CHAPTER VII

They had backtracked the way they came, through Surrey, which, without Greetimb or his brigands, was on the verge of plunging back into anarchy itself. The remnants of the Brigade were keeping some semblance of order in the streets by lethal force, shooting anyone who was suspected of looting or conspiring to make Surrey a republic – which, Janus guessed, was the popular sentiment. The Brigands had been careful not to offend the Vanguards and Brotherhood as they marched through – enough Brigands had been killed at their hands already, and it wasn't like the Stans were their for conquest anyway.

The rest of the trip through the Van was uneventful. No raider, or even mutant, was stupid enough to challenge the fifty man army walking through the streets. Especially when twelve of them were clad in full suits of Power Armor. As they trekked their way past downtown, and near the Stanley causeway, Janus began feeling nervous. And for good reason – upon reaching sighting distance of Stanley's walls, Janus saw, to his surprise, dozens of armed men spanning the walls. It was night, an thankfully the moonless night hid his men quite well.

"We're going to have to get past that wall and open the gate," Janus said.

"Or we could do a direct assault," Strabo said. "We have the Brotherhood now. The militia won't have the firepower to fight us off."

"Yes, but I want to do this with as few deaths as possible," Janus said. "If we can sneak in, we might be able to settle things with just the Provost, instead of destroying the entire town. Nonetheless, we will have to attack…"

"I could get the gate, and you get the Provost," Strabo suggested. "I'll let the Brotherhood and our guys in, and hopefully avoid a full-scale siege of Stanley."

"I'm game," Janus said. "Let's go."

Janus sneaked his way through the brush, across the causeway. Strabo and a few Vanguards followed him, while Winters and the rest of the force sat waiting nearby. Surmounting the wall was simple. Strabo lifted up Janus, who rolled onto the ramparts before coming up, silenced 9 MM at the ready. A guard was a few dozen feet away, with his back turned. Janus made sure he wouldn't find them by firing twice with his pistol. He then helped up Strabo, and the rest of his small contingent. "Okay," he whispered to Strabo. "Get the gate."

Strabo nodded and took the men as he ran off in the direction of the gatehouse. Janus looked to the large building in Stanley's center – the Municipal House. As he got closer he noticed security had been heightened. Half a dozen guards stood watch at the building's main door. Janus approached cautiously, and went around back, where two guards stood watch over the rear exit. He held his breath, took aim, and fired two rounds with his 9MM, and the two bodies hit the dirt.

Janus opened the door at a crouch, and the muzzle of his gun was the first to go in. He had entered through the back, and was now in the kitchen; no one was there. He remained at his position as he walked slowly into the main hall, where three guards were enjoying their evening meal. He could almost smell the wine in their breath as they joked carelessly, not paying attention as Janus slipped through the shadows and went upstairs. He opened the master bedroom's door, and to his surprise the Provost was not their. Instead, he was standing, looking out the window into the darkness.

"Hello, Janus." The Provost said, not bothering to turn around. Janus shut and locked the door. "You knew I was coming,"

"Indeed. It was the only logical course of action you could take."

"Than why not heighten security in here? Have guards posted everywhere?"

"Because, Janus," he said, turning around, "There are other things at stake here. You would have found a way past, and gotten to me. So instead, I'm doing as I always did – taking the diplomatic approach."

"I'm sure Vault 88 would have appreciated that sentiment."

The Provost blinked, loosing the initiative.

"I listened to the audio tapes…Dr. Cramer. You slaughtered everyone in that Vault."

"Not after exhausting every other avenue. War is simply the continuation of politics by other means. They refused to listen to reason, and as a result had to be exterminated. I certainly hope you will not join them."

"And then you took the tech, and left."

"Obviously you don't know the whole story," Dr. Cramer said. "The 88s demanded a fifty-fifty share of the reactor's output. But our Vault was more populated, with a hundred more citizens. So in proportion, we needed eighty-four percent of the power. This was our base argument. Tensions fueled, and so I resolved to fix the problem – by either repairing the reactor or eliminating…excess use.

"The first approach actually worsened the problem. So I took a number of armed guards, forced everyone out of Vault 88, and saved Vault 89."

"Except you didn't."

"No. The reactor had been fried. Radiation was leaking, and we were forced to evacuate…" he sighed. "The 88s were waiting for us. They had been mutated by the radiation exposure, and could not be reasoned with. After a chaotic battle, I managed to escape. Everyone else…not so much."

"And you had Checkmate in tow, I presume?"

"Janus, Checkmate…is not what it seems. It makes a man what he is not. That kind of power should not be wielded by anyone, especially not that AI."

"How do you know about Holiday?"

"I created it, Janus. It's using you, just as it had the Blazers. Do not trust Holiday."

"The Blazers…how did you know?"

"Their sudden rise to power? Their strategic decisions? Their searching near Delta? It had Holiday written all over it. I thought you had destroyed the computer…but after you left in search of the Vault…I could only assume it had convinced you otherwise."

