it, "As long as you don't whack the people who don't need whacking, you're a-okay. We need a gang that's both feared and respected, and we ain't gonna get that if you knucklehead keep fucking with the wrong crowd! That means you, Michel, stop pissin' off all the women, dipwad! … at least get them drunk first or somethin'…"

"Yep, that crazy Butch." He said as he crumpled up the paper and threw it into a waste basket. "Anything else, Charon?"

"Yes, sir. Another letter." He handed another paper to the Wanderer. The Wander opened it up and read it out loud.

"Dear friend. I have negotiated a peace treaty with the town in the west. For water and food, they have agreed to help share their work force to build other towns. They also had a radio station of sorts. They agreed to broadcast what we tell them to. I trust you won't abuse their trust in you. It seems They specialize in a form of masonry, with a form of sandstone native to their area, along with a sort of mud hut. They have little in the way of weapons; most of them use spears to fight. If we give them spare service rifles, ammo, food, water, and copies of music, along with some technological knowledge, they will be in our debt. They have also given us the locations of other settlements in the area. The BoS have also found another settlement. I am afraid to say they have been raided by remnant Meta Humans. They are not well armed, but more so than most in this area. If we find them we can easily best them. I am on my way via Vertibird to the next settlement. Your friend, Fawkes. P.S. One of the more seasoned villagers mentioned another government. It is much larger, older and organized than our own. It is way to the west and goes by the name "The New California Republic", or NCR for short. We may meet up with them in the near future."

Fawkes took an interesting turn. After accidentally killing an innocent man, he put down his gun for good and stopped fighting. He set up an organization of philosophical minds, with a combination of Zen Buddhism, Kabala, Islam and Christianity. They serve as peaceful ambassadors, the members of this church almost never get killed, due to the fact that they help everyone and are hated by none. The Wanderer sort of wondered if Fawkes was brainwashing the members behind his back, but he doubted it. Even though he knew Fawkes for years, he had trouble keeping up with the teaching of his religion; it seemed like a full-time job. They also serve as historians, going through the past to better build the future. If and when he sets up a congress of sorts, he expects them to be the first up on the plate, eager to help serve the country and mankind, either that or serve as advisors. He would greatly urge them to take part, they are extremely selfless, unlikely to take bribes, and are told to never tell a lie, no matter the consequences, everything previous politicians lacked. The only thing he worried about was their peaceful mind. They might rather be wiped out than start a full out war with any faction.

"I'll start up making copies of the songs." Three Dog pressed a button on an intercom and spoke into it. "Hey, pal, order us a shipment of 150 blank, writable tapes." He let go of the button and sat down again.

"So, let's get started. You may leave, Charon."

"Yes sir." Charon turned around and left through the door.

"You got it, kiddo! Let's get this train rollin'!"

The Wanderer looked a little annoyed. "Don't call me that…"

Authors notes: Sorry this is late and stuff. Oh, and seriously, Code Prototype isn't THAT cool, but it seems I'm the most famous for it.