Gun Powder and Maps – Chapter 5 - Federations
Brooke and ED-E arrived at the metal gates leading to Freeside where the sun, barely peaking above the horizon, cast an assortment of colors upon the heavens. The courier stared up, noticing a banner she had never seen before flapping softly in the frigid, morning winds. It had three horizontal stripes, the inner red, the top white, and the bottom black. "What is going on?" was the only thought reeling through her mind.
The large, coarse sack dropped to the floor from the courier's shoulder with a thunderous clatter in front of Mr. House's large computer screen. His monitor flickered on as Brooke discarded her power armor helmet. House groaned, "I will terminate you in a heartbeat if you've broken anything." Brooke rolled her eyes and exclaimed, "It's ALL broken. That's why it's scrapped and spare parts!"
"The better the condition the easier to work with."
"If you would tell me what you were working on, I'd be able to determine whether I could kick this junk around or not."
"I'm not going to enlighten you."
The courier scoffed under her breath at his declaration. "There are flags fluttering around the walls and I want to know what they are. On second thought, I demand you tell me right now!" She yelled. House calmly responded, "You can't demand anything of me." Brooke stood upright, staring directly into his digitalized eyes. Although she wanted to believe she could, House was correct. She couldn't demand anything of him.
House's voice broke the silence. "You have just been introduced to the Mojave Democratic-Republic." Disbelief filled Brooke's face, and she said, "Do you honestly expect to run your 'Republic' democratically? Is this some kind of joke?"
"The Democratic adjective is for show. And for that matter, so is republic. But Mojave is quite true. The NCR has willingly surrendered to me, and to my advantage (and theirs) I have used their so called 'structure' to build upon."
"Basically you're running the NCR but with a new label?"
"Precisely."
"You're insane…" timidly escaped Brooke's lips. Again there was silence.
House's screen flickered again and he started up, "The NCR was a rag-tag copy of what Pre-War America used in its Checks and Balances system. There is a legislative branch, an executive branch, and, in this case, a hardly noticeable judicial branch. All of these post-apocalyptic 'presidents' the NCR has had have been soft shelled creatures, allowing the Mojave to step upon their necks. Kimball's over extension of the NCR in an attempt to gain more territory has made their neck brittle and ready for the stomping. I guess you could say I was the final kick to the head."
He chuckled under his breath and Brooke rolled her eyes. She spoke up,"Your citizens are going to revolt."
"I have robots with rocket launchers."
With a shake of her head, the courier left the room and went to the cocktail lounge.
As the supposed revolving room stood still over-looking all of New Vegas, Brooke broke the serenity by strolling back and forth, chewing upon the tip of one of her fingers. A computer terminal by the elevator flushed with House's face and he boomed, "You have no faith in me do you?"
"I didn't say that."
"That's how you feel."
"So what if it is or if it is not, I feel that if the NCR couldn't endure this wasteland, how could the MDR?"
Brooke collapsed into a bright red, leather lounger. Her fingers automatically started to knead her temples. One of the nearby securitrons handed her a bottle of purified water and she guzzled it down as quick as she could. She handed it back the drained plastic container mumbling under her breath, "I can never escape from you." House chuckled, "Do you not want to be around me? Oh how I lament your emotions towards me. I'm such an agreeable soul."
"Mr. House, you are not agreeable. You terrify people into obeying you."
"But I give them mercy. Doesn't sparing their lives make me agreeable?"
"No."
"What a pity… I thought it did."
For a few minutes, Brooke reclined in the chair and stared out the window as the inner mechanisms of the nearby securitron hummed. The sky was void of clouds, with the occasional specks of irradiated crows flying past. New Vegas seemed featureless during the day without its array of neon lights. Michelangelo made it all possible, and what a sight he had fashioned. Even from the darkest reaches of the desert, there was always a glow on the horizon from House's empire.
Brooke leapt from her chair and walked hurriedly to the elevator. "Victor, take me down to the casino," she barked to the near-by robot who wore the constant expression of an ebullient cowboy. His southern accent responded, "Casino floor, coming up!" House flickered back onto the nearby monitor and spoke up, "There's something else I need you to work on." "Not right now," came her retort.
"Not right now? Where are you going?," he asked with a boiling anger.
She stepped into the awaiting elevator and replied, "I'm going to go see an old friend."
A/N: Story statuses are on my profile page. I try to update them frequently. Thanks for reading and reviewing!