"That computer does not control me."

"But it does, Janus. You just don't know it yet!"

"Shut up, you insolent fool!" Janus said, his voice raising. "Checkmate will allow me to unite the Van, once and for all. We can start rebuilding."

"We've done that anyway!" The Provost said, now desperate. "Look at what we've accomplished here, with Stanley. Look!"

"It's not enough," Janus said. "Imagine – imagine the possibilities!"

"No, Janus. Don't do this!"

Janus raised his pistol. "Give it to me."

"You don't understand, Janus."

"I SAID GIVE IT TO ME!" He screamed, then immediately regretted it. So much for stealth.

The Provost looked over to his bedside, than quickly back at Janus. He saw the mobile terminal sitting on the table. "Is that Checkmate?"

"Janus-"

Janus fired, screaming as he emptied the clip into the Provost. His heart raced as he dropped the pistol, falling to his knees. Dr. Cramer lay dead on the floor, blood leaking from his corpse. Oh god…Janus thought.

What have I done?

"Open up!" a voice came from the door. "Open this door NOW!"

Janus slowly walked over to the terminal, still shaking from his actions, ignoring the pounding on the door. They had begun smashing their weapons into the metal thing, to no avail. Meanwhile gunshots could be heard from outside. Strabo had evidently let in the rest of the Vanguards.

Janus approached the terminal, and considered plugging in his Pip-Boy. Then he remembered Holiday, and then what the Provost had said. Instead, he decided to open the terminal himself.

U.S. AIR FORCE - COMMISSARY AI PROTOTYPE "FELICITY"

WELCOME, DR. CRAMER. HOW MAY I SERVE YOU TODAY?

He found it interesting that Felicity seemed to have a much less arrogant, and much more servile attitude towards it's operator. It also, unlike Holiday, failed to recognize it's actual user.

/FELICITY, ACCESS THE CHECKMATE PROJECT.

ERROR. PLEASE ENTER PASSWORD_

Janus cursed Cramer's foresight. He looked around for a solution to the problem when he noticed his Pip-Boy blinking. He brought it closer, and read what Holiday had to say:

JANUS, PLUG ME INTO CHECKMATE. I WILL BYPASS THE SECURITY PROTOCOLS.

Janus hesitated, remembering what the Provost had said. Meanwhile, Cramer's guards became preoccupied as Winters/Strabo and their men entered the building, shooting the place up. Soon they would come up upstairs. He glanced back at the dead body of the Provost, and felt a slight tug of pity, as well as a disgust with his own cruelty. He felt sorry for the man…had he changed? Had he tried to become a benevolent leader, instead of a cruel, merciless Air Force officer? It mattered not. He was dead, and Janus was alive. Not heeding to the Provost's final pleas, he plugged in the Pip-Boy.

Holiday copied itself onto the terminal, and the screen changed from "enter your password" to a command prompt-looking screen with lines of endlessly scrolling data and code. He tried to recognize what was going on in the computer, but to no avail.

Behind him, a knock came at the door. "Janus!" It was Winters. "Did you find it? Do you have Checkmate?"

He remembered their deal.

"No," he lied.

"He may have hid it somewhere," Winters said. "Let me look."

Janus unlocked the heavy bolt door, and the Power-Armor clad Winters walked through. He took off his helmet, running his fingers through his buzz-cut hair, as he slung his weapon and took a look through the room. "The terminal," Winters said. "It looks like it has a virus."

"As I said," Janus said. "Theirs nothing here."

Winters looked at him suspiciously, and put his heavy hand on Janus shoulder, who gulped. "Janus, do not lie to me. What. Was on. The. Terminal."

"A mishmash of code," he lied. "Just like you see there. Worthless. What's your deal?"

"Then you won't mind if we take it in to study, back at my chapter's base in Mt. Rainer?"

Janus cursed under his breath. Winters had cornered him, leaving Janus no wiggle room in the conversation. Then, a thought. It was deeply maniacal, but it would get him what he wanted. To Janus, at this point that was what mattered.

"That was the deal, I suppose." Janus smiled, and gave him the portable terminal. "Let us know if you find anything relating to Stanley, will ya?"

"Absolutely," Winters said, relaxing. "Best of luck establishing your new government."

"Thank you. You will always be welcome in Stanley. Come by and visit some time."

Winters got his men together and marched off, after shaking hands with Strabo and Janus. The sun was rising now, and soon the people of Stanley would be coming out of their homes. Soon, Janus would have to address them, this time, as the new Provost.

But first, their was the matter of the Brotherhood to take care of.

"Strabo," Janus said, waving his friend over as the Brotherhood Paladins prepared to leave. "We need Checkmate back."

"But you gave it to them…"

"Yes, but you're the greatest tracker on this side of the Van. I want you to follow them, and get it back."

"By killing them?"

"If that's what it takes," Janus said. "We've passed the point of avoiding bloodshed. This is war, Strabo, and I will crush anyone who stands in my way."