Whether or not the courier is insane isn't relevant. The real question is why they follow the courier anyway.

Jacobstown

Cass spoke first. "I really have to ask—we came here to find a brain surgeon for the King's dog, so how in hell did we manage to recruit a nightkin grandmother?"

"Serendipitous circumstance, I'm sure."

"Shut up, Gannon," said Boone.

Meda groaned. "For the love of God, people, we're just helping her find out what happened to her poor bighorners! Boone, help me out here."

"No," said the sniper, who was trying to move as far away from the nearest Nightkin as possible. Unfortunately, the nearest Nightkin happened to be Lily Bowen, who had decided that Boone was her grandson Jimmy and would not be deterred. She was essentially chasing him around Jacobstown with a hand-skit sweater that could have fit a brahmin quite snugly, trying to get him to wear it.

Cass held up her bottle of whiskey, trying to see if she'd have enough to get through the insanity of the day. Nope.

Meda made a noise that sounded a little like an angry brahmin and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay, okay, maybe this isn't the best idea. But we have to wait around for Rex to get surgery anyway, and anyone who doesn't want to go on the investigation can stay here."

"Why not head back toward Vegas?" Veronica asked. "It's not as though it's really that far away if we hurry."

Meda shook her head, even though Arcade was sure she didn't really like Jacobstown much either. Frankly, despite Marcus's assurances that the super mutants and nightkin in town were at least sane enough to interact with normal people without a problem, the entire place was extremely eerie. And it was very green and even had snow, which Arcade still wasn't used to.

If Arcade ever had to compile a report on a psychological disorder involving being an unrelenting good Samaritan with a tendency toward stabbing, lying, and being nosy, Meda would be Exhibit A. Though maybe that definition was a bit too narrow…

Then Meda spoke the words that would have sent most enterprising wastelanders screaming back to their mothers. "The only way to make it back to Vegas before nightfall is to cut across the mountains. And this entire mountain range is cazador territory."

Cass summed up all their thoughts with one word: "Fuck."

"So, I'm going to help Lily with or without your help." Meda shrugged. "With luck, it'll just turn out to be a pack of nightstalkers and we can hand a couple bodies over to Doctor Henry while we're at it. It might even help with the nightkins' schizophrenia, though I'm not sure how."

Arcade wasn't fully convinced that Meda didn't know about the connection between himself and Doctor Henry. Every once in a while, a few comments would slip through, though none of the others ever picked up on it. It sure didn't help his nerves when, after trying to blow off seeing the crashed vertibird, she'd flatly informed him that he was a terrible liar.

"So, ED-E and I are definitely going with Lily." Meda said. "Anyone else?"

There was a thud and a scuffling sound.

"Get off!"

"Hold still, Jimmy! I made this just for you."

"Looks like she finally caught him." Veronica said, looking like she was about to double over laughing. "Hey, Boone, need a hand?"

How were they supposed to get a nightkin to let go of their sniper, anyway? It wasn't like they could just pry him loose when her arms were as thick as the tree trunks around Jacobstown. And Meda had already made it clear that she wanted to help Lily, which also meant they couldn't just, say, shoot her.

Fortunately, the courier seemed to have the situation well in hand. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Grandma, what did your baby girl tell you about hugging your grandbabies that hard? You could hurt him like that!"

Lily, who was holding Boone off the ground with one arm and trying to force the sweater over his head with the other, stopped. Her big, blank face seemed to twist. "Oh, Jimmy, grandma's so sorry." She let him go, and he dropped awkwardly onto the ground. "Can you ever forgive me?"

Over the course of about three seconds, Boone somehow ended up standing behind the courier and trying to appear casual, as though he hadn't nearly had the life crushed out of him by an overenthusiastic grandmother with super strength. Veronica started giggling.

"Boone, you're nearly a foot taller than me. That doesn't work." Meda hissed, but she still had a big smile plastered on her face for Lily's sake. "He'll be okay, Grandma Lily. Earlier, though… you said there was something wrong with your bighorners?"

While Meda talked the nightkin into chatting about her troubles with her herd lately, Cass started rationing out her supply of whiskey to everyone who wasn't the courier. It looked like they were going to need it.